dipped in gold nails for CNY

It's all about the glam - nicole by OPI
A gold winter's night - nicole by opi
A cut above - essie

moose's pick

first time seeing a Lindt ball in coconut flavor - and the tropical taste is a great distraction from the harsh winter!!

random stuff on sale at Shopper's Drug Mart

pretty in pink

treatment update: Tactduo

So it's been about 3 months since I've been prescribed Tactduo with the instruction to apply to my face at bedtime - but I had since cut back to using it as a spot treatment when I feel little bumps coming up from underneath my skin because of sensitivity issues.

After using the gel religiously as instructed for the first week, my skin dried up considerably - to the point that my skin started flaking despite moisturizers and that it feels raw - and painful even.  My skin burns with pain whenever I try to sooth it with moisturizer - eventually I turned to moisture masks.  The one from Vichy burned the most, while the ones from Clinique and Clarins still mildly sting.  The only one that provides temporary relief is the cucumber aloe gel from Peter Thomas Roth - the radioactively green goop.

My acne didn't disappear despite the dryness - if anything, more little whiteheads had appeared in my trouble zones - especially on my chin.  Then most of them would eventually fade away but a few worsened to bigger zits than what I usually get.  The way they dry up also left some scarring/dark spots, but that's happened with other acne of comparable size prior to this medicated gel.

My girlfriend told me about using Tactduo as a spot treatment and I hesitated because the patient info leaflet specifically stated that it should NOT be used as a spot treatment - most likely because it could cause color blotches if not evenly applied to the face - but since the gel was causing my skin so much grief I decided to give it a try.  Since then my skin had been a lot more calm but still not acne-free, and occasionally I would get pretty bad breakouts.  But gradually it does feel like I'm not getting acne as often anymore, so maybe I'll keep using it.

I should really stop...

and this is only  the part of my collection that I keep at my place... I have another handful at B's

There should be enough to paint each of my nail (fingers and toes) a different color every day for a week

spanish coffee

was quite reluctant when dad insisted to have lunch at Keung's @ Peachtree centre in Markham since I wasn't their biggest fan - I mean, if I got to pick, we would have gone to Blue Ocean Cafe - but this spanish coffee might just have changed my mind about this restaurant

clearance at Target

went to Target looking for a certain belated xmas gift - i had seen it a month before xmas but wasn't ready to lug it all the way across the mall - plus i thought i had plenty of time to go back for it - except i never did... in any case - they didn't have it anymore, but instead, i found quite a bit of goodies on clearance - with prices so low, i just couldn't resist!!

mr. moose

This Christmas I had failed again... and I have no excuse like last year when we were helping out with a wedding...

I made a point to start early, made a list, brainstormed for ideas -  but came crunch time I just wasn't able to get anything done

such a fail :(