Great Skin

How to have great skin?

I actually have no idea :/

Over the years, well actually in a few months, it develops from being

 Clear

Full of Acne

 To clear again

I absolutely have no idea what happened. The most acceptable answer for me was hormonal change, but what into what? As if my body decided to go to puberty again. Many said the facial and the CO2 laser I did cause my face to break out. However the facial did get rid of the many pimples that were not erupted in my face and the CO2 laser did reduce my blackheads.

Perhaps its the cleanser I bought from my esthetician, or perhaps the Vitamin C that I started taking or perhaps the pimple medication finally decided to work. I still don't know.

What works for me, may not neccesarily works for you and vice versa.

I did decide to educate my self on the products I used and use peer to peer reviews to find out products beneficial using these two websites

http://www.beautypedia.com

This websites provides review on products available on the market, although majority of the Asian focus products in Malaysia was not reviewed. The best thing about this site is the dictionary so you can find out what dimethicone means.

http://www.skintypesolutions.com/home

This websites allows you to find out what kind type do you have. Its no longer just normal, oily, dry or sensitive but up to 16 different types of skin type combination. Mine is oily, sensitive, pigmented and tight. The quiz is now free (they used your data for research) and you have access to forums where people discuss which product works for your particular skin type group.

Its easy to give out advice based on your skin, but its kind hard when you don't have the same skin, but the website skintypesolutions does come close when grouping people in the same categories.

Going Straight and Failed.

I have naturally curly hair. Out of the blue, I decided to straighten it.


The Straightening Cream is used to chemically relaxed the hair. Its major ingredient in it is Ammonium thioglycolate. So it does smell like industrial strength toilet cleaner.

Voila, straight hair and spikey hair

Yes, now I look like every other average Joe's on the street. Happiness does not last long

There is one problem with this process. Your hair needs to be at least 3 inches long, because its easier to iron it using a hair straighter. If you don't use a hair straightener, this is the result. The hair becomes dry and wavy. If the hair is wet, it becomes straight, but if it is dry, it becomes this frizzy mess. My brother uses it (it was his straightener kit anyway), but his hair is longer thus he is able to iron it. Upon closer inspection, his hair does look a bit like mine, but I had coloured my hair before and my hair is much more curly. These two factors does contribute to his frizzy mess.

I decide to just cut it all off, even the barber was a bit weird out by my current hair texture and proceeded to cut everything off :(... Actually this is the first time I was able to record each step of the process. I am not a novice in this hair straightening process. When I did my diploma, I used to overuse this chemical repeated and damage my hair repeatedly. I bleached, colored, and straighten it to a point the hair broke off. I remember how much time it took to style my hair and how worried I was when there was strong wind. It made me laugh a little of how desperate I was back then for the path of straight hair. The proper way is probably to go to a professional or at least wait till I have at least 3 inches of hair or at least learn to know how to iron my hair. LOL.. that takes to much times. I will stick with my neatly short crop hair for now.

*btw, if you are curious on how the process works, this is the simplest way I could explain it.

Apply straigtening cream to unshampoo hair using a fine comb.

Leave it between 15-30 minutes until hair is straighten.

Wash your hair clean of the straightening cream.

Iron your hair with a flat iron.

Apply the neutralizing cream.

Leave for 10 minute

Rinse all the neutralizing cream off.

Iron your hair again.

Do not wash for at least 48 hours.

IMS Irritable Male Syndrome

Angry, sarcastic, explosive, depressive, sad, unwanted, need to with drawn to video games, excessive eating, the need to drink more caffeine.

Yeah, that pretty much sums up how I felt for few months now

For most people, its the typical guy or typical hot headed male.

However some studies shown its the effect of the sudden decrease level of testosterone in males which causes these symptoms.

There is this guy named Dr Jed Diamond, who wrote the book "The Irritable Male Syndrome". He claims he has done the study in more than 10,000 men and proof that this is a real syndrome in men.

One might find in similar to PMS (pre menstrual syndrome) which occur in women before they have their period. Menopause happens to women after they ran out of ovum supplies and stopped menstruating. Which means, it happens every month or when they reach the age 50

IMS however, can happen everyday. Male produce sperms for the rest of their lives, even if they are impotent, but the testosterone level does decrease with old age. This kinda shows how some males are so temperamental and why old man are cranky

I watched a show on 3R about PMS and IMS. They claim men should not give women a hard time since women have PMS, but men have IMS. All I understood from the show is that if I am aggressive, withdrawn, angry and so on, you can't blame it on me, but blame it on my sudden decrease in testosterone level? Nice job ladies of 3R, and you writers and producers to give that understanding to me. Thank god your show does not cater to the general male population. Just freaks like me who like to watch it.

