Valen’s Vanity Square

Today is Christmas Day! Happy Christmas!

Last night hubby and I had our so-called Christmas eve’s dinner at Pick & Brew, plus coffee and cake later at The Chocolate Lounge, all in One Utama shopping mall.

Today we have no special plan except to attend a friend’s small wedding dinner. So I will actually be quite busy for the rest of the day - busy with my beauty ritual, haha! There is so much to do - trim my eyebrow and nails, apply nail polish, clear my, errr, armpit hair, :P, try out which dress to wear tonight, apply facial mask for a refreshed complexion, etc. Well, that’s the fun of being a woman, haha!

However, in the past few months I have missed out the fun of shopping for skincare care and make-up products. I have to control my expenses since my freelancing paychecks are not coming in on a regular basis nowadays. May be when I receive my next check, hopefully by the end of this month (which is only a few more days to go!) I would be able to buy myself some skin whitening and anti-aging products as late Christmas gift, hehe.

I know there will be a lot of retrenchment happening soon in the job market, it may or may not affect my freelancing business, but still, I have to be careful on how I spend my money. I wonder if people with IT jobs will suffer the same. A friend of mine who is in IT line seems not affected at all; she somehow managed to remain her impulsive spending habit without qualms!

Jeez, have I been in the wrong industry or what?

This morning, after waking up, I was sitting on the bedside hugging hubby like hugging a tree. He was standing up and caressing my hair. What a cozy and warm moment of love. All of a sudden…

“Darling, how come YOU have so much white hair??!! One, two, three…there’s another… one more here… ”

Oh no. Since when I started growing so much WHITE HAIR??!!!!!!! *Cry*

I took so much care of my face in the past that I forgot to take care of my body shape. Now, when I just set my mind to get rid of some fat and shape up, my crown starts to reveal signs of aging. Jeez, imagine 5 years down the road, when all these signs - lines, wrinkles, loose muscles, cellulite, white hair - become increasingly more apparent, I won’t know how to cope with them… so sad.

Now what? Should I look for some secret formula shampoo that will help prevent white hair, or simply go to a hair salon and color my hair?? Any advice??

Have you heard of the TV program called “The Extreme Makeover”? Have you ever watched it before? Do you LIKE to watch it?

For me, I like and dislike the program at the same time. I like to see the ‘before’ and ‘after’. I am always amazed by how medical technology today is able to drastically change and improve a person’s look. My only question is – would you be able to accept a mother or father who suddenly – after a few weeks – turned into someone who doesn’t look like the one you knew before? How would you react to a new slim and gorgeous mom, or a handsome looking dad? Haha!

What I dislike is… seeing (and almost feeling) the PAIN that these people had to go through! I can’t imagine how one can endure the pain and agony after a plastic surgery or orthodontic (oral) surgery! I really admired them for their pain toleration level.

I mean, what is the degree of pain you are ‘willing’ to accept when it comes to a makeover that involves blood shed? For me, I think my limit will be liposuction, haha! Because I can’t accept having a knife on my face or a drill in my mouth. Particularly my mouth. I’m dentist-phobic you know. So, even the best Washington DC dentist won’t have the chance to work on my mouth. This means, I will forever stay the way I look. There will never, ever be an EXTREME makeover for me in my life.

Anyway, I don’t need one. Hahaha!

Was in KL last week for several days. Thought I could do some shopping since I have a few shopping vouchers (a total of RM180!), all redeemed from Jusco member card points and credit card points.

Unfortunately it was a very busy week for me, and I had not got the chance to visit any shopping mall at all! That was so unusual of me. ;P

I know I can use those vouchers (from Jusco, Sasa and Padini) here in Penang, but somehow I feel that their outlets here don’t seem to carry as many variety as in the KL outlets. Call me bias, but that’s just how I see it.

Anyway, there is still time before the vouchers become invalid. No matter how, those vouchers shall be fully utilized!

No doubt today we are all living in an era of consumerism. But the world today is also about recycling and going green for the benefit of our environment, the Earth, and ultimately, the survival of human nature.

If even IT companies are going green, recycling used cisco routers, switchers and transceivers to help our environment, then everyone should be able to do the same.

Say, you bought a moisturizer, but found it not suitable for your skin type after using once or twice. Well, give it to someone – your sister, mom, or girlfriend – who might find it doing good for her skin type.

Alternatively, put up a post and photo of the product in your blog or beauty forum and sell it! Be honest. Let people know that you have pumped the lotion a couple of times. And for that reason, you will have to sell it at a slightly lower price than that you have bought with.

Well, strictly speaking, the above mentioned may not be considered as act of recycling, but at least you are not being wasteful, right? And you are able to get back some cash!

I have been staying up really late for the past few nights working on my writing assignment and doing some self study on internet marketing. Luckily no pimples popped up so far!

Keeping a regular sleep schedule and having sufficient sleep (beauty rest, that is) every day is one of the simple secrets to great looking skin. I know that if I continue this ‘disrupted’ sleep pattern of mine, I will soon see zits popping up or, worse, signs of aging skin accelerating! Then even the best blemish acne cream or anti-aging lotion in the world wouldn’t be of any help…

Jeez, that’s scary. I definitely should go to bed early tonight!