A Serious Announcement

Hi everyone,

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Of all the holidays celebrated in the U.S, you know I miss Thanksgiving the most. I miss the turkey dinner as well as the craziness that Black Friday brought. I hope you guys had some good deals on Black Friday as well.

Lately, if you noticed, I did not post as regularly as I used to be. A couple of factors came together: I was moving from one place to another, the place we rented did not have internet, and on top of that, my personal life did not go as planned. All sort of troubles just came together as once and it took away my energy as well as my joie de vivre. A lot of times, I felt like I should stop blogging here altogether.

"Why bother," a voice inside my head said. "There are so many blogs out there better than yours. Your readers would be better off with them."

Another voice told me, "You will have sooo much free time when you quit makeup blogging. Just think about it!"

But then, there was this little voice that told me not to stop. "You'll regret it," it said.

And I listened to it. As seldom as it is now, I try to maintain this blog, try to post something so you guys won't forget me. Each time I wanted to quit, I was reminded of how and why I started My Makeup Blog at the first place. Of how far I've come since that day. Of how much I've changed because of it. And I can't quit.

With that said, sometimes I was discouraged by numbers: unique visitors, followers, page views, etc. Sometimes I felt like the efforts I put was not worth it and that discouraged me. But numbers are numbers, they don't tell me how you feel about this blog and the fact that there are still visitors despite my lack of posting is something I need to consider.

So, what is this announcement I am going to make?

After some soul searching for My Makeup Blog's future, I decided to have some major changes in the blog, starting 2012. I realized there are things I wanted to do for this blog but I did not get a chance and there are new things I would like to try as well. Also, I've noticed what worked and what not so I am going to make changes accordingly.

I can't tell you how it is going to be in 2012 though. You have to wait and see. In the meantime, I am going to keep the blog afloat as is until the end of this year and once 2012 kicks in, you will see the major switch.

As always, I want to thank all of you for sticking with me this long. I know it is unfair for you to wonder what is going on with this blog and now, I guess you know change is coming :)

P.S: If you like my blog, please subscribe to my feed. Thanks a lot!

Pond's, Black Pond's

Hi everyone,

This post is a pre-Thanksgiving post and sadly, I don't have any turkey this year. You see, only the U.S and Canada get to have Turkey Day while to the rest of the world, it's Thursday. Ah well, I'll probably eat some chicken and pretend it's turkey or something ;)

Anyways, let's get to the main topic of the day: charcoal face wash. Have you heard of it? Well, years ago before I even had an inkling of being a beauty blogger, I stumbled upon this blog entry where a Japanese expat raved about charcoal face wash. She had oily and acne prone skin (like me) and without her charcoal face wash, she would suffer. Since they had nothing like that in New York, she had to go to Japan every year to get a few tubes. Talking about dedication, right?

For some unknown reasons, that story stuck into my brain like a magnet and I vowed to one day find that elusive charcoal face wash and give it a try. That day actually came about two months ago where I finally braved up and bought a tube of this:

Pond's Pure White Deep Cleansing Facial Foam with Activated Carbon and Vitamin B3

 When I brought it home and my mom saw it, she said, "What are you doing with the black Pond's?" Since then, the name kinda stuck and I kept on calling it "Black Pond's" instead of that really long name it has. Also, activated carbon is charcoal, the same kind that you see in the water filter cartridges used to purify water like in this experiment:



Well, it's an experiment that Pond's used to prove that their stuff works. But it has nothing to do with skin care as it is an experiment about water filtration. I had a good laugh while watching it.

However, this face wash works. With its claim as a deep cleansing facial foam, it cleans my skin well without making it too dry. I do notice less inflammation when using it. The black Pond's does not have any distinct smell at all, which is rare for a skincare product sold in Asian market. I do notice a mild lightening effect after I washed my face. Some people who haven't seen me in a while also commented that my face looks lighter.

Ingredient list

Another surprise is in the ingredient list: this face wash is sulfate-free! It does contain a small amount of niacinamide (vitamin B3), which is a brightening ingredient. However, it does contain Polyquarternium-7, which can be irritated to sensitive skin.

The swatch

This picture answers the question, "Is it really black?" No, it isn't. In fact, the black Pond's is grey and the activated carbon is really fine. I can hardly feel it. Also, a little goes a long way. I only need to use a pea-size amount to wash my whole face.

Of all the Pond's face washes available in the market, Pond's Pure White Deep Cleansing Facial Foam with Activated Carbon and Vitamin B3 is the cheapest. I'm glad I bought it as it works well with my oily and acne-prone skin. I remember the U.S market does not have a variety of Pond's products yet in the South East Asian market, Pond's is booming. Their products are highly innovative and also quite affordable. I hope Unilever would release this product to the Western market as well since it is a reliable face wash.

P.S: If you like my blog, please subscribe to my feed. Thanks a lot!

Love Wearing Scarves? Here Are 25 Ways to Wear Them!

Hi everyone,

I'm sorry I've been MIA lately. The recent move to the new place has sucked the time out of me. You think 2 weeks were enough for us to put things together? Think again! Yesterday, I ended up putting the last piece of clothes into the new closet at 10 pm. It was hard work, y'all! But now, I don't have to worry about having stuff laying around in the room anymore. Also, my powder table is here, which means I have a place to actually sit down and do makeup :)

As we are inching closer to the end of November, I thought it would be a good idea to share with you a YouTube video that I recently found on the interwebs :) Of course, some of you may have seen it already since a lot of people on my Facebook list have posted it on their walls. The first time I watched it, I was floored! The video required an insane amount of editing and I don't think I would ever be able to do something like this. Even my brother, who is not into fashion or anything remotely girly, thought it was cool. And so was his tutor, who is also a manly man.



