Mauie Flores

One of the major concerns of women is to keep their skin hair-free. It does look masculine, don't you agree? Although I don't really have hair on my legs, I do need to regularly remove hair from my underarms. the process is painful when plucked (or even waxed) so I'm always looking for products that can make the task bearable.

One of the products I tried is Veet. Veet is available in cream and in cold wax strips and I have tried both. Of the two, I prefer Veet Hair Removal Cream more, obviously because it's the one that's less painful to work with. With the spatula, I just put the cream directly onto my skin, leave it for 3 to 6 minutes, then scrape it away after. The hair comes off with the cream. I usually do this before I take a shower because it needs to be rinsed after.

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I have just recently signed up as a distributor of W1N health and beauty products. The manufacturer of these products is a family friend of ours and the plant is located in our town. They have been manufacturing beauty products around 20 years now that's why They are really trusted when it comes to skin care. These are just some of the products that they are offering.

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I was born with naturally wavy hair and I can say that it was an obsession of mine to have straight, flowing hair. Rebonding gave me that chance but, of course, it came with some sacrifices. For one, my waist-length hair now shows signs of damage. Although it looks straight and smooth on the surface, some of the hair growing beneath it are frizzy and "rubberized," as salon attendants call it.

So when Joy Sison of Zulusibs, Inc. emailed me to try out their newest product, the Macadamia Natural Oil line, I immediately said yes! I already read rave reviews of Macadamia Natural Oil from beauty bloggers in the States but I didn't know where to buy it here. Zulusibs, Inc. is also the distributor of Keratin Complex, the revolutionary keratin treatment offered in top salons in the country such as Jing Monis Salon, Bench Fix Salon, Emphasis Salon, Piandre Salon, Franck Provost, Alex Carbonell, Essensuals Toni and Guy, David's Salon, and many others.

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There was one press release sent to me that boasts of the benefits of plastic surgery. The article claimed that it's better to have facial surgeries done as soon as you turn 40 years old to increase the effectiveness and length of the results. Do you agree with this?

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I love my long straight hair. I've been sporting this do since my first hair rebond session. But sometimes, hair products make my hair limp so I wash it every other day. The effect wasn't good either, as it made my hair more unmanageable. Pantene's new Nature Care Collection may be the solution to my problem.

Pantene Nature Care Collection combines trusted Pantene Pro-V technology with the natural power of the cassia flower, aloe vera, calendula, and ginger to produce Cassia Complex. Thus, hair is cared for and conditioned while keeping it full of life.

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Long weekends are here again and many of us are heading to the beach for some rest and recreation. But one thing about the beach that no one likes is prolonged exposure to the sun.



If you are suffering from sunburn, you can get relief from Céleteque DermoScience Skin Relief After-Sun Gel. Here are the benefits of this product:

• Provides immediate moisturizing and cooling relief to sunburned skin caused by prolonged sun exposure
• Has Anti-inflammatory Soothing Extracts to reduce the skin’s possible inflammatory response after prolonged sun exposure
• Has Wheat and Aloe Vera Skin Conditioners that help reduce possible flaking of overly dry skin
• Longer absorption period that help facilitate release of heat trapped in the skin.

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I encountered skin problems like any other girl who entered puberty. But since I was still young and carefree, I didn't give particular attention to facial care. My routine was simple - washing with soap and water. That's it. And the pimples just kept on coming. Although I didn't have large breakouts, I had horrible whiteheads that I try to squeeze out when I'm bored. It just kept coming back because my pores eventually got larger from the constant pricking and squeezing. It's foolish of me to do that. But of course, I only realized that now.

Georgina Wilson for Garnier Pure Active

Believe it or not, the beautiful Ms. Georgina Wilson also had her share of pimple horror stories. Apparently, she put toothpaste on her pimple when she was younger because she thought it would dry it out. But with a lot of skin care options today, she believes that Filipinas can now easily win against skin problems.

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Having wrinkles is the greatest fear of most women. They would spend thousands of dollars either to erase or prevent the lines that appear on their face. I'm scared of wrinkles, too. I want to look as young as possible but not to the point of having a facial procedure.

Fighting wrinkles need not be expensive. In fact, there are anti-wrinkle solutions that you can get straight out of your kitchen cupboard. Here's just a few of them:

• Virgin coconut oil - Massage on the face during bedtime.
• Green apple and pineapple  juice - Apply for 10 to 15 minutes on the face.  It can also help relieve cracked skin.
• Mashed banana - spread all over the face and leave for 15-20 minutes.  Then, rinse with warm water.  It can help fight skin dryness and the appearance of fine lines.
• Mixture of grated potato and apples - Chill and apply around the eyes at least one a week.  It can prevent crow's feet and moisturizes the skin under the eye.
• Sugar granules mixed with olive oil - Use to gently exfoliate your face.

