Hi everyone! Forgive me for the short blogging recess --- too busy with work and school these past few days.

Here are the last two ladies who will be getting a full-size bottle of the Neutrogena bb cream! The answer to Week 6's photo is B, I'm not wearing bb cream. The ones with qualified entries were:

Let's pick two from the list:

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I woke up very early one January morning to check out the weather in Tagaytay. It took us two hours to drive from Manila to Batangas. Our destination: the Tagaytay Picnic Grove!

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A lot of the girls who won in the past bb cream giveaways have emailed me back, delighted with the Neutrogena Fine Fairness performance! I have two more bottles to raffle off to add two more ladies in the happy winners circle.

On a sad note, they'll be the last two ladies on the list to conclude my Neutrogena Fine Fairness bb cream giveaway. I enjoyed this contest so much because I have a good reason to post 500x400 photo of my face weekly I was able to spend some personal moments with my readers. I've had heartfelt and meaningful correspondences with most of them and I'd like to think I've won relationships through this opportunity Neutrogena gave me.

*sighs heavily* Now that was quite an intro for the giveaway's last run, hehe. But before I end up crying here (yes, I can be that emotional), let's get the last photo up:

A. I'm wearing the Neutrogena Fine Fairness BB Cream
B. I have no makeup/bb cream on

(I have a very good reason for the overbleached brows --- explanation coming up by the end of March)

Same rules:

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We live in the groupon era where it's wisest to go bulk buying. These are hard times and the growth of group buying sites may just be the best thing that has happened in our desire to get a bite of life's luxury.

But thanks to Watsons Switch and Save, anybody can spend economically on their home basics even without buying wholesale! From cotton buds to mouth washes, to your facial tissues and Vitamin C (never miss out on this in your homes! health is an investment): everything is all about letting you save more money to spend for the good life.

Celebrities like Divine Lee, Victor Basa, Patty Laurel and the iconic Tessa Prieto-Valdez have swtiched and saved with Watsons, too! Here's what they have to say:

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I frequently drop by HBC stores and I love that their sale periods include bestsellers. This week, HBC is offering great discounts on Beauty Exclusive products like San San, Hortaleza Professional, Allue My First, Body Recipe and Hortaleza,M.D!

Aside from the mark down, a customer can get a chance to take home a FREE HBC Beach Bag for every P500 worth of purchase. The promo is available in all HBC mall-based stores only, from March 15, 2012 to April 15, 2012.

Visit HBC this pay-day and get your fave products on bargain! 

Disclaimer: I am in no way connected to HBC nor am I being paid for this post. Sale updates are sent to me via email for promotion's dissemination purposes only.

If you haven't picked up the paper today, here's what Inquirer (PDI) has for you: a photo of Mr. Demetrio Vicente on the front page. (Mr. Vicente took the stand as a witness for the defense yesterday to testify that he bought the Coronas' Marikina property)

cropped photo from inquirer.net

I'm so sorry PDI, but I'm not buying Mang Vicente's collaged photos along with your feeling brilliant caption. I looked up to your publication since I was a child but this is already too much. No more Inquirer on my desk starting tomorrow.

I'm currently checking out how Bedhead's Hard to Get Texturizing paste will work for my hair. While most texturizing pastes work well with short hair, I'm testing how it will help my shoulder-length, layered locks.

Apart from the cute ball packaging that screams summer blue, the scent is something I and my sibs adore --- fruity watermelon! 

Quick Facts about the TIGI Bed Head Texturizing Paste:

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This photo circulated via networking sites yesterday, a picture taken by a concerned citizen en route to SM Baguio. The shot shows the back of a black Nissan Safari with plate num BDK 617:

I have no idea what possessed the one who did this to do what he actually did! The poor dog who is supposed to be taken cared of by humans, stewards of God's creation, is actually being treated with utmost cruelty! I am so furious... hay!

• punung-puno na ba ng iba pang aso sa loob kaya sa spare tire nalang sinabit si Bantay?
• baka naman nadidiri lang siya marumihan ng sakong may lamang aso ang kanyang leather seat?
• trip lang nya, baka magka-chance sumikat (which is actually happening)

PAWS Philippines is already tracking who should be held liable for the act (story here) but I'm pretty sure that a few thousand pesos will set this person off the hook. Pretty much like what happened to those responsible for the pitiful fighting dogs of Cavite.

The poor furry guy is said to have been freed already (full story HERE). I hope someone picks him up, treat him well, and provide him a family and home that will help remove all that BDK 617 trauma away.

