April Fool's Day prank: The "magic potion" that will turn into treasure

I'm planning to stay away from social media today, just because I expect that a lot of people will be trying to post something outrageous in the spirit of April Fool's. Sadly, I don't know a lot of witty boys and girls so for the most part, these pranks are going to be mostly lame (i.e.I'm pregnant! joke, hahaha).

I have, however, been plotting a prank of my own for the Wonder Boy (WB), to start off something which I hope will be a playful tradition between us for the years to come. Earlier today, I've arranged for him to anonymously receive a package containing a vial of "magic" potion, and a set of simple instructions which he can read and follow all by himself. Long story short, he'll have to pour the potion into a bowl and then take a nap to 'activate' the magic that will turn the potion into treasure.

Between you and me, the potion is simply some diluted food coloring and the treasure will turn out to be a bowlful of candy, chocolates and small toys. The best part is that when he gets a bit older, he'll figure it out eventually-- and hopefully it'll turn into a fond childhood memory down the road.

Do you have any loving traditions-- April Fool's or otherwise -- that you've started for your kids?

Away from the Madding Crowds: The Perfect Weekend at Nagsasa Cove, Zambales

I hate travelling but somehow, I found myself heading out of the city once or twice a year ever since I had a kid. As much as possible, I've limited the stress by scheduling hotel staycations more often than not, or by travelling with other family members. As it so happens, my son has been bugging me for a swimming trip ever since last year and while I've managed to fob him off with swimming lessons and the odd hotel stay or two, he's been craving for a real beach camping experience. And we found that in Nagsasa Cove, Zambales.

Breathtaking

I've been driving myself crazy figuring out how to pull this off when luckily, my google searchings led me this blog which shared an awesome, hassle-free beach camping experience via the Gone Wild Campers (GWC) group. For a flat fee per head, they'll take care of van transportation to and from Manila-Nagsasa Cove, pack everything you need AND fix the food for you. The last is especially important; I didn't want to go all the way to the idyllic paradise that was Nagsasa Cove only to subsist on canned food. I read the travel guide they had up at their website, verified that all I needed to do was to basically just show up, and proceeded to get all excited and feel very adventurous.

There are already a lot of blogs detailing the beauty and the simplicity that is Nagsasa: no electricity, no cellphone signals, and no other way in or out of the island except via the boats or the mountain hiking trail so I would leave it at that. However, let me just give you a quick Kikay Mom rundown on this trip.

Is it doable with a small child?

Yes, very, especially since we went via private van which drove us directly at the Pundakit jump-off point where you take a 45-minute boat ride to get to the cove itself. If you were doing this DIY, you would normally take a bus to get to Iba, Zambales and then ride a jeep and a tricycle to actually get to the shore where the boats for hire are docked. I didn't need to deal directly with the boatmen since everything was taken care of in true GWC style but I have read that a boat which could fit 10-15 people goes for P1500 to P2500 depending on negotiations.

This is in Pundakit. Pundakit in itself is quite a popular beach spot, with its share of tourists and cheap lodging areas. Surfing is definitely doable, as you can see, because of the waves but at the risk of sounding like a snob, it's not for me. Why bother to go out of the city only to end up with the crowds, the grime, and the noise?

I would, however, strongly recommend that you bring a quality child-sized jacket just because the ones provided on the boats are ill-fitting, not to mention a bit weathered. The route between Pundakit and Nagsasa Cove is not really that isolated so even if the boat should somehow capsize (not that I've heard of any incidents recently) you can probably be rescued within minutes but you want to make sure that your kid can keep safely afloat. I'll sound a bit preachy here, but travelling with kids is a lot of responsibility and it pays to err on the side of caution.

This is towards the front of the camping areas. See the pine-like agoho trees? 

Is the food good?

It definitely was; for me, beach food is grilled food and we had our fill in the two days that we were in Nagsasa. Definitely no complaints on that score, especially since I didn't lift a finger to prepare any of it. We even had an evening bonfire with marshmallows and chocolates, which the Wonder Boy definitely loved.

These boys kept us well-fed for two days.

Sleeping in a tent, even without pillows or mattresses, was surprisingly comfortable because the sand was fine and not pebbly. It was a bit like sinking into a memory foam cushion that didn't spring back up. We just used a sarong for a sheet, and another one for a blanket and we had a perfectly good nights' rest.

