Baby Birthday Party Guide: How I Planned Ethan's 1st Birthday Party

Ethan is my firstborn and this was his FIRST birthday celebration! I felt that I had to throw a party to celebrate the one year that we have been through with him since the day he was born – it was kinda like the husband and I shouting out loud in joy "WE SURVIVED!"

As you know from my pregnancy story, he wasn't a planned baby and so his arrival caught us off-guard. We weren't in the right mindset to be parents but we did the best that we could and well.. things turned out pretty great after all!

I didn't have a baby shower and I didn't organise a baby's first month party either. So this was the first baby party that I had ever planned. It was nerve-wrecking because I had all these thoughts in my head about what could possibly go wrong, what if it clashes with his nap time, how to make the party baby-friendly, how to keep both adults and kids entertained?

All in all, without saying, the party went well. We didn't have a very big party. The venue could fit about 100 pax but we chose to keep it small and cozy, so we invited about 60 of our close friends, colleagues and family. It was a great idea because I had the opportunity to mingle and speak to everyone. People who were there, we knew them well and we wanted them to BE THERE to share our happiness – we didn't invite acquaintances, so no awkward small talks (YES!).

Due to the nature of my work, I was lucky to have a few clients who were willing to collaborate with me. There were of course some items which we had to pull out our wallets and pay for on our own. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining about having expenses. I am sharing about this point because I want to talk about budget in this guide as well.

As parents, money is a BIG factor. Kids are expensive. We found ways to cut corners while planning for this party and I am going to show you how we did it in this post!



#1 | Venue

Venue, venue, venue. It's all about the venue. A venue can make or break a party. If your house has the space to host a party, then do it in your house! It is free, more flexibility, no rules and regulations... although, the after-party cleaning process can be quite a bitch.

I spent quite some time searching for a suitable venue. It didn't help that I started my search pretty late and most places were already snagged up by weddings. I did look at hotels, but damn... they were pricey. I did like the idea of having a "free" hotel room if we did book a function room for the birthday party – but the husband wasn't game for it.


In the end, I went with Civil Service Club @ Tessensohn and NO REGRETS BABY! The location was the most centralised that I could find, pricing was reasonable and the space was exactly what I wanted! I have this thing against pillars and low ceilings because they don't look nice in photos and they make me feel claustrophobic. I booked two function rooms to fit 8 round tables and it cost me about $780++ (not including table cloth).

The booking included tables, chairs, sound system, mic and projectors. You'd be amazed by how some venues charge extra for these items and the bill can go WAY UP THERE.

They do not have a standard list of caterers that you have to get your food from, so you are free to chose and cater from whomever you like!




There is an additional point about CSC @ Tessensohn that I would like to add. I LOVE my coordinator, Jacqueline Tang. As some of you might know, I had to postpone Ethan's birthday party because my husband's grandmother passed away just a few days before the party. Jacqueline went above and beyond to help me find a new available date so that I could host the birthday party in December, and for that I am eternally grateful.

I have had my fair share of horror stories with event coordinators, hence when I am able to meet and work with such a nice and dedicated professional, she deserves a mighty good praise!

Did I mention about how caterers are allowed to enter the venue an hour prior to the actual booking time just to set-up? And how I arrived an hour and a half earlier than my booking time to check and decorate the place and I was AMAZED to see that everything was already done and set in place! The air-con was already turned on, the room was cool, the tables were placed and arranged, chairs organised and table cloths laid. They also gave me two rectangle tables for administrative purposes and the mic was already set up and neatly placed on those tables. Damn, good job you guys! I was seriously impressed.




#2 | Decorations


We did the decorations all by ourselves. We just did a little bit so that the venue wouldn't look too bare. The husband and I bought some balloons, a portable helium tank from Lazada, some ribbons, and then we blew them up on our own.

So here is how you cut cost. You would be shocked to find out how expensive balloons can be. We bought these "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" foil balloons from a value-dollar shop in our local neighbourhood. It cost us about $5.90? The same set of balloons can be found in Kiddy Palace for TRIPLE of that price. I shit you not. We also bought two packs of varied colour balloons from the value dollar shop for $2.90 per pack – we only picked out the blue and silver ones to blow up because we wanted to fit the party's colour theme!

We did drop by a SKP store at Chinatown to pick up some party supplies. Mind you, their party supplies are nice but also pretty expensive. I bought a pack of 5 blue balloons (YES, FIVE) that had gold confetti inside. This pack cost $6.50. Each balloon was about $1+... expensive. They did look very pretty though when they were blown up. If you have some free time on your hand, you might want to consider DIY-ing these confetti balloons yourselves. You can definitely save on the cost and get a whole lot more confetti balloons than just five.



As mentioned earlier, we bought a portable helium tank from Lazada. I got this idea from my friend's husband who planned a surprise birthday party for her! He knew her love for helium balloons so he bought a helium tank, a couple of balloons and decorated the house with the blown-up helium balloons! He bought his from Qoo10 and well, I am not a frequent customer of Qoo10 and so I wondered... could Lazada have it too? (They practically have EVERYTHING and thus Lazada is one of my all-time favourite shopping sites!)

On Lazada, they have portable helium tanks of different size and different price (ranges from $30 - $60) from different sellers. You should have a rough idea of how many balloons that you intend to blow up and do keep in mind that you might lose some helium in the process of blowing the balloons so do cater for the loss!

I am so happy that we had helium balloons during the party because 1) it looked pretty, 2) it kept the kids (and some adults) entertained!



I was very fortunate to be sent a Hot-Air Balloon by The Hot Air Theory (T.H.A.T) and I had requested for the special balloon to be delivered on the day of the party.

It played a great part as a decorative piece during the party – some friends came forward to take pictures of the pretty balloon/floral arrangement! The best part about it was that I could carry it home as a momento of the birthday party, and that was exactly what I did.


You would be amazed by the longevity of this "hot-air" balloon! It lasted for almost a month and could probably have lasted longer if my cheeky son hadn't burst it. Because they gave me baby breaths – which are essentially dried flowers – this arrangement is one that can last for a really really long time!




#3 | Birthday Cake – Bob The Baker Boy

The star of any birthday party, the cake. I hesitated for a long time on this one. I have never been a fan of cakes and don't have the best impressions of tiered cakes – owing to the reason that over the course of my 26 years, I have had my fair share of tiered cakes that looked great but did not taste so great.


So, when I did my research on birthday cakes, I came across Bob The Baker Boy. Now this bakery caught me by surprise because 1) their buttercream cakes look so darn pretty, 2) they had an amazing amount of positive reviews with many moms raving about how delicious their cakes were. I reached out to BTBB and to my surprise, they agreed to collaborate with me and sponsor Ethan's birthday cake!

The theme for Ethan's party was Baby Shark and so naturally, the birthday cake was designed around the theme as well. They created some baby shark & pinkfong figurines with fondants... and sheesh, would you just look at that amazing artwork!



