The thought of going vegetarian and embracing organic products have really enticed me for some time now.  I tried being vegetarian but somehow I haven't really acquired that tastebuds yet to fully dedicate myself to go vegan.  But using organic items are easier, I thought I'll start myself with that.  Organic products, in this case, beauty products aren't necessarily expensive.  Body shop has gone green but the prices are just not that attractive to me.  Good thing my sister introduced me to Human Nature.  It's locally made thus it's cheaper.  So far, it has gotten good reviews from her so I thought I might as well try it myself.  First product I bought is their Sunflower oil.  It has been said to minimize dark areas and stretchmarks in your body.  And seeing that it only cost P129, I bought it immediately.

Let's see if this thing works on me.

I couldn't really remember when I had my stretchmarks.  I probably had them since highschool or college.  I really have no recollection.  What I do know is I got really conscious about mine when my friends would invite me to go to the beach or pool, or in any activities that would have me stripped down.  In my attempt to rid my stretchmarks, I then did my research.  It really pays to know that you are not alone.  I was shocked that girls as young as 12years old can have it.  They said that 8 out of 10 ladies have stretchmarks and just recently I just learned that Shakira has one.  

Seriously!? 

Yes. Just knowing that makes me feel really good.  As they say, misery loves company.  

Now there are different causes of stretchmarks.  There's hormones, abrupt gain and lost of weight, and there's pregnancy.  I guess mine was due to those reasons except for being prego.  

Stretchmarks are atually torn dermis, which is found in the middle layer of our skin.  As far as I know, it is difficult to remove, but definitely not impossible.

Here are the following things that I know could help you minimize or get rid of them.

1. Exfoliate.  Rubbing the affected area in a circular motion stimulates your skin to produce more skin, thereby replacing the ruined layer with a newer one.  Although results of which will not be immediate at least you are doing something to minimize it. You could also exfoliate by using sea salt, baking soda and oil (olive, sunflower, baby oil).  But best result is through microdermabrasion.  However you have to shell out more money for that.

2. Apply anything that will help rejuvinate skin cells.  Many people say that Vitamin E, cocoa butter, citric acid work well.  This is especially true for the initial stage of stretchmark when it is still colored pink, red or brown.  But when it has gone to a later stage which is white or silvery, these are less effective already because these just only affect the top layer and not the middle layer of skin which was really the torn out portion.  So it is better to use glycolic acid but then using 30% of it is already considered hazardous.  Only 10% below is safe but do not have any effect on the skin.  

3. Hide it.  You can do that instantly by a concealer that matches your skin or you could tan your skin so it would hide the scars a bit.  

You can do a combination of these methods.  It's a trial and error thing so you would have to experiment which of these things work better for you.   Also since it could involve a lot of steps, there is a great tendency that you would feel lazy to continue it.  Consistency is the key here.  Doing it on a regular basis would increase your chances for success.

Good luck!

What comes to mind when you say red?  Sexy... Alive... Raw... Bright... Attractive.  All that you can get just with a splash of red on your face, using this new found friend of mine called lipstick.  I'm 26 yet I could say that I'm a late bloomer for guys, life, and lipsticks.  I mean, I love to dress up and all and I drool on guys at times(and since this god-forsaken davao city isn't blessed with worthy guys to drool on, the 'at times' there means 'nadaahh' with someone from here), but it never dawned on me that I need to put lipstick on.  What for?  I have my lipbalm, or I can bite my lips for instant redness. Well my friend, after years of doing that I discovered that what you put on instant will be gone in an instant. But not my red lipstick.  Somehow it leaves a read tint on my lips after letting it be for few hours.  

I've discovered my affair with red lipsticks just recently.  One day, I was to meet my friend.  I've dressed up already,  and looked at myself in the mirror, blast it!  I still haven't put concealer and mascara on.  No time for that now.  So I took my red lipstick which I bought a year ago (and haven't used much), and just out of desperation to put color on my oh-so-pale face, smothered my lips with a thick coat.  And as I looked at myself in the mirror again, this time with a bit of fascination. And my, my, my.  My face was glowing.  Danngg! Instant make over!

