The lipstick is probably a girl's first makeup. It certainly was mine.
I remember playing with my mum's red lipstick when I was a little girl - I knew where she hid them.
And lipsticks are fun because they add a pop of colour on your face, instantaneously!
The challenge then is keeping it on and not having it rub off on your mugs, your clothes or your face masks.
This week, I try seven popular smudge proof lipstick brands to see if they pass the ultimate transfer proof lipstick test.
I try on a different lipstick each day. Apply it. Wait for it to dry completely before wearing my mask. Each mask is worn for at least thirty minutes before it's removed and labelled.
Day 1 - Everlasting Liquid Lipstick, KVD Vegan Beauty
I first heard about Coney Island Park back when there were just whispers of plans to build the Outward Bound Singapore (OBS) Coney Island Campus a few years ago.
And because it was so near where I lived, my husband and I decided to do a reconnaissance or "recce" hike one Saturday morning.
We parked just off the street, as close as we could to the park, and we walked for a bit then entered Coney Island Park through the East Entrance.
It was a balmy, breezy morning and we covered the whole island in half a day. We spent some time looking for the cow, yes this was way back when it was still alive! We also took time to admire the very vibrant flora and fauna. Hoping that we could spot some otters, squirrels and long tail monkeys. We even stopped by the beach area to just take it all in.
Going back there again just last week brought back really fond memories.
Better still though, is the fact that there are now proper road signs at every turn and generally clearer paths to walk or cycle on.
There are however, several things to note especially if you're thinking of heading there for a hike yourself or with your family this weekend.
It's a good idea to wear long pants or tights to keep the mozzies away. Comfy covered shoes as well because it takes about three hours to get from end to end, on foot.
Speaking of mozzies and midges, spray on heaps of insect repellant especially those that contain DEET - a light, yellowish oil that actively guards against mosquitoes, ticks, fleas and other biting insects.
Toilets are located at both ends so it's best to start with the end in mind, if you know what I mean, and then of course bring your own water bottle so you can hydrate yourself throughout the duration of the hike.
One final and important thing to note, there are no street lamps so time your walk in such a way that you'll get out of there before it gets dark. I'd recommend starting your walk at about 0700 or at 1600hrs to avoid the sweltering sun of the tropics. It can get quite hot and humid here in Singapore.
Other than that, I hope you thoroughly enjoy your visit to Coney Island Park!
I'll be back with more videos and posts when I cover other interesting places to hike in Singapore. Till then, follow me on social @lovelynettetan for more!
Where I come from, it's pretty common and polite to ask people we're meeting for the first time, especially if they're older, "Hi, how are you? Have you eaten?"
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Was surprised when this lady, well into her 80s and still running her own business replied, "No, I had breakfast, so I'm not gonna have lunch. If I didn't have breakfast, then I'll have lunch..."
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
"Don't eat too much," she said to me solemnly, "not good."
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Fact is, unless we have labour- intensive jobs and we move around a lot like our agricultural forebears, we hardly expend all that food energy we're taking in.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Then, what happens is, we end up storing these unused portions as fat.
I'm not sure where you're at, at the moment.
But maybe you can't wrap your head around this notion that eating staples like rice, noodles/pasta, breads could be wreaking havoc in your health, you've eaten them your whole life!
But could it be precisely because you've eaten them your whole life, you need to consider cutting back on, at least, your usual portion of carbs?
Surely, you're not as active as you were in your youth. Worse, if you're past 30 - your metabolism would have slowed, considerably.
Point is, so many variables have shifted but you're still eating the same serving size?
The fact of the matter is, "Weight gain is not a normal function of aging." says Cynthia Thurlow at TEDx Greenville.
While it's possible to still enjoy your favourite foods, you could consider doing smaller portions.
Another way to keep your weight down naturally, is to work with how our bodies are designed.
According to Andreas Moritz, author of Timeless Secrets of Health & Rejuvenation, our digestion starts to slow from 8pm. Perhaps that's a good time to stop eating?
Also, I don't know if you've experienced this before but are there times when you just don't feel like eating in the morning? But you do anyway because it's habitual?
The next time you don't feel like eating in the morning, try listening to your body - it's okay to skip breakfast!
In fact, it's healthful to introduce these regular periods of rest from food or what's known as intermittent fasting.
Of course, there are different ways to go about it but 16:8 works best for me! I fast from 8pm to noon the next day (16 hours) everyday and I have an 8-hour eating window before I fast from 8pm to 12pm again, and it goes on, and on.
During a fast, our bodies have time to fully digest all that we've eaten the day before. They also are able to "clean house" - repair or destroy rogue cells, and regenerate new ones.
Consequently, if we keep plying our bodies with so much food, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, insulin resistance and excess belly fat - collectively known as metabolic syndrome, could result.
