my best kept secret: carrier and essential oils mix - a body and face oil in one

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Alright. Here's another skincare post! I'm on a roll these days on skin care, huh? Well...okay.

It seems many have been commenting about my skin lately. Last one was a good friend of mine in Davao City. Before her was my grandmother. The thing is, I don't really have a very strict skin care routine. I don't go to the dermatologist often either. I do listen to or read their advice on twitter. I follow the Nerdy Derma there. She's also on youtube, the Nerdy Derma, btw. She's just not that active in the latter.

Comments from my friend and grandma include: "your skin is glowing," "it's really nice," "it's soft," and etc. For these really nice comments, I'd thank them. I don't know if I've always had skin as they said they noticed, a really good one but I haven't really changed much on my skin care routine from many years ago.

One thing about my daily skincare routine is, like everything else in my life, I'm super lazy around doing it. Sometimes I just don't do it at all. Most of the time, I only do it when I'm going out. Lol. I also have a very simple skincare routine. My cardinal rules are:

• NO to whitening products.

    There are a ton of whitening products sold in pharmacies or drugstore chains like Watsons Ph (and you know how huge a fan I am of this that every time I go in, I always go out with something...s on hand) and even the skincare aisle/s in supermarkets. You might even find them in the most basic sari-sari store in your neighborhood. But yes, for me, I just have to avoid whitening products like a plague. I sometimes use Myra E lotions (if you're here in the Philippines, you'll know this is very local. They've been around for a while now) so I stick to the moisturizing line they have. Myra E has this in Classic Moisturizing (red packaging) and Moisturizing Plus (darker red or maroon packaging). You can get Myra E's stuff everywhere in the Philippines, of course, so it's pretty convenient for something you'd like to have at a good Ph-native price and if you'd like one to have quickly without having to order online or so and wait for them to get to where you are in the Ph.

    That's generally just it, avoid whitening products. If you can't help it and you'd like to be whiter or lighter then go for the brightening ones. Whitening products aren't exactly the best for Filipina skin from what I know. They don't really work well either so brightening stuff is the better way to go if one wants to be lighter here.  

• Keep it simple. Indulge in only a bit of the pricey stuff (to save up).

    I very rarely use lotions, body butters and the likes from Victoria's Secret and/or Bath and Body Works (B&BW). I only get these when people, my aunts send me some of them from abroad. Most of the time, I will stick with local stuff like Myra E's moisturizing line I mentioned above. Oh and introducing my time tested---I've been using it for years and years now---carrier and essential oils mixtures as body oil, lotion etc. in one. I come up with my own mixes, of course. 

    You might want to ask, where do I get these oils? Carrier oils like coconut and sunflower oil are actually everywhere now. I use Human Heart Nature's, of course. You can get them on their shop on site or coconut oil in 200 mL here and sunflower oil here: 50 mL via Zalora in the old, classic packaging; and the 50 mL via Zalora in new packaging. I would get the 100 mL ones to last me a long time, maybe...2 months, tops? When mixed with other carrier oils and some essential oils. You can also go for the Sunflower Beauty Oil LUXE in 45 mL here that's sweet smelling. My personal favorite is, however, the Sunflower Beauty Oil Bloom. It's slightly pricier than the classic one but likely, less expensive than the LUXE one but it works well for me, yep. The Sunflower Beauty Oil Bloom is available 100 mL here and 50 mL here. Coconut and sunflower oils are my main carrier oils for my body oil (which can also work as a face oil, btw) mixture.

    

    Other carrier oils I use are Vitamin E oil via Myra E and Avocado oil you can get at Casa de Lorenzo Philippines here. You can get Myra E's vitamine E capsules everywhere. It's in local chain drugstores or pharmacies like Rose's Pharmacy, it's also in Watsons Ph. Avocado oil is not available at Casa de Lorenzo Ph's site at the moment. It's also not available in Casa de Lorenzo Ph at Lazada, unfortunately. Their Lazada store only carries their castile soaps. I haven't really tried their castile soaps but I have tried their coconut and avocado oils and I love these two. Hopefully they restock the avocado oil soon. 

    After carrier oils, I would add in essential oils into the mix. Currently, I just put in 10-20 drops of Jojoba Oil (it's available on Zalora's Human Nature/Human Heart Nature shop in 30 mL here) into the current mix I'm using. You can use other essential oils, of course. Some would use sweet almond oil, maybe, argan oil, the more local ylang-ylang oil for fragrance---I'm not sure what its other benefits are but I love the ylang-ylang scent ever since I was a kid---and more. You can check our ylang-ylang essential oil, sweet almond oil and more at Casa de Lorenzo Philippines here. You can also check out more of their stuff at their site here: Casa de Lorenzo Philippines (or CDL Organics).

        I heard on the grapevine Rosehip Oil works wonders for those who have stretchmarks. One of my best friends who's pregnant again used this one before. You can definitely add this in with the carrier oils if you'd like to preempt the appearance of stretchmarks around the waist and hips and other parts of the body if you're carrying or even after you've given birth. It's super pricey at Php 795 for a measly 15 mL bottle of it but Human Heart Nature's is pure and it can go a long way if you mix it with their carrier and essential oils.

        You can read more about using and mixing carrier and essential oils on healthline here: Carrier oils and  Essential oils. You might also find the body lotion vs body oil/s discussion article on healthline interesting. I use both interchangeably, along with body butters, but I stick to mostly my mix of body oils so yep, there's that.

The key to having good skin for me is simplicity and not overdoing things or overthinking these things. Sometimes, I use these body butters, body oils, body lotions when I remember I have them and other times, I just shower or take baths and that's good for me already. I do use exfoliating products once in a while but it's like, just a once a week or once every two-weeks thing for me. My go-to body scrub is the Sunflower Beauty Body Scrub. Alternatively, the Coffee and Vanilla Body Scrub should work too and if Human Heart Nature isn't up your alley, there's always St. Ives Philippines to explore. You can check out St. Ives Philippines' stuff at the Unilever Offical Lazada store here. Home made alternative for body scrubs: granulated sugar + honey + I usually added bits and pieces of papaya or mashed papaya in mine. Go for the ripe papaya, of course, yes.

All of those and if all else fails you, you can always go for a lifestyle change. Going vegan helps, I think. Or being more into seafood and vegetables and fruits. I normally am into those more than I am into meat.