I had seen so many baby shark birthday cakes online but this artwork by BTBB is a whole new level and the best that I have seen so far! So many of my guests walked up to take a closer look at the tiered cake, were impressed by the realistic artwork, wow-ed in amazement and snapped a few photos with their phones. I gotta admit, it felt great seeing all of the positive impressions that the cake made on my guests and I was glad for having found and chosen Bob The Baker Boy.


Moving onto the cake flavour, I went with their best-seller "Belgian Chocolate" and oh my gosh, as a non-chocolate lover, IT IS SO GOOD. Everybody at the party was surprised at how delicious it was and loved the cake – my best friend went for second helpings. The chocolate cake wasn't too sweet, sufficiently rich in cocoa, moist and fluffy.

The only thing that I wish I could change was for one of the cake tier flavours to be "Strawberries & Cream" – a diabetic-friendly option. Yes! You can make the request for a double flavour and so guests can have a choice between two cake flavours. I have already made a mental note to myself that the next birthday cake (which I am definitely ordering from BTBB) to have Strawberries & Cream and another one of their custom cake flavours!




#4 | Food & Drinks

A happy guest is one who goes home with a full & satisfied tummy. For my buffet catering, I went with Manna Pot, a catering service that has over 16 years of experience in the industry. Manna Pot offers catering for birthday parties, baby showers, weddings, corporate events and more.




For birthday parties, the buffet catering comes with a thematic styling of your choice. They will offer you FOUR themes: Nautical (which is what I chose), Barnyard, Hot Air Balloon and Jungle.

As for the food, you can choose between a standard menu, high tea or mini buffet (note: this option does not come with a set-up). I went for their high tea menu as the timing for my party was from 2-6pm. Here is a look at the food and drink that I chose:


Yang Chow Fried Rice

Mee Siam Goreng

Honey Glazed Mid Wing

Siew Mai

Honey Prawn Dumplings with Chilli Dip


Tempura Prawn with Wasabi Dip

Quiche Lorraine

Mini Muffin

Nacho with Cheese Dip

Ice Jelly With Peach & Lychee
Bird Nest Cordial
Overall thoughts, the food was well-received! Before the halfway mark of the party, we ran out of Siew Mai and only one-third of the Honey Prawn Dumplings were left. Manna Pot was generous with the food portion, especially for the carbs. The Mee Siam Goreng was so good, I went back for it THREE times!

Everybody loved the Nacho with Cheese Dip (movies, anyone?), it is a brilliant snack to have at a party! As for dessert, we went with the safe option of Ice Jelly With Peach & Lychee. It was very obvious that there were no complaints about it because when the party ended, that bowl of dessert was empty LOL.

The husband and I decided that we can be a little adventurous with the drinks option hence we chose Bird Nest Cordial. I think everyone enjoyed this small change – my sister raised an eyebrow when she saw it, she went "Hmm. Bird's Nest. Interesting." She poured herself a cup, took a sip and commented "Nice" with a nod of approval and walked away happy. :)




#5 | Dessert Table



I don't mean to boast, but the dessert table that I got from Divine Artisan was pretty damn awesome. My Baby Shark Dessert Table looks GREAT – probably the best Baby Shark dessert table that I have ever seen – and the dessert was super yummy too! I was so surprised by how well it was taken!


I chope the dessert table for awhile because it was so pretty and worked great as a backdrop for photo-taking LOL, but the moment that I opened it for consumption, my guests flocked towards it, took a couple of desserts that they fancied, went back to their table to eat and CAME BACK AGAIN for second rounds!!

By the time that the cake-cutting ceremony was supposed to happen, my dessert table was actually pretty bare LOL! You can scroll back up and look closely at the photos! Desserts that were well-received are the Earl Grey Macarons, Fruit Tarts and Tiramisu Shooters.


Shortbread Cookies

Tiramisu Shooters

Oreo Cheesecake Squares

Meringue

Earl Grey & Lavender Macarons

Fruit Tarts

Fondant Cupcakes



#6 | Goodie Bags

I hate for my guests to go home empty-handed, hence in collaboration with Yolky Chips, all of my guests got to go home with a pack of Yolky Chips! If you've never tried Yolky Chips before... YOU SHOULD. I fell in love with their potato chips at first try. Available in 3 flavours - truffle, spicy and salted egg yolk.


I LOVE ANYTHING TRUFFLE, and for the longest time ever I wondered why there were an abundant of truffle fries available (like seriously, so many cafés! Even Mac had their own rendition of truffle shaker fries for awhile) but no truffle chips in the market. Yolky Chips filled the gaping hole with their yummilicious truffle chips.

Because I had three flavours to give out, I came out with a little game for my guests. As part of the pre-party preparation, I cut out small squares of red, yellow and green paper and chucked them into a black cloth bag. Each coloured paper represented a pack of Yolky Chips in its respective flavour (RED = SPICY , YELLOW = SALTED EGG YOLK , GREEN = TRUFFLE)

My guests were required to shove their hand into the "Bag Of Unknown" and decide on their own "chip" fate. Some of them freaked out and refused to do so, thinking that it was some kinda prank lol.

If you are looking for inspiration for your party goodie bag, try Yolky Chips! You won't regret it. Their chips are really really good! You can pick up a pack of Yolky Chips from Cold Storage, Giant, Redmart or Naiise stores.


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This pretty much sums up all that I have to share about Ethan's 1st Birthday Party! I know I had a splendid time with my guests and because we kept it to close friends & family, I had the opportunity to sit down and catch up with people – unlike my wedding where it was mostly "hello" and "goodbye".

If you have extra money to spare, I would highly recommend you to hire a photographer. The day would go by so quickly and you are so busy chatting with people, liaising with the different vendors, chasing after kids... you'll need the photos for you to help remember the details of this day.

Check out my Instagram stories of the birthday party here.

Fallot's Tetralogy (Part 2)

It was 10am. The paediatric cardiologist would only arrive at 1pm and I was asked to return at 12.30pm to wait for him.

"Because there is still some time before the appointment... Would you like to take a walk somewhere around first?" I gave another aimless nod, stood up and left the centre.

I hadn't had breakfast yet, so I made my way to the Killiney coffee shop on the first floor. I mindlessly ordered a plate of noodles for myself with a cup of teh-o. I sat down with my food and without touching it, I began my research on heart defects.

My sister was born with a heart condition and so did my cousin, hence heart defects were not new to me. Both of their defects healed up over the years as they grew up and they were left with a precautionary advice to be careful in their activity choice and not stress their heart. I've heard from my mother and my aunt that they were difficult babies to raise. The first few years were tough as hell, a shit ton of crying, sometimes medication was required and it took forever to feed and finish a bottle of milk.

