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)

Lessons Learned: Tips on Importing Asian Cosmetics in the Philippines

I am one of the unlucky ones who always get pawned by the Bureau of Customs. Of the four instances of ordering from overseas online shops, three were subjected to exorbitant taxes. A couple of purchases from sasa.com got taxed by around 40% of the item cost, while a recent purchase from roseroseshop got taxed as much as 60% of the item cost.

And because I don't want other Asian cosmetic fans here in the Philippines to encounter the same monster, I'd like to hand out a few tips on how to at least minimize the damage on our pockets by the Bureau of Customs when we need to import cosmetics.

I present to you, Scumbag Bureau of Customs 

RoseRoseShop, Sasa, KoreaDepart et cetera to Philippines: Think twice before you buy

Thanks to the internet, Filipinas have wider selections in skin care and cosmetics. A great deal of these treasures are found in online shops such as Sasa, KoreaDepart, or RoseRoseShop. However, fellow Filipino consumers like me should be mindful when purchasing items from online shops based abroad.

Cybercrime, libel and loveloveloves

The Philippines’ Supreme Court has declared the controversial “online libel” clause of the Cybercrime Law constitutional yesterday. While butt hurt politicians and artistas might be relieved, for the Philippine blogging community, the approval of this clause would be detrimental, if not dangerous for the blogs, readers and bloggers themselves.

Review: Snoe Hair Heroes "Intense" PM Repair

I've always believed that local products are generally cheaper. But as with every rule or pattern, there will be exceptions. Snoe's Hair Heroes "Intense" PM Repair is one of those.

Safety Advisory: FDA (Philippines) warns against mercury-laden whitening products

Nov 20, 2013 - FDA (Philippines) issued a notice listing several whitening products which were found to contain mercury levels beyond regulations values. FDA found 11 mercury-tainted products from a set of products which were found to have no Certificate of Notification from the said agency. Products without FDA notification may not be sold, nor offered for sale to or use by consumers.

The following products were found to exceed the 1 ppm mercury content limit set by the FDA:

1. Sanli Eliminating Freckle Cream Plus Complex Vitamin C & E
2. Erna Whitening Cream
3. Top Shirley Nourishing Cream
4. Jiao Li Huichunsu Specific Eliminating Freckle Cream
5. Jiao Li Speckle-Dispelling & Whitening Cream
6. LMSER Cream
7. Gemli Beauty Series Freckles Cream Plus Placenta Extract
8. Zhjren 7 Day Beauty Elegant Moisturizing & Whitening Day Cream & Night Cream
9. Zhjren Whitening Ruddy Combination Suit
10. White Magnolia Intensive Repair Essence & Powerful Spot Remover
11. Angela Placenta Whitening Cream (Tender Skin and Whitening)

According to the FDA memo, some manufacturers add mercury salts to skin care products to inhibit melanin formation which will result in lighter skin. However, excessive skin exposure to mercury may lead to skin rashes, discoloration, scarring, and weaker resistance against bacterial and fungal infections, apart from more adverse effects such as kidney failure, anxiety and depression.

Meanwhile, the other product mentioned in the FDA notice for being unauthorized products are the following:

1. Excellent Royalsuffi Fade-Out Cream-Day Cream
2. Yu Yan Excellent Yest Intensive Night-Cream
3. Baschi Day & Night Cream
4. Feique Herbal Extract Whitening Freckle-Removing Series

FDA advised the consumers to buy cosmetic products with FDA market authorization and from legitimate outlets only. An order has been issued to local governments and FDA officers to seize the prohibited cosmetics.

How to check if a beauty product is FDA approved

Following an advisory from the FDA on the purchase of unnotified products, 13 lipsticks, mostly from China, have been marked as having no market authorization from the FDA. The agency warns that unnotified lipsticks may contain hazardous ingredients, especially lead.

Any of these look familiar? Better check FDA's advisory here (fda.gov.ph).

So how can we know if the product we are eyeing on is FDA-notified?

Papaya whitening: Is it safe and effective?

Visit a supermarket and you are sure to find a TON of whitening products. Among the most common here in the Philippines is the use of papaya soap. Papaya is claimed to help whiten the skin and is a common ingredient in lotions and soaps, which can be cheaply bought off supermarket shelves.

