Today was supposed to be nail day but seriously, it has been a crazy, crazy day. From the moment I woke up, I had a conference call. It happened even before I had a chance to eat. Then, I started packing for a meeting later in the day. It was one thing after another and another. By the time I got home, I was so tired that I decided to take a nap instead of eating. Crazy, yah?
However, it wasn't even that bad, compared to yesterday. I did my stuff before doing P90X. About 15 minutes into it, I had a feeling that I was going to crash. So I wrapped it up as quickly as I could before going downstairs to find something to eat. Now, this had never happened to me. Low blood sugar? Nah. Usually, it's the opposite but for some reasons, I had low blood sugar while doing P90X. Which only means one thing: I was hungry before exercising and it was not good for me.
Last but not least, if you follow my Twitter, you already know that I am a contributor to a couple of prestigious beauty and fashion magazines in the city (and even in the whole country, for God's sake!) At the beginning of the year, I applied for an editor position in a prestigious magazine. I'm not going to tell you which one but name the two most famous beauty and fashion magazines in the world and I applied to one of them. I waited and waited for a month and nothing happened. Then, out of the blues, I was asked for an interview. It went well and I thought I had it in the bag.
And then, bam! I got the rejection email. I felt sad for a week because that editor position was what I want. But then came the consolation price: the referrals! I guess I made an impact on the interviewer after all. Not only I am a contributor to that magazine I was interviewed but another one wants me as their contributor as well. While I want to have a salaried job with health insurance and benefits, I guess I still have to start from somewhere. I hope things are going well for me this year because I have an eye on a D-SLR and a couple of lenses. And mama needs money to bring them home!
That's all for now, kids! Please send positive energy toward me because I really need things to happen as soon as possible.
Love,
Dao xoxo
P.S: Also, please remember to follow my blog and subscribe to my feed. Thanks a lot!
I carried that much makeup and skincare products with me when I went to China last year. Since I like to travel, I have to find a way to pack the best of the best with me. When it comes to skincare, I want my skin to look good and blemish-free when I'm on the road. Believe it or not, SkinCeuticals Phyto Corrective Gel has been my companion to various trips within the country and overseas as well. I was so lucky that Dr. Leslie Baumann suggested this product and sent it to me. And you want to know why? Because this green gel rocks!
First of all, let me get this right out of the ballpark: I don't love the price. It costs $60 for a 30ml bottle of serum that smells like freshly cut grass. However, Phyto Corrective Gel is a thing of a legend. Before I used it, I kept on hearing about it from all over the place: from high-fashion magazines, famous beauty editors, to some really really extraordinary beauty bloggers. On top of that, dermatologists like it a lot, too! However, I could not wrap myself around the price. It is just so bloody ridiculously expensive!
However, after using it, I believe the hype and Phyto Corrective Gel worth every single penny of that $60. No joke, this is true. I have been using it since the beginning of last year (not continuously, though. You already know how expensive it is, right?) Each and every time I use it, all I need is 2-3 drops to cover my whole face! Even in the cold and dry nights in Beijing, I rarely exceeded 4 drops. By the way, 1ml contains 20 drops of the stuff and 30ml has 600 drops, taking or leaving a few. At the rate that I am using, it will take me about 2-300 times to finish a bottle. Which means if I use it continuously on a daily basis, it will take me a little bit less than a year to finish a bottle. Not bad at all since this is the good stuff.
So, what's so good about it? I used to have sensitive skin that's less sensitive since I moved to Vietnam and detoxed the heck out of my livers. However, once in a while, I do have this dry and itchy feeling on my face that would exacerbate to a couple of pimples if I scratch my skin. SkinCeuticals Phyto Corrective Gel takes care of that. It has anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, and skin lightening properties to help sooth, calm, and lighten my skin without using harsh ingredients. On top of that, it has hyaluronic acid to plump up the skin from within. When I was living in Florida, I would use this with a heavy night creme on top during those cold winter nights. But now in sunny Vietnam, the Phyto Corrective Gel is all I need for a night serum. Yes, it is that good.
