New School, New Rules: Slay in the Snow

The winds of winter are here, but I dream of spring.

The prospects of dealing with incoming snow and falling temperatures that dip below zero (in Celsius) scare me. The actual thing that most of us and myself included fear is that there isn’t enough cute clothing to make us LOOK hot while it’s freezing out there. As much as I want to layer my fishnet tights under my jeans, I can’t do that because basically, that’s hypothermia ready to call your name. And I am NOT going to let myself suffer for the sake of fashion or worst comes to worst, end up getting sick. (Yup, this happened to me when I didn’t realize that I wore summer clothing in fall temps!)

While winter fashion has a rap for being too boring, let’s not forget how YOU can spice it up!

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Rule #1: DON’T be afraid to wear a crazy jacket

Have you ever done drunk shopping before? Or like, impulse shopped when you are sober?  Ninety-nine point nine percent of the time it’s always something regrettable, but a good one percent is always the opposite. This is where the “crazy” jacket comes in. Cute, stylish and a tad bit dangerous for your closet, the “crazy” jacket is born to take you places. While you’ve mainly purchased it for the look of it, you can never go wrong with the little deets that make it a classic.

In my case, my favorite go-to for the cooler climes is a vintage yellow marabou jacket. Marabou jackets tend to have an oversized silhouette like a Superbowl player, but it can make you two sizes smaller than you really are without having to make yourself gorge on a juice cleanse AND keep you extra fuego! 🔥

Although I originally bought it for Halloween, I decided to wear it a few days ago and I never regretted it. If life is only meant to be celebrated once, what’s the entire point of living?

Rule #2: SHORT is sweet

Bummed that you felt like you can’t get your money’s worth on that short skirt you bought on sale? Make a killer bang for your buck with a new styling trick! As a petite gal, the one thing I swear by is an oversized sweater. The sweater that I wore in photo #2 originally hit my thighs. I would’ve done the full Edie (Sedgwick), but I didn’t want to waste the full $66 of my beloved Tripp NYC skirt. So, I tucked it in. Not only did it make me look chicer, the sweater was able to keep my whole body warm. Even if you’re tall, this trick will do you some magic!

If you don’t have an oversized sweater, a thick wooly dress is also a great substitute!!

Rule #3: When in doubt, WEAR metallic lipstick

Metallic lipsticks might be party-friendly, but you can BE the party when you have one in your pocket. In the snow and colder climes, the sunlight tends to be harsh and honestly, it’s not so kind on your skin. Unlike matte reds, browns, nudes and pinks, metallics are there to save your day. What’s amazing about it is that it reflects the light, which is why my lips always feel popping! Based on this fact, it’s proven to become an essential in my bag. If you are looking to try a metallic lipstick, go for Jeffree Star’s Pussy Whipped. The peachy gold tones gives you that J.Lo in Miami look – minus the extra spray tan and bronzer. It’s very editorial chic without literally being in one. Believe me, you are NOT going to regret it!

 

 

 

 

#HERssentials: the new professional

You’re fresh out of college, hunting for a job and being all armed and fabulous with a freshly printed resume in your hand. You have at least one hour to get ready for the big interview, but you’re running out of ideas.

Fear not! Who needs a lean mean contour, countless tools and sharpeners? Take a look here:

Hourglass Foundation | Glossier Boy Brow | Urban Decay Moondust Eyeshadow | Maquillage Blush | Huda Beauty liquid lipstick

It might’ve looked like I did this with a whole lotta help, but I didn’t. Instead, I just used my fingers. Simple and easy as 1-2-3! Using your fingers might be a bit more riskier, but it saved a LOT of time. Another thing I love to use about my  fingers is that it feels like you’ve put an airbrush on your face. Talk about Photoshop without the NEED to sit down all day long!

