Friday, 24 May 2013

FAB FIND: Essence Like A Day in A Candy Shop Eau De Toilette

I was looking for a new summer fragrance and found this while browsing Bodybell´s online shop:

Essence Like A Day in A Candy Shop Eau de Toilette

To be honest, it was the inexpensive price tag that lured me in. At 10 € (including the shipping charge) for a 50 ml EDT, this seems like either a great steal or one of those cheap but medicine-smelling stink bomb.

After a quick check at fragrantica.com for user feedbacks, I went ahead and ordered one!


Like A Day's cute little bottle and the humongous Bodybell box. I ordered a few body washes for myself, and some goodies for a client, thus, the big box from Bodybell :-)





So this is my review, exactly one week after I received my bottle of Essence´s Like a Day in a Candy Shop. It is sweet without overbearing, and honestly, It is rave worthy! I´m so happy I found my summer fragrance on my first buy!

Reviewers say Candy is a perfect dupe for Prada Candy, but since I have yet to try Prada, then I can´t compare at all.

According to Essence website, the fragrance notes are as follows:

Top note: peach, orchid

Middle note: lilac, heliotrope, jasmin petals

Base note: vanilla, tonka beans, soft musk


This I have to say, it is very light yet it stays long on my clothes. It smells like vanilla and flowers! The scent is gentle and breezy and the best thing is it does not turn nasty or strong when it becomes hot at the office.

Will I buy again? Yes! I plan to buy a lot for my bazaar stocks and as Christmas gifts to BFFs.


Essence Like A Day In A Candy Shop
is available in 10 ml and 50 ml bottles.

As with my other great finds, TLCShop will offer these and other Essence fragrances on a preorder basis in June 2013.

Wednesday, 22 May 2013

My Speculaas Moment

My college BFF visited Madrid last weekend and he brought me this as pasalubong:




A beautiful tin can of  Hellema Speculaas Cookies from The Netherlands!
( Note: Speculaas is Dutch for Speculoos)

In the Philippines, where there is currently a Cookie Butter craze, most people associate Speculaas (or Biscoff, to those from the US) with Lotus, the Belgium-based bakery brand who must be commended for spreading the love for Speculaas cookies all over the world, and Trader Joe's, the US-based grocery brand who came up with its own Cookie Butter.


Burnt brown deliciousness!

In Belgium and the Netherlands, where Speculaas originated, there are a lot more choices in terms of brands. This was my first time to try Hellema, and I all I can say is that the distinctive speculaas spice flavor is more pronounced here than in Lotus' Speculoos biscuits. For me, that's a good thing!

Why are Speculaas cookies so delicious? There´s the burnt caramel taste, the distinct spicy punch of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cardamom and white pepper, held together by a delicate sweetness. These cookies not too sweet, with a perfect balance of salt, spices, and sugar. The earthy flavor of the biscuits is a perfect complement to one's favorite tea or a perfect cup of coffee.

In lieu of coffee, this is what I take with my Speculaas Cookies:


My new tea discovery, Lipton's Vanilla Caramel tea. Aroma palang, yummy na!


Speculaas cookies, VanillaCaramel Tea, and a handful of Englsedrops (delicious licorice, also from The Netherlands), savored at home while watching the evening's Bloomberg News. This is my favorite Speculaas moment. Winding down after a day at work, relaxing for a few minutes to clear my head and enjoy the downtime before tackling the to-dos for the shop. The past few days, when I need a break, I nibble through my Speculaas stash, and enjoy a spectacular Speculaas moment.

What about you? What's your spectacular snacking moments?

Sunday, 12 May 2013

How I Conquered Hair Loss: Pilexil

For a long time I was scared that I was going bald.

It began in Korea when I noticed that my hair was falling in clumps in the shower and my scalp was itchy as hell. I went to a dermatologist in Korea and he gave me an anti-fungal lotion to apply to my scalp 2x a day. It helped if I used it, but because the lotion had steroids, I could not use it for a long time and it gave me pimples.

I also tried all the anti-fungal shampoos available in Korea. I even bought pricey shampoos such as Kerastase's white Specifique anti-hairfall line and Kiehl's Argan Smoothing Shampoo. Believe me when say that I tried every dandruff and anti-hairfall shampoo imaginable in K.

