My son's toothpaste hunting journey

Mother, father, brother, sister, how do you brush your teeth? Bow.
This post is going to be about my son's oral care.
I started brushing his teeth when he was 1 year old. I think by that time, he had 5 to 6 teeth.
I started cleaning his teeth with a baby silicone finger toothbrush. 

But when he's older and started to eat variety of foods and especially, SWEETS!! 
I knew I have to take extra care for his baby set of teeth.
I knew it will be hard to introduce him to toothpaste because of the cooling sensation it gives to our mouth.
And he is not used to that. I planned to buy a kiddie toothbrush and a child friendly toothpaste. 

Choosing a flavored toothpaste.

You have to consider what flavor of toothpaste does he like? What is his favorite fruit? 

Well for my son, its strawberry. He loves strawberry yogurt, strawberry filled crackers etc.

I bought a strawberry flavored toothpaste in brand A and at first he did not like it.

But it doesn't stop me from taking care of his teeth.

I introduced him to the product over and over again until he got used to the taste. 

From then, I thought that I am doing good on taking care of his teeth. 

I thought that I am giving him the best protection from cavities. 

But one day, something came up on my mind and I asked myself, is this the best quality that I can give him? 

I am referring to the brand. Because I only trust one brand for toothpaste. And that is Colgate.

Is it right to settle just for the flavor that your kids will love, sacrificing the protection to cavities that you can get from the best brand? Colgate has strawberry flavor too, but it was meant for girls because it has a barbie packaging. And I dont wanna give it to my son. So I talked to him that I'm switching his favorite strawberry toothpaste to a bubble fruit flavored one. And he was excited about it! Right after we got home, he got the toothpaste from our grocery bag and opened it, and he tasted it. He loves it! What a relief! He then showed it to his tita and when he came back to our room, I saw him licking the tube because he loves the flavor so much! And even asked me "Mommy, toothbrush na tayo." Haha! Right now, I am so relieved from worrying that my child doesn't get enough protection from cavities. I actually got a lot of compliments about my son's teeth. 

Here's a photo of him showing his healthy teeth :)

As early as possible, I wanna teach him the importance of having a good set of teeth. 

Not only the teeth but a healthy mouth. Because it is the mouth that you use to interact everyday. 

With a healthy mouth, you are confident to speak. With a good set of teeth, you are confident to show your smile to the world.

I just wanna share this photo:

Taken last October 2011. My son was 1 year 3 months old. 
:)

Majolica Majorca Lash king vs Maybelline Hypercurl Volum Express

                         Maybelline HyperCurl                               Majolica Majorca Lash king reg price: P795

             Volume Express mascara P299, watsons                          But I got it for P499 on sale

The Packaging:

I love the sleek packaging. Very modernly chic! 

Black tube with metallic pink font match with silver cap.

Who wouldn't want that?

The Wand:  

Maybelline mascara has a curved wand that I like.

It reaches all of my lashes. And it gives me the curl that I need.

The formula:
It has the right formula, not too creamy which is prone to clumping.
And not too thin so it can give your lashes the volume it needs.
It's easy to apply it glides on smoothly coating every lashes.
And it is build-able! 1 coat for a natural look.
2 coats for thicker lashes but still looks natural and 3rd coat to give the volumizing effect lashes.
It's indeed a waterproof mascara and smudge-free! No need to worry for oily skin.
It has a bit of smell. The natural smell of mascaras and other cosmetics.

Worth the price?
Yes!! Definitely! I love this and will repurchase this again!

Almost no clumping. And very very natural looking. 

2nd coat of maybelline volum express

Longer, thicker lashes, with minimal clumps. 

Removing the mascara:

It is kinda hard to remove which is normal when using waterproof mascara. 

I use 2 cotton buds soaked in make up remover to clean one eye. 

The Packaging:

It is so nice! The royalty design, the cap, gold and black color. I love it!!

Looking at it makes me want to be a queen!

The Wand:

Majolica Majorca mascara has a straight, thin tip.

