Human Nature Baby & Kids + Plush & Play

Plush & Play's Anne Kamatis and Maria Mangga with my Human Nature goodies

A few weeks ago, my friend Anna Meloto-Wilk of Human Nature invited the SoMoms over for brunch at Mom & Tina's Libis to share with us the relaunch and new look of Human Nature’s Natural Baby Care Line, introduce their fun new products for kids and of course, pick our brains for product development. Because moms really, are like the best resource people, I swear.

First up, the new look of the Natural Baby Care Line:

 Human Nature’s Complete 3-Step Baby Care Line includes Step 1: Natural Baby Wash, Step 2: Natural Baby Lotion and Step 3: Baby Wonder Oil 

They've done away with the old blue & white packaging for a look that is decidedly greener also aesthetically. The inside is of course, honest to goodness green & natural.

Natural Baby Wash 99.3% Natural (P 289.75 for 500ml; P 129.75 for 200ml; P 44.75 for 50ml) is free from harmful chemicals such as SLS and SLES, and is perfectly safe to use on baby’s delicate skin. Touches of lavender, rosemary, and chamomile help calm and relax your baby from top to toe.

Natural Baby Lotion 100% Natural (P 129.75 for 200ml; P 44.75 for 50ml) is perfect for nourishing and moisturizing baby’s skin, which is ten times more sensitive than ours. This 100% Natural Baby Lotion is made with a medley of sunflower oil, avocado oil and aloe vera. Completely free from harmful chemicals like silicone and parabens, it contains natural glycerin that gently seals in moisture for healthy skin that’s baby-soft and supple.

Natural Baby Wonder Oil 100% Natural (P 129.75 for 100ml) Made with premium-grade sunflower oil, it’s gentle and safe to use for infant massage, a crucial step for baby’s development as it stimulates brain nerves. It also lowers the baby’s stress level for a stronger immune system. 

The Natural Baby Wonder Oil is ideal for infant massage, helps prevent and soothe diaper rash, helps protect against skin infections, helps heal little bumps, boo-boos and insect bites and is a gentle cleanser for the ears and belly button.

Second,  bath time becomes fun with these fruity shampoos and chocolate-y soap!

Human Nature’s Kids Natural Shampoo & Body Wash comes in Ocean Apple for Girls and Tangerine Thunder for Boys. It is 96.4% Natural and 100% free from harmful chemicals, retailing for as low as P44.75 for a 50ml bottle.

Human Nature Kids Natural Kids Bath Soap is unlike any ordinary soap out there, with its yummy Chocolate scent. 100% Natural and 100% free from harmful chemicals, you also get to save yourself from bath time struggles with just P69.75.

Human Nature is the Philippines’ largest brand of genuinely natural personal care, cosmetics and home care products. Operating as a social enterprise, it is driven by the core philosophies of being PRO-PHILIPPINES, PRO-POOR and PRO-ENVIRONMENT. Founded by Anna Meloto-Wilk and Camille Meloto, daughters of Gawad Kalinga founder Tony Meloto, Human Nature’s products are 100% made in the Philippines and 100% free from harmful chemicals.

To learn more about Human Nature products and advocacy or to learn how to be a dealer, visit www.humanheartnature.com or your nearest Human Nature Branch, or call (02) 224-2224. 

Get Human Nature online at www.humanheartnature.com/buy and at Rustan’s Supermarket, Shopwise, Beauty Bar, select Robinson’s Supermarkets, Landmark Department Stores and Sesou Nature Source for a select line of Human Nature products. 

But wait! There's more! Let me introduce to you Plush & Play's Enchanted Farm barkada:

Each character is wittily named. Apart from Anne Kamatis, there's Buko Martin and Manny Pakwan

Plush & Play is a homegrown Filipino brand that offers fun, educational and safe plush toys for infants, toddlers & children that are made from a soft & hypoallergenic fabric called Velboa.

Its founder, Fabien Courteille is a twenty-four year-old French social entrepreneur, who arrived in the Philippines in 2011 to do a 3-month internship with Gawad Kalinga (GK) Enchanted Farm. His short stint at the Farm gave him the opportunity to get to know and fall in love with the Philippines and its people.

After Fabien learned that majority of the toys in the Philippines came from China and that most of them contain toxic substances or parts (such as plastic) that pose health hazards to children, and seeing how women staying in the GK Enchanted Farm were skilled sewers but were not employed anywhere, he put two and two together, resulting in Plush & Play.