Most times, the anti-dandruff shampoos I tried worked only for a few weeks, and then my hair became immune to them and the hair fall and itchiness resumed.

When I went to Spain, I armed myself with sachets of Nizoral, but of course a couple of months later, all my stocks were gone and the hair fall and itchiness came back.

But then I discovered Pilexil.

Pilexil is an anti-hairfall treatment range made by the Spanish pharmaceutical company, Lacer. It is a pharmacy grade shampoo specifically made to help with hair fall. I googled it first before buying and saw some great reviews in Amazon US.

Pilexil has a complete line of hairloss treatment products: Shampoo, spray, ampoules and even oral supplements.


I, however, only use the hair shampoo. Though the last time I bought my Pilexil shampoo ( my second bottle!), I received some hair ampoules for free!


What it's made of: Serenoa Serrulata (Saw Palmetto), Zinc, Vitamins, and Conditioners.
Pilexil is formulated to maintain the hair pH at 5.5.


My current stash of Shampoos: a still unfinished Kiehl's Shampoo, a recently emptied Pilexil 300 ml Shampoo, and my newly bought Pilexil 500 ml Shampoo.

I'm into my second bottle of Pilexil. I realized how I have depended on Pilexil when I went on a long trip ( 5 days) recently and used the complementary shampoos in the hotel. I came back to Madrid with burning, itchy scalp, dandruff and more falling hair.

I have also noticed that my hair has become finer and more manageable after using Pilexil. Note that I have my normally curly hair rebonded every time I go home to the Philippines, and usually, after three months, the roots start to curl and my hair begins the transformation into one frizzy mess.

It's been six months since I've had my hair treated and thanks to Pilexil, it still manageable with very minimal hair fall! I use Pilexil everyday because I noticed that if I skip a day, my dandruff flares up and I get itchy scalp.


Pilexil Prices in Europe (Spain)

Pilexil AntiCaida Ampoules (15 ampoules) Box 29.00€

Pilexil AntiCaida Capsules (to be taken orally) 50 capsules 19.00€

Pilexil AntiCaida Shampoo 300 ml 13.00€

Pilexil AntiCaida Shampoo500 ml 500 ml 14.75 €

Pilexil AntiCaida Spray 120 ml 31.00 €

Saturday, 11 May 2013

Marathoning through Vienna

Can one enjoy Vienna, Austria on a day trip? Well. we tried to do just that!

On a recent trip to Budapest, we allotted one day to visit Vienna. We were confident we can do it because we had an ace up our sleeves, our Budapest host and UP schoolmate have been to Vienna a few times, so we were not going to Vienna like blind mice running mindlessly through a maze.

We took the earliest train from Budapest and arrived in Vienna at 9 AM. ( Budapest-Vienna return tickets cost about 35€ per person, the earliest train leaves Budapest at 6 AM).

Marathon!

On the morning we arrived in Vienna, planning to marathon from one sight to another, the trams going to the city were stalled for a few hours. The reason? Well, call it serendipity or blind luck, but on the exact same day we were there, the Vienna City Marathon was underway!


A child cheering and high-fiving the runners


Our favorite runner! Spongebob! We called him that because he was wearing a spongebob shirt!

We spent a few hours watching and cheering the marathon runners then decided to eat brunch while we wait for the roads leading to the palace to open.

Brunch at a Vienesse Cafe


The Vienesse pancake, pictured above, was not really our type of pancake. It was a bit bland and mushy.

After a heavy brunch, it was time to explore Vienna!

First Stop: The expansive Schonbrunn Palace



The gently rolling ground near the Roman Ruins is a great place to hangout. We saw some visitors sleeping. Us, we rolled around and chatted


and took to doing the typical Asian thing to do for photo opportunities like this:

Aimed for a perfect jump shot!

The Schonbrunn Palace is absolutely beautiful! One can spend a day just touring its grounds and gardens or going inside the Palace itself. The best part is that it is open to anyone. Unlike some palaces/castles in Europe there is no entrance fee to the Schonbrunn Palace grounds. It's like one gigantic park, complete with flower gardens, beautiful fountains and green, sloping terrains.

Next Stop: St. Stephen's Cathedral



Required Stop: Gelato break

We tried the gelatos at the famous gelateria in Vienna, Zanoni eis Zanoni. Absolutely delicious!

