I am a certified addict of organic Philippine beauty products like the Ilog Maria honey glycerine soap and the Ilog Maria Royal Jelly oil and the Human Heart Nature products and more…And I came across another local product which grabbed my pockets by the balls (if I even had any).

My face is quite a mess because of breakouts, perhaps caused by the heat and was in dire need of a quick and not so expensive and more natural cure of a better facial moisturizer. I am finding the Ilog Maria Royal Jelly oil not too friendly with the humid and hot weather. And so in the search, I stumbled upon my friend’s blog, Pinoy Organics, and  I read her article on Leyende facial products. I was hooked…

I found myself scouring the nearest organic product store where I could at least get a hold and see, smell and feel the Leyende face canvas myself. I came across the Leyende shelf in Crossing Department store in Shangri-La Mall. And I saw the jar and immediately checked the price. Damn! It costed Php 450. Too expensive for my budget. Then I opened the jar and took a whiff…and Leyende Face Canvas was soooo YUMMY! But I couldn’t get myself to spend Php 450 for it.

I needed a small trial size to see if the stuff actually worked on my skin. And Voila! The universe seemed to have answered my prayers during a purposeful stroll inside Market! Market! where I found a trial sized Leyende Face Canvas at only Php 99!!! So perfect. Don’t you just adore trial sizes? Hehehe. I do!

That same night I did try Leyende Face Canvas on my face and the next morning, I wasn’t oily at all. So I also tried using it during the day and amazingly it did not make my skin as oily as it usually was. Plus again, it smelled soooo yummy! I have a penchant for food smelling beauty products. Not much of the fruity type, but more of the dessert cake type of smell.  Have you tried smelling Leyende Face Canvas?

I wish you could smell the yumminess!

I’d like to think this is THE best facial moisturizer for me. Well, I will finish the whole package and let you know how it goes.

Now I want to try the Leyende Clean Slate facial wash as well. Feeling ko super nice din sha. Darn. Have you tried the Leyende Clean Slate?

Live Wais-ly,

Juana B. Wais

Another Ilog Maria treat!

I obviously did not just buy facial soap that Ilog Maria day of mine. I also remembered that I ran out of moisturizer and wanted to try something new. I got a whiff of the facial oil one of those other days I passed by that Ilog Maria stall in Marikina Riverbanks…and I could not get that scent out of my head, este nose pala.

The other night, I finally got to try it myself and here is my wais assessment of the product…

I was really hesitant of buying it simply because it was in oil form and I was naturally oily. I might end up waking up each morning ready to fry an egg on top of my forehead with all the natural grease. What is a girl to do? Try di ba?

So I re-read the instructions on the bottle, that’s first. Then I noticed some residue at the bottom of the bottle…which I had to shake up a bit. Great exercise for the arm flabs huh?

Shake up the residue at the bottom!

Then I grab a cotton square and drippy drop around 4 drops of the Ilog Maria Royal Jelly Facial oil on it. And wipe the royal jelly oily cotton square all over my face.

The result: I was just so happy that it debunked my initial perception about it. I did not wake up like a greasy frying pan! My face was so fresh, smooth and tight! Super amazing!

Dahil win na win sha, I am using it every night before I sleep. I even noticed my eyebags shrinking…Hmmm or maybe nag i-illusion na ang lola niyo? Hehehe.

What I like about it, aside from being natural and locally produced, is that even with a reseller, it is on the cheap side pa din In the Marikina Riverbanks stall, it is priced at Php 150; while in the website, the same bottle costs Php 121.

So nakatipid ka sa delivery costs or even your gas and toll fee for a trip to the Ilog Maria Tagaytay farm. Hehehe! The Php 29 difference is fine with me I don’t mind one bit. So I am uber happy about my Ilog Maria Royal Jelly Facial oil

Do you share the same happy Ilog Maria facial oil experience too?

Live Wais-ly,

Juana B. Wais

Ilog Maria Honey Glycerine Baby Soap

Last week, my facial soap kinda ran out on me. So I had to buy a new one. I must admit I am quite a picky soap consumer all because I unfortunately have sensitive skin, prone to acne and all. BOO. Plus I want to buy a soap that is organic / natural + locally made + cheap. Mahirap ba? Hehehe. Madaming requirements.

Incidentally, I had this photography racket at Qasa61 in Marikina and I knew I’d be passing through Riverbanks, which has a stall that sells Ilog Maria products.  And I LOVEEEEEEE ILOG MARIA! They are the best! So I checked out the stall (which sits right in front of the SM Supermarket) to see if they had any facial soap in stock…

And they did have it on the shelf. BUT I’ve actually used Ilog Maria facial soap before. The only thing I did not like about it was the scent. I’d prefer it not to have any scent at all.