Thanks to everyone who joined the Neutrogena Fine Fairness BB Cream Week 5 Giveaway! The right answer is A, I'm wearing the bb cream!

The qualified entries belonged to:

And our two winners are:

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My ideal Nuffnang summer is accomplishing two things this summer:

1) The perpetual, hit the beach! Yes, with all that energy-sucking heat and humidity, won't it be glorious to just dive into cool and beautiful waters?

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I love the polish color they gave me at the Beauty and Butter Megamall when I visited for an organic foot spa. They painted my nails with SpaRitual's I Feel The Earth Move. It's a deep maroon lacquer that complemented my skintone.

After 6 days of wearing the polish, I was thrilled it survived my most stressful pedal activities; most polishes chip off my nails after day 3. But please be reminded I've only used a handful of polishes. For those who've hung around polishes a lot, strong polishes aren't that thrilling anymore, I think :) 

Took a picture of my nails before removing the SpaRitual polish.

On close-up (haha, sorry for the ginormous photo, paa kung paa!):

Not too shabby! But since it has been a force of habit to take off polishes after 4-6 days, I had to tearfully say goodbye. RIP SpaRitual polish 3.2.12.

In conclusion, the SpaRitual pedicure I got from Beauty and Butter Megamall stood the test of stress and time. Now, I want my own bottle... of my first ever strong poilsh!

Full Disclosure: The organic spa experience was an invitation from Beauty and Butter and did not cost me anything, well except for tipping the exceptional pedicurist. Despite the free spa, you can expect that all opinions expressed in this post are unbiased and reflects my true experience with the salon's product and service.

Here's our second to last guessing game photo. I hope more ladies get the answer correctly because two full-size bottles of the BB cream are at stake here. Now, can you guess if:

A. I'm wearing the Neutrogena Fine Fairness BB Cream
B. I have no makeup/bb cream on

Same rules:

To enter, you must be residing in the Philippines and must be a public follower of The Beauty Bin (just click on the 'Join This Site' button on the right sidebar) and comment on this post using this format:

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If you're scouring beauty brands for an inexpensive red lipstick, you're definitely in for some treat when you check out the Nature Republic Petit Cherry Rouge lippie in H20 (H stands for high-colour). I bought this last November 2011 during the Nature Republic Grand Opening at SM Fairview and I've been reaching for this every time I'd like a pop of red on my bare face.

What I love about it:

• highly pigmented
• inexpensive at P220 (Nature Republic card holders get an additional 10% off!)
• does not dry my lips out
• very creamy and glides perfectly on the lips
• cute and compact packaging; true-blue petite!

Uh-ohs:

• not long-lasting; i reapply after an hour or two
• not a perfect red on my pigmented lips; more of orangey-red on me

You might notice alphanumeric codes instead of lipstick names with The Nature Republic Petit Cherry Rouge products. Very Korean, don't you think? FYI: 4 variants are available, namely, High-colour (H), Moisture (M), Glossy (G), and Creamy (C). 

I swatched colors from the Moisture and Glossy variants which resulted to my partiality to High-colour because of its relatively outstanding color pay-off.

I'm still thinking if I should repurchase H20. Sometimes, I find the color too bold for my personality, hee. But I'll definitely check out more shades from the Nature Republic Petit Cherry Rouge line so that I end up with a lipstick that's more, erm, ME. 

Nature Republic Philippines' Branches and Contact Numbers:

Festival Mall Alabang, G/F, 822-2953
SM North EDSA, The Block, 4/F, across Wade, 921-4781
SM Fairview, Main Building, G/F, across Chinabank, 921-3829

Please don't forget to join my Neutrogena Fine Fairness BB Cream Giveaway! Deadline's today, 3PM.

Like Nature Republic Philippines on Facebook and/or follow them on Twitter to get updates on what's new and what's on sale!

Full Disclosure: Item reviewed purchased with my own money.

Last weekend, I experienced my first organic foot spa at the Beauty and Butter Megamall. This Vegan foot, nail and leg pampering uses soothing and relaxing products from eco-friendly brand, SpaRitual.

The Beauty and Butter Organic Foot Spa Experience

The buttercups, the girls who work at the salon, politely showed me where to sit and handed me an iPad. While waiting for my buttercup, I was intrigued by the place's pop-art walls. I also thought it was space-savingly cool that the foot sinks were built in the platform and were concealed underneath colorful pillow-ish squares. 

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