For the look itself, this is an everyday casual look with a bit more spunk. While you and I know that glitter eyeshadows belong in a Kesha music video, surprisingly, it’s very office-friendly! If you are going in for a magazine interview or anything that’s a bit more on the artsy side, a little glitter never hurt nobody. In this case, I mixed Diamond Dog (metallic brown with white gold flecks) and Space Cowboy (pale champagne with hints of silver) for the perfect brown-based smoky eye. It’s not entirely sooty as a smoky eye, but edgy enough to have that vibe. Office lighting is harsh and it’s not nice. Thankfully, the sparkles catch the light beautifully and give you filter-friendly skin! To cap it off, go for a Max Factor mascara. Trust me, it gives my short lashes the PERFECT lift without any visit to the surgeon. It’s literally like lash extensions, but at a small fraction! Smize it, girl!! 😉

Another thing about the whole “job interview” look is that when it comes to lipstick, you are better off having color than to have no color at all. Every single magazine will sit there and tell you to rock a nude lip that’s so close to your skin tone, but trust me, DON’T do it. A nude lip + no eye makeup = THE MUMMY. It’s not sexy and unfortunately, it ain’t gonna pop. Even though you are instructed to go for a natural look, my best bet is to go for a rose-based nude. The lipstick I’m wearing is what I’d call “cocoa rose” – 1/3 red and 2/3 brown. To cop this look, mix Huda Beauty in Venus and Icon. The brown-taupe base of Venus perfectly complements Icon’s pinkish-red base for that “kissed by a rose” look. If you try this, you are seriously gonna look SO good in it. Believe me, your interviewer will go JELLY over this lip color! 💁💅

Me doing my best Steve Buscemi face

Last but not least, let’s not overlook the hair department. Hair is extremely CRUCIAL and speaking of the obvious, you NEED to let yourself stand out. As someone who has short hair, my go-to is a metallic bobby pin. It’s more dressier than your average black bobby pin, but you can work it! Part your hair to the side and let the pins frame your face like Rihanna. It’s very ’40s meets ’80s with a hint of today – kinda like a helmet, but on the side of your face.

If you have metallic ones in more than one color, don’t be afraid to mix and match!! Gold and silver have never looked so good together. If you’re the kind that likes to get a ‘lil crafty, just buy some spray paint. If you are too lazy to hit up the nearest Michael’s, just go to Violet Grey and add that Y.S. Park into your cart! 💸💸💸

What is your favorite job interview makeup look? Have you ever thought of experimenting with a different look for each interview?

#HERssentials: the city edition

New York, I’ve missed you terribly.

It’s been a month and a half since I left you. While I wanna sleep all day long and complain about the cold weather (ugh, I hate it!), there are few things that make me happy all day long. (I secretly wanna sing like Julie Andrews while trying to battle this nasty jet lag!)

 Giant Vintage cat eye sunnies | Pop & Suki camera bag | Milani liquid lipstick | LMU Iggy the Lion keychain

Everyone always swears by the “one” thing they can’t live without, but there are a few that I need to start my day with. Since childhood, I’ve been collecting sunglasses and if there’s one that I legibly cannot live without, it’d be my vintage ’90s cat eye shades from Giant Vintage. From the pearly white frames to the elliptical oval lenses, these bad girls are alien chic at its finest. Although alien shades have a bad rap for being a ‘lil too cheesy, it’s always done right when you have ’em in a cat eye silhouette. If you wanna cop the exact look, you can get something similar to this.

If I need to have a purse, I’ll always grab my Pop & Suki bag. Honestly, it is THE best (bag) I’ve ever had! Although it’s small, it can stuff EVERYTHING: keys, Metrocard, phone, small wallet, lipsticks, etc! Unlike most bags in the game, you can sling it on your shoulder or let it go as a clutch. Price-wise, I have to admit that it was worth spending on. It’s so easy to find it in case I ever store it. 😉

Speaking of lipsticks, you seriously NEED to buy this. I’m being 100% dead serious. Milani liquid metallic lipsticks are HEAVENLY and freakishly regal! Among all the shades there, the one I swear by is Matterialistic, a brownish coppery red. Although metallic shades are always perceived to be “trendy”, it’s something to invest in since you never know when you need to add that “oomph”. WARNING: you will get TONS of compliments wearing this beauty! ✨✨