As I went on with my research on heart defects, I wished hard that Nathan had ASD (atrial septal defect). A hole in the upper chambers of the heart. ASD will heal up over the years or can be repaired with a cardiac catheterization surgery (a thin, flexible tube called a catheter is put into a vein from the arm, groin (upper thigh) or neck and threaded to the heart). I braced myself for the supposed first few years of endless crying and fussing. I'll get through it, I told myself.

I wished hard that he didn't have VSD (ventricular septal defect). This type of defect usually require an open heart surgery to close up the hole and very often, the surgery occurs immediately after birth or within a few months of his young life. I couldn't bear the thought of an open heart surgery. It was tough to digest the paragraph on VSD and tears started welling up in my eyes. I finished the last mouth of noodles that I cuold stomach, grabbed my bag and headed for the nearest washroom.

I closed the cubicle door and my tears began to flow. I sobbed quietly in the toilet. Mixed emotions of worry, anxiety, helplessness, despair and denial rushed through me. "Why my baby...?"

I stayed in the cubicle for a good 15-20 minutes till my tears decided to stop defying my will. I wiped the remaining tears dry, cleaned up a little and found a seat at the lobby reception. There, I continued my research on the human heart. I wanted to use every minute I had to get every knowledge possible. I wanted to be able to understand every word that the paediatric cardiologist would be saying later on. I needed to refresh my memory on the human heart anatomy. I didn't want to be stuck in a place where I was stumped due to a lack of knowledge.

2 hours flew by so quickly. At 12pm, the husband arrived from his workplace. He flashed me a tiny smile, I could tell that he mustered all the strength he had in him to give me that tiny smile... a smile that he hoped would give me some strength. He went to grab some quick lunch, I followed along. I had no appetite, so I chose to get a simple toast from the same Killiney coffee shop. He couldn't finish his bowl of macaroni. We had too much thought and anxiety in our minds. I guess we were thinking the same foolish thing, "Please let our baby be okay".

On the dot at 12.30pm, we walked into the centre. The receptionist saw me and said, "Oh is it 12.30 already?" To her, those 2 hours might seem like any hour of the day. For us, the last two hours were heart-wrenching.

Once again, I was back on the plushed wooden chair, waiting. 1pm arrived, the doctor was nowhere to be seen. 1.30pm came, the doctor wasn't here yet. We googled the doctor's name and found his portrait. We kept a lookout for him. I tried my best to remain calm. I didn't care about how long I had to wait. I felt grateful that the doctor was taking time out today and head down to Mount E Novena just to see our case. I was willing to wait, however long it takes. I wanted answers.

It was close to 1.45pm when the doctor arrived. He was ushered into one of the ultrasound rooms and we followed in soon after. Before starting his scan he instructed us, "Let me do the scan first. After it is done, I will discuss my findings with you, ok?" We nodded.

The scanning took a long time. Unlike the previous scan, he focused only and only on the heart. Tears streamed down my eyes while he was doing the scan. I hadn't meant to cry but I couldn't hold my tears in. At that moment, I understood the severity of the situation. My baby was sick. Very sick.

The husband held my hand tight. I could tell that he was struggling to keep his tears in. Halfway through the scan, he could no longer hold the questions in. "So what's wrong with him?"

Remembering the doctor's words from before and not wanting to interrupt the scan, I shushed the husband and told him to be patient. The doctor replied in a gentle tone, "Let me finish the scan first or I'll be giving you half the story only, right?"

The husband pursed his lips as he struggled to keep his anxiety and worry in check.

A whole lot more probing, ultrasound gel and a few nods from the doctor later, he said that I could sit up. His scan was over, he had a diagnosis for us.

I moved to sit in one of the chairs within the room. The husband pulled his (chair) closer. We huddled around the paediatric cardiologist, he grabbed a pen and piece of paper.

He started by drawing a human heart. He did his best in explaining the four chambers and arteries to us. And as he explained, he started listing the problem areas that Nathan's heart had. My heart sank. I struggled to stay in tuned with reality. My baby has 4 defects in his little heart. This was a lot more than what I had braced myself for... and he had a ventricular septal defect. The defect that I wish he wouldn't have.

"These 4 defects are also known as 'Fallot's Tetralogy'." The doctor scribbled the name at the top in his illegible handwriting. "And your son's condition is of moderate severity."

Me, "Will he get better? Can the hole... the ventricular septal defect heal on his own?"

Doctor, "No. He will never get better. He will either remain the same or get worst. He will require open heart surgery, either at birth or a few months down the road and another surgery at 8-9 months of age. He will be blue at birth due to the lack of oxygen in his body. This condition is known as cyanosis, he will be a cyanotic baby."

I can barely remember the things that happened after this point. I was numb. My mind had gone blank. I was trying to keep up with the conversation. Nodding my head, asking a few questions, but nothing was really getting registered.

At some point, we ran out of questions and the doctor ran out of things to share with us. I recall leaving the room, sitting back on the chair, being told by the receptionist that my gynae would be calling me in a minute.

My phone rang and I picked the call up. It was the nurse from my gynae clinic on the other side of the phone. And then the tears came. It wouldn't stop. I struggled hard to contain my sobbing.

We scheduled for an urgent appointment with my gynae clinic for the next morning. As babies with fallot's tetralogy often come with Down's Syndrome or DiGeorge syndrome, I was asked to head down the next day for another round of bloodworks to test for those two conditions.

I had passed my triple test previously but my gynae was worried that I might have slipped into the 5-8% who received a false negative for Down's Syndrome from my triple test – after all, I had fallen into the 0.8% category of women who failed her copper IUD contraception.

Fallot's Tetralogy (Part 1)

Fallot's tetralogy. Two words that crippled my heart. Before this, I didn't know that there were any two words other than "break up" that could tear my heart apart. Yes, it sounds silly and naive and incredibly immature. There are probably a ton of other two worded phrases that could cause a heart break as such.

I didn't know that it could possibly be this hard to have a healthy baby. I never expected it to happen to me. I am at a prime age. I passed my triple test. I gave birth to my firstborn healthy – very healthy and also feisty. I thought my second-born would be like his elder brother. Healthy, fat and well. I thought we would pass the fetal anomaly scan with flying colours. The first time I heard of the words "fetal anomaly scan" when I was pregnant with my elder son, Ethan, I freaked out. I asked if I could opt out of the scan – the word "anomaly" was frightening. Turns out it was just a name. Just the name of a scan to screen for any possible abnormalities in a foetus' organs. I was nervous throughout Ethan's scan and the wait for his results. Thankfully, Ethan passed his with flying colours. His younger brother on the other hand... not so much.

On the 26th of March, I went for my scheduled appointment at the Prenatal Diagnostic Centre in Mount Elizabeth Novena. I was a lot more chill as compared to when I went for Ethan's. I had gone through it once, I knew what it was about, I thought there was nothing to worry about. Just a scan. Nothing frightening. We'll get it all done within an hour or less, the results would be great like his elder brother's and then we will be on our way home.

