Yay new PC laptop!

I still love my macbook but I'm excited to use my new PC laptop. It may not look that gorgeous but it works in many practical ways like my excel 2007 with goal seek! :D

Movies: the Curious Case of Benjamin Button

We went to watch Bedtime Stories and the Curious Case of Benjamin Button yesterday and when we walked out of the theater it was already dark outside. It was a warm and foggy evening. Bedtime Stories was fun and christmasy. And the Curious Case of Benjamin Button starring Brad Pitt was quite long, about 2 and half hours, yet incredibly touching. Through the whole life of Benjamin and his lover or "wife" Daisy, we witnessed the post-war world and how people struggled and survived and changed in war times and peace times. I especially like the going-backward clock part. It makes you feel so sad but more than that, it makes you think the meaning of war. I may give you the wrong impression that this movie's about war but it's actually a romance movie. The love story of Benjamin and Daisy is the main plot. Actually, there're many plots that I like in this movie like Benjamin's encounter with others Elizabeth, Benjamin's observance of the old people in the nursing house and his love for his mother Queenie, etc. It's a great movie and the music in it is a pleasure thing too. :D

If you ever go natural, you can never go back!

this is exactly how I feel. So I threw away my old estee lauder and clinique stuff in hotel room. 

:D 

list 4: body lotion + deodorant

Currently have:

• Dove ™ Cucumber Deodorant
  
• Johnson's ™ Baby Lotion 
  
• Body & Bath Works ™ Japanese Cherry Blossom 

Again, no more body & bath works for me!! I already threw away the Dove deodorant (the smell is good) but I only have one brain and I need it! I don't know if there's anything bad in johnson's baby lotion. It's mild and I'll keep it then.

I'd like to claim the following as mine:

• Canus ™ Goat's Milk Body Lotion
  
• Tom's of Maine ™ Long-lasting Deodorant (No aluminum to hurt your precious neural system :D)
• or Nature's Gate ™ Asian Pear/Red Tea Deodorant (No aluminum and no paraben)

The canus goat's milk lotion is so cute - I want to drink it up!! :D 

Tom's is a great company who cares about environment and also individual health. And the organic deodorant is not expensive at all!! (Why not getting one who wouldn't make your brain dumb? haha.) Nature's Gate is another great alternative to regular deodorant. :D 

list 3: body wash & shampoo + conditioner

Stuff that I currently possess: 

Hair Shampoo + Conditioner:

• Dove ™ Cucumber Shampoo
  
• Pantene ™ Ice Shine (ugh...)

Body Wash: 

• Ivory ™ Simply Ivory Body Wash
  
• Bath & Body Works ™ Aromatherapy Sleep - Black Chamomile
  
• Bath & Body Works ™ Aromatherapy Stress Relief - Tranquil Mint

The Ivory body wash was a good deal. (I got it from Walmart). The two aromatherapy body wash from bbw smell really good, esp. the black chamomile.  The whole sleep series is very cute.

But...they have SLS. Ugh. = = Most products from bath & body works contain SLS or other chemicals and they're not organic at all. They were acquired by L'Oreal years ago and they do ANIMAL TESTING!! Just another reason that I won't buy anything from them. (Except the C.O. Bigelow products, but I'll get them in their own retail store.) 

I want to the proud owner of these awesome products (completely no SLS):

• Avalon ™ Olive & Grape Seed Shampoo
  
• Avalon ™ Olive & Grape Seed Conditioner (NO Dimethicone!!)
  
• Avalon ™ Lavender Body Wash

list 2: cream/moisturizer

Currently I'm using:

• Clinique ™ Dramatically Different Lotion (what a name = =)
  
• Estee Lauder ™ Resilience Lift 
  
• Clinique ™ All About Eyes
  
• Estee Lauder ™ Advanced Night Repair 

I bought the 4.2 fl.oz bottle of Clinique lotion. I had this lotion in tubes before and liked it so I got this bottle one. But now I found that there's no way that I can finish it up before the expiration date. I don't why I bought the other stuff but they're not good. I guess I'm tired of all Clinique and EL products. = =

I'd like to own these amazing products this Christmas:

• LUSH ™ Celestial Moisturizer 
  
• Juice Beauty ™ Moisturizer  (USDA Certified)

I haven't found any good eye cream to replace the Clinique/Estee Lauder crap...If anyone knows anything good, let me know!!

list 1: facial cleanser + mask + makeup remover

Facial cleansers that I own/use now:

• LUSH ™ Coalface
  
• Shiseido ™ ELIXIR
  
• Clinique ™ Liquid Soap
• DHC ™ Mild Soap
• Kiehl's ™ Algae Masque
• DHC ™ Deep Cleansing Oil
  
