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Doll Up Mari

Doll Up Mari

Mari's Online Playground since 2013. dollupmari@gmail.com

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Blog Origins

Blog Origins
I started blogging late 2012 (October-ish) with my other blog called Teenage Creamery. The blog was a hodge podge of all the stuff I do, from food explorations to the crafts I did to the other beauty related stuff I got into. It was an okay blog, I guess, but I realized later on that it looked like a hot mess as there was too much stuff going on. I wanted to have a blog that focused on beauty and makeup, my long time love. This is why I started Marilene the Alkene (now Doll Up Mari) in April 2013, a blog devoted to my makeup and beauty explorations. 
I just loved makeup so much that I wanted to take it to the next level, which is why I went on and attended professional makeup artist classes. I obtained a certificate in beauty and fashion makeup. 
Initially, the stuff I put here on the blog were photos of the makeovers I’ve done in makeup school and at home (because we had to do extra makeup as homework) just so that the photos would be documented and I would have an online space for them. I later added in photos of myself with different makeup looks. And at the time I also had a few photo tutorials. 
 Since people would always ask me on what to do about this or that makeup dilemma, and that I enjoyed making a makeup tutorial back then for fun, I decided to make more tutorials on YouTube. I am constantly working to see what kinds of information do people want to know, and how can I better improve my videos for a better overall experience. Also, since part of my friends’ dilemmas were on what products and tools they should try, I added in makeup item reviews to the blog so that I could share information about the things I liked and what I could recommend to someone for a given occasion. 
As time went by, even I myself had more questions about makeup. It used to be something I was so sure about, but then I realized that I was an Asian girl in the middle of an Asian country whose culture is so Americanized that its ways of makeup were also very Western. I learned along the way that when it comes to makeup, it’s about finding what suits you, what feels right, and finding your own balance of which influences to take in.  
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On The Blog Names
My blog is now currently named Doll Up Mari, but it used to be named Marilene the Alkene. I renamed the blog December of 2013. This is why you will see the two names on my photo watermarks within the site. 
On The Old Blog Name: Marilene the Alkene

I know it’s quite an unheard of term, that word ‘alkene’, especially to my readers who aren’t into chemistry. So basically, an alkene is an organic compound whose featuring characteristic is a double bond. Say wah???
So I’m going to make an analogy of these bonds with hugs. The closer you are to someone, the tighter you can hug them and the stronger your bond, and the farther you are to someone, the less likely that you would be able to embrace them as tightly, making a weaker bond. For chemical compounds, you can have a single bond, double bond, or triple bond, with the triple bond the shortest and strongest.
I thought of this name because for one, I was a chemistry major for quite a good amount of time. I didn’t want to forget the chemical-related side of me even if I’m now into the usage of makeup and not the creation of it. 
Another reason is because basing from the analogy I gave on bonds, I’ve always wanted to be close to my readers, to have as little distance as possible, and to form strong bonds with my readers and fellow beauty bloggers. The internet is such a great resource and I’d love it if I could use it to reach out and communicate with people whom I otherwise wouldn’t meet had it not been for the internet’s invention. 
I envisioned the blog to be casual, down to earth, and most importantly, engaging.
I want to make people believe that you need not be born pretty to feel beautiful and confident because makeup can do so much for you if you use it correctly. 
As for why I did not choose to name my blog after a triple bond which I indicated as the strongest, it was simply just because alkene rhymed with my name Marilene well, unlike the word alkyne (the term for a chemical compound with a triple bond).
On the Current Blog Name: Doll Up Mari

My old blog name may have been cute and meaningful, but the problem with it was that it was too long and too hard to spell. As it is, there are already many people who cannot spell my name correctly. I have seen Marlin, Marlen, Marlene, and many other abhorrent misspellings of my name. This meant that people had a hard time to enter my blog whenever they were not in their own computers or when their computers had deleted the history or cookies pertaining to my blog (and that they had not followed me on social media yet). Moreover, the name itself being too long was difficult to remember. None of my friends could recite Marilene the Alkene, and even the word alkene posed problems as it was too scientific that it was hard to remember. 
This is what led me to choose a domain that sounded cute but was easy to remember and easy to spell. 
That’s basically the reason behind the current blog name. And that it sounds cute. And that I don’t really wear makeup and primp everyday that this blog has been the avenue where I doll myself up for, this is why this is the place where you doll up Mari. 

