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!

MFO's Verdict On: Clarins Double Serum

Since I promised to write reviews about the products I do and will swear by, and to make my reviews more comprehensive, thorough and organized, I will be following this framework from now on. Hope you enjoy this new "feature" of the blog - MFO's Verdict On: _____ !

The Product: Clarins Double Serum Complete Age Control Concentrate

The Promise: The one and only anti-aging treatment that reactivates the five vital functions on which skin's youth and beauty depend - hydration, nutrition, oxygenation, protection, regeneration.  Combining the 20 most powerful anti-aging plant extracts, it is the best of nature and science in one product and the culmination of 27 years of anti-aging expertise.

Visible results include noticeably fewer wrinkles, skin that is firmer, more even, more resilient, with renewed radiance and less visible pores.

Put to the Test: To be honest I have only ever started going to Clarins when I got pregnant with Xavi and I would visit the Clarins Spa for my twice a month pre-natal massage sessions. When I was in my 20s, I had always associated the brand with mommy skincare, because my friend Isabelle would stop by the Clarins counter in Lane Crawford to buy products for her mom whenever she was in HK. But well, now that I am a mom, should be right up my alley then.

I have been using Clarins Double Serum for about a month now, day and night. I just follow the instructions on the bottle, pump the serum onto my hand, mix a bit and apply onto face. It starts off a bit oily, but glides nicely onto skin and doesn't feel icky-greasy. I just let it dry on my face naturally.

Btw, you will notice that when you pump out the serum, it sort of looks like you just cracked an egg, with a dark "yolk" in the center. This is because Double Serum's two formulas are never in contact. Each vial has a separate pump dispenser - to preserve the power of the water and oil-soluble ingredients and ensure the two formulas only come together upon application and in the ideally balanced ratio.

Passing the Verdict: I can tell you, there really is a huge difference in my skin. The first thing I noticed about my skin was the radiance. Seriously, it looks luminous. I don't even wear makeup anymore. It is in fact possible that I could be mistaken for a shining, shimmering Cullen. If they ever included a 30 something Asian woman into their coven. Although I am often mistaken to be in my 20s heehee. Oh diba, never aging. Vampire-riffic!

As for the crows feet slowly creeping around my eyes when I smile? Well visibly lessened in about two weeks. I now supplement with Clarins eye cream, for extra "fight the wrinkles" power.

Pores have been under control, ever since I started doing my French "No Water" skincare routine. With this serum, they haven't exactly disappeared, but they have shrunk to a size I am not bothered about. But not yet to a poreless finish. I guess I am not a Cullen with skin as smooth as marble after all. 

Here's an unfiltered, un-Photoshopped photo of my skin sans make-up, taken with my iPhone. I still do have a bit of brown spots on my cheek area, but hopefully as I use the serum longer, they'll fade into oblivion.

Yes no make-up. I don't know if its my skincare routine coupled with the serum, but my cheeks are naturally flushed, aka as rosy cheeks hahaha.

Overall, skin feels nice and tight, and like I said, I am still mistaken to be much younger than I am, so it is safe to say, the anti-aging claim really works!

Practical Tip: Touted to be the complete age-control concentrate, it is recommended for women age 25 and older. A lady is never too young to start a skincare routine in my opinion. I wish I knew about this serum when I was 25. 

Price: Php4,750 

Point of Sale: Clarins Double Serum is exclusively available at all Rustan's Department Stores: Ayala Center Makati, Shangri-la Plaza Mall, Alabang Town Center, Essenses Rockwell, Ayala Center Cebu and Gateway Mall

My French "No Water" Skin Care Routine

I know, I know. I have gone AWOL again. I guess you can say I am still in my adjustment phase. Imagine, a new baby and a new home (yes, we moved three weeks after Xavi was born!), on top of all my other responsibilities. 