Last but not least, no purse is EVER complete without a cute stuffed toy. Every adult in your life older than your sister may say that it’s “too kiddy” to rock a plush, but screw it! As a firm believer that there’s no limit in age, this cute ‘lil lion is here to make me smile. Before I can go on, it’s the official mascot of Loyola Marymount University, where I went to college, and his name is Iggy the Lion. Any time I put ‘lil Iggy on, I just wanna pet him! I mean, don’t you wanna feel that mane?!

What are your essentials?

#OOTD: Law and Disorder

Tokidoki and vintage hair clips | Rad & Refined x The Candy Kids choker | RE/DONE shirt | vintage ’90s dress | YSL bag | Stuart Weitzman sandals

Black and white; striped and solid; studs and bling. Is there anything you can and cannot do? Believe me, I’ve been there.

Today, I visited the National Gallery Museum, which was once the Singapore Supreme Court. Although I was aware that I’d be paying a visit to Old Supreme Court, little did I know that my outfit matched one of their displays! In this case, it was an exhibit that recreated an old-time police room with walls reminiscent of the prison cells that were once below the museum.

While dressing for court usually requires the proper clean and classy look, there is no such thing as law and order when it’s off-duty. I may have missed an opportunity to pull a Lindsay Lohan, but I’ve made up for it by breaking and making the rules.

Rule #1: DO mix prints!

Remember the days when your mom told you to wear solids and stripes? Well, she may be right except for one thing: you can wear stripes and checks in one outfit! It’s very pure ’90s grunge with that touch of Clueless mixed in; however, the most 2017 way of doing it is toss on your favorite slip dress with your well-loved striped tee. Make sure the dress is actually PRINTED!!! No look can be complete when two becomes one.

Rule #2: Sky is NEVER the limit!

The sages of fashion may tell you to wear embellishments in small doses, but here, there is no such thing. In fact, I like to throw on my studs and crystals. And if that ain’t enough, don’t be afraid to pull out your hair clips. Talk about the perfect marriage between class and camp!

Rule #3: WEAR things that don’t conventionally flatter your body

You once prayed to God to make your boobs grow until you can’t see your feet. Well, I did that and today, I try not to regret my wishes. As 32DD and 5’4″ gal (I don’t know what this is in meters, lah!), I’m actually wearing a boxy cropped tee and babydoll dress. Boxy tees and babydoll tees are NOT supposed to be on bustier bodies, but fuck that shit. Just do it when you wanna show off your waist, can?

2017 Golden Globes: The Experimental Classics

Awards season is officially back in full swing and there’s nothing else better than the Golden Globes to kick off the festivities! With a new year, there’s gotta be a room for new silhouettes, right!? In this case, the Golden Globes has certainly proven me right.

For the past few years, the fashion game at the Golden Globes was SO boring after seeing the same old clean, lean and mean minimalist silhouettes that have dominated the red carpet since 2011. Did you even remember when you saw Jennifer Lawrence in that cutout Dior red dress last year? 😴😴😴 Talk about being utterly forgettable!

Although the Golden Globes are considered as a “warm up” for the Oscars, what’s so great about it is that you have more chances of seeing fresher silhouettes crop up on the carpet. Here are my top picks for the best in the game!

Sophie Turner, Janelle Monae, Nicole Kidman, Priyanka Chopra and Evan Rachel Wood KILLS it! What better way can I sum up their outfits?!

Glossier’s Boy Brow: A True Story on How I Lost and Found My Brows

The struggle to get eyebrows is real.

And if you think I’m joking, I’m really not. Sparse, but straight, my eyebrows are both a blessing and a curse. Shape-wise, I’ve never had too much trouble being able to define, tweeze and shape ’em. Frankly, that’s not too terrible to deal with. On the other hand, the lack of thickness is an unfortunate inheritance from my mom’s side of the family. (FYI, my mom says that she got it from her father, whose eyebrows are practically non-existent!)

