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She may not be currently wearing the Miss Universe 2010 crown, but Maria Venus Raj definitely made our country proud by bagging fourth place in the most anticipated beauty event of the year. After the horrendous series of events at the Quirino Grandstand, Venus gave most Filipinos a worthwhile diversion and a cheerful reason to celebrate Pinoy beauty and Pinoy pride in this year’s Miss Universe pageant, held in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.

The dusky beauty carried out her role quite regally throughout the night, with even Donald Trump—owner of the Miss Universe Organization—noticing and telling reporter Dyan Castillejo, “Miss Philippines looks like she was born into royalty.” Flaunting her incredibly svelte figure in a studded periwinkle bikini in the preliminary swimwear competition of the pageant and later, in a slinky silver evening gown created by Colombian designer Alfredo Barazza (wonder why her gown wasn’t designed by a Filipino designer?), Venus was the embodiment of beguiling Filipina beauty.

Venus was one of the most applauded contestants during the show—the Philippine contingent cheered for her so loudly that the hosts of the show, Natalie Morales and Bret Michaels, were prompted to cheerfully comment on their very audible support. The question and answer part of the pageant, however, sealed her fate as a contender; her response did not merit the top spot in the competition. The last of the five finalists to go, she picked judge William Baldwin’s question: “What is one big mistake that you’ve made in your life and what did you do to make it right?”

“Thank you so much, Sir for that wonderful question,” she replied at first. She then followed up with: “You know what, Sir, in my 22 years of existence I can say that there is nothing major major, I mean, problem that I have done in my life. Because I am very confident with my family, with the love that they are giving to me. So, thank you so much that I am here, thank you thank you so much.”

She may have clearly fumbled, but that still didn’t stop the outpouring of love and support of Pinoys who are rooting for her. Twitter was abuzz with outbursts of cheers and support, and naturally, the fashion community was at the forefront of it all. Designer Rajo Laurel tweeted, “OMG!!!! Venus Raj!!!! I am shaking!!!!” when he found out that Venus made it to the top five, later tweeting “So very proud of you!!!! Miss VENUS RAJ!!!!” and mentioning that her answer was “very honest and truthful!”

Celebrity stylist Jenni Epperson, meanwhile, made light of Venus’s Q&A fumble, tweeting, “Everyone in the studio is in ‘Major, major’ mode—major, major lafang; major, major chika; major, major fashion,” but ended the post with “We major, major love VENUS!”

Former beauty queen Ruffa Gutierrez had a similar reaction, tweeting, “What would I answer if I was Venus? With my past mistakes i have sooo many 2 choose from. Mag-iisip muna ako in a MAJOR MAJOR way! LOL! ” A few minutes later she says, “Gosh naluma ang GRABE, OVER, CHORVA, BONGGA! The ‘IN’ word for today is ‘MAJOR, MAJOR’! Thanks 2 Venus Raj who captured our hearts! GO GIRL!”

So, yes, she definitely may not have bagged the top prize in the competition, but Venus still undoubtedly made our nation proud in a major way. And we have no doubt that even President Noynoy Aquino is proud of her!

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Venus meets President Aquino [Photo: Francis Toral (@francisbtoral) from his TwitPic account

Congratulations, Venus!

Jae

When features are written, when photos are optimized, when interviews are done well before their respective deadlines, we here at Style Bible like to kill time by pestering our resident photographer/graphic designer Yayay de Castro to take photos of us and our outfits.

Here’s what we were wearing yesterday:

Reg in her typical workaday outfit: a hip-hugging skirt paired with a simple top, topped off with a necklace.

Jae in a blazer, black leggings, and a loose gray tank top cinched by a leather belt.

We ended up toying around with the camera the whole afternoon, somehow gravitating towards the fax machine. Here’s one of the photos Yayay took:

Nikki, Jae, and Reg, starring in "Fax Paper Diaries." LOL!

Jae & Reg

Grey has always been my favorite neutral. It goes with everything! Pops of color also look a lot more unexpected when paired with some light smoke (brights like cobalt, chartreuse and fuchsia look awesome with grey!). For the coming months, grey has also been tagged as a rising nail color trend. Here are some awesome shades I found while perusing the net:

My go-to is Essie’s Playa del Platinum. Its a really light sandy-grey that goes on totally opaque and matches all my outfits! I was once stopped in the mall while wearing this by a girl who had been looking for the perfect grey polish!

Essie Playa del Platinum from essie.com

Whowhatweardaily.com suggested this polish from Dashing Diva from their article about Heather Gray Nails. I wonder if they have this shade in our branches in Manila. The editors noted that the hue for the season mimics concrete as opposed to the mushroom/taupe “it” color of spring.

