As much as I like to stick to my skin care routine daily, there are some problem areas that requires facial therapist to fix it for me. As we age, wrinkles will tend to from, even if we have taken ultimate care. For me, no matter how I take care, I still have a few problems, not because I didn't apply well enough, but because of the way I live.
I have horrible under eye ring due to lack of sleep years ago and wells I'm still sleeping late, not having enough hydration. You can see in the picture below:
This is my face before any treatment, please ignore the weird eye shapes
I guess most of us have their own facial issues apart from what I have, one thing is that I don't have visible wrinkles yet (nope, not yet). But it is always good to prevent it first before it appears.
So Skin Shape Club has this program to target my problem areas, the program is known as Skin Shaper Plus Program. This program is for people who have dull skin, pigmentation, acne, wrinkles and enlarged pores issues, like mine (ticks nearly all boxes). So what is Skin Shaper Plus Program, it is a facial treatment that uses the combination of light and heat energy to rejuvenate your cells from deep within, renew your collagen cells and clear your acne. It is situation for most skin types and skin tone, but customers with darker skin tone will have to be consulted before proceeding the treatment, as they would adjust the treatment according to the condition for safe and best results.
The technology that is used for this program, LHE technology(Light & Heat Energy) is different from IPL and Laser treatment. LHE uses lower energy fluency as compared to the other two treatment and you can go for this treatment once ever 3-7 days.
So I was given a chance to try out this program, in a total of 4 session. Standard like most facial program, they have a consultation session where they will inform you about the treatment of the program, what maybe expected after each treatment and what are the visible results that can been seen right after the treatment.
I like the ambience of the place
The area may not be big, but I like the ambience of the outlet. Rather cosy and warm. Ginger tea was served and I had to change my shoes to the slippers. I was served by the manager, Cherie, who went through the details of the treatment annex with me.
I was told that my skin will may get slightly redness and warmth redness, dryness of the skin surface, which will go away after 2 days right after the treatment. There maybe transient pigment changes, depending on the skin condition, it can darken or lighten for 1-2 weeks. Right after treatment, I will see the indiction of skin texture improvement, skin tone improvement or pigmentation and acne treatment.
Besides doing facial treatment, they also have slimming program, that's where the weighing machine comes in. So I was tested for my biodata too.
The weighing machine that gives u all the results
It weighs my weight, height, fat%, fat mass, fat free mass and a lot of other stuffs. Cherie then recorded it on their biodata pamphlet and gave me a copy. Decided to mask off certain details, gosh, how I hate to weigh myself.
There, my biodata, but I've decided to cover up some of the KG details. (cries)
When Ian saw this, he was like "miss, please get ur arse off the chair and start exercising, your fat% is higher than mine" ;_; After the consultation, it was time for the actual treatment. They have two treatment rooms.
Small but cosy treatment room, equipped with warm bed
It was nice to walk into the treatment room and see flower and a nice rolled up towel on the bed. Felt very welcoming and nice. Changed into the given robe and lied on the warm bed. It was nice to feel warm, but if you think that its too warm, they can adjust the bed temperature.
Before the treatment, my skin is cleansed and exfoliate then they used the LHE machine, for the treatment. The therapist, Audrey, then tested the light and heat technology on my right hand for me to adjust to the heat and light. Boy, the light was indeed bright.
Rather small machine I would say
The treatment is based on this machine where pluses of light and heat is then delivered deeply on the skin for collagen stimulation, tightening, brightening and acne control. As this treatment is suitable for eye treatment, I was a little taken back by the brightness of the light. My eyes are a little sensitive to bright light so this was a little scary for me. *hahaha* Audrey was patience when I got a little scared, as this treatment is also for the eyelid. But it got better after the first session. :p
This is the applicator where the light and heat source is administered from
I felt the warmth from the LHE application, which is actually not so bad, even though after a while it gets warmer but not the burning kind of warmth. After the treatment, I was given the skincare serum followed by a mask. I was told that after the LHE treatment, the skin is ready to absorb all the good stuffs easily deep into the skin. In total, the treatment lasted for about 30 minutes, good for people who work in town and for busy people who can't afford one and a half hours of facial treatment.
