Johnson’s Baby Top-To-Toe Wash

My skin has become uber-sensitive lately that mere insect bites (mosquito, ants) have ended up swelling, ultimately resulting into skin rashes before fading down to dark spots. Hence products one would normally see in baby hampers have made their way into my bathroom and dresser. It’s weird but I’m still grateful that my face has been spared from this sudden change in my skin’s condition.

We have run out of Cetaphil but there was this 400 ml pouch of Johnson’s Baby Top-To-Toe Wash already in our house’s stock cabinet so I got that for myself. I thought that since babies use it, that it’s mild enough for their skin, it would be mild enough for mine. I have been using it for a month now and even if I still get rashes from insect bites, at least my skin has not reacted adversely when I use this. I don’t turn beet red or anything.

Ingredients: water, PEG-80 sorbitan laurate, sodium laureth sulfate, cocamidopropyl betaine, PEG-150 distearate, sodium lauroamphoacetate, tetrasodium EDTA, citric acid, fragrance, methylchloroisothiazolinone, methylisothiazolinone

It’s colorless, shower-gel like. I expected white cream since I have been accustomed to Johnson’s Body Washes. The scent does not last long. Not a fan of the scent really. Too chemically. It foams a lot once it meets water. Curiously, skin feels as if I used soap after I have washed it off. None of the slickness body washes and shower gels tend to impart while skin is still damp. And when I dry off, there’s that taut feeling of having used soap. (Something to think about when using this on baby’s skin.) Nonetheless, skin feels soft after some time. It does not seem to dry my skin and it does a good job of making it easy for me to get rid of grime using a wash cloth.

I have also been using this as a shampoo. Not taking chances with suds on my back when rinsing. Johnson’s Baby Top-To-Toe Wash keeps its promise of no more tears as it does not sting the eyes. It is unable to moisturize the ends of my hair (still crunchy) though and while it is able to relatively tame my hair, there are still a strays that refuse to submit.

Nevertheless, I think that’s what’s nice about Johnson’s Baby Top-to-Toe Wash. I can use it as both a body wash and shampoo and I don’t have to worry that it will exacerbate the rashes I’ve been getting, much less aggravate my skin on its own.

Loot from SG: White Coffee, Chocolates, Rice Crackers

Nescafe Philippines recently launched it’s version of instant 3-in-1 white coffee mix, Nescafe Creamy White. I have yet to try it myself.

We still have packages of Nescafe Menu Ipoh White Coffee.  Pasalubong from Singapore. My sister likes this instant coffee mix so much until I ruined it for her. She found it quite creamy with a distinct taste she could not put her finger on. I told her simply that it tasted like coffee with milk. After several cupfuls, she grudgingly concurred. Heh. I guess she did not read the ingredients. Listed aside from instant coffee are creamer, full cream milk powder, skimmed milk powder, chocolate malt drink and cocoa. I couldn’t taste the last two. Nor the margarine. Online sources say that white coffee from Ipoh, Malaysia is coffee bean roasted in margarine then served with added milk. I wonder if Nescafe Creamy White is similar in taste. Their ads say it’s Nescafe coffee mixed with Nestle milk.

Godis Chokladkrokant.

Not the sound I will make with my mouth full if you ask me what is it I’m eating now. Chances are I wouldn’t even be minding you. I will be in my happy place as my palate translates the writing on the package “Is soooo good. Chocolate heaven.”

Also from SG are these bite-size pieces of milk chocolate with butterscotch bits. Google Translate will tell you that it’s Candy Chocolate Crispy. I will tell you that the chocolate’s not crisp, the butterscotch bits are.  Crunch on them or allow them to melt in your mouth. The butterscotch bits lends its taste well into the creamy chocolate. Out of all the chocolates I have tasted from Ikea, this is my favorite.  Please Ikea, open a branch in the Philippines soon.

I know it’s from Taiwan and I may have spotted a forlorn package once in the local supermarket but Want Want Seaweed Rice Crackers will forever remind me of SG ‘coz my sibling and sister-in-law almost always have a package in their cupboards. And with good reason. I, myself, could never get enough of these puffed baked discs made of rice. I enjoy crunching on them whilst savoring their salty sweet glaze. Have I mentioned in a previous post that I love seaweed? I do. All the more reason to Want Want them.

I know all of the three above are not exactly manufactured in Singapore, we just got them there. I guess that’s why I chose to lump these three together. More food stuff from SG soon.

Skinfood Gold Kiwi Emulsion

I received a couple of sachets of Skinfood Gold Kiwi Emulsion with my purchase of a Skinfood product.The sachets have a papery feel when you slide your finger over them but when you snip one open, you'll find out that the inside is foil. A sachet is good for 1 to 2 applications.

