all things beauty, motherhood & living with eczema
Author: Hanna
A woman in her late 30s who used to blog about eczema and beauty products. These days, Hanna is mostly found offline; writing letters, sending cards and writes and writes in her journal(s).
Look what I found this morning while cleaning up the back room after my coffee and cornflakes. 😄 That’s me, circa 2008-2009 right after a full on makeover from stila. Ahh stila, anyone else here feeling just as nostalgic as I do upon the mention of the very name stila?
stila cosmetics has come a long way since I first learned about the brand from seventeen Malaysia edition mag. I ADORED the brand’s on-of-a-kind illustrated ‘stila girl’ and their ever-famous lip glazes. My mind is now taken back to the very first time I went to a stila counter and bought myself a MAJOR major lash mascara, which inherently resulted to this complementary mini-photoshoot I had after the stila SA was done donning my entire face with stila products. Girl, I felt like a grown-up, buying myself a ‘grown-up makeup stuff’ from a grown-up Parkson beauty counter. Haha nostalgia! 😘
. ..that’s the title of the book I’m currently reading. It’s the fourth book for my ‘12 Book Challenge‘, and the first local female author I’ve chosen for this reading challenge.
If you’ve been following me on Instagram, ( @mascarasandmotherhood ) you might have recalled my post on a memoir by Amy Tan, Where The Past Begins. Which, to be truthfully honest, still has a few more pages for me to finish. Urgh, sorry Amy! It turns out this Asian lady isn’t really cut for your memoir. I had a rather hard time finishing that book compared to the previous book I’ve read.
So what have I been up to since my last blog post in February? Plenty. In March, I started to get back again on my fitness routine; I changed my trainer (the previous one was great. But I feel like, for 2018 I need to step up my game and boy, the current trainer is incredibly fun to train with! 💪💪💪😄)
Post-workout selfie!
In March and April, I keep revisiting and discovering more cool cafes with cool coffees;
Affogato with TWO scoops of coconut ice-creams @ Sangkaya.Gingerbread Latte @ Gula Cakery.Bombshell @ Brew & Bread.
Then of course, some teeny-weeny budget beauty buys:
Half-priced SEPHORA lipgloss & the ever budget friendly Catrice mascara.
Not forgetting that one time my outfit of that day perfectly matched my meal from dahmakan :
Monochromed makan!!!
And the highlight of it all is; my sister’s wedding recently! But I guess I’ll wait ’till in the next post to talk more about it. It’s such a big deal for our family, it deserves a post on its own. Ha!
Secluded in the nook of her favourite play area, in my favourite cafe
2018 hasn’t been a breezy sail for us, particularly when it comes to my daughter Aida’s health. She was hospitalised for four days earlier this month due to a secondary infection, no surprise from her on-going eczema flare ups. Even as I am writing this, she has just recovered from viral fever and occasionally coughing. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to being freaked out by my child’s sudden high fever, recurring eczema flare ups or even days of coughing. Hell I have no idea how other mothers deal with these with not one, but two, three or four children. God bless them mothers.
On a lighter note, (because I cannot stand being depressed or worried sick about my child’s health twenty-four-seven) did you remember my 12-book-reading-challenge? I am indeed, currently on my 3rd book.
Third! And it’s not even March yet!
Big deal enough for me. But hey, let’s talk about the second book I’ve read shall we?
Love, Hate & other Filters by Samira Ahmed (RM46.90) was successfully read in less than two weeks. It’s an easy read. It reminds me of a similar book I read years ago as a young adult in late 2000s, Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah. Instead of a story centered on an Australian born Pakistani Muslim, Love, Hate & other Filters is a story about Maya Aziz, a soon-to-be-eighteen American born Indian Muslim.
