My 20ml L'Oreal Paris White Perfect transparent rosy whitening day cream is now empty.

These promises sold me out! They offer more than the regular brands that I use. Knowing that it is a tad more expensive than my usual Olay cream, I was expecting it to work better.

I don't know about the SPF part, all I know is whenever I use this cream my skin would really brighten up with oil from this cream. It doesn't easily settle on your skin unlike other creams. I personally think it is heavy and it also makes my morena complexion look ashen or gray.

If you have oily skin, don't buy this! I have a combination skin and this cream causes my skin to have that greasy look by lunchtime! I need two oil blotting films to matte my face. My aunt would often complain that I look untidy and that probably I am not washing my face. If only she knows that I'm trying to finish off this L'oreal White Perfect Day Cream so I could move on to another cream (I'm now using Garnier Light, it is cheaper but so far, so good).

I've been using this cream for more than a month. I am so happy I didn't buy the biggest bottle because this product doesn't match my skins needs.

You can buy cheaper day cream with SPF protection and moisturizer at a much cheaper price. It doesn't mean that if it is expensive, it is bound to be good. Scout around and don't be fooled by the words written in the packaging. That is my biggest weakness. I always fall for whoever writes best. The adjectives just keeps pulling me in!

Vamoose!
Ma.Diwata

Eiffel Tower and Audrey Hepburn are two of my favorite things.
Ate Leova, Emma, Liza and I share the same dream of having our photo taken with the Eiffel Tower in the background. I will be wearing a sleeveless below the knee dress with huge black glasses and an updo ala Audrey Hepburn.

Here is my birthday gift to you Ate Leova. Take me to Paris with you!

I'm starting to be a Garnier fan! According to their Garnier philosophy, they are the leading European natural beauty brand that uses whenever possible carefully extracted natural-based active ingredients that are designed for Asian skin.

Today, I'll be featuring the Garnier Skin Naturals Light with pure lemon essence and natural peeling fruit extracts overnight whitening peeling cream. It says on the front of the package that it will help in dark cell exfoliation and would eventually reveal a fresh and fairer skin in the morning.
I bought myself the small tube which contains 20ml. It costs around 90php at Robinsons, so that is around 2 US dollars. It has a skin tone meter at the sides and my skintone is in the range of 9. I have no desire to have whiter skin because that would totally look unnatural. What I'm desiring is to remove the dark spots on my face and have a glowing complexion. My skin is dull and oily at times and oily is definitely glowing in a greasy kind of way. Yuck!
At night, your skin is least exposed to dust, dirt and sunlight. This is the ideal time to do some skin repair. This cream "peels off dullness overnight thanks to an intensive exfoliating action to help remove dark cells". It also "whitens the skin to reduce dark spots and further skin darkening". Just spread it evenly on a perfectly(it says prefectly on the box, I wonder if this is printed in China) cleansed face, avoiding the delicate eye area.

I washed my face with Garnier light facial scrub before applying the peeling cream. It carries that Garnier lemony smell that I love-not too strong but a turn off perhaps to those who have sensitive noses and skin.)

It is a white cream that is more on the liquid side. It doesn't run though and doesn't harden on your face. Initially, I thought it will harden like mask and I would need to peel it off in the morning. Well, it just feels so light and natural that you don't need to peel it off. It is easy to wash off. I haven't noticed any peeling on my skin too.

 I wonder what the "peeling" part on this product is.

I read in another review that I would need to use this for 28 days to see visible results. I'm on my second day and so no breakouts so far.

I will keep you updated!

Sincerely,
Ma.Diwata

CNNgo dubbed Manila's streetfoods albeit the rest of the Philippines as one of Asia's best in an article titled" Asia's 10 Greatest Street Foods" written by Lina Goldberg.
The foods featured in this article are:

1. Tsitsaron

2.Taho

3. Balut

4. Kwek kwek

5. Silog

6. Isaw

7. Kikiam

8. Sago't Gulaman

9. Banana Cue

10. Fish balls

Some streetfoods are eaten at breakfast, lunch or dinner. Some are for merienda and as pulutan or finger foods during drinking sessions.

BREAKFAST

TAHO This is a combination of bean curd, caramelized sugar and sago best sipped warm through a straw in the wee hours of the morning!

