Vanity Journey - Facial laser with DRx

In my life, I guess the hardest battle that I've to deal with currently, is probably the battle against acne scarring. Why is the journey to good flawless skin such a treacherous one? #firstworldproblems indeed.

I've been going to DRx for my skin problems and I love them & their products because they help to minimize black/white heads and reduce the frequency & size of my pimples if they do occur. One major problem I have with recurring pimples is that they often leave a red mark after they're gone & they would be there for the longest time :( 

So in this post, I will talk about a treatment that I've been going for since 2011. I've gone for about 7 sessions & these laser treatments have dramatically improved my skin condition. This post will be an image heavy post & lots of unglam ugly pictures so please do not judge! 

I've gone for 2 different types of laser, one invasive ( can't remember the name of the laser) but it was to target deeper scars and leave bloody marks all over and it was extremely painful! I went for two sessions of that and then decided to stop because I really couldn't bear the pain and the downtime.

But it helped to improve the appearance of deeper scars!

For the second type of laser, it is call the CO2 fractional laser. It is done for the overall resurfacing of the skin and it is usually quite painful at the upper lip area and the area around the eye.

So this is the condition of my skin before my laser. The main bout of the scars and large pores are at the sides of my cheek and scars on my nose as well 

Before the treatment, I would have to apply a layer of numb cream on my face and let it settle and take effect for about an hour. Normally I would ask the nurse to apply a thick layer as I have very low tolerance for pain!

I do not have pictures of the during but you can easily google it on YouTube. 

This is on the night of the laser treatment. As you can see, the skin will turn a little red after the treatment and it's normal. I regretted telling the doctor not to increase the power of the laser. I shouldn't be so chicken if I had wanted to see greater effects in this session. I NEED to have more courage for my next session. 

The face was actually burning because I had just showered and it was really painful :( 

After the laser treatment, for the next few days, you will be required to put a layer of hylauronic moisturizer (HM) on your face. The purpose of of HM is to moisturize the face while encouraging new cell growth. I dislike this, because it makes my face super oily and I can't lie on sides while I sleep. The feeling is just "eww". 

Day 2 of healing. Not much of a difference except that the face is slightly less red and the 'tiny dots" on the face are starting to turn brownish.

Day 3 of healing. In the last picture,you can see that the scabs have turned brown and are ready to fall off to reveal the new skin! My forehead is less red than the other areas as the doctor had used a lower power for that area as there is not scars on the area.

Normally on day 3, my face will start to itch and I would usually use a facial mist to calm the area and reduce itching!

Day 4. Not much difference from day 3. But skin becomes brownish due to the tiny dots.

Day 5. Scabs have mostly fallen. Skin remains pinkish.

Did a comparison collage between before laser treatment and 5 days after laser treatment. How wonderful is the treatment! I'm really addicted to CO2 treatment as I can see the effects after 1 session. 

But the only thing is, I would need to reduce the interval between each treatments to see better effects. The last time I did this was in March and I had delayed the treatment for 7 months before doing it again October. However, te period of downtime was what had caused the delay as I can't take a week leave so often. 

Day 6. Scabs have mostly fallen & new skin is revealed. Acne scars are much shallower except for some stubborn scars near the nose area and cheek area. But otherwise, I'm really happy with the effects of this treatment.

Hitachi Hada Crie Cool

Hitachi Hada Crie Cool

Got this beauty tool a while ago off ebay at a price of approximately SGD200+. Singapore is retailing at SGD$499 and I thought it was crazily overpriced. Super delighted when I saw that it was selling almost at half the price over at ebay. 

Downside of getting it over at ebay is that the words on the gadget plus the manual is all in Japanese. But a simple google search will solve the problem! 

What this beauty gadget essentially does is that it is a facial cleansing and massage system. It cleanses deeply into pores to remove any last traces of dirt that it hidden in the pores and subsequently massages your products (lotions/moisturisers) into the skin resulting in better absorption of the products. Hada Cri consist of 4 functions ; cleanse, micropat, moisturize and refresh mode. You can read the explanation of the 4 different functions below. 

The head of this Hada Crie is made of Titanium to ensure no allergy reaction even to sensitive skin. For Hada Crie to function, it is important that the head and the sides of the tool is constantly in contact with the skin on your face and skin of the hand respectively. As each step takes about 5 minutes except for the Refresh mode which takes about 3 minutes, the whole cleansing process will last for 18 minutes. To ensure that you have really cleansed face, it is advisable to use this daily. Yes, 18 minutes sound like a really long duration, but I guess that's the sacrifice you have to make in order to have really clean and healthy skin. 

In the first and third step of the process, you will need to attach a piece of cotton wool onto the titanium head  with a plastic ring and this ring is provided in the box. I use my usual normal cotton pads but I guess it is important to use better quality cotton pads as some cotton pads may tend to fray if you swipe it continuously on your face.

I have only started using this last night (26 May 2013) and hence it's a little too early to give  a review on this product. As lazy as I am, I have started to incorporate this into my daily skincare regime and I hope this enthusiasm will last as I am really excited to see what this $200 investment can do for my skin.

