Experiment 1 - Lumecin

I have two offending brown spots on my face that I want to obliterate FOREVER!!!


In my quest I have accumulated an arsenal of stinkingly expensive products but without achieving the results I want. Since I have a never-give-up attitude (keke), this is my newest experimental product.


Introducing Lumecin from Goodskin


LUMECIN™ (Overnight Brightening Gluco-Protein Treatment)

6.5% Protectami®/Glucosamine/Urea

This revolutionary, overnight face treatment helps restore skin’s brightness, smoothness and improves texture while strengthening skin’s protective barrier, visibly reducing pore size and helping to fade brown spots.

Immediately: 65% measurable improvement in skin clarity. After 1 week: 77% of subjects felt their skin looked revitalized in the morning. After 2 weeks: 28% measurable reduction in the appearance of pore size and 15% visible reduction in brown spots.

Protectami® - improves skin’s smoothness and texture by helping to optimize cell turnover, allowing new cells to emerge.

Glucosamine - gently exfoliates skin’s surface to visibly increase brightness and evens out skin tone through gentle surface exfoliation that eliminates dead cells.

Hydrolyzed Protein - helps improve skin’s natural defense shield through skin barrier repair.

Urea - reduces visible pore size and smooths skin's texture by helping loosen and release pore clogs.

LumeFade™ Complex - helps to visibly diffuse and fade the appearance of dark spots and discolorations caused by hyperpigmentation.


I will be compliant with their instructions of use: Every night for two weeks then every other night after that. I'm highly skeptical with all the claims but I'm an ever optimist.


p.s I found a nice review on some Goodskin products. I'm even MORE optimistic now. And maybe I should also try the Eyliplex-2. My eyes seems to be suffering from continuous late nights and accumulated sleep deficit...

Arn - Tempelriddaren

Just watched 'Arn Tempelriddaren' (Arn: The Knight Templar) upon my cousin's recommendation.


Synopsis (Spoilers ahead)
It's a 2007 epic film based on Jan Guillou's trilogy about a fictional Swedish Knight Templar, Arn Magnusson. He is part of a powerful Folkung dynasty in the mid-12th century and childhood friends with Knut, the future King of Sweden. Arn had a terrible accident when he was a young boy and on his deathbed, his mother wowed that if Arn survives, he would be given to God to serve His purpose. Well Arn did survive and he was sent to the monastery to live where he was taught to read, write and develop his swordsman skills by a former Knight Templar who was residing there. Arn was later sent back to his family when he was 17 but got involved in a civil war between the different families fighting to be King Of Sweden. Meanwhile, he also fell in love with Cecilia Algotsdotter and wanted to marry her (got her pregnant too if I may add).
*But to ensure the movie is of 'epic' proportion, no romance is as straightforward easy as that*

Due to some political intrigue, Arn and Cecilia were separated and punished to undertake 20 years of penance different monasteries. Cecilia was abused by the Abbess there but slowly her life improves after some royal intervention. Arn was sent to the Holy Land and proved himself to be a capable and honourable warrior. He was there for 10 years and at the end of the movie, he was given some kind of release letter by the Knight Templar's Grand Master.

Review
a) Characters
The two main characters, Arn Magnusson (Joakim Natterqvist) and Cecilia Algotsdotter (Sofia Helin) seems to have enough chemistry between them to act as lovelorn lovers.

I usually don't like man looking so scruffy, so luckily first half of the movie Arn was a young boy and then a teen in the monastery where he is usually clean-shaven. Only in the later parts do I have to suffer through with him looking so unkempt. Cecilia is as pretty as always, so she's quite pleasing on the eye.

b) Action
To term a movie 'epic', there should be a few impressive battle scenes. Movie opened very nicely with a dessert scene that includes a horse chasing scene and then fighting and bloodshed scene. Then it had two one-to-one sword battle between innocent Arn and 'bad people'. It ends with a big battle scene between Knights Templar and Saladin's army.
Hhhmm, while not wanting to be terribly judgmental, I don't think the action scenes were jaw-dropping awesome. There was also no tension build-up to the final battle.
*unlike the time when I watched LOTR....*

c) Storyline
It had a decent storyline but I got a bit confused over the political fight. Obviously the physical fight doesn't need much explaining. Quite easy to determine who is the enemy and who is dead. The subs weren't great as well but understandable to a certain extent.

d) Enjoyment factor
Out of a scale of 5, I'd give it a 3.5.
I like it enough to start reading about Knights Templar, Saladin and Crusades.

