It's been awhile since I last posted. I know. Anyway, was chatting with a friend over msn just the other day about how we're getting older, which means we would need to spend more money on skincare as well. Actually, for women, I heard that our skin deteriorates after we hit 25, which is like 3 years ago for me. Ah well...so I decided to do a stock-take of the skincare products I'm using now...this is going to be a long post :P

Morning

1. Shiseido Eudermine Revitalizing Essence

This is similar to a toner. I only started using this a few months back, after trying the sample. This product was first introduced in 1897, and I can understand why it lasted til now. It leaves my skin feeling really soft, not the tightening feeling that using a toner gives.

2. Aqualabel Bright White Ex

I've also used this for one week, so I'm not sure about its effectiveness yet. But it did received some pretty good reviews, and considering that its parent company is Shiseido, I supposed it shouldn't fare too badly. Previously, I had used the Shiseido White Lucent Intensive Spot Targeting Serum in the morning as well, but it is really rather expensive (@ $159/bottle).

3. Laneige Perfect Renew Dual Eyes (Morning)

This comes with 2 containers, one for morning and the other for night use. I liked the morning one because of it UV protection properties, though I don't think it does much in reducing my dark eye circles. It's so difficult to find a decent eye cream.

4. Shiseido Bio-Performance Advance Super Revitalizing Cream

I'm currently using the sample given by Shiseido. It helps to reduce the the fine lines under my eyes, but since I've just started using this last week, I'm not sure if it's effective in the long term. Even so, I've bought the full-sized version from sasa.com recently, on impulse 'cos there was a sale.

5. DHC Eyelash Tonic

I've also just started using this last week, so the results are still out. Though honestly I'm skeptical that there's anything that can make my eyelash grow.

6. Avene Hydrance Light Hydrating Cream

I liked Avene products for its hypoallergenic properties, which is good for sensitive skin like mine. I used to have more Avene products before switching to Shiseido. Furthermore, this comes will SPF 20, which I think is sufficient for normal daily usage.

7. Avene Deep Pore Cleanser

This should be the first product I used in the morning. I've used this for the past one year, and it's pretty decent. It cleans rather well, and did not cause any breakouts, unlike the powder cleanser from FANCL. For some reasons, I can't use FANCL products, though I liked their packaging.

That's it for morning. Actually, I missed out a few more items, like Vaseline for my lips, and sunscreen (currently using Biore SPF 30). Speaking of Vaseline, I think it moistures my lips better than other lip cream/balm I've used previously, and it's dirt cheap at only a few dollars. But I'll usually also use a lip balm on top of it, just for the UV protection. As you might have noticed, I'm quite hung-up on SPF and UV protection, because it's so important and it will be difficult to undo any damage caused by the sun in future. So it's better to spend more on that now. And that is also why I've been religiously taking Heliocare Oral Capsules since 2 years ago, which is an oral sunscreen. You can google it if you're interested so I won't elaborate too much here, except that it can be rather costly, at $75 for a bottle of 60 capsules, which usually last for about a month.

Now for the night-time routine

1. Shiseido Rinse-Off Cleansing Gel

I use this because it's gentle yet it can remove my make-up pretty well, except waterproof eye make-up.

2. Biore Make-up Remover (Eye and Lip)

I only used this when I had waterproof eye makeup on. I don't use waterproof lipstick, or even lipstick for that matter.

3. Shiseido White Lucent Brightening Balancing Softener

I heard that Japanese brands usually have softener instead of toner. I first used this at a Shiseido workshop about 1 and a half years ago, and have been using it since. The other good thing about this softener is that it can also help remove any excess make-up that the cleansing gel did not remove. I started off using this in the morning as well, before I had the Revitalizing Essence.

4. Neogence Hyalluronic Acid Hydrating Essence

I started using this because I heard that we should start using anti-wrinkle products before we get any wrinkles. Though this is not an anti-wrinkle product, it will help tighten the skin. I supposed I'll not repurchase this once I finished the bottle since I have the revitalizing cream now.