A way to save up on Human Heart Nature stuff---as the cost of theirs can add up along the way---is to be a member or an advocate of their line of products or brand and get 15% discount off of every product. I'm already a member and an advocate so if anyone here is interested in being one, I can be a referrer. Just leave me a message here or email me at: kgrace_1987@yahoo.com. I check the latter almost daily. For Casa de Lorenzo Philippines' stuff, I think you'll have to email them to let them know you'd like discounts when you buy in bulk or so. They're likely still very active on the site and on their contact pages or so. 

Human Heart Nature's products are totally available in USA and Canada through their HHN USA and HHN Canada websites, respectively. I think their products are quick to get sold out, however. You'll want to look out for the next dates their sunflower oils will be available there (I just read it's December 27 for CA).

For those looking for other oils like Grapeseed oil, maybe a cheaper rosehip oil, and avocado oil given Casa de Lorenzo Philippines doesn't have them...these, I found Jade Essentials Ph on Lazada. The carrier and essential oils they carry are pretty affordable. Some essential oils are expensive there but if they are the kind that's imported from elsewhere but the Philippines, then that's understandable. The only thing that Jade Essentials Ph on Lazada disappoints me in is how they don't have ylang-ylang essential oil. They're still pretty good with their lineup of affordable carrier and essential oils, though, so that can be easily overlooked here.

And if you're the type who can afford anything, there's Rodin Olio Russo but I think a good number of people aren't happy with their parent company rn, Estee Lauder. Apparently, the guy owning or heir to the business empire is a misogynist. As I can't afford ROR, I don't really buy and use it and make my own instead. :) Doing this is better on the savings, too.

And that's it for now. Until the next post! Or you can follow me on my fangirling twitter and personal instagram for timelier updates. :) 

what's new in my skin care routine: iWhite Korea favorites, Fairy skin

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DIYed headband from excess ts' fabric cuts (it's old, from a DIY project long, long ago, maybe it was pre-pandemic, even); vintage, thrifted crocheted sweater; one of many 58 Php (1 USD) dresses from a batch order from Jhewel Shop PH on Shopee PH; necklace gifted by an aunt; earrings from grandma; rings from good old Aizilim and Bagel Girl in SM Downtown CDO

Pictured in the middle are my current favorite skin care finds and 1 pair of sunglasses from a local store  that's just opened in Divisoria, Cagayan de Oro City---along Pabayo-Hayes sts, to be exact. Let's look into those in this post! 

iWhite Korea has an ongoing promo where if you spend 500 Php in one or order or more, they send you a gift bag of thing other than those you ordered. The promo is ongoing on both their Lazada and Shopee PH official stores. I got some freebies from them this way. Some of these are not available on their official Lazada and Shopee stores. Those that aren't there aren't also in stores a Watson's Pharmacy/Drugstore. It's that South East Asian and national chain of pharmacies/drugstores, yes. Anyway, going back, my theory is that they may be new products yet being tested on us who like their brand and they've yet to produce them and market them to more people en mass. iWhite Korea has a wide range of affordable products. They're made for the filipino budget, yes. And their skin care products are great to pair with or alternate with the usual Human Heart Nature and their fellow South Korean skin care brand here in the Philippines, Face Republic. The latter's sun gel I tried in the deep green sachets is pretty good and right up there with the sole sunscreen in this post. They've phased it out though, it seems, and replaced with an all-around BB cream that, I feel like, can compete with iWhite Korea's that's been my favorite since I started using it some 2 or so years ago.

If you follow this blog since I it from Livejournal to here in blogger/blogspot, you'll know that I'm a huge Human Heart Nature fan. I'm technically an advocate of theirs. I'm a consistent, heavy Human Heart Nature user and someone who recommends other people their stuff, but I have yet to buy more from them soon to reactivate my membership.

And now, we have iWhite Korea. I use other skin care products, too, aside from my usual go-to very local brand, yes. So let's go back to the subject of the other skincare brand I'm into, iWhite Korea. This brand with products you can find at your nearest Watson's Pharmacy/Drugstore is the focus of this entry, anyway.

iWhite Korea BB Holic cream, light, in 4mL sachets | iWhite Korea BB Holic cream, light, in 25mL tube

If you've been following this blog and my socials closely, you'll know this is my favorite BB cream from some 2 to 3 years ago or so. Nothing has changed and it still is my favorite since I quit using foundation some time ago. This BB cream is what got me into the whole iWhite Korea brand.

I'm not entirely sure how I got into this one. It may just have been me being my usual self who likes to hang around my 2 nearest Watson's Pharmacy/Drugstore branches to randomly pick stuff up from their shelves and kill some time reading the ingredients of products that strike my interest there. I remember picking this up to try it because it was free of harmful chemicals. Little did I know it would be a staple in my skin care routine applied right before I put on very light makeup and color to my face. 

I've just gotten myself into the 25 mL tube ones so we'll see how this goes...

I still would keep sachets around for when I'm on the go. They're convenient to have in makeup bags so you can just pull them out when you need to freshen up makeup and more.

My favorite of two existing shades of this product is light. But I don't mind the beige one from time to time. 

iWhite Korea BB Holic cream, beige, in sachets | iWhite Korea BB Holic cream, beige, in 25mL tube

The freebies bag from my last Shopee PH order from their official store there came with the mocha shade with niacinamide. I'm not one to get into beauty trends but I'm interested with this one. I think it's a new product to add to their existing line of BB Holic creams and they need some people to test them out before selling more of them online and offline.

I have yet to try this mocha bb cream that you see in the photo collage above. I'll let you know how it goes later for me. ....probably in an update blog post after this one.

New favorite alert!

iWhite Korea Glow Booster Vitamin C Serum in 6mL sachet | iWhite Korea Glow Booster Vitamin C Serum in 40 mL tube

I very rarely use face serums. The last serum I used was buckthorne serum from a not-so-well-known brand I got from Marshall's or some other on my last trip to the USA to see family. This was back in, around late 2015 and very early 2016.

I can't even put on my day and night creams every night, consistently, you expect me to put this serum on every day and night? Hah. Seriously, I'm not good at keeping skin care routines so things like the South Korean 7 to 10-step skin care routine just don't jive well with me.

Anyway, I've used this one a few times after my Human Heart Nature day cream and some night cream and it's not bad. I can't really say if it has any effect on my skin though. If it has improved its condition or not. I'm not prone to break outs, for one. I only have hormonal breakouts so I wouldn't really religiously apply this thing every day and every night. I'd only probably do so when I feel like.

I follow the Nerdy Derma on twitter and other minimal skincare advocates. More than being a skincare junkie (I still am, anyway), it's important to at least have appointments with dermatologists at least once in a while. They know better how to fix your skin problems with prescribed medicine and more.