According to papaya whitening advocates, papaya contains papain which is the effective "whitening" ingredients. So what is papain and how does it "whiten" the skin?

Advisory: FDA orders ban and seizure of 16 cosmetic products

The FDA bans 16 products, mostly from China, on suspicion that it may contain unsafe levels of heavy metals (such as lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic). The products are as follows:

- Baiyansu Three-In-One Whitening Set
- Beauty Girl Green Cucumber 6 Days Double Whitening Soft Essence Cream
- Bihuayn Whitening Day Cream
- Care Skin Strong Whitening and Spot Removing Package
- Gadakai Freckle Removing Cream
- Huayuenong 12 days Whitening and Speckle Removing Wrecking Set
- Huayuenong 12 days Whitening and Speckle Removing Wrecking Set (Note: No idea why this product was listed twice)
- White Advance Hydroxytyrosol L-Glutathione Whitening and Anti-Aging Cream
- Yudantang Ginseng and Green Cucumber 10 Days Whitening Speckles Removed Essence
- Yudantang Green Olive and Papaya Natrual Essence 6 Days Specific Eliminating Freckle Whitening Sun Block Cream
- Yundantang Sea Pearl and Papaya Specific Eliminating Freckle Whitening Cream
- Specific Eliminating Freckle Spot and Double Whitening Sun Block Cream
- Yundantang 10 Days Whitening Speckles Removed Essence, with picture of cow and papaya (Wat?)
- Zyiang Day Cream
- Whitening Cream (with the rest of the label in Chinese characters)
- Product label in Chinese characters, with gold package and picture of red flower with 3 green leaves

The advisory (link here) also advised the public to use only FDA acknowledged products and to carefully read the labels of cosmetic products before purchase. Said FDA-approved products must contain the following information:

- Name and address of the local company
- Full ingredient listing
- Batch code
- Date of manufacture or expiration date

If my outfit can fund a foundation...

If my mom would plan to give me a Herve Leger dress and pumps and clutch from Chanel, I'd rather that she give me money instead. I have a lot of potential uses for it.

If however, she'd plan to give me a unit it Ritz Carlton instead, well, 34M pesos is too much for me to imagine (assuming she'd give me the cheapest unit) - I mean, that amount can build bridges!

But of course, my mom cannot afford a wardrobe such as that. She's just a simple businesswoman.

Whitening soaps in the Philippines

I'm pretty okay with my skin. I have some scars on my legs which I'm not insecure about, I have hyperpigmentation on my face from my acne days, webs of stretch marks and (dark) yellow skin - and as I know there is no such thing as perfection, I never bothered doing anything special with my routine. Just normal skin care.

But recently, probably because I'm getting married in this year,  I've become wary of my very very dark elbows which really stand out from the rest of my arms. As a result, I've been trying to find easy to purchase (and safe) whitening products for my elbows. Just last Friday, I went to a local supermarket and found a whole aisle of whitening soaps of various local brands and ingredients. Yep, most of the Pinays are not very fond of their more skin-cancer resistant skin color for whatever crazy reason, contributing to the huge market for whitening products. I could go on ranting with that obsession, but that is fitting for a different post.

The Bureau of Customs and our everyday SONA

Following the previous post on my experience of buying imported goods off the net, I may be able to give a reaction on the recent news regarding the SONA and the dismal review on the Bureau of Customs by our president. But first, on to the parallel story to this.

Is it just me, or does the president looks somewhat like a minion?
(image from inquirer.net)

Importing Cosmetic Products: Ang tuwid na daan pa-customs

Last Monday was a significant-but-not-really significant day for Filipinos who are monitoring Pinoy's plan for a "tuwid na daan." For me, it was yet another day for experimenting. I was hypothesizing that the Customs people will tax me way more than they should for $80 worth of skincare products from sasa.com and $50 from roseroseshop.com.

Especially since I have fair skin and small eyes, it was bound to be a disaster. But I came prepared. I had been researching ever since I got a notice from Philpost's Central Mail Exchange Center a day after I was supposed to receive a door-to-door delivery from the online store. In the delivery card, it said the package from HK still has to go through "Customs Inspection". "Inspection, ulol", was may knee-jerk reaction. Another card said I had to claim it at Mandaluyong City's central post office, which was just 1 ride away from our place. That package (from roseroseshop.com of Korea) was also for customs inspection.