LOOKS CAN BE DECEIVING.

Who knew that sweet ?Starstruck? winner Ryza Cenon is smitten with Jack Skellington, the bony hero of Tim Burton?s ?The Nightmare Before Christmas??

No cutesy, fluffy trinkets for her; she prefers dark and dangerous stuff.

She used to collect SpongeBob SquarePants memorabilia, but quickly outgrew the Nickelodeon cartoon character when she stumbled on the singing skeleton.

If she could have her way, she?d rather dress up in Gothic gear, too. Show biz, however, imposes certain sartorial rules.

As such, she has accumulated a number of trendy shoes and accessories.

Still, nothing beats her Skellington collection which can turn her bedroom into a mini-boutique or museum for the Pumpkin King.

Souvenirs

Ryza thinks she fell in love with Skellington because his items mostly come in black and white.

?I?m a rocker at heart,? she explains. ?I don?t think skulls are morbid. I find Jack Skellington cute pa nga.?

Blame fellow GMA Artist Center star Chynna Ortaleza for telling Ryza about the Skellington store in Hong Kong Disneyland.

Ryza felt like a kid in a candy store when she went there and bought roughly P40,000 worth of Skellington merchandise: from tees to towels; pencils to pillows; slippers to stuffed toys?on a single trip.

She even got a Skellington umbrella and Christmas decor. ?I had to check in an entire balikbayan box of Skellington memorabilia on my trip home.?

Some of the stuff were gifts from friends LJ Reyes and Chynna.

LJ gave her pens, a coin purse and Pirate Jack toys; and Chynna, a Skellington lunch box.

Most of the Jack items remain unopened and unused ?because I don?t want the items to lose their resale value,? says Ryza.

Jackets and shirts

Among the few Jack items she uses are the jackets and tees.

She prefers wearing jeans, jackets, shirts and hoodies over dresses. ?I have lots of jackets in my closet. I?m happy whenever stylists tell me that I need to wear hoodies in a show,? she says.

She describes her style as ?sporty meets rock.?

?I can be boyish,? she concedes.

For her pet Shih Tzu Mallows, she bought a matching skull hoodie.

?Mallows isn?t scared of Jack anymore,? she says.

Shoes

True to form, most of the pairs in her shoe rack are black.

?I prefer black because it?s easier to match with clothes,? she notes.

Now, she has acquired lots of Gladiator shoes because it?s in vogue.

To make room for new acquisitions, she sells her old shoes on the Net, on Chynna?s multiply page Stellar.

She buys shoes either in malls or online, but she also checks out bazaars for good finds.

Accessories

She?s a practical shopper.

(Her Skellington spree, she says, was a once-in-a-lifetime splurge.)

She patronizes Chynna?s Stellar multiply site for the latest bangles, bracelets, earrings and rings.

She also orders trinkets from other online stores like Glitterati.

She cautions other teenagers to buy only from online vendors that they personally know.

Skirts and belts

For her look in this ?Living Stars? shoot, she ?styled? herself.

?I got the tutu skirt from Glitterati,? she says.

Her belt, she reveals, is from a tiangge in Laguna, ?I got it for only P100.?

She counsels other teeners not to be blinded by designer duds. ?Even if your outfit came from a bargain bin, for as long as you carry it well, it can still look expensive. It?s all in the attitude, she says.

Bags

She?s proud that she doesn?t own a single Louis Vuitton bag.

Problem is, she plays a socialite in the afternoon soap ?Gumapang Ka sa Lusak.?

?I borrow designer bags from my friend Paolo Luciano who collects LVs,? she says.

She values her Skellington totes over LV and Hermes anytime.

SpongeBob items

When she joined ?Starstruck? in 2004, her collection consisted mostly of SpongeBob SquarePants items.

?But I?ve given away most of my SpongeBob stuff to my godchildren,? she relates.

The only SpongeBob item left is the wall clock hanging in the living room.

DVDS

?When I?m at home, I surf the Net or watch movies on DVD,? she says.

Initially, she thought nothing of buying bootleg DVDs, ?but I?ve realized that original copies offer quality.?

Apart from ?bonus features,? original DVDs also come in beautiful packages, she says.

?The ?Transformers 1 and 2? box set can be turned into robots,? she points out. ?I also had to pre-order the complete ?Harry Potter,? ?Batman? and ?The Lord of the Rings? DVDs.?

Of course, the most cherished DVD in her collection is ?The Nightmare Before Christmas.?