Globe Telecom to step up drive vs signal interference in 2014.

If you own a signal booster at home, or knows someone who owns one, better be warned. Such devices are illegal, and the use, sale, and possession of them are prohibited by law.

“While illegal signal boosters may enhance wireless coverage in a particular area, such devices, when improperly designed or installed, will cause interference with mobile networks and thus will impede communication services, including emergency calls in the community. This is why the company is determined in addressing this issue by eliminating the sale and use of illegal repeaters and provide better customer experience,” said Atty. Froilan Castelo, Globe General Counsel and Head of Corporate and Legal Services Group.

Looks familiar?

Globe Telecom said it will step up its campaign this year to address the unscrupulous sale and use of illegal repeaters or signal boosters that cause network interference resulting in mobile phone subscribers to experience dropped calls, garbled lines, and weak signal.

The campaign against signal interference began in 2011 following growing evidence of proliferation of the use of illegal repeaters or signal boosters. Such illegal devices are not coordinated with mobile telecommunications providers or with government regulators. Illegal repeaters come in the form of indoor or outdoor antennas and wireless adapters which boost network signal by hogging bandwidth from a legitimate network infrastructure. As per monitoring by the company, cases of signal interference are being reported particularly in metropolitan areas of Manila, Cebu and Davao.

The proliferation of signal interference has, in fact, prompted the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to issue Memorandum Order 01-02-2013, prohibiting the sale, purchase, importation, possession or use of signal boosters operating on the 800 megahertz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, and 2100 MHz frequency bands without the approval of the regulatory agency. Violation could entail penalties and even imprisonment. 

Globe Telecom’s drive against signal interference now includes the uncoordinated use of high-intensity radio frequency identification (RFID), a wireless non-contact use of radio-frequency electromagnetic fields to transfer data, for the purposes of automatically identifying and tracking tags attached to objects., such as those used in upscale villages for security purposes.

Following unrelenting drive last year, the company uncovered and resolved 15 cases involving the use and sale of illegal repeaters or signal boosters. In these cases, the devices were confiscated by the NTC.

Foodie Goodie | Mars Celebrations!

No new recipe in this week's edition of Foodie Goodie (yes, that's the so-called food section of my blog). Instead, let me share with you what's keeping our endorphin high and happy these days - chocolates! A big tub of 'em! :)

Celebrations! :)

Introduced in 1997, global manufacturer Mars, Incorporated became the first confectionery company to launch a variety pack full on miniature branded chocolates. Up until that point all the twist wrap selection boxes had been comprised of specially made chocolate selections. Mars decided to change the concept and give you miniature versions of the chocolates we all know and love. And thus, the birth of Celebrations. 

Their tagline? Share the joy!

With its tagline 'Share the joy', Celebrations are perfect for sharing with friends and family, and make a great gift idea for holidays such as Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter, and of course, Halloween.

Dive in!

One tub is 750 grams, which contains more or less 95 pieces of miniature chocolates. That's too much for my little man and I to eat by ourselves, so I ended up sharing the contents of this tub with Yue's friends at school.

Oh, the calories!

The selection includes Mars, Bounty, Milky Way, Snickers, Galaxy, Galaxy Caramel, Twix (my super favorite among the bunch), and Maltesers Teaser. I noticed one thing, though. The Bountys and Snickers were bountiful, while the Maltesers Teaser were quite rare. I believe there were only about twelve pieces of the latter in my tub.

Yum! :)

Celebrations are quite popular in the United Kingdom (ours were actually sent by my Mum in London), and can be bought at supermarkets such as Tesco and ASDA. I reckon they sell for around £7 - that's at least $12 or Php500 when converted. Not sure if the supermarkets here in the Philippines carry this product, though I remember seeing the jar version being sold at Duty Free.

And, since we're on the subject of chocolates, let me list down some of my favorite brands. I have a handful of favorites actually, but if I were to narrow my choice to five it would have to be Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Lindt 70% Cacao, Lindt Pistachio, Guylian Truffle Fill, and Philippine-made Theo and Philo's Green Mango and Salt. 

How about you, what's your favorite chocolate? :)

Shared with Food Friday and Food Trip Friday.

Spotlight | Tony Moly Lovely Eyeliner Pencil.

I've long been waiting for a chance to use this eyeliner, which was one of the many gifts that I received from Tony Moly Philippines last Christmas. The opportunity finally came today, after I've ran out of my favorite liquid eyeliner and upon discovering that my other eyeliner (which I keep as a spare) has turned dry.

Tony Moly Lovely Eye Liner Pencil.

There's nothing fancy-shmancy about the packaging. No box whatsoever, but the pencil itself is sleek, and has a glossy finish. It's sealed in plastic and has a sticker which indicates the shade of the eyeliner.

Website, contact number, that's it.

See that '06' on the top portion, along with the Hangul text? That's the shade number of this eyeliner - #06 True Black, to be exact. I had to check online as to what other shades are available; apparently, there's also #05 Black Shine (black in color with specks of silver on it, satin finish) and #07 Brown (dark brown, matte finish).

You have to remove this sticker first before you unwrap the plastic seal.

This one's black with a matte finish. And for a pencil-type eyeliner, this one has a rather creamy texture. The tip resembles that of a crayon - soft, stubby, a bit waxy even. But it's that soft, waxy feel that makes this product glide on the skin smoothly and allow for softer, smudgy lines. Perfect for smoky eyes!

Crayon-like tip. :)

The Lovely Eyeliner Pencil isn't the retractable kind, though. You have to sharpen it from time to time, which can be quite a pain, especially if you're doing your makeup in a rush.

Swatched! One stroke on the left, two strokes on the right.

