How to: Remove blackheads

Disclaimer: This is not an advertorial!!! I just wanna share my (awesome) methods of removing blackheads & whiteheads!


I HATE BLACKHEADS


I remember that there was an occasion with one of my exes.. we were talking about his ex (or more of I was asking him what his impression was of his ex) and then he used 5 words to describe her:

"She has a big nose."


When I heard him say that, I didn't know whether I should be happy (because I saw the image of a troll in my mind when he said that) or whether I should be worried..

Worried because I know that I do not have a petite nose with a sharp nose bridge (lucky you for those who have!) and that I knew I had inherited my grandfather's jumbu (English fruit name: rose apple) nose.

Rose apple

Fortunately, my nose isn't super huge like my grandfather's. And it will only be super huge when it is clogged up with disgusting black heads!

However we all know that... blackheads are not that easy to remove :(



Anyway, one day (while I was still attached with that same ex of mine who described his ex using 5 words) my ex looked at me intently and told me this:

"You know.. the blackheads on your nose are really disgusting. Can you do something about it?"


His words speared through my heart. At that moment I wished that I was a turkey and that I could burrow a hole to hide my head in the hole. So embarrassed man WTH

Since then I have been really paranoid about blackheads - mine and other people's.

Whenever I am near enough to observe a person's nose and I see that he/she has a seriously bad blackheads issue, I can't help but to feel conflicted. Conflicted because I was disgusted to seeing that their blackheads is so huge that it is popping out of its pore already and yet they don't remove it, and because I feel empathy for them as I can totally understand the frustration towards removing blackheads. IT IS EASIER SAID THAN DONE.

In my years of removing blackheads (ie. experimenting with different nose strips and peel-off nose mask), I finally found THE FORMULA which guarantees success for me EVERY SINGLE TIME and it is really affordable!

I use...

SKINLITE Nose Pore Cleansing Strips, sold at SASA for $4.90 per box!

They usually run a 2 for 1 promotion! So I would get 3 boxes at one go!

If I have to do one of those top 5 beauty-items-that-you-cannot-live-without list, this would definitely be one of them! (Excluding cosmetics products!!! Because 5 would be too little then!!)

This nose strip is really my saviour! I have used a gazillion brands and types of nose blackheads removal products but none have worked as well as this has! This is really damn damn damn good!

Usually what I do is that I would first wash my face using a facial wash that would soften my facial complexion.

DO NOT pick a facial wash that would tighten up your pores. What you want to do is to soften your facial skin, allow the pores to not be tight, so that when the sticky product gets stuck onto the blackhead, it can be pulled out of the pore easily when you remove the nose strip.

If you do use facial wash that aims to tighten up pores, then do expect the results to not be so good. I tried it before and the results are significantly worst :/

Of all the facial wash(es) that I have used, Himalaya Herbals Gentle Face Wash (Citron & Honey) has proven to be THE ONE for me that has the skin softening effect.


It is one of the affordable face wash which is best at making my skin soft. Before I discovered the awesome nose strips, I would be sitting before a mirror and pry at my nose pores with my 2 index fingers. Because the face wash softened my nose pores, it was really easy to get the blackheads out. Just apply a teeny bit of pressure and out pops the blackhead!

However it was a really tedious process which is really energy and time consuming! I can get tired after 15 minutes of that activity, because so much concentration is needed!

The right amount of energy must be applied or you would break through the surface of your skin and then you have to spend the next 5-7 days walking around school with a nose that is practically shouting at everyone:
"Hey! My owner was picking on the blackheads on me and accidentally used too much force, and that is why I have a blood clot on me now and I look so red and inflamed!"

Also, because you have to be so precise with your fingers to make sure that you are squeezing the RIGHT PORE, with the RIGHT ANGLE... you have to squint your eyes so much that you would look pretty much like this:


I am so glad that I no longer have to be all squinty-eyes and afraid that if I were to pick at my blackheads tonight, I might have to go out tomorrow with a red nose!

So, wash your face!

Wet your nose! And the sides around your nose!



Apply the nose strip! Wait for about 20-30 minutes...

Or maybe even longer... the point is to make sure that the nose strip is thoroughly 100% dry!!

And when you think it has truly dried up! (Clue: You will feel that it is very very tight around your nose and it would have crinkled up like a dried prune!)

