Orly Breathable Treatment + Color

Are you one of those girls who need to change nail polish on a weekly basis or every few days? If you said yes, chances are, your nails need space to breathe and recover from all the chemicals you have placed on it but sadly, there is just no way you can go without a new nail polish perhaps because work requires it or that is just your lifestyle. This is where Orly Breathable Treatment + Color comes into play.



Orly Breathable breathes new life into your nails while you use it. It is an all in one long lasting formula that allows your nail to breathe without needing to go totally bare. We know how much this matters because if you regularly use nail polish, your nails when bare tend to look yellowish, brittle, or with white lines.



Orly's Technology resembles that of a contact lens. It allows oxygen and hydration to pass through which is how it allows your nails to breathe. Orly Breathable is also halal-compliant and has a blend of argan oil, vitamin B5, and vitamin C. It eliminates the need for a basecoat and a topcoat because it already has shine additives and adhesion promoters. You only need two coats and voila, you are good to go.
Getting your nails done is actually soothing to the soul. It allows you to relax for an hour or two and be pampered. Orly understands this and ensures that you not only take care of what is outside, you also take care of what is inside. Other benefits of the Orly Breathable is the fact that there is less chipping, less peeling, and faster nail growth. Your nails not only look healthy but feel healthy too.



The next time you visit your nail salon, ask for the Orly Breathable Line and do your nails a favor. Trust us when we say your nails will thank you for it.

Power of Social Media

Much has been said about social media.  People  have worked hard to be instafamous,  viral,  or just cash in on their 15seconds of fame.  After all,  social media has brought stardom and popularity much closer to regular humans more than anything ever  has in the past.

However,  with great power comes great responsibility. This is the part most people fail to aknowledge,  accept,  and adhere to.

Acknowledge the power you have. 

This means that whatever you churn out into the world, know that it will affect someone. It can go both ways and you have the power to decide whether you want to add more positivity or negativity into the world.

When we share fake news, when we cyber bully someone, or when we judge something without knowing the facts, we are being IRRESPONSIBLE with the power we hold in our hands. When we share inspiring stories, use social media to catch a perpetrator, or utilize it to gain more knowledge, then we become more RESPONSIBLE in spreading good things.
We are what we share. Do you want to be good or would you like to add to the rotten things of the world? Your choice really.

ACCEPT that you are ACCOUNTABLE. 

One of the things we seem to forget the moment we get behind our laptop or mobile phone is accountability. We play the blame game and let ourselves be "swayed" by the people around us.
We are accountable. Every hurtful thing, every bad doing that we let slide or applaud, we are all accountable for it. The children of the next generation look up to us and if we set bad examples then we have no one else to blame but ourselves.

ADHERE to values learned as a kid. 

At the end of the day, if we only just adhere to the values that we all learned as a kid, the world will be a much better place. Lest we forget that we are humans who have emotions and can inflict pain, we should never forget the following basic rules:

1. Do not do unto others what you do not want others to do unto you.
2. If you have nothing good to say, do not say anything at all.
3. Respect begets respect.
4. What goes around, comes around.
5. Be kind.
6. Think twice before you speak or in this case, think twice before you click.

If everyone will just acknowledge, accept, and adhere to these things, the world will be a better place and who knows? Maybe tomorrow when you wake up, the world will smile back at you and it will be filled with lots of hearts that float, likes, and smiles instead of sad emojis and angry buttons.

AVON Best Sets Ever

What could be better than having all your favorite AVON product right in the comfort of your home? Why, a sale of course and even better than a sale, AVON has decided to come up with what they call their "best sets ever."

The promo includes three sets of beauty must-haves that are offered at “never before, never again” discounted prices for the whole month of June.

The “Best Sets Ever” promo includes a mix of top-selling brands in lotion and color categories paired together in three separate sets. The Best of the Best set is comprised of Skin So Soft Hand & Body Lotion and Avon True Color Perfectly Matte lipstick priced at only P299. Skin So Soft is formulated with vitamin C and glutathione that promises visible whiteness and healthy glow in just three days of continuous use. Avon True Color Perfectly Matte lipstick gives true matte look that never cakes and cracks while giving the velvety soft feel in one swipe.



