IV Glutathione - Day 1

Hello readers,

Today, I'm going to share something very exciting and different from any other posts that I did before. After months of research about Glutathione, I am confident of why I chose the Glutathione IV option not only for my skin whitening adventure but also for my health in general. I will have to put together my research in a seperate post. For now, I am exciting to share that today is my first day of getting the Glutathione IV! 😊☺️😘😄

I'm getting my treatment at the:

Arrowhead Aesthetics & Medical Center

by Dr. Red Espiritu

My actual IV was performed by the nurse.  She was very informative and friendly. The IV itself costs $125 per IV. Of course it us not cheap, however the thing is, I'd rather pay $125 and not worrying about the supply (i.e. The quality of the medication, where it was manufactured, when it's getting here) and the whole nine yards of performing IV myself, when I'm not even qualified for or have any certifications for it.  I still admire the girls on the forums, who "try" perform the IV themselves after watching youtube videos. Some did it smoothly, some got thiet blood everywhere and it looked like a mess and unsanitized. I can't do that!!! Too complicated for me, especially when it comes to needles and all! I'd rather pay and get the peace of mind.

Appointment time: 9AM, Sept. 25, 2014

I scheduled my appointment for a free consultation. These were the questions I asked:

1/ What are the side effects of the injection?

2/ Can I still take the flu shots?

3/ I want to see visible result before October 4, is it possible?

4/ (Show picture) How long will it take me to achieve the result like this? And how often do I have to come to maintain this?

5/  What will happen if I stop taking the injections after a year?

6/ Long term effect, will my skin tone turn darker than before because, when it's exposed to the sun; because for all those time it has become so dependant on the glutathione?

7/ How can I make it into a permanent result?

8/ How long has the center been offering this service?

🔱 Tips:

- Create a list of questions prior to consultation.

- Show them the picture of your idol or the result that you want to achieve. It's hard to describe in words, better show them a picture.

- Be honest to your Doc during consultation! Don't be shy to tell them what your desires are about skin whitening and don't be afraid to tell them what are the steps you have taken already to achieve it. The more info you provide them, the easier it would be for them to help you achieving your goal.

 Here are the picture of the result I want to achieve and I made sure to show her as well.

That rosy pale looking skin along with the glow is exactly the result that I want. She said that my skin tone is pretty much already light, so to achieve the result that I wanted it might only take about 4 - 5 treatments. After that, there comes the maintenant part to maintain it. Just like when you're going to get your hair and nails done, you have to keep coming back every now and then to maintain them. In this case, she said that I can come back once a month or every other month to maintenant it. Not bad!

After the consultation, I decided to move forward, so they had me read and sign the consent form.

After siging, I waited for her to get everything ready and perform the IV. The frist time she had me on 600 mg of Glutathione. The IV itself was only about 3-4 minutes. I won't go into details of what it feels like coz it's pretty much like a hard pinch, what a needle supposed to feel like.  After the IV, she had me drink an Alpha-Lipoic Acid capsule to help retain the glutathione so it won't flush it out of the system fast. I was advised to take this capsult everydayn on an empty stomach.

What is Alpha-Lipoic acid?

It is a disulfatw compound that acts as an antioxidant to neutraliza several toxins such as heavy metals. It is also a co-enzyme that recycles other antioxidants (i.e. Glutathione, vitamin c, e) in the body. It is important to take this supplement while you're taking glutathione; because it converts glutathione back and forth from its oxidized form (GSSG) to reduced form (GSH). Lipoic acid ability is to improve and enhance the functions of glutathione.

I took some pictures to compare with the result later on. This is my current skin tone before the treatment. No photoshops.

Of course, the lighting makes a huge difference on my skin tone too. When I'm out in the sun, my skin tone seems to be much-much lighter. Still with no photoshops.

I even took pictures with my little one to compare later on to see if there's a difference... LoL!

That's about it! I will keep posting my next ones. 😘😄

Disclaimer: I am not writing this with a purpose of promoting the center where I got this done, neither promoting the IV Glutathione. It is simply a review about my experience of getting an IV Glutathione treatment. Personally, it is an exciting for me so I want to mark this milestone on my personal blog. I also hope to provide my experience as a resource for the people who are thinking about getting this done.

How To Make Natural Corn Milk (Corn Drink)!

How To Make the Natural Corn Drink (a.k.a Corn Milk)

Benefits of Natural Corn:
We're not talking about the corn from fructose and corn syrup. We're talking about the whole kernel corn here. It has far more health benefits than anything. The benefits include controlling diabetes, prevention of heart alignments, lowering hypertension, and lowering cholesterol. Corn also provide necessary calories for health, daily metabolism, and plenty of vitamins and minerals. It is a rich source of vitamin A, B, and E. It also contains a lot minerals such as phosphorous, zinc, magnesium, manganese, iron, and copper!