It's not waterproof nor smudge-proof, either. Surprisingly however, I was able to wear this eyeliner for a a good eight hours (with a primer on) without turning into a panda - you know, those ghastly streaks and smears of black around the eyelids. Sure, the color fades the longer it stays on your eyelids, but that would be better than looking like a panda by the end of the day.

What I love:

- Easy to use.

- Has a creamy texture, which allows for easy application.

- Great for creating soft, smudgy lines around the eyes.

- Color looks natural - black with matte finish.

- Doesn't leave you with panda eyes at the end of the day.

- Affordable price.

- Three shades to choose from.

- No allergies or irritation, safe for sensitive skin.

What you might not like:

- Not smudge-proof or waterproof.

- Not retractable.

Products Used:
FACE: The Face Shop Velvet Skin Primer,
Innisfree Eco Natural Green Tea BB Cream, Missha Under Eye Brightener.
EYES: Ever Bilena Eyebrow Pencil in Brown,
Tony Moly Lovely Eyeliner Pencil in True Black,
Fairydrops Volume Burst Mascara.
CHEEKS: Human Heart Nature Perfect Glow Mineral Blush.
LIPS: EOS Blueberry Potion, NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Antwerp.

Thinking of giving the Tony Moly Lovely Eyeliner Pencil a try? This product sells for Php 148 only (around $3), available at Tony Moly branches nationwide.

Wordless Wednesday #72 | Graduation Photoshoot!

In just a few more weeks, my little man  will be saying goodbye to preschool!
Here's a sneak peek of his graduation photoshoot! :)

Project BB Cream | Innisfree Eco Natural Green Tea BB Cream.

I was on the verge of purchasing a new BB Cream over the weekend, after having received gift certificates from one of my favorite online shopping sites. However, the penny-pinching side of me suddenly remembered that I still have a few BB Cream samples in my makeup stash, all waiting to be tried. Thus, I decided to save the gift certificates for a rainy day and just make do with what I have right now.

And with that, I give you my review of the Innisfree Eco Natural Green Tea BB Cream - the 14th BB Cream that I have tried since I started this blog (in 2011) and began my love affair with Korean makeup brands.

What I have is the 4mL sample size, which looks like this.

Innisfree Eco Natural Green Tea BB Cream.

This BB Cream comes in two shades, #1 Bright Moisture and #2 Natural Moisture. This one is the latter.

Mostly (as in 95%) Hangul text at the back.

Go for the full size and you get a 40 mL plastic squeeze tube, which look like this.

Full sized tube, 40 mL.

While there's mostly Hangul text at the back of the sachet, the description in front is enough to give you an idea of what this BB cream contains and what it does.

'Enriched with Green Tea seed oil from pure Jeju Island. Green Tea revives dry, stressed skin by supplying abundant moisture."

And as you can see, it has SPF29/PA++ - a pretty decent SPF number for me. Now here's how the product looks like.

A few dots of the BB Cream at the back of my hand...

The shade has yellow undertones, and is a lot lighter than what I was expecting, considering this one is the 'darker' shade among the two variants. Kinda reminds me of Skin Food's Good Afternoon Honey Black Tea BB Cream - perhaps the palest shade of BB Cream that I've tried.

Spread it evenly... (left side without BB Cream, right side with BB Cream)

The texture, however, is thick and it's a bit tricky to blend. Squeeze out too much and you'll get a slight grayish cast on your face. But with the right amount and proper blending, you'll get light to medium coverage that's good enough to cover skin imperfections.

Wear time is okay - about six to seven hours with a primer on. I must say though, that I did feel a bit of oil in my T-zone by the fourth hour (I wear eyeglasses, take note) which I needed to blot off and dust with a bit of powder afterwards.

And voila, it adjusts to my skin tone nicely!
(Left side without BB Cream, right side with BB Cream.)

Now while I do love the dewy finish and the natural glow this product gives, I am not crazy about the scent. To be brutally honest, I abhor dislike it at the first whiff. It smelled funky, like some Oriental medicine or something, and nothing, I say nothing, like green tea. So for someone who hardly complains about the scent of makeup and cosmetics, this is a first for me. It wouldn't have been an issue if the scent goes away within minutes, but no, the scent lingers longer, much too longer than I would have wanted.

As for the price of the full-sized product (which I doubt I would buy anyway), it's quite affordable at 14000 Korean Won. That's around $13 or Php590 when converted. Unfortunately though, there are no Innisfree stores yet here in the Philippines. I do my Innisfree shopping online, or through the kindness of my husband who's still in Seoul as of this writing. :)

What I love:

- Contains green tea, which moisturizes the skin and delays skin aging.

- SPF29/PA++.

- Light to medium coverage.

- Dewy finish.

- Gives the skin a natural, healthy glow.

- Affordable price.

- Contains all-natural ingredients.

- Cruelty-free.

What you might not like:

- A bit tricky to apply.

- Oil control is so-so.

- The scent. Ugh!

Wearing my Lisa Loeb glasses. :)
Products used:
FACE: Majolica Majorca Skin Lingerie Pore Cover,
Innisfree Eco Natural Green Tea BB Cream,
Missha Undereye Brightener.
EYES: The Face Shop Lovely Me:EX Design My Eyebrow,
BYS Waterproof Eyeliner, Fairy Drops Volume Burst Mascara.
CHEEKS: Human Heart Nature Perfect Glow Mineral Blush.
LIPS: EOS Blueberry Potion, Miners Matte Factor in Warm Red. 

Have you tried this BB Cream before? Do let me know if you have, and if you share the same sentiments with me. I'd like to verify if it's just my nose being overly sensitive to the scent, or it just really smells that way. Haha! :)