The Buffer.

Elsie and I were talking about flat-breaking, which is where your flat is sold or your flatmate(s) moves out or you have some kind of BIG uncertainty about where you will live and what you should do and how much your rent will be and specifically, how long to pay the rent on a 2 bedroom unit while you try and find a flatmate. We've both been very lucky and never had to pay the whole rent on a unit in a flatmate gap. And the idea is quite frightening, paying 2 or 3 times your rent for an unknown number of weeks. I mean, my rent is not far off 1/3 of my income already. What a horrifying thought. Anyway, Elsie said "I actually shouldn't stress about spending my buffer, because that's what it's for." Mind Blown. I'm the kind of person who saves a buffer, which is to prevent stress at times of financial uncertainty. But then if I stress about spending the buffer, that defeats the purpose of the buffer. It's there so you don't have to worry. You've got the money, it's for a rainy day, it is actually raining right now, so don't worry about whether you should stay wet or spend it! Focus your worrying on other things, haha.

Hats.

Further to my sunscreen post... hats are excellent sun protection. No chemicals or nano-particles or products to remember to reapply on your face. Keep the sun/glare out of your eyes as well. Yes, I know, hat hair. But still, the advantages are considerable.

Here is a beautiful lady dressed for the Australian sun this week. Broad brimmed hat. She isn't worried about hat hair, obviously.

Personally I find hat-wearing easiest when it's a soft scrunchable hat that I can carry around in a bag. They don't look as nice as a what Angelina wears, but the convenience means I'm more likely to have it with me for the day and therefore wear it when I'm out in the sun, but I can take it off and stuff it in my bag when I'm on the bus or indoors. The parasol, as we have mentioned before, is an excellent way to prevent hat hair sans sunscreen, but it's just not convenient.

Breathing through nose.

I am now an OK nose-breather. It was a big adjustment, it was hard to deprive myself of oxygen at first, and I can't do it at night, but I've got days under control and my hanky/tissue use has dropped 80%. I've been breathing through my nose all day, including when I walked to work and haven't used a single tissue, which is pretty unheard of, I'm famous for my nose-blowing at work. So if you are a sniffly person, it's worth trying.

I see red

Jess is a nail polish woman. She loves 'em. I'm a lipstick woman. I love 'em. We can't get enough of our respective loves. Here is what I've observed about wearing red nails or lips. Wearing red nail polish or lipstick will emphasise any red already present in the skin.

Image from http://www.kaboodle.com/

For example, if your hands are red from eczema (aka xma rage), wearing red nail polish will draw attention and emphasise the redness in your hands. It doesn't look as good as someone with an even skin tone on their hands.

This is the same with wearing red lipstick. Unless you have very good skin, you need to wear foundation when wearing red lipstick, in order to minimise the redness in your face (usually around the nose and chin for me). Otherwise, it will make your face look splotchy. As much as I love red, I don't wear red nails that much because of xma rage. I love a bright red lippy, so I make sure I wear foundation before I wear it.

Image from http://ie.rimmellondon.com

While we're on the topic, here are my picks for a red lipstick:

• Rimmel London Lasting Finish by Kate Moss in no. 10. This is possibly my favourite red lippy. It's incredibly bright and really makes your lips pop. Not for the faint-hearted. It makes my skin look even paler when I wear it. For some reason, there is no no. 10 on the website, but I checked my lipstick and it's definitely a 10.
• Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Dragon Girl. Gorgeous, bright and bold. I tried this on at Mecca and loved it.
• Hourglass Femme Rouge Velvet Crème Lipstick in Icon. 

MAC is also famous for their red lipsticks and most brands will have a good red in their range. If you want something a bit sheerer, but still with a reasonable amount of colour, try Revlon ColorStay Ultimate Suede in 095 Finale.  If you want super-sheer and moisturing, try Face of Australia Sheer Gloss Lip Crayon in Macaron.

Final tangent: I'm currently loving Butter London Primrose Hill Picnic Nail Lacquer. It's see pleasing to see a bright fuchsia pink on the nails!

Gratuitous link to Split Enz video clip for I See Red here.

'Sup 'sup

Jelssie is into gut health, and I am especially so, after my lovely two week bout of gastritis. As a result, I'm now taking a couple of supplements daily.

I'm taking a probiotic (Nutrition Care Polybac 8). This brand is not as widely available as Inner Health Plus.

Image from http://www.vitalityandwellness.com.au/images/products/Nutritional%20Supplements/Polybac-8-web.jpg

I haven't done my research, but two different supplement sales people recommended this one, so I'll stick with it for the time being. Cheapest I've seen it at so far is at Mr Vitamins in Chatswood.

I'm also eating yoghurt with breakfast during weekdays, because it contains cultures that are beneficial to gut health. My favourite is Gippsland Dairy Organic Natural Yoghurt. It's really tasty, has no sugar and is relatively low in energy compared to other full-fat (or even lite) yoghurts.

Image from http://www.gippslanddairy.com.au/products_yogurt_5.html

As much as I love it, it's quite pricey where I live, so I'm eating ALDI's Just Organic Natural Yoghurt instead. ALDI's one is pretty good and has more energy per 100g than Gippsland Diary.

