Finally after much contemplation, I have finally decided to try Snow Skin Whitening Lotion. I have constantly seen testimonies of satisfied users in my fb newsfeed but the price of this lotion was a turn off. It was pricey at P799. I wasn't very willing to spend that much for a whitening product because I was a skeptic. I had no real success with whitening products in the past so I was reluctant to buy Snow as I am afraid it might not work.

Snow Skin Whitening Lotion - PhP 799.00

However, after I noticed that my rejuvenating set had worked wonders in my face's skin tone for 3 months, I have decided that it was about time to take my journey to fairer skin up a notch. And so finally after trying on 2 different lotions (Block & White and Belo) which I didn't notice drastic results over the period of 3 months, I decided to give Snow Whitening Lotion a try.

MY THOUGHTS AFTER ONE MONTH OF RELIGIOUSLY USING THIS PRODUCT:

• The packaging is beautiful. All the needed information was found on both the box and the lotion bottle itself. There was also an added info on the box that looked like research/study results on the product. I didn't read that anymore (lolz). The bottle was sealed and I loved the cute "paandar" on the seal.

• The airless technology of the pump was very nice because, from what I understood, a disk at the bottom of the bottle will push the products up every time you use the pump to dispense the lotion. So it would be super sulit because all products would be dispensed up to the last drop. However, I had a little bit of a struggle on the first time using the lotion as the pump won't dispense the product immediately. I had to keep pressing a number of times to get the product out but once the product was dispensed, I had not experience the same problem anymore.

• The product was very potent/thick and wasn't runny. It wasn't sticky either and it applied smoothly. It was easily absorbed by the skin. There was a little greasy feeling (especially when applied right after shower when your skin was still pretty moist) but once the product was fully absorbed by the skin, the greasy feeling was gone. My skin felt supple and moisturized after application.

Formulation is so potent that it did not drop even if I tried to shake it off a few times

Left: Snow Skin Whitening Lotion / Right: Belo Lotion

• There was a nice subtle smell that lingered after application but fades after a few minutes. I'm not so sure but I think it smelled floral.

• I had not encountered any allergic reactions with this product. However, I cannot vouch for other users. Better be safe by doing a patch test.

• Price wise and effectivity, I was pretty disappointed. This product is pricey at P799. I wouldn't have minded the price had it met my expectations. Of course, with this price point I would expect that it would work wonders with my morena skin. However, it didn't meet my expectations. I religiously used this product for one month (twice daily) but I didn't see that my skin had improved a lot. I went to the beach 4 days after I started using this product and I had a tan line on my legs.

•  In a month's use, it somehow lightened the tan on my legs but the tan line was still pretty obvious because my upper leg that wasn't exposed to the sun was way lighter. It was a disappointment because I had read a review from one famous beauty blogger that she was able to get her tanned lines to disappear and she was able to have pantay skin in just 2 weeks. Maybe it would be different with each person's experience but I'm still disappointed as it had already been a month and still no great results. 

• The only consolation for this product was I liked that a small amount of lotion was enough to cover an entire arm. I used 2 pumps on each arm and 4 pumps on each leg. I didn't use this on other parts of my body since all other parts of my body that were covered with clothes were already lighter than my arms and legs. This product would have been really sulit if it only met my expectations.

Overall, I am really disappointed with this lotion as it hadn't met my expectations at all. I was really eyeing this product for so long because of so many positive feedback it was getting from famous and established beauty bloggers. However, it failed in making my skin lighter.

As I said, I wouldn't have minded the price if it only delivered its promise of lighter skin. I wouldn't repurchase this product and I would be in search again of another whitening lotion. As of this writing, I am contemplating on trying the Kojie San lotion again as I've had a previous experience with it in the past. That time I wasn't serious in making my skin lighter and I wasn't religiously using it. I hope I could find my perfect match in skin lightening.

Have you used whitening lotions too? Do you have recommendations for me? Please do tell in the comments box below. Thanks for reading. :)

My sister was recently beginning to obsess herself with Korean skin care products because she was so fussy about her pores and dark under eyes. She bought some sample sizes from this Korean bazaar and since then she had been wanting to buy the regular sizes.

She was eyeing the Etude House Wonder Pore toner but it costs more than P500 at their store and she wasn't so keen spending that much for a toner. She was also wanting to buy Innisfree Jeju Volcanic facial wash but we had no idea where we could find that here in Davao. Another one she wanted to try was the Tony Moly Panda Eye Cream for her dark under eyes.

Then I had read a while back about this Korean online shop that offered a wide range of Korean skin care and cosmetic products that were shipped directly from South Korea. This online shop was called Althea. It offered products from skin care (face and body), hair care, cosmetics, etc.

