Thursday, August 3, 2006

Vanity Faire One

He once scoffed at the idea of buying toiletries for himself - and instead letting his mom do the job for him. Before, when he wasn't still aware about how he presents himself to others, what matters to him is that he had a decent soap, which he also use as his facial wash and a deodorant which advertises funkiness on the boob tube.

But, his work-out regimen began to change him. First, he replaced all his baconed undies which are years old with new ones. He would have bought branded ones, but at the last minute his stingy side overruled him. He began to be concerned about how rough and dull his face was, and to address his insecurity, he changed from Kissa Papaya to Celetech - which after a couple of months replaced it again with Nivea for Men.

As his body toned down, he started walking half naked all around the house. When he saw how dark his armpits were, he immediately changed his deodorant from a local brand to a whitening one - only to regret it after. For a time, he thought about having a facial, which, due to lack of extra funds, has to be delayed for a later time. He once became curious about having a Rhinoplasty but later realized that doing so would be an overboard.

He used to laugh at the idea of having a definite budget for his vanity, for it used to be his least priority. But because of changing times and his obsession about reinventing his personal appearance completely, his vanity budget became part of his monthly expenditures. Who would have thought that his gym alone would cost a fortune already.

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Last April, a close friend briefly stayed at his place while waiting for a date to pick him. This friend, used to think less of vanity and more of career. But because his career is now in full swing, things had begun to change without our guy's awareness.

As his friend prepares for his date's arrival, our guy started to check out the contents of his friend's kikay kit. What he saw changed his mindset forever.

Adidas Body Spray, Bench Hair Fix, Cetaphil Facial Wash, an expensive perfume he can't remember. Those things caught him in a complete surprise. His once koboy bestfriend has a vain side he didn't know.

Two months after the revelation, our guy started to have his own line-up of vanity accessories, which so far within PLU and metrosexual standards. The places he once avoided - Watson and PX, is now his favorite hang-out place. The clothes he once ignore, are the ones he is wearing lately. And the sub-standard shades he used to think as his sole luho would be even replaced by a sassier one in the near future.

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Things for him are fast changing. While the reality of age is becoming more and more apparent, he tries to compensate it by making himself younger and hippier. The possibilities of becoming a gadget and fashion conscious person is not far from reality. Sooner or later, as he feel better about how he looks and how he project himself to others, this avenues of awareness would be opened to him too.

But before he achieve such state of mind, he must first;

Complete his work-out project.

Survive his graduate studies in Creative Writing.

Rival his sister's vanity, which is very opposite to her ideals.

Learn to take a bath regularly.

Stop the nail-biting habit completely.

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You know what's ironic about this vanity thingie?

He started to become aware of these things, when he began to develop a homebody personality.
Not when his soul was wandering at the night spots of Malate.

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