This is an excerpt of an interview with Dr Jen

Again, there is the assumption that women are hormonal but men are moved more by logic. But the truth is men are as hormonally driven as women. In fact, men have a number of hormonal cycles:

1) Men's testosterone, for instance, varies and goes up and down four or five times an hour.
2) There are daily cycles with testosterone being higher in the morning and lower at night.
3) Men have a monthly hormonal cycle that is unique to each man, but men can actually track their moods and recognize they are related to hormonal changes through the month.
4) We know that there are seasonal cycles with testosterone higher in November and lower in April.
5) We know about hormonal cycles with males during adolescence, but also the years between 40 and 55 have what we call male menopause or andropause.
6) Finally, we know there are hormonal changes in men going through IMS, related to stress in a man's life.

You can read more in Wiki, Medicine Net, the doctors own website selling his book (I wonder if this is a scam really than the truth) and at enotlone

They say this is genetic, I find my dad with explosive anger burst all week. Especially if he is under stress. I guess I inherited it. It kinda sucks, that I have to be wrong, when I want to be right (a sign of IMS), that I don't know whats going on (IMS again), and that people don't get it (I should the poster boy of IMS)

I wonder though, if they say this is about decrease of testosterone level, what if I took testosterone? No not the ones the body builder takes, well actually is the same, usually the body builder takes likes 50 times the recommended dose, while for hormonal therapy, its much-much lower in the dosage. A friend of my took it because he wants to grow more facial hair. Well, he was hairier, but not at face but at the arms, legs and so on. Also his sex drive was a lot higher. This is a problem for those who are single, not married, believe masturbation will cause you to go blind and believe in sex after marriage.

This makes me stressed out just thinking about it. I think spikes in the testosterone level affected my skin, I get pimples more often than I should, and I am very religious with washing my face with a cleanser.

Basically the article says I should face my problems head on. There is problem though, since it involves people, these people find themselves doing nothing wrong, which makes me irritated even more. This shows that I have to change or I have to look at the situation differently. I don't want to (IMS, IMS)

Erghh.. this allergy is making things worse, and the meds that I got before, is not kicking in at ALL..

So now you know why most of my entry is very emo... :D

The things we do to our faces

Yes, things we do to get rid of acne. From lotions, to ointments, to toners to miracle creams, all promising to get rid of the horrible red, white, boils on your face. Too bad some of it don't work at all, some even aggravate acne even more, worst of all, even if it does clear up your acne problem, the acne will still come back. Its a on going battle on your skin!. It starts and usually end during puberty but some unlucky people it continue on till they are in their 50s. I still have it (reason why I still have products to treat acne). Acne is cause both by bacteria and androgen stimulation. A pharmacist told me, women usually gets it during their period which is the time their hormones changes according to the stages of their period,and men gets it because they produce more androgen than women. Bacteria plays an important role too since acne provides a passage way for the bacteria to penetrate our skin. Yeah, I think I am gonna keep a stock of the acne solutions for a very long time, since acne seem to appear the least when you want it. So wash that face, apply that acne ointment and get on with life. It will still come back anyway so might as well deal with it and don't let it stop your life. Just bitch slap anyone concerning about your skin, just say you infected them with your acne (you can't get infected with acne from someone suffering from it), it probably give them something to think about. Who wants to risk it right?

Natural?

Its that time again to dye my hair. No longer red, blond, purple or brown. I am kinda sick of the color and the stares, good or bad. Its time to be "natural".

Back to basic black. Easier to take care, maintain and those who don't read this blog will not know.

New clothes, New hair, New Month

Its time to shop for raya clothes. I still be using last year Baju Melayu. So I need to buy just jalan2 clothes. My sister complain I only buy cheap clothes. Cheap as in under RM 50. She saids it just looks bad :( Hey I don't have that much cash in hand to get stylish stuff so I get anything that is comfy and on sale. So my family decided to pay for it, for something expensive and good quality and cut they say. Nautica had a sale off, so we decided to get some. I found out I know could get smaller size clothes, which fits my body prefectly.
This is great news, no longer I need to asked if this comes in a larger size :D.

I could fit into most XL now instead of XXL, even some L sizes such as this shirt, fits me perfectly. Lucky for my broad shoulders, my stomach does not protrude out as much. But the I have been losing some weight lately :). I can't wait to loose more and get more clothes :D

New hair cut is also in check for raya. I decided to go really really short without going bald or going skin head.

Also I ask the mamak to shave off all the so called facial hair I have and just leave my trademark side burn to my ear length. New hair, new clothes, and new life perhaps after this..

Budlee looses his mind.. again

Why is my face is powdery and dry

Gaaa!!! Its drying up..

