Powderpuff Mae

I wish they were my natural lashes; they are extensions


I have small eyes and have always wanted larger eyes. I am always looking for ways on how to enhance or enlarge the eyes. From experiments and trial and errors, I realised that with proper makeup and some other "little enhancements", any person can have beautiful eyes or at least have better looking and more attractive eyes.

Mascaras could help create longer, darker and thicker lashes. According to a make-up artist, she told me that mascara helps to "open up" your eyes, I think what she meant was that it makes the eyes look bigger. However I dread cleaning the mascara off the lashes at the end of the day, in particular waterproof mascara. Seeing my lashes fall off after each washing was heartbreaking.

I hardly use mascara these days (trying to preserve whatever lashes I have left) as such, I opt of fakes or extensions. Just a quick tip for mascara lovers, curling lashes gives eyes the appearance of being wider & brighter. Shoot hot air from your hair dryer on the mascara curler for 3-5 seconds to warm it up before curling lashes. Touch it first to make sure it's not TOO hot. Shu Uemura makes the most popular eyelash curler on the market. I saw my makeup artist for my wedding photos do that and it does wonders for the eyes and lashes.

Winnie, of Splendour De Beauty usually gives me a call when there are offers at her salon. This time, the eyelash extensions are going for RM88 until Chinese New Year. I made an appointment to see her. I've done eyelash extensions last year at Body Perfect (the place where "Gutsy Girl" got her entire slimming course sponsored) and they were beautiful. But beauty came with a price, RM150, and that was the offer price! Normally it would be priced at about RM300! I was looking for something more reasonable so I decided to go with Winnie this time.

Winnie painstakingly stuck each synthetic lash onto my original eyelashes and since, according to her, I had quite a lot of them it took her nearly 2 1/2 hours to complete. Occasionally I dozed off, my body just couldn't resist the calm and soothing music of the waves and nature. Every pain and ache in my body due to lack of bodily movement for the whole 2 1/2 hours was worth it. I was pleased with the results. The eyelashes looked really natural, naturally long which I love.

Synthetic lashes that was glued to my original lashes


Some of the equipment Winnie used





The glue

I've had them on for 2 weeks since and they still look beautiful. Most of them still holding on strong and still in good shape. I was told by Winnie that it will last for a month if I take care of them, that means no excessive rubbing of the eyes.

I am sure they will not last till Valentines or Chinese New Year. I may go back for touch ups next month, it costs only approximately RM40 for her to replace fallen synthetic lash.

Valentines' coming up soon and what better way to look fabulous with "almost" naturally long and beautiful eyelashes. The lashes are so discreetly good looking and trust me, the men will not even realise what hit them unless they have read this post!

Side profile


Front profile

For those interested call Winnie at 77103036. Her salon is at 26M Jln SS21/58, Damansara Utama. Just let her know that I recommended you, she'll know what to do.

Despite having quite a bad memory, I still could remember the first seminar on Image Management I attended 7 years ago. It was conducted by Dennis something something, an image consultant from New Zealand.

I always had an interest in beauty and image and I suppose that is the reason why and how I could remember some of things Dennis said. There are 4 things I remember from this class.

1. Round, round. Square, square.

If you have a round face, wear a round spectacle. Similarly for people with a square face, a squarish shaped spectacle would be more suitable. Dennis belongs to the first school of thought.
However, according to Wendy, who belongs to the other school, felt that round and round is abit over, as such she would recommend a slightly squarish spectacles for a person with round face and a more oval specs for a person with squarish face.

2. Invest in a few pairs of good shoes, preferably made from genuine leather.

Dennis quoted Dr Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lamb. It was Clarice Starling's first interview, and Hannibal sizes up Clarice and said these famous lines "You know what you look like to me, with your good bag and your cheap shoes? You look like a rube. A well scrubbed, hustling rube with a little taste".

Incidentally this seminar was organized by my ex boss. This man really needs a total makeover. He was an asian scholar and is known to be a brilliant man amongst his peers but when it comes to decent dressing, this guy needs to go back to kindergarten. Even Jesse knows how to choose his own clothes and protested vehemently when he was forced to put on his kindi uniform. Back to my ex-boss, he had a pair of black shoes. He wore them daily to the office. It would have been a respectable pair of black shoes save for the fact that he destroyed it with sheer laziness and with his own two feet. Instead of wearing them a shoes, he slips them on like a pair of flip flops and that was the exact sound we heard when he walked around the office "flip flop, flip flop".

After the seminar he bought something to replace the junk. I would have expected him to get at least one good pair from Bally, since he was the boss or maybe something more modest from Bonia, but he got himself a pair of black cowboy boots accessorised with something like silver spurs at the sides. Instead of "flip flop" it was now "cling clang".

Jesse's new uniform...you can't blame Jesse, can you?

