busy girl thoughts

I get asked a lot what skin product I use. Here’s a list of prescription-only drugs that I’ve tried thru my dermatologists. They all work wonder, and are cheaper than expensive name-brands. Well, of course they work better, and that’s why they’re not available over the counter.

WATCH OUT, sunscreen HAS TO BE USED and reapplied daily when using any of the products below. And they shouldn’t be used during the day. Otherwise you’ll end up with more brown spots or other sun damages. Also, do not store them in the bathroom (too warm and too moist).

Bleach brown spots / freckles

Brand: Epiquin Micro 4% Cream
Ingredient: HYDROQUINONE

Anti-aging: reducing fine lines and wrinkles, reducing roughness and improving coloration; treat acne

Brand: Renova 0.02%
Ingredient: TRETINOIN (Vitamin A derivative, or retinoic acid)

Notes: Vitamin A family products work by increasing skin cell turnover rates. In other words, skin cells die faster, new cells are generated, and collagen is produced. Hence skin looks younger and firmer, skin-tone is more even, and all that good stuff.

Treat acne problems

Brand: Differin
Ingredient: ADAPALENE
Notes: Differin has gel and cream types. For my skin, gel is too harsh and drying, so I opt for cream.

Treat acne and psoriasis, anti-aging

Brand: Tazorac
Ingredient: TAZAROTENE (Vitamin A derivative)

Notes: Tazorac is very similar to Renova. Both are Vit. A derivatives, and work by increasing skin cell turnover rates. See notes above for Renova. Tazorac causes more irritation than Renova, and cannot be used by pregnant women. My personal preference is Renova, because of irritation problems.

Found this great article that explains different Vitamins’ roles in skincare.

I had post here when I was searching for a good case that is aesthetically pleasing but not take the spotlight from iPhone’s stunning design. I settled with cheap iPod socks.

Now, 7 months have passed, how did iPod socks fare? How does my iPhone look?

I honesty don’t think iPod socks provide much protection. Most importantly, iPhone doesn’t need any protection.

I will still continue to use the sock. Not only does it look so cute, it provides nice friction when I hold the phone. I only dropped the phone without the sock on, because it gets slippery.

It’s such a great fashion statement. In company meetings, I see many girls with impeccable blow-dried hair, subtle yet beautiful makeup, well-tailored suits, and the cutest heels. As soon as they put their iPhones on the table with bulky masculine black leather cases… the record scratch sound goes off, music stops.

I’ve read this multiple times from different sources, so I thought I should note to myself and the readers.

This is taken from Dr. Kaplan’s site

When selecting a sunscreen, look for products labeled “broad-spectrum UVA and UVB” protection. The package should include a list of active ingredients. Look for physical sunblocks, such as titanium dioxide or zinc oxide. These ingredients work by actually deflecting sunlight away from your skin, and are much more effective sun protection than chemical sunblocks, such as Avobenzone, octocrylene, and oxybenzone.

To my horror, I realized my favorite hand cream, Cetaphil Daily Facial Moisturizer SPF 15 (I know, facial cream for hands? But no hand lotion has SPF in it, at least not the drug store ones), contains only chemical sunblocks. I need to shop for a safer one.

Also as a side note, I have not seen any sunscreen that does not protect UVB since… 1995? Leave me a note if you see one. I don’t know how many times I heard sales ladies telling me, “our product is unique because it protects against UVB”, and I immediately thought they just repeated the sales pitch passed down from the 80’s. Even dermatologists warn me about sunscreens that only protect against UVA. It really bothers me how professionals don’t do a reality check once in a while to see how the world has evolved.

But then again, let me know if you are aware of a brand that has not kept up.

Wired News - AP News

A small study links the type of bacteria living in people’s digestive system to a desire for chocolate. Everyone has a vast community of microbes in their guts. But people who crave daily chocolate show signs of having different colonies of bacteria than people who are immune to chocolate’s allure.

That may be the case for other foods, too.

So we are (in some way, at least) controlled by the little guys in the guts? We humans like to think we rule the planet, when in fact microorganisms are the fittest in most environments. I personally like to think that eating chocolate and prefer pepsi over coke is out of my free will, not the microbes in my guts.  And I’d also like to think I went to school, got a job, and maintined a healthy diet is for myself, not for the masters in my guts.

This research gave a new meaning to "gut reaction". 

<Photo credit: nature.com> 

All dermatologists will tell you sunblock is the best skin protector.  You can use the most expensive skin products out there, but if you don’t use sunscreen, dark spots, wrinkles and loss of collagen will forever be your best friends. 

