Skin after 25 Years

Today I was looking at HK artist Erica Yuen's video at youtube. In this video, she introduced a product called Squalene. The Squalene product seems very seducing, however that is not the main point. She mentioned what happen to our skin after we approach 25 years old.

You might not know, I just passed my 26th birthday. I am over 25!

According to Erica, before 25 y.o., we do not need to take care of our skin a lot. However, after 25 y.o., skin will start to discharge a lot of oil that you cant control. That is so me, I thought. Cos nowaddays, my face is so oily, especially at the sides my nose. Before that, it is not like this! Could it be because I took the bitter gourd drink ?

After 25 y.o., our face will start to age in a rapid way. And our face will not be able to hold the moisture as good as before.

Another important point is, all the time, we have been looking for products which can heal our skin, make our skin look good. But have we ever think, our outer skin is actually damaged? Will our skin be able to absorb the things that we apply on it?

And I start to think, the chemicals that we put on our face, is it really good for our skin? Even though some skin products give miracle results. Are these results temporary? Do them just suppress all our skin problem, and push it down beneath our skin?

This is something I thought of today.

Review - Go Care Matte Look POWER Molding Clay

This is my secret for nice and neater fringe. Actually, I dont mind my hair to be naturally curly, but I really hate my fringe! I can not have those cute straight fringe that covers my forehead. And, can you imagine a curly side fringe? It will look so retro, like this picture!


This is a molding clay that I bought from a hair saloon, I think 2 years ago. And I am still using it. I guess I will never finish it. You only need a tiny little clay (see below picture) for ur fringe and to tame the frizz. The texture of the product is a very thick mud, way thicker than any mud masks.

To use the clay, use finger to "stick" up a little bit of clay, then apply it on hair. Press and style the fringe as you wish. I use it to style my side fringe. It works to make my fringe tidier, and stay nicely on my forehead.


What to do, why dont I have straight hair :(

Cheap and Effect Way to have Less-Dry Hair

During this global recession period, we might not be able to afford expensive shampoos and other beauty products. During recession, we switch our Shiseido to Loreal, Body Shop to Shokobutsu, Schwarkoft to Pantene, etc..

Anyway, we still can have good hair without these branded shampoos! The secret is COCONUT OIL. Coconut oil is another big hit nowadays, it is no longer the oily and fatty coconut oil that we used to think. Recent studies found that coconut contains 99% of fat, and 1% of linolin. Thought it has 99% of fat, but this 1% of linolin helps to break down the fats into unsaturated ones (Please correct me, I could be wrong). And many beauty products now uses coconut oil.

So, in this method, coconut oil serves as a pre-conditioner when we shampoo. First, we need coconut oil, any coconut oil will do. I bought this 200ml of coconut oil from an Indian Grocery shop near where I stay, the price is RM3.40. Damn Cheap. Then we need a shower cap, it is okay if you dont have one.

The steps:

1. Apply the coconut oil on ur hair, and ur scalp too.

2. Massage ur scalp with the oil.

It is very important to massage our scalp. So that we can remove some of the dead cells and dandruff on our scalp. This also helps my dandruff problem. Usually my head/scalp will start itching the same day I wash my hair. After the coconut oil treatment, my scalp can "tahan" not itchy at the same day.

3. Put on the shower cap

Once the massaging is done. Put on the shower cap to let the oil absorbs into our hair. If I have time, I would let it sit for half an hour. But if I am in a rush, I skip the waiting time. Time to wait before shampooing is depends on individuals, some people even sleep with the shower cap on.

4. Wash off with shampoo

Lastly, wash the hair with shampoo. When shampooing, make sure you wash ur hair cleanly, dont forget to massage the scalp also. To end with a conditioner or not, it is depends on ur hair is moisturised enough or not. If your hair still feel dry after shampoo, apply conditioner. Yes, I do apply conditioner, my hair damn dry.

My hair feels softer every times I use coconut oil on it.

Before I end, a little tip from the hair dresser: Blow at your scalp while blow-drying ur hair, it will helps to control the oil at your scalp.

Weekend Project - Barley and Small Bittergourd Drink

This is a remedy that said it can heal pimples if drink it for 3 days. The ingredients are barley, and small bittergourd. You can buy these bittergourds from the wet market, and some supermarket sell them. These bittergourds are much more bitter than the big ones. However, if u boil it for a long time ( 1 hour +), the bitterness will go away.

I've only used 1/3 packet of barley + 2 small bittergourds.

Cut bittergourds into halves, remove the seeds. Put the bittergourds and barley together in a pot, add water then boil it until the barley is soft, and the bittergourds turn yellowy.

