Love: The Face Shop Aroma Therapy Facial Cleansing Salve

I like putting on make-up. I hate taking it off. Especially mascara. There are a lot of make-up removers out there but it was hard to find one to love. After all, you are trying to find something that will take your mask off to the world, and potentially dry your skin out in the process.

I’ve tried cold cream when I was young. I just didn’t get it. My skin didn’t feel all that clean. I also tried cleansing oils and they might have removed all the makeup but they felt oily and once I found out about mineral oils, it horrified me how I finished off two and a half bottles of that thing. I was going to take the plunge and buy myself another cleansing oil, this time made out of plant oils with the main ingredient being olive oil when I found the cleansing salve.

The packaging wasn’t that impressive. It was this oily-looking solid salve inside a large pot. But I got hooked with the words lavender and jojoba. I love the smell of lavender and I know my skin loves jojoba oil. So with fingers crossed, I went out of the store, withdrew some money, got back and paid at the counter.

I scooped a little bit of it and spread it on my face. It felt really greasy but it sure did melt that make-up. I washed it off with water and lo, the water washed all the grease off. It didn’t feel oily at all afterwards. It didn’t feel dry. And the face was clean of all the make-up. That is really good product. And at half the price of the cleansing oil I was planning to buy originally, a steal.

As you can see, the product has already hit pan. This is not because I use a whole lot but my hubby has started to use it as well. Not because he likes to use make-up but because it has gotten rid of his peeling skin. I have no idea what his skin condition is but his skin peels off like yuck everyday. Before he took a bath one day, I asked him if I could try putting it on his skin, as the product is so oily it might actually work and wow, it did.

I was surprised when I saw him putting it on his skin himself every night and letting it sit for 5 minutes before washing it off. Not only does he not have that peeling anymore, he’s got less acne and blackheads. I gotta start putting a fence around him before someone steals him away.

Haul: The Body Shop Buriti Baby and By Nature products

I like to use baby as an excuse to get some retail therapy done.



During my random forays into The Body Shop, I saw the mini set of Buriti Baby line on 70% sale and went yay inside. The set included a shampoo, a body wash, massage gel and body butter. It’s packaged inside a cute mesh bag that I’ve reused for one purpose or another. I’m really happy with the set as it has no sulfates, ptalates and parabens and that’s a wonderful thing for babies.



When I found By Nature, a little bell tinkled inside of me and I wanted to buy everything in their 100% Natural Product line. It took a lot of self-control to limit my first haul to baby products and just one bar of soap. I’ve already shared my love for the soap and baby salve and would just like to introduce the rest of the haul to the world. Aside from the Baby Salve, the haul I got consisted of White Salve and Baby Oilotion. Both of these are safe for babies to use and are already inside the diaper bag so that his mommy will not be tempted to use them on herself.



Truthfully, I got myself a pot of lip balm as well aside from baby stuff but I’m always on the lookout for the perfect lip balm as my lips are always drying out, from what, I don’t know. I think it’s ok but just ok. The ingredients are great but I’m not in love with it. My lower lips are still dry as ever after application. Even with all the good organic oils, beeswax and vitamin E, my lips are dry as ever afterwards. I think I need some lip exfoliation. And it doesn’t have any flavor as it is 100% natural and is safe to get in contact with baby skin, therefore, it tastes as it is, of organic oils. No love. No hate.

Love: The Body Shop Spa Wisdom Polynesia Monoi Body Balm

Whatever part of the world you may be from; there is always something to keep skin soft and supple. In this part of the world, we like to use virgin coconut oil (VCO) and espouse on all its good qualities. Aside from being a good oil that the skin absorbs without clogging, it is hypoallergenic, antibacterial, antifungal and all that jazz. Therefore, whenever there is a product with VCO in it, I know it’s good and when it’s on 70% off, I know it’s a God-send, especially with stretch marks everywhere.

The Monoi Body Balm smells like the monoi flower, which I don’t know what but it smells really good like sampaguita. Whenever I put it on me, the whole room smells of it. It doesn’t reek, just smells flowery good, and despite being pregnant, I love it.



As other people may notice, body butters from The Body Shop may smell good and gives a lot of love to the skin but they tend to be really heavy. This particular balm isn’t. I used it on the hottest of summers and I didn’t feel hot and heavy from putting it on, despite being pregnant and overheated. In spite of being light on the skin, it’s one of the most moisturizing products I’ve ever tried. This, my friends, is love.

Initial image from The Body Shop website.

Haul: Ilog Maria

I came across Ilog Maria while I was searching for baby balms I can use for any possible future boo-boos of the coming little one. Their propolis ointment was recommended by some sites. Generally, reviews have been positive for the other products as well and their prices looked reasonable so I decided to get myself a new haul last week.

I signed up on their site, logged in and was able to order immediately. I waited a bit and got the total price including delivery charge. Even with the delivery cost of P150, I think I got myself a good deal at paying only P690 total including delivery. I waited another day and when I got back to the office, got their confirmation that they have everything I ordered on hand and ready for delivery, including instructions for payment. I delayed a bit on the payment as I was a little confused over their schedule and got a bit busy over life. I chose bank transfer and emailed a picture copy of the deposit slip. It took a day and a half after to get the delivery confirmation but once I did, I got the haul the day after.

