Secret Key Starting Treatment Essence Review

I’ve been meaning to review this product because of all the many things I put on my face before I go to sleep, this is my favorite!

Secret Key Starting Treatment Essence
Contents: 155ml
How much: it depends if it’s on sale or not. Could range from 500-1000 pesos. I got mine for 650 pesos from my friend
Where to buy: online sellers

This is my second step when it comes to skin care before I go to bed at night. Essence are similar to toners specially when it comes to consistency. From what I have read, essence makes it easier for the skin to absorb the other stuff like cream.

It contains GALACTOMYCES, which is known to brighten and clarify, increase resilience, help balance skin condition, and moisturize the skin.

GDI

I love galactomyces ahahaha!

Secret Key is my most favorite Korean brand. Why? Because their products are amazing while not being too expensive at the same time. So far, I’ve already tried their cushion (the first cushion I’ve ever owned!), gel eyeliners, creams, and now, this essence. Secret Key never failed to impress me.

This Starting Treatment Essence is a dupe of SKII’s and Missha’s Time Revolution Essence. Among the 3, this is the cheapest. As for the effect, I’ve already tried SK-II and Missha Time Revolution (I bought some trial packs from friends who bought the full bottles). And guess what? I did not notice any difference with the effects at all! Seriously! I was thinking that maybe I’d see at least some immediate effects with SK-II since it’s almost 20x more expensive, but there’s none!

Whenever I have skin trouble, I just soak a cotton pad with this essence and leave it on my skin for a couple of minutes. The effect may not be immediate, but I can feel deep within that my skin is being healed. You can even try putting it inside the fridge before using it so it’s cold and it will help you shrink your pores.

Look!! I need a new bottle soon!

By the way, that small puddle is what you need for the entire face

But if you want to use more, it’s ok too! Up to you! Hehehe!

I think if I were to have a tag line, it will be “you don’t have to spend a lot to be beautiful”. In this case, you don’t have to spent thousands for SKII or Missha Time Revolution if you could buy Secret Key’s Starting Treatment Essence 🙂

 

Jo Malone Inspired Fragrance Oil Mist Review

Aside from make-up and skin care, I think one of the things that women are obsessed about are fragrances. Perfumes, body mists, colognes.. all the good-smelling stuff we ladies love!

When I was younger, I’m already satisfied with Lewis and Pearl colognes or that strawberry-scented Brat Splash from Bench. But as I grew older, I started to appreciate the finer things in life. Branded scents, that is.

Being the stingy person that I am, I still find ways to save haha! I only said branded scents, I never said having to buy the original versions all the time XDD But buying perfume “versions” doesn’t always mean saving money though. There’s a lot of them available everywhere, but only a few are really worth it. Most of the time, you end up wasting 350 pesos (because that’s their usual price lol)  because all you get is 80% water, 15% alcohol and 5% fragrance oil. You’ll know it the moment you get the item itself, which, more often than not, smells different compared to the “testers”.

When you get lucky, you meet someone, a high level alchemist, who makes perfume versions that actually smells the same as the original ones.Luckily for me, I met one online, and her specialty are Jo Malone scents.

The first time I bought from her was last month. I bought Vanilla and Anise and Nectarine Blossom and Honey.

It only took me several days to order again. On my second time, I added English Pear and Freesia along with Blackberry and Bay for my friend.

Here’s what I have to say about the scents that I have used so far:

Vanilla and Anise – MY FAVORITE! You may not be able to read my IG post clearly, but I was telling how it smells a lot like Bvlgari Omnia Crystalline, but milder. Too much Crystalline can be painful to the nose, but you can never have too much of Vanilla and Anise. It smells so feminine and classy! It has powdery notes, and perfect for romantic dates and sexy times lol

Nectarine Blossom and Honey – I was expecting this to smell really sweet, but I was wrong. It smells sweet, yes. But the kind of sweetness that you’d wanna sniff over and over again. The best way for me to describe it is FRESH. It smells like spring, despite not experiencing spring yet lol. But you get the idea. It’s perfect for afternoon stroll with friends, or just the right scent to use when you go to school.

English Pear and Freesia – I guess my understanding of the pear scent is different from Jo Malone, like how I was wrong with my expectations on Vanilla and Anise. If you’re thinking about Victoria’s Secret Garden’s Pear Glace, it’s nothing like that. This one actually smells citrusy, because maybe pears in England smells like citrus lol. This smells like a unisex perfume, because it’s not too girly unlike the first 2.

