A New Hobby

image source Miracle Aesthetic Clinic

I’ve been hit by a strong drive to reboot myself in the image department this year. It might be driven by the fact that I am post-pregnancy, it certainly seems as though I’ve enjoyed the longest streak of “I don’t care about my looks” ever, and now it’s biting me in the arse.  Along with wanting to do something about my clothes (or the lack thereof) came the realization that I can no longer get away with the au naturel look without some outside help.

Enter the mushrooming of beauty clinics in Batam, the newest of which is Miracle Aesthetic Clinic. With their  large attention catching adverts at every major road-side, Miracle Aesthetic Clinic promises miracles where everything about youthful looks is concerned.  Now if you remember this episode, you’ll rightly guess that these adverts were like siren calls to me. To my stoic and change-opposing mind, I justified it as – a reason to get out of the house and expose myself to the language, a chance at some regular quality me-time and that all encompassing “I don’t have time to do it myself so I need to outsource it” 😇😘

Reception and waiting areas. For some reason I’m quite particular about waiting areas 🤩

So last Saturday in order to get a feel for the place, I went in for a consultation. I was a bit dismayed that the reception staff couldn’t speak English.  All their road side adverts, all the headlines on their website & leaflets are in impeccable English so just maybe 🙄🙄 Fortunately the specialist I spoke with, together with an assisting technician, knew enough to help me consider my options.

Although I was interested in the Miracle Power Retinol Facial, retin-A/tretinoin being touted as the holy grail of youthful looks by my beauty gurus on Youtube, the specialist recommended the 3 in 1 Super Facial which also promised to lift my face to reveal better contours.

I scheduled the 2-hour session for the following day 🤩

I don’t know about you but in this example I’m really not seeing any difference between the before and after photos. I think they could use a better model 🤔

And, I absolutely loved the experience! 😘 The 6-step process was administered with great care and enough technical commentary to keep you updated of what was being done and put on your face. There was great emphasis placed on the newness of the materials used, they all came in sealed packs. I didn’t understand 80% of what she was saying but everything smelled so lovely and fresh that I just kept nodding and congratulating myself for having found a new fun and rewarding hobby 😁

I am not yet sure if the hobby part is in the vigilant observation of a monthly facial treatment schedule, or the curiosity to try the other beauty clinics in the process of hunting down the best. I already blogged about the idea of identifying your “special nooks” as a way of anchoring yourself to a new place in this post. At the time of writing, I admitted to not having any special nooks yet. But getting monthly facials could definitely change that!

In any case, here I am typing this with smoother skin that’s feeling a bit sunburned. It’s not actually sunburned it just feels that way. I am staying away from the sun in the next few days, should wear sunblock if outdoors, and might experience some peeling. But definitely looking forward to the next schedule, whichever beauty clinic this might be.

It’s Never Too Early 🌞

Hello all! Happy Monday! 🌞🌞

What one good thing will you do/start today?

For me the answer is: delving into a topic of interest!

One of the perks of being a SAHM is the wonderful opportunity to indulge in the pursuit of knowledge 💖 And if you have internet connection, you have absolutely NO excuse to remain intellectually stagnant! 🙃

One of my areas of interest is ageing well and, although I’m still a long way off from being physically old, I believe it’s never too early to start establishing some solid habits that will help one age sexily 😉

So the other week I received information about a free online course on Strategies For Successful Ageing.  It is a 5-week course given by the Trinity College Dublin and is but one of the many free online courses facilitated by Futurelearn.

Here’s an overview of the 5-week course:

• Week 1: Being Older In this first week, we look at how perceptions of ageing can influence ageing, and explore our own understanding of what ‘old’ is.
• Week 2: Being Well In the second week, we investigate strategies for improving mental health, including depression, anxiety and brain ageing. We also discuss what ‘quality of life’ means, and delve into other key areas for successful ageing including intimacy, how to talk to your doctor, and family solidarity.
• Week 3: Being Healthy In the third week of our course, we will give strategies for better nutrition, increasing physical fitness through exercise, and improving your brain health.
• Week 4: Being Engaged The fourth week of the course looks at another important area for successful ageing: social engagement and participation. You will have a chance to perform a life audit and learn strategies for how to plan for the future.
• Week 5: Being Creative In the final week of the course, we will explore creative ageing, what this means, and why it is important. We will showcase individual creativity and provide you with tips to explore your own creativity.

Fascinating isn’t it? 😀 And you can be sure I immediately signed up!

I just finished week one (which is mostly introductory) and am excited to move into week 2. The course is self-paced so you can breeze through it as fast as you want or take all the time you need, the 5 week time frame is just a recommendation.

Aside from expanding my horizons, I’m definitely looking forward to learning a few practical tips on ageing well after taking this course.

I’ll keep you posted and, you keep me accountable, ok? 😉