If you have sensitive and acne-prone skin, this is for you. Also, if you have scars left from acne, it will make them fade faster with licorice in the ingredient list. I felt the calmness on my skin after the first use and since then, it has been my pal whenever I feel like my skin is about to act out again, which luckily is less and less every day.
SkinCeuticals is a company with great reputation and I am glad Phyto Corrective Gel is a fantastic product. Thank you, Dr. Baumann for introducing it to my skincare routine. I highly appreciate it!
Guess what? I'm at week 4 of P90X already. Time really flies. It felt like yesterday when I put my first shy step toward this program by putting the play button on the DVD to start Core Synergistic. An hour later, I was alive and well. It made me believe that I could survive the first week of P90X and I did, with the help of Twitter and Fitocracy.
Week 1 brought me a lot of pain. I have done a lot of painful things in my life and so far, nothing beat the afterburn of Yoga-X. That was a vicious workout that left my biceps too sore for me to sleep. Lucky me, I have my new best friends Deep Heat and Icy Cold to ease the pain just enough for me to get some sleep. Week 2 was a little bit easier and so was week 3. Now, recovery week is enjoyable since I don't have to lift any weights.
So far, here are a few things I've learned from P90X:
1. You can't spot reduce your fat:
When I started exercising, I was wearing 36C bras. Now, my bras are 34B. Yes, my boobs shrank. And so is my butt. And my thigh. And my arms. And my tummy. Really, I'm losing fat all over. Even my shoes are looser and I don't wear them as often. It's crazy!
I did some research and Davey Wavey explains it best (warning: he's shirtless!)
2. The scale is stupid:
Say it with me, everyone: "The scale is stupid!"
Why?
Because it doesn't tell you everything. On the scale, a pound of fat weighs the same as a pound of muscle. During the first two weeks of P90X, I was not losing weight. However, I noticed everything fit better, especially my pants. But the scale just refused to budge. So frustrating!
But then, I read a blog of one of my Fitocracy buddies and he linked to a Reddit post. I read it and all of the sudden, things began to make sense: the number on the scale does not determine how slim or fit you are. The lady in that post did not do any cardiovascular exercises. She only lifted heavy weights. Her start and end weight was the same (137 lbs) but her "after" body looked amazing!
I was losing a lot of weight during Hip-Hop Abs and during my month-long teeth extraction diet. However, I was not as toned as I am now. The weigh-lifting exercises in P90X make a difference and they are the testament to muscles burn fat.
3. You may gain some before you lose some:
Shocking, isn't it? It happened when I started exercising back in last August. I worked my pretty butt off and I gained 2 lbs within a week. My cousin, who was my gym buddy at the time, laughed at me. It happened again after week 1 of P90X. I shot up to 165lbs after weeks of being at 163. However, since I knew it would happen, I did not let it get me down.
Turns out, there was an explanation for it and I would let Chalene Johnson (she of Turbo Jam and ChaLEAN Extreme) explain it to you. It makes perfect sense to me and as I allow my body to adapt, it eventually yielded. After weeks of being at the same place, finally I am down to 162 lbs.
4. It might take longer than you think:
When I was younger, like in 2004 younger, I was able to lose 15 lbs over a summer. It was almost effortless: I cut out junk food, soda, and fast food. I lifted weight and did a lot of cardio exercises (think 1 hour sweating over the treadmill.)
Now, it doesn't happen that way. If I am lucky, I may lose a pound a week. My metabolism is not as fast but again, I don't let numbers ruining my day. I keep on pushing and eventually, good things are bound to happen.
One of the wonderful things about P90X is the testimonial videos on YouTube. Since I was frustrated at my lack of weight loss during the first two weeks, I did some look-see. I targeted at videos of women who had my starting weight and are as tall as I am and watched their progress videos. To my surprise, most of them did not have dramatic results during the first phase. Even after the second phase, they looked slightly better than the beginning. However, at the end of the 90 days, their bodies looked amazing!