No matter how careful you are, sand WILL get inside your tent. The GWC boys showed me how to de-sand the inside of the tent (it involves going inside the tent and putting it on its side) and when I did it, the other tour mates thought our tent was being carried off in the wind and hurried over to rescue me.

Here's me (I'm the one holding a coffee cup) with some of the tour mates. Since it was just me, my kid and little sister, we were joiners on this tour. These guys are from JP Morgan and Chase, out on a team bonding weekend. I didn't really mind being on this trip with them although we were, for all practical purposes, the 'outsiders' because they were so friendly and welcoming especially with the Wonder Boy.

So what's there to see in Nagsasa? Since our campsite was basically in the middle, to the right lay the mountain trail (which was sadly closed for visitors during our stay) and the picturesque rocky area of the beach. 

To the left lies the river, and since it was summer, the water was not as high as it could be. It did reach up to the waist after the far bend though. My boy was all about playing in the waves and digging in the sand so we didn't really stay that much on the river side.

I don't have any pictures of the bathrooms but it was decent enough. They were concrete and tile enclosures with a toilet bowl and running water but that's it. You'll have to hang your towel on makeshift bamboo rods and bring a candle or a flashlight at night.

Nagsasa Cove is beautiful, no doubt about it, but I can already see it being slowly ruined by irresponsible travellers. All along the beach are cigarette butts and plastic packs of junk food, discarded bottles and other trash. When my kid and sister woke up early in the morning, we headed over to the rocky beach area to bum around before lunch and on the 10-minute walk there, we collected a big bag of trash by just picking up whatever was right in front of us. It's sad how idiotic people are sometimes.

See this wide expanse of beach that we had all to ourselves? I expect it will change in April and May and we are definitely glad to have gone before then.

We definitely want to come back to Nagsasa Cove. Other than the trash, there is just beauty everywhere. And at night, there are no city lights so you get to lie down on the beach and gaze at the stars, if that's your thing. I did that with my kid for about five minutes, then we went back inside the tent and I pulled out my Kobo while he played with his iPad until he feel asleep.

Mom leaves twins in hot car for 39 minutes while she shops at a beauty store --

Okay, so this is a rant-ish post. I came upon this article which reports how a mom of 3 1/2 year old twins (very very close to my own boy's age!) left her children strapped inside the car for almost 40 minutes while she did a beauty run at Ulta. I mean, even if you lost your entire make-up stash, is that really such a dire emergency? And setting aside the fact that a lot of children had died from dehydration and metabolic imbalance because of the extreme heat that can build up inside the car once you turn the air conditioning off, what about the greater concern of security? Any stranger can break in and harm or steal your kids while you are gone.

The children have been rescued by child services and the mom arrested. And I hope other moms know better than this.

I ♥ Philippine Drugstore Makeup Tag (and a lot of blah-blah on why I buy high-end makeup)

Maica over at PinayBeautyinaBudget tagged me in this series months and months ago! I've been owing her this response for ages, and it feels good to finally get around to it. First of all, I found it difficult to answer because she specified that the products I have to answer will have to be local drugstore brands, and I don't have much experience with those for several reasons.

Okay, here's where I warn you that the blah-blah starts here. If you would rather, just scroll down to the actual questions-- I won't mind.

First, I'm a self-confessed makeup snob. I would rather have one Guerlain lipstick than ten Wet n' Wild ones just because makeup is my indulgence. I don't shop really horde clothes or shoes anymore like I did when I was younger because I'm trying to keep my life and my closet as simple as possible. I don't get to wear makeup everyday (I say this a lot on this blog, no?), so on the few occasions that I do, I really long for a more luxe experience. 

Second, I do most of my beauty shopping online, or from trusty direct sellers from Avon, Mary Kay, etc. Whenever I go to the mall, I take my little boy with me (sans yaya!) and it takes a lot of things to go right before I can have time to loiter at a local beauty counter. I never really stay long enough to get tempted by an impulse purchase! And well, online sellers mostly carry non-local drugstore brands e. 

Third, I usually check reviews and blogs before I buy something-- and search engines usually point to non-local brands. Which is why this tag is a really good idea, IMO. So finally, here are my answers below. Take note that given my limited experience with Philippine drugstore makeup, I have to modify the rules a bit: when I don't have a suitable answer in the Pinoy-made local drugstore category, I add some non-Pinoy drugstore brands but only the ones that I know are locally available.

One of the requirements I have for makeup shopping is that there must be space and a seat so the Boy can plunk down while I go a-swatching. Even then, I only get like a ten-minute window before he gets bored and asks for ice cream.

