Skincare regime

The following regime is recommended by my Dermalogica beauty advisor.  Come to think of it, I actually put up to 9 types of chemical products on my face!

1. Face oil (night only)
2. Toner
3. Eye cream (multi vitamin power firm) for day use and intensive eye repair for night use
4. Extreme C
5. C-12
6. Soothing/firming booster
7. Moisturiser
8. Dynamic sun block
9. Skin perfect primer (optional if product 8 is used)

Oh..yes! I have almost forgotten my cleanser prior to application of the above. It's never cheap to have nice looking skin!

My Wildest Endeavour

Tadaa.... 2-tone hair colouring..claimed to be influenced by the Korean fashion craze...

This was the first time I coloured my hair. In the past, my boldest stint was to just make some highlighting of my hair.  Anyway, as can be seen, the darker colour ie the top part is not really that 'loud'. I would have preferred that it's more obvious.

How many pairs of shoes do you own?

Well, or rather how many pairs of new shoes do you own?  Being budget conscious, I can't resist having the pair of shoes on sale in my shelf.  I was too carried away with buying shoes on offer that I have lost count of the number of pairs I own.

One fine day, I was scanning through my little store room and notice I have two pairs of new shoes I didn't know I have bought, the yellow flowered one from Voir and the black pair of slip-on from Jusco.

From Voir 

Chic slip-on from Jusco

When you wear this white soft flatties, it feels like your soles are just next to the ground.

Soft flatties from Jusco

This blue and pink pairs are bought at RM80 for two pairs from Vincci. Good for shopping. Individually each pair costs over RM50.

Latest from Vincci

Identical with the blue pair from Vincci

Slightly 'aunty' type of slip-on but the cushion feel is very comfortable.

Comfortable slip-on one-inch heel

No more shopping for shoes until next year....

A scrub for my skin

This is what I was looking for.  I didn't know I can find this kind of scrub after I stopped using Artistry's scrub upon the advice of my beautician.

It feels so smooth after using this scrub from Dermalogica. It has a 'polishing' function.  It can also be used on  unwashed skin though I've not experimented this yet.  I use it on my cleansed face.  And the after-feel is so magical.  I do recommend this to anyone who wants a skin scrub or polishing.

What's the remedy for chapped skin?

For the time being, I found this wonderful product,  Malaleuca's Renew Intensive Skin Therapy cream to soothe my eczema skin.  This cream is not a cure for eczema but it does not entirely prevent eczema from breaking but it does help to prevent further chapping and drying.

My current remedy, Renew lotion and Rosken's I used to use

I have been using Rosken's all this while for my eczema skin and also for moisturising my hands and feet.  The feeling of the cream when it sets on the skin is totally different when I use Renew.  As soon as the cream blends into my palms, I can feel the soothingness and a little 'cool' sensation on the affected area.  That is when I know my skin is receiving the nourishment from the cream which claims to have skin-soothing properties.

Using is believing! If a product can free me from my skin woes, the price is not an issue.  And Renew is not very much costlier than Rosken.

My hair is becoming redder

This is my second hair highlighting done this year.  The first one was in January when I opted for brown.  

Your hair will have 3 colours! Ha? Black, red and the earlier tint, brown. Oh I see! That's fine.

This time I don't mind the redness of my hair.  In fact, it gives my lifeless hair some life.  This is called 50% highlighting, according to my hairstylist.  She also commented that I look better with a head of reddish hair.  Emmm...

Anyway, in a few months time, a more natural brown colour will be subsituting the red hue.  So, it's going to be like another colouring done on my hair again.  And another new look!

Three colours of the crowning glory

A nice contrast with my black hairband

My tops are tearing

My thin tee-tops are tearing fast.  The more I buy, the more tees I notice having holes on them.

No thanks to my washing machine! I believe it's the size of my huge washing machine, 14kg.  Each time I unload the clothes after washing, the untangling of the clothes which tend to wrap real tightly around the agitator in the centre can get a little difficult.  Clothes intertwining are common.  I read that the high speed of the machine and this agitator can cause damage to delicate clothes.

