Goodbye acne scars v1! EMATRIX is like magic – Fractional Radio Frequency with YUME Aesthetic & Medical Clinic (Orchard)

You know when you were young once upon a time, and you made one of those silly faces that was SO ugly, your Mom told you not to? My Mom always said my face would freeze and the ugly will stick that way forever.

We love to make ugly faces… Great times back in one of those casual nights with part of [the] Collective. They may be celebrities, but they sure aren’t divas!

I went through my photo albums but the only pic of mine I could find that describes the above ugly face is with you – sorry Oli!
PS: For anyone interested in Oli Pettigrew, he just opened a new kick-ass gym called RITUAL – like literally, they kicked my ass. In a good way. I’m writing more about asses and kicking at RITUAL in a separate blogpost.

THIS IS MY “UGLY-I-HOPE-IT-DOESN’T-FREEZE-THIS-WAY” FACE

Thankfully, My Mom was wrong, but unfortunately, I never listened to her about other things either. She snapped at me everyday to stop picking at my pimples on my face, but my hormones were out of control and so were my fingers. This time, I wasn’t so lucky… The ugly stayed and acne scars remained.

I’ve spent the ocasional money on expensive scar creams, and tried adjusting my diet. However, the damage done on your skin can hardly be reversed, and I always thought I would live bewitched under the acne scar curse. I had faith, but I had little – Those with acne scars would understand what I mean. When oh when would the world invent a magic cure for me, something special that would miraculously disappear my scars, and give me brand new skin?

Abracadabra.

The time and “magic cure” seems to have now come. Although technology ISN’T magic, it sure is magnificent. My acne scars aren’t super obvious in some of my photographs, but friends or people who see me face-to-face, know that my semi-fair skin isn’t flawless. I have an acne outbreak a few times a month (depending on my stress and sleep, among other things), and the redness and dents from my old acne doesn’t seem to have gone anywhere.

Lucky for me, I have friends who care about me. One of my guy friends – who had also previously suffered from acne scars – referred me to his doctor, who had worked his magic (technology) to help him to get rid of some of them.

“How much money did you waste? No drugs or creams can get rid of scars that are deep under your skin,” Doctor Wong from YUME Aesthetic & Medical Clinic administered the truth before any serums or treatments. He explained further in my first consultation, that all surface solutions (including IPL) DO NOT work on acne scars. I believed him, and believe that I can get better results with reduced acne scars just like my guy friend did.

We know that beauty isn’t skin deep, but without good skin, how can a woman hope to be beautiful? And so, my first session with Doctor Wong’s recommended Fractional Radio Frequency was scheduled.

WHAT IS THIS?

Ematrix – Fractional Radio Frequency. More information HERE.
Also known as “Superlative rejuvenation”
It is a kind of non-laser fractional skin resurfacing which can be used for a the wide variety of skin types and colors
.

EMATRIX FRACTIONAL RADIO FREQUENCY IS MOST SUITABLE FOR…

Acne Vulgaris and scarring, such as ‘crater’ scars, and deeper ‘ice pick’ type scars. It helps to smoothen skin texture irregularities.

HOW DOES EMATRIX FRACTIONAL RADIO FREQUENCY WORK?

This treatment is basically to rebuild collagen in your skin. It uses fractional bi-polar radio frequency to penetrate through the skin and to allow more energy beneath the surface of the skin (magic!!!). This maximizes collagen production while keeping the top layer of the skin intact. The production of collagen gives you renewed skin, and so you look like a fairytale princess with baby-soft skin. In real-life speak, it plumps up the holes that your previous scars have left overtime.

The best results are seen about a week after the treatment, and your skin will keep improving up to 3 months after. The good effects of the treatment can last for 3 years. Downtime is famously minimal – you can even put on makeup 24hours after the treatment if you need to.

IS EMATRIX FRACTIONAL RADIO FREQUENCY A TYPE OF LASER TREATMENT?

eMatrix is a different type of fractional resurfacing technology that is not a laser. It works differently and has different effects to a laser treatment.

This means -
1) Minimal bleeding especially when dealing with deeper scars
2) Minimal post-treatment ugly face and much less recovery time

IS EMATRIX FRACTIONAL RADIO FREQUENCY FOR ME?

You don’t need to be a stay at home tai tai! This is said to be the ideal treatment for men or women of any ages with acne scarring, and especially those who have a normal work week schedule. EMATRIX is much more suitable than laser treatments if you have a darker skin type.

Don’t expect to look like a different person in one session, but Fractional RF is a quick and easy procedure to do on a Friday and expect to be back to work on a Monday. Like it has been shared above, one of the biggest pushes for EMATRIX RF is that it has a MUCH shorter downtime than laser treatments (which can keep you in recovery for up to 10 days).