The Big Beauty Set is composed of Avon Care lotion and One Great Mascara for only P289. Avon Care lotion’s Vita-E complex provides deep nourishing for 24 hours of moisture for the skin. It is hypoallergenic and dermatologically tested to suit Asian skin. One Great Mascara gives lashes dramatic curls, length and volume for high definition appeal.



The Brightest & Boldest set has Avon Naturals lotion and Simply Pretty Color Magic lipstick as a pair for only P189. Avon Naturals lotion contains flower extracts that release a calm and soothing effect on the skin. Simply Pretty lipstick puts fun in lipstick application with its unique color-changing feature.



The Best Sets Ever promo is available through any Avon Representative or via online at AvonShop.ph

Dear Philippine PR

I have been blogging for 12 years and have been attending events since 2011. I can safely say that I have attended over 100 events and have dealt with different personalities and PR agencies. I have observed, been a victim, survived, and learned a lot from the 6 years I have been in and out of events, brand partnerships, and what not. I feel now that perhaps, this is the right time to voice out concerns.

1. Please stop with national events day. Yes, bloggers should choose which events to attend but sometimes, 2 or 3 important brands do it all at the same time and on the same day. A good pointer from the tech niche is that they actually give a heads up to one another so they never coincide with each other's events. It benefits both sides of the fence since the blogger can also focus better when there is no need to rush (hello traffic) to the next destination
2. Please stop sending multiple press releases a day. I understand that you need to meet a certain quota but it can be irritating when we get 3 articles and up some of which would even say "for immediate posting" like we were required to just post it. Instead, why don't you send out products that we can try and experience, then write about on our site. It's personalized and way better than some generic press release. Require the bloggers to sign a contract stating that they will do a full, honest review. If they do not, take them off your list then. 
3. Please do not invite less than 24 hours before the event. It really does not come off right and it makes it seem like you just need warm bodies and not the actual presence of the person. If you are waiting on an approval, a "Save the date and time" should suffice a week before the event. 
4. Please do not say "may pa-token/GC ako." Legit bloggers are not after the token or the GC. Yes, we appreciate it but what we would prefer is an event executed within 30minutes of the invite time, a well presented launch or story that will make writing about the brand or product enjoyable, and information readily available. Also, a location that can be accessed easily by commuting because not everyone has a car. 
5. If you do decide to no longer invite someone without warning, do not reach out months or years later and say "can you please post this press release?" You didn't think I was still good enough to be invited to your events, why should your press release be on my site then? 
6. Please allocate areas in your events where bloggers and media can take photos in a more orderly manner. When everyone is hellbent on getting the perfect shot and do not care for the other persons within the same event, it can become unpleasant. If there were designated areas, things would be more orderly and everyone can get the shot they need for their own sites. 
7. Give and take. PR's need bloggers and for some bloggers, they need PR's as well. Respect begets respect and being plastic begets tupperware hoomans. When you form a real relationship with a blogger, it will show on the quality of their write ups and posts for the brand you are handling. 
8. Learn to SAY NO to gatecrashers. You should protect the brand, the client, and the people who are actually invited from suffering from gate crashers who do not write and are just after the tokens. 
9. Salutation matters. "Dear blogger" or "Dear Bloggers" shows that you can't even be bothered to personalize your email. If you don't have the time to even edit blogger with my name, why should I bother reading an email that is obviously mass sent? 
10. Forwarded email showing the trail of the exact same email being sent to other media personnel is a NO NO. 
11. I know you are all required to be nice and friendly but let's not overdo it. If you really don't like the blogger, be professional and nice but not overly chummy. We can tell when someone is fake. 
12. Lastly, choose well. Choose the blogger base on what your brand needs and not because you are friends with the blogger or a friend recommended. Please be more choosy. There are bloggers who really deserve the spot but are not given it because they are not friends with the right persons and way too many bloggers being given chances simply because they suck up really well. 