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Shopping is a girl's best friend. I bet you already know that. But retail therapy, as I prefer to call it, is made better when there are affordable deals! That's why I'm such a fan of group buying sites. I'll let you in on a secret... I subscribed my email to all of them! I don't mind getting emails about deals everyday because I don't want to miss a worthy shopping opportunity.


Kuponan, eBay Philippines' group buying site, is not an exception. Like any other group buying site in the country today, Kuponan offers the affordable deals be it food, travel, baby stuff, or beauty deals. However, there's one distinct feature that separates Kuponan from the rest. That is, there are deals where buyers will only pay a portion of the discounted price.

See this deal, for example:

An Intense Diamond Peel + Cryotherapy + Glutathione Mask at Skin Central is offered at 79% off. I find it to be a good deal already because, actually, Php 250 is only for a regular facial treatment in other skin centers. The best thing in this deal is that I only get to pay Php 100 for now and pay the rest of the amount directly to Skin Central. This makes it even more affordable especially to someone like me who doesn't have a regular budget for facial treatments.

If you're interested to know more about Kuponan's latest deal offers, all you have to do is to visit www.kuponan.ph. You will have to have an eBay.ph account to be able to purchase deals, though. Payments can be coursed through Paypal, BDO bank deposit, or GCash transfer. Then, the coupons will be emailed to you within a week after confirmation of payment.

Oh, by the way, if you're like me who's so into deals, don't forget to enter your email address and subscribe to Kuponan's deal alerts. You can also like eBay.ph on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/eBayPhilippines).



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Men and women have different routines when it comes to grooming. In our household alone, my toiletries are different to that of my husband's. He prefers anti-bacterial soap while I love beauty bars. I can't shower without conditioning my hair but he believes using it makes his hair limp and oily. If there's one thing we agree on, that would be using an anti-dandruff shampoo. We are loyal users of Head & Shoulders that's why I'm so happy that our favorite anti-dandruff shampoo now has For Him and For Her variants.


I was at the media launch of the new Head & Shoulders variants which was held last July 6 at the Mandarin Oriental. Present at the event were long-time Head & Shoulders brand ambassador, Angel Locsin, and its newest endorser, John Lloyd Cruz. Both have confirmed that they have different hair grooming needs but agree that they both have found "The One" in Head & Shoulders.

Head & Shoulders Anti-Hairfall For Him and For Her brand ambassadors, John Lloyd Cruz and Angel Locsin.

Head & Shoulders Brand Manager, Ms. Carla Sia, explains that Head & Shoulders Anti-Hairfall For Her has been specifically designed to care for women's hair which is more prone to breakage. It has more conditioning ingredients to strengthen hair while, at the same time, getting rid of dandruff. Meanwhile, hairfall in men is often caused by constant scratching because of excess sebum in the scalp that causes dandruff. Head & Shoulders Anti-Hairfall For Men has optimized conditioning technology combined with HydraZinc technology that targets dandruff while keeping the hair grease-free.

Ms. Carla Sia being interviewed by host, Sam YG (Shivaker).

Also present in the event was Dr. Jasmine Karsono, Principal Scientist and Manager of P&G Beauty's Hair Care Scientific Communications and she taught Angel, John Lloyd, and all the media present about the importance of scalp massage in dandruff control. I'm so guilty of this, actually. Because I'm often in a hurry, I don't take time to massage my scalp while shampooing. I learned from Dr. Karsono that the massage part is important to induce proper blood circulation in the scalp and to make it more receptive to nutrients and to the active ingredients of the anti-dandruff shampoo.

Dr. Karsono teaches John Lloyd Cruz the proper way of massaging the scalp.

Head & Shoulders Anti-hairfall For Him and For Her are available in all leading supermarkets and drugstores nationwide. Suggested retail price (SRP) is at Php 119 for a 200 ml bottle.

View the rest of the event photos here.

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I vividly remember the blue tin can that made my mother's eyes gleam with joy back when I was a little girl. NIVEA Creme was her favorite balikbayan box pasalubong because it was a vital part of her beauty regimen. NIVEA Creme became our special skin cream, too. But since it was just for mom and it's often kept inside her make-up bag, I would secretly dip my finger inside the tin can every once in a while. Yep, Mama was somehow madamot of her kikay stuff back then especially if it was her NIVEA creme!



