Dawn writes: I've always been adventurous with my hair over my sister. I have had it rebonded, colored, coiffed up and down, with bangs, side-parted, etc. Just look at my pictures!
Now, for a different look, I have decided to get my hair permed - I have had it planned since 2010 started. My sister T suggested that I have it done at Affascinante Salon, so we went there last January for me to get the right cut to grow out (lots of layers) and went there last June 22 to get my new hair lemming over and done with! =)
This is the before shot:
This is the process:
This is the result after washing and drying:
My experience: Ms. Weng is so nice and helpful. Maybe my only pet peeve is that you really have to spend hours in her salon - my sister and I were there at 9:45am and we left at 6pm (she got her hair rebonded, so it's probably her fault haha)! For this one, we paid PhP 1, 500 for my length, which is around 3 inches above the bra line.
Like all permed hair, you need product for it to stay put! The curls are a bit hard to manage if you're not used to applying stuff. But it's worth it for me - everyone says I look great! Haha.
What do you think?
SALON DETAILS: AFFASCINANTE SALON
ADDRESS: Royal World Mansion Bldg. Pablo Ocampo (formerly Vito Cruz) corner Enrique Street, Manila. Near St. Scholasticas College. Also Near Becky's Kitchen. If you see the signage of Zonetech Bar along Pablo Ocampo (Vito Cruz), Affascinante is pretty near and you've found it!
What you have to love about the rise of social networking sites is that companies are exploring them too, and are giving away loots and services! This is the case with Beauty Bar - ladies, get a chance to win your Dream Kikay Kit (with 3 products) or A Dashing Diva Nail Spa experience for free! Go to their Facebook page for more details!
Trace writes: I want to win the Dr. Jart Black Label BB Cream because I want to use it as a makeup base! Respectable SPF, detox properties, lovely finish from reviewers. I'm all for it!
This giveaway is open to Philippine readers only and ends on July 10. Go to projectvanity to join in on the fun!
Actually, here's what you need to do to win one of them:
1. Answer the question: What BB cream variant do you want to win and why?
2. Post your answer on your blog (5 raffle entries), Facebook page (3 raffle entries - make sure the post is set to public so I can view), Twitter account (1 raffle entry), and/or Plurk account (1 entry).
3. Make sure that your post includes the following: the contest poster as seen above, a link toProjectvanity.com, and the contest mechanics. You will be disqualified without all three requirements in your post.
4. Lastly, leave a comment on projectvanity providing the links of all your contest entries.
There will be two winners each receiving the BB cream of their choice using Random.org to draw the lucky winners. Contest runs from June 26 to July 10. Winners will be announced on July 11. To make things fun, the last person who comments on the contest post byJuly 10, 12 midnightwill receive Dr. Jart samples.
It is Armie's birthday today! She's the girl behind CareFreeShopper, where I've been buying most of my makeup items that are not available locally. I've gotten great deals from Laura Mercier, Stila, Pop Beauty, and Nyx because of her! Plus, she's super nice and takes care of her costumers very well. I'm a loyal fan.
As a treat, she's offering something pretty little girls with instant change to spare - a great offer on the Barbie Loves Stila shimmer infused Smudge Pots and All Doll'd Up Palette! You can get each 4g pot (full size) for only 495.00, or or you can choose any shade from the smudgepots and purchase the All Doll'd Up Palette for only 2,000.00 for both items!
Get the perfect dose of eye-drama with Barbie Loves Stila shimmer infused Smudge Pots! The multi-tasking gel formula can be used as a liner and a shadow that stays on all day. Available in three bold, of-the-moment shades:
*Cobalt Clutch - vibrant blue with intense shimmer
*Purple Pumps - purple with pink shimmer
*Little Black Dress - black with pink shimmer
Price: Only 495.00 each 4g pot (full size)
Barbie Loves Stila All Doll’d Up Palette : A must-have for any glam girl, this adorable refillable compact – decorated with a lenticular of the iconic Barbie stare contains FOUR eye shadow trios (TWELVE eye shadow shades!) for endless looks and countless levels of glamour.
I've had my hair long for almost five years now, and have had it rebonded for five years through home service. I noticed that Ah Glow! - the rebonding formula used by the person who did my hair - made my hair dry and frizzy eventually. So as much as I like my friend, I had to switch to a different experience. For the record, my natural hair is very thick and thick-stranded. It has survived a lot of pain and damage from straightening, relaxing, *unsuccessful* coloring, perming, etc. LOL.
I decided to troop to Affascinante Salon with my sister (see yesterday's post) and meet Weng Sanchez. She and her team have gotten a lot of rave reviews @ Girltalk. Plus, thermic rebonding costs only PhP 2, 500 for all hair lengths until July 15 2010!