And now my friend, I'll have to buy another one of you because I know you'll be running out soon.  ;)

As soon as I saw this ad on facebook, I knew that I got to have it.  So I asked my sister to send me some strips which she did(thanks girl!).  I got mine for P1500, that's 10 strips, but in the states they sell this for about $40-$50 for 28 strips. 

And so when I got it from the mail, I tried it immediately!  The strips come in this plastic packet, which you have to rip off to get this transparent plastic with 2 strips pasted on there.  

The top one is longer and narrower, and the bottom is smaller but stouter.  I usually put the longer one on my upper teeth and the shorter on my lower, since the upper teeth is where I want to do the whiting more because it's what other people see more often.  I'm not sure if that's the proper way, but it's really up to you I guess. It's just my preference to put the longer strip on my upper teeth.  

So put the strip as shown above, press it good and leave it for 30minutes.  I left mine for more than that(45mins.-1hr)  thinking that it will be more effective.  Some reviews said that they don't like the taste that this strip has.  Actually the taste is a bit unnoticeable, although at times you taste a bit of mild bleach, but nothing that's really bothersome.  You can actually speak while having the strips on, but you will have a lisp. ;)  Expect salivation from you because for some reason you don't want to swallow your saliva much, well at least for me.  If you observe the strip, you could see bubbles appearing in between the teeth and teeth to strip.   

For some people, they had their results on their 3rd strip, I had mine on my 4th strip.  I have to say that this thing works.  I've tried whitening toothpastes before but they just failed me.  Not this one.  My teeth got 3 shades whiter, although I'm aiming for really white teeth, I'm still satisfied with the effect. I wasn't able to finish all 10 strips, since I had to share 3 strips with my mother.  When she tried her first strip, her teeth that was obviously yellow, became obviously whiter.  Insane!!!

10x POINTS! horraaaah!

I've been wanting to get white teeth for the longest time.  Too bad, there's no Crest strips here in our side of the planet, and the cost for bleaching here is 16K, which I don't have right now.  So I went on looking for clinics that offers the cheapest possible price for a laser bleaching.  So I've always knew that there was this clinic in Manila that offers it for 5K, and if my memory serves me right, the name of the clinic is BrightSmile. I tried looking for that clinic if I was indeed correct.  As I was doing so, I saw this post saying "whiten teeth for free".  So like a second nature, I click on it immediately.  Then I read in order to whiten your teeth,  use baking soda and hydrogen peroxide.  Now I have already tried this before, and the first time I did it, my gums turned white for a few minutes which really scared the crap out of me.  I couldn't barely feel my gums, and I thought that this was a huge disaster. I was in the verge of tears, actually.  Oh what a girl has to go through to be pretty(in my case, prettier... hahha)... And after remembering that incidence for a good 3 seconds, I thought, I'll try it again. This time I'll do it properly, and follow the instructions carefully.

Before you undergo this procedure, if you think you don't have sensitive teeth like me, then this is safe.  Also if you have cuts on your lips or any where in your gums, I suggest you wait for it to heal as this mixture will give you a burning effect if you proceed.

So I prepared my materials.

Baking Soda, Agua Oxigenada(Hydrogen Peroxide)

I got myself a white bowl, and mixed 2 tsp of baking soda and a teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide.  Squeezed in a bit of toothpaste, and mixed it all in until you've got a paste-like consistency.

Wet your toothbrush, dip it in this mixture and brush your teeth as usual. This mixture has a bitter taste don't even attempt to swallow.  Expect to salivate while brushing. 

So continue brushing for 2 minutes, after that you wash off mixture with water. 

Results? Viola! Receding gumline! :)

Actually I didn't notice if it turned white or not.  For some people, it worked for them.  Don't worry about the gumline, as it will go back to normal. 

PS: Sister! Send me some Crest Strips! 

