How to Fix Broken Lipstick

Let's end this year with a tutorial, I've raved about how good is the Happy Skin Moisturizing Lippie Disney Collecction.  One of its disadvantage however is since it's so buttery, it broke!  Most of my lipsticks can withstand the normal forces inside my handbag or shoulder bag.  So this is the first time I had a broken lipstick.

Materials you'll need

• clean plastic
• lighter/candle
• refrigerator

Here's how my broken lipstick looks like

1. Place the top broken part  (left part of the picture) on top of a clean plastic sheet and place in refrigerator for 2 minutes
2. Once the part is cold, use the plastic to hold it, to avoid having your fingerprints when you hold the top part
3. Hold the broken part over a flame.



4. Once a little part has melted, you can attach it back to the tube.





5. And it's fixed! If it breaks again, you can just attach it again with the same technique.

Happy New Year everyone!

Happy Skin Disney Princess Moisturizing Lippie (Rapunzel) - Review

I've heard so much good reviews with Happy Skin Moisturizing Lippies, but I didn't have the chance to buy them since I have many lippies yet.

But when the Disney Princess collection came out, I can't resist! Disney has been a part of my childhood and I couldn't stop myself from buying one for myself.

I bought the Rapunzel, since this is the shade which I would likely to use, even though Cinderella was my favorite Disney Princess.

Packaging	It comes in crayon-like purple, plastic packaging.  You can twist it from below to push up and down the product
Smell	Unscented
Consistency	Very buttery. It glides really smoothly
Application	When you apply it on to your lips, it glides really smoothly.  It's really buttery, and you don't need any lip balm prior to application.  Color pay-off is also good. Kiss-proof Test It's not kiss-proof Longevity Test I was actually surprised of how well it lasted.  It lasted for around 6 hrs, even after eating pasta and roasted chicken, there's still a little stain left. Overall the lippie felt REALLY REALLY COMFORTABLE! I don't even need to apply lip balm throughout the day.  It didn't dry my lips, really moisturizing, true to its claim.
Duration of use	1 month
Pros	Moisturizing Decent lasting
Cons	Not kiss-proof Relatively Expensive (Php 599)
Recommend?	Yes
Rating	9/10

A year of Struggles - Rising from Depression

This post is made for those people who are currently depressed, sad, or had undergone depression.  Hope this experience of mine may help you in your struggle in fighting this disease.

This year didn't start out as great, I had lots of struggles in my residency that I cannot say here for it may lead to me getting kicked out of residency.

My major source of unhappiness this year was when I lost my thyroid gland.  This is something you can't control.  You get sick, even if you never smoked in your life, you've never tried prohibited drugs, you're not an alcoholic etc. Nobody wanted to get sick. This experience had given me a lot to ponder.  I've experienced symptoms that made me question if I can still be a surgeon.  Changing specialties came across my mind numerous times not because I didn't want to be a surgeon anymore, but because I may not be capable to become a surgeon anymore.  

People started to judge you, "You can't do this.", "You can't do that.", "You're sick, you should stop."  If you're on leave for a long time, the hospital may kick you out, who needs a doctor who can't even function in a position he applied for? But I kept telling myself, "hang on", if a plastic surgeon who also underwent total thyroidectomy can be a successful plastic surgeon, then there's a possibility that you can still function as a urologist.

Crying became a normal routine, I cry any time of the day and more frequently at night everyday.  Your parents started to get worried everytime they see you cry, and you just feel guilty because you can't help crying but you wouldn't want to worry your parents.  You'll receive comments like, "Why are you crying? Crying won't help. You have to move on..." These words don't help depressed people, they only make things worse.

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Le Petit Souffle - Food Review

It's been a long time since I wrote a restaurant review.  Hope I have what it takes to make a review.  This review is in no way sponsored.  We weren't invited either.

Le Petit Souffle is a French-Japanese cafe that offers comfort food.

Ambience	The ambience is very comforting! It has a french cafe theme. It has a feel good vibe and is a perfect place to have dates.
Food

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DIY Bangkok in 3 days

This post is for someone who:

1. 1st time ever experiencing a diy travel
2. 1st time in bangkok
3. has 3 full days in bangkok - 5 days in total (1st and last day for departure and arrival)
4. wants a combination of sight-seeing and shopping
5. has someone with them who can not walk for long hours

This was my first time to make a diy itinerary in a foreign country which was also my first time there.  I think first-timers can get some useful tips from fellow first-timers as well. 

What I love about this DIY travel is its flexibility.  I was with my father, who has a knee condition, so cannot walk for long hours.  I recently just had my surgery, so I'm not too sure either of my strength in travelling either. Let's begin...

We were in Thailand for a total of 5 days.  1st day we left at 2:30 pm Philippine time and after 3 hours of travel time we arrived at Thailand's international airport.  There's a 1 hour difference in the time of Philippines and Thailand, with 1 hour advance in Philippines compared to Bangkok.

