Braces Review (before and after)

YEEEEAH. Braces off today!! Well...the top part anyways.

With...

Without!!

     Side by side comparison

I was disappointed with my results...'cause I thought my teeth would look like this after I take my braces off but noooo. DISAPPOINTED. Le sigh.

..But then again, I didn't get braces in the first place hoping for teeth like these, I just merely asked my dentist to fix my overbite!

My journey

*Please note that the procedure of every dentist is different, this is just how mine did it*

I got braces in November 2012 and now it's April 2014, so I had them on for 1 year and 5 months.

This process may seem very long but the thing is, I pulled out 4 tooth and so I had to take my time to heal! 

I had an overbite and there was no space at all to push back my teeth to get it straight, so I had to take 4 tooth out, 2 at the top and 2 at the bottom. This is a must--if you take 2 tooth out on the top, you have to take 2 tooth out on the bottom (for the balance). 

I got them on when I was a sophomore. I was hesitant to get it at first because I thought braces and high school just don't mix well together...you know? But then I was like, seriously girl? Who even cares about the people in high school? You are going to graduate and you'll never see them again, you have to do this for yourself!

I realized that the people I'll meet later on in life would be much much more important than those in high school and so, you know what, I decided I will get braces, because I want to present myself with a decent smile to my future boss. Haha. 

For the first 2 months of getting them, my dentist just changed the wire. He went from normal to thick(the wire). He said this was to 'loosen up' my teeth.

In January 2013, I pulled 4 tooth out (pics later). You don't take 4 tooth out altogether at once! You take out 2 at a time: one on the bottom, one on top, and both on the same side. Then a week later you take out the other 2 on the other side. This is done so that you can chew and eat. If you take 4 tooth out at once...you won't be able to chew.  Maybe if you want to lose weight, you can ask your dentist to take out 4 tooth at once? You can just drink for the whole week and lose like 10kg hahaha. 

This process is almost painless; the injections done on my gum did not hurt(to numb your nerve). They just looked nerve-wrecking. Once the injections are done, you won't be able to feel a thing when they pull out your tooth!

You will not be able to feel your lips or be able to control them afterwards because of the injections; so I say stay home after this is done! Your mouth will be all bloody and your saliva will just drool out of your mouth. So, stay home!

For the next few months, I visited my dentist once a month just to simply renew the super-strength elastic band that's on my braces (they are what's pulling my teeth together, closing the gap, and pulling my overbite in). 

It took 1 year and a 4 months for my gap to completely close and I kept them for 1 more month just to stable the position of my teeth. 

I know people fear of the pain braces will cause. For me, after every visit, the maximum days my teeth would hurt for are 4 days. Usually I'd just feel pain for 3 days!

Here are the 3 main issues I've experienced with braces and they are in order from the most hated one to the least hated one....please know that just because it may be the 'least hated' I still pretty much really hate it. Ok?

1. The gap. I absolutely loathed having gaps between my teeth! They do not take out teeth from the back of your mouth, but in the front(because all the teeth at the back of your mouth are very important, you need them to chew)! Ok, not the very front, but yes, front-side (pics later). The gaps were so visible and wide, I was horrified people could see the inside of my mouth. So whenever I smile...I would never show my teeth. For more than a year, I wouldn't smile or laugh without lifting a hand to cover my mouth. (Once the gap got tiny, that's when I had stopped covering my mouth. But this was after 1 year.)
2. Food stuck in your braces. Seriously....need I explain more? You know what, after I got my braces off today I went to eat sushi. I bit it and ahh. It felt so good! For the past few months I had to cut my sushi in half and stuff it at the back of my mouth with chopsticks. Now I just bite! I went to the restroom afterwards to check for rice that might have gotten stuck between my teeth but na-da. Oh yes. 
3. The cavity. If you are not careful, you will get cavities. After I took my braces off, my dentist told me I had 4 cavities. One is at the back of my teeth (I don't usually brush this part throughly...) and the other 3 are in the space between my teeth; I was pretty pissed because I floss every day and brush my teeth everyday and yet I still got them?! I hate getting cavities because filling them is quite...painful? Have you ever seen those sharp needle things at the dentist? Well, they need to stick that in your cavity to clean it. Let me tell you, cavities make your teeth very sensitive. Can you imagine digging a needle in your sensitive, rotten teeth? Ow! 

That's all!! Here is my before and after picture. 

The left side is before I got my braces. I had a serious overbite!   

On my teeth:
Straight line mark=They were the ones that got pulled out (on the top, 2 more on the bottom).

Circle mark=My dentist pulled them back first. I kept pulling those 2 back for 8 months before I did anything else.