This post is not meant for anyone specific. It is just random things that I have observed in my 6 years of doing events. 

AVON Ultra Color Lipstick

One of the things that women love to splurge on is lipstick. A simple dash of red, a pink streak, matte, glossy, or what have you can instantly lighten up a woman's mood and look so we at PSST decided to show you what real lipstick color looks on someone to give you a better guide on which look suits you best.

Avon Ultra Color Lipstick is rich and it doesn't make your lips chap. It has moisturiser and it actually looks good on light, fair, or even dark skin.  The following shades are Hibiscus, Berry Berry Nice, Hot Pink, Carnation, Knockout Pink, and Berry Bright.

As you can see, each shade works well and I am categorized as Sun Beige or under the dark skin type. The lipstick normally lasts for hours unless you keep eating and drinking. Trying out a new lip color means getting to have a whole new look to play around with and you can reinvent yourself just with a dash of lippie. There’s no end to the possibilities and discoveries that you can have with Avon Ultra Color Lipstick.

Which one did you like best?

FITme from Maybelline

One of the things that I am not a fan of would be foundations in any way or form. Call me conceited but I have never really had a need for it and so I never used one, until now that is. Probably with age comes the black marks, uneven skin tone, and what not but lately, I have found myself searching for a foundation, powder, or concealer that is light on the skin, airy, and a true match of my skin color. I thought there would be none until finally, Maybelline brought over the FITme line.

Today I was able to give it a try and though I was a bit hesitant, I let Rochelle the makeup artist assigned to me work her magic. 3 things that I noticed about the FITme line:

1.      It is easily absorbed by my skin.

2.      It felt light and airy.

3.      I looked like I had absolutely no foundation on.

This was exactly what I had been looking for because I hated that cakey feeling most foundations would give you. I hated that itchy and dry feeling it leaves on your skin but I have had the FITme foundation and concealer on my skin for more than 5 hours now and it doesn’t feel like I have any on. 

There are 3 shades that the FITme line follows: Light, medium, and dark. For light, they have 3 subcategories which is classic ivory, nude beige, and warm beige. Sand and porcelain can also land here. For the medium one, this is the most diverse because this is where natural beige comes in, pure beige, soft tan, natural buff, true beige, rich tan, and medium falls. For dark, it’s all about coconut, toffee, sun beige, café, and deep.

I fall under dark. Now a lot of people would react to being called dark but I didn’t mind. The shade for me is Sun Beige, Toffee, and Café. Personally, it’s not an issue to me. Dark is beautiful and I may not be beautiful to a lot of people but I feel that I am and that’s what matters at the end of the day. 

still fresh even after 9 hours of wearing FITme foundation

What you think of yourself matters more than what others think. In the long run, you are the only one who will make things happen for yourself and it starts with confidence. 

Cruisin' in Hong Kong

The 3rd city on our #LoveStarCruises tour is one that I have been to twice already and one that has come to mean a lot to me. This was the first country I have been to and the first one where my entire family and I went on vacation to.

Memories, memories, memories.

This cruisin' in Hong Kong led to many more memories being made but this time, with D.

when selfies become a struggle coz you have a resident photobomber

This time around, we got lost. We literally got lost and had to ask so many people for directions and questions to get to Mongkok. For some reason, I just couldn't remember the right signs to look for. Good thing D was still a good sport and just told me that we can just walk around and soak in the sights. Unfortunately, perhaps because this was the 3rd city, my crankiness level was way up high and being that we really do not know each other that well, I thought he wasn't in the mood because he was silent and we ended up fighting.

YES, again. It was bad enough on my end that I even told him to go back to the ship on his own but thankfully he saw through my temper tantrum and he decided to pull me and just lead the way. We ended up here.

