Queen – Early Morning Sunscreen Tip

A tip from Niu Er Lao Shi (牛爾老師) in Nu Ren Wo Zui Da is to apply a thick layer of moisturizer with spf onto your face and leave it on for about 3 minutes while you prep for work. Sunscreen is very important to our skin and it requires a thick layer for the skin to absorb the sunscreen. You should not just use a small amount of sunscreen, as it would not offer enough protection from the sun. Applying a thick layer to your face also works like a morning face mask. After about 3 minutes, you can massage the cream into your face, and continue with your morning skincare and makeup.

ViVi – December 2010 – All About Skincare

There is a section in the December 2010 issue of ViVi which talks about skincare.  It is very detailed.  I can’t read Japanese or Chinese, but a picture says a thousand words.  It gives you detailed pictures and product recommendations in regards to cleansing, face massages, moisturizers, hair care, lip care, etc.  The magazine also provides advice based on skin type.  This section is definitely a keeper.

Here are some scans from the magazine:

Pages: 1 2

My Eczema – Road to Recovery (Part 2)

Over the next few months, my face started stinging a lot less.  My face was still scarred with hyper pigmentation, rashes and swelling, but most of the pustule bumps had subsided.

By the end of the year, I was contacted by a company that I had interviewed for a year ago.  Apparently, I was put on the waitlist for any upcoming openings.  The offered me a job and, despite the fact that I was horrified to have to go back into the workforce with my “new” face, I accepted.

I convinced myself that no one would make fun of me at work because no one there had ever seen my face without rashes before.  No one will pity me.  I was right.  No one cared that I had eczema.  Instead, they were very understanding. 

After 3 months of working there, my coworker recommended that I go see her Chinese herbalist.  She said that this herbalist was able to cure her sister when no other doctor or herbalist was able to do so.  I was hesitant, as my last experience with a Chinese herbalist was quite traumatic, but after a month, I finally decided to give him a try.

 

Tommee Tippee Cups

The daycare that my kids go to discourage the use of sippy cups because sippy cups have been linked to cavities and other dental issues.  So, I’m currently trying to wean my daughter off of her baby bottle.  Alas, it’s a much more difficult task than I originally imagined.  She does not like anything in her mouth, except for her bottle or her fingers.  I’ve tried a few different brands already and my current experiment is with the tommee tippee explora truly spill proof trainer.

What I like about this cup:

• has an attached lid.  I hate leaving sippies out in the open.  Plus, my daughter loves playing with the lid.
• easy to hold handles. 
• easy to wash.

What I don’t like about this cup:

• the spout is not always in the centre between the handles.  One of the cups I bought has the spout directly over one of the handles.  Now, how are you supposed to drink like that?  This is clearly a design flaw.
• it’s not entirely spill proof.  Little drops of water do spill out occasionally.
• you have to suck really hard to get the liquid out of the spout.  (Yes, I tried it out myself.)  It’s quite similar to drinking from a bottle, or maybe even more difficult than drinking from a bottle. (I take this back, pls refer to comment below.)

I removed the sippy insert and just use this like a normal cup with a spout.  This way, hopefully, my daughter will be able to learn to transition to a cup easier.  Also, liquids don’t flow through the spout as fast as with a cup, so it’s less messy when accidents happen.

I also bought the tommee tippee explora truly spill proof drink cups for my two boys.  As with the trainer cups, I removed the sippy attachment so they can use it like a cup.  This way, they don’t have to suck to get the liquids out of the cup.

*Edit*  I thought I should mention that I try to avoid letting my kids “suck” on sippies because my 4 year old is now having dental problems.  According to the dentist, it is a combination of sucking on his thumb and his sippy.  Also, I’ve tried removing the sippy attachment from other sippy cups, but they don’t work as well, mainly because the liquids flow out way too slowly.  I’ve also tried Contigo cups, but that didn’t go so well either.

My Eczema – Road to Recovery (Part 1)

Depression and anxiety seem to come hand in hand with facial eczema.  By now, I was so self-conscious I refused to go to work.  I tried applying for long-term disability, but was told that depression and severe eczema did not qualify for disability.  As long as I can move, I have to go to work. 

