September 14 DAY 2: "You Know It Is Worth It"
Juiced for breakfast:
Parsley
Celery
Carrot
Green Apple
Beetroot
Ginger
Training Done: sit ups, jumping rope, shadow boxing (30 mins)

I woke up kinda late compared yesterday so i prepared my ingredients at 8am and took it 30 minutes after.  haha. I take too much time preparing I know, hey! am a newbie on this okay? hehe.  anyway, instead of just having parsley i decided to try the celery with it and then the green apples since i ran out of the red ones.  The result?  well it is 30% less sweet than the juice i made yesterday because the green apples gave it a tinge of "ooh-sour-y" kick. :) Second day juicing still scares me, but only until i take the first sip;)  my juice was yummy! (though ginger still challenges my taste buds!) bigger hinger knuckles next time 0.o

September 15 DAY 3: TRY GREEN:)

Okay for two days i have produced red juice because of the color juiced from carrots, fuji apple and beetroot. Today is something different:) My recipe included:
celery leaves
green apple
cucumber
ginger
beetroot

the green apple didn't come out as sour as it was yesterday, im guessing it's because of the cucumber juice:) in totality i still like it, i drunk about 3/4 glass---all my produce actually since my tita did not join me today.  Still I did my ritual at 8 am.  Need to go to the market though for my supply of carrots and apples. Yay!

September 16 Day 4: For Heartburn Recipe

I got this recipe from Drew canole's page Juicing vegetables and i thought that i really need this since i have been experiencing heartburn as well.  Yesterday was grocery day so I was so happy my carrots, apples and green supplies are back!

Today's ingredients: for Breakfast

spinach
carrots
apples

Powerful three indeed!  I would give this juice a rate of 10 (as the highest), it's sweet though the after taste of the spinach lingers quite well.  

September 17 Day 5: Sour Juice!

Today's Breakfast:
lemon
ginger
cucumber
apple

I tried the lemon this time as base and it resulted to something so sour that I guess I didn't really like it at all considering I took it for my breakfast juice. (huhu) I'm not sure if i will use LEMON ever again as my base since i really had a hard time drinking it. How about you, how does your lemon fair?

September 18 DAY 6: Celery and Parsley Overload

Today's recipe i tried to put two strong tasting vegetables: celery and parsley. the result is not bad however, you should be warned as the after taste is really strong.  the sweetness of the apple juice has been diminished causing it to taste a little bitter.  Next time I won't put the two together or maybe an additional apple can neutralize it:)

Recipe:
apple
carrot
beetroot
ginger
celery
parsley

Aside from hair and skin care, nail care is of primary importance amongst women---students, housewives, and career-empowered ladies.  In fact most ladies (and some men too) deliberately give time for some self relaxation, pampering and maintenance to project a good image of one’s self amongst significant others—friends, colleagues, strangers we meet.

This image doesn’t just entail the physical aspect.  While it is true that caring for our hair, skin and nails through availing hair spa services or perhaps body scrub and some classic manicure and pedicure services can help us enhance our looks, these services when done on a regular basis (like once or twice a month) can help us mitigate stress and overcome anxieties brought about by the daily problems we encounter in our lives. 

 This is true as the very idea of seeing yourself given care or being pampered makes you feel good about yourself in an instant! 

Perhaps the only problem is, we do not want to be spending too much on these right?

Good thing that there are spa centers that offer services at a very reasonable rate without having to sacrifice the quality of service and the presence of good available options to help us achieve that goal of pampering ourselvesJ

Being a single mom, I consider this a major concern.  Having a baby while thriving to succeed at work, juggling the two while maintaining a good positive image is in fact a tough work. 

I am working on something that I owe to myself—to my body, including my nails!

“Mad About Nails”

I have been staying in Bulacan for two years now.  Bulacan being a province far from Manila ( I meant San Rafael Bulacan; 2 hours away from Manila under normal traffic conditions), gave me a hard time looking for the places I used to go to such as my favorite/ trusted salon, waxing station, nail spa center, body massage center or facial care center. I figured out that, I have yet to explore the nearby towns such as San Ildefonso and Baliuag, Plaridel and Pulilan to check out the available establishments I can go to for my pampering needs.

There are a number of centers actually but only a few I can trust.  Mad About Nails is one them!

Today was my fourth visit to this nail spa center and they haven’t failed me since; I even referred them to my relatives.  Here are some points why I LOVE this nail spa center that it made it to one of Everything Lovely’s top picks!

