PoshPinay

Nothing says “RELAX” better than a spa and if that’s what you’re looking for its one of the very many things you can easily find at Boracay, so easy in fact that most of the time you don’t even have to go looking for it.

A typical Boracay spa can be you, the masseur, and a towel on the beach or for a considerable sum of money it can be as luxurious as an exotic message, a milk bath with rose petals and four walls. Of course there’s always something in the middle of any two extremes but I was also looking for something I’ve never experienced before.

… And like a heaven-sent I found Fotzee’s Foot Spa. I was just perfect at the time, being that my vacation was nearing it’s end I needed a way to relieve my feet of the stress (and sand) from all the walking -PLUS! my never experienced before experience.

The Pinay-French owner of Fotzee’s has recently added Dr. Fish to their menu of services (March 09). Garra rufa, better known as Dr. Fish, are imported all the way from Turkey to her trendy little foot spa in Boracay. I remembered watching a documentary a couple years back on how they provided relief from psoriasis, apparently they have since been used for other purposes too. The fascinating thing about these little dermatologists is that they only feed on areas with dead skin therefore allowing the healthy to grow. If we follow this logic, this means that most of the dead skin cells were on my ankles cuz the jumbo  nibbler shown at the bottom left picture would not let up!

Not to sound like such a girl but I sorta freaked when I saw that a couple fishes were bigger than what I thought them to be, they’re usually no bigger than my finger when shown on the boob tube. It takes some getting used to, you have to fight the urge to jump up and squeal at first but after that you start to enjoy the gentle nibbling on your feet.

After a 30 minute soak in the aquarium it’s off to these fancily decorated chairs for a soothing foot scrub.

Other than Footzee’s, I heard they had these fished at Manila Ocean Park too where you can soak with the nibblers for only Php120.00.

Foot Scrub and Dr. Fish -Php1,2000.00
Dr. Fish (30min) -Php550.00

Footzee’s Boracay Foot Spa
Boat Station 2, D’Mall,
Boracay Island
Malay Aklan, Philippines
Tel. No. (+6336) 288-4264

After eating breakfast at Real Coffee & Tea Cafe, we kicked off out first day at Boracay by walking through stations 1, ,2, and 3. That was one heck of a walk being under the sun wearing a black t-shirt and jeans and all -bad idea!   

I was checking out all the stalls to see if there was anything of interest and basically I found alot of jewelry. If you’re looking for an anklet, necklace, bracelet, earring, or ring made from silver, semi precious stones, shells, animal bones, stalagmite stones, rope, twine… I mean whatever kind of jewelry you’re looking for I’m pretty sure they’ll have it, that is with the exception of gold.

You have to be careful though because like my friend Karmina told me you could buy a Php200.00 necklace at one store and find the exact same thing at another being sold at only Php30.00.

There was  this one store that sold very intricately detailed  jewelries, hair ornaments, flasks, book marks and the likes all made from silver. I found a darling chunky ring that would have lifted loads from my wallet if I chose to buy it, Php3,700.00 to be exact but I preferred the burden of a heavy wallet so I walked out empty handed . They’re one of those stores that don’t like people taking picture of their merchandise so we’ll leave that to the imagination.

Aside from all the jewelry lots lots of shops sold beach wear clothing and flip flops. So no need to worry if you forget to pack you suit or in my case, slippers.

I didn’t really find anything to bring back home, I was going for something that you wouldn’t be able to find in Manila but being able to wine, dine, and shop just yards away from one of the most beautiful beach in the world entitles the visit to it’s own bragging rights.

I hoped to end the day by watching a Boracay sunset but as you can see in the picture, a wall of clouds made that impossible so I settled for the cool evening breeze in my hair and a cold beer in my hand…

I chanced upon Je Pun Pali Spa while roaming the infinite grounds of the Mall of Asia before I went on week long vacation. With my new found interest in spas, I took notice of the establishment. I went inside to ask for a list of their services and prices and found the most exciting thing someone like me could ever find…

Hot Tea Anyone?

Je Pun Pali Spa has a Morning Bliss promotion where ALL services are 50% OFF every Mondays-Fridays 10am-1pm until June 20, 2009.  It was unfortunately a Saturday when I was there so I made sure to come back on a weekday to try them out. I made reservations on a Monday night and was back the next morning.

Je Puna Pali spa at the Mall Of Asia, out of all the spas I’ve been to, is the most considerate in terms of customer’s privacy. Unlike the other spas I’ve been to where the massage room is  communal, at Je Pun Pali you can unwind, relax, and enjoy your massage behind the closed doors  of your own room. The only thing I disliked is the fact that you are limited to only 15 minutes in the sauna.

