YStyle hit list

Solange’s Wedding Master Class

MANILA, Philippines - Solange, fashion’s preferred Knowles, #BrokeTheInternet in the best way this week with a deluge of Vogue-approved portraits of her all-white, all-chic, master class wedding. The 28-year-old chanteuse and 51-year-old video director Alan Ferguson got married in New Orleans this past weekend. Amal Clooney who? Solange wore a slew of outfits that ran the gamut from eggshell to ecru; she arrived wearing a Stephane Rolland cream jumpsuit with her husband-to-be on matching spray-painted vintage bicycles. Ferguson wore a Lanvin all-white tuxedo to the ceremony, and the bride changed into a floor-sweeping caped gown designed by Umberto Leon & Carol Lim for Kenzo.

The portraits shot by Bronx-based photographer Rog Walker are headlined by a Givenchy-esque all-female tableau of the clan and close friends; including Tina Knowles and frequent collaborator Janelle Monae. It was truly a family affair as the other famous Knowles, Beyoncé, Blue Ivy and Jay-Z were also in attendance. Resplendent in an alabaster gown, big hair, bold lip — with Beyoncé pictured strewn across the floor — Solange solidifies her reign as the Queen of cool.

Kendall is the Face of Estée Lauder

Nineteen-year-old Kendall, erstwhile Keeping Up with the Kardashians cast member, has had a high-profile year in fashion. From gaining major model mileage walking the runways of Chanel, Balmain, and Marc Jacobs, to landing a global Givenchy campaign, from editorials in French Vogue to the cover of LOVE Magazine, the year of Kendall (just Kendall) is undeniable. To close out the rest of 2014, Kendall adds another feather to her cap as the newly named face of Estée Lauder. She is slated to appear in the brand’s commercials, digital and print campaigns. Closing a beauty contract of any scale is a career-defining moment, and Kendall just nabbed hers during the year of her modeling debut.

The global beauty label describes Kendall as “fashion’s new breakout star and a social media sensation. She is the ultimate Instagirl, and we are excited to leverage her image, voice, energy, and extraordinary social media power...” As Kendall’s ascension to the pantheon of beauty was announced, Estée Lauder’s Instagram followers shot up by 50,000. The numbers don’t lie and haters can proceed to the extreme left.

Jake Verzosa at Paris Photo 2014

Photographer, Ystyle favorite, and frequent collaborator Jake Verzosa launched his book in Paris Photo, exhibited from Nov. 14-17 at the Grand Palais. Paris Photo is the premier international art fair for work in the photographic medium. “The Last Tattooed Women of Kalinga” was produced by leading contemporary art gallery Silverlens. The book contains a series of photographs that feature the Kalinga women of the Cordillera mountain range. It's a visual treatise on the tradition and psychological dimensions of tattooing. As a dying art, “the batok or the tattoo goes beyond beauty and prestige but it is symbolic of the traditional values of women’s strength and fortitude,” Verzosa wrote on his website. 

The prints themselves are black and white studies of these tattooed elder women, as symbolic of vanishing art and the gatekeepers of knowledge. In her Nov. 14 newsletter, Vogue international editor Suzy Menkes included Verzosa in her roundup of artists. “Taking a 100-degree turn,” she writes, “the prints showed women whose skin seemed to be patterned as if by a lacy sweater.”

Flight fancy

I set foot in four countries in a span of seven days, first freezing my face off in Beijing’s near-zero temps by way of Hong Kong, then returning to Manila for a 24-hour break before flying out to hot and humid Singapore. I love traveling, even when it’s for work and we’re on an itinerary too tight for individual exploration. I even love airports. I feel like airports (Manila’s excluded; they’re torture) are so pregnant with potential — being in them is a promise that you’re going somewhere new, that you’re going somewhere you can be new.

What I hate is airplanes. I know that modern day travel is a miracle; that it takes us mere hours now to do what used to take months by sea. But airplanes are terrible on the face, and when you’ve made a living off being vain (or if you’re just vain, full stop), that’s a nightmare. You step onto the plane fresh, bright-eyed and excited to be embarking on a new adventure, and you step off looking like death. No thanks.