The scan began. The sonographer started with the heart. It seemed okay at first. Then I realised... she was scanning a lot more than usual. Taking a lot more measurements and pictures. I took a closer look at the scan. Something didn't feel right. It looked like there was a gap where there shouldn't be. I kept quiet. I didn't say a word. She clicked a few more buttons and what seemed like a projection of the blood flow in Nathan's heart appeared, more parts blue than red. That couldn't be good. Still, I kept my mouth shut. I didn't know what to say. I didn't want to interrupt her either. Actually, I think I was more afraid of disturbing her and bursting my own fragile bubble.

Finally she moved on to scan his other body parts. I took the effort to make some small chat. She showed me his face (I think he looks a lot like me), the five fingers on each hand, his penis which seemed large and so prominent on screen (lol), his spine, his toes, his brains and more. I couldn't resist and so I asked, "How is he? Everything okay?" I think I might have croaked at the last syllable. She answered "Mmm. Let me scan more and I'll tell you later." My heart sank. I didn't have a response. I stared at the screen in front of me and clutched my hands tighter together. My hands were clammy.

Fast forward to the end of the scan. Nathan was incredibly obedient. He finished his fetal anomaly scan in approximately 20-25 minutes. He took half the time required as compared to his elder brother. Ethan was super active during his fetal anomaly scan. Constantly punching the probe, turning around, rotating, circling... showing his protest that he didn't like being probed lol. Nathan on the other hand, just a few gentle first bumps on the probe, probably out of curiosity. It was easy scanning him and the sonographer managed to capture all the required shots swiftly and every image appeared beautifully.

I guess, I should have known. That was the first warning sign. The lack of activity in my belly. I could always feel Ethan. He was strong and active, constantly moving and reminding me of his presence. Nathan was quiet... too quiet. Sometimes I could feel his jabs but they were little and infrequent. Most of the time, I relied on seeing my belly move to tell that my baby Nathan was alive and moving. He was so different from his elder brother. I should have known that something was up.

The sonographer finished the scan and told me to make payment first and go back up to see her. She said that she needed to talk to me. I was anxious and calm at the same time. Braving myself for the worst. I texted my husband while I was making payment. I told him about my worry. I wrote, "His brain, legs, lungs, and penis were very good. I know cos she say “very good”. She said his penis was very prominent, big and clear 😂."

He replied, "Heart. Is missing." My husband could tell. Something was up.

He took the rest of the day off work and came down to join me. While waiting for my husband to arrive, I headed back up to the centre to see the sonographer. She broke the news to me. "There is something wrong with your baby's heart. I called your gynae and he said that he would like the baby to be seen by a paediatric cardiologist for a more detailed scan. When would be free? Let me arrange something for you."

I was numb. I tried to gather my senses together but my mind had gone blank. I gave an aimless nod. "Take a seat. We'll get back to you shortly". My legs headed for the plushed wooden chair and I plopped myself down.

An appointment was made for later that afternoon at 1pm. The paediatric cardiologist would come down to the centre and do a fetal echocardiography for Nathan.

The News Is Out

[Written Date & Time: 8 April 2019, 01:40am]

I am just done editing the photo... The photo of the post that would announce Nathan’s demise. It was something that I had been avoiding for the past two weeks. It was so hard editing the photo. The difficulties faced weren’t technical – I couldn’t keep the tears from falling, my vision kept blurring up.

The post is scheduled to be released later on this week. I prepared the caption a long time ago, well not that long. I wrote it on the night that I found out about Nathan’s heart condition. I wrote and saved it in advance because I knew that I would have a terribly tough time thinking of a caption now, having to recount the various emotionally-wrecking instances of the past two weeks, squeeze my messed up emotions into sensible words and tapping the “post” button. I was also trying to save myself from a teensy bit of heartache — the bit that would set me off the edge again, crying to sleep.

I don’t think I have ever cried this much or continuously for these many days in a row (14 days now and counting). On day 11, my eyes were so swollen from all the crying, I looked like I was suffering from a severe case of conjunctivitis. It was also then when I realised, I have to do my best and restrain my tears... all the crying was starting to affect my vision... I've been stressing my eyes out way too much. As you can tell from the day count, I am trying – and failing.

That bear. There is a story behind it. The whole family was at Ikea, shopping for furnitures for the new house. We bought a new place because of Nathan, for Nathan. There isn’t space in our current home to accommodate his arrival so my in-law’s decided to sell away this home of 25 years, to get more space for their second grandson. Oh, the irony of it, because now we will be moving in without him. It hurts so much to say this line.

We were at Ikea, shopping for furnitures. I walked by a mountain pile of this $1.90 bear and thought to myself, “This would be a nice first toy for Nathan.” I walked towards the husband. He saw the bear and raised an eyebrow at me. I defended, “It’s for Nathan.” We bought and brought the bear home. I’m glad I bought the bear. It is something to remember Nathan by. But damn, the bear... a second irony in this mess. That embossed heart on its chest. A stone cold joke.

Two days before the procedure, the husband held the bear in his hands, and he made a request. “Can we never buy this bear again?” I understood why. This bear is Nathan’s, it belongs to Nathan, it symbolises Nathan to us and thus it would unfitting for any of our other children to play with it like its their toy.

My Lasik Journey With Shinagawa Eye Centre

It’s been more than 5 months since I did my lasik surgery at Shinagawa Eye Centre. I haven’t had a moment where I second-guessed my decision to go ahead with the procedure. I have been enjoying every minute of my “new” eyes and parenthood has been a whole lot easier without the need for visual aids — ie. my kid can no longer smack my glasses off my face! Yes!

Read on to find out more about the lasik surgery that I did (Intralase Lasik) and my thoughts about it.

I have had tons of people asking me “How is it?”, “Is it scary?”, “Is it painful?”. To the three questions above, it was fast, not scary at all and absolutely pain-free!

Recovery time was amazingly quick! By the end of the day, I was able to read words off a computer screen (about a metre away) and my husband was amazed by the surgery’s quick results.

Now here is a couple of things that you have to know about lasik surgeries. There are many methods to perform this surgery and after the initial assessments, your surgeon will typically recommend you the type of lasik procedure that is best suited for your eyes.

In my case, I was recommended to undergo the IntraLase Lasik by Dr Lee Sao Bing.

My eye surgeon, Dr Lee Sao Bing of Shinagawa Eye Centre
Here is a bit of background information on this lasik method.

IntraLase Lasik is also known as the “All-Laser Lasik”. An expensive laser machine makes use of an advanced femtosecond laser technology to achieve a more accurate, and safer flap-making procedure.

Because this IntraLase lasik method is empowered by a computer's precise control, it allows the surgeon to customise the depth, width, shape and location to create a very thin cornea flap – thus customising to the needs of an individual patient.