I have no idea what the product would do for one's skin since the print on the sachets is in Korean. There is a link to Skinfood's  website however and that's where I got these deets on the product. Ingredients of each product could not be found on the website though.

Skinfood has newly discovered a substance found in the gold kiwi's skin, helps restore your sun-damaged skin from deep under.

Moisture rich skin whitening Gold Kiwi Emulsion restores and renews your skin from deep under using a substance found in gold kiwis.

Well, since my skin took a beating from this year's summer season, the samples got used immediately.

Instructions: After using the toner or the serum, put a portion of the emulsion onto your palm and rub it gently into your face.

There are 14 products included in Skinfood's Gold Kiwi line and since I only have the emulsion, I used the samples in place my moisturizer. Hence, my skincare routine went facial wash, toner, emulsion, plus sunblock at daytime. I did not place the emulsion on my palm but on my index fingertip. Note that I currently have combination skin (oily-dry).

The emulsion is a cloudy gel cream. It has a nice fruity floral smell which does not dissipate in an instant. I could not tell immediately if it gave me smooth, velvety skin as my skin felt sticky after application. After more or less an hour, I've noticed that dry spots on my face started to flake a bit. I'm wondering if this is the product's way of addressing skin's dullness as opposed to using reflectors. The Skinfood Gold Kiwi Emulsion samples may not be enough for me to draw a conclusion with regards to whitening but they were enough for me to notice that it did gave my glowing skin. This brightening effect was still evident when I woke up in the morning. My face did not look haggard with wide open pores. Which is not to say that it shrunk the pores on my face. It did not. They remained ever the same. Happily, the addition of this product to my routine did not cause my face to break out.

Visit Skinfood's website for more information on its products. Clickity click this link to get to Skinfood Philippines' new facebook page.

Ellips Hair Vitamin Hair Treatment Variant

I knew it was bad the moment a co-worker, without my prompting, recommended I use hair serum for my frizzy hair. That hair serum being Ellips Hair Vitamin. I actually didn’t heed her call at first but suggested it to my sister who promptly got a blister pack. When her hair took a 360, I was sold.

There are two Ellips Hair Vitamin variants in the local market today: the yellow one labeled Smooth and Shiny with Aloe Vera as key ingredient and the pink one labeled Hair Treatment with Jojoba Oil. I get similar results from both the yellow and pink variants but I prefer the scent of the pink one so it’s the one I kept purchasing. Both their scents last the whole day.

A hair vitamin-filled capsule feels squishy but turns hard once it’s empty. I prefer snipping off the end where its tail is at rather than pulling the rim off to release the contents. On my hands, the hair vitamin feels like slightly thick baby oil. Unlike baby oil though, the greasiness does not last for long nor does it weigh my hair down.

Package instructions:  Use after hair rinse. Pour onto your hands and wipe thoroughly onto your hair. Leave dry.

It’s okay to use it on dry hair but I find it best to apply the hair vitamin while my hair is slightly damp. Note that I still condition my hair even if I’m using this, just to cover all bases. A capsule is enough for my thick shoulder length hair. I don’t need to break-off one everyday since the effect remains until the next day, sometimes the day after next, even after I’ve washed, shampooed and conditioned my hair. Of course the effect doesn’t last forever. The moment I stop using it, if the shampoo and conditioner I’m using are not up to par or it’s really humid, my hair becomes scraggly again after a few days.

Ingredients: Fragrance, Jojoba Oil, Isopropyl Myristate, Cyclomethicone, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Pro vitamin B5, Polysilicone-15

Blurb: The combination of Jojoba Oil, UV Protection, Pro Vitamin B5 and Vitamin A, C, E helps treat damaged hair structure and reduce split end(s) caused by hair blow-drying, curling, coloring, rebonding. Hair looks healthier, manageable and shiny.

It delivers on its promise. I really do get manageable, shiny, sleek hair immediately after I use it. Note that it does not make my hair stick straight. My hair remains a bit wavy but frizz-free which is what matters most to me. It does not hold hair in place like gel or hairspray but it tames flyaways while allowing movement.

My sister who gets a lot more stuff done to her hair (blow-drying, curling, ironing, straightening, rebonding) and on a much more regular basis swears by this hair vitamin. For her, the effect is like using baby oil without the greasiness.

Ellips Hair Vitamin is manufactured in Indonesia and is available at Watsons, the beauty section of SM Departments Stores and SM Hypermarkets. A blister pack of 6 capsules goes for P36+ at SM Hypermarket. A plastic tube with 50 pieces is around P300+.