He knows me so well that he knew a cup of coffee or milk tea would work wonders on me. He literally dragged me to this place for which I am very happy. For this shot, I thought of the idea and by this time around, I was feeling more cheerful and amiable. You see, I could never fake photos. For some reason, my true feelings show up in my eyes and it's always a little impossible to do a fake happy photo with me. Thankfully by the time this photo happened, we were already okay.

The milk tea was pretty awesome but the pastry was a little bit too strawberry-ish for me. It was just an overload of strawberry for me. Perhaps if you love strawberries, it will work but for me it did not.

Afterwards, we went back to Mongkok and this time around, everything fell into place. Perhaps it was good juju but this time around, everything was good. We tried a few dishes: snails, cheesecake, and oyster cake.

The snail was spicy but in a really good way. The cheesecake had 4 flavors: green tea, cheese, durian, and Taro. All of them were pretty good and the flavor really hits you in the face. The oyster cake was crunchy and good as well. This was a definite win for D and I.

Afterwards, we roamed around. We had 16,000 steps each.

He also got me a surprise in Hong Kong. You see, I saw this carousel and I really liked it. Unfortunately, by this time we have already used up our Hong Kong dollars. This cost 280HKD and we had 60HKD. I told them we couldn't afford it and we left.

On our way back to the MTR, D had a moment. For some reason he decided to get me the carousel and had his money changed to HKD. Can you imagine the happiness I felt? You probably can't. I actually cried!

Overall the few hours we had was not enough to see Hong Kong at all. Perhaps a cruise really is not meant for eveyrone but for someone who just needs a quick break, this one is definitely an option.

Cruisin' in Kaohsiung, Taiwan

My first experience with Kaohsiung was a costly one. What could have been a 15 minute walk to go towards the MTR cost us 30NT because we took a bus. It seems that not having mobile data can cost you more than actually signing up to have internet even when you’re abroad especially if it’ just for a day.

Thankfully, it was a very pretty sight that greeted us when I got to the Metro Train Railway of Kaohsiung. Upon seeing the instagrammable sights, I set off to take a couple of shots. Yes, my first order of the day was to take OOTD shots of beautiful Taiwan.

The MTR system of Kaohsiung is similar to that of Hong Kong which is a good thing because it can be easily understood. The locals, contrary to what we thought, was actually quite helpful so long as they can speak English. However, what surprised me the most was the food.

After going around and just soaking in the view and the neighborhood, I happened upon this little kiosk selling noodles. Since it was almost lunch time and all I’ve had was coffee, I decided to sit down and have a bite. Though miming and making quacking noises, I finally got to order a duck noodle.

The soup was so tasty. The noodles were equally amazing and the duck wasn’t hard to chew. I had only one because I wanted to eat as many street food as I could find.

Next I had that really stuck to my head was the Taiwanese Fried Chicken. Again, this was just in a little corner tucked away and it wasn’t anything fancy. It seems the best eats of Taiwan can be found even in the simplest of places. The Taiwanese Fried Chicken may not look appetizing but trust me when I say that Hot Star in the Philippines is nothing compared to this. This was cooked right and though covered with breading, there was more chicken inside it. This was definitely a must.

The other one was the Chicken Balls which was a cross between Chicken Nuggets and Chicken Balls. It was really tasty that I didn't even bother putting sauce on it. I also tried the oyster pancake and funny enough, one shitty milk tea and one awesome milk tea. I also had this weird sausage thing covered in hashed brown. WEIRDEST.THING.EVER.

I started my day in Taiwan with coffee at CRAFT which was a really fancy coffee shop attached to a small hotel that had so many IG worthy spots it would have taken an entire day just to do a shoot and then I ended the day at HENRY’S COFFEE which was a quaint little place I saw in another small neighborhood. This was the one thing I actually really loved about my trip.

I was able to just walk around like locals, soaking in the scene, and finding neighborhood spots you would never see in a tourist guide. It felt like being one with the city.

CRAFT

HENRY'S

Truly, I can say that I saw  a part of Taiwan not seen by a lot of tourists and this makes me happy. I know that eventually I will be back here and I’ll see the tourist spots but for now, I want to savor the fact that even for a few hours, I was one with this little neighborhood in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. 