I'm not saying to abandon all your skin care stuff outside of your cleanser. What I'm saying is to just use skin care in moderation and know that you only really need to cleanse at least once a day and once before sleeping and you're good. And dermatologists can help with skin problems more than those products in the market rn but if those make you feel good, then, like no one's stopping me, no one's stopping you from getting into them either!

So the sachet for this is affordable at 24 Php that's almost a quarter of the USD. The 40 mL tube is 235 Php and I think it's a good buy from the brand. The 6mL sachet can last about a week plus of use if you're as lazy as I am in my day and night skin care routine that you forget to put and pat this on your face on some days or nights of the week. Haha.

iWhite Korea Gentle Morning Gel Wash in 8mL sachet

Like the BB Holic cream in Mocha, I believe this gentle morning gel wash is new to the brand. I've only used it once yet and it's not that bad. It's actually pretty good and quite similar to the Human Heart Nature nourishing cleanser I like.

I'm not one to jump from one cleanser to another but I'll definitely be using these two interchangeably over the next few days. iWhite Korea products are quite pleasant, gentle and not harmful to my skin so I don't mind using these things often.

An 8mL sachet of this one is just 22 Php (almost a quarter of a USD here) and it's buy 1 take 1 right now so go and get multiples of this, like, NOW!

iWhite Korea Sleeping Gel Mask in 6mL sachet

There are many products iWhite Korea has that I have yet to try. This gel mask is one of them. This is also buy 1 take 1 on their official stores on both Lazada and Shopee at only 25 Php. Definitely get this one if you're curious about this as I am. 

I hardly see another brand's peel off mask I like on Watson's Pharmacy/Drugstore now so it's good iWhite Korea has this and other face masks I could default to when I feel like pampering my skin and my self more.

Anyway, I will let you know how this goes once I've tried this thing for more than 3 days or so. I rarely use face masks. I only use them on weekends, mostly, when I'm in relaxed or lazy mode...or mood, whichever works.

It seems they don't have a tube of this yet so this must be fairly new in their products' lineup. 

This time, let's look into the goodies that came with my first and only iWhite Korea online official store purchase via Shopee PH:

This is how it looks like when my order of tubes of the Vitamin C serum and the BB cream came to me here at home. I got one of each and 3 sachets of the Glow Booster Vitamin C Serum. This purchase came with the cutest pink paper bag below that contained all the fun freebies!

These are the freebies:

Opening the paper bag and emptying its contents for the photo above here made me feel like Christmas came here REAAALLLLYYY EARLY. I'm not even a fan of Christmas much. Haha.

Okay, so here are other things from the goodie bag's lot of freebies I have yet to try from this skin care and beauty brand are the:

Matcha Ice Cream Wash-Off Mask in 8mL sachet

Aqua Moisture Bomb Face Mask

Both of these are face masks and as mentioned earlier, I only use them on weekends. Or more like, some weekends. I get lazy with added skin pampering sessions like this, too. I haven't tried these two but I'm dyyyyiiing to try them! I'll try some of them this weekend. Maybe. If I'm not too lazy then. Haha. 

These two are not available on both their Lazada and Shopee official stores. I have a theory these two are still in the trial phase, too. They probably want to see how people like these ones before they release it in tube form or some other... Hmn...

Before I go into another new product I'm obsessed about, here is one iWhite Korea product I'm looking into. I don't really have it yet but I'm curious about it even if I think Niacinamide is another beauty trend that may just...I don't know...not be that good for the skin. I'm skeptical about beauty or especially skin care trends until many start saying or raving about how good they are. So this is the:

iWhite Korea Whip Pro-Niacin Moisturizer in 6mL sachet | iWhite Korea Whip Pro-Niacin Moistrurizer in 60 mL tube

I still have some moisturizers or day and night creams that also double as moisturizers so I won't get into this until I probably consume those I still have rn. I am curious how this one is but until then...I'm staying put and not buying anything lest I want more unused or very rarely used skincare stuff in my drawer.

And...

....here's another new favorite skin care product alert! Number 2 for this post. It's a sunscreen that I'm obsessed about atm:

Fairy Skin Brightening Sunscreen, SPF 50, 50mL

Okay... This is not by iWhite Korea but it's, I believe, a local brand or it's owned by a local.

I just discovered this last week while looking for sunscreens with minimal to no white casts after application and I've been hooked since I started using this back then, too.

The packaging or the bottle is just in the cutest color and shape. It's very easy to slip this in your bag as it's compact and tiny. And you're good to go! A side note before we go back into the original track of this post but I think Happy Skin, another local? (I'm not at all sure...?) skin care brand here but pricier just copied this one. You can check out their sunscreen...s to see. I avoid HS because of how expensive their products can be but I definitely see some pretty affordable things in there... Hmn... Yep, most of their stuff is still not the most practical for the typical working Filipina's monthly budget or so. Okay, let's go back now... And the few times I've used this Fairy Skin sunscreen also tells me I like that it's the easiest and the most fun to squeeze too. It's easy and fun to apply and like, there's just no white cast at all once it's on your skin! It just blends right in which is my favorite thing about this one.

This sunscreen usually costs between 180-190 Php. You can get it via Lazada or Shopee PH online. 

If you want to buy this in person here in Cagayan de Oro City, here are other local sellers (resellers) of this sunscreen here:

• Lyns Fashion Selection - this is across Lourdes College and along the way to the CDO Post Office 
• The Cube Bazaar Strip in Ayala Centrio - also has some stores, stalls, rather, selling this around 180 to 190 Php a piece. This is at the 3rd floor of the said mall
• a stall in the LimKetKai Mall rotunda bazaar also has these. This bazaar of sorts is going on until October 9.

As a side note: I will be blogging about this bazaar this week or over the weekend so stay tuned! (If bazaars like this are your thing as they are becoming mine, too.)

Fairy Skin's SPF 50 sunscreen is, like, everywhere at this point. Yes.

Before you say I got into this sunscreen because it's a trend among skin care enthusiasts in tiktok... I'll have to stop you there and say that's not the case. Tiktok and tiktokers who are into trendy local Philippine skin care and makeup isn't how I got into Fairy Skin's sunscreen at all.

