Hello Sweet November by PhoebeAnn

Join Phoebe's November Give-aways

At stake are 10 (TEN) goodie bags worth over Php 20,000 in total from The Swiper and our sponsors. So many ways to win one of these goodie bags!

Give-aways preview.






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The Polishaholic 300 followers give-aways

Hey all, very excited to be posting this! As a big giant thank you to all of you who read, follow and comment on my blog I have a big old giveaway for ya! Never in my wildest dreams did I think that so many people would read and comment on my blog, you guys make this so fun! I've been hoarding this for a while so I decided to split it up into two prizes! No real theme going on here, just a bunch of pretty polish!

Click this link for complete details.


I'm drooling just looking at this Prize2 giveaways! ♥♥♥

Drew Barrymore at $25 Vintage Dress

Drew's "Look for Less" strutted the red carpet in a metallic-printed 3/4-sleeve shift dress from a thrift store paired with $760 Yves Saint Laurent "Tribute" pumps at Nylon's August issue party to celebrate Express Denim.

WAREHOUSE SALE!

RING Cravings

Marc by Marc Jacobs - Bow Wow Wow Anabella Ring - $58


Alex and Ani - Holly Vintage Bohemian Cocktail Ring - $58


Dannijo - Blanche Ring - $282


Rachel Leigh - Millie Ring - $61.60


Kenneth Jay Lane - Enamel Bow Ring - $66

$525.60 just for 5 rings. *sigh*

Fashion21 Experience

Four days after the Grand Opening, I asked my husband to come with me to F21. I was scared to visit the shop without my husband because I might find myself racking up credit debt with my two cards if I'll visit the shop alone.

F21 gives me mixed emotions.


EXCITEMENT - every fashionista at heart feels this. The moment bloggers announced the grand opening, almost all of us wanted to be there. I admit I was there - late. Looking at how long the line is, I just didn't have the time to wait.


GUILT - Yes, I absolutely feel guilty if I'll walk out the shop just carrying stuff for me. So upon entering the store I asked my husband to check the men's section first. (and the side comments started )


LOSING MY APPETITE - while checking on the dresses, I saw the queue on the cashier that makes me lost my excitement. I just don't have a time to wait that long just to pay for a couple of items. There are lots of stocks, I can pay another visit.

We looked around and checked all the items and my husband keeps on saying what's with this store that makes you all go crazy? My reply "IT'S FOREVER 21!" He's like "SO? The clothes are good but there's nothing special about it. You have lots of clothes that looks better than this and a lot more cheaper". I guess he's right.

Upon checking some of the dresses the fabric quality is not that good, the stitches are loose. It's just too delicate to just put it on the spinning tub.

The shoes, honestly yes it's affordable but I'm not sure 'bout the quality. I'll check on my sissy if hers will last that long.

Accessories are definitely a NO No for me. I can find cheaper and more quality bling blings somewhere. =)

So I rest my case. I'm not going to shop in F21 unless I'll be attending a special event that requires me to dress up. I'm just an "Occassional Fashionista" that's too lazy to dress up everyday.


Don't hate me. I still love F21!


I'll still stick to "If it's not on SALE don't buy it".

A Dashing Diva Moment

Another sister bonding moment...

After charging 6k+ on our card, we've decided to claim our free basic manicure from Dashing Diva last Friday, June 4 in preparation for our cousins wedding the next day. I called for an appointment earlier in the week at Dashing Diva’s Eastwood branch just in case they have a lot of customers for that day and booked my sister and myself.

After work at around 5pm, I spent my time waiting for my sister's 6pm clock-out by playing PVZ on my computer. (Yes, I also hate zombies. They ate too much of my time)

I waited for her text to see if I can pick her up at her office and around 6pm. she finally said she was done so I went on my way to pick her up. It was already around 7pm when we met and I was getting grumpy because we're having a hard time getting a cab. It was Friday and all of the cabs are taken. There was this cab who's charging us 200 pesos from Ortigas to Eastwood. WTF...
My sister and I were desperate to get our manicures and transportation problems weren’t going to stop us so we just decided to take an FX to IPI and then a jeep going to Eastwood instead.

We got to the Beauty Bar Store in Eastwood at around 730pm and approached the lady manning Dashing Diva. She told us to surrender our Original charge slip at the counter first and present our HSBC Card. While waiting for the cashier to approve our charge slips, there was another lady next in line who was also availing of her free manicure. So I guess it's not only us who's addicted on freebies... hehehe...

So the much awaited event is here....

The lotions
The Kit
The super uber comfy bed for our hands
Bubble bath for our fingers

I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the step by step process in the preparation of our nails since both hands were busy hehe...

I was surprised coz' the step by step process I was used to with my regular nail salon was different now. There was no cuticle remover or red tint!

So here’s how it went...
First is they rubbed our hands with the blue thingy on the pump posted on the first pic( I think this is the sanitizer with alcohol or mint content since it feels a bit cold and smells minty)

Next is they put on the pink liquid soap-like product on each fingers and rub it gently and they'll ask you to soak your hands on the bubble bath. After that, they wiped our hands dry and put on an orangey oil potion on the nails and started pushing the cuticle.
I was guessing this was the cuticle remover I was looking for and it turns out I was wrong. I asked the manicurista what the pink and orange thingy they've just put on us and it turns out the pink one is an exfoliant and the orange one is a moisturizer. Clear enough.