This is the before shot (BIG AND WAVY, I know):
My experience: I talked to Weng and she assured me that her formula will not damage my hair, now or in the future. I opted for thermic instead of silicone rebonding, which, according to Weng, just makes hair shinier but would cost me a thousand pesos more. I did not think I would need more shine, seeing that the new regrowth is already healthy. If my hair weren't so darn wavy and unmanageable, I would have preferred it that way. But alas, one cannot be that lucky.
She started by cutting my hair into a bob after she told me how to manage the cut - although it needs more maintenance than layered hair (since the ends will flyaway since they touch the shoulders), it's more bagay for me. Then the usual rebonding process - rebonding formula, then rinse, then protein spray, then ironing, then formula, then rinse, then treatment (yes, she even gave me a free treatment - a minty keratin mask, I think), then rinse and blowdry! Took me 7-8 hours, good thing the staff's really friendly, and we got to watch movies and eat some bread and had 3 glasses of iced tea. After the salon visit, my siblings and I had dinner at Aveneto and my brother told me I looked really good!
This is the result after washing and drying:
Outcome: Washing it after 3 days, my hair's all straight again! Yey! My hair looks super shiny, as well. I have a haircut problem though - the ends are flicking already since they're on the shoulder level. I guess I need to get it cut again, since I hate ironing! :( But hey, at least I've gotten a total of 9 compliments already about how young I look!
Tips: Call for an appointment. The salon's members always take their time per client, so it's not for the impatient. And hope and pray the DVD is not Jennifer Lopez's The Backup Plan (2010) because that is the worst movie I've ever seen in the last 5 years.
SALON DETAILS: AFFASCINANTE SALON
ADDRESS: Royal World Mansion Bldg. Pablo Ocampo (formerly Vito Cruz) corner Enrique Street, Manila. Near St. Scholasticas College. Also Near Becky's Kitchen. If you see the signage of Zonetech Bar along Pablo Ocampo (Vito Cruz), Affascinante is pretty near and you've found it!
Dawn writes:This mask is cheap, given the amount in the tube and the performance. I think it clears pores very well, and helps breakouts heal faster. This mask is very good for oily skin as it sucks up all the dirt. It dries at around 15 minutes if you cover the entire face very well. My sister thinks you don't need to apply too thickly though - you only need to apply a smooth, thin layer and you'll get the same results. Best to use this product before your night routine - with clean pores, your skin will drink up your beauty creams like there's no tomorrow!
The only annoying thing about it is the SMELL! It smells soooo, well, GREEN with a hint of turmeric. It's probably what clean mud with chlorophyll smells like, haha. So no, I don't like the way it smells, but not as much as I hate Apple Cider Vinegar's fumes.
I convinced my bestfriend, Liz, to buy one. Now her entire family is using it!
Trace writes: It smells! but it's good!
Product Information: It costs only PhP 200 @ Watsons!
From the website:
Action: Clears skin and prevents outbreak and recurrence of pimples. Rejuvenates and firms up the skin. Imparts natural glow. Antibacterial purifying Neem Face Pack regulates excess oil secretion, cleans clogged pores and prevents recurrence of pimples. Improves skin texture. Neem, well known for its antibacterial properties, helps in controlling acne and pimples, and their recurrence. When combined with Turmeric, it effectively eliminates acne-causing bacteria. Fuller's Earth (Multani Mitti) cools and soothes the skin.
Use Directions: Apply evenly over cleansed face and neck, avoiding the area around eyes. Allow it to dry for 10-15 minutes. Remove with wet sponge and wash the skin with cool water. Use once or twice a week.
Trace writes: The face framers make a difference – I (T) used to neglect my eyebrows until a Laura Mercier MUA from Rustan’s Essences, Robinson’s Place told me to fix them up because they suck. No, she really really didn’t say that, but I knew she meant it that way!
Anyway, the formulas can be confusing – as cosmetic companies keep making all sorts of products to tempt us hopeless consumers - but you can take your pick as regards to what’s good for you based on the following pictures and reviews:
Review: As a mascara, it tames the brows well and gives only a slight brownish hue. So if your eyebrows are thick and black (D) or if they are sparse and light, this may not work for you – the former because it may give you a weird off-brown color, and the latter because it’s not super pigmented to allow you to shape your eyebrows. However, if you use an angled liner brush and take some of the wax off the mascara brush and draw on your brows, you can make it work! This product is cheap too (this was ordered from, but there may be stocks already at Watson’s outlets that carry E.L.F. products) and includes an eyebrow grower mascara (clear side).
Review: The shade is unmatchable – this is a soft gray pencil that really flatters most people since it is neither too light nor too dark for Filipinas. For women with dark brown to black hair, it may look weird to sport brown eyebrows, so this shade does the trick. The sad thing? We sisters hate constant sharpening to use makeup pencils! And this product will definitely not last long because of this need to achieve the perfect tip for drawing the eyebrows =(
Review: This is pretty sulit in our book because it’s dual purpose – it’s a nice, pigmented eyebrow shader and a basic, cool to neutral brown eyeshadow! One of the best investments – I (T) have had mine for two years now and it will last a couple more. Get yourself an angled eyebrow brush to go with it.