3. Proper dining etiquette. Always bring the food to your mouth and never bend down to your food.

I told James about this new piece of information. One lovely evening at a fancy restaurant, with great enthusiasm, we sat at the dinner table brimming with poise and grace and we were all set to put our newly acquired dinning etiquette to practice, we failed miserably. We had soup and food remnants spilling onto our clothes and most of which missed our mouths by just a few inches. Results were dirty chins and shirts and even dirtier napkins.

4. Try to play down your looks especially when you are beautiful.

Dennis said people tend not to take a beautiful woman seriously. She advised all beautiful woman to look more “ah soh” like buning or tying up the hair, wear less make up or maybe wear a pair of spectacles.

Looking back, it was indeed an interesting and informative seminar. Surprisingly it was well attended by many company directors and top executives who needed an entire day of lesson on how to look presentable.

I hate coughs. I used to think having a sore throat is the worst among the "flu" package, until I caught this bout of cough from James. It is really bad, I've been coughing for over a week. I took the doctor's medication, it got worse. I can hardly talk. Even taking a deep breath irritates the throat resulting in a horrible outburst of lengthy chesty coughs and yes, my chest hurts too.

Anyway, I took some advise from Kelvin who have had some bad coughing experiences like the "100-day cough" and the "oldman or smoker's cough". He recommended me to get some really good homemade "Pei Pah Ko" from Fook Cheong Sea Foods & Medical Trading from Centre Point, Bandar Utama. I got a bottle for RM22. The normal ones like "Ubat Batuk Cap Ibu & Anak" are much cheaper, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that Kelvin is right.

Also I asked for "Lam Hang Pak Hang" to go with the "Pei Pah Ko". I think I got slaughtered there. One serving costs me RM20. This is my first time buying chinese medication from a medical hall and I am totally clueless when it comes to the prices of dried sea horses, dried rhino horns, dried frogs, ginsengs and etc...

Also the "sifu" advised me to lay off chicken (all forms including eggs), bananas, oranges and ice. I've got a confession to make, the reason why the cough has been lingering for such a long time is due to my love for chewing ice. Looks like sacrifices have to be made now before I get an infection (that's when the phlegm turns greenish).

In the meantime, I'll stay in doors and keep the germs to myself lest I start infecting some unsuspecting innocent person.

We live in a condominium. Despite sharing a piece of 3 acre land with 300 over residence, I hardly socialise with the aunties at the lift lobby. Every morning and evening most of the aunties and their children / grandchildren will congregate and loiter at the lobby to fish for the latest piece of gossip. The main reason I refrain from the pack stems from the fact that I am not fluent in Cantonese and I am very self conscious of my handicap. The more I talk the more likely I will end up being served as tonight's special for their gossip session.

There are many new parents in Block C, the block where I live in. Mothers are a competitive lot when it comes to their children at this condo, in particular this "Kia su" aunty staying on the 5th floor. When Jesse and I first met her at the lobby, her son was 3 months old and Jesse was about a year older than the baby. We exchanged our usual hellos. I remembered our very first conversation. She asked what milk powder Jesse was taking, I told her that Jesse takes Mamil Gold. She proudly offered me a piece of unsolicited information, that her boy was taking a higher grade of imported milk formula, Enfalac A+. Apparently babies who drink Enfalac A+ will turn out to be larger, healthier geniuses, unlike our puny and daft little kid whose dead beat parents could only afford to get him Dumex. Parents like us were frown upon by the likes of herself.

My next conversation with this kia su aunty was when her genius in the making son was close to 9 months old. To my surprise he was much larger than Jesse in size and height. She asked how old Jesse was, and was delighted to learn that her son was growing faster than our vertically and horizontally challenged boy.

Our son is a late bloomer. He walked and talked later than most kids at our condo. Parents often blew their trumpets loud and clear, telling us what their boy or girl could say or do, but Jesse's parents could only reply "our boy cannot talk yet". Some kids could do their spelling bee by the age of 2 and the proud parents demonstrated their kid's spelling prowess and skills to our confused little Jesse and his embarrassed parents. What Jesse could do, other parents, in their competitive spirits proudly claim "mine also can" PLUS additional stunts which often left us flabbergasted.

I thank God for good parenting books and pediatrician who dispenses sound advise to anxious parents like us, constantly assuring us that our son is developing normally. Whilst we were a little worried at our son's progress, we didn't want to put undue pressure on the poor child to perform like a circus clown to each and every parent we meet.

We have learnt not to be too competitive or "kia su", there are so many more things which are important to a child's development besides education. Jesse will learn how to catch butterflies, fly a kite, ride a bicycle, climb grandma's rambutan tree and most of all enjoy his childhood while he is able to before his parents succumb to the surmounting pressures of today's society.

Flirt and seduce with your eyes


I was at the dentist on a hot Monday afternoon. Since it was going to be a long wait I took up this month's issue of Her World and read an article on "Science of seduction". As I read this article I began to reminisce about those carefree days when I was in my twenties. No worries, no commitments, not a single care in the world. Those were the days and gone were the days where I could flirt, date and seduce to my heart's content.

