Pois Belly and Kids

Shopping for kids' clothes here in Manila ain't as limited as I thought it would be. Although I have to say, it's hard shopping for chic boys clothes talaga. It's not like I can just go to any children's boutique and instantly find something I'd like for Xavi to wear. But OMG. Girl's clothes? Here's my new discovery when I went to SM Megamall to run errands - Pois Belly & Kids:

They have these floral printed dresses that are like updated versions of the Laura Ashley dresses my younger sisters wore during the 1990s. They also have embellished pieces that look a lot of fun. I can imagine these to be quite adorable on little girls.

Oh! Here's an extra fun outfit. This striped "animal" top paired with lemon yellow scalloped shorts. Perfect for school and play dates:

But ahhh! When I spotted these, I thought of Berry right away: pink, ballerina-inspired and super tulled to the max. She would be so into these sort of wearable confections.

But my favorite pieces in the store above all are these relatively understated pieces. Loving the pink & gray story here:

I particularly fell for the striped top & tulle skirt outfit and the chic party dress. I am pretty sure Berry will love these too:

Pois Belly & Kids also has clothes for tweens and expecting mamas:

Price range is from about Php550 and up. When I visited this afternoon, they even had a sale section that was at 50% to 70% OFF! ;)

Pois Belly & Kids is the brainchild of Clement & Rowena Velasco of Eurowear Marketing Corporation. They currently have six stores located at: Trinoma, SM Megamall Atrium, Glorietta 3, SM Mall of Asia, SM City Cebu and SM City Iloilo. 

For more about Pois Belly & Kids, visit and like their Facebook page, HERE!

A Grand Sale at Religioso

Religioso is moving to a new spot next month, and you'd be thrilled to know that all current inventory at their Greenbelt 5 store is at 70% OFF! See ya there!

What I Wore...

...to run errands and drop by L'Occitane for Happy Hands Day 

silk top from Madewell, jeans from Cheap Monday, Louboutin Simple 85

...to run errands and pick up Berry from school

dress from APC Madras, APC belt, Repetto BB

...to go to war. Joke! Actually I just remembered I had these old pants and tried to style them to make them look more "now". Jenna Lyons was the inspiration

burnout tee from Nation Ltd., camouflage pants bought 8 years ago at Suan Lum Night Market in BKK, Louboutin Simple 85

...to bring the little ones to Blow-up Babies for a photo session

button down from +J Uniqlo, trousers from J. Crew, oxfords from Bimba y Lola

...to go on a massage date with Dear Hubby

shirt from Old Navy, shorts from H&M, Marni flatforms

...to bring Berry to school. She specifically requested that I wear a dress, so tadaaa!

dress from AllSaints, Isabel Marant sandals

Captivated by the Cunning F&X

Tell me! Where do you shop for baby and kids clothes?

My usual suspects are:

- Carter for onesies and sleepwear

- Petit Bateau for sandos

- Gap, Zara, H&M and Cotton On Kids for regular clothes

- Then there's googoo&gaga, Beginnings Baby, Mothercare and Gingersnaps here in Manila

- Joe Fresh when we are in Canada. 

J. Crew crewcuts are cute but pricier than what I would usually shell out for. Thankfully, Berry gets J. Crew crewcuts from her Ninang Me-an and Tita Xsa who dote on her, heehee.

When Lawrence of Bench invited me to check out F&X, I was amazed at what they had in store. Actually, I had seen F&X in Singapore previously, but I just never had the chance to check it out. Why? Because I was shopping so much at the Cotton On Kids outlet store in Anchorpoint on Alexandra Road ($5 leggings and $5 tank tops, imagine!) and I did all my clothes shopping for Berry there - house clothes as well as for going out. Guilt usually sets in and I don't bother entering other stores anymore heehee. (So I guess Bench really scored here, especially now that Cotton On Kids is in Manila and also owned by Bench!)

Anyhoo, I didn't realize they had the cutest kids clothes. I think we spent the most time here, because Berry couldn't decide on which Hello Kitty shirt to choose.

Then she saw this "ballerina" t-shirt with sequined pointe shoes hanging on the rack...

...and she loved it so much she wanted to try it on, right there and then. Fitting room? What's that?

It was on sale, so right there and then, I said "Game!" But the shopping budget had to be shared with Xavi. At the time, Xavi wasn't out yet, so I was also on the lookout for boys clothes and found plenty as well.

I got Xavi this cute Kermit the Frog onesie with matching footsie pajamas as well as two Disney themed short sleeve onesies:

Plus there were plenty of shoe options! Both for little girls and boys:

The shoe wall was just one wall in the Baby section. There were more dresses, socks, Care Bear printed tops and an assortment of bottom basics to mix and match:

 

Bigger kids get to choose from an array of Mickey Mouse and Hello Kitty cartoon print tops, as well as floral cardigans, polka dot tops, skirts and denims in store:

Us adults also have plenty to pick from. From graphic tees to plaids and polka dot tops, these are definitely more than the usual basics. But I liked the tissue thin tees and bright colored denims the most:

The little boys at heart meanwhile will love the Spiderman and Mickey Mouse tees. Although there are plenty of "grown-up" plaid shirts and windbreakers, denims and shorts to pick up as well:

I managed to fill a shopping bag with clothes for Berry and Xavi. The softest, prettiest, tissue thin cotton t-shirts for Berry and cartoon print onesies in nice, thick but breathable cotton for Xavi. At least I know there's another option for me when shopping for clothes for the kiddos!

Not to say I am no longer dropping by Cotton On Kids, especially now that they just opened in Mall of Asia. Hopefully there's a little section as well at Cotton On Lucky Chinatown Mall and Bonifacio High Street Central. Heehee!

Visit F&X is located at Greenbelt 5, Robinsons Place Manila, SM Cebu, SM Clark, SM Mall Of Asia, SM Masinag, SM North Edsa-Annex, SM Southmall, SM Megamall, Trinoma. I visted the F&X at Active Fun Building located in Bonifacio High Street :)

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!