The IntraLase laser creates air bubbles in the stroma of the cornea and the air bubbles create space. The flap is not lifted until the LASIK surgeon uses a special surgical instrument to lift the cornea flap, which also means that the cornea is still intact after the IntraLase laser and the patient can blink and walk around normally without any fear

(Pic credit: Shinagawa Eye Centre)
As mentioned previously, the first step to any lasik procedure is the pre-lasik assessment as not everyone is suitable for laser surgery. Every individual is required to undergo this assessment in order to determine their suitability for lasik and which lasik procedure is best suited for them. At Shinagawa Eye Centre, a pre-lasik assessment costs $22 (including GST) for individuals aged 49 and below.

You are advised against wearing any contact lenses a week before the pre-lasik assessment. This is to ensure the accuracy of the test results. So yes, your glasses will be your bff for that entire week!

The whole assessment takes about an hour to complete and results from the pre-lasik tests are generated immediately. Thus on the same day, your doctor will be able to inform you on your suitability and provide you with a (lasik) recommendation.

Do note that one of the tests requires the clinic assistant to dilate your pupils and you might experience blurry vision for up to 4 hours. This blurry vision is kinda like 老花眼, so I was tilting my spectacles down, holding my phone up high and at a distance like an old woman with long-sightedness. LOL

In the event that you are suitable, you can make an appointment for your lasik surgical date before leaving the clinic. It is recommended to have the lasik surgery within a month from your pre-lasik assessment in order to ensure the reliability of the test results.

Usually there are available slots almost every day except for weekends; I had my lasik surgery arranged at 3 weeks after the lasik assessment. My husband took a half day-off so that he could accompany me home after the surgery was done.

To be honest, I had pre-surgery jitters the night before... I mean, how couldn't I? I had been living a bespectacled life for over a decade and had gotten so used to hiding behind my glasses for all these years. But all it took in that second was my baby boy knocking my spectacles off my face (and out of my thoughts) to remind me of how much I would enjoy a life without visual aids.

My day at the clinic took about 3 hours. The other two hours were spent on tests and checks, reminders and advices, keeping my bag in the lockers, changing into the surgical gown and waiting – for the anaesthetic eye drops to kick in, resting at the recovery lounge after the surgery and there was also someone else doing the lasik procedure before me. The laser procedure itself was rather fast, like in split seconds I’m done!

Before I knew it, I was ushered to my husband and ready to head home. The entire procedure went by without any hiccups.

Dr Lee was incredibly reassuring and I like how he kept me up to date on each step of the procedure. This is very important because the surgery happens while you are wide awake and you are required to keep your eyes open throughout the whole thing. Because of each heads-up that he gave me, I wasn't caught by surprise from any of the actions taken.

For instance, when he was about to lift my cornea flap, he warned me that my vision was going to get blur and it is okay. When the laser machine was gonna do "its thing" and correct my vision, he warned me that I might smell something burning and not to be alarmed.

Dr Lee was also very generous with the anaesthetic drops. Because I am coward at managing pain, I requested for more eye drops to be placed into each eye prior to each machine. I have a normal cornea thickness hence I am only required to undergo two machines. One machine to create the cornea flap, another machine to reshape the cornea. The nurses also wrapped me up in a thermal blanket to keep me nice and warm.

I know all of these sound like very minor details that don't play much into the big action (ie. the actual lasering) but they really do make a huge difference in keeping me calm throughout my lasik procedure.

I was discharged home with 3 types of eye drops – an antibiotic, an anti-inflammatory and an eye lubricant. I had to drip them according to the schedule provided by Dr Lee and then return in 3 days for a post-surgical check up.

Fast-forwarding my recovery process to the current date. Everything went by smoothly. I regained control of my vision so quickly that it was amazing. A week after my lasik surgery, I actually went to Halloween Horror Nights! I had a ton of fun wearing the different shades that I had bought during my travels but never wore – I even borrowed my mother in law's Kate Spade sunnies to wear! LOL

Because I wanted my eyes to heal as quickly as possible and to prevent post-lasik dry eyes, I was very generous with the amount of eye lubricating drops that I was dripping into each eye. The recommendation was to place only a drop or two into each eye, but I often found myself using up an entire tube for both eyes (oops). I also bought extra tubes of vidisic eye gel (a soothing eye lubricating gel) to place around the house and in my bags.

All of these paid off because I am currently not experiencing any of the side-effects that come with lasik and am incredibly thankful about it!

So here is the part that everyone wants to know. How exactly are my eyes right now?

Prior to my lasik surgery, my eyesight was -6.00 in my right eye and -7.50 in my left eye. 5 months after my lasik procedure, I have perfect 6/6 vision in both eyes with no post-lasik side effects.

Shinagawa Eye Centre is conveniently located on the fifth floor of Wheelock Place.

For more information on the services and fees at Shinagawa Eye Centre, click here. To make an appointment, you can either call +65 6738 8222 or submit a webform here.


Shinagawa Eye Centre
501 Orchard Road
Wheelock Place #05-15
Contact: 6738 8222

Monday to Friday, 9am - 5:30pm
Saturday, 9am - 5pm

Post editorial note: To my dear readers, kindly be informed that I do not have any referral codes to share with you. The referral discount mentioned to you by the staff at Shinagawa Clinic is only for my family members and close friends. 

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A post shared by SOPHIE LEOW (@sophleow) on Mar 12, 2019 at 3:45am PDT

Mummy Chronicles: Giving Birth To Ethan In Mount Elizabeth Orchard

Reader's discretion advise: Not for the faint hearted, packed with too much details and every bit of gory childbirth truth

This piece has been lying around in my draft box for over a year. I was done with writing it a few months back but never got around to editing the pictures because there were way too many, scattered across various memory cards, hard drives and laptops. So finally, after a shit load of procrastination, I am getting this overdue piece of article out.

I will start from the very beginning. The very first childbirth scare that we went through. How heavy I was and desperate to get my baby out. I tried to naturally induce Ethan. I tried various methods that I managed to find online... some were pretty ridiculous. I've written every detail down. As specific as I could, with as much humor as I could possibly muster.

Every mother has her own story, but this is mine. Read on for more juicy details.


Part 1 | DAMN YOU, BRAXTON HICKS


Weeks before the big day, Ethan had been giving me several false alarms. The first one started at Week 36.

His dad and I were going for one last Baby Fair – to get his collapsible bath tub. We decided to head over earlier to Expo, to have a nice breakfast at Fart TArtz, before going to the fair. On our drive there, I kept feeling a sort of cramping sensation, kinda like a menstrual cramp.

I didn’t think much of it and passed it off as Braxton Hicks.

Just as I was finishing up my last bite of flatbread, the cramping sensation intensified. Alarm bells were going off in my head, I told the husband (he started panicking) and made a move for the washroom. As I stood up and made my way there, with the husband following closely at the back.

He stopped me all of a sudden and whispered to me, “Eh you have a wet patch at the back of your dress leh! Are you giving birth today? I’m not ready yet, I haven't pack my hospital bag!!”

