MAKE OVER DAY!

Last May 1, we finally met the 5 beautiful Plump Pinays who won the make over contest! Ms. Mel of Azta Urban Salon (SM San Lazaro branch) assisted them together with make up artist Kaycee Lim, who arrived at the salon early for the event.

Stacy and I followed at around 3pm, half way through the beautifying of Kristel, Erica, Paula, Mia and Maita. Meeting them was so much fun! You seriously have no idea how much it makes us happy to see and get to know the girls who read our blog and share our advocacy with us. I love how we connected and shared our struggles and victories disguised as funny anecdotes with our body-acceptance journey. This day is definitely considered as a milestone for our blog. :)

To make this day extra memorable, we had Merphi, a very talented and bubbly budding photographer (who already has her own following), take eye-candy photos for us! She's such a sweetheart.

Each of the girls had a haircut, hair color & styling plus threading from Azta Urban Salon's best team, make up done by Kaycee Lim, P1200 gift certificates from Erzullie, and accessories given by our gorgeous mom from Forever 21.

Now onto their final looks!

YAWZAHHH! THEY ALL LOOK CRIMINALLY GORGEOUS!!! We absolutely love it!!! Here are their personal feedbacks about the make over experience. :)

Erica

The makeover was a blast! The Azta Urban Salon SM San Lazaro staff were very accommodating and friendly. I never felt this warm welcome from any other salons I’ve been to & I’m hoping they’ll branch out in Pampanga! Thanks to Ms July & the team for giving my hair a total make over. I’m also grateful to Ms Kaycee Lim for using her magical hands to do my makeup. She is indeed a good artist! I couldn’t believe what I saw in front of the mirror right after the application; I was so pretty! I felt excited after Danah handed us the accessories from Forever 21, thanks to her glam and fab mom, Ms Angela Gutierrez for the generosity in giving us these. And last, but definitely not the least, thanks to the twin, The Plump Pinay’s Danah & Stacy, I’m really happy and feel blessed to experience the treat from you. God bless you always and please continue the advocacy. Thanks for being body warriors & role models to all plumpies. More power!

Kristel

At first I was really nervous and worried that my hair would be cut too short and the color would not look good on me. But the stylists of AZTA Urban Salon did a great job (Thank you AZTA!!) They knew exactly what look I was going for, since I told them that I will be getting married this year and my engagement photo shoot is just 4 days away! The staff were hospitable, gave complimentary drinks (mine was milk tea..yummy!). They also gave useful tips on how to care for colored hair.

Kaycee Lim is very sweet and is a wonderful makeup artist. I only wear makeup on special occassions because I'm not used to the thick/heavy feel, but the cosmetics she used felt comfortable on my face...and o-m-g I looked so gorgeous!! (Thank you Kaycee!! Glad to have met you!! I hope we can meet again someday)

I also got Forever 21 accessories ( which i will be wearing on my engagement shoot..Thank you to Stacy & Danah's gorgeous Mom!!) and Erzullie P1,200.00 GC's!! Yipee!! (Thank you Erzillie!!!)

Danah and Stacy, I couldn't thank you enough for this experience. You girls are amazing and so nice to chat with. Your blog really is a blessing to us Plump Pinays (and to the Plump Pinoys as well). You deserve all the success happening and coming your way! Thank you girls! God Bless! ^-^

Paula

I feel so good right now! Thank you so much Azta Urban Salon, for my amazing hair! ♥ I loved it, it looked so good on my skin tone. You guys are really good in terms of hair matters. The staffs, ay grabe! Sobrang maalaga. I'll be back Azta! ♥ Kaycee Lim is so amazing! She knows what make-up will look good on me. I totally loved my eyebrows! :) Thank you so much Erzullie for the gift cheques! :) Tita Angela, I appreciate the accessories po sobra! :) Thank you Tita for your support. :) Lastly, Danah & Stacy... You guys are amazing! Your an inspiration for everybody! I salute you girls! You guys deserves what you have and where you are now. I appreciate every little things that you've done for us that day. Telling us we're beautiful... Danah & Stacy, thank you for the inspiration, and empowerment to us plump pinays! Love you girls! ♥ ♥