And having one or more of these symptoms, could potentially cause a slippery slide down to diabetes, stroke or heart disease. So pay attention, listen to your body. It's always wise to err on the side of caution, and heed these warning signals to cut back on your carbs - possibly halve it and then halve it again till you can halve it no more.
One final tip to sum it all, I heard this from a flourishing 93- year-old when sharing his secret to active aging, "Eat less, move more."
And if you wanna break it down to specifics, let's take 50kg as an example.
Say your ideal weight is 50kg, then eat 50g of protein a day and three times that of fat - 50g x 3 = 150g of fat/day.
Focus on protein and fat with green leafy vegetables as sides.
Proteins - 50g
Fat - 150g
Within five to ten days, you should be keto-adapted and when you're in ketosis, consider intermittent fasting for more visible results.
2. Intermittent Fasting (IF)
I fast regularly for spiritual reasons, so fasting isn't new to me. But it's interesting to note that it's a very natural way of life - all animals eat this way.
Notice how your pets refuse food when they're not feeling well?
Fasting, in principle, is giving your body time to rest from food. So that it has time to repair and regenerate.
A natural process called Autophagy takes place when you're fasting.
When you rest from food, your body starts to cleanse, eliminate and rejuvenate itself by destroying all the toxins, viruses and bacteria. It also devours all the damaged cells, making new ones. It's also a spring clean for your healthy cells so they function optimally.
How to fast? Remember 16:8 - fast for 16 hours, with an 8-hour eating window.
My last meal of the day is before 8pm because most important digestive enzymes are no longer produced after 8pm. Then I let me body rest till noon the next day and that's when I have my first meal of the day.
So essentially, I have only two meals per day.
I find Keto and IF very effective for maintaining my ideal weight at 45kg. I don't even need to exercise, BUT, I'm seriously rethinking this.
3. High Intensity Exercise
Research shows that exercise is the real way to cleanse your body, helping it to detox.
Exercise puts stress on your body. It causes microscopic muscle tears your body rushes to heal making your muscles stronger than they were before.
Exercise also promotes fat burning and increases your energy levels.
Best part is, high-intensity exercises increases your human growth hormones (HGH) the most! HGH is what keeps us youthful.
So incorporate repeated sprints, weight training, interval training, circuit training into your daily routine because fact is, exercise is good for you, it keeps you young.
I'm working on it, yes and I'm also a work in progress when it comes to sleeping early.
4. Sleep
Sleep is important because that's when your body repairs itself and your vital organs go into detox mode.
Research also shows it's best to be sleeping by 10pm so your body is able to do the vital work of cleaning up the blood and maintaining normal blood pressure.
Interestingly, around 9pm to 10pm is when the brain releases a natural tranquilliser as a signal for us to go to bed. So when you feel drowsy, don't fight it, go to bed.
Another big reason for you to sleep early is...
HGH is secreted profusely while you sleep so if you wanna stay younger for longer, definitely consider sleeping by 10pm.
5. Water
The human body is made up of 70 to 80 per cent water.
But what water are we talking about? We're talking about pure distilled water. Everything else is filtered out by our eliminative organs. Fact is, all plants contain pure distilled water, distilled by nature.
So yes, you guessed it! I drink only pure steam distilled water. Recently, I started adding half a teaspoon of Himalayan pink salt to every litre of water. Pink salt is not only the purest form of salt, but it also contains numerous essential trace minerals that help transport water molecules to our cells, hydrating them.
And those are the five lifestyle changes for better health, to reverse the aging process, naturally!
Let me know how you go and share your reverse aging secrets with me too in the comments below!
I can’t really remember when my obsession with gua sha began.
Maybe it was a friend who suggested it or I could’ve discovered it on my own in a desperate attempt to erase the fine lines and wrinkles that were starting to appear on my face or even slightly before that.
In any case, I’m so into it!
I can’t think of anything else that’s safe and natural that could awaken the cells, promote healing, blood circulation, increase blood flow and oxygen to the skin like gua sha can!
Because of that, I’ve been diligently performing gua sha on my face everyday, morning and night, if I can manage. Or at least once a day and I love how alive I always feel after that. People always wonder why I have this glow about me, especially since I don’t really use makeup, not on my face that is.
Friends who haven’t seen me in a while never fail to notice that my face is slimmer, sharper so I’m telling you, this gua sha stuff really works!
The only thing to note though is if you’ve had surgery or botox or fillers done recently. You’d wanna avoid doing gua sha because the friction between the bian stone gua sha tool and our skin is going to cause some things to rearrange, move around and you really don’t want that.
Apart from that, gua sha is very much a natural technique to safely erase years off your face without surgery or downtime. In fact, I find that I always look younger, my skin feels tighter and my features are generally more lifted especially after I’ve done gua sha.
I hope you give it a go and follow closely the gua sha video step by step.
