Grave of the Fireflies...A Must See Film!!!!

I find this Japanese movie so emotionally haunting and heartbreaking, a definite eye-opener to the harsh realities of war and to the lessons of life, love and sacrifice.

Set in Japan, towards the end of World War 2, the film becomes a real tearjerker as it unfolds the sad plight of two orphaned children, Seita (14 years old) and his 4-year old sister Setsuko, who are forced to survive on their own amidst the predicaments of war. (If they indeed survive, I am not telling, one really has to see the film)

Watching the movie made me realize that there is nothing good about war, no country really reigns supreme in the true sense because even the powerful ones (like Japan which occupied and terrorized our country during WW2) suffer too, even they have civilians who are defenseless, hungry, weak, sick, afraid...who die.

It won't be a first and last viewing for the Grave of the Fireflies, I don't care if it will be an overwhelming experience once again, never mind if I will feel my heart constrict again, never mind if I will have to hold my breath again as I become witness to the sorrowful events...I could bear such feelings.

More importantly, the film brought me back to reality...made me reflect that amidst the hustle and bustle of my present life, there are certain things that are more important to hold on to than the rest.

Go on, I am urging you to experience the Grave of the Fireflies! Now!

P.S. The child actress, Mao Sasaki, who plays Setsuko is sooooooo adorable.:)

For Fairer Feet :)

Try creating several solid black circles on an off white surface. You will notice that a contrast is set between the two opposing colors, and as the dark colored circles are highlighted, the light colored surface is all the more washed out.

I believe that the same principle holds true for the FEET and its colored TOENAILS :) I have tried using light colored polish (colorless, light pink, peach, etc) as well as dark colored ones (black, deep violet, midnight red etc) on my toenails but my observation is that as always, whenever I use the darker shades, my feet would always appear to be fairer and cleaner to look at.

Try and see for yourself :)

Inexpensive Products for that Ultimate Hair Love

I have wavy hair and I have tried a lot of products to make it manageable and cooperative. I have discovered a lot of shampoo-conditioner combinations that work well for my mane. However, the most inexpensive combination that I have TRIED AND TESTED can actually be bought in sachet form at local sari-sari stores. I'm referring to PALMOLIVE NATURALS SILKY STRAIGHT Shampoo (with violet packaging) and CREAM SILK PINK CONDITIONER.

These two products are manufactured by competing companies, Palmolive is by Colgate-Palmolive and Cream Silk by Unilever. But hey, based on my experience, they work well together, even better than when Palmolive shampoo is used with Palmolive conditioner or Cream Silk conditioner with any Unilever brand of shampoo.

My sisters (who both have rebonded hair) also agree to this winning shampoo and conditioner tandem, so if you will look around our bathroom for hair care products, pink and violet  would definitely be a sight to see :)

For that oh so splendid SKIN...

Seems that nowadays, everyone just wants to have fairer skin. Well that explains the popularity of skin whitening products especially in countries such as the Philippines. But you know what? The truth is, these whitening products do not actually WHITEN skin, but merely BRING BACK the natural skin color you were born with, sans the extreme sunlight exposure, pollution and other factors that damage the skin and darken its color. In short, if you are to use so-called whitening products, do not expect to be really white, but instead expect your epidermis to be transformed to its almost perfect state when you were a baby :)

Now what's more important is that your skin is smooth and blemish-free and I think that would really make the difference. For that, I have TRIED AND TESTED LIKAS PAPAYA HERBAL SOAP. It is the first Filipino organic herbal soap, enriched with Papaya enzyme and blended with tropical herbs for clearer and fairer complexion.

I have been using the product for some time now and beyond the "fairer skin concept" , what I really love about this product is that every time I use it all over my body, I actually feel the "clean sensation", unwanted excess oil is removed and my skin is blemish free, no pimples whatsoever in my face. I feel like I am glowing.

I have tried other soaps offered in the market (even other papaya soap brands) out of curiosity, but I therefore conclude that for me, nothing beats the skin confidence that is elicited with the use of Likas Papaya Soap.