I guess phase 1 is more of a muscle-fat restructure. Phase 2 would bring that even further but phase 3 brings everything home. Also, the women in those videos lift heavier weights by the end, which further pushes their metabolism higher to burn off those fat.
Right now, I am really sleepy. P90X and staying up late do not mesh. Also, P90X and eating badly do not go well together, either. If I don't treat my body right, I would feel it during my workouts. Therefore, my life is like that of old people now. Boring but the trade off is a hotter body. Um, I'll take that!
That's all for now. Thank you for reading (really, thank you. I know this is a long post and I was rambling a lot because I need to sleep.)
I hope my frequent fitness updates here and on Twitter will inspire you to exercise. It's not an expensive hobby and the trade off is really amazing! Please, treat your body right!
I love reading. Before I found out that I could actually borrow books from the library, I spent a lot of money on books. Really, like a hundred dollars a month on them only to find out some of them could disappoint me greatly. Since I move a lot, owning books can be quite a hassle when the time comes to move to a new place. I ended up donated lots and lots of books and only keep the ones I love and read often. Here are my favorite 5:
1. The Tales of Beedle the Bard (J.K. Rowling)
If you are a Harry Potter fan, this is a must-read for you. Of course, the book was mentioned in book 7 but you don't get the whole idea of what the stories are until you read the book. It's short but is a very engaging book for Muggles and wizards alike.
2. The Society of S (Susan Hubbard)
No, S doesn't stand for sex. In fact, this book has nothing to do with sex. It is about vampires but please don't give me that face. It is a beautifully written book with a different aspect about vampires. Definitely not your typical Twilight book but it's not one of your Anne Rice vampire stories, either. You will be surprised at the eloquence and melody this book has. I already read its sequel, "The Year of Disappearances", and had no idea that the latest one already came out.
3. The Thirteenth Tale (Diane Settterfield)
Another beautifully written book in my stash. This one reminds me a lot of "Wuthering Heights" with its dark and gothic story. I won't tell you what the story is, you have to read to find out but one thing I know for sure: it won't disappoint.
4. The Bonesetter's Daughter (Amy Tan)
To me, this is the best book Amy Tan has ever written. The story is beautiful and the book has a certain melodic quality with an air of melodramatic in it. It makes me think of the old world and the tragedies that bounded women to the ground. If you have ever read Amy Tan's memoir, you will find out this book is probably the closest to her own family history.
5. The Book of the Dead (Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child)
I went through a phase of not buying any books after discovering the local library. However, the yearn to own books is something I couldn't run away so far. I found this book in a slush pile at Border's (RIP). It was 5 dollars and since it had the words "New York Times Best-selling Authors" written on top, I bought it. I was blown away by the writing! Since then, I have been a faithful follower of Agent Pendergast. He is an extraordinary character and if you haven't read the Pendergast series, you should. The good starting point should be "The Cabinet of Curiosities" although "Still Life with Crows" is a good one to start, too.
That's all for now, folks! What are your favorite books? I'd love to hear from you.
Love,
Dao xoxo
P.S: Please show your support by following my blog and subscribing to my feed. Thanks a lot!
To paraphrase President Kennedy, "Ask not what your lemon can do for you, ask what you can do for your lemon." Well, dear Prez, I can make lemonade, of course!
But wait, don't stop there. Lemon is good beyond making lemonade. And squirting into pho and various kinds of soups. And making lemon pie. And lemon cheesecake. And lemon tart. Well, you get the idea.
But what you may not know is lemons are good for your nails, skin, and hair, too! Here are 3 ways to make the best out of your lemons:
1. Hair:
When I was a kid, I used to cut up half a lemon and use it as a conditioner for my hair. Conditioner did not exist until I was eight so in order to detangle hair, lemon was the only way to go. After shampooing, I squeezed half a lemon all over my head, used my finger to toss the hair around, and then rinsed it well. My hair was softer, untangled (of course!), and smelled like lemon.
The only down side of this hair conditioning method is since lemon contains citric acid, it can lighten your hair once you go out in the sun. Hence, the rinse well precaution. However, if you want to have some bleach-free highlights, just take out a few strands of hair and soak them with lemon before going outside. Once you shampoo out the juice, you'll have some subtle highlights.