I've actually been into similar products like Kath Melendez's Her Skin (the Glow Maintenance set) because of a youtube vlogger I follow who's based in Vancouver, Canada, Hey It's Fey and I noticed that Fairy Skin's sunscreen shows in my searches of this skin care brand on Shopee PH. I was considering getting into the Glow Maintenance set by Her Skin because I've been listening to and watching my favorite vlogger rave about how good the sun defense gel is on her vlogs but I think my eyes and interest were drawn to Fairy Skin's in the end and the rest is history. I jumped the gun when I was looking into another pretty affordable multi-use tints cosmetics brand, Dear Self Beauty at Simply Hue, Juicy Tushie Store (Everyday Essential) and that was it! I got my Fairy Skin sunscreen from this shop with some Dear Self Beauty stuff I have yet to try. I'm going to review them in this blog one day soon, of course! This space is slowly turning into a skincare and beauty/cosmetics/makeup blog. Haha.

So I got this for 190 Php (close to around 4 USD) at the said Shopee PH store and I've been pretty obsessed with it since I've started using it some days ago.

If you are looking for a good high SPF sunscreen for the face with no white cast whatsoever once applied and one that's super affordable, it's this one, Fairy Skin's 50 SPF sunscreen.

Anyway, it's been sales after sales after sales here and there lately. Online and offline, both. You can clearly tell Christmas is drawing nearer and nearer. They're even doing the Christmas countdown on the national news already. With a lot of sales happening here and there---there's the 10.10 sale soon in Lazada, Shopee PH, and Zalora in 4 days!---you can pre-load your cart with all of these on the post then check all of them out on that day for humongous savings.

....or so says someone who hardly buys stuff on 9.9, 10.10, 11.11, 12.12 sales here and more. I don't really buy stuff on sales because I feel like there's always a sale somewhere almost everyday. Haha. Or I just buy the ones I can easily afford these days when I can anyway.

That's it for the main post. I will post a follow-up on how I find some of those here I haven't tried one day, the soonest I can so stay tuned for that one.

Let's go into some things I feel like...rather, you feel like I've ignored and didn't touch on in this post like whitening products. iWhite Korea has them, too. And in case you're wondering, I did receive a couple of whitening products as freebies on the online order from the iWhite Korea Shopee PH flagship/official store. 

So let's get started on one. On whitening products:

I've never really been a big fan of whitening products and often wondered why we have a lot of those in our pharmacies/drugstores, grocery stores, supermarkets, etc. here. I think this is because, 1, I like my skin the way it is. And 2, I find people here who bleach their skin (I had one high school classmate who did this and he is a guy) or whiten it just...downright weird. But the second one is normal to most. Filipinas just really like to be white or like the yellow-skinned in east asia when I think our normal skin color is the best. I know the white women in the US and others would love to have our skin color (just enough melanin to keep us from having skin diseases and stuff somehow) so yep, I have always thought there's no point to trying to whiten it with store-bought products or periodic procedures like skin bleaching.

When I got into Human Heart Nature some years back, maybe almost a decade back when they first started, I was soooo glad and soooo relieved they didn't do whitening skin care products. They just don't advise it for their clientele to use and because of this, they've got me as a loyal customer/client since.  

iWhite Korea included 2 sachets of the same whitening product in the freebies goodie bag that came with the 500+ Php online order. I separated those two from the products I like from the goodie bag that aren't for skin whitening at all. iWhite Korea has whitening products but if you're like me and are proud of your Filipina, Philippine islander skin color, then I seriously advise not to even look into the whitening products they have there. Everything else they sell but those are alright to get and use almost every day.

On my very simple skin care routine:

Sometimes I just really get lazy to follow through it every day and I only have, like, maybe 4 steps that I do of it daily. Like...hmn...I just cleanse, tone, put on day or night cream (which are also moisturizers, by the way), and then the serum, sunscreen (during the day, I also alternate this one with Belo's 10 mL tinted 50 SPF sunscreen---it's buy 1 take 1 on the Belo flagship store in Lazada here, just click on the link to get it---or just the iWhite Korea BB Holic cream) and that's it. I apply makeup during the day when I feel like or when I'm going out or doing some shoots for this blog and my instagram, @kristagraces_17, and at night. I don't put any makeup at all at night and just stick to the usual skin care application steps unless I have some parties to go to or so.   

I very sparingly or very rarely use face serum so when I get really, reeeaaallllyy lazy, I omit that from my skin care routine. I only use it when I have it or when I have a face serum I like on hand. I also don't use the day and night creams often. I think I started using less skin care products since I started working and of course, over the pandemic lockdowns. Simple is best, as they say and that really works well for me. Usually just cleansing when I have nowhere to go during the day or night is enough. Or cleansing and tonight is enough. I would tone and moisturize when I'm going out or doing something else, like, maybe, working from home that's ofc, other than staying home and doing chores. I work from home since the pandemic lockdowns, yes. I only need minimal makeup for wfh stuff so I hardly overdo and stuff on this, too.

Anyway if you follow the Nerdy Derma on twitter, you'll know more why simple is the best-est when it comes to skin care. I think she's also on youtube now. Or if you'd like to know more about active and inactive ingredients in skin care, you can also check this blog out here: active vs inactive ingredients at gopicky blog. Oh wow. I just learned SLS is an active cleansing ingredient. I only use it probably from safeguard soap for night cleansing, occasionally, but I know it originally as a harmful chemical to the skin and body in general. The Nerdy Derma on twitter actually talks about this too, at times.

When it comes to skin care, it's best to just periodically see a medical expert on this from time to time especially if one has very sensitive skin. Or if one has a skin condition they want checked out. I don't advise self-medicating. You can definitely try out different skin care products to see what works for you but it helps to have guidance from an expert, still.

So far, I think my skin is alright so I don't really need to go to the dermatologist yet. I've seen one when I had severe bouts or cases of sebhorreic dermatitis (something we commonly know as dandruff or flaking on the scalp) and it has done me well so far. I only have skin breakouts when it's close to my period, during or after my period. I've also had facials once or twice done by a dermatologist that's a family friend---I have yet to try the other one my mom and brother went to some time ago, before the series of pandemic lockdowns---so yep, my skin is fine so far. I would definitely run to the dermatologist, check with them if something goes wrong with it and would not self-medicate. (I am interested in retinoids though...hmn...I have yet to get into that one...) So that's it.

Oh, before I forget, the sunnies/sunglasses are from Zea Picks Mini Mall along Pabayo-Hayes Sts. I got this for like, just 150 Php. That's just...around 3 USD converted. I actually found Positive Kalyca there. It's a new ish, local to the region cosmetics brand I'm starting to like after my dearest bff, Michi, alerted me about it and consequently got me into it. Do check out this place, too, if you're local here in my city of Cagayan de Oro. We got stuff that are buy 1 take 1 on sale there including this pair of sunglasses so I'm pretty sure you'll like looking around what they have there, too! They like linking up with pretty cool, local brands and makers so there are definitely a lot of things to find there if you're like me and my closest friends who like supporting local.

