V is for Vacation - Happy V day

Advanced Valentine's Day everyone! Aha! I've really been so stressed about work  so this is a good time for me to unwind.  What better way to detoxify than to go to the summer capital of the Philippines! Yehey! BF and I will be there in a few hours.  Allow me to catch up on some zzzz's here in the bus  I'll tell you about our adventures later!  Believe it or not, it's our first major "field trip" together.

Off to the summer capital!   I've been  so lazy and tired to stamp my nails.  I just stuck some decals  on them. 

How 'bout you, what are your plans this happy heart's day?

Skinplace - Acne 911

If you've got a pimple sitting on your face - who do you call? Not Ghostbusters! I always dial Skin Place when I have an acne emergency.

Last week, I've been bombarded by pesky cystic acnes.  I've tried putting salicylic acid (My first aid when it comes to zits) and even had them injected at a nearby derma.  These made them subside however they did not go away completely.

So I had no choice but to visit my ever trusted, very good dermatologist - Dra. Mylene Macalood for acne surgery!

Dra. Mylene Ledda Macalood - Zits Beware!

Pore Alert! My face right after washing and ready to be  pricked

Acne surgery, sounds scary right? Actually, no. I find it therapeutic to rid of my face of pimples.  I'm a masochist when it comes to beauty.  The more she pricks and extracts my pimples, the better I feel.  I know that I am getting my money's worth because she inspects every square inch of my face. She can even extract those non evident zits.  The secret to my pain endurance is I prepare myself for what's coming by looking into my handheld mirror on which pimple she's going to pop next (ewwww, sounds gory but it works for me).

The process starts with her nurse washing my face while I'm lying down.  Midway through this process, the face steamer will be turned on to open up my pores.  As soon as my face has been cleaned, Dra. Mylene will then work on me.  Using a surgical blade, she would prik the skin on top of the pimple.  This will allow the pus/whitehead/blackhead to be extracted safely without causing permanent scars.  This is why we should leave the zit popping to experts!

The piece de resistance for me is when Dra. Mylene leaves the best for last! She would pop the cystic and big zits last! As soon as the pus gets extracted, my face does not feel itchy anymore.  I get a different kind of high from that hahah!

So how far did I go for this? Far enough I should say.  I'm from Taguig and her clinic is Taft Avenue in Manila.  After rendering 3 hours of overtime in the office, I  went to to her clinic which took took another 3 hours of commute.  Not only did I have to brave through the overcrowding in the MRT (as it was rush hour), I also had to endure the people's stares at my red face.  Luckily, when I came in to the office 8 hours after the surgery, the swelling and redness have already subsided.

I wish that Dra. Mylene would put up a clinic near Makati or Taguig soon so that I don't have to commute like that again.


Overall, I am happy being Dra. Mylene's patient.  She is very nice, soft spoken and very meticulous! I've been her patient for almost 5 years now.   She also does not upsell services to you.  I am still able to use the current products I'm using. If you have a skin emergency, Skin Place may just be the answer for you!

Skin Place is located at:

Room 304 West East Center

1336 Taft Ave (Fronting PGH, Beside KFC Near Faura)

2PM-6PM

521 2854

Price: 700 Php for acne surgery

Holy Grail Verdict:

Effectiveness: 5/5

Price: 3/5

Accessibility: 2/5

Salon Beauvoir - Rebond Time

Last Jan 27, I made true to my promise and finally ventured into the first steps of switching salons.  I came back to Salon Beauvoir for my hair rebonding  treatment.  So how did it go? Well it's for you to find out!

Random spots at the salon.  Look how fab and relaxing this place is!

The experience was nice.  I went there at around 1PM and was instantly offered their signature red iced tea to start with.  Then I was lead to my chair where all the magic would happen.  I was then lead to the shampoo area so that Miss Monette (my stylist and creative director at the salon) could assess my strands.

Red Iced Tea to start with

After washing and blowdrying my hair, it was determined that my tresses are too weak to handle the rebonding treatment so I had to have L'Oreal Inner Logic treatment done first.  It's something that would help ease my cuticles into receiving the strong treatment from the rebonding after.  This treatment was left on my hair for around 20 mins.

L'oreal Inner Logic Treatment was left on my hair for 20 mins to prep it for the rebonding treatment

After this, the L'oreal Extenso Moisturist  cream was applied to my hair in 3 different strengths.  At the root of my hair, Miss Monette applied the extra strength solution as my kinks are there and the roots are really resistant.

EX L'oreal Extenso Moisturist for my resistant roots 

The middle of the hair received the cream for Natural hair.

L'oreal N Xtenso Moisturist for Natural Hair was applied to the middle of my hair 

The colored ends of my mane got the one for Sensitized Hair.

L'oreal Xtenso Moisturist N for my sensitized ends

It was left for about 20 Mins and then I was off to the shampoo area again to have it rinsed off.

The smoothening creamms were left on my hair for about 20 mins.  My hair was cling wrapped while sitting under the futuristic looking heater to prevent moisture from escaping

Ok, now comes the most arthritis inducing part:

Once my hair has been dried carefully, Miss Monette then straightened it using a flat iron. Oh how I pity her as she had to go through my very this mop of hair.  I appreciate the fact that she took her time in ironing those strands.  I could really see that she was only ironing sections of my hair which are paper thin.  Other salons would grab a fistful (!?) of hair all at once to breeze through the straightening process.  

