Love Chic

From our first shoot together up to today, we’ve come to realize that the less we care how our photos will look, the more we like how they turn out—whether or not the amount of “likes” or comments on the post says the same thing. Most of the time, we don’t really plan what to wear or how to accessorize or what contrived and complicated poses to do. Even the title and the writeup just come later on, literally minutes before we sit down together and post.

CPS Chaps sheer floral top, The Ramp at Crossings skirt, SM Department Store socks, Call It Spring color block wedges and shades. Hype this on Lookbook here.

Beauty notes: Maybelline Pure Liquid mineral foundation, The Face Shop Face It designing dual shading pact, Topshop lipstick. Don’t you just love how the sunglasses match the top perfectly?

Wedges again! I added yellow orange to the black and white colorblocking to amp up its ’60s-era feel.

Celio button-down, CPS Chaps jeans, SM Department Store socks, SM Accessories shades, Call It Spring shoes. Hype this on Lookbook here.

Hello, Shai peering at my shades!

I don’t usually wear dressy shoes like these because they’re generally not that comfortable to walk around in (plus it can be difficult to pull them off without looking too corporate). But if you want to look polished and put-together, especially for a swanky party or a serious meeting, you’ll make a good impression with this pair. Something every guy should have. My late dad used to say, shoes are like car tires. If they’re dirty, that says a lot about the owner.

So why the title? Because we humbly and sincerely believe that the best way to blog is to be yourself.

Long before it was considered an actual career option, blogging in its purest sense was all about putting your heart and soul out there in an honest yet considerate, opinionated yet eloquent, consummate yet ethical way. And to play with the phrase’s actual meaning, we believe that it’s your self you should be seeing when you look in the mirror that is your website—not a stranger in a costume striking a pose. Otherwise, therein lies the danger of losing touch with what’s real and what’s important.

One of the many reasons we’re glad we have each other.

…On a graffiti-filled rooftop of an abandoned building. Pity we couldn’t show you just how high up we were—the lower floor is filled with trash and weeds and other unsightly things not suitable for anyone’s sensibilities. When we say abandoned building, we mean abandoned, even by any hope of salvation. We mainly just braved that rooftop and sat on the edge for our own sense of fulfillment.
     
Anyway, we’re usually a little more subtle now about our matchy outfits than this, but this was for a Valentines PR collaboration with Skechers Philippines (posting only now because we’re Slowpoke like that) so it’s cool.

Besides, it could be a lot cheesier. We could’ve been posing sweetly with the lines of some song sprawled on the picture and the letters L-O-V-E behind us. Oh wait…

Well, still could be cheesier. We could’ve been wearing all red and, you know, have a red heart-shaped balloon or something. Oh wait…

Darn it. All right, we’re cheesy. Still a better love story than Twilight.

*** 
We’re both wearing Skechers Go-Runs. Special thanks to Jay Dalisay and Katrina Ong for tapping us for this project. Check out Skechers Philippines on Facebook!
Click pics for other outfit/photo credits.

Guess who just dyed their own hair ombré?

The term is a French word which means “gradiation” or “shade.” Instead of one color throughout, you’ve got a darker shade on top that gradually goes lighter down the tips, usually ending in blonde.

We didn’t find any salons that offered this, so we thought we’d do it ourselves.

We’re glad we did; not only were we able to save money, we were also able to pick up a few self-reminders from the experience.

Lesson 1: Stand on your own two feet. We’re firm believers that nobody is self-made; whatever form of success we currently enjoy, people along the way helped us get to where we are. However, being dependent on others is a different story. If you always need people to do certain things for you, what happens when they leave, turn their back on you, or worse, demand repayment and rub in your face all the good they’ve done when things go sour? Do things yourself. If it works, you’ll have leveled up and won’t have to drown in debts of gratitude. If it doesn’t, you’ll still have learned and have no one to blame.

Lesson 2: Dare to be different. Just because everybody’s doing this or wearing that or getting hooked with this app or going to that hip-happening place doesn’t make it imperative that you should, too. Au contraire. Dare to be a starter, not a follower—and dare to stand by your own choices and preferences.

Lesson 3: Experiment. Take risks. Whenever hesitation or fear strikes, ask yourself what’s the worst that can happen. What have you got to lose? Will it matter in the greater scheme of things? Will it matter three, five, ten years from now? And even if the answers to these are bleak, well, sometimes the best way we can truly learn and grow is through our mistakes and failures.

Lesson 4: Be yourself, always. In this day and age more than ever, this seems to be one of the simplest yet most challenging things to practice. With everyone so inevitably connected and perennially updated, it seems to have become so important to be who we are expected to be: edited, curated, censor-approved versions of ourselves, rather than who we are happy to be: just ourselves! How can we be true to other people if the person we see everyday in the mirror is fake?

On Shai: Forever21 embroidered dress, Parisian at SM Department Store booties, SM Accessories bangle, Fidelity necklace and rings. Hype on Lookbook here.

On Seph: Forever21 blazer, Topman shirt, Bench jeans, Aldo socks, Adidas shoes, SM Accessories necklace and wristband, Timex watch. Hype on Lookbook here.

   
…All this from three tubs of hair color. Who knew? Haha. Tutorial, anyone? Tell us what you think—use that Reply button on your Tumblr dashboard or leave a Disqus comment :) Hope y’all had a good start for the new year!