1. What is your favorite local drugstore makeup brand? That will be Nichido and Fanny Serrano. I like Nichido for their cheap lip liners and eye pencils. They're like e.l.f. -- their products can be a hit or miss but they have good prices. Aside from the pencils, I would recommend their loose powder (decent) and this green pancake foundation which is only about P150. If you have redness that you would like to neutralize, apply this wet on your face and then top off with a color-matching face powder.

As for Fanny Serrano, the brand is just amazing. It's actually my favorite local brand as of now. I have a Fanny Serrano lipstick (which I reviewed here) and their compact foundation in Rajah which I use as a matte bronzer. I look forward to buying Organza once I make a dent in the many compacts that I still am trying to use up.

2. What are your favorite face, cheek and lip products? For the face, I love Ellana loose mineral foundation (review here). Up to now, I still use it as part of my everyday simple look. It doesn't break me out and it's very light on the skin, plus I found a good shade match because they send you samples so you can try the powders at home.

For the cheek, I'm a Benefit and MAC girl actually but for local brands, I would say Fanny Serrano again. They have a peachy pink shade that I thought looked a bit like Benefit Bella Bamba (don't know the shade name though, sorry).

For the lips, MAC and Guerlain, but Fanny Serrano did impress me again. Also, I have swatched lipsticks by M&Co which I think is by Mikee Cojuangco and they had great pigmentation and staying power-- my arm was still stained the next day!

3. Least favorite product? I don't like face bases by Ever Bilena because when I swatch them, parang wala namang coverage then it had an oily feel.

4. What is the best makeup bargain? I don't go by sales and markoffs when it comes to makeup e. That's another reason why I buy trusted brands like MAC, because it really comes down to cost-per-wear. For example, a powder foundation only costs P200 per pan, but since you have to retouch several times a day, you use up two pans every month so it's just the same as buying a nice powder that has better staying powder-- less hassle pa. 

5. What is your favorite underdog product? (Something you love that often gets overlooked?) Does it have to be a brand? Because my answer would be a brow spoolie brush-- the ones that is mostly called "mascara brush". Newbies often just throw it out when they buy brush sets but it can really help give you well-groomed brows if you know how to use it.

6. A local drugstore product that is overpriced? Most drugstore products, for me, are overpriced. See #4 for the reason. Especially those poor quality eyeshadow palettes and chalky blushes.

7. Local drugstore product that isn't worth the hype? The copycat BB creams that are nothing but watered down versions of crappy liquid foundation.

And because the purpose of a tag is to keep it going, I want to tag

Shayne of Queen of All You See -- we seem to have the same makeup brand loves, I wonder how she would answer these questions.

If you would like to participate in this tag, just go ahead. I'm really just shy about getting initiating connections with fellow bloggers, not snobbish :)

Quick Tip: How to make your Clarisonic look almost new again

I'm on a roll here, posting two consecutive days in a row. This is, frankly, what happens when I don't have to produce or edit pictures for a post. I have no problems coming up with words-- it's really the photography that gets me behind. Anyhow, today is something that you are bound to find useful if you have a light-colored Clarisonic that has been looking dingy now.

My Clarisonic is a boring white, which really shows every bit of dirt on it.

I have had mine for a little over a year now (read my review here) and I still love it. I've changed my brush heads twice and I pretty much use it everyday. As you can see, my unit is white and since it gets wet, it has started to look grayish and a bit moldy. Gross, I know, but there was nothing I could do about it. I tried scrubbing it with shower gel, even tried diluted bleach but the grayish grime was still there. I didn't dare try harsher cleaning agents because I didn't want to risk damaging it.

You know what surprisingly worked? Plain white toothpaste.

I discovered this by accident; I dropped a gob of whitening toothpaste (mine was Arm & Hammer, but I suppose any brand would do) on the back of my Clarisonic one morning and didn't notice it until I needed to use it that evening. I just wiped off the toothpaste when to my surprise, the spot where it sat on was back to its original pristine color! I excitedly slathered toothpaste all over (without wetting it at all) and when I wiped off the toothpaste, the stains were gone. So now I can bring it again on overnight trips without being ashamed of other people seeing it.

So that's it. If you do try it out, do let me know how it works for you!

