也谈保养 / How to Maintain?

女人最大的敌人就是时间。至今还没有哪个女人成功地战胜它，记得很久以前曾看到过报纸上登的一篇消息，说玉婆Elizabeth Tailor称她死后希望能保留她的头颅，否则她美丽的脸会永远消失，将对整个世界都是一个损失，旁边还附有她的照片，看后不禁觉得这老妖婆大概是脑子进水了，这张令人作呕的脸还不烧掉，其不是会污染环境？后来有机会看到她年轻时演的电影，才知道原来的她确实还不赖，她对自己的记忆多半还停留在她年轻的时代，不愿意接受她早已人老珠黄这一事实，才造成了上述悲剧。
这一现象在华人演艺界也很普遍，像潘迎紫，据说她多次拍着胸脯声称自己从没整过容，但那张表情僵硬的脸怎么看怎么都不像是原装的嘛；有青春偶像之称的林青霞，如今脸已变形得无法看出一点当年影子了；有不老传说的刘晓庆和赵雅芝，她们所用的技术一看便知比起潘迎紫来要先进，因为她俩看起来要比潘自然得多了，虽然还算不错，但也一看便知年届50；有着美人之称的李嘉欣和周慧敏曾是无数男士的偶像，现在也一看就知年轻不再，但因为年龄还不是太大，所以总体效果还行。
综合上述，本人以为这世上没人能掩盖自己的年龄，年龄就像树木的年轮，一望便知，只是别人出于礼貌故意不要讲出来而已。那保养还有没有意义呢？本人以为还是有的，如果一个人注重保养且又保养得当的话比自己的实际年龄看小1-2岁是有可能的，而一个不注重保养或保养不当的话比自己的实际年龄看大1-2岁也不是不可能，所以这一正一负就相差了4岁之多，（这还不包括整容哦）还是蛮可观的哦。
那要怎样保养呢？
1。 睡觉。俗话说睡美人，睡美人嘛，美人都是睡出来的，这可是有科学道理的哦。人的皮肤都是在夜间熟睡的时候进行修复的，如果在这段时间不睡觉，皮肤就无法得到修复，皮肤的最佳修复时间是12点至2点，其次是2点至4点，再次是10点至12点和4点至6点。但对我们繁忙的都市人来说10点睡觉似乎可能性不大，但一定要保证12点至4点药谁个好觉。
2。 喝水。喝水要会喝，不能一口气喝很多，只能一小口一小口地泯，一次只能喝一到两小口，如果喝太快则很快就会排出体外，因而其不到作用。睡觉前一定要和足够的水，因为修复皮肤的时候需要大量的水，清晨起床后也要喝水，因为要补充水分。注意，在正常情况下，即使晚上喝了足够的水，夜里也无需起来上厕所，只需在清晨6点以后解决就对了，如果你经常夜里起来上1甚至2次厕所，说明你的睡眠质量不好后皮肤已经损坏，存不住水分了。
3。 养成清晨排便的习惯。如果不能每天及时排便，毒素累计在体内，皮肤就会有问题。如果经常性出现2-3天才拍一次便，而且排泄物很臭，很可能是体内的酶和有益细菌如乳酸菌太少，要及时补充。