The human resources department called me everyday even though the doctor had already filled out the forms for short-term illness.  I refused to pick up any calls, but they kept calling even after my husband told them that he would deal with them directly.

In the end, I convinced my husband and my family that being a housewife was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life and I quit my job.  Everyone thought it was a bad idea, especially because I could get Employment Insurance if I was laid off or terminated.  However, I couldn’t deal with the stress any longer and just wanted to get it over with.

Most of the day I would just sit at home searching the web trying to find a treatment to cure myself.  I was willing to spend as much money as required, even if it meant going to a different country for the best doctor available. 

After months of searching, I finally came upon the name Dr. Jan Dutz from The Skin Care Centre.  Unfortunately, there were no available appointments to see him so I was referred to Dr. Youwhen Zhou instead.  Much to my amazement, Dr. Zhou believed me when I told him I had an overdose.  Hearing a doctor tell me that he belived me felt so good that I just couldn’t stop crying.  He acknowledged that I can no longer use steroids and introduced me to Elidel. 

My face felt a bit better after using Elidel, but decided to see Dr. Dutz as well when an appointment slot opened up.  Dr. Dutz is a wonderful doctor.  He was very understanding to my ongoing outbursts of tears.  He was also very patient.  He prescribed Protopic for me and it has absolutely changed my life.

La Mer – Is it Worth it?

There is a lot of controversy over whether Creme de la Mer is really a miracle broth.  Those who love it, can’t live without it.  Those who don’t like it, think it’s just an overpriced jar of Noxzema.  Now, I am a skincare snob, so I couldn’t help but to buy a jar to try it out myself.  In the name of buying it for my kids to see if it’ll help with their eczema, I dished out $200 for a 1 oz jar of Creme de la Mer at Holt Renfrew.

When I first approached the counter at Holt Renfrew to test out the product, the sales lady scooped a dime sized amount onto my fingers then showed me how to rub my fingers together to activate the cream with the warmth of my fingers.  Next, she told me to tap/pat it all over my hands then finish by rubbing it all over. 

I didn’t think much of it until about 1/2 an hour later when I realized that the wart on my finger (eww…I know) was starting to fall off.  Now, I have to mention that this wart is stubborn.  I had home treated it twice and had the doctor remove it twice, but it kept coming back.  For the entire week, I decided to apply La Mer on the wart then put a band-aid over it.  By the end of the week, the wart had fallen off and it’s never come back again.

At the same time, there was a small rash on my face that developed after I gave birth to my son.  I tried using cortisones and immunosuppressants on it, but it just wouldn’t go away.  La Mer got rid of it in less than a week.

Miracle or coincidence?  Both maybe?

Now, I do have to say that the La Mer did not work on my kids’ eczema.  Instead, it kinda clogged the pores on their face and gave them pimples. 

I don’t use La Mer everyday as I’m too cheap to do that.  I only use it when my face is really dry or as a base to my foundation to prevent my skin from flaking.  The eczema on my face is still there.  I don’t think eczema can be cured from a cream itself.  I believe eczema is an internal problem from stress and hormones.  However, overall, I really do love my La Mer.  It’s a wonderful moisturizer for me and my face always feels so relaxed afterwards.

Mentholatum – Sunplay Moisture Milk

As mentioned in my previous post, I ordered the Mentholatum – Sunplay Skin Aqua Moisture Milk SPF50 (PA+++) from Sasa.com.  I’ve been using this sunscreen for 2 weeks now and I love it.  Unlike the L’Oreal Ombrelle that my kids use in daycare, this one does not feel icky, nor does it leave a greasy residue that makes you want to go wash your hands right away.  I apply it after my normal skincare regimen and it absorbs right away. 

The product itself is very runny and tends to separate a bit, so I would recommend shaking the bottle a bit before dispensing.  As for the price, I think it’s quite reasonable when compared to other asian products.

Directions on the back of the packaging.

My Eczema – How it Started (Part 4)

Without the nerisone, my face started getting really red and itchy.  I also started getting a lot of pus-filled bumps on my face that looked like acne, except they were super itchy.  There was no use popping them either cuz they would fill up with pus again in no time. 