After 8 months, that's when I began pulling those 4 unmarked teeth back altogether. This took another 8 months.
I'm not sure why my dentist didn't pull all of them back altogether...but whatever, what's done is already done!

Ta-da!

If you are someone with really 'flexible' teeth, maybe this "pull-back" process will take you a lot less! Mine moved kinda slow I guess. But I don't mind, what's the hurry? 

Overall, I'm super happy I followed my gut and got braces! Sure, braces detract but then also mean that teeth will be (more) perfect later on. It will distort your smile a little but...who cares? Once you get your teeth fixed you will be the one feeling smug hahaha so....why not? 

xx

Review: Lady Speed Stick

The package

Name: Lady Speed Stick Invisible Dry Powder Fresh Deodorant

ohh, is it really 24 Hours protect against odour & wetness? 

We'll see, we'll see ;)

The stick form! 

I have tried all 3 kinds of deodorant: stick form, spray and roll on.

I personally prefer the stick form the best because spray deodorant are like body mist to me, I don't really consider them as 'deodorant' but rather as 'very-cheap-perfume-that-are-not-very-long-lasting', not to mention spray deodorant are very harmful to the environment (I won't elaborate on how it's harmful, you can do google it yourself, if you want)!

I seriously don't like roll-ons; yes, it does dry after you apply it but some of them dry kind of slow! My armpits just feel wet and cold afterwards -_-  One major offense I have of roll-ons, is that it can get really sticky after a while of storage. Usually after a month and a half or 2 months of using them, the product can get really sticky and I just don't want to use it anymore...it's really disgusting applying on sticky stuff on your armpits, you know? 

Stick form is my favorite! This is the first stick form deodorant I've used and I love it. I've heard bad comments about stick form deodorants before I bought this, such as, it'll leave white lines on your armpit or it doesn't work blah blah.

Maybe I got lucky, because I had no problems with this at all!

The smell of this is Powder Fresh and it smells like baby powder. 

It's wonderful; I am a huge fan of baby powder because I love how clean the smell is. 

I've tried the floral scent of this product as well but meh, love baby powder the best.

How strong is the smell of this? Well, if you were sitting next to someone or walking pass someone really fast, they'd be able to smell it (but if you applied it on thinly though, like, just go over your armpit once, then people won't be able to smell it).  

Is it really 24 hour lasting? Nope, I would say the scent fades away after around 7-8 hours or so.

It is against wetness, I guess. I wear this to the gym and I have no problem with it, the smell stays. 

This product does not leave 'white lines' on my armpits and I'm sure this is because I smear it well on my skin. 

There was once when I had just applied it on in a rush and after 9 hours I saw white lines on my armpits when I took my clothes off (I was changing). 

Ever since then, whenever I apply on 'thick' layers--and by that, I mean go over the armpits 3-6 times--I make sure I smear it with my hands afterwards and this has stopped me from having those 'white lines' for forever!! I have not had it since :)

But I kinda think I just got unlucky that day...because honestly whenever I apply on 3-4 layers, now, I don't ever smear it afterwards anymore with my hands and I don't get those white lines anyway...

This product will last you around 2-3 months if you use it every single day. 

Price: affordable; I bought this at Guardian for Rm 8, I believe.

What I like:

• Stops me from stinking 
• Wetness resistant (to some extent; if you were standing in the pouring rain, for example, the smell would definitely fade and you will smell bad!)
• Love the smell, so clean and fresh!
• Does not crease on your armpits yayy

What I don't like:

• Nothing woo hoo

Rate:

5/5

How to get soft lips fast without any product

(Perfect for chapped lips)

-Based my personal experience (always works!)-

Really, all you need to do to get rid of all those dead skin cells, is to just scrub your lips with you fingers after you get out of the shower.

That's it!

Use no product, you won't be needing it. Those dried skin should come right off because your lips should be so intensely moisturised and softened by the steam in your shower.

Sometimes scrubbing lips with your bare fingers can be quite difficult...and slow. If this happens, try wrapping your finger with tissue first and then scrub your lips--this will really make the process more efficient and much faster.

Don't rub too hard just incase you might accidentally pull some skin off, that might hurt :P
Otherwise, it should be painless.

It's fast, easy, free and delivers instant result!

I must say, I'm not sure if this would work if your shower only lasts for about 3 minutes...I think it's best to be in the shower for at least 5 minutes (this does not mean the water needs to be running for 5 minutes straight, if you don't want to; just stay in your warm shower for at least 5 minutes) so that your lips would really soften up and it'll be so much easier and faster for you to rub those dried skin off.