4。 要针对自己的皮肤问题用适合的护肤品。如果是针对皱纹，细纹，则须看其成分是否含多元胜肽，据本人所知，几乎所有的名牌护肤品都不含有，只有个别几款才有，如Estee Lauder的很小部分产品，SKII和Lancome的眼霜中有，含的最多的大牌护肤品是Elizabeth Arden。其他的几乎没有。如果不含多元胜肽相抗衰老，几乎是天方夜谭，在名牌的护肤品也没用。有的自称含胶原蛋白，但胶原蛋白的分子太大，想通过皮肤吸收简直是开玩笑。而多元胜肽分子较小，可以被皮肤吸收，它可以促进胶原蛋白的生成，但它起作用较慢，而且过了一段时间后会出现钝化现象，就不管用了，需停用一段时间后再用；如果是缺水则需买含有玻尿酸和神经酰胺的产品，几乎所有的名牌护肤品都不含，这就是为什么我们花了那么多钱却不见效的原因。
5。绝对不要做桑拿或蒸气浴。有些美眉为了减肥，拼命地做桑那浴或蒸气浴，这都是受了美容院的误导，在做减肥前，她们会为你量体重，做后在量体重，确实减了，有些美眉便很高兴，一位真的奏效了，其实大错特错，因为经桑那浴或蒸气浴后会失掉大量的水分，而水分是非常宝贵的，失掉容易补充难啊，而失掉水分人一下子就老了几岁，而脂肪的分子超大，根本无法通过排汗的方式排出体外。如果真的想甩掉多余的脂肪，可以到严寒且艰苦的地方去，身体为了抵御严寒，要燃烧脂肪，这就是为什么蒙古等地的游牧民族耻那么多肉类却从不发胖的原因。可能有些人会说我有些水肿，应该通过这种方式把水分排除，那你就更错了，水肿是因为你的肾有问题，应该去看医生，而不是盲目做桑那浴或蒸气浴，否则将有生命危险。
6。 玻尿酸的多少是皮肤含水量的标志。这就是为什么我们常形容好的皮肤为婴儿般的肌肤，因为他们的皮肤中含有丰富的玻尿酸，但当人们到了25岁后玻尿酸的含量会骤减，这就是为什么25岁以前的女孩子我们用娇艳欲滴来形容，但过了25岁就不再那么水灵了，而过了30岁人已经明显的可以看出不饱满了，因为30岁时一个人的玻尿酸含量只是最初的65%而已。那怎样才能补充玻尿酸呢？擦含有玻尿酸的护肤品或面膜能进去的玻尿酸是很有限的，对于25-30岁美眉或多或少是有用的，但超过30岁则作用不太大了，因为缺的不是一星半点，这是需要注射，在新加坡本人还没有看到那里可以注射，中国的大城市都有。勤力的保养加上适度整容以现在的科技比自身年龄看小5岁已不成问题了，大S，林志玲她们便是很好的例证。
7。 展望未来。RNAi技术已经崛起，并已获得了初步的成功，如果说DNA是制造蛋白质的图纸，那么RNA就是何时制造和制造多少蛋白质的指令，通过对RNA的干预，我们可以让我们的身体制造更多的胶原蛋白，玻尿酸和神经酰胺，从而使我们看起来年轻。据悉，这项技术将在2年后趋于成熟，在10年后可得到普遍使用，它的产生使得年轻10年不再是梦，也就是说10年后的我们看起来将和今天的我们区别不大。