IS THERE ANY PAIN?

Yes, but nothing very intense as numbing cream is applied to your face before treatment. Pain with fractional RF is supposedly less than with fractional laser.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO SEE THE GOOD EFFECTS?

You look at your best about a week after the treatment, where you temporarily experience pretty perfection on your skin! Don’t get too excited though – the collagen starts balancing itself out after that and your bigger humps will start to return in a small way. There should be a 25-35% improvement on scars after the first session. Heavier or deep scarring need to undergo more sessions every 4-6 weeks for 3 sessions for maximum effect.

ARE THERE ANY SIDE EFFECTS AFTER THE TREATMENT?

Even if – and there probably won’t be – any side effects, it will only be on your skin and not in your deep tissue. This is a lot better than some other treatments can boast!
After the treatment, effects are redness (looks similar to sunburn) and dots of tiny scabbing.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

For someone suffering from acne scars, to get rid of this ugliness is indeed priceless. But if you need to talk money, feel free to call YUME clinic and arrange a consultation with Dr Wong to get a quote.

Most patients will receive three treatments, each spaced four to six weeks apart. During consultation, feel free to enquire about special packages customised to the needs of your skin.

I know I write as if I live in a fantasy land sometimes, but I’m over the moon to know that getting rid of my acne scars is now a reality. I have actually done my first EMATRIX Fractional RF session with YUME Clinic about 1+ month ago, and would you believe the before and after photos from it!? (Above.) You can see the tiny dots of scabbing I was talking about in the Day 2 photo.

Perfect skin doesn’t pop up overnight, but there is a HUGE significant improvement and all my friends and family are as excited as I am. I’m really grateful that Dr Wong from YUME Clinic immaculately picked the right treatment for my acne scarring, and also walked with me every step of this journey. He managed my expectations pretty well, waved his magic wand and restored the princess skin that I always wished I would have. I would call him my fairy godmother from now on, but I don’t think he’d like that.

PS: This is probably one of the few treatments out there for acne scarring that doesn’t have lingering pain, side effects and downtime. If you’re wanting something that is slower and easier going, but still capable of visible results, you should definitely give eMatrix by YUME Aesthetic & Medical Clinic a try. You might just have the same happy ever after as mine!

SUBSCRIBE HERE for my next blog post for more details on the procedure (and of course, my ugly ducking to swan pictures). I guess time CAN heal your wounds!

Tel: 67330073
Address: 360 Orchard Road, #04-08 International Building, Singapore 238869
This is a sponsored post for YUME Aesthetic & Medical Clinic.

Asian Food Channel (AFC)’s THE BIG BREAK – Final episode coming out this Wednesday, Starhub channel 435 at 10pm!

If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

Well, for most of the contestants in this socially-driven TV series, they didn’t really have a choice. They lead less privileged lives than most of us Singaporeans, and jumped at the chance to come to our developed, clean and green garden city. Singapore beckoned with a glimmer of a better life, as these kids learned how to cook through this Resorts World Sentosa partnered TV programme, in a 5-star facility. I’ve worked for a 5-star hotel before and let me promise you, its not easy. And firstly, it’s not easy to get in! The hotel kitchens are very competitive and can cook you with their high pressure and tiring long hours. I’m positive that these kids appreciate this fine opportunity handed to them on a silver platter, and will definitely take back home more than they had left with.

For each of the 12 contestants that participated in this reality TV show, they bring home a $2000 bursary. One of them will win a grand prize of a scholarship worth over S$30,000 at the At-Sunrice GlobalChef Academy in Singapore, co-sponsored by RWS.

I actually watched the first episode by chance and I was slightly delighted to see more meaningful shows being created for consumers. I think reality TV entertainment has evolved a bit, and instead of whiling our time away watching trashy Jersey Shore-esque television, community-focused shows with original content like Jennifer Lopez’s Q’Viva, Undercover Happiness on Channel 5, and The Big Break by AFC has shown viewer demand for more heart.

Glamorous judges like the bright-eyed Farah Quinn and Chef Alan Orreal, Judge of The Big Break and Executive Chef of RWS, started the season with travel to less privileged countries around Asia, and handpicked particular younglings with potential. Through the season, I watched some of them go from zero to hero, growing not only through their cooking skills, but in personal development as well.

I personally witnessed many individual’s inability to cook Char Kway Teow in the first episode, and now the final 2 left standing will be tasked to create fine dining – more specifically, French haute cuisine – in the signature Joël Robuchon style. Not without close mentorship of course – Joël Robuchon’s Executive Chef Tomonori Danzaki will keep a watchful eye over them.