Once you are done I suggest you apply on lip balm (it's better for it to be flavourless and colourless) or the good old vaseline to moisturise your fully exfoliated lips.

Give it a try!

xx

Review: Blincon Elegance-Crystal Grey

Package 

Diameter: 14.2
B.C.: 8.6 

42% water 

Design

 

I forgot to take a pic of my natural iris..so this is a pic from my previous review 

These contacts are way bigger than my iris, the contact not only covers my iris but the white part too(as you can see).

With Flash

 Without flash

With flash


Just as I suspected, wearing 14.2 mm contacts really does make a significant difference!

This is my first time wearing coloured lenses and it is the biggest diameter I've tried. I for sure won't be trying out 14.5mm.

When I first put the contacts in, I really scared myself. These are not contacts I'd want to wear during school for sure because it is too noticeable. Perhaps you can't tell from the picture above, but the designs in these contacts are very conspicuous and therefore do not look natural (yellow + blueish+ a thin black outline). In person, no one will be fooled that those are your real eye colour; even if the person might be at least 1 meter away from you, they'll still be able to tell that you are wearing contacts.

The design of the contacts are quite animated, for me, and since my eyes are small, 14.2mm really 'opened up' my eyes but at the same time it looks very unnatural.

I am really disappointed in the colour result. I chose grey because I thought it would make my eyes look brighter however on my eyes the colour turned out to be blue-ish! :(

My friends likes this look though....but I'm not so sure, so not used to this...

I've worn this to the mall before and under the bright lights it is very visible. Perhaps if these contacts only came in the size of our natural iris diameters, it'd look (much more) natural even with its odd colours. These contacts look pretty awesome in the dark/dim lights though, I must say.

These pair of contacts last for 3 months if you wear it daily, however if you only wear it occasionally, it is possible that it will last up to 4 months.

Some math:
If wearing it occasionally is what you plan on doing so that it'd last up to 4 months (or longer?), it would be best if you wear it for at least 5 times a month.

Freshlook Dailies review-->http://to-flawless.blogspot.com/2014/02/review-freshlook-illuminate-dailies.html

^^these are Rm35 for 5 days (Daily)

Blincon contacts are Rm90 (I think) for 3 months and the Dailies I've reviewed above are Rm 35 for 5 days, which is Rm 105 for 3 months. If you were to wear this for less than 5 days a month then these will be a loss in the investment.

What I like:

• Looks good in pictures, with or without flash
• Gives you doll-like eyes (it'll accentuate your eyes even more with makeup)
• Lasts for at least 3 months

What I don't like:

• Irritates my eyes after around 4 hours
• Looks fake
• The colour is way off...

Rate: 3/5 (mainly due to my disappointment with the colour outcome)

Review: FreshLook Dailies (Rich Brown)

The diameter is 13.8mm

I have no idea what BC stands for 

For those of you too lazy to read, it says here: 69% water! (You can read the rest yourself if you'd like)

Without (obviously)

With (No more white beneath my iris) 

[This is how my mascara gets after a 2-hour-swim, pretty good, right? 

I don't have panda eyes, only some smudges C':  

If you are interested, I reviewed the mascara I have on here: 

http://to-flawless.blogspot.com/2014/01/review-maybelline-volumexpress-magnum.html

Enhanced picture so you can see the design better

Note: Circle lens=contacts that will make your eyes appear larger by emphasising the size of your iris, come in different diameters/sizes. 

This is very natural looking. Only 1 person noticed I was wearing contacts when I had them on, and that was because she wears circle lens herself, so she was able to tell. 

I have small eyes and was very hesitant about wearing circle lens at first, incase I don't have enough space in my eyes so it would look super fake on me. I bought this anyway to try it out. 

I have no idea what the average/regular size of a person's iris is, but these are only 13.8mm (a tiny bit larger than the size of our iris). 

As you can see in the With & Without picture, it isn't too big horizontally; in fact, the white parts on the right and the left of my iris had barely gotten any smaller. Vertically however, I do see a difference because the whites beneath my iris got covered by the contacts. 

The design of this contact is very good! It's made of tiny pixels and that's why it blends in so well, and the color is so so close to dark brown eyes, don't you think?

I think this is a good choice if you want to enhance your eyes inconspicuously. For school or work or date or whatever, it's great!

I do think you should only wear this if you've got dark brown eyes. Incase you haven't noticed, this contact is not meant for changing the color of your iris, it'll only make your iris bigger than it actually is so your eyes will appear bigger. There is only a ring around the edges and no color elsewhere so your natural color will pierce through. 