TAPSILOG (TApa, SIningag at itLOG) This is a heavy typical Filipino breakfast consisting of tapa or fried beef jerky heavily  seasoned with banana ketchup, sinigang or garlic fried rice and itlog or egg cooked sunny side up. TAPSILOG is just one of the many variations of SILOGS. Examples are: TOSILOG (tocino, siningag, itlog) ADOBOSILOG (adobo, siningag, itlog) SPAMSILOG (spam, siningag, itlog) LITSILOG (litson, siningag, itlog) FRIEDCHXSILOG (fried chicken, siningag, itlog) LONGSILOG (longanisa, siningag, itlog) BANGSILOG (bangus, siningag, itlog) and the list goes on and on.... PULUTAN (to be eaten while drinking beer, tuba, lambanog etc.) CHICHARON - Bite size pieces of deep fried pork fat dipped in vinegar! Yum! There is also CHICHARON NA MAY LAMAN and CHICHARON BULAKLAK from deep fried pig's small intestine! CHICHARON BULAKLAK - Deep fried pig's small intestine served with vinegar.

MERIENDA (snacktime)

KIKIAM A Chinese dish (Que-kiam) adapted to fit our Filipino palate. It is ground pork and vegetables wrapped in bean curd. You can have your choice of sauce- either hot and spicy, sweet and spicy or just plain sweet.

BANANA CUE It's plantain usually deep fried with either/or kalamay or brown sugar. Once  the sugar caramelizes  it is skewered  with bamboo sticks. I love it when you could still crunch the caramelized sugar or when you can see the kalamay forming a spider web!

KAMOTE CUE

TURON This is plantain wrapped in lumpia wrapper and deep fried with caramelized brown sugar or  kalamay. You can also add langka and sesame seeds. Some restaurants even add ice cream to this delicious desert.

DIRTY ICE CREAM Peddled on the street this ice cream usually comes in three flavors: cheese, mango and ube. Yum!

ICE CANDY Comes in different colors and the flavor depends on what fruit is in season.  Some popular flavors are mango and milo+red beans.

ICE DROP

NIGHT TIME FARE
Anything sold at night is good for pulutan!
Almost every part of the chicken is barbecued and almost every street corner in the country is filled with smoke from the barbecues at night time.

ADIDAS Grilled chicken feet.

BETA-MAX Grilled coagulated chicken blood

ISAW Grilled chicken intestine.

HELMET Grilled chicken head.

BARBECUED CHICKEN SKIN This is my personal favorite! The chicken skin is so yummy that it just slides through my through! This sells fast!

IUD OR ISAW Grilled chicken entrails.

WALKMAN Grilled pork ears

To be updated later....

Fish balls
Balut
Kwek kwek
Sago't Gulaman

I've always found Melanie Marquez witty and funny. I'm a great fan of her Melanie-isms.

I first saw the ombre word while watching America's Next Top Model British Invasion. It was one of Tyra's makeover suggestion. Later that day, I randomly read it at a DIY site and it peaked my interest. Seems like this is the in thing among Hollywood actresses and fashion A-listers!

Since Emma, my best bud, and I have been contemplating on dying our hair, I did a little research on this hairstyle. This blog is the fruit of my arduous labor.


I doubt though that when I go to our local hair salons that they will be able to know an ombre look unless I bring a photo of it plus some instructions. Who would want a know-it-all? So for this hairstyle, I will do it myself...soon!


The ombre hairstyle looks like you have just overgrown your sun bleached hair. The roots are darker and it is gradually graded to produce lighter tips using the balayage technique. It just looks like you don't have money to recolor your hair! =P

It is a low maintenance hairstyle that you can easily do at home. Well, at least that's what the people on the internet says. The good thing about this hairstyle is, if you want to hide the ombre (shaded in french) ends you can simply pull it in a ponytail or wind it up in a loose bun. 


First off, what is the balayage technique? It uses the freehand technique. You can paint your hair without the ugly squares foiling or cap highlighting makes. This is best used with hair below the shoulder. The aim is to make your hair look naturally bleached and not streaky.


So how will we ombre-fy our hair in this Philippine setting?