Because we didn't have enough time, we did not see the famed wooden ferris wheel or eat the famous cake, Sacher Torte, at the Sacher Hotel in Vienna. We did however do a lot of walking around the city: passing by the Hohes Haus (Austrian Parliament Building) and the numerous museums near Ringstrabe Boulevard.


The Hohes Haus

Going into Austria, our Budapest host told us to be prepared because Austrians are known to be a bit closed-minded and discriminatory to non-Austrians, but actually I found the Austrians warm and very helpful when we asked for directions and tram schedules. To my mind, that's just a stereotype which was proven wrong by this trip.

At 5:30 PM, after a day of marathon walking, we were back at the station to catch our train back to Budapest. Pewwww, it was certainly energy-draining, we did our very best to fit in as much sights as we can in the eight hours we were in Vienna. Like the Vienna city marathoners, we tried our best! And that's good enough. :)

I still want to visit Austria again, because, yes it was a bit bitin. Maybe if and when I visit Prague, I'll make a side trip to Austria. Vienna is a lovely city and there are still a lot of sights and sounds to see.

Note: Most of the pics above were taken by Ems A., our travelmate and college schoolmate.

Thursday, 9 May 2013

Good Finds: MCennedy Chocolate Cookies~ Tastes just like the Famous Cookie Brand!

At least once a week, I drop by LIDL to check out the week´s new offerings and special prices.

If you are familiar with Trader Joe´s discount grocery chain in the US then you know how LIDL works. Trader Joe´s by the way, is owned by the Albrechts, the wealthy German family who also owns Aldi.


Stores of the same feather sells very similar items and fight with each other! (Aldi and Trader Joe's are owned by the same company)

In a nutshell, LIDL and Aldi are Europe´s version of Trader Joe´s.

So anyway, I bought a few packs of the Mcennedy Chocolate Cookies for this week's office snacks. I opened the first pack last Tuesday.


Mcennedy´s Packaging is very simple. No fancy presentation here.



The pack has four rows of cookies, with 3 pieces of cookies each row. So a pack contains 12 big cookies. Not bad considering that the cookies are bigger than the cookies in Chips Ahoy.

These cookies are really inexpensive! just a little over 1€ per pack.


The cookies:

Just add a glass of milk! Then dunk the choco chip cookies in the milk! Do you also do this? This is my favorite way to eat choco chip cookies! Of course, I do this only at home! :-)


Cross Section of the Choco Cookies:
Chocful of chocolates!

If you want the soft, chewy kind, well these aren't those type of cookies.These cookies are of the buttery kind just like Chips Ahoy original. In fact, At first bite, my thought was Aha! these taste just like the US Chips Ahoy! The original one in blue packaging! May I emphasize that these comes close to the US version not the Asian version. Is it just me? Why does the Chips Ahoy that's made in Asia taste different than the US made Chips Ahoy? Did they change the ingredients to cut costs and lower the prices of the goodies? There's something different with the cookie texture and I felt the chocolate chips used were a bit different.

So Anyhoo, yeps, Mcennedy is a deadringer for the US Chips Ahoy, the original US version in the blue cookie bag! It´s a bit less sweet though which is good and the Mcennedy cookie has a more pronounced vanilla undertone.

I actually loved these cookies! Cheap and Not too sweet!



In Lidl´s website, they showed the result of a 2012 blind test for Mcennedy´s chocolate chip cookies and other branded cookies and according to the results, Mcennedy came out no. 1. I can´t vouch for it being the best american style chocolate chip cookies, but I can say that it´s a pretty good cookie and for the price, this really is another great food find from Lidl!


Me and my yummy cookie!

***TLCShop offers the MCennedy Chocolate Cookies and other Lidl and ALDI Goodies. New stocks are arriving in June! To inquire about these or other LIDL goodies, you can contact TLCShop through the shop's FB account or send in an inquiry using the shop's inquiry form.

Sunday, 5 May 2013

Engelse Drop: The Yummy Liquorice

The first time I tried liquorice, it was in a box of Jelly Bellies brought home for me & my brother. Those black shiny liquorice jelly beans were the only beans I hated in the Jelly Belly assortment box. It tasted like cough syrup with a bitter aftertaste.

Liquorice never grew on me. I've tried those long licorice sticks from the US, and even with other flavors combined with the liquorice, I still could not imagine why kids and adults would enjoy chewing into something which tastes like a medicine.

