A Whole New You at Rustan's

Whether it’s committing to a healthier lifestyle or taking better care of our selves, there’s no better time than now to get started! Helping everyone to jumpstart their journey to wellness, Rustan’s launches its “A Whole New You” campaign this January.

Sample healthy and beverages and get discounts on Klean Kanteen:

Enjoy fruit and vegetable shakes at home, whatever your budget is. From the affordable Magic Bullet to the premium Vitamix, Rustans has it in store:

I got to watch this Grayns demo and I loved it!



I often see this "rice cooker that takes the sugar out of rice" pop out on my Facebook feed but I thought it was just one of those concept products that have yet to be produced.

It takes 45 minutes for the rice to cook in it, but in fairness, the taste wasn't drastically different.

I got to try the rice cooked in a Grayns rice cooker and apart from taking out the sugar, it also made the brown rice come out fluffier and softer than it would if it was cooked in a conventional rice cooker. Same for the white rice. But I was really impressed at how it made eating brown rice less of a sacrifice

But at Php27k for this, the Lolo beside me who did a taste test said magka-diabetes na lang daw sya, haha. Although hey, if you're serious about keeping your blood sugar and diet in check, this comes out cheaper than spending for insulin shots and diet delivery meals.

The health and wellness fair happens across all Rustan’s stores and The Beauty Source branches from January 20 to 31, 2017.

Participating beauty brands include Neal’s Yard Remedies, Acca Kappa, Murad, Clarins and L'Occitane.

For the Home, look out for Bugatti and the Philips Airfryer as well.

Capping off the month at Rustan’s Makati is an event hosted by Heart2Heart, founded by the Queen of Hearts, Rica De Jesus. Rica celebrates a decade of love, friendship, food and fun as she hosts a relaxing day for wellness with its Facial Mist Bar by Sisley, and Areum, nail bar by O.P.I. and Deborah Lippmann, hairstyling by Phyto in partnership with Dyson, Murad’s wellness bar and youthcam, Neal’s Yard Remedies’s Organic Aromatherapy, healthy cooking by Russel Hobbs, Gelato Bar by Nemox, and juicing bar by Vitamix, NutriBullet, Breville, Matstone, Kuvings, and Hurom. Of course, Rica will also surprise guests with “hearted” treats from Baylis and Harding, Acca Kappa, L’Occitane, Laura Mercier, jane iredale, and Clarins.

From self-care to home care, healthy skin to healthy eating, discover wonderful ways to celebrate unique beauty and the journey to wellness with Rustan’s.

For the complete schedule of activities, visit www.rustans.com.ph

Hong Kong, January 2014: Day 1

I had Air Asia tickets for two expiring next month, so Dada & I decided to fly to Macau last weekend. Thing is though, we don't really go to casinos, and so we had this brilliant idea to fly to Macau, but stay in Hong Kong for the duration of our stay.

 

One thing I like about flying Air Asia? No lines. 

No lines at the x-ray machine, no lines when you pay the airport tax and terminal fee, no lines at the ticketing counter, no lines at immigration. We literally breezed through the normally arduous airport process at the other NAIA terminals.

Getting to Hong Kong was another story. Due to flight delays, it was almost 6 pm by the time we arrived in Macau.

Right after we cleared immigration and picked up our luggage from the carousel, we headed out to the Taipa Temporary Ferry Terminal to catch our ferry to Hong Kong. We got our tickets and went through immigration in 10 minutes, enough to catch the Cotai Water Jet bound for Hong Kong that was leaving in 5 minutes.

That's not bad at all, I know. But see, riding the ferry was not pleasant. At all. 

When my friend Miriam told me to take Bonamine, I should have taken her advice seriously. I was practically singing myself a lullaby, convincing myself that I was being gently lulled to sleep when in reality, I was thisclose to throwing up. Thank goodness for the Rio Mints I had in my bag, that somehow distracted me from my ordeal.

I told Dada as we stepped out, "Never again will I take a ferry! Ever!" Which I belatedly realized was something we had to do again when we leave for HK to fly out from Macau. Eeeeek. So I said, "When we go back, we have to stay at the top deck of the ferry na, Cotai First Class, baby!" Lolz.

That's what I get for thinking this Macau-HK-Macau sojourn was going to be a fun adventure. Well it was naman.

Because once we stepped into Pacific Place, all was forgotten.

Still, tired, hungry and having no energy to venture out into the famous streets of Hong Kong to look for food, as soon as we checked ourselves in at JW Marriott (Hello Mr, & Mrs. Stoeckl!), we headed out to Great Food Hall at the basement of Pacific Place, where we ended up at Triple-Os by Canadian burger chain White Spot.

Because when you're tired and hungry, it seems nothing satisfies that empty pit in your stomach like hunkering down to a big, greasy burger and fries. Or maybe that's just us. Haha.

I mean, just look at this baby. Nothing close to a Shake Shack burger, but I'll take it.

By the time we finished dinner and had walked around the grocery store, enthralled by all the food choices, all we wanted was to go back to our room and rest. Friday gone, just like that, but it was an experience like nothing I have ever experienced before. All in all, I was happy to be back in Hong Kong. Besides, I was looking forward to the whole of Saturday which was dedicated to eating and shopping!