5. Shiseido White Lucent Intensive Spot Targeting Serum

As mentioned above, this is an expensive product, and I was rather hesitant to buy it initially. It took awhile before there was any effects, but after that, I felt that the price is worth it. Though it did not completely remove my freckles, it did help lighten any pigmentation and acne scars, and brighten the skin as well. It's sort of like my 'miracle water'. And I managed to get it slightly cheaper at sasa.com.

6. Laneige Perfect Renew Dual Eyes (Night)

Actually, I only bought this because of the morning eye cream. The night cream doesn't seemed too fantastic, though I supposed it does moisturise the eye area.

7. Shiseido Bio-Performance Advance Super Revitalizing Cream

8. DHC Eyelash Tonic

9. Estee Lauder Idealist Pore Minimizing Skin Refinisher

I've been using this for a few months now, mainly for the pores on my nose. Sadly, there has been minimal effect, if any to begin with. Before this, I had used a similar product from b.liv, to no avail as well. I think I just have to live with my enlarged pores.

10. Shiseido White Lucent Brightening Moisturising Emulsion & Laneige Water Sleeping Mask Ex

Usually, I will alternate between these 2, using the sleeping mask about 2 to 3 times a week. I really like the texture of the sleeping mask and its hydrating properties. But because it's so rich, I'm afraid to use it daily, lest it causes breakouts.

Besides these products that I'll use daily, there're also others that I'll use on a less frequent basis.

1. Faceshop Raspberry Roots Collagen Eye Patch - I love this eye patch, but it's not for daily usage. I use it about 1-2 times a month.

2. Shiseido Intensive Brightening Mask - Once a month (a box of 6 costs $100!)

3. Dr Young Spot-Stop-Serum - Only when I've pimples

4. Methode Swiss Thermal Oxygen Overnight Eye Mask (gel-base) - 1 to 2 times a week

5. Laneige Strawberry Yogurt Peeling Mask (for exfoliating) - 2 times a month

6. Skinfood Egg White Pack - Once a week

7. Shiseido Purifying Mask - Once a week

You might think I spent a lot of time on skincare. In the morning, I took less than 10 minutes and maybe just slightly longer at night. The thing is, a little more time spent now will save lots of regrets in future. But of course, there is nothing more beneficial to our skin than a good night's sleep and adequate water intake.

Ps 37

In the face of all that had happened yesterday and today, it became more important that I remember Psalm 37.

¹ Do not fret because of those who are evil
or be envious of those who do wrong;
² for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.

³ Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
⁴ Take delight in the LORD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

⁵ Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:
⁶ He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
your vindication like the noonday sun.

⁷ Be still before the LORD
and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.

⁸ Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.
⁹ For those who are evil will be destroyed,
but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.

¹⁰ A little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look for them, they will not be found.
¹¹ But the meek will inherit the land
and enjoy peace and prosperity.

¹² The wicked plot against the righteous
and gnash their teeth at them;
¹³ but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he knows their day is coming.

¹⁴ The wicked draw the sword
and bend the bow
to bring down the poor and needy,
to slay those whose ways are upright.
¹⁵ But their swords will pierce their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.

¹⁶ Better the little that the righteous have
than the wealth of many wicked;
¹⁷ for the power of the wicked will be broken,
but the LORD upholds the righteous.

¹⁸ The blameless spend their days under the LORD’s care,
and their inheritance will endure forever.
¹⁹ In times of disaster they will not wither;
in days of famine they will enjoy plenty.

²⁰ But the wicked will perish:
Though the LORD’s enemies are like the flowers of the field,
they will be consumed, they will go up in smoke.

²¹ The wicked borrow and do not repay,
but the righteous give generously;
²² those the LORD blesses will inherit the land,
but those he curses will be destroyed.

²³ The LORD makes firm the steps
of the one who delights in him;
²⁴ though he may stumble, he will not fall,
for the LORD upholds him with his hand.

²⁵ I was young and now I am old,
yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken
or their children begging bread.
²⁶ They are always generous and lend freely;
their children will be a blessing.^[b]

²⁷ Turn from evil and do good;
then you will dwell in the land forever.
²⁸ For the LORD loves the just
and will not forsake his faithful ones.

Wrongdoers will be completely destroyed^[c];
the offspring of the wicked will perish.
²⁹ The righteous will inherit the land
and dwell in it forever.

