Bits of beauty thoughts.

Just watched some videos about a plastic surgery a Singaporean celebrity blogger had undergone in Korea.  She looks so happy in the videos because, well, she does turn prettier. Despite the pretty face, there are many negative comments. People are always envy when they see things that they want on other people's face or life. The community, country, and the world is developing but some human minds always stay barbaric and childish.

I am not an anti-plastic-surgery person, so I think it is good that she went for the surgery, because clearly she is more confident now. Plus I admire her bravery, to get her face cut up and inserted silicone into her nose and fats from her thighs and tummy into her face. Seriously, if I were her, I would just turn and walk away even before I consult the doctor. Besides that, after the surgery, people would judge. She does not care because she said it is her face and she has every right to change it. That, I admire her for. The results were good and she deserves it.

When I look at her recent pictures on her blog, there was a moment that I thought gosh how I wish I have that kind of face why not go for plastic surgery. Then I woke up from my daydream and I thought WTF was I thinking. Lols. I am happy with what I have now. The blogger is a half celebrity, so looking good is her job, but I am just an ordinary employee, looking good is not listed on my job scope. The best thing is, my job requires me to deal with kids, and kids do not judge. They do not care are there wrinkles on your face or how many pimples have popped out during your period. All they need is food and toys.

People are never satisfied with what they have. I always hate my nose because it looks huge in pictures (which it does not, in real life, haha), and my puffy cheeks. My eyes are not big and round like dolls. I have eyebag under my right eye. The list goes on and on. However, after watching the videos I had mentioned earlier, I am happy with my puffy cheeks because they make me look young. I don't have to fill my cheeks with my tummy fats like the blogger. My nose is not high and sharp but the boyfriend loves it and he says my nose will bring him wealth and luck. My eyes are small but they are not dull plus luckily I still have double eyelids. My thick lips that I used to hate are claimed to be sexy, thanks to Angelina Jolie. Just in case you forgot my face as the last picture I posted was like a decade ago.

Looked contented. Right after my morning jog hence the unattractive Milo tee and make-up-less face.

So, it hits me that it really doesn't matter what others say about me, about how unattractive I look, how xxx is prettier than me, how I do not have boobs. After all I am just an ordinary girl living an ordinary life. I do not live for cameras and photoshoots, so hell yeah, I am happy with myself. My family loves me, my parents always praise me even when I myself know I look like shit, and my boyfriend had seen me in my worst and still loves me. Maybe I even have things that somebody wish to have. So, with that, I am very, very thankful for everything I have.

You are pretty, if you have a pretty heart. It's a cliche but I think it is true. If a girl is pretty on the outside but a monster on the inside, sooner or later, she turns hideous in everyone's heart. If you doubt this, try to watch Korean dramas and focus on the bad girl/woman. She gets uglier with every episode. No kidding. At least that's my thought when I watch the Korean Drama on ONE with my mom every evening. Haha.

A guide for beginner nerds.

I am a person who visits the bookstores every time I go to a mall. If there are 2 bookstores in the mall, you will see me in both; if there are 5, I'd still enter all of them, just because they are bookstores. Haha. To be clear, my definition of bookstores is places that sell real books with pages and stories. Those that sell magazines and comic books are not included.

Many people wonder, and some came and asked me: how do you choose a book? For some people, they are lost whenever they enter a bookstore because there are like hundreds and thousands of books in front of them and they do not know where to begin with. Hence here I am to tell you how not to be lost in a bookstore. If you hate books and nerds, and you prefer dramas and video games, this post is not for you.

So, the first thing before you enter a bookstore, you ask yourself, do you have a target, a book that somebody introduce to you or a book you want to buy. If there is a target in your mind, it is very easy. Bookstores usually arrange and keep their books according to genres. Find out the genres of the targeted books, and search for them under the particular genres. If you have no idea what genre that you like, and you just feel like you want to get a book to read, this is my suggestion.

1. Go to the Promotion/New Arrivals/Popular shelf
I usually go to the promotion shelf because I am kiam siap. Haha. But hey, you would be surprised at what you can find there. I have found a lot of good books on the promotion shelves over the years.

2.  Pick up your favourite genre or the book with the best cover
In my case, I judge books by their covers. Literally. I pick up books with nice covers that attract me first, then only I look at the genre and the story outline on the back cover of the book. If the story outline interests me, I move on to the next step.

3.  Take out your phone and click into Goodreads or any online book club
In fact, I have a Goodreads app so I just click into the app. Then I search for the book that I pick up just now. To be a nerd, I suggest that you join at least an online book club because you can know a lot of info about books from there. Eg. Goodreads. I get book reviews, ratings, recommendations, and new releases on Goodreads.

4.  Look at the average ratings and book reviews
I usually refer to the book reviews written by readers because the rating for the book might be misleading. There are some authors who are the members of the book club, so the high ratings might be given by the authors themselves or their fans. From my experience, a lot of average ratings are biased, and I had been cheated for many times in the past.

5.  Decide whether to buy the book
If I see readers give the book 1 star on page one of book reviews, then I will put the book down. If there is no 1-star reviews, and I see a lot of 4 to 5 stars, I move to the next step.