1.     Mad about Nails offers reasonable rate for manicure and pedicure and foot spa packages, with no additional cost for the type of nail polish brand you want to use.  I always avail their manicure-pedicure-foot spa package because it is budget friendly especially to a single working mom like me!

2.     Unlike in other mall-based nail spa centers, Mad About Nails carries sophisticated and high quality nail polish brands, all imported and have complete collection. Check out the photos!

 I tried OPI lacquer limited Edition Mariah Carey Collection. The liquid sand texture is lovely and suggests sophistication. I’m happy with my pick!

3.     Friendly staff, competent nail technician.  Like other mall-based nail spas, Mad About Nail’s (nail techs) trim toenails and finger nails in a gentle manner. They remove only the dry skin unless you ask them to remove your in-grown.  In this way, the toenails do not look off and unsophisticated.

4.     They offer waxing services at a reasonable rate compared to mall-based spa centers!  I have tried their underarm waxing, the brand that they use doesn’t contribute much to the darkening of the skin. 

5.      Cozy place! I love the ambience.  The interior design gives you that ohh-factor.  You’ll think you are in a city mall or something like it, when actually you’re in Bulacan! Nice interior, whoever designed it, good job. 

Mad About Nails also offers Hand Care, Nail Extension, nail art, foot care, paraffin spa treatment, Mani and pedi for kids, eyelash enhancement, threading, waxing, whole body scrub and ear candling.  Avail any with discount when you get a pampering card! 

They likewise accept nail spa parties.  Visit Mad About Nails at 2nd floor PLM building DRT hi-way corner Benigno Aquino Ave, Bagong Nayon, Baliuag Bulacan.  The building in front of Jolibee flyover across Puregold Bagong Nayon Baliuag.

What’s your mad nails story?

Xoxo
Caroleen

Like ELC on FB_

Follow me on instagram: caroleenish

Hashtag your nail pics!

#everythinglovely #everythinglovelybycaroleen 

“Kili-kiling maputi, kili-kiling maitim, kili-kiling brown, kili-kiling magaspang, kili-kiling may buhok, kili kiling may “putok.”

Let’s admit it. We tag so many labels for that small part of our skin we can never hide--- though we try so hard. (forgive my pun) especially when we are lazy about keeping our armpit looking "sweet".

Armpits, under arms or in tagalog, kili-kili is one of the delicate parts of our body.  Delicate in the sense that, there will be times that even our emotional or social aspect is affected whenever “it lets us down.”

Issues concerning underarm are various and tends to be subjective in nature---cultural, racial and gender-based. Filipinos like it hair-free, French women love it otherwise and yet they find it sexy and seducing. Men and women struggle from their individual issues concerning their pits, different nationalities have unique regards on their armpits. Individual and commercial preferences likewise apply (such as… how do you think models sell themselves? Kili-kili is included of corz!).

Men worry mostly about the odor since underarm hair is just natural to them, though sometimes it is an issue amongst their partners when their pits do not grow much hair like (they are supposed to be there, right? 0.o). Women on the other hand worry about the texture of their pits—how smooth they are, how chicken-skinned as well.  Odor is an issue as it gives them a negative impression amongst crowd (men and women), skin tone also matters---the question whether why it turned brown or “sunog” or why it is so Belo-white! (And. HOW).

The thing is, how your kili-kili looks like apparently suggests something about the kind of person you are (or so they say). Who wouldn’t appreciate white, smooth and hair-free kili-kili right?

But is this proper? I mean, if she is a morena, why would you expect her to have rosy white pits? 

Major concerns of the Pit:

Arm pit color and hair aside from odor or too much sweating are the major concerns of Filipinas. 

According to research, the most common cause of darkening of armpits is its natural characteristic. Our pits’ skin are located UNDER arms hence it is just natural that friction transpire because it is “under” and hence, it causes skin irritation due to the rubbing of skin.  Those that have fairer complexion may not suffer significantly from this but those that are morena or those who have darker complexion (kayumanggi, morena, etc.) may have darker armpits due to the darkening pigments called melanin that work whenever skin cells die due to irritation from friction.

“The most common cause of darkening of the armpits is in the anatomy, the rubbing of the armpits against each other,” says dermatologist Isabel Ballesteros-Mangubat, MD. She explains that, as a rule, anything that traumatizes the skin darkens it. Trauma or irritation alerts your melanocytes, cells that carry the darkening pigments known as melamin. Once stimulated, the melanocytes grow bigger. Consequently, your skin becomes darker (direct quote from femalenetwork.com).”

