Korean skincare products: tried n tested

It is highly recommended that you read the article featuring Korean skincare products in page 4 of The Straits Times URBAN of February 22 2007 before going through my reviews.

Lately, I've been immersing myself into yet another wave of Korean culture (or K-wave as it is commonly termed) - that of using their skincare products. A once loyal fan of classic European brands and still a long-term, die-hard, hard core fan of Japanese skincare, I am now impressed by the Korean skincare products that can be found islandwide. Indeed these Korean products stand out from their European / Japanese counterparts with their nifty packaging and value-for-money quality. There are now 3 Korean skincare products in my extensive toiletries range, fighting for shelf space with the others. The Vital Red Soil foamy cleanser, the fruit mix cleansing cream (smells like mixed fruits yoghurt and has the texture of one too) and my latest buy which is the Rice Sebum control toner from the Face Shop.

Here are my reviews on each of these products:

1. The Vital Red Soil foamy cleanser - it lathers well and you can feel that it deep cleanses without stripping off essential oil from the epidermis, I love its sturdy packaging and unlike gooey cleansing gels in tubes, it doesn't flow out and leave a mess. It also keeps my cheeks hydrated unlike some cleansing mousse which leaves them flaky and red --- highly recommended for combination skin (oily T-zone, dry cheeks). *Hubby also tried this foam and loved it*

2. The Fruit Mix cleansing cream - the salesgirl told me it comes in either emulsion or cream form, the former being too mild to remove liquid foundation. I am usually not a fan of thick rich creams but this one has definitely changed my mind. As you rub it into the skin, it becomes a lighter fluff and removes all traces of liquid foundation plus loose powder. Plus its heavenly fruity fragance makes you crave for more. A good alternative to cleansing milks which I had been using up to now.

As for the toner, I shall update my blog when I have used it for a 2 weeks trial period. I read with interest that there is another Korean store called Beauty Credit which is now available in Vivocity. Well, I know it won't be too long before I do hop down and grab another item from them soon. Considering the exorbitant prices of European skincare and the even more exorbitant prices of Japanese brands, I may consider switching altogther to Korean products which costs a fraction of their European/Japanese counterparts and does its job just as well.

Try checking out their range of skincare and makeup at www.thefaceshop.com and yesterday i came across www.skinfood.com as well.

Wishes for the Year of the Pig

In ushering the New Year of the Pig, these are my wishes for my beloved ones in the year ahead:

1. Good health
2. A smooth career
3. More quality time spent with spouse/children/family
4. A chance to do something which you've always wanted to but never had the chance to
5. Good grades for those who are still schooling

Oink! Oink! Cheers to a New Blessed Year ahead!

Teacher's good helper

Rabbit princess returned from school grinning from ear to ear. I asked her why and she said that her form teacher complimented her for being a good helper. On further probing, she revealed that it was because the teacher asked for volunteers to work out the sums on the model answer sheet (placed on the visualizer) to reflect onto the whiteboard and she did just that. I praised her for her courage and her willingness to share her knowledge with her classmates. Since her entry into primary school, I have observed with joy that she has matured a fair bit and has learnt how to get along and work with others. During her kindergarten years, it seemed she was a rather lone figure. But now, she has progressed onto being more independent as well as being less timid, which is a very important milestone in her development as her pre-school teachers used to grade her B for independence. This is indeed a very encouraging scenario and I'm sure her ex pre-school teachers, especially her Chinese teacher Ms Ang, would be so proud of her as I am.

Another Quick Recipe

This is another one of my novel creations borne out of sheer desperation to cook just one dish and have everything inside instead of 3 separate dishes. It goes well with porridge or just steamed rice. For carnivores, you can add in marinated chicken breast cubes or sliced lean pork to replace the tau kwar. I read in a recipe book that bean products are the best vegetarian protein that can be found so consume at least one serving of bean products (beancurd, toufu, bean cakes) a day if you're not a meat lover.

Mixed Vegetables with Tau Kwar (Beancurd)


Ingredients

1 medium sized piece of tau kwar cut into rectangular cubes
1 packet of french beans cut into 3cm lengths
1 packet of baby corn (fresh, not the canned versions)
4-5 fresh white button mushrooms (or fresh shitake)
1 carrot cut into 3cm lengths
finely chopped garlic
a dash of olive oil/canola oil


Method

1. Heat up the skillet over a hot fire, then add olive or canola oil & some fine salt
2. Add in the tau kwar cubes to fry till slightly golden on one side then flip over to the other side to repeat
3. Remove from pan and drain over paper towel
4. Add the finely chopped garlic and stir
5. Add in the french beans, carrot, mushroom and baby corn
6. Stir and then add some water
7. Cover the skillet, add additional salt if necessary (remember that there is some leftover salt in the pan after frying the tau kwar)
8. Add in the fried tau kwar cubes
9. Keep the cover on and leave for about 8 minutes
10. Serve hot

A Quick Recipe

This is a recipe blog to share with mummies who have little time to cook in between minding the kids and household chores but prefer to eat in than out.

