April 2014 Haul: Hooray for Free Stuff

This April I ate lots of chocolates courtesy of my brother (who also gave me some other free stuff) and I'm so happy and fluffy at the same time (I think I gain like a kilo from eating chocolates for a week).

My friends also gave me other stuff:  a former colleague gave me a Deep Cleansing Hand Soap from Bath & Body Works (plus candies too) as pasalubong and our friend KB also gave me a Collagen Food Supplement, sachets of Rotenyu Meguri which I thought was a scrub (it's not) and Egyptian Magic Cream which I love and so happy to receive.

I also got a cute manicure set from the local department store; SM, which surprised me when I'm already paying because it's at 50% off, passport holder to protect my unused passport (I really should book a flight soon) and a pair of slippers that is not so comfortable at first but is now a massage on my feet after a long day of walking.

And I cannot believe that I fell in love with the shirt because fruit on my tees are not my cup of tea but the mint color and the orange just go so well and I also got pants that are so comfortable and both are cheap!

And last batch of this haul consist of mochi, teas and a brow gel.  I got the Royal Family Mochi in Red Bean and Green Tea and I said to myself "these mochis will be perfect for my tea time) but it turns out that they go well with Coke too =) The teas are for me to sleep well at night but they seem to not helping me at the moment.  And lastly a brow gel from Essence to...I really don't know why I bought it :P

Thanks for reading. Till then. Bye!

I'm Back

I'm back!  I know nobody misses me but I'm back, chocnut!  Reasons for the absence?  Disappearance of a computer to use and haggardness for daily posting.  I want to do blogging on a daily basis but my chubby body can't do it.  Oh well, here's what I've been up to lately.

top photo from A Beautiful Mess
bottom photo from The Fat Kid Inside

I love sweets; cakes and pastries, so I'm trying to bake some goodies for myself and my family and started with vanilla cupcakes with buttercream frosting then cakepops.  A little modification to the  ingredients and some more tool and the two will be perfect.  As per the cooking, well my chef brother is currently not present in the house so I'll do a lot of the cooking, I'm looking some recipes in The Fat Kid Inside and Ang Sarap.

top photo from A Beautiful Mess
bottom photo from Twinings

Tea, a substitute to my coffee since coffee can't maker me sleep (I love coffee but I guess the feeling is not mutual).  It's weird at first when I drink a hot cup of tea since I'm used to cold Milk Tea and Iced Tea but I begun to love it and is now looking for different kinds of tea.

Because of the planner, I'm now spending a little more just to get a stamp.  One more to go and freedom,i mean planner will be mine. Since I'm avoiding to drink coffee (as much as possible), I tried Double Chocolate which is super chocolatey but have to drop the whip cream next time and Matcha Green Tea Swirl which I think many will not like at first.  It's like eating grass with milk but I still like it! Yummy!

Etude House Happy Teatime Cleansing Cream

So I've been to Divisoria (a place with a shopping bazaar, wet market, flea market mall, grocery store and the like all in one place) two weeks ago and since it's ~ber months, the place is already pack with shoppers and the place is a bit wetter.  So when I got home, I'm a complete mess because of the pollution and wanted to immediately wash my face.  But I kind of practice what my mom always remind me: that is to rest first before hitting the bathroom or I might get a disease called "pasma" sorry but I don't know its english counterpart.  Anyway, here's the cleansing cream that momentarily save my not so comfortable face.

Etude House Happy Teatime Cleansing Cream In Aloe Tea

simple yet classy to me

look how cute and classy the cover is, sweet!

I actually bought this out of curiosity.  I just wanted to try and know the effect of a cleansing cream.  Anyway, in the events like the above scenario or when I'm using BB cream, I use this the normal way.

Cleansing Cream's creamy texture contains Aloe extract to remove dirt and makeup while keeping skin moisturized with the pleasant fragrance of tea.
Directions:  Apply cream to all areas of the face.  Massage thoroughly and wipe clean with cleansing tissues or rinse with warm water to remove excess.

and here's the nasty dirt from my face

But on my ordinary days, I'm using this as a wash off facial mask and massage.  I apply, spread all over my face then let the product settle for about 20 seconds.  Then with the help of facial scrub pad, I massage my face in a circular motion.  Then after about a minute of scrubbing and massaging, I wash my face with foam cleanser then rinse.  Sometimes I wash with cleansing foam first followed by this cleansing cream if I'm lazy to put moisturizer or I'm already dead tired and just wanted to immediately hit the bed because this cleansing cream is really moisturizing.

and here's the cream

The smell reminds me of the jasmine shrubs that I cut back in the province when I'm still a kid, a little flowery yet refreshing.  I can't really distinguish the aloe from the tea but the smell is pleasant and not irritating to the nose.

As much as possible don't let this product get close to your eyes because it can make your eyesight a little blurry but don't panic if it happens.  Just wash with water, wait for a minute and your vision should go back to normal.

Overall, I can live without this but I really like the instant freshness it gives so I'll enjoy this cleansing cream's company while it's still in the market (I think soon, this will be discontinued like it's foam cleanser counterpart).

Thanks for reading.  Till then.  Bye!