Picture taking is strictly prohibited so I literally took stolen shots when I was left alone.

I had an errand to run so I only had time for an uncomplicated treatment. I went with the Balinese massage, it was the most expensive traditional therapy on the list and since its 50% off.. what the heck right?! hahaha. All I can say is that it was a very luxurious experience. The oil used on me had a hint of rose scent and was heated with a candle, kinda like what you do with aroma therapy oils, before it was applied.

Oil stain on the picture are from teh lotion applied to your feet before the pedicure

This is the chair where I had my pedicure after my massage. I’ve never had a pedicure sitting on a lazyboy before but I’m sure it’’s something I can get used to.

Chairs are separated with curtains for added privacy.

The total wallet damage for my massage and pedicure? Only Php540.00!

I was trying to be adventurous by trying a color I normally wouldn't

jePun Pali inspired by RELAKSASI
Mall Of Asia
Ground Floor -South Wing
Beside Gonuts Donuts
Call 556-2315 for reservations.

Since they don’t have an official website.. here is the list of their services and corresponding prices in Php:

Body Scrubs & Wraps Rituals

Javanese Lurlur w/Wrap        …………………….. 950
Balinese Boren w/Wrap         ……………………… 950
Black Borneo Lulur w/Wrap    …………………….. 950
Chocolate Scrub & Wrap        …………………….. 1000
Sand Peeling                      ……………………………. 890
Whitening Body Mask           ………………………. 940
Honey Milk Mask w/Milk Bath ………………….. 1045
Honey Milk Mas                   …………………………. 600

Body Message & Scrubs

Javanese Lulur Massage Salt & Oil     ………….. 1,050
Balinese Boreh Massage Salt & Oil      ………….. 1,050
Black Borneo Lulur Massage Salt & Oil ……….. 1,050

Herbal Steam Bath

Milk Bath                              …………………………… 600
Rajah Herbal Bath (for men)    …………………… 500
Ratu Herbal Bath (for women) ………………….. 600
Sedative Herbal Bath & Steam  ………………….. 600

Traditional Holistic Therapies

Balinese Massage          ………………………………. 850
Ayuverda Massage       ………………………………. 850
Tuina Massage                ………………………………. 600
Swedish Massage           ………………………………. 600
Shiatsu Massage             ………………………………. 600
Combination Massage ………………………………. 600
Hilot Massage                 ………………………………. 750
Thai Massage                  ………………………………. 695

Contemporary Holistic Therapies

Stone Massage                        …………………………. 900
Cellulite Massage                   …………………………. 850
Head & Back Massage           …………………………. 375
Infant/Child Massage           ………………………… 400
Pregnancy Massage               ………………………… 850
Hand & Foot Reflex                ………………………… 450
Ear Cuddling                              ………………………… 650
Chocolate Waxing starts at …………………………. 500

Facials

Lemon Grass Facial       ……………………………….. 850
Rose Petal Facial             ……………………………….. 850
Pearl Whitening Facial ………………………………… 850
Coconun Facial                ………………………………… 850
Volcanic Facial                ………………………………… 850
Diamond Peel                   ………………………………… 950
w/Facial Mask                  ………………………………… 1650

Hand Pampering

Chocolate Paraffin ………………………………………. 400
Manicure                   ………………………………………. starts at 150

Foot Therapy

Foot Massage (w/ free back & head massage) …… 30 min- 395
                                                                    1 hour- 750
Foot Spa …………………………………………………….. 380
Orange Paraffin ……………………………………………. 550
Pedicure ……………………………………………………… starts at 165

In my endeavour to try out all the spas i can manage, I cut work short last night to visit a Bioessence spa at Greenhills . Their services include treatments you’d typically find at the sort of establishment. You can get anything from skin treatments and facials that you can enjoy with a foot and hand spa, to a  body massage, slimming treatment (yes ladies.. SLIMMING!), and the very intriguing Queen of Sheba’s Milk Bath, and that’s to only mention a few of their services.

Bioessence offers free consultations with a specialist so you can figure out which of their several treatments best suit your needs. I would’ve gone for Sheba’s bath just for the luxurious experience of soaking in milk but it was unfortunately unavailable at this particular branch. Since I already get massages on a regular basis and I always complain about the crater sized pores on my nose, I went for a much needed facial. A visit to a derm clinic was long over due for me anyways.

I was pampered with Bioessence’s Purifying facial which was recommended by their specialist during my pre-treatment consultation where she had me stick my head in a box like contraption so I could see where my problem areas were. To no surprise it was the pores on my nose and the rest of my T-zone.. unsightly. My face was first cleansed and an antibacterial mask was applied and then steamed prior to the pricking and extraction of the gunk that clogged my pores. Then Anne, the very polite young lady who did my facial, applied another mask that helped alleviate the redness and swelling as well as to close my oh so wide open pores.