Teriyaki Salmon

1. Cut Salmon fillet into chunks with skin intact (use the bonelesstail portion)
2. Heat some oil in a skillet pan (preferably olive oil or canola oil for health consideration)
3. Sear the salmon chunks on one side for 2 minutes, then turn over and repeat for 2 mins
4. Remove from pan & drain on paper towel
5. Stir fry chopped garlic (I'm a garlic freak, so half a small cup is just nice for me) and onion ringlets, adding water to soften it, a dash of soya sauce (I personally recommend Japanese quality soya sauce for that added oomph of taste), mirin (alternative: Chinese cooking wine / Hua Tiao Jiou) & cover pan
6. When onion ringlets are softened, add in the salmon chunks and stir in
7. Let the mixture braise over slow fire for 3-5 minutes (over a medium or small fire so that the teriyaki sauce will not dry up too fast)
8. Serve hot with steamed rice (optional: you can garnish with ginger shreds, sliced chilli n cilantro)

Note:

Some young children may develop a reaction (rash) to mirin or chinese cooking wine, so in that case, scoop out their portion before you add to yours. That way, you can enjoy authentic teriyaki salmon without the kids scratching away like Monkey God. Hee3. Try it!

The Pros n Cons of Shopping Together

This must be deja vu for most mothers who shop with their child/children in tow--- the Verdict: Can't shop with them, less efficient shoppers slowed down by their continuous demands.

My shopping list included: 1) two pairs of shoes 2) a facial cleanser and make-up remover 3) a long tee top to match with hipster belt 4) some groceries from the supermart. Instead of buying all items 1-4, I only managed to get a facial cleanser, cleansing cream and groceries (including a salmon steak for dinner, cooked teriyaki style...yummy) Why? Let me relate this familiar tale:

Girl comes back from school, eats her lunch, finishes her math worksheet, eats her beancurd, bathes and it's almost 3pm. We literally run out of the house with cardigan and wallet. Reached the mall at close to 4pm. Girl says "Mummy, I want to have a hot Milo and 2 slices of kaya butter toast". That wasted about 20 minutes (waiting for order to be served, waiting for her to finish her food). Then rushed into the toiletries & beauty products shop to buy item 2. Proceeded to Level 2 to scout for shoes. Each time I selected a pair, Girl says "Mummy, why you always buy black shoes? So boring... pick pink shoes la..." and starts to select what was nice in her opinion (meaning it must be pink or have pink details, ribbons and girlie details), shoving it to me to try. *Mummy makes a face* Mummy says "Let's go to another shop" and again the same thing repeats itself. *Mummy gives up* "Mummy, it's 5pm, time for my evening tea". "Okay, okay, let's find somewhere to eat. Why are you hungry so soon?" *Mummy exasperated* finally found a sandwich bar to have some salad n a soup, Mummy watches anxiously as clock ticks away.

Finally at 5.35pm, Mummy abandons all hope of ever having time to grab a tee top, runs off to the supermarket, gets her groceries and hits the train station ready to get home in time to cook dinner. "Mummy, I'm hungry... can I eat the yoghurt you bought from the supermart?" "Darling, you're on the train, you can't eat on the train. Besides, i have no spoon." "Why? Why cannot eat on the train? Why? Why didn't you take a spoon?" *Fellow passengers look in sympathy at dumbstruck Mummy, at this point in time ready to pull out tuffs of hair from her scalp

Wider Circle of Friends

Now that a full month's gone by (in a whizz) with Nic starting her primary one school term, it seems that she has settled down well in her new environment. She also seems more familiar with her classmates and is able to relate to me about any interesting incidents that occur in the classroom. Her form teacher has divided all 28 of them into 5 groups - Gracious, Integrity, Responsibility, Respect and Resilience (the 5 values of the school). Nic belongs to the group Integrity and in this group, each of them is assigned a role. Hers would be the social studies leader whilst her groupmates are each made leader for other subjects - English, Maths, Music, Civics & Moral Education (CME). Her circle of friends have widened to include pupils from other neighbouring classes as they are banded into different classes for Mother Tongue lessons. In our latest conversation, she mentions some new male friends like Ron (who is in the same group for her Mother Tongue lesson), Fabian, Timothy, Jun Xi and Nick. New girl classmates include Alvernia, Melissa (her queue partner), Dion, Janelle, Sheares, Putri, Akida, Vivien and Yu Jing.