Message for the New Year

I was telling Mum certain challenges I would face at work in the Year 2010. Basically I was whining so much I'm sure mum's ears were probably ringing. *whine whine whine*

Few days later I found this message written in the Kog sent to me:

Lost are many who get mired in the events of daily living
Impossible seems the problems that pile up in Life

Time of distress outshine all happy moments
Only the wise can see and make the balance
Keeping sanity as one plods through the stormy days

Knots of worries wrinkle the mind
Watching this, one must be clear and steady of mind
Always be prepared to let events flow
Into the arena of calmness all too shall eventually flow

I will plod on smilingly and calmly...while keeping my sanity intact

What my mother wants...

Mum has a New Year wish too. She told me this over the phone today.

a) Buddhist/Taoist
b) Chinese
c) Lawfully single

She hopes the person who would be so (un)fortunate to be attached to me would fulfill those 3 criterias.

In addition,this is also what I want (delusions at its finest...)

Someone who can clean

Someone who can sing and play the guitar



Someone who can comfort

Any takers? ^_^

Happy New Year 2010

Talk about being slow. I'm 8 days late in my New Year greeting.

I have decided to keep my blogs shorter but hopefully updated more often. I find it a pain to read my older long-winded blogs.

10 New Year Resolutions
1) Be a better person - e.g. more friendly, more patient, more approachable etc etc.... all those traits that I am lacking...
2) Leave work on time - 5.30pm (RM 1 fine for every extra hour at work)
3) Be at work on time - 8.30am
4) Sleep before 12 midnight
5) Learn more cooking
6) Dance a little better
7) Watch more anime, Korean and Japanese dramas
8) Discover more brilliant Korean singers besides Zia and SG Wannabe
9) Read more storybooks
10) Pray a bit more

Facial at Jurlique, Midvalley

I rescheduled my usual monthly facial session with Clarins to try one from Jurlique. I normally would not even go near Jurlique due to the price factor but idiot me saw 'up-to-50% discount for Maybankcard members' advert at their Midvalley window display. The bait was set and admittedly, I was hooked.

I do have a valid reason for wanting to try it. I have read good reviews about their products and it seems slightly more affordable than N.V. Perricone.

Jurlique
The information below is obtained from Jurlique's website www.jurlique.com
Jurlique was founded by a chemist and a horticulturist, Jurgen Klein and his wife Ulrike Klein. They have been developing plant-based beauty products since 1985 and believe nature trumps chemistry every time. They nurture their biodynamically grown plants and herbs with great care and integrity at their farm in South Australia.

Facial Session: Process
This was to be 1.5 hours and I chose the hydrating type and not radiance facial as my face was feeling dry. The Beauty Advisor, Chermaine informed me the hydrating facial would involve more hand massage for the face which ranks high up on my list. I simply detest any machine-dominated type of facials.

It started with a scalp massage, followed by double cleansing of the face. Then it was application of an exfoliater which stung like crazy. Good thing the facial lady informed me beforehand, if not they would have a victim who dropped-off-facial-table-induced-by-pain-intolerance-to-exfoliators. I couldn't wait till she wiped it off my face with the super comfortable warm wash cloth.

Then face steaming commenced which proceeded to the dreaded whitespot/blackspot extraction. *SIGH* She commented I have to be patient because my face had LOADS of it but I think she is quite good at it. My right leg started to feel funny at the discomfort inflicted by the dastardly pinchers on my face. I'm not even sure how it could be related but it always happens. After the extraction, facial lady sprayed their star product Rosewater Balancing Mist to sooth my face. I can't really say how good it is with just 2-3 sprays but it smells nice enough.

She followed soon with a face massage done simultaneously with the face steamer on and then a cool collagen mask was applied. Once the collagen mask was in place, my legs and shoulders were given a short massage (I really like it!!). That about concludes the facial after the collagen mask was removed and an ampoule of moisturiser and sunblock applied on my face.

Facial Session: Conclusion (from good to bad)
All the staff there were courteous.

The facial was mostly a relaxing one.

Redness at extraction places was minimum considering the extensive poking and face does look clear from white/blackheads. The suffering was justified!

Face feels and looks greasy due to all the moisturiser that was applied and I didn't have my fantabulous ZA Vitamin Powder to blot it. But I don't have a problem with the greasy face as most of my hydrating facials would have this outcome.

The products did not stimulate my olfactory senses as much as Clarins.

I had a look at my face to judge the facial outcome and to my shock, the sides of my nose was peeling. *Huh?* Wonder what triggered it. Chermaine did mention that I seem to be more sensitive at my cheeks & nose area . One hour post-facial, nose is fine and not peeling anymore.

Aggresiveness in promoting their products: 3 out of 5 stars.
Pretty persuasive. I did buy ONE product (Herbal Recovery Gel) but it was what I wanted from the beginning, not something they recommended. But my wallet is still hurting though.