FINAL PICTURE: MAC E/S in Espresso, NYX beige concealer as eye base, curled lashes! Voila!
Trace's Note: First picture's taken from mymakeupreviews.blogspot.com (Entry) and the terrifying ones were captured last night. Rest in pieces, my Yves Saint Laurent Signes D' Orient, Fall '06 Collector Powder For Eyes and Complexion (MUA Reviews). You have served me well - I tried my best to keep you around intact! But hey, I'm still housing your dust for highlighting and bronzing - sorry for an old MMU jar for an urn. See, at death, you still have use. That's love.
This is the fourth time I have colored my hair at home. I used to patronize Garnier Nutrisse in Burgundy. Though it was cheap @ PhP 299 and the formula smelled nice, I was not happy: you could only see the reddish brown tinge on your hair when walking under the sun, and the color faded easily… Because eventually, you couldn’t tell the difference between the new hair growth and the dyed part =(
So here comes the replacement: Kolours Dual Conditioning Hair Color in Burgundy. It’s a local product that only costs around PhP 235 – affordable, right? It boasts of being formulated for Asian hair that’s dark and naturally color-resistant.
The verdict? I love it because it does what it says quite well – the strands are effectively colored (so I can see when I should re-color my hair again) and the shade doesn’t fade. It is so easy to use since everything you need, from the gloves to the mixing bottle, are all in the pack! It is also widely available: you’ll find one in most Watson’s outlets nationwide.
It’s so good I even managed to convince my bestfriend to buy it! So if you’re looking to use some DIY hair coloring kit, support our locally-made yet super impressive product!
Trace writes:So I was fortunate enough to win the Hair in Manila contest and I had to chance to meet the lovely Y2 @ L’Oreal (the office smells like an uptown beauty salon)!
I was able to get two products for my pleasure: the L’Oreal Douceur d'Huiles Shampoo and the Masque aux Huiles Treatment, both for rebellious and unruly hair. What’s nice about these products is that they boast of being organic. They have no parabens, no silicones, and no artificial scents that commercial shampoos and conditioners have. You gotta love that even the packaging is 100% recycled. And the best part is I got them for free! Lookie:
L’Oreal Douceur d'Huiles Shampoo - P740
L’Oreal Masque aux Huiles Treatment - P1,098
Cute Paperbag, which I assume is recycled, too!
So what’s the picture? I just had 6 inches of frizzy, rebonded hair chopped off! Now I am left with my natural hair – very thick, wavy bordering on curly, black as night – and yes, rebellious and unruly. Waking up with this eggnest on my head reminds me why I get my hair straightened and treated every 6 months. So I am happy I am getting these two products to try before and after my 6-hour pampering session this month.
What am I expecting these two items to do? Well, naturally I don’t think these will straighten my hair. TV commercials have been playing around with us forever – promising fantastic hair after every wash (shi-nam-poo ko lang yan!) – but they don’t always do the trick. Even if they’re filled with shine-coating chemicals and tons of bubbles and nauseating flowery scents, salon perming/relaxing/straightening sessions as well as styling tools and products are imperative to make your hair ridiculously pretty. That is, unless you’re one of those gorgeous aliens like Georgina Wilson or Isabelle Daza, who prefer to live on earth to spite us lesser humans. Okay, bitter.
So I am smart enough to just hope that the two L’Oreal products will tame the lion’s mane a bit, lessen the frizz and the waves, and make it soft to the touch. And eventually be great maintenance products after I spend half of a laborer’s monthly minimum wage and get my hair rebonded.
What do I think?
(1)I don’t like the smell. It smells very rich and amber-y; must be the rice bran and olive oil combinations. Good thing the scent doesn’t last after rinsing!
(2)Being all-natural, the shampoo doesn’t bubble up – I’ve had the same experience with Ilog Maria’s organic shampoo. I was a bit annoyed that I’m using much product to clean my scalp and strands but after rinsing the product out, my head felt super clean and my hair very silky.
(3)The masque is very good. You don’t need much product to condition. Enough said.
(4)After air-drying, the effect is the slightly similar when I use Kerastase’s Oleo-Relax shampoo and masque on my natural hair! Now that is a BIG COMPLIMENT.
Honestly, I probably won’t buy these two products after I get my hair rebonded since I think there are cheaper alternatives to make hair look good and healthy – I prefer to use real olive oil or coconut oil before shampooing and conditioning. I also plan on trying cheaper organic shampoos and conditioners like Human Heart Nature's products. But overall, the experience is pretty nice! So if you have the budget and are looking forward to going green, try this line!