Devouring Maya’s accounts, opinions and emotions made me realised just how lucky I am to be a Muslim born and live in Malaysia, a multi racial yet very-Muslim friendly country. 🕌
That’s for February read. Are you reading anything good at the moment? 😉
How pretty is my latte? Apparently, after reading too much of Adventurous Kate blog on my last holiday, I’m pretty much influenced by how the lady boss behind the travel blog, Kate McCulley hunts for coffee in every city and town she travels to. Particularly small, independently-owned local cafes. With that, since late last year I’ve embarked on my ‘New Year mission‘ to discover as many local cafes (some call it hipster cafe?) as I could in 2018. Little did I know, there are indeed abundant of cool and cute cafes around, even a couple of good ones that are barely 3km than where I live! I cannot believe I’ve never paid any attention to these little gems before! Sorry Coffee Bean & SF Coffee, you’ve had too much of my love already.
Anyways, that’s a cup of hot latte up there, which I had the pleasure of indulging in on one, drizzling evening at The Parque Cafe at Eco Sanctuary. Here are a few more Instagram-worthy coffees I’ve had to date, so far this year;
White Chocolate Latte, frespresso.Hot mocha, Brew & Bread Coffee Roaster
Now, what’s better than a cup of coffee? A cup of coffee with a good book! Again, thanks to Kate, I’m taking up her challenge to try to read 12 books in 2018. If you asked me twelve years ago if I could ever finish reading 12 books within a year, the twenty year old me would shout ‘Yes!’ without hesitation. But now….hmm I’m honestly not sure if I am capable of this challenge. Which makes this even more interesting.
I’m not gonna pressure myself too much with my (former) love for reading so I go lax with the theme for this challenge; this year, I’ll read 12 books by 12 female authors.
The first book for this challenge is:
Time To Say Goodbye by Judith Gould. Avid readers out there, go ahead and burst out laughing. To those who aren’t as avid (me included), here’s a fact: Judith Gould, as feminine as the name suggests, is actually a pseudonym….of two men! I was already halfway the book when I discovered this fact. Ha! So does this book count? Well remember that I said that I’m not gonna pressure myself too much with this challenge? Since I’m the one who came out with the theme of this 12-books-challenge, I’d say; ‘Yes, Hanna honey. This counts too.’ 😉
By the way, this old book belongs to my sister. I found this fiction novel while doing a little bookshelf cleaning at my parents’ home two weeks ago. As I was almost done with Time To Say Goodbye, I bought a brand new debut novel by Samira Ahmed last Sunday. Gosh it’s been awhile since I bought a book! I’m looking forward for February filled with yet another book for me to read.
Have you read anything this month? Maybe a good read with a great cuppa? Let me know what you’ve been up to. Till then, 😉
Hi guys! I hope you had a great holiday, or at least a well-spent long weekend. We are now on the final day of 2017 and traditionally, I come up with this post dedicated to the best beauty products I love this year. Read on to find out:
1. Urban Decay VICE Lipstick in Ravenswood
Sometime in March, I went to Urban Decay store in Suria KLCC to get a VICE lipstick in Unicorn for a friend’s birthday gift. “Why not get one for myself? And see why everyone has been raving about this range of lippie.” I thought to myself. Oh my, that is officially the best impulse buy I’ve done this year! It’s creamy, stays on well up to four hours even after eating lunch & gulping water every half and hour and the shade is MY kinda my-lips-but-better. Here’s me with a fresh coat of UD VICE Ravenswood lipstick:
2. Hado Labo Hydrating Lotion (Light)
With good advice from Gio , I eliminate toners completely from my skincare routine, and from my drawers. Apart from suitable moisturisers, I’ve been using this hydrating lotion from Hada Labo since last year and never look back. While the original Hydrating Lotion is popular and I can see why, this light version suits my acne prone/combination skin more. I love how it preps my skin for my serum and moisturiser to be absorbed.
3. MOOGOO Irritable Skin Balm
Since we are on the subject of moisturization, here’ s my fave body moisturiser/lotion for eczema. While it may not magically make your eczema disappear, it at least soothes my daugther’s itchy and Sahara dry skin. As for me, I usually go for this tube whenever my in between toes & fingers get super dry.
However bear in mind that it may not work when your skin is weepy*, nor may it work for everyone with eczema as like I always stress on, each and every eczema-skin is unique and different.
