Frida Kahlo And I

One of of my fashion inspirations and icons is Frida Kahlo.

Frida Kahlo was a Mexizan Painter who is best known for her self-portraits. Her work has been celebrated in Mexico as emblematic of national and indigenous tradition, and by feminists for its uncompromising depiction of the female experience and form.

There are a lot of remarkable things to love about her aside from her unique artwork. I personally fell in love with her monobrow look and she had facial hair which she embraced which was very unusual during her time. 

Her distinctive taste in fashion is as outspoken, brave and creative as she was. She wore colorful Mexican folk-influenced garments which were bold. The bouquet of flowers embellished in her hair, her one-of-a-kind shoes and beautiful jewels  all speak of a woman who dressed to please no one but herself. 

There are a lot of lessons that I've learned from her and I'm sure all of you would as well.  Loving and accepting our uniqueness and expressing your individuality.

Frida Kahlo

 born Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Calderón

Here is my own take of her look.

I tried to incorporate a clutch for a modern and chic look. Clutch bag is very affordable which is from Mango price at SAR 65.00 only.

And then I got carried away and got undressed heheh! I hope these photos won't wake her up from her grave to haunt me for using her name in this photoshoot heheh!

Hope you like it guys!

Beso! 

The Horizon

It is where the sky meets the earth- that edge which is called  the horizon. 

We associate the horizon with our limits. Limits to knowledge, experience, interest and ability.But can we go beyond the horizon? I believe that beyond the horizon is an endless possibility. It is in our hands to discover deep within ourselves  our potential and power to go beyond the horizon. 

Always believe.

Hope you like it guys!

Beso! 

The Stages In A Relationship

Everything in life has a beginning and an end. And for every ending there is a new beginning. It is called a cycle.  I ask myself: How do we keep something we have started to last at least?

Even relationship follows the same cycle. No matter how unique each relationship you get into: The love or feeling of two person have, the person involved with and the experience. Each and every relationship follows an identical cycle that goes through stages along the way. By knowing and understanding the stages you are in, you may be able to survive failure and may prolong your relationship or succeed to having a long lasting one.

Stage #1 The infatuation stage. This is the first stage in every relationship. It almost always starts with an intense attraction and an uncontrollable urge to be with each other. Both of you may be intensely sexually attracted to each other, or both of you may just love the cuddles and each other’s company. In this stage, both of you overlook any flaws of each other and only focus on the good sides. 

Stage #2 The understanding stage. In this stage, both of you start getting to know each other better. You have long conversations with your partner that stretches late into the night, and everything about your partner interests and fascinates you. You talk about each other’s families, exes, likes and dislikes and other innocent secrets, and life seems so beautiful and romantic.

Stage #3 The stage of disturbances. This stage usually forces its way into a happy romance after a few months of blissful courting. Do you remember the first fight or angry disagreement you and your partner had? For the first time ever in the relationship, both of you confront each other over a conflict, even though it’s sorted out quickly. 

Stage #4 The opinion maker. In this stage, both of you create opinions about each other. As the months pass by, both of you know what to expect from each other, and you make an assumption about your partner’s commitment towards the relationship.

When these opinions and expectations about your partner differ now and then in real life, it can either leave you ecstatic or depressed.

You don’t expect your man to buy you flowers, but he does. You feel ecstatic. At the same time, you expect him to pick you up from the airport on time. But he arrives an hour later because he forgot all about picking you up. It depresses you.

Stage #5 The moulding stage. You have your own expectations from an ideal partner. And in this stage, both of you try hard to mould each other to fit your own wants in a perfect partner. This stage is a lot about give and take, and both partners constantly try to subtly convince each other to change their behavior towards the relationship. This is a power struggle, and one that can end the relationship if both partners are domineering. 

Stage #6 The happy stage. If the relationship survives past the moulding stage, both of you may have changed equally for each other and understood each other’s expectations. In this stage, the relationship cruises along perfectly and both of you may be blissfully happy with each other.

Almost always, this is the stage when both of you feel like a perfect match. You may even decide to get engaged or get married. This happy stage is also the stage of attachment when both of you truly feel connected to each other and love each other intensely. 

Stage #7 The stage of doubts. It’s been several years since both of you have been in a relationship with each other. And somewhere along the way, doubts start to creep in. The intensity of the doubts depend on how happy both of you are in the relationship.

You start to think of your past relationships, your exes, and other prospective partners. You tie your happiness in life with your relationship. If you’re unhappy, you blame it on the relationship.

