Wake me up - Part 1

Entwined amongst the fulfilling moments of our lives, are the sly vines of fatigue and dreariness. Be it school or work, from time to time I will have a somewhat startling moment where I catch myself in the mirror and think ‘Oh my lord, she needs to sleep.’ Settle down self, she’s been working hard! But lately, I’ve discovered a rather delightful optical illusion that helps the girl in the mirror look just that tad bit more lively – enough to trick my mind and body into waking up. Perky lashes.

Apart from those of you who are genetically blessed with perfect doll-like lashes, an eyelash curler and a good long lasting mascara is the perfect way to open up your eyes when exhaustion is trying to drag you to the Land of Nod. And yes, my little trick is easy enough to do whilst sitting on a crowded train to school or work:

Step 1. Curl your lashes as close to the base as possible to lift every strand

Step 2. Brush through with a long lasting mascara...

…preferably one that has stiff bristles on its brush to separate the lashes well e.g. every Covergirl LashBlast mascara. Just remember that if your overload your eye lashes with too much product they will simply droop back down again.

I’ve been rather infatuated with the COVERGIRL LashBlast mascaras for quite some time now and I find that their new ‘24 Hour’ mascara has the most impressive volume and long lasting qualities in the entire LashBlast range (use the Clump Crusher version if your lashes are already thick enough). For someone with thin Asian eyelashes that grow very straight, I feel nothing but lively satisfaction when they are still ever so perky after very long and very rainy day.

Though I am not one to wear my makeup for 24 hours at a time (Note: please don’t harass your skin to that extent!), this mascara’s shift started at 8am and it is now almost 10pm. Yes it’s been a long day but you have to admit, that curl is pretty impressive.

So they say your eyes are the windows to your soul… Then surely adorning your sleepy soul with a charming frame should help with feeling a little more lively. That, and a smile always works for me!

Love,

Julie T.

Avoiding Mental Scoffs.

On Friday afternoon, I was asked a very basic question: ‘What are the components of composite resin?’ Anyone who has never studied, or is not studying dentistry or oral health, would have no clue how to answer such a question. But if you have, you would understand that not knowing the answer to this question would be quite like not knowing how the water cycle works, what the first month of the year is, or the number of letters in the English alphabet. I searched my mind for the answer, as my clinical educator continued shuffling through her flashcards. Her mental scoff was far from subtle. I don’t blame her.

            Organic resin matrix. Inorganic filler particles. Initiators and accelerators. Inhibitors and stabilisers. Coupling agents. Pigment. Six very simple components that make up the material we often use to fill the cavities in your teeth. I knew the answer. Honestly, I did!

            What worries me the most, was how completely blank my mind was when I went to search for this answer at that moment in time. I’m sure at least half of the most intoxicated beings at the craziest party you’ve been to could easily burp out something about evaporation or clouds, tell you that the year usually starts off with January or something, and that 25 letters in the alphabet sounds about right (close enough). The answers we need are right there in our minds or at the very least, still hanging on by a thread. But how long does it take for that thread to break?

           The extensive capacities of our minds are so incredibly vast – an infinite organic matrix that begins as empty pockets. The ideas and concepts that we discover in school, in university and in general life, become the particles that fill these pockets; the two notions coupled by constant consideration and practice. The inspirations that we encounter along the way initiate more and more pockets to be filled, which become stabilised in our minds over time. Our inner consciousness and sense of existence grows, pigmented by our individual personalities and characteristics.

            The consequences of being complacent become more severe as time goes on and I’ve recently rediscovered a greater respect for time and our human capabilities. No matter where you are in life, I hope that you’ll be able to feel more optimistic about the incredible mind that you were born with. And to those of you who are about to begin or have just begun a new school year, I wish you all the very best with your hopes and goals. I've decided that now is a pretty good time for me to come back down to Earth. On that note, don’t be the delusional drunk who forgot how clouds are made.

Love,

Julie T.

Whisk Away.

It’s like sipping on rose tea whilst unwinding in a sea of bubbles. And at the end of it all your waterproof mascara isn’t still smudged across your under-eyes…

I’ve never believed any cleanser that claims it ‘removes waterproof makeup’. It’s just never happened for me. Waterproof mascara or eyeliner is more stubborn than a five year old and a bowl of greens. And I’ve accepted that. But being the ever-curious person that I am, I thought I’d give this cleanser a try... Panda eyes, be gone. It works. Well done, Puretopia.

Again, being the curious person that I am, I’ve always had a bad habit of purchasing many (okay fine, excessive amounts of…) different skincare products – most definitely not excluding cleansers. Now you know that dry and slightly parched feeling on your skin after cleansing and before moisturizing? After cleansing with the Puretopia Whisk Away Creamy Face Cleanser, I actually feel like I’ve already moisturized. Almost like, I’m Cate Blanchett on a glossy SK-II ad page in Vogue. At the same time, my skin is left far from greasy. This cleanser leaves my skin quite shine free throughout the day too (which is beyond impressive, when you factor in Australia’s ridiculously hot summers).

