The (CRAZY) Oil Cleansing Method Experiment done in Malaysia

I think I ruined my skin. 

Oh my goodness. 

Don't stare at the mirror too long.

Why is he staring at me??!!! Is he feeling disgusted by all the pimples on my face??!!!!!!

Yep. That's what I was obsessing thinking about this last few weeks.
If you're here reading this, it means that
1) You have done your research and is considering the Oil Cleasning Method (OCM) ((and I bet you already know it's OCM too))
2) You are wondering what are the complications of doing this method in Malaysia, a hot, humid and extremely polluted country (especially in KL)
3) You don't know which oils are available/cheap (I will tell you where to buy all the items I mention here later at the end of this blog post)

Have no fear! I'll tell you what I did and what the OCM did to/for my skin *moment of truth/dread

I'm thinking that you guys should know what oils and mixture you should use already, but for the sake of my perfectionist (and irritating) nature, I shall lightly touch on the basics of the OCM.

If you have any more questions you can refer to this link from crunchybetty.

What it is:
The Oil Cleansing Method is based on the chemistry concept of "like dissolves like", where by cleaning your face with oils it dissolves the dirty oils trapped in your skin and therefore purifies your skin.

My take: plenty of discussion about the "like dissolves like" thing in the internet, some chemists/ facialists (what do you call people who does facials for you) agree on it but there is a review by Paula's Choice where it actively scoffed at the OCM (yeap. the review still burns in my mind whenever I'm doubting the OCM).

What you use:
The main ingredient for the OCM is the castor oil, who does the deep cleansing/purifying of your pores, followed by a carrier oil, whose main job is to dilute the castor oil so that it doesn't do an overkill of your skin. The carrier oil can be almost any oil under the sun - sunflower seed, grapeseed, safflower, avocado, carrot, seriously guys, anything. As long as it works.

My take: Again, many people either replace the castor oil with sweet almond oil, or don't use it at all. Some just use coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil (That's what it means when you see EVOO on the other blogs' comments) only. Which might be okay for your skin, but take note that some people cannot take coconut oil, EVOO, and jojoba oil. 

What mixture you should use:
It is believed (and repeated) by many users that the ratio for different types of skin matters. The combo is usually:

Dry Skin: 10% castor/sweet almond oil: 90% carrier oil
Normal/Combination Skin: 20% castor/sweet almond oil: 80% carrier oil
Oily Skin: 30% castor/sweet almond oil: 70% carrier oil

My take: Again, many variation on this. Some people use 1:3, 1:1, or 1:2, instead of the percentages mentioned above. Some even use 1:1:2:1 (but that's for higher level OCM users, which means that if you have not started or have not lasted on the same mixture for more than 2 weeks, you should keep it simple - 2 oils only! Yes I'm talking to you. Keep those itchy fingers away for a little longer) Plus, there is this lady who tried the OCM and said that there is no such thing as dry/oily skin, it's just the way your skin has reacted to the products you've used previously.

How you should do it:
Massage oil on dry face (after making sure your hands are clean. Oils get infected by bacteria, there goes your face. Keep it clean! Same goes for your oil bottle.) for about 2 to 5 minutes. Steam your face, either by getting a super expensive steamer, or get microfiber cloths and place it under hot water (not too hot, or there goes your face again) then place the cloth over your face to steam it. When the cloth gets cold, wipe your face. Rinse and repeat for 3 or 4 or 7 times (I'm super kiasu wan).
Some do the OCM every night, some every other night, and some once a week.

My take: Get the microfiber cloths lah. It's cheaper. Get 4 so you don't have to worry about not having a clean laundered one everyday. I'm currently doing the OCM every night because firstly my skin is just recovering from the initial purge, and secondly I worry about getting my sunblock off my face every night. When your skin has recovered and is looking pretty nice, please start thinking about doing it every other night or so.

MY experience:
If you guys read my blog you'd know that I use acne.org previously to clear off my really really bad breakout a couple of years ago. The last year and more I had clear skin and felt really awesome about it. There'd be the odd pimple here and there occasionally, but that beat having pimples all over your forehead and cheeks and chin right??