Other causes may be due to hormones, pregnancy (but not all), irritation from shaving, peeling, waxing, plucking, and deo use.  Hence our desire to be hair-free may consequently be affecting our normal armpit skin-tone causing two problems now.

Based on the researches I made, shaving traumatizes the skin 100%.  When we are shaving, it is actually the skin that we are shaving and not our hair!  We are causing damage to the skin just to keep it free of hair.  If you are then tempted to shave, think about the blades that glide on your skin.   

I must admit I had this bad habit for many years until I listened to my pits.
Underarm products, services, commercials and brands should then be reviewed critically before we just apply one to our pits!

Bottom line

It is just normal and proper that we look after the welfare of our dear armpit.  However, I just hope that people would also try to lessen the stereotype they created amongst people who have darker underarms or those who prefer it with some hair present.

We do not really know what happened along the way.  Allergies, hormonal changes, pregnancy, and even economical status can be factors that may have affected negatively people’s armpits. 

We shouldn’t be OC about armpits of other people.
"Mas maganda parin ang taong may totoo ot mabuting ugali kaysa maputing kili-kili lang. "
BUT OF COURSE, let’s still keep our kili-kili clean.  Our kili-kili is part of our entire body, so give it extra-care.

Caroleen’s brief pit tips:

a.    STOP shaving. The blades remember.
b.    take a bath regularly and make sure you rinse off the soap in that area well.
c.    Mind your deo/anti-perspirant brand.  Some are too strong they burn your underarm skin.
d.    Go for natural treatment like use dayap, or kalamansi to whiten or smoothen it as other chemicals from your underarm whitening set can WORSEN the case.

How light can you get?

It is echoed almost everywhere! Eating healthy is as in as your Rockstar's fashion statement.

 Everybody's turning their back on unhealthy fatty meat nowadays as getting that sexy fit shape has found its place in one of the top priorities  in that TO DO list of many men and women, regardless of age!  In fact, Filipinos have evolved to be more health conscious these days thanks to the empowered health and nutritional awareness campaigns of private and government institutions as a response to the increasing statistics of death cases due to heart, liver and kidney failures especially amongst the younger Filipino generation.

With this, consumer health companies have likewise made an effort to support many Filipinos' goal of changing their lifestyle starting with the food they eat!

What's NEW then?

Recently, Magnolia Chicken Lite was launched in SM Southmall, Las Pinas City.  Many men and ladies, especially moms attended the said event that featured seminar/talks on health, nutrition, healthy food preparation, and lifestyle food safety tips; wellness booths that offer consultation on body and weight concerns, free taste samples, booth activities such as games and photo booths and an on stage cooking demo that were engaging all in one jam-packed deLiteful Day. 

Magnolia Chicken Lite offers the newest way to enjoy eating healthy delicious meal (with same pleasure) minus getting all that bad fats ruining your system!

Chicken Lite gives you the same freshness, tenderness along with that juicy-treat with lesser fat content for a healthier chicken option.  

Chicken meat is a very good source of protein however due to the fats also found on chicken skin, Magnolia made a step further to make leaner and healthier meat available in the market.  One that is easy to prepare and with low saturated fats.  Skinless chicken, breaded, fillet, ground, strips, marinated, chicken breast---name it, you can easily assign your recipes for a week with Magnolia Chicken Lite each day.

Plus, because it is easy to prepare, moms can have more time with their family.  Also ideal for students and yuppies who live in dormitories and condos. Since Magnolia Chicken Lite is easy to cook, they won't have to worry about buying food prepared outside.  Safe and healthy chicken prepared in your own home gives you the best treat!

San Miguel Corporation never fails to strengthen its foothold in the market as the company knows just how to take care of its consumers as well.  A trusted company that carries various popular and quality brands that please many Filipinos throughout the years, the company's latest product Magnolia Chicken LITE did not fail to attract many consumers since it has just become an instant favorite amongst health conscious people.

 

I was surprised that these moms and kids actually took time and effort to sit through, participate and listen attentively to the series of seminar sessions conducted by Ms. Llena Tan-Arcenas, RND, MSN, RA (of San Miguel Corporation). It's a good thing that such opportunity is given to these moms to update themselves with newest healthy products and help them widen their bank of  how-to's of preparng healthy food for their families.  