Mia

The make over was awesome! Azta urban salon did a great job on my hair,and their staffs are really warm and friendly and after I got my crown of glory fixed by their staff,Kaycee Lim gave me a look that screams "fabulous!!!" with three exclamation marks,she's really good at what she is doing,and I was at ease while she was doing her magic on me,the girl is so cool,we were laughing and and talking like we've known each other since highschool,kudos to your mad,mad skills Kaycee girl! Im so going to see you again :)

Danah and Stacy,this has been a life changing event for me,the confidence that I gained on this event was priceless,you guys are really beautiful inside and out.Thank you so much Stacy,Danah,Kaycee and Azta Urban salon for this experience. And special Thanks to Hot Momma Angela for the fabulous F21 accessories,Happy mother's day Momma Angela :)

Maita

Last Sunday was my make-over with the Plump Pinays at Azta Urban Salon in San Lazaro. Me and four other plumpies had our faces done by Ms. Kaycee Lim and our hair done by Azta Stylists. At first I was scared. What would they do to me? Make me look like a rooster? Worse, blond. Thank goodness Ms. Rich of Azta had some ideas to play with. I told her to go play with me. My only conditions are: Don't make me look like a chicken and don't make me bald. The results were amazing. They gave me a layered, red-mahogany hair. I love how they treated us. They pampered us with milk tea and good tips. Now I feel like a diva without having to act like one!

Thanks to the Plump Pinay for this opportunity, for Angela for our F21 accessories, For Kaycee on the skin tips and the great make-up and of course for Azta for the great hair. I feel so wonderful and alluring!

Thanks girls!

*******

To the girls, you all deserve it! We wanna thank you for embracing our advocacy and for being inspirations yourselves to other girls out there. We'll never forget each one of you. You are all very beautiful.

Mia, don't let people miss out on your spunky personality. You are such a fun girl!

Paula, you're a great sister in Christ! I bet God is happy with how you've come into terms with your body.

Kristel, you're such a sweetheart! Congratulations on your engagement and more power to your modelling career! Your love story inspires me. :)

Maita, your boldness is fierce! More blessings to your career in fashion! :)

Maita and Erica even gave us gifts! How wonderful ♥

Again, we sincerely wanna thank ERZULLIE, AZTA URBAN SALON, KAYCEE LIM, & OUR MOM for helping us out in this make over contest. You can really tell the girls loved this day, and it's probably one they'll never forget. :)

Plump ♥,

Danah

A Fierce, Fashionable Feature

Let’s face it, sometimes our clothing options can be limited because of the lack of bigger sizes among mainstream clothing lines. IF there are any, they’re mostly dowdy, too conservative and matronly. Thank God Aries and Berna of Erzullie have the guts and the passion to cater to bigger women and have decided to make bigger clothes that are hip, young, and trendy. Erzullie is rising among the plus-size brands in the country, and they have proven that big girls can be stylishly fierce too.

Learn more about the brand Erzullie and the fierce, fatshionable women behind it through this very awesome interview by Stacy of one of its very down-to-earth and endearing owners, Aries!

What inspired you to create Erzullie?

Me (Aries De Guzman), and my bestfriend (Berna Cuevas), are the owners and designers of Erzullie. We actually got inspired by our own depression. (Talk about blessing in disguise) As plus size women, we had a hard time looking for really stylish clothes that would fit our curves right. There are a lot of designs out there that we would love to wear. Unfortunately, the size range is limited.

