Beauty products & anti ageing

Being surrounded by beauty fanatics has had a positive effect on me. I went from being totally clueless to having subpar knowledge about skincare. The great thing about having a blog is getting readers who're more knowledgeable than moi. Over the past 2 years, I've been slowly getting home schooled by a few young friends who are at least a decade (or two) younger than me. I was dragged off to watch countless YouTube tutorials, none of which I can replicate easily.

"Now apply from the outer eye....."
"blend blend blend" (either I'm using the wrong brush because clearly we're not going for the raccoon look which is the result I'm getting)
"draw a thin line just above your water line" (what the HECK is water line? I had to google the word halfway through the video) (what happens if you can only draw one eye because the other hand's useless??)

They're always remarkably up to date with all the latest products from around the world, blurting brands that don't even sound remotely intelligible. Another hauled a box full of beauty products to my flat and upended it on the floor. If life wasn't complicated before, now....... I have to know that there's a serum, scrub or cream for practically every part of my body. The neck, hands, body, boob (firming and lifting), lips, elbow, feet...... And then we start zooming in on the itty bitty details - pores, blackheads, eyebrows, eyelashes, nails..... One can easily lose themselves in an unending and confusing labyrinth of beauty routines. Motherhood is starting to sound easier and easier.

I started using anti-ageing products for the very first time last year. Do they work? NO idea. My face hasn't collapsed yet. My philosophy on anti-ageing is very......Asian. It's hard to reverse the signs of ageing if the skin's already been damaged by over-exposure to sun. It's like trying to transform a raisin to its original state (a grape). Highly unlikely. If you've lived in Australia or New Zealand and have experienced our lovely scorching sun with extra dose of UV rays, you'll understand why I'm rather anal about sun protection. I once burned in 10 minutes......in the middle of winter.

I got talking to friend of mine who has an insider knowledge of the Asian entertainment industry. Who knew all those lovely celebs pimping products for big brands started injecting fillers and botox in their 20s? Call it naivety but I had NO IDEA. Goes to show you can't believe everything that you see in media. My question is that if a person started pumping chemicals into her face from such an early age, wouldn't she need more just to prop up the underused facial muscles when she's 40?

A friend and I were having lunch at Knightsbridge a few weeks ago and gaped open-mouthed at some of the worst face lifts we've ever seen. Permanent Jack Nicholson joker grin. Shiny plastic skin. One had an impossibly narrow forehead. A friend (let's call her A) was horrified when another (B) started pointing out bits that she needed to correct. B went under the knife last year but decided that the results didn't look exactly as she envisioned so the second round of cosmetic surgery ensued. What's surprising is A has a totally laissez-faire attitude towards ageing yet looks at least 10 years younger (she gets mistaken for someone in her early 30s ALL THE TIME when she's actually 43).

I can safely say that jumping on the beauty bandwagon has helped me become more vigilant about moisturizing especially when I used to have dehydrated skin that peeled (ouch....truly). I still get the occasional break outs complete with ever growing crater sized pores. My bathroom shelf is littered with various masks these days. A sign of a growing obsession.......

What are your thoughts and experience with anti ageing products?