I thought the husband was joking about the wet patch. He snapped a photo of it with his phone’s camera. Damn, the wet patch was real. Now it was my turn to panic. I rushed to the toilet, checking through my undergarments and all. Other than the wet patch, there was no leakage nor other signs that my water bag had broke.

I threw on a sanitary pad, we rushed to the baby fair, bought the bath tub and rushed back home. For the next 6 hours, I had irregular contractions. I sweated profusely and felt ill all over.

At around 7pm, the discomfort tailed off and ended. I walked into my gynae the next day for an emergency consultation, just to make sure that the baby was well and my pregnancy is still fine, and thankfully everything was still good.

Since then, I had Braxton Hicks contractions at around 2-3am. It didn’t happen every day. It started off with being once every fortnightly, and gradually increased to 2-3 times a week. The duration of the fake contractions increased as well.

At Week 38, my fake contractions were happening every night and lasted for 2-3 hours.

I was getting tired of being pregnant. The fake contractions were preventing me from having a good rest – I was worried that it might just be the real thing! I tried all sorts of natural methods to induce labour.


Part 2 | NATURAL METHODS TO INDUCE LABOUR (sex included)


The popular suggestion online... To have tons of sex. Tried it and it didn’t do shit. Baby still stayed inside me. If anything, he protested violently by kicking me hard for the next hour after the deed was done.

Oh and, by the way, copulation near full term is a freaking challenging thing to do! My BIG pregnant belly got in the way all the time.

Next thing I tried was to diarrhoea. The logic behind it is to get the body to release hormones that causes the tummy to cramp up when having a stomachache, and the same hormones would in turn stimulate the uterus to start labour.

I’m lactose intolerant. Thus I did the most logical thing, I drank a small carton of milk.

I had a smelly / watery time in the loo and that was just about it. No baby in sight still. I guess, that small pack wasn’t strong enough but the husband refused to let me try anything funkier. He claimed that he didn’t want to receive his baby covered in poo. *rolls eyes*

I was introduced to clary sage oil by a mummy during an event. She swore that it helped to speed up her labour process. I thought to myself, why the hell not? I have absolutely no intention of staying in labour for any longer than I should.

I did some research online and found out that clary sage oil could also help to induce labour — hence pregnant women who have yet to reach full term are strongly advised to stay away from this essential oil.

By my 37th week, I was eager to get the little fatty out. His kicks were getting more powerful by the day, and they kept me up at night. Hence every night, I began rubbing the oil on certain acupuncture spots that were rumoured to assist in inducing labour.

I highly doubt that it did a thing to induce labour, but I must admit that it MIGHT have helped to speed up my labour process. My gynae had expected me to deliver at around 4pm, however by 12pm, I was dilated at 9.5cm and ready to birth. However I had to wait for another 2 hours till my doc was free to deliver my baby, and damn my labia swelled.


Part 3 | ACUPUNCTURE TO INDUCE LABOUR



In my research, these words kept surfacing up: “acupoints”, “acupressure”, “acupuncture”. I googled for reviews on this method of natural induction and it had just the wee bit better response than the rest did. Also, there were medical journals – cochrane reviews included – to back it up!

And so, I got gung-ho and decided to do it!

My dad is a TCM physician, so lucky me didn’t have to find a physician and pay money to convince him/her to do the risky “needle-poking” for me.

I had to persuade my dad. It took awhile. He had read about it in his books but had never tried it on anyone... till me. He was worried on the effectiveness of the acupuncture, he was half expecting my water bag to break the moment he poked the needles in (no, that doesn’t and didn’t happen).

I had two sessions, each a week apart.

Let me first tell you about the pain. It is, MOTHERFUCKING. PAINFUL. Worst than an epidural.

There are three acupoints that requires poking (pardon my lack of appropriate vocabulary to describe) and of the three, one of them is at the little toe just below your nail bed. That acupoint is a killer.

It is so painful that I, a person with extremely low pain tolerance, had zero reaction to the other two acupoints but I screamed when my dad poked the needle in the little toe acupoint. I hurried the husband to switch off the fan because the wind was causing the needle to sway gently and fuck it was painful.

It was an excruciating 30 minutes of pain and sweat – due to the lack of ventilation in the room. When my dad finally pulled the needles out, I felt exonerated.

How were the results? For the first session... nothing happened. Like really, nothing. That night I didn’t even get a single braxton hicks contraction. It was the smoothest night that I had in a month. Dafuq right?

As for the second session... I had been suffering from irregular contractions for the past three days with an increasing number of episodes. I could take it no more and begged my dad to poked the needles for me again, but this time without the little toe acupoint.

How did this session go? It worked just as how it should.


Part 4 | LABOUR BEGINS

At 1am, I woke up from my sleep. The contractions were real this time. They had begun. My abdominal muscles were constantly tightening. The intensity increasing. My belly was hard like a rock.

But there was a problem. My contractions were not regular as what everyone said it would be. I hesitated on whether I should go to the hospital. I was grouchy af from the discomfort and numerous sleep-deprived nights. The husband said that we should play it safe, and insisted that we get it checked out. My mom drove us to Mount E.

I checked into the labour ward. A nurse had me changed into a hospital gown. Placed some wirings on my belly. Rubbed some lube on her fingers and then stuck her fingers in my vagina. I was 2cm dilated.

The expression on my husband’s face, pure joy! He was finally gonna get to meet his son. The waiting game will soon be over.

It was about 5am when we got the confirmation. By 9.20am, I was only 3cm dilated, had my water bag broken for me and just got my epidural in.

Here is the thing mummies, DO NOT follow the recommended guideline online to wait until you are 4cm dilated before you get the epidural. Go according to your gut feel and please take into account that it takes time for the anaesthetist to arrive, and even more time for the anaesthesia to kick in!

By 11.30am, I was still only 3cm dilated but my cervix was very thin.

All of a sudden at 12pm, I felt this sharp pain, a strong pressure down there, something (well, obviously the baby) was trying to push itself out of me! I rushed the husband to call the nurse. She pushed her fingers in and was shocked to discover that I had gone from 3cm to 9.5cm in an instant!

She rushed to call my gynae and gather the necessary assistance required for the birth. I was instructed to wait for the doctor and not to push, which I did try to but damn those contractions made it hard. My labia swelled up so badly afterwards because I was fighting against the natural urge to push my baby out.

What happened after that was a blur.

A bunch of nurses came in, adjusted my epidural dose, and prepared me for the birth of my child. They asked the husband, "Would you like to video down the process or stand beside her?" He opted for the latter.

I'm thankful about his choice as I had no desire to watch my vajayjay on screen, and even more so see how my little one's head is gonna pop out of that extremely stretchable "hole".

They had my legs strapped up against the delivery bed. Gave me instructions on how to breathe and to push. And then... the pushing began.