Then came the last month which played havoc to my skin due to stress (from work I guess), traveling around (to Ipoh then to Johor for work then back) and having my period. My skin started to have a light breakout. And a reader emailed me to tell me about the effects of using too much Benzoyl Peroxide (treatment product from acne.org) so I decided to do some research on natural products.

After an extreme obsession about researching the OCM, I decided to play it safe and get castor oil and grapeseed oil (cuz grapeseed's not a nut oil and some people get allergic to nut oils). My first headache was where to get castor oil? I went to town and visited an indian shop to get one (it was like, RM 3.50 or something. Super cheap!) then I went to Tesco and visited the oil section. Most of the oils mentioned are sold there and I grabbed my grapeseed oil with glee. Next up, microfiber cloths. Tesco, Giant and Jusco don't sell them, so finally I got it from our superstar Daiso. 2 cloths for RM5!

The first week (10% castor oil 90% grapeseed oil) with moisturizer of jojoba oil
Then came the moment of truth. The first week I started the OCM, I left my cloths at home (I rent a place somewhere else and only go home every weekend) Damn. SO I decided to just wing it and wash the oils off with my Simple Gel Cleanser. Bad choice. In the Nitty gritty about OCM, it says not to combine natural and chemical products because it will confuse your skin. My breakout worsened by like, ten thousand times. I was having pimples on my cheeks (really horrible ones), my forehead (lots of tiny bumps) and my chin (seriously eww).

It was basically a confusing moment for my skin cuz I didn't know what to wash my face with in the morning, it was worsening and what do I use as moisturizer??!

I ran (drove lah how to run in KL) home to grab my microfiber cloths, bought lavender essential oil and lavender floral water, and decided to DO. IT. PROPERLY.

I also switched from grapeseed oil to sunflower seed oil (seems that sunflower seed oil is less pore clogging compared to grapeseed oil. I wasn't sure whether the grapeseed oil was the culprit, but I just wanted to play it even more safe. Sunflower seed oil has a comedogenic rating of 0). So back to Giant I went.

The second-third week (25% castor oil 75% sunflower seed oil and 3 drops of lavender essential oil)
I stuck to this for two weeks, where I saw my skin worsen first. There was tiny whiteheads all over my skin, and some really huge bumps (i think it's called cystic acne bumps). I also felt that my skin was really dry because every night I came out of the shower I felt that my skin was really tight.
In the mornings I'd just run water over my face then use the lavender floral water like a toner over my face, dab on my sunblock and off I'd go.

At the end of the third week of OCM, I noticed that my pimples were starting to go off, but I wasn't sure whether this was due to overdrying (the pimples area was peeling) or because it was getting better. My skin started to get smoother, pimples got well faster and left barely any scars, so I decided that it was time to modify my potions. (Stick to it for at least 2 weeks!)

Fourth week (10% castor oil 45% jojoba oil 55% sunflower seed oil and 5 drops of lavender essential oil)
Also, I got Vitamin Cs in the morning and Evening Primrose Oil in the evenings. The fourth week is happening right now :D
Skin starting to look much better, and pimples going off. The thing that confuses me is that some bumps still continue to appear though, but I'm waiting to see what happens.

People commenting on your skin sucks. I forgot how it felt to be feel so small and awkward and anxious every time someone comments on how many pimples you have and start judging based on what you eat, what products you use and your lifestyle choices. As if by "drinking more water" my skin would magically clear up. And I happen to be around a whole bunch of (mostly guys) people who are insensitive to the woes of the skin. sigh.

However, do note that lifestyle choices are important! It seems that your diet is also important even after you start the OCM.

THE purge
For those who aren't sure (I certainly wasn't) how to differentiate between the purging of OCM and a regular breakout, purging comes with lots of whiteheads (clusters!) and occasionally (I think) some cystic acne. With a regular breakout it's everything else.

