I remember those days when I use to shower with a bar of soap. Those square (or oval depending on your finances) slippery things with the brand name engraved into the body.
Those things that they tell you not to drop if you’re heading to prison.
Do they still sell those anymore? (Update: yes they do! #zerowaste)
When I was growing up, I used these bars of soap to create lather and blow bubbles with my fingers, hoping to get them as big as possible and (gasp!) airborne. I also remember peering down into the toilet bowl feeling sorry for the poor soul that had to fish out that bar of soap that had somehow slipped my grasp and was currently down there (well, *I* wasn’t going to stick my hand in there!)
Anyway, I was about 18 when I first purchase one fuzzy little ball of mesh cloth. I had earlier purchased a bottle of body shampoo and realized that half the money spent on that sweet smelling stuff was washed down the drain because it kept slipping off my skin, not giving me a chance to nicely lather it up for more bubble creation (what? you guys thought I’d stop making soap bubbles by that age?)
My first shower with that body scrub was an epiphany. *This*is what showering is all about. The lather, the scrubbing, the clean shiny feeling afterwards. I was hooked. I even got my whole family to change to using body scrubs.
However, I soon realized not all body scrubs are not created equal. The ones that are given as a free gift pretty much should be used for decoration purposes (like car air fresheners). They are so tiny and are so rough, your skin could bleed, just by standing next to it.
The generic ones at the grocery store or pharmacy are not better. They disentangle themselves, unravelling, mutating from a neat little ball to what appears to be long strands of really bad bandages. This usually happens after the third use. Good luck getting those long mesh sleeves back to resembling a decent scrub. They’d either be unbalanced in shape or come apart again as soon as I used them.
But then, I finally found the perfect body scrub (update 2019 - or so I thought*). One that stood the test of time and felt luxurious on my skin. One that didn’t burst my (already limited) budget.
Bodyshop. These body scrubs were full in volume and did not unravel unless they’ve been ripped on purpose (I can attest to that, after using them until they were in tatters). They were soft on the skin yet sturdy enough for a good scrubbing. They came in pretty colors and they are currently top 10 on my if-i-win-the-lottery list. (I’d buy 2 lifetime supplies of these)
Sadly, there seems to be a decline in quality with these scrubs. I recently purchased a couple of these during one of their super sale. I have to admit, they are not what they were use to be.
Firstly pricing has changed and varied. I’ve held a RM9.90 in my hand and a RM19.90 in the other. Sure, the more expensive one was a tiny bit larger but they felt the same in the shower - tiny.
These were also very rough! What happened to the soft velvety texture?
Thankfully, I’ve since discovered another alternative by accident. To be honest, I was looking for a cheaper version and was drawn to the Bath and Body Works store (what a wonderful smelling store!!) I saw that the had their own body scrub which similar pricing. I bought one, thinking it couldn’t possibly stand up to my go-to body scrub.
Turns out my record for being wrong is still unbeatable.
These scrubs were lush and softer than the ones from Bodyshop. They were even fuller and larger.
So now I’ve resorted to getting my scrub fix at Bath and Body Works. To think they are almost the same price as what I had been splurging at Body Shop (RM18).
TLDR version;
If there’s ever a time when someone is stumped on what to get me for a gift, just hand me one of these.
No wrapping needed.
Disclaimer - I have no affiliation with Bodyshop or Bath and Bodyworks and I am not paid to provide my feedback. This is just an honest review about a product that I’ve used. The contents of this post are my opinions and experience alone.
*I wrote this back in 2017 and only published this in 2019
I've had my share of rocky relationships but sadly, I realized that my worst one is the relationship that I cannot sever, it's a bloodline.
I discovered this during one of those long drives, the ones that let my subconscious mind take the wheel (safely, I have to add!) and my conscious mind just starts whirring away at the thoughts that pop into my head at random.
I was thinking about how the words we speak has the power of building people up or tearing people down. We really should mind the precious time we spend with the people around us. There's no denying how impactful positive people are when you are surrounded by them. You bond, get support and most importantly get help to thrive in this very difficult life.
But then there are the people who berate you, mock you and put you down. These are the individuals that are naturally incline to be grumpy at the world so they're grumpy at you. I use to have friends who would join the same activities after school as I did just so they could prove they were better than me.
And people wonder why I only keep in touch with a couple of friends since highschool. Pfft!
I still have people that are gifted at finding ways to see the negative at every good thing that happens to me.
New promotion? "You'll have to spend more time at the office now"
Weight loss? "There is no way you can keep this up"
New purse? "Someone is definitely going to steal that from you"
Not only do I have a negative Nancy that I can't get rid of, I find myself thinking of ways to please this person. I keep spending time planning on ways to make this person happy, to buy something as a gift, to please this person.
Why are we destined to be like that dog who yelps in pain when their master kicks them in the ribs yet the very next second we're sitting at their feet, begging for attention, begging for scraps of love?
This makes me depressed.
On one of my long commute from the office back home, I was listening to a podcast and stumbled upon this concept of time management versus energy management.
The speaker was talking about how mistaken everyone was when it came to pursuing better time management. Instead we should all be working towards a more efficient use of our energy.
His logic was that we all had 24 hours in a day. No matter how much we try to squeeze in or cut and slash out, we are still stuck with the same number of minutes as our neighbor.
Now energy on the other, we can manipulate somewhat. What energy our bodies can spend may not necessarily be the same as the person sitting next to you. You may get tired easily or you may bounce off the walls with exuberance. Either way, you can control (to a certain extent) how much energy you want in your everyday life and that is what really matters.
I suppose this makes sense.
How much can you possibly do within those 24 hours when you're depleted of energy. The same 5 tasks might take a whole day for a person who's hungover, but only 5 hours for someone who got enough sleep.
We might be on to something here.
If this theory proves true, people will benefit more from polyphasic sleeping (sleeping in short periods, multiple times a day) and more exercise (since the more energy you spend, the more energy you get).
However, there is a danger to polyphasic sleep, not everyone can do this.
Also, not having enough sleep could sabotage the exercise benefits.
Do we stick to the time-tested method of organizing all the given hours in a day, potentially forgoing an important revolutionary way to maximize every day of our lives?
Or do we try maximizing our energy, discovering a new, better way to live out the rest of our lives, potentially wasting it all away if we're doing it wrong.
My brain. It hurts.
