Review: Skin Food's Wildberry Milk Cleansing Foam (moist)

Have you ever been in a situation where you think you're contented with everything, then something comes along and takes you by surprise? I had this happen to me weeks ago when I started using Skin Food's Wildberry Milk Cleansing Foam - and  it's THE best foaming cleanser ever.

Throwback: How I Started with my (Korean) Skincare Regimen

To my friends who are curious with my skin care, I must be the biggest liar in the country when I say I used to have bad, pimple-ridden skin. So then I get bombarded by a ton of questions on product recommendations some practices I do with my skin.

What I had: I had a lot of pimples, scars and PIH (thanks to puberty). The only routine I had was washing my face with a Pond's cleanser. My skin was very oily, sensitive, and acne-prone. I also used calamansi (as per my mother's advice), and I went to the a facial salon a couple of times to have my pores cleaned.

To be short about it, my journey is quite simple, but unexpected. But here's how I did it anyway.

The Brown-Skinned Beauty In A Sea of "White"-Obsessed Fools

Love yourself. How hard can it be?

Not quite easy in a country where conformity is the standard, especially when it asks you to conform to what nature has not given you: "white" skin. As a kid, I have always wondered why we are so obsessed with how fair our skin is, and throughout the years, found the apparent reasons of people who believe this idea quite absurd, with the same magnitude as the stupidity of the believer itself. Which is why finding people who can learn to appreciate their color is always a welcome surprise.

Yes, They Exist.: Great Beauty Products for Less Than 100 Pesos

Most people have this bias that anything sold expensive must be superior to cheap ones. However, there are a few good beauty finds in supermarkets here in the Philippines that are surprisingly cheap. How cheap? Below-100-pesos* cheap!

(*a little more than 2 USD) 

1. Dove Bar

Image from dove.us

How much is it: around 55 php for a 135g bar

Women who probably had relatives from the US during their childhood days may know this bar as the slippery, soft, cream-like soap which somehow always makes the balikbayan box. While the local formula may have been tweaked and is far from the nostalgic, very moisturizing, melting-within-a-few-days bar, it is a good alternative to your usual body soap and even from the more expensive ones from upscale beauty stores.

2. Fitness Oil Control Sheet 

How much is it: 31 php for 100 sheets

The average Filipina-way of dealing with skin oiliness whenever outdoors seems to be wiping the face crazily with their handkerchief and putting some baby powder on it post-stress. The constant pulling of the skin when using the handkerchief could damage your skin - and this is where oil blotting paper can help. Rather than pull the skin during wiping, blotters can work by merely patting your skin with the tiny blotting paper and voila, less oilier skin without risk of damaged capillaries.

3. Nivea Lip Care Fruity Shine Strawberry 

From nivea.ph

How much is it: 80 php for 4.8g

It moisturizes, adds some tint, doubles as a lip gloss, has some SPF and has a delicious fruity flavor - all at a third of the typical price of a Korean lip balm. What more can we ask for?

4. Apollo Petroleum Jelly

How much is it: 83 php for 100g

Don't believe the uninformed, tree hugging detractors of petroleum jelly, or else you'll miss out on this very useful product. Petroleum jelly is a very versatile ingredient - a shape-shifting product if you may - from sleeping pack to lip balm. Even if you happen to hate it as a moisturizer, you can still find tons of uses for this product, making the meager price tag totally worth it.

5. Johnson and Johnson's Baby Oil 

From johnsonsbaby.com

How much is it: 63 php for 125 mL

Another useful product which along with its brother, petroleum jelly, which always falls in the hands of people who feel scared due to ignorance. Unless you're allergic to fragrance, this oil is the cheapest and safest (rarely brings adverse skin reactions) product to clean up your pores (or "remove" blackheads and whiteheads, which are only dirt-ridden sebacaeous filament). Also, it is moisturizing, non-comedogenic, and not at all carcinogenic. By the way, remember to get the original, PINK bottle capped one, as the other variants have other oils which may react with your skin.

So ladies, lack of budget is no excuse to not have good skin care products!

If you know of more similarly cheap and great finds, feel free to drop them below.