The biggest enemy for a woman is time. So far, no woman can successfully defeat it. I remember many years ago I saw a news report from the paper saying that Elizabeth Taylor believed that her head should be preserved after her death. Otherwise, she considered that it would be a sheer waste!! There was a photo attached beside her story. On seeing the photo, I was thinking there must be something wrong with that old monster. What’s the point of preserving such a horrible face? Years later, after having had a chance to watch her movies, then I came to know that she was indeed not bad when she was young. Her memories basically stopped in those days when she was a young maiden and simply refused to accept the fact that she was already a totally different person.
This phenomenon is also popular among Chinese celebrities. No one it seems can successfully hide his/her age. So there will be no need to maintain? The answer I think is yes. If you maintain well, it’s quite possible that you will look 1-2 years younger than your actual age. Otherwise, if you don’t, it’s also possible that you will look 1-2 years older than your actual age. That makes about 4 years difference which is quite significant I guess.
Next question is how to maintain?
1. Sleeping. Like what was said in sleeping beauty. You must have enough sleep in order to look good. There is scientific proof of this. Skin will be repaired only at night. The best timing is from 12:00am to 2:00am, followed by 2:00am to 4:00am, which is the second best time. Next is from 4:00am to 6:00am and 10:00pm to 12:00am. It’s not possible to sleep as early as 10:00pm as every one of us has a very tight schedule nowadays. But we must make sure to have a good sleep at least from 12:00am to 4:00am.
2. Drink water. We must know how to drink. Don’t drink too much at one time. Just have 1 or 2 sips at a time so as to train your body to retain the water. One must drink before sleep. This is because it needs significant amount of water when repairing one’s skin. Early morning soon after getting up you must also drink lots of water because the skin needs to replenish at that time. Normally even though after drinking that much of water, there’s no need to go to the washroom at night. If you need to pass urine once or even twice, then it shows that your skin has already been damaged. That’s why it can no longer retain water.
3. Passing motions. Train your body to pass a motion every day in the morning. Otherwise you will accumulate toxins in your body. If you always have a constipation problem, you may have further imbalance, lacking enzymes and lactobacillus. You must have them replenished.
4. You must use the skin care products which are suitable for you. For anti-aging, you must check whether it has peptide. The majority of famous brand name skin care products do not have that except very few. For example, it can be found in several Estee Lauder products, Lancome and SKII eye cream. The Elizabeth Arden brand has more peptides than others. Without peptide is not at all able to fight with fine lines or winkles no matter how famous the brand is. Some claim that there is collagen inside their products. In fact the collagen molecules are too big for skin to absorb. So it is completely no use even it has the collagen. But peptides molecules are far much smaller and can be absorbed by the skin. Peptides are the raw materials that form collagen but it takes some time to show the effect. It will cause passivation and must be stopped before using again for a while. If the skin is too dry, you must use the products which contain hyaluronic acid and ceramides. Almost none of the famous brands contain these substances. That’s why we often spend a lot but fail to any improvement.
5. Do not go for sauna or steam bath. Some people in order to lose weight, always go for sauna or steam bath. That’s because they are misled by the slim centre. Before the treatment they will weigh for you, and after treatment they will weigh you again. When some people see a reduction, they think that they have succeeded. In fact they are wrong. After this kind of treatment what your loss is only water. But water is very precious. It’s always easy to lose but difficult to gain. It will make you look several years older once you have lost it. The molecule of fat is super large. It can’t be got rid of through perspiration. The only way to get rid of fat is burn it when the weather is cold and your body needs energy. That’s why the nomadic people in Mongolia are never fat even though they eat so much meat. Some people may think that their bodies are swollen, they must have excessive water. So, spa might be good for them. I shall say you are also wrong. Because if your body is swollen, you may suffer from a kidney problem. You should go to see a doctor instead. You may die if you ignore it and simply go for spa.
6. Hyaluronic acid levels regulate the amount of water your body can retain. We always describe beautiful skin as baby skin, because baby skin is richest in hyaluronic acid. But the hyaluronic acid level starts dropping at the age of 25. That’s why girls before age 25 are very well hydrated. After age 30, we can obviously see that the skin is no more firm and plump because at this time the hyaluronic acid level is only 65% of the original. How are hyaluronic acid levels replenished then? It’s quite limited through the application of the skin care products and facial masks. It might be useful for girls from 25-30. After 30 you need injections. So far I can’t find any beauty centre here in Singapore to offer such services. But I believe it can be found in the bigger cities of China. More detailed information will be given after I have tried it myself. But it can indeed make you look 5 years younger. 大S and 林志玲 are the very good examples.
7. Now there is new technology called RNAi which has already started. If DNA is the design to form protein, then RNA is the instructions given. It decides when and how much to produce. Through the RNA interference, we can produce more protein, hyaluronic acid and ceramides so that it will make us look younger. It will be matured in 2 years time and is expected to gain in popularity within 10 years time. So it’s not at all a dream that 10 years later on we may still look similar to what we are today.