But!! I guess if hazel/blue/any other colored eyes wore these contacts, it might look like the picture below? (dark brown ring around the iris.)

This is Ashley Olsen btw :P

I'm not sure how many hours these contacts are wearable for, I believe its between 6-8 hours.

Because its 69% water, I thought it wouldn't irritate my eyes as much but after around 2 hours, my eyes were already starting to...feel dry. The discomfort isn't bad though--after a drop or two of eye drops, it's like nothing's happened :) 

The maximum hours I've had these on for is...9 hours. 

Nothing happened. I mean, my eyes didn't go blind or anything haha. 

I did feel discomfort(dry and kind of itchy) after around 8 hours of wearing them(no eyedrops used).

My eyes were kind of red when I took them out at 3am (after 9 hours), but it's all good! 

Just make sure you take them out before you sleep!! Never forget this!!

Also, it's totally fine to work out with these on or wear them to the pool.

Note: 

1. Many many circle lens are 14.4 or 14.5 mm and those are the ones that will make a big difference. 13.8 is very natural-looking.
2. I know there are circle lens the size of 14.2 mm, I think those might have almost the same eye enlargement effect as these, 13.8mm. Because really how much of a difference is there between 0.4mm? I will soon try contacts with the size of 14.2mm and fill you in!
3. I also have tried this in the color Jet Black, I don't have pictures for this, but Jet Black is not as natural as this, it's very noticeable. Like Rich Brown, it's got a ring on the outside but the ring is jet black, even darker than my eyes (dark brown) so people might be able to tell easily. If you prefer the natural look, go for Rich Brown.

This comes in 5 pairs per box, packed individually. 

I got this for Rm35. 

This is quite pricey for me...if I wear them 5x a week, I'd have to spend Rm140 a month...

Some math for you:

This for 20 days = 140 Rm

Avacue, clear contacts; daily for 30 or 31 days =120 Rm

What I like:

• Super natural (color)
• Super natural (look)
• Blends easily to dark brown eyes
• Easy to put in 
• Can wear this up to 9 hours

What I don't like:

• If you get the contact out of its packaging too roughly, it might rip...(yup, happened to me, so be gentle!)
• Pricey sigh 
• Easy to rip apart (must be very gentle with these)
• You can't pinch it out (when you remove them from your eyes), you must, for me at least, peel it off from the side
• Even with 69% water, it still causes discomfort (But my eyes naturally are dry so...maybe it's just me)
• A bit hard to take it off

Rate: 4.5/5

Ok. 

As of now I've used more than 10 pairs of these. I'm not sure if it's just my eyes, but these contacts are quite hard to take off. For those of you who already wear contacts, you'd know the way to take off contacts: simply pinch it off--easy and fast! Well, this is how I do it anyways. 

For these, no matter what I just can't pinch it out! The only way to get these off of my eyeball is to kind of 'dig it out' from the side. It's not as scary as it sounds--just place your nails under the contacts from a side and just...scoop it out. It's painless but it will irritate your eyes. 

I really think it's the contacts because come on, I've used more than 10 pairs of these from different boxes so there's no way something's wrong with just that 1 pair :P Also, this never happens to me when I wear other contact lens.

 If you are interested in seeing the results of a 14.2mm circle lens, read here:

http://to-flawless.blogspot.com/2014/02/review-blincon-elegance-crystal-grey.html

Review: Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain

(note: photos aren't edited)

This is my first time trying out a lip stain and I must say I am happy with what I've come across :)

This is very moisturising, I noticed after 2 hours of application, the dried skin on my lips tend to be a lot more 'subtle' and a lot less noticeable. 

This is quite long-lasting too! I have no fear of wearing this when I know I'm going to eat because since it's a stain, the color doesn't come off as easily as a gloss or lipstick. The color of the stain does get on my food though, when I bite, but the color on my lips will be just as good. 

This lip stain usually last about 4-5 hours for me before it completely fades away. 

Bare lips with vaseline 

               

This is the result after I gently dabbed it on

 

1 layer, no dabbing

2 layers

The color is very good, it matches the 'crayon' perfectly! I haven't tried the other colors in this series but I assume it'll be just as good as this one, 'Lovesick Passionate'. 

I was very apprehensive about this color at first. This color is very bright and no doubt one of the brightest lip color I own, and the last time I tried a color similar to this, it made me look very old. Since my skin color is yellow, this kind of bright pink tends to make my skin color look dull. However for some reason this color doesn't make me look like a old grandma, instead it brightens up my complexion. So grateful. 

I absolutely love wearing this color if I know I'm going to be dining when I head out. Since this is a stain, you don't have to worry about it wearing off so fast. The last time I wore this, even after I ate my lips were still pink!

