The BEST Health and BEAUTY SECRETS I’ve learned over the years!

I am not a beauty guru but I try my best to take care of myself, over the years I have tried and tested beauty routines that worked and failed for me, today let me share my best kept BEAUTY SECRETS that worked for me. Some are just simple tips you can follow but will make a huge difference in your whole beauty routine: 

1. This is a simple but often neglected step in skin care.. Wash your hands thoroughly before washing your face! Imagine having dirty hands and then washing your face, then you’d be rubbing the dirt from your hands all over your face. This would be defeating the purpose of you wanting to clean your face.

I use any basic soap for hand washing but I've been accustomed to the classic antibacterial Safeguard soap so I stick to that, the white one seems to be the best :)

2. The FIRST step to cleansing your face is… to brush your teeth FIRST!! This should be done first so as to avoid toothpaste or mouth wash from settling down your chin or mixing with your serum and moisturizer. This trick I learned the hard way as there was a time I wondered why I got pimples on my chin and not on my face!! After I made sure to brush my teeth first all my chin pimples went away!!

My teeth cleaning essentials: I've been using this ALL NATURAL  powder toothpaste from ILOG MARIA that a friend of mine gave me and its the best! Its minty, refreshing and I've noticed my teeth are whiter than before! Will do a separate blog post on this soon :)

3. Don’t over pluck your eyebrows! This major beauty advice I learned from my mom, she made sure my sisters and I never overplucked our eyebrows growing up. She would say think and look at Bella Flores…even in cartoons the bad witch always had the super thin brows while the Princesses had full bushy youthful brows! When in doubt, leave the plucking to a professional.

I got this picture off the internet.. you can really see how Keira Knightley looks so much youthful when she has bushy eyebrows than when she has super thin brows :) 

Case in point.. the picture on the left is me eleven years ago and I haven't touched my eyebrows in a major way since then.. I just pluck out the "misplaced" ones and so far I still look "fairly" the same I think :)

Fashion Week 2: A Week's worth of outfits by the Mid30smom :)

Over the past few months I've been taking pictures of my daily outfits on Instagram, it's a new hobby which inspire me to dress up for my day to day activities as well as special occasions .
I'm reposting them here at my blog so I can delete them from my phone. :) these pictures were taken at my sons playroom. Why there?? Because the only time I can take selfies are when my husband is in the bathroom getting ready too and when the kids are either getting dressed or eating :)

MID30sMOM NOTE: I intentionally don't mention the brands or where I got my clothes and accessories because I encourage all moms out there to buy their clothes based on their personal styles and wants and to not be dictated by brands and labels :)
But If you want to ask where I got something and what brand whatever it is I'm wearing I'd be more than happy to share, just post comments and questions below if ever :)

WATCH REVIEW: The watch that improved my well-being! :)

This review is 5 years delayed! I bought my first ever Philip Stein watch shortly after I gave birth to Miguel back in 2008. I wasn't able to wear it that much because I got pre-occupied with a new baby and all the changes going on in my life. That was also about the same time I was setting up TINY TOTS so days eventually turned into months, and months turned into years. I would wear it at least once or twice a month and then keep it again.

Recently I've had the urge to give its TESLAR Technology a try since that was the main reason I bought it, aside from the fact that for me its a classic piece that looked really good because I love big watches. I fell in love with its dual time zone dial and the window in the back part of the watch offering a glimpse of the company’s Frequency Technology, and the watch straps that I could easily change according to my mood.
 

 My 5 year-old Philip Stein watch!

What makes the Philip Stein watch different from all the the other watch brands is that it has Multiple Frequency Technology (MFT) chips that succeeds the Teslar Chip. It produces an electromagnetic field that pulses against your wrist seven to nine times per second, mimicking the signals sent by the brain when you're in a state of calm or high athletic performance.
All of the Philip Stein Watches contain a metal disk which has been infused with a combination of natural frequencies which help to reset the body to its ideal Harmonic Resonance Frequency.

 The back part of the watch, apparently this is where all the feel good ions are coming from :)

So I could test for myself if all of these statements are real, I wore my Philip Stein watch everyday for about two months, sometimes I'd wear it even when I'm asleep but most of the times I remove it before I go to sleep and wear it right after I took a bath in the morning.

THE VERDICT:
I did feel some form of tension relief, increased energy and more restful sleep the past weeks, I was somewhat calmer and my chronic low back pain seemed to have lessened. ALL these from wearing a watch??? I guess so, since I've been  achieving more the past weeks and feeling better overall.. maybe it really is the FEEL GOOD watch! :)

DRAWBACKS:
There are only two drawbacks to my owning a Philip Stein watch, the first is that since its battery operated I've had the batteries changed four separate times in the five years that I've had it. Because of its dual time/watch feature each watch has its own battery and they die at different times so there were times that only the top watch was working while the lower watch was dead and vice versa.

