what an eventful and glamorous weekend!

Besides honoring the man that changed all of our lives, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, I partied my tail feather off this past weekend. It was my good friend/model, Shana Barnes's and also my other good friend/extraordinary artist, Jane Trieu's (check out trieubeauty.com) birthday weekend!!!! And on top of all of this, my bestfriend, Lorena Abenojar flew into town to get away from the sad mood of Seattle, WA

I started the weekend by finishing up Shana's dress for her party. Which she killed!!!!!! I sewed a new weave in for her as well. I redid some cheap shoes for my cousin Daeng Boonmanee because it needed that BAHTOH touch. And Then I cut and dyed Lorena's hair and then found a few items in my closet to style her with for the night.

We went to 3 different parties and chased cabs throughout the whole city, but I made sure that they all looked fierce while doing it.

Make sure to look out for Lorena's modeling debut in a few days...

Hairstyle:

Shana is an addict now and can not be with out her weaves!!!! LOL!!! So the challenge was to figure out how to convert her everyday weave into something that would compliment her bday look. I decided that the dress being a bit extreme with the print and the flower on her should, I should leave her hair sleek. I sewed in her usual weave, leaving the top and edges out. I glued in a bang so that she can remove it later because she normally wears her hair parted in the center. I then pulled everything to the opposite side of her flower and created large bun by teasing and doing pin curls. I finished it off by spraying the bad-boy down with Regis Extreme Hold Hairspray.

thinking back

After a weekend of partying with my bestfriend, Lorena Abenojar, I am just getting over a hangover (jk!!!! or maybe just a tinnnyyy little one). We did a lot of walking down memory lane and ran into many old friends from our childhood while she was here in New York.

It made me think back about the journey that led me to New York, to become who I am today, and also this blog. It has been an amazing adventure and I would say that I have had so much fun, and in some eyes, success. Which was a funny concept to me, because alot of the time we measure success by money and fame, but with time, I have learned that success is finding happy moments in your life.

It has a been a ridiculously amazing life so far... and I see that there is more to come. Thank you to everyone for the support and love.

the faces we wear

Photos By: Tony Lapid
Make-up: Jeralen Mascarinas and Bobbie Yanoupeth

I spent New Year's Eve with my girl Josie Mascarinas. Just us two girls stuffing our faces with finger foods and sipping on Lychee Mojitos and red wine, which led us to the topic of relationships...

It is incredible how much pressure we put on ourselves to wear these different masks to make a relationship work. No matter how wrong someone can be for us, sometimes we want it so bad that we comprise ourselves... to the point that we loose our own identity and our needs.

Sometimes the changes are just little physical things. Maybe make-up, a style of clothing, hair length, weight... and then there are times when the changes are mental things. Regardless of how big or small these changes are, you shouldn't have to do it to please anybody. You shouldn't have to sacrifice your own sense of self, to create this facade that they want you to be, because at the end of the day, they aren't really seeing you for who you are and they aren't loving you for you!

So after a few drinks too many, we decided once that we woke up(and after our hangover wore off), we would do a shoot based on this!

Hairstyle:
I just went crazy on her. Lol! I tied 2 pony tails toward the front of her face. Anchoring them on opposite corners of her crown with elastic hair-ties. I literally wrapped a pack of tracks around each ponytail and secured them with Large Bobby pins. I sprayed everything with Regis Extreme Hold Hairspray and started teasing everything like a maniac! I then brushed the hair into chaotic buns and smoothed it out in certain parts and secured the whole thing with bobby pins. I clipped on ornamental butterflies onto the bun as well.

tough as nails

Photos By: Alfred Espin

Why can't a girl be tough? I think has to do in part that social norms doesn't allow us to step outside of these "gender-roles." Girls are suppose to be vulnerable, love pink, and delicate... and the list goes on and on.