MY plan
I'm looking at getting shea butter as a moisturizer and maybe rose floral water as a morning cleanser. I feel weird without using a moisturizer for so long, and rose floral water is much more hydrating to the skin :)

Where to get:
Sunflower seed oil/grapeseed oil: Just visit any Tesco/Giant hypermarket and go to the oils aisle
Microfibre cloth: 2 for RM5 at Daiso
Castor oil: RM5 at an Indian Grocery shop or visit lemongreen2u (though I have never bought from this site before)

Final verdict (after about 8 weeks)
OKAY the OCM method is just not for me lah. Now am (painfully) recovering from my breakout now. Sucks having skin that everyone comments on with a horrified face -________-

SO guess what I'm sticking back with my acne.org treatment, while using organic aloe vera gel + jojoba oil as a moisturizer :/ SIGH. Oh well, now I know one thing that doesn't work for my skin.

Not gonna post pics cuz it's really horrible!
Cheers -___-

How to pay Customs Taxes

Had one of my most annoyed moments a couple of weeks ago.

Well, when you're gonna be dealing with government or official branches somehow you already know you're going to be wasting alot of time and paper and somehow still get screwed -.-

All for this box:

Uuuurgh. So the story goes like this--I ordered the Acne.org products by myself for the first time (read to find out why I order Acne.org), and I wasn't familiar with shopping overseas so I can give you quite some tips now from all the blunders that I made. For example, if the website cannot process your card, it is most likely because:

1) You did not activate your card for overseas expenditure. Call your bank and they'll fix this.

2) You did not alter your spending limits. What to do, Malaysian ringgit so small mah, so overseas currency tend to be much higher than our average spending. Go to your ATM and adjust your limit.

SO I received a text from my sister telling me that my package got held at Customs *extremely glum face. Went online and found that there is this such thing where Customs hold your parcels, especially those they find heavy and undeclared so that they can charge you taxes. *glum glum glum

The dreaded letter

You can either:
1) Drive yourself and get your parcel all the way from KLIA
or
2) appoint an officer to do it for you (most likely a PosMalaysia officer)
-doing so you will be charged the taxes you have to pay for your parcel + RM50 for their "hard work"

Do bring:
1) The letter you received;
2) Your shopping invoice and
3) enough cash to pay for whatever taxes they charge you (most likely 10 percent of your total bill)
-last one's the most important because I saw a guy who did not have enough money and they told him to drive to KLIA/ LCCT to find an ATM and the parking was crayyyyyyzy

My invoice

So I bravely decided to get it myself. Loverboy drove me to KLIA (took an hour, went on Friday afternoon) and we parked at the Mail & Courier Center nearby Tune Hotel. Don't go to the wrong one cuz there's a post office nearby too. You won't miss this one because there's a HUGE sign saying "MAIL & COURIER" on the building.

The sequence was pretty much this:
Counter 2 - Counter 1 - Counter 6 - Counter 2 - Payment counter - Counter 6 - Pharmacy building - Counter 6 - Counter 2 - Counter 6 - Counter 1 - leave

Yup, in that order.

Counter 2's where you get processed, the paper counter where all the forms are filled and filed in. You'll end up there at least 3 times, if you're lucky.

Counter 1's where you get your parcel back and your visitor pass held. You can't leave the place without your visitor's pass, that's how they make sure you don't run off without paying your taxes. (trust me it's for safeguarding against people like me, they know how long their paperwork takes)

Counter 6's where you open your parcel in front of Custom officers and they check and hold your parcel until you pay your taxes.

Only people who bought cosmetics had to go to the pharmacy building (super tall building next door, 5th floor) to be cleared; though it is easy as pie, they just make sure you don't buy products for more than 3 month's usage. 

Luckily I only had to pay RM18 (for paper fees -.-) because my items were considered cosmetics and facial creams, which are non-taxable. Be sure to check whether you need to pay for your items or not; it can range from 10% to 30%.

 

Last but not least, CLEARED!

