Author: Rochkirstin Santos-Sioco

Sometime in mid-September 2013, I officially accepted a mission. It was a mission to test out the Novuhair 3-in-1 Pack which is composed of the Novuhair Topical Scalp Lotion, Novuhair Herbal Shampoo and Novuhair Herbal Conditioner and see if I can vouch for these products for what they are known.

I thought that my dad (who’s now nearing 60 years old) rather than myself would be a better candidate to check what Novuhair has to offer. I told him to try Novuhair and use the trio every day. It has been a month now since he took on a “healthy hair journey.” So, did Novuhair products work for him? You asked. I’m answering.

Novuhair: At Closer Inspection

Introduced by prominent salon and hair expert Fanny Serrano in the Philippines, the Novuhair brand rejuvenates hair follicles and improves blood circulation to the scalp to stimulate hair growth. It also eliminates dandruff, detoxifies scalp and improves scaling. Overall, Novuhair provides optimum nutrition to combat hair loss and hair thinning.

Call me outdated but I was really not familiar with the brand before and was just surprised that my mom is aware about the wonders of Novuhair. She recounts how Fanny Serrano shares his positive testimonies on the products. He started to feel insecure for having bald spots at age 40. Truth be told, baldness is also something that most people will experience in their lifetime. Thanks to Novuhair products, Fanny Serrano’s spots were covered up and he got his hair back growing again eventually with no side effects experienced. Magic?

Nope.

But pretty close.

Active Natural Ingredients

Novuhair boasts of natural herbs, essential oils and co-factor nutrients used for centuries, proven safe and effective in treating hair problems. It is composed with active natural ingredients, and among nine of which are as follows:

1. Moringaoleifera / Malunggay / Moringa – helps restore the skin’s condition and prevent falling hair
2. Sweet Almond Oil / Prunusamygdalus – moisture-rich oil that contains vitamins A, B1, B6 and E, as well as minerals such as magnesium and iron that easily penetrates the hair shaft and follicles, relieving hair dryness and itching and providing nourishment to the hair to promote hair growth
3. Peppermint – slows down the growth of bacteria and fungi, aside from giving a relaxing effect on the muscles
4. Panax Ginseng – improves blood circulation to the scalp
5. Ginger – acts as hair bulb nutrient and stimulant
6. Aloe Barbadensis – effective agent for hair growth and the prevention of falling hair
7. Lavender – helps relieve itching
8. Rosemary – contains properties that help combat dandruff and disinfects the scalp
9. Lemongrass – controls sebum flow and helps to clean the scalp’s pores and prevent dandruff

As you may have noticed thus far, Novuhair products do not contain harmful chemicals that usually are the culprit to premature balding aside from aging. Natural products are safe to use as they treat hair without killing hair follicles.

Review of Novuhair 3-in-1 Pack (as told by Daddy)

My dad’s hair always looked flat, thin and very oily. After the “Novuhair treatment,” he was amazed as his hair appeared and felt significantly thicker and fuller now. His hair became soft but not without the conditioner. He especially likes that the three products together add shine, add volume, clean thoroughly and lather well. The herbal shampoo does not have the thicker consistency that a lot of people expect in a shampoo, but it works.

The only con is that it has this slight but not offensive smell. However, just the fact that is doesn’t smell like jasmine and roses doesn’t mean that it doesn’t do the very specialized job for which it is intended.

Results were not visible from the first two weeks of application. That’s why it pays to be patient — use the products religiously to maximize the effects.

How to Use Novuhair

Novuhair Herbal Shampoo and Conditioner are used during bathing. Simply massage a generous amount of the lotion onto wet scalp for five to ten minutes using fingers (not finger nails). Rinse off and towel dry. Then apply the Novuhair Topical Scalp lotion and leave it on as a hair-styling agent. Because of its peppermint content, your scalp will feel cool and soothing. With consistent daily application of at least two times a day (morning and nighttime) for four to six weeks, you can look forward to the benefits and notice great results.

What each product does:

1. Novuhair Topical Scalp Lotion – energizes and rehabilitates the scalp
2. Novuhair Herbal Shampoo – removes build-up that can clog pores and renews the scalp
3. Novuhair Herbal Conditioner – restores strength and improves hair elasticity, reducing breakage

Wrap Up

Much like the rest of the body, our hair goes through changes as we get older. And in some cases, because of genetics, being deficient in vitamins and minerals to promote hair growth and being too stressed slow down the hair cycle further. These lead to hair loss, which can be very traumatizing.