The haul consisted of (from upper left clockwise) feminine wash, patchouli essential oil, propolis ointment, shampoo, lip balm, lavender soap and milk and honey soap. The packaging is very simplistic but who cares about that? Ok, I care about packaging but considering that the prices are less than a hundred each, I can’t really grouch about it much. The smell, though, I like. They’re not too strong, which I prefer, and a bit floral. I haven’t used any yet but I’m looking forward to ordering again. I hear their throat spray is wonderful and hubby tends to get a lot of cold sores.

Craves: Acer Aspire One Happy 2, Sony Vaio E-series, Apple Macbook Air

In an ideal world, I wouldn’t be typing in a laptop past its twilight years. I got my current laptop when the world only had dual-core processors and no netbooks were present yet. It was fast for its time but got outdated after a month. A BLOODY MONTH!!! Tech life simply is too fast for me to handle with a happy heart.

These days, there are so many laptops, tablets and netbooks available and some, for less than half the price I got my laptop, which makes me think that yes, it is time for a change, hopefully for the better.



I like the Acer Happy 2 for a variety of reasons. For being so darned adorable, the colors being so pretty, definitely girly, and obviously mine. My hubby being full of Y chromosomes and my future child being the same, will not even think of wanting it for themselves. For being affordable, at less than 20 grand with a free optical drive, too, I obviously can get one as soon as the next payday, granted, I will not be eating for half a month. For being faster than my laptop, it hurts me to say but it’s true. My laptop sucks and has the memory of a centenarian. Open 4 programs and it threatens to shut down. Woe is me.



I have always been in love with Sony laptops. I wanted one for like, forever. With the E-series having a light pink version, the love feels so near and yet, it’s so hard to let go of all that money at once, right? Ok, it might just be me. It’s hard to rationalize the need to get a laptop with its features when I don’t really it. I guess I can try convincing the hubby that he can play all the cool games if he pays for half the price but knowing him, I won’t be able to get any face time with the thing unless he isn’t home.




Apple Macbook Air is a dream. There’s no rationality behind it. It just is it. It’s a Macbook Air, amen.

Images from the netbook and laptop's respective websites.

Haul: By Nature Handmade soaps and Balm of Butter

This is my second batch of orders for By Nature products. Yes, I'm obsessed. As usual, got it through Organic Joys by way of Pedala. Aimee was friendly and helpful as usual. I got a return mail within the day, paid the next day through bank and got the batch delivered the day after. The Pedala service was later by a few hours to my home in Cubao as compared to the delivery to my office in Makati but I'm happy enough to have gotten them as I was worrying with all the street corners to my home. They're delivering by pedalling bikes, so I'm not complaining. They got it there anyway.

The batch consisted of Balm of Butter, a stretch mark cream and four soaps. The nude-colored ones are Total Attraction(love), Olive Beauty and Cocoa Butter Melt. The light-greyish one is Sea Mud Pie.

Love: By Nature Total Attraction Handmade Soap and Baby Salve

With the baby on the way and all the bad things said about the ingredients of baby products, I'm trying to be really careful in what I buy these days. I stumbled upon a post in a Chronicles of a Nursing Mom blog about the different organic baby balms that can be found online and found By Nature. I bought some stuff for the baby and will post on them once I get to use them. I also got myself the bar, Total Attraction.



I totally loved it. The lavender and patchouli scents surround the bathroom when you start lathering. The scent isn't as strong as other organic soaps but stays on the skin for about two hours. I only use a third of the soap at a time and keep the other portions in the pantry. It lasted me a month keeping the soap in a covered soap dish when not used. When I ran out and used my old soaps, hubby actually said I smelled different bad, which made me want to kick him.

I also used it on my hair whenever I run out of my non-SLS/SLE shampoo. It didn't dry out my hair or knot it but since I love the scent on my skin too much, I didn't want to run out of it for that use. Nonetheless, it is a good shampoo and it's probably going to be great for travelling for the convenience factor of bringing only one bar of soap. I'll be sure to pack it in my toiletry bag for the hospital when my baby pops out.



We got a really bad case of bed bugs about half a month ago and I guiltily started using the Baby Salve. I was originally going to use it for the baby's diaper rash and other boo-boos but with the red dots itchily appearing on my skin and turning into scabs with my sharp nails, I figured I had no choice.

The itches stopped after application and it smelled good, too. I'm a sucker for lavender. The red dots healed quickly and though my scabbing hasn't stopped with me picking on it, it's manageable and hopefully, will disappear after the pregnancy-related photosensitivity wears off. On hubby's skin, it worked so much better. You can't tell he ever got the same bites. Grrr!

I got the By Nature products from Aimee of Organic Joys. She's totally sweet and responds to emails within the day. She got them delivered to my office address through Pedala and I am one happy reorderer with absolutely no guilt of polluting the earth.

Pictures from the By Nature Handmade Soap website.

Craves: Kenneth Cole Shoes

I'm going through major withdrawal symptoms over high heels and I'm wanting myself a new pair of Kenneth Cole shoes. According to several internet sites, which will remain unnamed as I actually can't remember the links, Kenneth Cole New York shoes with 925 Technology are the most comfortable high heel shoes that you can actually find out there. These days, all Kenneth Cole New York shoes actually have said innovation. It doesn't hurt that they look so pretty too.





All pictures from the Kenneth Cole
website.