The art of flirting is all in the eyes. According to the author of the article, a Harvard psychologist discovered couples who are deeply in love look at each other 75% of the time when talking. To seduce your man, gaze at him, he wrote. In that way the woman would be able to trick the man's brain into thinking he's in love with her. Apparently that will kick-start the production of phenylethylamine (PEA, the love hormone that makes the heart race). This is just too easy, either that or men are just gullible creatures.

Women are advised to lock eyes with the man even when someone else joins the conversation or when he is done talking. When the woman looks away, she should do it slowly but her eyes should return to her target. In that way, even the blurrest man would know that he is her object of interest. That could again flood his body with PEA.

Research has shown that men are more attracted to women with larger pupils. To enlarge your pupils, you can create the right environment or conditions to control the size of the pupils. Dim or soft lighting enlarges the pupils. Interestingly the pupils enlarge when we are looking at something we like. It would help if the woman can think of something she likes best about her "target".

Hope the above information extracted from "Her World" would be helpful to anyone with a "target" and with such potent information at one's disposal, it'll be bullseyes. Even the most reluctant one will fall prey to his predator.

Just a couple of days ago I was on a "vanity project" hunt. I hopped into Splendour De Beauty at Damansara Uptown for some consultation on eyelash extensions (which I will eventually blog about). On the way up the stairs, I noticed a banner on an instant miracle for cracked heels.

I made some inquiries (and gave the product a try on my heels) and I am glad to announce that I've found a cheaper alternative for those who are keen on getting their cracked heels dilemma sorted out. While I was getting my lashes extended (ahem, yes I succumbed) I gave the new product a try on my heels. The process is quite similar to Peggy's Dr SoHo. Immediate improvement can been seen after one session, smooth, soft and pinkish skin in 1 hour. Winne, the owner of Splendour De Beauty uses Silk Factor by Tsuya Tsuya for her cracked heels treatment. Each treatment costs RM48. The prices of Silk Factor's home care products are surprisingly reasonable, especially after seeing its rather impressive performance. Callus Removing Patch (6 pieces), Foot Cream and Green Tea Scrub costs less than RM50.

For best results, try a session with Winnie, if you are satisfied with the results and her massage "kungfu" you can either sign a package with her (buy 5 session, get 1 session free) or get the home care products and start your own maintenance programme in the comfort of your own home. It does require some discipline, but it pays, there is nothing more satisfying than seeing your heels being restored day by day. I would say, all in all, this is indeed a "good buy".

Dr SoHo Set for Cracked Heels


Miracles hardly happen to me. Yesterday it did in the strangest way...

There was one part of my body that I have neglected. It had been so neglected that it looked like a prune, wrinkly, hard and dry. I suffered from serious cracked heels.

I have had cracked heels for as long as I could remember and I never did anything about it, simply because the foot is situated at an obscure place where it hardly gets noticed. It didn't help that I love heels, the higher the better. I was told by some people that wearing heels and rubber slippers may aggravate it.

Last week, I gathered enough courage to inspect the condition of my heels and I was truly repulsed by its sorry state of neglect and abuse. I just didn't know what else to conjure up anymore, in the past I tried soaking my feet in warm water, scrubbing it and applying cracked heels lotion advertised on tv but nothing seemed to work.

To add to my misery, at times the skin gets flaky, and other times, dirt residue very often gets trapped between the crevices making me look like a dirty person with no sense of hygiene, sigh.

Before treatment


That's one ugly foot

I decided enough was enough and it was time to take some serious actions. So the next day, in exasperation and desperation, I sought professional help at Peggy Nail Beauty Centre near my condo. Peggy was a very nice bubbly girl in her mid twenties. I asked if she had any treatment for cracked heels. I was in luck. They just brought in a new product from Singapore, Dr SoHo Feet for cracked heels. I asked how many treatments I needed to undergo and but she needed to examine my feet first. This was the part I dreaded most, exposing "it" to a stranger not knowing how she would react. My pruny feet must have shocked her and she inquired if it had been in this state for a long time. I admitted to the years of abuse and neglect like a guilty convict.

She ushered me to the feet treatment area. First she soaked my feet in luke warm water and that followed by application of Dr SoHo's callus remover with cotton wool to remove the dead skin. With the cotton wool pressed against my feet, she wrapped both my feet with plastic for 20 minutes.


Peggy wrapping my foot with plastic



After 20 minutes she scraped away the callus using a spatula. A gargantuan amount of dirt and dead skin came off the feet with the rigorous scrapping. Eww it was truly disgusting looking at thirty four years of accumulated dead skin removed from the feet. Later she filed my feet with a huge feet filer.

Peggy using spatula to scrap away the callus

Dead skin cells

Peggy filing my foot

All the dead skin Peggy scrapped from my left foot!

The next step was to scrub the feet with Dr SoHo's Skin Soften Gel. Finally Peggy massaged my feet with the Repair Lotion.

