Valen’s Vanity Square

My past week was all about flying. Flew to Bali island for a short holiday, came back, unpacked, and repacked for a business trip to Singapore the next morning. Had not even warmed my bed before I got up and left!

But the holiday was relaxing, although a bit tiring due to the scorching hot weather there. I thought it was supposed to be rainy season, so said the weather forecast app on my iPhone and also travelling websites on the Internet. But I ended up two tones tanner, and it is so obvious - there is actually a dividing line on my chest. Dark above the tube top line, fair below. And somehow, I got this weirdly-shaped patch of darken skin tone right on the top of my right arm arm, near to the shoulder. I think it looks a bit like the edge of an umbrella. Haha!

But also during this trip, I think I triggered skin allergic reactions on my face. I suspect the culprit is the make-up remover facial wipe that I used in both Bali and Singapore. For the purpose of travelling light, I bought a small packet of facial wipe, some cheap unknown brand, from the pharmacy. Often, those products, sad to say, contain too much chemicals that are hostile to sensitive skin.

My face started to feel itchy and get mild red bumps on my last night in Bali, but it got more severe after I used it for the third time during my stay in Singapore. Yesterday, I had those eczema-like rashes all around my mouth.

With the help of medicine, the itchiness and rashes are now under control. But the skin where the rashes appeared is now turning dry and flaky. This needs about a week of very tender loving care to recover to its original healthy complexion.

The moral of this episode: my skin can’t take cheap skincare products.

(Now I have solid reasons to spend money on expensive cosmetic brands, haha!)

Miracle! Miracle!

Went for a simple facial last week and I did not end up with itchy rashes on my face at all!

Because of the allergic reactions that I had been getting with my facials, my beautician gave me a very basic facial regime the last time I went in April. Even with just a simple regime comprising cleansing, extraction and a cooling menthol-scented cream (or clay?) mask, I still got hit by red itchy rashes on the face two hours after the facial!

Then I went for another time last week, albeit at a different center now because the one in MV has moved to Puchong. My new beautician did the same routine, except that she gave me calming chamomile sheet mask instead of the my usual cooling cream mask. She applied a new piece of mask for me every 15 to 20 minutes, for three times!

Despite that I was quite anxious all the time, worrying about seeing redness suddenly pops up on my face, I was actually ’safe’ and itch-free for the rest of the day!

So, is the culprit the cooling mask? Does that mean they just have to avoid applying that mask? Or is it because my skin is now so sensitive that I have to switch to treatments meant for sensitive skin? I don’t know yet, probably my beautician will advise me further when I visit for a follow-up this weekend.

Hopefully, everything will be fine from now onwards, and I can once again enjoy my facial - itch-free and stress-free!

Although I haven’t really accomplished a lot in work this week, knowing that I have to work my head off over the weekend in order to meet my deadlines has already made me feel exhausted!

But before the exhaustion hit, I’m just going to enjoy for a couple of hours of relaxing time in facial treatment tomorrow. My last facial was more than half a year ago!

Well, I don’t know if it will still be a relaxing experience few hours after the facial. I’m quite anxious about my skin reactions after the session. I stopped going for facial because my face gets allergic reaction every time I did it. And my skin seems to have become sensitive to certain ingredients in skincare products. I’m not able to identify the specific compounds that my skin is sensitive to, but at least I know that a certain brand of products must be removed from my skincare armamentarium.

I will ask my beautician to administer the most basic facial regime. No special treatment using special plant extract for special function. Just give me cleansing, mild exfoliation, extraction, massaging, and a simple mask (no facial sheet mask though).

If my skin still reacts to the treatment and give me rashes on the face, that’s it. I have to stop using their service. It’s not about having them analyzing my skin and recommend another exorbitant treatment package. It’s not about finding me the best nodular acne treatment or face-lifting procedure. Yes, I do believe that their treatments are effective, but if my skin is not amenable to their treatment because their products contain certain ingredients that it can’t tolerate, whatever treatment I receive will give me the same problem.

If that’s the case, there’s one predicament for me. I have signed up for the package and I still have 12 times of facial treatment sessions! Enough for one year of ’supply’ if I go once a month! So if I’m not able to continue that one dozen times of facial, what am I going to do with them?!

Why is the acne cream not working on me? That CL******* something ultra rapid action, that claims to be able to shrink blemishes and reduce redness in just4 hours? I used it for 4 days, and that big pimple on my chin didn’t get any better.

Jeez, how to get rid of acne fast like this? At the end, I was ‘forced’ to burst it myself. Now, I have to wait for the wound to heal.

Luckily me cousin sister’s wedding is over. The pimple started to emerge on that day itself, but got worse two days later. And the cream didn’t help at all!

I think I must have forgotten the lessons I learned in my younger days. OTC acne creams never work on me. I think those anti-blemish stickers are more effective, but had ran out of it.

Lucky for me, the acne cream is cheap. I can just discard it tonight.

Since I complained about the giant zit on my chin last week, IT IS STILL HANGING AROUND today and won’t go away!

Went for my facial treatment last week, but my beautician can’t do anything about it, as it was red and big and as my beautician said ‘It’s not time to ‘poke’ it yet.”

Tried using Nexcare acne patch (a round sticker to stick onto the acne and it will absorb sebum out of the congested spot) for a couple of nights. The pimple seemed to shrink slightly. But after stopping using it, the zit resumed to its normal size.