The bristles are not as thick as the maybelline.

this kind of brushes gives you a cleaner look, hence less volume.

The Formula:

The moment that I saw it, the first thing that came up my mind is "dry"

It does look dry! Like the mascara that you keep using after 6 months of purchasing it.

But it has fibers that lengthens and thickens your lashes.

It has a faint smell of nail polish which is not a very big thing as you will be applying this on your lashes.

I don't like how it mess with the cap. I want my make up clean.

Always clean and I really really don't like this.

I wish they made the inside of the cap black instead of gold.

1st coat of Majolica Majorca

Just one coat is enough to have a thicker, volumized lashes.

200% of your lashes guarantee!

It may clump easily. The fibers are not working. 

The fibers are always at the tip of the wand.

I don't know how to make it work, 

I tried mixing it in circular motion but it just don't work.

2nd coat of Majolica Majorca

Thicker lashes, but its a little clumpy.

Must use a lash comb to separate the lashes and make it look cleaner.

I don't wanna be in Wayne Goss' list of spidery lashes.

It's not heavy on my eyes which is a good thing. 

I don't recommend this for beginners as I find it hard to apply without messing the eyelid.

Removing the mascara:

I find it easier to remove. Just one cotton buds soaked in make up remover can clean the entire mascara.

Just a mild wipe of cotton buds can remove it. No more falling lashes.

*I am using the eye-stinging ever Ever Bilena make up remover.*

 Maybelline HyperCurl Volum Express
without curling my lashes.
You can see that it is able to give my lashes a natural curl.

Majolica Majorca without curling my lashes.
I don't know why but it just gave me a straight lashes.
 I need to curl my lashes first before applying this mascara.

For me, I will repurchase Maybelline HyperCurl Volum Express over Majolica Majorca.

Because Maybelline is a lot cheaper than Majolica Majorca. 

But the performance of the two mascaras doesn't really have huge difference. 

Cure Natural Aqua Gel Review

As a mother and a housewife, many women are neglecting their skin care routine.
After cooking, I wash the dishes, and after that, I give my son a bath,
then eat lunch and wash the dishes again then clean the house.
Hay??! It's never ending! So housewives are tend to get old early.
And I don't wanna get old! I wanna maintain the youthful look of my skin and my face.
So I must have a good skin care.
The basic skincare routine is Cleanse, tone and moisturize.
But it is also important to exfoliate twice a week.
"Hindi lang kili kili ang nililibag no? hahaha"
And for exfoliation, I found the best product you can ever try.

So this is the new craze! Introduced to us by Sample room! Cure Natural Aqua Gel from Japan. I'm always fascinated by Japanese beauty products and I am so happy that I finally got myself to try this one.
(Big thanks to sample room team!)

This is how the sample looks like:

The leaflet that contains all the information that you need to know.

  And the instructions.

 It's good that they got some Q&A section on their leaflets

There's no doubt that this product really does wonder. After all the features on magazines without paid ads!

It contains 5 sachets. It contains more than enough to use on your face.
So I use the remaining product on my knees.

 Teehee! Somebody needs a translator!

 This is how it looks like. Gel type but becomes liquid once it's applied on your skin.
Okay, I am so embarrassed as how my hand looks like. Maybe it's because of doing the laundry twice a week. The detergent are making my hands very very dry and gloves are making them itch so bad!

This is my Day 1 Before picture:
I just have to post it in original size for you to see it clearly.

Day 1 Before

 As you can see, I got some white dirt on my face. Its my dead skin cells :)

Day 1 Exfoliating

 After exfoliating my face, I washed it with water and this is the result.

Day 1 After

What I noticed after using one sachet?
I noticed that it lessened my blackheads, my skin was softer and it doesn't dry my skin.
I didn't expect much this time because its just my first try.


And after 2 days, it's time to exfoliate again!

Day 2 Before

 After taking a bath. I know that its best to exfoliate before bedtime but I just need the sun's lighting for the natural color of my picture.

Again, the white dirt.

