Oh well I suppose I’m already late with this, but I really, really love the Looklet website!

You know how girls like Barbies because you get to dress them up?  That’s pretty much what Looklet is for.  They have several models to choose from, and then thousands of clothes and accessories that you can mix and match to create the look you want.

I know it sounds a little childish when I describe it, but trust me, it’s fun.  Plus you can have a look book.  I’m thinking the next time I have to plan an outfit, I can use Looklet to build it and see if it looks great or not.

I just wish the website had a few more “Asian” fashion options, as right now the look is very Western and I’m not always into that kind of clothing.  It’s still fun, though! Kind of like Japan’s Poupee Girl, except now it’s real people and real products. Yep, you’ve got the brands and everything.  That’s probably dangerous to your wallet’s health when you decide that the look you built simply has to come to life (as in you buy the stuff and wear them for real haha), but it’s all good fun and registration is free.

Check out the looks I created after the jump.

The weather outside is horrible.

I live in a country where there are only two seasons: wet and dry.  The curse of a tropical archipelago, I suppose.  Apart from the regular rain showers we also have to contend with the occasional storms that are — trust me on this — seriously frightening.

It’s a wonder the British Plueys never caught on here. We should be the first people to go nuts over pretty rain boots, but somehow it just never became popular here. To think those horrible crocs even made it big here, boo!

Which reminds me. Why can’t we have prettier umbrellas?  The past few months have been unbelievably rainy, and every time I commute to and from work I catch sight of a sea of blacks, browns and blues.  I believe I stand out with my bright plaid umbrellas, but fashionable umbrellas really aren’t easy to find here.

East Asian countries, on the other hand, treat umbrellas like fashion accessories.  Seriously. We in tropical countries use our umbrellas as trusty weapons, and they use theirs to look dainty?  I’m not kidding. I saw one girl in Seoul who was using a Victorian-parasol-inspired umbrella to shield herself from the sun. As we all know by now, they hate getting tanned skin, so umbrellas pretty much serve their purpose.

So, inspired as I am by the constant pitter patter of rain outside my window, here are a few pretty interesting umbrellas I found online:

As you know, I’m seriously obsessed with BB creams.

Yes, that’s a fact already. Moving on.

Thing is, I got tons of sample tubes from two lovely, lovely sellers who indulged my BB cream needs.  Thanks to my BB cream haul, I now have eight — count them — lovely BB creams of different brands to sample.

The first one I tried was Skin79 Triple Plus Beblesh Balm, but I used it once before switching to my BRTC babies. The Skin79 product wasn’t bad; it just was too sheer for me the last time I used it, and my skin (especially the bad eyebags) really needed the coverage.

Plus I’ve been dying to try BRTC products for the longest time, as I hear that they’re pretty much the best BB cream brand in the world.  So, the past week and a half had me road testing two of their products: BRTC Gold Caviar and Jasmine Water.

Here are my thoughts:

What's Your Skin Care Routine?

If there’s one thing that seriously drove me nuts while I was in Seoul, it was the way almost all the people I came across there had near perfect skin. Yes. Even the men have seriously glowing skin.  I’m not kidding.

Some time before I left the country, I’d already gotten a bit tired of the whole “skin care/cosmetics” obsession. I simply wasn’t finding anything that was good for me, and I had resigned myself to using adapalene on my face for the rest of time. No breakouts, sure, but no happy-looking skin either.

It was the pretty, pretty Koreans that got me inspired again. Damn if it’s just genes! I’m East Asian, too, so I should technically be of the same racial stock (if it’s genetics talking, that is) and be blessed with the same perfect skin.

But alas, there’s really no such thing as just “naturally” flawless.  Sure, there are people blessed with less breakouts than others, but I believe that a large part of beautiful skin also comes from the steps you take to care for yourself.

So, what’s the secret to their perfect and flawless skin? Read and learn!

For readers who are not from the Philippines, the term “168″ might be unfathomable.  For fellow shopping lovers here in the hot and sticky archipelago, however, the very mention of those three numbers will incite a major dizzy spell.

See, 168 Mall is the hub of dirt cheap products from China and South Korea.  You’ve got clothes, accessories, bags, shoes and pretty much everything else you can think of.  The mall is massive, with stalls crammed together and people bumping against each other at every turn.

No, it’s not a pretty sight, and it’s a major fire hazard, I suppose (where are the freaking fire exits?) but who can resist?

I definitely can’t.  Every visit to 168 Mall has left me near broke, but last Saturday, I exercised every bit of will power I had to not over buy. My goal of the day was to buy only one each of the three things I wanted: shorts, a light jacket and earrings.

I didn’t find shorts or a jacket in the design that I wanted, but I did get a ton of earrings, plus a cutie necklace!!! I also got a few stuff for Christmas (yes, I shop that early haha), so I think I was a good girl last Saturday. Total damage (for earrings, necklace and Christmas gifts) was only Php 500 (US$10.5 approximately).

Check out the goods: