For the sake of both vanity and sheer necessity, I’ve finally given in and took a visit to a dermatologist to address the following woes that’s been afflicting my skin for the past few years…

(1) Rashes or pimples that are prevalent in my upper arms. It makes wearing sleeveless difficult and embarrassing, and frankly acne, a lot of acne mind you, anywhere in the body can be a concern. I’ve had them as long as I can remember but I’ve been noting that the skin was getting inflamed and the pimples were frankly spreading as far as my elbow. This includes rashes that appeared on my feet that causes my skin to start peeling, some sort of skin asthma apparently. Both are genetic apparently and was told that no amount of alcohol or cleaning would have prevented it from happening. Treatment including medication are roughly around Php 4k.

(2) A mole on my right leg that has been growing. I’ve taken cared of two previous “moles” or some kind of cysts under the skin in 2005 back in Singapore. I would have taken this one out but it wasn’t that big back then. But I had been warned by my cosmetic surgeon there to have it taken out once it starts growing. Given my family history of cancer, and the fact that the last cyst samples were showing signs of things horrible for me in the future, it was better to be safe than sorry. Sure I’ll be getting a nasty scar but if torn between the choice of (a) having a permanent scar or (b) possibly developing skin cancer, I prefer to pick “a” thank you very much.

Thankfully, this kind of treatment isn’t very expensive. My medicard covered for the incision and histography of the sample. The rest I had to pay, roughly around Php 2k which included professional fees and anesthesia.

(3) Excessive sweaty underarms. God, help me. I sweat like a pig even under the aircon, and I got tired of buying pads to line the underarms of my tshirts, not to mention the smell. Jesus. No amount of showering and Rexona was going to help. So hello Botox.The first time I’ve heard of Botox was for excessive sweating, not for wrinkles and stuff like that. Honestly, a Botoxed face is scary. It looks so unnatural, like they just stepped out of a wax museum.

50 points (or injections) was done on each underarm, bringing it to total of 100 points. My dermatologist explained that this was a conservative number she has seen that works with most asian women. American doctors apparently use 100 points per underarm and given how much Botox costs, the less points used the better. It’s been two weeks and it’s been great so far.

Overall, the treatment roughly cost Php 25-27k. Ouch. I’m taking this off the profits of what was left of the money used to buy my car. The entire treatment was relatively painless as the dermatologist was very particular in the comfort of her own patients. The less pain the better. There’s also the peace of mind that since her clinic was inside the hospital, I was reassured that she was a real doctor and not some wannabe dermatologist with questionable backgrounds.

My trip to the dermatologist overall was a pleasant experience. Staff is courteous, the doctor was professional and she didn’t start selling me everything under the sun. She explained to me what I have, and the realities to expect regarding my treatment. She has the no non-sense attitude and frankness, that I like to hear from most doctors. She won’t waste my time with small talk or brag about the clients that visit her clinic. Instead she’ll tell me what’s wrong with my skin, tell me what are the options of treatment, how to take care of my skin and is very upfront of the costing.

If anybody is interested in visiting a real dermatologist at work, I’d suggest you visit her:

Elsie P. Floreza, MD, MSc
Makati Medical Center
Rm 362-A circular
Tel: 888-8999 loc. 7324
Tues-Fri,: 3:30pm – 6:00pm

Next time, I will be talking about my trip to find the best way to rebond my anime hair. Hopefully I’ll have pics uploaded.

February again and my birthday has just passed me by. I’ve just turned 27, a good number as any, last February 12 and decided to actually go shopping for myself with my beloved’s help.

My first purchase was practical enough. I was looking for a new pore minimizer. My previous pore minimizer did an average job and I was willing to invest on something good. So I dropped by Rustans to have a look-see and found Estèe Lauder. Now I wanted to try Clarins but their staff wasn’t exactly helpful. They were not rude, just passive and given my lack of knowledge in all things cosmetic (learned late in life) I went to the Estèe Lauder kiosk and was assisted by very helpful ladies who had no qualms actually putting stuff on my skin to let me see for myself the results, while explaining what it does, how to use it, when to use it.

Impressed at actually seeing visible results, I rang up Estèe Lauder’s Idealist which cost me around Php 2,000 (double Clarin’s price).

And while I was at the counter I noticed that they were also selling the introductory pack for Estèe Lauder’s Nutritious set. Curious I decided to give it a go. I was running out of my usual face toiletries and since I don’t invest on make-up anyway since I work at home, I decided to put my money on skin products instead.

The pack consists of a tiny travel size version of the cleanser, toner, moisturizer and a full size Vita-Mineral Essence (which I understood does is to prep the skin to better absorb the moisturizer and other creams). The entire kit cost me around Php 2,800.

When I rang up the purchase, they also gave me some make-up freebies and a cute make-up bag to go along with it. This would explain why my mother had a ton of tiny random Estèe Lauder stuff to bring with her in her travel kit.

Now I’ve been using it for a week and even my boyfriend could see the difference. Apparently I do have fine lines under my eyes *gasps of horror and a voice shrieking inside me in panic* have magically disappeared. Of course I had to see these ‘fine lines’ for myself and later that evening after washing, I did notice some fine lines. How I didn’t notice this before goes to show how I can be oblivious. Gah.

But over all, I’m pleased as a peach regarding their product. The fine lines have visibly reduced after more using and hopefully would go away. I’m most likely going to enroll on Rustans’ point card and will eventually visit Estèe Lauder’s kiosk again soon.