I have someone dear to me, who unfortunately is always questioned to be a tranny. Nothing wrong with being a tranny, but she isn't one... and there isn't anything in her appearance to indicate that she could possibly be a male, except for the fact that she is taller than 6' with heels. I always think of her as a glamazon. Always intact, clothing fierce, face is always painted for the GODS (an expression: meaning her make-up and face is gorgeous!!!), the sweetest person when you get to know her, but it is the tough exterior that I guess makes people question her gender?

I mean, she is super independent, doesn't allow anyone to push her around, can do whatever she wants and do it on her own, She can carry ME home when I am drunk! She is always refusing drinks from guys at the bar and in turn, she buys them drinks instead... She is a no nonsense kind of girl and doesn't need a man to make her feel validated. I think people can't grasp that it is possible because we've been spoon fed these ideas of how girls are suppose to be. So when someone goes against the grain, we question why that is. And normally people conclude that she has either had a traumatic childhood experience with a man, bitter because of failed relationships, a lesbian, or a tranny!

Why can't girls just be tough? ROCK ON TOUGH GIRLS!

Hairstyle:

Krystal's hair is already cut into a mohawk. I applied a little bit of Regis Pomade to slick her sides down. I gave the top portion a light mist of Volumizing Hair Spray from the same manufacturer all over before I used a 1 1/2 inch curling iron to curl the hair back. I rolled some of the hair back and pinned them to give a little tousled romance and some pieces cascade along her face. I finished with another spray of Regis Extreme Holding Spray.

room service?

Photo By: Aflred Espin

I think the idea of bell-boys are soooo cute. And I saw this similar look on a model. I thought that maybe I would give it a mod touch, just to jazz it up a little. So it was all about color!!! So if I were to run a mod/chic hotel, this is how my bell-girls would look like.

Shana is a trooper through all of this. She is the only person who is willing to put up with my craziness and then give it just as much excitement as I have.

Hairstyle:

I slicked the hair down with Got2Be gel and tied here hair into 2 pony tails. One at the temple and the one in the back on the opposite side. I wrapped some tracks of hair around the pony tails and created these loop type buns. I tucked the hair in itself and secured them with bobby pins in X formation so that they were secure. I sprayed to whole thing down with Regis Extreme hold hairspray to finish it.

my computer is down...

I have not been able to update because my laptop broke! I will be uupdating everything this weekend. Thanks for following and being so patient!

little red riding hood

Photos by: Alfred Espin

I love pictures outdoors. I forget how beautiful nature can be while being in New York. The closest thing that I see to nature, is the trees in planters in font of my building!

Krystal is one of my most vibrant friends. She is a definite diva. I enjoyed this shoot especially because she was so versatile in her poses. She even climbed onto a broken tree hanging over a huge ditch for me. It was soooo scary and we had so many close calls to her falling off the tree. LOL!

Hairstyle:
She has a mohawk already. So I needed to figure how to play it up and make it fun besides putting it up into a obvious mohawk. So I figured why not do cute braided buns!
I applied some Regis Pomade through out her hair. I tied the crown section of her hair into 4 ponytails. I braided some red extension into fishtail braids and wrapped them around her ponytails and secured them with bobby pins. I made some tighter than others so they weren't exactly the same and so they also stood at various heights.
I then used a flat iron to flip up the back portion of her hair. To finish off her look, I used some Regis Texturizing Cream to the sides of her hair and brushed them down.

hunting in the concrete jungle

Photos By: Alfred Espin

New York city is one of the most amazing cities that I have ever lived in. Yes, people say it all the time, but it honestly is a place of its own. The convenience of everything, the shopping, the delicious restaurants, all the beautiful people, and fall time in New York is the best!!!!

But as amazing as the city is, it can also be a dark place. Drugs, hustlers, streets piled with garbage and rats running rapid. This concrete jungle devours the weak.

Hairstyle:
I left the crown section of Shana's hair out. I used Regis Texturizing Cream on her sides to slick it into a tight ponytail. I also sprayed it down with Regis Volumizing Spray and used a dense boar bristle brush to snatch those sides and baby hairs.