The only solution is to put delicate clothes into a laundry bag first before dumping them into the machine.  Not difficult, just another process to take care of.  The last resort is to handwash, what else?

Crazy over tops

Whenever I step into a shopping mall, my feet will bring me to a boutique and the next minute I will be looking through hanger by hanger for a nice top.  After weekends of what supposed to be 'window-shopping', I ended up with piles of tops, casual ones that are comfortable to be worn at home as well as presentable enough to be worn for outing.

My wardrobe is now piled up with folded tops and tees to the point of touching the clothes which are hung from the top.  Soon, I am not surprised the pile will topple.

Got to make a vow to skimp and stop the lust.

What's the best hairstyle on a warm day?

Here's my latest way of tying up my hair on a warm day. It's so cooling and I can use different coloured hairband to suit my blouses.  It's fuss-free and looks real tidy too.

How to get rid of blackheads?

I thought I stopped having this problem but of late my facial oil glands are becoming very active again.  Not that I notice any visibly ugly blackheads on my nose, but it was from my beautician's comments that my face 'is very congested' especially the chin and nose area.

The oil glands are so busy producing oil that running up and down the house is enough to make me sweat. I would be wiping away oil from my face a few times when I sweat after all the running.  And when this happens, blackheads appear easily.  I need Cellnique sebum again or else the minor problem may aggravate and cause me more serious problems.

Does a lemon drink helps to brighten the skin?

My chief beauty consultant shared this tip with me the other day.  She asked me to try this regime. Early in the morning, drink a glass of water with lemon juice. No sugar is to be added. She was told that this works and can help to brighten skin especially for my pigmented skin.

Emm.. I am always very slow in trying healthy stuff especially something which is sugarless.

Why do I have dead skin?

Unsightly, stubborn, hardened, dry dead skin appear again on my foot, strangely this condition mostly appear on the joint of my right big toe.  And when I was trying to find out the appropriate name for this part of my toe,

I learn from the net that the protruding part of my toe (as pictured) is actually a problem that can be treated. Now, I know it's called bunion. Cutting and clipping the dead skin away is not a solution as it will come back again, leaving a very rough surface.

I know those footcare shops can be answer to my condition. But, yucks! I can't stand the pungent smell of those shops and what if I am caught walking out of this kind of shop by someone I know?

Perhaps, it's time to visit my pedicurist.

Beauty does not come cheap

The only thing I don't like about visiting a beauty salon is you will end up with a lighter pocket and go back with a bagful of skincare products.

To solve my skin tag and pigmentation problems, I was advised to use more products.

Exfoliant

Power masque  for my skin tag problem

Hydrating booster to hydrate my dry skin

Barrier repair good for my pigmented skin

I only bought the exfoliant as I still have supply of booster and barrier repair (from free samples I got earlier) and it came in an offer package which has a small-sized hydrating booster.  I have no choice but to part with my money for the sake of a more youthful skin.  Otherwise, what I will get will be aging and dull-looking pigmented skin.

How to solve my skincare problems?

I have finally found help.  I have requested to transfer to another centre, hoping that I can get the advice and service I need from my previous beauty consultant.  You see, this beauty consultant who is the supervisor of the outlet has long been transferred to another outlet.  I will call her SF.  After some waiting, I was finally able to meet her for my first facial session at this centre at Ampang.

Although she wasn't able to attend to me personally, she had made sure that I was taken care of by an experienced beauty consultant. True enough.. This experienced consultant gave me a lengthy explanation of what skin tag is and why I have them. She also analysed my skin in detail and enlightened me of my problems and how to overcome them.  She made sure I understood them and gave me the necessary advice.

So, she had extracted all my so-called skin tags which the consultant at the previous outlet neglected to do.  They were not exactly skin tags but have the potential to turn into them if I don't take good care of them.  According to her, they were white heads which have hardened and were quite stubborn to be removed.  Only an old hand like her can handle these problems.

Whatever it was, I walked out of the salon, feeling satisfied that my skin problems are being attended to and that I will be undergoing a series of 'repair' sessions which this consultant promised.  She assured me that she would help me to solve my problems provided I heed her advice to go for regular facial session and adhere to  regular skincare regime.