³⁰ The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom,
and their tongues speak what is just.
³¹ The law of their God is in their hearts;
their feet do not slip.

³² The wicked lie in wait for the righteous,
intent on putting them to death;
³³ but the LORD will not leave them in the power of the wicked
or let them be condemned when brought to trial.

³⁴ Hope in the LORD
and keep his way.
He will exalt you to inherit the land;
when the wicked are destroyed, you will see it.

³⁵ I have seen a wicked and ruthless man
flourishing like a luxuriant native tree,
³⁶ but he soon passed away and was no more;
though I looked for him, he could not be found.

³⁷ Consider the blameless, observe the upright;
a future awaits those who seek peace.^[d]
38 But all sinners will be destroyed;
there will be no future^[e] for the wicked.

³⁹ The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD;
he is their stronghold in time of trouble.
⁴⁰ The LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.

The last verse brings such comfort to my heart. I know my Lord will help me and deliver me from the wicked. I need not retaliate...

COSI: 2 to 7 Sept 2011

As we left COSI for the airport at 2pm, my heart was filled with mixed feelings. I was happy to go back to Singapore, yet at the same time, there was a certain heaviness in my heart that I could not comprehend. I wonder when we will ever see these children again, and I was reminded of what Dr Gerald Tan had shared 2 days ago.

Dr Tan first visited COSI in June this year with the Sunday School from his church, Grace Methodist. Since then, he has been making monthly visits to COSI, especially to help with the medical clinic for both COSI and the nearby villagers. We asked him what made him return so often, and he shared that after the first trip, he felt that he had to do something more for the children. With his compassion and love for the children, Dr Tan, in his unassuming manner, has been such an encouragement for the team.

The medical clinic

The prescription area

The villagers

When we first arrived at COSI, the children showed us much hospitality by running to the van and carrying our luggage to the rooms. We were rather surprised by this sweet gesture as they did not even know us yet. Throughout our 6 days there, this hospitality was demonstrated again and again.

Carol and Li Diang also shared with us the background of most of the children in COSI. Both of them are Singaporeans who have been with COSI for more than 10 years, and Li Diang had recently moved to the youth hostel about 11Km from COSI to be the in-charge for the older youths (aged 16 to 19) who are currently in high school. The children in COSI ranged from 6 to 15 years, and most are either orphans or had families who are unable to support them. Through funds provided by the Methodist Mission Society, COSI was able to provide them with food, shelter, education and most importantly, a place to know our Lord.

One of the children's dorms

Children acting out the birth of Jesus

For the most parts of our stay in COSI, it was packed with activities such as English and craft classes, talks, games and so on. On hindsight, I hoped that we had more time to interact with the children and I believed most in the team shared these sentiments as well. I also got a chance to speak to two young ladies who had just returned to COSI, from the youth hostel, upon the completion of their high school eduction and are currently waiting for application to university. One aspires to be an accountant, and the other, a nurse. They are probably the ‘first-generation’ COSI children, and it is always a joy to see these ‘success cases’ on how COSI had made a difference in their lives. However, for every one of these cases, we know that there are many more in Cambodia who are deprived of an education.

Besides COSI, we also visited the Emmaus Women Centre (EWC), which is just next to COSI. EWC provides a one-year stay-in program for young women to learn one of these two skills, dress-making or hair and beauty. With this skill, the young women would be better equipped to earn a living in the city or back at their villages. For two mornings, the team got a chance to share with the EWC women. Irene led the devotion, on Prayer, for the first morning, and Linda Lee, on ‘The Sovereignty of God’, during the second. Irene and Gillian also gave cooking and baking lessons for the women in the afternoons. Though we did not spend as much time in EWC as we did in COSI, we hoped that the devotion sessions and cooking/baking lessons had benefited the women.

On our last night at COSI, Gillian, Linda Lau and Annie had shared on how they had initially wanted to go to COSI to bless the children, but had instead ended up being blessed manifold by the children. As quoted by Wilson, “we’ll never be happy with what we have if we are unhappy with what we don’t have”, and the COSI children had made us realised that. They also caused us to realise that worship is not about the musical instruments, or how well we sing, but the joy that radiates from the heart. It is this simplicity and purity that we hear in the children’s voices when they sing, despite the language barrier.