It’s bad enough that we consciously apply so many toxins onto our faces each and everyday in the form of makeup; right before we step out and into the pollution hanging about in the atmosphere. And it’s even worse to have such residues marinating in our pores at the end of the day and throughout the night. So despite the beautiful (not to mention natural) fragrances of rose and grape, and the nourishing shea butter in this cleanser, I would have to say that I appreciate it’s deeply cleansing properties the most. The way it simply whisks away any impurities. 

Do something nice for your skin. Try it out.

Julie T.

Two. Zero. One. Four.

Two. Zero. One. Three. Four numbers that when placed together embody the year has so rapidly reached its end. Once again, we’ve come to that point in the year that is so densely enriched with every emotion and inevitable reflection.

            Firstly there’s nervousness, anxiety, an unsettling feeling of dread… In other words: fear. Fear of removing oneself from the warm and familiar folds of the past year. It is so easy for us to place comfort beside satisfaction and often we find ourselves clinging onto thoughts and habits that our minds have been so instinctively repeating over the past 356 days (or in some cases, many days more).

            But there’s also excitement. Not the fear, but the exhilarating thrills of the unknown. The start of a new year is like opening a present – tearing away the colourful layers of experience to reveal the gift of new opportunities. If you’ve had a few too many all-nighters to cram for an exam or meet a deadline, then how are you going to put aside those 3am caffeine doses and give yourself time to perform at your very best? (I’m working on that one…)

            If there’s one thing I learnt during 2013, it is to take things one step at a time. Perhaps you want the body of a Victoria’s Secret Angel or a set of rock hard abs. Perhaps you want to ace all your exams or score that dream job. Find a new energy source to replace fuel. Cure cancer. End world poverty. But until you ditch your midnight snacking and procrastination habits, and delete that addictive game and your ex's number from your phone, how will you be able to get to where you need to go?

            You know how there are 365 days in a year? Well one of them is already ending. We’ve all made mistakes and that only makes us human. We learn from the past to become better people in the future. So tonight before I fall asleep, I will skim over the four simple resolutions that I’ve made and rethink the steps I’ll take each day to achieve them.

            In the wise words of a man who achieved so much in his time:

‘I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.’

Nelson Mandela

Have a happy new year my dearest readers and I wish all the best to you on whatever it is your plan to achieve this year.

Love,

Julie T.

Dearest Reader,

I’ve fallen into a limbo. No longer a child, but still a teenager. A few days ago, I reached the peculiar age of nineteen. Which provoked me to ask myself… What on earth happened during the past 6944 days to create and shape the person that I am today?

Well most importantly, I’ve had the pleasantly enriching privilege of meeting many interesting beings (human or non-human). I’m a bit of a butterfly, I suppose. Not to sound like a character from a children’s picture book, but I really do like making friends. One particular thing I’ve learnt in my first nineteen years of existence is that wether or not such friends remain or fade away, they have entered into my life for one reason or another. Wether you’re a shy girl, whom fate decided to place before me during a university’s admission interview exercise, or wether you’re a future magician who sat behind me at maths tutoring.

You might also be the girl who really liked to eat whole tomatoes at school, instead of the more orthodox apple. This particular girl later became one of my earliest ‘besties’. As a matter of fact my fervent passion for healthy eating and good food stemmed from this very friendship many years ago… in fourth grade. Since then, I began my habit of religiously reading nutrition tables and analysing the nutritional content of the lunchboxes of my peers. Piles of nutrition books and magazines filled my bedside tables each and every school holiday.

With food in my mind all the time, I began to explore the primary realm of domestics i.e. the kitchen. As the nutrition books piled up, so did the cookbooks. ‘One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.’ Virginia Woolf couldn’t have been more accurate. My apologies to any feminists reading, but I do feel quite at home in the kitchen. Not to worry though, my future spouse will certainly be there too… doing the dishes. A true man would never hesitate to wash the dishes upon which his wife had presented her love and culinary creations. There it is… The feminist undertones of my theatrical nature. Just a little something I picked up from attending a girls school for the previous six years of my life.

I forget how old I was when sleep became such a (both wonderfully and detrimentally) pliant object that I became so comfortable with manipulating. One thing I do remember is the dearest friend who influenced such poor sleeping habits, which I must admit still remains with me today (both friend and habit actually!) Be it the pillow-muffled laughter or aching thumbs, exhausted from racing with our thoughts and from typing on the tiny keys of our phones and keyboards. Is that dawn leaking through our curtains? We’ll sleep soon! Note: this was also the beginning of my love for coffee. No surprise there!

In birthday, graduation, wedding or any other celebratory speech, we tend to thank those who have inspired us to pursue noble goals and attain astounding achievements. We thank those who have raised us and those who have nurtured our growth and maturity of thought and morality. Yes, I am deeply grateful for such individuals. However this evening, I thought I'd take a moment to reminisce upon those who's seemingly subtle influence have made a rather significant impact on the little yet important things that make me who I am today. So thank you.

Love,

Julie T.