So we decided to make a brand for ourselves. Erzullie was born. We chose that name because she is the voodoo goddess of self-love (in some texts), and that is, what we think plus size women need more for themselves. This became our life, our advocacy and our passion. Since then, we are now enjoying fashionable clothes, and we get to share it with other plus size fashionistas who love fierce clothing like us.

Aries and Berna

What makes Erzullie stand out from all the other local plus size stores?

What makes Erzullie stand out is that we offer moderate to high fashion plus size clothing. The brand's style is about fierce curves, as our tagline would suggest. As such, all of our clothes are designed for the plus size fashionista that wants to release her inner "fierceness" and flaunt her sexy curves.

We are more about providing something more edgy for the fashion hungry plus size women. Simply put, all of our designs were made to glamorize, sexify and adorn curves.

What is Erzullie's mission?

Our mission is very simple. We want to promote self-love and confidence to all willing plus size fashionistas out there through providing moderate to high plus size fashion.

Have you ever received harsh criticism from competitors? How did you react/deal with it?

We have always thought that competitors are actually people like us providing a different kind of fashion option to plus size fashionistas out there. We will be honest about this, as much as we would like to provide for all plus size fashionistas, there will always be limitations that our brand will have. Like maybe our customers would like to have a different type of clothing that we haven't produced yet or a plus size fashionistas want another image that our line cannot provide.

And for us, this is all good. For us, the more options for plus size fashionistas out there... THE BETTER.

I must admit though that we tend to focus more on the love that people has showered us so far. (Hahaha addictive optimist) Should there be any tough love given to us, our reaction would be to look at it and see if it's valid. If it is, then we use the new found knowledge to help enrich the brand more. We are actually thankful for it in the end. If it is not, then we still give thanks to that person for sharing that kind of love. It makes us focus more on the people who actually supports our line.

What is your size?

My size actually varies. It depends on the cloth and style of the clothes. To tell you the truth, I bounce around L to 2L in the Erzullie brand. Berna's size also bounces from L to 3L. (Big gap right?) Because ultimately, and I am saying this as a Plus Size Wardrobe Stylist and shopper, that clothing size really depends on the cloth and style of the fashion item. There will be times that you will be in a smaller size or bigger, but it does not mean that you have shrunk or grown. Most of the time, it would mean that the cloth is not stretchy or the design is very roomy.

Favorite store/s?

Hahaha. I am a lover of my brand. My favorite, of course, is Erzullie. (Apologies if it sounds self-conceited. Haha.) Otherwise, we do not have any particular favorite store. It's more on the brands for us. Me and my bestfriend are lovers of indie designers. For shoes, we love Soule Phenomenon and Renegade Folk. For accessories, we love Opida Accessories (we sometimes sell it in our Erzullie bazaars). We sometimes buy from Forever 21, Mark & Spencer and DIVISORIA (fashion haven).

Favorite style icon?

I know for a fact that Berna loves Queen Latifah. Whenever she looks at her, all that she can think about is how powerful, beautiful and intellectual this woman is. Me? I will admit that I have none. Berna? Hahahaha. She knows more about styling than me.

Favorite pieces of clothing to wear?

Berna and I love dresses. They are very easy and quick to wear. Jackets and pants are also a staple for me. For Berna, it's more on leggings.

How do you want people to see your style?

Berna's style is always about urban chic. My style is more of sexy hippie.

Where do you get your confidence from?

My heart. I know it sounds cheesy. However, at the end of the day, it's the love for yourself that get's you going for the next day and more. It is the one that keeps on reminding you of your true worth --- infinite.

I am pretty sure that same goes to Berna. Hehehe.

How important are other people’s perception of you to you?

I will admit that not so much. I am an eccentric person, so I know that most people view me as a weirdo. But I am happy as I am, so at the end, there is no point of valuing other people's perception. It's just ideas thrown at you. it depends on you if you'll believe it. The only perception I value is mine. Like, I ask myself, "After everything I have done today, do I still love myself?"

