Blow by blo

I love how the French appreciate that mussed up, bed head look. But here in Manila, it's all about having perfect hair. So on days when I need to look more special than usual (ahihihi) I head off to the neighborhood salon for a professional blowout. Thing with the place though is, they are closed to customers when they have a private event. So problematic right?

Good thing blo is open now. When I first saw their signage at Serendra months ago, I was sooo excited. Finally, a blowout salon that only does blowouts. No pesky questions like, do you want to do hot oil? Treatment? Color? You go in and you both know you only want one thing, a blowout, plain and simple.

I was invited to attend the media event at blo Rockwell when they opened last February 8, and where I got to experience for myself the full on blo treatment:

But before anything, we got to do a meet and greet with the owners - Howard Chua aka "The Mighty Hair-cules" and Edward Lee aka "The Hair-throb". I know right. I was expecting to meet arte girls with gorgeous hair and then tadaaa, the owners of this pink and girly salon turns out to be Howard and Edward! Well, they've got good hair, so who's to complain? 

blo is a franchise from Canada and Howard shares he got the idea while watching a show on TV about a blow dry salon. He ran the idea by his wife, who agreed that there was no such thing yet in Manila. He approached a couple of blow dry bars and came across the original - blo, which started doing quick, affordable, catwalk-quality blow outs back in 2007. After going back to and fro with the owner, they got the franchise. Just like that. Like the hair gods meant it to be.

So they flew in Jackie (above), who trained the blo staff on how to do blowouts (I love her hair by the way).

So here's the blow by blow, on blo. They use Tridesign shampoo and conditioner for washing hair...

...And you get to choose from 7 styles in the hair menu, ranging from the razor-straight “Executive Sweet” to the runway-inspired “Pillow Talk".

Most of the hair styling products are also by Tridesign. Then of course, there's Elnett...

Because I wanted the Holly Would - which has plenty of curl and bounce, my hair got some extra attention. Hair was done in about an hour, from shampoo to blow dry.

Tadaaaa! Here I am with Kris aka OC Mom in Manila with our blow outs. Kris had a party to go to after, so perfect that she got her hair fixed and ready to go.

Meanwhile, I found myself heading to Greenhills to meet Karrots. So we could do our groceries at Unimart, squeeze in a visit to the new Zenutrients stall in Virra Mall and check out the ceramics shop in the home section of Greenhills tiangge, discovered via Rorie Carlos-Manzano aka @maisonmanzano on Instagram.

No make-up. But ah, nothing like big sunnies and salon blown hair to make anybody look decent

So yeah, that's me after blo. Like a donya. On her day off.

PS - A blow out, any style, is Php500. Kids and guys are charged Php300. They also have bridal packages and party packages. If you have a special date or an important event to go, and you do not have time to go home and get changed, just go to blo. Nothing like a shampoo and blowout to get you looking as fresh as a new day.

PPS - To get your blowout to last longer, you can always use dry shampoo. That's what I did, heehee.

blo Rockwell
Stall #019
P1 Level, Power Plant Mall
Rockwell Center, Makati City
+63 917 6-blodry(256379)
blorockwell@blomedry.com

blo Serendra
2-C01A 2nd Floor Serendra
Fort Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
+63 917 6-blodry(256379)
bloserendra@blomedry.com

Blow-up the Holidays!

The Dychiaos, Christmas 2012 take at Blow-Up Photography Studio

Family photos have become a tradition in our family, because it's just so nice to see every new addition (like Xavi hehe!) and how each one of us has grown each year. When we started sending out personalized Christmas cards in 2008, it was just me and Dada. Years later, and we've got two little ones na! 

Our first Christmas card was taken from our pre-nup photos take by Nelwin Uy. For Christmas 2009 and 2010, they were all taken at home with Dada's home studio equipment. December 2011 - we didn't have a proper one pala, we had just moved back to Manila from Singapore and we were too busy with and tired from settling in that we just didn't have time for a formal Christmas photo. For this year, we went to a studio partly owned by our friends Ning & JA Tadena: Blow-Up in Serendra.

Thank goodness. Less stress sya ha. We just set-up our appointment a week before. On the day of our "shoot",  I piled the kids onto the car, and Dada just met-up with us straight from office. When we got to Blow-Up, they were ready for us. Here's a tip, change into your "shoot" clothes there, so they don't look wrinkled in photos. That's what we did. We brought our clothes to Blow-Up still in hangers, although I had my makeup on already.

