Uniqlo is now one of my favorite brands. When I say brands I do mean brands and not just clothing…read morein particular. I mean, I love the fact that Uniqlo sells high quality stuff at extremely low prices. They make the expensive stuff very affordable. Uniqlo gives people what they're really looking for, value. Price is what we pay for. It's the money that leaves our pocket or wallet. Value is what we in turn receive and Uniqlo gives it in spades. I mean, damn, some of their products are made from supima cotton. It's some of the best fabrics on the planet. I'm no expert, but the fact that they're able to sell it at such a low price point is amazing to say the least. I walk into Uniqlo with a few thousand pesos and walk out rich in clothes. They have almost anything I could possibly be looking for. The fun thing about Uniqlo is that it's always like this massive store that feels more like a grocery store than a clothing store. You'll here someone say something over the mic about a special discount or what not. The Uniqlo in SM is by far my favorite since it's the biggest one among the lot.

Uniqlo is probably my favorite clothing brand right now. It's simple and minimalistic, with the…read morebasics that get you through every day in style. Their jeans are so comfortable and it's great how they're so stretchy. Also, their tees are great! The recent collections of their graphic tees include Star Wars, American Movie Characters, Pixar, and a whole lot of other neat, sleek designs. Their shirts really get you to breathe comfortably, and the cloth just feels so good that I even wear the nice shirts at home! Also, one of the more popular choices in Uniqlo for the college males are the Easy Shorts, and with all those different colors to choose from, it's not hard to see why we like to hoard as many as we can and wear them every day. They're just so comfy! Uniqlo is priced awfully okay for an international brand, and there are always some items on sale. Something completely underrated in Uniqlo: the socks. They're so cute, and some of the nice designs go as low as P90 per pair when they're on sale! They're such a steal.

I'm not very particular with the kind of comb I use because I'm blessed with thick hair and healthy…read morescalp. In fact, I still carry on my back pocket the cheap local brand of fine tooth comb that my dad gave me when I was still a teenager. But the case is different with my niece. She has extremely thin hair and quite a sensitive scalp to boot. No wonder she didn't like to have her hair combed. While prowling the shops in SM Megamall, I came across Hua Mulan, a kiosk selling high-quality handcrafted combs made from horn and wood. I inquired about their products and the staff at the counter told me about wood comb being gentle on the scalp. It helps prevent hair fall and is easy to use. Since the items at Hua Mulan are quite expensive, averaging around PHP 400.00 - PHP 500.00 each, I told the staff that I would return for a refund if the comb I bought didn't help with my niece's problem. The staff half-jokingly said yes. I actually went back to the kiosk after a few days, not to return the comb I bought for my niece but to buy three more as gifts for my sister, my mom, and my aunt who all had sensitive scalps.

When I was a kid one of the trends was to wear sandals. You were cool and trendy when you wore…read moreBirkenstock. Birkenstock was known for its durability and looks and for being a tad more expensive when compared to others of its kind. Wearing sandals was cool back then, it was sort of the middle line between a shoe and a slipper. Nowadays, people like to wear slippers in the form of flip flops or slippers that more resemble shoes than real slippers like Crocs. It's sad to see that this brand has fallen by the wayside in the face of new brands and trends. But alas, such is the result of time moving forward. I'm not sure whether this place still earns enough money or if they're starting to lose their market sharer to newer brands like Crocs. If and when it foes go, it will sorely be missed.

I don't know why, but my wife has a love affair with Bath & Bodyworks' hand sanitizers. She has a…read morepile of these things at home and every time she has extra money, she buys one or two more bottles at Vitamix, located at the second floor of Glorietta. Sometimes, when I head to my favorite comicbook place, she would ask to be left at the kiosk to take a look if they have new stocks of her favorite Warm Vanilla hand sanitizer. I understand her tendency to hoard these things because she does not only use them but she also gives them as gifts to family and friends. Just the other day, she again asked me to buy a couple of hand sanitizers from Vitamix. When I went there, I realized that the kiosk doesn't only sell hand sanitizers. They actually have other Bath & Bodyworks items such as lotions, colognes, and hand soaps. The funny thing is all these beauty products aren't even their main business. I didn't notice it before, but their bread and butter items are actually imported herbal supplements and multivitamins. Now I know why they are called Vitamix.

I went with a friend of mine once in this place called Vitamix because my friend wanted to get a…read morespecial kind of supplement he needs to take alongside with him constantly working out. I got dragged to go here and well in this place you will see a long of products that are of herbal foundation (meaning they are all healthy herbal supplements). They are definitely all imported products and for the ones who go here regularly it is not pricey but for someone like me, I found it to be pricey. As from the herbal supplements, I notice they have a lot of Bath and Bodyworks products like body sprays, hand sanitizers, hand soaps and lotions. If I went here during my phase of hoarding Bath and Bodyworks products (years ago), this place would be my best friend! You know what I find a bit weird? They have bread and butter products which is so far from the beauty and healthy products! Overall though, this place could help you especially if you are into herbal medications.