But don't you know that back in 1911 when NIVEA Creme was first launched, the tin can wasn't blue at all? NIVEA Creme was first packaged in a yellow tin can decorated with green art nouveau tendrils. The blue tin can was first introduced in 1925 as NIVEA sought for a more contemporary design.



Just as the tin can evolved, NIVEA also added more reliable skin care products under their name. People of different gender, age, and skin type now enjoy a wide variety of NIVEA skin care products.















As their first 100 years have shown, NIVEA provides Skin Care for Life, regardless of who and what you are. Happy 100 Years, NIVEA! I'm sure there'll be greater things in store for all of us NIVEA fans.

To know more about NIVEA's 100 years, you can visit www.nivea.ph/Experience/100years# or the NIVEA for Women Facebook page.


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As of this writing, I and the boys are in Laiya, San Juan, Batangas where we'll spend the night of this Maundy Thursday. It was a long drive from our place and my boy wasn't able to wait till it's not so sunny before he persuaded me to go to the beach with him. I wasn't that too worried, anyway. Because I had with me NIVEA Sun products that were sent to me yesterday. It's as if the gorgeous peeps from NIVEA just knew that we were going to the beach today! Galing 'no?

(L-R) NIVEA Sun Whitening Face Cream SPF 50, NIVEA Sun Moisturizing After Sun Spray, and NIVEA Sun Maximum Protection Lotion SPF 50.

NIVEA Sun Maximum Protection Lotion SPF 50 offers immediate sun protection. There's no need to wait for 20 minutes after application before going under the sun. It's definitely helpful especially when you're a mom like me with a boy that's just so excited to swim in the waters. It's not sticky like the other sunscreen brands that we've tried because it's quickly absorbed by the skin. It's water resistant, too.

Protecting my face from the harmful rays of the sun is always my utmost concern. Thankfully, NIVEA Sun Whitening Face Cream also has SPF 50 which gives me the assurance that I won't get sunburned and that I won't earn premature skin ageing from staying out in the sun. Aside from being not too sticky, it's formulation also has Licorice extract that helps lighten skin and reduces melanin production.

Now, I don't normally buy after sun spray products for us because we usually just put on lotion after taking a shower. But I discovered that using NIVEA Sun Moisturising After Sun Spray is way better that that! The boys loved the fact that it gives a cooling sensation once applied. And unlike lotion, it has a light, almost milky, formulation that it is just perfect during this hot summer season.

Again, thanks to NIVEA for sending me these. Hope you also get to try them.

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My boy is starting to have pimples. He's only ten years old but I think he's hitting puberty early. He used Lactacyd before as his facial wash but it failed to get rid of the pimples on his face. I thought of having him use the Human Nature Hydrating Facial Wash sampler which was part of my sampler kit when I joined Human Nature. Amazingly, it worked for him. This is what he's been using for months now.


If you're thinking of ways on how to get rid of pimples, maybe you should try this. It's gentle, effective, and organic. Not only that, it also supports our local Filipino farmers.

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I am a self-confessed coffee addict. There was a time when I can't last a day without caffeine. I would often get sleepy and cranky the whole day. If you're a fan of coffee, you'd get what I mean. But recently, I had an acne breakout that made me reduce my coffee intake to just one small cup a day.

Apparently, there's a link between caffeine and acne breakouts. Coffee, as well as black tea, chocolate, and other stimulants, increases the levels of cortisol (stress hormones) in the body which in turn cause acne breakouts. So if you're looking for the best acne treatment, better stay away from coffee for a while. A better alternative is green tea or white tea.

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I got my Love Minerals "Boracay Bronze" compact foundation today, yay! It's my first time to try out mineral make-up so I'm pretty excited about how it will work on my skin. I trust Human Heart Nature products anyway so I know I won't get bad results.

I'm going to do a more comprehensive review of the powder foundation in my kikay blog. For the meantime, all I can say is that the tone suits my morena skin well. It's almost the same tone as tanning bed lotions so I guess other fair-skinned girls may find it too dark for their taste. Nevertheless, I am happy that I did not waste Php 395 for this.

Don't you just love its name? It makes me long for the beach.


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Here's one product I use for my falling hair - Human Nature Strengthening Shampoo and Body Wash.

100 ml Strengthening Shampoo and Body Wash - Php 64.75

Aside from the shampoo, I'm also using a Strengthening Conditioner and a Hair Mask of the same brand. All products are organic and are made from materials harvested here in the country. Human Nature's Strengthening shampoo really is an effective shampoo for thinning hair. I even know guy friends who use this to lessen the balding of their hair. What I like about it is that it works on me and, at the same time, it's not expensive. Not to mention that it's Philippine-made.