未来的我 / Me in the Future

听说有个网站可以看到未来的自己，觉得很有趣，而且也可以提前知道自己哪里有问题，可以提前预防，便按照指示上载了自己的近照，很快便收到了自己20年后和30年后的样子，当看到自己20年后的样子已经觉得很可怕了，谁知跟30年后的一比感觉好多了，如果30年后哪个医生能把我整成20年后的样子，我一定觉得好开心。唉！难怪人们常说女人最大的敌人其实就是时间。神啊，快点救救我吧！

I've heard there is a website that can predict what a person will look like in 20 and 30 years. I thought it would be quite a fun thing to do. And it would also know where I should be more cautious. I followed the instructions to help to upload my photo and soon I received the results. The projected image of me in 20 years time already shocked me as I saw a very old woman. But compared to my image in 30 years, it surprisingly looked much younger. I was thinking if any plastic surgeon in 30 year can make me look like the one in 20 years, I shall be very happy at that time. No wonder people always say the number 1 enemy of a woman is time. Alas. God! Please save me!!!

拍写真 / Taking Photo at a Studio

这次去中国做的另一件事是拍写真。另一位友人说她的弟妹及侄女拍了一套写真集，拍得可好了，弟妹看起来特别显年轻，本来相貌一般的侄女更是一下子就变成了个小美女，简直赛过明星呢。听后心里顿时痒痒的，也想赶快拍一套，友人表示会带我去，可以问价钱不得了，原来她们花了￥7000+，这怎么得了？我哪能花得起那么多钱啊？有一次，我去Walmart购物时突然看到一个拍写真的摊位，拍18张成册加一个冰雕盘和一个有25张照片（其中18张加修版，另7张则不包）的CD共￥500。感觉这个价位还可以接受，而且他们的样品极为精美，变付了钱。等到了studio一看才明白为什么这家比较便宜，原来这是个家庭式的影楼，他们将一个住宅单位改造成studio，只有一位化妆师，一位摄影师和一位后期制作，摄影师连助手也没有，而且布景极为简陋，令人无法进入角色，摄影师能想得到的姿势也极其有限，他所教导的姿势我实在摆不出，除了第一集休闲外，越拍越扫兴，只好勉强拍完了事，故效果不佳，但想想便宜也就算了，下次要换一间影楼啦。

Another thing I did this time in China was taking photos for an album in the studio. My friend told me that her sister-in-law and her niece did so, and the result was incredible. Her sister-in-law looked very young and her niece looked even better than a movie star despite her being just an average looking girl! I was then very keen and wanted to follow suit. My friend promised me that she would take me there. But after having found out the price, I was stunned! It was ￥7000+. By no means could I afford this. Once, I saw a stall when I went shopping at Walmart. They charged ￥518 (S$104.02) for an album of 18 photos (including a touch up) and 25 (including that 18, and the other 7 without a touch up on CD) and one on the plate. The price was affordable and their samples were fantastic. So I paid. I realized why it was so cheap after I reached the studio. It was a small family business and they had simply converted an ordinary residential flats into a studio. There was only one make-up artist, one photographer and a digital media designer. There was not even one assistant for the photographer. The setting was so basic that it could not bring a person into his/ her role. The poses which the photographer could think of were also limited, and the majority I could not even follow. I could not get into the right mood and I lost my enthusiasm after the first episode. That’s why the result was not very ideal. Next time I’ll definitely choose another studio.

每日一照 / Photo Everyday

忽然惊闻有人每天拍一张照片，而且足足坚持了12年之久，他也由此成了网络红人，哇靠，这也能成名？哼，等着瞧，俺说什么也要打破此记录。不过话又说回来，这还真是个好习惯，起码能帮助你回忆往事，且能及时发现自己哪里出了问题，想来经常拍照的人会越变越美吧。当然这只限年轻人而已，俺就不行喽。
I heard that there is a guy who has taken his own photo everyday for 12 years. Now he has become famous on the internet. My God, can you become famous just like that? Wait, I will definitely break his record. It’s also a good habit which will help you to recall what happened in the past as well as find out one’s problems. I believe it will help a person to improve his/her look if he/she does so. Of cause, this only works on young people, not me.

P.S. I forgot to take on 24/7 and 25/7.

大头贴 / Stickers

我这次拍了一套大头贴，共36张，如不放大加洗则只要￥30（S$6.14)，人家可以免费给存在硬盘或是thumb drive里，只是我犯了一个错误，我让她们加洗了一套放大的，又花了150块（S$30.68)，爸爸说如拿到照相馆去洗同样大小的每张只要7毛钱，那36张也不过才￥25.2（S$5.15),我足足多花了将近S$25,而且质量还不如相关的好，唉，被人宰了一刀，就当吸取个教训吧。

I took one set of stickers on the machines there. Altogether 36 pieces. It cost ￥30（S$6.14）if you don’t enlarge them. They would give all the soft copies and save them inside your thumb drive. But I made a silly mistake. I asked them to enlarge them for me, which cost me ￥150（S$30.68）extra. Father said that since I already have the soft copy, I could easily get them printed in any of the photo developing shops which cost only ￥70 per piece. So it would be ￥25.20 (S$5.15) for 36 pieces. And the quality would be better. I learned my lesson.