I went to see several different dermatologists who refused to believe I had a cortisone overdose or steroid rosacea.  They just kept prescribing me more cortisone, each one stronger than the previous one.  Since they were doctors, I just went with their suggestions for a while, but always gave up after a  few days cuz I knew their medications weren’t working.

Upon my mother-in-law’s suggestion, I went to see a Chinese herbalist.  The herbalist determined that there was an imbalance in my body and that I had eaten too much “hot foods”, such as fried chicken and chips.  In Chinese, this is called “yeet hay”, which literally translates to “hot air”.  He went ahead and gave me medicine to “cool” me down and he also gave me a rub to put on my face.

After the first bowl of herbs, I already knew something wasn’t right, but my mother-in-law kept insisting that it takes about a week for Chinese medicine to take effect so I continued on.  The more I ate the worse it got.  Eventually, every part of my face was pus filled, including my ears, my neck and my eyes.  At one point I couldn’t even open my eyes cuz they were swollen shut.  I went to the doctor and I cried and screamed and refused to take any more medication from him.  I should’ve known he was no good cuz he didn’t even know what the rub he gave me was for.  I eventually looked it up and turns out it was just a chinese form of cortisone.

By now I was desperate and severly depressive.  I got my husband to take me to the emergency at our hospital, but they didn’t believe that I had an overdose and refused to call in the hospital dermatologist for what looked like a simple case of acne and eczema. 

I was devastated.

Queen – How to Achieve Electrifying Eyes (打造電眼美女) – Part 1

When applying eye make-up, the first step is to conceal the dark circles under your eyes.  Most people use a skin colored concealer and continuously wonder why the concealer doesn’t work.  In truth, you’ll never be able to cover the circles unless you neutralize the colors with color correctors.   The concealer recommended on the show was the Kesalan Patharan Under Tone Light-up Concealer. 

How to apply the concealer:

1. gently pat the peachy color concealer onto your dark cirles starting from the inner corner of the eyes.  Remember:  the concealer goes on after foundation.
2. use the yellow concealer on top of the peachy color to brighten up the entire area.
3. apply a skin colored concealer on top for a flawless finish. 

The key is to apply only a light layer of concealer with every step.  If you use too much concealer, the eye area will appear very cakey.

The finished result.

Bright Starts – Hop Along Carrier Toy Bar

Of all the infant carrier toys we’ve bought in the last four years, one of our favorites has got to be the Bright Starts – Hop Along Carrier Toy Bar.  At 4 months old, my daughter was already able to put her hands on top of the frog’s head and press his eyes with her thumb to hear a tune.  Most of the other toys we bought were either too hard to activate the sounds, too far away to touch, or didn’t do much at all.  My babies all hate sitting in their carseat, so it was important for us to have a toy that could make music without us having to pull or press it every minute or so.  (My boys used to cry and vomit to the point where I wondered if they had motion sickness.  They didn’t.)  The velcro attachment also made it easy to attach and detach from the car seat.

Another toy bar that we’ve tried is the Infantino – Car Seat Buddies.  It looked kinda similar to the Hop Along Toy Bar, so we thought we’d  buy an extra one for home use.  However, the sound button is on the dog’s nose and my baby’s thumb is not long enough to press the button.  Also, unlike the Hop Along toy bar, the chances of my daughter accidentally pressing the sound button is slim.  Hence, she doesn’t like this toy bar as much as the frog one.

We have also tried the Bright Starts – Pretty in Pink Carrier Toy Bar.  My husband bought it because he thought our daughter needed at least one pink toy.  However, as with the Car Seat Buddies, she wasn’t able to turn on the sounds on the toy bar.  She’s doesn’t know that she has to pull hard on the dragon fly to turn it on.

 

One thing we love about our toy bars is that the velcro attachment could be used on almost anything.  We’ve used it on our high chairs, cribs and strollers.  We have also used it on our Fisher Price – Infant to Toddler Rocker.  This is an ok bouncer.  Nothing extremely special about it.  The only thing with this bouncer is that there is no way for your baby to touch the toys it comes with.  It’s just too far away for them to reach.  The carrier toy bar works quite well with this bouncer.