PEEL IT OFF!!! SLOWLY!!!!!!!!

By slowly, I really mean VERY VERY VERY SLOWLY!!!! Like 1mm per second! The slower you are, the more blackheads would be removed!

I like to remove my blackheads from the 2 roundest parts of my nose first..


Bottom-up approach!! (Peel off starting from the bottom most part, in an upward direction!)

Then I move onto the sides of my nose bridge..

Yes I re-used a photo! Haha!! Don't mind me lah huh? While I was writing editing the pictures for this post then I realised that I didn't take enough for illustration purposes! Oops!

Now in a top-down approach! (Peel off from the top-most part, in a downward direction towards the tip of your nose!)

Leave the tip of your nose for the last!


Peel off in a bottom-up approach again! Starting from the bottom-most part, and doing it slowly, remove the strip off your nose completely!

If there is any white residue left on your nose, just wash it off with some water!

It would be good to now wash your face with a pore-tightening facial wash, so as to close up all the open pores and prevent any bacteria from entering the pores and cause inflammation!

I did this a couple of weeks ago and this is my disgusting nose strip (BE WARNED! GROSS IMAGES COMING UP NEXT!!)



*****

Well I have just shared with you my method of removing blackheads on the nose.. but what about blackheads on the other parts of our face? Say, our cheeks?


This is what I use!

SHILLS Acne Purifying peel-off Black Mask

Now don't say that I didn't warn you! When removing this product off your face, it hurts LIKE A BITCH.

This product works. But I feel that it doesn't just remove the blackheads, but it removes my facial hair as well! Tears would gather in my eyes when I am peeling the mask off my face. This is how much it hurts but damn, it really works.

The sacrifices and pain that women go through just to be beautiful. SIGH


I bought this from Blogshop Queenie quite some time ago when she was running a promotion for it. She was selling it for SGD $15.00! Usual price is $20.00.

Maybe you girls can go bug her to run another promotion? #justasuggestion


I really love this product because I never thought that I would find a apply-and-peel-off mask which actually works! It means a lot to me because before I tried out this product, I had absolutely no method at all for removing the blackheads on my cheeks!

Unlike the blackheads on my nose, I couldn't squeeze them out. So I had to just leave them to be.

I did try to apply other brands' peel-off nose mask onto my face so as to remove the blackheads on my cheeks, however the results were as bad as when I applied it on my nose.

There was no effect at all.

I will admit that I was rather hesitant to purchase this product initially because I had tried so many ones before and I got disappointed so many times before.

However I saw videos on YouTube and read so many good reviews that I decided to simply whack it, and just try! I am so glad that I did!

The steps to using this product is really easy. Just like the nose strip, wash your face and dry it!

Then apply this product onto your desired area.


And just wait for it to dry.

Don't be giam siap and put a thin layer, or else it wouldn't work! Don't be too generous either by slathering on too much, if not it will be a super thick layer and will take damn long to dry! Just put a sufficient amount to cover up and make sure that no bit of your skin can be seen!

I played around with the camera a little bit while waiting for the face mask to dry..

Take 1!
Take 2!
Take 3! (K Idk what I was doing man but damn this photo is funny! HAHAHA!)

After about 20-30 minutes, I will check on my face and I know it is time to remove when it becomes dry and tight!

When you can feel the difficulty scrunching up your face like this..


You know it's time to remove it!

The face mask will become smooth and reflective!

TIME TO REMOVE NOW!!!!

Direction of removal: Outwards to inwards. Upwards to downwards.

My recommendation is to first watch this video (if you understand Chinese) before trying out this product!


Removing the mask off my face...

Hurts. Like. A. Bitch.

I only removed a tiny portion and my eyes were gonna tear already. The pain shot through my face to my toes. I was scrunching up my toes as I tore the mask away from my face! The pain is about.. 2/5?

It is a bearable pain but just really uncomfortable. Every time when I am removing the face mask, I would swear that I would never put it on again. Ironically... I still do though LOL. Because it works and it makes my face smaller after that!

Yuck!!! So many small whiteheads came out plus one SUPER BIG whitehead!!!

LOL at the amount of face hair that came off!

If there are leftover residue on your face, just rinse it away with lukewarm water. It will come off easily!