Taken right after the treatment
I think the most visible parts after the treatment was the skin tone and the acne. Not so much on the under eye dark circle in this picture. But the acne was less visible and not glowing red right after the treatment. Also my skin tone is more even.
This is the right side of my face, credits: Audrey for the photos
Please ignore the messy hair, my hair gets really messy easily. But the results are visible after one session. After the session I was led to their lounge area, and food was provided. The lounge area is very cosy and Cherie explained to me, this area is for the members to come and relax themselves.
Snacks I called it.
It was nice to have some food after treatment and the place was so cosy that I could sit there forever if I hadn't made an appointment with a friend after the treatment.
It is so cosy and welcoming
After the first session, I was looking forward to the next session as I could see that my acne has gone down and it is no longer that red. Also, consistent treatment will help in maintaining the results of this treatment.
The LHE treatment kills the bacteria inside and acts as an anti-inflammatory and reduce swelling. My main concern right now are the acne around my jawline as I tend to get breakouts often there. Probably due to bacteria infection or others says, inconsistent diet.
Look at the lighten of the dark spots and the under eye dark circles. Credits: Jasmine and Audrey for the photos
Even though my acne have not heal yet (stubborn acne), but it doesn't hurt or swell as much anymore. I think the clog is probably dead inside, as it feels flatten right now *touches own acne*.
Before and after 4 sessions. Please ignore the fact that my face was a little bloated in the second pic.
After four session, I can see that my under eye dark circles are cleared and also, my acne hasn't swell as much as before even though its still there. Another note was the marks on my on the right side, it has lighten quite visibly. Pore are not as visible as before. After four sessions, I can see the effectiveness of LHE treatment.
Besides the treatment, what interest me the most of the concept of Skin Shape Club. It is a boutique wellness club, where members can learn more about beauty and wellness, besides receiving clinically proven skin and slimming treatments. Besides the lounge area where members can enjoy healthy snacks and skincare books and magazine, they also provide free Wi-Fi for members when they need to do their work there. They also organise works and talks for members. The club concept is like gym membership concept, base on the package you've purchase, you can actually head down for treatment as many days as you like (depending on the therapists' schedules too). I think that's quite interesting, but for customers who are not keen in joining the membership, they have package x sessions for them too. A very all-rounded concept.
Skin Shape Club is located at:
#03-13/14 Orchard Central (nearest MRT - Somerset)
Tel: 6589 8331
For new customers who are interested in this Skin Shaper Facial, you can enjoy 4 sessions at a trial price of $96 ($24/session). Besides that, there's also Skin Shaper Plus Facial, which is an hour long, besides LHE and mask treatment, there's also exfoliation to remove dead skin cells and serum-infused facial massage. New customers can enjoy 4 sessions at a trial price of $128 ($32/session).
Recently Palmer's released a new product after its last great product that I've reviewed two months ago. Their latest product targets on people who have stretch marks, and I am one of those who is in need of this product. Like I mentioned in my last post for Palmer's, their main ingredient for all their wonderful product is Coco Butter! So why Palmer's focus on using Coco Butter for all their products? It is because they believe that it is the superfood for our skin as it contains high oxidants that our skin needs.
Founded in America in 1840s, Palmer's has been around for a long time and since then it has become one of the world’s leading names in skincare, a brand that women around the world have grown up with. Their unique heritage and commitment to quality has stood the test of time. Generations of families have loved the fantastic moisturizing qualities of Palmer’s skincare range, and millions of women around the world agree. Palmer's number #1 formula, the Cocoa Butter Formula, is one of their key offerings in their wide range products. They do not just specialize in facial care but also in hand and body care, stretch mark care, hair care, body care and personal care.
And always remember, Palmer's is against animal testing, which makes me support them all the way.
I've always have stretch marks since the time I went through puberty, probably from the fact that I grew fatter each year until last year where I slimmed down. But the stretch marks didn't go away, though I have this mindset that it would fade away when I get skinnier. *hahaha* Unfortunately, that is false. Palmer's got this video to show us the 6 things that we need to know about stretch marks. Very useful, as I didn't know men get stretch marks too. Or rather, I don't go around noticing if my brothers have stretch marks anot.