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Reviews

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Mari wearing Olens Russian Smoky Contact Lens (Hazel)

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(It took one eon to reconfigure my iMac after one (It took one eon to reconfigure my iMac after one eternity of tantrums and repairs so can y’all please pretend it’s December 31 again 🤣🤣🤣) 

Finally got to do a 2022 recap!!! 2022 went by so fast for me that I don’t know how to feel about it. It’s marked by a lot of new firsts: first time to join and to win a speech contest, first time to do campaigning for an elections, first time to go blonde 👱‍♀️👱‍♀️👱‍♀️ and also lots of repeat firsts: first time to travel again and first time to cosplay again 🥰🥰🥰

As usual it was another year of learning for me, taking up more Japanese lessons as well as a Japanese translation course, although those kinds of events aren’t reel-able ✨✨✨

Thank you to everyone who made 2022 great for me, and for those who didn’t, may araw rin kayo loljk 😎😎😎 But seriously tho, I’m wishing you all a 2023 with no technical difficulties (like the many ones I encountered in 2022 huhu)!!! 

#newjeansomg #dollupmari #reels #reel #2022recap #recapreel #reelidea
Can’t wait to go to the next @cosplayph event!!! Can’t wait to go to the next @cosplayph event!!! 🥰🥰🥰

#dollupmari #cosplay #cosplayer #cosplayPH #cosplaydotph #myheroacademia #myheroacademiacosplay #bokunoheroacademia #bokunoheroacademiacosplay #pinaycosplayer #hadonejire #nejire #hadonejirecosplay #cosplaymatsuri #cosmatsuri #cosplaymatsuri2022 #plusultra
A happy Nejire-chan before the year ends 💕💕💕 It was so hard to get a @cosplayph  Cosplay Matsuri ticket but it was well worth the effort!!! I was able to roam around for a good amount of time in my Nejire costume which eased my heartaches with what happened to me in Japan (I think I'll do the long storytime in another post) 😭😭😭

But for this post, I just want to share my excitement as it's my first cosplay event since Cosplay Matsuri 2019!!! I failed to get tickets for all other cosplay PH events for this year, so snagging this ticket felt like real gold to me!!! 😍😍😍 And overall I missed going to conventions––I missed all my friends and just the entire feeling of seeing everyone else dressed up!!! ✨✨✨

Anyone who knows me well knows I am deep into the My Hero Academia universe and Nejire is among my fave characters (alongside TodoMomo), so I had a fun time even though she is not a popular character in the Philippine cosplay sphere. 

As for some details, I used my trusty @olens_contactlens Russian Smoky Gray (for the best photos of course), @sugarpill and @urbandecaycosmetics eyeshadows to get all the purple tones I love, and @romandyou Juicy Lasting Tint no. 27 🥰🥰🥰

#dollupmari #cosplay #cosplayer #cosplayPH #cosplaydotph #myheroacademia #myheroacademiacosplay #bokunoheroacademia #bokunoheroacademiacosplay #pinaycosplayer #hadonejire #nejire #hadonejirecosplay #cosplaymatsuri #cosmatsuri #cosplaymatsuri2022
Proof of life feat. 0.5x camera mode ✨✨✨ (I Proof of life feat. 0.5x camera mode ✨✨✨

(I have sooo many backlogs I want to share but as some may know, I checked in my iMac for repairs and boy did it take so long to do all the preparation to be able to check it in hayahaaay. I hope to be back to regular programming soon!!! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻)

#dollupmari #fashionnovadress #charleskeith #charleskeithitzy #itzyxcharleskeith #fashionnova
As someone with dry lips all year round (blame our As someone with dry lips all year round (blame our genes huhu), the best gifts someone could get me would be tons of lip balms!!! @burtsbeesph did an "I Gotchu Fam" with all their holiday sets which are sure to hydrate dry hands and lips, as well as add some Sh'Bam to your Christmas trees with all the cute packaging 🐝🐝🐝

