2013

It's a new year and I'm sorry I haven't updated this blog as much as I would want to. I have good news though.

I just passed the Civil Engineering Board exam! You know what that means? That means this year I'll land myself a job and get to buy more products to experiment on and review.

Yes!! >.<

My next post on whitening soaps will be next month but I will be posting a lot of reviews on Human Heart Nature products cause I tried a lot of them when I was reviewing. I will also be including reviews on the food supplements I took while I was reviewing, if they worked and whatnot. Oh, and I'll have a short review on tretinoin or rather Retin-A as an acne solution. So, if you guys are interested in those  keep checking this blog this month if you're waiting for the whitening products that'll be next month.

Bye! See you guys soon. Gotta go find me that job. YOSH!!

Homemade Deodorant Review

I used this recipe

1/4 cup Cornstarch

1/4 cup Baking Soda

5 tbsp Coconut Oil

3 drops Lavender Essential oil

I must say I was a bit skeptical that this would work even though I know that Baking Soda is widely known for its deodorizing capabilities. Maybe it was because this simple recipe was I don't know, too good to be true? But I'm here to tell you folks, this works and I love it.

I've stopped using the usual deo I buy at the store and I'm sticking to this. That's how much I love it. 

PROS:

It's inexpensive

It works

You can make it to fit your taste (using essential oils)

It's safe to use 

CONS:

It melts when exposed to warm temperatures

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I know I was suppose to use calamansi for at least 2 weeks but I ran out. My brother came to our house and he loves calamansi juice. hahaha... 

I like this one compared to the calamansi though because 

1. I don't like the kind of sticky feeling, the DIY deodorant is powdery and smooth while the calamansi is a bit sticky

2. When travelling, I think applying my DIY deo would be easier than having a bunch of calamansi in my bag

But for the sake of blogging, I will do a 2-week test on calamansi when I get to buy again. That's cause I've searched the net for some pictures if they really whitened the underarm. I was specifically finding for a before and after pictures and I have found none.

*update 01/14/13*
You should be careful with what oil you mix in because some oils leave stains. I used tea tree oil for 2 days.. That was a bad idea. It left yellow stains in every shirt I wore. :(

Natural Deodorant

I stink. Seriously.. I do! I was even bullied in highschool cause I stank and there was nobody to teach me
 

My stink factor I think is 8-9 over 10. If I don't use a deodorant or bathe everyday or choose the right cloth for my clothes, I will stink. There's no escaping it, I guess it's in my genes. Ugh.. tough luck. Because of this, I have tried dozens of deodorants and antiperspirants. Not just 12 or so, but I'm talking 50 or so cause not every product works. There's a lot of false advertising happening here and I'm so tired of it.

Some products even make my Underarms turn darker or stain my clothes or make me smell worse. Nobody wants the smell of overused deodorant. It's unfair to smell like overused deodorant when you just wore that product for 4 hours!

The product that worked well for me is Nivea with licorice extract. That was my saviour and it smells good too. Smells clean and powdery. Another one is Milcu in powder form, but nobody wants to have powdery armpits especially if you're wearing a sleeveless top. But Milcu works, you won't smell a thing, it's also super effective for your feet. I always recommend this to people with stinky feet. 

I'm not here to talk about those though. I'm here to talk about the wonderful natural way to deodorize yourself. It's amazing!

First of - CALAMANSI (Calamondin, Chinese Orange, Golden Lime)

These miniature babies work wonders! I tried it last night, after I took a bath I squeezed 1-2 calamansi on a cotton ball and applied it on my armpits. Today, I don't stink at all. Though I must say, it was a bit sticky when it dried out. I think that's because I chose a ripe one, the really orange one. I didn't smell bad at all as I usually do if I didn't put any deodorant. yeah... I stink that much. Just going to bed then stink in the morning. It's a curse!! 