2. Cuticles:
If you have thick and difficult cuticles, please do not throw away your lemon (or what's left of it after you juice it out.) This is a trick a lot of manicurists here use to help cuticle removal easier. I happen to have some tough cuticles on my feet, especially the ones around my pinky toes. They are thick and no matter how long I soak my feet in warm water, them cuticles just refuse to be pushed back.
However, the manicurist who did my pedicure used a small piece of lemon and rubbed it all over my toes. She let it soak for a couple of minutes before using the cuticle pusher to push away that thick layer of skin on my toes. Bam! The cuticles that refused to be pushed were going waaay back! Way to go, lemon!
Again, this has to do with the citric acid that lemon has. It works wonder to remove cuticles as well as callouses. You should give it a try.
3. Elbows:
If you are like me, you'll soon realize there's a price to pay for placing your elbows on the table. They will darken and they will get dry and flaky. Not cute. We all overlook our elbows but once in a while, we get a picture of ourselves with two dark dots at where the forearms meet the arms and we wonder what went wrong.
Well, as I mentioned earlier, lemon can lighten stuff and it can definitely lighten your elbows. I don't encourage you to use lemon to lighten your face since it is acidic and can mess up your skin's pH balance. However, the skin on your elbows are thicker and if you want to lighten them, just rub some lemon, wait, and rinse it out. Then, moisturize the elbows well before going to bed. It works really well but you have to be patient and do it as often as possible (once a day if your skin can take it, otherwise every other day.)
See, you have 3 ways of using lemon already. I specifically love using lemon as a cuticle remover as it works wonderfully. Please give lemon a try and if you have some other tips, please let me know.
Lately, I've read a lot of awesome nail tutorials and they make me itch as I want to do something fancy for my nails. You see, besides the occasional glitter obsession, I'm kind of a one-color nail kind of girl. But with the dotting nail trend that has been blooming lately, I couldn't wait to bust out my fancy smancy dotting tool.
Fancy, I'm telling ya. On top of that, they are free. These are the pencils I collected during my trip to China last year. Before I started, I needed to calibrate my instrument (fancy way to say dotting the pencil on paper with nail polish.) Like this:
Then, I painted my nails with a base color, placed a dot of nail polish and do my first dotting to see how it goes. Sometimes, things can go really well on paper but in real life it looks like a disaster.
Well, so far so good. The dots looked round on the nails. So I went to town with it...maybe a little bit too much :)
See, told ya! This is a cornucopia of dots and colors. Please don't mind the scar on my ring finger. I had it a couple of days ago when I was playing with my brother.
I like the "designs" on these two fingers the most. They are not designs or anything. I just went wild with the color placement but they look nice here.
After the dots were dried, I placed a clear top coat and call it a day. The pencils are comfortable to use but you have to make sure to work fast before the nail polishes used to dot gets dry. Also, you can customize the diameter of your dotting tool by sharpening it to get a smaller tip or writing it a little bit to get a bigger one.
That's all for now, folks! I'm loving the dots so far and hopefully we can work this into a regular segment. What do you think about that?
With lots of nail love,
Dao xoxo
P.S: Please show your support by following my blog and subscribing to my feed. Thanks a lot!
Last Sunday, I went to a friend's wedding and literally had 5 minutes to do my makeup. While I was doing my eyes, I realized I had about 15 minutes to get to the premise before the reception started. Chop, chop, Dao! I had no time to do some fancy foundation routines so I grabbed the best option possible: Maybelline Clear Smooth BB Silk Shine Free Two Way Cake Powder.
Exhale. What a long name for a makeup product. I did have lots of fun at the party and my makeup was simple yet flawless. Also, I learned a lot about this foundation that day, too!
