Whitening

Had been hooked on using masks for quite some time - initially it was just so relaxing and pampering for the face to have such a treat. Slowly, I became a bit obsessed and tried on quite a few other brands. So now my collection has evolved into Silk Whitia (good for collagen, hydrating, whitening), Netrogena Fine Fairness, Beauty Buffet's Sheep Placenta and countless of eye masks! With so many going on, I decided to drop ZA and as you can guess, a lot of my masks emphasize on whitening, brightening and the promise of clearer & more translucent skin.

Then, I saw on this magazine that this whitening system is kinda good so I have decided to do a trial on them and give all of you the low down. First, a picture of the 4 tubes.

One tube is supposed to last a week. So 4 tubes = 4 weeks. the first 2 tubes (weeks) would be the 3% dosage (of Vit C) and the next 2 tubes would be the 5% dosage. 3% could be used under the eyes but not the 5% one. For the first tube, I took about 12 days to finish because it was hard for me to gauge how much to use each day. With the experience of the first tube, the rest were pretty easy for me to ration out - basically twice a day, I had to slather the ampoule on generously; in more amount than I am usually used to for all of my other creams/ lotions.

It also makes me wonder if all along, I have been using too little on my face for my other products!!!

Anyway, to show the results of using all 4 tubes, I took a before and after picture. The pictures are unedited and taken using the same setting on my camera, ie exposure +1/3. I even tried to take the picture at the same timing, ie 11plus in the morning just so the lighting in my balcony could be as similar as possible in both pictures for the purpose of comparison.

First, the before picture!

34 days later (not 28 days because I misgauge the first tube remember?).....
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TA DA!!!!

Got difference or not??? I could not tell much difference. There is no noticeable fairness (which is supposed to be the main objective).

However, all is not lost!!! I did notice that my skin is a bit more translucent, especially when I try to apply make up these days, I realise that I could get away with just concealer under my eyes and some baby powder. I need not apply BB cream nor foundation nor any other heavy duty stuff on my face. Even when I slept late consecutively on last Fri and Sat in KL, my face did not turn too dull; and quite acceptable given the kind of abuse I subject my skin to in KL.

It was also good timing that right after I finished the 4 tubes, I happened to pop by my skin doctor (whom I have been seeing for the last 9 years). Dr Mary Wee decided to start me on Vitamin C serum because she spotted some pigmentation problems. She told me that like all skincare, it is a long term solution, nothing drastic overnight but slow improvements over the years... yes, years, not weeks, not months; but years!

I am not too anxious, I am quite happy with how my skin is right now. And that should be how you should look at your own skin too! To ask for instantly fairer skin is impossible. That is almost genetically pre-decided. However, with all the array of skincare these days, clearer, brighter and a more glowing me is definitely on the shelfs!!

Fancy Mooncake

Last year, my BIL got me this:

http://costesamour.blogspot.com/2008/09/food-drinks-related.html

This year he got me Majestic's durian ones since I tried the lychee last year. First of all, I have to show off the packaging to all of you (naturally!). It's the same pattern of motif, I guess it's their signature. While last year's box is housing my manicure stuff now, I think I am going to just throw away this year's box!

Why? Because this year's box is totally user-friendly-less!!! Noticed the 'fasterner' on the box - it's difficult to get them to come undone. Plus people with hefty hands would find it even more difficult. And when you opened the box, it kind of just flops open like the picture below.

See what I mean? Totally user-friendly-less!!! Now let's talk about the mooncake itself. Call me tradtional-at-heart but mooncakes without the lian rong or egg yolk just doesn't cut it for me. These days, mooncakes are so fancy - they are just like desserts peddled and sold as mooncakes. But if I were to grade this durian thingy as a dessert, it would score very high indeed!!! Because the durian itself is simply fragrant and mouthwatering - just imagine eating durians as if they were freshly out from the durian shell but with snowskin on top of it!!!

Go try!!!