I wrapped her ponytail with 18" weave. Then I applied some cream on this as well and created three large bun/pin curls type things and fastened it with bobby pins. There wasn't a real strategic way of doing it, I just played with it till I liked it. I then did the same with her bangs.

Instead of doing a regular pompadour, I wanted to create a little more interest in the front. So I teased it of course, to build some volume. I wanted the front to be cohesive and flow with the rest of the hair, so I rolled and pinned it down adjacently to the other buns.

dress up your own way

Photo By: Tony Lapid and Daeng Boonmanee

Tyrone and Chantelle are super cute, yes we know, but they have their own style. I though it would have been fun to dress them up a little but infuse their style with it as well. Tyrone kept warning me from the jump, that this was not his aesthetic at all, but I reassured him that he will be fine. By then end, he tried to run off to the club with the outfit on. Chantelle on the other hand was excited the minute I pulled the dress out. She immediately equated sparkles=glamour. At the end, she looked absolutely divine.

The Hairstyles:

Tyrone and Chantelle are both wearing the same weaves that I had done in the earlier pictures.

This time for Tyrone, I smoothed his hair out with a flat iron. I applied Regis Pomade in his hair and tousled it with my fingers a bit. Pulling pieces randomly and playing with it till I felt comfortable. Yes his hair cut is a little edgier, but I wanted to create a more modern come-over to fit his look for the day. So we swept it over, but didn't make it perfectly done. And for the back, I curled the mohawk under. I finished the look by spraying Regis Volumizing Spray for a firm hold.

Chantelle's hair is in bohemian curls. With the dress and the rabbit fur coat, I thought about Beyonce. I gave her higher layers to create more volume and so there also wouldn't be so much weight on the bottom. I defined her curls with some Olive Oil Sheen Spray. I applied Regis Pomade in her hair as well to give it a texture and I especially used it on her natural hair. Reason being, I wanted it to bond with the weave. With it being really windy and us on top of a 30 story building, I didn't want it to flap around and for people to see the separation. Chantelle has thick natural hair (no relaxers or any other chemical treatments), which meant applying a little more heat to beat the tight curls down as well. We then pulled all the curls apart and teased it to make it more fuller.

more woman... means more beauty!

Photos By: Alfred Espin

I've always been criticized for having such a broad idea of beauty. But I honestly believe there is beauty in everything in life. When I started putting together my hair portfolio (same time as when i started this blog), I decided that there wasn't gonna be any exceptions to this. I wanted to use everybody I loved.

I went on with my plans and shared it to a few friends who were in the fashion industry. I was horrified by their responses (but I shouldn't have been surprised). They all told me that I MUST be selective with my models. If I wanted to get hired for a gig, I had to find girls who weren't "girls from around the way." My book must have as much "white" models as possible. "You only get one chance, and you must be fierce in this delivery," I was told. It honestly shook me up. I started feeling insecure and fed into it for a minute and almost completely gave in... Until I was awaken by Tanisha.

I see her almost everyday. And everyday I always think to myself how gorgeous and sweet she is. She has such a presence and exudes so much beauty through her smile and laughter. And not to mention, that she dresses for the GODS!!! We were talking one day about finding beautiful and flattering clothes in bigger sizes was such the task. At that moment, something finally clicked in my head. I decided that had to have her in my book!

We are constantly bombarded by images and fed ideas of what beauty is "suppose" to be. We live with false perceptions and kill ourselves to achieve being "beautiful." Life is beautiful, and we all posses it. In response to the person who told me that I needed to be fierce in my delivery; being fierce to me, was never bound by color, size, or height. As my girls and I would say, "it's how you serve it to the masses honey!" And sweety, Tanisha always GIVES it to the girls!

The Wig:

Its a custom wig. We fitted a wig cap on Tanisha. And made the actual wig on her. The reason why I did this, was so that it would sit properly on her head. I started gluing the hair on by the nape of her neck. And you just keep stacking strips of hair right on top of each other. Refer to my second posting on the step-by-step process.