Facial Price: RM 203 (after 30% discount from the normal price of RM290) *gasps, faints*


Facial Session: Final Verdict
Would I go for a Jurlique facial package: Nope.
a) Products are good but the cost is chilling. I'm too poor or rather, I'd prefer to splash my money elsewhere.
b) Getting to Midvalley is a hassle.

That said, I think Jurlique may benefit certain people who has sensitive skin or fancies plant-based products.

I am the proud owner of Herbal Recovery Gel

A potent botanical concentrate, infused with a rich blend of herbs and precious plant oils to restore, firm, hydrate and revitalise the skin. Helps to minimise the visible signs of ageing with daily use.

Guardian Refresher Course, July 2009

I was invited to join the Guardian Refresher Course and it was a whole day event at Sunway Resort Hotel sponsored by Schering-Plough. It started off with the various pharmacy-related topics presented by invited guests culminating with a dinner and lucky draw.

I took a day off from work and was looking forward to it. Admittedly, I was salivating for the door gifts as it seriously packed a punch from my previous experience (by my standards at least) but what was finally distributed exceeded even beyond my expectations.

*July doing a hula-hoop samba from receiving a box of Mireica*

In the spirit of my OCD-ness, I would make a list of the items found in the goody bag I received and give a rough estimate of the value. I usually get very spirited doing non-sensical things especially when I have more important work-related tasks at hand e.g. marking essays.

Update: Too lazy for a list. See picture below.

Freebies galore

Getting there
Getting to Sunway was an experience by itself. I was going to get to KL Sentral and grab a cab to Sunway Hotel. But since my time management sucked, I flagged a cab from my place to get me straight to the venue. First thing cab driver told me "It's very jam, do you mind?' Well, I DO mind but it's not like I have a choice; Cheras traffic is awful.

Travelling constantly with LRT, standstill cars stuck in those nightmarish early morning jams barely registers in my mind as the LRT whizzes to my destination. However, being the victim confined in one of the standstill car's with a meter ticking is seriously a big cause of unwanted adrenaline release and tachycardia. *sob*

Anyway, the damage to my financial account was RM17.60. It's not too bad considering the circumstances.


Staying Awake During Talks
I was the last participant to arrive at 9.05am, totally breathless. Who knew Bahamas Rooms at Level 12 was such a pain to locate. The greatest feat was that they have not started yet and I'm quite certain they were not holding their breath for my arrival. I managed to grab a seat with some familiar faces, the KLCC/MV pharmacists .

Second greatest feat of the day was that I managed to stay *barely* conscious through the two morning sessions. I think my brain did absorp some useful information that Schering-Plough would love for me to retain e.g. Intranasal mometasone furoate (Nasonex) is a potent corticosteroid with minimum systemic absorption, causes negligible mucosal thinning, no growth retardation, preferred choice of patients whom they did a survey on and *TADAA*...... now comes in a new SCENT-free formulation.

I was definitely right on track where learning useful information is concerned with 10% brain activation.

Had a blitz getting freebies from the counters but it was the standard pens, mugs but the apple-shaped talking alarm clock was pretty cute. The pink Elomet bag was also a nice one in my opinion. I also gobbled down lots of fried 'wantan' during the tea break as I was seriously not looking forward to the Italian lunch they were going to serve.

Lunch At Avanti

What can I say, I am not a fan of Italian food. I suffered quite badly during my Italian holiday last year. Back then, I cringed in total despair when the tour guide proudly proclaimed that they would be taking us for 'authentic Italian food' when we were at Tuscany. *mega sob*

It turns out 'authentic Italian food' also meant lots of wine of any kind you can imagine. *mega smile*

But this Italian lunch seems to have been tweaked a little for the benefit of our local tastebuds, so it was actually palatable.

Lunch at Avanti

Public Enemy Viewing

After the end of the Refresher course, there was a short break of 2 hours before the dinner started. Not one to waste any time where a cinema is in vicinity, yours truly hopped over to Sunway Pyramid for a Johnny Depp eye-candy fest with 3 other friends in tow.

1) It was god-smackingly BRILLIANT! Everyone MUST watch it.
2) Christian Bale looks like a has-been next to Johnny Depp.

-End of Review-



Dinner

Highlight of dinner was more the lucky draw and this crazy fun performer. I didn't get his name but he certainly provided the entertainment for the night.

Poor sod having to touch Ah Kua's tissue-paper boobs

And finally after 29 years being being luckless in lucky draws, I FINALLY won something!!! An Ogawa Two-Motor Eye Massager. *Speechless*

My first lucky draw prize