Palmer's Stretch Mark Spry Lotion aims to solve stretch marks issue, through moisturizing the skin 24 hours. With it as a spray, it targets
hard to reach stretch mark prone areas, provides deep moisture, soothes dry itchy skin and supports skin elasticity in a non-greasy, easy spray application. Also the 6 key ingredients in this product targets at different cause of stretch marks.
Cocoa Butter: provides superior soothing properties and helps skin retain its natural moisture Vitamin E: a natural antioxidant, works with the body's own cells to protect it from the harsh elements that cause rough, dry skin Collagen & Elastin: improves skin elasticity, stretch-ability and firmness and leads to improvement in overall skin tone, suppleness and appearance Centella Asiatica: a natural leaf extract, helps protect and revitalize collagen and elastin fibers. Widely recommended as an ideal ingredient for stretch marks care Sweet Almond Oil: a non-greasy, super moisturizing emollient easily absorbed into the skin. Its antimicrobial properties help reduce the chances of scarring and
markings on skin Argan Oil: has twice as much Vitamin E as olive oil and is rich in essential fatty acids and vital antioxidants. Helps soften and condition skin while reducing scarring
So what is so special about the new innovation from Palmer's, Stretch Mark Spray Lotion? It is easy to use as it uses unique delivery system and Rapidsorb ® Technology which is non-aerosol based and uses NO propellants to deliver fine
sprays which allow the lotions to be very quickly absorbed into the skin.
I think that is what I am looking for when I apply Lotion for my stretch marks as I do not want to waste time to wait for it to dry as it drys up in seconds. Bonus point, it doesn't leave greasy feeling or stain my clothes while I get dressed. The texture of the lotion is super-lightweight that I feel like I'm spray mist instead of lotion.
Those lighter lines are stretch marks :(
So this is the back of my leg, the stretch mark are visible that you don't have to stand close to see them. *boo boo* So I've applied Palmer's Stretch Mark Spray Lotion for a few days.
On the first day of application, I over-sprayed, hence it felt a little greasy, as I didn't notice that it will spray out white mist. Oh ya, before I forget, you will need to massage the mist into in order for it to absorb into the fine stretch lines. And hold it 7-10 cm away for better results.
This is after about a week of application.
Not as visible as the week before
My skin feels smoother at that area and also it doesn't itchy that much as it does, as I do have dry skin (coz I'm lazy to apply body lotion sometimes). And because of its packaging, in a spray can, I can bring it out and apply when I need to. Especially in Singapore, where most of us work in an air-coned office, our skin tends to get dry easily that results in skin itch. I can spray it while I'm at work, in the toilet of course as this may result in slippery floors becoz of the mist. Even though it states 24 hour moisture, some of our skin tends to dry up faster than the rest, so having palmer's stretch mark spray lotion with us all the time resolves dry skins and provide better care of it too!
Palmer's Skin Therapy Oil is now available at leading pharmacies and cosmetic stores like Watsons, Guardians, John Little, Unity, BHG and leading cosmetic stores. It is retailing at $29.90/200g.
Xiaomi Singapore was nice enough to invite 20 lucky fans who had purchased Mi 4i on the first sales of the set in Singapore to have a meet and greet session with Mr. Hugo Barra, VP of Xiaomi Global, today! ^_^ And I am one of the lucky fans to meet him, once again (hehe).
Even though the session was short, but I am glad that Xiaomi Singapore had this planned out from his busy schedule. Each of us took our parcel from him personally and had photos taken, either with my camera or their own phones (snap snap at the back). And he personally signed on the parcels!
Some of the lucky fans!
Hahaha ... I think most of us went further to get him to sign on the phone box itself and some other random stuffs (guilty charged).
Say hi to the handsome Hugo, and no. I'm not a stalker xD
Got him to sign on my Mi 4 phone case and Ian's Mi 4i box. :p Crazy people
What's a meet and greet session without a group wefie?!
After the session with Mr Hugo Barra, we had a mini Q&A session where Mr Louis Shue, Product Manager of Xiaomi Singapore, shared with us some tips on MIUI 6 and Mi 4i. Since the launch of MIUI 6 stable ROM in Singapore, there are many users who are not used to the new interface and shortcuts/features that are available with MIUI 6.