"Got improvement or not?" Peggy asked as she lifted my feet to reveal the transformation to the guilty yet anxious foot abuser. At that moment I felt like I was in the reality show "the Swan" during the big reveal when the anxious multiple surgery ridden participant awaits the lifting of the curtain for a peek at herself in the mirror. I cried, hugged, kissed and thanked Peggy repeatedly when I beheld in awe the all new smooth, subtle and soft feet.. I was exaggerating lah. I just said "Wah very nice already, thanks". I was indeed amazed by the results achieved in just one session and they looked like a pair of brand new feet.

After treatment

Not perfect yet but immediate improvement just after one treatment

After second treatment. The cracks are almost gone!

Peggy wanted me to go for another 2 sessions of treatment before my heavily abused feet could return to its former glory. This may not be a big miracle to many but it was to me that I could finally have beautiful, smooth feet in exactly 3 weeks.

I recently met up with a lovely, charming and intelligent woman, Jenny. I've known her since my university days. We studied together, laughed and cried together... we shared many good and bad moments for many years.

I was known to be a softy even at school. Anything can trigger my tear duct. I can even cry watching cartoons! Jenny, however was known to be the exact opposite of me. Her outward appearance seemed somewhat intimidating. Her presence exudes a certain aura of strength, intelligence and arrogance and I was told that freaked out many potential suitors. But once you get to know Jenny, you will instantly be drawn to her sense of humour, kindness and warmth. She is a very nice person who happens to have a less "friendly" face.

I truly can empathise with Jenny as I have been told many times that I look unapproachable and as such there is a preconceived notion that I am an ice queen, or to put it more bluntly, a stuck up. It doesn't help that I have a relatively high, strong nose. That in itself qualifies me to be amongst the "arrogant and high maintenance" league. Thank God someone took the time to know me and I got hitched. I was fortunate.

For Jenny and myself, there was absolutely nothing we could do about our appearance, unless we cosmetically augment our entire facial structure and features. That would be painfully expensive and err painfully painful. So I gave a SOS call to Wendy, a friend of mine who is an image consultant.

Interestingly I found out from Wendy that the appearance of our face is liken to the Yin & the Yang. An approachable face with softer features is called the Yin face and the less approachable face with strong angular features is called the Yang face.

Zhang ZiYi is an example of a person with a Yin face



Michelle Yeoh has stronger features, as such she would be categorised as having a Yang face


There are a few things a Yang face can do to soften the features to create a more "friendly" look without going under the knife. Do not have arched eyebrows. That will over emphasise the already strong and angular features hence creating an even more fiery countenance.


Example of woman with arched eyebrows immediately making her look intimidating


less intimidating eyebrows

After getting the eyebrows right, smile. Over the years I come to realise that a smile is an essential feature that makes a person attractive and approachable. People with great smiles radiate a warmth that draws others to them instantly, like bees to the flowers.

A research was done and its report showed that it is possible to embody and incorporate negative or positive emotional states in our muscles memory and nervous tissue. Repetition of any emotional state (which inevitably comes along with thoughts and frames of mind within it) will become somatised or embodied in our very flesh!

As such, it is possible to alter certain facial muscles or features to create a more "smilely" and approachable face. In short, be happy and smile and if we smile often enough, a stern and unapproachable face may over a period of time evolve to a friendlier and more "smiley" face. Similarly I would consciously avoid being a habitual frowner, I may not be able to bear with the consequence of having the scowl as a permanent feature on my countenance.

The colour choice of our apparels play a significant part in managing our image. Instead of choosing winter colours like black, dark navy, opt for softer tones, summer colours, like grey or pinkish tones.

I thought changing my "unfriendly" face would be a formidable task but with Wendy's help everything is so simple now. It takes just a little tweaking here and there but the easiest, cheapest and most effective of them all is the million dollar smile : )

A potato a day, keeps the doctor away

I was inspired by Egghead to write this post.

As I took Jesse for a stroll in my mother's garden, I realised that there were more than 30 species of plants in her garden. Each plant was carefully selected to be nurtured in her garden for a specific purpose. Some for the stomach, some for beauty, some to scare away the mosquitoes but mostly for medicinal purposes.

I often wondered why my mother was such a health freak and yesterday, she said something that struck a chord. "Why should we suffer from cancer or any delibitating disease, we should have quality of life. There are so many natural herbs and food that you can take, and it is so cheap and easy to get it. Many people have tried it and have worked for them"

There and then I asked her for her "list". I am doing this for myself. My memory so often fails me and I need this to be recorded for self preservation. I would sincerely like to share this with as many people as possible so that we can all enjoy a good quality of life with people that matters most to us.