In this stage, you start comparing your relationship with other couples and other relationships. Would your relationship survive this stage? It definitely could, as long as your relationship isn’t monotonous and repetitive.

Stage #8 The sexual exploration or bust stage. This is the stage when your sex life starts to play a pivotal role. Both your sex drives may change or one of you may get disinterested in sex.In this stage, you either give up on passionate sex or constantly look for ways to make sex more exciting. If sexual interests start differing here, one of you may end up having an affair. But on the other hand, if you find creative ways to make sex more exciting, your relationship could get better and bring both of you a lot closer.

Stage #9 The stage of complete trust. This is the happy stage when both of you love each other and trust each other completely. But at the same time, the unbreakable trust in each other could also turn into taking each other for granted.

In this stage, both of you know the direction of the relationship and both of you are completely happy with each other and find it easy to predict each other’s behavior and decisions. But with stability in love comes the urge to take each other for granted.

As pleasant as this final stage of love may be, it’s still no excuse to take each other lightly or stop appreciating each other, because love is an intense emotion that can be rekindled by anyone else at any time if you fail to express your romance to your lover.

If you’re in a relationship for a while, you may have experienced all or most of these relationship stages. And if you’re still in a young love, don’t let the dark side of these relationship stages scare you.

Source: http://www.lovepanky.com/love-couch/romantic-love/relationship-stages

It may sound corny but as this post is all bout love, I wore this red jacket from Zara. 

Hope you likeit guys!


Beso! 

Beauty Talk In The Kingdom 1: Skin Care

Since I have been receiving many inquiries about beauty care or treatments over the phone and emails lately, I would like to share my experiences with you guys about the skin treatments I have gone through in order to improve my appearance.

Skin care is a lifetime commitment. Achieving a beautiful skin doesn't happen overnight. It takes a lot of dedication and commitment in order to improve the appearance and maintain a good skin.

 Pimple Treatment

 Acne has been my biggest problem since I was in high school (gosh, I remember being bullied because of how my skin looks like those days). I have an oily skin which why breakouts was common. It became severe in my first year in the kingdom. I have tried almost all kinds of cream, facial wash and toner I could find in pharmacies and recommendations from friends but my skin problem remain unresolved. It became depressing that  affected my social life.. I remember crying while rubbing a dab of exfoliating solution on my face. I have visited many dermatological clinics in the kingdom. I've been prescribed with different creams and soaps by one doctor to another and tried antibiotics but nothing worked until my consultation in Dr. Layla Onaizi Polychinic in Rakah.I was advised then to take Roaccutane for 6 months. I had a liver check before I started with the medication. I was happy with the result and never had any acne breakout ever since.

Personal Note : Consultation fee for first visit, Liver check (around SAR 500 at that time and Roacutane)

Acne Scars Removal

I was happy with the result of the treatment of my acne however the next problem came. The Acne Scars. 

It is important to identify the type of scar you have so you know what to expect from the treatment you are going to undergo to.

The Different Types of Acne Scars:

Rolling scars – relatively broad depressions in the skin that have rounded, sloping edges.  The combination of several of these types of scars in a region of skin gives it a rolling appearance, hence the name.

Boxcar scars – also relatively broad depressions, but have steep, defined edges.

Icepick scars – as the name implies, are deep and narrow scars.  In many cases, they resemble a large, empty pore in the skin.  In general, all the depression scars rest on top of a patch of fibrous, collagen rich scar tissue.  This fibrous tissue anchors the base (bottom) of the scar to the sub-cutaneous tissue, maintaining the depression and preventing the regrowth of healthy tissue.

Credit: http://thescienceofacne.com/the-types-of-acne-scars/

The Different Types of Acne Scars Treatment:

Treatments depend on how severe the scars are. In some cases, a doctor or dermatologist may suggest a chemical peel or microdermabrasion to help improve the appearance of scarred areas. These milder treatments can be done right in the office.

If you have serious scarring from previous bouts with acne, there are several things you can do:

• Laser resurfacing. This procedure can be done in the doctor's or dermatologist's office. The laser removes the damaged top layer of skin and tightens the middle layer, leaving skin smoother. It can take anywhere from a few minutes to an hour. The doctor will try to lessen any pain by first numbing the skin with local anesthesia. It usually takes between 3 and 10 days for the skin to heal completely.
• Dermabrasion. This treatment uses a rotating wire brush or spinning diamond instrument to wear down the surface of the skin. As the skin heals, a new, smoother layer replaces the abraded skin. It may take a bit longer for skin to heal using dermabrasion — usually between 10 days and 3 weeks.
• Fractional laser therapy. This type of treatment works at a deeper level than laser resurfacing or dermabrasion, Because fractional laser therapy doesn't wound the top layer of tissue, healing time is shorter. Someone who has had this type of treatment may just look a bit sunburned for a couple of days.

For "rolling" scars, doctors sometimes inject material under the scar to raise it to the level of normal skin. Finally, in some cases, a doctor may recommend surgery to remove deeply indented scars.

One thing you shouldn't do to deal with acne scars is load up your face with masks or fancy lotions — these won't help and may irritate your skin further, making the scars red and even more noticeable.

If you have a red or brownish mark on your face that you got from a bad zit, it should eventually fade. However, it may take 12 months or longer. Talk to your doctor if you're upset about acne marks; he or she may have advice on what you can do.

Credit: http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_body/skin_stuff/acne_scars.html#

Personal Note: I have both the rolling and  Ice-pick types of scars on my face which needs more than weekly exfoliation and the use of over-the-counter peeling cream so I decided to go through a laser treatment. My first-hand experience was at Al Dossary Hospital in Al Thuqbah, Saudi Arabia which I paid around SAR 500.00 only at that time. Recovery period is around 1 week. After A month, I revisited Layla Onaizi Polyclinic to try on their laser which costs around SAR 2,500 before and advised to have the treatment go together with the PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) after the recovery which costs SAR 1,500.

Platelet Rich Plasma

Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) is an exciting new method using your own blood to correct pitted acne scars on the skin. You may have heard about this acne scar treatmenttechnique, which is also known as the “Vampire Facial,” as it has gained popularity amongst celebrities and beauty insiders. The method of injecting your own blood into the face is new and is showing exciting results for patients looking to correct acne scars and rejuvenate their skin.

How PRP for Acne Scars Works

At Schweiger Dermatology, we use the gold standard SELPHYL system to spin the blood and separate the Platelet-Rich Fibrin Matrix (PRFM), which contains a plethora of beneficial growth factors that will help heal the skin and promote collagen and elastin regeneration. Blood is drawn from the patient’s arm and then put into the SELPHYL centrifuge, which removes white and red blood cells, leaving in only the PRFM. The centrifugation system converts your blood into “Liquid Gold,” a gel-like substance that contains only PRFM. Liquid Gold is called as such because it contains only pure platelets, which contains active growth factors. This platelet-rich blood is then injected into sites on the face with acne scars. The concentrated platelets release a host of beneficial growth factors that help to promote healing and stimulate regrowth of collagen and elastin.

Benefits

The platelets found in our blood do a host of beneficial things, such as stimulate the regrowth of collagen and elastin, the building blocks of young and healthy skin. When your own blood is injected back into your skin, the body naturally begins a healing process that helps rid of acne scars. We often recommend PRP as an add-on therapy to laser acne scar removal treatments, to deliver the best results possible to our acne scar patients. At Schweiger Dermatology, we strongly believe that combination therapy is the most effective approach to acne scar treatment.

Credit: http://www.schweigerderm.com/prp/

I hope this post helps. Thank you guys!

Beso! 

Closed Door And A Relationship

I have been through break-ups and heartaches over and over again but it always feel like a new experience. Accepting that a relationship has finally come to an end is the hardest thing to do. Like there is no formula how to deal with it other than to let the time does its work in healing the wounds or maybe by sheer determination and hard work within ourselves. How I wish someone has figured out the art of  achieving closure after relationships end and share it. I hope it is a skill to be learned.

My relationships were different from one another and I'm sure with you too guys. I remember being broken up in an email from a long distance relationship with a foreigner and it was devastating to go through that because I had to deal with it by my own. We always have questions after failed relationships but that time I was left all alone with many questions left unanswered. There was a time when I was the one who fell out of love to a Filipino in the kingdom of few months and I felt bad because no matter how I try to help him go through it, I couldn't find the willingness to do so. And recently the table has turned, it was me who is left behind. 

We always hope that things would go back to the same thing as they were. We find a way to keep the door open no matter what, friendship for example so we can still be part of their life. I asked myself:

If someone has already closed his door on us, Should we go back and knock for another chance? 

Going through this experience inspire me to create these images and made a short clip which I hope you like guys.

About the look:

Jacket: Zara, Corniche, Al Khobar, KSA

Bag: Bershka, Dharan Mall, KSA

Shoes: Sebago, Philippines

Beso!