I was oh so willing to steer clear of liquorice-flavored anything for the rest of my life until I was introduced to Dutch liquorice candies when I went on a trip to Holland.



L introduced me to these liquorice candies, known as Engelse Drop~ which literally means English(Engelse) Liquorice(Drop).


From reckensikoning.nl

Soft, Chewy and not rubbery at all, these liquorice candies are made of black liquorice combined with coconut fondant and different complementary flavors. Some, like the round candies covered with pink and blue nonpareils are crunchy and tastes faintly of cream soda, the black and white cubes taste of liquorice and chocolate, the orange ones tastes of creamy banana, while the pink and white cubes tastes slightly of coconut. The various flavor profiles in the big 600 gram pack, from coconutty to chocolatey and milky, makes eating these drops totally addicting. If I may make a comparison, these are like the Jelly Belly of Dutch candies.

Because I totally love these Engelse Drop myself, I have decided to offer these delicious liquorice candies in our June Sprees together with the new stocks of Lotus Cookie Butters. I promise, if like me, you have hated liquorice all your life, these Engelse Drops will change that. Guaranteed!


TLC Preorder Price for the 600 gram packs of Engelse Drop will be posted at the shop's FB account in early June, please watch out for our announcement if you're interested to try these yummy Engelse Drops!

P.S. Thank you to Lazy Lizzie for introducing me to Engelse Drops and for bringing my personal stash of these yummy candies to Spain last week!

Tungkol sa Peyups.com at Pagusulat

Gusto ko sanang sisihin ang www.peyups.com kung bakit hindi na ako nagsusulat, yung totoong sulat ha, yung tungkol sa mga opinion ko sa buhay, mga natutunan ko base sa experiences ko at ng mga taong nakapaligid sa akin. Dati-rati, mga sampung taon nang nakaraan, kapag naghahanap ako ng inspiration or push para magsulat, pumupunta lang ako sa www.peyups.com para basahin ang mga columns ng mga paborito kong columnists. Hindi ko alam bakit biglang nawala ang website na ito, marahil naging busy na ang mga founders sa kani-kanilang careers. Marahil kagaya ko rin, na pagkatapos grumaduate, naging busy na sa pagbuo ng game plan sa profession. Sayang lang, kasi isa sya sa naging paborito kong websites. Maayos ang mga forums (walang maepal, walang nagspa-spam), but more than that, it was the featured articles and the regular columns that made me come back and check the site every single day.

Oo, aaminin ko, nagsusubmit din ako ng mga feature articles sa peyups.com :-) I think naka-tatlo (o apat?) na published submissions din naman ako.

Mga tatlong taon na ring patay ang aking writing blog. Pinatay ko na sya matapos ang isang pangyayari magtatatlong taon nang nakalipas. Sinabihan ako ng isang taong nakabasa ng isa kong sulat na "You should not write something just because you feel bad about it. It can hurt other people." Mga ganyang eklavu. Nabasa kasi ng gf nya at nagiiyak yata, nasaktan sa mga pinaratang ko. Eh ang tanong, di ba may bahid naman ng katotohanan yung mga yun? At dahil sa nilabas ko ang opinyon ko sa sarili kong blog tungkol sa sama ng loob ko sa nalaman ko tungkol sa aking ama at sa gf nya, aba ako pa ang napagsabihan! Nairita ako talaga noon, wala na bang freedom of speech? Buti sana kung binabasa ng napakarami ang writing blog ko nung mga panahong iyon diba? Eh iilang malalapit na kaibigan lang naman ang nakakaalam ng blog na yun. I think yan yung point na narealize ko na, fuck it, what's the point in writing? Heto na nga lang ang one true outlet ko, i-ce-censure pa? After a few months, pinatay ko na yung blog kong yun, hindi na sya searchable and wala nang new entries.

For years, nag concentrate ako sa pagsusulat ng mga bagay na safe --tungkol sa mga bagong produktong nasubukan ko, mga kainan, mga lugar na napasyalan ko. Masaya naman, nag-eenjoy din akong magshare about the lighter things in life.

Pero may mga gusto pa rin pala akong isulat maliban sa mga masasaya at safe na product reviews, travel at food posts. May mga kwento akong gustong sabihin --tungkol sa buhay ko, sa ibang tao, or minsan mga kwentong tinahi-tahi ko mula sa mga maliliit na piraso ng iba't-ibang kwentuhan at karanasan.