With fruit & vegetable characters wittily named Anne Kamatis, Buko Martin and such, each character tells a story that kids will enjoy and learn from, and allows children’s imagination to roam freely.

To learn more about Plush & Play, visit www.facebook.com/PlushAndPlay.

June 2013 Grocery Store Finds

Here's a round-up of the latest and most interesting products you might come across while traipsing along your favorite grocery aisle this month: 

California Crunch - if you love junk food but you don't want junk in your trunk, then these healthy Og trans fat, cholestorol free and absolutely yummy cassava chips from California Crunch will cure the munchies away. Not only does cassava have more fiber and 30% less fat than potatoes, it is also good source of vitamin B3, iron and calcium.

California Crunch Cassava Chips come in two variants - barbeque and sour cream & onions and are available at SM supermarket, SM Hyper Markets, Mercury Drug Stores, Gourdo’s, Unimart, Subic Royal Duty Free, Super 8, & soon to other super markets and convenience stores. The SRP for California Crunch is Php44.50.

Celeteque Brightening - Do you want to have radiant, luminous skin? The kind na "nakakasilaw"? 

Céleteque DermoScience's new hand and body lotion called Céleteque DermoScience Brightening Radiance Body Cream just might be the answer. It contains MultiBright™ Complex, a revolutionary fusion of seven plant extracts that reduce melanin to help you achieve glowing, even-toned skin. It also has SPF 15 which provides double sunscreen protection against the sun’s UVA and UVB rays that cause skin darkening, uneven skin tone and premature skin aging. 

Other products from the Brightening line include the Brightening Facial Wash, Tri-benefit Power Cream, Multi-benefit BB Cream, Dark Spot Corrector and the Eye Tuck Plus Dark Circles Lightener.

Céleteque is available at leading grocery stores and online at http://service.healthfirst.com.ph/celeteque/.

Moringa 02 - Malunggay is apparently not just for breastfeeding. Moringa 02 harnesses the healing, anti-aging, anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of Malunggay, Olive Oil and Omega to create beauty products like no other. Together, these three natural wonders promise to keep your skin clean, soft, pimple-free, moisturized and glowing no matter the season. 

Available nationwide at Watsons, SM Supermarkets/Savemore/Hypermarkets, Robinson’s Department Store. In Metro Manila at Landmark Supermarket, Cherry Foodarama, Liana’s Supermarket, Sta. Lucia, Citimart Southern Luzon and Alturas Supermarket, Colonnade Supermarket and Fooda in the Visayas.

Human Nature Tough Love is a genuinely natural and affordable brand of home care products from Human Nature, the all natural line of personal care products and cosmetics that are 100% made in the Philippines and 100% free from harmful chemicals.If you are suffering from skin allergies like contact dermatitis from using harsh household cleaners, then switch to these chemical irritant-free ones stat!

Starting the Tough Love product line up are the Tough Love Natural Dishwashing Liquid and Natural Liquid Detergent that make sure you’re tough on grease, dirt and stains while being gentle on your family’s health, their skin and our environment. Absolutely free of phosphates, chlorine, bleach, dyes, enzymes, petroleum, synthetic fragrances, optical brighteners, and other harmful chemicals present in common household cleaners. 

Tough Love by Human Nature’s Natural Dishwashing Liquid and Natural Liquid Detergent are available at Human Nature Branches, Dealers, select retailers and at www.humanheartnature.com/buy for as low as Php89.75.

KIMY Playstix are fun, multi-colored and versatile sticks that kids can connect and build amazing toys with. Playstix add an extra dose of fun to the already enjoyable popsicle and ice cream sticks from Nestle, because instead of a wooden popsicle stick, you get KIMY Playstix. When you buy a KIMY Playstix pack, you get a total of 15 inside. Oh and good news parents, Kimy ice cream products contain only the recommended amount of sugar and are 100% free from artificial coloring.

For more on KIMY, like their page on Facebook: www.facebook.com/KIMYPhilippines

The Human Nature Flagship Store in Q.C.

A few weeks ago, my best friend Nina asked me to come with her to the opening of the Human Nature flagship store on Commonwealth Avenue, in Quezon City. She said her friend Anna Meloto-Wilks started the company which makes really great natural products. She actually did a special interest report on Human Nature for TV sometime ago, and had the products tested by chemists. And true to Human Nature's claims, the products Nina swears, are safe and truly natural. Now, I have actually heard of Human Nature prior to Nina's raves, so it did not take me a lot of convincing to drop by with her.

