You might be familiar with the name "Vidal Sassoon" but do you know the story of the man behind it? Vidal Sassoon is one of the world's first celebrity hair stylists. He invented hairstyles in the 60s that are so revolutionary, they are still as fresh today as they were fifty years ago. He's like the Steve Jobs of the tech world, when he came out with the iPod and the iPad that forever changed the industry.

This is Grace Coddington wearing the Five Point Cut, which was invented by Sassoon in 1963.

You might think that "invented" is such a strong word for a "mere" hair cut, but note that this came out at a time when the stiffer and higher the hair, the better. Women would sport big hair lacquered to death with hairspray. It wasn't something you could run your fingers through; you'd have to spend hours at a salon having it done and then more time washing it down. This was the time when "I'm washing my hair" is a legitimate excuse for not coming to social engagements.

L-R Jackie Kennedy (later Onassis), Brigitte Bardot, Sophia Lauren, and Nancy Kwan in her famous bob

So a sleek, geometric cut that you can literally wash and wear is a game changer. Sassoon did the hair of screen legends like Mia Farrow (the pixie) and Nancy Kwan, model Twiggy (yes, that iconic cut!), singer Diana Ross, as well as fashion designer Mary Quant (who is credited to have invented the mini skirt). Quant would call Sassoon the "Chanel of hair". 

Eventually, Vidal Sassoon came out with his own hair care range, because an actor once suggested that he should make money while he sleeps. :P VS hair products have actually been available in the Philippines before, but after a long absence, it's now back!

I haven't yet used the products (got them just a couple of days ago!) so I'll just be spelling out my first impressions. First of all - I love the packaging! The ruby red bottles are oh-so-classy and eye catching.

Honest talk: I am sometimes turned off by Human Heart Nature's marketing tactics. I like what the brand is doing, creating a beauty brand that is sustainable, pro-poor, and pro-environment. But I don't like how they are always scaring people off perfectly fine ingredients. They don't go out and say, this-and-this is toxic and will kill you, but they will slyly say that their ingredients are 100% safe and don't you want to be safe when using personal care products? Don't you want to avoid risks?

So maybe I'm not qualified to talk about what ingredients are safe or not. But cosmetic chemists are. I am more inclined to believe them because, you know, science. Facts. I always research ingredients when I have the time and try not to be scared into submission by fear-mongering organic/all-natural brands.

Nonetheless, I'm going to introduce some of Human Heart Nature's latest products today. ;P This local, socially-conscious brand never rests on its laurels, hence the new releases every quarter or so.

Okay! The most interesting thing here for me is the Human Heart Nature Natural Day Moisturizer (P150/50ml). This has a light, non-greasy texture that smells wonderful too! It has 15 vitamins and minerals, namely Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B12, Vitamin D, Selenium, Lecithin, Zinc, Potassium, Iron, Calcium, and Magnesium.

It also has no silicone and dimethicone, two ingredients that help products feel smoother on the skin. These -ones also fill in pores and lines, which is a good way to seal in moisture and even out the surface of skin. However they can cause pimples if your skin doesn't agree with these ingredients. 

Sounds interesting! You should try it if you're conscious about ingredients like that.

I just found out that this girl I've been seeing for the past few months has some issues with underarm hair. She says that she's "balbon" in the said area and the strands are fatter than common underarm hair. It had always been an issue for her since adolescence and has slowly grown into an insecurity. Because of this, her parents paid for laser hair removal sessions; she's about to go into her 4th of 15 sessions.

She says it's working fine naman daw, and she's seeing some improvement. However, session intervals are long, and are getting longer as she progresses with the program. In between these sessions, she would simply let the hair grow out, and settle for clothes with sleeves. She won't shave because she's afraid that it may darken her underarms. She only does so when absolutely needed, like when she has to attend an event where she has to wear a dress or something.

Anyway, I heard about epilators from my girl friends. I'm thinking of getting her one for her to use in between sessions. I googled about them and ran into this blog. Now, I ask, would you recommend that I buy her an epilator? Would it work on underarms? Kasi, most product reviews I read say na the product is for legs only. Also, do consider that she's getting laser sessions.

Miss Liz, and other Filipinas out there, I hope you can help me help my girlfriend. Thank you! - Thoughtful Boyfriend

Hi Throughtful Boyfriend! You are thoughtful indeed! And sweet. I like that your letter was well-written and thought out, so I thought I'd answer it on the main blog. :) 

I'm glad you asked me this question because one of the worst things your girlfriend can do is epilate while on a laser regimen. Epilating pulls out hair from the roots (well, most of it) - hair will take longer to grow out and it shouldn't damage the skin as much as a razor would. However, laser requires hair follicles to be present. Otherwise, there won't be anything to zap off permanently. Laser works best when there's some hair growth!

