Cereal Before Bedtime

Suddenly 28 - Lancôme Génifique Yeux Review

2013-11-04T20:44:00.001-08:00

It's been two bloody years since I posted my last blog, I was still a single, between jobs and voila! Now I'm 28 years old newlywed, with a new job that I'd like to convey later. Now now, let's focus on the age. Somehow I still feel like I'm 22-25 years old, but whenever I look myself in the mirror, especially when I just wake up, the eye bag thingy just works as a reminder that I, will soon be a thirty-something. It took a lot of effort to type that previous sixteen letters.

So, I asked one of my friends whom herself is a cosmetic guru and perhaps has dedicated her life as a lab rabbit for years, and she came out with a suggestion : Génifique Yeux youth activating eye cream by Lancôme ( which turned to be readers' choice from one prominent beauty mag few years after ).

Well here comes the review, this is my second eye cream, I used to worship Body Shop's vit C series and I just went to ~~spend a little more fortune~~ invest more with the hope of better result on the eye department. Skip the packaging, I'm not to crazy on how it will decorate my beauty box. First, the scent is nice, very Lancôme-y flowery type and I smell a little fermentation scent, just like any other youth product ( SK-II essence-y smell ). Texture is thick and I positively sure that this will last more than a month. I only applied a little per usage, in every morning and night. The bad news, this creamy texture just won't blend with my concealer and powder, leaving me with white uneven cosmetic blotches. Also I don't feel like this cream provide me the right moisture on the eye area. But the good news, I noticed that the under-eye puffiness was reduced a week after. If you're result oriented, this cream might satisfy you for sure, but If you wish to experience instant eye-reviving cooling effect eye-cream type, this is not your glory yet.

Verdict : I will surely consider to re-purchase, but for now I still can't get over Body Shop's vit C Eye Reviver Duo for their instant cooling effect, which I think would be useful for laptop-abused eyes.

Currently I'm trying new product, Clinique repairwear intensive eye cream and I will review it soon.

Cheerio

How to get out from bad, unhealthy relationship

2011-01-12T06:03:00.000-08:00

Okay let me talk about Mars and Venus for once in a while. This time I’m going to spill some beans. Long long time ago, before I know about the minimalist concept and another self development theories, I was once a dreamless bleached bimbo. The aisle and the altar were my one and only target at the time. There was I, dating a financial steady guy ( steady=I don’t even need to make Curriculum Vitae) with the not so steady persona. I found it later that I was dating an abuser, verbally and physically. He left me with permanent flaw that were caused by fractured bones in my left little finger.

How long? Four years. Did I know that he wasn’t a good man? Surprisingly I knew, yet somehow there’s a lot of “but” in my mind that always kept me stick to him. The fact that he was this two face villain, he could be very sweet and could be as dark as your worst nightmare, and too bad I didn’t listen to my friends that time. Love did turn off my rational alarm.

Okay, why I brought this topic? Because I feel this is an important issue, a bad relationship could drag you down into the bottom of the well, no matter who you are, you might be the lioness in the office, fierce blogger on the net but maybe in real life you are still abused and consumed by choice. At this point I believe nobody will be happy. Fact, a lot of girls even women are dealing with this problem.

How did I get out?

1. Evaluate

Seriously, don’t lie to yourself, answer this question: “Are you happy”? , “Do you feel respected?”, “Are you free?”. That was the three questions that I asked to myself and the answer was no. I wasn’t happy, I didn’t feel respected, and I lost my freedom because he was quite possessive and easily got jealous.

2. Souvenir

Luckily, on this point, the souvenir on my finger always remind me that I shouldn’t get back with him, at all cost. Physical evidence like letters, photos, notes, could really help.

3. Travel alone

Never been on solo travel? Start it now. It builds your confidence and it’s not as scary as you think, you can thank technology that provides you with GPS and 24/7 chat with your experienced friends or fellow solo traveler around the world. Solo travelling is sexy. By the way you don’t have to travel half the globe, another state or city alone will do too. My case, I went to Jakarta that was only 120km away from home.

4. Dream

If you don’t have one, it’s bull pup. Even if it’s irrational it’s still a dream. Don’t even ask whether it’s too late or not. For example if you’re 25 like me, yes it would be too late if you want to be a pop sensational diva, but there’s always a chance to be a choir singer or even maybe as jazz singer. On this dream, whatever it may be, if you’re still thinking about popularity it means you’re still a self centered person. Don’t be. Give benefit to your community. It will taste better. It heals your pain. Popularity won’t.

5. Love yourself

The saddest thing that could happen to a person is ignorance especially to him/herself, by the words love yourself, I didn’t mean you need to be an egoist man, just pay attention, stop and listen to yourself go out and figure what do you really need.

6. Don’t hop into another relationship

Believe me, it means more trouble. If you can’t handle one, you can’t handle two. Do your math.

7. Forgive

I’m not feeding you with religious preach, simple fact, people that can’t forgive will automatically try to get even in every way. This is a distraction and waste of energy. Use that energy to build yourself instead. If you can summarize success theories, focus is the master key to achieve your goals.

These are my first stepping stone, my small step (that funnily I considered as a big step once) into a better life, I hope it would inspire you :)

His eye is on the sparrow

2010-12-29T20:48:00.000-08:00

A common sparrow by http://www.treknature.com/

Why should I feel discouraged
and why should the shadows come
Why should my heart feel lonely
and long for heaven and home

When Jesus is my portion
a constant friend is He
His eye is on the sparrow
and I know He watches over me
His eye is on the sparrow
and I know He watches over me

I sing because I'm happy
I sing because I'm free
His eye is on the sparrow
and I know He watches me
He watches me
His eye is on the sparrow
and I know He watches
I know He watches,
I know He watches me.