DO make sure that you have time to spend when you go, I went around 2.30pm and left just before 5 :/

Cheers!

trying out a new hairstyle; verdict: LOVE!

Acer & Intel "PLAYsure Redefined" Party

Went with sister Charis to the launch of Acer's latest gadgets under the "PLAYsure Redefined" Party last Thursday night before Wesak. 

So as I had to go for my intern during the day and had no time to go home and prepare for the party, what I did was this:

daytime

ta-dah!

and....night time!
Accessorized, braided my hair, slapped on some makeup

Wore a flirty dress over my party dress to work and took it off after, hehe!
Was happy lahh, because I finally had chance to wear my H&M 70s' glittery cardigan :D

Some pictures of the party:

when we arrived

Private sitting area behind the bar

Food! which although wasn't the reason we were there, played an integral part in the party
Can't have a party without food, you know

Products lined up for display!

Anyways Acer is having a competition for most interesting/creative tweet or instagram picture, so go ahead and join la  if you want to win some Acer gadgets :)

Showing off our glow-in-the-dark bangle, somehow we look the
mirror image of each other here

Lighting was bad, what do you expect in a party XD

Oh and some update in my life!
Got the Dean's List Award from university *proud

 

CHEERS!

4 years anniversary

It IS a relationship anniversary....just with a bunch of people!
Those who were there all when we looked nerdy and fresh-faced out of high school, those who saw all our ups and downs, fought together, played together, and though we might be heading different ways now, we'll all remember each other.

 

Ta-dah! All of us in the picture, hmm i should very well post up one from 4 years ago as well. Went to the liberty of scrolling down ALL my FB photos to look for these! (laptop hanged a few times as well)

Sue's 19th birthday, a century ago already la

Eddie's 19th! yeap we only gather for birthdays

CNY 2010 I think

June's 19th ahahaha

Just different hair and dressing styles...some never seemed to have changed, haha!
So we just had a simple dinner at Tony Roma's then headed off already :)

took a picture with him cuz he's the hottest

With PL

However, Fiona and me went to Pearle's to hang out with her (and her attention-loving dogs) but we ended up having Bak Kut Teh and enjoying David's HUGEEE-ASSSSS home cinema. It's that good that I want to watch all my movies there from now on.

All pretty ladies now :DDDDD

Boxter snooped in when i was trying to self-cam
fearless little chancer he is

Had to rein him in XD

the screen is BIGGER THAN MEEEEEE

Alright, well that's it! I'm still suffering from the late night we had (old already).
CHEERS!

as attention hogging as any human!

Snow, snow, snowww!

ADUUUUIIII my readers are dissappearing due to my procrastination and stubbornness not to blog.

well here comes a fun-packed punch of a post! :)

let me ask you: where in Genting do you get to chillll the hell out of your bones, need to stuff your mouth to keep warm, and lastly where you come out of it feeling WARM in Genting??

whaaat?? where??

WELLLLLL Genting's Snow World la of course!

TA-DAHHH newly launched in January 2013, it is looking splendid and spankingly new in all its glory.

awesome ehh?? the little people in pink and red are mostly us the media :))))

ON the 23rd of January, Snow World Genting was officially launched (yala i know la most of you went already before that but obviously you didn't go during the launch kan?? and it was more awesome okayyy, it is! it isssss!) with a big bang and lots of smoke i mean flakes that stuck to your clothes and hair.

For those who are plenty skeptical about the "fake" snow and "fake" temperature, let me assure you that yes although it is fake but the overall atmosphere that was generated felt pretty real. Well, my frozen nose felt pretty real to me!

brrrrr sejuk sangat! COOOOOOLD

Well i was feeling pretty sunburnt due to the pre-CNY (Chinese New Year) weather and the lack of rain and all so i decided to be brave and hiked (joking) up to Genting in just a candy red H & M sweater, shorts and sheer tights. BELIEVE ME i suffered. I think I couldn't feel my legs by the time i left the super-low-temperature Snow World.

all bundled up and ready to go in--Genting
Snow World provides boots, gloves, and jackets

Not too crazy about the size of the gloves though, those with fingers like mine (small just like the rest of my body too -_-) will not fit into 6Y kiddy gloves nor into the M sized gloves (too big!) so your fingers might freeze off unless you bring your own gloves. The ones from Sunway Pyramid skating rink worked fine :)

The whole ceremony took about 20-30 minutes (probably worried that the media would freeze) and we were allow to bring in our cameras only for this time at our own risks--Genting has a strict protocol about cameras in Snow World, please don't try to bring yours in!