I will be blogging soon about the bazaars and some other new cosmetics brands I'm into lately starting with a local one in the Bisaya region here, Positive Kalyca! I think they started out where I was based from for grad school for Literary Studies, in Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental/Island, before I moved back here in Cagayan de Oro and it's pretty cool that they are everywhere now. You'll know more about this one in the next blog. Feel free to check them out at the bazaar in the LimKetkai mall rotunda if you're a local! They will be there until October 9, roughly 3 days from now. 

Until the next blog! 

K

living in bodysuits and shorts for days

 

bodysuit and shorts from essential manila via shopee. Both aren't available anymore but here is a similar bodysuit at an even cheaper price than I got this thing at (sobs). Also, here is a similar top and shorts set. The top and shorts set is a pretty comfy ribbed ensemble. Both the set and the bodysuit are, actually. Rings, a mix of Aizilim CdeO and Bagel Girl via SM Downtown Premier. Bangles/bracelets, a mix of souvenir shop in Dumaguete City and Aizilim CdeO. Necklaces (probably not pictured, not in the photos), forever21 and Aizilim CdeO.

Lounged in this some of Tuesday afternoon until Wednesday morning this week. And all I can say is that  I could live in this bodysuit and shorts for days, maybe a week. I have another one like this in either nude or brown that I also look forward to putting on rotation with this white one later. 

Yeah, I have, like, 4 bodysuits now including the one I wore in nude last time from the first batch of Essentiel Manila orders last year or was it...the year before last year? I've forgotten. Haha. The other one is from a shop in Ayala Centrio called Tops. It's a forever21 one and I still have to dig around my tiny closet for that one. I don't know where that thing is anymore.

Bodysuits are super comfortable I'm looking for more now. There's a Bershka overrun in pink I'm looking at from The Style Capital on Shopee and a pretty interesting Tally Weijl one in gray, too. I actually own some Tally Weijl stuff and showcased a couple of those here from time to time, if you followed this blog closely. I think it's a fast fashion brand from Germany. ....and I just googled it and it's actually Swiss, not German. Lol. The pieces were some things my dad got from Germany a while back and I still do wear them from time to time, especially the lace shorts in black because all my other shorts, the old denim ones and denim cutoffs from way, waayyy back, don't fit me anymore (sobs). 

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tote bag, Dapat si Leni (DSL) merch store. nivea lip care original care in 4.8g. natural spray sanitizer 50mL in cool burst, Human Heart Nature (if you're from cagayan de oro city or somewhere in Jasaan, Misamis Oriental, feel free to email, send me a text message or direct message me at @kristagrace_s on twitter or @treasure_chest_of_sorts on instagram to order Human Heart Nature products! I sell them at the regular SRP and follow the discounts in store!)

My sole entry for #KakamPinkWednesdays this week that I never posted on instagram (stories or the feed). lol. I had been kind of busy waiting for some projects that suit me at this one site I am at for work (freelance writing, mostly). I still don't really own a lot of pink stuff. I have a ton of blue stuff though because it's my favorite color. Haha. On the upside, I might be learning to love more of pink and am considering getting some things I have in my shopee cart and all in pink so we'll see how this love affair with the color goes. It's a pretty color but it's something I'd rather have in tiny, easy to look at doses rather than in, like, a full blown outfit all in pink or something. 

Anyway...I might have to jump the gun and get some of the dresses from Zalora Basic I'd been stalking. The ones with the lace details here and there that are suuuper romantic, dainty, pretty, cute. I need some new fun stuff to play with. I still do have some new and new-old ish fun stuff I haven't played with yet from some thrifting adventure at the city center a few weeks ago but... Yeah...I shouldn't be spending on anything yet rn. Buuuuttt... Zalora is on sale until the 16th this month so the temptation is so, soooo real right now. I'm definitely thinking of jumping the gun. Yes. It's only 500-600 Php-ish for a dress plus shipping so... Ah. This is me talking to myself about spending. I'm convincing myself it's not a good idea to spend for anything this time of the year when I haven't really exhausted much of my wardrobe yet and I still have some new-ish clothes from last year I haven't even worn much for this blog yet. Heh. Internal dialogue with the self, exposed! It happens. In my case, it happens a lot. LOL. Do you debate and talk with yourself a lot like this too? 

beauty: all that's in my beauty bag lately and all about South East Asian makeup and skincare

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I've had this sitting in my drafts for a while now along with some others. I think majority of this post was written when I was some few days away to my final work day with the company I was employed at from 2017-ish 'til then, 2020. 

This is actually a beauty post and me, seemingly going a bit after a brand in the locale I'm not too fond of for a plethora of reasons, most of them coming from just me being a mere mortal.

in the photo: BYS lip liners in latte to go and crimson, forever21 liquid lip gloss in dusty pink rose pale, Beauty Counter lip gloss in blush shimmer, human heart nature tinted lip balm in rosewood (find this in my store's favorites page, just click on view detail to see once the link is accessed from here), BLK all-day lip and cheek tint in red via Watsons (already sold out, I hope they restock) // BLK all-day lip and cheek tint in red via Zalora and something from BLK Cosmetics' older releases I'm not sure of but I use as an eyeliner for the lower lid as it's in brown...hmn..., Maybelline hypercurl mascara in very black (it's on sale in Watson's!)

Lo and behold! Pictured here are some of my current skincare, makeup, cosmetics in general or beauty brands. There are some more I'm interested in, of course and we'll talk about that along the way. Yes. So read on, my dears~

Staples in my makeup bag are stuff from BLK Cosmetics available in Zalora here and also in Watsons Philippines online here: BLK Cosmetics via Watsons (their official website is this one you can also shop their products in: BLK Cosmetics); Australia's BYS Cosmetics available in Zalora here and also in Watsons Philippines here: BYS Cosmetics via Watsons; and of course, Human Heart Nature's cosmetics or makeup line available on their site here. These are the three beauty brands I use on rotation day in and day out and I always tend to have some items or pieces of in my two makeup bags. They're essentials to me, especially when I leave home and stay out for a while in beaches, pools or resorts or even...just in my grandparents' home in the province. I'm a huge, HUGE fan of the multi-use products they offer people, actually. They keep my makeup and skincare bag clutter free. It's really just my skincare products that are constants for me (most all of them are Human Heart Nature, of course but you'll see an errant St. Ives there from time to time now, so yeah) end up being all over the place in my overnight bag/s. lol.  

