A bagful of beauty tips

For today, my dear readers, I will be featuring some of your e-mails. This is my way of thanking all of you who continue to read my column. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me.



I always read your column because of your practical advice. I am 36 years old, a mom and my grey strands are already visible. I don’t want to use hair dye because of the chemicals found in it. Any suggestions? —Jam

Jam, I will give you a home remedy from my "Beauty in a Box."

This remedy is for reducing grey hair the natural way. You’ll need 1/2 tsp. fresh grated ginger and 1/2 tsp. of honey. Mix ginger and honey and apply the mixture to the hair every morning. Leave it for 15 minutes before rinsing.

I hope this can be of help to you.

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My face is oily and I have some wrinkles. Can you suggest something for oily face and wrinkles? —Diony

Diony, from my "Beauty in a Box," I will give you two suggestions for your oily face. But before you try this, test on a small patch of your skin first to make sure you are not allergic to the ingredients. Use only clean ingredients.

For oily skin — you’ll need one egg white and three tsp. oatmeal. Beat the egg white until it’s frothy. Add uncooked oatmeal. Apply the oatmeal paste to skin and leave for 15 minutes. Rinse with cool water.

For facial scrub — mix one tsp. skin milk powder with one tsp. honey. Add a few drops of freshly squeezed lemon juice if your skin is very oily. Use that as a mild scrub on your face. The undissolved milk powder forms a gentle scrub. Rinse very well.

As a wrinkle remover, you’ll need one egg white, two to three drops fresh lemon juice. Beat all the ingredients together. Cover the wrinkled area with this mix and let dry. Once dry, splash off with warm water first then cool water. Pat dry.

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You featured the bag organizer in your column last Christmas. I was wondering if you could put out a picture of it as I am very interested. Thanks. —Maila

There was supposed to be a photo of it but I think because of space constraints, it could not be put out. Please see the bag organizer picture that accompanies this article to see how it looks like. Get one. It will be so helpful to you. It’s one of my greatest finds last year. Enjoy it.

Here is Raquel Joson’s number (0920-9222832) for your orders. Thank you.

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I always watch you in Walang Tulugan. I am a big fan of Kuya Germs and a regular customer at Pilita’s. Was just wondering if a live audience is allowed at your show? —Shelby

First of all, thank you for watching Walang Tulugan and for regularly going to my mom’s restaurant. Yes, you can watch Walang Tulugan at Broadway Centrum. We are there at 6 p.m. Hope to see you there.

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I have a 10-month-old baby. I want to lose weight. Is there an effective herbal medicine I can take? I do belly dancing every night but I don’t seem to lose weight. —Marie

First, congratulations on your having a baby. I don’t recommend though you take any medication even if it’s herbal. I believe in allowing your body to do that for you — your efforts, your discipline. It’s good you’re doing belly dancing but you also need to couple that with proper eating. It’s always a combination of what you do, what you eat and a positive attitude.

Personally I believe in eating everything in moderation but you also have to watch and choose what you eat. I will make a few suggestions and it’s up to you if you want to try them.

Try and eat brown or red rice, whole wheat bread, more fish, chicken, vegetables, less on fried food, less salt, more water and fruit juices and fruits. Just keep in mind that your activity needs to be more than what you eat and not the other way around.

Marie, you’ve just had a baby. Sometimes it takes longer for our body to go back to its pre-pregnancy form. Be patient and just keep on exercising. If you want, aside from your belly dancing at night, you can add an activity in the morning and see how your body responds to it. If you’ve been doing something for a long time already and your body is used to it, it will not respond as quickly anymore because, as I said, your body is used to it. You need to "jolt" your body once in a while. You may walk or run in the morning, whatever you like. Try it and see what happens. Good luck, Marie. Keep me posted.

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I am the guardian of a four-year-old boy. He is already in pre-school. I do not want to give him snacks that will make him gain weight. He eats cereal and I give him fruits. I do not want him to eat sugary foods. I need your opinion on alternative foods that are nutritious. Hope you can help. —Tinapay

The boy you are taking care of is lucky to have you as you are out to keep him healthy.

Cereals are good. Just choose those that do not contain too much sugar. Fruits are good. You may also give him snacks like raisins, toast with all natural peanut butter. Toby’s carries that. You might also want to try Luxury original crackers, cheese or vegetable crackers. You may make him some muffins. I have a recipe for banana muffins with hazelnuts. And you can also make him smoothies or fruit shakes. Pick a fruit or fruits that he likes. You can put a bit of honey, low fat milk and mix them with ice. The recipe for the muffins is as follows:

• 100 g. (4 oz.) honey; 125 g. (5 oz.) low fat margarine; 2 eggs; 2 bananas; 50 g. (2 oz.) ground hazelnuts; 1 tsp. vanilla essence; 225 g. whole wheat flour; 2 tsp. baking powder; oil for the muffin pans; 20 g. (1 oz.) raisins; 2 tbsp. maple syrup.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Use an electric mixer to cream the honey, margarine and eggs in a bowl for five minutes until light and foamy. Peel and mash the bananas. Add the mashed bananas, hazelnuts and vanilla essence to the margarine mixture and beat for another two minutes until creamy. Sift together the flour and baking powder, then add to mixture and stir thoroughly. Lightly oil the muffin pans and spoon in the batter. Take care to fill the pans to only 2/3 capacity since the batter will rise. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with raisins. Bake the muffin in the middle of the preheated oven for about 20 minutes till golden brown. Let them cool for a while in the pans before lightly brushing them with maple syrup.

I will look for more and e-mail them to you. Good luck to you and enjoy taking care of the little one.



Thank you again to all of you. I hope I was of some help to you. Keep on writing.

By the way, I would like to thank Mutya Laxa, marketing manager of Pond’s Unilever Philippines for the package she sent me — a package that contained Pond’s Age Miracle Moisturizing Cream and some yummy chocolates that went with it in a beautiful memory box.

Mutya, I will be trying it soon. Thank you so much.

Special thanks also to Marie Cruz of VMV Hypoallergenics for sending me a gift certificate for a special VX Skin treat.

Marie, I will be going to your branch in Galleria very soon. Thank you so much.



(E-mail me at babyjackster@yahoo.com or visit www.jackielou.com)