Now, this is what I call service for the money that we part with.

Why I bought these handbags?

These two handbags were bought to usher the Chinese New Year, sort of, or just another excuse to buy new bags.. . By the way, I had 'worn' off at least 3 handbags in 2+ years.

I bought both these on the same day at Sogo, not too pricey, less than RM80 (USD26). Let's see how long they last.  Why I chose them?

* They are of a size big enough to store my Netbook.  This is necessary so that I do not need to carry another bag if I want to bring my Netbook along.
* There are many compartments. I go for those with a zip compartment at the back of the handbag where I usually keep my mobile phone.  At least, when my mobile phone vibrates, I can feel the vibration as it is closest to my body.  Internally, both have another 2 more compartments, a zip one and another 'twin' one to store my receipts and other stuff which I do not like being 'mixed' up with my other junks in my handbag.
* They are of a length which suits me. I dislike bags which have too long a strap.  One which is slightly right next to my elbow when clutched is perfect for me.  This enables me to open my handbag to take out stuff and still have the handbag strap on my shoulder without removing it from my shoulder, safer, right?
* This is optional but I love those handbags with an additional external compartment.  The brown handbag here has one, just behind the bow. In times of emergency or when I need to be quick, I can easily slip a receipt or some money into the compartment.  My old handbag even has 2 side compartments similar to what backpacks have.  I stuff my pocket tissues in those compartments.

Cheap handbags don't last

I felt shortchanged.  I bought a white PVC handbag at 50% and paid about RM80 (about USD26) assuming that a handbag which costs more than RM100 (USD32) should be of reasonably good quality.

After using it for about 3 times, peeling started to appear at the external bottom of the bag and there was some powdery thing dropping from it.  More peeling appeared.  Geezzz..

Cheap is not necessarily good.  I told myself to go for better quality bags which are more costly when they are put up for sale at offer price.

Back to brown

Just had a highlight on my hair, almost everyone does it to usher the Chinese New Year.  Well, actually I  went there just for a fringe cut. Somehow, I obliged when the shampoo girl suggested a highlight for my hair.  I don't go for colour for economical reason, what else?

This time, instead of trying to be bold and choosing red, I opted for the conventional brown.  And, I wasn't charged the 'Chinese New Year' price, so it's fine.  The salon's business is flourishing. When I stepped in at 10.07am, there were already 3 customers who were having their hair done.

And I was there at about 9.40am. Thinking that I was too early, I went for a 'nescafe tarik' at the mamak shop next door, not knowing that customers were already walking into the salon at the dot of 10am.

Combs that last more than a decade

After having this pink comb for something like more than 10 years, it finally broke another few tooth and can't be used anymore.

I bought a new one from Guardian but mind you, the teeth of this new comb are too sharp to comb gently on my already weak scalp. It's not cheap though, at RM7.90.  So, I went searching for combs with big teeth. Believe me, I actually went hunting at Carrefour, Jusco, S&M and finally one at Sogo supermarket.

It's huge, at least the biggest comb I've ever owned and it's cheaper at only around RM5. I feel so much less 'discomfort' with this comb. With crowning glory such as mine, I don't really mind the hassle.  If I can find one with therapeutic effect which can soothe my problem scalp, I don't mind paying for such comb.

Can you find sneakers at this price?

They may not be of any branded label.  You can't find a pair of reasonably good sneakers at RM34 per pair.  Who cares if they are branded or not?  Sneakers are not often worn and if I wear them, it will be at rare occasions since I am not a physically active person.

They were offerred at 30% discount and if two pairs were bought, another 20% was given on the net price.  So, not thinking twice after doing a brief mental calculation, I chose 2 pairs. One for shopping purpose and the other pair for sports purpose.

The black mark is gone

After a few days, the black mark at the corner of my right eye was gone. Phew...

And I thought it was due to some kind of pigmentation or an aging symptom. My son is right, it's just due to a very minor bruise on this sensitive area of the face causing the dark spot.