If you are one who’s losing far more locks than 100-150 hair strands a day, it may be time for you to find and uncover solutions to restore hair the natural way (without wearing wigs or undergoing hair transplantation surgery). If you have thinning hair, ditch heavy styling products like waxes and those that have too much chemicals as they may be too strong for your scalp and your hair will look gappy.

As a long-term solution, Novuhair is much recommended for people who experience hair loss and hair thinning. I guess this post can be summed up with this statement: “Go natural with Novuhair and get your hair growing all over again.” 🙂

The Novuhair 3-in-1 Topical Scalp Lotion, Herbal Shampoo and Herbal Conditioner Pack, in 200 mL bottles each, is available as a bundle at all Mercury Drug and Watsons stores with an SRP of PHp 4980. For more information, you can visit Novuhair’s Facebook Page here or contact Nutramedica at 4136570 or 775-8368 between 8:30AM to 5:30PM Mondays to Fridays.

I received an email invite from Viviamo! Inc. last week to pre-register at the 5th Belle De Jour Power Planner Fair and join the scavenger hunt this year. Chelsea from the BDJ Team reminded in the follow-up email that participants must arrive 15 minutes before the start of the event at 10AM.

Every Bella was anticipating the coming of this day! Belle De Jour Power Planner Fair and Scavenger Hunt 2013 was held at the SM Mall of Asia Music Hall. Activities posted were: the launching of the 2013 Belle de Jour Power Planner, Navi, Forget-Me-Not notebooks, and the newest Everything is Possible Planner. Other than booths for planners, circling the vicinity were the bungee jumping station, wall climbing station, and booths of other participating brands that gave away freebies to promote their products/services.

2014 BDJ Power Planner

BDJ Brand Partners

BDJ Fair 2013 Map

There were many girls already in queue at the entrance, and I had overheard many conversations about experiences of other girls who joined the scavenger hunt in the previous years. It took half an hour for our pre-listed names to be checked, and we were told to proceed to the briefing area.

On the night before, I researched online to have an idea on how the game works. However, I found scarce resources and so I just prepared myself to be surprised for anything sporty and adventurous. I wore comfortable outfit (T-shirt, pants and rubber shoes), put on minimal make-up and tied my hair up in a ponytail. I left my bag to my mom to avoid hassles; the only thing I carried was my phone (with camera attached).

Belle De Jour Power Planner Fair and Scavenger Hunt 2013

During the briefing, the BDJ staff told us to group into five – either with friends or strangers. I didn’t know anyone so I teamed up with four other bellas who, like me, were first-timers in the BDJ scavenger hunt. We got one another’s names and formed a line. Later, the BDJ staff asked us to count 1-10. All 1’s, 2’s, 3’s and so on had to form a team respectively. So it turned out that the former grouping was just to break the ice, get us organized and meet new people.

I was placed in the fourth group and we were called Team D accordingly. Again, we introduced ourselves before the start of the game and listened intently to the requirements of the challenge.

There was a list defining all the specific instructions that had to be completed in each of the 10 stations. Participants had to perform tasks as specified on the paper and keep the paper until the end of the game. A signature by the BDJ facilitator must be secured after completion of each goal. To set the ball rolling, we had to come up with a team cheer, tie our right feet and left feet together with a yarn and walk toward the first station while yelling the cheer.

The Challenges

Station 1: Follow the leader!
This is a shagidi shagidi shapopo game. Members should fall in line between entrance and photo wall. The faci will give list of steps that the leader should do. 2nd person in line must follow the steps whatever the leader does after the song. The third person in line will follow and so on. If one girl missed out the steps, the group will start from the top.

I volunteered to be the leader and performed random steps such as clapping, jumping, etc. The goal was for everyone in the group to perfectly do the steps and we finished this quickly.

Station 2: Where’d Gertie the Goat Go?
Participants will have to locate Gertie the Goat (a paper-mache) in a booth, take a photo with it, and upload the photo on Instagram with the caption “I love dessert for the skin!” and hash tags #TheCreamFactory and #WheresGertie.

The Wi-Fi Internet connection in the mall was too slow so we had to wait a while for the photo to be uploaded online and show it to the faci.

Station 3: Make me a masterpiece!
Pick a card from the faci. Make a picture of the scene you picked and shout “We would love to go to the Subic Grand Seas Resort” while freezing for up to 10 seconds for the tableau.

We picked the Jet Ski card. Some of us posted as the seawater waves and others acted as if they were riding on a jet ski.