Pics from the almost last episode:

Visit this website for the latest information about contestants as well as summaries and highlights from each episode.

Asian Food Channel (AFC) will unveil the winner in a one-hour finale on StarHub Channel 435, Wednesday 30 January 2013 at 10pm.

Don’t miss it! Be a part of the finale action of The Big Break, a programme with the testament that social good through TV has come a long way.

VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED: Some girls eat lunch. This girl eats a tampon.

If you haven’t watched this video yet, you probably wouldn’t want to anyway…! @_@

Lessons from an Aspiring Entrepreneur: Failure #2. (This was the big one)

The emotional roller coaster of an entrepreneur (or #wantrepreneur) will see you stretched to your limits. Or at the very least, stretched thin. You run on fumes, and sometimes you’re sitting on the couch at home for hours wondering what to do. Other times you’re pounding the pavement, racing for a timeline and knocking on doors. You’re always asking, hustling, learning, thinking, and waiting to reach the inevitable… WHAT NEXT?

I just had my second business-related failure in this month. I was actually working on this idea for a few months, so the unsuccessful attempt stung like a nasty bee. Not forgetting to mention the back-breaking work that led up to preparing for the test sell, and I lost hundreds of dollars again. It was a good idea, and business-minded friends along with potential customers I questioned thought so too. It had never been done before that I know of. I’m quite sure I executed the test as realistically as I could, and was so sure that this idea filled a void I faced in a segment that had not been covered yet. It didn’t work, and it hurt.

I will shelf it, maybe tweak it. But most of all, I am exhausted, confused and devastated. But if it’s anything I’ve learnt from my experiences and others, it’s to cut my losses and pick myself up from where I left off. It’s a mild consolation that I spent a few months on an idea I passionately believed in, rather than a few years… Or never at all.

What’s next for my career?

I’m almost at the low point of putting on a bikini and pretending to be a DJ.

Almost. Not yet.
(No offense to DJs in bikinis.)

Lessons from an Aspiring Entrepreneur: My first taste of failure! How I lost $300 :(

For the last few months, I have been working on some business ideas. On a completely unrelated project, a certain huge dance festival in Singapore was coming up and when given a small opportunity, I decided on impulse to try and sell something on the day of the event.

I was convinced that it was something that partygoers would love, and buy. I was sure it would be something in demand.

OK, I’ll tell you what it is – I wanted to sell glow-in-the-dark body paint for this dance event.

After 5 days of searching for glow-in-the-dark body paint in Singapore (I traversed costume shops, Spotlight at Dhoby Ghaut, and a number more shops etc but to no avail), I FINALLY found a supplier who was selling a small bottle at $19. Because it was so hard to find and I finally did, I bought a few bottles just for fun, for my friends and I to use at the party.

On the morning of the event, a Singaporean student (Student J) told me that he was helping another company to sell something else at the entrance of this event, and almost straightaway, I offered him a commission per bottle of body paint that he sold if he helped to push my product along with what he was selling.

He agreed, and I called the supplier straightaway to arrange urgent purchase of MANY more bottles.

I trust my judgement in people and I also trust the student that I got to work for me. I don’t think his sales skills was the problem, but the problem was just with reality… And a few more things.

MY THOUGHT PROCESS
I had used glow-in-the-dark body paint before in other countries at other similar beach-themed or night-time parties, and I adored it. It was pretty popular at these parties and among the party people.

I convinced myself that it was a great idea – I would buy it, my friends who I spoke to said they would buy it, so why wouldn’t other people buy it?

I GOT ADVICE BUT HEEDED NONE OF IT
My best friend advised me to only execute it IF the supplier would give it to me on consignment (whatever I can’t sell, I can return at no cost to me). However, they did not agree. My best friend and my Dad said to forget it, but I went ahead and did it anyway.

When you believe in or want to do something, no one and nothing will stop you. Risks are like a pair of old spectacles that you wore in Secondary school – You don’t see risks clearly. You think you’re smarter than everyone else. You feel invincible.

THE EXECUTION
It was a great feeling to outsource everything from the pick up of the glow paints, to the selling of it. I did nothing but constantly kept on the phone through Whatsapp with him.

He tried to sell my glow paint according to my sales strategy – the aim was $30-$35 per bottle to older party-goers especially Caucasians or Internationals, $25-$28 per bottle to Singaporeans/Chinese. I’m not racist, but it made business sense to profile customers and adjust costs accordingly. Student J caught on quick.

He called me to update me that he had put a bit of the glow paint on himself and his friends, to attract more attention. He called me later that the sales were going too slow – he had only managed to sell 3 bottles in 2 hours. He told me that he changed the strategy, and that he was now offering to paint partygoers for $5 but he was using as little of the paint as possible. I told him great job, and to go for it.

