Fashion Essentials for Sumilon Island

By: emelieempire on Saturday, July 29, 2017 | 0


This bunny is excited!

It's final! I will have a retreat in Sumilon Island in the next few days! After a long time of hiatus when it comes to the word "vacation", here I am ready to hit the white beach and clear water of Sumilon Island. Ugh, I am so excited even with just the thought of it and can't wait any longer.

Sumilon Island is a 24-hectare coral island, located on the southeastern tip of Cebu. This is a must-go-to destination especially if you want to calm down, destress and breakfree from city life, daily challenges and everyday work. Although I am just living here in Cebu, Philippines, I must admit that I have never been to this island just yet due to so much excuses and incidents that are not worth mentioning in this post, hehehe. I will be with a close friend of course and we will stay at Bluewater Sumilon Island Resort for 3 days and 2 nights. A separate travel guide and stay experience will be up real soon so stay tuned.

This post is actually very personal, lol. I am just excited. You know that feeling?!
For ladies out there (or for some men too) who happen to be planning to stay in this island, you might want to read until the end of this post because I will list some very important Fashion Essentials that I must never forget. Who knows you can relate too. 

1. Hair coats and serum
“Salt in the air, sand in my hair.” What a nice rhyme, right? But, have you ever wondered what it is really to be on a beach? Well, the salty water can damage our hair and possibly lead to breakage and frizziness especially if you are like me who can stay in the water all day! (Hello tan lines and sunburn). With that, I will be bringing my hair buddies from Vitress so that it will be a no-worry-hair-days for me there. Vitress Classic is the number one hair cuticle coat we’ve been using with my sister on a daily basis right after taking a shower and before starting each of our day. Trust me, it has proven us its effectiveness in taking good care of our long mane. 
Vitress has Heat Protect variant which is perfect for my Sumilon Island getaway! Of course, I will also be using the Hair Polish Long Lasting Fragrance variant for an added class, charrr. Vitress Cuticle Coat in variants Hair Repair and Instant Relax will be used as well especially after the stay.
Thanks to Cebu Finest and Saladbox for sending me Vitress’s set of products plus Kolours’s Dual Conditioning Hair Color. The hair color in Balinese brown will be used after my vacation, hehe. It also has Vitress After-Treatment conditioner. Gosh, ain’t it perfect?
#LoveLocksSaladbox #saladboxph #VitressPH #KolourPH #HashtagsGalore

2. Sunblock
I know we always hear this from our mom, titas, friends or even strangers “Pagdala ug sunblock” or “Naa kay sunblock?”. Yes, right! This is the holy grail and the secret to combat those painful sunburns and harsh tanlines. It’s funny that I still have the weird bikini tanline I got from my diving experience. I forgot to put sunblock on my hipline and until now, the weird line that resembles milk (lower hip near butt) and chocolate (upper hip) colors are still there. It’s totally uneven and it’s too funny to look at in the mirror, lol.
Use sunblock lotions/creams that are higher in SFP to really guard the skin from allow UV/UVA rays to enter. I have here sunblock products with SPF 30 so that means I need to apply these every 2 hours. I will buy with higher SPF tomorrow.
Sunblock products from Selina's and Purple Bee.

3. Bikinis and swimwear
Of course time to wear these pieces of cloths hidden in the drawer! We can choose from one piece, two piece or no piece (joke!) and this really depends on our style preference. 
After months of hiding in the closet, time to be back in the game!

4. Hair ties, headband and hat
Beaches have strong fresh air blowing all over. I have long hair so I need ties to lock them up. I don’t want my hair to cover my face during outdoor stay in the island. Fixing them is just an added responsibility, lol. How about going for messy buns? Alright! Hats also protect the face from sun rays and these can also spice up the pictures. So why not put one on? 
Just ties and headband because my hat is too big for a close up picture.

