Face Good

Good eye creams do help to lessen eye bags, but as a long term solution, they can get really expensive! Here are some food items that are known to help prevent the formation of eye bags and reduce their intensity. Try to accommodate them in your diet frequently and you’ll find your eye bag issue improving in the long run without breaking your bank!

Eggs
Eggs are rich in proteins. Protein stimulates cell growth and helps to reduce dead cell accumulation around your under eyes. However, bear in mind that the max number of eggs one should consumer per day is 2. The healthiest method to cook your egg is to boil it. Lean meat and seafood are also rich in proteins and can be consumed to increase your amount of protein intake. However, because the amino makeup of protein in eggs is more similar to that of the human body, we absorb protein from eggs more readily.

Sesame
Sesame is rich in vitamin E, which is nourishing for your eyes and the skin around your eyes. Apart from this, it also promotes healthy hair growth! Other food rich in vitamin E include peanuts, almonds and sunflower seeds.

Carrots
Like sesame, carrots are rich in vitamin E. It has one more added bonus – richness in Vitamin A. It stimulates skin repair and thus helps to reduce eyebags. Other food items rich in Vitamin A include animal liver, butter, almonds, alfafa etc.

Seaweed
Seaweed is rich in iron. Iron combines with protein to form hemoglobin which promotes oxygen transportation and absorption of nutrients.

Green tea
Green tea has detoxification effects. If you’re constantly in front of the computer, you should drink more green tea to get rid of eyebags caused by radiation from the computer. Green tea contains polyphenols, a powerful antioxidant. It helps to reduce skin damage caused by harmful free radicals. Green tea helps to promote sleep, thus indirectly reducing one of the main causal factors of eyebags.

Placing tea bags over eyebags also helps to reduce dark circles. After boiling tea bags, put them aside to cool, or refrigerate them for a short while if you want to use them quickly. Place over closed eyes for 20 minutes.

Now we all know that fruits and veggies are good for skin, but some don’t taste very nice unprocessed, and we get sick of the common fruits. It’s good to have some variations, isn’t it? Here are some self-invented juices that will help you lessen the harmful effects of late nights on your skin! And they taste great too!

Veggie Delight
You will need 1 radish, 1 carrot, a few stalks of spinach and celery, half a glass of fresh milk, 2 tablespoons of honey and a few ice cubes.
Cut up all the vegetables into small pieces and place them into the fruit juicer. Add the milk, honey, and ice and mash them all together.

Creamie Fruitie
You will need one banana, a slice of papaya and a small carton of yogurt (250ml). Peel the banana and remove the skin of the papaya. Cut the banana and papaya into small pieces. Put them into the juicer with the yogurt and mash them all together.

Sour Stimulation (warning: It’s really sour! Good for digestion though, especially when you’ve just returned from supper!)
You will need 2 kiwi fruits, 4 oranges and 1 lemon. Remove their skins and cut them into small pieces. Mash them together in the juicer.

Sweet and Sour
You will need three pomeloes, a bunch of grapes and 2 tablespoons of honey. Peel the pomeloes and cut them into small pieces. Mash them together in the juicer. The mixture will be a nice balance of sour and sweet!

Minty Cool
You will need 1 cucumber, 500ml of soya bean milk, 3 peppermint leaves. Skin and slice the cucumber. Mash and mix them up in the juicer. It’s cooling and makes you feel more energetic!

One last milk mask for this series before I go on to something new next week! If you are plagued with age spots and uneven pigmentation, this mask will help you to fade the problem spots and restore even skin colour!

You will need a tablespoonful of milk, two tablespoonfuls of Hydrogen Peroxide Solution (H2O2), three tablespoonfuls of pearl powder and a little water.

H2O2 solution has been used to treat acne as well as diminish marks caused by acne. However, bear in mind that it can be quite drying and irritating especially on sensitive and dry skin. Milk does help to alleviate some of the dryness, but go for a solution with as low a concentration as possible. 3% concentration is the most commonly available one often used as antiseptic. Most pharmacies should carry it, so do consult the pharmacist on its contents and concentration. H2O2 with a concentration of 10% and above can burn skin!