This is my fav song of the week, which is the OST for the movie Sister Act 2 , and I think this will be my theme song for 2011. A demain 2011! Come what may!

Can relationship between alpha female and beta male works?

2010-12-22T13:26:00.000-08:00

taken from

Huriasafaris.com

One of my best friends brought this topic one day ( and I really thank her), this is a very interesting topic for modern , new breed women.

Using the word “alpha” and “beta” is inhumane of course, but we need to face it sometimes human behave like animal too instead of behaving like homo sapiens. Okay, let’s begin with comprehension, what is alpha personality? In a pack of wolf, the alpha is the one who has the privilege to eat first and to mate first among the other. What is alpha personality in human being?

The term "alpha male/female" is sometimes applied to humans to refer to a man who is powerful through his/her courage and a competitive, goal-driven, "take charge" attitude. With their bold approach and confidence "alpha males/female" are often described as charismatic. While "alpha males/females" are often overachievers and recognized for their leadership qualities, their aggressive tactics and competitiveness can also lead to resentment by others. (source : wikipedia)

Talking about resentment, they also found that for each 16-point rise in a woman’s IQ, her marriage prospects declined by 40%, but the man’s chances of marriage increased by 35% with each rise. read more

So, can a relationship between alpha female and beta male works? Experience talk, I had some alpha-alpha relationship where there are two heads want to take charge of everything, for several times the relationship didn’t work. It only consumed a lot of energy and drove our relationship into a very exhausting one, naturally one of them must lead and the other need to follow. Well if this alpha-alpha thing is already on your case, spare a big room to fit two tremendous ego then. I bet you will need more space for yourself and vice versa.

Now expand your mind, I didn’t mention specific gender on leadership role, either male or female can have this quality and no rule tells that one of them should be always 100% in charge of everything all the time. You can always exchange leadership position once in a while. Everybody needs a day off, even for a leader.

Now, if you’re talking about money, about female breadwinner, I have no comment on which way is the right way in a relationship. If you and your couple had issue on who’s making bigger income, maybe it’s time to re evaluate your value , mission ,vision and perspective about money. Because I think human is not a tool to make money , but money should work as a tool for human happiness. If you happy with the way you are, less or more, than let it be. Happiness is the final goal for each person. The only problem is the stereotype in our society, we were told (or may I say brainwashed) since we’re a kid that a man should provide his wife. Again, re evaluate your entire value and anything that has been told to you; has them had any relevance on your own description of happiness?

Live freely!

The idea of happiness

2010-11-30T04:26:00.000-08:00

I'm currently reading Dalai Lama's "The Art of Happiness"

What is happiness? As a normal girl I had listed Kate Spade and Manolo Blahnik on my achievement list since my first year of college. Years went by, As I was sipping my cosmopolitan after I got a job to pay the rent (and the cosmopolitans) , I was thinking to make my first credit card, forgetting the fact that I once promised myself that I would never ever even consider to live with that symbol of consumerism. Suddenly emptiness rushed in. I almost failed to recall my own principle since I was a kid. Began to think “What is happening with me?” I felt purposeless. My life has become a series of craving list. What’s next? Maybe the next time I woke up I could be a gold digger, luring wealthy men without even recognized it in the name of materialism. Hell of a nightmare, I don’t want to be a low person. I don’t want to be a homo consumericus and lose control over myself. Wait a minute, I think I’ve been in this situation… let’s rewind a bit

I was an active smoker from 1999 to 2005. Nicotine was a good friend of mine. It helped me to get through exams and bad moods, or so I thought. Until one night I was out of pack in the middle of the night and the entire store was closed. I felt so depressed. As if nicotine had become a master and I was the slave. I felt like I was out of control over myself, so dependent and weak. I hated it a lot. It was hurting my ego as a homo sapient. It really encouraged me to quit. That was enough.

On the credit card case, I was fooled by society’s stereotypes about symbol of success. Home ownership, car ownership, wealth, fame, just to keep up with the Joneses may I say. What about Mahatma Gandhi? He had less possession but I think he’s a great person, even greater than the Joneses. He’s a man of impact. If someone give away his possessions and dare to become a Tibetan monk as his calling, live happily to the fullest, I think he is a success man.

Mahatma Gandhi left only little possesion, but a lot of change to the world

So what is happiness ?

I read this amazing post about minimalism from freestylemind

“Modern society has trained us to believe that happiness comes from the things we own. Million of dollars of corporate money are spent every single day just to maintain this belief. But does happiness really comes from the number of things we own? I hardly think so.

If you try to associate happiness with the number of things you own, then happiness becomes an addiction that is outside of your control. Initially, you may experience a good feeling after buying something new, but eventually this feeling will start to fade until you reach a point where buying new stuff becomes an addiction, like alcohol or cigarettes”

Now stimulate your mind , what is happiness?

For me,

happiness is to live constantly like human ( homo sapiens; latin :means wise man ) should be, to live without silly addiction that is not necessary ( e.g shopping, nicotine, working, sex, or even a boy that is no good to you) , to be free and to be in full control of yourself. Happiness is not to be attached to things or someone, to live less and save more, more time and resources to do something else that is more important and have positive impact. Happiness is not about having tons of friends, happiness is not about laughter but the silence afterwards. Happiness is when you know everything about yourself holistically, your strength, weakness, overcome it and live to your fullest potential. Not only the satisfaction of needs, but happiness is a full awareness of what you’re doing, to treat human like human, to accept that every each of us is unique, compassion over empathy, and to embrace humanity. Happiness is to live like human among humans.

I believe this is different to each person in the world. I don't want to be self centered. I'm just a little part of the system. I imagine if all people were minimalists, a lot of bank and financial inst. will meet bankruptcy and a lot of people will be jobless. It's not good.

So, what’s yours?