The next drawback would be the quality of the leather straps, when I bought it the black leather strap came with the watch and you can choose another one for free, so i got the beige leather strap as my spare. I was thinking that I wanted to get the basic colors first before I moved on to more colorful straps. The quality of the leather isn't too good and they tend to turn brittle over time, which means I would have to buy new straps soon! :(

Dinner at Sofitel's revamped Spiral Restaurant :)

Earlier this week our family had the chance to dine at the revamped Sofitel Spiral Restaurant which reopened last November after their rumored P500 million renovation which they spent for the extensive repairs that had to be done after waist-deep floods from typhoon Pedring ruined the restaurant.

The last time we ate there was around two years ago and to quote my cousin Pat, they have truly "leveled up" the dining experience. The restaurant now offers 21 food stations that they call dining ateliers. These stations give diners a wide range of cuisines and cooked food  to feast on, whether it’s xiao long bao or chicken tandoori, foie gras or tom yum and sea weed soup, or Gruyere, Brie cheese, assorted wine  and lots of hams and appetizers to choose from.

They even have their own cheese room with so many fine cheeses to choose from along with the world's best hams, we especially loved the Serrano Ham!  What I loved most about their spread is that its a la minute buffet. Everything is done before you and not cooked beforehand, all you have to do is ask any chef at any given station and they will cook anything you want on the spot. They even have a meat storage you can open and choose from, almost everything you want to eat they can make for you.

The dessert station was also something to look forward to from the halo halo station to the crepe made on the spot and their famous special ice cream with loads of flavors and toppings to choose from. They also had three giant chocolate fountains, fresh fruits cut on the spot as well as freshly made truffles and all the gummy candies you can ever imagine. My sweet tooth definitely had a great time!!   

The wonderful dining experience comes with a hefty price of course at P2,800++ per head, but its ok to live it up once in awhile and enjoy life, good food, fine dining ambiance as well as great company.

With our cousin Beth, Mama and my sister Maita

With Yay and Beth and my sister again :)

Another picture with Yay and Gilbert :)

At our table :)

The dessert spread: Halo halo station and fresh fruits :)

The had a separate room for their cheese and ham collection :)

The three chocolate fountains :)

Thai cooking station :)

Indian cooking Station :)

Japanese Cooking Station :)

Seafood Station :)

Salad Station

Steak / Meat Station :)

My dessert plate!! Yum!! :)

We asked for Oysters made ala Rockefeller :)

Their special ICE CREAM :)

Meat Storage

Chinese Station

Soup Station

 

What I wore that night.. finally got to wear my sparkly skirt! :) 

The Best Eye Cream I've Tried so Far!!

I've tried a lot of eye creams!! I read somewhere that at age 20 it's best to start using eye cream to help minimize and prevent wrinkles and fine lines to form around the eye area which is often the driest part of the face. So that's what I did, I've been using eye creams for quite awhile and I've never been faithful to any single brand since I feel I haven't found the best one yet. Believe me I've tried them all from high end to low end brands and the search continues up until now. Lately at our household we've been trying our best to go green, so I decided to give Burt's Bees Radiance Eye Cream a try! They claimed its made of 98.2% all organic ingredients.

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION: Royal Jelly, one of nature's most nourishing substances, and bee pollen naturally replenish and renew your skin's essential nutrients, restoring a smooth, youthful appearance. This highly-concentrated formula also contains chamomile, cucumber and rosehip extracts, which are known to promote skin renewal and reduce puffiness and swelling. Natural mica diffuses light to minimize the look of fine lines.

I use the Radiance Eye Cream morning and night. What I love about this cream is you need very little of it and it truly performs! It sinks in quickly and yet has staying power. I've noticed a brightness around my eye area and the puffiness and lines decreased dramatically. I've been using it for two months and I'm satisfied with the results and every time I use it I still feel the minty relaxing tingly after effect that refreshes my under eye skin. I'm in love with this product!

