To my surprise, I got a text from a fellow doctor, who’s now based in Manila, that she read a write-up about me on Meg Magazine, and that her picture was included on the page. I learned that the resourceful writer, Ms. Maviel Gonzales, gathered information and pictures from my blog to make up for my lack of response. After days of waiting for Meg October issue to hit the stands here in CDO, reading through the article, I commend Ms. Gonzales for her research skills and for coming up with a nice review on this blog. Thanks to her for choosing “The Doctor is vaIN” as one of the highly recommended beauty blogs, it was like winning at the Philippine Blog Awards all over again.  My apologies to her, too, for being a pain in the neck for not granting the interview.

It was certainly a dream come true for the MUA In Scrubs to be featured alongside beauty experts like Xeng Zulueta, Marie Calica, and EarthlingGorgeous. The October 2010 issue of Meg Magazine with Rhian Ramos on the cover  is fully packed with  the essential elements that beauty junkies would surely love. Learn about Make -Up Schools in the Metro, the low-down on Cosmetic Surgery, tips on how to jumpstart a Career in Makeup Artistry,  products that win the experts’ thumbs up on Meg 2010 Beauty Awards, plus top trends in beauty and fashion! If you haven’t bought a copy yet, be sure to grab one now, not because I’m in it but  because this issue is the bomb!

Meg Magazine, a top source of fashion, beauty and style is published monthly in the Philippines by the Mega Publishing Group.  Get your October 2010 issue now before copies run out. Sold for Php 95.

I uploaded some snippets from the current issue. Copyrights belong to Meg Magazine.  The models appearing on my feature are Dr. Cherry Ann Co of Dermclinic, and the painted one is my niece, Chinchin. Credits to Dustein Sibug for my wedding pic and Andrew Reyes for Dr. Cherry Ann Co’s shot. Shououts  to Charry of  Eye Candy blog for providing me a scanned copy of the feature when the mag wasn’t available here in CDO yet.

Branson vacation packages

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Sheesh.. I was pondering and I realized that I got quite a handful of things that I want to accomplish in my life.

Among these are:

• to put up my beauty spa
• to train for anti-aging/regenerative medicine
• to learn acupuncture
• to study web design
• to be an entrepreneur
• to be a top-notch makeup artist
• to be a good doctor
• to be a better writer
• to be a devoted wife and hopefully, a doting mother (baby announcements anytime soon?)
• to update my blog more often

Not much, huh? Except that I don’t know where exactly to direct my efforts to achieve these diverse goals. If I only had the funds to afford me the liberty to realize my dreams. Training in Anti-aging Medicine will require me to live some place else. Putting up a beauty business will need a huge amount of money. All the rest are up to my physical, artistic and mental energy bank. Maybe dialing the universe hotline will grant my wishes as it always did. Prayer, law of attraction, or whatever you wish to call it, do work for me. Oh Lord, hear them all. And please bless me with a better health so I can do all these things in this lifetime.

Photography by Dustein Sibug

Planning for your own wedding can be tedious. You want everything to go smoothly as planned. For me, one of the greatest pressures was doing my own makeup on my wedding day. People have seen me prettify other brides and are expecting no less than perfect makeup on myself. I did consider hiring somebody else to do my makeup but the bridezilla in me wanted everything under control.  After all, nobody knows my face the way I do. All the blemishes that have to be covered, the contouring I need, etc. I just couldn’t allow somebody else to take charge of how I’d look on this very important event of my life. I even had to do the grooming of my husband, just to make sure that he’ won’t end up looking like some halloween character or more feminine than me, as some makeup artists have the tendency to soften a man’s features a little too much. The entourage, that I had to leave to my assistant. My mom, being trained in hair design when she was younger, did my hair.

Photography by Dustein Sibug

The night before the wedding, I tried to get a good night’s rest but by 3am, i was awakened by an attack of allergic rhinitis. The whole roll of tissue was almost used up before I was forced to take some medications to tame down my allergy. My nose became so congested that I had to take some decongestant to relieve my condition. Unfortunately, among the side effects it has on me are restlessness and tremors, comparable to downing a couple of cups of black coffee. I managed to sleep for a total of  only 30 minutes after that.

While doing my makeup I could feel my hands shaky and my mind, groggy- like having a hangover.  With God’s help, I managed to finish my look. The drug’s ill effects slowly wore off.

Will I recommend other brides to do their own makeup? Only if they really know what they’re doing and they can handle the pressure. I suggest that you read Robert Jones’ book on wedding makeovers and practice over and over again. If you’re not happy with the results,you should leave it to the experts. I must say even if you’re a makeup artist, doing it on yourself could be really challenging. There is no one to check you on all angles.Personally, if I were to have my wedding all over again, I’d still choose to do my own makeup. Well, except if  Steven Doloso, Juan Sarte, Lourd Ramos or Chechel Joson were there to help me out, I’d gladly give in.  Otherwise, it’s just me and my trusty brushes.

Wedding pics to follow.

1. I’m a huge Legolas fan. That should explain the leggylass nick I often use- it has absolutely got nothing to do with my appendages.

2. I studied classical piano back in elementary and high school but I always skipped my piano classes. I wanted to learn to play contemporary music, instead.

3.I’m a believer of chakras. I have healing crystals for every chakra point.

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4. I have fear of crossing the streets. I got into an accident once, got hit by a motorcycle.

5. I think Michael Copon is hot but a little on the conceited side. He was annoying as the rich brat Felix Tagaro in One Tree Hill (James Lafferty was my idea of handsome) but I surprisingly found him appealing in the “Scorpion King 2.”

6. I have an old pillow which I love hugging to this day. It has a texture that makes me enjoy scratching it.

7. The first song I learned as a kid was “You Light Up My Life.”

I’m tagging anyone who wants to answer this post.

We had to send in a photo and a short description of our passions. My passion was makeup artistry. The photo was me doing makeup while I was on duty that time as a 3rd year Radiology resident. My willing victim was one of our interns, Donna. They dropped by the radiology office, since I was through with my xray plate readings and it wasn’t a toxic duty, I took out my makeup brushes, mineral makeups and started dolling up Donna.

I stopped from my residency training for almost a year now. No, I didn’t get fired for my obsession  with makeups (lol!). It had to do with my health issues. Stress doesn’t help kick off my cancer cells. It feeds it further. Along with the other work hazards, I decided I still wanted to live and hence resigned. It was a difficult decision but I had to choose my health. Makeup still continues to be my art form though I’m not doing it full time. I still work as an MD primarily, without 24 hour duties this time. This gives me the luxury of doing things that I love, including makeup, writing, music and being a wife to my wonderful husband. This is my idea of the good life.