Magic green powder

I started getting gray and white hair when I was only in my twenties, and I started coloring my hair when I was thirty. Everything was fine until six years ago when I decided to get a temporary tattoo during a beach trip. The "henna" applied by the artist turned out to be black henna, which has synthetic dyes containing PPD (para-Phenylenediamine). This direct application of PPD on my skin caused a severe allergy; my upper arm swelled, the tattoo design blistered and it was hellishly itchy! PPD sensitivity is lifelong, which means that I am now forever allergic to anything that contains PPD (and other similar chemicals besides). Unfortunately for me, most commercial hair dyes, whether home- or salon-applied, contain PPD.

Stubborn girl that I am, the experience didn't stop me from continuing to color my hair with commercial hair dyes for several years. The coloring is supposed to stay on the hair for only ten minutes, there was little direct contact with my skin, and I only had to color my hair three to four times a year. But through the years, the allergy progressively worsened until I finally decided to stop coloring last year.

Then last month, a poorly-trained waitress handed me a friend's senior citizen card just because I was the only one at our table with white hair.

I don't think I'm particularly vain, but even that was a little too much for me.

So I decided to color my hair again, but this time with 100% pure henna. I figured, it's been used as a dye since antiquity and we should know by now if it causes adverse reactions, right? And I've never heard of anyone having an allergy to henna.

That was two weeks ago and, so far, everything seems to be good. My scalp didn't itch and the henna didn't cause an inflammation of the skin on my nape. The coverage isn't quite what I prefer and it seems to wash out faster than commercial hair coloring, but hey, my skin seems to be happy and I'm sure Mother Earth is too. So, as long as no one hands me another senior citizen card until it's really mine, I will be satisfied.

I feel almost edible

• Coconut scalp care cream
• Brazil Nut intensive hair treatment
• Beer shampoo
• Lemon and Honey bath soap
• Cucumber and Avocado facial scrub
  
• Raspberry and Pear body lotion
• Orange cologne

Excellent Excellence

In November of last year, I wrote about my preferred brand of hair color, Revlon's ColorSilk, in "My whites are showing." I've recently just changed brand loyalties. Now, my hair color of choice is L'Oreal's Excellence Creme.

What made me switch? The number one reason is the fact that it is a cream, not a liquid. No dripping! It's wonderful! That alone would have been enough reason to make me switch. The second reason is the conditioners that it comes with. Note that I used the plural. It comes with a pre-color conditioner aside from the regular after-color conditioner. It's an additional step and makes the process a little longer, but for someone like me who always struggles with dry hair, it's a very welcome step. And the after-color conditioner: L'Oreal has packaged Excellence with a small bottle of its Color Vive hair conditioner, enough for two or three applications. The applicator bottle also comes with two nozzles, the regular one-hole kind and this small comb where each tooth has holes in the sides, not the tips.

I love this new discovery. I've already bought my second bottle and it's waiting in the toiletry cabinet for my next application, about two months from now—just in time for the Christmas parties.

Or pure oil?

November 2007 was the first time I ever tried using body butter, and I wrote about it in Cream or butter? July 2008 marks the first time I'm using body oil.

Body oil doesn't feel like it's being absorbed very well, but I think that's just my imagination because my skin's still well-moisturized. I especially like the sheen it gives my skin.

So what's your favorite kind of body moisturizer? Butter, lotion or oil?

Dry + brittle nails?

Then get this darling little bottle: Sally Hansen Age Correct Strength Dry + Brittle Nail Care.

Several months ago, I noticed that my nails had suddenly turned extremely brittle. Anything and everything I did caused them to split, chip or break. Annoying, to say the least. I couldn't touch any fabric because the threads would snag on my nails. I tried using moisturizer—though the skin on my fingers turned nice and soft, it did nothing for my nails.

So I was forced to go hunting for a possible solution and found this in the beauty and health care section of the department store I regularly go to. It works! (Thank goodness. Or I would have been forced to search for another solution.)

You're supposed to apply it every other day until your nails heal. When applied, it looks like you have clear polish on, though not as shiny. Since I started using it, I haven't had a single chip or break. Of course, I'm now afraid to stop using it, but I think I will soon because I also want to find out how long it'll be before my nails turn brittle again. If or when they do, at least I know what to do already.

I just wish Sally Hansen would change its name. It's hard enough to be aging without having to use a product that shoves that fact into your face.

I am happy to report…

This is really just an update to two old posts, to let you know that they actually work. Just click on the links to read the original posts.

1. My girlfriend finally tried that recipe she found for removing tarnish and texted me to say that it really works. However, if the silver is heavily tarnished or if the object is large, you have to dip it twice.

2. After taking my own moisturizing advice for half a year, I am happy to report that… Oh forget it—it's too embarrassing to say. Let's just say it that it works.

Kissed by the Snow Queen

I always use lip balm before I put on lipstick. The moisturizers they put in lipsticks are never enough for me—I always end up with dry, chapped lips without the balm. I finished my tube of lip balm last week so I had to get another over the weekend. And I discovered this in our neighborhood drugstore:

ChapStick's Peppermint lip balm. Ooh! Sure enough, it makes my lips cool. Only for half an hour after application, though—I wish the sensation lasted longer.

Almost summer

The nights are still cool, and though the sun is much stronger—especially at noon—even daytime breezes are still cool too. But I know that summer's on it's way in this part of the world because of two things:

ONE Our dog's shedding like crazy! Has been for the past two weeks. I give him a good brushing everyday, but I still have balls of hair all over the living room, dining room and kitchen. Finally brought him in for grooming last weekend—a summer cut, which means his hair's just half an inch long now. Doesn't mean he has stopped shedding, but at least I don't have tumblehair in the house anymore.