So back to the mask! Mix the above-mentioned agreements together until it becomes a nice gooey mixture. Apply it to your face. Be careful not to touch the brows and area around the eyes because they are too delicate to handle the H2O2. After the mask dries, rinse off with warm water.

Tip: Masks are great for deep cleansing. However, if you have no time to make your own masks, you can simply pour a little milk into your face wash basin, dip a mask sheet in the wash basin and place it over your face. Once the sheet dries, wait a few minutes and then remove the sheet and rinse your face with water.

This article is shared at Face Good on Facebook! Please join it if you have a facebook account, and discuss and contribute!

In my previous article, I wrote about the wonders of milk, and using fermented milk to make masks. However, it seems some people really dislike it (my mum. oh dear. she nearly threw up because of the smell). So if you think that fermented milk smells too bad for your liking, here are a few more milk masks, made from fresh milk! Take your pick!

#1
Mix three tablespoonfuls of fresh milk with three tablespoonfuls of pearl powder and stir until it becomes an even gooey mixture. Apply it all over your face. Once the mask is dry, wash it off with warm water. You should only use this mask twice a week or less.

#2
Mix a tablespoon of fresh milk, a few drops of olive oil and 1 table spoon of pearl powder together until you get a nicely even mixture. Apply it to your cleansed face. When it dries, wash off with warm water. This helps to reduce wrinkles and maintains your skin’s suppleness and elasticity. Similarly, only do this no more than twice a week, and if you use one, don’t use the other.

#3
Mash 50g of strawberry. Juice it by placing the pulp in between porous sheets or a porous bag. Pour the juice into one glass of fresh milk and stir evenly. Massage this all-natural strawberry milk mixture over your face and neck. Wash off after 15 minutes. This cleanses, tones and moisturizes your skin and prevents wrinkles!

This article is shared at Face Good on Facebook! Please join it if you have a facebook account, and discuss and contribute!

I’m back with my first post for the New Year! I hope everyone’s New Year started out great! My new year was tonnes of fun, but I’m so exhausted! I’ve been staying up past 2am for the countdown and parties. My poor skin’s gone through the mill! To make up for the late nights and unhealthy food and beverages, I’ve been giving my skin a treat – milk masks!



Since historical times, milk has long proven its worth in beauty and skin care. Concubine Yang, one of the four great beauties of China, was famed for taking a milk bath everyday. Even in modern times, Fan Bing Bing, touted as one of the greatest beauties in Chinese entertainment, revealed milk baths as one of her beauty secrets!

However, milk baths are rather extravagant, and not all of us have bath tubs to begin with! On the other hand, using milk on your face once in a while is pretty affordable!

For this week and the next, I'll share with you some recommended DIY treatments and masks derived from milk!

Wrinkle-removal & whitening mask

Milk is rich in dairy fat, vitamins and minerals. It has natural moisturizing properties and is easily absorbed by the skin. It prevents skin from drying, and reduces dry wrinkles. It is a great all-natural skin care product!

First of all, place a glass of milk in a warm part of the house for a few days. This will cause the lactic acid in the milk to ferment, thus releasing its anti-bacterial properties. Scoop up about 2 tablespoons of milk and set aside. Add a tablespoon of pearl powder paste to the rest of the milk and stir until it becomes a gooey mixture that is thick enough to stay on your skin surface.

Do not choose low-fat milk or skimmed milk. Freshly collected, unprocessed milk straight from the farms is the best, but this is not very conveniently available, so you can make do with packet milk.

Here’s how to milk the treatment for all its worth!

1. Using some milk from those 2 tablespoons of milk that you previously set aside, apply it onto your face. Massage it all over your face for about one minute.

2. Wipe your face clean with a warm towel.

3. Apply the milk mask thickly to your face. Rinse off with warm water after 20 – 30 minutes.

4. Dab green tea water or alkaline toner (because lactic acid is acidic) to your face and wait till it dries.

5. Massage the remaining fermented milk all over your face. You don’t have to wash this away. However, if you can’t tolerate the smell from it, you can use fresh milk, or mix fresh milk with fermented milk. Pure fermented milk is still the most effective though!

