Manila Standard Today, Life & Entertainment | November 9, 2009
Bored of your hair? What you probably need is a new ’do or a new color. However, it’s not easy choosing a new style as it may look good in the magazine and turn out to be disastrous on you. If you have a good hairstylist, they will give you good advice on what will look good on you. But you need some ideas of your own. To know about the season’s hottest hair trends, see how the stars are wearing theirs…
1. Victoria Beckham, originator of today’s version of the bob, keeps it a little longer this season. She has an informal bob (as opposed to the blunt one she had before) and soft bangs. She also sports a more natural medium brown.
2. Megan Fox has dark brown hair that she sometimes wears straight and other times, wavy. The length, just a few inches down her shoulder, is very versatile, and with her slightly-bronzed skin, it makes her features stronger.
3. Katherine Heigl, a real blonde, goes brunette this time and makes it look more natural by having darker blush. She keeps it on point with tighter curls, foregoing her last-season soft waves.
4. Blake Lively keeps her blonde locks long and wavy. Loose curls make sure of the wind-in-hair effect. She, sometimes, ties it all up in a pony for a more mature look and lets it down for her teenage role in her hit series, Gossip Girl.
5. Michelle Trachtenberg, a Gossip Girl costar, taps into her sultry side with perfectly-styled dark locks. Gone are the days of her juvenile straight ’do. She adds glamorous seductiveness by complementing her wavy hair with smoky eyes.
6. Kate Moss, another blonde, has the same style, but as of recent, has been donning more up-dos, complemented by gigantic shades. The effect is very posh without being too formal.
7. Penelope Cruz pretty much keeps a classic hairstyle and has been doing so for a long time. Her style is reminiscent of ’90s supermodels’ looks. The dark shade of her long mane complements her skin tone.
8. Kim Kardashian, with naturally straight black hair, tried going blonde a few months ago. That didn’t last long and she’s back to her real hair color. The style, however, goes along with her mood. Currently, she’s feeling a little sophisticated (and not trashy) and her hair follows that maturity with loose structured curls.
9. Sienna Miller’s shoulder-length hair is almost always unkempt, but that’s exactly the point. She chooses a breezed-out look by having drastic, unpolished layers. The middle parting helps achieve the out-of-bed style.
10. Rihanna has done her hair at least 30 different ways. After her Chris Brown fiasco, she reemerged in a very risky punk style with an extreme mohawk that, in some occasions, laced with platinum highlights.
READ the rest of the article...
|
|
Celebrity hair today
Prêt-à-porter visionaries
Manila Standard Today, Life & Entertainment | November 9, 2009
One of the more interesting shows at Philippine Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2010 was the Ready-to-Wear/Visions & Trends group collections presentation. It displayed garments that can actually be worn, but not the regular department store clothes because it does have the words “visions” and “trends” in it. Wearable but visionary—did the participating designers manage to find the balance between these two seemingly opposing concepts? See for yourself…
A swimwear-dominated set, Anna Leah Salvador’s runway consisted of sun-suitable apparel ready for next year’s bikini season. Looks were constructed with equal parts modesty and adventure, via pieces that show a lot but leave some to the imagination. Her dresses were decidedly summer, with blooms on the fabrics and a cheery palette.
Color scheme is integral in a collection. It sets the tone and represents the designer’s outlook. One of the most innovative young designers of the moment, Ciege Cagalawan chose a more low-key approach this season. The resort-friendly collection had an ivory base and worked around the concept of introspection. Had he chosen a darker color scheme (which he reserved for the last three looks), it would’ve been totally gloomy. But white balanced out the depressing undertones, resulting in optimism.
Many designers take a single fabric in a single color, twist it around, make a dozen variations of the same design and call it a collection. Sticking to a single color—red—all throughout, Lizanne Cua’s collection seemed repetitive. The shapelessness of most of the pieces didn’t help in distinguishing the subtle differences among them.
Jian Lasala went a different way, choosing bright summery hues. Although two-dimensional was the intention, his solid-colored pieces were too literal, redundant and boring. It’s like no thought was put into designing them at all.
Alodia Cecilia knows that’s not how a real collection should be. Her output was a decent mix of wearable items with hauteur elements like sculpting and crumpling. The colors flowed from earthy to girly, while maintaining a spring feel to it. Pier Lim similarly showed diversity in his print-intensified presentation with modern silhouettes. The slouchy trend for both men and women, on the other hand, prevails on Don Protasio’s runway. Loosely draped pieces, with emphasis on hoods and other veiling garments, constitute his pale-tinted set.
