Going around Gaisano Countrymall earlier today, I chanced upon the new Casino Femme pen-type spray alcohol by International Pharmaceuticals Inc. or IPI, that really stood out in the shelves of plain bottle alcohols.

Packaging is really attractive as it comes in white and lavender sprays, which is ultra “femme” and handy as it is slim and can easily fit into women’s purses and clutches. Comparing it to other alcohol bottles, nothing is quite as innovative as the Casino Femme Pen Type Spray.

The downside is that I don’t smell the difference between the white and the lavender one and the bottle is not properly labeled on the scents. Chose lavender just because it is my favorite color and nothing more.

Unfortunately, P31 for a 12ml spray is lot pricy and I think it is mainly because of the pen-type bottle used. 12ml is equivalent to a single sachet of shampoo and I’m estimating that the bottle won’t even last 50 spritzes which is impractical if you really compute it. Tip to the thrifty: get the big Casino Femme bottles with the same scent and just refill into the pen-type sprays so you can at least reuse the bottle for multiple times.

Compared to hand sanitizers or gels, I still feel cleaner if I use liquid alcohol so I've really been a loyal alcohol user ever since. But with this, even alcohol can look chic as well! Think it's time to leave the bottles behind!

*Picture - writer's own

So fun to watch when giants are at it in the trade.

Take for example Colgate’s Plax Fresh Tea vs. Listerine’s Natural Green Tea who launched within weeks of each other. For the record, Listerine launched first via their Japanese-themed hotel launch, TVC, and it was available in a few supermarkets in Cebu (but was out-of-stock most of the time in April). I’m thinking they have problems with distribution which leads me to think if they launched hurriedly just to get ahead…most especially if they got wind that Colgate was also bringing their own tea mouthwash variant to the market.

What makes me wonder is why these two giants decided to release a tea variant of mouthwash in the first place. Zen furniture, Zen gardens, Zen philosophy—yes on all accounts. Are market studies showing that Filipinos are solidly embracing the Zen lifestyle all the way to mouthwash level? After all, tea is highly associated to anything Zen and I’m hoping that the Filipino taste buds are ready for this.

And so I can’t help but compare one against each other (already plus points for Colgate Plax because they have an introductory price of P12 only for the 60ml variant).

Choosing between two products that are more or less the same in theme and benefits, price becomes the deciding factor then. Besides, no medicine taste for me please. Did I just mention intro price three times? Yes, I am a true blue Cebuana.

Mother's Day weekend was abuzz and I caught myself shopping again in the supermarket hoping to find something special for my own mother and of course, to all my mommy friends out there.
I chanced upon the most eye-catching promo pack among all other Mother's Day promotions in Metro Gaisano Ayala. Dove seems to have done it again with their "I Dove You, Mom!" promo pack @ P199 which already includes Dove Roll-on Original 40ml, Dove Cream Bar Blue 100g, Dove Shampoo 90ml, Dove Conditioner 90ml and a free pouch. Not the most affordable but Dove products are more associated with the upper class and thus the higher price and cash- out. Savings of P49 is not bad at all considering that it can be the perfect traveling or overnighter kit for oneself and of course, as a present. Uniliver anyway has other brands targeted for the mass population. 

The first time I was impressed with Dove was its Valentine’s Day viral video posted on their Youtube channel by the people behind Dove Men + Care. It was so touching that I was in tears by the end of the video (being the hopeless romantic that I am). It moved me enough to even post it on Facebook and tagged all my hopeless romantic girlfriends. I don’t know what men think of after they saw the video, but definitely top-of-mind NOW for me is Dove Men + Care when it comes to men’s deodorant plainly because the ad was funny, sweet, touching,  and not the normal machismo and over confidence portrayed by Rexona and Axe TV ads. While Rexona and Axe portray confidence as getting hot chicks and being able to accomplish the unbelievable, Dove Men + Care really put an emotional spin that is more realistic, believable, and heart-warming. After all, doesn’t it take an enormous amount of confidence to pull off a live sing-and-dance to surprise a wife, fiancée, or girlfriend?

Although the "I Dove You, Mom!" promo pack is small in scheme compared to their viral video, it still reminded me of the humor and catchiness that I have associated Dove with. Excited to see what more they can come up with.

"You're favorite tea...now with cream" was more than enough to get me excited, being a milk tea lover. I got my first taste of the yummy milk tea traveling to Hong Kong and ever since then, I considered it my favorite drink next to water.
When the milk tea craze set foot first in Manila and then gradually Cebu, that got me very excited. And it didn't take long for URC to make their own bottled version.
I can only speak for my experience in Cebu but the launching and distribution of this product was very disappointing. They have a TVC that showed on national TV and even in January 2012, there was already a huge billboard near Grand Convention Center (which was how I found out about the new product) that of course, made me expect for it to be in-store already. Went to Metro Gaisano Ayala and got disppointed the first time, went to Fooda the next day and got disappointed the second time; Colonnade after a week and got disappointed the third time, went to Gaisano Countrymall for my 4th disapoointment and still no C2 Milky Tea. Robinson's BTC should have it after all Robinson's and URC are sister companies. But still no C2 Milky Tea that time and I was just beginning to think that the billboard really is just a waste of their rental space because it couldn't be found anywhere in Cebu. I finally gave up my search up until last week when I went back to Robinson's BTC and finally, after months of searching, they finally had it though it only came in the 230ml bottle and nothing bigger.
But, C2 Milky Tea did not disappoint!! I love the taste...just like the milk teas that I'm used to and the whole bottle is apparently just 100 calories. Unfortunately, there's none of the black pearls that makes the milk tea experience complete. Still, a must-try for all milk tea lovers out there.