Nung nasa Mallorca kami, habang nakaupo at nagmamasid sa mga taong naglalakad sa tabi ng tubig sa Cathedral La Sue, natuon ang paguusap namin ng kaibigan ko sa mga paborito naming taga-sulat sa www.peyups.com.


Sa may Cathedral La Sue sa Mallorca.

Si Caravaggio(InA Rage) ang paborito kong writer sa peyups. Maliban sa mga sulat nya at kahit di ko sya nameet personally, medyo nakilala ko kasi ang background nya kasi ang aking kasama sa trabaho noon ay isa nyang malapit na kaibigan na naging tampulan ng ilang mga posts nya. Oo, semi-stalker lang ang peg ko kay Caravaggio. Haha! Pero nakita ko sa kanya ang pwede sanang maging ako, kagaya ko, inhinyera rin kasi sya. Pero unlike me, sinubukan nyang pagsabayin ang pagsusulat at pagiging inhinyera. Nakapagdouble major sya nung college sa UP. BS ECE at BA Creative Writing. Kaya sa mundo ko, isa sya sa mga taong dapat hangaan.

Andyan din si Ronibats, ang med student na ngayon pala ay isa nang duktor. Ilang linggo pa lang namin nadiscover na pinagpatuloy nya pala ang pagsusulat sa sarili nyang site: www.ronibats.ph Minsan masakit sa loob basahin ang mga posts nya, lalo na tungkol sa mga pasyente nyang kapos sa pera, mga nahihirapang iraos ang mga karamdaman, pero hahanga ka sa batang ito sa kanyang optimism at dedikasyon sa pagiging duktor sa Pilipinas.

Ang kaibigan kong si M naman ay avid follower ni noringai, isa ring columnist na medyo about lovelife ang topics noon. Hindi ko masyadong nababasa ang mga column nya noon haha, kasi mas nakakarelate ako noon sa mga punto de vista ni Ina (Caravaggio), pero ngayon, paminsan minsan ay napapadaan ako sa kanyang personal blog: noringai.blogspot.com

Nasabi sa akin ni M na, Siguro pwede ka rin sanang nagdoctor, J? Tignan mo si Ronibats? Huwaaat?! Eh makakita lang ako ng dugo eh namumutla na ako. Natahimik ako. Ang ibig nyang sabihin, sana kung pinili ko ang propesyon na mas makakatulong sa pagsusulat ko, baka nagsusulat pa rin ako ngayon ng mas may depth. Brrr. Parang hinagisan ako ng nagyeyelong tubig. Nahimasmasan ako ng konti haha! Alam ko kasi na kahit na nagbloblog naman ako halos linggo linggo, may mga gusto akong isulat na hindi macacategorize na lifestyle post. Mga maliliit na kuro-kuro na natutunan ko o naiisip habang naglalakbay sa buhay. At sa tingin ko, hindi rin dahil sa propesyon kong pinili ang dahilan bakit nanahimik ako. Ayoko na kasing magsulat ng puro angst, ayoko na rin magsulat ng para bang pasan ko ang daigdig.

So heto, susubukan ko ulit. Mas matanda na, mas marunong nang tumantya ng tama at mali. Mas malakas na ang loob magsulat tungkol sa mga delicate topics. Hindi na ako magbubukas ng bagong blog, dito ko na rin ilalagay sa aking GWM blog ang mga senti posts ko para hindi mahirap i-maintain.

At oo, susubukan kong magsulat ng mas madalas sa Filipino. Nakakaexcite na nakakatakot, ano kayang mga bagong kwento ang mapipiga ko mula sa buhay na ito? Abangan natin. Pero sa ngayon, masaya ako na buo na ulit ang loob ko na magsulat ng mga bagay bagay beyond BB Creams, Make-ups, Pasyals o Pagkain. Hindi ko sinasabi na di sila importante, at sinisigurado ko na di ako titigil magsulat tungkol sa mga ito, aba eh kailangan natin lahat ng kasiyahan sa buhay diba? Pero susubukan ko ulit magsulat ng mas malalim, kasi para sa akin, napagtanto ko, ang pagsusulat ay isa sa mga kailangan kong gawin para maging masaya.