Because the product will become really tight against your face, it will make your face smaller after using this product!

I decided to see how much smaller my face became after putting on the face mask.. so I measured!

Before I put on the face mask, I measured one side (right side) of my face from my chin to my ear lobe.. and it was 15cm.

After the face mask..

IT WAS 13CM!!!!

SUPER AMAZING!!! My face was 2cm slimmer!!! No woman in this world would say 'NO!' to a slimmer and smaller face!

Other effects felt after using the product are a smoother and softer facial skin texture, and because the impurities are removed, my face seemed like it is more radiant and glowy?


Ok that's all from me. Kthxbye

HAPPY 2014!!!


This greeting came.. 5 days late. (Oops!)

It is kind of weird to only say this now because I could have said it 5 days ago during my blog last entry. I suppose I didn't because it would seemed weird... and perhaps unprofessional? Either way, the greeting is finally done! Yoohoo!! *fireworks*

Took this fireworks photo from my living room window!
Every New Year, fireworks would set off somewhere at a field infront of my block!!



So, how did your New Year's Eve and New Year's Day went?

I would LOVE to talk about mine!!! Unfortunately... I'm starting school again next Monday and there is a whole lot of reports, presentations and assignments waiting for me to complete. I guess that is what you get when playing comes first :/

Then again, give me a break!!! December holidays are my FAVOURITE!!! Only because my birthday is in December and it is on the second last day of the year! Therefore, DECEMBER = ENJOY!!!!!

Well, other than that.. December is my favourite month of the year because the year is coming to an end, I would try to finish doing whatever that I've been wanting to do for the year (last month of the year = last chance to do it yo!) and so anything prim and proper can wait till the next year. Afterall, I technically have another 365 days to live right?

Therefore I shall use the next 360 days to tell you how I celebrated my 21st birthday. I didn't throw a birthday party because it was too much of a hassle and I don't have that much $$!! I did however celebrate it over a span of 3 days with Rod's help! It was epic fun and epic tiring!

So anyway, it is time for me to head to bed now.

Before I bid you goodnight, here is a sneak peek of what I did on the 3rd day of my 21st birthday celebration!

Can you guess where I went?


Bye,
Soph <3

For delicate underarms and bust exfoliation

Sponsored post

It is undeniable that Singapore has crazy hot weathers. Sometimes I feel like I might just evaporate if I had to stand under the sun for more than 10 minutes.

Because of such crazy hot weathers, I would find myself gravitating towards sleeveless apparels in my wardrobe, if I have to go out for the day.

However, sleeveless apparels equates to showing off my pits which I am honestly, not that proud of.

Luckily for me, SHILLS Bust Exfoliator Skin Friendly came to my rescue!


I have had my fair share of underarm whitening products.



Before I was introduced to SHILLS Bust Exfoliator Skin Friendly, everyday when I showered, I would use a gentle scrub (eg. Body Polish from The Body Shop) to exfoliate all the dead skins accumulated in my arm pits for the day.

After rinsing that off, I would use Darlie's tooth paste and rub it under my underarms and then rinse it off as well.

Ok before you girls shoot me off the toothpaste thing, let me explain. It was MY BIG AUNT's idea. She said it works and so I thought, no harm trying it out.

The general concept of using the toothpaste is for the bleaching ingredients that it contains (to whiten our teeth) so as to whiten the dark underarms. I can't prove that it works scientifically, but.. I did notice a wee bit of underarm whitening.

Also!!! The minty feeling at my underarms felt damn shiok!

Especially when the weather is insanely hot!!

So anyway, that WAS part of my regime. I don't do any of that anymore.


All that I use now is SHILLS Bust Exfoliator Skin Friendly!

Honestly I was rather apprehensive when I first received this sponsored product (like what I've mentioned earlier, I have had my fair share of whitening products!) and at that time, nothing really worked. So anyway, on the day that I received it thru my mail, I decided to just give it a shot since there were SO MANY good reviews on it!

Some of the many reviews about this product...


You know, there is this thing about how you read people's reviews on stuff and you'd be like...

('Sure bo?' meaning: Are you sure?)

Yeah well. I had to try it out for myself.

And I swear that this is not me being exaggerating.