KFC Crispy Cheese Chicken

Having read this post about KFC’s Crispy Cheese Chicken in Ruthilicious, curiosity got the better of me that when me and my sister found ourselves at the mall one busy lunch hour, my feet led us in front of a KFC counter.

It’s not the first time that KFC came out with a new variant of their fried chicken. Last year there was the Crispy Butter Chicken. Even earlier was the Chili Lime Chicken. KFC’s Crispy Cheese Chicken is fried chicken whose crispy skin is dusted with crushed cheese flavored Clover Chips. Clover Chips is a local brand of corn and tapioca starch chips.

I took the “safe” route and ordered the Snack Box, which is a box of fries and choice of Hotshots or Funshots. With the inclusion of Crispy Cheese Chicken in the menu, there is now the option for bite-size, boneless pieces of Crispy Cheese Chicken aside from the spicy Hotshots and plain Funshots. I say “safe” since in the past, KFC also came out with flavored Funshots in sour cream and cheese, both of which I still miss.

My sister opted for a P99 chicken meal which chicken, rice, mushroom soup, gravy and regular drink after the cashier said yes when we asked if we can get the Crispy Cheese Chicken variant instead Original or Hot & Crispy. He said that the Crispy Cheese Chicken is available as an alternative to the Original and Hot & Crispy flavors.

I already tried to imagine what this combo would taste like and since I am largely a pessimist, I tend to think there are areas with which things could go wrong.  The idea of adding a dusting of chips on fried chicken may be overly simplistic for some but then you need to have the right kind of chips for this to work. And I have to say that this works quite well together. I could identify the distinct taste of cheese-flavored Clover Chips as I gnaw on the chicken. It’s not overly cheesy or salty and I guess part of that is due to the amount of crushed Clover Chips that made it to our orders.

I will be trying the Crispy Cheese Chicken Meal which is chicken, chicken rice, mashed potato with corn, country gravy and regular drink for P99 next just to taste for myself what the rice and gravy are like. After all, if other variants of KFC fried chicken, the Crispy Cheese Chicken will be available for a limited time only.

Hello Kitty 2014 Planner

Presenting one Hello Kitty 2014 Planner!

Yeah, I know. It’s already the middle of the year, so it seems rather late to be posting about a planner that’s meant to be used at the start of the year since it’s not a perpetual planner. But since it’s the start of the school year and I don’t think I’d be able to get away posting a 2014 planner in 2015, I’m posting this now.

The planner is contained in a hard faux leather binder which is available in different colors. I don’t think the soft bound planner can be removed from the binder without ruining the elastic holding the planner to the binder. I’m actually not a fan of the binding itself as my planner has now come unglued from its spine. I am just consoled that it has not fallen apart.

See that small flap on the side? It has a magnet for keeping the planner closed. The planner does not have a place marker.

Without the binder which adds about a centimeter in width, the planner is almost the same size as a common notebook.  It has relatively thick cream-colored pages that are not super smooth. I personally like this type of paper as super smooth pages meant my pen careening off when I write.

Each month is sectioned off with a two pages containing either a quote or an an activity to be accomplished. The quote for August reads “Life is like riding a bicycle , in order to keep your balance you must keep moving.” For June, there is space to jot down goals for the school year making it seem like the planner is really for students (or teachers). Of course if you are neither, then just skip it. Or it ignore it but for the illustrations.

It is because of these varying Hello Kitty prints that these pages are my favorite ones in the planner.

The actual planner pages are quite bland. Dates on the monthly planner pages have lined spaces. At the right hand area are calendars for the preceding and succeeding months and lined space for notes. Spacing between lines are rather miniscule even for me who’s penmanship’s quite tiny.

Following each of the monthly planner pages are five pairs of weekly planner pages with the days laid out horizontally.  The layout affords doodlenatics ample space for sprucing things up. If you’d rather have clean lines, just text, that should work too.

Extra pages in the Hello Kitty 2014 Planner include a page for personal information, 2014 and 2015 calendars,  a list of Philippine public holidays, a page for jotting down goals for the year and 9 lined pages for notes. All thee pages are unillustrated and have texts in black and red. If you’re fond of using stickers on your planer, there’s a sleeve at the back to hold them as well as other sheets people tend to stuff into their planners.

This Hello Kitty 2014 Planner is a gift from my sister in law who knows I live for paper products and cats. I have mentioned before that I’m not a rabid Hello Kitty fan but still, Hello Kitty is a cat, one that has the most number of accessible merchandise at that so it’s really no wonder that there are a couple of those goodies residing in my room. Might share what those other stuff are soon.