Collagen supplementation- Is it the new fountain of youth? | Go Shine Botanical Beverage Review

Being a lady, I am conscious about my appearance and how fast wrinkles and crow feet have become part of my face in the past decade. Half of my hair thickness is gone due to hormonal changes after delivering my boys. How I miss my carefree student face with no blemish and supple skin. Besides investing in beauty products, what about collagen supplementation? Is it the panacea?

Collagen is a very important structure-- if you like, like a scaffold for the body. It makes up 75% of the dry weight of our skin which allows the skin to look plump and radiant. Collagen is also rich in amino acids which is needed for tendon, bone, joint, nail and hair health. Consuming collagen really brings beauty inside out as proven by a few recent research in 2014 and 2019.

I do believe that proper collagen supplementation can delay signs of ageing. This is because our body break down collagen faster than producing it as we age. Injecting collagen under the skin does not last long, can be painful and difficult to absorb and may cause allergic reactions. Consuming collagen, on the other hand, has very few side effects. Not only is it great to improve skin condition, collagen supplementation has also shown promising results in accelerating wound healing, improving lean mass and alleviating joint pain. Read more about collagen supplementation on WebMD.

The quality of the supplement is of utmost importance. Go Shine by Max Health Malaysia is one of the trusted collagen beverage brand in the market. It is formulated in Japan and Switzerland. Always look out for HACCP, GMP and MESTi approved products to ensure it does not contain any traces of heavy metal. Certified by the Ministry of Health Malaysia,  Go Shine Botanical Beverage is definitely safe for consumption in healthy individuals. To my muslim friends, Go Shine is a halal product.

The other active ingredients include:

Rice Ceramide- whitens, hydrate and moisturise skin
Sakura- rich in antioxidant/anti-ageing, promotes collagen production
Vitamin C-boost collagen production, hasten healthy skin cell turnover
White Cucurmin- potent anti-oxidant, UV protection, soothes inflamed skin
Melon Extract- rich in Super Oxide Dismutase (SOD) a poweful antioxidant, stress reliever
L-cysteine- Whitens skin by enhancing the production of glutathione, anti-oxidant
Vitamin E- Strong antioxidant, absorbs harmful UVB
Apple Stem Cell- maintain longevity of skin stem cells

What does Dr Yingzangel think?

Any healthy person with no chronic illness such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart/kidney/liver failure may try collagen supplement with no ill effect. Avoid if you are expecting or lactating as well because no research has been done in this group of ladies as it is unethical to put both mothers and babies at risk. I have personally experienced the difference in collagen supplementation and will continue to consume high quality collagen such as Go Shine.

Go Shine Website
Or Whatsapp their agents:
011-2855 0987 (Jenny)
016-608 3369 (Christina)
016-709 0422 (Noel)

Disclaimer: the opinion given is merely a personal experience and does not constitute formal medical advice. Please seek your medical professional's advice before any complementary therapy. Always ask for certified professionals before proceeding with treatment and stop if discomfort or side effect ensues.

Children safe and eco-friendly skincare | Ecostore Baby Care Product Review

Last weekend, we brought the children to Cherating Turtle Sanctuary. One of the panels in the exhibition talked about pollution of the ocean by man-made waste. And how that endangers the marine ecosystem. Do you know that plastic items can take 20-500 years to decompose? So every step that we take to reduce plastic waste contributes towards saving our planet! Read this article on WWF to find out more about plastic pollution. Reducing carbon footprint is everyone's responsibility.

In our home, we try to reduce, reuse and recycle. We have made do with plastic straws and replace them with washable metal straws instead. As for plastic bottles, we tend to choose products with eco-friendly features. Therefore Ecostore products remain our choice. We have been using their laundry detergents and baby care products for some time now.

All Ecostore product bottles are made of renewable sugarcane plastic which is 100% recyclable. The ingredients used in Ecostore products are also suitable for the septic tank. Bath water can be reused to water the garden if one has a proper gray water system in place. Their products are made in New Zealand following the strictest environmental standards in ISO14001, Enviromark Diamond and CarboNzero certified factories.

Ecostore Baby Care products consist of a complete series of hair shampoo, body wash and body oil. The ingredients are plant based (GE and GMO free--which means no genetically modified crops) and cruelty free. There are no harsh chemicals like SLS/SLES, paraben, PEGs, dimethicone, synthetic dyes and perfumes. Do you know that newborn skin does not need soap for the first few weeks anyway?

Ecostore Baby Hair Shampoo

Baby Yi's hair are fine and soft. His scalp is sensitive and develop cradle cap sometimes.

Infused with lavender, eucalyptus and geranium oil, this hair shampoo allows gentle yet effective cleansing and is able to hydrate the scalp at the same time. This essential oil blend also relaxes the little one.

