Inside the mind of a woman

It took me a while to admit to myself that I was no longer immune to the effects of the sun, environment and of course aging. I had enjoyed being young looking for quite some time and I guess I forgot that time had actually caught up with me. I have now discovered fine lines under my eyes. They are barely noticeable but it is obvious to me and that is enough justification to go shopping for an eye cream.

There were several products I tried: Avon’s Anew eye cream, Mary Kay’s Timewise Age-fighting eye cream, Mary Kay’s soothing eye gel, Garnier’s Light Eye Whitening Cream, St Ives Cucumber and Elastin Eye Stress Gel and finally L’Oreal Derma Genesis Eye Contour Cream.

All of the products I previously used did not do much to improve the skin around my eyes. Since my work keeps me up late at night basically the whole week, you can imagine how the darkness that circles my eyes. Very fine lines have also started appearing under them. Overall my face looks stressed out regardless of how much I try to perk it up with some makeup color and blush.

After using L’Oreal derma genesis eye cream for several days, I discovered that my eyes are brighter and plumper, like the skin has filled out the wrinkles making them less visible. In fact, the sides of my eyes are free of lines until now! That is truly something to be happy about as I have seen people younger than I am who looks like they collect wrinkles around the eyes.

The derma genesis line claims to help to stimulate cellular renewal for plumped-up and visibly young-looking skin. It uses Pro-Xylane, a naturally derived ingredient that helps stimulate cellular renewal, combined with Hyaluronic Acid – a powerful moisturiser found naturally in the skin used by dermatologists to re-plump the skin and fight against the appearance of wrinkles. This unique combination of ingredients is created to infuse the skin with essential substances that help to stimulate cellular renewal for plumped-up and visibly young-looking skin.

– Check out L’Oreal Paris website

The eye cream goes on thick on the skin but at the same time light as it is non-greasy. It has a translucent glow that to me looks pinkish under the lights. It is quickly absorbed by the skin but not really. I say not really because it feels as if it is filling out the hollows under my eyes. The skin now feels soft and smooth to the touch and I am so loving it right now.

Staying up late several nights worrying about my family during Typhoon Ondoy, did not help as I expected my eyes to be more swollen and tired looking than ever before. So I just continued using my eye cream hoping for the best. Well what do you know, I even got complimented a few days later when I met my grandmother in law, and I wasn’t even wearing makeup! I now resolve to be a loyal fan.

I can now only write about this terrible calamity that has wreaked havoc on many Filipinos and their families. I personally am dealing with this tragedy as I await for the safety of my mom and sister who remain stranded at our family home in Cainta Rizal. The home that my siblings and I all grew up in has been overcome by a flash flood brought on by Typhoon Ondoy. Flood waters has caused many families living in Marikina, Cainta and Pasig to seek refuge on higher ground or on the roofs of their houses for fear of being carried away by the strong current. While I was miles away safe at my home, I connected to my sister through many text messages as we didn’t want to use up whatever life her battery had. But just after lunch, she called me crying trying to tell me that water was rising fast. She was mostly incoherent but I didn’t need to hear the words to understand what she was going through. I only had time to tell her “Don’t cry. Be strong. Go up to the roof now!”. That was the last I heard her voice.

My other sister, my brother and I set to work calling different agencies, hotlines, helplines the whole afternoon. It was frustrating when several helplines turned us away because they said “NCR does not cover Cainta”. My sister was able to secure a direct line to Mon Ilagan, the Mayor of Cainta but he couldn’t help as he himself was stranded along Imelda. He also confirmed that Cainta had no rubber boats to deploy at the moment. I had to restrain myself from screaming.

All through the night I had to settle with listening to Jam 88.3 on my mobile about the many people asking for help in the different areas of Rizal. I texted them the location of my family several times hoping they could get help to them soon. As soon as electricity returned to our house, I tweeted and plurked and contacted all my online friends to seek help so I could find out what the status of the rescue operations are in Cainta. I had to update several lists in facebook and google that contains other names of other people, loved ones needing rescue. I watched the live footage of people walking the chest-deep waters to reach safety along Lifehomes Pasig. They mentioned how the situation was the same all the way to Cainta, where my family was. Sigh.

A couple of hours ago, I was told that someone in the area has communicated that my mom and sister are safe. I am not yet able to talk to them, hear their voice, or even verify how safe they were but I let the news engulf me to comfort the concern that I have worn since yesterday.

Tomorrow is another day. Tomorrow I go to see them and hug them personally. Below are some moving footages and photos documenting how hard Typhoon Ondoy hit Metro Manila. Philippines.

These photos are courtesy of rembcc of Flickr

Man wading in chest deep flood waters

Woman ravaged by Typhoon Ondoy

For detailed information on rescue operations and donations please go to the following links:
Sour Politics
MLQ3 on tumblr
Random Salt