But all my friends and myself hate using sunblock on the face.  We usually apply day lotion with SPF, but then we don’t reapply it throughout the day.  Now, the sunscreen will only last an hour or two, depending on the SPF and your skin.  Eventually even if SPF is high, the lotion simply wears off and your skin is NAKED under the sun.  Reapplying sunscreen is a pain though.  Sunscreen is usually thick, even the oil-free kinds, and how are we supposed to apply it when we have make up on? Don’t mention it clogs your pores and cause breakouts.

I’ve probably tried all sorts of facial sunscreens, from department store to drug store brands.  To name a few, I’ve tried Cetaphil, Aveeno, Oil of Olay from drugstores. And Lancome, Estee Lauder and Shiseido from the department store, just to name a few.  For a while I thought Shiseido Extra Smooth Sun Protection Cream SPF 38 is impressively light, and a lot of my friends use it.  With Shiseido though, I still didn’t reapply when I wear foundation.

But recently I found Clarins UV Plus Protective Day Screen SPF40 , and as soon as I used the tester I was blown away. It is the best and lightest, bar none.  It has a matte finish, and not greasy at all (the texture is more watery than any products I’ve used). The SPF is 40, which is strong enough, and oil free of course.  And it’s small enough for me to carry in my small purse. I’ve been reapplying it 4-5 times a day (I live in CA, mind you), even with powder foundation on.  I haven’t had any breakout from it. 

I didn’t have a very high expectation after watching the trailer. I thought it was a rental.  But then the review came out on rottentomatoes.com, and it got a surprisingly high score.

I absolutely loved this movie.  I’d say this is the best movie i saw this year.  The story line sounds simple: a newly promoted, nice-looking blonde had a one-night stand with a chubby stubby underachiever, an aspiring porn site entrepreneur, and she was… knocked up.

It’s the kind of movie that the story line sounds worse than it really is. It has so much more to it! I laughed until i was out of air throughout the movie, but most importantly, the issues the characters struggled with are deeply heart-felt.  The issues raised are commonly seen in movies, such as irresponsible men vs. responsible women, bored husbands vs controlling wives, stable family vs exciting life experience… What’s refreshing is how the characters react to the problems in this movie.  Too often we see movies that offer surprising but unrealistic twists that magically melt the obstacle, or present characters that have high enough EQ to solve the conflicts, or comedians who laugh everything off. In "knocked up" though, the characters pained through the struggles, tried to solve them but didn’t always work out. They tried to ease off the tension with humor which occasionally backfired.

One of my favorite scenes was that at the daughter’s birthday party, the father holding the cake was called by a friend as "..a bad husband", when he was kicked out of the house by his wife and went away to Vegas not too long ago, but just reconciled with his wife.  "I was expecting the story to take a down turn again, but he just paused for a sec, and happily walked out the yard singing "happy birthday" with his head up.  Hard to believe he’s the same guy that told his friend that

"marriage is like a real Everybody Loves Raymond, only that it’s not funny and it doesn’t last 22 minutes. It lasts forever!”

I laughed a lot and had tears in my eyes for a few scenes. Overall it’s witty but not pretentious, some jokes are dirty but not in bad taste.  There are a lot more important characters than shown in the trailer, so the story is richer than it seems.

It’s funnier than 40-year old virgin and it touches your heart. A must see! 

Although I didn’t have very high expectations of "Because I Said So" (Diane Keaton, Mandy Moore) to begin with, this move turned out to be over the top annoying.  I don’t know who wrote the script, but I assume he’s a man.  The women portrayed in the movie are all hysterical, yappy, shrill and stupid.  Not a minute went by without somebody spilling food, arguing with one another, or parading around half naked (Diane Keaton included). Basically, they’re all dislikeable nuts.

Avoid this movie at all cost. 

Sunblock good for skiing/snowboarding

Kiehl’s - All sport non-freeze face protector SPF 30, $16: Good for the slope.

Primers with sunblock

Smashbox - Photo finish SPF 18,$42

Sue Devitt - Microquatic blue anti-aging SPF 30 $48 Daily Sunscreen Wipe (sephora.com)

Shady Day Daily Sun Protection Wipes SPF 30 $9 (shadydayinc.com)

I’ve recently found this automatic water-proof lipliner, and it’s cheap as dirt! $4.89. I really appreciate it after I spent a whole afternoon at Sephora looking at every brand, looking for an automatic lip liner. A few brands have them, but i didn’t see any that had more than 3-4 colors and I didn’t like any of the colors. The price is outrageous too. They easily cost at least $18.