First of all, last Sunday was not the first time I used this product but it was the first time I wore it out. About a couple of months ago, I was looking for a finishing powder since my HG The Ultimate Powder was running quite low. I went to my trusted makeup/nail store and asked one of the sales people there if they had a good finishing powder. They did, but most of them were out of my reach. One girl suggested me to try this Maybelline BB Silk two way cake powder to use as a finishing powder. I looked at the price tag and since it wasn't so bad, I bought it.
At home, I tried it out as a finishing powder and it was a cakey mess! Turned out, a two-way cake powder is not a finishing powder. It is a pressed foundation that can be used wet or dry. Think MAC Studio Fix Powder Plus Foundation but with less silicone and way less coverage. I wish to know that back then so I could chalk up a little bit more cash to get a loose powder instead.
However, it was not all lost. As a sheer coverage foundation, it works well when I use a primer underneath. The oil control property was good as I left the party without looking shiny. However, since it does have chemical sunscreen, I did feel some tingling when I did not use a primer. When used wet, it darkened significantly but the coverage did not improve.
Here are some photos for your own perusal:
I love the soft lavender of this packaging. It's very sweet. Like Studio Fix Powder plus Foundation, it has a bottom compartment to store the sponge. It was made of good quality latex and believe it or not, I got the best coverage when I used it. The powder brush just makes my foundation look too heavy and cakey. This foundation is not the blending type at all!
My shade is in Nude Beige (shade #2). It looked perfect after I applied to my face but about 5 minutes later, it began to oxidize to a shade darker. I should have bought shade #1 instead but it looked really, really pale. I wish the shop had testers, though. Makeup is non-refundable here :(
A little bit about the "BB Silk" thing: I guess you guys already heard about BB Cream. It is supposed to be the best foundation/skincare product out there right now. Maybelline also has their own BB cream but I didn't buy it. This BB Silk two-way cake powder is supposed to be the powder rendition of the BB cream, I guess. It is really silky and glides on smooth without feeling heavy unless you overload it. Like BB cream, it is not supposed to give you a lot of coverage.
The ingredient list.
The swatch. It's the darker area closer to the lower edge of the picture
When I took this picture, everything looked fine and dandy but immediately after I put my camera away, it oxidized into a darker shade. Grrr!
And finally, how it looked on me:
See, no shine at all! I love the oil control power of this thing. However, look how tan my face was compared to my neck. This picture was taken after the party so it had plenty of time to show its true color already. Don't you hate it when your foundation oxidizes?
Overall, I would give this product a B. While it does what it is supposed to do, it also manages to oxidize, which is a no-no to me. I believe this Maybelline BB Silk powder is a product for the Asian market. If you only need a sheer coverage powder foundation, this would do. But remember to get one that is a shade lighter than your skin color as it does oxidize.
First of all, I would like to thank everyone for the encouraging words during my fitness journey. They mean a lot to me. If you guys are following me via Twitter (and you should!), you probably notice that I have tweeted a lot about fitness recently. I was surprised that not only my Twitter people are still following me but my tweets inspire them to start exercising (well, at least one person that I know for sure!) And guess what, that makes me happy! I know to start exercising is not easy. I tried so many times in the past but I failed. This time around, I have the people and the tools to make it happen and only time can tell how far I can go.
The dumbbells, my shoes, plus a mat for my knees
During the weekend, I decided to get some extra weights. The usual 2kg hand weights (the red ones) are too easy for me. I can barely feel anything and I want my arms to burn, yo! So, I went out and bought 2 extra pairs of dumbbells: a pair of 3kgs and another pair of 4kgs. They look bulky because they are filled with sand instead of made out of iron. The iron weights are muy muy muy expensivo. I could not afford them at all!
Also, exercising did pay off. Here is a picture of moi after 2 weeks of P90X:
Can you see my cheekbones? I was surprised of how prominent they are. This picture was taken after a party so my lipstick was gone. I was full and tired but look at them cheeks! This is something I used to try at various angles back in the days. But now they're here! Just for vanity reasons, P90X works and it works so well that I don't regret all the sweats I've been shedding at all!
Also, an extra bonus: look at my skin. This is the closest to bare skin I can give you. I only used a thin layer of powder foundation, that's all.