To be absolutely honest, I had no idea what the fuck I was pushing. Some might say that I had too much drug in my system and it could be lesser. However to me, the amount of drug was just at its sweet spot.

One of my legs had gone numb from the anaesthetic, but I could still feel the contractions... I just couldn't feel what I was pushing.

Somehow I had managed to push Ethan through my pelvis and the midwives were able to see the crown of Ethan's head. The eager husband decided to take a peek and then exclaimed out loud, "Wah! He got so much hair!"

In case you're wondering, yes it is the baby's head of hair that he saw and not my hair down there. I watched an episode of "Keeping Up With The Kardashians" and decided to follow the Kardashians and get myself shaved pre-delivery so that my gynae and nurses wouldn't have to fight through a forest just to get to my baby. The husband thought I was nuts, which is... nothing new lol.


Ethan was facing upwards when he came out (typically a baby's face should be towards the ground). As a result, birthing him was difficult. My doctor had to perform an episiotomy* on me, and the cut was made all the way to my anus. *(definition: a surgical cut made at the opening of the vagina during childbirth, to aid a difficult delivery and prevent rupture of tissues)

Was it painful? Not at all during birth because I had the holy epidural. The pain only kicked in after birth and let me tell you this... WORST PAIN EVER in my whole entire life. Recovery sucks!

Next thing I knew, the doc was telling me that my baby would come out in this next push. He turned and told the nurses to prepare the vacuum. I felt a contraction coming, I closed my eyes and pushed hard...

Then I heard my doctor telling me repeatedly to open my eyes and look. In my mind, I was thinking "What the heck is he asking me to look at? I am busy enough trying to focus and push a living creature out of me. What does he want?" I opened my eyes and there was this wet and squirmy little thing lying atop of me.


HOLY SHIT... the baby is here. The baby is finally here. The baby is out.

All the birthing videos that I've watched on YouTube didn't do much in preparing me. I didn't know what to expect.

The little one stared at me with wide eyes, then he proceeded to squint them and gave a ear-piercing "I'M NOT HAPPY, I WANT TO BE BACK IN MY MUMMY'S WOMB" cry.

I couldn't stop staring at him. I don't think my husband could either. Everything felt so surreal. Part of me was wondering if I had to breastfeed him right away or do I wait? The other half of me was wondering if the baby would wriggle his way up so that he could feed?

None of that happened. He just laid on me and stared back at me, as though he was trying to talk to me with his eyes.

Well.. while all of that was happening. I was getting stitched up my doctor. He dug out the placenta from inside me and forced a reluctant husband to take a photo of the bloody organ that was responsible for feeding our kid for the past 9 months.

Weight at birth: 3.365kg
The nurse came and removed my epidural – sobs, I missed it so much when the recovery pain started kicking in. She offered me some food because I hadn't taken food in the past 15 hours.

Most people puke while having an epidural. I puked after. Right after I had a biscuit and a cup of milo. All of the food came out in a gush like a merlion spewing water from its mouth daily. Needless to say, it was disgusting. I'm glad that the husband did not faint.



Part 5 | AFTER BIRTH



I remember the first night in the hospital after giving birth. I woke up at around 12 midnight 'cos of the pain. It was so bad. I tried bearing with the pain, I didn't want to wake the husband. We barely got any sleep at all because of the little one – the contractions started the night before so we were already exhausted by the day's activities and then the hungry little fella kept coming into the room for more milk.

Finally I could no longer take the pain no more. Tears began flowing down my cheeks and soon, I was sobbing loudly as a way to relief the pain. The hubby woke up startled, he pulled open the curtains, asking me in a frantic manner what was wrong? Like a little girl whose ice cream just got stolen, I stuttered through my sobs, "The pain... It's so bad. I want to die. I just want to die... It hurts so bad down below... Help... I need help..."

I don't know why I didn't think of it. I guess I was too tired. The husband walked over to the other side of the bed, reached for the nurses' bell and in a minute, a nurse came in... and she was a life saver! Now I know why they draw a halo ring on a nurse's head because that is exactly how I saw her!

She returned to the room with some painkillers and a box of Epi-Kool Pak... IMO THE BEST THING EVER INVENTED! It is a cooling maternity pad, kinda like between an ice pack and a sanitary pad, and that took away the pain instantly! I slept like baby after – well, that was until MiniChew came in an hour later wanting MORE MILK again!

****


Now I'm gonna stop writing here because my #momlife after birth was dramatic as hell as well... or at least the first 3 months were. I've got a lot to complain share about and this blog post has a lot more details than I initially thought I would share. Thank you for staying with me till the end and here is a small note for my not-so-little MiniChew... SEE WHAT MAMA WENT THRU TO PUSH YOU OUT!

Read my husband's version on Ethan's birth here on his rarely updated blog.

Lazada x Skiphop Surprise Box

Lazada, you've amazed me with the number of online sales + surprise box promotions that you have pushed out this year! It’s like Christmas every few months thanks to your value-for-money surprise box.

The surprise boxes have contents from a variety of brands — lifestyle, tech, beauty, baby/maternity and etc. Read on to get a sneak peek of what’s in my Lazada x Skiphop surprise box!


| Lazada 12.12 Sale

There’s no better way to end the year other than a smashing great sales and a ton of new goodies — be it for yourself or others! If you have yet to buy Christmas presents then do take advantage of this upcoming 12.12 Lazada Sale, and snatch up some great deals!

The Lazada 12.12 sale will run from 10-12 December 2018. You can expect to enjoy:

• Up to 90% off selective products sitewide
• 1 million deals
• Up to $120 vouchers
• Surprise boxes @ $29 / $49 / $99

| Lazada x Skiphop Surprise Box

I love Skiphop. I developed my love for the brand while researching for diaper bag brands. Skiphop carries so many different baby and maternity products, from toys to thermos to feeding equipments.

If there is any particular product that I am looking for and Skiphop carries it, I will choose to get Skiphop’s!

During this Lazada Sale, this Skiphop surprise box will be retailing for $29 and contains products worth $100. Here are some of the items that I found in my surprise box:


Skip Hop Bandana Buddies Stroller Toy Raccoon

Skip Hop Zoo Insulated Food Jar

Skip Hop Zoo Turn And Learn Training Cup

To purchase this Lazada x Skiphop surprise box, mark it down in your wishlist now.

For more of the amazing deals happening on Lazada 12.12, click here to check them out today.

The Lazada x Skiphop surprise box will be released on 10 December at 2pm, so do keep logging into the app to check out their flash deal section! Fastest fingers first, good luck!

More sneak peeks on other Lazada Surprise boxes here:

• Maybelline Surprise Box
• Nescafe Dolce Gusto Surprise Box
• Tony Moly Surprise Box
• Laneige Surprise Box
• Hasbro Surprise Box
• Etude House Surprise Box
• Fisher Price Surprise Box
• Innisfree Surprise Box
• Skiphop Surprise Box

Blackmores Review: Nourishment For My Skin With Vitamin E

When I learnt that Blackmores released a range of products surrounding the key ingredient, Vitamin E... I gave a nod of approval for the brand. I say that because most brands create just ONE Vitamin E product and that's it.

