Product: Human Heart Nature Strengthening Shampoo and Conditioner

Normally, I wait until I used up a product before I make a review. But this time, I'm not sure if I'll ever use this product again so I'm writing the review now. I'm talking about Human Heart Nature Strengthening Conditioner (I haven't used the shampoo so I can't comment on it.)

First, a brief background. I was a satisfied user of Human Heart Moisturizing Shampoo and Conditioner. But when I started having excessive hair fall, I thought these products have something to do with it. Maybe their formulation has changed, or I developed an immunity or a late reaction. I'm not using anything else on my hair, so I really can't put the blame on something else.

Then I found out that I have thyroiditis, and one of the symptoms is falling hair. Human Heart Nature Moisturizing Shampoo and Conditioner were cleared of the crime I accused them with. But despite that, I decided to switch to another variant, Strengthening Shampoo and Conditioner, as I thought these are more apt for my problem at hand.

The Strengthening conditioner has the same thick, creamy consistency and white color as that of the Moisturizing variant. They smell different though, and I like the scent of the Moisturizing better. The price is also P144 for the conditioner and P139.75 for the shampoo.

I bought both the shampoo and conditioner but have only tried the latter because I still have half-bottle of the moisturizing shampoo left. So I paired the Strengthening conditioner with the Moisturizing shampoo. And the result was catastrophic.

On the first day that I used it, I noticed that it felt sticky and heavy on my hair. After my hair has dried, it went stiff and the strands seemed to clump together, I thought I wasn't able to rinse it thoroughly. The next few days saw the same result so I thought of using the conditioner alone thinking that combining the two variants might not be a good idea. But I still got stiff, sticky, heavy hair. Like something was coating each strand and it's weighing my hair down.

The hair fall wasn't lessened a bit. It even seemed to make it worse. After almost two weeks of waiting for things to turnaround, the fear of going bald and the frustration of dealing with bad hair everyday finally dragged me to buy another set of shampoo and conditioner.

And yes, after the initial use of the new shampoo and conditioner, my hair went back to normal - still a little frizzy but a lot softer, lighter and more manageable than when I was using Human Heart Nature Strengthening Conditioner. So it was clear that the conditioner was the one wreaking havoc on my hair.

I haven't touched the Strengthening shampoo yet and have stopped using the conditioner since. I also have some Moisturizing shampoo left. And I'm not sure if I will use them again. Maybe when my hair stops shedding or when I have grown back the hair that I lost. I just hope that they're not yet expired by then.

Food: The Cheesecake Factory Original Cheesecake

Being a cheesecake lover, I would sometimes browse online forums to know where fellow afficionados get their favorite cheesecakes. I found a few who mentioned that the best cheesecake they've ever tasted was the New York-style cheesecake, specifically the one from The Cheesecake Factory in the US. I was prepared to content myself with local varieties (because I'm not sure when will I, if ever I will, step on the US soil) until I found out the The Old Spaghetti House imports their cheesecake from that store.

A slice of plain cheesecake costs P220, definitely expensive by my standards but I was thinking, "it's imported, what do you expect?" and perhaps the price is only indicative of the quality. Sooo. Okay, even if it's more expensive than the actual meal that I'm having, I just had to taste what could arguably be the best cheesecake in the world .

It's just a shame that my photo isn't clear. My cellphone camera couldn't focus properly under the yellowish lighting on our table, which reminds me that I should get myself a decent point-and-shoot camera, at least, if I want to accompany my reviews with nice images.

Anyway, the slice was thick, at least 2-inch thick of what looked like a creamy and dense baked cheesecake batter bedded on a thin Graham crust. It was served cold and drizzled with strawberry sauce. I was thrilled to see the sides were smooth, a good sign of the density and firmness of the cake, which is what I like (I don't like spongy cheesecakes).

Food: The Old Spaghetti House at Festival Mall, Alabang

It's been years since I ate at The Old Spaghetti House. And I know why. The last time I ate there, I was with my husband. I already forgot what we had then but I remember that we didn't like the food that much, and the experience didn't warrant a return visit. But just recently, we were at the Festival Mall in Alabang (me, mother and husband  -- and you could probably tell by now that we frequent this particular mall a lot). It was past lunchtime and we're quite famished, and the first restaurant that we saw was The Old Spaghetti House. So despite a disapproving look on my husband's face, we went in.

The branch in Festival Mall has a small dinning space inside, but they also have a space outside, if you want to dine al fresco. The interior is decorated with rustic furnishings lending a countryside appeal to the restaurant, which makes it kinda homey and intimate -- perfect for those spur-of-the-moment on-a-budget dates.

Product: Human Heart Nature Feminine Wash

I noticed that my Human Heart Nature Feminine Wash bottle is almost empty so I guess, it's time that I write my review about it.

Honestly, I find it hard to review a product that you use on the most private part of your body. How do you gauge effectiveness? Unless you develop allergic reactions or some weird symptoms, you can't really tell if the product is doing its job, which in this case, is to keep the part sanitized and happy. But how do you measure sanitation? How can you tell if the part is happy?

Anyway, I decided to use Human Heart Nature Feminine Wash because I had slowly transformed into a natural-product nut and have resolved to avoid chemical-laden beauty products as much as possible. So one time, when I was buying  Human Heart Nature Shampoo and Conditioner at the nearest Shopwise branch, I also picked up a small bottle of their feminine wash.

Food: Pho Hoa Seafood Noodle Soup

Like what I mentioned in my previous Pho Hoa post, here's my review of their Seafood Noodle Soup.

Whenever available, I always pick beef-flavored noodle soups because I like the strong and savory taste of beef broth. But Pho Hoa's branch in Festival Mall  in Alabang, doesn't have the usual beef noodle soup varieties. What they have on the menu is a beef stew soup, which based on the image of the chili beside it, seems to indicate that it is a spicy soup. And I'm not fond of spicy soups.

So I settled on a seafood noodle soup.

One, because I love seafoods and two, because the picture on the menu looks inviting. And when it was served to me, it didn't disappoint. I love that the bowl was full, not only of broth, but of so many other things.

Food: Pho Hoa at Festival Mall, Alabang

Living in the south of the metro leaves us with fewer convenient choices in as far as good places to eat are concerned. We are usually limited to restaurants inside malls, that is, if we prefer somewhere near and accessible to public transport. So when Pho Hoa opened a branch in Festival Mall in Alabang, Muntinlupa City, I thought that finally, here's a chance to see what the rave is about.

I've been seeing Pho Hoa branches in SM Megamall and SM Mall of Asia whenever we go there. And because the sign says "Vietnamese Noodle House", I've been wanting to try their food but never had the chance. We always end up choosing the other new option, the one that offers safer and familiar food choices, like pizza and pasta, burger and fries, BBQ grills, Chinese food. Dishes like that.

Pho Hoa shares a space and a whole crew with My Thai (not sure if they're sister companies or what) and has this energizing hot pink and lime green theme, which at first glance, looks more like a hip girl's clothes shop rather than an Asian restaurant.

It was late afternoon when we went there the first time, and the restaurant only had a couple of customers. As expected, I ordered a noodle soup, Seafood Noodle Soup (which I will review on a separate post). My husband wanted to try one of the rice plates, but I convinced him to get the Vermicelli Bowl (chicken, veggie and fried spring rolls) instead, thinking that it is plate sampler. But when it arrived, it was a salad.