So I thought of gifting my sister with her Korean skin care wishlist. I had been wanting to try ordering from Althea too but was discouraged with the lack of flexible payment options and expensive shipping fee. Finally the opportunity to make my first Althea purchase came when I received a newsletter from the site which stated they already offered COD and free shipping with a minimum purchase of P999 (check out more here).






So finally I ordered her wishlist and also placed some of my own personal orders on the website. And I also happen to receive a coupon code Buy 3 Free 1. Since my purchase was more than 3, I was able to get a discount. The cheapest price on my cart was deducted from the total bill. And since my purchase reached P2000+ I was able to avail the free shipping.

However, when I checked out, the COD option for payment was not available. I read their FAQ and found out that COD was only available for purchases UP TO P2000. Since mine was more than 2000, I couldn't choose the COD option.

To remedy this, I told my sister to create an account with Althea and we would split our orders. So we were able to purchase 4 products each and our purchases reached P1000+ so aside from availing of the free shipping fee, I was also able to snag the Buy 3 Free 1 discount.

My Althea Haul

My sister's Althea Haul

My sister and I placed our orders on December 8 (after midnight) and we immediately received a confirmation that our orders were being processed. By noon of the same day, my order was already picked up from the Althea store and later it was already processed at Incheon Airport. Two days later our package arrived at NAIA. Another two days later and our orders were already picked up by the local shipper and were being sorted. Then on December 14, our orders arrived on our doorstep.

I couldn't be more satisfied with the very fast and easy transaction. Plus I loved the packaging. They also included a coupon which I could use for future purchases. The coupon would expire on February 2018.



Here were the actual items we purchased and I couldn't wait to make my next purchase. I would probably buy lots of facial masks!!! :)

It was the bebe's first movie date and husband and myself made sure it was memorable for her. We watched Coco which we enjoyed so much. The bebe did well behaving at the cinema. She wasn't scared when the lights were turned off, she was indeed a big girl already. After the movie she couldn't stop recounting the highlights of the movie. I could see she enjoyed it so much.

Since the movie was pretty long, we were all famished when it finished. So I decided we ate at SM's Food Hall since it was fairly new and I liked this one stall that served good food at reasonable price. We ate at S.A.L.O. My sister and I already tried the "Lechon to share" meal worth P249 the other day and I was impressed with the serving and price which was really reasonable.








My thoughts:
- Food is delicious and serving is generous
- Price is reasonable (ranges at 120 - 200 for single meal and around 250 - 500 for shared meals at S.A.L.O)
- Food stalls in the Food Hall were few though but I think there would be a few more stalls opening soon
- nice dining place to enjoy variety of food

The sister and myself were on the hunt for outfits for our annual company Christmas Party. Our theme this year was Paskong Pilipino which meant we would be wearing Filipiniana inspired outfits. We both decided we'd go in a barong. She decided she'd pair it with square/wide pants while I wanted a balloon skirt to pair my barong.

My sister was lucky enough to find her pants and shoes while I was very unlucky not finding anything at all. So after almost 3 hours of strolling the whole women's section of SM Department Store and finding nothing, the sister and myself were very hungry.

I remembered reading about this eat all you can restaurant that was just opened this year at SM Annex. We found Cabalen at the ground floor of SM Annex and we were glad that their lunch buffet costs only P333. 76.




The food choices were not very wide unlike other buffet places but the dishes they offered were really appetizing and looked delicious.








My thoughts:
- Price was reasonable
- Food tasted very delicious and flavorful
- Ambiance was typical restaurant, well lighted and not crowded
- courteous staff
- Definitely worth a try

For the longest time, I have been eyeing any DSLR camera for the sake of immersing myself in photography. I have always wished I owned a DSLR because I wanted to explore the world of photography and I wanted to know if I had a skill with taking photos.

I had already lost the hope of owning a DSLR because it's very expensive and I had more important things I needed the money for. Also, I'm already a family woman so I couldn't indulge in my fantasy anymore.

Then the mirrorless camera breakthrough happened. More and more brands had introduced entry level mirrorless cameras this days. My hope for owning an interchangeable camera was brought back to life. And after a while of scanning the internet, drooling over different mirrorless cameras in available in the market, I had finally convinced myself and my husband to purchase one.

I now own a Sony a5100 camera and I had practiced it with different subjects. I am so in love with this camera. Maybe because I am a complete neophyte in photography. Below are some of the shots I took using my new camera.

P.S. I completely had no experience with professional cameras or high end cameras aside from my smartphone and my sister's Fujifilm bridge camera. I tweaked my camera by following some tips I found from photography blogs on the internet.