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Review: Etude House Magic Bubble O2 Water Peeling Pack

Hi. I've been stalling around to review this exfoliant, but because I am running out of the product, I guess it's time to put on the review for Etude House's Magic Bubble O2 Water Peeling Pack. Not finding a way to check the pH is not an excuse, but still, we must go on!


5 Korean-Based Skincare Lines the Philippines Would Love

Aloof as some Filipinos may seem with the multitudes of Korean anything surging into the country, some skincare junkies still are craving for those elusive skincare and cosmetics lines which haven't caught on to the branching out of several brands here in the Philippines.

Today, let's go over those brands Filipinas will surely welcome with our usual warm hospitality.

6 Things You Should Know About Kojic Acid

Kojic acid is one of the most popular whitening ingredients out in the Philippine market nowadays. From soaps to lotions,  kojic acid and its derivatives (Kojic dipalmitate, Kojic isopalmitate and chloro-Kojic Acid) are quite affordable and accessible, making it a sure hit for the masses. If you're curious on this skin lightener, here are some tidbits you should know.

Kojic acid is a byproduct of  the fungi Aspergillus Oryzae.
This picture shows the fungi on top of rice for fermentation.

(via Flickr)

Review: Nature's Gate Sport Broad Spectrum Dry Finish Sunscreen

After a couple of posts waaaay off topic from skincare, here's a review of a sunscreen I bought on a whim months ago because I was looking for an affordable, alcohol-free, and white cast-free sunscreen. To see if Nature's Gate Sport Broad Spectrum Sunscreen really has all of these criteria, read on.


Mother's Day Debauchery

I effing hate Mother's Day.

Don't get me wrong. Before cursing me out on how I am such an ingrate for not appreciating my mom, mother-in-law, or friends I'd like to make a few points clear. I cannot imagine the pain of snipping a part of their lady bits to facilitate child birth - for that I think mothers are brave, especially if they're doing it because it was an accident and they had to "man" up to their mistakes. I cannot swallow the sacrifices they make - career built for years only to be abandoned, bodies taken care of to fit in a bikini only to gain fat and not ever getting back to shape, relationships set aside because they caring for the family, and many more. I have deep respect for mothers, but I hate this holiday they oh-so treasure, that failing to greet them is akin to telling them they're useless and they should go cry in the corner.

This holiday has been severely mangled, and almost everyone's way of celebrating it is just wrong.

This holiday was originally meant to honor unrecognized sacrifices by made by women for their families and country. Women: married or unmarried, with kids or no kids. Maybe because of it's name, but this day has evolved into recognizing only mothers with kids - so if you had a miscarriage, are infertile, or decided on childlessness: no holiday for you.

This day also contributes to the melodrama of being a mother. For reference, there's this viral, cheesy video:

Please. If being a mother is difficult, where does that put people who work with high tension wires? Or the kids who wear imaginary scuba gear and dive into manholes to free up clogged sewer lines? This Mother's Day is a massive circle jerk, a part of the special snowflake movement to make a mundane "job" to anyone else but their families extraordinary. Look, a lot of people are mothers. It's nothing extraordinary.

It also relaxes the weight of being a father when the only difference is the latter did not experience the pain of childbirth. Society's expectation for fathers to be good providers is hard. And it's funny, because society spends 40-75% more on Mother's Day as compared to Father's Day.

Speaking of spending, Anna Jarvis, (the lady who founded this festivity) campaigned against this monster movement she created. She did not like what it had become - an opportunity for restaurants, florists, patisseries and women's stores to cash in on overly sentimental and sensitive women who'd sulk if their husbands or children failed to give appreciation. It had been reduced to a day of required greetings and gifts just so the drama is avoided.

Forget the fact that you can show your appreciation for parents anytime. Forget that there are people who sacrificed their dreams of having an own family just so they can support their parents and siblings. Forget the women who give their life to a career that in the end will help a lot of people. Forget the women and men who desperately try to procreate with no success. Forget the members of the LGBT who adopt kids who need homes.

Forget Mother's Day.

5 skincare products to beat the heat

With the peak of summer and an impending El NiƱo, the daily temperatures here in the Philippines can very uncomforable, even scary at times, that skincare is sometimes set aside to just survive the heat. But fear not, as there are skincare products which can help keep your cool - literally.

Mercy! Mercy!
(Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Presenting five tried and tested products that will surely beat, or at least lessen, the harsh Manila sun.

Get Up Already

I wanted to smash her face in with the heaviest can I can find.

I pondered on this deed as I looked coldly at a petite, short haired lady waiting in line with me. I have endured ridiculously long lines, idiotic credit card owners, whiney children, burned out cashiers and dirty looks from the male baggers – the many and routine trips to the grocery has honed my almost non-existent temper. But that lady in the senior citizen line tapped into something evil within, not to mention her weird fashion sense of knee-length shorts, stripped green shirt, colorful floral wedges, and pearl bangle made me cringe.

I was waiting in line with my husband and mother-in-law who insisted on her 65-peso senior citizen discount. The queue was only two senior citizens short, with the first grandma looking almost smug at the cashier swiping the dona’s haul. For what felt like thirty minutes to all the people behind her, the riche-looking grandma was sitting on a Monobloc chair, thankfully so because she wore very skimpy shorts no decent woman with such huge legs and web of varicose veins should. Next in line was a very thin grandma sitting on the two-seater Monobloc beside the chewing gum display. Beside her was this plump, 30-something lady I’ll call “Betty” from here on, who sat with her feet on the plastic couch just as she would in her home, with a dull look on her flat, fat face as she and her frail mother waited for the fat madame to go.

I caught my mother-in-law looking at Betty and presumed she wanted to sit on the chair meant for the elderly. We had been walking in the mall for hours, which is an impressive feat (pun intended) for someone her age, but her face was hinting the need to sit. Betty did not budge for Ma, who had started to pace to and fro to rid herself of the boredom and probably numbing of her legs from the long walk.
An old couple shortly joined the line. The old, otter-like grandpa carried the small package of meat, while his wife who looked like a typical hairless cancer patient clung onto his flabby arms.  I looked at Betty, and from then on I had the murderous thought running into my head.

It did not help that Betty was now lying on the two-seater while her mother was unloading their purchases. Sure, Betty might have ignored Ma because she looked capable despite her age, but the hairless grandma is hard, if not totally immoral to ignore. Even the most shameless MRT passenger would feel like a saint at the sight of this fat, butch, fashion-zero loser who was totally not giving a damn.

Her mother was now paying for her groceries, and it was only at this time Betty finally rose from her recline. I was unsurprised she was not wearing rings, and was quite relieved by this because no man had to suffer with a horribly apathetic wife such as her. As the insidious thoughts waned, the lingering question on why and how a person became such had started to gain voice.

Maybe Betty had sacrificed her happiness for her mother, I thought as she instructs the bagger to cram all her paper bags into the tiny reusable one. Maybe she has given up on life and is merely enduring it for her mother’s sake. Maybe she was sick and her lack of courtesy was a manifestation of her envy for the senior citizen. As watched the mother and daughter go, I felt pity for Betty as she carried the heavy bag of goods, which could never compare to the heaviness of her existence.