I don't know if I can ever master 25 ways of wearing a scarf. So far, I know 3 =) The latest one I learned when I was in Beijing and it kept my neck warm, really really warm. I used to have a lot of scarves and once in a while, I do find myself wanting to buy another one. Scarves are one of the easiest ways to keep you both warm and pretty at the same time. If you haven't watched this video, I hope you are going to enjoy it! Also, I love Wendy's channel. I've watched a lot of her videos and she has such a sunny personality. Gotta love her!

P.S: If you like my blog, please subscribe to my feed. Thanks a lot!

A Surprised Benefit of Using the Stairs

Hi everyone,

Sometimes, I feel bad for my derriere. I blame it on J.Lo and Beyonce to start the bootylicious trend. When it comes to the butt, either you are bountiful or you are not. Workouts can help but it can take forever to see any increment in size.

Although I want my sexy back to look like Beyonce's, it doesn't. Despite the numerous squats and leg lifts and Pilates butt workouts I have done, le derriere just refuses to bloom. Yes, after a nice session of Pilates, my butt can get really sore but that's about it. I did not see the result that I want.

But then, things happened. The other day, I found myself grabbing my own butt and tada! The things that were not there a few months ago are there now. I took a side-way glance and it did look like the butt decided to grow after all.

Is this because of all the squats/Pilates/leg lifts that I did?

Probably and probably not. I know I did them but they were not enough to have such a huge difference. It's like blooming from a AA cup to a B overnight. Not a dramatic change but I definitely notice a difference.

I thought long and hard about this change and it occurred to me that I did indeed work my butt out quite strenuously without knowing it. You see, the rental house we lived for the last 7 months has stairs. A lot of stairs. Everyday, whether I liked it or not, I walked up and down those stairs at least 10 times. Up and down, up and down. By using the stairs, I have worked the muscles on the front and back of my legs as well as my gluteal muscles. As a result, not only my thighs are shapelier, my butt also looks better and more lifted.

Using the stairs instead of the elevator is great. Not only you have a mini workout, you also conserve energy otherwise spent on operating the lift. Also, your body will thank you later. I know mine does :)

So, ladies, use the stairs if you care for your booties!

P.S: If you like my blog, please subscribe to my feed. Thanks a lot!

A Quick Update + NaNoWriMo

Hi everyone,

Lately, this is how I feel:

The pending move to the new place really puts a dampen to my plans. We are packing, we are not packing. We are moving, we are not moving. The minute I think we are about to move, the plan just get pushed further down the line. On top of that, I am committing myself to NaNoWriMo and my knee and hands are killing me!

I really appreciate everybody's comments and concerns. Right now, My Makeup Blog is in the "try weakly" mode where I am going to blog here whenever I can. I'd do my best to keep a post a week as it is the minimum commitment I can do without feeling like I'm twisting myself.

In the meantime, if you miss me, please visit my writing blog, Life and Rewrite. Who knows, you may find something you like there without feeling like you are missing out on me :D

Until next time!
Dao

Keeping Your Eyelashes Healthy

Out of all of the component parts of a woman's beauty regime, we often underestimate the time and effort that is required to keep the high standards most women have when it comes to their eyelashes. Women's eyelashes take a bashing each day through: the application of mascara, rubbing their eyes, curling their eyelashes, exposure to pollution and exposure to smoke to name but a few. Yet despite the damage these things do, women take far less care of their eyelashes than they do their hair.

Amazingly, our eyelashes begin to grow on an embryo at about 8 weeks. This time period is about the same as what it takes for new eyelashes to grow if they are damaged or fall out. We need our eyelashes, like our eyebrows, to protect our eyes from dust and other particles. When debris falls onto our eyelashes, we automatically blink which protects our eyes from getting damaged by it. Although women want to keep their eyelashes healthy for aesthetic purposes, it is also important to maintain them so that they can continue to protect their eyes.

Although women are mostly concerned with looking after their eyelashes because of the way they look, it is important to take care of your eyelashes and eye area to prevent you from getting eyelash disorders. Such disorders can be caused by irritants such as cosmetics but also by drugs, irritation and mites. Here are some common eyelash disorders:

1) Distichiasis: an abnormality with how the eyelashes grow
2) Madarosis: when eyelashes fall out
3) Demodex Folliculorum: mites which can be found in the eyelash itself and may live there without causing harm,
4) Trichiasis: ingrowing eyelashes.

Another element of eyelash care that can be overlooked is the use of cosmetic products that most women opt to apply. In today's society, daily use of make-up is not uncommon. The problem with persistent daily use of make-up is the fact that eyelashes can become weakened and in poor condition. This then leads to the lash becoming very stiff and brittle which can mean the lash will snap off. Of course, even make-up such as mascara is no use on eyelashes that have broken off.

In addition to the impact of regular make-up use, there is also an issue with the fact that your eyes are continuously exposed to environmental pollution which can also have a negative impact on the condition of the lashes. It is absolutely crucial to protect and restore lashes to counter these effects. Proper care of eyelashes can not only increase their condition but will also protect from future damage too!