1. Lemon grass - crush 3 stalks - pour boiling water into 1 full mug & drink warm, drink for 2nd round; drink 8 mugs a day (12 stalks of lemon grass a day)- fights cancer cells


2. Uncooked china barley boiled with winter melon in a pot of water until soft - fights cancer cells


3. Sour sop seeds grounded fine - kills cancer cells


4. Papaya with green skin (unripe) blend & drink - kills cancer cells


5. Ginger kills ovarian cancer cells


6. Chilli (capsiacin) kills pancreatic and prostate tumour cancer cells


7. Tumeric/kunyit - stops the spread of lung camcer/breast cancer


8. Lemon grass/serai - causes cancer cells to self destruct


9. Fresh potato juice treatment - blend juice and drink 1-2 glasses a day on empty stomach -good for liver disease, diabetes, gastric ulcer, kidney disease, heart disease, hypertension, body aches,surpressing cancer growth, self healing power. It has been referred to as "apple of the great universe" in Europe - rich in nutrients esp Vit C and calcium.

The above is from my mother's own research. I can't say for sure if it actually works but some people swear by it. Does anyone have anymore remedies to add to the list?

I have bad memory but my husband's worse. One day my husband came home and told me that he had taken a memory test of sorts and the results were astounding....he had the memory of an 80 year old man!! Mine is not THAT bad, so give and take, maybe mine stands some where in between 65 to 70, still not good.

Five years ago, one of my clients wanted to take a statutory declaration from a 80++ year old man. The problem with the testimony of such an old person is its reliability. We took him to the doctors to test if he was of "sound mind". These legal jargon can really make a normal person feel like a nut case, I mean, "hey I need to run some test to see if you are looney". The test for sound mind : Long term memory + short term memory = sound mind. Anyway, the doctor said usually old people do not have problems with their long-term memory (their memory of the past) but they usually do not possess good short-term memory (memory of current issues). The doctor gave him some test like what is the day today, what is the doctor's name etc... Amazingly the old man passed the test!!

I came across this article "Unique memory allows woman to replay life like a movie", interestingly I know someone who has this exact ability, my gramdma. Her long-term memories were unfortunately filled with pain, war, bombing, fear and hardships. But she could tell you in precise detail how this and this happen and who said what and who replied what. BUT her short-term memory, lets put it this way... Fail lah. So does that mean my grandma was looney? She was unpredictable but surely not crazy.

I have a problem with short-term memory as well. One time when we were at our family outing in the zoo, I was frantically searching from my shades. My husband and maid stood there in amazement with their jaws gapping widely as they watched me search for my shades, when I had worn it my head like a hair band all the while. My mother recommended gingko to improve James' memory, but James being James replied smugly "I will forget to take the gingko. I need to take something to help me remember to take the gingko". As much as I hated to admit, he was right, it was like a vicious cycle of the chicken and egg scenario. Eat pills, got memory. No memory, forget pills. No pills, no memory....

I have a good long-term memory, it's like that of an elephant. I remember. I'm like an old lady who remembers her war stories. Does that make me a person of "unsound mind"? Is this the beggining of alzheimers or pre-mature aging? I am only 34 for crying out loud!

I had a wonderful childhood and my past helped shape who I am today. The memories I had were priceless, and I have a full load of long-term memories which I do remember quite clearly. My problem is with the short-term memory. One day, the events that happen to me now will become my long-term memories and they will in turn shape who I will be. I want to remember in detail the funny antics my son does and the silly things my melodramatic husband says. In short, I cannot neglect my short-term memory for the events that happen today will in turn make up my long-term memory. They will be the stories that I will one day tell to my grandchildren.

Heeding my mother's advise I have started to take Omega 3 Fish Oil and may consider Gingko Biloba to improve my memory.

I was on a search for the mascara that gives the longest and most beautiful eyelashes. I've tried Lancome's Flex WP, Loreal's Double Extension both do lengthen but not as they claim and it was really hard to remove even when using eye makeup remover. Also, very "sayang" when I see my lashes fall off during the cleaning process.

Some time ago, I was suckered into buying "Angel Eyes" from Korea which promises extra long and dark eye lashes. I got it because of the name, I should expect something like "Angel Eyes" to give me eyes like angels. Anyway the "Angel Eyes" set consists of a mascara and 2 types of fibres and is priced at about RM170. To achieve the angel eye look, first apply a coat of mascara, then apply the white fibres to lengthen the lash, then reapply the mascara. To achieve desired length, I had to apply the white fibres 4-5 times. To have darker lashes, apply the black fibres and reapply another coat of mascara to enable the fibres to stay onto the lashes. They do indeed lengthen and darken the lashes but the whole process can be time consuming and "messy". By the time I was done with all the applications, my face was covered with strands of white and black fibres. Not very angelic. However, the plus side is the mascara can be washed off with just cotton buds and water.

The "Angel Eyes" set

The white fibre is to lengthen the eyelashes and the black fibre is to make the lashes darker

The black fibre. It can get quite messy


My original 5mm long eyelashes

After using "Angel Eyes"


Recently, I met up with Sally, an oldish friend of mine, who is flamboyant, loud and colourful. She introduced many things to me. Some bad, some questionable but one good thing she did introduce to me were the fake eyelashes from Japan. She kept insisting that I get them. She was wearing them on and honestly they didn't even look like fakes. They just looked so natural and beautiful.