Getting everyone to try out each feature as he goes through them.
Even though it was a short session, but it was indeed an wonderful session with Mr Hugo and Mr Louis. Thank you for such experience, looking forward to more events host by Xiaomi Singapore (still feeling happy).
Our hair is like our skin, when we reach a certain age, the condition of both hair and skin will change. And I just recently went through that change :( and sometimes I don't even realised it until it is too visible for the eye *OMG!* A few weeks ago, my hair roots got so oily that when I decides to skip a day wash, I looked like I just dipped my hair into a pool of oil T__________T, what a tragedy, as I wanted to ensure that my hair ends don't get washed out too often.
Because of Singapore's humid weather, we tend sweat more that results in oily scalp most of the time. To combat oily scalp, what my mum usually does is to shower in super warm water to wash away the oil. But it just damages her ends, as warm water dries up the hair condition. If she doesn't wash her hair daily, she can fix the dry ends as her scalp provides more oil for it. But that results in itchy and oily scalp (and she looked like she hadn't dried her hair at all). Hair like hers is considered as combination hair. I'm sure most of us have the same issue, Combination hair.
And in order to battle combination hair, we have to alternate using shampoos and conditioner. A friend once mentioned before, sometimes we do have to use cleansing shampoo to cleanse away the oil and dirt on our hair roots twice to three times a week. End up we have to purchase more than one shampoo and conditioner to battle our problem *gosh*. However, having two different shampoos and conditioners may not combat the problem.
Light, clarifying shampoos and conditioners targeted at oily roots cause hair ends to be drier than it already is. Conversely, nourishing shampoos and conditioners for dry hair may be too rich for the scalp, resulting in excessive build-up at the roots, giving you that uncomfortable, oily feeling by mid-day. Moreover, depending on the thoroughness of the scalp massage during shampooing, such build-up may not be thoroughly washed off, further causing the scalp to feel oily in a shorter time.
So in order to make it easier for us, Essential's new improved range of haircare will solve the "at least two types of shampoo" issue for us.
Light Finishing and Deep Cleansing Care
Introducing the Light Finishing and Deep Cleansing Care of the new improved range from Essential. With the optimum combination of Smart
Cuticle Care and Sebum Cleansing Technology, I can now achieve moisturized hair
ends while maintaining a refreshed breathable scalp!
But I have an issue, I don't really know which one is suitable for me, usually I will stand at the supermarkets for like 30 minutes just to decide which shampoo I should change to. In order to understand which type to use, Essential FB have a chart for you to check which type is suitable for you.
Taken from https://www.facebook.com/Essential.SG
If your hair is more towards very dry ends and little oily roots, you can go for Light Finishing type. It comes with both shampoo and conditioner.
This is the 200ml size
If you are like me, having super oily roots and dry ends, then Deep Cleansing is the choice for you.
After using the Deep Cleansing for a few days, I can feel that my roots are not that oily anymore and I like how smooth my hair ends are after using. And the best part? After blow-drying the hair, it feels smooth and fluffy~~~ It also shorten the time to blow dry my hair. Now my hair feels cleaner and healthier *swift swift* Not only that, I see lesser hair drop too, because my scalp is less oily and it feels rather airy, the tingling cooling feel runs through the scalp. ~~ *yay* And my hair shines under the light *bling bling*
My Hair after blow-dry. Feels smooth and neat!
See how smooth my hair is after using Deep Cleansing.
For a limited period of time, Essential is giving away a massage hair brush with the purchase of a 750ml shampoo + conditioner set, and it comes in hot pink and mint green.
I love the hot pink brush!
Massage shampoo brushes are a common hair care tool in Japan and is used by majority of Japanese women both young and old. It is to help remove dirt and sebum more effectively from the scalp. The massaging action on the scalp also helps improve blood circulation and promote relaxation.
That is why whenever I go Japan, I envy those Japanese with nice hair *______*. Now I know their secret to great hair. Time to incorporate this into my daily shampoo-ing routine. I've tried it out so far, damn! I like the massage feel on my head as it feels wonderful to get head massage. One word to describe! SHIOK!