Dashing Diva Astor Place from dashingdiva.com

You can also opt for a little sparkle for the night with this sophisticated gunmetal shade. Lippman Collection’s Hit Me With Your Best Shot was specially created by 80’s icon Pat Benatar.

Lippman Collection Hit Me With Your Best Shot. Love the color and love the song! From lippmancollection.com

Nail polish brand Strange Beautiful isn’t available for sale here but hop on over to the Nail Spa which carries the polishes. Check out the shade second from the left. It looks the perfect dove-grey with hints of bluish slate.

Strange Beautiful Volume 2 from strangebeautiful.biz

Rescue Beauty’s Stormy looks so chic and creamy!

Rescue Beauty Lounge in Stormy from rescuebeauty.com. Ugh I really want this!

What do you think? Will you be trying on some grey polish anytime soon?

Reggie

Twitter is definitely part of our lives here in Style Bible. Fast information, photos and a whole lot more! (Follow us: @stylebibleph)

Anyhow, makeup artist, Jigs Mayuga tweeted about the new Meg campaign he worked on featuring Bianca Gonzales rockin’ a print on print ensemble (love the look!).

We couldn’t help but think, “Doesn’t she look like stylist Pam Quinones in that photo?”

SEPARATED AT BIRTH: Bianca Gonzales & Pam Quinones

Read the rest of this entry »

I fulfilled one of the musts in my Things-to-Do-Before-I-Die checklist a few weeks ago: Visit Cambodia and see the majestic Angkor Wat and its surrounding temples. During my trip, I learned a lot about the wonderful region of Siem Reap, the sad history of Cambodia as a nation, and was privy to the warmth and astounding resilience of the Cambodian people. And naturally, I saw a lot of places (aside from the temples) I would love to go back to, and happily enough, one of them is owned by Filipino artists Don Protasio and Loven Ramos. It’s a lifestyle store called Poetry.

The charming façade of the store.

I first heard the name Don Protasio during Philippine Fashion Week Holiday 2010 last May, where the Filipino designer (formerly based in Iloilo) showcased an all-red street wear collection. So when Martin Dishman, owner of The One Hotel (my home in Siem Reap), mentioned Don’s name and store after hearing about my fashion-related job and abiding love for poetry and words, I was intrigued. I promptly made the super short walk from my hotel to the store, which both enjoy a lovely location in the Old Market Area of Siem Reap.

Basically, Poetry is a store that sells quirky clothes, bags, accessories, and various other knickknacks. Don wasn’t there when I visited, but I caught up with him when I was back in Manila and asked him to tell me all about his venture.

“I came here in Siem Reap for a fashion show and was fascinated by the place. In short, I was inspired! We [Don and Loven] decided if ever I move here we will have a shop that will house our crazy designs,” said Don. “In 2007 I moved and by mid 2008 we had Poetry.”

“Poetry is a collab store with my best friend Loven Ramos [an avant-garde artist, graphic designer, and photographer, among other things]. We’ve been friends since college along with his wife Faith,” Don stated. “Let’s just say we connect creatively and we do crazy stuff together. So Poetry is one of those things we came up with over some coffee.”

“Loven and I basically create stuff for the store based on poetic inspirations. It doesn’t have to be literal but could be a mélange of stuff from here and there. We view Poetry as sort of playground and not unlike a magazine that we edit, tweak and change according to our whim.”

Don's clothes on the racks. He was one of Preview's Designers to Watch in 2007.

“I was based in Iloilo before and I’ve been doing fashion here and there. I’m basically an autodidact but my fascination and love for clothing construction has led me to this full-time career. I’m basically in love with the process of creating clothes and doing fashion shows. I’m a fashion carnivore and I love intellectual fashion.”

A rack of Don's designs at the back of the store. He counts Helmut Lang as his greatest fashion hero. "My obsession extends up to collecting and rummaging through piles of ukay to collect his designs. I also buy from E-bay," said Don.

I love the stairs that lead to the second floor! Each step carries a line from a lovely poem (I don't know whose).

The even quirkier second floor.

According to Don, these bags with witty slogans were inspired by Loven's birthday gift to his wife, who's obsessed with Louis Vuitton.

A selection of "scrawled-on" scarves. I got myself the pink one, which has the names of my favorite poets and authors. I thought it was made especially for me! Heehee.

Don said, "The stickers, scarves and basically everything in the shop is our reaction to being an 'anti-souvenir' souvenir shop. We don't want to sell stuff that other people sell, too. We want it to be witty and also to work in your life when you get back home. But still it will remind you of Cambodia."

Poetry's shopping bag. ♥

Poetry is located on The Alley West in the Old Market Area of Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Jae