• Estee Lauder ™ Take It Away Total Remover 

Coalface and Clinique liquid soap clearly have SLS listed as a major ingredient. LUSH has many things that contains no SLS but sorry, the best seller does have SLS!! But Coalface really cleans my face and leaves nothing, so I usually use it before using masks. The Clinique liquid soap always make me feel that I haven't washed my face enough. Plus, it (actually most Clinique cleansing products, esp. the toner/number 2 water)smells so like alcohol. = =

I threw away the carton box of ELIXER (even if I didn't, I wouldn't be able to read the ingredients in Japanese) It foams very well and it's a Japanese product, so I wouldn't be surprised to know if there's SLS in there. But the smell is good (very light) and it leaves a smooth skin. The ELIXIR and Coalface both clean my face thoroughly. So I'll finish them before the new organics and SLS-free stuff and I don't have too much left. 

But I don't mind getting rid of Clinique stuff now though. It's just not good and I won't miss it! Also, I tried the DHC soap before. Lots of foams (now I know where it came from!) and nice olive smell. But I won't buy it and won't recommend it to others either.= =

I like the Algae mask from Kiehl's. It's unscented (at least I can't smell anything) and it can be absorbed very fast. Non-greasy at all! I looked the ingredients, oh yay, no SLS!! So I can keep it. But lots of Kiehl's products contain SLS. :( 

As to makeup removers, I really gotta say Estee Lauder is a big, if not huge, disappointment!! It's just too mild to take away anything (maybe just the foundation) and the smell is so "Estee Lauder", so artificial! I bought it at a duty-free shop in the airport so cannot complain too much about it. 

The DHC cleaning oil is just the opposite!! IT'S GREAT!! The commercial claims that it has been a No.1 selling product in Asia (or Japan, sorry I don't remember). It's very oily (yeah, it has olive oil! lots of olive oil!) and very effective to take away heavy makeups, even some long-lasting waterproof mascara/eyeliners. I'd recommended it to everyone. :D

GOOD Facial cleansers that I plan to buy before Christmas: 

They are all SLS-free!!! Big yay!!!

• LUSH ™ Angels on Bare Skin 
  
• LUSH ™ Baby Face Cleanser 
  
• or LUSH ™ Sweet Japanese Girl Cleanser
• The Body Shop ™ Honey & Oat 3-in-1 Scrub Mask

P.S.: I'm 20 something and I have normal to dry skin. All products I listed here are for normal/dry skin type. ^_^

NO MORE SLS!!

Okay,after reading so many stuff about SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate) on the internet, I checked the back of all cosmetics products that I own to see if there's anything evil like SLS or other toxic chemicals. Yes many of them contain SLS, actually most of them have SLS in there, shampoo, facial cleanser, makeup remover, conditioner, body wash, even toothpaste and my dear bubble gel!!

I'm not a chemistry major so I found SLS very disturbing and dangerous. It's a strong chemicals used mainly as surfactant. In household products, SLS is used to create foam and remove oil from skin. It can cause skin and eye irritation and permanent damage to children's eye. SLS is also bad for respiratory system. If these facts haven't scared you yet, CONTINUE READING!! SLS is a protein denaturant and it is a mutagen that can lead to cancer!!!

When I read these from different websites, I don't think SLS is an urban legend. It's about greedy cosmetics company being unethical to public. It's really that simple. :(

Look what CIR (Cosmetic Ingredient Review) says about SLS:
SLS is "safe in formulations designed for discontinuous, brief use followed by thorough rinsing from the surface of the skin".

But..we wash our face at least twice a day, take daily showers, some people even take more than that, and that's "discontinuous, brief" use?? This is just ridiculous! Even if these toxic chemicals looks perfect safe and don't cause any problem now, we should know that our body absorbs and accumulate toxins. This is no kidding!

"We really in a over-chemicalized world"...and here's a good reading about SLS or other bad chemicals. It's worth 5 minutes of your time. :D

I'm not an organic person at all and I always think organics products are generally overpriced. But between something really bad for my body and something a little more expensive than I normally pay, I'll definitely go with the second choice.

New address

I have a habit of keeping all previous addresses. To me each one of these addresses means a lot more than a place that I lived/rented. They kept me warm and sheltered me from storms outside, especially during harsh winter time. They made my heart warm and gave me a feeling of home at different times in my life. So whenever I tell others my new address, I feel happy and secured that I have a little place to go in this crazy and ever-changing world. :)

From Apple Valley, Mayflower, Ridgeland, Ellis, Palladium, E Market, Bloomington, HC...

Now it's almost time to move on to Locust. :D