These inspired scents come in different sizes; 10ml, 3oml, 50ml and 100ml. You can choose (for a fee) a glass bottle for the perfume if you want. As for me, I only chose the original packaging.

The seller is even kind enough to put washi tape around the cap to seal it and avoid the product from leaking.

As for the the lasting power, it lasts up to 12 hours! You read that right! Twelve hours! And I am not exaggerating!

Just a tip from the seller (and it really works) – you have to spray it on your skin, not on your clothes. The perfume is oil-based, and you could actually see the oil once you spray it. Don’t worry though! It won’t stain your clothes. But if you don’t like going out with your body skin looking oily, you have to spray it around 10 minutes before going outside.

I really love these Jo Malone versions and I’m so lucky to have met the alchemist online 🙂

Ekel Soothing and Moisture Aloe Vera Review

This is a quick review because I’m about to start preparing for work lol

I received my first aloe vera soothing gel yesterday!

Aloe vera soothing gels or soothing gels in general are one of the trends in skin care lately. It promises to calm your skin and provide moisture which we all need.

Ekel Soothing and Moisture Aloe Vera
Price: 180 pesos
Contents: 300 ml
Where to buy: There’s no Ekel shops in the Philippines yet so I ordered it online from a seller

For 180 pesos, you get to have 300 ml of Aloe Vera soothing gel. That’s a steal! This gel smells faintly of aloe vera which is good, because I don’t like strong scents on anything I apply on my face (unless it’s strawberry scent hehehe).

Sorry for the crappy pictures. Like I said, this is a quick review XDDD We all can’t read Korean anyway ahahaha!

This gel is good for the face and body. My friend Christine swears to this product that’s why I decided to try despite still having my Mamonde Rose Water Soothing Gel (which I will review later on). I haven’t used it on my body yet and to be honest, I don’t know where to put it on my body yet. Maybe the hands? Legs? Let’s see!

It comes with a clear plastic cover stopper something, which I like. I don’t like creams without that. It helps in keeping stuff inside the jar.

The gel is clear, just like water. It also feels light and surprisingly not sticky at all!

The longer I stare at it, the more I regret not buying 2 jars!

This is how my skin looked like after applying the gel. No filters, no make up. I’ve decided to leave the gel on while I sleep. I just woke up minutes ago to wash my face and it feels reeaaally soft!!! I really regret not buying 2 jars!

This is the first aloe vera gel I have tried, and I think I’m going to stick to it. It’s the cheapest so far and it works wonders!

Gusto Powdered Vegetable Drink Mix Review

Like what I always say, you don’t have to spend a lot of money just to be beautiful. Sometimes, all you need is research!

Detoxing is one of the trends nowaday. One of the most popular way to detox is via juicing.

I checked everywhere; online, appliance stores… name it, and I checked it. But everywhere I search, juicers are damn expensive! I also collected recipes online and most of the ingredients are quite expensive too!

I want my damn juice lol! I don’t like vegetables that’s why I can only depend on juicing for it 😦

But my prayers were answered one day when I went to the National Food Fair. I found this!

Gusto Powdered Vegetable Drink Mix.
How much: 150 pesos for 5 sachets. 1 sachet a day
Where to buy: online

They claim to be all natural, and that they used a certain ‘stevia leaf’ to sweeten the juice. The juice is mango-flavored but you could still taste the leafy aftertaste. But it tastes really good for a vegetable juice!

It’s dairy-free, gluten-free, no preservatives, and all natural! What more can I ask for?

I’m so lucky I stumbled upon their booth!

This is how the powder looks like. It’s really fine!

And this is how it looks like when mixed with water.

Vegetable juice indeed!

Since it’s mango-flavored, kids will definitely love it too! Because I did, and I have taste buds like that of a child ahahahaha!

30 pesos a day for detox? Not bad, right! Other companies offer 2500 for a day of juicing!

Again, heath and beauty doesn’t have to be expensive all the time. All you have to do is research 😉

Body Treats Nose Pore Strip (Classic) Review

Blackheads and whiteheads are one of our greatest enemies. Whenever I look at myself in the mirror and see them whiteheads, I feel like wanting to pop it! Sadly, it’s both painful and messy to do that, not to mention it will just make things worse.

Nose strips are one of my favorite beauty treats! I already tried quite a few, and now I’m review a really cheap brand I bought from Watson’s!

Body Treats Nose Pore Strips (Classic)
Where to buy: Watson’s Stores
How much: 109 pesos for 12 pieces. They’re currently on promo at Buy 2 Take 1, which means I only paid 218 pesos for 36pcs. That’s 6.06 pesos per patch!