Aside from the of services they offer, Bioessence is also the only establishment carries Oxygen - a range of  skin care products that  imported from Canada.

All in all I give give them a 10 for great services, friendly people, knowledgeable staff, and a clean establishment. They are very attentive to each customer’s needs and made sure that I was comfortable. You can visit their website here for a complete list of services.

Bioessence -skin, slimming, spa,
2/F Fox Square Building
Connecticut Drive
Greenhills
722-0775/722-0658

Photo Credit to Style and Relax

Related Post:

Wensha Spa
Urban Escape Day Spa

I eventually got the chance to try out my mother’s regular spa. Urban Escape Day Spa is at the second floor of the building but the pungent aroma of peppermint oil immediately found my nose at the ground floor while entering the elevator (yes.. I took the elevator even though it was just a floor up). Being at the spa so much, my subconscious has started to associated the aroma of peppermint to relaxation (kinda like Ivan Pavlovs classical conditioning experiment), I start feeling muscles relax whenever I smell stuff like that.

Like my experience with other spas, we proceeded to the locker room so we could get into our birthday suits for a quick shower. The Urban Escape spas is a bit more quiet and intimate. With only 4 shower rooms, it was no wonder they were fully booked the first time I was taken there. Their jacuzzi can only accommodate 5 people at most (6 girls if they’re all anorexic.. lol!). While you soak, the attendant gets a glass of iced tea and a bowl of ice ready for when you go into the sauna.

After a couple minutes in the tub I tried out the sauna chamber since they have this laminated sign hung on that wall the says we could only use the tub and sauna for 15 minutes each and because there were other people waiting. I have to say, the sauna could have used a bit more heat -I didn’t even need ice in there! I don’t know if that’s the way it usually is but it wasn’t as hot as you’d expect a sauna chamber to be.

After taking a final shower, I proceeded to what I guess you’d call a waiting area. It was a dimly lit room with sofas, coffee table, and a television. It basically looked like a living room which isn’t a bad thing, it was very homey and relaxing. Their massage room has 17-19 beds or so where you can enjoy a 1 hour shiatsu massage while listening to soothing classical music in a dimmed room. During their slow days they let you sleep after the massage for however long you want.

if you’re out for a more intimate and private pampering session with your girlfriends, go with Urban Escape Day Spa. If you want you can have a place to yourself in their VIP room that can service 2 persons at a time for Php700.00 or sofor females and 3 persons for males. Between 12pm-4pm their prices drop to Php375.00 from Php450.00. The have clean facilities and prompt service and very polite attendants. You can call the establishment for reservations so that you’re secured a slot during peak hours.

Urban Escape Days Spa is your peaceful sanctuary from the stresses of city life
2nd Floor, ESNA Building
30 Timog Avenue, QC 1103
Tel: 373-7877/376-2280

Related Post:

Wensha Spa
Bioessence (Skin-Slimming-Spa)

I’ve found myself making frequent visit to a really great spa along Timog in Quezon City. My mother and I discovered it by accident one day when she visited her usual spa, they were fully booked that days so we couldn’t be accommodated so we went a couple blocks down and tried Wensha.

Since my “real” work and freelance writing keep me busy, I rarely find time for recreational activities or the like, but after my experience at Wensha I miraculously found my schedule clearing itself every Friday afternoon. It’s funny really, but I’ve had nothing to do every Friday for the past couple of months but go to the spa.

Wensha spa has a long list of very affordable services that range from whole body massages, to hand/foot spas, facials , and body scrubs. Their facilities include shower rooms, wet and dry sauna chambers that can  hold up to 15 people at a time, and hot and cold jacuzzi tubs. The great thing about this place is that their services also includes a buffet, no added charges so long as there are no left overs. You can eat your meal before or after or before AND after. I admit to eating twice during one of my visits, I stayed so long that I got hungry by the time I was finished :D.  You can stay for a maximum of 8 hours before overstaying fees are charged.

I usually chill out in the sauna chamber with a tub of ice, store bought scrub salts, and protein treatment for my hair (might as well maximize the utilization of heat in there) after which I soak in the hot tub while watching the flat screedn LCD TV mounted on the wall. Now if I can only find out how to waterproof my iPod…

All in all I spend on an average, if I don’t avail of any extra services, Php680 for the facilities, a full body message, and the food. Of course prices will vary depending on the services you avail. Wensha is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It’s a great way to spend the day with family and friends and even the little ones (children under 12 get in for only Php250). Wensha Spa can be found at Timog corner Quezon Avenue across the circle theater.