More unexpected silhouettes came from Ava Paguyo. She concocted a graphic-heavy line with the edgy details that have become her trademark. But the wearability factor remains visible. Also utilizing lots of draping and some eccentric details, Dimple Lim’s 10-piece was a little odd. While a majority of the ensembles had utter symmetry and deliberate dollhouse aesthetics, one, in particular, looked like a shapeless straightjacket with a disturbing print. Save for that one instance, the collection’s creepiness was in a good way.
Reian Mata went for comparable aesthetics but paid closer attention to geometric lines, making the set more cohesive. It was fresh and the use of denim was out-of-the-box. Half of Kristel Yulo’s metallic dresses and separates also showed fashion-forwardness but the other half just seemed to serve as filler pieces.
The only one who went back in time was Tippi Ocampo with reviving the butterfly sleeves and modernizing them. It’s not the first time someone’s doing this and some updates show little success. But this is a good one. She created a collection centered on the era that popularized the style, using lace in other garments to tie up loose ends. The translation makes sense and blends in easily with today’s trends with no hints of irony.
The Ready-to-Wear/Visions & Trends show at PFW was presented by Cream Silk.
Photos courtesy of Pranz Kaeno
READ the rest of the article...
Other than Twitter...
Manila Standard Today, Life & Entertainment | November 6, 2009
Microblogging is a form of blogging that allows users to post a brief message publicly or to a restricted group, just like a Facebook status update. In the case of Twitter, that’s limited to 140 characters. That brings me to the point that there are other microblogging services that aren’t Twitter. They may not be as popular as the celebrity-infiltrated world of Twitterverse, but they are still worth checking out. Take a look:
1. Plurk – This is both social networking and microblogging (put them together, you get “social journal”) because the responses to a post are visible under the post itself. And the journal part comes in the form of a time line. Quite confusing for the newbie, but you’ll get why it’s developed quite a following.
2. FriendFeed – It’s basically a conversation very similar to Twitter. You can contribute to a shared topic, share links and other items and it’s also an aggregator of bookmarks and feeds.
3. Yammer – This microblogging service is for companies. An organization can create an account and register its employees and this serves as a private network. It’s usually used to ask questions and exchange work-related information.
4. DailyBooth – All you’ve got to express yourself are pictures and a caption. This is a good service for those who love to snap shots of every little thing and can be imaginative in writing descriptions.
5. Tumblr – This is a very simple service that lets users share anything from almost anywhere. The interface is especially noteworthy because of its infinite customization possibilities. It’s also been named “Obama’s Top 5 Tech Tools.”
6. Jaiku – Probably because it’s part of the Google empire, it has more Web 2.0 components than Twitter. More tech-savvy netizens prefer it due to its intuitive interface. The services, however, are pretty much standard.
7. Spotjots – What makes this platform different is its geotagging capabilities. Information is geolocated and mapped out in real time.
8. 12seconds – This microblogging site is essentially a vlogging service (video logging). Instead of YouTube’s 10-minute limit, this innovative little devil trims it down to merely 12 seconds. That’s not a lot of time, so being concise and creative is important.
9. Posterous – An account isn’t even necessary for this service. It’s very versatile—you can simply post anything you want and attach pictures, music and videos, or you can make it into a full-fledged blog.
10. MicroBlogr – This microblogging community again makes communication and updating friends easy. But it takes it to a whole different level by incorporating SMS features that allow instant correspondence and collaboration.
READ the rest of the article...
Endangered destinations
Manila Standard Today, Life & Entertainment | November 5, 2009
There are places that we promised ourselves we would visit before we die. If they’re in the list below, maybe you’d like to move them up your list because they may not be there when you finally decide to pack your bags. These places (and species) are endangered—at the risk of being wiped out from the map—because of environmental and manmade factors. So if you do fly to them, be aware of the impact of your trip.
1. Orangutans in Borneo – Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei possess the world’s most number of orangutans. But since their natural habitats are being destroyed by man at an alarming pace, their population is seriously impaired. Many reserves in the region are doing their best to impede this un-development. The same places are where you can mingle with them.
2. Taj Mahal – Yes, the world’s most famous mausoleum is endangered in being a thing of the past. Environmental factors (caused by epic manmade constructions) like acid rain are threatening the Taj Mahal’s white exterior to yellow.
3. Cloud Forests – The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve in Costa Rica is home to more than 400 species of orchids. It’s also a diverse ecosystem with many rare fauna. But several species have already gone extinct and many others are endangered. Even the clouds that envelop the forests are not as thick because of deforestation. Catch the landscape while it’s still moist.
4. Great Barrier Reef – Australia’s most famous natural landmark is slowly being killed by acidity and the rise in water temperatures. The reef, the only visible living installation from space, will not only lose its visibility, but also its life, by 2030.