This nose strip comes in 3 varieties: classic, charcoal, and green tea. I already tried all but when it comes to removing white heads, they’re all the same. In fact, the classic version is even better because it doesn’t leave color or residue on your hands and face like the charcoal one. It’s even a bit cheaper than the other 2, I think.

The instruction said to wet the nose area and put the strip on. You need to wait for 15-20 or until the strips hardens before you remove it gently.

I waited until the strip hardened before I removed it, and only a little bit of whiteheads got removed. The trick is to wait for around 10-15min until the skin is no longer damp with the water from earlier, and remove the strip while it hasn’t hardened yet.

The effect? Just see for yourself! Warning: It’s disgusting ahhah!

The picture above is the first strip. Since I thought that it’s cheap and I have a lot anyway, I used one more strip

This nose strip is cheaper, more effective, less messy and easier to use than the other other products I tried. For 6 pesos, you can say bye bye to whiteheads!

I wish I have taken pictures of my nose before and after! I will do that next time!

Again, being beautiful doesn’t have to be expensive all the time 😉

Exspertow Argan Oil Hair Treatment Review

Since it’s Holy Week and I’ve nothing to do, let me just review more products!

This time around, it’s Exspertow’s Argan Oil Hair Treatment

Exspertow The Moroccan Treatment Argan Oil Cream
Price: 250 pesos per 1kg jar
Where to buy: at your friendly neighborhood salon

It’s one of those products that you can buy at your favorite beauty salon nearby. It’s not available in shopping malls (not in SM malls, at least), sadly. Good thing, it’s available near my house ahaha!

The reason why I started using treatments instead of the regular conditioner is because of the price. My hair is already reaalllyyy long, that it’s no longer practical to use conditioner. If I do, then it means I’d have to buy one big bottle of conditioner every week or so and that can be pricey. not to mention time consuming.

Using hair treatment as conditioner is totally better than using conditioner. Some say otherwise, but I regularly color my hair and it still feels and look soft.

That’s how my hair looks like everydays ever since I started using hair treatment as conditioner daily. I just took the picture yesterday.

This, on the other hand, how my hair used to look like when I was still using conditioner, 1 year ago. My hair now is considerably longer than this.

Have I mentioned that it also smells good? Because it does! And 1 jar lasts for months! Well, depending on the length of your hair. In my case, one jar only last exactly a month hahah! Not bad for 250 pesos, right?

Notice Me Senpai: How To Earn A Lot Of Coins Fast

I was sooooooooooo addicted to Neko Atsume! That’s why I was so delighted when I learned that there’s a new game similar to it, and with cute boys instead of cute cats! (cats are still better though haha!)

Notice Me Senpai is a collection game, like Neko Atsume. In this game, you own a cafe at some school with cute senpais (upperclassmen) and you “collect” all the senpais, by which you make all of them visit your cafe by having the item/s they prefer.

I just started playing it around a week ago but I already have a LOT of coins! How did I do that without spending real money?

Here’s how:

First, you have to open the game of course!

Then click the Menu on the upper right corner

If you see Ninja-senpai hiding in the bushes, click him!

Ninja-senpai holds a board that says “AD!”. You have to click it too 😀

You will see the Bonus Coin Chance screen come up. Click on WATCH, and a video advertisement of the other apps by Skill Shot Labs will appear.

Skill Shot Labs is the company who developed the game Notice Me Senpai. Did you know that they are based here in the Philippines?

After watching the ads, Ninja-senpai will give you free coins or gems!

He will either give you 15 gems or 100 coins. Most of the time, he’ll give you coins.

The number of times Ninja-senpai will allow you watch videos really depends on destiny lol. The first time I noticed senpai (lol), he let me watch the ads 4x, and I received a total of 400 coins in return. The second time, he only let me watch ads twice for 200 gems.

But what if Ninja-senpai allowed you to watch ads as much as you want so you’ll get as many coins as you want? Too good to be true, right?

But sometimes, destiny is just good to people, you know? XD

Here’s how to get unlimited coins (and gems if you’re lucky)

If Ninja-senpai no longer appears, you just have to click the Easter Even button over and over again

The Easter Egg event will appear, and you just have to click OK

You do it for 2-4 times, and Ninjap-senpai will appear again to give you coins in exchange of watching ads, and you can do it over and over again after clicking the Easter Event button repeatedly once Ninja-senpai no longer have ads to offer.