The drink is ready. I did not add any sugar, you can add if you want. It tasted a little bitter. I dont eat the barley and bittergourds, you can eat them if you want. :)

Review - Eu Yan Sang N'zyme LifeForce Enzyme with Cordyceps (余仁生 N'zyme 活力540虫草酵素)

By looking at the packaging, you would thought that this is a kiddy drink to help the kids to grow etc. But it is an enzyme drink! Enzyme is so hot now, almost every house wife makes enzyme. People make "rubbish enzyme" for cleaning purposes, make edible enzyme for various health reasons, some people even use enzyme as facial masks.

I went to Queensbay Mall last weekend, and Eu Yan Sang was having a road show there. They were promoting their YEN series of bird nest products. My kiasuism brought me to buy two bottles of these enzymes.

The sales girl was explaining to me, the "540" means the enzyme took 540 days to get fermented (hell, thats more than 1 year!). enzyme is good for us, especially those who work in offices and stay up late at night, as we grow old, our metabolism slow down, enzyme can help on our metabolism, and make us less tired. And Cordyceps is a kind of delicate Chinese medicine.

I bought these 2 bottles of enzymes for RM168, normally one bottle is RM108. I have been consuming this enzyme for one week now. I take this every morning (the sales girl said it is better to take it in the morning). You need to dilute the solution with 1:1 amount of water. The enzyme actually tastes very good. It is sweet, it tastes like prune juice, but slightly tastier than prune juice. I do not know it is my imagination or not, I do feel the effect, I feel more energetic. Normally, I am always very tired in the morning.

Overall, this product is not bad, But still, i will only buy this when there is a promotion.

It comes with a tiny cup:

You need to add water to dilute it. I guess you might get drunk if u drink it straight ;)

Review - My Sunblocks

These are my sunblocks. From left: Sunplay Watery Cool SPF 65+, Garnier Light Whiten & Protect Mosturizing Cream SPF 15, Biore UV Perfect Face Milk SPF 50++, and Avene High Protection Emulsion SPF 20.

I have already done the review on Garnier earlier in this month. So I will carry on reviewing the rest.

Sunplay Watery Cool SPF 65+ : I dont use this sunblock often, I only use it when I am going outdoor. e.g. hiking and beach trip. I love this sun block. It is non-sticky and it provides very good protection to my skin. During my Tioman trip, I used this. And I did not get any sun burn. But my friends were all burnt like roasted pork :) hehe.. You have to shake the bottle first before applying. If you dont shake, a "transparent oily fluid" will come out, instead of a milky emulsion. Because this is the blue bottle watery cool, you feel "cool" when u applying it on ur body. It has menthol in it. I use this on my face too. But I dont quite like the "cooling sensation" on my face, it feels like applying medicated oil （风油）on the face. I would prefer the red color one, which has SPF 130.

Biore UV Perfect Face Milk: The texture of this sunblock is similar to Sunplay's. You need to shake it before use. What I like about this sunblock is, it gives a matte look for your face, no oil at all. Unlike other sunscreen, your face wont glow after application. This sunscreen will also make a perfect make up base. After application, my face turns brighter. I had used Pure and Mild sunscreen before, it made my face so white! However, I dont use this very often, cos I work in air -cond room and I need something more mosturizing.

Avene High Protection Emulsion: Not bad. This product is not as thick as Garnier, so you need to massage a bit to get the cream absorb, or else your face will be glowing. I find this product doesnt stick to the skin well, because when you sweat, the emulsion is like melting on the face. As usual, I use this sunscreen during my working day, when I am in air-cond room.

So, as conclusion. I love all my sunblocks. I will definitely buy Sunplay again. But I will consider other face sunblocks for future.

Weekend Project - "Cooling" Myself Down

I am having runny nose. It has been 3 days already. Therefore this weekend no beauty activity, because my nose is messed up. It is not a cold, it is because of heat. It is "boiling" inside of my body. I feel hot (inside) and my mouth & lips are dry, my nose is like a spoilt water tap, cant stop dripping!

I need to cool myself down. I need to get rid of the heat.

1. Drink Barley water

Boiled barley for 3 days already, didnt help much. I guess barley is only good for preventing heatiness but to cure, not that efficient.

2. Eat Vitamin C

Been taking Vit C on and off. Didnt see the effect also.

3. Eat panadols

Helped to have a good sleep. And preventing from feeling "heaty" during wake up. Also helped to have a good sleep.

4. Drink Honey

Helped a bit. It helped to moist inner body from the "heat".

5. Drink Medicated (Tan Ngan Lo)

It helped. But not enough to put off the "fire" in my body.

6. Drink Herbal Tea (from Herbal Store)

Bought this from a Chinese Herbal Store. It says "Cooling Herbal tea" at the package.

I put the ingredients in the pot, turn off the fire right after the water boiled. Let it sit for 1-2 minutes. This tea does help! I feel a lot better after drinking this.