Mummy is definitely glad and relieved that she has settled down well and enjoys her Primary One class. Her favourite subjects are Maths, Music and Art & Craft. Meanwhile, she will do a trial Show & Tell in class tomorrow with her rag doll as part of practicing for the SEED project presentation. Let's hope she will have lots to say about it when she gets back.

SEED Program Briefing

All I can say is that life ain't going to get better for parents when it comes to changes in assessment modes. During the SEED briefing today, parents gasped when it was announced that instead of the usual methodology of paper testing for SA1 (Semestral Assessment 1 - meaning mid-year exam), there would be a project work component which will take up 60% of the SA1. This component would be broken down into written (40marks) and an oral presentation (20 marks). For the oral presentation, parents are advised to do a Show & Tell, guide their child to talk about a topic (E.g. what I want to be, my favourite foods etc) and videotape the child to point out any errors etc. Pre-preparation strategies also include reading a variety of books, building up vocabulary, reinforce intonation (high or low pitch whilst reading) and ensuring accuracy in reading. No kidding... little wonder why parents of school-going children find it very tough to juggle career, family and the demands of the education system and which probably explains the sprouting of tuition/enrichment centres island wide. A simple solution - pay the experts to guide their child whilst they concentrate on their career. I learnt from a girlfriend who works as a tutor that some parents who have no time for their children get a private tutor to guide one-to-one on work that has been assigned by the enrichment centres, in other words, double dosage of tuition. Poor kids!

What I am glad about though, despite the greater demands placed on the parents, is that creativity and oral skills are emphasized now that new strategies like SEED are introduced. I am also excited that there will be two learning journeys in this year as part of experiential hands-on learning - Singapore Zoological Garden and Supermarket. (I remembered that Nic went to the Yakult factory, Sentosa Underwater World, NTUC Fairprice supermarket in her K2 years and enjoyed them tremendously).

To summarise my thoughts after the briefing, being a primary one child these days is no simple task. The expectations are rising and every child is competing against another. I can only hope that mine copes well and doesn't cave in to too much pressure.

A good read

Mummies out there struggling with spelling, do hop down to the library and pick up this book entitled "How to help your child with homework." In it, there are chapters on how to help your child with math, spelling, phonics, reading & comprehension and lots more. Each chapter contains Q&A and useful tips/solutions on how to cope with the child's homework as a parent- cum-homework facilitator. I found the tip on how to give spelling rather useful and applicable. It says to split the spelling list into three parts and revise each part separately. For instance, if spelling falls on Friday, it'll be good to start with the first 3 words on Mon, another 3 words on Tue, the last 3 on Wed and for Thursday to just give the full list of words (assuming it's a list of 9 words) and then revise only words that the child still has difficulty spelling. Sounds easy? It also recommends parents to motivate the child through praises and compliments to boost their self-esteem, then they'll be more willing to persevere and spelling will become a more enjoyable activity to both the child and parent (and less of a torturing task for the parent).

Considering that ours is a bilingual society, that means we have to give 2 types of spelling weekly- English and Chinese/Han Yu Pin Yin. So mummies, work out a roster to spread out pre-spelling activities and in between make sure you are generous with compliments and praises when the child gets her words correct, just like how teachers paste loads of star stickers and winnie pooh stickers onto the workbooks for perfect answers. Extrinsic motivation (compliments, stickers, a treat etc) will thus lead to intrinsic motivation.

A Girl's Favourite Things/People

It is always interesting to note the criterion which any six year old uses to pass judgement. Just this afternoon, I asked Nic which is her favourite lesson and why. "Music lesson, I like Music" quipped Nic, bursting with enthusiasm. "Who is your favourite teacher and why?" I continued. "Mrs Koh, the Music teacher. Because she is very pretty, she's the prettiest of all the teachers. She has long straight hair and big eyes." So you see? The criterion which Nic uses is the criterion of physical appearance. To qualify to be a "favourite teacher", one must be pretty and outshine the others in this aspect. "Do you like your Chinese language teacher?" I tried to ask further. "Not really, she looks like a boy" came Nic's frank answer. I have just affirmed that physical beauty is an important pre-requisite to be a teacher and that delivery of lessons is second in importance, if at all. Hmmm....

Although this sounds rather judgemental, I think it's true that physical beauty does help in one's career. This doesn't just apply to beauty contestants in Ms Universe pageants but to everyone too, including mummies as well. So mums out there who are reading my blog, take note... remember that pretty mums are "favourite mums". Now now, where's my anti-ageing, anti-oxidant face cream and anti-wrinkles, anti-puffiness eye cream....***panic***