Ecostore Baby Body Wash

As with other Ecostore products, this body wash is dermatologically tested. Eucalyptus, lavender and aloe vera are the main ingredients used to nourish, hydrate and soothe sensitive baby skin. Our bedtime routine with Bing and Yi includes a warm shower filled with the relaxing scent of lavender. Children needs some down time, just like us adults before turning in.

Ecostore Baby Body Oil

Baby Yi used to scream every night and fight sleep as an infant. I almost lost my sanity sometimes holding and breastfeeding him for hours in a stretch. Ecostore body oil became our massage oil every night to relax him. I also used the oil to fade itchy stretch marks during confinement. Besides that, the oil works really well to soften baby Yi's cradle cap along the hairline. Again it smells wonderful because of the lavender, not to mention the great moisturizing effect of both blackcurrant and almond oil.

What does Dr Yingzangel think?

New Zealand has one of the strictest standards in the world when it comes to baby skincare products. Therefore, I feel rest assured that the Ecostore baby series is 100% safe for my children, as well as the environment. Given the high quality, the price tag is very much affordable and value for money.

Get Ecostore products here. Quote BABYS1 for discounts! Valid until end of July 2020.

Short cut for baby weaning | Only Organic Baby Food Review

Many people wondering how I cope as a fulltime specialist with oncalls, mother of 2, wife and daughter. I will say, everyday is full-on and I am very grateful that I have a very supportive husband and understanding mother to help out.

This is how a typical day for me is like.
6am: wake up
7am: EBM
7.30am: Send children to daycare/kindergarten
8am: Start ward rounds
10.30am: Continue seeing patients in outpatient clinic
1pm: Lunch, sometimes in the hospital together with drug talk, reply all important WhatsApp messages
2.30pm: See new patients in ward/stabilize old inpatients
4pm: EBM
5pm: Pick up children
6.30pm- Dinner and feed children.                    
7.30pm: Bathe children
8pm: Supervise eldest for homework
9pm: Put everyone to bed
10pm: If lucky, do some reading/blogging

I have very little time to prepare meals. Now that mom is around, it gets a lot easier to have freshly made home cooked meals served hot on the table. But let me show you my tips of providing my young children healthy and nutritious food without too much hassle. I often feel very tired and lazy by the end of the day. So I cheat using ready made baby food. Only Organic is one of my favorite brands because it is of good quality and convenient.

Only Organic offers a wide range of complementary food that has different texture and form made from a nutritious combination of organic food fortified with iron in order to meet the needs of growing children. It is the top selling organic baby food brand in New Zealand and Australia endorsed by a gold medal from OHbaby! Awards. The IRI New Zealand and Australia cites Only Organic as a unique organic baby food brand contains no pesticides, no GMO, no artificial food colouring or flavouring. It is also widely available in supermarkets in countries like Malaysia, HongKong, Singapore and Japan. So when we are travelling to these regions, we don't have to worry about packing baby food.

My boys started weaning at 6 months old. This is the earliest anyone should wean their children from an exclusive milk diet. Start of with food choices that are soft and in puréed form mixed with plenty of BM/FM/water. Examples include rice, vegetable(avocado, carrot), fish and anchovy powder. Instead of having too much fresh ingredients in the fridge which my go to waste, I offer my boys the fork mash series by Only Organic suitable for babies 8months and above. They really love ancient grain risotto and vegetable lasagna. The tear top meal pouches are specially designed to withstand high heat and is microwaveable.                                                                                               

                                             
As they grow, babies need to practice their fine motor skills by picking up finger food. It is also a great time to explore food texture and taste. Banana biscotti by Only Organic is a great choice for babaies aged 10months and above. Packaged at 100g, it has just enough biscuits for the little ones. It dissolves easily in the mouth to reduce the risk of choking.

My readers by now should realize that we love to bring our princes travelling because this opens up their mind and makes them learn about the world. Grabbing a few of their favorite  Only Organic creamy smooth series-- coconut/strawberry/gojiberries and banana/vanilla Greek yogurt is a must. We save the trouble of hunting fresh fruits for them. They also comes in convenient spouted pouches with 4 layer design to lock in product freshness with child safety caps and rounded edges to ensure child safety.

Only Organic has such a versatile range of baby food products that I definitely have to recommend them to you all. Quote BABYS1 for discounts off Only Organic products on Radiant website.

Halal and easy passive income in Malaysia | Dropshipping with 60sec

Malaysia's financial climate is not optimistic in 2020 given the recent political turmoil and COVID 19 outbreak. Even though the situation is way less serious than the previous SARS outbreak, but many have resorted to panic buying especially household items, masks and hand sanitizers. The tourism industry is badly hit. Therefore, entrepreneurs need to look for business opportunities that has a relatively low cost with high demand to survive the low tide.