At Thailand airport

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Sending Smiles this Christmas

Ever since I underwent surgery and in the process of recovering and struggling between the ups and downs of my thyroid hormone levels, I thought of doing an artsymed project.  I thought of giving christmas cards away to people who have come to touch my life in some way or the other.

I can still remember my teachers' smile whenever they receive delivered christmas cards in highschool.  In highschool, the student council has a project of delivering christmas cards to whomever you want it delivered.  And I can still remember how excited students were in waiting for christmas cards to arrive and their happiness when they receive these cards.

So this year's Artsymed Christmas Project was that I hope to send smiles to people.  As you could see in my previous post, while recovering from surgery, I experienced depression and making cards somehow helped me lessen my sadness.  I can still remember crying when I made these cards, they helped me through depression, when I was all alone. But I would smile everytime I can see these cards done, I hope these cards can send smiles to others as well.

Here are a few cards I made for this christmas season:

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Closet Costume: Mime

And so I went to another party and I only discovered that the party had a 'theme' 1 day before the party.  No time to make special costumes, not even have a time to rent some costume online.

I attended for the first time a christmas party from another institution besides UST, this was Cardinal Santos Surgery Christmas Party and it was titled: "Cirque du Surg".  Carnival was the theme of the christmas party.

Looking at carnival costumes, I would really love to be a ringmaster or a showgirl with all the glitters, sequins, wig and makeup! But with less than 24 hrs to prepare, I had to do with what I have in my closet.

Then this came to the picture:

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Closet Costume: Gatsby

There's a trend to making themed parties here in the Philippines, not only children, but adults as well will be dressing up to parties.  One of my favorite costumes or theme is the Great Gatsby.  I love this theme because of its flexibility and it's all about the Accessory, and they look really great in pictures!

Let's be practical, there are some people who will not be willing to spend a lot of money to buy a costume to be used only one night or one party.  But you wouldn't want to be left out in the themed party right? So there should be a compromise between practicality and being true to the theme.

PS: I'll be tackling the female costume only here.

Let's first take a look what do gatsby-inspired costumes look like

Let's break this down, these are the basics:

• The great gatsby has a general theme of: black, white, gold, silver.  You can use the other colors but generally these colors center on this theme.
• Like I said before, this theme is all about accessory/props: feathers and pearls.
• Makeup: Red Lipstick

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Lessons from Hector and the Search for Happiness

When you're sad, any topic that concerns happiness draws your attention.  I guess it's you're personal attempt to help yourself to be happy.

I was particularly withdrawn to this book, "Hector and the Search for Happiness", but it was really expensive, for a small book! P599!! Luckily I saw someone online that sells the preloved book, so I got one for P150.  Superb isn't it?

You may say that I'm way behind, since I think this was already popular in 2010 and a movie was made out of it in 2014 due to its popularity.

There may be spoilers in this post, so don't read further if you're the type who hasn't read it yet and plan to read it in the future.

I just thought I would like to place the happiness lessons here for future reference to remind me about happiness.

Here were the Happiness Lessons of Hector

Lesson no. 1 Making comparisons can spoil your happiness.

Lesson no. 2: Happiness often comes when least expected.

Lesson no. 3: Many people see happiness only in their future.

Lesson no. 4: Many people think that happiness comes from having more power or more money.

Lesson no. 5: Sometimes happiness is not knowing the whole story.

Lesson no. 6: Happiness is a long walk in beautiful, unfamiliar mountains.

Lesson no. 7: It’s a mistake to think that happiness is the goal.

Lesson no. 8: Happiness is being with the people you love.

Lesson no. 8b: Unhappiness is being separated from the people you love.

Lesson no. 9: Happiness is knowing your family lacks for nothing.

Lesson no. 10: Happiness is doing a job you love.

Lesson no. 11: Happiness is having a home and a garden of your own.

Lesson no. 12: It’s harder to be happy in a country run by bad people.

Lesson no. 13: Happiness is feeling useful to others.

Lesson no. 14: Happiness is to be loved for exactly who you are.

Observation: People are kinder to a child who smiles (very important).

Lesson no. 15: Happiness often comes when you truly feel alive.

Lesson no. 16: Happiness is knowing how to celebrate.

Lesson no. 17: Happiness is caring about the happiness of those you love.

Lesson no. 18: Happiness could be the freedom to love more than woman at the same time. (later, hector omits this lesson from his list)

Lesson no. 19: The sun and the sea make everybody happy.

Lesson no. 20: Happiness is a certain way of seeing things.

Lesson no. 21: Rivalry poisons happiness.

Lesson no. 22: Women care more than men about making other happy.

Lesson no. 23: Happiness means making sure that those around you are happy.

• Be very attentive towards others.
• Take time to observe the beauty of the world.