Itinerary of the launch:

opening dance!

 it's a little bit far la i know but what to do--i was dwarfed by the high and mighties who were shoving recording devices and all. i bet the dancers were cold, though *snigger

speech by Executive VP YB Dato Kevin Sim

A really nice man who kept to the details and did not drag it out because he understood that we were itching to explore the place really!

"unveiling" of Snow World!

me by it afterwards, it changes colors!

exploring the Warm House, one of the icons there

lastly, a luncheon where we were served plenty of finger food

most of the media retreated to this warm cozy (considered) cove where we were fed and watered! See a bundle of pink at the right hand corner? that was us, hundling over hot tea and some finger food. The boys decided to be reckless and had some ice cream potong: crazy, right?

not about to leave before going up to the highest and coldest floor
and acting cute up there! XD
pic credits: Hu Boon and Mokky

 After the launch we were entertained by a full-on lunch and playtime at the theme park. For once, Genting felt pretty warm to us already :/

yum yum yum at Coffee Terrace, my absolute fav dining place

ready, set, GO!

we tackled the Superman ride, the kiddy Merry-Go-Round, 4D movie of Little Prince, Bumper Cars, some kiddy Rocket Ride before going for some coffee and hot chocolate at Starbucks--all in all, a very fun day!

Details:

Address
Level T2A, First World Plaza,
Genting Highlands.

Price (snow gears such as jackets, gloves and boots are included)

Adult: RM30

Child & Senior Citizen: RM25

For Genting WorldCard and Rewards Card Members, you will enjoy an additional RM3 discount. Rules and regulations apply.

For more information, please log on to www.rwgenting.com

Cheers!

birthday present from darling Yen Ling

how to make mooncakes

waaaaayyyy long overdue Xp
anyhow, this is how you make mooncakes according to Chef Gan's (of Resort World Genting) own not-so-"secret"-anymore recipe *wink*

These are what you need:

750g of flour
600g of sugar syrup
150g of oil
a little bit of alkaline water
-makes about 50 mooncake skins-
(may be mistakes as i commited these to my flaky memory, i would highly recommend that you go with the flow and stop when you feel is enough Xp)

wide array of ingredients and tools

firstly, pour the sugar into the flour

looks like a huge egg =D

next, dig a hole in the middle of the "egg" and add in the oil

mix!

Add in the water and mix until it is a little bit sticky but soft

leave it overnight and basically this is what you get

flattening the dough into a perfectly round shape

adding the lotus paste filling into the skin!
it's larger than the skin itself so stretch it abit to wrap it around into a ball

the traditional mould! authentically cute right?
okay *ahem* anyways you dust it lightly with some flour
(this is to ensure that your mooncake comes out easily)

pop the yet-to-be mooncake dough in

and voila! an awesome mooncake pops out
(the technique is to hit the mould left and right once or twice first then
BAM the mooncake out)

Below are the pictures of Mokky, me, and Yen Ling separately crafting our own mooncakes, everybody was so eager to show that theirs will be the "bestest" or "beautifullest"....

the magical moment when Mokky's popped out Xp

stuff it in! stuff it ALL in!

i'll huff and i'll puff and a perfect ball will form

of course, i won! mine was the perfect-est =DDD

Stole some Instagram pictures (yea yea yea i'm a plagiarizer):

before they go into the oven
(everyone added some "originality" to the mooncakesto mark theirs)

mine!

CHEERS!
p.s   find me if there's any problem with the recipe! =)