TOPAZ HORIZON

It's no secret that I've been battling acne for the last three decades. Because of Flawless Face & Body Clinic, my face is finally clear!!! Smooth and radiant for the first time in the longest time. Does this mean I've been cured? Well, no. I still need my monthly facials to manage my acne-prone skin. Notice I now say "acne-prone skin" and not "acne-ridden face." I'm soooo happy!


Anyway, since I'm still an oily-skinned woman (yes, even though I'm already 41), I'm here to share with you how I manage to look fantabulous even though my skin had suffered from oil, breakouts, dark pimple spots, and ice-pick scars. How? With the right makeup!

You'll be happy to know that I don't use a ton of products, too. Here they are, my tried-and-tested makeup for oily skin:

Primer
I only use primer when I have a whole day of events or when I have a speaking engagement. Primer creates a smooth base by filling up pitted scars and fine lines (acts like masilya haha) and also makes makeup adhere better, longer. I've tried a few primers. The Bobbi Brown Skin Smoothing Pore Perfector, P1,780, is my favorite. Two thumbs up for helping me look pore-less, line-less, and scar-less.


Foundation
A huge perk of my job back then as editor at Calyxta.com was we Calyxta girls could sample the tons of products our beauty website sells. I've been happy with Maybelline Dream Mousse foundation until one day, testers of L'Oréal Paris Infallible Pro-Matte 24HR foundation dropped at Calyxta HQ. I tried it and our art director, Ming, said, "What are you wearing? You look great!"

This was a huge deal for me, guys, because when I was working at Calyxta, I couldn't do reviews that showed my face—I had sooo many pimples and dark scars. L'Oréal Paris Infallible Pro-Matte 24HR foundation, P700, covered that all up! Even better, the foundation dries to a matte finish and my face stays shine-free all day long. I love it!


Concealer
For really dark spots and for those days I hadn't gotten a good night's sleep (and when you're a mother, you never get any of that!), Pink Sugar Our Lil Secret Concealer, P349, always rescued me. Pink Sugar is a local brand. Yes!!! Support local!!! I love that it's local because its formula takes into consideration our tropical climate. This concealer covers all blemishes and it stays on those blemishes all day. This concealer does not budge! It comes in a tiny tube but that's okay because it's a thick product. Just a tiny bit goes a long way. I love it!


Eyeliner
This is another fab find. I love the Malissa Kiss Super Black Ultra HD Eye Liner, P349. Malissa Kiss is a Thai brand. I used to skip eyeliner because it always smudges. Always! I always end up looking like a raccoon. But here comes this liquid eyeliner from Thailand, sporting an extremely fine point that makes for precision lining. The ink dries quickly so blinky-eyes me won't even need to fan my eyes for the liner to set. And when it sets, it's there forever. I love it!


Eyebrow Pen
Behold—the Malissa Kiss Super Shape Ultra HD Brow Pencil, P349! It's so easy to use. Just brush up brows with the built-in spoolie, then draw on your arches with the crayon on the other end. The crayon is waxy so it acts like a pomade and keeps brow hairs in place. Best part? The crayon is deeply pigmented, smudge-proof, sweat-proof, and oily skin-proof. I love it!


Pressed Powder
Innisfree No Sebum Blur Pact, P759, is a revelation. It really does blur imperfections so that I look like I'm glowing (not shiny!). I use this to set my makeup and then I find that I don't need to powder my nose anymore, no matter how long my day is. The fine powder made from Jeju clay combined with other minerals absorbs oil and controls oil production, too. It's so amazing. I love it!


Blotting Paper
For extra hot days or if I want to freshen up, I don't even need to bring out my powder. I just use Happy Skin Tickled Pink Skin Perfecting Absorbent Charcoal Blotting Sheets, P149. It's my favorite because it's huge. When you have oily skin, it's oily everywhere, not just on the nose. So I appreciate how big the paper is because one sheet is enough to suck up the oil on my entire face. I love it!




I'm still looking for a mascara. When you have oily skin, the mascara smears on lower lids every time lashes brush against the oil. Yep. Think about eye makeup remover—what's it made of? Oil. And oil on my skin is abundant. So the search for mascara continues! If you have any recommendations, please share!

Now I want to happily say that as my skin improves with every visit at Flawless, I've found that I no longer need makeup. Oh yes, it's true! Shout out to my derma, dear Dr Boyles of Flawless SM Light, for taking care of my skin! I am super grateful. She walked me through my Flawless treatments—first the Advanced Acne Control Facial with Salicylic Acid Peel when my skin was volcanic; next was the Glycolic Acid Peel when my skin had calmed down, and now my Rejuvelite Facial (Acne Control) to maintain my now-almost-perfect skin!