This is where the Blue Ocean strategy comes handy. I look at this in two ways- selling essential merchandise in a low cost yet widely available way versus looking for niche market that is not affected by the current situation. 60sec is perfect example that allows people who wants to venture into business with minimal upfront cost that's sustainable with a good support network.

Why do business online?

Hands up if you followed every online sales campaign loyally for Lazada/Shopee. I'm no exception- it's just so easy to shop for both essential and luxury items. With a few mouse clicks, one can grab items at the lowest market price delivered right at your door step. It only requires low setup and maintanence cost for the business. There's little need to hire additional human resource which can be a headache. No need to worry about buying or renting a shopfront at a good location. Courier services delivering nationwide within 24-48 hours are reliable and efficient at an acceptable pricetag.

What's required to start a halal business online and make it a huge hit?

Having a easy-to-use interface like a website is the first prerequisite. It should contain all the product information including ingredient list and the relevant certificates such as HACCP, MESTI, GMP and MOH approval especially for edible and beauty products. A safe and hassle free payment method via gateways such as PayPal which accepts online interbank transfers/credit card payments is essential. Since the cart is updated and payment processed automatically through the system, the business owner just need to go through the list at the end of the day to arrange for delivery. This means anyone can do business in their own free time.

What makes a business viral is also about the story/content behind the brand. People want to know anecdotal experience from others whom they can relate to. For example,
Sharing and advertising on social media like FB and IG is a great strategy. But purely spamming all the groups with product posts usually get very little attention,likes or shares. Because it only takes 3-5 seconds before the person decides to scroll down your post. Worse still to hide your post from their feed, forever. So every business needs a story. For example, for a business selling health supplement for ladies, it should feature stories of how energetic ladies navigate through her busy day and in the end, send important messages about the product.

How does 60sec help online business setup?

It is an e commerce platform that assists dropshipping business owners to:
1. Create a user friendly website
2. Have a safe payment gateway
3. Easily access many existing branded products
4. Supply new merchandise to the shoppers
5. Have peace of mind with a robust technical support system.

60sec also has all the features I described above. And what's more important, there is only a one off RM99 lifetime set-up fee for a store in the beta mode! Once fully launched, it will be RM99 annually.

These are a few examples of 60sec seller page.

This site JoyLife sells body and bath products.

Another site from Prisca features discounted bags, clothes and even face masks.

60ec also offer 1 to 1 consultation to each subscriber/seller. There is no need to stock pile as 60sec has direct contact to branded goods which can be deployed and delivered within 72hours. Besides the individual websites, the seller can also share their products and sell on other platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Lazada, Shopee and Carousel.

Interested to get some halal passive income? Get your own site from 60sec now!

60sec official website

Win RM50 book vouchers at Big Bad Wolf Pahang Book Sale 2020!

Yes, it's back again-- BBW Pahang 2020! We are also back for BBW's second appearance in Pahang. Previous years we could not join it in fear of the queue and because of the mere distance in KL. At 10am sharp, the venue was already fully parked and filled with bookworms.

Venue: Kompleks Sukan, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Gambang Campus
Sale period: 28 February - 9 March 2020
Time: 10.00am – midnight (12.00am)
Entry to the Sale is FREE

FACEBOOK: fb.com/bbwbooks
INSTAGRAM: @bigbadwolfbooks

It was a sunny morning. Bing and Yi were already excited to visit BBW the night before. Yi was sleeping during last year's visit. So it's counted as both our boys' first visit! The food trucks outside the hall were already bustling with activities.

The mandatory photo of the Big Bad Wolf wordings at the hall entrance. Everyone was too eager to look at the books and didn't want to pose. Lol.

I personally think that BBW is a book heaven for family with young children as at least half of the collections are targeting this age group. Children books were sorted according to these few categories-- sticker books, board books, activity books, story books, novels and revision books based on the publisher.

The books were at least 50-75% cheaper than usual. It can be really difficult not to get a copy of each book home! That's why the BBW management is very thoughtful this year by providing a sample book for us to look through the copy before deciding to get a sealed copy home.

This year we focused more on grabbing activity and sticker books for the children. Bing was already engrossed in his Thomas and Friends movie book before we checked out. Yi, on the other hand, found a washable bath book amazing. We only spent RM72 for the haul!

As if the sale is not crazy enough already, there are RM50 book vouchers to be won! Simply post a photo of one at the book sale or with the book haul on FB/IG with #ILoveBBWPahang2020 #BBWPahang2020. There is no minimum purchase required. That's enough to get a few decent sticker books.

 

So Pahang peeps, seize this opportunity and head to BBW Gambang 2020. The grand winner of the photo contest can even win a trolley of books!