After doing this five or six times, you should find that your skin looks visibly better!

Tune in next week for more!

On another happy note, I've created a Facebook group for Face Good! It's still rather empty but I'll spruce it up soon and invite more members. Apart from discussing my articles posted here, you can discuss anything and everything to do with beauty. So do come and join up and contribute your wealth of knowledge, and invite your friends!

One of my greatest New Year resolutions with respect to beauty and health is to consume at least one apple every day, because apples have many health and beauty benefits as listed below:

1. Prevents Weight Gain
Compared to other fruits, fat level from apples is virtually negligible. Apples don’t contain protein. Every 100g of apple contains only about 60 calories. Apples are also rich in malate, which stimulates the dispersal of fats in the body, thus preventing weight gain.

2. Whitens Teeth
Apples are rich in cellulose, among which some have the ability of cleansing grime on and between your teeth. Smile as much as you like after enjoying an apple!

3. Detoxifies Intestines
Apples are rich in pectin, which promotes bowel movement. Its rich source of dietary fibre helps to expel toxins from your body, consequently improving your skin’s appearance.

4. Skin whitening
Apples contain plenty of Vitamin C, which helps to lighten freckles, age spots and keeps your skin rosy and supple.

Since apples are great for skin, why not use them on your face too! Here’s a simple recipe for an apple mask that you can do once or twice a week!

Skin an apple and mash it up into pulp. If you have dry skin, add milk or vegetable oil to the apple pulp. The amount you add depends on how watery you’d like your mask. Preferably it should of course not be too watery that it runs down your face. Personally I find a quarter of a glass to be pretty good. If you have oily skin, add egg white from an egg to the apple pulp. Stir until the mixture is even and apply all over your face. Leave it on for 20 minutes and then rinse off with clean water. This mask helps to lighten acne scarring, freckles and brown spots. You’ll feel that your skin becomes smoother, softer and whiter.

Do you also know that apples can help to reduce eye circles? Simply place a thin slice of apple under each eye. It works like cucumbers!

Always remember the old adage, “An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away!” Skin doctors and dentists included too!

 
Christmas is just 2 weeks away! Have you started drawing up your shopping lists for Christmas dinner? This year, I’m going to include pomelos on my dinner table. Yes, you read right. All my guests will be getting a slice from the huge fragrant fruit usually eaten during Autumn Moon Festival.

Then again, who says pomelos should only be eaten during a particular season? Pomelos are a native fruit to South East asia and they can be found in Singapore even during this period. They may be more rare in supermarkets and markets, but you can try wholesale vegetable markets or even across the causeway!

According to those who practice Chinese Traditional Medicine, pomelos have the ability to reduce phlegm, soothe lungs, detoxify the intestines, contribute to the production of red blood cells, and strengthens the spleen, amongst many other medical advantages. It’s a great rehabilitation food to have after a cold, or simply to counteract the many sinful foods you’ve eaten at the Christmas dinner table! In fact, it’s a healthy fruit to eat on a regular basis.

But it is very important to bear in mind that pomelos cannot be consumed with certain types of medication, especially prescribed medication for people suffering from Hyperlipemia. Consuming medication with inappropriate food products can result in intoxication and consequently muscle aches and kidney problems. Do consult your doctor if you have medical problems!

On the plus side, it reduces sugar and cholesterol levels and when consumed in the long run, promotes healing in patients suffering from diabetes, high blood pressure, hardening arteries etc. It also stimulates weight loss in obese people. Even for healthy people with no medical problems, pomelos promote healthy and beautiful skin!

There are some simple tricks to ensure that you select a pomelo that is guaranteed to be sweet! First of all, ripe pomelos are very fragrant, so choose one that your nose likes! Next, gently knock and press against the peel with your finger joint. If the peel dents easily, ditch it. The key word is ‘gently’. Using strength is just going to dent anything, no matter how top-grade the pomelo is. Besides, you wouldn’t want to get yelled at by the seller, would you? An ideal pomelo has the standard shape of a broad, round base that extends to a narrow tip, skin that’s not dull and is pale green or yellow. (If it is an intense shade of green, it is not ripe!) When you’ve purchased your pomelo, it is not quite ready for eating just yet! Pomelos keep for a long time, so keep it aside in a cool place for about 2 weeks. By then, it would have ripened further and lost extraneous water content and it would taste sweeter.