4. essence Mosaic Blush
Dirt cheap (barely twenty bucks). A pretty geometric pan of blusher. Gives a pretty glow on my cheeks. Need I even say more?
5. REVLON Ultra Volume Mascara
I loved the All-in-One Ultimate from the REVLON range of mascaras in 2016. This year, my ultimate love goes to one of its sister, REVLON ULTRA VOLUME Mascara. Don’t you just love the pink-and-black combo of the product packaging? But seriously, this is one heck of a good product I’ve invested in this year.
What are you favourite beauty products this year? 😊 Have a great new year’s eve and see you in 2018!
-Hanna-
Side note: This House Brew with Milk from POP’s Eatery is the best coffee I had last week!
I cannot believe that I haven’t talk about this darling! I first discovered this primer by theBalm early this year while I was casually browsing at SaSa. theBalm section straightaway caught my eyes as I’d always wanted to try this brand but ended up never tried anything from this brand, until this year.
theBalm Time Balm Face Primer “for a flawless face” comes in a 30ml (1 FL OZ US) peachy-pink tube. As far as I know, there’s only one size of this product and it has been around. In other words, it’s not a recently-launched product from theBalm. It was only me who has just recently discovered this gem. Haha!
The ingredients
As for the product, it really does its job as a primer that helps products stay longer and matte on my face. However, do note that I don’t use cream nor liquid foundations. I’m a minimalist makeup-wearer with acne-prone and combination skin. As least for me, it’s great enough to hold my powder foundation and powder blusher. I noticed that my skin looks less oily too whenever I put on Time Balm, even if I skip the powder and the blusher.
I just ordered my third tube online. Yeah, the second, and current one I have is almost finish. Gosh, aren’t you proud of yourself when you did actually use up the whole product? 😄 Priced at RM124, but I bought it with 10% off, it is available at SaSa stores and Sephora online. (I haven’t been to Sephora stores for months so I’m not sure if it’s also available in store)
The last month of the year. The last remaining few weeks of 2017. The last chance, before 2018 greets us.
For me, December is simply my favourite month in all of twelve months. Well hey it’s my birthday! Coincidently, my daughter’s birthday falls in early December, a couple of days early from mine. So it’s no surprise that for four years now, we’ve been sharing birthday cakes and celebrations. 😁
December is also the time when I usually stock up on beauty supplies. Ah, those pretty holiday sets and stuffs, coupled with ‘birthday reward’ and special ‘birthday discounts’ whatnot. My wallet hurts the most during this festive time of the year. Haha!
December babies be like…Seize the last days of 2017 before the new year comes.
There was once a fashion workshop and then a beauty workshop I’ve been to years ago. But I’ve never been to any skincare-focused beauty workshop. So when Jelita mag partnered with Nu Skin, an international skincare brand to bring a beauty workshop in October 21st, I gave it try.
It was held in a small, cosy hall in Sunway Putra Hotel (formerly known as The Legend Hotel, if my 12 year old self remember correctly. Post UPSR hi-tea wey!) For RM20, I didn’t expect to be fed with breakfast but refreshments were served for workshop participants anyway.
I had tea since I already had a light breakfast before I left home that morning. (Truth: I had no idea how to use the coffee machine and no one was around to help me out. Sobs!)
The workshop was mostly presented by Eva, the representative from Nu Skin with silky hair and flawless skin. Of course, as expected from a skincare company. 😘 She first introduced us to the four types of facial skin; normal, dry, oily and combination. Pretty basic, I’d say. But what makes her presentation interesting is how she relates these skin types with “surfaces”. Have smooth, white hard-boiled egg in mind? That’s what normal skin should look like. As I was thinking of my combination skin lookalike canvas, Eva moved on to this slide;
Yep. Oranges.
I do have visibly large pores as long as I could remember.
