TOPAZ HORIZON

When I had sons, I felt a little relieved that I won't have to become a gajillionaire to buy them clothes. I mean, they're boys. I don't need them to be fashionistas. I mean, it would be different if I had girls. I'd be buying my little girl a new outfit with matching shoes every week!!!

Boys are less pressure, style-wise. Boys are easy. And then I found Mango Kids. And then I decided I want to be mother-and-son cute with my boys! And then you have to check out these outfits I put together!!!
Vito is all about Batman these days, so he super loved this shirt. He also likes the black shorts because Batman equals black and so Vito loves everything black now, too.
We're both in gray tees and black bottoms! I like the tuxedo trousers. Very slimming! The formality of it strikes a balance with the message tee.

And I matched the coral handbag with the orange border of Vito's "Batman Crime Fighter" shirt.

On me: Message shirt with "I want to be your favorite hello, and hardest goodbye" design, Mango Basics Denims & Tees, P795; Black slim trousers, Mango Basics, P1,250; Pearl and studs necklace, Mango, P995; Coral handbag, Mango, P2,950. On Vito: Batman Crime Fighter shirt, Mango Kids x Batman, P795; Black shorts, Mango Kids, P1,450

First, I need to say that my husband and I are very happy living in our condo. We're so happy here that nothing has moved us to move to anywhere else. Until we found this video from some blog link which was from a home magazine link and then now we can't stop thinking about it!



Yes, because of this video, we want to live in Tagô at Tagaytay!!!

Though at first we were wowed by the larger Ara-al design, it's the humbler Adobe house that Vince and I fell in love with. We love everything about it! Even the weird fact that they put the master's bedroom outside the house. To us, we just thought we'd convert that to our office!

Since we're writers as well as parents, it's become increasingly clear to us that we love working from home because we're with the kids 24/7 and yet we desperately need a separate space for our work. And by separate, we mean a space that isn't just set apart by a closed door. We really need to physically go out of our house and go to another building! Adobe's strange plan of placing the master's bedroom apart from the main house solves that! It's so brilliant!

The master bedroom is OUTSIDE the house. Crazy. We love it!

Since we have boys, they can all share one room upstairs while Vince and I stay in another.

We are obsessed with Tagô. We want to live there one day. Ang mahal lang grabe. Mga 20M for such a small house in the province! And pre-selling pa yata ang price na yan huhuhu. Well, Mañosa raw kasi.

We can totally see ourselves living in Tagaytay. We don't need to live here in the capital because Vince and I both work from home. For school, there's Xavier in Nuvali. The climate is cool, the vegetables are fresh, the air is fresh! The more we think about it, the more we want to up and go!

Sigh. Just when we thought all our dreams had come true, here comes a new one. Work work work again!

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I also look so much better recently because of this amazing facial from the Aivee Clinic—the OxyGeneo. This is me at the relaxing treatment room at Dr. Aivee Aguilar-Teo's clinic (more like spa!) at Mega Fashion Hall. I'm just about to get my OxyGeneo facial, which is the BEST FACIAL I've gotten in all my 38 years. Let me tell you all about it!

Luxurious experience. From minty refreshments at the lobby to fluffy comforters on the treatment beds.

What is it?

• Hydrated and plumped up skin reduces wrinkles and fine lines
• Collagen is increased so skin is firmer and tighter
• Skin takes on a glow

The facial starts with a thorough cleansing. Skin is then exfoliated, then undergoes radio-frequency treatment for noninvasive contouring and firming. It ends with skin infused with essential nutrients and oxygen. The oxygen increases and hastens the effectivity of the treatment.

I researched all over the Internet and OxyGeneo in most clinics around the world is offered as an exfoliation-oxygenation facial, so their facials last just 30 minutes. Dr. Aivee adds lots of extra goodies. Here's what to expect:

Step 1: Makeup remover is applied on face and neck to melt away makeup, dirt and oils.
Step 2: Cleansing gel is massaged on face and neck for a thorough clean.
Step 3: Steaming is done for a few minutes to open up pores.
Step 4: Ultrasonic exfoliation lifts away dead skin cells on the surface while loosening stubborn dirt.
Step 5: Pricking out blackheads and whiteheads. My friend Nicole Romero of Beauty & Sparkle says you can ask to skip this.
Step 6: RF treatment for tightening and firming skin.
Step 7: Brightening gel oxygenation to infuse all these skin-saving nutrients deep into the skin.
Step 8: Collagen mask finishes off everything!

You're advised not to rinse till the next morning so I always schedule my OxyGeneo facials in the afternoon so I can go straight home and sleep.