4 hours later, Student J had to leave the scene and almost 80% of the bottles that I had purchased were still left. I was stuck with stock.

THE RESULT
I lost $300 that day, $300 that was really hard to earn and quickly lost. I feel like kicking myself!

THE LESSONS

1) GOOD PEOPLE MAKE OR BREAK A BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY
I don’t know Student J very well, but I was fortunate to have met him at a random event and he struck me as a go-getter. He was young, but had a certain hunger and good attitude about him that I picked up straightaway. I gave him my number and told him to keep in touch. Even though this was only my first time getting him to work for me, I was really impressed with his quick-wit and performance in this exercise.

I definitely want to groom this one and I think he has a lot of potential ahead. If you need a part-timer to help with a project, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him.

2) DON’T BUY STOCK WITHOUT KNOWING IF YOU CAN SELL, I SHOULD NOT HAVE JUMPED THE GUN. MAYBE TEST THE MARKET FIRST.

Should I have bought stock that I couldn’t sell? No. Did I know what I was doing? No. Was my cost price too high and the selling price too high? Yes and yes.

I learnt a valuable business lesson that day. No matter how much you are told or you think something may be a good (business) idea, it doesn’t matter – It helps to try and test the idea in on a smaller scale (Instead of going full steam ahead, I should have just tried selling a few bottles and then estimating the demand and circumstances).

I should have done more industry research and figured out what I was really doing.

Don’t be delusional or a dreamer like me – Testing any business idea is SO important.

At least, and at last, I finally stepped out of my comfort zone of “thinking” and moving into “doing”. I moved out of my world of “talking” and into the real world of “action”.

I finally tried to do something.

I failed, but nonetheless, I tried.

And so, this is how I learnt an important first lesson in failure that money can’t buy. Unfortunately, my failure cost me good money!

Lessons from an Aspiring Entrepreneur: It’s harder to not have a job, than to actually have a job.

It’s post-ZoukOut, on Monday. I’m sure all the half-hungover corporate-slave friends I have out there want to kill me for saying this right now but… I’ve come to the realization that it’s harder to NOT work, than actually working. Let me explain:

When you work, you have money. You wake up and go to work everyday (though you probably don’t want to), and you have routine and discipline. You have a support system of co-workers to interact with everyday (whether you like them or not), and you might meet your friends after work for dinner. You catch up with your family about what you did, and bitch about your bosses and theirs. At least, you have progress to talk about.

At the end of the day, you are tired, but you have purpose. (And money.)

Friends tell me that they admire my courage coming out of the corporate world to try and start my own thing. They tell me that they want to be like me. It sounds like the perfect plan – starting your own elusive business and joining the ranks of the New Rich (read Tim Ferriss’ blog for more context on the concept of New Rich).

Everyone wants to hear your success story, but no one really reads about or understands the failures that you go through first.

The reality is that I’m almost reaching the 6-month mark where I have been officially jobless, although most of it was spent exploring and working on some business ideas. In the interim, I’ve done lots of sleeping, reading, learning, meeting people, and gained more knowledge and advice than I could have ever hoped for. Sure, it’s an exciting chapter in my life. But friends and family question me, and at the end of this 6 months so far, what do I have to show for?

Nothing.

At least, there has been a bit of progress lately and things have just started moving forward. However, I’m frankly very disappointed in myself that it’s taken this long for things to get moving. I should have done what I’m doing now, in the beginning.

I sit at home most of the time stuck in my own head, only occasionally interrupted when my Granddad asks for help or when I hear my neighbours quarrelling about this and that. I feel like I’m lost in my own world, and no one understands.

I have all the time in the world now, but what am I doing with myself?

Dear God, are you there? Where are you?

Back from BKK, praying for recovery while doing a video shoot, and Phuket tomorrow.

I just got back from BKK and was really excited at a wonderful job I had gotten to do a beauty video shoot.

Life doesn’t always go the way we plan it though… The team and I worked hard yesterday doing prep work, but today, I was sent home early by the client because I look too sick to be on camera! My eyes look tired & was told that my “face is too puffy to film”.

Hope i didn’t waste anyone’s time and I get a chance to re-shoot when I’m back from travelling & better. I powered through the voice-over with lots of water, honey & smiles!

It’s a wrap! … For now. I’m heading to Phuket tomorrow for a week long trip with friends, and I need all your prayers for a speedy recovery! It would ruin my trip n my friends’, if I spent the whole week cringed up in a corner. I pray for total healing by tonight!

Thanks to the team for being so understanding and relaxed to work with.