Big Butts and Nail Polish, Who Would've Thunk It??

Oh, wow....I finally get to use the word "thunk" haha!

From the Urban Dictionary

I was browsing online when I saw this. Beautiful holiday shades, I thought. Perfect polish colors to wear for Christmas, I thought.

A closer look revealed that these lacquers are actually contained in a bottle that's shape like a woman's butt. Big, round butts. Shocking!

And the product is aptly called BOOTIE BABE. Ha! How...cheeky!

I can't seem to get passed the shape of the bottles. But they do offer really nice colors, I know I would wear it if I could get my hands on it. That is, after I stop giggling about the bottle. Because I am immature.

Seriously though, why would anyone think to use this container? Is it a prank product? A fetish? A sex toy?

According to this site, Bootie Babe is from Mark 'O Hara, a San Francisco-based designer and funk musician who used to be in a band called SuperBooty.  The band has since broken up. But back when they had gigs, O' Hara would often come up with band merchandise featuring a lady's derriere as its logo.

In designing Bootie Babe, he said he wanted something that would stand out. And he's quite right about that. Those bottles sure are different!

He says of his polish collection:

"Some women don’t appreciate this product because they think it’s sexist. But they love it in Brazil!”

 “My band was so silly. It would be great to bring a little levity to the beauty industry. Why can’t it just be fun?”

He's kinda right about that, too!


Time Magazine is said to be featuring the product this week, according to their Facebook page.

So, how about that? I suppose those butt bottles make this product quite interesting. But ultimately, it's the choices of colors and the quality of the lacquers that will make this sellable.

All Boxed Up!

Have you subscribe to any of these box-y deals online? I dunno what you call it, but after the group-buying system that become such a hit last year (Groupon, Metrodeal, and so on), this is probably going to be next biggest buying concept that will spawn a lot of copies.

I first learned of this last year, while helping run a Gossip Girl site (in which case I had to live and breathe Gossip Girl stuff I could find anywhere on the internet). One such boxing service (seriously, what are they called???) released an exclusive box filled with beauty products apparently used by the girls on the show. Like so:

Photo Credit

I really liked the idea, but since it wasn't available here, I never paid attention to the nitty-gritty of the concept of these boxed freebies. (I still dunno what to call them!)

But we Filipino folks usually catch on pretty fast. Because we now have four of these services in our midst.

Take your pick!

Salad Box

Glamour Box

BDJ Box

Sample Room

How it works is that you pay a certain fee monthly or for half the year,  and every month, you should receive a box of goodies or sample products from different health and beauty companies. Some of these boxes contain items of 4-5 or even more, costing over Php2000 if you buy them at stores. Membership is between Php450 to Php650 a month. I'm not sure if this includes the shipment fee, though.

From these four sites I've listed, only Sample Room requires no fee at all. But you get to try a product for FREE, as long as you have enough points to avail of it and if you pay the shipping cost. I'm already signed on to Sample Room, which debuted this week, but I haven't used my free points yet and will wait for the offering next month.

For the rest of these...box sites (give me a term please!!!), I've read countless of blogs with their unboxing entries and photos of what are usually inside these boxes. You can google them up if you're curious. The sites also feature the products offered, by the way.

Most of the items are available locally, but some boxes do contain products I've never heard before, or are probably only seen at bazaars.

You can read up on how their system works by following the links below:

Sample Room - HOW IT WORKS
BDJ Box - HOW IT WORKS
Glamour Box - HOW IT WORKS
Salad Box - HOW IT WORKS

They also have their own Facebook pages, so follow and like the page to get an idea.

Are you going to sign up?

Houston, We Have A Body Image Problem!

Society has a lot of issues with body image, even mannequins aren't eating right!

For instance, this mannequin was spotted in a GAP store in London. Its leg is so skinny, I'm not even sure if they're attracting buyers for those jeans. Would you wanna look that thin in those? Bird-legs are scary-looking.

Sidenote: GAP jeans, especially for women, aren't the most flattering pieces to wear. The way it fits is always problematic, no matter what body type. AVOID at all cost!

Photo from this site.

I don't know which store this mannequin is from. But other than being huge, this big guy's hands are freakishly disproportioned!  Also, his shoulders are so broad that his head looks small; while his feet are small because his cankles are so bloated.

I'm getting a headache trying to process what is wrong with this image. It's not that I'm bothered there's a plus-size mannequin in existence. It's more because...this frame doesn't seem to be anatomically possible. I know it's only a "model", but...at least get it right, right?

Photo from Reddit.

Here's how he looks, all dressed up, ready to mingle at the 'hood: 

Photo from this site.

Is it just me, or does he not look like a plus-size version of Channing Tatum? :D

Channing Tatum. Perfect body.

I see the attempt in trying to be diversified. After all, only a small percentage of society is built with perfect bodies and realistically, a bigger portion of the world is now obese. Although I don't understand why those GAP mannequins even exist. Do you?