This is me, TELLING THE TRUTH.

This is me, SHARING AN AWESOME PRODUCT.

NOT. F*CKING. KIDDING. AT. ALL.
*gives a super straight face*


I could see results after my first try.

Trust me, I know how unbelievable it is but I speak the truth! I couldn't believe it either!

After I came out of my showering unit, I stared at my underams and I was like..


"WHY DIDN'T I TRY THIS PRODUCT OUT SOONER???"


It is made using a natural plant formulate which will refine pores to make the skin smooth and delicate.

Directions for use:
  1. Apply adequate amount evenly under desired area (under arms or on breast)
  2. Gently massage for 1-2 minutes with lukewarm water. Wash off with clean water.
  3. To use 1-2 times per week.

Now, I can take a chill pill when I wanna stretch myself after sitting on a chair for more than 2 hours, because it is OK! to stretch out my arms!


OK! to raise up my arm to call for a waiter in a restaurant


OK!! to raise up my arms to tie my hair up because I don't have to worry about exposing my pits!!!



The smooth foam would purify the skin, dissolving impurities and acne on your chest and underarms for delicate smooth skin. It enhances the removal of dead skin cells and refreshes the skin. Aloe extracts in the product will soothe the skin, whilst arbutine and plant composite will lighten dark colouration and also whiten the skin.


SHILLS Bust Exfoliator Skin Friendly available for purchase from Blogshop Queenie for $23.00!

For more information on this product, click here!

To place your order (before everyone else does it before you and it goes out of stock!),
Text/Whats-app (+65)900-200-81 with this order format:

NAME
MAILING ADDRESS
ITEM NAME
POSTAGE PREFERENCE (NORMAL/REGISTERED)

Being diligent! Oomph!!

Hello!!!

I've decided to be a little bit more diligent by updating this space a tad more often. Which kinda explains why this post is being written right now, and it will be my second upload within a week!

AH-MAZINGGGGGGGG! (I know)

I used to find it a bit of a chore to write a blog post because I was so bent on having every word and picture being really professional and perfect.

But then, I realised that.. it was because of that very reason which started to deter me from blogging so often because the words were not really "mine" anymore. I started to care so much about writing beautifully instead of writing successfully.

Ok, by this point, many of you are confused by the instead of thing. A couple of weeks ago, during an interview, the interviewer asked me a deep question (which was one of my interview questions by the way):

"Tell me, what is the difference between a good writer and a successful writer?"

I was stumped when I heard that question. Like c'mon! It was one of those mind-boggling, philosophy-like questions!!!

But anyway, I managed to answer it and.. MY ANSWER WAS CORRECT!! YAY! \o/


So, my answer for that question is this:

"A good writer has a good mastery of the English language. He/she can write about a product beautifully, like a piece of beautiful artwork.

A successful writer on the other hand, might not have a good grasp of the English language, however he/she is able to describe and write about a product in such a way that after the audience has read his/her piece of writing, the audience would think 'Oh! This product is really damn good! I must get my hands on it!!'. A successful writer is able to engage with his/her audience on an intimate level, to understand the needs of the audience, to be a friend to the audience and to have the audience as his/her friends. A good writer will not focus on having writing perfectly, but will focus on writing successfully. And the success is based on how well the writer has managed to engage with his/her audience."

Now, that is what I want. To be able to engage with my audience (aka, all of you guys) on an intimate level. I don't wanna write perfectly beautiful pieces that will make you guys feel like I am Picasso or Michaelangelo!

I just wanna be a nice and funny friend to all of you!

And hence, enough with my jibber jabber! Here are some pictures to lighten up this post and hopefully make all of you salivate and have your tummy rumbling with hunger (or maybe, greediness?)

Soup of the Day - Cream of Mushroom

I had lunch with le Homie, Adeline, at The Manhatten FISH MARKET yesterday.

(While I waited for my food for about 30 minutes, I was staring at the reflection of the restaurant's signage, and I swear that it is written like that. Caps and all.)

Fried Country Mushroom

They were having a one-for-one starters promotion so obviously, we couldn't miss out on it!

This is Adeline's choice of starters, and I managed to get one bite and oh my god! It was sooooo good!! This is gonna be my choice of starters when I go there the next time! The mushrooms are white buttons mushrooms! If you are a mushroom fan, you don't wanna miss out on this!!