Last night I managed to squeeze out some pus and blood from it. Today it got flatter, but it still appears as an obvious dark red round bump on the chin. I don’t have an acne facial cleanser to cleanse my face, but I just bought an anti-acne gel. I have neither used or heard of it before, but I just want to give it a try. It’s one of those acne gel in a pen thing, looks cute. Hehe…

I really don’t get it. I’m almost 4 decades old and I still get pimples! I  must be so hormonally active, haha!

Aging is a natural process, and there is nothing that can stop it from happening.

The more I look at the mirror when combing my hair, the more strands of white hair I found! I can’t stop white hair from growing out, so I need to dye my hair. Well, although I can start taking supplements for reducing white hair, but dying hair is the fastest way to cover up the whites.

That’s why products that have to do with anti-aging, anti-wrinkle, anti-white hair, anti-hair fall etc are forever so popular. For most men, they usually start to worry about aging when they see the first sign of baldness. For women, a strand of gray hair or one fine line under the eye would trigger the aging alarm - it’s time to use anti-aging products or apply anti-aging skin care measures!

But actually, anti-aging skin care should start way before the symptoms of aging appear. Basically, it’s about practicing proper skin care from young, follow a healthy lifestyle, avoid stress, drink lots of water, etc. Additional anti-aging skin care products can be added when the signs of aging start to manifest.

Today’s market has a gazillion of anti-aging skin care products to choose from, but finding one that is suitable for your skin type is not that easy. Some brands are well-known but may not suit your skin, while some that you’ve never heard before may be the right one for you. So it’s always best to do a bit of research here and there.

For example, if your friend told you that prototype 37C had done wonders for her skin, perhaps you should find out more about the product first by checking out prototype 37c reviews online or from magazines. This helps to ensure you are investing in the right kind of anti-aging products.

Well, same for me. I also need to do a bit of research on anti-aging moisturizers now, gotta replenish my L’Oreal Revitalift very soon!

If you think gray hair or wrinkles are what makes you look old, actually the dark circles under your eyes can make you look more tired and unhealthy, and much older than you think!

While insufficient sleep and fatigue due to stressful work can be the main reasons for dark under eye circles, you may also have dark eye circles even if you get plenty of sleep. This will be the case if you are afflicted with allergies, eczema or nasal congestion, or if you smoke or drink alcohol, or it just simply runs in your family. These are just some of the reasons.

If you ask me how to remove dark circles in general, I suppose the cheapest way is to DIY, ie self care methods at home, such as use cold compress (eg chilled teaspoons, cooled used teabags) on your eyes to reduce the dilation, and thus the discoloration of the under-eye blood vessels.

Most importantly, get extra sleep. And when you sleep, try to sleep on two or more pillows to elevate your head. This helps to prevent puffiness caused by fluid pooled in your lower eyelids.

If you have some money to spend, than you may ask your doctor to prescribe you with special creams that help to reduce discoloration or prevent under-eye circles. These creams usually contain vitamins, such as vitamin C and vitamin E.

Other than that, apply concealer to hide those dark circles. Choosing the right color of concealer is important here. Use a peach-colored concealer if the dark circles are bluish.

As the reason for my own dark under eye circle - less than 8, sometimes 7, hours of sleep every night!

May be I wasn’t sleeping well in the past few nights, plus I haven’t been to for facial treatment for almost 2 months, blemishes started to develop on cheeks and chin. From what I observed of my skin condition, I think I will have this occasional acne ‘eruption’ up till I’m 50 years old. Haha!

Acne is indeed a skin problem regardless of ones age. The root cause is the active sebaceous glands, that can be due mainly to changes in male hormones in the body. While this hormonal changes usually occur during puberty age, certain changes - in the body or environment - can cause a change in the hormone levels in adults, too.

For example, acne that flares up during menstruation or pregnancy, or recurrence of acne that cleared up after adolescence. Other times, dusty environment, stress, insufficient rest or touching the face with dirty hands can all trigger hormonal fluctuation as well.

Sometimes, acne that occurs in adulthood may be more difficult to treat than teenager acne. No wonder adult acne treatment is so in demand nowadays.

While my acne usually resolve on its own most of the time, I think I should have a bottle of tea tree oil standing by. You see, I’m a working woman now, I meet people, so I need a clean face to show people all the time.

I may be bugged by pimples once in a while, but in general my skin condition is considered steady and free from serious skin problems compared to many out there.

One of my colleagues has been troubled by acne since her school days, and she is still in the search for the best acne treatment or anything that can at least maintain her current skin condition and not worsen it. Even if this means that she has to spend almost 1k for three bottles of daily skin care items. But at least she doesn’t need to go for expensive facial treatments, like me.

Sometimes you can’t blame people for wanting to keep on trying different acne treatments, because they have been disappointed by the so-called skin specialists or dermatologists at the first place. Hormone pills, skin peels, injections, etc, nothing worked for good. And so much money had been spent on those treatments. Even if she had been avoiding eating oily and spicy foods for years, that didn’t change a thing.

Of course, her current acne problem is no longer as serious as she used to suffer during her teenage and college years. She is now using some ‘brand-less’ new products that seem to be able to keep her skin condition under control. Well, if her skin improves few months down the road then may be I can inquire if there the brand-less products have something for aging skin, hehehe.