When we finally arrived at this really pretty and well-lit store, Nina introduced me to Anna, who like us, is pregnant and expecting a Dragon Baby! And, as Manila is truly small, it turns out, my sister Trina is friends with Anna too - they used to surf together a few years back, when they were all still young and carefree! And now, Anna has this amazing and truly world-class store to speak for!

Here's Anna & Nina against a wall of social enterprise products. Anna shares that apart from Human Nature products, they also carry items championed by social entrepreneurs who have endeavored to provide livelihood to impoverished communities and at the same time create value out of random raw materials while celebrating Filipino creativity.  Will tell you more about these soon, but first let me talk about Human Nature, hehe.

Anna gave us a tour of their store, which she shares was designed by two very young Filipina architects, Mau Adraneda and Joyce Angara. She says everything in the store is sourced in the Philippines, and all are made from sustainable materials. See those chairs above? Those are actually made from corrugated boxes! Clever no? They wanted a store that was truly Filipino, without falling into that ethnic, rustic cliche. And I think they really did an amazing job!

Anna says that they really want the place to be more than just a store, but also a destination. Where the whole family can hang out. There's shopping for the ladies, a reading nook for the kids, and unlimited (yes bottomless barako, mountain blends and Sulu) coffee (and free wifi too I think!) for the dads or those who just want an alternative to hanging out in overpriced coffee shops (although mahiya naman kayo and buy something from Human Nature as well hehehe).

And now, a quick run through of some of the products that caught my eye:

Apparently, the sunflower oil is a great makeup remover, and can be used for belly rubs to prevent stretch marks as well!

Love the packaging of these kids natural shampoos! Makes bath time so much fun! Human Nature also has a natural makeup line composed of powders, blushes, glosses and lipsticks. Camille, Anna's younger sister who is into cosmetics, took the lead in developing the line, experimenting with colors. What a fun (and meaningful!) job right?

Like I said earlier, apart from Human Nature personal care products and makeup, there are great finds in store like food, drinks, household and fashion items, which also make great gifts, giveaways and pasalubong for visiting relatives or friends from abroad:

Enchantea: healthy iced tea from GK Enchanted Farm

Golden Eggs: salted eggs, a Filipino favorite, without the toxic food color

Café de Sug: Gawad Kalinga’s famous coffee from Sulu - only for the brave!

- FilBambu: all food containing bamboo, winners in the Shanghai Expo

- Theo & Philo Chocolates: the only 100% bean to bar Filipino artisan chocolate

- Jacinto & Lirio: luxury bags made from leather and water Hyacinth

- Red Carpet, Blue Bamboo, Salabatea and more!

What made the launch of Human Nature's flagship store extra fun was the yummy, healthy food! Tito Tony told us with beaming pride that all the food served came from the GK Enchanted Farm and/or developed by young social entrepreneurs. 

A volunteer from France, serving organic lettuce from the Enchanted Farm stuffed with Golden Eggs & tomatoes

We had the yummiest fromage de chevre/ goat cheese with nuts spread over crackers aka as Gourmet Keso from GK Enchanted Farm. This was developed by Xilca Alvarez, who I remember was Trina's classmate during their grade school days. Nina and I ate a lot, never mind if it's pasteurized or not. These were just too good! Hahaha!

So, if you are ever in the Quezon City area, or even if you are way on the other side of town, I really think it is worth your time to schedule a visit to Human Nature's concept store. Not only do you get to stock up on various natural products, you also get to do your share in supporting the livelihood of the GK communities where all these products come from.

Human Nature is the Philippines’ largest brand of genuinely natural personal care and cosmetics products. As a social enterprise, it lives by being PRO-PHILIPPINES, PRO-POOR and PRO-ENVIRONMENT. Founded by Anna Meloto-Wilk and Camille Meloto, daughters of GK founder Tony Meloto, Human Nature’s products are 100% made in the Philippines and 100% free from harmful chemicals.

The Human Nature flagship store is located at 460 Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City (past the Caltex station and across Puregold).

To learn more about Human Nature products and advocacy or to learn how to be a dealer, visit www.humanheartnature.com or your nearest Human Nature Branch, or call (02) 931-5787. You may also visit Rustans, Shopwise and Beauty Bar for a select line of Human Nature products.