Valen’s Vanity Square

I went for a short holiday at Langkawi Island last month. Although it was not a typical beach holiday that I dreamed it to be, i.e. sun-bathing on the sand or frolicking in the water (in a bikini perhaps), I still find myself slightly tanned on my hands and legs, and my face was at least one tone darker.

When my face still didn’t look any brighter 2 weeks post-holiday, I decided to get a whitening product for night use. Since I have used Olay White Radiance Intensive Whitening Lotion (SPF24) and like it, I figured I could try its Night Whitening Cream from the same range.

Olay White Radiance Night Whitening Cream

• Vitamin B3 provides cellular energy for skin to enhance skin’s renewal process.
• Olay Whitening Complex (vitamin B3, mulberry extracts, vitamin C) actively reduces spots and evens out skin tone while you sleep.
• Multiple vitamins and rich moisturizing mixture to efficiently achieve better texture, clarity and glowing radiance for your skin.

At first I was quite concerned whether the cream would be too heavy for my skin. To my surprise, after using it for several weeks, it’s actually less greasy than I thought, and I didn’t find myself wake up with a shiny face. The cream is easily applied evenly over the face, and it actually does what it promises to “…achieve better texture, clarity and glowing radiance…”.

After using the night cream for about a week or so, I could already see that my skin tone was brighter than before. And now I’m using it on my neck as well.

I wonder if I should also slap the cream on my arms and see if it works there too…. ;P

My birthday present from hubby this year is a women’s watch from SOLVIL. And speaking of watches, I realized that I have never ever bought a single watch for myself in my life so far!

When I was studying in school, my watches were given to me by my parents or aunt. Those were the cheap ones bought from one of the small watch shops or in the night market, haha! Although they’re nothing expensive nor carrying any labels, they were usable and worked for a long time before they went kaput.

During my university years, if i remembered correctly, I received three watches - two from my then boyfriend (now ex of course), and one from a friend from Hong Kong. The watch that my Hong Kong friend gave me is probably the cutest watch I’ve ever had so far. A huge blue watch with Doraemon in it, with its hand serving as the minute and second hands.

And then, came my hubby, who had also gave me three watches since we met until today.

• The first one was from 25 Hours, the first birthday present from him. Not using anymore…
• The second one from GUESS, half-paid half-redeemed, a birthday gift as well. Am still using it today but its strap is going to be a gone case soon…
• The third one - a watch from SOLVIL received just few days ago. Bought it from CityChain at Gurney Plaza.

Black and white floral design inside the watch, with ‘diamonds’ (how I wished they were real!) studded around on the edge. Suitable to wear to work, shopping, dinner and functions, all except to mamak stall. Hahaha! Original price was RM299, but there was a 30% discount offer so it ended up at around RM210.

I think I should stop relying on people to buy watches for me, hehe. So, I have decided that within this year, I’m gonna save enough money to buy myself a Baby-G watch, something like these:

Casio Baby-G G-ms series - (left) MSG-300C-7B2 (right) MSG-300D-4B

I like tough, rugged watch designs, such as these chronograph watches, for more casual occasions or outdoor activities. They look very alike, so I can’t figure out which is the one I saw in CityChain. The one I saw costs almost RM600. I hope I can buy it - with my own money - by the end of this year.

Actually, I think I should start ‘investing’ in timepieces, shouldn’t I? I just wonder how many watches I could afford to buy and manage to take care of in 10 years’ time…

Although I’ve learned how to put on a complete make-up and really have fun (and fuss!) drawing the eyebrow, shading my eyelids, blushing my cheeks, and glossing my lips, I don’t do it all the time.

You see, to do a complete make-up takes up a long time (at least for me, hehe). The foundation part itself has already got 3 steps – make-up base, liquid foundation, and loose powder. That’s why I tend to spend at least 30 minutes in front of the mirror before I’m all ready to step out of the house. And poor hubby, he just dozes off on the sofa while waiting for me to get ready, haha! Guess I just need more practice to speed up my make-up process.