Related Post:

Urban Escape Day Spa
Bioessence (Skin-Slimming-Spa)

Pretty shades of Ellana Mineral Blush

Mineral makeup was a big trend last 2008, with big name makeup companies like L’Oreal, Neutrogena and Revlon jumping on the bandwagon. The thing is they’re quite expensive and most of them contain ingredients that mineral makeup is NOT supposed to have. Checkout this brand for good quality mineral makeup: Ellana Minerals.

As far as I know, Ellana Minerals is the first and only local mineral makeup company in the Philippines. They have their own site (www.ellanaminerals.com) which features a very shopper-friendly layout, clear color presentations of products (always a good thing when shopping for makeup online), plus, a nifty tips and tricks section. They also send out free samples - no need to buy anything first.

Ellana Lipgloss

Their powder stuff comes in 6, 3, and 1 gram sizes, with the 1g sampler costing either P100 or P120. Shimmery lipgloss is P160. Brushes start at P200. For the quality, I’d say that their pricepoints are way beyond competitive.

I’ve tried Lumiere (made my skin itch) and Monave (good, but kinda pricey) before and I can say Ellana does not cause itchiness or other skin problems. I like that it has a wide range of tones and colors to choose from (particularly with eyeshadow - over 30 shades!).

Ellana Concealer, Foundation and Finishing Powder

So far, I’ve tested their foundation, concealer and finishing powder and give each one high scores. Check out my previous blog on customizing mineral makeup for more info. I can’t wait to try their blush - comes in 12 shades with sheer, satin, frost, and shimmery finishes. Give yourself a beauty treat, try out some mineral makeup today

Ellana Mineral Foundation (in chai tea latte), Concealer (in cheer), Myra E moisturizer, some eye shimmer and voila!

Ever plunked down hard-earned cash for foundation that caused breakouts or gave you that dreaded two-toned look? Here’s a great discovery: making your own makeup means you can blend shades to perfectly match your skin tone and set coverage level too.

I’m a mineral makeup convert - the benefits of which have been discussed at length all over the net, but if you guys wanna read more about healthy beauty, I recommend this site for their very informative articles. I hadn’t known how a lot of famous brands and conventional makeup is made with harmful ingredients - some are known neurotoxins, others carcinogenic. This made me more discerning about the stuff we put on our faces and how it can harm us in the long run.

Customized mineral foundation- slash- moisturizer

The bad thing about mineral makeup for me is that in powder form, it dried up my skin and emphasized fine lines. So I decided to mix my mineral makeup with moisturizer and it turned out really well! After a few trial runs, I’ve come upon my best formulation: Myra E facial moisturizer which is cheap but effective, and a combination of Ellana Mineral foundation and concealer powders (check out Ellana’s website for the first Pinoy-made mineral makeup brand and affordable at that!).

Cathy’s before and after pics - btw, I used mineral blush as lipgloss using colorless lipbalm dabbed with mineral blush powder

The great thing about customizing makeup this way is you can buy two or more shades to blend in order to perfectly match your skin tone and you can choose how much of the powder to mix in relation to the moisturizer base to get the coverage you need - the thicker and creamier it is, the heavier your coverage. And for a little shimmer, I added in a pinch of beige glimmer eyeshadow to my customized foundation - awesome, if I say so myself.

Now this is the best part, good foundation can cost an arm and a leg, mine cost me less than five hundred bucks and lasts for 2-3 months with daily use. Customized makeup is kewl!!!

To lose one pound you have to burn 3500 calories on top of what you normally burn when your at rest.

So here are a couple things you need to know before designing a diet regimen for your self to lose weight.

1. Know what your BMI is (Body Mass Index). BMI is measurement used to see if your weight is proportioned to your height. It’s important to know where you’re at before anything else. It is also a must to know what your ideal weight should be, this will allow you to set your expectations and prepares you to do the work.

<18.5 BMI = Underweight
18.5-24.9 = Ideal
25.0-29.9 = Overweight
> 30.0 = Obese

2. What is your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate)? This is an estimation of the minimum caloric requirement your body needs to maintain normal functions at rest like breathing, energy used to keep your heart beating, digestions and such things alike. Your BMR is the amount of calories you would burn in a day just to keep all your systems functional. A BMR calculator can be used.

Why do you need to know this? So you can factor the digits into the target amount of calories you’d need to burn in a day to lose weight.

3. Know your activity level. A calorie calculator can be used to figure out how much calories are burned doing everyday activities like walking, cleaning, as well as your routine exercise.