Blackmores created FOUR variants of Vitamin E-infused creams to meet the different needs of their consumers. In addition, they added Lanolin, Avocado oil & Apricot Kernel Oil to boost its moisturising properties thus making this range a perfect choice for those suffering from dry skin or going abroad to a country with dry climate.

Read on to find out more about Blackmores' Natural Vitamin E skincare range and whether you are a suitable candidate for this range of their creams.



Vitamin E is well-known for its moisturising and antioxidant properties. As such, it makes sense for Blackmores to create its range of Vitamin E products surrounding these properties. Available at myCK, the 4 variants available are:

• Blackmores Natural Vitamin E Cream + Lanolin
• Blackmores Natural Vitamin E Cream Skin Bright
• Blackmores Natural Vitamin E Cream Firm & Smooth
• Blackmores Natural Vitamin E Cream Skin Barrier

#1 | Blackmores Natural Vitamin E Cream + Lanolin

What Is It: A rich and soothing moisturising cream to protect and replenish the skin. Blackmores Natural Vitamin E Cream + Lanolin provides a natural source of vitamin E and natural lanolin (derived from sheep wool) to help soothe the skin, while being free from artificial colours or fragrances.

Benefits:

• Nourish and soothe the skin
• Prevents moisture loss and locks in moisture
• Protects and replenish the skin
• Provides antioxidant support (vitamin E) for the skin

myCK Retail Price: $15.20

Texture: Creamy & Light

Breaking down the ingredients:

Aside from Vitamin E, this cream contains lanolin. Lanolin is the purified secretion from sheep sebaceous glands and is found on sheep wool.


#2 | Blackmores Natural Vitamin E Cream Skin Bright

What Is It: Blackmores Natural Vitamin E Cream Skin Bright helps to promote radiant skin. With antioxidants such as licorice root extract, wakame seaweed extract & vitamin E, it helps to promote the appearance of a brighter complexion. Blackmores Natural Vitamin E Cream Skin Bright is free from artificial colours or fragrances.

Benefits:

• Brightens the complexion
• Promotes radiant skin
• Protects and replenishes the skin
• Moisturises and softens the skin

myCK Retail Price: $24

Texture: Fluffy, creamy, very moisturising

Breaking down the ingredients:

Two of the key ingredients in this product are Licorice Root Extract and Wakame Seaweed Extract

Licorice root provides a whitening and brightening action whilst also smoothing and softening the skin.

Wakame contains an antioxidant that can help promote the appearance of a lighter, brighter complexion and more radiant skin. It also helps to protect, condition and nourish the skin.



#3| Blackmores Natural Vitamin E Cream Firm & Smooth



What Is It: A rich and smoothing moisturising cream blended with botanicals including DERMCOM™ snow crocus for the appearance of smooth and revitalised skin.

Benefits:

• Reduces the appearance of fine wrinkles
• Firms skin
• Moisturises and smoothen skin

myCK Retail Price: $24

Texture: Light, almost gel-like

Breaking down the ingredients:

Blackmores Natural Vitamin E Cream Firm & Smooth contains DERMCOM™ snow crocus, a top ingredient for anti-aging skincare.

This flower-based extract helps to reduce fine lines on the skin, providing our complexion the necessary nutrients to combat our ageing skin concern.



#4| Blackmores Natural Vitamin E Cream Skin Barrier



What Is It: A protective and hydrating cream blended with nourishing plant derived oils containing omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids that form a film on the skin, providing a layer of protection from environmental pollutants with added Depollutine™ and Phytovie™.

Benefits:

• Forms a film on the skin
• Protects skin from environmental pollutants
• Moisturises and replenishes skin

myCK Retail Price: $24

Texture: Richest amongst the 3 facial creams, film-like texture on skin after application

Breaking down the ingredients:

Blackmores Natural Vitamin E Cream Skin Barrier has two key ingredients (other than Vitamin E): Depollutine™ and Phytovie™.

This is a protective and hydrating cream blended with nourishing plant derived oils containing omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids that form a film on the skin, providing a layer of protection from environmental pollutants with added Depollutine™ (a moisturising algae) and Phytovie™ (a copolymer conditioning oils that help to provide a barrier to environmental pollutants).

Singapore has a tropical and harsh climate and our skin is exposed to pollutants which are invisible to us. This product provides a protective layer on the skin to prevent these harmful particles from coming into contact with it.


***

Overall Review:

For starters, let's talk about the key ingredient, Vitamin E.

This beneficial vitamin is an antioxidant, as a protection against the sun's UVB rays, as an anti-aging agent and a moisturiser.

Hearing all these benefits, it got me thinking... Wow, this is an ingredient that I would LOVE as a woman. It pretty much hit all the necessary checkboxes that I feel a beauty product is required to have.

However there is a silver lining to every cloud. Vitamin E creams are recommended for those with dry skin. To the lucky peeps with dry skin, all the products featured in this post are made for you guys!

If there is one product that you MUST buy and try, it would be the Blackmores Vitamin E Cream Skin Bright!!! It has an interesting fluffy-like texture which I am sucker for! The most important thing about this cream and what I would really like to shout-out for is and the purpose of the cream (ie. to moisturise and brighten complexion) and based on my research of its ingredients, its probable suitability for people with atopic dermatitis (aka eczema).

The two key ingredients of this cream are licorice extract and wakame seaweed extract. From my research, I found out that clinical studies have shown licorice root extract to be an effective ingredient against eczema as it is able to reduce redness and irritation. In addition, wakame seaweed extract contains vitamins B1, 2, 3, 6 and 12 – all of which helps to reduce inflammation.

Correct me if I am wrong because I am drawing memories from my past dating life with a dude who has a bad case of eczema – and thus very dry skin. I made multiple trips to our local drugstores to find a suitable moisturiser for him and they've never really ended well.

His skin was so dry that it was almost scaly like an alligator. As the eczema had spread to his face, his skin would get really dry and itchy. He couldn't resist scratching and so it resulted in bleeding and scars. His facial skin turned dark, red and rough. Back then, there were no moisturisers made for people with eczema, dedicated for facial use only. Thankfully we've got Blackmores now.

If you are or perhaps you know of someone who is troubled by eczema, share with them about this range! They deserve to know about it, they deserve to find a solution for their skin problem.

Now as for the other two creams, they are great for an all round protection. I would suggest using these two bottles occasionally (probably 2-3 days a week) together with Skin Bright. You can switch them around to prevent your skin from getting attuned to one particular product – you can also reap the benefits of the whole range!

You can purchase any of these products from myCK's heartland retail chain for daily essentials! Here is a list of their outlets in Singapore.