Face Good

It's been awhile since I last wrote an article about DIY beauty methods! Given rising costs of living and worsening inflation, I'm back to experimenting with home remedies that are comparatively cheaper to branded facial products in the market.

Some fruits and vegetables, when in contact with your skin, produces natural moisturizing and nourishment effects and can remove wrinkles in the long run.

Brinjal Mask
Mash up a brinjal (unskinned), soak it in a small jar of rice wine and add about 2 to 3 tablespoons of natural honey. Keep in a sealed jar and refrigerate for a week. It helps to smoothen skin and remove wrinkles.

Banana Mask
Mash a banana, add half a tablespoon of olive oil and mix evenly until the mixture is very fine. This masks helps in eliminating wrinkles.

Water melon wipe
Wipe your face with a clean piece of watermelon skin and then rinse your face with clear water. This helps to refresh and moisturize your skin, thus preventing the formation of wrinkles.

Snake gourd mask
Juice a snake gourd and mix the juice with half a cup of rice wine and 2 tablespoons of honey. Apply it to your face and rinse off when dry. Snake gourd is effective against wrinkling skin.

Cucumber mask
Probably one of the most popular and easiest methods. Simply place slices of cucumber over your clean face. It helps to refresh your skin as well as soothe wrinkled skin.

Tomato Mask
Mix 2 tablespoons of honey with a glass of freshly squeezed tomato. Tomatoes protect skin against sunburn and premature wrinkling.

All masks are to be applied directly to skin for about 15 to 20 minutes unless otherwise stated, and washed off with clean water. However, before applying these masks to your face, always apply a bit of it to the back of your ear or neck to test for allergy reactions. Instead of applying the masks to your entire face, you can also do spot treatment by applying it just to drier, more wrinkled parts of your skin and monitor its progress to see if it works. As with all products, results and effects vary from person to person.

Even if you don't read the news regularly, you must have heard about Japan's recent Earthquake disaster due to all the relief efforts that are being carried out in Singapore by various volunteer organizations. I am fortunate that I do not have loved ones living in the disaster-hit zones to worry about. Nevertheless, the disaster greatly saddens me, not solely because it represents a huge loss of humanity, but also because Japan has given me, and many people in the world, wonderful things that have become part and parcel of my life - Japanese food, fashion, music, technology, anime and many more. Not to mention that they have a culture that draws compliments from people of all nationalities and races in the world. I sincerely hope that life will revert back to normal for those in Japan as soon as possible.

For those who are interested in helping, there are a few fund-raising groups in Singapore dedicated to this cause, but the most legitimate and prominent one would be the Singapore Red Cross, where you can make cash donations. I'd also like to highlight Singapore Isetan, considering that I do get many of my Japanese cosmetic products from there. Although there is no information on their website, Isetan at Orchard is directing some of their proceeds to Earthquake Relief efforts. Isetan has sales events this month, as well as a Spring Kyushu Fair. If you like Japanese food, Isetan's food fairs are always highly recommended.

As there are many Japanese expats in Singapore, you should be seeing more creative forms of fund raising efforts over the next few days. Yesterday (17 Mar) for example, 150 performers, 1/5 who are Japanese living in Singapore, held a Charity concert to raise funds for Earthquake relief efforts. These small and mostly impromptu events are usually not announced in the mainstream media, but Facebook is a good source of information for events like this. If such events come your way again, do check them out. It is always heartwarming to experience personally how people of different nationalities stepping across borders to help one another in times of need.

With a beautiful heart and attitude, even the plainest of all plain Janes exudes beauty and charm.

The threat of inflation is very real. Prices of daily necessities have been going up and the inflation does not seem like it will be letting up any time soon. Reducing expenditure on things you do not need such as expensive dinners and branded apparel is one of the surest ways of coping with reduced income.

However, this is no excuse for you to abandon your beauty regime and let yourself go to pieces! Usually, beauty products seem expensive to us only because we aren't spending wisely. Here are tips on how you can reduce frivolous spending.

If you can use one, don’t use more
Many products these days come with multiple purposes, such as two-in-one make-up remover and cleanser, eye moisturizer with wrinkle prevention etc. Always read carefully what a product contains so you don’t end up wasting money on extra products. Besides, treating any part of your face too many times a day can cause adverse effects.

Don’t buy based on price
Just because a product is expensive doesn’t mean it works miracles on everyone. It’s wiser to determine the effectiveness of a product before splurging on it. You can obtain a sample, or read customer reviews off beauty websites and online shopping facilities like Amazon. Also, bear in mind that products that work well on people of a certain ethnicity may not work so well on people of another ethnicity. Get reviews from a local beauty website rather than one that serves a different community from yours.

Natural home remedies for fundamental skincare
They are cheap, easy to make, generally have no side effects and they work. So why not?

Lead a healthy lifestyle
Don’t stay up late, don’t drink often, don’t smoke etc… You know the drill. You save up money on electricity, cigarettes, alcohol etc, and you don’t have to spend so much money on beauty products to salvage your skin!