It took us less than an hour to change into our clothes and have photos taken at the regular studio shoot and the studio with the Scene Machine.

This is us with the Bokeh backdrop from the Scene Machine, looks like the photo was taken outdoors no?

They work so fast and so efficiently that you could have a professional family photo taken during your lunch break! In fact, Dada had to go straight to a meeting after our shoot, and so it was a good thing we finished so fast. Actually, and thankfully, the kids were cooperative that afternoon. Because it's a different story when your little ones aren't in the mood, right?

A few days after, we got the the low-res files so we could choose which photos we wanted high-res versions of for printing. We sent the file names back to our photographer and the following day, she sent us the high-res files. We just have to decide which ones we want printed in a certain size. Incidentally, Blow-Up doesn't only print your photos, but they can also do gift cards, Christmas cards and calendar versions as well. Check these out: 

Gift card - prices range from Php500-1000 for 20 pieces 

Christmas card

Calendar - it's an 8x12 photo print

Cute no? We enjoyed having our family photos taken at Blow-Up and loved our pictures so much that we are also planning to have the best one printed in a 24x30" size. According to Ning, we can choose if we want it printed on canvas or photo print. Just waiting for the quote on that.

It's not yet too late to have your family photos taken too. Just schedule an appointment with them,  it's so easy, promise. Location, contact details and price list are all here:

For more on Blow-Up, visit their website and Like Blow-Up on Facebook.

ColorWash: Now in The Philippines!

If you've been unable to use your favorite bags and shoes (yes, even athletic shoes) because they've been, well, loved too much, then ColorWash is the place to take them to.

I first stumbled upon ColorWash in Singapore, at Mandarin Gallery, and was impressed seeing all these nylon Prada bags they've cleaned on display, looking good as new. So I bookmarked the store in my head, just in case I had bags that needed to be revived and resuscitated.

Thankfully, now that we've moved back to Manila, I don't need to go back to Singapore to have that done. ColorWash was brought here by sisters Kate & Jen Osmena and they opened recently at the 2nd floor of Serendra (right on top of Mamou), after having spent some time in Singapore being professionally trained to clean and color designer bags and shoes. 

I attended the media launch a few days ago, and Gemma Gil, the founder and managing director of ColorWash, was there to personally talk about her company and their services.

She was also there to personally give consultations on what steps were needed to be done to give our bags and shoes a new lease on life. Daryl Chang of Preview, my cousin Mano's girlfriend, brought along some bags for cleaning and we were super impressed to see with our very own eyes how ColorWash managed to clean her precious bags.

Gemma explaining to Daryl what needs to be done to her Celine Luggage tote

Gemma did a demo on Daryl's Balenciaga Twiggy, cleaning a portion of the bag so we could see the difference. Notice the leather on the left side and how much brighter it looks?

White and cream bags can easily turn to gray with use, and Gemma cleaned a portion of Daryl's vinyl Gucci envelope bag so we could see how dirty it has become. She also pointed out some yellow stains that were a result of color transfer from the leather straps. This usually happens when you store a bag for too long and the straps have been rubbing into the bag.

Impressive huh? We can't wait to see the finished products! ColorWash's cleaning service not only removes the dirt, bacteria, fungus and oil accumulated through daily use and from humid weather, it also includes a disinfecting and deodorizing process to reduce unpleasant odors in bags and shoes. 

Here are more samples of bags they have cleaned, it is quite easy to spot the before and after:

Apart from cleaning, they also do coloring services - to refresh the look of discolored, scratched, and stained leather bags and shoes.

ColorWash also sells cleaning products, so you can continue to care for your bags and shoes at home.

Now, for the service guide and price list, because I know you want to know ;)

ColorWash started in 2003 in Singapore as a shoe care service provider, then called Shoe Wash and Care, offering professional shoe cleaning services. ColorWash has grown beyond Singapore to become a successful international franchise, with outlets also in Jakarta, Hong Kong, and now the Philippines.

ColorWash

2C-17 Level 2 Serendra
Bonifacio Global City
Taguig, Metro Manila
Tel: +632 625 2165

For more on ColorWash:

Visit their Facebook page: facebook.com/ColorWashPH or email hello@colorwash.com.ph