Message to other Plump Pinays:

To all the Plump Pinays out there, please remember to love yourself each and every day. There is no point of comparing your body to other people's because everyone is and will always be different from each other.

Please do check out our fashion line as well! You can order online through visiting the Erzullie website. You can also visit our other outlets in Cinderella (Glorietta 3), Backstage Store (Serendra, Taguig), Sueno (Makati City), and Sofa Retail Lab (Rockwell Powerplant).

For more information about Erzullie, please do visit and add us in these social sites:

WEBSITE: http://erzullie.multiply.com
FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/erzullie.fiercecurves
BLOGSPOT: http://erzullie.blogspot.com
TWITTER: http://twitter.com/erzullie
TUMBLR: http://erzullie.tumblr.com

You can also email us at erzullie@yahoo.com for other inquiries. Cheers! Super love!

*******************

Meeting one of the owners of Erzullie is such a privilege! From the moment I sat down with Aries, we just couldn’t stop talking. She was so real, sincere and full of passion, always mentioning that she’s doing what she does to reach out and help dress bigger girls with trendier and nicer clothes (compared to the first wave of plus-size clothes w/c were so conservative and matronly). I absolutely loved talking and sharing ideas with her, she was such a breath of fresh air. I wish more designers in the fashion industry are like her, who really cares about her market and wants the best for them. I truly admire Aries because she stands strong and believes in her purpose amidst the numerous challenges that she and her bestfriend (which is her business partner) have faced. Her optimism astounds me. She truly is a certified plumpinay! After our meeting, I definitely feel like I gained a friend. Aries, I wish you all the best! Your line is truly making a name for itself, and you guys definitely, without a doubt, deserve it.

Plump love,
Danah

Privé Bloggers' Meeting

Privé is a fashion event which main goal is to give back to the local fashion industry and to honor and award the best designers and models in the country. It's a privilege to be a part of this! :)

The event will take place on Wednesday, at the Members Only bar and lounge at The Fort Strip. It's their second year to hold this awards' night because the first one was such a huge success.

There will be a Bloggers' Choice Award, which we're a part of, for all categories! It's gonna be amazing.

We had a meeting with the very beautiful Jenny Yrasuegui (who will be featured soon, watch out ;) ) for the said event.

Here are the photos (grabbed from Honey Andrade of Somnium et Vita blog):

with the adorable Ava of Artsy Fartsy Ava

Stacy with the stunning Kookie of Death by Platforms

with a fellow Plump Pinay, Jenny Yrasuegui

with Honey, who is always such a sweetheart :)

Now on to our OUTFITS OF THE DAY!

Stacy:

Topshop Bustier

F21 Jacket

JAG jeans

F21 Lace Up Combat Boots

Random cocktail rings from Shanghai

Tutti Frutti Gold Chain Necklace by Juicy Couture

Danah:

DKNY Polo (thrifted)

Bench Brassiere

ERZULLIE Maxi Pants

Melissa Shoes Patent Oxfords

HnM Ring Bling

Random Black Belt

F21 and Tutti Frutti by Juicy Couture Bangles

*Special thanks to Kaycee Lim Make Up for beautifying me that night! :)

I absolutely am so happy to know that local plus-size clothing lines are stepping out in the market and blossoming like crazy! Finally! Those amazing maxi pants were from Erzullie. It was even featured in the Editor's Picks section of StyleBible.ph! :)

I loved it! It's so comfortable to wear. The garter band makes it tummy-friendly! The length was a bit short since I'm tall, but it doesn't make it less appealing. It's really a must-buy! You can mix it up with polos for a clean, polished and stylish look, or coats for a trendier finish. :) I can't wait to mix and match with my newest closet fave! :)

*For reference: My size is L, I'm a UK size 14. They have up to 4L! :)

Erzullie Maxi Pants, P770

http://erzullie.multiply.com/photos/album/13/PANTS

We can't for Wednesday! :)

Plump love,

Danah