Hosted by Ms.Angel Aquino, Magnolia Chicken Deliteful Day was a success. I learned a lot about food preparation and better eating habits such as:
1. Lean protein is healthier.
2.Include milk and milk products in your daily meals.
Choose a diet low in fat and cholesterol.
3.Add plenty of vegetable, fruits and grain products.
4. Use sugar, oil and table condiments in moderation.
5.Read food labels when buying.
6.Don't go for Upsize (soft drinks and fries, especially!)
7.Skip croissants.
8. mind your cooking method.
9.choose Loin and Round chicken cuts.
10.use breast instead of thigh and legs.
11.Drain excess fat on paper towel.
12. Use herbs and citrus.
13. Avoid DERB canned goods (dent, expired, rusting and bulging).

The list goes on and on, but there, those are the most important ones.  I'm sure you can share your own tips learned from your moms on how to keep your food choices healthy and clean.

Magnolia Chicken Lite is available in all SM supermarket, hypermarket stores.

Check them out and try it at home.

Humorous. Fun. Exciting. These are just some of the adjectives you'd probably associate with Benefit when you get to discover the looks and the tricks their products can give you!

I'm talking about the no-boring make up brand, Benefit Cosmetics!  A wonderful invention from San Francisco,  USA. Benefit Cosmetics totally changed the way I shop for cosmetics! As the original Bene-gals, the Ford twins would always say " Laughter is the best cosmetic.." so true that you'll find yourself buying their products not just because it totally works but because you find yourself smiling at the gift you give yourself.

Perhaps, what makes Benefit Cosmetics popular is the way they style the packaging of their cosmetics.  Creative, lovely, daring and brilliant, Benefit has got me obsessed with their products that honesty, I would really want to try everything! (Warning: you really have to save a lot since Benefit is not just a typical make up brand). ^_^. Then think of it as an investment! A gift to yourself, a piece of collection:)

My first purchase of benefit products started just last month when I finally gave it a try.  Since I don't really look for complete make up, I mean with all that concealers, foundation, etc. I never gave it a chance until I passed by its newly opened pop-up store in Trinoma and was invited by their bene-babe assistants to try on POREfessional.  

Velvety and amazing. I was like, "really?" There is a product like this??? LOL. As funny as it was, I have realized that yeah, I have not really given it a try.

Let me guide you through this kit.  If you haven't tried on any benefit products or if you are new to this brand, I advise that you buy the Primping With The Stars Kit as a good starter!
It is easy to use and really BENEficial at 1700 php:)

What's IN it?
Let me give you a basic product decription based on what I have researched and what I have experienced:) All photos were taken at the same area, same day, and under the same incandescent light:)  TOTALLY, NO FILTER or any effects to let you see how it is really when applied:)


Let's start with this clean, bare and NO make up face:) this is me, without any thing on:)

Now let's start!

a. Stay Don't Stray is an eye shadow primer.  A primer is the base that holds your eye make up/eyeshadow and makes it stay/last longer.  It likewise brightens the eye area.  How to apply it: Using the brush, make three dots around the eye area and then gently spread it using your finger outwards.

b. POREfessional: this product puts Benefit on top of the game together with Benetint as POREfessional is a beauty invention that minimizes appearance of your facial pores as it gives it a velvety feeling and acts as a primer as well.  The product gives you an INSTANT result, NO Kid!

c. Some-kind-a-gorgeous!  is a foundation faker. You apply it all over the face using your fingers. Apply it after POREfessional:)  The packaging is cute and the quality of the foundation is excellent. You should try this!

d. benetint is a lip and cheek stain that has a rosy smell and tints naturally on the skin. Benefit Cosmetics actually started with this product back in 1977 when "an exotic dancer ordered nipple stain to Ford sisters."
Using your fingers moving circular in motion to your cheeks, you create a wonderful blush stain that is gorgeously natural.

e. girl meets pearl is a liquid highlighter you dab with your fingers on the cheeks to give a luminous rosy pear effect on the stain you previously created.  I love the smell of this product! Try this and complete that glowing look:)

f. They're real.  Last in this kit is they're real mascara.  This one is highly recommended especially if you are the type that doesn't like smudges, bludgeoned-looking-eyes after wearing a mascara for an hour or so!
I swear, amongst the mascaras I have tried, this is the only one that does not fail you in terms of its water-proof and volumizing/lengthening effect.  Max factor, Revlon, Estee Lauder and other mascara brands have failed me a number of times:( But with They're Real, I found hope! HAhaha. Imagine I trained kickboxing and got sweat all over my face but it was still there with no mess!  Imagine the sweat--really dripping and even as i wiped my face with a towel, the towel got mascara stains but not on my face/eye area.  Cool huh! My sister gave it a try (as I was making "kulit") and she got herself convinced! Now she owns her own Primping with the Stars kit, initially, because of they're real! hehe

