December 2014 Empties & Quick Reviews

Sometimes, I think I really suck at trying to be a beauty blogger. The products I always use up, I tend to throw away involuntarily. Ugh.. Some of the products you'll get to see here are "survivors".

I'm not a fan of hanging on to things so maybe next time I'll try my best not to throw away stuff. Lol

I may or may not have given some updates on certain products that I've promised to review since they are indeed a handful. However, these are some of the products I do have tried and tested to the point of emptying the whole product, some even repurchased. Armed with full honesty, here are my product empties for the month of December. Hope you guys could check it out!

From L-R: Celeteque Advanced Anti-Aging Cleansing Oil, Bath and Body Works Pleasures Mango Mandarin Body Lotion, Fashion 21 Perfect Stick, Cetaphil DailyAdvance Ultra Hydrating Lotion, The Cream Factory SCRUB-in-a-TUB, Syoss Airy Curl Cream, Snoe Body Ritual Recipes Honey Bath Syrup, Celeteque Brightening Tri-Benefit Power Cream, Snoe Magic Apple Whitening S-Rub, Opti-Free Replenish, Candii Nail Polish Remover Wipes and Cetaphil Daily Facial Moisturizer with SPF 15

1.) Celeteque Advanced Anti-Aging Cleansing Oil - Ever since I started wearing waterproof make up, oil based makeup removers have always been a staple. I'm currently using the full-sized version since I have already finished a lot of these sample sized version. Check out how it easily melts off my eye makeup here.

2.) Bath and Body Works Pleasures Mango Mandarin Body Lotion - I got this from my grandma. It's a thick scented lotion that does the job at moisturizing the skin. However, I only get to wear this at night because it doesn't have any SPF on it. You can't have it all, right?

3.) Fashion 21 Perfect Stick in Almond - I loooooooove this! This was one of those impulse buys that I didn't regret having! Although it tends to crease when concealing the under-eye area, it does a marvelous job at concealing my pimple scars. Plus, it is difficult to find something close to my skintone. I love yellow undertones on my concealers since it blends well on most asian skin, like mine. I would repurchase this as soon as I get to finish up my current BB cream.

4.) Cetaphil DailyAdvance Ultra Hydrating Lotion - Staying in air-conditioned room for hours tend to dry my skin. This lotion is very hydrating without that greasy feel. However, like the Bath and Body Works Lotion... I only get to wear this at night due to the lack of SPF.

5.) The Cream Factory SCRUB-in-a-TUB - This is indeed a dessert for the skin. If you haven't seen my full review of this, check it out here.

6.) Syoss Airy Curl Cream - WHYYYYYYYYY. WHY DO THEY HAVE TO PHASE THIS OUT?!?!?! If I were to recommend a great and affordable styling product to everyone with curly or wavy hair. THIS IS THE HOLY GRAIL. Even better than everyone's HG product, the Monea's Curling Defining Milk Lotion. Trust me. Tough luck finding this as I've been searching EVERYWHERE for more than 6 months for this. (UPDATE: Finally, they already have these on stock! However, I find the P120 to P160 price increase a little bit steep. Because of this, I might try to find a more affordable curling cream in the future...)

7.) Snoe Body Ritual Recipes Honey Bath Syrup in Strawberry Smoothie - It a fruity scented body wash with bits of strawberry seeds to keep you smelling great while exfoliating the skin. Best paired with the Scrumptious Body Spritz.

8.) Celeteque Brightening Tri-Benefit Power Cream - I don't know if my skin brightened because of this, but I like this as my moisturizer because it doesn't leave my skin looking shiny. However, I will not commit to the full sized one because I might consider trying out their Celeteque Sun Care Matte Moisturizer soon.

9.) Snoe Magic Apple Whitening S-Rub - My elbows and knees lightened a little bit when I started using this product. If you like products that would last you forever, this is it! I remembered I bought this way back when I was an intern.

10.) OptiFree Replenish - Sadly, my eyes doesn't like every other contact lens solution brand out there. ReNu, Septocare, Lens Care, etc.You name it. If you haven't seen my detailed blog post about my very sensitive eyes. Check it out here.

11.) Candii Nail Polish Remover Wipes - I got this from my mom. It smells good and it's non-drying. I'd say this is a good idea when you're always on the go. However, it dries out if left unused for too long.

12.) Cetaphil Daily Facial Moisturizer with SPF 15 - I'm not sure if I got a bad stock but sometimes this product irritates my skin a little, which is weird because the samples I've tried before didn't do the same. I like this product especially on the holidays because it really moisturizes the skin well.