So after all the trimming and cleaning, this is how my hands look like.. yuh - I know I don’t have perfect hands but I love my nails.

perfectly shaped and cleaned fingers (not hands)
After the cleaning, of course there's the quick moisturizing massage. And it feels ohhh soooo goood!

After the massage, my fingers met another product from DD.

If I remember correctly, this prevents your nails from turning yellow due to the nail polish. They applied the white coat first and then the Blue coat.

While doing that, they handed us the color palette to choose our shade. Huh! I forgot the name of the shade I had on my nails...In short a had a pink shade.

After the application of the polish, the manicurista artistically brush off excess polish on the sides.
NOTE: if you're having a light colored shade, have it applied for three coats, two coats is not enough. I just noticed it after it has totally dried. You can still see the brush strokes and uneven tone.

And the most fulfilling part is their "Flash Dry" finish. I'm not sure if it's the light or the fan that helps the coat dry faster. hehe.. (Regular polish bubbles on my fingers if I expose it to fans) It still puzzles me what's causing the nails to bubble. (must do research).
This prevents our newly coated polished nails from smudging. And yup they applied quick dry solution too.

No TIP this time.. hehe...

No vanity pic since we're both tired and hungry after our Dashing Diva moment and we felt like our faces will look haggard in the pic.

We ended our day having dinner at Tokyo Tokyo and a last quick stop at the tiangge for additional accessories for 415bucks (oh f@#k, did I just spent 415 for accessories?) and I had Jen spend 500 bucks on new clothes... hehe... it's on tiangge sale... It's sale. It's OK. I guess.. Yes I know.. I'm right... It's sale.. 200 bucks for the plaid shirt and a... what else... urggghh.. I can't remember.. is it the black blazer or the dress she got for 300 bucks... Oh well.. it's on sale.

(We promised not to shop until we paid all our bills) Must resist on spending too much... sister bonding moment is expensive.. sometimes.. you just can't help.. giving away your hard earned money... BUT IT'S WORTH IT!!!

Here's the vanity pic.

♥♥♥ My RED Card!!! ♥♥♥

Enjoy Red Hot Deals with your HSBC Red Mastercard, the only credit card that speaks a woman's language!

I had my Red Card last year and I'm enjoying all the perks and privileges designed exclusively for us, WOMEN!

RED HOT DEALS THAT I ENJOY!

STARBUCKS Promo


Who doesn't want a FREE tall drink from Starbucks?

For a minimum amount of P2,000 single receipt purchase on your HSBC Credit Card you can get a free tall SB Coffee with add-ons. Just present your HSBC Credit Card and the valid original credit card charge slip at any SB branch.

check-out my previous post.


DASHING DIVA Promo


Every Women needs a Manicure. And the best part is, it's FREE!

Get a Basic Manicure from Dashing Diva in Beauty Bar stores with a single or two receipts worth P6000 charged on your HSBC Red Mastercard Credit Card. To redeem your Free Dashing Diva Manicure, just present your HSBC Red MasterCard and Surrender the valid original credit card charge slip/s at any Dashing Diva/Beauty Bar store.

I'm going to have my Free Manicure this Friday in Eastwood Branch.

Note: Call Dashing Diva Branches for appointments. Eastwood Branch - 7065067.

LAY-BARE Promo


Free Eyebrow Threading for a minimum spend of P300 for HSBC RED MasterCard cardholders.

Note: Lay-bare Pearl Drive branch have a minimum charge of P450 on credit card. So the P300 minimum spend is not applicable. =(

CALTEX 5% Rebate Promo



Do I need to spend this much just to avail this stuff? Definitely NOT. If you have friends or family members who pay on cash basis every time they shop, let them use your card the next time they shop and pay the balance right away to avoid the "finance charge" from their purchases reflecting on your next credit card payment bill. Neat huh!?

SPEND WISELY!!!


All images used in this post are from HSBC website. This is not a paid AD

The Best Things In Life are FREE!

Since payday is not yet around I borrowed money from my sister to survive my weekend. I picked her up at her office at Textite, and we both agreed to have coffee. While on our way to Starbucks Tektite, we argued about who's paying and eventually agreed to pay for our own orders. I then told her I can get my coffee for free - and she was like "whateva".

and the pictures says it all....Thanks to my HSBC Red Mastercard.

After our coffee, we made our way to SM Megamall since the fx terminals going to Antipolo and QC are there.

And since girls can't just resist window shopping we found ourselves entering random shops.

Tried make-up testers ^.^, checked on watches and whatever else that caught our eyes.

And then a shining light came from nowhere, shining on the FREE MANICURE sign and my tingly feeling since morning reached it's highest peak and I said "let's get a free manicure!"

Upon inquiring... we need to purchase atleast 150 pesos each of items from CUTEX to get our FREE MANI.

I chose to buy a nail polish and a polish remover and a cuticle oil for my sister.

And then the hard part came next: CHOOSING the COLOR for OUR NAILS!

Since my sister is working in a more corporate, everyday dress up office; she decided to get a nude color. She said "I'm going to have a client meeting tomorrow, I need a normal looking shade."

After 20 mins. it was my turn.

"hmm...red, nude or light red?????"

I couldn't decide so I ended up having 5 shades on my nails!!!

Don't forget the 100 pesos tip for the uber super effort service from ate manicurista.

My kuripot mode sister goes... "My manicure is 200 pesos and I have a free cuticle oil."

So I told her... "Didn't you see the smile on ate's face when you handed her the tip? it's worth it."

And we ended our day with mirror vanity pic.
05-21-10