The corn drink in Vietnamese is called "sữa bắp," which means corn milk. I had a chance to try this delicious drink while I was on a trip to Vietnam. They smell good and they taste even better! This is a super healthy drink, as I am going to show you how to make natural homemade corn drink.

Ingredients:

•  Natural Corn:  You can get these at Costco, Sam's Club, Food City, Fry's, etc. But the best ones are usually from Costco.
• 1 can of condense milk
• 1 small bottle of Half & Half Milk
• A big pot
• A filter basket

How To Make:

1. Separate the kernels out from the cubs.

2. Boil the cubs for about 45 minutes to an hour to get all the nutrients from the cubs. When you get the water, it really depends on how much you want to do it. The general rule would be 1 corn = 5 cups of water.

3. Then, pour the kernels into the pot and to boil with the cub. Wait for another 15 - 20 minutes. Just remember, the longer you leave it boil the better!

4. Turn off your stove. Throw away the cubs. Mix the kernels and corn water into a smoothy maker. Put it on high and then mix them up like you're making a smoothy.

5. Pour the mixture into the filter basket and begin to filter it. We don't want the residue of the kernels, what we want to keep is the juice that is coming through the filter.

6. Once when you're all done with the filtering part, put it back in the pot (make sure to rinse it a little bit before you use it again) and set it low on the stove. As the pot is getting hot, slowly pour in the condense milk while stirring you corn drink slowly. The sweetness of the drink really depends on how much you put in the condensed milk. If you want, add in a little bit of half and half milk. If not, that's fine too!

Taaadaaa!!! All done!!

Subtle Red Balayage

Just got my hair done by Vidogi Salon over the weekend. I wanted to go red this time, instead of brown. So my hair stylist suggested to go "dark" since it's Fall. My red seems to be like a pretty subtle red. She still kept some of my brown strands out, that way it's more blend in, like a balayage!

It does give a little effect when it's in the sun!

Change of Domain Name

Dear readers,

After a few days battling with Google Apps, I could not figure out how on earth I can log back into my Google Apps (supposedly the same one that I have always been using... But appearantly, it wasn't it!)  I decided to just keep it simple while playing on words a little bit here... Part of my name is Mai (pronounce like "my") so it's gonna be....

maibeautyfashion.blogspot.com

I skipped the whole domain purchasing thing. Not because of the price, but because I don't wanna keep changing the domain name and go through the pain like I did, trying to figure out how the hell I can repurchase again. After all, not all bloggers have their own registered domain any ways. I mean think of the popular Singaporean blogger, Xiaxue who doesn't even bother paying for a domain and still gets millions of views and readers. I'm not trying to advertise my blog or anything. It's just a nice little place for me to share my interests to the world! Hope my readers won't have a hard time finding me again, now with the new blogger's domain name.

I love blogging. Blogging for Life!

Happy Lunar New Year!

Happy Lunar New Year, everyone!!!

I have to say that I have been so excited for the Lunar New Year. Not only because it plays an important part in our Asian culture, but it also brings me a sense of home - warmth - and self-identity. Got my hair done before the New Year to celebrate this event. May all the bad lucks from last year be dropped off, and that good luck and fortune be coming in this new year!

On me: I was wearing the 1-Day Acuvue Define in Natural Shine series. My recent haircut was inspired by these modern Asian hair style. The soft waves with a little bit of curl in the end, with/without bangs. I think they frame your face pretty nicely, than straight hair. This is such a fresh, youthful and natural looking style!

 

4 Best Cocktail Drinks for Your Skin

Whether you're up for a girls night out or a get together with your mates, you can be safe with ordering one of these 5 cocktails. Alcohol can be a devastating source for your skin if you drink too much (remember the old days when you were a party animal...?). It not only dehydrates your skin but also makes your skin look dull and causes break-outs. Rest assured with these 5 cocktail drinks - you can have fun at the same time feeding your skin "the right way."

Sangria

Perhaps sangria is one of the healthiest alcoholic drinks that you could have with plenty of fruits and wine. Wine is packed with flavonoids and resveratrol - these are groups of plants and antioxidants that helps prevent and reduce the damage of free radicals on the skin. 

For those of you who wants to make it at home, a rule of thumb for selecting fruits: Go with cool color fruits for white wine (green apples, green grapes, oranges, and pineapples). Go with warm color fruits for red wine (red apples, red grapes, raspberries, and strawberries). Slice fruits into a pitcher, add wine, refrigerate it overnight - the longer you let it marinates, the stronger fruit flavor.

Mango Mojito

Mango itself is loaded beta-carotene, an antioxidant and a form of Vitamin A that protects skin from sun damage and is essential to soft and healthy skin. It also has does of vitamins A, C, and , which keep the skin firm and glowing. It also helps reduce acne scarring as well.