Cheers to the Sperm Donors

Every year, there is one day that is dedicated to celebrating the fathers of the world and though there are many fathers out there who try their hardest to be great Dads, there are those that we call “sperm donors.” These are men who just basically donated their half to create a person and failed to do more than the donation part.

Yes, they exist. Yes, they are real.

Yes, it is very unfortunate but what can we do. To make things easier, let’s categorize them shall we?

1. Bring home the bacon

These are the Dads who simply work and do nothing else. They think that as long as they pay for everything, it’s all good. They don’t attend PTA meetings, they don’t attend recitals or programs, and they don’t participate in anything in their child’s life. As long as they bring in money, they think their job is done.

2. Donate and run

These are the Dads who as soon as they find out they got someone pregnant, they go running for their lives. They don’t even bother to stick around and find out the sex of their child. Soon as the pregnancy test shows positive, they become negative and cease to exist.

3. I Just Can’t Get Enough

These are the Dads who can’t stay still with one person. They womanize and end up leaving the mother of their child or have the Mom leave because for them, one isn’t enough. As a result, they become absentee father figures which could be easily avoided if they had stayed true to their partners.

4. The Perfectionist

This is the complete opposite of Mr. Bring Home the Bacon. This one is intensely involved in the kid’s life but not in a good way. Instead of being the Dad who cheers his kids on, he is the Dad who fault finds and is never satisfied. He is the Dad who makes everything about him and how your achievements are a reflection of who he is as a person. It’s not you, it’s HIM. When you have these kind of Dads, it can get frustrating when Father’s Day rolls in. After all, there is no Hallmark card that says:

“Thank you for your money. Really appreciate it Dad!” “Thanks for donating your sperm. I exist coz of that.” “Thanks for showing me the effect of being greedy.” “Thanks for making me feel worthless and not enough.”

It’s hard to greet someone “Happy Father’s Day” when you have never bonded together. It’s hard to talk about how he helped you with homework when it has never happened. It’s hard to talk about cherished moments when those moments have never ever happened. It’s hard when you never really had a “father” to begin with.

As the millennials would say: the struggle is real. It’s not a laughable matter. It is actually gut wrenching and heart breaking. It is the kind that leaves a mark on you for life but should you decide to use this intense pain to be a better person and not let it destroy you, it will allow you to add steel to your spine. It will force you to make something of yourself and just be a better person overall. After all, they may have helped create you biologically but at the end of the day, it is still your decision whether or not they get to make you who you want to be. Cheers to every child who has had a sperm donor for a father. May the odds be ever in our favor. 

AVON City

The Sales Leaders Congress aka SL Congress of AVON is one of the highlights for AVON Philippines. The No. 1 direct selling beauty company in the country held the first ever experiential exposition of it’s best selling products at the SMX of Mall of Asia. The event was aptly named AVON City and it also marked the company’s first time to simultaneously hold the SL Congress with the National Sales Convention aka NASCON.



The SL Congress highlighted AVON’s expertise in fragrance, makeup, hand and body lotion, roll on deo, as well as intimate apparel. Other items showcased were the jewelry and watches, accessories, and home and kid essentials. To make things more fun, they had the Home and Kids Market, Fragrance Be Arcade, AVON Fashions Loungerie, AVON Skin Care Juice Bar, Jewelry Chocolaterie, Simply Pretty Picnic Park, Avon Accessories Cake Shop, and Personal Care and Color Theater. Freebies were handed out like candy to guests who dropped by the festive and amazing booths.

The brand AVON has been around for over 130 years and it is one of the most trusted brands of women in the Philippines. We all grew up using an AVON product one way or another and the fact that it has lasted this long is testament to its longevity. AVON has been able to meet the changing needs of generation of women through scientific breakthroughs and reliable consumer study.