DIY home spa | Melix body care series review

Being a busy mother of two hyperactive princes, having some time out for spa seems far-fetched. But who doesn't like to be pampered? So there came my idea of a DIY spa night! I didn't have a bathtub so I did my DIY spa during my staycation at Pullman KL Bangsar recently for a short scientific meeting.

These were what I did:
1. Set the scene with some instrumental music and soft lighting.
2. Fill the bath tub with warm water and bath salt.
3. Use body scrub.
4. Use a good bath spa product for the body.
5. Wash hair and apply hair mask.
6. Use foot mask.
7. Use facial mask.
8. Apply body lotion and other skincare products.

If you have the mood, put some flower petals and light scented candles or diffuse some essential oils would be heavenly. Most importantly, Step 4 is definitely one of the key to an enjoyable DIY spa experience. I had the chance of using Melix body care series in my DIY spa.

Melix British Blossom Body Spa

Formulated in France, the scent is of the classic red rose signifying romance and mystery.

The active ingredients include:
1. Organic rose water- helps to minimize pore appearance, maintain skin suppleness and radiance.
2. West Indian cherry extract- rich in vitamin C and antioxidant to prevent skin ageing.
3. Apple stem cell extract- encourage collagen production of the skin

Melix Hydra Moist Body Lotion

This body lotion aims to hydrate the skin as well as to lock moisture into the skin, reduce fine lines,  calms sensitive skin, prevent pigmentation and whiten complexion. It's so lightweight and absorbed readily into the skin. Therefore it is also suitable for oily and fatigued skin.

These are the main active ingredients:
1. Olive fruit oil and Olive leaf extract- hydrates the skin and prevent moisture loss
2. Shea butter- conditions, soothes and tone the skin
4. Moringa pterygosperma seed extract- cleanses the skin deeply and soothes the irritated skin
5. Rumex Occidentalis extract- prevents pigmentation from forming and improve skin radiance

Melix body care series does not contain harsh chemicals which may irritate the skin such as paraben, alcohol and SLS/SLES.

What does Dr Yingzangel think?

I really enjoy using Melix British Blossom Body Spa because the lingering rose scent. It cleanses gently yet effectively. Melix Hydra Moist Body Lotion has a slightly runny consistency, making it easy to apply. The floral scent complements the rose scent from the body spa. As a female, I really love the pink packaging as well. Pink is a great colour to calm the mind and to relax.

Dedicating a special period for "me time" and relaxation is very important to destress. Paying attention to our body parts is called mindfulness which makes us more aware of our existence and prevent ourselves from running on an automatic pilot mode. Chronic stress can make people go about daily lives just following the routine subconsciously without realizing. And this adds on to fatigue, anxiety and depression due to the pressure. Loving oneself is an art to master. Only when we take good care of ourselves then it's possible for us to perform both at work and focus on caring for our loved ones.

These wonderful body care products from Melix do not only nourish the skin from inside out, but it also fills the body and bathroom with floral freshness. This really brightens my day and helps to alleviate stress at the end of my working day.

Find out more from the following:
Official website
Instagram
Facebook

Homemade halal burger and Western food | Burgerak Kuantan

Looking for great homemade burgers? Burgerak would make a great fit. Besides the tasty food, cosy dining environment and convenient location, the menu is definitely going to make one laugh eg  kepak kepak keboom keboom (grilled chicken wings) and ayam mabok cendawan (chicken mushroom soup with bread).

Burgerak
4a, Jalan Besar, 25000 Kuantan, Pahang
https://g.co/kgs/XaupU3
Opens daily 10am-11.30pm
except Fridays 10am-12.30pm then 3-11.30pm and Sundays 4-11.30pm
Instagram
Facebook

These were what we ordered:

Lamb burger

Fragrant minced lamb patty grilled to lose the gamey smell. Combined with a sunny side up egg , a slice of cheddar and some chilli sauce, the portion is generous for a person. Love the crispy fries too. But it will be more perfect if the patty is juicier with some sauce, say black pepper.

The set came with a lemonade which is mild in flavour and not too sweet. This can be changed into hot Teh O or Kopi O (tea or coffee without sugar) upon request.

Burger Ayam Keluar Malam

Definitely going to repeat this order. Succulent chicken breast marinated with a spicy and creamy piri piri sauce. Onion slices with a melting piece of cheddar. It's finger licking good! Instead of fries, it came with a serving of fresh garden salad-- a healthy option.

Grilled lamb chop

Succulent lamb shoulder, when drizzled with black pepper sauce, became a heavenly combination. A fluffy baked potato and a serve of fresh garden salad completed the dish.

Burgerak definitely has its own appeal. There are so many other options in the menu that we would surely come back for more!

Taste 4/5
Price 4/5
Atmosphere 4/5
Customer service 4/5