There you go! A quick rundown on some quality products I have tried till the last drop!
Hope you guys could check out my next batch of empties soon!

Melatonin Pills are LOVE

The last few days of the semester left my thesis buddies and I drained. We developed different habits in dealing with stress. Most of us got into binge eating. For me, drinking.... coffee and beer. I doubled my coffee intake just so I could stay awake and it really took a toll on my body clock. Fast forward to a few days after our thesis deliberations, we were a little bit confused. My friends and I haven't really got rid of our "habits" even after all was done!
Like we couldn't stop binge eating, drinking coffee and we were still up all night for no reason.

This was our "fresh look" taken a month into our thesis..

I was a little messed up with a minor case of insomnia as I was still able to stay up until 4am. It sucks. I figured if I were going to start the year right, I have to fix other things first. STARTING with my body clock. 

So this week I have my stock of melatonin pills handy! Sleepwell in particular. I've tried this way way back and I LOVE IT. Melatonin pills are awesome!! And no, I'm not addicted to it since melatonin is non-addicting and produced normally by the body to promote good quality sleep. I just really love how energetic you are when waking up and how effective it is in knocking you down!

Looks like operation: fix bedtime will commence this week. Can't wait to be an early bird again!!
And probably ruin my body clock again when hell week approaches next sem. Lol

Recharge Naturally with Lightwater

Finally! My semester is officially O-V-E-R! Before anything else, I'd like to thank everyone who answered and supported my thesis. Your survey answers were truly valuable and I'm glad a lot of you were willing to share even the most personal experiences you had with my thesis topic! I can't say as of now if I aced my thesis research because I didn't perform well on the deliberations. But I'm just glad all those cups of coffee was very worth it!

No, I don't collect Starbucks stickers during December.

However, too much coffee made me a little bit acidic and causes me to palpitate. Which is why I personally prefer white coffee over the regular ones. But I'm excited to find out that there's a simple way to combat that acidity. Last week I got to know Lightwater, a alkaline based water (pH 8.2 to be exact) that has no sugar, no salt, no calories. Only electrolytes like calcium, magnesium and potassium for better hydration!  

Why alkaline based water?

According to undergroundhealth.com...

1.) Detoxify - Detoxify your body to remove normal acidic waste products accumulated daily, plus remove toxins accumulated in your body from your environment, prescription drugs, unnatural foods and from the "normal" process of aging. Acid wastes collected in the body could lead to more serious health conditions. Drinking alkaline water daily can neutralize the acidity and wash acid waste products from cells and tissues.

2.) Hydrate - Hydrate your body: this is the basic to maintain or regain optimum health. During ionization your water forms micro clusters that are easily more absorbed at the cellular levels thus "super hydrating" your body.

3.) Oxygenate / Antioxidants - Alkaline water helps balance the body's pH, which tends to be acidic because of our high acid food diet, stress and exposure to environmental toxins such as smog. Alkalize your body pH  from acidic to alkaline pH, because cancer and many other illnesses cannot live in alkaline environments. Alkaline is the "normal" state of healthy people.

4.) Alkalizes the Body's pH - Enhance your immune system to maximize your body's ability to fight off diseases and heal itself.

These exact benefits are the reason why achievers like Alvin Balderama, Christina Dy, Joseph Pagulayan, Tonette Nicolas, Miguel Lopez and many more Lightwater ambassadors are always in their tip top condition!

I know this because I was lucky to rub elbows with some of them during an intimate dinner honoring the Lightwater ambassadors at The A-venue Mall inside Treehouse.

Here's a quick summary on what went on during the event:

Opening speech from Vice President Jasper Ong

A very satisfying buffet courtesy of Treehouse. The shrimps are PERFECT. Would totally go back for more.

Photo courtesy of Running Photographers

Lightwater also prepared a special game for us! It was more of a game of wits as they asked us questions about sports trivias and such. Our team got the most points so we were awarded with these bags. 

Perfect to travel with this holiday!

Denise and I also got to play Treehouse's awesome arcade games for free! 

We got to play Pacman, Donkey Kong and other classic games!

I also got to try Magners from the Treehouse. It's an Irish Cider Beer made with 17 different kinds of Apples. The best part? A crisp flavor with no aftertaste. Better than most of our local flavored beers. However with 4% alcohol content, it won't give you a strong kick which is pretty much okay if the night is young.

Lightwater was quite handy that night because anything with alcohol tends to dehydrate. 

What perfect way to to hydrate our bodies faster? Be greater with Lightwater.

To know about Lightwater, follow them at their social media pages:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/betterwater/

Instagram: http://instagram.com/lightwaterph
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/drinklightwater