Saturday, October 26, 2013

Nuts about nuts

 



 
 
Honey coated almonds, garlic cashews, roasted pine nuts, coffee pecans, unsalted peanuts, cheese macadamia, plain walnuts, earl grey chunks, soy mixed, assorted mixed, dried mangoes, jumbo raisins, dried cranberries, strawberry mixed, cherry mixed, turkey figs, pitted prunes, lychee plums, olive plums, dried apricots, organic mulberries, mixed berries, dried orange peels and the list goes on. Not a fan of nuts and dried fruits? They even sell home made plum candy! 
 
If you're in the vicinity of Marine Parade, you can check out Pat's Oven in Parkway Parade mall. You got to look hard enough for this store because it's partially hidden next to a wine outlet (where the tables and chairs of the wine outlets are). This store is such a brilliant, I can get all I want to go with my breakfast cereals or some healthy snacks to munch. Nice, really nice!
 
Pat's Oven
  • Parkway Parade B1-83N
  • Vivocity L2-133
  • Citysquare mall B1-K3
Opening Hours: 10 a.m – 10 p.m

Monday, October 21, 2013

How to effectively whiten (and brighten) your skin

To be honest, I was born with fair skin. And I thought my skin would stay that way since I don't tan easily and even if I did, my skin goes back to its original tone after a couple of weeks. So yeah, like I said, I don't need whitening products..... until I had my second child.

Besides putting on 30kg (lost 10kg right after my baby popped out, leaving me with 20kg to deal with) and saggy boobies (I miss those perky times! *sobs*), now I have to deal with dull and darken skin? People tell me to look at the bright side but hey, they're not the ones turning brown and losing their best assets, right? They wouldn't understand, I guess.

So, what's the big deal about turning brown? It's no big deal really, but I do prefer to stay fair. There's a chinese proverb that says (direct translation), 'A fair (skin) conceals 3 flaws.' It simply means if you are fair and rosy (think Snow White), and you've a crooked nose, some misaligned teeth and a pair of flat buttocks, your lovely fair skin shall minimise the so called imperfections. True or not, that's an ancient proverb.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of products out there that claim to whiten skin from 7 to 21 days of usage. I chose 3 different products as my whitening regimen. So this is not a sponsored post, nor a review of the 3 products but my experience on how to effectively whiten or brighten your skin.

Products:
1. Nivea Body UV Whitening Serum SPF 25 PA++
2. Nivea Body Whitening Night Serum
3. Kinohimitsu J'pan UV Bright Drink

UV Whitening Serum - SGD 9.70 / RM17.90 per bottle or RM23.90 for 2 bottles during promotion.
Whitening Night Serum - SGD10.50 per bottle or SGD16.80 for 2 bottles during promotion in Watsons Singapore. Not available in Malaysia yet.
 
 
 
SGD 39.90 for 6 bottles in Singapore / RM 159.90 for 16 bottles in Malaysia
 
Why these 3 products? Simply because they are relatively affordable and widely available in Guardian, Watsons and perhaps your local drugstores or pharmacies. Trust me, you don't want to travel half the globe just for replenishment.
 
Usage:
1. I apply Nivea Body UV Whitening Serum SPF 25 PA++ in the morning after shower.
2. Drink 1 bottle of Kinohimitsu J'pan UV Bright Drink in the morning before going out into the sun.
3. I apply Nivea Body Whitening Night Serum after my shower at night and one more time before going to bed.
 
I did all the above mentioned for a total of 21 days since Kinohimitsu clinical results show effective skin whitening and brightening after 21 days of consumption, although Nivea Body UV Whitening Serum claims to work its magic in 14 days.
 
Result: