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.