Sorry for the lack of updates and posts of late. I haven’t had much mood to do blog the past couple of weeks due to a health scare I had. Over a month ago, I discovered a large lump in my left breast.

It really shocked me to bits because I didn’t remember having one the month before. Then again, I haven’t been regular in my self breast examinations so I really couldn’t say. Hubs had a feel at it too. It was a large, hard lump and easily movable. As I was about to leave for Malaysia in a few days, I decided to do nothing about it until I came back to Melbourne.

My mind was riddled with questions and anxiety throughout my holiday, and the first thing I did when I came back to Melbourne was to make an appointment with the GP. Needless to say, the GP was shocked and was pretty cross at the hubs and I for not getting this issue sorted out before our holiday. We were properly reprimanded, and truth be told, rightly so. The holiday could have waited, but any lumps in the breast cannot. He referred me to a radiologist to get a breast ultrasound, and I immediately made an appointment for it the very next day.

To say I was anxious is an understatement. I was a bloody wreck. I nervously joked to the sonographer that I did not expect my first ultrasound to be of the boobs 😛 After the ultrasound, the radiologist suggested a mammogram as well so that he could double check the scans. I don’t know if you’ve had a mammogram before but holy cow, it was painful. I likened mammograms to a woman, to a man being kicked in the balls. Or having his balls squished. As I was still relatively young and have dense breasts, mammograms would hurt (boobs getting squashed like pancakes? Hurts donkey nuts). The older you get, the less painful it would be. Thank goodness it’s only an annual thing.

Anyway, the radiologist looked at the scans and said there weren’t any calcifications or anything sinister. However to be certain, I had to have a core biopsy done. And so I did.

3cm wide mass

The biopsy was a piece of cake. I was expecting painful needles with the local anesthetic and such, but when the first needle went in, I didn’t even feel a thing. The second shot of LA stung a little. I looked at the ultrasound monitor the entire time, looking at the needle going into the mass. The whole procedure was done in about 30 minutes. The tissue he took out looked like worms 😛 Results would be out in a few days.

The waiting game was the worst. Needless to say, my mum was also a nervous wreck, texting me often, asking me if the results were out yet. I wasn’t too anxious about it because I had two radiologist specialists checking the scans and both concurred there wasn’t anything sinister about the lump.

I went back to the GP for the results, and it was a benign tumour. Thank God we did not hit the jackpot on this one. He referred me to a breast surgeon to see what is to be done with the lump. I want it removed, but I’m really, really not keen on general anesthesia, so I’ll have to discuss my options with the surgeon.

A few lessons I learnt throughout this health scare:
– Do monthly self-breast examinations. I got scolded by LeGeeque for not doing this regularly.
– A holiday can wait. Any lumps in the breast, big or small, should be addressed as soon as possible. I got scolded by my GP for this.

I’ll keep you updated on this, once I hear from the surgeon. If you’ve experienced this before, or have had a lump from your breast removed, I would really love to hear your input on this issue.

I recently had the opportunity to try out Clarins’ new range of lipsticks, the Rouge Prodige. I was actually going to purchase one when I was in Malaysia, but thought I would KIV the lippies first. Whaddya know, when I came home, I found these babies waiting in the mail for me 😀

Description:

Rouge Prodige benefits from all the latest innovations in terms of formulation to create a texture that finally gives women what they have always wanted: lasting-hold, intense colour, incredible shine and comfort too. It stays flawless for hours and hours.

First off, the packaging. I was completely sold on the gorgeous, sleek gold packaging with a monogrammed indent on the cover. These looked damn good in my purse, if I may say so myself 😉

The shades I was given were #108 Natural Rose and #127 Redwood. Natural Rose was, well, as it says, a dusky rosy hue on the lips. I absolutely love this shade; it’s THE my-lips-but-better colour that I’ve been looking for. Redwood is a darker shade, with more brown in it than red.

#108 – Natural Rose

#127 – Redwood

These lipsticks aren’t exactly creamy to the max, but they glide on easily without prior application of lipbalm. Since I’m always have lipbalm on before lippies, the Rouge Prodige gets a good thumbs up from me. As for its lasting power, no problems with drinks. I can’t vouch the same for food, but I always reapply lip colour after meals anyway.

Would I purchase the lipsticks? Hell yes. There are 24 gorgeous colours to choose from, and I am really spoilt for choice. I have my eye on Clementine, and it’s going to be mine!

Clarins Rouge Prodige Lipsticks retail at AU$42 and are available at MYER, David Jones, Clarins Gold Salons, selected pharmacies and Adore Beauty.

What are holiday snaps without showing you what I hauled back to Melbourne, eh? 😉

Please bear in mind that these photos are not meant to brag about my loot, but just to show you what I bought (a lot of unnecessary, but wanted very much, junk :P) and what I was very kindly given. I’m very grateful to my family and friends who have showered me with such lovely presents as you will see below.

Gifts From Family and Friends

I usually play Santa Claus when I return to Malaysia, when I bring home gifts and souvenirs to my family and friends. However this trip, I came home with even more stuff from other people than I anticipated. I was touched *sniff*.

Goodies from cousins and friends

Perfume and skincare products from Mum

Coach tote and matching wristlet from Mum, another wristlet from my aunt

Apparel

Clothes and shoes! One cannot go to Malaysia and not come home with shoes. I was actually hoping to get more shoes this trip, but there weren’t that many that caught my eye. I wanted a pair of nude peep-toe pumps from Lewre so bad, but every branch I went to, they had sold out in my size. Bummer. The pretty cheongsam was purchased off-the-rack at Gurney Plaza, Penang. It fitted me perfectly, I didn’t look like a Chinese restaurant employee and it was only $50. Score!

Beauty Products

My shopping list was filled with beauty products I’ve read about in blogs and were eager to try out. Drugstores like Watsons and Guardian became my favourite haunts because there is such a myriad of goodies just waiting for me to pop into my shopping basket. I was pleasantly surprised to see more Japanese brands now sold in Watsons. Some items I picked up were set of the very popular My Beauty Diary facial sheet masks (the set is available exclusively at Guardian drugstores), a Hada Labo Super Hyaluronic Acid Moisturising Lotion, a Hada Labo Super Hyaluronic trial set, a Biore cleansing oil, Vaseline sunscreen (something Beetrice had been raving about), etc.

As for makeup, I didn’t buy too much this time, although they still cost me a bomb *gulp*. Restocked my MAC Studio Fix powder foundation, bought Stage’s Wonderbalm (I likened Stage to Malaysia’s MAC), an Anna Sui lipgloss, and a Maybelline Lasting Drama gel eyeliner. My most expensive makeup haulage would be Guerlain Serie Noir blush and Dior Cannage quad eyeshadow palette, which I will review in my coming posts. First impressions? Gorgeous as hell. ’nuff said? 😛

Last by not least, my most expensive purchase of the trip – the Panasonic Lumix LX5. My 4-year-old point-and-shoot just couldn’t cut the mustard anymore and it was time to get a new one. After much research and asking around for recommendations, I went with the LX5. Chunky as it looks, the photos it produced (and only in its Intelligent Auto mode too, without even playing around with the manual features yet) were amazing.

Oh and the iPhone 4? A present from the father-in-law. Ahem ahem 😛

So there you go. I can pretty much close shop on my shopping for the year now with most of the unnecessary-but-still-want-to-buy stuff I came home with up there. Right?

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What’s that now? There’s a sale going on at Priceline?!