HI, REGINA!
My friends are insisting that we go out tonight, but I’m just not the crazy costuming type! What’s an easy way to channel the Halloween spirit?
AYA
The easiest, least costumey way to get into the Halloween zone is to just vamp up your look for the evening. Go for a bold smoky eye with the slightest hint of red stain on your lips and pull on your favorite LBD.
If you’re feeling a bit more game to jump into the fun, a costume doesn’t always have to be an all-out spectacle. Try to pull a vintage look together, or if you have a nice white mini dress, think Monroe and swipe on a bright red lip and some winged liner. Your options depend on the contents of your closet, really!
If you’re feeling exceptionally lazy, you can even throw on a tank top and some shorts, borrow some suspenders from a brother or a male friend (or get some on the cheap from SM), braid your hair, and tell people you’re Lara Croft. Even better, you have an excuse to be wearing comfortable boots or sneakers and won’t be complaining about aching feet after dancing all night long.
REGINA
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THE I-REALLY-DID-NOT-TRY-TOO-HARD LOOK
DEAR LUCY,
How do I achieve that sexy, I-really-did-not-try-too-hard look? How do I feel sexy?
ERICH
You said it already, really. Just don’t try too hard at all. I think a woman feels most sexy when she is comfortable, so it may be good to approach everything else about fashion and beauty from that viewpoint. Especially with hair and makeup, don’t overdo it. It is okay for hair to move and be mussed up a bit, and your whole face need not be done to the nines each time you step out.
Other ways to feel sexy? I’d say wear lovely perfume, put on gorgeous underwear every day just because, perfect a smoky eye that you can do in no more than five minutes, don’t wear something tight all over. There has to be some light and shade even when it comes to dressing: something soft and slouchy paired with something sleek and tight, high heels with denims, false lashes and red lips on an otherwise bare face.
Basically, just don’t step out looking like you planned what you were going to wear a week in advance (even if you did). Just have fun with fashion.
LUCY
SCENT OF A MAN
HELLO, RISSA!
I just want to ask what are the best colognes and light perfumes for men that are really masculine. I want to give my boyfriend a cologne and perfume on his birthday. Kindly give me a few selections. I know you are the best person I can ask.
LILY
I remember the very first fragrance I gave my then-boyfriend-now-husband — it was Escada Sentiment Pour Homme (available at leading department stores). We had just gotten together as a couple and I gave it to him as my first Valentine’s gift. It made me go gaga the very first time I smelled it! It evoked a clean and sexy elegance. That was five years ago and until today, he continues to wear the same scent. I still go gaga over him every time I smell him wearing that same scent.
We recently discovered a new scent we both love — Amyris Homme by Maison Francis Kurkdjian (available at Adora Greenbelt 5, Makati). It’s amazingly masculine and sexy. Created by celebrated perfumer Francis Kurkdjian, this luxury scent makes use of iris pallida, which is said to be one of the most expensive ingredients in modern perfumery. And it’s no wonder why — just a drop will make a pleasant fragrance sublime. It’s the kind of scent that lingers and teases you even long after you’ve parted ways. Careful though — this is a scent that smells so insanely sexy, you’ll want to make sure he wears it only when he’s with you.
RISSA
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Send e-mail to Lucy Torres-Gomez at ltg@pldtdsl.com. E-mail Rissa Trillo at stylesos_rissa@yahoo.com or follow her on Twitter @RissaMananquil. Send Regina Belmonte your questions at vivatregina.tumblr@gmail.com or tweet her @vivatregina.