So yeah, writing really took a back seat. But anyhoo! I am slowly getting back into the groove of things, and hopefully I can squeeze in more "me time" (which these days means just having enough time to take a bath, nyarks). But ahhh! The bonus of not spending time in front of the computer and having to unpack and organize our stuff also means more time for me to organize my stash of baby and beauty products and testing them on the kiddos (baby prods) and myself (beauty prods). 

I have so many discoveries and re-discoveries. Plus of course my old reliables that I ought to share with you (seriously, I get Aha! moments while using these products when I realize I have been keeping them to myself. To think these are too good to not be shared here in the blog).

But before I go to all those, I'll start off with my starting point for skin care - cleansing. My cleansing routine is sort of revolutionary really. I have tweeted about this on and off for months now, and for my Twitter friends, you know what I am talking about - Garance Dore's "NO WATER" skin cleansing routine.

Yes, you read that right, NO WATER. Tap water that is. Because there's thermal water involved here:

Ok, quick background. Six months or so ago, I happened upon Garance Dore's post on skin care. Apparently, tap water is our skin's worst enemy (I can practically see my friend Kris aka OC Mom in Manila seconding this one, with the statistics to back it up!). 

Garance's dermatologist, or dermato as they say in France, recommended that she stop using water to cleanse her face. And gave her a list of three products to use:

1/ The milk makeup remover Hydrabio Lait
2/ Avène’s Thermal Spring Water
3/ The moisturizing cream Ictyane H.D. “for severe dry skin.”

Then, I realized, I had two huge spray bottles of Avène stashed in our bath - 1 unopened and 1 that I barely used. It was kismet really. Finally a reason for being here, considering the sort of reasons I bought them back when we were still living in Singapore, were really flimsy:

1/ It was on "Buy 1, Take 1" which came out to about SGD $29.90 for 2 or something like that
2/ It's a French beauty brand, a drugstore brand yes, but it's French. So there.
3/ I like the packaging okay?

But since I do not live in France and have limited access to European beauty brands, I made do with the products that worked extremely well for me all these years. So my 3 essential products looked like this:

1/ Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser
2/ Avène’s Thermal Spring Water
3/ SK-II Facial Treatment Essence

Yes, it was with a bit of trepidation that I started eliminating water in my cleansing routine and began sticking to three products. "How effective could it really be?" I thought. Images of blackheads on my nose and yucky skin came into the picture. But since I was staying home most of the time anyway because I was on bed rest, I went ahead and took the plunge, ironically.

Fast forward to 6 months later and you know, my skin has been better than ever! No oiliness, no enlarged pores, not even a zit! None of that "greasy Peking duck" skin Garance was afraid of. She herself said it this way, after taking her dermato's advice:

"But quite quickly, the shine started going down. My skin started to get more supple, clearer and even if it shined a little (it’s just how it is, so stupid.), it was at its healthiest… It looked pretty."

Yes. I feel the same way about my skin now. Yes, ever since I started quitting tap water. A few days ago though, I started using Clarins Anti-Ageing Double Serum in lieu of SK-II Facial Treatment Essence and oooh la la! It's like magic! 

Why do I say magic? Well, a lady at my OB's clinic thought I looked 15 years younger than I actually am (ok, maybe she was just being nice). But just this afternoon, my mom asked me what makeup I've been using and I said, "Huh? None!" And she said my skin looked really good. This coming from a woman who would tell me the truth, even if it hurt and damaged my self-esteem. Haha!

Once I've used my Clarins Double Serum longer than 2 weeks (results visible in 4 weeks actually but if I were to believe the feedback I've been getting, 2 weeks should do it), I will do a more comprehensive review. Meanwhile, let me do an FAQ on this "No Water" Skin Care Routine.

How do you take a bath?

I had an Aquasana water filter installed, so no worries about tap water touching my face. But if you don't have a shower filter installed and it can be helped, just avoid getting water on your face.

