Photography PAOLO PINEDA
Make Up YCIAR CASTILLO
Hair JET BABAS
Videography DIX PEREZ
Special thanks to NTICE (available on http://everythingmustgo.ph)
By Candice Lopez-Quimpo
Christina Bartges is certainly no wallflower. If you notice her, it’s not because she hogs the spotlight, but because she doesn’t bother to. It’s this laid back, can’t-be-bothered attitude that can be so appealing. That, and the way she seems to be having a party we all want to crash. As the Calyxta shoot gets underway, the music changes. She can’t resist it—DJ Badkiss is on the set after all—and replaces what’s on the speakers with her current favorite playlist: Prince’s album, “Artificial Age”. It’s one of two albums she has on constant repeat lately, she reveals, with the other one being an album of Gretchen Parlatto, a jazz singer from New York.
This one playing, the Prince album, she says, “came out last year and I’m really late on it, but I didn’t have the time. But once I listened to the entire thing it’s all I wanted to listen to. It’s like a whole story. It goes through all different kinds of genres. Musically, Prince plays it all himself, he writes it all himself and he’s funny. His lyrics are not always super-serious. It’s just a great album.”
Christina grooves to her chosen tunes, as she waits for her cue. She struts, she dances and easily shifts into model mode once she was facing the camera.
Take a closer look though, and you’ll see that it is a lot of work with a mix of play; Christina moves from one pose to another effortlessly, but don’t blink—she throws in a funny expression or a naughty look every now and then.
It’s easy to see that Christina likes having fun. You’ll hear her say it too. “I’m playful. I’d rather have fun, than worry. But if you have to work, you have to work.”
For Christina, luckily, work can be fun. “That’s why I chose music, because it never feels like work.”
This is not to say that the carefree demeanor is one of reckless abandon. In fact, take time to sit and listen and you’ll spot the focus and drive that is guiding her these days.
For one, she’s a working mama who dotes on her four-year-old son. While she’s not one to uproot herself for a child nor put her motherhood on display on social media, parenthood is the new normal in many ways.
Music is certainly a passion that she enjoys pursuing and is grateful to be paid for. So much so that, lately, she’s been busy with a not-so-little project:
We’ll soon be hearing some original music.
“Music has given me so much that I want to give something back and create my own,” she enthuses. And it’s anything but predictable. To her surprise, even, friends who are privy to the new stuff are telling her that her music sounds “dramatic and gloomy”.
She relates, “They’re like, ‘Wow Christina, it’s kind of dark.’ And I’m like, really? That’s interesting because I’m not really a gloomy or dramatic kind of person. So it’s actually fun that it’s coming out of me like that.”
Christina seems to be enjoying revealing a new persona.
At the shoot, Christina is projecting her personality too. She’s no lifeless mannequin who lets others take charge. She plays with shapes and poses, checks out her shots on the monitor, and shares her opinions.
After the first layout, she’s back on the make up chair.
“Will it be flat again?” she asks the hairstylist who’s working on her short mane.
Yes, was the answer. Christina wrinkles her nose. “This is what I don’t like about modeling.”
She’s itching to mess it up, inject her personal style somehow, because if there’s one thing about Christina, she prefers to be who she truly is.
Having someone depend on you would certainly put a few things in check. For someone who likes to roll with the punches, Christina knows her priorities and tackles them without losing a beat.
These days, she’s teaching music and German to little kids, a day job that she’s found enjoyable and aligned with her interests and skills. The security that comes with a regular paycheck doesn’t hurt either.
She shares, “Before if I didn’t have money, I’d eat mami noodles for a week because I know that the week after I have to pay rent. I’m good at making dues. Like I’ll just work with what I have. If I have lot, that’s fine; if I don’t have a lot, that’s fine too. But with Maceo, it became a bit different, I needed a bit more stability. Not because of me, but because of him. You know, I can say, ‘Sorry, Maceo we can’t have dinner tonight because next week I have to pay rent and the Meralco bill.”
Maceo, she claims, grounds her.
“Before I’d go somewhere and if I like it, I’d extend. Now I go on a trip and I know I’m going to go home and I’m excited about it. I don’t try to push experiences.”
Actually, she can be quite a homebody.
“I love it at home, yeah. I don’t have that thing that I feel like I’m missing out if I don’t go out.”
If she does go out, it’s to check out a worthwhile event, to have dinner with good friends, or to check out some great music.
The responsibilities have done little to water down Christina’s spirit. She’s planning to head back to New York in a few months for a DJ gig.
“I was there, on a tour last year, I went from San Francisco, to Los Angeles, to Montreal, to New York, back to the West Coast. New York was the place I spent the least time in, but the people I played for there were like, ‘Come back. We’ll get you more gigs.’”
In the meantime and in between gigs, Christina shares her mixes on her Soundcloud page (www.soundcloud.com/missbadkiss).
“There are two types of mixes that I do. Either it’s a live recording of a gig; I’ll just record it then I’ll post it. But sometimes I’ll make a concept mix. I’ll tell a story. My guiding principles there: what’s the story I want to tell and which songs will help me best tell it? And the I’ll go through what the songs are, what I want to play, then I’ll find other songs to connect them.”
Beauty Hacks for No-Fuss Chic
Christina’s beauty routine is one of convenience. She goes for impact when needed and knows what works for her. She’s one for the least fuss and fanfare when it comes to getting out of the door.
In the morning, “I have a shower. I brush my teeth under the shower. I don’t wash my hair everyday. I wash maybe every three. Because it’s best like two days unwashed. I wash my face with water, rub it on a towel, then I’m out.”
At night, “I’ll wash my face, put on moisturizer, then I’m done.”
She names few basics as her staples: Carmex lip balm, Human Heart Nature shampoo, and skincare from Nivea, bronzer from Body Shop.
Her tricks? Keep it simple and play up the fun.
“Because I really don’t wear makeup, sometimes I’ll put on my lipstick for fun, smudge on my cheeks, and that’s my blush and that’s it!”