Nail Art (3) / 指甲上的艺术（3）

这次我的指甲是在另一件店做的，我本来在这里剪头发，发行师不是原来的那个，不过这个也不错，尤其擅长剪刘海，价格只需￥29（S$5.93)。帮我洗头的美眉大力向我推荐在他们店里做指甲，那就试试看吧。这次连手带脚一共花了￥280（S$57.26），不算太便宜，但她做得还蛮细，据说贵是因为这是双色花，先要打一层底胶，然后再在上面画，画好后再上一层胶把花封在里面，着实有点复杂。

This time I did my manicure and pedicure at another shop. I went there for a hairdo. It was a different hairdresser from the last time. But she’s not bad either, especially good at cutting the fringe. It cost only ￥29 (S$5.93). The girl who washed my hair strongly recommended me to do my manicure and pedicure there. OK, then no harm to try it. This time cost me ￥280 (S$57.26) for both hands and feet. It’s not very cheap. It was said that because the flowers had two different colors, and that’s why it’s more expensive. She laid one layer of gel below, then painted the flowers and then put another layer of gel to seal the painting inside. A bit difficult. But it lasted only 2 weeks for hands. The ones on my feet are ok. Even now , almost 6 weeks have already gone by and it’s still perfect.

Nail art (2) / 指甲上的艺术（2）

This time I tried a different type called gel overlay. It was said that this would last longer. "It will last 3 months." the owner said with a smile. But the long lasting type will cost much more. For both hands and feet the cost will be S$50 (excluding nail extension). More than double compared to the last time. In fact it did not last that long. Based on my personal experience, for feet, the normal one (without gel overlay) will be better. It’s cheaper and will last about the same time. And most important, without gel overlay, the design looks more beautiful. For hands, with gel overlay, it does last longer. It will only last slightly more than a week if without. It will last at least 1 and a half months if with gel overlay. I suggest that it’s better to not do any nail extension (about S$1.1 per nail). The reason is that it breaks easily after a while (say a month and a half time) and it hurts.

这次回去我尝试了另一种不同的做法，叫做光疗胶，似乎也有人叫它水晶指甲。据说这种做法会持续较长的时间。"它可以耐3个月”，店主笑着说道。当然价格也更贵，手脚加一块儿超过S$50（还不包括贴甲片），比起上次来，价格翻了一番还要多。但根据我的经验，脚不需做这种，因为作了光疗胶在脚上不但不能耐久，比起普通指甲油那种反而时间更短了，再加上价格又贵，还不如指甲油那种好看。对于手来说，耐久性确实要好很多，但也绝不像她说的那样可以耐3个月，大部分将在一个半月左右脱落，我只有左手的无名指和小指超过了三个月。建议不要贴甲片（大约S$1.1一个），因为贴了以后一般会在一个半月左右折断，而且会有点痛。

About Closing Down of the ‘Wax in the City’ / 由美容院的倒闭所想起的。。。

Wax in the City 是一间连锁Spa Salon，最近倒闭了，引起了一阵轩然大波。其原因是由于业者在这之前还诱导顾客交完全部配套的钱，并拒绝退还；同时律师和消协的代表也纷纷发表电视讲话说顾客不该傻傻地一次就交清全部配套的钱，交钱之前要彻底查清它的经营状况。叫我说这简直就是屁话。首先，不交清钱没有一家美容院会给你做配套，再说了，我们消费者去那里调查？要查也得政府去查呀，政府应该设立网页，并对所有业者进行分级，把他们的经营状况在网上公布，这样消费者才有处可查嘛。或者政府也可以出台政策禁止他们提前收钱，每次做好后再付款。最奇怪的是有些顾客是分期付款的，当有些顾客发现倒闭后，通知银行叫他们停止分期付款，银行经答复说根据法律不能停，哪有那么奇怪的法律？明明可以减少顾客损失的，却偏偏不要做。实际上是政府管理存在严重的漏洞，却还要指责消费者不够聪明，真是岂有此理。
今天报纸登出来了，政府说他们改进了，首先，给五天的冷静期。其次，不得强行推销Package，第三，要提供明细账单条款，要让顾客明白他们到底买了什么。第四，提高专业素质，等等。我觉得这些并不是实质问题，最重要的是应禁止美容院提前收费，做一次收一次就好啦，为什么还要搞到那么麻烦？