I don't think multi-use makeup is in the US or anywhere else outside of South East Asia yet but they're quite the thing here now. I can't recall when they started being a thing in this region of the world but definitely, definitely...I'm hooked onto them for life. They're like, everything...EVERYTHING to me rn. I predict they'll still be everything to me in the future. Haha. 

Some of my favorite multi-use makeup pictured above are: the Human Heart Nature PerfectFlush lip and cheek cream tint in the rosy and BLK Cosmetics' K-Beauty All Day lip and cheek tint in red that's also available on sale now here on Watsons Ph (currently soldout, sad now)! The former is creamy in texture and the latter is watery. Both color the skin nicely, though. They're mostly for the lips and the cheeks but I use the cream tint for the eyelids sometimes, when I'm bored of my regular brown and black or gray smoky shades in the eyelids and the cream tint works fine for me as an eyeshadow too! It's handy when you're out somewhere and you can't bring your makeup bag with all the palettes with you. This is definitely something I'd always have in my bag for when I need to be out for hours without my makeup bag/s (I have two makeup bags rn, yes) or so. Right up there with the tinted lipbalm in rosewood I also love from the same brand and some others. There are really just those times when we need to put a little color into our faces to look as human and decent as possible and this, the tinted lipbalm and the bb cream or cc cream I current use are the three things I can't not have in my bag when in situations like this where I'm on the go. These three in a small bag? Yes, please! I don't need anything else other than these, to be honest.

I'm really big on eye makeup so I can't definitely be without eyeliners and mascaras. Up there, in the photo, is something from BLK Cosmetics in brown I can't figure out. I always thought it to be an eyeliner so I use it for the lower eyelids as it's in brown. It is an eyeliner, I suppose. I must've gotten this one when I didn't find anything of the sort in black in BLK Cosmetics in Zalora. My last purchase of makeup from this brand was actually...right before I left for Taiwan for Pentagon's Prism Tour concert date there. I've actually had this since 2019. lol. Yeah, I haven't been wearing much makeup lately so my beauty stuff are taking more time to exhaust themselves and run out of now. The current eyeliner in black I use now, meanwhile, is a pencil kohl liner that isn't anymore available in BYS Cosmetics both in their Zalora page and Watsons Ph page. It's not on their Shopee page now either. Yep, it's old too. I'm only sticking to it because, well, it's taking time to consume the whole thing and I'm not really fancying at all buying a new one yet. If I were to buy a new one though, I've some options in my head pictured right below here:

From L-R: the liquid liner and kohl pencil duo in black and the really cute and fun liquid liner pen with star stamp, both from BYS Cosmetics in Watsons Ph online and Zalora, respectively; and the waterproof liquid liner in brown from Blk Cosmetics via Zalora.

I've definitely tried other liners like the gel pot and quill types from Maybelline and L'Oreal and BLK Cosmetics' older liquid liner but for now, I'd like to try these out when my pencil liner runs out one day-ish. I think the one I got from BLK Cosmetics ran out fast so I got BYS Cosmetics' kohl pencil liner in black instead. There're only so few of the gel pot and quill liners and they're non-existent in drugstore brands like Maybelline and L'Oreal now so the pens are the way to go, I suppose, and the pencils that 'til now, continue to go on. South East Asian drugstore brand Nichido's pencil liners are pretty fine, too, I think. I remember using one of theirs not too long ago when my Special Education class in college went to Cebu City for a sightseeing trip and a look into some of the special education classrooms in the city. It wasn't bad for an insanely cheap pencil eyeliner. That one I had definitely got in a lot of use since then. The time we went to Cebu, too, was one period in my 20s my then closest friend and I were crazy about eye makeup and sat side by side on the bus to do our eyes. lol. Fun times~

Mascara has always been Mabelline's Hypercurl mascara because it's really cheap both at Watsons and SM Supermarket branches everywhere here but I'm currently thinking about venturing out and looking into other slightly higher priced but pretty good drugstore and some non-drugstore mascaras. Some of those I have in mind rn are:

from L-R: Lash Blast Fusion Water Resistant Mascara in Very Black, COVER GIRL; Infinilash Maxvol, Absolute New York (it's 50% off on site now!); the Fresh Sunkissed Volume Boost Waterproof Mascara and the Volume + Lash Extension Mascara (also available in Watsons PH online), both from BLK Cosmetics; the what the fake! volumizing and lengthening mascara (I read on a US beauty magazine online...not sure which it was...that this is all the rage where cheapie but really good mascaras are concerned and it's selling a lot on Amazon so yeah, it intrigues me...), the get BIG! LASHES volume boost waterproof mascara, and the I love extreme volume waterproof mascara all from essence cosmetics on shopee

Essence Cosmetics is, I think, a German brand but it's sooo cool that it's here already and the selection on their shopee page here is massive it's literally makeup playground. Kind of reminds me of BYS Cosmetics' that has some face and body glitter and some others I'm quite interested in plus...they even have metallic gold lipstick! I'm not big on lipstick, we'll talk more about this later, but It'd be really cool to have that one.

Ah, Essence Cosmetics is cruelty free and contain no hazardous to one's health chemicals which makes it all the more sweet for a cheapie, non-drugstore makeup brand. BLK Cosmetics and Human Heart Nature makeup are the same. So you can see why I'm easily drawn to them like moth to fire. I mean, who wouldn't be? Right?

I am doing the eyeshadow or eyelid colors last because this is where some things get tricky. I already mentioned I use the PerfectFlush lip and cheek tint from Human Heart Nature on the eyelids when I'm on the go and have little time to put color on my face so a bunch of multi-use makeup actually make it to this section along with some eyeshadow palettes I have in mind. Right now, I still have a face palette from the US, the Complete Look palette from Almay and a tiny, compact eyeshadow palette good for the daily day to night use. I also have Human Heart Nature's Perfect Eyes Mineral Eye Shadow palette in Earthy Beauty and it's too much rn to try to finish all 4. Someone help me. Lol.

I'm talking about these three palettes pictured below:

This is a ton to finish, right? Yes, it is. And to top this, I also tend to prefer the multi-use lip and cheek tints (they're lip and cheek tints but I use them for the lids too) like the Human Heart Nature PerfectFlush lip and cheek cream tint in rosy for the eyelids so yeah...RIP all the palettes I own at the moment because I'm pretty sure my multi-use makeup stuff will get more use than those. Multi-use makeup are just sooo good and so compact to bring with you everywhere that's why I like them a lot lately. I already own one of BLK Cosmetics' and Human Heart Nature's so let's look into more that I'm thinking about rn, hmn?