Finally, after around 3 hours (could not really remember how long it was for) of straightening it, color was applied to my hair.  Miss Monette chose a dark shade for my locks.  I must say that after washing it, I was not happy with the color as people are used to seeing me with light hair.  However, she explained to me that the color was used to fill in the cuticles of my hair to "fatten" the strands.  My hair would not be able to take anything of light color at that moment.

After this, a hefty and generous dose of Neutralizer was applied.  Miss Monette emphasized that she was not scrimping on the neutralizer as my hair needed it.

Hair was then rinsed off and dried.  It was flat ironed again for the last time.  But this time, it only took around 15 mins to do it since the strands are already flat.

Everytime my hair is washed, Chris would  always ask if I'm stiing comfortably.  I love how he does not scratch my scalp at all!

My hair after the process.  Notice how full bodied it is.  I am also being flanked by Chris (the master blower) at the left and Miss Monette (the hair master and L'oreal Creative Director herself) at the right.

Here are my thoughts:

* I love how my hair did not feel rubbery, stretchy and frizzy after I've washed my hair for the first time.  I guess the application of 3 smoothening creams in different strengths made this difference.  My rebonding treatments from before would only have the smoothening cream applied to the regrowth.  However, even if it was only concentrated there, it would still drip down to the middle and ends of my hair.  This caused my hair to get fried!

* My hair is still frizzy after washing it.   However, I have already expected this.  However, comparing this to my previous treatments, it was definitely less frizzy.  I would expect the frizz to abate after a few more washes.

* I love how they did not blow my hair into epic proportions! They blow dried my hair without causing it to poof so much. I never liked it when people stare at my hair while being dried. 

* I love Miss Monette's sense of ownership on my hair. Wahahaha she did not even let Chris (the master blower cum assistant) touch it during the critical stages. 

* I love how Miss Monette looked after my hair even after I have already left the salon.  She replied when I texted her the following day that my hair got messed up and frizzy during sleep.  

* I love how Miss Monette gave me a Kerastase follow up treatment for free.  She said that if my hair gets frizzy, she'll give me one.  She got really challenged by my hair.

* I do not love how I ended up with a darker color.  However, I'm not going to tear my hair out because of this. I'm planning to come back there sometime this February to have my hair colored.

* I do not love how the regular price of this treatment goes for.  I got this treatment for a discounted price of 3200 Php because they're having a promo.  But the regular price is really about 6000Php to 7000 Php.  

Speaking of price, this salon treatment set me back by around  6000 Php because of the Pure Logic and Hair Color treatments.

Product Obsession 101 - Signs and Symptoms

Have you ever found yourself  lemming for something that you sometimes lose sleep over it?  I don't know about you, but I have!  My biggest product obsessions had been Melissa shoes and Curlformers!

Melissa Shoes and Curlformers - My Past Obsessions!

Here are the symptoms:

1) Online Exposure - I get my lemmings from my various innocent forays through  blogs.  I would aimlessly browse through different beauty blogs and if something tickles my fancy, the tiny niggling sensation would begin.  I got obsessed with curlformers when I learned about it from Curlynikki.com.

2) The Itch -  When I learned about Curlformers, I got intrigued by how it promised to curl hair without heat! I was thinking that it could be a fix for my frizzy ends.  There was niggling feeling within me to find out more about the product .  I literally spent like 2 hours a day thinking of where I can purchase these as they were not sold here in the Philippies.

3) The Stalking - I know that I like a product well enough if I begin stalking review sites and blogs about it.  During my early stage of addiction to Melissa shoes, I would spend 4 hours a day looking at various photos and reviews about them.  I would also drop by Trinoma or Rustan's just to fit a pair!  The stalking stage was when I lost most hours of sleep.

4) The Justification -  I would not spend 1000 Php on make up but would not bat an eyelash forking over 5000 Php for shoes! And that exactly how I justified my used to be lucrative Melissa shoes obsession.

5) Desperation - I was desperate enough to get my hands on original Curlformers that I even considered borrowing or applying for my own credit card just to be able to order it online offshore.  Imagine that! I was also almost desperate to nab the then latest Melissa Patchuli Floc that I would lose sleep just trying to scour through different malls even if I still had to go to work that day.

6) Conscientious Purchase - One thing that I'm really proud of about myself is that I'm not an  impulsive shopper.  If I see something that I like, I would sleep over it first. If it's below 500 Php, then I just sleep over it for a day.  If it's really expensive like 4000 Php for shoes, I'd think it over for a minimum of a week.  If I still find myself lemming for that item, I would definitely purchase it.  I also make sure to check out different stores first before buying. This is why I hate shopping in Mall Of Asia because the mall is too big for me to shop around in!

Now that I know the symptoms, of course I also know the cure. Just like with all medical conditions, prevention is still better than cure.  To prevent my mind from lemming about something, if I know that payday is still days away, I stay away from shops and beauty blogs.