1. Wet and shampoo hair as usual.
2. Hold brush handle between index and third finger and rub the bristles onto scalp gently from side to side with small movements. Do not move the brush in circular motions and this will cause tangles.
3. Rinse off shampoo and apply conditioner as per normal.
This is so easy to use and for ladies who have painted nails, using a massage shampoo brush prevents the polish from dropping off easily.
From Mid-may onwards all Essential Shampoo 750ml + Conditioner 750ml comes with a massage brush in hot pink or mint green in all leading supermarket at the price of $19.60.
If you are not sure if Deep Cleansing Care shampoo and conditioner is the right one for you, fret not! Right now Essential Singapore is giving away sample sizes of both the shampoo and conditioner on their facebook. Remember to like them and follow them on instagram @essentialsingapore for more updates !
Recently, Xiaomi Singapore have announced that there's a new product coming into our market, which is the Mi 4i! That's the first global product which is launch outside of China, their home market. India have started selling Mi 4i on the 30th April, and it's coming to our shores on 12 May, noon time! So I am happy that I managed to get my hands on Mi 4i before the launch and I am going to do a comparison with its previous model, the Mi 4.
True to its weigh, I've tested both Mi 4 and Mi 4i on the weighing scale. And Mi 4i is indeed lighter than Mi 4, due to the build of the set. As Mi 4 is a metal build while Mi 4i is a plastic build. As far as I can remember, Mi 4i is the lightest phone so far with Xiaomi's launch in Singapore (it is even lighter than Redmi 2).
Weighing at 129g, 1g lighter than stated on their website.
Mi 4 is nearly 23g heavier than Mi 4i, but u can feel the weight difference.
With a lighter phone, you don't have to worry about weighing your pants down. Even though it maybe lighter, it does not feel like a toy phone, so that's a plus point for the phone (Not sure if it's gonna slip out of my butter fingers though). Besides the weight, the thickness of the Mi 4i wins over Mi 4, for it is thinner than Mi 4 by slightly a little.
Very slight difference in the thickness but Mi 4i is still the slimmer one!
The only thing that Mi 4 wins over Mi 4i is that it is smaller in width as Mi 4i is slightly wider as compared to Mi 4.
Slightly wider, maybe it's time to get a wider pocket for Mi 4i.
Mi 4i back casing is actually matt, hence, it doesn't feel slippery or fragile, as compared to Mi 4. In fact, Xiaomi Singapore had conducted a Mi 4i stress lab for their Mi fans on the 8th May. Highlights of the events were all posted here: http://c.mi.com/sg/thread-494-1-1.html.
It is interesting that Mi 4i is really stress resistance! :p I did have my fair share of stressing that poor little Mi 4i. Enough of the physical comparison of the phones, next I'm moving to the battery test, I can't say it is a fair test since my Mi 4 is a 3G set while Mi 4i is a dual sim 4G set. But at least both data SIMs are on Starhub (pretty fair in this sense). Also, I've reset my Mi 4 to Global stable ROM, factory reset, so Mi 4 is in the same state as Mi 4i. Apart from the fact that Mi 4 runs on KK based MIUI 6 while Mi 4i runs on Lollipop based MIUI 6.
Had to reboot two phones even though both had been charged till 100%, but because I've not reboot Mi 4 for more than 48hours. :p So reboot and these were the battery life of each of the phone.
Mi 4i takes a little longer to boot up, hence the time since boot up is shorter than Mi 4.
For this test, I've used Spotify to test on battery drainage, and also network connection.
SS to show that both phones are on the same playlist.
After 15 mins of playing on both phones, it doesn't seems to have any connection issue that's very severe, even during my trip on the mrt, under tunnel. :D But Mi 4i seems to drain a little more battery.
Mi 4i drained 1% more than Mi 4.
Most probably because Mi 4i is running on lollipop which results in higher battery drainage. So I decided to let both phones run on Spotify for the next 1 hour plus while I was doing something else. And I came back to check on the phones:
Both phones drained same percentage of battery juice in an hour plus.
Both Mi 4 and Mi 4i drained same percentage of battery juice and the temperature did not rise that much either. Both are still within the acceptable range of temperature, even though both phones may feel a little warm while using, but it's not a burning touch.