In other words, it's not recommended to wax or epilate while she's doing her laser.

What I'm curious about though is why it would take 15 laser sessions to remove her hair permanently. Is she doing IPL laser?

My favorite place for hair removal is Wink Laser & Wax Studio at Bonifacio High Street Central. The salon looks great, the attendants are friendly and always smiling, and the prices are fairly affordable considering the location and quality of service. I usually go in for underarm and leg waxing, but a couple of months back I finally took the plunge and tried the laser.

The underarm laser is just P2,500, which is actually not that expensive in the great scheme of things. Consider, you only need to go in every six to seven weeks, then after about six sessions and nine months (or P15,000 estimate), you're completely hair-free in that area - forever! Think about that. You'll never have to worry about waxing or shaving again.

The laser works by heating up your hair follicles, eventually disabling them from producing more hair. Some people may grow some hair back (it's a case-to-case thing) but Wink's laser hair removal is designed to be permanent et ceteris paribus. 

So is it painful? That's the million dollar question isn't it! No, it doesn't hurt AT ALL. If it's your first time to do laser they will use the lowest frequency. It's so low you won't even feel it but for the brisk rubbing of the laser gun on your skin.

Most shampoos, hair conditioners, and toothpastes have sulfates (or listed as sodium laureth sulfate), which is a cleansing agent that gives such products a rich lather. It has gotten a bad rap in the past few years due to rumors of it causing cancer and other skin maladies, but according to my research, the worst it can do is irritate sensitive skin or give you diarrhea if you ingest it. There's not much difference between using products with and without sulfates - except for the slightly higher price tag since the alternative ingredients cost more. Oh and less suds!

"Sulfate-free" does not necessarily beget a better hair product, however, if you have sensitive skin like I do then it may be a safer choice. :) My current hair buddies are the L'Oreal EverStrong Hydrate Shampoo and Conditioner (P449 each), and true enough they haven't given me any breakouts or dandruff. I finally decided to use them after I had my hair colored!

The EverStrong line is 100% sulfate-free, 100% vegan, has no harsh salts, and contains natural botanicals (whatever that means). Okay even if I sound cranky I swear I love them. :P They smell like rosemary, quite herby and aromatic! The shampoo has a rosemary and juniper fragrance, while the conditioner has mint. It even feels cool on the scalp.

The first and (until recently) last time I attempted to use a hair iron was when I was a wee girl of 13. I was jealous of my classmates' straight hair and wanted so badly to have the same thing! When I finally had the chance to use my aunt's iron, I was incredibly giddy with delight. I was so excited!

That is, until I burned off a section of my hair during my first attempt. Ha ha. Since then I avoided heating gadgets unless it's wielded by a professional. Well, I gave in and bought a hair blower but I mostly use the cool air setting. I didn't want to take any chances.

BUT. It always pays to grow out of small fears like this - especially when the tools to succeed are just literally lying around. I recently received the Avon Style Specialist line so I thought why not? Wouldn't hurt to give it another go! I'll review those styling tools another day. For now I want to gush about the Prostyle Fuwarie Straight Styling Mist (P450).

Fuwarie Straight Styling (L) and End Curling Mist (R)

This product is supposed to "set" your hair straight and to prevent your iron from damaging it. It also has UV protection apparently, which is a big plus this summer! I adore it becase it did keep my hair fairly straight the whole afternoon I wore it; my hair didn't feel crunchy and dry at all even though I lavished it with heat. It was an extremely humid day so I was expecting frizz, but that didn't happen.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Straight Styling is a fruity-smelling fluid, not quite as sticky as hair spray but it does have a tacky feel on the hair before it dries.

If it's a hair product that says "fine hair" and "shine" then you can count on me to try it. My main hair concern is how flat and thin it is, and on top of that it looks dull. So when I received the Kérastase Cristalliste Bain Crystal Shampoo and Lumiere Liquide Serum I knew they would be well worth the risk of breaking out (I get pimples from hair products).

Indeed they were!

Let's start with the shampoo. The Kérastase Cristalliste Bain Cristal Shampoo (P1,200) is for fine, long locks and promises free-flowing and lightweight hair (btw there is a variant for thick hair). True enough it doesn't weigh down hair - it feels quite like baby shampoo, as a matter of fact. A more fragrant and expensive version at that.