Bloody Mary

This vodka tomato-juice base drink is is filled with lycopene, which is an antioxidant that keeps skin looking younger by protecting it from sun damage. Lycopene blocks UV lights, fights free radicals, and preserves healthy skin cells. However, if you're suffering from rosacea this may not be an ideal drink for you.

Green Tea Martini

The catechins in green tea help to rejuvenate skin cells, protects against skin cancer, and soothe acne. For your green tea martini, I'd say add a wedge of orange or lime for a kick of flavor and bring in a little extra vitamin C.


Source: From the Daily Glow

Wearing Eyelid Tapes Long Term

Ola guys,

I've been testing out a few eyelid tapes to see what works and what don't. Here's one that I've found that has been working great for me. It's called:

COSMOS Lovely Eyelid Tape (Large)

These are awesome! They come in a pack of 30 pairs for about $3 bucks. You can get them on Ebay or Sasa.com. I got them on Sasa, but as of this moment they're out of stock. Keep an eye on them though, because this brand sells fast! Make sure it is the "Large" version, because sizes do matter :-) and I'll tell you why!

As you can see, eyelid tapes come in different sizes depending on your lid shape and what look you're going for. The larger size makes your eyes seem rounder. Whereas the smaller size gives you a more natural look.

Now, don't let the word "natural" fools you! If you're going for a temporary result, meaning that you want to use them for one day only, it's absolutely fine! Beacause after one night of sleep, your lids will go back to the usual shape. However, if you're aiming at reshaping your lids in order to give them creases, you'll be better off with the larger size. This is especially for people who have monolids, like I do!

So, why do I want to use eyelid tapes and can't just let it be natural?

Here's my serious confession:

I've been told by many people, including my family members, since I was 13 that I look sad/sleepy all the time. I even had one incident when in my past job, my manager actually told me that "you need to let the customers know what you're doing, because when you squint at the screen you look very mean!" Ouch! She wasn't mean when she said this, because it was an honest comment that's why it hurts my feeling even more!

My pictures below reflected my original lids, which don't seem like I have any creases...

Though, on some occassion, now and then my creases do show a bit but not much...

Either way, it doesn't matter...! I want my creases to show! I WANT to have creases, not in an effort of me trying to raise my eyebrows in order for them to show. Cause for a while I did that and that was fucking tiring, because for the longest time it made me feel anxious and that I had to keep remembering to raise my brows. No... Thats ridiculous and I will never do that again!!!

For those of you who've been in my shoes, aren't you just tired hearin the same thing over and over about you looking tired/sad/upset/shitty... etc...? The normal phrases would be similar to this:

"Are you ok?"

"Yes, why?" 

"Oh coz you look tired!" 

Or

"Hey are you mad?"

"No... Why?"

"Oh coz you look upset!"

Ok... I know that people were just trying to be nice by asking me if I'm ok. But honestly, I'm just fucking tired of hearing the same questions and answering the same answers over the years from different people. So I want to MAKE a change!

Why don't I just get an eyelid surgery?

I'd like to... But I don't have that kind of money to travel back and forth from the States to Asia and spend 1-2 weeks in Korea (knowing that it is a #1 leading country in plastic surgery and if you're thinking about getting one, might as well just get it done in Korea to avoid any mistakes made by inexperienced surgeons). I don't want to do it in the US either! Too many Asian eyelids got messed up by plastic surgeons here. Doubled eyelids just ain't their specialty and I'm not willing to take that risk!

How do you know it helps with changing your expression?

I had tried temporary eyelid tapes before and yes... I look LESS tired/upset/sad/mean, etc! I received positive comments from people when i have creases while I wear them, so I do know what I'm doing!

You should be happy with your facial features and you should just let it be natural. Don't try to change who you are!

Nooo... Cosmetics in general, should be done in a way that it ENHANCES your look, not changing you into a different person! To be honest, if we were so happy with every natural feature on our face/body, we shouldn't even use makeup (i.e. Eyeliner, bb cream, etc.)

Enough for emotional talk. Let's talk positive now! So... Check this out!

I've been wearing the eyelid tape since August of this year on a daily basis. I'm so happy that I do see that my creases actually show more! I wore them everyday - day and night for about 2 months straight and here's the result:

Me wearing my eyelid tapes. They hardly show right?? Now you know why I can wear them even during day time - at work.

Now, I don't really wear them everyday anymore, not even at night. In the morning when I wake up, my lids would still have the creases. Yay!!

Bottom Line:

Please don't let any body stops you for doing things that boost your confident level and ultimately your happiness! If you  want to get a doubled-eyelid surgery and you can afford it, go for it! Do not let your friends and family talk you into not doing it. If they're your close friends and beloved family, they should understand how much a part of your facial feature is bothering you and should give you all the support that you need to end this low self-esteem factor!