First Impressions: Skinfood's Strawberry Black Sugar Mask Wash-off and Argan Oil Silk Hair Mask Pack

Hi everyone! Today we willl be taking a look at a couple of free samples snagged from Skinfood Glorietta's sale last week - one of which I am keen on purchasing, of course only if the price is right, and the other I will never spend money on. Let's have a look shall we?

Random Skincare Facts on Baking Soda

We've seen a lot of Youtubers and bloggers promoting the use of baking soda for facial skin care, usually as washes or as exfoliator. Popular as it may seem though, baking soda is one ingredient not meant for the face. especially if used on DIY skincare recipes. Today, we'll take a look on what baking soda is and how it affects the skin.

Good for baking, bad for skin.
(Image from Arm & Hammer website)

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 Niño, 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.

Dead stars, rainbows and skin

If you're a frequent visitor of Pas-Sosyal, you've probably noticed I have not been very active this month. It's because lately, I have been playing around with images of stars for reasons partly therapeutic and philosophical. Here's the very first one I've done. 

Thank you, openFITS, for this new hobby!

Review: The Face Shop Face It One-Step BB Cleanser

I've just ran out of my favorite cleanser which is gold but unfortunately hard to purchase here in the Philippines. So I had to find a quick replacement and found one from The FACE Shop. They only had one of such oil cleansers at the branch I went to - Face It One Step BB Cleanser.

According to the SA, it's an oil that will become soapy upon addition of water, which is what I was expecting it to do. I wanted a one-step cleansing method to save time - but for such to work, the cleanser has to be workable, and it should clean well.

So how did it perform? 

Review: Mentholatum Sunplay Clear Water SPF 50 PA+++

Summer or not, I am adamant with sunscreen use, and recently, a local drugstore is finally selling one of the sunscreens I've been dying to try. Surely, the wait was totally worth it and I'm happy I can share this product with everyone. Here's my review for Mentholatum's Sunplay Clear Water Sunscreen, with SPF 50 and PA+++.

Review: Human Heart Nature Sunflower Beauty Oil (or any other sunflower oil)

Today, I will be reviewing a product which is quite intriguing for me, thanks to my office mate's very energetic raving and it's purported  "23 miracles in a single bottle". One miracle is enough to rouse the skeptic in me, but 23? Oh boy! This review for Human Heart Nature's Sunflower Beauty Oil is probably the  most exciting one I've done.

5 reasons to start reading ingredient lists on your cosmetic products

There's a special-snowflake-harboring saying I used to always hear from my mom every time I go home crying because some kids told me I was ugly: it's what inside that counts. But even if I've grown to accept my looks, I still hold the cringe-worthy advice dear, especially with skin care.

There are women who refuse to think critically at the sight of fancy boxes, smell of subtle notes and high price tags. There are people whose skin might be too sensitive or problematic, yet they try various products until they finally find by accident what would work for them or until they finally give up with the mess on their faces. There are greenwashed consumers who automatically dismiss perfectly safe products just because "the ingredients are hard to read, therefore it is harmful", then swap these working, cheap products with more expensive and less effective, "earth-friendly" ones.

If you are one of those, or just curious, this one's for you.

Thoughts on Mena Cream

When I was a kid, I remember our househelpers raving on cheap drugstore whitening products and applying these whitening creams all over their faces until they're espasol-esque. Even back then, whitening products have always been a hit among Filipinas. And with affordable products, even those with very tight budgets can whiten their skin - one of such whitening products, according to our househelp, is Mena Face Cream.

Mena Face Cream
(Image from Mena website)

Brand Sisters: Cosmetics companies you never new were related

If you're like me who has spend 5 USD for a very entertaining and enlightening read about personal care and cosmetics from Romanoski and Schueller's It's Okay To Have Lead In Your Lipstick, then you've probably seen a lot of nifty, money saving advice which felt like "insider information". One of such is to keep note of which companies own your favorite cosmetics/ skin care brand. Apparently, brands which are owned by a common company sometimes the same ingredients even if those brands are sold in different price points. In other words, cheap and high end may have the SAME ingredients if they're owned by a common company!

So I compiled a list of companies which own several cosmetics and skin care brands for our reference. Here's what I've Googled.