Crispy Whitebait (with cranbery salad)

I am a boring person who prefers to go for the things that I know I already love. I know, I'm not much of an adventurer but I am sometimes! But it is only when I am forced to make a new choice only because the old choice sucked or that.. I am only left with new choices.. :P

Anyhow, although I love crispy whitebait, I find it better with caesar salad and honey mustard sauce. The combo of crispy whitebait and cranberry salad was not only a little weird.. it masked out the delectable taste of the crispy whitebait! A total shame, if I must say.

Therefore if you wanna try crispy whitebait at Manhatten Fish Market, go for the caesar salad, pick honey mustard sauce as your salad dressing and add crispy whitebait as your topping! That combo will blow your mind away and it will be a great start to your meal!

Spicy Baked Fish

Okay, this dish is really really spicy!

I only order it because of my usual tendency to go for the baked fish + butter rice combination.. it is less oily as compared to all the other deep fried dishes.

With that being said, I'm not saying that I hate deep fried stuff! I love Shilin's fried golden string mushroooms (NEW ON THE MENU! Go try if you haven't!! Super awesome!!!) and sweet potato fries (I prefer the old one where the fries are thinner and less chunky)!!

Country-style Fried Chicken

Adeline's order for her main.

According to Adeline, this is bad. Well, I didn't try it but from the looks of it, I would say that they might have over-fried the chicken? I have never tried it before nor have I ordered it before so I am not sure how the fried chicken is suppose to look like... but to me, the bits of blackness here and there looks dubious. Might be just the spices though?

Other than that, the mash potato was alright. It is the usual powder + water mash potato formula. They added garlic though so there is a hint of garlic in it!

Oh and, FYI for the chicken breast meat haters, you might wanna stay away from this dish because the piece of fried chicken is chicken breast meat.

Super festive Xmas nails!

And after all the eating and slight bit of shopping, Adeline came back to my house where I did her nails for her!

I'll admit that this isn't one of my best nail art designs. In fact, it is so far away from "good". But oh well, it is super festive and Christmas-y!

Oh yeah, it is Christmas tomorrow!

So here is a SUPER HAPPY MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone!!!

Remember to hang up all your socks tonight, or no presents from Santa! (Who am I kidding?)


XO,
Soph <3

City Square

On the first day of my holidays, I went to City Square @ JB for a day trip.

I ate, shopped and pampered myself. I can't remember the last time that I had so much fun in a shopping mall. I guess the reason why I could let myself go and have so much fun was because... everything there was just so much cheaper. Unlike the malls in Singapore where everything is priced at exorbitant prices. It's not a wonder why Singapore is one of the most stressful countries to live in #justsaying

Anyway, here is how my day went:


I got up at 7.30am to prepare because my friends and I agreed to meet at Woodlands MRT station at 8.45am. We were going to take bus 950 (from Woodlands Bus Interchange) into Malaysia. The whole trip into Malaysia lasted for about... 30-35 minutes? Well that is if traffic is light.



So the journey is something like this..

  1. The bus leaves Woodlands Interchange and it takes approximately 15-25 minutes (depends on the traffic) to reach Woodlands Checkpoint
  2. You alight at the checkpoint, get pass the Singapore immigration gates (ie. get your passport stamped by the Singapore immigration officers)
  3. After you get pass the gates, board the bus again and it will bring you to Malaysia's immigration checkpoint
  4. Alight the bus, get pass Malaysia immigration gates and viola! You are now in Malaysia!
  5. Take a short walk of about 5 minutes and you will reach City Square!



You don't have to worry about getting mugged because there is a linked walkway into City Square from the Malaysia checkpoint and there are officers around everywhere! In fact, the walkway is kinda like the bus interchange at Toa Payoh. Lots of stores, fully air-conditioned.. they even have Starbucks there too!


In case you are wondering, this is how City Square looks from the outside.

City Square @ Johor Bahru

To be honest, I never got to see how the megamall looks from outside because I never once stepped foot out of the mall. I took the picture off Google.

I was too chicken (heard too many nasty rumours from my parents and my sister that if I were to be near the roads and not within a shopping mall, I would get robbed and slashed!)(so it might not be true but I doubt I would wanna risk it) to step out of the shopping mall and be exposed to robbers/slashers/bandits/any-dangerous-criminals!

