Face Good

As the numbers of suspected cases of swine flu and affected countries are spiralling, we may all have to start wearing masks when we go out. The upside: No need to bother with makeup. The downside: You look like a patient.

So why not give those trendy face masks a shot? I haven't personally seen any sold in Singapore though. Shops selling Korean and Japanese character goods like Action City might have them. The Hello Kitty store at Vivocity might sell them too. But I've definitely seen some cute masks selling on Ebay. Just do a search for 'cute flu mask' or 'hello kitty mask'. Since Asia has just recently gone through a SARS epidemic, you may also find cute masks from countries like Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan (Why not Singapore? I wonder too. I guess we're just too practical to be bothered with appearances). If you understand Japanese, Rakuten is an ideal place to shop for Japanese goods online.

However, bear in mind that some of the masks are merely for fashion purposes and may not offer adequate protection against germs. If you're not sure if a certain mask is designed for health purposes on top of being trendy, you'd best stick to clinical masks. Health is still more important than beauty after all!