I always make it a point to keep a gel moisturizer in my bag for short flights, and a moisturizing mask for long haul ones, just to make sure I keep my skin hydrated while I’m in transit. Airplanes are an extremely dehydrating environment. I fell asleep in business class one time and woke up to find my water bottle missing, and I wanted to cut the bitch sitting next to me because I’m sure she took it. I was so mad. Well, whoever I’m seated next to on my next flight can take my Evian, as long as they don’t snatch the tube of La Mer Intensive Revitalizing Mask out of my purse.

Slather the “Eight Minute Miracle” on your face (generously, though how generous you want to be with something that costs quite the pretty penny is probably relative), tissue off the excess, and relish in your skin’s resurrection. (It’s a Lazarus Pit for your face.) The creamy formula is, first of all, refreshing, with a soothing, subtle scent — a combination that, well, revitalizes, while also making you feel more relaxed. La Mer’s signature Miracle Broth is the key ingredient, supplemented by a Vitality Ferment that promotes hydration, elasticity, and barrier protection, and an antioxidant-rich Purifying Ferment that helps protect skin from free-radical damage and environmental stress.

Eight minutes, then your skin is silky-soft and you can feel human again, giving you the perfect, nourished base upon which to make yourself look human before you take your first step out into the unknown.

Like what you CC

Blemishes set off a vicious cycle of bad skin, or at least in my case, they do. I get a zit, I cover it up with some base or another, it inevitably leaves hyperpigmentation because that’s just how my face rolls; I cover that hyperpigmentation up with base, then my skin, unaccustomed as it is to a layer of foundation, acts up, necessitating even more foundation. This goes on until I cave, see my dermatologist, then lock myself up in my room until it all goes away and I consider myself presentable again. So suffice it to say that I try to avoid foundation as much as I can, and besides, it’s often too humid in Manila for major base anyway.

But sometimes a little coverage is necessary. Maybe you have a little redness you want to hide, maybe you want to even out your tone a little. Those shouldn’t require a masklike coat of foundation. If your skin doesn’t look like skin anymore when you have it on, then you have too much on. The best base is the kind that looks like it’s not there, and that’s where CC cream comes in.

For a few weeks now, I’ve been putting up with foundation — a blend of two hydrating ones that I apply sparingly — because of a bad skin spell. I still feel like it’s too much, and my skin still feels dried out by day’s end. But just last week, I picked up a tube of Olay’s Total Effects Pore Minimizing CC Cream in Medium. Alone, the formula goes on almost invisibly sheer, leaving a veil of luminosity that evens out your complexion and gives you the glow of health.

While coverage is buildable, it might not be enough to cover more serious discoloration, so what I’ve been doing is adding just a touch of my foundation to it (one part foundation to three parts CC cream — I use very, very little product) to amp up pigmentation without sacrificing the refreshing and hydrating feel. It’s a godsend — the CC cream itself feels more like a moisturizer than a base; something my skin definitely welcomes. The formula is sheer enough that the light and medium shades should suit any skintone easily, and in spite of the SPF 15 in the formula, it never leaves a white cast in natural light or in photos. (This is crucial!) I’m looking forward to being able to completely remove the foundation from my morning makeup routine as soon as my skin’s back to normal — I’m going to stick to just CC + C: CC cream and concealer.

Give a little

The best beauty buys are the ones you don’t feel guilty about. I mean, admit it, beauty nerds, you’ve been there: Scrambling for an excuse when asked why you bought yet another tube of lipstick. (Or some such.) Can you justify shelling out hard-earned money on a new red when you already have, say, a dozen in your drawer? The answer is: Yes, you can, if part of that money’s going to a good cause. Because then, nobody will be able to say anything about it. Swipe on. “I donated P1,000 to HIV research!” sounds a little better than “I spent P1,000 on this really great shade of oxblood lipstick that’s just perfect for fall/winter.”

So it always makes me happy when beauty brands get in the spirit of giving back. This Christmas, Kiehl’s is launching another limited edition collection of beauty booty — this time, with packaging designed by graphic artist duo Craig & Karl. Favorites like Crème de Corps, Ultra Facial Cream, Calendula Toner, and Lip Balm #1 will be getting a colorful holiday makeover (my favorite Lip Balm #1 will come in a set that includes the original balm and two of three holiday flavors: cranberry, pear, and mint). Proceeds from the collection will go to Project: Brave Kids, a foundation that works with cancer-stricken kids and their families, so we trust you know where to do your Christmas shopping for the beauty aficionados in your life this season.