2 Firsts for me: a Farah Abu bangle and Shopping at AVA.ph

I know, I know-- it's been a couple of months since I posted. I would like to thank a bunch of you who still visited from time to time just to see if I have something new here. I am sorry that you have been disappointed and you won't believe how thankful I am that I still get traffic even if I am remiss. As for the hiatus, I would like to write a separate post for that-- for now, I am thinking of taking this blog in a slightly different direction. Yes, I still intend to blog about beauty stuff, but so far, the Kikaymom has been more kikay than mom and I suppose that's what lies behind the lack of blogging mojo. You see, although makeup and whatnot are things that I care about (and spend money on), my life is so much more. Maybe it is time to share more about the different aspects so that this space, my own corner of the web, can feel more like home where I can just kick my heels off and spend time with friends.

And anyhow, online shopping is one of those things. July is actually my birthday month. I'm not really the type who likes to throw parties or go clubbing for special occasions; I prefer purchasing items that I know I will be using and keeping for a long time. And a piece of chunky handmade jewelry is what I had in mind: a Farah Abu bangle.

Chunky is so pretty :)

Farah Abu is a Pinay architect-turned-jewelry designer. When I landed on AVA.ph, her chunky handmade pieces really spoke to me and I ended up getting my very own bangle. I figured that I could wear this with everything from cocktail dresses and tshirts. You can take a look at her other pieces here. Like most handmade jewelry, there are other bangles that look quite similar to mine, though not exactly alike. I love my bangle so much; it's not too heavy and it feels so comfortable on my arm.

And hats off to AVA too; I ordered this in the very early morning and by afternoon, I received an email notifying me that it has already been shipped (I paid online using DragonPay). Sure enough, the next morning, it arrived at the house. A good thing too because I was really excited to see my bangle in person.

Farah Abu pieces are also sold online at Lazada and Zalora but the nicer pieces are, I think, the ones listed in AVA.

Maybelline The Rocket Volum' Express Washable Mascara Review

Maybelline mascaras are my favorite but the "Volum'" part irritates the heck out of me. I think it's stupid. Anyhow, right before I bought this from Bon Marche, (to go to their temp online store, click here) all the mascara I had in my stash was the Rimmel iMax Volume Flash and a waterproof tube of Maybelline Colossal. Rimmel left me un-wowed and I only use waterproof mascara for when it's absolutely necessary so I was in the market for something that could give me vavavoom lashes just for everyday.

A few months ago, I actually tried the much-raved about Maybelline The Falsies formula but it left me with a sour taste in the mouth. I bought my tube from Landmark in Trinoma, put it away unopened for a few days only to find out that they gave me one that's all dried out. I've heard other local bloggers complain about old mascara being sold in malls and such; I buy mine online from retailers and never had a problem.

Anyhow, I was browsing through Multiply (before they went into a major revamp) and saw Bon Marche had one last tube left for only P300:

P300/9ml. Cheap and promising.

The Rocket mascara is being marketed as a volumizing mascara, just like the Colossal is. It promises to amp your lashes by 8x and to give clump-free application to boot. I'm not going to bore you with a lot of product information that you can find on their website anyway. I'm just going to go straight on to the nitty-gritty of this review.

Here's the rubber brush. As you can see, it's rather big and has often been compared to the Cover Girl Lash Blast. I have fairly long and curled lashes naturally and so I dig big mascara wands.

The formula is a bit wet but that's alright. I find this to be true with most Maybelline mascaras anyway. The wand bristles are a bit shorter than the Colossal's, which meant that I found it a bit clumsy at first. However, I soon got the hang of it and eventually managed to coat both top and bottom lashes (including the shorter hairs on the sides) without making too much mess. Here are some before and after shots:

Bare lashes

With two coats

Two coats, no curling

I'm sorry but I don't have full face-on shots of me wearing this; I'm still figuring out how to do those. But can you see how crazy long this product made my bottom lashes look?

The formula does not weigh my lashes down and I haven't noticed any flaking or smudging-- which is quite a feat in this awful summer weather we have been having. The pictures above were taken the first time I tried on this product and so it's a bit more clumpy and wet. I've been using this mascara for over a month now, and just like every other Maybelline mascara I've tried, I love it even more now that it's dried a bit. I would even dare say that it performs just as well, if not better, as the Colossal in that I've had people I got false eyelashes on when I use this with gel eyeliner and lash curlers.

Overall, I love this product. 

How about you? Are you in love with Maybelline mascaras too, or is your heart elsewhere? Feel free to share your favorite in the comments below; I'd love to expand my lash horizons!