Another major reason for my joy is that their holiday special lip balm is SALTED CARAMEL!!!! Anyone who knows me well knows that I will order salted caramel and ube everything, so I am so stoked about this year's special Burt's Bees salted caramel lip balms. ✨✨✨

It's so hard to miss these holiday sets as these are prominently displayed in all @beautybarph outlets, and some branches even have Burt's Bees popup stalls (like in TriNoma)!!! 🍯🍯🍯 

#BeeMerryAndBright #SustainableHolidayShopping #ShowYourGlow #beautybar #beautybarPH #dollupmari
[GIVEAWAY ALERT] Was supposed to give this for Nov [GIVEAWAY ALERT] Was supposed to give this for November, so let's just make it an advanced New Year giveaway! ✨✨✨ For this giveaway, simply follow me, like this post, and comment what you want to leave behind in 2022!!! 🎉🎉🎉 Winner to be chosen on January 06, 2023 and to be announced in the comments of this post. 💕💕💕 I NEVER DM WINNERS, SO BEWARE OF IMPOSTERS!!! 

*No tagging of any account allowed. Comments that are out of the theme will be ineligible. Any form of pleading to win via comment, DM, or email will render disqualification. Winner selection is based on those who are loyal and active followers.

#giveawayph #giveawayphilippines #contestph #maybelline #maybellinePH #olens #dollupmari #avon #maybellineskyhigh #olensgiveaway #revlongiveaway #maybellinefitme #makeupgiveaway #sacelady
@watsonsph is making this gift giving season more @watsonsph is making this gift giving season more sustainable by highlighting better ingredients, better packaging, clean beauty, and more refill options for shoppers this year! 🌏♻️🌲

#WatsonsPH #DoGoodHolidays #GiveMoreSmilesThisChristmas
Konting nginig muna tapos awra na sa glass floor o Konting nginig muna tapos awra na sa glass floor on the 340th floor of Tokyo Skytree ✨✨✨ Swipe to see the floor down beloooooow 😝😝😝

The funniest part was seeing other tourists follow suit and be afraid for a few seconds before posing on the floor after they saw me do it 😂😂😂

📸 西村さん💕

#tokyo #tokyoskytree #glassfloor #tokyoskytreeglassfloor #travel #東京 #東京スカイツリー #東京スカイツリーガラス床 #ガラス床 #dollupmari
I’ve got the shoes, I’ve got the dress, that m I’ve got the shoes, I’ve got the dress, that makes me Snow White, I guess ❤️🥰🍎

Halloween is the best time to visit @tokyodisneyresort_official as adults are allowed to wear Disney costumes!! (Normally guests above 11 years old are not allowed to wear costumes except during special exception seasons like Halloween) 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

Thank you @1987iroha for filming this 🥺🥺🥺 みみぽよありがとうぅぅぅ✨✨✨

#ivegottheshoesivegotthedress #transformation #disney #disneyworld #tokyodisneyland #tokyodisneyresort #snowwhite #disneyreel #disneyreels #snowwhiteandthesevendwarfs #snowwhitecosplay #halloween #halloween2022 #東京ディズニーランド #白雪姫 #ディズニーコスプレ #ハロウィン #ハロウィン仮装
Mari’s Shibuya Halloween Paandar 2022 was brough Mari’s Shibuya Halloween Paandar 2022 was brought to you by @olens_contactlens ✨✨✨ This year I decided to use Russian Smoky Gray as it has a good balance of being very visible in all sorts of photography settings (pic 1 is camera with flash, pic 2 is camera without flash, pic 3 is a phone selfie) while still looking glamorous and flattering. 💕💕💕

I wore these from 2PM to 2AM and only had minimal discomfort at the end of 12 hours, so for actual Halloween street parties which can take long periods of time, any Olens 1-day lens made of Puscon is a good choice. 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

#渋谷ハロウィン #渋谷 #渋谷ハロウィン2022 #渋谷109 #ハロウィン #ハロウィン仮装 #アリスインワンダーランド #halloween2022 #shibuyahalloween #shibuya109 #halloweencostume #halloweenlenses #halloween2022 #cosplay #aliceinwonderland #olens #olensrussiansmokygray #graycontacts #dollupmari #colorcontacts #disneycostume
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