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.

Bio-essence

Among all the different beauty products I've used before, I think Bio-essence is the worst. One year ago, I bought the whole set of Bio-essence products at NTUC Ang Mo Kio Hub including scrub, cleanser, essence, damaged skin repair, lift up cream, moisturizer, eye cream, etc. They claimed it would tighten your skin within very short time. But I used for few months, I found it would enlarge one's skin pores. Instead of improving skin condition, it made it worse. Eye cream although it said it contains 24K gold, it has totally no effect. You can see that eye lids will still droopy after using. Normally I hate to waste, even though I don't like the products I will finish them but won't buy them again next time. However, this time I really couldn't tolerate any more. I threw them away.

Captivating Colors

I participated in the Captivating Colors event organsied by OG and Kanebo recently. It included a makeover and a hairdo as well as an A4 size photo. The reasons why I decided to join were:
1) I'm no good at all at make-up stuff. Several times in the past I encountered the expressions, "You look better today. Your skin looks good." Said my friends. "Ah? But, I, I,I....'m not wearing any makeup at this moment." So, I'd like to learn how to put on make-up to emhance my appearance.
2) It's cheap. It's only $48. They will give back a voucher worth $35 for you to buy their products. For the first voucher, I bought a lipstick which I think is not bad. I mean the color looks good.
3) The make-up artists are Japanese experts, and I like Japanese-style of make-up.
Maybe my expectations were too high. In the end, it turned out to be a disappointing one.
1) After the makeover, my eyes did look bigger and brighter, but one is bigger than the other. Previous I did not have such a problem. Even if I had, an artist should be able to balance them right?
2) My two eye brows are also not balanced. My left eye brow looks better then the right.
3) My foundation is too thick and dark. Therefore, it makes me look older. Eye bags and expression lines are very obvious. In fact, without the make-up my eye bags are not at all obvious.
4) The hair stylist was indeed a joker. He asked me what kind of hair style I preferred. I asked him to recommend a hairstyle. You know what he said? He suggested the curly one, and he said very seriously, "It will give you a mature look." I was puffing for several minutes, but I couldn't find a word to answer him. What on earth do I need a mature look? I spent so much money, simply because I want to look younger. An artist does not even understand how a woman thinks. I wonder how he can manage his business.
5) The photographer was worst among them. I had a total of 9 shots. None of them look acceptable. Perhaps he also realised my photos were not good. That's why he did not insist that I buy the rest of them. He only suggested to me to buy a frame or have it laminated, which was refused by me. Such a lousy work, why should I waste money?

我最近参加了由OG和Kanebo联合举办的美人美色活动，它包括化妆，做头发及拍一张4A的彩照。我之所以参加是因为：
1）我不善化妆，每每碰到这样的情形，朋友对我说：“今天你看来比较好些，皮肤还不错。”我晕，因为那时我根本没化妆。可见我的化妆技巧亟待提高。
2）便宜，一共48块，还会返回35块的购物券，可以购买它的任何产品。第一张我买了一支口红，感觉颜色还不错。
3）化妆师来自日本，拥有日本美眉的妆容一直以来都是我的梦想。
也许是期望值过高了，到头来不禁令人失望。
首先，化妆后眼睛却是看起来大了些，也显得有神（这是我应该学习的地方），可两只眼睛一大一小。我本来两只眼睛基本相同，即使不同，一个高明的化妆师也应该能使它们平衡起来不是吗？
其次，眉毛也是，左眉看起来比右眉要好些。
第三，粉底太深太厚，使人看起来顿时老了许多。眼袋和表情纹极为明显，事实上不化妆的我眼袋不仔细看看不出什么。
第四，发型师更加搞笑。他问我：“你喜欢怎样的发型？”我对他说不如你推荐啦。他认真地说：“给你电成小圈小圈的好不好？这样会令你看起来成熟些。”我晕，心想这人怎么也能做生意的？我要想看起来成熟还上你这来干嘛？忍了又忍，我平和地说：“不用了，还是看起来自然些就好。”
第五，比起上两个来，摄影师则更差，一共找了九张，却一张也挑不出，都是一样的烂。我赌气地随便选了一张。也许他们也觉得太差了，因此没有像对待别人那样却我买CD，35快一张，可以把所有的九张照片放进去。他只是建议我要不要买个像框，或压个塑料膜一起到保护作用。可对于我来说这东西已不值得再往上面搭钱了。

The day before yesterday (5/9/9), I went again because I purchased 2 coupons before this even started. This time, the makeup artist supposed to be more famours. The foundation he put for me was not so dark and thick. But eyes were even not as good as last time, because last time, it did looked bigger and brighter though not very balanced. This time, although not too much balancing problem, it looked almost the same as what we did ourselves, did not look like so professional. It still looked older then myself, though less cracks than last time. It just looked like myself and did not enhance me much. After I finished taking my photos, I met my friend for dinner and movie. According to her, last time was even better.

这个星期六，我又参加了同样的活动，因为我早早就买好了两张票。这次的化妆师是更资深的，粉底不像上次那么厚且黑，但眼睛却不如上次，上次虽然两眼看来大小不太一样，但确实给人感觉大且亮，这次虽然看来大小一样，但与我们自己画得没什么区别，感觉不过专业化。虽然这次的表情纹和眼袋不像上次那样明显，可一样看来比较苍老，不知为什么？事后我与友人共进午餐既看电影的时候，她的评价是总的来说还不如上次。