We still need to address my ice-pick scars, and for that Dr Boyles recommends the Fractional Needling Therapy (FNT), which celebrities regularly get. It's a therapy that uses micro needles to resurface skin and push powerful skin-nourishing serums deep into the dermis. Because needles are involved, there's downtime—your face will be really red for days, which is why I haven't said yes to the FNT yet because as a working mama with no yayas and maids and who picks up my kids every day from school, I don't have the luxury of hiding away from the world as I wait for my face to heal. I should've done it during the ASEAN holiday!!! If I ever do FNT, I'll update you!

Meanwhile, I'm already happy with my pimple-free face and content that my fab makeup finds helps me achieve that flawless look!

This post is brought to you by Flawless Face & Body Clinic.

Today, Nov. 20, is Gifted Awareness Day. For parents like us, this may either mean we're celebrating the fact that we have super achiever kids or lamenting the fact that we don't. Actually, mamas, every child is gifted! We just need to identify those gifts, encourage them, and support our children so that their gifts can develop and they can use their gifts for society's benefit.

That's what I learned recently at the special event PROMIL® Four created for mommies.

(Stay with me, mamas, this is not your usual event coverage post!)

With the Philippine Center for Gifted Education (PCGE), the milk brand prepared workshops for mom bloggers, influencers, and celebrities to help us all appreciate being a child again and learning how a child learns. Experts in developmental pediatrics, clinical psychology, obstetrics, health and wellness, nutrition, and even the arts were our speakers that day. We learned to calm ourselves and move our bodies with yoga (I am now so into yoga, mamas!), how to paint like preschoolers (it was both easy and hard), communicate with words and with just our intuition (both surprisingly had their pros and cons), and to work as a team. It was a fun-filled day!


We also listened to talks on how we moms can identify our children's gifts, how to nurture them, and how to support our child's journey to a well-developed giftedness that contributes to the betterment of the community. It was very inspiring, mamas! Ang dami kong natutunan and marami rin akong mom guilt na lumabas haha

I would like to say that I had an important realization that day, and it's this: The future rests in a mother's hands. Ever heard of that adage, "The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world"? We all say the children are the future, but if their mothers don't care for them, that's not a very bright future. Mothers are so important!

Dra. Leticia Ho, Clinical Psychologist/Neurotherapist and President of Philippine Center for Gifted Education, told us that kids start their battle in life from conception. Will your child be smart, strong, healthy, sickly, mentally delayed? Will your child be fat? Will he be pandak? All these factors are determined by genetics, of course, but a mother who knows exactly how to take care of herself can shape her child's future and even affect the future predetermined by one's genetics.

From conception, a child's development and future depends so much on his mother—if she's eating well, if she lives in a good environment, if she has a stress-free pregnancy. When she is at the peak of her health, a mother is able to nurture her child's abilities even as the baby grows inside her.

Healthy little boys! But the one in my tummy was a delicate pregnancy. Was so scared!

So what happens now to us and our kids, us mamas who had stressful jobs or relationships, mamas who couldn't eat properly when we were pregnant, mamas who were sick—will our children be doomed for life? Not necessarily. Or paano na if you're the typical Pinoy family—you and your husband are around 5 feet tall. So ibig sabihin ba nun pati mga anak niyo forever nang maliit? This is where the mother comes in!

While a child's crucial development begins in the womb, we can still intervene when they are babies and toddlers. The first 1,000 days of the child, starting with the mother’s pregnancy, is so important! We learned that these thousand days are when the child "responds and adapts to different interventions."

Intervention is an interesting word. It means positive interference. To interfere is to stop something from its intended destination and then steer it to another direction. In that sense, even if a child is headed to ill health, stunted development, and a sad future, we can stop that from happening. We can intervene! How? With the proper nutrition, good parenting, and lots of love!

Explaining pregnancy to the boys through art!

I know PROMIL® Four is for kids so why am I talking about parenting here, right? It's just that so much focus is put on our children that we forget the most vital part of our child's development—the mother! What is a child without a caring mother? What is a child without a mother who knows exactly what to do to prevent illness, knows the best food to give him, knows the best ways to encourage and push a child to do his best, knows what kind of education her child needs, knows how to protect and nurture her child? A mother in an ideal environment—meaning she is healthy, is educated, financially secure, and in an emotionally fulfilling relationship—will not only give birth to healthier children but she is better equipped at raising stronger, healthier, smarter, and more successful people.

Sadly, in most societies, girls and mothers are the least valued members. Did you know that in India, their preference for sons has resulted to short people? Short, as in pandak. How did this happen? Well, if they have daughters and sons, ibibigay nila yung good food sa mga sons nila. Gatas sa sons, tubig sa daughters. Also, sons go to school, daughters stay home and learn nothing. The problem is (there are many problems to this honestly) who becomes mothers one day? Obviously, it's the girls! And if you have short, unhealthy, uneducated mothers, they will give birth to short and unhealthy children! To make matters worse, because they're uneducated mothers, they won't know how to raise their children in the proper and healthy way! What a disaster!