That said, I just wanted to share with you at how pleased I am to have realized that all those sample sized tubes and bottles of cleansers, moisturizers and serums can come in very handy during short weekend trips! I used to lug around all my regular sized products, too resistant to transfer them into travel containers. But then, I had this eureka moment! Why didn't I even think of this before?

Since I still breastfeed Xavi, I also brought along a sample sized pouch of  Cradle bottle cleanser to wash my bottle and breast pump parts with, that was just enough to use for our stay! I don't know if it's just me, but I really get a kick out of these things. Heehee.

Day 1 was not heart pumping exciting, but tomorrow, I shall regale you with my Ap Lei Chau finds! OMG!

Acca Kappa

What you see above is my collection of Acca Kappa brushes. The first one I bought is that wide toothed comb on the left. It's missing a tooth now, but you know, it's practically ten years old, more or less, so it has definitely withstood the test of time. The second one I got is the paddle brush which I purchased a year after I got my comb. I have been happily using these brushes, along with a comb and a boar bristle brush from Mason Pearson the last couple of years. I've realized, since I've invested in nice brushes, they surprisingly don't get lost at all, hehe. Maybe because I end up taking extra good care of them, and make a conscious effort to put them back in place?

A few months ago, Therese of Rustan's sent me the oval brushes - the soft bristle ones for Berry, and the boar and nylon ones for me. Then I bought the roller brush just a month ago. While I only brush my hair after I take a bath or when I blow dry my hair, it makes sense to me to have all these brushes. I guess I just enjoy looking at my collection of pretty brushes. Hee!

So when Therese as well as Jenny from PR invited me to the launch of Acca Kappa's new brush and bath lines at Lourd Ramos's newly opened salon on Arnaiz Avenue, I happily said, "Yes! I'll go!". After all, I am a huge fan of Acca Kappa, and have been so for years now.

If you are not familiar, or if you need a refresher on what Acca Kappa is all about, it is an Italian heritage brand that was established in 1869 near Venice, Italy. The main focus then was to produce quality hairbrushes and accessories. Acca Kappa soon became the official brush supplier to Queen Elizabeth and the Royal Family, and today, the company is the largest manufacturer of quality brushes in Italy. They have also since expanded to colognes, as well as bath and body lines.

The latest of which is the Green Mandarin line with purifying properties - composed of the Green Mandarin Purifying Shampoo & Conditioner with Moringa Extracts, Bath and Shower Gel with Rosemary and Yarrow Extracts, Scented Body Water with Rosemary and Yarrow Extracts, and Liquid Hand Soap with Thyme and Echinacea Extracts.

I have the Green Mandarin scented body water and it really does smell citrus-y fresh! A bit thicker and more dense than the finely misting face and body water I am used to, but it does have scenting and moisturizing properties, so that's the trade off. The smell comes off strong at first, but when it tapers off, it leaves a faint, fresh scent. I think this would be nice to use for cooling off when you're out by the pool or the beach on a hot summer day. 

Of course, I became an instant fan of their latest brush - the Acca Kappa Protection brush.

Unlike regular brushes which can feel prickly against your scalp, it has looped bristles that gently massage it - stimulating microcirculation, which is apparently beneficial to the hair follicles. I was also told that the looped bristles make excellent detanglers because it does not damage the hair structure. Since I tend to have tangled hair after I shampoo, I have been using the Protection brush and true enough, it really is a better detangler than my wide toothed comb. It just glides on to the hair, detangling as it goes.

If you are going to invest in a good brush, might as well get this one and only this one. Its great for detangling and for blow drying hair as well! Kind of like an all-in-one!

Hmmm, which makes my collection of brushes redundant in a way. But ok lang, they're pretty nice to look at naman, heehee!

Acca Kappa is exclusively available at all Rustan’s Department Stores.

Organizing Tip + Acca Kappa Workshop on June 21

I once asked for tips on what sort of topics you'd like to read here in the blog, and Cheng aka @cheng_carreon said she would like to read about storage/organizing and house related ideas. 

While I am not the neatest person in the world, especially because I refuse to pick up after Berry every 2 seconds, I do try to create a semblance of order in our lives. Take for instance, these apothecary jars from Crate & Barrel that I use to take care of the abubuts that clutter our bath.

I have one big jar for bath soaps - Safe "kills 99.9% of germs" guard, of course:

Then another for those tiny tubes and jars that just seem to accumulate like trash on a clogged Manila estero. I mean seriously, you start with a few, and next thing you know, they just start piling up on the counter. So, here they all go:

I have a teeny tiny jar for cotton balls and buds, and of course, a tall jar for my hair brushes. Yes,  I keep them in a jar so they don't get dusty, and yes I have more than one. I have a detangler and a paddle brush from Acca Kappa and a comb and a boar hair bristle brush from Mason Pearson. Do all these hair implements make my hair neat, shiny and in place? Uhm not really. But good to have them around when I find the time to brush my hair. Sigh. But plus points that they are kept in one place, so they don't get lost.

Speaking of Acca Kappa, Rustan's Makati is hosting a workshop by Acca Kappa on June 21 at 3 PM with free makeovers. There are limited slots available, so if you'd like to join, book a slot now. Just RSVP to +63 922 878 7969, and enjoy!