So don’t wait until Eve of Christmas to buy your pomelo. Time to go pomelo hunting now!

And I’m back with more cheap and quick fruit DIY masks for healthy skin!

Orange Mask

Effects: Removes layer of dead cells on skin and stimulates cell growth. Has great anti-oxidant effects, especially great for people who face the computer all day long.

What you need: Yogurt (100mg), honey (100mg), freshly squeezed orange juice (100mg)

How to make it: Stir everything together until it becomes an even mixture.

Apply mask to face and wash off after 15 minutes.

Grape mask

Effects: The skin and seeds of grapes have antioxidant effects and can help to slow down skin damage and ageing.

What you need: 10 fresh grapes

How to make it: Mash the grapes, including the seeds.

Apply the mask to your skin, gently pressing your face with your finger tips to stimulate absorption. Rinse off with warm water after 20 minutes.

Watermelon Moisturizing Mask

Effects: Replenishes moisture in both dry skin and oily skin and calms sensitive skin.

What you need: A quarter of a watermelon, mask sheet

How to make it: Remove the watermelon skin and seeds. Place the flesh into a bowl and use a spoon to flatten it into pulp.

Apply mask evenly to face and cover with a mask sheet. Rinse off with cold water after 10 to 15 minutes. This mask is so gentle it can be used everyday.

The weather’s been horribly hot and humid recently! A cold glass of fruit juice or a crunchy fruit straight from the fridge brings great relief! How about giving your face a treat too?

Mixed Fruit Mask

Effects: Moisturizing, Whitening, Anti-inflammation

What you need: Egg white from 2 eggs, skinned/peeled fruits cucumber (yes, cucumber is a fruit), lemon, banana and lychee

How to make it: Add all the skinned/peeled fruits into the juicer and juice them. Add egg white and stir until the mixture becomes evenly pulpy.

Apply the mask evenly on face and wash off with warm water after 15 minutes. This mask can be used once a week.

This is a very natural and economical method to nourish your skin as fruits have moisturizing properties and are rich in a variety of vitamins. Egg white helps to tighten pores.

Apple Mask

Effects: Cleansing, Moisturizing, Whitening, Anti-Oxidizing

What you need: An apple, a plain mask sheet. People with sensitive and dry skin can include some fresh milk or olive oil, while people with oily skin can include egg white.

How to make it: Peel the apple and mash it up into pulp. If you have the above-mentioned skin condition, add the extra ingredients into the apple pulp and stir until even.

Apply mask to your face and cover with a mask sheet. Rinse off with clean water after 15 to 20 minutes. This mask can be used every alternate days. After 20 days, you should see some results.

Apples are great nourishment for all skin types. It has skin smoothening, moisturizing and whitening properties, and is known to reduce the appearance of dark pigmentation, freckles and acne scarring.

I will share more fruit masks with you in my next post, so stay tuned!

Did everyone enjoy your Chinese New Year holidays? Mine was great! I called on many relatives and friends whom I haven't seen for ages. I also ate like I haven't in ages XD I've lost count of the number of mini meals I've had for each day! I hope all that moving around makes up for the weight I might have piled on! But I haven't had a proper night's sleep because I've been staying up all night to play mahjong! At least the information in my previous post will come in handy.

After all the misdeeds I've done to myself over CNY, I've made a resolution to increase my fruit intake. So I'd like to share some information I have about fruit juices in case there are others who share my resolution.

Fruits are highly nourishing for skin especially since its rich in Vitamin Cs and healthy (well maybe with the exception of durians). That’s why I always try to drink fruit juices instead of caffeine products like coffee and tea! Different fruits contain different nutrition levels and are hence more adept at serving different purposes. For optimal beauty results, choose the one that serves yours!


In the following, I’ve listed ingredients needed to make each type of fruit juice. Just remove their skins, cube them and put them into the juicer!

