MAKE-UP for When You Feel Like a Haggard Mess.

The first few days of school are always the hardest. I'm not exactly talking about the academic side of things, because at this point of the semester, syllabi are geared towards introductions more than actual hard stuff. I say that the first few days of school are like this because it's usually at this point in time wherein we have to train ourselves to get used to new routines, new policies, new schedules and other stuff.

I'm really okay with change. The adjustment part is just a little bit tricky.

Speaking of change, I'm trying my best to start my day earlier. I'm really not a morning person, so yes, this is a challenge. I also haven't been sleeping very well since school started, for reasons that I really don't know. It's only been like, what, four days(?), but the sleeping hours reduction has been taking its toll on my body, in a sense that my digestion hasn't been at its best, my brain has been feeling foggy, my skin has been horrible, and I'm not as emotionally resilient as I should be, especially when my patients can't make their appointments. I FEEL LIKE A ZOMBIE, REALLY.

You know how they say that beauty should come from the inside? Well, is there anything really wrong with fixing up the outside, when the inside is a haggard mess?

I used to do my make-up before leaving the house, but now, since I'm trying to get to school as early as I can, I've been foregoing make-up, and just leave it for when I have free time (at school). The thing is, I put make-up on to feel better about myself, especially when I need a little bit of internal cheering up-- and yes, today was one of those days.

My patient wasn't able to make it, because something came up. I didn't book a patient for the afternoon, and with my morning suddenly freeing up, I really didn't have anything to do.

I've been developing these really ugly eye bags. This isn't the first time I've had fewer-than-normal hours of sleep, but it is one of the first few times that I've actually had legit eye bags, in spite of my eyes puffing up every now and then. Now, I actually have the bags.

NEW RULE-- Look like be a haggard mess all you want,
but never stop looking for reasons to smile.

The worst part is that the bags are more obvious when I smile. Goodness.

I know you've seen these products time and time again, but the reason why I reach for these over and over is that they're really good. The products here are geared more towards skin care than actual beautifying. In this look, it's more about looking more awake, while nourishing the skin with all the good stuff.

very basic, really.

At this point, I'm really trying not to overload my face.

The real hero of my make-up is the NYX Full Coverage Concealer in the shade Yellow. Yes, really yellow. Yellow, because usually eye bags exhibit blue to purple pigmentation, and by virtue of the color wheel, yellow would neutralize the purple eye bags.

I look.. Traumatized.

I've never looked back since I've started applying under-eye concealer in an inverted triangle. It really beats applying it in curved streaks, or even dots. You can't really see the inverted triangle on my skin because the concealer color blends too much into the natural color my skin, but if you look closely over to where my purple eyebags should be, they actually look a little bit better.

--but obviously, you need to set it.

"ready to face the world", yo.

Make-up is such an awesome thing. It's not always about concealing what you really look like, and creating false beauty. Make-up enhances. It's, like, covering up the ugly that distracts from what's naturally beautiful. I started the day looking like a haggard mess, feeling really down about my patient not being able to make it, and after "putting my face on", and finally seeing the girl whom I actually like, I felt so much better. I felt amazing, and yes, feeling amazing just made the rest of my day fall into place. Positivity does wonders, I'm telling you.

Lots of love,

Corine Magenta

Oh wait, if you're wondering about my clinic day, considering that the patient I had scheduled for the day cancelled on the last minute-- I still didn't get my original patient to come, but I did find a new one.. A single CD + RPD patient. See? Everything works out.:)

Lots of love,

Clinician Corine Magenta

Love is PATIENT.

It's 1:00 AM of Wednesday, and I'm just about getting ready to get ready for bed! I have absolutely no idea where the day went-- but wait, maybe it is true that time flies when you're having fun. Well, maybe I just had an exceptionally awesome day because I started the day with my love love Periodontology.




I tell you-- the best clinic days are the days that I get to do Perio. :)

I'm on my 7th weekly recall on my Compre Perio case-- Okay, wait. I'm starting to feel that I'm lying to myself, still calling it weekly, when the last time my patient saw me was two weeks ago. Anyway, one more "weekly" recall, and we'll be off to the monthly recalls. On my old blog, I mentioned about wanting to jump back to the surgical phase because of failure of a few teeth to improve. I still want to jump back to the surgical phase, I just couldn't do it this term because the surgery cut-off has passed.

That's the thing with being a Dentistry student, especially when you reach the clinical years-- you want to think that you hold your own time, but in reality, you're nothing but a slave to your patients' schedules. Oh my goodness, slave seems kind of harsh and exaggerated, but of course, you get the idea. The truth is, life gets in the way, not only for you, but for your patients. While there are patients who give tons of excuses just to avoid their appointments (get rid of those patients the first chance you get!), there are patients who fall into unforeseen circumstances-- telling the two apart is a very crucial skill. While it's okay to be frustrated for a few minutes, it's always a good idea to keep calm and look for something else to do.

Sometimes, you also have to remember that for every non-compliant patient, faith and optimism will come at you with a really good patient who would make you love what you do (even more!). It's also fun appreciating patients as actual humans, and not just as requirements to be ticked off a list. You'll give them your skills, and they'll give you their trust.

..and when you love hard enough, you can sometimes get donuts too.:)



--but you know, donuts or no donuts, I love my patients just the same.<3