Day 2 exfoliating

And the after face! haha

Day2 after

What I noticed after day 2?
Same effect as day 1 like lesser blackheads, it still don't dry my skin. But I love the smoother feeling on my face. I felt surprised as I put Ponds Day cream to my face. It's easier to apply, my finger glides smoothly, And I noticed some glow effect :) I love it! I must continue using this!


Cure Philippines
Facebook www.facebook.com/Curephil
Twitter Twitter.com/Curephil
Instagram @curephil

Sample room
 Facebook www.facebook.com/sampleroomph
Twitter twitter.com/SampleRoomPh
Instagram @sampleroomph

Golden Fabulouz Keratin Hot oil cream with Green Tea

Having dry hair is a curse. And no one would ever want to have it. 

I have dry, thin and unmanageable hair. This has been my problem ever since highschool. 

Though my hair is naturally straight and shiny, I still envy girls with thick, flowy hair. 

Hair professionals recommend having your hair treated every 2 to 3 months. But I really can't afford that. As salon treatment prices range Php500 and up. The most I can afford is hot oil or hair spa that costs only for Php200. 

So I discovered Golden Fabulouz Keratin Hot oil cream with green tea.

Revitalizes dry hair and scalp.
A special formulation that restores healthy condition of dry and frizzy hair, contains various conditioning agents of keratin extracts, green tea that nourishes , soothes and refreshes scalp that makes hair soft, full body and lustrous.

I almost finish the tub. 

 

Look how creamy the formula is! 

What I like the most about this is that it is locally available at watsons for a very affordable price of Php219 (buy one take one) That's a very good deal!!! This tub contains 500g of product.

How to apply it?

1)Shampoo your hair.

2)Apply the product on your hair. What I do is that I section my hair into three. The bottom, middle and the top part of my hair. And apply this hot oil cream. Don't forget to concentrate at your tips. The first 10 centimeters of your hair is the most damaged part of it. 

3)Then, I wrap my hair with cellophane

this is also called as cello wrap I think

4)  I wrap my hair with a hot towel. 

     To do this A. Get a steamer and steam the towel

                     B. Soak towel in hot water, squeeze excess hot water and put it on your hair.

                          Repeat as the towel looses heat

 If you don't wanna steam your hair, you can just leave it for a longer time like 40 mins to 1 hour. :)

5) Leave it for 30 minutes and then rinse.

This is the time that I take a bath. After rinsing, I use the world's no. 1 conditioner Pantene. I use Pantene Nature Care Smoothness and Life (Promise you won't regret doing this step!)

After taking a bath, I dry my hair and proceed to straightening it. Use any flat iron you own and be amazed on the results!

 Is it effective?

YES!! Definitely! Look at my picture below. This was my 22nd birthday. And I really love how my hair looked like. It sways, it's smooth, shiny, actually it looks like it was salon treated!
I was so happy that my hair never gave me problem that night. It was perfect! =)

PS: I bought this hot oil cream buy one take one last January. They put it on sale because these variant of Golden Fabulouz are phasing out and new ones are already available. So they only have buy one take one promo until stocks lasts.

Olay Natural White Foaming Cleanser/ Day cream review

Ever wonder what I use to clean my make up brushes? I use Olay facial wash. The same product that I use to clean my face :) Why? Because I believe that there will be cleanser residues left to the brushes that will later on, will be transferred to our faces. I don't wanna have shampoo or dishwashing liquid on my face. Well, it does its job! It totally cleaned my brushes as much as it cleanse my face.

Olay natural white foaming cleanser is a clear gel type of cleanser. It does not foam as much as other facial washes do. The only thing I hate is that its kinda hard to wash off. But its okay. keribels lang! haha.

After washing my face, it doesn't give me that tight feeling (because of my dry skin) which is I think is good. Unlike other facial wash, I have to put moisturizer immediately because if I don't, I'll feel like my facial skin is cracking (like the cracks you see in soil when its el niño)

But ofcourse, it is still recommended to use moisturizers. That's why I partner it with Olay Natural white Day cream in Light. P10 pesos for 7.5 grams. 