There! I'm ready to go:) Bye girls! thanks for reading. More posts to come:) If you have a product/service/event that you want me to blog about, just email me:) Go to Connect with Caroleen page and send me message:)

Let's celebrate being us--girls:) everything lovely is about beauty that is shared. 

Muah! 

I first heard about Muay Thai from my college rhetoric professor Maam TP De Luna in 2005, when she narrated how she enjoyed her kickboxing class and how it gave her "that" high-feeling knowing that she can kick with such power/ strength.  As a student I wondered why women like my professor consider boxing and kicking when they can actually choose playing badminton or swimming or belly dancing--- something more "feminine."

Perhaps as a 19 year old, I was too worried about engaging in sports that are famously played by men.  A little shy perhaps to serve that punch or even raise my leg for a kick.  

But everything has changed now, especially with the way i view sports for men and for women.  I have realized that sports has no gender and anybody, even that shy lass in your class can be a badass kicker in that boxing ring!

So, while doing aerobics for almost a year at Jessica's gym in San Ildefonso Bulacan, last May 4, 2013 I finally decided to give myself a new kind of training for health, self-defense and personality development. I thought "I'm ready to kick some butt:)"

Kidding aside, I was really into this because I wanted to bring back my weight :)  But more than that, I wanted to train because I wanted to be really fit--by "fit" i mean, not just achieve an ideal weight, but achieve right endurance, strength, flexibility and body and mind coordination through self-defense/ exercise.

Kickboxing

Muay thai is a combat sports from the muay martial arts of Thailand (wikipedia). It combines a physical and mental discipline as it includes combat on foot referred to as "the art of eight limbs":  use of fists, elbows, knees, shins and feet (wikipedia).

Third: acquire self defense moves
more than just a form of exercise, kickboxing lets you acquire additional valuable knowledge of self-defense. This is particularly ideal for women and even little girls, pre-teens, and teens. 

Fourth: get rid of stress and aggression, consider anger management therapy

Kickboxing lets you release tension, energies that may be negatively disturbing your mind and your focus that somehow affects the way you move.  As you train, you would eventually feel a good sense of relief.  It lets you focus or concentrate on what you should do and gives you time to think about what you feel:)  

Fifth: Confidence from Within.
You know you can.

With kickboxing, you get to give yourself another level of experience and knowledge that adds up to that confidence not just in facing a dangerous situation, but with the things that you fear or situations that you think you are actually scared of.

Plus, it makes you feel good about yourself, your body---knowing that your muscles are not lazy and that you are sexy and beautiful from within:)

Fight factory Manila offers muay thai, boxing, MMA, jiu-jitsu and the like to men and women.  the gym is located at Thompson's Square in Tomas Morato, Quezon City.  The rate is 350php per session.  At first I thought that Muay thai training is much like aerobics where you can train for an hour and a half.  However, with muay thai, especially for beginners like, 3 hours would just be right per session as you would really have to take a couple of rest in between your warm up exercises, actual kickboxing training, abs work out exercises, cooling down, and finally, stretching.

You can actually enroll as a group (with your friends) or one on one.  Since I went there by myself and decided to pursue it even without a friend to accompany me, I get to focus more with the training as the personal trainer assigned for me really gave his time to see my lapses.

The warming up jumping rope exercise is really challenging.  I have been attending the training for the 3rd time now (June 8, 2013) and yet I still can't seem to get the rhythm of the jump and the rope I supposed to skip.

"Nagwawala na siya oh" they jokingly tell me as I tried my best to jump---as a result, the jump was too high that easily tires me.  Plus the rope was making too noisy taps on the rubber mat. It was supposed to be done smoothly and with less sound.  Anyway, this is one of the things that inspires me to continue kickboxing.

Try it.  If you are looking for a new sports to engage yourself in with the purpose of burning those calories, consider kickboxing!  You'll even learn valuable self-defense. 

After all, you are a woman, you owe it to yourself that you can protect yourself while being fit:)

you are not just lovely, you are tough:)