More Than Just a Starbucks Paper Bag

Just this Monday, I was surprised by a friend of mine when I arrived at the office. He gave me a small Starbucks paper bag, and instantly, I got excited.. hell excited. :)

I hastened to open it up.. lo and behold.. this cute phone charm sent an immaculate smile on my face and sense of happiness throughout the whole day.

He said he gave this to me as a token of appreciation for taking time talking to him when he felt so down and inconspicuously bothered. I said, at that time, I was bothered too.. and a bothered soul only needs another bothered soul for them to share whatever in the universe is quite bothering.. and eventually run away with it with grace and profound wisdom.

It really feels so heart-warming when friends appreciate you. With or without gifts, a simple thought that they appreciate you is more like an extra pump in the heart, making your existence a little more meaningful. :)

JC, this goes out to you.. let's just fight all the negative what-so-ever-it-is.. :) Life's too short, right? Let's beat all those boo-boo's with a happy heart. :)

My Fast Forward Shampoo (Mane 'N Tail)

Let me introduce you my unsung hero, favorite and my best ever tried shampoo, Mane 'N Tail Herbal Gro.

Last year, months before my graduation, I suffered from massive hair loss. And it is indeed MASSIVE. I wake up in the morning seeing hair fall-outs on my pillow, hair falling when I brush, style and even just touch my hair. It was so abnormal me and my mom got scared, we knew I needed to see a doctor.

And we were right, I was diagnosed with Alopecia Areata, a condition thought to be an autoimmune disorder in which the body attacks its own hair follicles and suppresses or stops hair growth. An unknown environmental trigger such as stress or a pathogen is thought to combine with hereditary factors to cause the condition. Mine was caused by too much stress and I tell you, taking up Engineering in college is not that friendly, for me at least.

During the treatment, I was forced to wear wide head bands just to cover up the areas where I got bald. It was such a dreadful time for me for I was always known at school as the chinky-eyed, long-haired girl.. :( So after the drugs acted up on my hair follicles, waking up the cells to create new hair, I was relieved to see small hairs sprouting like little grass on my scalp.

But that's not the end of it. I needed to cut my hair, super short just so to lessen the pressure on my scalp. Less hair, less styling, less pressure.

Hehe, such a long introduction!! :) - to cut it short (oops, sounds familiar..) that dreadful stage was over and my follicles are now back to normal. The only thing I'm concerned about is to grow my hair long again just like before.

And this shampoo saves the day. I felt that my hair grew longer than usual, even my mom took notice of it as we both know my hair grows so slow.. slower than a sleepy snail on a sunny summer afternoon. :)

PROS:
- made my hair longer, faster.
- fresh herbal scent.
- no dandruff!

CONS:
- to some, a conditioner may be needed, but I'd rather not use one as conditioners trigger hair fall-outs.
- pricey. I can't remember the exact price but I'm sure it's more than 400 Php.

I still use this shampoo up to now (I'm on my fifth bottle) because I want to hasten up the growth and I am very much satisfied. I feel like this has been a good friend of mine whom I relied on especially during the times I needed help the most. *sniff*

hehe.. :) thanks for reading!