Valen’s Vanity Square

I haven’t really started using the Biotherm products I bought last month as I still have Estee Lauder’s day use moisturizer to finish. One thing about Biotherm creams and gels is that they don’t contain SPF ingredients, even if they can be used for both night and day.

Naturally, to use it during daytime, I need to apply a sunscreen lotion for the face following moisturizer. So, I went to Sasa last week and bought its SunGuard with White Tea extract with SPF30 and PA++, which costs RM32. Hey, that’s RM100 cheaper than Biotherm sunscreen lotion with SPF50!

I tried using it last Sunday morning together with my Biotherm Aquasource gel when going out for exercise in the park. Hmmm, SunGuard really …. smelled weird. I mean, I can accept rubbing a sun block cream with that smell onto my arms and neck, but on my face? I did hesitate when I smelled it… but I applied it anyway. May be it’s just me. May be I’m not used to the smell.

As I mentioned before, my first ‘impression’ on a product at first encounter determines if I will continue to use it. This, is not so a pleasant one. But I will try my best to finish it. May be I could keep it till I have my holiday on sea on one of the caribbean cruises, haha! (That would be so way passed the product’s expiry date.)

Oh well, guess I just have to do outdoor exercise more often to finish it up as quickly as possible.

First of all, I want to make myself clear that I’m not advocating losing weight with weight loss pills. I’m no weight loss expert, but I strongly believe that the major chunk of a weight loss plan is really about two things - diet and exercise.

Well, it may be easy for me to say so because I haven’t gone through weight problems in my life. For some people, trying to lose that few pounds could seem like a lifetime struggle. I know I won’t be able to understand what overweight people are suffering.

So, to be fair to them, say if one of my friends or relatives is overweight, I would support him or her to try weight loss medications or natural weight loss pills. However, I will tell them to first find out more about the product (e.g. consult a healthcare professional, read reviews) before consuming it. It’s important that one chooses a weight loss supplement that is proven safe. Effective or not, it’s rather subjective, hehe, and also depends on many other lifestyle factors. Agree?

Would you be please to know if there is a brand of cosmetics that is stylishly packaged, and comes with printed instructions, but will not burn a big hole in your pocket (compared with other brands, such as Benefit or Stilla)? Well, now we have one; our very own Malaysian cosmetic brand – Beautilicious, which was launched last September.

I’m not going to say much about it, just look at some of the products they carry:

Aren’t these make-up kits gorgeous? Felt excited by just looking at them, right?

You know what, I think you’d better head to their website now and see more for yourself, as well as to find out where to get them. Yes, you HAVE to visit their website. It’s so cool, so chic. I bet you will fall in love with it at first sight.

To read about the founder and how this beauty brand was brought to the world, click here.

Highly functional.

Sleek and lavish in style.

You let me experience what luxury is all about.

One look at you makes me want to touch you and feel you. While you may feel cold at first touch, but as my hands glide across your smooth and spotless body, I know you’ll make my best companion ever… in the kitchen.

Hey, what do you think I’m blabbering about here? Of course it’s one of the Blanco sinks!

Choosing a sink that looks great and is highly functional is important for a woman, right? After all, that’s the place where we’re going to wash the dishes for the rest of our life, haha!

I’m going back to KL next week, and I will see how my sister has progressed in her weight loss ‘challenge’.

For many of us who have just that few extra pounds to shed off, we can rely on diet and exercise AND determination to achieve our weight loss goal. For truly overweight or obese individuals, professional medical advice and special weight-loss medication is often required. One example is Alli, which is the only FDA approved weight-loss product available without needing a prescription in USA.

Weight-loss medications usually act by blocking the absorption of fat in the foods you eat. As a result, there are ‘excess’ fat (ends up in the intestines) to be removed from the body, which leads to some common treatment effects, such as gas with oily spotting, loose stools, and more frequent stools that may be hard to control. In short - stained underwear.

Well, if a person is determined to lose weight, I suppose he has to endure this and learn to manage them. I’m sure these embarrassing moments can be minimized as long as doctors’ instructions are followed closely. It’s really up to one’s own willpower to stick to stringent lifestyle-changing steps if he wants to achieve a healthy weight.

If self-discipline is an issue, then, I don’t know, may be one could start reading reviews online to search for the next best weight loss pills or supplements that suit his or her lifestyle’ and level of determination?

I’ve never used cosmetics from Red Earth although this brand has been in the market for rather a long time. In fact, I don’t see many Red Earth outlets around, even in KL.

However, things have changed. Rest assured that we can feel more of Red Earth’s presence from now onwards, following its recent partnership with beauty retailer SASA to market its products.

As a start, enjoy a little summer luxury with their latest Spring/Summer Collection – Summer Splash 2008 - that features shades of pink, gold, champagne and bronze.

The collection includes an Eye Kit and a Face Kit, both comes with a trendy gold case that can be also used as a clutch. How cool is that?

Eye kit - For sparkling summer eyes!
Kit contains:

• One Mineral Infused Eye Primer
• One Pure Mineral Eye shadow
• Two Pearly Cream Eye shadows
• Choose Malibu Beauty for pretty, girlie hues or Sunset Paradise to make eyes in gold

Face kit - Let the sun go to your head and get cheeky!
Kit contains:

• Two Vitamin E enriched Illuminating Cream Blush
• A short-handled Foundation Brush for on-the-go touch ups.
• Choose Miss Sunshine for a flirty flush to get you noticed, or Summer Romance for a softer glow.

I haven’t dropped by Sasa to check out the price myself. From what I read on the newspaper, each kit costs RM84 - a rather affordable price I would say. Why not check it out at your nearest Sasa outlet yourself?