Station 4: Think backwards.
Participants must recite the alphabet backwards and shout “ZA” once done.

There were only two of us who recited Z-A but our performance was accepted anyway.

Station 5: Let’s share happiness.
Look for a happy group of friends (minimum of three people) and bring them to the BDJ Timeline area. Have a group picture with the happy group you bring and give the balloons tied in your hair to them while saying “Let’s share happiness. Make it happen this 2014!”

So we went to the registration area not far from the BDJ Timeline area and convinced three girls to come with us to accomplish the goal. Luckily, they were also supportive of us and we thanked them afterwards.

Station 6: Be part of our community.
One member from your team should create or update his/her account in the BDJ community/BDJ Planner Site in the liking booth. While updating, remaining members of the team should yell their cheers facing the booths continuously until updating of account is done.

OMG. Internet connected really sucked. There were so many steps in creating an account and we didn’t know what to update in the account. The faci ended up telling us that liking their FB page was okay.

Station 7: You’re more beautiful when you’re wearing it.
Pop five balloons by sitting on them to find a paper inside. Read the riddle aloud and tell your answer to the faci. Draw the correct answer on the balloons placed on your head using sharpie markers.

I’m terrified of popping balloons even when I was a kid. So definitely, I could not contribute to the task except for answering the question. It was something like the thing that brightens a day: smile. We wrote personal messages on the commitment wall and proceeded to the next station.

Station 8: Play with me!
Assemble the hula hoop pieces. When done, two members from the group will do the hula hoop challenge while the facilitator will ask you three questions. The group must answer the BDJ questions correctly. If the hula hoop fell on the ground and you haven’t given the answer yet, five members from your team must perfectly do a five-second hula-hooping.

I do hula hooping as a great workout for my abs regularly at home, so I instantly came forward to be one of the two hula-hoopers to help the team. Because the hula hoop was made out of plastic (not the heavy-duty one I’m accustomed with), I had to put more focus on the spinning and rhythm of the hoops.

Station 9: We are all connected!
Make 2 Roxy bracelets for your team and take a group picture showing your bracelets. All participants from the group must pass under the limbo rock bar.

Instead of bracelets, we made key chains as the instruction was changed a bit. It was hard to insert the beads into the string to create a fun piece of accessory! 😯

Station 10: Give happiness!
Invite 3-5 shoppers or persons outside the fair area that will complete the pledge “I will share happiness this 2014!” and take a photo at the commitment wall.

We ran outside the fair and persuaded five people to get inside the BDJ activity area to pull off this second to the last task. And we were down to the last one…

Last Station:
Team must yell your cheer then shout “Let’s make it happen…BDJ Fair 2013” and take a last group picture at the photo wall.

Wrap Up

We were finally done in 1.5 hours. We didn’t win the scavenger hunt and actually landed on the eighth place, but we had tons of fun. Consolation prizes given consisted of a BDJ Forget-Me-Not journal, a pink pen, some fliers and beauty product samples in a loot bag. Unexpectedly, I didn’t get tired at all but got perspired. And that was a good thing. Whew! 😛

All BDJ fair attendees got first dibs on the Belle De Jour Event Planner 2014 for only PHp 480 (SRP PHp 589). Mom and I visited the booths and won prizes as well. We left at lunchtime and did not anymore attended the talks in the afternoon.

I would love to join again next year. See you, maybe! 😛

[box] Remember that you are part of a much greater universe. You can spark change. You have the power to MAKE IT HAPPEN.[/box]

For more information about Belle De Jour 2013 Power Planner, you may visit their website at www.belledejourpowerplanner.com and their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BelledeJourPlanner.

Last Saturday, after gracing the opening of Rēis and Irvy’s, Mom and I began searching for a nice restaurant for lunch. On our way to the main building of SM City North EDSA, we were enticed to try a free makeover service offered by Professional Artist Cosmetics (PAC) on the ground floor of The Block. We actually didn’t know anything about the make-up brand. But since the outputs on women who had their makeovers done came out as refined and elegant, we decided to also go and check it out. 😀

We learned that PAC was launching a new range of products and at the same time having a competition for Filipino professional make-up artists that day, and the preparation for the event started early in the morning.  That explained the whole bongga-cious setup—the lighting, stage, booths, cashier and crew were all put together in an organized fashion. After about half an hour, our “facial transformation” was complete.