This rings true for the village children as well, who came for the Sunday morning session at COSI, while some of their parents worshipped at the village church. Maybe we are too sheltered in Singapore to realise that there are the poor among us. Yet, seeing them, can we really say that they are poor when they know and have the greatest gift of all – our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ?

The COSI children saw us off as we boarded the van to leave for the airport, and told us to come back again. Some also gave hand-written notes and small momentoes to us to show their appreciation. I never knew these little gestures would bring so much joy to our hearts as well. As mentioned previously, we had gone wanting to do something for the children but in the end, it is them who had done so much for us. Guess we can do all the preparation we wanted, but it is God who has the final say.

Saw this post from a friend's blog and find it quite interesting...
(to my dear fren: forgive me for the shameless reposting :P)


10 surprises about single women....#1

You risk it all if you wait forever to reach out to a woman who interests you.

"Supposedly, men and women are on different timelines when it comes to making contact," says Mary L., 38. "Guys take their own sweet time to call us for a date and follow up afterward. But the older we get, the less tolerant we are of the waiting game. Guys, wait too long to get in touch -- or be inconsistent in how often you're in contact with us -- and we will lose interest. Patience has more of a shelf life than you realise."


My take on this? If a guy is that slow, chances are that he is probably not that interested anyway...

During cg 2 weeks ago, one of the discussion topics was on divorce. This is another passage on that, from Matthew 19...

Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?"

"Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,'and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."

"Why then," they asked, "did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?"

Jesus replied, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery."

The disciples said to him, "If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry."

Jesus replied, "Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it."

Sabbath...

Just this evening, I was contemplating whether to go for cell as I was feeling so tired. But I still went in the end. And after the welcome, I remembered asking God the purpose of being there. He told me to stay cos there was something in store.

The topic today was on the Sabbath. Yet somehow, the sharing led to our expectations of the cell group. The sharing was good and we felt that for the cell to grow, its members will need to be open with each other, though there is the risk of getting hurt. Other important factors would be mutual respect, trust and sensitivity to others' feelings, though that shouldn't stop us from correcting a fellow cell-mate if he/she is straying from God.

I think God is really amazing, isn't He?

Posted on 9 Oct, 12.55am

According to Dictionary.com, to dance is to "to move one's feet or body, or both, rhythmically in a pattern of steps, esp. to the accompaniment of music."

But dance is more than that isn't it? To me, it is the expression of the soul through movements, the physical demonstration of the human spirit.

I think the human body is made to dance. No matter how well we dance. Technique is important, but secondary in comparison to the passion.

And I believe what we dance for is important too. That's why it saddens me that certain genres of dance had reduced women, or men for that matter, to nothing more than sex objects. And sadder still that such dances are making their way to the church.

Keeping up with the times is one thing. But it shouldn't be an excuse.

Gatherings...

One of my female friends was telling me about the recent EFP gathering that she had organised, and which I didn't attend cos we had the night cycling event. No wait, it was supposed to be on the night of the night cycling but it was postponed to the following friday, which I can't attend as well since I had cell group on fridays.

Anyway, the attendance wasn't that good and she told me someone commented that usually only the people who are single and unattached would attend such gatherings. Guess that's true to a certain extent as well. Though it seemed a rather sweeping statement as well, since it implies that friends are not as important once you've found your special someone.

Oh well...

Take it easy...

Guess I'll just take it one step at a time...

Some time back, I read an article comparing male and female bosses. There was also a poll taken regarding which gender people usually prefer to be their boss. As expected, most prefer male bosses. However, having both male and female bosses, past and present, I felt that there is no difference. Maybe it's just a matter of perception after all. Whatever the case, it is usually the female bosses who would have to work doubly hard to prove their worth.

And I guess, this doesn't only apply to women who are bosses.

If you think I'm not up to it in the first place, then don't agree to let me take it up...




Remembered what my ACCA lecturer always told us. We are like plants and if we can't bloom, it could be it's the wrong soil. Should I change soil before I wither?