You can use the coins to buy a lot of items and gourmet coffee beans. And if you read the reviews of Notice Me Senpai on Google Play, you will know that Skill Shot Labs are also planning to bring back the Coins to Gems exchange thing in April! This means you can get a lot of gems by exchanging your coins for it. All you have to do is watching bajillions of ads to get coins, and exchange them with gems later.

Awesome, huh?

You’re welcome 😀

Summer Beauty In A Budget Part 1: Forever Beautiful

Hello everyone! How’s your summer so far?

Despite the unbearable heat, summer also means a lot of summer promotions! As I’ve strolled along SM Megamall’s 5th floor area last weekend to check out what the shops have in store for us beauty addicts, I found several summer promos and I just can’t help but give in to the temptation!

Facial spas are really popular nowadays. But do you really have to spend tens of thousands to have beautiful skin?

The answer is no.

I searched and found the best and cheapest facial salon available in SM Megamall this summer.

And my verdict?

Forever Beautiful.

I think it’s one of the newer facial salons out there because I only know their Megamall branch so far. The place looks expensive outside, and the ladies are so accommodating and friendly. But what really got my interest is the small piece of paper posted on their wall:

Yes, you read that right.

I talked to the girl at the front desk and asked if it’s still available. She said that indeed, it is. But you have to avail of their facial services in order to get the diamond peel for an additional 99 pesos.

I asked for the price list and sighed in relief because their regular services are also cheap!

I chose their most basic service, which is the Forever Beautiful Facial for 350 pesos. That’s just around 8 USD. Not bad!

Included in the service are the following:

1. Cleaning of the face with facial wash and facial scrub, all done while you’re laying down on a comfy salon bed.
2. Steam (to open the pores)
3. Vaccuum (to aid in removing blackheads and whiteheads easier)
4. Pricking (removing the blackheads/whiteheads and popping the pimples… ewwww)
5. Laser (to close the pores and wounds haha)
6. Massage (I really love this part!)

All the procedures are done in a small room, so you don’t have to worry about having to be watched by people while your pimples are popped. I really hate when that happens!

After the basic facial is done, it’s now time for diamond peel!

I managed to take a selfie haha! Sadly, I wasn’t able to take pictures of the place and the tools, because I was too shy since it’s my first time going there. But compared to my previous diamond peel experience at Let’s Face It, this one is waaaay better.

The ‘tip’ of their diamond peel machine is newer and smoother. While the lady is doing the procedure, I didn’t feel any pain at all.

To those who didn’t know, Diamond Peel is scrubbing off the dead skin manually using vaccuum with a kinda rough tip to scrape off the said dead skin.

I asked the lady to show me how it looks like, and the tip looks like a smooth stone with small fragments of shiny stuff, which could be diamond? Lol! I don’t know haha! It’s kinda like a face pumice.

The machine is basically a tube attached to a suctioning machine. The pumice-like end will scrape the dry dead skin off your face, while the machine suctions it. By the end of the procedure, they’d show you how much dead skin was removed, and it feels great seeing all the stubborn flakes off your face!

One week later, and no peeling happened to my face unlike the last time I had Diamond Peel. My colleagues also told me that my skin looks better compared to before, and I didn’t even tell them I had Diamond Peel!

Overall, I only spent 449 pesos!

Forever Beautiful Facial – 350
Diamond Peel – 99

I’d give it 5 stars for the privacy, the cleanliness and overall facial experience!

Sadly, the 99 pesos Diamond Peel promo is only for a limited time. But I asked the lady if they have a promo package, and they said that they do.

For 3,000 pesos, you get to have 5+1 diamond peel sessions with free basic facial each.

That is like 500 pesos per basic facial + diamond peel. Not bad!

When there’s no promo, the regular price for their diamond peel is 699 pesos.

Hurry and take advantage of their promo! Their address is posted on the picture above. I’m definitely going to have my diamond peel done again next week, and will get their promo package once it’s over. Forever Beautiful is my new favorite facial salon now!

Notice Me Senpai

I recently started playing this game called Notice Me Senpai.

I’m a big fan of Neko Atsume, and Notice Me Senpai is very similar to the former that it appeals to me so much. Because what’s better than collecting cute cats? Collecting cute senpais, of course!

I’ve only been playing for a couple of days, but I already managed to collect a lot of coins. What’s the secret? I’ll post it on my next entry because I’m still at work hahaha

Soon

I have more stuff to review really soon!
Which one would you like me to review first?