I found this online today. It's a workout sheet for P90X and Insanity straight from the Beach Body website. I have an ambition to do Insanity by the end of this year and let's pray that things are going well because I really want to do this hybrid workout after that. This time next year, I'm going to finish this hybrid workout for real =)
That's all for today, folks! I'm upping my ante. How about you?
With lots of fitness love,
Dao xoxo
P.S: Please show your support by following my blog and subscribing to my feed. Thanks a lot!
Do you love glittery nail polish? I do, I do, I love it very much! It sparkles, it shines, it makes my nails look very interesting. However, there's a downside to every bling: glittery nail polish are too tough to remove! As much as I tried removing them, there would be some tiny little flecks that did not want to come off. Grr!
But don't fret. You live, you learn. After wearing and removing so many layers of glittery nail polishes later, I have come up with a fail-proof method that does not make me mad when it comes to removing glittery nail polishes. I hope this trick will save you a lot of pain in the future, too.
Here's how you do it:
1. Soak a cotton pad with nail polish remover:
No, I didn't say dab, I said soak. Really soak it in, sistah! Don't skimp on the nail polish remover at all.
2. Have some pieces of tin foil/saran wrap nearby. We're gonna need it.
3. Place the cotton pad on top of your nail, then use tin foil/saran wrap to wrap around the pad, the tighter the better. Personally, I prefer saran wrap as I can get a tight wrap.
4. Repeat to the rest of the nails and wait for 5 minutes. Or go scare the kids and cats if you want to :)
5. Remove the tin foil/saran wrap and gently wipe away the glittery nail polish. It should come out easily. After removing the nail polish on all of your fingers, wash your hands and voila, you're done!
The only downside of this method is the dryness. Your cuticles and nails are going to feel like being on fire. So, once you're done washing your hands, moisturize well and if possible, wear cotton gloves and go to bed. I guess the dryness is one of the reasons I don't wear sparkly nail polishes that often anymore. However, it's still fun to do so once in a while.
That's all for now, me lovelies! If you have any other advanced Jedi tricks on how to remove glittery nail polishes, please let me know.
Have a lovely day,
Dao xoxo
P.S: Please show your support by following my blog and subscribing to my feed. Thanks a lot!
Lately, the weather in my 'hood has been scorching hot. In Saigon, when the heat comes, it comes with vengeance. The nice weather forecast lady predicted the heat is going to continue until mid-April and can get up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Not cool, weather, not cool!
As a result of the heat, I have developed some sort of bumps on my forehead that did not exist when the weather was oh, about 2 degrees cooler. Regardless of how much I clean my face with black Pond's and the facial cleansing brush, the bumps did not seem to go away. Out of desperation, I decided to try something different: Hazeline Clear White facial cleanser.
Hazeline Clear White facial cleanser with turmeric extract and jojoba oil to prevent pimples and whiten skin
Now, I have come to believe that in order for a skincare product to sell well in Asia, the word "whiten" has to appear somewhere in the label. Believe me, this cleanser does not whiten my face at all. However, as it contains turmeric extract, it manages to calm down the bumps significantly. Also, it has a stronger oil prevention property than the black Pond's (James Pond's, haha!)
How it looks like This cleanser has some fine micro-beads in it, btw
Ingredient list
This is the cheapest facial wash I've ever used. However, you can't use the price tag to predict the quality as it is a decent face wash. For a dollar, I have nothing to complain about it, except that it can be quite drying in the winter. Which makes it a perfect cleanser during summer. It does contain jojoba esters and turmeric extract, although I believe the zit-zapping power has to do with the presence of salicylic acid. Also, it does have niacinamide, which is a safe skin brightening agent but as it is further into the list, I don't think it can do much to the skin. Also, I've noticed the lack of sulfate in this face wash as well as the other one that I have. Which means Unilever did listen to their consumers and reformulated their skincare products for the better.
Hazeline Clear White face wash cleanses my face really well. If I use too much, my skin will have that squeaky clean sound after washing with water. It does have a mild floral scent and my skin does feel comfortable afterwards. And did I tell you about the oil control property? It does control oil pretty well. If I wash my face in the morning, I would not feel oily until around high noon.