6.  Read the first page/prologue
This step is necessary so that you know if you like the writing style of the book. A book with a good story is not always a good book for you because writing style matters A LOT. If you do not enjoy the writing style, no matter how interesting and thrilling the story is, you will hate the book. Like, for me, The Faults In Our Stars by John Green. The story is good and the book is so famous that almost all the readers rated it a 5-star, but after I have read it I rated it 1-star because I loathed the author's writing style. I got so tired of rolling my eyes and yawning after every chapter, and I was really, really glad when I finished that book, I actually cheered. Then I quickly sold the book to Novel Hut with 1/4 of the original price. I didn't want to see it on my book shelf. I just couldn't tolerate the sight of it. Screw it. Screw John Green.

That's the way I purchase my books. It was hard at first but after a few months you will feel at ease in a bookstore. The reason I write this post is that I was once very lost, and that situation lasted for about 2 to 3 years. I had nobody then to teach me how to choose books. That time, the books I bought all suck so bad I stopped getting myself books unless people introduced books to me, because books aren't cheap and I didn't want to waste money buying trash. Then slowly, I discovered this method, and now I seldom get shitty books. When I am free or feel like it, I read book reviews and remember the title and the cover of the books that got good reviews. That way, I don't have to always decide in the bookstore. I can just search for the books and pay.

Happy book shopping and Happy reading!

Beauty products that are worth getting.

I used to have clear and radiant skin until I had chicken pox during my second year in the university. Though there isn't any mark, thanks a lot to the handsome doctor, I guess some hormonal changes happened in my system and BAM, I started to have bad skin. Pimples, acnes, large pores, oily skin. Everything came at once. Since then I began to find ways to save my skin by trying out many beauty brands, hence this post. My face has not returned to its best condition, but I believe it is on its way.

I am not a rich girl. I am not born with a silver spoon, and I do not earn much to enable me to get pricey items, thus most of the beauty products that I own are available in drugstores. Some may think that pricey beauty brands like Estee Lauder, Clinique, SK-II, etc. must produce good-quality products compared to drugstore beauty brands, but this statement is not completely true. Of course, some expensive beauty products are really good but I have friends whose skin got worse after they changed their skincare products to the pricey brands, too.

These are some drugstore beauty products that I have tried and thought I should share with you guys. All of them are worth trying because I got positive results after using them and they are real cheap.

Skincare products first.

I believe you have seen this picture on my blog for a few times already. I am using like my third or fourth tub/bottle now. I have with me the toner and moisturizing cream all the time. Hada Labo might be a tad pricey for a drugstore brand but a tub/bottle can last for 4 to 5 months so it is all worth it. Only a few tiny drops are needed for the whole face. It is moisturizing but it is suitable for those with oily skin too. I myself have combination skin. I cannot use products that are too dry or too moisturizing for the skin, and it was such a pain in the ass. I have tried so many moisturizing brands and this is the only one that brings the best result. However, try not to apply too much in the morning because the skin might get too oily, and when the oil combines with sweat and dirt -> pimples and acnes. 

For cleanser, I use Juju Aquamoist. The other products in the line are too moisturizing for my skin and my skin tends to get more oily. I found that Juju cleanser cleanses better than Hada Labo. More bubbles and it cleanses more thoroughly. 

THIS, my friend, IS A BOMB. I started using it in March after I discovered it on Facebook and that a friend of my sis strongly recommended it. It is not a drugstore product and it is quite pricey so I took some time to consider about buying it. I am glad I did. My skin turned so much better, A WHOLE LOT BETTER, after using this night cream. Within 2 months, my pores had shrunken, my acne scars are lighter, and my skin is not oily anymore so my makeup stays on the face all day. My mom realized the change too. Now, even without facial treatments, I seldom have breakouts like I used to. Totally awesome to the core. My turn to recommend to you guys. You will see the difference too. You have my words! Though expensive, a small tub can be used up to a year, so it is also worth it la, if you divide the price with the days used. Haha. 

I seldom use facial scrub and masks now because, first, I am lazy to scrub the face, second, I found that my skin stays in a better condition without facial masks. Maybe I have not found the best facial mask for my skin yet. 

Makeup products now.

Favourite BB cream. The texture is so light you won't even feel anything after application. Plus the coverage is real good. It covers all my pores, my blackheads and all imperfections. My everyday BB cream. Nevertheless the colour kind of falls in a lighter shade. At least mine is. I am not sure whether there are different shades to choose from. One more downside is that it melts with water. So, what I do is, I apply powder after the BB cream.

L'oreal Angelfit concealer. Using it since like 3 years ago. Awesome coverage. My mom says this is a magical liquid because it covers my acne scars so well. Haha. I use it under my eyes too.

I used to use only Majolica Majorca mascara but this is real good. The former house mate lent me hers and I instantly fell in love with it. As mentioned in the name, it adds to the volume of the lashes and makes it look like you are wearing false lashes and it really does that, no kidding. It is cheaper than MJ too, so recently I got my second tube.

That's all. I have a facial mask I got from my beautician that I have yet to try. Let you guys know more if I discover good stuff. Do try the products above and share with me if you have any cheap but awesome favourites!