The slot continues to its main subject; their newly launched product, Nu Skin ageLOC device. I have sensitive skin and it kinda whispered to my ear NOT to mess around with random skincares, let alone a device pressed onto my skin. However, I was sandwiched between two ladies who didn’t feel like taking off their makeup so I willingly became the guinea pig. After all, isn’t this my first skincare workshop? My face can deal with potential breakouts later.
I tried out the device and some of the skincares provided on each table. Those two ladies were sweet enough to help me out during the hands-on part (Thanks, girls. You guys should’ve joined in the fun!) I also tried out the sunblock but I’m afraid it’s a little too thick for me. Soon enough, my face started to sweat and I had to apply some powder and blusher back on my now bare face. The workshop ended just in time for lunch. Again, for just RM20 to attend this workshop, I didn’t expect that lunch would be provided but oh my, how were treated to scrumptious buffet of salads, rice and dessert! Yum!
Every participant brought home a goodie bag filled with Nu Skin NaPCA moisture mist & a tube of hand lotion.
Oil-slick facade post skincare playtime. Haha!Hotel restroom selfie! I rarely go to hotels so please give this old lady a chance. 😜
Screw negativity! Since July, some negative things have been taking over my life, it’s apparent from my recent posts on this blog. But for once, why don’t we focus on the positive aspects of life instead? So this is why this post is up right now; the highlights of the fun stuffs that I’ve been up to these days; 😁
When the flower matches your shoes.
1. I know nothing about gardening but when I was assigned to attend some sorta gardening event last month, I took pictures of all the pretty flowers they have, like this one. All guests received a goodie bag (Yay!) which contained several items including…a bag of soil. Yes, soil. I wasn’t exactly sure how to process my thought upon holding that heavy plastic bag filled with fresh dark-coloured soil but I was 100% sure who would be thrilled to get that goodie. (You are welcome, Mom!)
2. I’m a coffee addict so when Nando’s have this limited-time free Americano with 2 pieces of brownies offer, of course I’ve HAD TO redeem it. I don’t really have a sweet tooth (I’m more of a kerepek & salty chips kinda girl) so I initially wasn’t excited with those brownies. But look closer guys, can you see those red chilli flakes sprinkled on top of the brownies? 👇 Interesting!
3. Since we are on the subject of food, have you tried sugar-free peanut butter? This PB with no added sugar from yogood is my current favourite!
Just like any other good PBs, this is just as rich, creamy, peanut-y but sans the sweetness of sugar. No problem at all, as there are so many ways to have fun with PB sans sugar. I usually spread it on wholemeal breads topped with banana slices for breakfast, or have cut fuji apples to dip this peanut butter with as in-between-meal snack. That’s natural sweetness plus wholesome goodness in your food!
How do you have your PB? Do share your ideas with me here so we all could continue having fun while eating healthily. Until then,
These are the words I keep repeating to soothe myself. As some of you might have already known, in mid-February I started committing myself into what I hope would be a life-long commitment; fitness & nutrition.
The first three months were incredible. I ran, I struck, I circuit-trained and I lifted weights like a beast. I was damn proud of my achievements. However, as months went by, other commitments and a recurring challenge came back; my daughter’s eczema. Big time.
Being a parent is already challenging enough.
Being a parent with an eczema child makes it even more challenging.
Being a parent with an eczema child while trying to workout and eat right consistently is plain, f***ing difficult.
Of course, then the classic mommy guilt trip. I feel guilty for feeling great after a training session at the gym, then come home to Aida with flaming, weepy cheeks. Sometimes, I feel guilty for being in the studio for yoga at 8am on Saturday, instead of laying in bed with her while she’s still asleep.
And now, as her eczema is currently accompanied by fever I have no choice but to let my fitness commitment take a back seat. That doesn’t mean I don’t exercise at all. Rather, I’m reducing my personal training sessions from 3 to 2 weekly and focus more on eating healthily at the moment (which, to be honest is a challenge for this foodie). This means it’ll take me even longer to achieve my fitness goal. Honestly, a part of me isn’t exactly happy with this but well, I guess a mom’s gotta do what a mom’s gotta do. After all;
Mascaras & Motherhood 