YouTube tag: Perfect imperfections.

As I subscribe to a number of make-up gurus on YouTube, I got to know about this latest tag where the tagged people have to list three of your most favorite and three of your least favorite features of your physical appearance. Well, I watched the videos out of curiosity and accidentally got "tagged", so technically I have to follow the rule of the game. However, the true motivation for me to write this post is because I find the tag rather meaningful and worth doing compared to many others that are pretty nonsense.

Let's be honest, as much as we'd like to pride our self-confidence in front of people (including family, friends, potential love interests/employers, strangers, enemies, blah), we all constantly feel more self-conscious about certain body parts or features which we secretly wish to have been born with more beautiful alternatives. This might sound cliché, but should always be remembered: nobody is perfect and we all need to embrace or, if necessary and possible, take action to improve our imperfections. Even the concept of imperfection has no standard definition - you think you are fat, young girl, but someone might be secretly adoring your voluptuous figure, just an example. And who knows it is your perfect imperfection that makes you the most beautiful and unique person in someone's eyes.

So, before it starts sounding really boring (or has it?), I shall start, first with the three "ugly" features that I am most unhappy to be born with (the make-up gurus listed in this order and I think it makes sense to follow).

1. My hair. If you haven't known yet, my natural hair is fine and curly. Every hairdresser I've been to gave the same comment and later on announced that certain layering hair styles could not be done considering the pathetic thickness of my hair. Perhaps if I had a small and thin face, it would have been much easier with the option of hair rebonding. Sadly, my face is kinda broad, so I've always thought there ought to be some extra steps after getting my hair straightened to add some volume to it, or at least to frame my face nicely. Though it might sound achievable, no single hairdresser has actually done a really satisfying job. But hey, I don't give up on taming my own hair - I'll give it another try soonish. At least, as a girl, having fine hair means I save quite a bit on hair products, and hairdressers always seem to feel so bad for me that they usually charge a little less than normal prices. Jealous? Just kidding. But no, seriously.
2. My teeth. Well, both my parents were born with imperfect and unhealthy teeth (they sometimes visit their dentist to get their molars "strengthened"). Naturally, the trait was passed down to me, not the unhealthy part (yet) though. Back when I was losing my milk teeth, what my parents could afford to care about simply was whether the new teeth were coming out healthily. I still remember the dentist suggested me put on braces when she realized that my upper front teeth were going to grow out of place due to a lack of space. However, the idea of having braces was unfortunately way too expensive/ridiculous, or at least to my parents at the time. So Mom simply told me to suck it up and use my tongue to "push" my front teeth inwards everyday while they were still growing and even long after that. Of course, as you might have guessed, that did nothing to help and my right upper front tooth has been "proudly" standing above its neighbor ever since. To make the matter worse, one afternoon, when I was squatting on the playground, minding my own business, my sister out of the blue jumped on my back from behind. With the weight of a not-so-skinny kid, you guess what happened - I immediately face-planted on the concrete floor and lost a piece of a front tooth. Back then it seemed kinda huge to me, but as my teeth grew bigger, it doesn't seem very noticeable now. Still... I'll compensate my little munching soldiers by providing them better care than brushing at least twice per day when I am financially independent. And I've never believed in tooth fairy. Maybe that's why she didn't give me any blessing with her non-existent power. *Sighs*
3. My skin. No, I'm not talking about my complexion which I feel pretty good about. It's the nature of my skin that upsets me since puberty started. While my Mom has such close-to-flawless skin that she doesn't hesitate to show off, I'm definitely not the fortunate daughter to inherit the trait. I was so used to constant breakouts on my face and back that I failed to realize how terrible it became until a few years later, when people asked me how I'd chased those ugly pimples away from my forehead. Yeah, they ran away from my forehead, and not long after that settled down on the hollows of my cheeks, where even these days some of them would randomly come out to say "Hello" to the world and embarrass the poor me at the same time. Another thing I dislike about my skin is that blemishes and scars take a really long time to heal and fade. I started to combat against this problem by using facial and busy scrubs together with tea tree lotion quite a while back. There has been observable improvement, but probably with the help of all these products, my scars are only fading at the normal rates experienced by average people. Oh well, perhaps because I tend to bear emotional scars for a long time (despite forgiving easily), physical scars decide to accompany their siblings in the process. Logical much? Lol. At least, my first line of defense hasn't been known to be allergic to many substances, which is awesome because it allows the girly me to fondle with make-up and temporarily conceal the flaws - it's an instant confidence booster! And hey, I do drink a lot of water, it's just the "eating lotsa fruits and vegetables and going to bed early" that I always fail to comply. Again, I'll apply the best skin care regime when I'm capable of making investments for it.