Fashion Week: A week's worth of outfits by the Mid30smom :)

Over the past few months I've been taking pictures of my daily outfits on Instagram, it's a new hobby which inspire me to dress up for my day to day activities as well as special occasions .
I'm reposting them here at my blog so I can delete them from my phone. :) these pictures were taken at my sons playroom. Why there?? Because the only time I can take selfies are when my husband is in the bathroom getting ready too and when the kids are either getting dressed or eating :)

MID30sMOM NOTE: I intentionally don't mention the brands or where I got my clothes and accessories because I encourage all moms out there to buy their clothes based on their personal styles and wants and to not be dictated by brands and labels :)
But If you want to ask where I got something and what brand whatever it is I'm wearing I'd be more than happy to share, just post comments and questions below if ever :)

MID30sMOM TIP: Baby Potatoes versus Regular Potatoes

I've made a recent discovery! Baby potatoes are yummy! I don't usually cook but I do all the grocery shopping and the day to day menu planning at home. Once when we needed to buy regular potatoes the nearby grocery didn't have any but they had baby potatoes so I bought a bag and told our cook to use that instead. I asked her to just wash the baby potatoes thoroughly and don't remove the skin and use them as if they're regular cut big potatoes. It turns out they are yummier than regular potatoes and I think they are healthier too since you get to eat the skin. The kids love it because they feel they are eating crunchy marbles. Its been months since I bought regular sized potatoes and its working for us. What's best is we get to save too since baby potatoes are much cheaper than the regular potatoes :) try it you might love them too!

Regular Chicken Afritada with baby potatoes instead of the usual cut regular potatoes :)

I bought this bag of baby potatoes for just P19.50!!

Try baby potatoes stir fried in butter add onion chives, bacon bits and top with melted cheese, healthy and so yummy!! You can add sour cream if you want it to be a bit creamier and tangier! :)

I took an online IQ Test and was shocked!!

Online IQ Test

According to the test I'm a genius! I'm still sick today, it's been three days and I am bored bored bored at home! I took IQ tests online and I am posting my highest score of course hehe! Try it its fun but tiring... I need to go back to sleep now, all the thinking made my head hurt! :)

How I wore the same dress from AM to PM :)

It was a lazy rainy Sunday but we had two occasions lined up for the day. I decided to wear the same dress from our afternoon party to our semi formal dinner party. Check out the pictures below to see how I got away with it! :)

For the AM event: I wore my basic black dress with red and navy blue belt, simple accessories, and red and navy flat shoes

For the dinner party: I wore the same dress, put my hair up in a bun, changed my belt into something with shimmer and gold details, used a clutch bag, added gold accessories and champagne pearls, them finished it off with sky high beige heels :)

My top 4 MAC lipstick picks!!

Finding the perfect shades of lipstick is like finding your best friends, there will be plenty of acquaintances but only a precious few will be lifelong friends.

For MAC I feel I've found my four best shades, but first let me give you a background on my lipstick knowledge. I've only started using lipsticks since 2011, and even then I used them sparingly as I was happy just using lip gloss from Kiehls, Bobbi Brown and this Aussie brand named Bloom. I felt lipstick was meant for sophisticated women and that I wouldn't look good wearing all that stuff on my lips. But I was so wrong, the first ever lipstick that I really used was from MAC. A friend gave me Hot Tahiti, I dabbed a little of it on my lips the first time I tried it on because it looked shockingly dark in the tube but I was surprised to discover that the finished color payout was a soft romantic Red not too shocking but just the right Red. The color my lips would be after I ate something real cold and refreshing!

From then on I was hooked!! I've then acquired a mini-collection if lipsticks even from other makeup brands which I hope to feature here soon.

Finding the best meant I also bought a few that didn't work for me, either I looked like a corpse or I looked like the Asian version of Nikki Minaj,but its all good the thrill of the hunt made it fun.

Below are the pictures and swatches of my top 4 MAC lipsticks!

MID30SMOM Note: For reference I'm a MAC NC25 and cool toned. I am also not into matte and shimmery formulas so I often stick with creme and semi glossy finishes :)

From L-R: Hot Tahiti in Glaze Formula, Craving in Amplified Creme, Creme in your Coffee in Cremesheen and Lustering in Lustre

From L-R: Hot Tahiti in Glaze Formula, Craving in Amplified Creme, Creme in your Coffee in Cremesheen and Lustering in Lustre

Swatches of the lipsticks swiped twice :) see how lovely they all are :) I'd love to provide you pictures of me wearing these four fab shades but I have yet the courage to take pics of my own lips then post them here.. Maybe next time! :)

If ever you decide to purchase a MAC lipstick I'd recommend you visit their stores and try as many shades as you want then narrow down your choices and choose the best one you like. Don't get pressured to buy at once they have testers for us to test and test all we want! Good luck in finding the best shade for you, do let me know if you find something you love so I can try it out too!!

TEN things I learned as a parent of TWO!