Before I share about the “makeover,” first let me enlighten you more about this brand of cosmetics:

What is PAC? (Pronounced as P-A-C)

I was pleased to meet their chief make-up artists and marketing manager who explained that Professional Artist Cosmetics (PAC) by Martha Tilaar was created in August 1997 as the pioneer of professional Asian make-up. The Martha Tilaar Group is the largest cosmetic company in Indonesia.

Originally from Indonesia and manufactured from Germany, their beauty products started to be distributed here in the Philippines seven years ago. (A quick computation reveals that the year was 2006.) It catered mostly to cosmetologists and professional make-up artists who specialize in stage make-up, bridal and high fashion. The brand has been widely known for its bright and colorful palettes and base make-up which gives good all-day coverage. But now, PAC extends its target market to end users as well.

When asked what their competitive advantage is against other similar beauty product lines, their claim is that PAC takes pride in offering excellent quality, waterproof, highly pigmented, affordable and long-lasting make-up that’s suitable for different skin types and skin tones.

Why I have not come across PAC ever since it first became available in the local market might be that their products were sold solely in Landmark outlets & Gaisano outlets before. And truthfully, I have not visited the beauty and skin care department of any branch of those places because I wasn’t particularly a fan of make-up, and I knew that these products would most probably leave a huge dent on my wallet. Not to declare a sweeping generalization or false prejudice but I think that a huge population of Filipinos are the same as me. 😛 We prefer cosmetics that are priced conservatively, sophisticated and on-trend.

Now that PAC’s past distributor had left, Godiva Inc., a subsidiary of Tao Corporation, took its place and partnered with Watsons to officially distribute Professional Artist Cosmetics in SM Department Stores in leading premiere branches such as: SM Makati, SM Aura Premier, SM North EDSA, SM Megamall, SM Cebu, and SM Davao exclusively. I thought it was a good move, to be able to reach out to more people and obtain more impressions that could ultimately translate to more conversion in sales.

For more information, you can visit: PAC Beauty Website, Facebook and Twitter.

“Makeover” with Professional Artist Cosmetics Products

There was not a drastic change. If at all, the only noticeable highlight was the eye area, where matte black and green eye shadows, PAC’s black liquid eyeliner (PHp 749), PAC’s black Make-up Pencil (Php 599) and quick-drying mascara were applied. Other products used that I remember were: blush for a rosy glow and white eyeliner pencil on my waterline to accentuate my eyes, and sea coral lipstick.

What I liked best was PAC’s liquid foundation which left a matte finish that covered my facial imperfections well—especially the stubborn bags. The assistant used the yellow tone (other tones: rosy, light and dark beige) and glided the color gently using her fingertips, making my skin appear smoother and just natural (not pasty and super white like a zombie). The feeling was light (almost none) and not sticky.

After several hours of wearing the foundation inside the mall, my face did not become oily or dry while I normally struggle with a mid-day oily t-zone. I was so satisfied with its staying power that I ended up buying a tube (30mL). At PHp 699, the price is reasonable as it balances off the high quality.

Moreover, what was astonishing with PAC’s liquid foundation is that its water-proof formula lasts for an entire day (not sure if more). When we arrived at home eight hours later, I washed my face with water and was surprised after patting with tissue paper that nothing came off. The make-up remained intact without a hint of smudge.

PAC’s foundation also acts as a sunscreen agent and is made with organic ingredients. This product is downright amazing! 😯 I’m beyond excited to use it for the first time at work soon.

PAC Contemporary Make-up Competition 2013

The first round of the make-up competition was held the day before, when 5 out of 20 professional make-up artists were drawn to battle in the finals. On Saturday, these five finalists competed and three of them were announced as winners.

Photo courtesy of @PAC_PH

They will be moving on to the next round of the competition to represent the Philippines—in Jakarta, Indonesia—joining other contenders from other Asian countries. The round-trip air fare and accommodation would be all for free! The grand winner will take home PHp 30,000 worth of PAC make-up products and of course, bragging rights in winning the first ever PAC Contemporary Make-up Competition.

Photo courtesy of @PAC_PH

The Voice of the Philippines contestant Emmanuelle Vera sang beautifully for the audience. Celebrity/Beauty Queen Miriam Quiambao and Model Abbygale Arenas were present in the judges panel. Other VIP judges were PAC’s chief make-up artist Teddy Lim who flew from Jakarta to introduce and promote the brand and share his techniques on beauty and make-up to Filipino women and Head of Sales and Marketing of Godiva Inc. / Tao Corporation Marketing Manager, Edwina Guiyab.

Congratulations to all winners and to PAC for hosting this successful event! 😀