Wax in the City is a spa salon in Singapore that recently closed down. Commotion broke out among those customers who could not be given a refund for payments made in advance of a full course of 10 sessions. Now lawyers and representatives from the Consumers Association have spoken out in a TV interview, saying that the customer should think twice, and should not easily agree to sign this kind of agreement without first carrying out a thorough check on their background. I think this is quite absurd. I believe that the government should come out with some new safeguards to strengthen the existing regulations which protect our customers, rather then we having to check for ourselves. We have to pay the full fee up front when we sign up for a package. This is the normal practice in Singapore. Where can we perform a search of the known information for any one given company? It’s simply nowhere. Government should monitor their business closely and setup a website to grade them. Otherwise all we can get from the internet is just them bluffing about how good they are. How on earth could we have known that they were going to be closing down soon? Or simply come out with a new policy that prevents businesses from collecting all of the money in one upfront payment. It should be paid each time after the session. The strangest thing is some customers pay by installment. Since they have closed down, the bank should have been advised to cease making regular deductions from the customers’ account! Hence, minimizing the losses incurred. But the bank has answered that by law they are bound to continue the transaction. Isn’t the law is very stupid? The Government having failed to manage the situation very well, now puts the blame on the consumers.

My New Shoes / 新鞋子

我最近买了六双新鞋子，其中四双我比较满意。下面我把它们做一个比较：

序号 颜色 价格 地点 舒适程度 美观程度 耐穿性
1。 粉红色 S$69.95 Takashimaya 1星 5星 只穿了三次后，钻石就掉了，不过商店说可以免费帮我修理。
2。 浅蓝色 S$74.95 Takashimaya 1星 5星 穿得次数很少，还不清楚。
3。 象牙色 S$33.50 IMM 4星 3.5星 穿得次数很少，还不清楚。
4。 咖啡色 S$31.70 IMM 4星 3.5星 穿得次数很少，还不清楚。


你们大家的意见呢？

Recently I bought 6 pairs of new shoes. I’m especially satisfied with 4 of them. Below is the comparison of them:
Serial No Color Price Shopping Mall Comfortableness Attractiveness Lasting
1 Pink S$69.95 Takashimaya ⋆ ⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆ the ‘diamond’ dropped when I wore them for the third time and the shop said they would fix it for me free of charge.
2 Light Blue S$74.95 Takashimaya ⋆ ⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆ only worn 3 time, yet to know
3 Beige S$33.05 IMM ⋆⋆⋆⋆ ⋆⋆⋆and a half only worn 2 time, yet to know
4 Coffee S$31.10 IMM ⋆⋆⋆⋆ ⋆⋆⋆and a half only worn 2 time, yet to know

What is your opinion?

对美容院与美容师的一点建议 / Some suggestions to the beauticians & beauty salons

我昨天与我的同事一起去Tampines的一家美容院作美容。美容师首先为我们检查了肤质，我的皮肤有一点点干，决不油腻；而她的皮肤则是油性的。相差甚远，然而最后我们的治疗确是完全一模一样的，听起来未免令人觉得有点诡异。先是给我们洗了脸，然后敷上活细胞精华素作面部按摩，据说这能促进细胞的新陈代谢，按摩则有利于血液循环，并帮助提拉紧致肌肤，从而达到减少皱纹和细纹的效果，并可以促进肌肤对精华素的吸收。最后敷上维生素C面膜和眼膜。维生素C可以起到美白作用，眼膜有一点点温热，据说可以起到帮助眼部的血液循环，从而减少肿眼泡和消除黑眼圈。我并不是说这些治疗不好，我是觉得治疗应更有针对性。如干燥皮肤的人须作保湿，调整最后达到不再干燥。而油性肌肤要想办法帮他们减少油脂的分泌；毛孔粗大则要缩小毛孔；皮肤暗哑则要提亮皮肤的色度等等。要对症下药，美容师应根据每次的治疗结果不断的做出相应的调整，而不是以昧地照着一个模子生搬硬套，这样才能真正帮助顾客达到改善肌肤的目的。

