Have you heard of the concept "basic bitch"? A basic bitch is someone who is a cliche and a conformist. She likes what everybody else likes - basic clothes, music, books, basic anything. Think Sex and the City, Marilyn Monroe "quotes", pictures of lattes and shoes, pink clothes, and so on. She is boring, fake, and mediocre.

No one would of course admit to being basic, but I really wouldn't take it seriously. So what if the Internet has classified you as a basic bitch? You like what you like. That doesn't define your entire life and identity! I think I'm a basic bitch in many ways, but I'm also non-basic in other ways. I wouldn't lose sleep about it. ;)

On to Skincare Week! Here's another facial wash that I've been enjoying lately: the Bobbi Brown Lathering Tube Soap (P1,600). This is a cleanser that also promises to remove makeup - by that alone, I'm sold! Lazy ol' me is always on the lookout for products that can quickly take off gunk on my face as soon as I get home. This looked like it'd be perfect, and I'm happy to report that I'm not disappointed.

I felt like a bee drawn to honey when I opened the latest package from The Body Shop just the other day. The smell was so intoxicating, so sweet, so yummy - I just had to use the new Honeymania products immediately! This new collection includes the Body Butter, Lip Balm, Soap, Shower Gel, and Eau de Toilette. I suggest you get everything if you like to layer and intensify scents.

The Honeymania fragrance isn't your traditional syrupy honey; it's actually quite floral, since the bee-goop was supposed to be harvested from wildflowers in Ethiopia. The honey is just the base here and not the main note of the fragrance. It's not at all what I expected but I love it!

On to the products. The Honeymania Shower Gel is my top pick because it makes my bathroom smell like a sweet floral paradise. I also like that it lathers easily and thickly, without me having to use too much in one wash. It's also non-drying on my skin even though it's a gel.

Instant bathroom freshener

My birthday is in three weeks and I am feeling old. My skin is just not as supple as it used to be! I've also been having my legs lasered these past six months so they feel quite dry. Then, there's this freaky cold weather in Manila lately that just sucks out the moisture from my skin. Rant rant rant. Bottomline, I'm dry and I feel uncomfortable and old about it.

So I've brought out the big guns. My goal is to reclaim the smoothness of my skin, if for no other reason than to spit in the eye of my 26th birthday. Lol. I'm not yet that age conscious, okay, just very conscious of my changing skin. Anyway, here are three things that I've found most effective in battling the dryness on my arms, legs, and neck!

Whenever I get argan oil from brands, I usually give it away. Now I realize that's a huge mistake. It took me a while to open my eyes!

I love this Melchior & Balthazar Argan Oil, as it takes my legs back to their erstwhile youth! I'm not kidding! This stuff is crazy. It makes my legs super duper smooth and velvety again. I can't believe it. I never thought my legs can feel that way!

Buuut are you ready for the price tag?

Zenutrients is not your typical beauty brand. Aside from hair care and body care products, Zenutrients has these nifty troubleshooters that can get hasten the relief of headaches, body pain, skin irritations, and insect bites, among other things. 

Health and wellness is at the core of the brand. The ingredients are herbal in nature, with a local heart. Think virgin coconut oil, gugo, ginger, and essential oils!

I have a couple of body care and ginger-infused balms from Zenutrients and I really enjoyed using them. ^_^ Let's start with the Zenutrients Organic Opaque Herbal Soap in Blueberry, Vanilla, Milk & Caramel. I don't have the price right now but it should be around P100 to P150. This is a yummy smelling soap that lathers wonderfully. It doesn't dry my skin too, which is always a good thing to have in any soap.

My bathroom always smells good when I use this! Downside though, this runs out easily. It becomes gooey quickly too so you need to cut the soap up in segments before your first use.

What makes a good soap? For me, it has to be moisturizing with a creamy lather. It has to smell nice - never obnoxious, never chemical-y. If it has a few promised skincare benefits then great, but I'm not going to expect more than smooth and soft skin after a bath! (That's not too much to ask right?)

So lately I've been using this new bar called the Beauty and Bright Moringa Soap (P114). I love it because it fits all my qualifications for a good soap. It smells like this old peppermint and oatmeal soap I used to steal from my mom's bathroom, and that alone scores it extra points! It's been more than half a decade since I used that one. :P Other than the smell, the Moringa Soap lathers up nicely and does not leave my skin feeling tight after a shower.

Its main active ingredients are papaya enzymes, moringa extract, and kojic acid. Hmm, did I notice any lightening? I've been using the soap for almost three weeks now and I have noticed that my skin is more even somehow.

Whew, what a busy Friday. How's yours? Hope you're going somewhere fun tonight. :D I just want to pop in and share a review on a soap I am loving right now: the Earth Therapeutics Loofah Exfoliating Soap in Oatmeal & Honey (price to follow).

I'm the type who can't take a proper bath without using a loofah. It makes me feel cleaner, as if all the dirt and grime are completely washed away. My usual routine is liquid soap + loofah. Simple really but a loofah soap like the one for Earth Therapeutics simplifies my bath routine even more!

It smells like honey, as promised. It's very relaxing in the bath but don't expect the scent to linger outside.

Now, I've tried other exfoliating soaps before but this one actually exfoliates.

Thanks for the well wishes, guys, I am feeling much better now. I have a horrible croaky voice though...not cool because I need to be at my best tomorrow. Good lord. This week will be crazy, again.

Anyway! I just wanted to talk about the Snoe White Beauty Bar (P139), particularly the Exfoliating Oatmeal Beauty Bar. It's what I've been using in the shower lately since it's pretty good. Let me tell you why!

• Has this nice oatmeal yogurt scent that's very relaxing. Doesn't smell too chemical.
• Incredibly sudsy and slinky.

I really need to be visit drugstore aisles more often. It seems that I'm missing valuable news! If a reader didn't tell me about the new Asian Secrets variants, I wouldn't have known until oh I don't know, next year. Tsk. Anyways, yes it's true: there are now more Asian Secrets products to love!

AS now has two more versions of its best-selling lulur scrub: Licorice and Mulberry Extract (purple) and the Seaweed Extract with Vitamin E (blue). They both smell nice, though they're more on the soapy kind.