TWO I'm flaking! Though I use a wash cloth or a loofah in the shower until I scrub myself raw, when I put on my body moisturizer, rolls of skin still peel off. I have to wait until the moisturizer dries then I dust myself off. Otherwise, I feel like I have lint all over my body.

Summer. Heat and sweat, yes, but also a reprieve for my scalp, which absolutely hates cold weather. So does the rest of my skin, actually. After this peeling, my skin will be having a wonderful season!

Sensual mint

My love affair with mint and eucalyptus is not limited to shampoo. I especially love it in soap. Unfortunately, I have yet to see any in supermarkets. I am lucky that we have a friend that makes handcrafted soap—Annomi Soapworks—and several of his variants have mint or eucalyptus: Eucalyptus Lavender, Peppermint Scrubby, Minty Lavender and Blue Mint Swirl. Some are smooth, some scrubby. He usually only frequents bazaars, but he lives close enough to us that we can go to his house if I want to buy some.

Like the shampoo, it's the sensation of coolness that I adore. Especially in one particular area. Which area, you'll have to try mint soap yourself because I am not mentioning it here. Let's just say that sensual is definitely the word you'll be using to describe it too.

Keep a cool head

Literally.

I suffer from seborrhea / seborrheic dermatitis, thankfully only on a particular spot on my scalp, near the nape. (For you lucky ones who have no idea what seborrhea is, read the article on MedicineNet.com—just don't laugh!)

Late last year, Unilever launched it's newest shampoo and conditioner in the Philippine market, and it has quickly become my (current) favorite hair product. Clear, the Ice Cool variant (I think of them as flavors, actually, but then that's me). Even if I didn't need its anti-dandruff properties, I'd probably use it anyway because it has mint. Mint! I love the sensation of my head literally feeling cooler, especially from the conditioner because it has to be kept on for several minutes.

Creamy lips

I'm not very picky when it comes to lipstick brands. In fact, I only have two requirements. One, it has to be tasteless and odorless. (Much as I'd like to patronize local brands, it's next to impossible with lipstick—most of them stink! They haven't figured out the right formulation—they smell and taste like rancid oil. Yuck.) Two, I should not feel like I'm buying jewelry rather than just make-up. (Those high-end brands have appalling prices!)

What I am picky about is color. I've always at least half a dozen at a time because the lipstick I use has to complement what I'm wearing. (Not match—I'm not about to use orange lipstick just because I'm wearing an orange blouse!)

It took me quite some time to find a particular brown shade I wanted. I'd always pass by the make-up section during my monthly mall trips and I just couldn't find the right shade. Early this month, I finally did—from our office's Avon lady: My Lip Miracle Lipcolor in Brown Unbound (in the Philippines, at least—in Avon's website, the only lipstick I found in the same form factor is listed as Perfect Wear All-Day Comfort Lipstick).

Anyway, what surprised me about the brand was its texture. All the lip color I've been using the past several years are those ultra-light ones, the ones which feel like you're not wearing any lipstick at all (well, except for the glosses, that is). This one glides on like cream, and the feeling that I have cream on my lips actually stays. And I discovered (or is that re-discovered?) that I like it.

Soft buns

I'm blessed-cursed with oily skin. So at the age when most women are slathering their entire bodies with moisturizer (men should to, actually, but most don't bother—sad), I only need to concentrate on a few spots. A decade ago, I had to start moisturizing my elbows, knees and heels. A year or two ago, I had to add my shins, upper arms and eye area (non-comedogenic facial moisturizer only—I haven't reached the point where I need the intensive, specialized eye creams).

One area that people seem to forget when they're only doing spot moisturizing is the buns. Don't miss it! Underwear rubs against them and the skin can get irritated and bumpy. I don't think all the sitting down we do helps either. After a few months of regular bun moisturizing, I swear you'll notice a "touching" difference!

And boys, this tip is for you too.

Cream or butter?

I just finished another bottle of moisturizing lotion yesterday and started on a new one today: The Body Shop's Mango Body Butter. (Just a little explanation: I usually don't buy my own body moisturizers. I get several bottles a year from girlfriends during Christmas and my birthday, I don't have to buy. I love all the variety of brands and scents they give!)

This new one's body butter, though, and not the usual cream or lotion. It's my first time to use butter—it's thick! So thick, it doesn't spread well. Then I read the label: it's for "extremely dry skin." Oh. It's not meant to spread well. At least it's perfect for those exceptionally rough spots!

My whites are showing

Thank goodness I don't have any errands to do outside the house today. So I've scheduled myself, after bathing our dog and cooking, for hair coloring.

White hair runs in the family, though it's a blessing that we retain our full mops until old age. Because of this gene, though, I started coloring even before I was thirty (twenty-seven, I think). I always do it myself—salons are expensive and I really just get antsy sitting doing nothing for an hour or more. I can't even read because I have to remove my glasses for the duration.

Over the years, I've tried out so many brands of hair color and even henna. Henna, I can never use again. Aside from the fact that it stains awfully (skin, scalp, and paint, omg! be extra careful that you don't touch anything painted if you've henna on your fingers—no way to remove the stain, you'll just have to paint over it), I've also developed a pretty bad allergy to it.

I've finally settled on Revlon ColorSilk. I've no allergic reactions to it, the developer doesn't have a strong odor, and the hair conditioner that comes with it is fantastic and smells great. Before, I'd only use dark brown, my natural color. After all, the whole point was just to cover the whites. In my mid-years though, I'm finally experimenting a bit. I've moved on to the medium browns, and today I'm using a medium one with a golden shade. Maybe one of these days I'll have the guts to use even lighter colors.