I've heard a lot of youtube gurus in the likes of Michelle Phan, and Andrea's Choice, talking about this small brush being part of their favorite products of a certain month.  They said that it works really well on removing dirt and on exfoliating your face.  So I said, I'll try that, thinking that my face needs a lot of exfoliating.  Good thing the Saizen store in Abreeza was selling this and so I bought it immediately since it's fairly cheap- only P85.

I use this with my clean and clear facial wash.  What I do is I brush my face in circular motion and make sure all parts of my face was well brushed including my lips.  Yes my lips.  So after about 2 minutes of brushing, I wash my face and then I just feel the results.  My face gets squeaky clean.  It feels like my face is breathing again.  You try it.  I think it's one product that's really cheap and very effective.  This one's definitely a keeper!

Here are the face products I am currently using.  :)

I haven't been using most of these products before, except for the clean and clear cleanser.  So I was pretty anxious of the results especially for the eye cream.  It cost me P699 to purchase that itty bitty product.  It should give me results and it did.  My eyes aren't as deep and dark as before, and I think it helped me look less haggard, so I'm actually happy I purchased that one.  That eye cream from Olay is the first eye cream I purchased so I could not make any comparison with other eye creams in the market.

The Ponds spotless white was ok for me. It gave my skin the moisture that it needs, however it left my face oily and greasy in the afternoon.  I have an oily skin so it's just natural for me to grease out but putting the moisturizer on made me more oily.  I think oil-free moisturizer would suit me better.  Did it give me the pinkish white glow it promised? Yes immediately after applying it, but you'll be surprised how fast I turn from pinkish white, to oily slob.  Still I couldn't complain, I couldn't really demand much from a P45 vial. 

Neutrogena Toner. I have had a lot of toners before.  I tried the expensive and cheap ones, and it's amazing how I find cheap ones to work better.  I basically use toner to minimize my pores since I do have a lot of visible pores on my face that I want to get rid off or at least minimized.  The Loreal toner that cost me P345 didn't deliver. I tried it for a month and my pores are still very visible, and I didn't feel it taking much dirt from my face.  That's almost the same results I got with using Neutrogena Alcohol-free toner.  It seems like it's mostly water in it.  So that was just a waste of my P180.  That did not seem much, but in the world of toners, P180 bucks is a tad expensive. Bummer!

Now the clean and Clear Facial wash, is the only product I've used during my highschool and college days.  And it really works for me.  Every after wash, I could feel that my face is squeaky clean.  A bottle of 45ml would last me 2months and it's fairly cheap too, just P45.

I have yet to find the perfect beauty products that would really suit me well.  Have you found the right products for you?  

Yes beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, but I have to say that everyone is beautiful if she has fabulous skin. Take whatever complexion you may have, if you have nice, healthy radiant skin, you could automatically be considered beautiful.

So the question now is, how to get that beautiful perfect skin without busting your savings? Answer my friend is found in the kitchen.  

Listed down below are the things that I personally tried and proven effective.

1. Baking soda - Not only is this cheap it's also multi-purpose. It's for baking, cleaning, and whitening teeth and for minimizing pores.

2. Veggies - Good skin starts within.  Eating food rich in Vitamin E, B, and proteins will do the trick to give you that million dollar glow. 

3. Water - About 8 to 12 glasses of water is recommended to keep your skin supple and well hydrated.  Also, this minimizes the occurence of wrinkles. 

4. Oatmeal, honey mask - Actually there are a lot of home-made masks that you could do, this however, is my favorite.  The oatmeal will help exfoliate your skin, getting ride of old cells that could block your pores which could develop into pimples.  The honey will tone the skin and will give it a fresher glow.

5. Avocado - Eating and mashing it and putting it on as a mask, either way, works wonderfully well for the skin.  

Treat your face for a very nourishing mask at least once a week.  Doing these things on a regular basis would surely save you from a trip to the derma and save you from purchasing thousands of chemical-based beauty products out there.