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What do men usually think about? Girls? Sports? Cars and cheap car insurance? Seldom will you find guys to think about skin care, right?


This may all change once they discover L'Oreal Paris Men Expert's Pure & Matte Charcoal Black Foam. It is natural for men to have oily skin because it's essential for facial hair growth. Then again, excess oil oxidizes and and darkens making a man's face look unclean.

L'Oreal Paris Men Expert Pure & Matte Charcoal Black Foam works to cleanse, clear, and mattify the skin with the help of Salicylic Acid. It also has the Active Defense System (ADS) that makes the skin more resistant to daily aggressions. Lastly, its fine bubbles more effectively removes impurities in the skin.

Find L'Oreal Paris Men Expert's Pure & Matte Charcoal Black Foam nationwide in leading department stores, drug & beauty stores, supermarkets and hypermarkets (SM Department Stores and Watsons Beauty Stores, PCX, Landmark Department Stores and Supermarket, Robinsons Department Stores, Shopwise, Mercury Drug Stores, Gaisano Metro Department Stores, 7-11).


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In this week alone, I attended two beauty product launches. I was surprised to be invited because I don't usually get invited to these media events. Normally, I would get invites to health product launches or anything that has to do with parenting. Then again, I do appreciate these PR companies and in-house marketing people for the consideration. I really am flattered.

Should I make a beauty and fashion blog and start writing posts like bridesmaid dresses reviews? Actually, I was thinking of something along the same train of thought but I still haven't got the time and resources to buy the domain and up the site. It wouldn't be the usual beauty and fashion blog. Ooops, I think I'm spilling the beans already! Just wait until I finish conceptualizing the theme and content.

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L'Oréal Paris has launched a new product that is suited for ladies who want to have fairer skin. White Perfect Day Cream promises to de-saturate skin cells loaded with melanin.


White Perfect has Melanin-Vanish™, the new technological breakthrough that is 50 more times powerful in whitening skin with just a single drop.* Melanin-Vanish™ vanish helps neutralize the enzyme that contributes in the production of melanin in the skin.** Aside from this, it works to remove melanin-loaded skin cells to eventually brighten the skin's complexion.

White Perfect also has Tourmaline Gemstone which is known to stimulate skin microcirculation giving the skin a healthy rosy glow. To prevent skin from darkening once again, White Perfect Day Cream is loaded with SPF17/PA++ which provides extra protection against UV induced darkening and the appearance of brown spots.

White Perfect Day Cream SPF17/PA++ is now available in the market for P595. It is available nationwide in leading department stores, drug & beauty stores, supermarkets and hypermarkets (SM Department Stores and Watsons Beauty Stores, PCX, Landmark Department Stores, Robinsons Department Stores, Shopwise, Mercury Drug Stores, Gaisano Metro Department Stores).


*Versus 1 drop of Melano-Block™
**in vitro tests


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When you think of a spa, what immediately comes to mind? Massage? An upright jacuzzi with a gorgeous hot tub cover? Facials and scrubs? For me, spa is synonymous to relaxation which has been a luxury to me ever since I started accepting writing projects. Yesterday, however, I found my little piece of heaven right in the heart of Makati City.



Islands Massage Mobile and Day Spa offers massage services and other beauty and wellness treats. Nestled in the busy N. Garcia Street (formerly Reposo) in Makati City, it becomes the perfect haven for the tired and stressed working people of the nearby business district.



I was blessed to have been invited by the owners, Janice and Boogie, to review their spa. Yesterday was a rainy one so it was the best time for me to get a full body massage.



I can say that I'm already an expert when it comes to massages because my husband and I get massages every other weekend. I was given the Swedish Massage which is my favorite. (My husband hates oils so he always prefers Thai massage.) I didn't get the name of my masseuse but I truly enjoyed her massage. The pressure was as light as I instructed it to be. I also didn't know what kind of massage oil was used on me. I was told after the service that I can choose my preferred massage oil from their collection. Oh well, maybe next time.



What I also loved about Islands Massage Mobile and Day Spa is the wide and comfy bed I laid on. The bedding smelled good and the towel and robe I used were soft and fresh. I made a conscious effort not to sleep during the session because I would need to recall the whole experience for the review, right? It was also surprising to see how spacious and stylish the massage rooms were. If you are a "suki" of day spas, you'll know what I mean. Other day spas I've been to either have mattresses on the floor or small beds confined in cubicles.



Islands Massage Mobile and Day Spa is a complete one-stop, full-service 24-hour home massage and day spa. They can provide service to Manila, Makati, San Juan, Pasig ,QC, and Paranaque areas. You can also contact them if you want to have a private spa party with friends and family.

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