Valen’s Vanity Square

My beautician advised me to take collagen drinks to maintain the firmness and suppleness of my skin - not only for my face, but also for my arms. She said she can feel that my arms are saggy when she massaged me!

I know. As a woman, I should take care of my body from top to toe, in and out. By right I should be taking supplements such as anti-oxidants, vitamin C, Evening Primrose Oil, calcium, etc, the so-call female supplements. In countries like Taiwan and Hong Kong, beauty drinks such as collagen are very popular. I’ve seen some sold in local pharmacy outlets, but have not had the courage to try.

Even if I cultivated the habit to consume beauty supplements now, how am I going to sustain it till my senior years? We don’t have health plans such as Medicare supplement insurance here. Perhaps I should ask hubby to include this beauty supplement expenditure of my mine into our future retirement living cost, hehe. Old people deserve to be healthy and look great, too. Right?

Jeez, I’m overdue for my fortnightly facial treatment. Should have gone last week, but was so caught up with work. (Yes, work that will put money into my bank account 1 month later, so that I can start spending again, ha!)

Alright, I will call my beautician for an appointment next week, before my skin condition goes hay-wired again. It currently is pretty much under control - less oily, less pimple. But fine lines are still apparent.

Sometimes going for facial is just not merely for the purpose of skin care. It can be about pampering and rewarding ourselves after accomplishing a big project at work, letting our body and soul taking a much-needed break after going through so much stress. It can also be just our vanity calling, ‘Hey! Let’s try something new!’

Like me, I actually would like to try different facial treatments from different skin care salons - comparing their products, services and pricing, and experiencing the difference in the beauty therapists’ face washing and massaging skills. Names such as Sothys, Cellnique an Dr Murad, have come across my mind several times. Too bad, my current financial status does not allow me to do so.

So sad….

And I still have few more months to finish paying the installment for my current facial treatment package,urrgh!

My youngest sister is flying off to Japan this Friday. I wished I have some old textbooks to sell off.

Haha! You must be wondering what has my sister going to Japan got to do with textbooks, right?

You see, my sister got married last year and had a mini honeymoon (so she said) to Phuket Island. But this time, this is the R-E-A-L honeymoon - Tokyo and Hokkaido!!! Japan is famous for so many things - intricate and delectable cuisines, the freshest seafood, fashion and beauty items, etc. Simply put, just prepare to spend money!

At this time, I just wished that I have some old textbooks so that I could sell them off, get some money and ask my sister to do shopping in Japan on my behalf, haha! Well, I’m not interested in wacky things such as anime contact lens or curry-flavored soda drinks (yes, they have that in Japan!), I just want to get skincare stuffs that may be significantly cheaper in Japan, or not available locally.

For example, Kose Sekkisei Toner is one of the whitening products that I love so much, but it is too expensive for me at this point of time (I guess its price is close to RM200 now). I suppose it will be worth getting if its half the local price.

Anyway, I have no textbooks to sell, so I’d better quit this ‘long-distance’ shopping idea. Haha!

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!