Monday, January 30, 2012

I'll Miss You Cous...

Last week, my family lost a special girl.  It was so sudden, so unexpected, and I guess that's why it hurts more.  

Sheilah was my aunt's 2nd child.  We weren't as close as other cousins were, but I still remember her as the little girl playing with all of her siblings.  She was very quiet, very poised and very loving.  I only saw her during family gatherings like our grandma's party or Christmas parties.  And the last time we had a long talk was before she was planning to leave for Singapore and she wanted to ask for some tips about the place, as I worked there for a couple of years before, too.  But she was very mature and ready for the move, so I knew she would be fine.

She was  supposed to come home for her wedding last December 18th, and I was really looking forward to seeing her in her beautiful gown.  She even got my boy to be one of her ring bearers.  But a few weeks before she was about to come home, she got really sick, and never recovered. 
She was a good friend, a loyal fiance, but I knew her best as a loving sister and daughter.  From her friends, I also gather that she had a strong faith in God.  She definitely left a void in our hearts.   

We'll miss you Sheilah Marie.  Rest in peace and watch over us while you enjoy God's Heaven.  

Friday, January 27, 2012

Happiness with...my latest beauty finds

I seldom blog about my beauty discoveries as I'm fairly new with my love affair with make-up.  But these two items below are really amazing and are worth writing home about!

First is Body Shop's Extra Virgin Mineral Compact Foundation in Natural Vanilla (202).  I'm already on my second compact.  It comes with a synthetic brush for application.  It's very creamy in consistency, easy to apply and very natural in finish.  No chalky appearance here.  Coverage is sheer to medium, so I'm able to cover the redness (rosacea) in my skin.  Best of all, I didn't break out in this.  Package says it has SPF 15, but I still apply sunscreen below this to be sure.  Staying power is also good.  It can last the whole day for me, with just some application of pressed powder in the middle of the day.   

Body Shop's Compact Foundation
Now this second one is my latest find...and it's pure L-O-V-E.  I've never heard of this brand before, but while walking around Powerplant Mall, I passed by The Beauty Bar and saw their new window poster on Koh Gen Doh.  I'm a very curious person, so off I went to scour the internet and do a little research on the brand.  It's actually a Japanese brand and you can visit their website here. The science behind the foundation is the use of deep sea waters which include minerals and nutrients that are easily absorbed by the skin.  You can read more about it here.
Koh Gen Do Aqua Foundation
After reading all the glowing reviews on the Aqua Foundation, I took the plunge and splurged on this holy bottle.  It's Php 2750 at The Beauty Bar, which really sounds so indulgent, but I just couldn't resist.  There's only 4 shades available at the moment, and I picked BE-1 for my skin tone.  It comes in a beautiful glass pump bottle, which I really like.  Coverage for the Aqua Foundation is sheer to light.  But by golly, it's like my skin but sooo much better!  I get a dewy, glowy, but not oily finish when I wear this.  It also feels very lightweight on my skin.  Staying power is good, it can last me the whole day with very minimal touch ups/powdering.  Mind you, I have oily and sensitive skin.  Since I've only had this for a couple of week, I'm not sure yet if it will break me out.  But so far, so good.  


After this experience, I'm looking at trying out their Cleansing Water as a makeup remover as I've read some good reviews on it as well.  


Have a great weekend!

Happiness is...at Shangri-la Boracay


Our arrival at the docks, via Shangri-la's own speedboats
our room

the beautiful beach




relaxing at the gardens

reception area, getting ready to leave
at the docks, getting ready to leave
What a beautiful place to relax and unwind...till next time!

Thursday, January 26, 2012

School of Success


Happiness...with Juju Cleanse

You’ve probably heard a lot about different kinds of cleanses that you can do for your body, such as the Master Cleanse and the liver flush.  But I wasn’t ready to take the plunge to do these drastic flushes as I wasn’t sure what the effects of these are to my body.  But as I was reading through my blog roll, I read about some people who had gone through Juju Cleanse, or short for just juice.  This piqued my interest as it made more sense to me to cleanse my system by drinking healthy juices, rather than either starving myself or drinking some nasty stuff to clean my system.

I was then forwarded to Juju Cleanse’s website here and started doing my research on it.  You can read on all the benefits of going through a juice cleanse on their site, and also on what to expect while on the cleanse.  After having some of my queries answered by the very accommodating owner Kat, and since it was the New Year, I decided that it’s a good way to start a healthier habit and committed myself to a Level 1, 3-day Cleanse. 


I get six (6) 500-ml bottles of juices delivered daily to my house on the previous day that I will be doing the cleanse.  All the instructions were also included, once the bottles were delivered at my doorstep, and it came in a pretty chic cooler as well.  You have to keep them well refrigerated, and drink one bottle of Juju at every 2.5 hours interval.  Everything was easy to understand and all you had to do was drink up!

Overall, I was very happy with my first cleansing experience.  Although I missed the act of chewing itself, I was never hungry during the 3 days I was on it.  And the juices were really yummy!  I am used to drinking vegetable juices and I find that the juices they provided were very refreshing and filling.  I was worried at first about getting weak or dizzy because I suffer from anemia, but I didn't feel any of those at all.  Kat did assure me that their juices were very rich in iron, so I guess I was still getting the recommended daily requirement of vitamins and nutrients.  The only downside is you need to be close to the bathroom at all times.  I probably got some curious glances in the office when I had to run to the toilet so many times on my 2nd day of the cleanse, haha!

It’s been a week after my cleanse, and I do notice that my skin is clearer and I think I’ve become more conscious of the food that I take.  It’s not because I would like to lose some weight (but that’s always a bonus), but because I’d like to give my body a break and make sure that I give it the care that it deserves.

So would I do it again?  Yes, yes, yes!  I like the idea of having fresh organic vegetable juices delivered daily to my doorstep.  Plus, their service was great!  Although I probably won't be doing it till the 2nd half of the year na, because it’s not cheap ha.  And I can probably move up to Level 2 the next time.

Have a great day!


Monday, January 23, 2012

Happiness is...at home

On a lazy Saturday morning...



Yes, I do let them watch cartoons on TV once in a while... :)


Monday, January 2, 2012