Since the past year, I've made the switch from commercial personal/body and household products into…read morenatural, organic (if possible) counterparts for many reasons. One, because I'm vegan, and I avoid purchasing anything that's been tested on animals. Another is for the environment, as I'm trying to reduce the waste I produce so I make sure that if it's possible to get this product with natural, non-harmful ingredients and placed in a recyclable, biodegradable packaging, then I go for that. Now that more and more people are wising up and getting themselves into using more natural products with less harmful chemicals, one-stop stores like Sesou make it so much easier for everyone to take all these conscious improvements to the next level. Sesou mostly carries local brands of personal care products that are high-quality, sourced naturally, and gentle on humans, animals, and the environment. Aside from personal care products, they also sell a few household cleaning products such as natural laundry detergent, dish cleaners, room sprays, and much more. Personally, I love buying my dog's soap here. It's called GIGA and it's an inexpensive, organic bath bar made of virgin coconut oil and it lathers up so well and takes away my dog's musky mutt smell even for a few hours.

Quirks Novelties & Curiosities is an interesting store to say the least. They have all sorts of…read moreknickknacks that you didn't think you wanted or needed but now that's right in front of you, you're frothing at the mouth for it. Their products are nothing more but simple things, but jazzed up in a way that makes it quirky and interesting. One of the best examples I can think of (and one I really want) is the scratch off world map they sell. It's basically a matte black world map with a gold foil overlay. The idea is for you to scratch off the places you've been to, one country at a time. Quite an interesting conversation piece when hung at home, wouldn't you agree? One weakness I see with Quirks is that with all their products, nothing is vital. What happens is that people, including me, just go inside and ooh and aah without buying anything. Though I have to admit, that map sure is tempting.

As the name suggests, everything you find at Quirks is simply quirky, novelty, and entertaining. It…read moreoffers products that take ordinary things designed in such unique ways that make decorating and gifting even more fun. It's difficult seeing the line between knowing what you need and what you want in this store because most of the products have actual practical use, but the appearance is so deceptive as though they are merely toys to play with. It's always fun browsing products at Quirks. My favorite item? The scratch world map!

Shoemaking is one of those things I keep hearing Filipinos used to be good at, you know, like…read morerunning the government or a clean election. Humor aside, I never really looked at our country with pride when it came to products that were meant to be worn by my feet. By the time I was born, the real shoemakers that could've been found in Marakina had lost most of their cred. During my generation, most of us got our shoes from retailers selling shoes from some overseas brand that we believed to be of good quality because they were imported, that last word carries a lot of weight in Filipino culture than most foreigners would probably assume. Eventually, these alleged brilliant shoemakers had gone out of business. Sapatero, not sure if it's cobbler or shoemaker in English, is this small business that caters to men looking for custom made shoes. They seek to revitalize, if not revive, the shoemaking industry of our country. This Sapatero is in the business of making money & history. Their service is top notch You walk into their place of business for a consultation. They'll ask you about what kind of shoe you want, the design, the leather, & practically anything else you want done with your shoe. Questions like foot deformities, conditions, & past medical operations are bound to spring up as well. You can tell that these people are dedicated & mean serious business by the way they run their operation. Know how cows in Japan are supposedly made to drink beer & massaged in order to keep their meat really soft? I think these guys know their business on that level. Their salesman probably loves shoes to the point that it borders on being his second religion. It should come as no surprise then why they exert so much effort when it comes to quality control. The cobblers Their cobblers are finely trained craftsmen. They're typically shoemakers from factories who then went under special training to hone their current skills as well as pick up new ones in the process. One of the reasons why they haven't expanded isn't because they don't have a big enough market to cater to; there are enough people out there who want their wares. The real problem is that the owner understands that you don't just pick up a random hobo on the street & train him expecting to produce a cobbler who knows his stuff. Their devotion to each pair of shoe that they make is what they've built their reputation on. Walk into their consultation room & you'll be greeted by this impressive shoe rack decorated with some of the finest pieces of footwear I've seen. In fact, if you didn't know that they were made here I swear that they were made in Europe. Pricing The price of custom shoes starts at fifteen thousand. Considering the quality of the craft & the materials, their shoes are a marvelous value for money. I mean, come on people, these are handmade shoes we're talking about & not mass produced stuff that you get off an assembly line. Price depends largely on the leather that you want to use for your shoe. They have leather from local tanneries, calf leather from France, suede leather from England & some of the finest leathers from Italy. So whether it's a double monk strap or a whole cut oxford, the price of your shoe will be the same. Choice of leather is the sole consideration when it comes to pricing. The shoe making process Before the shoes are finished, clients are asked to drop by & see how their shoe is doing. If it's too tight or there's just something off about it, clients are encouraged to voice out their opinion in the design & construction of the shoe. It's not like you walk in, they take your measurements & off you go to wait for the finished product. They're there with you every step of the way. The finished product During my visit, I saw a lot of happy clients walk in & out of their consultation room. You can tell by the look on their faces that they're more than happy to part ways with their money for the shoes that Sapatero delivers. They have this eager look on their face that reminds me of kids, clients are filled with the sort of effervescent joy that fills a child when they open a present realizing what's inside was better than they could have ever hoped for. Why I love this place I love Sapatero because you can tell that they're trying to do something different with their business. Emphasis is given to the notion that with the right materials & equipment a Filipino can make something as good, if not better, than their western counterparts. Their service tries to take the popular notion that Filipino craftsmen are no longer what they used to be & turn that perception in over its head. Excellent service provided from the idea that we can can still improve the local industry. They do something that I wish a lot of Filipino entrepreneurs would do, take a step in the right direction. Sapatero is the go to place if you're looking for a shoe that's tailor, or in this case cobbler, made just for you.