Prestige is sold in all major drug stores, and at Duane Reade they have 16 different colors. Toss your pencil sharpeners! They ARE automatic and TRULY water-proof.

My eyelids are so oily it’s not even funny. I have yet to meet another person whose eyelids are worse than mine. As a matter of fact, here’s a common reaction I get: “Eyelids can be Oily?” To clarify how bad it is, it takes less than 20 minutes for eyeshadow powder to crease on me.

3 or 4 years ago I met my Savior. MAC Painter is really a creamshadow line. It’s not your everyday creamshadow though. It’s very matte and heavy. I call it ‘industrial strength’ eyeshadow base. I bought “Untitled” which is the lightest nude color. After applying it my Stila powder shadow lasts all day!

I was so happy I went back and bought 3 other colors, green purle and blue. But it turned out other vibrant colors were not meant to be used as eyeshadow base. I still like them though. The color is rich and easy to apply (only a finger is required).

Origin has an eyeshadow base too that I want to buy after I run out of “Untitled Paint”. Speaking of which, i bought it a few years ago and I still have 20% left. The best 15 bucks you can spend!! Origin’s base is beige-white, and they claim it’ll make the eyeshadow color more vibrant. I’m yet to find out how long it can last. Has anyone tried it?

*Compare Stila with Chanel, Dior, Benefit, M.A.C., Nars, Clinique, Estee Lauder and Laura Mercier.* My favorite is Stila (especially heather , this color compliments all skin color, and is constantly sold out), for the following reasons:

1. Reasonable price (it’s about median price in department store brands) I got a six-pan compact, which is $24, and each refill is $14. If you don’t want the compact, the individual shadow (comes with environmental friendly paper container) is $16, which is in line with Dior, Anna Sui and only $2 cheaper than Benefit and M.A.C.

2. Texture is consistent and color is easy to apply. Most of the eyeshadow powder is not of consistent particles, and that leaves heavy spots or streaks on the eyelids. Chanel and Nars are about as good in this area. Estee Lauder and Dior are decent. Laura Mercier is the worst among pricier brands. Clinique and Benefit are comparable with Laura Mercier in quality but slightly cheaper. Drugstore brands? Don’t even think about it.I’ve learned from Style Network that some makeups you can cheat with drugstore brands, such as lipstick and mascara. However, THE makeup that you can’t cheat on is Eyeshadow. The reason is that due to frequent shipping and poor handling, drugstore eyeshadows need to be packed more dense than department store brands. That’s why drugstore shadow powder is not as loose as department store ones, and therefore color doesn’t look natural and is clumpy.

3. The pigment is abundant so it doesn’t take much to apply, and as a result the eyeshadow lasts much longer. I bought another 8-color compact from Laura Mecier a year after I bought Stila, and it has less left than Stila even though I use Stila more frequently. That doesn’t surprise me because when I apply Laura Mercier, I always feel the urge to use my finger and just dig into the shadow. For some reason the color just doesn’t show! And to clarify, for those who know me, they can witness that I don’t apply heavy makeup. I like neutral look for work.

4.It doesn’t smudge and last all day. It’s especially important for me because my eyelids are very oily (that’s another post). Stila powder lasts all day long while other brands tend to wear off after half a day.

5. All Stila eyeshadows can be applied with both wet and dry brush. Wet brush makes the color richer and staying even longer.

6. Last but not least, the state-of-art brush. I ditched my other professional eyeshadow brushes I invested over the years in favor of the free brush! (Yes! It’s even better than MAC or Sephora brushes.) The brush has two ends, one is rounded brush and the other is the flat slanted brush for eyeliner. I recommend getting at least one dark eyeshadow in the pan for eyeliner purposes, and wet the eyelinter brush when applying.

(This is color, mambo, is especially good for Asians.  It’s a cross between light brown and lavendar, natural enough for work.  For a night out for happy hour? Just apply heavier or add one more layer after work.) 

Is Ewan McGregor hot or what? I liked him alright, but for some reason when I saw that he was in Guys and Dolls in London, I scratched my original itinerary and bought a last minute to see him. I think it’s the combination that Guys’n Dolls is on top of my favorite theater list, and Moulin Rouge is my favorite musical movie.

What I love about this musical is the lyrics of most of the songs, like “Mary the man today” (change him later…). My favorite one would be “Sit down you’re rocking the boat”. It sounds even better on stage than on CD.