From L-R, going down: Coloursnap in Bloom, Coloursnap in Beachy, and Coloursnap in Waves, all three from Colourette Cosmetics; K-Beauty Intense Color Liquid Eyeshadow in Daisy, K-Beauty Intense Color Liquid Eyeshadow in Jasmine, K-Beauty Intense Color Liquid Eyeshadow in I Love You, all three from BLK Cosmetics; Airy Matte Tint in Daze, BLK Cosmetics; Holiday All-Day Lip and Cheek Tint in Punch, Fresh All-Day Lip and Cheek Tint in Very Berry, Fresh All-Day Lip and Cheek Tint in Feeling Peachy, and K-Beauty All-Day Lip and Cheek Tint in Cherry, all from BLK Cosmetics; Face Stack Multi-Pot Pan & Lid in Wanderlust, BLK Cosmetics; Fresh Creamy All-Over Paint in Coco Crush, BLK Cosmetics; Face Stack Multi-Pot Pan & Lid in Jetsetter, BLK Cosmetics; K-Beauty Creamy All-Over Paint in Peony and Fresh Sunkissed Creamy All-Over Paint in Summer Time, both BLK Cosmetics; Universal Multi-Tasking Matte Color Stick in Rose, BLK Cosmetics; Fresh Creamy All-Over Paint in Very Berry, Fresh Sunkissed Creamy All-Over Paint in Golden Hour, both BLK Cosmetics; Face Stack Multi-Pot Single Pan in Tan Lines, BLK Cosmetics; Little Luxuries Mini Creamy All-Over Paint in Sunstone, Little Luxuries Mini Creamy All-Over Paint in Pink Topaz, both BLK Cosmetics; Universal Multi-Tasking Matte Color Stick in Merlot, BLK Cosmetics; Intense Color Liquid Eyeshadow in I Love You (Shimmer Bronze, BLK Cosmetics.    

Missing: Universal Multi-Tasking Matte Color Stick in Mimosa, BLK Cosmetics Multitasking Glowstick in Sunset, and the BLK Multitasking Glowstick in Desert Rose, also all BLK Cosmetics.  

Dearest Colourette and BLK Cosmetics made, produced for us Filipinas/Filipinos by my favorite Filipinas, PLEASE. LET. ME. LIVE. Let me liiiivvveee! I need all of these. Like, seriously, but then...money, ugh, where the heck are youuu?!?!?!

Christ. The Coloursnaps from Colourette Cosmetics make me want to live forever by the beach in a hut or a shabby chic cottage right there and so do the Sunkissed Fresh line from BLK Cosmetics. And all of those multi-use makeup! Ugh. I'm struggling and weeping internally at the same time rn because I want and need a lot of the ones on the photo above so I can proceed and completely hermit by the beach or the pool...either in a resort or some other. This doesn't even include the shimmery stuff that double as highlighters... 

And without further ado, we have the highlighters and the multi-use ones too that can also double as highlighters, from L-R as usual: vegan glow (creamy highlighter) in radiant and sparkle by The Vegan Beauty in shopee (it's only Php 120 now!);  shimmertint in crystal prism, shimmertint in rose quartz, shimmertint in tiger's eye, and shimmertint in yellow diamond all by Colourette Cosmetics. You can shop their shopee site here, too: Colourette Cosmetics; Little Luxuries Shimmer Jelly Multi-pot in pink amethyst, Little Luxuries Shimmer Jelly Multi-pot in pearl, Fresh Sunkissed Shimmer Jelly Multi-pot in Golden Hour Glow, contour, blush, & highlight palette in flushed, BLK Cosmetics multi-tasking glow stick in sunset, and the BLK Cosmetics multi-tasking glow stick in desert rose, all by BLK Cosmetics.

Some of the items from BLK Cosmetics are a repeat of the above but they also double as highlighters so I'd include them here.

The Vegan Beauty on Shopee is another beauty brand that's local that I also stalk some days. Aside from their creamy highlighters, their clay blushes look good and seem worth a try. And in terms of prices, they're super affordable.

I'm currently tempted to get Colourette Cosmetics' Coloursnaps in Beachy, Waves, and Bloom rn along with the Vegan Beauty's two highlighters. They're only Php 120-150 a piece rn on shopee so they're very, VERY hoardable...if that word ever exists in the dictionary or somewhere else. ....and I have to think this and go about this very carefully before I spend so much on those and not leave anything else for others. lol.

Ugh. All of these that remind me of the beach and the sea and us still not being able to go out, travel and all, backpacking wherever because Miss 'Rona's still out there, hovering around us and she hasn't even stopped mutating for the worst and now we have new, more ferocious, scarier and even more dangerous and infectious variants from South Africa. 

I'm already resigned to the fact that we're going to have Miss 'Rona around us for a long time but at the same time, I'm also thinking: 'when will this ever end?' I'm pretty sure a lot of us are going this way.

That said...this post...in a nutshell...all I can think of and say is, those multi-use makeup products are really something huh? I don't think I can ever get enough of them in this lifetime. Hah.

Anyway, kind of going back but kind of not also...because...we're more like, going forward in here to something that's been on my mind for a while...

I'm picky with my makeup and skincare stuff as I am with clothing, shoes, bags and more. Yes. This post and the previous ones establish that.

Now, to what I was getting at...

If you notice, there's no mention here of a specific brand that's hot now and has been so since around...I don't know...two years ago? Pre-pandemic era. I'm talking about SunniesFace. 

A lot of my co-workers at the office I worked at until sometime late-ish last year are crazy for anything from this brand. I can understand why. Their products are packaged much like another cult favorite's, the Glossier. I know of a similar brand though, with really cute and minimalistic package design: Cloud Cosmetics. They used to have a website but now they seem to be selling their stuff on shopee too, right here: Cloud Cosmetics on Shopee. But I'm not really here to talk about their packaging. I actually have no issues with whether SunniesFace wants to be a the Glossier copycat where that goes, really. What I want to bring to the front here is their owners' issues and there are a lot, apparently.

The first issue I know of was the instagram post of theirs on their vacation or trip to China wearing the Chairman Mao's hat. This one is still circulating forums 'til now. I'm pretty sure this also made its rounds around the beauty community in Reddit among other issues the brand's owners are embroiled in. This was from some years back but I imagine some still are mad about how that ig post came to be and have called boycott on their brand. I have no problems boycotting the brand of owners that do not respect the history and such of another country including that of China although I'm much that into that country for some...well...different reasons. Anyway, for that ig post, their brand definitely deserved being boycotted by the socially aware people. 