Its light and non greasy formula with triple nutrient system- vitamins B3, B5 & E and sunscreen ingredients helps:

*lightens skin tone
*reduce appearance of dark spots
*evens skin tone
*hydrate and
*protect skin from harmful UV rays to give you fairness that glows.

 I only buy in sachets. Because I really cant afford to buy a whole tub that's worth 300++ 

And besides, this 10 pesos sachet lasts for more or less 5 days.

 Here's a photo of the actual product. It is creamy and easily absorbed by the skin. There are 2 types of day and night cream. 1) Light and 2) Rich. I think this light formulation is intended for oily skin and the rich is for dry skin. As much as I want to use the one with rich formulation, I cant. There's no sachet!!! poor me. So, I have to settle with this one.

See how light the formulation is?

For people like me who have dry skin, you have to put two layers of this moisturizer in cold weather or you can purchase the one with rich formulation. Because thick consistency offers more moisturizing power.

I use it twice a day, morning and evening before bedtime. Though they have other moisturizer for night use. But it's only available in tub. It will be great if there's a sachet too! 

Night cream 

photo from google.com

Nourish your skin with nutrients while you sleep for a healthy looking natural fairness that glows.
Olay Natural White Healthy Fairness Night cream is specially designed to give your skin nutrients at night

 for a healthy looking natural fairness that glows.
Its formula with triple nutrient system - Vitamins B3, pro-B5 & E nourishes your skin while you sleep to reduce the appearance of dark spots and dullness,resulting in a healthy looking natural fairness that glows every morning. 

information from here.

Skin care routine is a must for every girl. You just have to find the product that will work for you. Don't fret if you had breakouts from trying moisturizers. Don't just depend on reviews on the internet because everyone's skin is different. What works for me might not work for you. Pimples are just temporary and it fades away easily but wrinkles, freckles, sag, dry and dull skin due to lack of skincare are harder to treat. So as early as possible, start having your daily skin care routine.

Artist Studio Make up Brushes

My bareface. Please excuse the dryness of my face :)

As you know, I am a frustrated make up artist. And a make up artist must have its tools. And so, I got some of them. For the longest time, I am dying to own a complete set of make up brushes. I keep browsing and browsing through the internet, and make up stalls in the mall (like suesh) but it's all expensive. But I don't wanna settle on cheap make up brushes like the ones in tiangge.

And so the search continues for the good quality but affordable brushes. And I found it in Landmark! I saw them last December and I told myself that the world won't be ending in 2012 without me having those brushes! I am on a very tight budget and I knew that I won't be able to buy a complete set but atleast, I have the basic brushes for less than 500 pesos.

Actually, there's variety of make up brushes in trinoma. They have the ones that's already in makeup brush bag, or the ones in brush holder. I know that it will be more practical to buy those brushes with container/ bag but I have to get a powder, blush, concealer and eyeshadow brush. These are the basic brushes for beginners like me. The packaging affects the brushes' shape. And so I have to go back and buy a brush holder. I'll see you again, Landmark!

So these are the brushes. Please do excuse if my brushes are dirty. I am too lazy to clean them today. >_<


I got powder brush Php 139.75

Blush brush Php 79.75

Foundation/ concealer brush Php 79.75

Eyeshadow brush Php 49.75

 I dont own this picture. I just stole it from http://www.codenameaya.com haha. I lent my eyeshadow brush to my sister whose in Calamba, Laguna.


Total Php 349.75 would you believe that?

I only got four brushes because I got the one with old rose colored ferules. I wanna collect the same colors. And I think I only be needing these four brushes (as I am not a professional and I only use them once in a while)
I love these brushes and I think they're doing their job very well, I cannot really compare them to other brushes because these are my only brushes. Though some people compare it to sigma brushes. Actually more and more make up artist in the country are trying this brushes. (I hope that's enough to convince you that these are really of good quality)

So, for the MUA wanna be out there with a very limited budget, you must visit Landmark today! And get your own Artist Studio Make up Brushes.