I was tempted and I fell for them immediately. They were lovely. Even James noticed the difference. He thought I went for some tattooing. Each box comes with 10 pairs of "eyelashes" and a bottle of glue. It is priced at about RM250. These eyelashes can be used a few times, depending on how you take care of them. It is not difficult to put on, just needs abit of practice.

The False Eyelash Set from Japan


Can't really tell if there are fakes

Personally, I prefer the fakes to mascara, they look nicer and longer.

Since becoming a mother, I became more conscious about my health. I started taking vitamins, supplements and every other thing my mother introduced to me. The reason is obvious, I needed to be healthy to take care of Jesse. These days, everything is about the boy.

Since I am into beauty and vanity, I began looking for supplements which are good for the skin and complexion. During my teenage years when I was plagued with pimples, my mother made me take Vit A, C, E & Zinc. She said this combination will help reduce the pimples. I am not sure if it did, anyway these are some of the supplements which I take for my skin and health.

Omega 3 fish oil is said to be an essential for a clear complexion. There have been claims that this supplement has been used to treat eczema and acne successfully and more and more people are beginning to take Omega3 for inflammatory skin conditions. And this is my favourite....it is also anti-aging. It's other benefits are, it helps in lowering blood pressure, arthiritis, memory loss and dementia.

Spirulina is also another must for good skin and health. Some of the brands claim that it helps skin recovery from acne and prevents scarring. It works to beautify the skin and pigmentation and delay wrinkles!! Also it helps cleanse toxin from the body. I was told that if a child doesn't take vegetable or has unbalanced diet, give them spirulina as it has balanced nutrients to help in the child's growth. Problem is to get the child to take it. A word of reminder, make sure you drink lots of water when you take spirulina to flush the toxin from the body.

"Gamat" or sea cucumber has been known and used by Malays and Chinese for its medicinal properties. It has been generally used for treating wounds and injuries. The Chinese have long realised, since the ancient times, its ability to prevent diseases besides using it as a tonic to promote longevity. Traditional Chinese medicine commonly uses sea cucumber in treating weakness and impotence! Traditionally, women used Gamat for health and beauty, it works well for all topical needs: face, hands, feet, scalp, hair etc...

Anyone taking any other supplements for the skin? Please share with us.

I used to have problems wearing under-wired bras. They don't fit properly. The wires kept digging into my chest and the pain was excruciating. I gave up on under-wired bras and started wearing the "grandma" bras without those horrid wires. They were comfortable but comfort came with a price obviously. They just don't give you the shape, support and umph. Plus I feel so unsexy wearing them. And after a few more washes it turned dimply. Bras are supposed to enhance and accentuate our God given assets. Even the less endowed women can now have her desired curves, if worn correctly. So my grandma bras just weren't doing it for me.


Bra with the wrong cut that causes "digging-in"

So I decided to go bra shopping at Metrojaya. I went to the Wacoal counter and asked if they had grandma bras and the salesgirl just gave me that look...as if I am some lost cause fashion faux pas. They didn't sell grandma bras. So I moved along to XIXILI. I asked the same question but this woman, my saviour she was God sent. She somehow knew her mission was to save this poor soul from the eternal damnation of grandma bras. She asked me "why do you wear that kind of bra, you are still so young. Tell me what your problem is". This woman I LIKE. I poured out my problems to her about the "digging-in" like a helpless baby. "You are wearing the wrong bra, let me show you which one is the right bra for you and next time just buy this cut. It will fit you" said my saviour. "By the way what is your bra size?", she asked. This question took me by surprise cos I wasn't sure but I was sure the cup size should be A cup. Without hesitating and also to save me from further embarrassment she just took a measuring tape and measured my boobs. "You are a B!" she said. "I'm a B?? Are you sure?" I couldn't believe I had grown one cup larger. Thanks to child birth, breast feeding and hormonal changes. But I could be wrong, read here.


The right cut for me. Right fitting bras are comfortable and gives the body the desired curves

I went to the fitting room and my saviour asked if I knew how to wear a bra. Come on, I've been wearing bras since puberty but she insisted that she should come into the fitting room to show me how it should be done. Now that felt really weird. Apparently I was supposed to lean forward 90 degrees to my legs, then fasten. Wriggle slightly side to side to get boobs centered into the cup. Then stand up. Then my saviour put her hands into the bra to push my breast from the side to the centre of the cup so that my bosom sat nicely into the cup. "See how nice they are now" she said with beaming pride. Honestly they do look great. So I got a few more from her.

That day, I walked out of Metrojaya, still a little embarrassed by the whole incident but I walked with my head held high knowing that I will never ever wear those grandma bras ever again and those wicked, sexy new push up bras, my husband will LIKE. And the promotion to B cup, real cool.

