Category: MUST READ

Beauty Tweakments – How Common Are They?

If you had five hundred dollars, would you spend it on serums and face creams, or would you spend it on a beauty tweakment at your doctor’s office? If you don’t already know, a beauty tweakment done by qualified doctors is a minor cosmetic procedure, usually non- or minimally invasive, which means it doesn’t involve going under general anaesthesia or under the knife in order to beautify (usually) the face. Common tweakments usually involve Botox and fillers. Are these facial tweakments common, hell yes. For the young, a few jabs here and there can pretty much enhance your facial shape, tweak the ratio of things here and there to make you finally look “enhanced”, while usually still looking a lot more like yourself than what plastic surgery does. Full lips (lip fillers), earnest wide eyes (botox browlift), a slender, straight nose (nose fillers or nose threads), smooth skin (lasers and chemical peels), and a V-shaped sculpted jawline (Botox masseters). For the older women, tweakments are for a slightly different purpose. Continue Reading

You Are Doing It Wrong: Mistakes That Make Acne Breakouts Worse

Trying your best to clear the blemishes from your skin? If they are not going away, there is a chance that what you have been doing could be doing more harm than good. Exfoliating Too Much When we get a breakout, some of us go into a cleansing frenzy and scrub our faces more often, hoping to rid our skin of clogged pores or dead skin so that breakouts will stop. While exfoliation is important, too much of it can aggravate a breakout and increase risks of scarring. Instead of physical exfoliation or literally scrubbing your skin with an exfoliating brush or sponge, try chemical exfoliation instead, such as a daily salicylic acid serum, or a home peel once every fortnightly. Not Cleansing Your Face After A Workout Guess what? Bacteria on the skin from sweating can clog pores and cause infections, so be sure to cleanse the skin as soon as possible after your workout. If you are prone to breakouts then something as simple as a salicylic acid Continue Reading

Forget Cardio Only Workouts – Target Your Body Shape Instead

In body shaping, if you have been focusing on numbers on your bathroom scale, perhaps you have been doing it wrong. All of us come in various sizes and shapes. Some of us gain weight easily at the waist or belly, others around the buttocks and/or thighs. A smarter way of achieving your dream physique is to design exercises according to body shape. THE GIRLY STRAIGHT If you have a straight-ish figure, focus on building your shoulders, chest and hips. To target shoulders, do side raises with light dumbbells and raise your arms out to shoulder level. Pushups will help strengthen the neck and rotator cuff muscles. Squats are great for toning hips and buttocks, and this is also a great way to increase the heart rate and burn even more fat.   THE PEAR-SHAPED If your shoulders are narrower than your hips, you are probably pear-shaped. Apart from working on the chest with pushups, your can build muscles in the back by grabbing a set of moderately weighted dumbbells Continue Reading

This Is Why Tranexamic Acid Will Make Your Skin Glow

You have probably heard of vitamin c, glycolic acid and retinol – skincare ingredients that help fight pigmentation, improve dull and uneven skin texture, and even reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. A rather new and still rare skincare ingredient has now surfaced, with a lot of research commending on its effectiveness for healing dark spots and reducing the appearance of unwelcome discoloration. Tranexamic acid is now slowly being infused into over-the-counter hyperpigmentation formulas such as serums, creams, and even whitening sheet masks.   But tranexamic acid is not new. It is actually a drug approved for use in women experiencing menorrhagia, to reduce blood loss. However, physicians noticed that patients who took tranexamic acid also noticed an improvement in skin discolouration. Tranexamic acid is now sometimes given orally by dermatologists for melasma short-term. Environmental elements such as sun exposure, hormonal therapy such as being on the oral contraceptive pill and some treatments can trigger melasma by activating inflammatory mediators within the skin. This results in an increase Continue Reading

What Exactly Is So Good About Nicotinamide

You may have heard of Vitamin B3, found in foods such as tuna, salmon and avocado, which is important for maintaining metabolism and nervous system health. Apparently, vitamin B3 can also be applied to the skin. Known as or nicotinamide or niacinamide, this skin vitamin boasts of a wide range of skincare benefits such as anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. Translated to layman terms, this means that nicotinamide can improve skin texture and strengthen the skin. It can also help to reduce hyperpigmentation, increase cellular turnover – healthier and younger-looking skin. So if you already eat Vitamin B3, why do you still need to apply it? It appears the oral Vitamin B3 goes straight to helping the body perform its more vital functions, while topically applying nicotinamide ensures that most of its benefits goes to the skin.   Unlike Vitamin C which can irritate sensitive skin, nicotinamide is pH-neutral and combines well with other skincare ingredients such as hyaluronic acid. It is also great for oily or acne-prone skin, yet it Continue Reading