What happens after?
You'd think that with all those steps above, your skin would be staging an angry revolution. I thought that would happen, too, after I had a facial in another spa-clinic and was promised there was no downtime. Grabe lang. My face was swollen and hot and felt burned for two weeks!!! So whenever spa-clinics tell me there's no downtime, I get scared. But with OxyGeneo, wala talagang downtime! In fact, my skin was tighter and brighter after just one session. And it really felt pampered.

See below, my skin before my very first OxyGeneo on the left, and my skin after on the right. No redness, just a nice glow!

We really saw a difference just three days after my facial. My husband (who discourages me from getting facials after that time my face was burned off) was staring... and staring and staring at me. He said my skin was nice and glowing and that I looked younger. That was just after one session of OxyGeneo! You can bet that he encourages me now to get my OxyGeneo facials!

I'm now in the middle of my treatment. A treatment is best at 6 sessions. My fourth will be next week. But I already see results. My fine lines decreased. My skin is brighter, clearer, tighter. I think I look younger! For example, my crow's feet are GONE.

See below my makeup-less, no-filter, super close up photo. Usually, a smile produces three very visible lines at the corners of my eyes. But now, wala na.


I really super love my OxyGeneo facials!

I wish I had the time to do the facials properly. I should go every 7-10 days. But because of my packed schedule, I go every 4-6 weeks. I guess if I did the prescribed schedule, my face would be so much more fabulous. Sigh!

Okay, if you have any questions, please leave them below and I'll ask Dr. Aivee. She's super smart and super nice and very helpful. And super galing! I highly recommend you visit her clinics and see and feel for yourself the Aivee touch!

Aivee Teo M.D. Anti-Aging Institute


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My first name always gets massacred. Francis. Franzen. Princess. Pansit. My last name is pretty simple but it's spelled as Salas, Sanchez and Sally. I'm exasperated but I'm used to it because I grew up with people wondering about my maiden name, too, which is Amper. Amper is not so common so people turn it into Amber, Ampere, Unfair. So I'm quite used to people not remembering my name. Then there are also a lot of people who can't forget my name because apparently it's unusual.

Frances Amper.

I think it's a pretty name. An intelligent name. I love my former name. I love it so much that when I got married, I didn't change my name. My husband is Vince Sales and his wife—me—is Frances Amper.

I also married at 30 and have built a career with that name so I didn't want to change my name. But on our first anniversary, Vince said he'd like for us to share the same last name. So, because I promised to love and obey, I changed my name to Frances Sales.

I use Frances Amper Sales professionally. Because of that, I guess that's why people address correspondence to me as such: "To Ms. Frances Amper-Sales."

My last name is just Sales. It isn't hyphenated. When you hyphenate a last name, that means you use the whole thing, so if we must be formal, I'd be addressed as "Ms. Amper-Sales." On invitations and letters addressed to us as a couple, the correct address is "To Vince Sales and Frances Amper-Sales." But my last name isn't Amper-Sales. It's just Sales. No hyphen. So you can write on the envelope, "To Vince and Frances Sales."

This is correct because Amper is my middle name.

This is incorrect because my last name isn't Amper-Sales.

Frances Sales.

In normal, ordinary life, that's the name I use. When I introduce myself to my kids' friends, teachers, to my husband's friends, I'm Frances Sales. In the last couple of years, I've dropped my maiden name, however. I now just tell people—whether I work with them or not—to address me as Frances Sales. It's simpler.


I like my name now because it rhymes. Someone even asked me if that was a stage name I invented. Haha, it's my real name, folks. I really married a Mr. Sales and I married him for love not because I wanted a name that rhymed.

Was it difficult for me to become a Ms. Sales, to let go of my father's name and take on my husband's name? Well, in the beginning, yes. I'm attached to Amper. I mean, I've been attached to it all my life! But I like that I changed my name. Here are my reasons:

1. To my surprise, I actually loved that my new name made me feel like I am one with my husband. We're a team. That's what married life is all about!
2. I liked how symbolic it was to drop my maiden name—it didn't just usher in a new life as a married woman; it also reminded me that I was leaving my family. By changing my name, I felt like life was going to be better because I'm a new person now. I have a new name! 
3. When the children came, I was happy I shared their last name. We were all the same, in the same team, one family unit. My new name told my kids that I belong to their papa, I belong to them, and that they all belong to me. 
4. I actually like that my name rhymes!

How about you? Did you keep your maiden name? Did you take your husband's name? Do you like your married name? Did life change when you changed your name? Tell me! I'd like to know!


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