I'm cracking, cracking, owh what a world what a world what a cruel world

*one must suffer for flawless skin. Pimples sprouted up here and there so its time to take evasive action. One must suffer for vanity :D.. BTW I was bored while doing this, it does not hurt one bit, but it made my skin less oily the next morning.

Swell

I had no idea how my left eye got swollen like that on Monday while hanging out at Amad's house, I think something bit me and I did not noticed it. I did not scratch or touch it, instead I washed my face and hoped for the best. I applied some gamat gel oitment on it and by Wendnesday the swelling has been reduced to normal. It was not allergic I think but I took an antihistamine just in case it was an allergic reaction.

A Dyeing Change

Yes I know, my hair color SUCKED. I agree with that statement, but I can't just cut it off or dye it again. The week I had it done was the week petrol shot up to RM 2.70 okay, so I had to keep it because I could use the money to fix the hair, to fill up petrol for my car. Anyways the color was wrong for all the right reasons. I can't believe I failed Hair Colour 101 even though I studied it for the past 7 years.

Reasons why my color was BAD!

1. Men should never change their hair more than 3 shades than their original hair color if they want to look "normal" for everyday settings. Unless you are a top model, stylist, fashion designer, a rockstar, a popstar or a porn star stick to 3 shades of your own color. I broke this rule by going 5 level/shades over my natural hair color.
2. Malays have cool skin tones. Cool tones are such as mine, tawny (kuning langsat/yellowish brown) or olive brown (sawo matang). Cools tones means cool colours. If we choose cool colours we look brighter and livelier. Cool color includes ash shades (greyish color) such as ash brown, platinum blond (almost white blond), raven black (natural hair color of most malay), dark brown, purple and red (liptick red). These natural and vibrant colors are for those with cool skin tones. I made a mistake by getting a warm color. Mahogany and golden are warm colors. Only those with pinkish red skin, freckled skin, or just golden tanned skin can have these colors. When I (cool skin toned) chose a warm shade, it looks like as if I got an instant tan and made my face looked very dark and dull.
3. Men usually don't wear red. My shade had a very strong red tint to it that only amplified with black hair because black hair receives red dye very well, in fact its easier to go red than to go brown with black hair. Red is usually very feminine that is why you see more red hair females than red hair guys. Most of the men will usually get their hair dyed darker.

So its time to go back to normal. I chose a shade that is very close to my hair which is a level 4 brown, which is only 1 level above my own hair color which is a level 3 black. Lesson that I have learned. Never follow a bunch of ladies to a salon and stay there for 8 hours. Its damaging to your mind and hair :p

DNA and my weight

ARGHH!!! I am still not getting any reading on the agarose gel for my tachyzoites DNA extraction. Its getting insanely frustrating. I recent consulted with those who have been doing extraction for a long time. I found out I may need to double or triple my sample concentration. Also if I take the eluted DNA, and run PCR on it with my primers, I should be able to get a read a band on the gel, because PCR will amplified the minute DNA that is not present when running the agarose gel

This was my blood result during the first time I joined my University research on obesity. As usually all the reading are high, but it shows that I don't have diabetes or high blood pressure. However by HDL is low and my fat content is high, which is normal for me, who are fat already. I do hope all these number that should be low will be reduced by August and the number that are low should increased. huhuhu i hope so :p

Raining Hot Day

Oh crap, I just washed the car and it was raining lightly this morning. So not cool

I need to photostate something at the nearby photocopy shop. Definitely not a productive, although I did managed to contact my supplier to get his PO and contact IMR for a little something.

Does my eyes look tired? Now I seen my eyes with umm.. my own eyes?? I also think they were very tired. They look puffy, and swollen to the side. I wonder what was wrong, was it from all that strain at the laptop, or tears flowing out too much. Allergies is one of the culprit, something else could be too. Oh just I am getting older. Hmm its time for the eye cream I presume..

Sleepy Diet..

So sleepy today, my allergies is still acting up, there was no claritin around so I decided to take on of my parents antihistamine meds. Bad move, I forgotten the kinds my parent have was the sleepy one.. So tired.. ZZZZZzzzzzz

This exactly what I would do if I do not have any coffee with me.. zzzzzz..

I participated in a survey conducted by the Food Nutrition and Health Faculty to found the relationship between obesity and nutrition. It took about 19 minutes to do the whole registeration and data recording stuff. I am just interested in my cholesterol and sugar count in my blood and my BMI. I managed to snap the above slip before I gave it back to them. I think this is a good step in getting a healthier body since I will be getting information about nutrition and exercise (its not like i ignorant about this, its just there is no one with a whip to boss me around..) This study will be conducted for 3 months so they will measure a before and after measurement. Hopefully the number above will change.