So whenever I’m in a rush, or on occasions that a full make-up is not necessary, I abandon the 3 essentials of foundation application, and go for a much simpler and faster cover up with Za True White Two-way Foundation.

• A whitening skincare foundation with SPF 20, PA++
• Inhibits melanin production, provides solid protection against UV rays
• Covers up conspicuous pores and dullness while achieving a natural finish with a fabulous clarity

I’ve been using Za’s two-way foundations for more than 4 years, started out with the blue-casing Za Two-way Foundation Now Edition, to the current one. Well, that just shows how much I like Za’s two-way foundation.

Their prices are affordable, for one thing. More importantly, I found them:

• Easy to use.
• Truly provides a natural coverage that evens and brightens up my skin tone.
• Friendly to my skin and have not caused any acne problems.
• Not too dry for my skin.
• Great for touch-ups too.

I think I’m currently on the third or fourth refill of the Za True White Two-way Foundation. And I’m sure it will continue to be my all-time favorite make-up companion in the years to come.

Hi! I’m back from my Chinese New Year holiday! I hope you all have had a great time with your family and friends.

The major part of my CNY holiday was spent on visiting relatives and having family gathering dinner, AND putting on make-up before leaving the house, haha! Hey, everyone would want to look their best during festive seasons, right?

Besides having fun in coloring my face, I also made sure that my eyebrows were trimmed and armpit hair removed, which to me is very important even if you are just wearing a short-sleeved top. (There are chances that people might inadvertently get a peek of what’s lurking inside the sleeves, hehe.)

I know it’s quite a fuss to have to remove underarm hair regularly with tweezers. Plus, I get a neck ache after the whole ordeal, haha! Sometimes I do wonder if I should go for a Laser Hair Removal to solve the problem once and for all. But I do know that one needs to go through several sessions of this treatment to complete the hair removal process, AND a full course of this treatment is definitely expensive!

Well, no loss no gain. There are really no free stuffs in this world.

So gals, if you happen to be in Australia and are searching for laser hair removal services, why not check out The Victorian Cosmetic Institute in Melbourne? It is indeed a one-stop center that offers a broad range of mainly non-invasive cosmetic treatments to cater to your various beauty needs. Besides laser hair treatment, they also provide treatment solutions on, for example, acne scarring, leg veins, skin pigmentation, and wrinkles.

Oh, they also have Laser Tattoo Removal. Hmmm, may be Cecilia Chung should have gone for that long time ago. You know, the recent Edison Chen sex photo scandal? Her body tattoos now seem to be the proof that the photos are real and not some tampered pictures after all.

Anyway, for me the tweezers shall remain my faithful hair-removal tool, until the day I can no longer stand having neck aches anymore!

Whew~ I’m all sweat up after packing my bags for a 1-week trip. Yes! I’m all ready to travel back to KL tomorrow for the Chinese New Year celebration!

I will only be back one week later, so this blog is taking a break for a week too.

I hope all of you who are celebrating CNY will have a joyous time with your family and friends over the holidays. Festive seasons are always good times to get together, have fun AND indulge yourself in good food, right? But always remember:

• To drink lots of fluid - plain, drinking water, not carbonated drinks or sweetened cordials. The weather during CNY, as all of us know, is super duper hot! So always remember to grab that glass of water to replenish the fluids lost.

• To avoid food binging - I know you missed your favorite cookies, barbecued meat (bak kua), kuih kapit…etc, but eat in moderation. You don’t want to regret that after.

• To remove make-up and cleanse your face every night before you go to bed, no matter how tired you are!

• To use your hydrating masks to give your skin an instant boost of hydration and keep it glowing. You know how late nights can make you look oh-so awful the next day.

• Lastly, to relax and forget about the deadline your boss gave you, and simply have a happy Chinese New Year!

Gong Xi Fa Cai!