S H A M E L E S S M A Y A

My Makeup Routine

Maya — Thu, 25 Jul 2013 23:47:25 +0000

A receive a ton of comments, emails and request regarding my skincare, workout, and makeup routine. My makeup video is now up and ready for your viewing pleasure. I’m really lazy when it comes to everyday makeup but I will go all out for special occasions, dates, auditions, you get the idea. Otherwise I can live with an eyelash curler and a tinted lipgloss : )
Next makeup video up is hopefully my Caribana transformation! In the near future I would love to format my channel so makeup, fashion, health, inspiration, randomness is all formatted for regular uploads! I so need consistency

Study the Greats

Maya — Tue, 23 Jul 2013 17:28:34 +0000

Life is what you make it. Make it count. Make it great.
When i’m on my death bed I want to smile knowing I went after everything I wanted from this life. I want to be great. I study the greats. What makes them so great? Can I be great? As you know i’ve discovered that all greats are shameless. They’re also determined, committed and faithful no matter what the circumstance. Yes we are human and have emotions that rage in every which direction. Yes bad things happen to good people. So what? Join the club. Build a bridge and get the f$*k over it. Every great person had the struggle. The greater the struggle, the greater the reward, if you so choose to not fall prey to defeat and weakness. If you are sick of being a victim, depressed, settling for mediocrity get off your butt and do something! and while you’re at it study the greats. In my previous post I mentioned the greats that really speak to me. They went through hell and back again. They had faith. They believed in themselves aka God and the gifts they had and that it was worth sharing with the rest of us. You are capable of greatness. Whatchu gonna do? Balls in your court playa.
Artwork by illustrator Fab Ciraolo. Inspiration for photo above
photo, makeup, everything by me aka ShamelessMaya. More of my photography here

Frida Kahlo is THE definition of beauty redefined. She’s a great & true inspiration in my life. She overcame despite the struggle. As a child she contracted Polio, as a teen she was in a near fatal accident fracturing her spine and hip, as an adult her right leg had to be partially amputated. Kahlo had a troubled marriage, miscarriage after miscarriage and despite all this, still created masterpieces and a legacy. Stories like this are not unusual for the greats. Trial after trial they don’t quit! They go hard! They believe and have faith. What about you? Read more about the great beauty herself: Frida Kahlo

Shameless Me

Maya — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:40:24 +0000

Last year on April 24th I decided to overcome my fears of putting myself out there. In doing so I realized my limits were self imposed. Why was sharing a part of who I am and celebrating that so challenging? And why was I avoiding this challenge for so long? At this point my life had hit rock bottom. I literally had nothing left to loose (or so I thought). Why not start now? I looked to Andy Warhol, Frida Kahlo, Michael Jackson, Grace Jones, Shakespeare and of course Jesus. What did they do that I wasn’t? What I discovered was they were living “shamelessly”. Despite the critics they lived. Not embarrassed by who they were, what they looked like, what others thought, they “did them!” We are all blessed with gifts that were meant to be shared. “Sharing is caring”. “Give and you shall receive”. Simple and true. The greatest gift you can give is love. The greatest gift you can give is yourself. Share your love. Share your art. Share you. Although this started out as a journey to overcome my fears, in the process I learned to let go and finally discover me. This is year 1. The journey has just begun. #beshameless

self portrait

The Greatest Love Story

Maya — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 18:03:21 +0000

Nearly two years ago I picked up the Bible and read for myself what all the hype was about. I was raised in a hard core Filipino Catholic home and went to a Catholic school. I’ve always had a relationship with God but kinda lost my way in College. Anyways fast forward to my move to NY 3 years ago where I rediscovered an intimate relationship with God and myself. How can a book that is over 2000 years old still be relevant? Why is this book so controversial? Why do people keep quoting verses? I decided to actually read the entire Bible and find out for myself. I finished reading the New Testament and am midway through the Old testament. What have I discovered? Jesus’ life is the greatest love story of all time. Reading the new testament was like. DAYUM! you can’t make this stuff up! No imagination or intelligence can come up with these stories. It really is beautiful. How selfless Jesus’ life was. He literally sacrificed his life so we could learn to love and live fully. When someone hits you offer the other cheek??? Who does that?! JESUS! When someone crucifies you, pray for them??? What??! In a world where we’re taught to take care of ourselves, put ourselves first, reading just a fraction of his life was mentally jarring for me. Since embarking on my journey of self discover through my whole “shamelessness” I found myself and God. The two go hand in hand. You cannot know one without the other. God isn’t some ominous being. God is in YOU and the purest form of LOVE. Learn to give the other cheek, learn to let go and forgive, figure out who you are, love yourself and you will realize how powerful you are because you operate from Love and God.
Thank you God for sacrificing your life so we may understand the meaning of Love. Thank you for teaching me who I am, how strong I am, and how powerful our love truly is.
Happy Easter : )
You can read my original post on my old blog here