I had a stressful week. Jesse's week at the kindi did not turn out that good. He cried a river or tears when teacher Lavender asked me to leave the room. By the third day all the parents were out of the vicinity of the classroom except yours truly. Jesse insisted that I stay. When I left, he wailed. That had a ripple effect on the other children. One by one the kids started to cry.

I was out of the room and my heart broke when I heard how he screamed for his "ahmie" and requested for some "neno", Jesse's version of milk. Sigh, no one could understand my boy. Then he decided enough was enough, he went for his school bag and headed for the door. My son caused a riot as other kids decided to follow the gang leader, of course teacher Lavender stopped him.

I witness the whole ordeal and I am still shaken and stressed out. The kindi allowed parents to accompany their kids until today. By Monday Jesse has to go to kindi without his "ahmie". It will really break my heart if he cries for the whole 3 hours. I just have to let go and trust the teachers, that is what they tell the parents.

Right now I need some alcohol and shopping (all expense paid by the husband).

Regular bowel movement essential for smooth clear skin around the chin



Some time ago, I went to see Carol for a facial. Besides the usual gossiping about our neighbours, I learn something new from her each time I see her.

"Do you have constipation?" Carol asked while she was extracting the pimples under my chin. "Ya, how do you know?" I replied as I quivered in pain when she popped another pimple. Apparently, if you have breakouts around the chin area, it means constipation problem. If there are breakouts near the eye area, it means cholesterol problem.

No wonder I kept having breakouts around the chin. I had constipation after giving birth to Jesse and nothing I took could help ease the problem. I read Psyillium Husk could help cleanse the intestines. Psyillium Husk is sold by most pharmacist and it costs less than RM20 a pack. A tablespoon of psyillium husk with a glass of lukewarm water each morning should keep the bowels moving.

Right now I am taking "Organic Plus" which contains all kinds of greens, grains, enzymes and good bacteria. I was advised by my doctor to consume at least 7 cups of vegetable/fruits daily for increased anti-oxidant. I try to be as health conscious as I can but I find it quite impossible to hit 7 cups of greens a day. As such, Organic Plus serves as a good substitute. I just mix a tablespoon of green powdery stuff into a glass of water each morning before breakfast and by lunch nature will be knocking on the door. And trust me it comes out easily and beautifully. As for the chin, no more breakouts there.

I come from a family of vain pots. My grandmother had cosmetic surgery done to her eyes for double eye lids, so did my aunt. One of my relative went through a life threatening surgery to have her jaws sawed and shortened to look beautiful.

I recall grandmother telling me that it was perfectly fine to be vain (or in hokkien, "ai swee") after all God created everything beautifully and He loves beauty. Infact, she insisted that I should be "ai swee". She was quite creative to come up with this rationale to support her quest for vanity. Anyway lately my mother has been pestering me to get my eyes done. It has something to do with having eyeliner embroidery or tattoo done to the eyes. It all started when she had eyebrow embroidery done and she totally loved them. By some strange reason she some how felt rather strongly that I needed semi permanent eyeliners drawn on my eyes, well her rationale "with the tattoo or embroidery you never have to use the eyeliner on the eyes. You will get wrinkles around the eyes whenever you draw on your eyes and when you wash them off because you will be pulling the skin around the eyes". Then she will go on and on about aunty Veronica, Betty and etc... all look so nice. To be honest, they all look scary to me.

What can I say?? It is not the pain that I am worried about, it is "the look" that freaks me out. I know of many aunties who have tattooed the eyes and everywhere, it looks really disgusting after a decade or two, the black or brown eventually turns grey or grayish green. Just imagine when I am 70, old and wrinkly but I still have that faded tattoo around my eyes and brows.

At this moment, the answer is still "NO", however my cousin did mention that embroidery can look really nice on certain eyes......

"An Echinacea a day, keeps the flu away"

My mother should have been a doctor. She reads up alot on health matters and has from her many visits to the doctors and sinsehs accumulated much knowledge, sometimes she can even tell the doctors what and how much antibiotics to give her. She has a pill or something for everything and until today I still find it amusing when I see the buffet of pills, vitamins and mineral she displays in her medical cabinet. Also, in the garden a variety of plants or herbs for every ailment.

My mother will dispense her medical advise freely, whether you like it or not. One of her most recent "nuggets of gold", Echinacea is a good cure for cold, if you feel that you are about to come down with a flu take one echinacea 3 times a day with a Vit C effervescent, you will not catch the flu.

I like Redoxon effervescent the best. I take one tablet a day with the echinacea.

On the morning of new year's day, I woke up with a runny nose, body ache and a bad headache. I knew the flu was about to greet me very soon. I had so much plans for day, to take my son, Jesse to the park and playground, a family outing to KLCC...all these seemed so impossible.

Then I remembered what my mom told me about achinacea, I took an echinacea that morning and voila by noon the nose dried up and I felt so much better. We had a great time in KLCC and I lasted through dinner and a DVD session with James.

I really hate to admit this but my mother was right this time.