Ah, if you want to know more about the Chairman Mao's hat issue and their ig post on that, you can read on the significance of the said hat here on the hatrealm. Apparently, the hat has so much symbolisms embedded in it due to its history and all so you're only allowed to wear it if you're using it as a stage prop in a theater or when you're in a very communist area in China. It's disrespectful and gross to wear that one and post pictures on social media sites like instagram just for fun or something...to attract more views into your feed. Please, let's respect historical items, relics like this even if they're merely replicas now. 

I actually wanted to say I liked Sunnies Studios better because they do have pretty cool and quite affordable, fun sunglasses, eyewear in general but then I came across this article from coconuts dot co. This is sad because I used to like Georgina W. when she was studying in Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) and some features of her I'd come across on the local teen and all fashion, sports, university happenings/events magazine, Candy, way back when I was in late high school to sometime in my early college years. I was even excited before and when the brand was launched that I even thought that one day I'd get at least one eyewear, sunglasses from her brand but...yeah, no. Now, I won't even bother thinking of getting anything from her brand. There are others with better eyewear and less problematic, better, much more human in that they're very relatable to the likes of me...owners. If you know what I mean. Business people being humans and not delusional their feet don't touch the ground anymore.

We're at a delicate time right now with the Philippine national elections getting nearer and nearer and nearer with every day that passes. I think we should try to be more compassionate and empathetic and especially, be a better judge of character where choosing people we hang out with and people whose businesses we patronize especially here in the locale. Now I know it's petty of me to drop such a brand like these two I mentioned (and they're owned by the same people since yeah, everything starts with Sunnies) especially because this is just...well...business but it actually feels better to back brands that are socially aware and socially responsible to their employees, their source of raw materials and more. Human Heart Nature is one of those. Another brand that's the same but I hardly talk about here that's BeachBorn is another and so is Colourette Cosmetics. 

I like the brands and their owners and founders I like to be relatable and decent human beings, companies that show care for people. By this, I mean, they care not just for their employees but even for their clientele, customers, audience...whatever you'd like to call that one they primarily cater to. It makes me proud actually, that I'm using products made by such kind, socially aware and responsible, very decent human beings that give back and are always thankful of people around them. I'm entirely sure how to put it but there's this light and airy feeling about supporting such brands. 

In the case of BLK Cosmetics, it's more that I know of its owner, Anne Curis-Smith, now Heusaff, being a gracious celebrity person though I've never met her in real life and just followed some of her stuff on and off and I'm pretty sure BLK Cosmetics, her biz, likely took long to materialize. It's still a small and growing brand to this day and from what I see of her, even if Solenn H. is her sister-in-law, she's not really like Solenn and company. Solenn and co feel like the type who don't touch the grass outside very often and can be quite unrooted from the grimness and of stark reality even when its around them. I gathered this from a tweet of someone I'd read in passing. The tweet mentioned about her and her friends', people's E! Philippines' (probably very Kardashian family-like in just how shallow, vapid, just business it can be) reality show. One thing I really like about Anne is that she worked hard to be where she is now and she continues to work just as hard to continue what she does best and be her best self so yeah, that's why I like BLK Cosmetics aside from the fact that it, like Colourette, is a treasure trove of everything an islander chick (yes, I just called myself that because... /eyeroll) like me needs. 

I dropped the Sunnies brand and I'm not caring for it not because I'm petty but because I'm socially aware of a lot of things, my twitter and blogs are a testament to that if you've been following me here, on instagram and even on livejournal (especially on livejournal because I've been putting out posts on social, socio-political issues there slowly but surely). Their, Sunnies' business owners' values just don't really align with mine that have actually changed (and some have never really changed since I was young) over time. But I do hope the owners of the brand wise up and become better people one day...someday. There's still a lot of opportunities and time to be better people (not just for them but all of us, too). Life is, well, quite long after all. 

Having been there for brands like Human Heart Nature when they first started 'til now made me realize a lot of things. (Just a bit of veering away from topic of this ending part of this post: Although I started this blog originally as a fashion blog, I actually meant it also to be a platform where I can shout my love for this brand and others like it so...yeah...this explains why we're here now.) My main realization is that I think and believe that businesses really shouldn't just be all good vibes and all that fluff and stuff: fake, shallow, vapid, very commercial and just there because, well, CAPITALISM! And that it makes the owner/s a lot of money. I think a business and its owner/s should also show some social responsibility to people, their employers and their clientele, the people they cater to. They should have it in them to give back to those less blessed compared to them as those same ones among others are who keep their companies up and running. Much like the environmentally good, sustainable cycle in clothes and such that I know some bloggers I follow or stalk on and off are into these days (I'm a bit into that too so lately, I have been going back to thrifting when I can, hehe...I just don't overdo with things like shopping anymore now so...), the beauty and skincare, selfcare industry both local here and abroad should aspire to be like the ones I follow as of late. Some have their political stances with people they share the same values with and some, although not very vocal in politics and/or socio-politics, have at least a show of social responsibility to the masses that support them year in and year out. 

I'm an aspiring business owner or entrepreneur myself and it's so good to have people in that industry, especially here in our country these days that are good and worthy of being emulated. It's not just the good vibes but the good feeling that you get from supporting a company that gives back and knows to be thankful to the people that supports it and appreciates even those less privileged than them. I'd want a business, my future business that I'm still, at the moment, taking tiny bits of steps to eventually, one day materialize here, that's not only good in product offerings but also, good, kind, compassionate, empathetic, sympathetic in treating people, it's clientele and those who aren't, all the same. A very kind and considerate business or company that has a cycle of all things good going for it like the sustainable cycle that's going around the clothing, shoes, fashion industry these days among some blogging circles. Yes, I'm aware as I'm an avid follower of such bloggers since the times of BryanBoy, Rumi Neely and more.     

I'm looking forward to that day that I have such a business I run (maybe even with a friend or two here in my city, my locale) that is known for being kind to everything and everyone. 

Okay, so I'm not saying at all to be like me where choosing products and companies to follow and patronize goes but I'll just end this blog entry with this: In everything, choose kindness. Let's make this world, our nation especially, a better place to be in one kind, nice act and decency, grace and all at a time.

Oh and yay! Php 99 deals going on at Shopee Philippines! Shop here at Shopee for really good, super affordable deals this season of gift giving!