Consumerism and aggressive marketing campaign, however, has put a lot of emphasis on body image. It's pounded on us everyday with countless of blog posts, media, billboards, print ads and TV commericals everywhere telling us how we're supposed to look.  A growing number of young kids are too conscious of this, it's affecting their self-esteem. And that is sad.

We see campaigns to raise awareness for different causes: bullying, gender-equality, animal rights, [insert whatever disease here]...but where is the noise for the campaign for body confidence and self-image? This is the kind of social problem we've shoved under the rug, unfortunately.

Life In Plastic, It's Fantastic?

I confess, I haven't been Barbie-educated in 25 or so years.

Because I've only been buying toys for little boys --- owing to the fact that I don't have a daughter; or that ALL my godchildren are boys (not my choice, it just happened!) --- I had no idea that the amount of multi-cultural versions of her one can find at stores these days, is enough to create a small, United Nations of 12-inch tall women. Or the doll version of a Miss Universe pageant.

Lately though, my one and only 5-year old niece has taken interest in Barbie and would prefer these dolls as gifts. Checking online for what type I could pick for her, it dawned on me that making just a single Barbie purchase is stressful!

I've been so clueless about the number of things Barbie's career and personal life have evolved into. The bitch apparently became an astronaut, was once a hacker, switched species to become a mermaid, and tried public service by ascending into the Presidency, no less. These she did while dealing with cancer and apparently a divorce, which turned out to be untrue.

What the?!

The Barbie I used to know only had wordly stuff to deal with like wardrobe choices, or living in a house with make-shift furniture. Or this:

Photo from Flickr

But, creatively so, Barbie's plastic-fantastic life has hit a lot of lows and highs than reality can handle.

So, when did Barbie's life get so complicated? And why does Mattel assume it's what little girls are looking for?

Have you gone Barbie shopping for your daughter or niece, only to find that you cannot pick which one to get because of the amount of Barbie choices laid before you?

Something Hello Kitty Fans Will Squeal About

The same way cats make a lot of noise when they're hovering by our fences, I'm pretty sure fans of Hello Kitty everywhere will squeal when they see this.

I'm not much of a Hello Kitty fan, although being into it can be contagious. I'm more into My Melody, but I did let out a tiny "wheee!" when I found these on UK shopping site, Zatchel:

These come at roughly Php 7,000 to Php 9,000 without shipping cost and they are limited edition releases only.

I used to have such a bad case of lemming for satchels handbags. But I'm over that now, thank god! I'm just looking at these coz they are such eye-candies!

RetailGasm

Black Friday shoppers
Photo from Huffington Post

Before consumerism became a lifestyle, the only time I ever got to hear the words "Black Friday" was during Holy Week. But that hasn't been the case the in last three years or so.

In America, Black Friday is synonymous with huge discount shopping, which only happens once in a year. Enterprising companies put out and slash price tags way, way down, tempting a mad dash of people who are hoping to score great deals. This, for them, is officially the start of Christmas. Yet even with the exasperating crowd situation, where there's actual danger of interchanging faces with somebody, more and more people seem to come to the stores to experience the, uhm, orgy.

If Filipinos wake up at dawn to observe 16 days of Simbang Gabi tradition during the holidays, Americans stay up late into the night after Thanksgiving, to stand outside the store, sometimes in the cold, so that they could get first dibs on items they normally won't buy at its regular prices. Some sectors are actually complaining that Black Friday takes away the spirit of the holiday before it. People forego having the traditional Thanksgiving dinner with their families in order to be at the lines, as stores open at exactly 12 midnight or earlier. Store clerks, meanwhile, skip the Thanksgiving feast altogether to man their areas and prepare for the madness.

Here in the Philippines, some do get to experience Black Friday by conveniently shopping at online US stores. It's essentially like cheating away from the crowd and crazies. However, local brick and mortar stores are slowly adapting into this Western tradition by setting up their own Thanksgiving sale. Now this? Is total madness! And it's obviously a marketing ploy because the price cuts are not even significant. Only, when people see the word SALE sprawled across the merchandise, it's so easy to get them to bite into it. It's pathetic business practice, I hope other stores won't consider getting into next year (hah!).

I pride myself with being a bargain hunter, but I can never understand the joy of shopping when this is what you have to enjoy it with:

Photo from Google Images

What are the chances of snagging that item you've been eyeing, now at 80% off, when you have to brave this sea of people?

Shopaholics need their retail therapy. I understand this because, like the occasional fever and fatigue, I also have my bouts with the "disease". There is, however, a different kind of disease plaguing consumers during Black Friday and there are studies to back it up (imagine that!):

• New research reveals the reason why we shop on Black Friday
• Professors study psychology behind love for Black Friday
• Black Friday and Cyber Monday: Understanding Consumer Intentions on Two Major Shopping Days

Retail stores are, no doubt, more than happy to be the root cause of this.

Is Black Friday shopping even worth it?

Have you tried being in the crowd during Black Friday? What was the experience like?