Everyone has their own secret little addictions which they indulge in private. When nobody's looking, only then we bare our true selves for fear of how others may judge us.

I have 2 addictions. First, I love to chew ice. I never knew I was addicted to chewing ice until I had this terrible cough and had to lay off ice for a few days at the doctor's instruction. I was miserable and all I could think of was ice and how good it felt in my mouth. I guess it was some sort of a withdrawal syndrome. I am still coughing but I NEED to pop in 2-3 pieces of ice a day to calm my nerves. Guess why I'm still coughing after 3 weeks.

My grandparents, mother, sister and I were introduced to a new form of addiction way back in the 80s when TV3 made its debut into our TV stations. The Chinese serial addiction. It all started with "Man in the Net" and henceforth every evening from 6pm to 8pm all 5 of us will be glued to the TV. We still had our family meals together - in front of the TV. I wasn't alone here, in fact most of my classmates and even teachers weren't spared. Chinese serials brought the students together regardless of colour, creed or religion. We had something in common to talk about at school, last night's episode.

Thankfully each of us managed to kick off that addiction. I stopped cold turkey 4 years ago due to work and family commitments. In fact I sneered at those aunties and cousins who were still bound by the shackles of TVB and Wah Lai Toi (Astro's chinese station). Pride loomed over me. I now belonged to the elite group. We only watch highly intelligent English serials like CSI, Lost and Desperate Housewives (DH) once a week. I can hardly call watching an episode of CSI, Lost and DH "once a week" an addiction as opposed to the aunties who watched their no brainer Chinese serials daily. I was such a hypocrite. Anyway they say pride comes before a downfall.

It all happened when my mother-in-law stayed with us 3 weeks ago. She was an addict, so at 6pm sharp she automatically tuned in to TV3's "War & Beauty" (current serial). Since we live in a 900 sq feet condo, there is no such thing as personal space. While she was having her daily fix, I was bombarded with TVB's evil and filth. I could hear their conversations spoken in the "palace" cantonese where the emperor refers to himself as "cham". I was tempted to take a quick peek to see who this "despicable concubine" that my mother-in-law so deeply abhors. Give the devil a foothold and within one commercial break, I was glued to the TV. I told myself I was only "drawn" to this serial "War & Beauty" because, as the title goes, it had beautiful concubines waring against each other to win the emperor's heart and they scheme, kill, steal, lie, hate, love, deceive, conspire, cry, seduce to achieve a common goal ie to be chosen to "serve" the emperor "kau kau" for the night in hope that Emperor will summon them to "serve" him every other night. But TVB will also throw in sword fighting, brothels, betrayal, greed, vengence, infidelity, jealousy and pretty faces for maximum viewing pleasure.

I have 2 addictions, chewing ice and chinese serials.

I was plagued with pimples since 16 years old. At that time, I knew nothing about skin care and the only product I knew was hazeline snow. At 16, I had a huge crush on this guy but the craters on my face just made me feel really unattractive, so I distanced myself from every good looking guy in school. Until today, I still feel sorry for myself for missing out on so much.

I started going for facials when I was 18 years old. After spending thousands of ringgit and using almost every high end, low end and saloon brand...my skin was still so so only and the pores are often clogged. Every month during "the time of month", those rascals will just pop out right at that time, without fail, as if they had been programmed to do so. If I had to travel to another country of different climate, I would experience another volcanic eruption.

I religiously went for my facials every month. The extractions (where the beautician will squeeze out every white head, black head, pimple and every other shit I have under that skin) were unbearable. Anyway I usually leave the saloon with an enlarged face due to the beautician's rigorous harvesting of pimples. It was not a lovely sight. I had to stay indoors for at least 3 days before the swell subsided.

I figured it was hormone imbalance. When I was on contraceptive pills for 3 months, my skin was glowing and smooth as a baby's bottom. When I was pregnant, again the skin was flawless. After giving birth, it's back to square one. I had another problem, I was heavily dependant on foundation and powder to camouflage the flaws. I never went out without make up. This was obviously bad for the skin and most beauticians would advise against using too much make up. At that time, I couldn't live without make-up, my complexion looked frightful without them.

Then Carol came into my life. Beautiful, lovely Carol. She is my neighbour, who happens to be a beautician. I gave her a try, and was immediately hooked. Her facials are really "terror menerror" one and they can last up to 3 hours. She will extract the "impurities" "kau kau", nothing is left unharvested. My favourite session, the massage. This woman's kung fu is first class. Really very shiok.

She introduced me to a new range of products which I had to complete that entire course. She assured me "After using this product, your skin will be very nice and you don't have to come and see me every month already. You only need to see me once in 4 months. I introduce this product to you I lose business, you know".

The facial product recommended by Carol. It is my miracle product

After 2 months, I had beautiful smooth skin. I never used a drop of foundation since then. And Carol was right, I saw her 6 months later for the next facial. Thank you Carol.

This is me without make up after using Carol's product for 9 months and I am very pleased with the results