Why do you need to know this? This will help you figure out how much more work you need to add in order to lose those pounds.

4. Last but not the least… Keep track of the calories you eat. I know looking through the Nutritional facts on the package of your meal and calculating how much calories your chicken breast salad contains makes you look like an anorexic teenager but you need to do it. The less calories you eat and and the more you burn equals to losing weight!

Dawn is female, 23 years old, 5′6″ and weighs 170 lbs. She rates a 27.4 on the BMI scale which classifies her as overweight. Her ideal weight should be between 142-156 lbs. This means she’s 28lbs overweight if she wants to weight 142 lbs. Her BMR is 1596.6, aside from office work she does very little labor and lives a sedentary life style so along with the 1596.6 calories she burns you can add 309.4 as the number of calories consume doing office work, this totals to 1906 calories. This means that her body needs to consume 5406 calories to lose 1lb or 151,368 to loose her excess baggage!! Remember the less calories you take in and the more you burn equates to weight loss.

Psyllium Fiber

Due to the relentless efforts exerted in locating a non existent concoction that’ll miraculously transform my figure to something worthy of being called a “babe” I found out about Psyllium Fibre (all thanks handy dandy Lara).

I’m pretty much all talk and no walk when it come to the arena of living a healthy life style and it’s complexities like dieting, abandoning vices, and exercise. Even I don’t believe myself anymore when I make a resolution to shed off the blubber accrued from several dormant years, several dormant PRIME years wasted on intellectual, social, spiritual and physical hibernation that I sadly will never get back (oops, side tracked.. again).

There I was listing all the tablets, capsules, and drinks I’ve tried to aid In my life long quest for weight loss when she mentioned Psyllium fiber. She says she couldn’t eat much because of it (like the girl ever eats too much on a usual day) so she quit because unlike earth’s overweight inhabitants, who are struggling to fight off obesity with deep-fried drum sticks, her disfigured body image issues consists of fear of weight loss (is that a run-on sentence?). Yes people.. instead of embracing a God given gift “normal” girls would murder for, she wants to gain weight. I know what your thinking.. I agree, life can be a biatch.

Psyllium is a soluble fiber meaning it dissolves in water and takes on a gelatinous form, like orange juice with pulp… Psyllium being the pulp. It’s known to aid in weight loss because .. “The gel-like substance that soluble fibers form when they dissolve in water causes things to swell and move slower in the intestines. This increase in time that foods stay in the intestines has been shown to reduce hunger feelings and overall food intake. It has also been shown to decrease the number of calories that are actually absorbed from the ingested food… Whenever fewer calories are taken in, or more are excreted, weight loss will generally occur” (duh!) So how is Psyllium taken? Well, you can pretty much mix it in all kinds of drinks. It goes well with smoothies, shakes, juice, plain ol’ water and probably even alcoholic beverages! That’s something ain’t it?

The accepted vernacular is “bulked” but since I like to call a pig a pig, the stuff makes your poop stool fatter and softer, allowing you to pass poop stool without much exertion, a whole lot more to flush down. Don’t get me wrong though, it’s more of a natural passing than it is diarrhea like (did I go overboard? I couldn’t help myself). In short it’s also know for its laxative effect, apparently the husks irritate the bowels which in turn promotes peristalsis of the colon, which I like to call the “poop canal” during nursing school. This more effective type of cleansing, more effective compared to getting an enema and a whole lot less disgusting, helps keep colon cancer away so says Dr. Oz. Also, since it absorbs bad cholesterol also known to the medical world as low-density lipoprotein or LDL it’s ideal for aiding in prevention of heart diseases and controlling diabetes because fiber also helps with keeping your blood sugars under wraps.

Cancer, heart diseases, and diabetes are all familial diseases, ailments that fate has wrapped up and tied with a pretty lil’ ribbon for lil’ ol’ me, plus more (remember the allergies?). I can name several relatives who’ve died or are currently suffering from one of the diseases I just mentioned so I’m a great candidate. I therefore make sure I get a regular dose, prophylaxis you might say. I have oatmeal for breakfast and Psyllium an hour before lunch, sometimes I feel like I over do it though. Even so fi Psyllium fiber works wonders on it’s own it’s still better if you get regular exercise and maintain a reasonable diet.

***Warning*** as a side effect Psyllium may cause you to fart like crazy. It’s like flatulence on stealth mode, specially if you eat a lot of meat, you know.. the silent but deadly kind of fart. The package I bought had in bold print “Do not eat dry”. That made me curious as to what becomes if I do it anyways… I wonder if its something blog worthy, I probably might give it a try just to have something to write about.