Enough of ranting about the "ugly" little things. Are you bored already? Wait, you're only half way through, keep on reading! After mentioning my biggest "flaws", I now feel a bit insecure and depressed, and just have to write about the good stuff to cheer myself up. Ready to know?

1. My eyes. Though I am apparently myopic and need to wear glasses that make me look like a nerdy librarian to read Starbucks menu, I still like my eyes a lot. Who wouldn't love their eyes, especially when they're born with functioning eyes, right? Well, besides being operative, the first thing I like about my "windows to the soul" is that they seldom turn red - unless I abuse them to play Age of Empires for hours or accidentally irritate them with chemicals or physical objects (kids, don't try that at home under your parents' supervision - wait until they look away). Secondly, my eyes tend to reflect lotsa light (without contact lenses) and thus, look lively most of the time. Heck, I received more compliments about my "twinkle" eyes when I was a kid, probably because my eyes looked bigger on my little head back then. Moving on to the third reason: my double eyelids and (relatively) long lashes, both of which significantly enhance the average size of my Asian eyes, are authentic. While the double eyelids make it easier to apply eyeliner, more than one person have mistaken my lashes coated with mascara for fake ones. So, if you make fun of tiny Asian eyes in front of me, I'll just laugh and joke along because I know my "assets" very well. *Winks*. Last but not least, despite my longterm commitment to staying-up-late-and-doing-nothing, my eye bags and dark circles are not that visible (yet). This doesn't mean I take my beloved eyes for granted though - they do receive adequate exercise and rest (just not at a fixed time everyday). And call me paranoid, but after a brief episode of being tempted to try contact lenses (which girl wouldn't wanna look prettier without glasses?), I developed a slight phobia of wearing lenses after seeing how some people removed them - I couldn't help feeling as if they were poking their eyes out, ouch! The only sharp object legally allowed to come near my eyes is a pair of tweezers used for plucking and shaping my eyebrows. Yes, I have a pretty high pain threshold inside-out. Jealous times two? Kidding. But no, seriously.
2. My collar bones. I personally consider prominent collar bones as a very feminine feature, one that calls for protection and chivalry from the more muscular gender. Considering the fact that I'm not even skinny, I feel grateful for the way my clavicles naturally stand out, circled by a ring of light crease just beneath and forming a nice little hollow in between. It certainly makes a girl feel good showing her neck and shoulders, especially when accompanied by a pretty necklace (I stopped at this part, opened the drawer, dug for the long-forgotten Love & Co. box, took out the heart-shaped little thing and put it on, appreciated its beauty on my neck for two minutes, sighed, took it off and placed back into the box, shoved everything back in order, closed the drawer, and continued typing). Anyway, this is the reason why everyday I secretly wish the pimple scar situated on my left collar bone to vanish as soon as possible. If my skin didn't give me troubles, I wouldn't hesitate for a second to try all those glamorous tops and dresses that I can only admire on other girls for now.
3. My body shape. It might sound ironic to you that a petite girl like me actually loves the way her body looks. Yeah, it was only on Monday when my friend Stephane commented that I "grew" shorter since the last time we'd met. And perhaps it was also due to my "kiddy" size that he told me not to get kidnapped when we parted. I think it's a good thing for a girl to be not-so-tall, so that she has more taller guys to choose from, can wear heels when going out with them, and the dudes would perhaps feel the need to be more macho to protect such a petite creature. *Daydreaming*... Okay fine, I'm short, but I'm healthy! Do you know why? Because my body shape guarantees a safe waist-to-hip ratio, which greatly reduces the risk of lifestyle-related diseases, unless one random day I'm out of my mind and suddenly want to stuff my body with fat (ew, the thought of that is disgusting enough). Well, I certainly should be happy and grateful that my body fat mostly accumulates below my waist, leaving the small of my back pretty lean. It doesn't mean I am completely satisfied with the way my body is now though. Just like many girls out there, there are certain days when I wake up in the morning, look into the mirror and think "I'm so fat". But even on those days, I remind myself that those jiggly fats could surely be got rid of once I start moving my lazy ass. And honestly, I don't even think I am that lazy - if I need to walk a distance, I usually do so without complaining, sometimes willingly, unless little feet are suffering in agony in my heels or my legs decide to feel funny. Anyway, now you know one reason why I want to move into a condominium (once I start earning enough to pay the rent) - free gym and swimming pool for the win!

Hey, are you still reading? If you are, thank you, hugs and congratulations! You've reached the final paragraph of this highly narcissistic and long-winded rant. I apologize for the abrupt ending because I gotta go (Hint: one of the features mentioned above is getting fixed today with my girls, so make a guess, teehee). Oh and before I forget, I tag all of you who's come across this post. I've been pretty open and honest and would love to hear similar "confessions" from you guys. Until then, drink a lot of water, get enough sleep, exercise regularly, take care and love your body the way it is. :)

Xoxo ♥