When I was a baby, my mom applied candlenut oil on my brows for the sake of making them grow. Unfortunately, that was the ultimate #browfail.

This was me rocking the earliest incarnation of the Instagram brow

From there, I really didn’t do anything too drastic other than tweezing them until I got to the second semester of junior year in college. At that time, I was a little too lazy to grab a pencil and fill in my damn brows. The only thing I could grab was a Clio brow gel that contained some color to fill them in. That kinda sealed the deal, right?! Um….not so. 😞 It was a little too light as the gel was brown and my hair was darker than the shade of my eyebrows. Then, a brow savior from heaven dropped by and answered my prayers.

#OOTD: The New Basics

What exactly are basics? It’s honestly so hard for me to define it, but it usually consists of the plainest items in the closet. T-shirts, jeans, white sneakers, LBDs…you name it! But, that’s not my type of basic.

Dying to know how exactly I define my basics? Here’s the recipe:

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Basic instinct 💅🏼 || #ootn: @momastore earrings, @galore x @missguided jacket, @stone_cold_fox dress, '00s @ysl bag from @the_corner_store and @chloe sandals || #fashion #LivinLaVariNaDah #Singapore #resortstyle #babesofmissguided

A post shared by Michelle Varinata (@michyvari) on Jan 6, 2017 at 6:10am PST

#StyleCrush: Chromat

I can’t get over Chromat and my love for this brand is something that I’ve cultivated over the past three years.

The first time I saw this brand, I was shopping on Nasty Gal. (FYI, this was during its peak from 2012 to 2013…) On the site, I stumbled across a model wearing a white shirt with a cutout black cage bra. Generally, cutout clothing was – and still is – so hard to wear beyond a shirt if you have big boobs like myself. Sometimes, there could be too much overboob, underboob and sideboob. But with that bra, layering it on top of a shirt was the best thing I ever saw. It was kinda like a Fantasy Bra minus the diamonds: it had the right lift that wasn’t overly aggro, fitted cut and sleek cutouts. It looked like something I could truly wear. Shipped, sealed and delivered, it was mine.

If there’s anything else I love about Chromat, check out my top faves AND the interview I did with its designer, Becca McCharen Tran for The 405!

Huda Beauty: the BEST beauty brand you seriously need to know

It’s the new year and there is no other excuse to contain yourself. Except when it comes to makeup.

Last year, I’ve gone on a beauty binge by snapping up Nyx lip glosses on the sole purpose of having Kylie Jenner‘s lip gloss dupes. I even went this far to buy Kat Von D liquid lipsticks just to have the “most coveted” shades – Lolita and Lolita II – in my freaking drawer. Not to mention, I’ve snapped up tubes of Milani just to cop that Kylie metallic liquid lip look. (Even though I’m not a fan of Kylie personally, I really do like her makeup shades, which is something I probably shouldn’t admit!) From then on, I tried to make myself pinky swear that I wouldn’t buy any makeup this year. Until now.

New Year, New Me!

Hey, Varinaders! Happy New Year!! It’s been four years since I last blogged (crazy, right?!) and I’ve put my blogging career on the backburner since I was still trying to find my angle/voice. Also, I was extremely busy with trying to graduate college and develop my journalism career. Now that I’m ready to relaunch myself, I seriously can’t thank you all enough for standing by!

Unlike my old self, who was a bit more camera-shy, I’m ready to hit it out with a review column called Forever the Freshest, channel my inner Martha Stewart (minus the food) with #LivinLaVariNaDah and expect me to hear my thoughts on celebrity fashion. For those of you who wanna cop my outfits, I’ll treat you to an #ootd so you can more or less get the exact look. While I’m super stoked to share more of myself, feel free to catch some of my work for The 405, Galore and hopefully, many more!

Are you ready to get this party started?! Stay tuned!!

xoxo

Michelle