Being a fan of photo-taking, camera test is something I'm not gonna miss out. All settings are set as default, apart from the fact Mi 4i was set @ 16:9 and Mi 4 @ 4:3 for this shoot (my mistake for not checking). But the condition for the photos were the same. Orange warm light @ Swensens.
The colours of the nanoblocks looks pretty neat though in my opinion.
The colours look rather harsh here.
Base on the two photos, Mi 4 photo turned out better than Mi 4i, but Mi 4i seems to have cooler colours than Mi 4. I prefer the Mi 4 photo out of these two though, for I feel that Mi 4i didn't bring out the vibrant colours of the instagram nanoblock.
Next I set both phones to HDR normal mode, taking my favorite stuffs of all time, FOOD! Since yesterday was Mother's day, its time to feast (Secretly yay! to food)
Colours are rather dark though.
Colours here looks brighter and yummy!
Base on HDR normal mode, Mi 4i seems to bring out the colours of the food while Mi 4 seems to be darker in pictures. So both phones have their pros and cons, is how we adjust the focus point when we take photos.
Lastly I've created this video and tested the following:
* Boot up time/Loading time
* Gaming quality (Since on Xiaomi website, they boost that Mi 4i is adept at handling both everyday apps and intense 3D gaming)
* Sound quality (For it has smart PA)
* The battery drainage and temperature after gaming.
I've read through that there are heating issues with Mi 4i and I just had to test it myself.
Can't compare SD 801 and SD 615 second gen, as the loading speed and game frame rates will be slower for Mi 4i. But I am happy that indeed, Mi 4i is able to handle the graphics of hearthstone, and also inner world (not in the video) without any lagging. Besides the game frame rate, Mi 4i really lives up to its smart PA. In this video, the speaker of Mi 4i is technically covered, as it is at the back. But the sound quality and volumes is exactly the same as Mi 4, which has its speakers at the bottom of the phone (uncovered).
I've also tested playing games with the speaker uncovered for Mi 4i, and the verdict from my family members were that Mi 4i sounds louder and clearer than Mi 4 when I'm playing the exact same games on both phone. I ran the games at the same time for testing purposes. SO gamers, rejoice!!
And I do not experience any overheating issue as what some might have and there's no lag at all at this moment in time. Both Mi 4 and Mi 4i have the exact same apps installed so maybe a SD 615 second gen with a better GPU makes up for the lag in CPU? :D
Oh, another point to take note (probably some of you know this, but I kuku), you can use whatsapp on the non-data phone, but using the data of the other SIM card. Just a question that my friend asked yesterday so I tried it out today and it works (new discovery for me).
For a price of $279, you'll get a phone that has specs like this and able to do some serious gaming (for people like my brother), why not?
Had a chance to head down to Xiaomi Singapore office for a visit yesterday. And we managed to unbox a Mi 4i, which will be launched next Tuesday, 12 May, Noon. The set comes with the standard items, without earphones, as usual.
In this video, the set is a HK Mi 4i white 16GB set. And it comes with the UK adaptor right in the box, instead of the usual China two-pin adaptor. I hope that the Singapore set comes with the UK adaptor right in the package, this way, we can cut down on the number of boxes to one box, instead of a separate UK adaptor.
I have to admit, I have not look through the keynotes for Mi 4i, where Hugo presented this in India. :P But Louis, the product manager of Xiaomi Singapore told me that Mi 4i comes with Sunlight Display that is something new for all Xiaomi phones. I was WOW-ed by the function, even though it was not tested under strong sunlight, but it was still amazing to see it with my own eyes.
I video-ed down the process, we tested using Xiaomi's USB LED Light, acting as the "sunlight" source for this video.
I'm still in my WOW mood whenever I watch this video. *haha* It is amazing how technology advance and it is definitely a plus point for people who are frequently outdoors doing activities or work (like most sales and marketing personnel).
Another note is that Mi 4i is even lighter than Redmi 2 which is considered one of the lightest phone that Xiaomi has ever released in Singapore. Light-weight, great battery life, great visual settings, all for the price of $279 without contract. *WOW* 12 May please come quickly ~~~