My second purchase I bought last Friday, was a new PSP Lite in lavender while my boyfriend was treating me out to gastronomical delights in Virramall/Shopesville (Le Ching I lurve you and damn you Virramall for taking away Maxims and replacing it with crap so horrible, I may never forgive you for it). I consider it my second baby (my first baby is my laptop), going out of my way to buy a nice lavender cloth to wipe it, and will look for some chic dangly charms on it next weekend.

EYO has fantastic services and affordable packages. We looked through the entire Greenhills district trying to get a good PSP package and nothing comes close. If you’re looking for a PSP this is the place to go.

In fact I’ll be visiting their store this weekend along with my visit to Shuji Kida Salon to book an appointment. My hair is a horrid, tangled mess. I look like a 90’s anime reject. I go to a parlor only once or twice a year for my rebond and I’d like to make sure it is worth the trip. I’ll probably cover what happens to that on my next beauty blog report.

Now before I begin I will begin listing my litany of excuses for not updating:

(1) My dad was recently diagnosed and treated of Stage 0 cancer they detected on the polyp on his large intestine. He has undergone elective but major surgery and is now doing well. The results of his biopsy are clean: no trace of cancer anywhere. There is no need of chemotherapy and radiation.

(2) I was learning how to cook new dishes…chicken in gata, sarciadong isda, sinigang na baboy, oriental chicken and other things.

(3) I discovered Sango (the best burgers evar) and the Japanese co-op beside it that sells Japanese grocery items at Php 68 bucks. Now I don’t have to torture my pocket in visiting Sakura. All of which are available at Mile Long Creekside right beside the Pharaoh club.

(4) Watched a hell lot of anime. There’s only so much I could do when I was waiting my dad recover in the hospital. (^^);;

(5) My half-sis just arrived from the US on a ’surprise’ visit. It was’nt much of a surprise when everyone pretty much told me when she was arriving. My dad and my aunts are lousy in keeping secrets much to my sis’ dismay. We had fun, we ate out and we shopped a lot.

Which leads to my latest post.

Since my sister Pam was only here for only a few days, she was forced to a great deal of lunch and shopping invitations. One of those invitations involved me and two aunts who lived in the far south, in a place called Sucat, Parañaque.

Once there we were treated to series of interesting small shops along BF Homes. The first one of which was a shoe store called Step-Rite. From there I was treated to two pairs of sandals that cost me less than Php 500 bucks each pair. In fact one pair cost me Php 190 and the other cost me around Php 490, not even reaching Php 1,000 bucks.

The sandals were of good quality and very sexy–absolutely perfect for the days I feel like being sexy and girly. The store surprisingly enough carried big sizes. Most small shoe stores won’t bother with anything bigger than a size 7, catering to the tinier, malnourished forms of most Pinays. See my new shoe darlings here and here.

Step-Rite can be found along Aguirre St., BF Homes, Parañaque City (tel #: 842-9303)

The second store we visited in Sucat, was not a shoe store, but a rather gorgeous and fantastic bead shop where I was treated to a matching set of indian inspired beaded bracelet and necklace worth Php 1,500 total (much thanks to my tita for buying them for me). I’ll post pics and details next time.

My second shoe discovery was found closer to home, particularly Glorietta’s Shoe Salon–the name of the shoe store alone raises much protest on my poor wallet, as compared to previous store, a pair of shoes bought at the Shoe Salon would equivalent to five to seven pairs of shoes at Step-Rite.

However there are some things that my wallet would just have to swallow and take it like a man.

God, that just sounded wrong.

Anyway, I’m here to talk about my latest foot purchase from Sanuk. The story began when I limped around Glorietta in the latest torture equipment developed by the inquisitors of the Spanish Inquisition. My boyfriend taking pity on me and my blistered feet, suggested a visit to the Shoe Salon. I’ve been combing for hardy shoes with the comfort of flip-flops for several weeks to no avail, especially when the rainy season started and my current tatami tsinelas, were getting too dangerous to wear on the slick sidewalks. I was so desperate I almost succumbed to buying those horrid Brazilian tsinelas that are so the rage right now.

I don’t care who made it or what it is, it’s still friggin’ tsinelas, and i’m not paying Php 1000 bucks for something I can get for a quarter of that amount without much noticeable difference.

Then I discovered Sanuk…actually it was my boyfriend who pointed them out. I tried out a pair, and my god, my feet were praising the heavens above. It was like wearing moccasins, only better. I tend to have sweaty feet particularly when it gets humid, but my feet were kept surprisingly dry and presko (fresh). The sole was comfortable enough and it endured my shopping trips and my walks with much comfort. Not even my branded pink ballet flat style sneakers were as comfortable.

Here’s a picture of my latest Sanuk “sandals/shoes” here.

The only downside is that it’s rather expensive, hitting me for about Php 2,300 more or less, but I was so happy with it that I dragged my dad the next day to buy him a pair as a belated birthday gift. He’s very happy with his pair and happily wears it during the weekend. He’s got sweaty feet like I do and at his age, he’s been looking for something comfortable and yet wearable without feeling too under dressed–and like me he has no intention of wearing tsinelas even if they’re made in Brazil or something. Sanuk satisfies both his needs and uses it almost exclusively when he’s not in the office.

Just a warning that men’s shoes tend to be a tad more expensive than the womens, my dad’s pair hit me for almost Php 2,900 plus.

For more info and see some of their new stuff, visit Sanuk’s website here.