Invest in girls. Invest in mothers!!!

An empowered mother is the most important factor in creating a generation of brighter, smarter, healthier, and kinder children. I really believe this, and my belief is based on studies and research. Dra. Leticia Penano-Ho, President of Phil Center for Gifted Education, told us moms, “Every child has the talent which can be a Gift if discovered and nurtured early. It is the parent’s role to make the child’s talent reach his full potential, or else that gift could just be there untapped and undiscovered.”

Our role as parents is to create an environment that is a good foundation for a child to be conceived and nurtured in, then we keep that environment healthy by giving our child proper nutrition and plenty of physical and mental stimulation. In a safe and secure and loving world like that, a child truly blossoms, which brings us to our next role, which is to spot his special gifts. It can be a talent, a skill, an intelligence, whatever it is we must embrace it and encourage it.

There I am trying to spot if I have a little athlete or two!

That's what I got from the PROMIL® Four’s Learning Workshop for us mommies! I hope I impressed upon you, mamas, to take care of yourselves so you can be the best mothers you can be. Because I also left the event feeling more determined to get some sleep, get fit, and eat better so I can be healthier and alert and happy. This will help me pay more attention to my kids, feed them better food (and ease up on the fast food), give them good milk (Piero likes his "super milk" PROMIL® Four!), and expose them to more learning experiences (like music, sports and art) so I can spot what their special gifts are and nurture them!

Anyway, PROMIL® Four, together with Atlantis Production, will be featuring talented children in the local production of Matilda the Musical, a play that features the story of a gifted child. The play is currently showing till December 10, 2017. PROMIL® Four is raffling out free Matilda tickets! Visit www.promilfour-matilda.com for more information.

The signs of aging inevitably appear as we continue our journey called life. Even though these are not the most pleasant guests on the face, there are many ways to both prevent and treat them.

*This is a guest post by Hannah, the co-founder of Support Your Beauty. Her goal is to help her readers get the most out of all the most popular skincare products out there by being familiar with how each ingredient can impact one’s skin, hair, and general health. She believes that with a proper skincare regimen coupled with a smidge of makeup, anyone, no matter what age, race, or gender, can look and feel their best. To place a guest post, email frances@topazhorizon.com for my rates.

If you work from home like I do, you probably drool over those beautiful #deskgoals photos on Instagram (as I do haha). Pottery Barn sent me an article, "How To Organize Your Home Office for Increased Productivity," which I will publish below in a bit, but before I do that, lemme just show you mamas the desks and work tables available now at Pottery Barn. They are sooo nice!

Big confession: Before I get any treatment done, I devote a ton of research to it, but when I went to Flawless Face & Body Clinic for the Flawless Rejuvelite Mask Facial, I had been so busy I just said yes to it without knowing what it was. So when my aesthetician positioned what basically was a lamp on my face and I was bathed in blue light for 15 minutes, I went, "Okaaaaaaaay, what's this supposed to do?"


What just happened was my first every LED therapy. LED means light-emitting diode. These diodes are in the mask and they emit infrared light. There are different kinds of wavelengths per light, which is seen in the color of the light. Here's the list:

White reduces inflammation
Red promotes good blood circulation and lymphatic drainage
Amber stimulates production of collagen and elastin
Blue kills acne-causing bacteria on the surface and deep in the skin

The light is not your usual light because this penetrates deep into the skin and causes skin-beneficial reactions. And nope, this light doesn't damage skin at all. Because my main skin concern is acne, I agreed to the recommendation of Flawless to try the Flawless Rejuvelite Mask Acne Control Facial.

As you can see in my photo above, the light is blue. Blue light is beneficial to acne sufferers like me because it kills the bacteria present on the skin and also the ones deep in the layers, the bad bacteria that cause all the cystic acne that's so painful! I will admit that 15 minutes bathing under blue light was, well, not thrilling for me. But when I read the report made by the National Center for Biotechnology Information of the U.S. National Library of Medicine that blue light therapy does wonders to pimply skin, I was sold because I love science!

Here's the excerpt from the article on the NCBI website:
"Phototherapy with visible light, specifically blue light, has been shown to improve skin condition in cases of acne and blemishes.4 It is further reported to control the condition before an outbreak occurs. This blue light therapy is clinically shown to control acne without harsh chemicals or prescriptions and improves the skin’s appearance. "

I'll do a proper review soon since I just started Rejuvelite and I want to see its full effects after a week or so. Meanwhile, to learn more about the LED light therapy that Flawless is offering, read this and then maybe you should give it a try! Right now, a few days after my first Rejuvelite Mask Facial, my skin looks really glowing. I think I've found my new favorite Flawless treatment!

Come back soon for my review!

JAN. 2018 UPDATE: Sorry it took a while but here's my review!

*This post is brought to you by Flawless Face & Body Clinic.