It smelled sweet. Definitely not going to use the ripe one next time. But it works so well. I have to try this for weeks and see if my underarms will become whiter cause they said that's the additional benefit. Oh, and I forgot it doesn't sting, unlike when you put it in your face unless of course you just shaved/waxed.

Bah to those people who say it's acid is bad for you. I mean do you even know what's in those commercially bought deodorant. With all those chemicals being absorbed through your skin. 

HOMEMADE DEODORANT

1/4 c Baking Soda

1/4 c Cornstarch

5-6 tbsp Coconut Oil

I got this recipe here. I just tried making one awhile ago. It was easy enough, just mix all the ingredients but I don't know when I'm going to try it cause right now I'm experimenting on calamansi. Maybe after 2-3 weeks. Will give a review about it in the future. 

But I will have to buy myself some lavender or some sort of nice smelling essential oil cause I don't like the smell of coconut much. 

I expect that my armpits will feel softer and also my hair there will become soft. LOL at the last one but because it's coconut that's why I thought of that. The reason why I had coconut oil at home because it works great on my hair and makes my knees softer. 

The Winning Whitening Soap For Me

Ohohoho... I know I haven't been posting lately and I've left everyone hanging on the promise that I would make the Beauch Review. I've been so busy lately, reviewing for the upcoming board (C.E.). >.<

Anyway, I'll just share my insights and finally the soap I have chosen to stick with.

Beauche - Papaya and Kojic Soap was actually really good. It wasn't as drying as the white one, though didn't peel as often as the white one did. Still! Compared to Koji San and those Kojic Acid Soaps with no label, I like this 2x more.

My mom used it all up and liked the results so much that she bought another soap (Silka) cause she thought that was it. Ugh.. Unfortunately. She even bought two! I hate Silka, it doesn't give me that clean feeling, or healthy feeling. I don't know. I hate it. Seriously. Don't buy it. It's even more expensive than Beauche.

I don't know how long one bar of Beauche lasts cause my mom used it. I don't know when she uses it but I have observed that her back-pimples have become less. So I guess it helps there. But my small bumps in my forehead didn't go away.

For it's whitening abilitites. I didn't notice an obvious change but I quickly got my old skin tone (I've been to the beach and I grew maybe 5-8 shades darker hohoho..). By quickly I meant a month or so.



So, I'll skip experimenting maybe until I pass the exam. For now, I've chosen Black Pearl for my face cause it makes those small bumps go away and Beauche for my body (the white one cause the peeling was awesome).

Testing my cheap eyeliners

I think the first makeup you'll love is either the eyeliner or the mascara. I knew this even before I fell in love with them myself cause these are the first things highschoolers have aside from the usual lipgloss/lipbalm. When I was in highschool, I didn't care much about makeup and those stuff, "food" was my main thing cause I was hungry all the time (salamat sa Cherifer) but I always remember my other classmates asking me to check their eyeliners, "pantay ba?". 

Eyeliners can make your eyes look bigger, smaller, almond shape, whatever shape you want your eyes to be. Then the mascara makes your eyes just beautiful, I think that's why it's one of the makeup essentials (so they say). Anyway, I'm not here to discuss them both, just eyeliners -- cheap eyeliners by the way. By cheap I mean Php200 and below. That's the usual price range for regular students like me.

Ok, so I got about 7 eyeliners. I just got the other 2 awhile ago and they are amazing. As soon as I opened them, I did a swatch test with the others and just wanted to share my findings with you guys. (whoever reads this note). So here goes the swatches... 

From Left to Right:

Avon Extralasting Liquid Eyeliner-Shimmering Black (Php 199)

Nichido Liquid Eyeliner-Black (Php 68)

Avon Glimmersticks Eyeliner - Blackest Black (Php 199)

Nichido Eye Pencil - Blackest Black (Php 80)

Avon Mega Impact Gel Eyeliner - Blackberry (Php 199)

Avon Mega Impact Gel Eyeliner - Golden Fawn (Php 199)

Nichido Eye Pencil - Nice Gal (php 80)

After rubbing them with my sweaty hand.. hohoho...

