MAJOR MAJOR

"What was the one big mistake that you did in your life? And what did you do to make it right?"

While Ms. Philippines would say that she has had no major problem in her 22 years of existence, i would say:

"The application of astringent around my eye area"

Yes. You've probably seen the attached picture by now, and bets are you've been tilting your head in different angles, thinking "what the ....??"

That's my eye. At least it was, around late May this year. 2010.. 

I didn't miss a day of work. I attended meetings, went shopping, run errands looking like that.

When the fine print reads "do not apply around eye/lip area" -- Believe it. Obey it. Or else, regret it.

I applied the product before bedtime, and woke up to a rock-hard face. Yawning resulted to torn lips and forcing my eyes open brought about cracked eyelids. They were sealed shut. I looked like one of Pacquaio's opponents for some time. Eyes, nose and lips -- Cracked, swollen and bruised.

The condition worsened after a few days, with me dreading if this would be permanent. 

I couldn't talk well nor eat chew-worthy food without pressing a milk-dampened towel against my lips. 

The milk helped a lot, really softening the skin for a while...

Then there was petroleum jelly. It's like heaven in a jar. :)

A week went by then my dry skin cracked, peeled off on its own, then fell loose. I know. Eew.

Haha. Talk about peeling facials -- the hard way.

Beat that, Venus Raj. :p

eew.