Then I saw the Ilog Maria Honey Glycerine Baby Soap and figured that they probably had the same ingredients BUT without the scent. Nakalagay kc unscented e. So PERFECT!

So organic / natural soap: CHECK!

Unscented daw di ba?

Locally made soap: CHECK!

The last question is: is it cheap? Well, reasonably priced. Hmmm. Of course, I did not have to go all the way to Tagaytay just to buy Ilog Maria stash. So that merited a whole lot of savings. The small soap cost Php 60. Obviously I bought it na kasi may pictures e.

But after the fact of the matter, I checked the Ilog Maria website and the small baby soap costs Php 49.50. So there is a Php 10.50 difference. Not bad at all, considering travel costs and the delivery cost from Tagaytay IF I had it delivered to my place. So cheap: CHECK!

To stretch the life of my precious soap because organic – natural soaps melt faster than regular soaps, I learned an important wais technique: Cut the soap into three.

Cutting it into threes para matipid

Or pwede din naman na into two. It’s just a matter of preference of course. But just don’t use the entire soap as is. With my other natural facial soap, the life of the soap extends for another additional week or so. So winner di ba?

So how is the soap? Well, as tested, it is indeed unscented. Thank you Ilog Maria. And I soap my face two to four times (but that’s just because I have oily sensitive skin which kinda sucks) and my skin feels squeaky clean and smooth Yehey!

Did you experience the same with your Ilog Maria soap?

Live Wais-ly,

Juana B. Wais

Victoria Organic Laundry Detergent in Single - Isang Batya - pack

Last week, my mom reminded us that we should be actually washing our own undies. Ok so I’m just to lazy to do so…because I have our helper to do it. But this time around, my motivation in doing this bore of a chore is to get to buy my very own organic laundry detergent. This is in line with my small steps of truly becoming green and environment friendly.

I’ve heard about Victoria Organic Laundry detergent from my green friends. Plus I’ve seen it in various magazine features, blogs, TV, etc. And I’ve passed it along the grocery aisles too. It’s said to be made of Coconut Oil instead of the usual soapy chemicals.

So I wanted to check it out myself and I did…

Though I did want to get a laundry detergent bar, the stall at the Christ the King weekend bazaar (which is now open 7-days a week…labo noh? weekend bazaar ang name pero open everyday) ran out of the laundry bars and just had the “powder” version. I call it “powder” because it isn’t powder. It’s in granules…

Granules like shaved pieces of soap

Buti na lang, they had a single sachet pack! The groceries I’ve been to only had the big big box, which I don’t need since I will only be washing my undies anyway. The sachet cost me Php 8.00. Not bad for an organic laundry detergent. If my memory serves me right, a sachet of Ariel laundry detergent costs Php 6.00ish. Tama ba? Pocket friendly price: Hmmmm…under deliberation.

So the very next day, which was last Monday, I finally tested the laundry detergent. I opened the sachet and sprinkled a few granules into the tabo. Haller it was just one piece of underwear. So I don’t need as much. Would you know how many granules I need to wash a single panty?

Poured some granules into ze tabo (small dipper)

Then I let the granules melt, melt, melt away and blend with the water. And I tried “shaking the water”, disturbing it a bit to get some bubbly. But unfortunately to no avail. Wiz. No bubbles.

"I'm melting!" - Victoria Organic Laundry Soap

So I’m not used to not having bubbles with soap. It was weird. I want me bubbles! Bubbles make laundry chores fun Don’t you think? So for Victoria’s organic laundry detergent – Bubbly: NONE! X!

Oh, pls do not expect more pics though. I think I am not brave enough to show the whole wide world my panty collection…just yet. Hehehe.

So I wishy washed the panty with my hands and still no bubbles. But I saw the cleaning effect. Cleaning power: CHECK! It had a mild pleasant smell (which I definitely cannot take a photo of), which is I guess kind of a pre-requisite for laundry soaps. Clean scent: CHECK!

The good thing is that the soap was easily washed off. Normal commercially made laundry detergents take a while, with much soaking in clean water, before the soapiness is completely gone. I guess that scores points for being environment friendly because it saves more water. Environment Friendliness: CHECK!

Overall, Victoria Organic Laundry Detergent passes the Wais standards but is still under observation. I want to check out the laundry bar talaga.

And hey, I wanna know more about other people’s experiences. Reviews reviews pls. Have you tried Victoria Organic Laundry detergent?

Live Wais-ly,

Juana B. Wais