I've been a mother of two boys for only five short years and I know Veegee and I still have a very long way to go when it comes to bringing up the kids. So far I've learned a few things about parenting and I'd like to share my top ten things to know when raising children.

NUMBER 10. Never shave your baby's head, they say shaving a baby's head make their hair grow back thicker and faster. That's totally true but nobody mentioned that it will grow back curlier and coarser too which means you can say goodbye to the soft baby texture of the original hair they came out with. We never shaved Miguel's hair off at the advice of my Uncle who is a doctor and had three sons.. he said all the hair will eventually come and so it did. We totally love and enjoyed his long soft straight hair and we did the same routine all over again with Jaime. BUT..
Do CAREFULLY cut your baby's lashes as close to the roots as you can, once if you have a boy, twice if you have a baby girl, the best time to do this is when they reach around two months then around six months, after which don't touch their lashes anymore as it will not grow back as fast as it did on the first few months of their life :)

Miguel when he was one-year-old and when he was two, we never touched his hair! Now at 5 years old his hair is still soft :) 

Jaime at 10 months and still semi-bald, by two-years-old his hair became thick and long and still baby soft! :) 

NUMBER 9. Sometime its best to buy clothes for your kids that fit well and not always say that they will eventually grow into them...being in the baby apparel business this is one thing I've learned: try as much as you can to buy clothes that generally fit well and not always buy big sized clothes thinking that kids grow up fast anyway. Always doing this will make you end up with tired looking loose clothing that never caught up with your kids. Then your kids will look like they borrowed their clothes, their shirts will always fall off, the neckline would be too loose, and their pants will look like long "tokong" shorts that fit terribly. Then to top it all off their "baggy" look will be forever immortalized in pictures where in the future they will see how they looked and how they eventually never fit into the clothes that we bought for them.

My boys! I make it a point they wear clothes that fit and are not too loose or baggy :)

NUMBER 8. Never unnecessarily expose your kids to direct sunlight, at this stage they still have very young skin and they easily darken, once their skin shade goes up a few notches you can never take it back. Gone are the days when kids were allowed to stay as long as they wanted under the sun.. these days sun protection is a must!

NUMBER 7. Your child will turn out to be who you are now... I believe that children learn by example and not by long lectures and talks, its as simple as setting a good example and then hoping that your kids pick up on all the good things that you do.

NUMBER 6. Expose your child to all kinds of people let them mingle and talk to as many types of people as they can. Teach them to respect all types of people in all walks of life. I remember having a classmate way back, she used a different tone of voice when she spoke to their household help and she had a different tone of voice when she talked to us, I realized how tiring that could be having to adjust my tone and personality depending on who I'm talking to. Wouldn't it be easier to just be plain nice to everyone.

NUMBER 5 Let your children make mistakes and praise them as many times as you can for all the good things they do. Let them touch things,smell things, experience things and go about their own way.

My boys insist this is the correct way to use a swing! :) We know someday they will figure it out!

NUMBER 4. Be as child-like as much as you can because your kids will love seeing you go crazy sometimes.. for me these are the memories I hold dear when we played and danced with our kids like we were kids too.. doing this will look terrible when we turn 50 something but its cute now that we are still in our 30's

Having a tickle fight with my boys before we sleep!! I seem to be the one losing!! :)

NUMBER 3.Treasure every moment and spend as much time as you can with your kids. Be there to witness as much of all the "firsts" as it will never happen again the same way it happened the first time. It is for this reason that Veegee and I are firm believers in letting our children sleep with us, we can have as much couple time as we want when the kids are all grown up, but for now its best we enjoy every moment we can with them while they are still young. On the flip side its also good to spend total couple time at least a few hours a week with just your husband then go back to enjoying the kids 100% of the time.

NUMBER 2.Breastfeeding is the best gift you can give your child. I can never stress this enough, the benefits that a baby and a mother receive from breastfeeding are limitless. It makes a huge and positive difference on a child's present and future health. While breastfeeding the bonding time and one on one time spent with your baby is priceless, according to my experience the eyes of a breastfed baby are much clearer and happier compared to formula-fed babies.

Breastfeeding Miguel in the car, he was around six-months-old here :) Breastfed babies are happier and healthier babies!

I had the pleasure of breastfeeding both my boys! :) This is Jaime at 7 months!

NUMBER 1. Parents are guardians not dictators.. we are here to guide them and provide for them, I hope never to impose anything upon my children as this breeds resentment, hate and blame. For me my role as a parent is to be there for them at all times and to help them make important decisions for themselves.

We still have a very long way to go but for now these are some of the things I've learned from being a newbie parent of two boys :)