Whoever came out with the idea of collecting bird’s drool and making a tonic out of it is a genius. I’ve been regularly drinking bird nest… my grandma would carefully cook it to perfection for me. Skin has been really bad these few months, so grandma recommended me to drink bird’s nest. It’s expensive, but I’ve really benefitted from it.

My skin is clearer and I look healthier. Regular consumption of bird’s nest is rich in its natural goodness to keep the skin healthy, supple and moisturised. It is also widely known to benefit our respiratory system. If you’re a busy working lady, do try the bottled instant types, but if you have the time, please try to buy those dry raw bird’s nest from the Chinese shop. Ask for the one that suits you the most. I never believed in the benefits of it, until i see it for myself now.

My sister has acne problems and regular consumption has helped her to gradually regain healthy skin. Try it and be consistent, you will see results. If you’re not Asian, make sure you dont get conned buying the fake bird’s nest. Note that instant bottled types are cheaper and not as good since they contain a lot of preservatives, but you can also find those that costs around SG$30 for a 50ml bottle that’s quite concentrated. Good chinese med shops will introduce you that.

Rating: 8/10

With the success of the bubble hairdye, Liese has begun to penetrate the Asian Market with more and more haircare products. The Japanese are famous for creating and making the most interesting things in the world, one of the reasons why Liese has been so successful is because they make their products so fun and unique.

Liese’s Hair Cocktail Moisturizing Hair Serum boasts of its revolutionary technology that combines nourishing water and anti-frizz oil that moisturise your hair. I bought the peach and prune extract one, green bottle and have been using it for the last 1 month or so. Not amazing.

Truth is, it smells really fruity and nice, but compared to a lot of moisturising oils and treatment leave in conditioners, this is way behind. Still, a lot of us would smell money just to smell fruity, this I know!

Rating: 4/10

Lately, I read an article on Botox and it got me thinking. The article wrote about how Botox can help you lose your wrinkles and your friends. Britain’s The Times reported that women who use Botox are sending the wrong social signals because their frozen facial muscles make it difficult for them to express the normal range of emotions. We don’t’ know how true is that, but if we’re only thinking about the physical beauty Botox can help transform our lives, that’s only a positive social impact, surface.

Whilst being obsessed about anti-aging, some of us have truly forgotten the negative social impact. What if we’re not able to frown, look angry and sad and struggle to show empathy? You lose that personal touch, you become cold, would Botox be worth it then? Other than that, I’ve seen many people spend crazy amounts of money doing Botox. Some of them even buy themselves tickets to Taiwan and Korea to do it, they say they’re more experienced there. Of course, some came back looking gorgeous, but there are those who came back regretting. Those who never looked prettier, became more and more obsessed with their looks and became more trusting on cosmetic surgery.

Think, think and think before you do it! Also think of the notion of ‘Aging gracefully’ and if you still need to do it, do a million times of research.

Bio-Essence recently introduced its face lifting cream. Overall, it has made some very significant promises that few products dare. It basically promises to re-shape your face and even reduce double chin and fade spots, all in one tub.

As irresistible as it sounds, one needs to consider the extent of exaggeration in the advertisements. Reduce double chin?? It sounds a big project to me! I haven’t tried this product yet, tell me if you have, but overall, Bio-Essence seems to be doing fantastically well in its promo and advertising, but so far, no real results yet. At least for me!!

I’m hesitant to try this product, but my cousin claims she has and she has no amazing feedback about it, other than it smells good! On that, I would rather put my money somewhere else.

Rating: 5/10

In the commercials, OLAY prides itself on introducing the most value for money products. It even claims it’s better than the world’s most expensive creams and promises to deliver results better than invasive surgical procedures. Who isn’t tempted after all that?

I recently got myself a tub of regenerist cream to see if they’ve truly improved after all these years. I remember during secondary school (high school), we were introduced the first lessons of skincare by OLAY. They came to the school and gave samples, so that was the first brand of skincare I used. I usually have clear skin, but after using the moisturisers and toners, I remember getting pimples. At that time, I blamed it on puberty. I stopped using after the samples and tried some other brand.

I’ve tested it a few times now and I always wake up with small pimples with pus. I don’t understand why. That aside, it promises to reduce the appearance of deep lines and minimises the appearance of pores. I don’t know about the pores part, but I tend to arch my eyebrows up a lot, so i have a lot of lines on my forehead. This product hasn’t helped at all.

I prefer the Estee Lauder Wrinkle cream. Overall, I find Olay a very good moisturiser, if you apply it at night, you get really good results in the morning even if you slept in air-conditioned environment. It makes your skin really supple and soft. So yes, I will continue using it for its moisturising properties, but if you’re looking for a wrinkle cream, forget this one.

Rating: 7/10