Tag Archives: beauty blog

It has been half a year since I made my presence on my blog. I have been away from home for a couple of months early this year. Made the decision to get back to the flying industry, I was in Japan for training during the whole of the winter season this year. And since then, I have been jet-setting for a couple of months now.

Living in Japan for a while was interesting for me. Besides the difference in culture, surprisingly hard to get less-carb food choices, and the endless shopping temptations, trying to keep fit without a gym (none in where I put up at) was challenging. I had, for the first time, ran in the cold bitter winter. Rocking bodyweight workouts in the hotel room with limited space was hilariously difficult. I did all that for 3 months.

How your Customer Service Job is Keeping You Looking Young!

September 15, 2013

Beauty, Natural Remedies

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Are you in a customer service job? Or doing sales? Or having to meet and engage with people all the time? Here’s another benefit of your job that you may not already have known!

I was in the customer service line years before. I could possibly attribute that to my younger age then, however, I feel I looked better and my facial muscles appeared toner as compared to now, where I just face my laptop and type all day long. Probably it is time to return to the customer service line to save my sagging face!

This seem like a pretty daring assumption for me to comment that being in the customer service frontline keeps you looking young, but if you look at the science and factual counts behind it, I guess it makes a valid standpoint. Imagine an office girl’s job : One who works behind the desk the whole time, and within cubicles given to each employee for privacy, the human to human interaction is highly minimal. One will at most be smiling not more than 30 times a day? If that is already an optimistic figure. Comparing to that of people holding customer service jobs, they probably clock up to 100, 200 smiles a day. (okay, that is provided you smile when fronting customers)

So what happens when you smile?

Out of the 53 muscles of facial expressions, smiling works 12 muscles on your face. They are, for interest sake, Zygomaticus major and minor (4), Orbicularis oculi (2), Levator labii superioris (2), Levator anguli oris (2) and Risorius (2). These smile muscles are the muscles around the mouth and cheeks that cause the lower portion of the face to turn upwards to form a ‘U’ profile when smiling. The same muscles work to draw into a tight lipped expression as well. These help to build up your cheek muscles for smiling and chewing. Tone the muscles on your cheeks and you will have an overall firmer and more toned looking face.

Supplementary exercises to do behind closed doors

Besides smiling as often and as wide (be genuine too!) as you can, here are some other exercises you can do to supplement regular smiling. Work those adjacent muscles to the key ones and keep it a habit to spend some time doing it as and when you can remember. Immediate results may not be prominent, but its the knowing you are doing something to retard the facial aging process that is worth the effort.

Alternate Cheek Puff – Inhale a big breath and blow out, holding breath in your mouth like a blown-up puffer fish. Push the breath to the left, then to the right, and back to the left again. Repeat this move until you run out of breath. Slowly blow out through your lips.

Laugh Line Eraser – Smile as wide without showing your teeth. Press your middle fingers on your laugh lines, using the length of your finger to cover the entire fold, keeping the smile. Gently raise fingers upwards, keeping the smile. Hold for 10 seconds, and repeat 10 times. Now, repeat the same movement, except this time smiling to show your teeth.

Face Lifter – Put both hands on the sides of the face. Hold it slightly upwards. Be careful not to tug too hard on your face. Smile wide with your lips pursed, and release. Repeat the same for 10 times. Feel the tightening of your cheeks when you smile.

The Kisser – Smile widely showing your teeth, and immediately go into pointy (fish) lips like that of a kissing action. Stretch your lips as far forward as you can as you do this. Alternately every 1 second. Do 10 times.

Here is a link to a video by HowdiniGuru that shows you more Facial Yoga exercises you might find useful. I try to do them as and when I am aware of it.

Extra Tips :

Use lotion or a moisturizer before and after the exercise to re-moisturize the area. Our faces tend to be drier than we think they are most of the time. As some of the repetitive exercises might give rise to folds, replenishing its moisture will quieter the effects. I personally recommend a facial mask sheet and give it an gentle massage all over.

We may not know how effective such exercises are, for we all age differently from one another. A realistic goal could just be to achieve somewhat not looking like our age. Keep it simple, and keep looking beautiful!

Thanks for reading.

With Love.

Achieve Radiant Skin with Honey

September 12, 2013

Beauty, Natural Remedies

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Want good skin? Well, my secret is to constantly ‘nourish’ it. I like to ‘feed’ my skin just like how I give food to myself. I believe HAPPY skin means GOOD skin.

What are some of the benefits of using Honey on our skin?

Antibacterial – Honey has antibacterial properties and helps to fight pimples and mild acne, especially that caused by hormonal changes. It also reduces infection and inflammation.

Antiseptic – When honey is diluted with water, it produces hydrogen peroxide. This is an antimicrobial agent (fights against microbes, a micro-organism), helps to relieve abrasion and over-exfoliated skin.

Good cleanser – Honey is able to soak up the impurities from within your pores and give your skin a good and nice clean feel.

Effective Moisturizer – Honey forms a barrier on the skin to help retain skin’s natural moisture and keeping it radiant, supple and moist, preventing drying.

Protect Against Harmful Sun Rays – Honey’s natural antioxidant properties help protect the skin from the damage of sun’s rays, supports the skin’s ability to rejuvenate and refresh depleted skin.

Prevents wrinkles – Honey is considered a natural ‘preservative’ and it is said to prevent wrinkles, and slows down the aging process.

Natural Honey Green Tea Facial Mask

Here, I used Green Tea powder mixed with honey to achieve a simple yet effective facial mask. Add half a teaspoon of green tea powder into one full teaspoon of honey.

The green tea powder granules act as a peeling scrub for the face. Apply and leave on for 20 mins on clean face, and gently scrub in circular motions.

Wash off with lukewarm water after. Make sure you give your face a clean wash to avoid finding ants being attracted to your face.

Green Tea Benefits

Contains antioxidants which are effective against free radicals. Free radicals are formed when skin is exposed to harmful sun rays, that leads to premature aging.
Helps safeguard skin against sun damage.
Aids in cell renewal process of our skin. Aged cells are energized by the polyphenol compounds in green tea, synthesizes the DNA and prevents premature aging.
Soothes irritated and inflamed skin.
Helps in acne and pimply skin, as green tea has antibacterial content.

DIY masks are inexpensive yet effective. Though it has not been proven scientifically that applying food topically on your face does anything for your skin, the results I get makes me believe that they do indeed work. I DIY my facial masks once every 2 days, and my skin is kept looking fresh and energized. On days when I religiously do it everyday, I see even better results. Give it a try, but if you have sensitive skin or wants to be sure if your skin reacts adversely to any ingredient, please always start with a patch test on the chin area a day before. This will ensure you do not get any undesired reactions from your DIY facials.

Give it a try today! And let me know your results!