Also, a tube does last me a long time. I bought it last summer and still have about 1/5 of it to go. Would I buy it again? Of course! It's fabulous and cheap, although I can use it during the summer only.
That's all for now, folks! I hope you have a lovely day.
Nah, this post should be titled "Wishing I Was Still There." This picture was seriously beautiful and I had a nice weekend on the road. We went to Ha Tien, a beautiful and peaceful place by the sea in the Southern part of my country. It was a butt numbing ride to get there and back. But it was so worth it as I was surrounded by the most gentle people I have ever met. On top of that, every where I went, I saw beauty. Simple, elegant, natural undisturbed beauty. The kind that is hard to find these days when all the construction sites are sprouting like mushrooms over the rain.
While I take a lot of pictures of myself, I don't get people to take my pictures. If you want to see who you really look like, have someone take your picture. It shows who you are. The mirror can lie, the scale does not tell you the whole story but the picture does. I look a lot better in this picture than I did before. My face and arms are slimmer. The clothes I wore that day were looser, too. And you want to know why.
Well, if you followed my Twitter, you already knew that I started P90X last week. It was an unplanned decision as I wanted to finish level 2 of Hip Hop Abs before getting into P90X. However, I kept on getting knee injuries that made it hard for me to work out. As I watched and did a couple of P90X DVDs before, I noticed this series has more earth bound exercises than Hip Hop Abs level 2. Therefore, out of a whim, I decided to give P90X a try for a week. If I could handle it, I would do the whole 90 days.
Guess what? I love it! P90X is challenging but it is doable. After each workout, my body was hurting in some strange and indescribable ways. However, as I have different exercises each day, the pain is never in the same place. This is the main reason that P90X is so attractive to me. I sweat bucket after each and every single workout, except for Yoga-X where I mopped the floor, soaked the mat, and bathed myself in my own sweat. It was disgusting and exciting at the same time :)
After only a week, I notice results already. Not only do I feel stronger, I also look better and have a picture to prove. However, the down fall is I can hardly do anything after I exercise. All I could think about was the pain and how to eliminate it. Lucky me, a good night sleep is all I need as I feel less sore the next day.
Right now, I feel a little bit sluggish. Two days sitting straight was not fun. On top of that, I didn't get enough sleep but I managed to exercise anyways. It was tough!
Anyhoo, I hope you are having a nice week ahead.
Love,
Dao xoxo
P.S: Please show your support by following my blog and subscribing to my feed. Thanks a lot!
Yup, pure Vaseline in a tube. Can you believe that tiny tube costs me almost 50 cents here? Back in the States, you can get a jar of Vaseline the size of a jumbo tron for a dollar. This is highway robbery, yo! Maybe the global energy crisis has to do with the rising price of Vaseline after all. I really do not know for sure but that's my educated guess.
But what am I going to do with it?
Can you guess?
Can you?
Can you?
I'm going to make lip gloss with it! Nope, it's not the type of "lip gloss" where you mix your Vaseline with whatever colorant and call it a day. What I am going to do is to melt it down and mix it with oil to create a clear liquid lip gloss. You can't believe how difficult it is to find a clear gloss here. It's impossible! I've been finding high and low for it but all I see are colored glosses with shimmer, glitter, scents, and the like. Really pretty and expensive ones and they are not even in the high-end arena. Nope, I'm not talking about Lancome, Chanel, Dior, or even Estee Lauder here. These glosses I found are probably in the rank of ELF, NYC, and Wet n Wild in the States and they cost an arm and a leg already.
Before you decide to preach me on the harmful effects of using Vaseline, let me tell you that I know all about it. I could have gone the good way but I don't have beeswax. Except for the wax on the white candles. Which probably sounds gross for me to scrape it and use to make lip gloss. Ew!
With Vaseline, I don't need wax. All I need are oil and aloe vera gel, which I can find. I'll probably need more Vaseline to run my experiment and I'll let you know how it goes.