Image from http://aldi.com.au/au/media/product_range/ALC5020_Dairy_PD_9_Just_Organic_Natural_Yogurt.jpg

Finally, I'm taking liquid chlorophyll, which apparently is great for digestion and your skin. Is it really? I don't really know and I don't know how to judge how effective it is. I'm currently taking Swisse Liquid Chlorophyll, but will try an organic one at my local supplement store next (costs nearly half the price I paid for Swisse!). If you want to buy the Swisse one cheaply, try Priceline when they have a sale. It was nearly half the price I paid for mine -_-.

Taking these supplements makes me feel like a hippy.

(Also, I know yoghurt isn't a supplement, but I included it in here because we are talking about gut health :) )

A lesson on pain and change

My tummy has been giving me extreme grief of late. It's turned temperamental quite suddenly. I used to eat whatever I liked, including junk, oily/fried and spicy food, and not suffer from too many consequences (except for weight gain). Now my tummy is so sensitive that I will be in a world of pain for hours after if I eat certain foods. I often wake up in the middle of the night because of the pain (hence this 3am post while I wait for the painkillers to kick in).

You'd think after a couple of times, I'd learn to steer clear of certain foods to avoid the crippling pain. But no, I keep on making the same mistakes. My new strategy now, is to eat like a lady: super small portions, eat more frequently, eat very slowly, take small bites and avoid pain-inducing food (e.g. junk, oily/fried, spicy). But it's really hard to do if you've been used to eating like a piggy: eating whatever and whenever you want, eating bigger portions and wolfing down your food.

Some things are easy for me to avoid (e.g. alcohol and coffee), and I'm proud of myself for avoiding chilli (even though I miss it terribly), but others are plain hard.

Instead of berating myself each time I stuff up, I remind myself that change is hard, I'm only human and I am getting better at working out which foods make my tummy happy and which ones make it churn eight hours later. This is practising self-compassion; one of my current life lessons.

The people who really suffer are my colleagues and close friends because I am constantly whinging about the pain and asking them to pray for me.

I am also enlisting their help in another way. For example, on Friday, I will have a yum cha lunch with colleagues. I have asked a particular one to sit next to me, and I will only eat food she puts in my bowl (she's experienced with tummy troubles!). I've also asked them to help me say no, to say no to me, and remind me of the consequences.

I've been very thankful for the support of others during this tummy trouble time.

No can opener?

So the drama today was that I had a tin of tuna with no ring pull, and the office has no can-opener. I had a salami sandwich instead. But I was surprised to learn that there is more than one way to open a can. More than 2 ways. All my life I had just assumed that the can and the can-opener were made for each other and there was no other way around it. Thankyou, friends.

Skin care update

I've talked about treating dry facial skin here and here before. I read Paula Begoun's articles: Winterize Your Skin and What To Do When Climate Change Affects Your Skin. I think my new skin care routine is working - I just need to give it time to heal.

Here is my tweaked routine:

Morning
- Changed to a milky/creamy cleanser (found a travel-sized Lancôme cleanser, probably was a gift)
- Organic rosehip and/or argan oil for the face (got a great deal at The Rocks Market)
- Sunscreen
- Moisturiser as needed throughout the day


Night
- Milky/creamy cleanser
- Chemical exfoliant about 2-3 times a week
- Rosehip and/or argan oil
- Moisturiser if still needed

I don't know if it's the rosehip oil doing magic overnight, but each morning following the night that I use it, I wake up to really soft and smooth facial skin. I love that stuff! Can't rate it highly enough! It's definitely worth giving it a go. I'm even sending some to my sister in Japan, and getting my family to try it.

Talk to your pharmacist

I've been having some winter ailments: dry hands, dry facial skin and brittle nails. Georgina and a high school friend of mine made a very good suggestion to talk to a pharmacist about it, and ask him or her for recommendations. It's a great idea because a pharmacist is well-trained and easier to see than a GP.

For my dry hands, the pharmacist recommended Ego Silic 15 barrier cream. I currently have three other hand creams, not sure what I'll do with those...

For my brittle nails, the pharmacist recommended a supplement. I'm giving Planet Health's Qsilica (a silica supplement) a go.

Of course, I forgot to ask about the dry facial skin -_-

I emailed the PM again.

Last time I asked if she could do something about Indian Mynah birds. I hate them. Today decided she deserves a break, so I emailed her a short but encouraging thankyou note. But I also mentioned that if she had any spare time she might like to give WA, SA and NT proper actual names. That would be a fun side-job for her.

Advice for the corporate world

I have been very blessed this semester to take part in a mentoring program at uni. The corporate world is utterly foreign to me, and I have been paired with two mentors from a large, prestigious, international professional services firm.

It's been a wonderful, eye-opening experience so far. This firm has a really friendly culture and I've been impressed by how culturally diverse it is. It's been great being able to pick peoples' brains and ask them why they've chosen their current career path, how they've gotten there and where they plan to go.

Here's some advice I've received today:

1. Read Nice Girls Don't Get The Corner Office.
2. Read Resumes That Get Shortlisted.
3. Consider doing a June Dally-Watkins course.
4. Go to as many workshops from the uni's careers centre as possible.
5. Use the UNSW Career Research and Assessment Service.
6. Take MGMT2725 Career Planning and Management if you can. If you can't, do all the readings listed in the course outline.