If its any consolation, I have been sans filter the past three weeks because I need to have it installed in our new bath room, and so far, I have just been trying not to get my face wet in the shower and it hasn't had any bad effect on my skin.

What's the step by step?

1/ On your dry/dirty face, pat with Cetaphil and massage onto skin

2/ With a cotton pad, wipe off Cetaphil

3/ Spray face with Avène Thermal Spring Water and let it dry

4/ Follow with moisturizer

If you use heavy make-up, its fine to use a cleansing oil. Whatever cleansing oil works for you is fine. I use shu uemura's brightening cleansing oil.

What if I can't find Avène Thermal Spring Water here in the Philippines?

Try using Evian.

Dear Readers, if you have further questions, feel free to leave it on the comments section. I will do my best to answer!

Mommy Potions, Lotions and Creams

When I was pregnant with Berry, my friend Mary Anne gave me a whole year's supply of Palmer's to prevent stretch marks. It could be that, or it could be genetics, but I swear, with Palmer's I never got stretch marks, even just one tiny bit at all. Take note that I started moisturizing as soon as I got pregnant, before my belly even protruded, just to prep my skin for the months of stretching ahead.

This time around, when Denise R. of Rustan's Beauty Source found out I was pregnant, she thoughtfully sent me this whole range of Palmer's and if I wanted to moisturize my entire body, and my whole family, I could! Super thanks for this Denise! I really love Palmer's, I swear by it!

I also have Mustela's 9 Months range of pregnancy creams, and I switch these with Palmer's for this pregnancy. I have creams all over our room, and all over our bath as well, so I never forget to moisturize. Yes, it's a bit indulgent, but when you are pregnant in your 30s, you just cannot afford to be lax with skincare. Ain't as elastic as it used to be, hehe. Tammy T. of Mustela highly recommended the Instant Comfort Cream for Legs, and I find that when I massage my legs with this at night, I don't wake up with painful leg cramps. I also love how it has this cooling effect. Even if you are not pregnant, if you've been up or walking around all day, this is a great thing to massage your legs with before you sleep at night.

Another indulgence and one of the perks of living in Manila, is affordable pampering services. My friend Nina told me about the prenatal massage treatment at Clarins in Rustan's Makati and I always look forward to my twice a month sessions. I just feel so relaxed and refreshed after.

They gave me a sample sized stretch mark cream and treatment oil for toning, but I only opted to buy the toning gel shower cleanser since I could seriously start a mini oil spill with the number of lubricants I have in our bath.

What I like about the pre-natal massage treatment at Clarins is that they really have special procedures for pregnant women in the second trimester, and the third trimester. Every procedure is targeted for a pregnant woman's concerns - ie  2nd Trimester is for exfoliating & toning the body so as to prevent bloating, while 3rd Trimester treatments are meant to combat puffiness on the face, as well as dealing with pregnancy aches and pains.

I have a treatment scheduled at Clarins tomorrow, and as usual, I look forward to it! I cannot wait! =)

ClarinsMen Super Moisture Gel and Balm

Girls, here's something for the boys!

I often find myself looking for moisturizers for Dada's face, because let's face it, men these days are conscious about their skin too. While they may be happy with drugstore moisturizers, you might want to get him ClarinsMen Super Moisture Gel and Balm for him to feel the difference.

Why? Well, for one it will help justify how much you're spending on skin care. Once he's hooked, thrown in some Clarins for you too! Hahaha!

But seriously, ClarinsMen makes use of Calcium hyaluronate (the moisture trapping properties also found in Hada Labo), a high performance ingredient used for the first time in men’s skin care. It's super hydrating so it will keep his skin smooth underneath the stubbles.

ClarinsMen Super Moisture Gel and Balm is exclusively available at all Rustans stores: Ayala Center Makati, Shangri-la Plaza Mall, Alabang Town Center, Skin Spa, Ayala Center Cebu, Robinson’s Plaza and Gateway Mall.