Honey Teas

 I love drinking: alcoholic and non-alcoholic, coffee or tea, hot or cold. When I feel like I need a sweet drink, instead of going for a milk tea, or adding sugar to my coffee, I've been going for flavored teas. 

Sometimes, I go for fruity teas, but it's honestly not enough to satisfy my sweet tooth so I've been going for these korean honey teas.

I've just been adding hot water instead of proper tea so it's a sweet and mild caffeine-free merienda/afternoon snack drink.

I've only tried two variants: citron/yuzu based and citron with ginger. I prefer the former but I tend to use the latter when I need a heatier kick. Each jar will cost somewhere between Php 300-Php 700 and I tend to go through one or two a month when it's cold (Dec-Feb) so it's started to become a significant expense. 

It's still significantly cheaper than my previous coffee shop habit, and my parents love it too, so I don't think this will be changing for a while.

Discard: Previous Hada Labo Lotion Reviews

Hada Labo recently reformulated their lotions in 2020, continuing to 2021. For example, the Melano CC lotion has just changed. I'm kinda sad that my previous reviews on the premium and light versions are now obsolete since they've reformulated. Especially as I still had one pending review of the old formulation of the Gokujyun Alpha but since it's now discontinued, I guess that won't be happening. I do like the Alpha Lotion too though.

But I'm very happy that Hada Labo continues to upgrade and improve their products. It seems that unlike some reformulations, the changes are generally for the better. It makes me want to go back to them, but as I am on a low buy, that might take quite a while...

Illiyoon Probiotics Skin Barrier Essence Drop

Illiyoon is a brand I'd never heard of despite existing for quite a while under Amore Pacific, but blew up sometime last year. However, as part of a low buy policy last year (and this year), I didn't end up buying anything from the line until February's 2.2 celebration in which I bought a bunch of masks and this little beauty:

This is just a deluxe size of Illiyoon's Probiotics Skin Barrier Essence Drop. I bought it on shopee and while it's supposed to cost Php 200, I got it for around Php 75 (though I saw that its price sometimes drops to around Php 50 sometimes too).

At first I was hesitant, despite the price, because my skin doesn't like galactomyces ferments and this may have perfume, but I decided to take the risk because the hype got to me.

Time for Tea: Hitejinro Black Bori Roasted Dark Barley Tea

 I love me my Chai Li Won Green Tea, but I've recently been into Barley Tea. I've bought a bunch of tea bags for heated versions, but I've been enjoying this Roasted Dark Barley Tea.

It isn't sweetened, but it's sweet and nutty. It's much richer in taste and darker in color than the normal yellow to green barley drinks. It also feels richer than most hot mugi cha I've had recently (although I haven't had much lately. However, it is very expensive, running at Php 60-70 for a 520 ml bottle and is found only at certain Korean groceries.

I'd also recommend this for everyone for at least a try.