Avon is the country’s number 1 direct selling company. Avon products include well-recognized and beloved brands such as ANEW, Avon Color, AvonCare, Skin-So-Soft, and Advance Techniques sold through nearly 6 million active independent Avon Sales Representatives. Learn more about Avon and its products at www.avoncompany.com.​

Cruisin' in Laoag with Star Cruises

I’ve never thought of going on a cruise. It just wasn’t my thing. I’ve always been a plane kind of person simply because if the plane were to crash, it would mean instant death. With a cruise, you would have to fight for your life by attempting to get on the life boat and then there’s the complicated life jacket and you’d still end up drowning anyway. So no, a cruise wasn’t part of my bucket list so to speak.

Also the fact that I do not know how to swim weighed pretty heavily.

However, fate had another plan for me and a 6 day 5 night cruise landed on my lap that I could not say no to. Since it involved work, D came with me and off we went to lose ourselves (literally and figuratively) in 3 cities in 3 days. Let’s talk about the first city, Laoag, Ilocos Norte.

City # 1 – Laoag

I’ve been to Laoag  before but I wasn’t able to explore the city side of it. This time around, D and I went around on foot and just explored the place the same way a budget traveler would. We walked on foot to the highway because we refused to pay 4000 for a van when there were buses and jeeps that could also take us to the city. We asked locals for directions and found our way on foot after alighting the bus on how to get to La Preciosa. It was a good way to see the city because we saw the little nuances that were hidden away from tourists and we saw how the locals lived.

Laoag Eats

We tried the famous carrot cake of La Preciosa and IT IS A MUST HAVE! The carrot cake had textures on it and it was fluffy and very tasty. It has nuts which gives an added flavor and the carrot … you can definitely taste it. We also tried out their bagnet which was really soft and the Igado which was okay but not the best one for me. Overall, I’d have to say that the carrot cake really is the main reason why you need to visit La Preciosa.

We also visited Johnny Moon Café because we were on the lookout for coffee and it looked quite interesting. However, the most interesting part of this coffee shop was the wall design and not so much the Café Americano nor the Iced Latte that we ordered. This may not be a fair assessment though because we did just have coffee but we’re thinking that the moment you call yourself a café, your coffee better be more than interesting.

Lastly, I finally got to try an authentic Vigan empanada which we bought off the streets.  I saw how it was made and I got the special one which apparently just meant there would be a raw egg placed inside before it gets deep fried. Yes, this is not for the health conscious because it is deep fried goodness with eggs, meat, and flour. However, if you just want to know how a true blue Vigan empanada tastes like, then buying one off the street is a must. It was actually good and I understood why people raved about it. However, I can’t say that you’d see me running off to buy one the next time I see another kiosk selling it.

Overall thoughts on Laoag

There were a lot of Instagram worthy places in Laoag. I felt that the government is really targeting tourists to visit and take photos of their place by having IG worthy areas to take photos of and geo tag the place. Perhaps a city WiFi would help it more though because signal can be a big problem in Laoag. My Globe data struggled and my SUN data was absolutely useless.

Laoaog seems like a good place to go to but only if you have Google Maps downloaded already because as mentioned, your mobile data will struggle and the locals apparently do not even know their own bus stations. We got lost several times because the locals kept pointing out to different areas for the bus station that we needed to help us get back to the Port Area. They also do not seem to know where their port area is. Perhaps it would be better to put up more road signs showing the tourists where key areas of transportation are than put up umbrellas for IG worthy shots then having same tourists get lost in the city.

We almost missed our ship because of this. We kept getting lost after asking more than 5 people and this killed a lot of the time we allotted to ensure we wouldn’t be late. Thankfully, the guy at the port area held off the last boat for us which was apparently meant for the crew and took us back to our ship. It would have been a major disaster if that had not been the case.

Overall, Laoag is a good place to visit for those looking for a place where old meets new. They retained the old architectures that gives off a Spanish vibe for those looking for a more nostalgic feel and have the little coffee shops and other tourist attractions to entice the millennials of today to visit and do their OOTDs.