3 passes

5 passes

I don't think I need to say anything more. I'm just happy with the 2 new eyeliners I got. Though maybe I could say a little bit more?

The Nichido Liquid Eyeliner is cheap, I think it's the cheapest eyeliner. Has a brush applicator but one problem is, it kinda stings at first. It stings my skin so I stopped using it. Maybe I'm allergic to one of its ingredients.. IDK.

The Nichido Pencil Eyeliners are ok. They're not great but ok. The white one was a bit disappointing. I saw my sister wearing this one when we went swimming and it looked fine on her so I bought one but when I wore it, it wasn't obvious-- I couldn't even see it!!

Avon Extralasting... Extralasting?? I don't think so. It's a bit greyish not really black. It has a felt tip applicator making it easy to apply which is the main reason why I bought it. (I was going to buy the in2it Rubber tip liquid eyeliner that day but they were out of stock)

Avon Glimmerstick doesn't glide on smoothly for me? I don't know. But the Gel eyeliners are so smooth and creamy. It's so bright and pigmented. One problem though, it might be hard to sharpen cause it's so soft but I still love it. I haven't tried it on my eyelid yet, but on my waterline, it's awesome!! I don't need to put liquid eyeliner on my lash line to stop it from melting to my cheeks.

Beauche Gluta Soap Ball Review 2

Finally finished one ball of this soap. It lasted 15 whole body washes for me, not bad at all! I just wanted to make this post to show you the before and after photos that I promised in the previous post and here it is!

Just 2 days after taking that shot, I went swimming and hiking so... yes, I'm darker again! But that's the whole reason for using these soaps, so that I won't get too dark! Now, I feel a lot more confident this summer cause I know I can get my skin color back faster with this soap. >.< 

But I really didn't feel like my skin lightened. With other soaps it seemed more obvious. I don't know.. the picture says YES then it must be true. XD

Next soap: Beauche Kojic Papaya Soap (haven't started though, so... it may take awhile.).

Shine Moist Henna Wax

My hair has always been dull and dry since after my hormones went haywire in high school and I have tried dozen of treatments even rebonding which has greatly damaged my hair. I only realized it 3 months after cause my hair now splits like crazy.

Anyway, I've seen this product in the salon, never really tried it there cause they said it would cost me 800 Php to be done on my hair and I know for a fact that one small tub costs just 185 Php. Excuse me for being such a scrooge at things like that but I really am like this. hahaha...

So, I decided to try it out. I chose black cause my hair has got crazy highlights that I am tired of already. I wanted to color at the same time moisturize my hair a bit. :) 

The small tub came with a pair of disposable plastic gloves and a plastic hair cap. 

When I opened it up it wasn't completely black. It was more of a violet for me. Oh well, it really doesn't bother me cause I have naturally black hair, I just want a dark shade to cover my bronzy hair. Ack! That was red before, I swear.. 

I didn't apply it with my hair dye brush (that has long been taken and made into a chew toy by our dog). I just applied it by layers using my hands (with gloves of course). I let it stay there about 30 minutes under my heating cap, then 40 minutes more without heat. I just want to make sure that my hair got the color cause my hair isn't really the color absorbing type.

Yes! My hair is now completely black and soft and shiny! I love it. >.<  One thing I hadn't been expecting though is that it helped take a bit of the frizz away. Yay! 

Tip:

1. Use an old towel when doing this at home cause the color will bleed.

2. Use your facial toner to remove stains on your skin. (It really works!)

3. Before reapplying, make sure the cleanse your hair with a good clarifying shampoo. You don't want to build up henna on your hair, it will make it rough and thick.

Update: It lasted for about 6-7 washes. I say 6 because at the 7th wash my hair turned slightly greenish. ugh... RE-APPLY! I think my tub will last about 2 more applications (I have long layered hair that reaches my chest).