Why Artist Don’t Make Sense or Dollar$

Maya — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 16:17:53 +0000

This has been weighing on my mind for the longest time and a personal challenge I’ve had to confront. As a creative, artist or even entrepreneur, there comes a point where it’s like, how do I get to the next level? How can I turn the thing I love and enjoy the most into something I can do full-time so I don’t have to work this ‘job’ anymore? It’s all very subjective and different people have different priorities. Some people are comfortable giving their art away for free, which is awesome, or creating art simply as a hobby, but this is directed to those who want to take their craft to the next level. This is for the “starving artist” who doesn’t want to starve anymore and wants to and is finally ready to get paid. The main message I’m driving home is change your perception of yourself, your talents, and money, into one that is positive. Believe in your abilities and believe that you deserve abundance.

When I’m not on YouTube I’m freelancing as a photographer and voice actor. I’m so blessed that as of late I’ve been able to do that full-time. When I first moved to NYC I obviously had to get a job, so I got a bunch! I worked as a cocktail waitress at a few places and worked at a photo studio as a production assistant. Don’t get me wrong, a joe job is necessary to get to where you need to go but not the end all and be all. I was making bank as a cocktail waitress! I’m talking $300-$600 per night! And sometimes more! I was able to buy my photography gear and all the other expenses and pay RENT. I eventually had to quit working at the studio because I was getting paid chump change! I was making $200/week! I made more money popping bottles than I did working in the photo world, but then I realized I started to get comfortable and not actually do the thing I enjoyed doing, which is fine but I wanted to work as a full-time artist what happened?

Priorities! Here I am trying really hard to priorities. The artist life is not a glamorous one, or at least it doesn’t start out that way but I’m at a point where I’ve reassessed by set of beliefs. I now believe the things I love the most can and will support me abundantly and I believe I can do a lot of good with a lot of money

stuck!

Maya — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:05:57 +0000

i was stuck like glue! not knowing what to do. so i ponder and ponder and months later kept pondering and realized i should stop torturing myself and put a blog post up already! it’s been almost 3 darns months since i posted on my site! that’s uber lame. i have a million and one excuses but they’re just that so here’s my post! i’m unsticking myself from self inflicted torture : ) “Shameless, you should post! what the hell should i post?! it’s been 1 month! post something! just post! nah…i’d rather get mad at myself for not posting and dwell on that fact for as long as i can'”. BAH!

speaking of stuck, last night i went to the opening party of Con Artists, SLAP: Adhesives & Egos, A DIY Sticker Exhibition

if you live in NY you should definitely check it out running until April 3rd. it was great to be around amazingly talented artist, positive vibes, new york scensters, unstuck from misery and flooded with creative movement!

was that sooooo hard Shameless?! lesson learned—-> torture yourself, shorter than longer, then get to it and DO IT ALREADY! so a ton more post on all the tid bits coming your way : )

Last Minute Christmas DIY Gifts

Maya — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 17:36:28 +0000

I have a bad habit of waiting til the last minute to get Christmas gifts in order. I have 7 close cousins plus their spouses and usually do a diy since buying something for each and everyone of them would be too costly. a few years back I made cassette wallets

the year after that I did quotes and since those are simple and fast enough I thought I’d share that with you all here

I made these for video purposes and will probably keep these for my bare walls : ) this year the cousins are doing Kris Kringle which makes life so much easier! any who! enjoy this video and get inspired! you still have time!!!

Holiday Pin-up Photo Shoot

Maya — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 07:07:58 +0000

I’ve been so busy doing all these random photo gigs!!! All I do is geek out with editing and make time for the hubby. But here’s a fancy video and photoshoot with my homie @itsmyrayeraye and @salon718. We went for a pin-up inspired look with the image below and put our own twist on it.

i bought this lovely 4 foot pink backdrop from Adorama for $22 bucks! i also bought a teal one i’ll most definitely use for another shoot.

styled by the lovely Joceyln Correia. she really impressed me with these looks. this was my first time working with her and she nailed it! i love how simple, yet effective all her pieces translated.