• Don't use blonde hair dye because you would need to bleach your hair first. Use a highlighting kit instead. Hortaleza has some hair bleach powder that will work. 
• Apply the solution at the end of your tresses first gradually moving up until your chin. The lightest part should be the tips and the darkest part should be your roots. Therefore, apply more solution on your tips.
• Dark part of the hair should be from roots to chin level but it is ok if you kindda lighten some parts.
• The longer you leave the bleaching solution on your hair, the lighter it will get. You might want to try on a small strand of your hair and time it just so you know what to get.
• Read the instructions that comes with your hail colorant. I will use Hortaleza Professional Hair Coloring Cream. Mine says that if I use 6% oxidizing lotion, it will just cover the gray hairs or change only my hairs color tone. If I use 9% it is for fashion colors or to change hue of the hair. 12% on the other hand is used for blonde colors to take effect.

reference:
http://www.vogue.com.au/beauty/beauty+insider/what+is+the+balayage+effectr,13857
http://www.elle.com/Beauty/Hair/Beauty-Tip-Sun-Kissed-Hair-Color
http://www.haironthebrain.com/2011/01/how-to-diy-ombre-hair/

iWhite Korea has been my all time favorite! I simply dig their Whitening Pack and Nose Pack. I'm so glad it is available at Robinson's Supermarket here in Tacloban City now. Previously, when Tacloban was still mall-free, I get my iWhite from either Watsons Cebu or Manila and only when I get a chance to travel there.

I love this product because once you peel it off your fave you can literally see the blackheads, whiteheads, some facial hair, dead skin and other impurities on the mask!Amazing!

iWhite Korea: Whitening Pack(Peel Off Mask)
Promises to : Revitalize, Cleanse and Enhance
Product description: iWhite Whitening Pack instantly removes dead skin(check!), deep-seated dirt(check!) and other impurities(check!) to reveal a radiant, glowing, younger-looking skin.
Especially formulated with Mulberry Extract that whitens dark skin and evens out discolorations, Panax Ginseng Root Extract that revitalize and improves skin health and Vitamins A,C, E and B5 to prevent premature aging.

• Mulberry Extract

Last night, a high school friend Maracel posted in FB if anyone knows a good memory technique. I suddenly remembered Dr. Jesus G. Reyes who is in his 70s probably. He would passionately teach us memory techniques. Often times he would pick someone randomly from our class and call out their full names and birthdays. He never got mine right but I am still amazed at how he has trained his brain like an athlete trains his muscles.

Since the beginning of the school year is just around the corner, many of you will be battling with your memory. As a post graduate student, one thing I regret is that I am too lazy to memorize. Thus I have flunked a lot of tests and would sometimes give "basta nabasahon ko ito" as a vague reason to questions. If only...

Here is a technique that works good for me. I use a combination of the PQRST method and different memorization techniques after.

The PQRST method of reading a textbook is also known as the SQ3R method. PQRST stands for Preview, Question, Read, Self-recite and Test.

• Preview - Peruse the whole chapter you are deciding to study. Read the title of the chapter, the chapter outline, the headings and subtitles, captions and graphs. Look at the pictures. This warms up your brain and gives you a birds eye view of what you are going to learn in the chapter.
• Question - Ask yourself questions on how or why the author choose to use that title or picture. What do you need to learn exactly? Ask questions related to each title and subtitle. This makes you curious for answers
• Read - If I have lots of time in my hand I read three times-that's what our teachers say. This is also the part wherein you look for the answers to your questions.  
1. 1st reading - Usually I speed read first. This is a skill which is useful specially if you need to read lots of books in one day. An average person can read a 200 words per minute with only 60% comprehension.  Remember it is an average so you can still double your rate.I read around 329 words per minutes with a comprehension of 91%. Test yourself here.
2. 2nd reading - On my second read, my goal is to increase comprehension. This is the time wherein I take down notes and make my own diagrams to better understand a topic. The more colorful it is, the better the retention. Just make sure it is organized.  Highlight only the important words. Don't highlight everything! When I get bored, I usually read my book upside down. 
3. 3rd reading - Memorization and familiarization.

• Self-recite - Answer the questions you have previously formulated. Recite the things you memorized earlier. You can look back on texts you have missed out.
• Test - Answer the test found at the end of the chapter. If you have notes review it within 24 hours and repeat again after a week. This is to increase your retention and bulk of study materials when the exams come.