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Coming to terms with my pigmentation problem and some thoughts on laser skin treatments

March 22, 2019 Paris B 11 Comments

I’ve been intending to write about this subject for a while, but finding the time to organize my thought process and to pen (or type) it all down has been challenging. But after a recent chat with someone at an event, or close encounter of the nosy kind, I decided to just sit down and pour my thoughts out here, just so I have a point of reference that I can point people to when I am asked certain inevitable questions.

One of the most common questions I’m asked is “Have you considered laser treatment for your skin?” This is usually in relation to residual acne scars I have and primarily, my hyperpigmentation on my cheeks.

thoughts on pigmentation and laser treatment

I often find people’s eyes wandering over to the spots on my cheeks where I have hyperpigmentation or also commonly referred to as “pigmentation”. This is more so when I am speaking to people who are in the aesthetics business. I acknowledge that it is a skin problem I have.

But what puzzles many people is this – As a fairly known and somewhat successful beauty blogger, should I not want to take steps or undergo treatments that will reduce or remove this obvious problem? Might this not make me a more “credible” beauty blogger? After all, the general aesthetic for bloggers is clear, glowing, flawless, poreless skin with zero imperfections.

Let me guess – you have thought the same whenever you look at some of my more close-up or bare skin before-after photos 🙂 Don’t worry, I’m used to it 🙂 This is what I have to say.

How has your makeup preferences changed over the years? How I do my makeup today

March 15, 2019 Paris B 25 Comments

I started my makeup journey with one philosophy : If it’s not seen, how would people know I’m wearing makeup?

Yes, I was not terribly secure in my application nor choice of colours, but I was into sparkles and shimmer, pink blushes and blue eyeshadow, all topped off with a bold lip. I had a lot of leeway in my place of work, and they tolerated it even if I might have pulled off some strange looks back then.

It was about then also that I started paying more attention to makeup, and the different collections that were hitting the stands. This was back in the day when new collections would take about 2-3 months to arrive on our sun-drenched shores. By that time, I’d have read all the reviews from people in the UK and USA about what was good or what to avoid. Helped save me money!

But whenever a new collection popped up with a neutral or brown eyeshadow palette, and muted colours for cheeks and lips, my interest level would drop. Brown? Neutrals? What’s the point of a nude makeup look? I’d scoff.

I cannot tell you when exactly I crossed the line from wearing “bright colourful makeup” to “understated neutral makeup” but I crossed that line quite many years ago when I woke up one day and realised that I was wearing makeup not for anyone, but for myself. The lightbulb went on!

So I’m curious to know if or how your makeup preferences has changed over the years and I’ll show you quickly how I do my looks these days – very quick, very efficient 🙂

I tried using Baking Soda and Vinegar to clean my oven and it did not work! But here’s what did

March 6, 2019 Paris B 24 Comments

I’m going to tell you a funny-tragic story about my oven, that will either leave you shaking your head at how dumb I was, or make you laugh. I hope it’s the latter.

When I bought my oven (built-in design) I thought I had bought a self-cleaning oven. Because I thought it was self-cleaning, without looking up what that meant, I thought it meant that I didn’t have to actually clean it after each use because it’d take care of it itself.

Fast forward a few years (about 4 yikes!) and many oven uses later, I realised that the inside of my oven was, to put it mildly, filthy. I don’t bake cakes and biscuits, so my oven is primarily used for cooking savouries. Sometimes, as is wont to happen, spills and oil spatters occur. The inside of my oven was coated with a pretty gross patina of grease and oil.

Last week, after a particularly delicious roasted pork belly episode, I decided I’d tackle this cleaning malarkey once and for all. The story has been fully documented on Instagram (watch it on the Oven Chronicles Highlights tab to follow my adventures LOL! 😀 ) but I wanted to share in depth, why I chose to do what I did and its effects.

I looked up online for ways to clean a dirty oven, and found so many advocates for what is popularly known as the “natural way to clean your oven”, using a mixture of baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) and vinegar. It promised a clean, sparkling oven without poisoning yourself and your family.

Let me tell you this – It’s bollocks 😛

My Bobbi Brown Story : All good stories start with a good foundation

February 25, 2019 Paris B 16 Comments

There are some makeup brands that enter your life like a comet, flying straight for your heart, and making a large impact. There are others that simmer at the back of your consciousness for years, like a slow burn, before one burst of oxygen ignites this interest and causes it to burst into flame.

For me, Bobbi Brown was the latter brand.

I only started experimenting with makeup when I started my first job. Neutral, muted colours that Bobbi Brown was known for, was not part of my makeup vocabulary then. I was all about blue and green eyeshadow, and shimmer and making sure people knew I had makeup on!

But to facilitate the application of all these colours, I needed a canvas.

Liquid foundation was new to me then. I had only used powder foundation (then known as 2-way cake – hands up everyone who remembers it called that!) and my one foray into liquid foundation was a disaster of epic proportions. I picked the wrong brand, wrong shade and wrong formula. Understandably, I was not confident to pick the right liquid foundation for myself.

Then, the slow burn that was at the back of my mind whispered to me – what about Bobbi Brown?

And just like that, a puff of oxygen blew across my consciousness and fanned my interest.

Tips

The fun and previews happen on Instagram @parisbmws