That's all for now, folks! Have a lovely glossy-licious day!
After years of being a beauty blogger, I thought I knew everything. However, once in a while life throws me a curve ball to make me re-evaluate my so-called "superiority." The most recent one involves a shampoo. You see, I was using the black Sunsilk shampoo with shimmer (aka Sunsilk Co-Creations by Jamal Hammadi.) It was fine and dandy until I decided to jump ship to the pink Sunsilk (another Co-Creations product by Yuko Yamashita.)
Why the change of heart, you ask.
Because the TV commercial told me so. You see, the pink Sunsilk is meant for straight hair and since I do have stick straight hair, it should be good, right?
Well, kinda.
The first few weeks went fine: my hair was sleeker and dried a lot faster without using the blow dryer. I also noticed slight volume on my hair. On top of that, this shampoo smells like strawberry milkshake, which is fantastic.
But it ended right about there. I also noticed how dirty my hair became on the second day. Dirty and itchy. Therefore, I changed my schedule from every other day wash to every day. Then, it became dirty and itchy and dry. So I added conditioner. It became dirty and itchy and dry but oily by the time I washed it.
And then something happened, too. My housekeeper noticed how much of my hair was falling on the floor. "You need to do something," she told me, "This is not healthy for your body, you know. I am sick and my hair doesn't fall down that much."
Her words made me take a long hard look at my diet and daily routine. Everything seemed fine. Then, I looked at my bathroom and it dawned on me that the pink Sunsilk was the culprit. I switched back to the black Sunsilk and everything came back to the way it once was.
The morality of this story is simple: if you find something that works, stick with it. Don't get fancy as it may cause you more trouble in the long run.
How about you? Do you have any similar experience? I know my hair is not that fussy but that was quite scary.
That's all for now, folks! Hope you'll have a good week ahead.
Love,
Dao xoxo
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Thank you for making my day better with your comments, support, and viewership. You guys probably don't know this but you are the best readers a blogger can ever have. I hope you have a nice weekend. Come back here on Monday so we can have more fun :)
Today is the beginning of a new month and I need to turn to another page on my calendar. On top of using it to track the day, I also use my calendar to take notes of the days I work out. Every day I do a full exercise deserves an x mark. A day that I only do half an exercise has half an x. A day that I don't do anything is left blank. So far, here is how my calendar looks during the last two months:
More x marks than blank spaces! Yay me!
I copied this method from a friend and it works for me. Seeing more x marks filling up further into the week makes me happy. There were days when I had all the excuses in the world not to exercise but I managed to work out. On Tuesday, I had one at 9pm and went to bed later. It was fulfilling as I knew I did not skip a workout. One day at a time, folks!
Also, meet my new best friends: Mr. Hot and Mr. Cold (cue Katy Perry song!)
Both of them are in extra strength but I like Icy Hot better since the tingling effect is longer. Deep Heat, on the other hand, is as hot as Hades. If you have sore muscle, rub a tiny bit of it on and feel the pain melt away immediately. Both of them do not have strong scents like Ben Gay, which I cannot stand. I used to have Ben Gay before and although it is quite hot, the smell is just horrendous. Mix Ben Gay with your own B.O and ewww! I don't really want to go there!
Finally, my yoga mat matches my sneakers:
Yup, yours truly has a hot pink yoga mat. So what? Actually, I think this was the best thing I bought last year. It was cheap and the color always makes me smile. People say hot pink (or fuchsia) is cheesy but I'd say do whatever makes you happy.
That's all for today's post. I feel good about exercising lately and it takes a lot for me not to talk too much about it here. Seriously, since I started working out again, I feel more vitality in my life. My outlook is more positive, too! It does not cost much to start exercising. All you need are a good pair of sneakers, a yoga mat to stretch, a few workout DVDs, a water bottle, a towel, a few hand weights and you're good to go.
I hope you work out, my beauties. Life is a lot better when you are healthy.
With love,
Dao xoxo
P.S: Please show your support by following my blog and subscribing to my feed. Thanks a lot!
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