One of my favorite quotes was: People whose glass is always half full are clearly happier than those whose glass is always half empty.

and we have to remember to ask ourselves:

1. Think about the difference between the life you have and the life you wish you had.
2. Think about the difference between your life as it is now and the best period of your life in the past.
3. Think about the difference between what you have and what others have.

I'm just posting these here for my future reference 😆

Doctor's Guide to Organizing an Appreciation Party

Whenever doctors have an event, we're challenged to do some event planning, which is not our forte, well, that's why we're doctors and not event planners... But we are usually on a tight budget, so we can't hire an event planner to make our lives easier and oftentimes, we have no choice but to do the organizing ourselves.

This is a resident's guide, since I'm still a resident and I would like to share what I've learned in becoming one of the organizing committee in a mini Appreciation Night.

Disclaimer: Things written here are product of collaboration of all the ideas of residents and consultants and not all of my own...

Two important things in any event are: MONEY & TIME, and more often than not, we don't have much of both. We'll just do what we can with what we have.

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Poison Ivy Cosplay

The last of the induction series as a urology resident is the body painting contest.  The theme for this year was Pinagbenga, since the event was held in the beautiful city of Baguio.  I thought of how I can make this my style, and I had to consider certian 'things'.

1. Since I'm the only girl in the UST Urology as of the moment, I can't let those boys paint on my body?! What would my parents think???!!!
2. I don't like paint all over my body! It's difficult to wash off.
3. I need someone to help me in the body paint and in putting on my makeup and costume etc etc

So I decided that I want a character that will feature flowers in her costume (Of course, has to be a she, I don't want to cross dress at least for this event.) I have to incorporate body paint into the costume as well.

So I decided on POISON IVY! I searched the net and found that I really love the version of Uma Thurman.

I was particularly drawn with the glitters to tell you the truth.  

Luckily, the OR staff had a party not too long ago wherein one of the staff nurses had a made to order Poison Ivy costume. I was lucky enough that it fitted me!!!!  Then for the wig, I had to look at olx and found a Baguio-based cosplayer who happened to have a poison Ivy costume for rent.  I just rented the red wig, since I was able to borrow the costume form the nurse already. Plus she helped me with the makeup and body paint as well!

Then I thought that the green part of arms and legs will be the body painting part.  It's easier to wash off since only my arms and legs will be painted, and I will not look ill-prepared since the costume was magnificent, and... it's not too revealing (that's the most important part).

You can see how I made the Headdress, Boot Cover & Arm Band & Leg Band in these respective pages.

I think this was a success even if I didn't win any prize, since I was able to make this into something that suits my style.  Losing doesn't hurt that much (your pocket especially) when you enjoyed doing the DIYs.

Here's an overview of the other contestants of the body painting contest.

Poison Ivy Armband & Legband Tutorial

Another part of Poison Ivy Costume DIY
You can check the Socks Boot Cover Tutorial & the Headdress Tutorial to know how I made those accessory and you can check the overall look in here

Now let's start with my very childish introduction:
Of course Uma Thurman's version of Poison Ivy Costume wouldn't be complete without the glitters!!!!

I don't have time to put on body glitter, so I decided to make an armband and legband (if that's what it's called) instead.

Materials:
Green felt fabric (hard)
Paper & Pencil
Green & Gold glitters
PVA Glue
Elastics
Sewing Kit

Step 1 - Measure your arm width and your leg width and cut the appropriate elastic length.  Sew the two ends together to form a ring. Draw different sizes of leaves into your paper.

Step 2 - Cut these patterns and use them as guide to cut your felt fabric shapes.  Cut many shapes using the different sizes of leaves.

Step 3 - Place some glue onto your felt fabric and pour glitters over them!!  Allow to dry

Step 4 - Glue the pieces onto the elastics.  Remember to use only drops of glue, do not glue the entire elastic and just place the leaves on top, this will harden the elastic and it will not be elastic anymore. 

And you're done!

Poison Ivy Headdress

This is a part of Poison Ivy Cosplay tutorial series. You can check how I made the boot cover using in this page: Socks Boot Cover Tutorial
The arm band and leg band can be found here: Arm Band & Leg Band Tutorial
The overall look can be found here: Poison Ivy Cosplay

Let's first look at our inspiration for the headdress:

The version played by Uma Thurman is one of my favorite versions of Poison Ivy Costume.

Materials needed (I bought everything in Dangwa, except for pliers and glue gun):
red headband
plastic leaves
fake fabric red roses
wire
pliers
glue gun
Fake red crystals / sequin flowers

Step 1 - Remove all the rose buds from the fake flower stem.  Remove also some small leaves from the leaf bouquet.

Step 2 - Using your hot glue, glue the roses into your red headband.
Step 3 - Wrap the wire of your crystals and sequin flowers in between the roses.

Step 4 - Glue in the plastic leaves.  

Step 5 - You're Done!!!!

Here's a picture when worn.