Pictures of children

This are just some of the snap shots of all the cousins, nephew and nieces I have in Kampung that I like to share with you all. I love the simplicity, compactness and just ease of use of a handphone camera, you can take it out snap and put it back in your pocket. If I have enough cash I want a high mega pixel flip handphone.

With the biggest child of them all :p

Food to the soul

What better way to treat a very tired and frustrated soul with food that is so evil and sinful, the devil himself whisper to the makers of these food the recipie for something so blissfull you will end up paying with your life if consume more often...

1 large Coke
213 kcal, 56g carbs, 56g of sugar

1 large Fries
413 kcal, 55g carbs, 5.8g protein, 18.9g fat, 1.1g salt

Big Mac
531 kcal, 50.5g carbs, 26.3g protein, 23.9g fat, 2.7g salt

Apple Pie
233 kcal, 25.5g carbs, 1.7g protein, 15.8g fat, 5.9g salt

Banana Pie
250 kcal, 33.g carbs, 1.7g protein, 11.8g fat, 6.2g salt

Yup this is my blissful sinful lunch, what do I get from the lunch?
Based on the recomended nutritional intake Malaysia, I already consumed

77% of my daily calories intake
70% of my daily carbohydrate intake
62% of my daily protein intake intake
118% of my daily fat intake
63% of my daily salt intake
22% of my dailt sugar intake

Definetly something to think about when you wolf down a Large Mc Value meal at Mc Donalds.

BTW I did not make this up, the paper they use to line your trays shows the Nutritional Information.

Now don't you just love reading the things that could kill you.

Maybe I should list down carcinogenic content in everyday cosmetic you apply, brush, and put on yourself everyday...

T day

I thought today would be a great day because I actually woke up early after Subuh prayers. I managed to leave home before at 8am instead of my usual 8.30am. I thought the traffic light near the Sg Buluh Tol Plaza would be fixed, but alas, it was still broken and the line is still pretty long.

See how many cars are stuck on with me, oh well, I'll just sit in my air conditioned car with the stereo blasting.

Today was Test day, hence the title of today post, T day, of my immuno parasit class. It was an open exam concept, where you are allowed to go online and look into books to answer the question. Sounds easy right....not, I find this to be the hardest. Imagine having to look for information from 20 journals in 7 hours. I would still be stuck on 1 journal in 7 hours, because medical journals are quite difficult to read, especially when you had to open a dictionary or a text book after every 3 or 4 sentences. Some more after each sentences or paragraph they will tell you from what source they got that info from, so basically you still have to find that journal in order to really understand it. I was in over my head today, I was confident at the beginning with my skeleton of my answers, but I ended up not being able to use it because I felt not confident enough to answer it. It was terrible moment for me... because earlier my Prof already gave the answer to my lab tech at 8am... so I was late, I thought the test starts at 9am... hantuu tol.... so I got on his bad side.. maybe his curse caused me to be overconfident, thus causing me to not to take this test seriously. To make matter worse, I could not hand in the answers sheets to my prof hands, because it was last minute and he already left. So I just left it in his pigeon whole. I felt very very horrible at that time.

I was not happy and disappointed at my self. (but at least this supposedly sad photo of me, turns out to be quite nice, I just got a haircut and I shaved of all of that so called facial hair. Plus this pose hides my double chin :D, definitely a keeper..) OKAAAY back to my melancholic self.. anyways I was down and decided to chat with this one person I hold close to my heart. This the advice I got, I don't remember the exact word but this is what how interpreted it

So? Are you going to complain or are you going to do something about it? Do you want to get an A+ or you prefer a B,C or perhaps you want an E for your grade. You need to focus, comprehend and understand what you are going to do. Stop complaining and do something about it...

Ouch.... not so kind words from someone I really like but alas.. those words were true and is real. I mean complaining won't get me anywhere, so might as well learn from this mistake. I definitely felt a lot better :). Back home after having dinner and talking to my mother and brother. I decided might as well do a facial.

Its not that hard to do it, after I took my shower, I just wash my face with this scrub I got at Watson. Its cheap and it does its job well. It has tea tree oil so it can help with some of my pimples that seem to have erupted recently. My relatives told me, pimples on the face represents that you have some one special in your life...... well I rarely get pimples so might as well believe these old wives tales :p..

After rinsing the scrub off, and pat my face dry, I just take some is this purifying mud pack and just a minute amount of water and just apply it to my face. I let it dry as I write this blog. After drying just rinse off, apply some toner on, put some moisturizer on and voila... a facial...... It easy, its relaxing, its cheap and it gives you nice skin..Oh relaxing way to end and not so relaxing day...