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.