5. Camera and monopod. Cash, too!
Okay, this is mandatory you guys especially for a blogger like me who wants to document every good thing happening in my life. We take pictures because we want to preserve memories, don’t we? I have two phones with good quality cameras and there is really no need for me to buy DSLR or GoPro just yet. I am quite happy with these two here. 
My friend for sure will be busy enjoying the place as well so I need to have a monopod buddy (this is also called “selfie stick”). Click here, click there, click everywhere. It will be fun!
And of course extra cash for some beers, foods and anything else. Withdrawing from the ATM in the city is a good choice rather than credit cards.  Allthough the resort might accept credit card, it is still a wise decision to bring cash. know you get it.
I got topipti money right there, hahaha!

6. Stuffs from dermatologist
I am currently using products and following a tiring nightly regimen from my dermatologist. I must not forget this to totally cure my pimples. Ugh, that Kojic Acid soap really triggers the bullet. Just a piece of advice, don’t use Kojic Acid soap on your face especially if you have a sensitive skin.
Small ninjas but expensive. Arrrgh!

Noticeably, clothes and flipflops are not mentioned in the list because that are already given by default.
I know there are still a lot to bring but I just choose the most important items. Feel free add your fashion essentials in the comment section below when going to any beach. 
Blog post about my travel experience in Sumilon Island will be up soon. Yay!

Black Lady at Purple Bee Cafe

By: emelieempire on Saturday, July 15, 2017 | 0


No, this post is not going to be about ghosts or bad spirits as the “Black Lady” words enunciate in the title. That is just far too scary, isn’t it? This is about my sweet and happy experience at Purple Bee Café of course in my wonderful over slit black dress.

Our pregnant blogger mommy friend, her name is Pam, invited us to have a chitchat over sweet treats. She found this new café located at Bridges Town Square, Mandaue City called Purple Bee Shop and Cafe. Since I liked chitchats and sweets, you know what’s next, I said “Yes, count me in”. The name sounded cute and attractive to my ears as well so major plus points! 

It was a hot afternoon and I must not cover my whole self with long thick clothes. I was also on the mood for some outfit twist that day so I opted to wear my favorite black dress with a twist – yes, the slit. It’s always funny and entertaining everytime I wore it because right after the moment I stepped out of my house, most people would look at me from head to toe. I guessed this piece of cloth seemed to be rare in the eyes of many.
Yeah right, the shop was quite far from my place. The trip towards there was a little bit of a hassle because I was caught in a heavy traffic. Nevertheless, thanks to my “feeling close” and “kill-the-dead-air” behaviors, I still had fun talking with the taxi driver about life and work in general. I even gained wisdom. Very cool, huh!

It was 4 PM when I arrived to the destination. I was clearly late. I should be there by 3:30PM but ooops shoulder shrugged. I saw my friends having really great time over sweets and conversations. I joined right away without any further ado. Haha!

Purple Bee Shop and Café is a cool and convenient shop with purple and yellow as the main motif located at Bridges Town Square, Alang-Alang,, 143 Plaridel St, Alang-Alang, Mandaue City, 6014 Cebu. It is open daily 8:00AM - 10:00PM serving foods that range from brewed coffee, cakes, frappes, pastries, sandwhiches, wines to native delicacies. One thing that makes it stand out is the HONEY in their menu.  Not only that, you can also avail their natural & organic Purple Bee cosmetic product displayed in a particular corner inside the shop for healthy skin and hair plus various beauty regimen with a touch of honey in each of them. Yes, you read it right. Beauty products in a cafe.

The owner and the staff were very friendly. We were toured inside the shop. We were served with sandwiches, cakes, wines and my favorite – honey (baby so sweet, lol). Our bellies and sweet tooth were properly taken care of.

Yummy as me. Hahaha joke!
Frappe as cold as your feelings, lol.
Cakes for the bitter souls. Huhu.
Wine for the broken hearted. Yay!
It was a two-storey shop and we managed to play card and brick games at the second floor after we ate. Pam brought her smart little girl Asha who just made our moment up there very exciting and fun. She spoke english and I loved talking to her eventhough she would just told me to go away. I was a bit of a naggy tita. Well, I couldn’t blame myself to be drowned by the little girl’s charm.
We also got to bring home some natural cosmetic products such soaps, sunscreen and lip balms.