Reduce breakouts for people with Oily Skin
You will need ½ a medium-sized apple, ¼ of a lemon and a few small slice of carrots (by preference).

Even skin pigmentation
¼ of a whole pineapple, ½ a stick of celery, ½ a tomato.

Nourishing weak immune system
1 orange, ¼ of a medium-sized cabbage, 1 stalk of coriander

Mild Hair loss
2 stalks of Chinese Lettuce (remove leaves), 1 medium-sized piece of ginger, a small carrot, an apple and 1/3 of a lemon.

Digestion and rosy skin
1 tomato, half a lime. You don’t need a juicer to mix them up. Simply squeeze out their juices into a cup and mix them up properly.

Relieving exhaustion, lightening of pigment and acne scarring
¼ of a pineapple, ½ of a bittergourd, 3 guavas

It is important that you use fresh fruits, and drink them right after juicing where they are still fresh! Some fruits undergo oxidation upon exposure and that causes nutrient loss!

Well no, not karate or kungfu, but precautionary measures to protect your skin’s wellbeing on late nights. As you’re putting in extra nighters to ensure a peaceful Chinese New Year holiday, bear in mind that stress and late nights are the nemeses of beautiful, healthy skin! What’s more, many of us are going to stay up really late on New Year’s Eve. It’s a bane for the skin, but a tradition we have to observe nonetheless! The good news is, we can cushion these harmful effects and reduce them to the minimal!

Before midnight...

Keep your meal light and healthy. People tend to have their dinner really late when they’re doing overtime. Though we should actually have dinners in the evening, I know this is pretty inevitable, so if you really must have dinner-supper, choose to eat more vegetables and less meat and oil.

Remove your make-up as early as possible, preferably before midnight, even if you’re still stuck in your office. It’s better to look less glamorous for a few hours than suffer from breakouts over the next few days, don’t you think so? Pores get blocked when your face gets suffocated by make-up for long hours. The damage would have been done by the time you remove your make-up. Remove your make-up as early as possible, and remove it well.

Increase your intake of vitamin B, because it helps to strengthen your immunity system and relieves exhaustion!

Staying up after midnight...

Staying up late intensifies heatiness. The combination of late nights with a snack of potato chips, biscuits and other dry snacks that cause heatiness is a lethal one. You could end up with pimple breakouts and worst, sore throats and coughs.

1. Green tea has a cooling effect that helps to reduce heatiness. It makes you more awake and refreshed, and helps to rid your body of free radicals which are harmful to your health. Alternatively, you can drink jasmine tea or wolfberry tea if green tea doesn’t go down well with you.

2. If you must have supper, take non-oily and non-heaty foods like fruits, porridge or wholemeal bread.

Aftermath

1. Return to your normal sleeping routine as soon as you can.

2. If you're not used to staying up late, you may feel weak and tired over the next few days. Do drink ample water and consume protein-rich food to repair your damaged cells.

3. Massages will help to stimulate blood circulation.

4. Don't stay at home all day long even if you're exhausted. Go out for a walk. The sun will do you good. But don't forget the sunblock for your skin!

Have a Happy and Healthy Year of the Ox!

Since this is my first post, I shall blog about a problem that inflicts almost all Singaporeans (yes, the men and children too!) and basically any developed country in the world - late nights!

Most people make light of staying up late, thinking that whatever damages that are caused can be slept away by the next night. If only this were true! Staying up late inflicts long-lasting damage to your overall well-being, including your skin. What's more, burning the midnight oil has become routine for most people, myself included, so there's no 'replenishing of sleep' to speak of. The list of negative impacts accompanying late nights is endless, but I'm not here to condemn late nights, so on with the tips!

You are what you eat, so eating right for dinner or supper is pretty much self-explanatory. Late nighters should consume food that is rich in Vitamin C or collagen as these help to restore the elasticity and luminity of skin. Skin of animals, such as chicken, duck and pig, is rich in collagen. Most fruits are rich sources of Vitamin C. If you're not consuming enough veggies or fruits, you may want to consider taking Vitamin C pills (but all natural is still the best!). Eat less spicy food and go easy on the alcohol!