If you are in SM Aura Premier, the only place where you can buy medicine, even prescription…read moremedication, is Watsons Pharmacy. As a matter of fact, I think that this pharmacy pretty much has a monopoly inside every SM mall. Anyway, I can't complain. They usually have the medicines that I need and the pharmacists at the counter usually offer generic alternatives to branded meds. That means I usually save a lot when I buy from Watsons. Besides, they accept SM Advantage and BDO Rewards cards for rebates and payments. Thus, the more I buy from them, the bigger points I get. The actual pharmacy section of Watsons in SM Aura Premier occupies about a fifth of the outlet's total area. The bigger chunk of the shop is dedicated to cosmetics, hair accessories, and other beauty and personal hygiene products. Occasionally, they offer discounts and Buy One, Take One promos for toll-packed Watsons products. The last time I shopped, I was able to buy plenty of Watson-branded scented wet wipes for my nephew.

Watson's is one place I really love going to when I need toiletries or anything beauty and hygiene…read morerelated! It's the most convenient place to buy all these things. It's a one stop shop and it really saves a lot of time. They have a lot of brands to choose from as well. They have shampoo, conditioner, soap, lotion, moisturizer, deodorant, and even make up! If you're a girl, this would be a complete beauty haven! They even have hair related products like straightening irons, curling irons, and hair dryers! I think you don't even have to go to the department store to search for all these products in different places. It's all just here! No matter where I am in the country, I definitely look for Watson's when I forget to pack toiletries. They even have a pharmacy so you can purchase some medicine you'd need in case you get sick in the trip!

I discovered Sexy White Shirt by chance. I read a feature on it online and I thought, oh hey, cool,…read moreI love sexy white shirts anyway so why not give this brand a shot? I went on their website, put in an order, and I received my white shirts within the next two days! Awesome. I was impressed with the stellar customer service. There are plenty of options available style-wise (round neck and v-neck) and even other colors so that's great. I went for the white V-neck cotton shirt with and without the pocket just cause I like to keep things simple. They're pretty great and as their tagline says, sexy, modern and versatile.

Home of Beauty Exclusives, better known as "HBC" is (correct and inform me if I'm wrong) the only…read morebeauty supply store in the Philippines. Think the ever famous Sally Beauty Supply Stores in the States and the UK. My friends and I LOVE to color our hair in different or wild colors. I've done silver, different shades of red and blonde and my friends and I have often bought bleaching supplies in HBC. I also love how the sales ladies really know the products when you ask them for advice and all products are very affordable. My only trouble about this branch is that the store moved and now it's just a small stall left. I still go here because it's the only branch nearest to me and the rest are too far. The have a lot of "free" services (when you purchase a particular beauty supply) in their stores like a diamond peel, facial, footspa, makeover, skin analysis and hair color application. I really wanted to try the hair color application (when you purchase a hair coloring set) but by the time I was going to, they already moved. Do check the site for branches if you have one near you.

Like Sally's Beauty Supply stores in the US, HBC carries a wide range of beauty products like hair…read morecolor, hair treatment solutions and other salon supplies. Because their products are mostly generic, salon-grade products rather than commercial consumer brands, you can get everything at much cheaper prices. Those who don't mind DIY beauty rituals at home will certainly find themselves spoiled for choices here. One of their more popular products are their hair dyes. As far as I could tell, they have three in-house line: the permanent regular, the low-ammonia range, and the crystal permanent. Each line has so many different shades and variations, but I did notice a lack of crazy colors like those sold by Manic Panic. A purchase of at least P300 entitles you to free services at selected stores, specifically free application of the products that you have bought. Most customers take advantage of this offer for free hair coloring application, which is a steal because even inexpensive salons charge about a thousand pesos for a simple dye job.