Be gone, skin woes! :) 

[ REVIEW ] : Hada Labo Travel Set

I was suffering an outbreak 3 weeks ago and I really thank God that everything is back to normal now. My skin does not feel like there's thousands of tiny bumps. Because of the outbreak, I was religiously using my DRx products (CF, AB , Max C) and while the outbreak cleared up, the DRx products left me with really dry skin which flakes especially around the mouth area. My whole face felt very tight, uncomfortable and it looked really dull. So I wanted to add a more hydrating set of skincare to my regime but had no idea which. I needed to be extremely cautious not to apply anything that would aggravate my outbreaks or worsen my sensitive skin. So one day while I was walking around in Watson, I saw this Hada Labo travel set. From the advertisements on TV, Hada Labo promises to give you very hydrated skin with the *boink boink* effect. I decided to give this a try since it wasn't a skincare set that was too expensive. This set cost me $15.90 and I got the following; 

From L-R

1. Super Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Milk 20ml

2. Super Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Lotion 20ml

3. Super Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Wash 20g

4.Super Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Make-up Remover 20ml

I have tried the make-up remover and I didn't quite like it. Felt that it was not good enough to remove all the make-up from my face. I had to use many drops of it to feel 'oily' enough to massage and remove the make-up off my face. But perhaps I was comparing it with my SK2 make-up facial oil which I really loved. 

For the hydrating wash, one thing that I didn't enjoy was the smell of it. I am not able to describe the smell, but I really disliked the smell of it. However, my face does feels clean after using it and does not gives me the tight feeling. Would probably continue using this since it's pretty gentle on the face. 

Next up is Super Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Lotion and the Milk which are the star products of the travel set. I personally love this 2 products because after applying it on my skin, my skin no longer feels so tight and taut and the skin around my mouth doesn't peel anymore! 

And true to the advertisements, one drop is all you need! I would normally pour a drop onto my palm and then rub my palms together to warm the lotion before patting it onto my face (heard it increase the absorption of the product by the skin). 

For both the lotion and milk, they have a thick watery consistency. Initially I was still worried that the products might make my face feel sticky and oily and I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't. The products got absorbed very quickly into my skin. Just need to pat it a few more times.

The best selling point of this product was that it DID NOT worsen my breakout or cause any new breakouts!

And I also love packaging of the travel set. It came with this plastic folder which is still enough to fit my travel set SK2 facial cleanser and my Sulwalsoo Snowise sunblock. It's so convenient and I can easily fit it into my work bag. I bring it everywhere I go now, just in case I need to wash my face/reapply the products! 

I love my Hada Labo so much that I proceeded on to buy the second pack which has whitening properties as well. Will properly use it once my skin stabilizes more. 

Hope this review has been helpful to those of  you who's planning to try out Hada Labo :)

NOTW (Nail of the week) : Leopard Prints 

Since I change my nail polish and at times my nail art every week, I think it would be helpful for me to document down all the changes of my nail polishes + nail art. Maybe one day, I will look back at these entries and marvel at how my skills at painting nail art has improved (I hope). 

So this week's manicure was inspired by a fellow instagrammer (can't remember her nick). Base was from Butter London. Love the yellow of the base because it's so sunshine!

I hope this manicure can brighten the rest of my week! :) 

Brow Resurrection Natural 

Ugly brows have never really mattered to me, because I am not one who have been born with nice, tidy, dark brows. So I guess I got used to seeing my ugly brows and I thought they looked okay. I just had to keep it tidy by going for regular tweezing during facial sessions, and that was all I did for my brows. There are times when I would make an effort to draw them nicely, but that was only for special occasions.

However recently, I have been seeing how eye brows can change the entire look of a person. A nice neat dark eyebrows can lighten the whole look of the person. This was when I started to pay more attention to my own eyebrows and wondered how I could stand looking at myself in the mirror everyday with those eyebrows of mine.

A friend of mine happened to be obsessed with her brows and she had been telling me that she wants to try eye brow embroidery. This also coincided with a couple of bloggers reviewing the Brow Resurrection that they had gone for at Browhaus. After seeing this pictures of their eyebrows, man, I was tempted.

I kept thinking and mulling over it, did my research, looked at the reviews online and I finally decided to take the plunge and just do it!

My biggest concern was that I was afraid that this brow treatment would be similar to eyebrow tattoo. I did not want my eyebrow to fade to a blue-ish green after some time (as seen on some aunties). After the therapist assured me that it wouldn't, I excitedly gave her the go-ahead to start the treatment.

The whole treatment took about 1.5 hours (including the numbing cream + actual treatment) and because of the numbing cream that was applied 20 minutes earlier, the whole process was a pain-free one.

Some info of Brow Resurrection:

Brow Resurrection is our signature semi-permanent treatment, an advanced brow embroidery technique that is unique to Browhaus. It boasts a more detailed and natural stroke perfected by our dedicated Research and Development team, with a finer finish than normal brow embroidery.

So here are my before and after picture of my brows. 

Before 

After (about 1.5 hours later)

I totally loved my brows after the session and have not regretted it since. Everyday I look into the mirror with pride and I cannot help but keep staring at my brows. 

Even the boyfriend has commented that my new brows look nice on me. 

So, don't wait anymore and just do it! Every minute of procrastinating = every minute wasted to look beautiful.