Model and friend @itsmyrayeraye isn’t your standard agency model,however her facial features are breath-taking!

it’s near impossible to capture her at a bad angle!with the holidays right around the corner i’m busy snapping away at events, a couple weddings and interior design stuff. i’m so excited about 2013! i’m finally building my network here in NYC! i have a ton of new clients and photos to update my site with. and of course i’ll release it all for January 2013. I used to complain that i couldn’t book a job but now i can’t find the time!

watch and enjoy!

learning to let go

Maya — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 16:55:59 +0000

now let’s not get it twisted. letting go and quitting are not to be confused here. i’m learning that letting go means trust. trust your efforts. believe in good and believe that things will always work themselves out. this has been my biggest learning blocks right here. i’m so used to muscling life. call it the former control freak in me but these last 2 years here in NYC has taught me patience. learn to let go. although we may want things by a certain time, a certain way, that’s not how the mystery of life has unfolded. what would happen if we just let go? what would happen if we didn’t stress ourselves out? what would happen if we just believed in what we were doing and stopped worrying about the outcome? however, letting go can only happen once we’ve done the work. if you’re not doing the work there’s nothing to let go of. create goals, do the work that needs to be done, let it go and trust yourself.

Happy Monday : )

curly questions answered

Maya — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 22:53:16 +0000

I partied it up with my Shameless Niece Brianna and the kiddy cousins for thanksgiving out in Pennsylvania hence this video and a few others with the rest of the curly cousins. I tried my best to answer most of your questions. If I didn’t feel free to ask me questions here and I’ll make a part deux video at some point. As for the ladies who had transitioning questions here are a few gurus that you should check out:

http://www.youtube.com/user/longhairdontcare2011
http://www.youtube.com/user/CourtneyNaturalHair
http://www.youtube.com/user/heyfranhey
http://www.youtube.com/user/MahoganyCurls
http://www.youtube.com/taren916

As for the products, I’m experimenting with other moisturizers besides Shea’s Curl & Style Milk. I love how it’s all natural, the smell and the moisturizing curl definition but I really don’t like how it feels “built up” on my hair…like I can feel the “film” on my hair later on in the week if that makes any sense. Since I finished a bottle of the Curl & Style Milk some time ago I started messing around with other products such as Cantu Shea Butter leave in conditioning repair cream which really does moisturize but if I go this route I use it with the Eco Styler Gel for hold. I’m not completely satisfied. I might just cave in and buy Moroccan Oil’s Curl Control Moouse which was introduced to me by Salon718 but it’s $20! I’m so cheap! Cause that’s expensive! My friends say it’s an investment but I think it’s robbery…
Anyways! I’ll need to make a video dedicated to products since I can’t make up my mind on the topic…well besides my love for Shea Moisture’s Shampoo and Moroccan Oil’s Intense Hydration Mask.
The one thing I left out that was major was my Keratin Treatment! I did a Brazilian Blowout last January. It was amazing! I loved it! I did ask the stylist to only use heat up to 410 and not 450 which is standard. If you watch my very first video you’ll notice my curl pattern is way more loose because I still had the keratin in. As you can see now, it’s completely washed out. I got the BB because I wanted a temporary change and keratin can be an awesome deep conditioner and since my hair was soooo dry I thought I’d kill 2 birds with 1 stone. Would I do it again? YES! but with a price ticket of $250-$400 not anytime soon

More questions answered
1) When I go to bed I put my hair in either a pineapple ponytail much like this photo here but not so “wide”:

if it’s later in the week and my curls are all over the place i’ll do a brush out and sleep with my hair in a high bun and wear it out all frizzy Diana Ross styles the following morning and thereafter. frizzy, unruly curls can work if you WERK-it-out! and yes, i do sleep with a satin pillow case as well.

If I have the time and my hair is really hurting, I’ll twist my hair and sleep with a cap.

i feel sorry for men married to curlies that take care…this cap is so not hot. marry someone who loves you cap and all thanks boo bear!

now if i do twist it overnight i use a leave-in conditioner, currently using Kinky Curly and in love with the Optimum 6-in-1 Miracle Oil. the thing about most oils is it usually just sits on top of the hair shaft not moisturizing . i think the exception is Moroccan oil, however it’s pricey! you really need something to soften the hair cuticle before you use an oil hence the Kinky Curly which I am loving! i also will sometimes use the Eco Styler gel if i want super duper defined curls. the next day you simply unravel and rock the twist out as is or separate the curls for a more natural look.

this is what my hair looks like when i DON’T twist and simply put styling product and air dry…not very special and rather flat looking

my hair unravelled on a 2 strand twist out…DEFINITION FOR DAYS!!!

and just cause, here’s a curly hair collage of me throughout the years