What the Cristalliste Shampoo does that baby shampoo doesn't is it removes product build up like a dream. Do you ever feel like sometimes your hair is so greasy and heavy even though you wash it every day (or every other day)?

Remember the epilator I was so excited about last January? I still like it, but I find that waxing is still the best way to remove body hair. The epilator is great to use if I'm in a rush but the downside is I don't get ALL the hair and sometimes, if I'm not careful, I end up doing a half-assed job. Waxing is much more thorough (when done by someone else) and has a better guarantee that I won't get those pesky ingrown hairs.

Now I won't be throwing out my epilator anytime soon but if time permits, waxing remains to be my first choice. :) That said, have you heard about the newest hair removal place in town? It's called Wink Laser & Wax Studio, located in Bonifacio High Street Central on top of Slice.

Now before we go any further I want you to know that I do PR and marketing work for Wink. :) Let's get that out of the way first! Nonetheless, I hope you can trust me to share a review that is honest. Believe me when I say that I won't chuck Project Vanity's credibility out the window just because of a client.

So! Let's get started.

Wink is the baby of Holly Chang, a 24-year old woman who claims to be extremely hairy (and pimply in college - but that's another story!). She's funny, down-to-earth, a true-blue skincare junkie, and yes, all of 24 years on the planet. She decided to start this business because she found out that laser is so cheap in other countries that people would prefer to get it instead of wax. Here it costs an arm and a leg! She wanted to bring affordable laser hair removal treatments to the Philippines and so Wink was born.

Laser gun!

Laser is Wink's specialty, but the salon also offers waxing services. Brazilians, legs, femstache, knuckle hair - if you need them taken out, Wink can take them out. I love that the pricing is quite affordable considering the location and how beautifully appointed the place is.

I've been wishing for a real, professional blow dry bar in the Fort area for some time now. I've only read about the bars in Pasig but they're just too far for me. Yes, hair salons offer blow dries but the ones I like are in awkward pockets of Makati. The only reason I would get a pro blow is if I'm going to an important event, and these events are usually in Rockwell or The Fort area.

So you can imagine my excitement when I saw the "Coming Soon" sign of Blo Blow Dry Bar in Serendra late last year! It just opened last week. I was also v.v. happy to find out that there's already another branch in Powerplant. Double yay!

But wait, what is Blo Dry Bar? It's actually the first to market the no cuts, no color concept in North America. It specializes in blow drying alone. From what I've seen in my visit, they only use reputable hair products and tools to achieve that perfect coif! The attendants are well-trained and pleasant. The interiors are in hot pink and white with a feminine minimalist feel.

Reception area in Serendra branch

Seating

The procedure is fairly straightforward: the attendant will shampoo your hair, then she'll hand you a menu of services.

Since we were already on the topic of hair removal, I thought I would smoothly follow through with a treatment I tried recently. Last December, I vamoosed to Strip Serendra to try out their sinful Warm English Gingerbread Cookie Wax and V-Blush treatment on my underarms. I love the end results! It's been five weeks and my 'pits are still super soft and fairly hairless.

Did I say five weeks? Yeah that's how good it is. The Gingerbread Cookie Wax is only offered for a limited time so I'm not sure if it's still available, but I would still highly recommend the waxing services of Strip. They are so quick to pull out the hair - one try, actually - and it didn't hurt at all.

Waxing was my favorite way to get rid of body hair, but most days I just shaved and called it a day. I don't really have time to drop by a waxing salon for an hour or so (including travel time), and besides it can be expensive if you must get it done twice a month. That comes down to P1,200 a month at a modest salon ha! I can buy better things with that money than getting rid of my leg hair, truth be told.

So, I embarked on a casual online hunt for electric hair epilators. Basically it looks like a razor but instead of cutting the hair close to the skin, the gadget pulls out each hair. Sounds like torture? Eh, depends on your pain tolerance. I'll discuss that later.

What is this sorcery and where can one buy it

I didn't know there were electric epilators available locally. The blog posts I've seen about it all talk about getting one abroad, or via pre-order. Clearly, my Google-fu needs improvement. Imagine my surprise when I saw one in Watsons Mall of Asia (SM department store area) a couple of weeks ago! I was actually checking out Baby Bliss hair curlers when, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the mythical epilator. I knew I was going home with it, no questions asked!

Well there were questions asked because the first one I saw cost almost P7,000 I think. Haha. Good thing I rummaged behind the box to look for other models; the boxes look alike. The one I bought, the Philips Satinelle HP6400, is only P2,299.

A "holy grail" beauty product is something that is irreplaceable - at least, as far as you know. It's something that you use all the time, finish off, replace, even hoard. It makes you feel beautiful. The word "love" is loosely thrown around in beauty writing, but it approaches the truth when you love your ultimate HG find.

My holy grail hair conditioning and styling product is the Kérastase Elixir Ultime. I won't go into the nitty gritty because I've reviewed it already, but to summarize all that: it's the best thing that ever happened to my hair. It keeps my locks shiny, soft, smooth, and bouncy all day. It's also economical as I've had my bottle since last May and I'm only less than halfway through. Take note, I use it every single time I go out!

Now the success of the Elixir Ultime led Kérastase to bring in three new variants in the line. The Grand Crus Collection is composed of scented serums that target specific needs - the Millenium Rose (fine sensitized hair), Imperial Tea (color-treated hair), and Immortal Moringa (damaged hair).

I'm kind of embarrassed that I'm only writing about this now, considering I'm one of the people who made this much pink happen in one afternoon. Lol. It's certainly one of the most memorable events I've taken part of this year. Good food, good friends, and exciting new things always make for a fab soiree, after all!

The Pinkbox event last October 24 introduced amazing hair products that I'm sure you'll love - the Hair Donut and Hair Puff. I've already showed you how to use the hair puff to get an instant bouffant! The Hair Donut is for creating the famous sock bun with actually bothering with socks. It's made of an ultra-light foam that doesn't feel heavy and hot on the head, and makes these huge Korean buns a breeze even for hair noobs.

A few people have asked me how I style my hair. I must admit that I'm not that adept at fixing it, but recently I've settled on an interesting routine because of my short hair. It involves a couple of products and my blow-drier, of course! I rarely ever used this gadget when my hair was long, so now I'm happy to finally be acquainted with it.

I love this routine because it gives me lots of volume, softness, and shine - all under 15 minutes. If you're interested in doing the same thing for your hair, here are a few tricks!

Damp, unstyled hair

Step 1: Work a conditioning oil like the Kerastase Elixir Ultime on your hair. I prefer using oils because they (1) keep hair soft without making it greasy (2) give shine and bounce (3) serve as heat protectant to reduce damage from blow drying (4) never break me out! Most hair products seem to give me pimples/bumps near my hair line and chin. Not Kerastase, specifically.

"So why do you charge P6,500 for a hair cut?" I asked Jude Hipolito as he was busy snipping at my hair. He looked me in the eye and said, "It's not about me, it's about you." He explained that some women are at that point in their lives when they can afford to splurge on themselves. They're able to buy designer bags and clothes - so why not a designer hair cut? He knows what he's worth, and he has his price out there. If you can splurge for the best hair cut ever then go to him. If not, you don't have to.

Jude and Rose, the dynamic duo behind JURO Salon

Now I don't mean that to sound snobbish. Even though Jude has 20 years of experience as a hair cutter, doing the hair of the stars and training celebrity hair stylists, he's a pretty laidback guy with a genuinely warm and humble personality. He relishes telling stories and you can see that he also likes to listen. He's a quiet, soft-spoken guy, not the big shot hair stylist type who can't even part with a smile.

Jude doing my hair

Jude tells me that he trains in the US every year to be updated on the latest trends and techniques in the business of hair. He calls himself a precision hair cutter, meaning that each cut is tailored to your face shape, hair texture, lifestyle, down to how your hair will grow out in the months to come.

I've had this drastic hair cut for two weeks now and I feel guilty not telling you about it sooner. It's just that for a few days I didn't know how to feel about it. When I left the salon I was squealing in delight. When I woke up the next morning I was all "What the fck did I do to myself?" But now I am super happy about my new look. 

Given that my hair is wavy, frizzy, and my face is wide and chubby, only a master hair cutter can make my bob look this good. Oh and a blow drier along with some awesome hair products! Anyway I will write a separate post about my salon experience, but I'll tell you now that this hair cut is worth P6,500. Well, P7,500 including the dye job. I didn't pay for it although when my hair is long again, I have half a mind to go back to that salon!

So why did I do it?

The thing about pomeranians is that they're well, extremely hairy. They have fine, dense hair that sticks everywhere, plus it grows super fast. That's why I have Snaps groomed at least once a month - that's non-negotiable!

When Purple Groom asked us if we want to be brand ambassadors, we immediately said yes. I was pretty excited because Snaps loves having his photos taken. :D It's his first time to be in a real shoot so I knew that it would be a grand experience for him. There would be other dogs too which means that he'd get a chance to play!

So! Here's what happened at the shoot.