Last night, I went to a beauty salon with my colleague at Tampines. First the beauticians there checked our skin type. Mine is a bit dry while hers is rather oily. It’s totally different. But guess what, in the end, our treatment was nonetheless exactly the same. Sounds appalling, right? First they cleaned our faces, then applied life cell essence together with massage. It is said that this essence will help the cell metabolism. Massage will help with the blood circulation and firm the skin so that it will reduce the wrinkles and fine lines and also it will help to absorb the essence. It ended with Vitamin C mask and eye hot mask. Vitamin C has a whitening effect and the eye hot mask will help with the blood circulation around the eye area so that it will reduce the puffy eyes and dark circles around the eyes. I’m not trying to say these treatments are useless. What I’m trying to suggest here is that the treatment should be more specific. For example, with a dry skin condition, the focus needs to be on hydration. The end result should not make the skin any drier; oily skin types are over secreting excessive oil. Prominent skin pores need to be minimized; dull skin need help to make it more radiant. Generally speaking we must treat every skin condition accordingly, and beautician assessment should be based on feedback from the previous occasion. Every skin type needs an individual assessment and treatments that have been tailored to suit different skin types. This is the only way to improve our skin.

Comparison of the different brand of skin care products / 各种不同牌子的护肤品的比较

最差：Bio-essence
完全没有半点作用，而且会造成毛孔粗大。我前年秋季买了一整套，我的人不喜欢浪费，既然买了，通常就会坚持着把它用完，这是我少数几个丢掉的，我只用了一半，因为感觉皮肤实在是越来越差了，再要用下去就更浪费钱了。它的眼霜还自称是什么24K金的，倒也确实能看到一些金粉在里面，可是擦了一段时间后，明显感到眼部肌肉越来越松弛了，只能狠狠心丢了它换别的。
* Shisedo
Shisedo的润肤霜擦后，我的额头上长了很多一粒粒的油疱，尽管现在停用十年了，又去美容院作了多次的治疗，现在仍清晰可见，只是好转了很多。但它的眼霜与颈霜到还有点作用，唇膏相当不错，粉底也还好啦。
** SKII
我买了SKII全套的紧肤与美白系列。坦白讲到现在我也没能看到美白系列的效果，至于说到紧肤系列嘛，应该说它的效果跟Shisedo没什么分别，但价钱却贵多了，而且用后皮肤很干，我认为这个牌子应该对油性皮肤较适合。它的粉底还可以。
*** Lancome
这个牌子我买了两款，一套补水的，另一套是美白的，美白的我还没有开始用，补水的用了差不多一个月了，感觉这还是我所知的牌子中最好的。它的眼霜和颈霜比起上述几个牌子也要好些。当然我不能指望我极干的肤质一下子就能变得水灵灵，一点一点来吧。另外它的睫毛膏绝对不要买带有震动功能的，毫无用处，而且白白浪费钱。
建议:如果你是干性皮肤，可以考虑用Lancome补水系列，它确实有一定的效果。昨天我去美容院做皮肤鉴定，美容师说我的皮肤不会太干，比以前进步多了。其他牌子的则没见有什么效果。

The worst: Bio-essence
It failed to work for me and further more, it makes the pores open up. I bought one whole set in the autumn of 2008. I really hate to waste things. Normally I’ll finish a product once it’s bought. This is one of the very few that I have thrown away after using only half. Because I could feel that my skin had become worse. It would have cost me more had I continued to use it. The eye cream label claimed to contain 24K gold powder. I did see some flashy gold stuff, unfortunately my eyes became droopy after using it for a while. There’s no way I could have continued to use it.
Shisedo
After using Shisedo’s moisturizer, lots of milium popped out on my forehead. I’ve already stopped using it 10 years ago, and completed a course of ten treatments at the beauty salon, the milium are still quite obvious sometimes. But now this problem has been greatly improved. Their eye cream and neck firming cream I think it has some effect. The lipsticks are great. Compressed foundation is ok.
SKII
I bought one set of lifting cream and one set of whiting cream. Frankly speaking, I really can’t see any effect from the whiting series. I applied it to my face excluding my forehead. After about a year, there was no difference to be seen at all. For the lifting set, I shall say it’s quite similar to Shisedo, but the price is more expensive. The eye cream is rather dry. I think this brand is basically for oily skin types. The compressed foundation and two-way cake is ok.
Lancome
I bought 2 series of products from the Lancome range. One set of whitening and set of hydrating cream. I have been using hydrating cream for about a month. I think it’s slightly better than the rest of the brands for dry skin. I have not yet started to use the whitening set. The eye cream and neck firming cream is also slightly better. Of course I can’t expect a dramatic improvement. It will take time. Besides, it’s not at all necessary to buy mascara without vibration function. It’s completely useless and simply wasting your money.