5. Kilimanjaro – One of the “seven summits,” this snowy mountain in Tanzania is losing its snow-white landscape by the minute. Climate change is attributed to cause the melting of the glaciers, but the vast amount of people conquering it also plays a role. You can visit it without leaving a carbon footprint by viewing it from afar.
6. The Alps – The glaciers of Europe are melting in a disturbing rate. If this goes on at its current pace, scientists predict that most of them will be gone by 2030. Most of the world’s glaciers are diminishing as well, but this is most evident in the ones in Switzerland. That’s not very cool.
7. The Everglades – The Everglades National Park in the southern part of Florida is one part of the whole Everglades system that’s still almost untouched. The surrounding areas are not so lucky. Manmade developments and farming are dramatically decreasing the then-“unending” river to a fraction of its original size.
8. Lions in Africa – The lion population in the entire African continent have decreased drastically. Reports say there are only about 50,000 left today from 200,000 30 years ago. Massive government efforts are being undertaken to combat this loss, but it’s not looking very hopeful. However, if you want to catch a glimpse of the king of the jungle, there are some at South Africa’s Kruger National Park.
9. The coastal salt marsh in Louisiana – The state’s main defense against hurricanes, the marshes are a line of cypress trees that act as a buffer when storm surges threaten. And it’s a picture-perfect view of the horizon with the birds and the bayou. But with the cutting down of these trees, the marshes are being lost to the sea, an estimated 25 square miles yearly.
10. Polar Bears in the Arctic – Climate change is causing the sea of ice to melt rapidly and the snowy creatures are left without a home. Scientists report that unless global warming is reversed, we will have to bid farewell to the polar bears by 2050. Pay your respects in Canada and Alaska.
READ the rest of the article...
Job interview tips
Manila Standard Today, Life & Entertainment | November 3, 2009
It’s not rocket science, but somehow, a job interview is one of the trickiest moments in an adult’s life. We stutter, lose our train of thought or black out altogether. It shouldn’t be such an intense emotional rollercoaster. You just have to be yourself (but a slightly better version of) and let the chips fall where they may. And slightly-better-you should be aware of the following:
1. Know what you’re getting into. Research on the company, the job you’re applying for and the line of business they’re in. If you’re already working in that industry, you pretty much know how it works. If you’re breaking and entering, being knowledgeable will be important in landing the job. It’s also impressive if you’re aware of the company’s background, history and achievements. This shows your interest in being part of their organization.
2. Review your qualifications. Your CV may pretty much sum it up, but it’s better if you can expound on your work experience and highlight instances wherein you demonstrated leadership skills, teamwork and being in line with your employer’s equity. Your academic and work-related achievements are likewise worthy of note.
3. Be prepared to answer, “Why should I hire you?” This is a very common interview question, but it never fails to baffle. It’s actually quite a simple question that can be answered by mentioning your strengths and how they relate to the job you’re applying for. Make it sound that your contributions will be beneficial for the company, but don’t brag and sound snobby or superior.
4. Identify your strengths. This should include keywords like “passion,” “drive” and “motivation.” You should also be equipped to mention your specific skills and other abilities like working under pressure, professionalism and minimal supervision and problem-solving—if you really do possess them. This doesn’t include your beer bong skills (unless you’re applying to be a Spring Break party master).
5. Spin your weaknesses around. Never say you don’t have a weakness. That’s completely false and viewed as a lie or excessive self-confidence. Mention some weaknesses but learn to make them sound like strengths, like being intolerant to people who don’t maximize their potential. Or you can say something negative about yourself that you’ve managed to overcome.
6. Show enthusiasm and participation. This can be done by answering questions and really answering them—not by one-liners and yeses or nos. But be concise and straight to the point. Don’t flutter around a subject and rephrase the same answer. Show genuine attentiveness and respond accordingly. But don’t be too aggressive.
7. Ask questions. Showing the interviewer that you’re really interested is by asking relevant questions. Inquire about the compensation package (but don’t dwell on it too much), the work environment and the chances of growth in the company. Don’t ask if you’re immediately entitled to leaves upon hiring.
8. Have a plan. One common question is, “How do you see yourself five (or x number of years) from now?” The interviewer is checking to see if you have long-term goals for your professional life and, more often than not, if you see yourself working for them till that time. It’s advisable for you to map it out and mention a projected achievement that would lead to promotion and tenure.
9. Be the best you can be. It’s a cliché, but it’s the only way to make a good impression. Don’t use slang, don’t slouch, have appropriate body language and eye contact, show respect, confidence and determination. Arrive early, smile and have a firm handshake.
10. And one more thing, dress the part. Put on professional-looking attire, be well groomed and apply some deodorant.
READ the rest of the article...