Soaps that look like candies.
For more information and inquiries, visit them in Facebook and Instagram.
Call (032) 272-9799 / 09088185685 / 09178792968 / 09198317746
Cafe is open 8:00AM - 10:00PM

Brand New Emelie Empire

By: emelieempire on Saturday, July 8, 2017 | 0


From the Personal Lifestyle blog you know, I will rebrand my website into Fashion and Fitness blog. It will showcase my fashion taste, fitness routine, health tips, travel adventures, food trips/cheatdays and whole lot more!

Before I dive in to more serious matter, I’d like to thank you, yes YOU, for supporting me throughout my blogging journey and for being an avid follower of my posts. It’s been six months now and trust me, it is not that easy to be on top of it especially that I have other obligations besides it. I am part of some local community organizations and I have a corporate job I must be awesome at. These are a little bit hard on my part but I am glad that I still am kicking! Well, I sometimes I fail at good time management so there it is!

As you may have noticed about my previous posts, I wrote many good personal stuffs I experienced. There’s really no clear pattern  as long as I enjoyed writing it. Yes, I totally enjoyed those. I gained lots of new friends along the way, tried brand new things I never expected I could be part of, ate foods I thought only existed in the internet and traveled to some places I never knew I could land my feet on. In the course of six months, I knew myself way much better than any other else! For me, it is the most important thing. It is still the beginning though and I know I still have more to learn of who I am, what I like, where I want to be and so on.

I am writing this posts in order to share that starting now, I am going to renew my blogsite. No, not the looks (although I know I need to upgrade it to a  classier and prettier one. I will handle that later.). I mean its contents. I have been thinking about it for few weeks already and today, I realize it's the perfect day I have been waiting for. From the Personal Lifestyle blog you know, I will rebrand it into Fashion and Fitness blog. It will showcase my fashion taste, fitness routine, health tips, travel adventures, food trips/cheatdays and whole lot more.

Why will I rebrand my blogsite?


My typical day is peaceful and calm...lonely sometimes. At some point of being a millennial, I plan to add some twists and spices to my daily life and I want to record those here in my website. Aside from striving on being an awesome employee at work, I also want to have a dimension of my own that I can use as an escape after that. Something I know I will enjoy and be challenged at.
If you are like me who dreamt of this, then come along and let us start the journey of a lifetime.

I will cover the following:


1. Fashion
If you know me, you may have notice that I have a taste for fashion. I like to dress up myself according to my preference and taste. I do it because it feels good if I look good! Who would not want that? And no, I am not doing it to impress anybody. I am doing it for myself. I just want to spoil myself sometimes… okay, most of the times. Haha!

2. Fitness
My gym subscription is currently going on and guess what, I always ditch the sessions because I am a lazy couch potato, I cry! I want to change this behavior. So starting now, I will hit the gym and I will share my journey, motivation and struggles here.

3. Health
I live solo in Cebu and probably to other places soon. For those who can relate, getting sick solo is a big NO! So I must be healthy always.
I remembered getting sick here and it sucked big time. I was walking in the corner of the street floating like a dead vampire and worst thing was I had to buy my own foods, fruits and medicines alone while the cruel fever and headache were frying me to death. I don't want that anymore. I will share my ways of keeping healthy.

4. Travel adventures
I like travelling and exploring fresh places be it with my friends or alone especially during rest days from office work. I love staying in hotels, sleeping in the bubbles of bathtubs and swimming in cold pools as well as beaches. Although I have never been to another countries or faraway destinations yet, I know I am on my way towards there slowly and surely. It will be best to put my experiences here in my blogsite to preserve the memories and fun of course!

5. Food trips and cheatdays
Who doesn’t love food here? I will share food destinations that you might want to try so keep an eye for it. Of course, since we will be doing hard core workouts to reach our fitness goal. Let us have some cheatdays every once in a while, shall we?

6. Feminism
I am advocate of girl power, girl boss, badass ladies or anything related to girls’ strengths. I salute ladies who excel in their fields and whatever they do. I applaud ladies who know how to speak up and pickup themselves up in times of failure. If men can do it, we can too! I will put my insights and possible events about feminism here in my site and I hope you will enjoy reading my posts as much as I love writing them.

It will be an awesome days ahead plus I will be giving giveaways to my followers! With a twist ey! The details will follow soon and will posted on my Facebook page. So, stay tuned!