But anyway, it's not a wonder why this is a megamall because it really is.. HUGE!!!!


6 levels full of fun and excitement. Each level had to be categorised using alphabets because the place was just so huge! It was only through that way, then one could understand and find their way when using the directory available in the shopping mall!


My friends and I had Seoul Garden for lunch. It was mad cheap!!!! RM 30 per person!

That is about SGD 12 per pax!! You can't find and get that sorta good deal in Singapore.



After Seoul Garden, I felt icky and smelly because of all the grilling. So.. since I was already in Malaysia and everything was so darn cheap! I decided to get my hair washed.


Ok so this wasn't the salon where I got my hair washed. I went to another one because this place was too atas and I would cry if I spent my money here just to get my hair washed. No money to go shopping if I did :(




This salon was where Rod got his haircut. The name of this salon is eVogue. They focus more on Japanese hairstyles and they really do know their 'thang'!

They transformed Rod into... THIS.



DANG DANG DANG DANG!!!!!

I know, damn amazing right.

When I went off to get my hair washed at another salon, apparently the hairstylist did 2 hairstyles for him with just that one cut.

The first hairstyle was more Japanese style. I didn't get to see it but according to Rod's description, I'm guessing that it looks something like this...


Anyway after we left the salon.. Rod shared with me his reason for choosing that hair salon and it turned out to be because of..

This horse-y.

So white.. So glittery.. So prettttyyyy!!! SO GOOD FOR CAM-WHORING!!

Ok canz. Reason accepted. *spams selfies with le horsey*

But anyway, I do not and cannot deny that they did a spectacular job with Rod's hair!! BRAVO!

The hair salon has several prices for a hair cut:
  • If you chose a Hair Stylist to cut your hair, the price is at RM 48.
  • If you chose a Hair Designer to cut your hair, then the price would be RM 68.
  • If you chose the Director to cut your hair for you, the price is RM 200. (Super huge jump in price range but I am guessing that the director really really really knows his stuff!)


So after Rod's haircut and my hair wash, I met up with my friends again and we went mad at F.O.S! (Or at least, I went mad there!)

Saw this pair of baby shoes!! SO CUTE!!!! I'm so gonna get it for my niece! SOON.

I bought 5 white tees (RM 75) and 2 coloured crop tops (RM 50) for myself, which amounted up to RM 125, which is SGD 50! It's about SGD 7 per top!!

For Rod, I picked out 4 tees (RM 60), 1 varsity jacket (RM 75) and 1 belt (RM 27), which amounted up to RM 162 which is SGD 64.80!! The best buy which was also the one which I am most proud of is his varsity jacket because it cost only SGD 30!!!

In Singapore, with such quality, the varsity jacket would easily cost SGD 70 (cheapest!) to SGD 200????

I GOT THE VARSITY JACKET AT SGD 30!!!! Happy to the max!


After that, my friends went home while Rod and I stayed on for dinner. We had Secret Recipe and omfg.. so cheap. We spent RM 53 (SGD 21)!!


The hairstylist who washed my hair, helped me to blow my hair straight with the ends slightly curled in! I haven't seen myself with long straight hair for a really long time already!

I am usually too lazy to dry my hair with a hair-dryer so after showering, I usually leave it to dry on its own and it would usually turn out looking like how it usually does (ie. CURLED). No complains about it being curled though because most people have to tong their hair to get it curled but mine is just natural, so yeah. Good for a lazy person like moi!


I only took pictures of our drink - Sparkling Grape Juice, because the waitress messed up my order and when I tried to get her to correct it, she messed it up even more.

Okay I blame it on language barrier issues but still.. URRGH!!!! #notthewaitressfault #selfreflect #mustbrushuponmymalay

After dinner, it was shopping time (again) and then it was time for home sweet home!

Disapproving look from Rod. "How can you still take selfies when the place is so stuffy??"

"Because I can." *takes more selfies*

P.S. If anyone decides to go to City Square JB... 'Robin's Portuguese Chicken' (name of eatery) HAS AWESOME PORTUGUESE EGG TARTS!!!

Read Part 2 of my trip to City Square here!