What I like:

• Moisturising
• Long-lasting
• No taste (just incase you eat it or lick it)
• No smell
• Waterproof (the color doesn't wash away if you decide to go under water!)
• Color is very accurate to its packaging 
• Color can be adjusted to your favours
• Good packaging 
• Affordable (below Rm 30 in Guardian)

What I don't like:

• Nothing so far!

Rate: 5/5

UPDATE : Review: Elianto Miracle Multiplex BB Cream #02 Natural

http://to-flawless.blogspot.com/2013/12/review-elianto-miracle-multiplex-bb.html  <-This is my original post (with pictures and reasons why I had immensely disliked it)

Alright, time for an update!  I have started to use Elianto BB cream again recently (for about a week now) and for some reason, this time it just worked(better than before).

I'd apply it after around 10 minutes of washing my face in the morning. Specifically, I apply it around 6:50 am and get to school at 7:30 am. This is because this BB cream needs time to set on your skin so that it can adjust itself to a tone that's a bit darker.

As I've mentioned before, even after it sets it still looks too light. It still does but now it's more bearable :P
It doesn't mattify my skin and rather makes my skin produce more oil. I still need to blog after 40 minutes of applying this on.

I would say people with lighter complexion would be a better fit for this BB cream. If you know you are quite dark, or at least a bit tanned on your face, don't bother with this. Even blending it out to your neck won't help.

Make sure your face is moisturised if you are going to to wear this BB cream! This is because if your skin isn't moisturised and has got pimple/acne, this product will cause the skin around your pimple/acne area to have tiny bits of dry patches and it'll look obvious(and gross) that you are wearing make up. I noticed only if I've moisturised my skin, then there won't be any dry patches around my pimple area.

This is what I do in the morning:
Cleanse
Eat breakfast
Moisturise and wait for 1 minute or 2
Apply this BB cream

If you moisturise your face before the use of this, it'll glide on the skin more smoothly.

I tried to mix this with my moisturiser, it doesn't work....but maybe it's just my moisturiser?

The best way (from my experience) to apply this BB cream is to dot it (or pat it) all over your face and then blend it out with your fingers. Brushes just don't work. So make sure you dot it or pat it on in very thinly or this product will not be able to blend very well, you have to do the work and spread it around. If you need more coverage then go back to that area and pat on some more product.
(This product shouldn't be layered, it gets very thick with only 2 layers)

I like it a lot better now! I realized it does make a difference on my skin. My skin is a bit red around my lower jawline and after applying 1 layer of this BB cream, the redness will be diminished. If I have some 'little bumps' on my skin (little bumps are clogged pores, not pimples), I'd gently pad on a thin layer only on that specific area and those 'little bumps' will be so much less visible! YAY.
(you will still be able to see those little bumps, but not as much as before since the redness will be erased.)

HOWEVER. This is not good with covering acne scars! I scratched some spots days ago and it bled, now the spot has a scar and I tried to use this to cover it, but the scar couldn't be covered since its color was too dark for the BB cream.

Also this BB cream (on my skin, at least) doesn't make me break out--in new areas. For example if you had one pimple and you use this BB cream, you won't grow out a second pimple however it might make that one pimple get more irritated and get slight more red. This is what happened to me :( Once I used makeup remover to remove the BB cream, that's when I see a few of my pimples (not little bumps) has gotten more angry looking.

After 8 hours(no sweating, no work out or whatever, in AC room only) the BB cream still looks fine, just as 8 hours before. I don't see it 'sliding' off my face or anything. However, I do blot my face throughout the day (about 2-4 times).
BUT.
If you are going to wear this on a very hot day and sweat...you should just not wear this at all because it melts and will get very ugly. Don't even wear this to a work out.

I don't use any powder with this BB cream (as I've mentioned in my previous review, this BB cream just doesn't work with a powder--any powder--because it gets cakey easily).

Overall, I believe this product would have the best result on people who's got very few 'little bumps' on the skin or almost flawless skin with only freckles/redness that needs to be covered. If you have pimples/acne, this will not be good for you!

What I like:

• Lightweight
• Covers redness
• Can reduce the sight of freckles (but won't be able to completely cover freckles)
• Doesn't smell
• Long-lasting as long as you don't touch your face
• SPF 25
• Good storage (I bought this almost a year ago and it still works!)

What I don't like

• Isn't matte on my face (oily skin type)
• Only 1 shade available, the other one is for whitening (this one is meant for oily skin), too light for me
• Doesn't reduce or control shine
• Gets cakey/thick easily

Rate:2/5