The Next 25

Bucket List

As the New Year and my 25^th birthday approaches, I look back on my life. Where I’ve been, what I’ve done, and what I want in the future. When I think about it, I can honestly say I’m where I wanted to be in life… at this age. I wanted to be married, begin my career path, and start a family. Two of the three are done; I’ve put a hold on the third one.

For the next quarter-century, there are new goals and accomplishments I set myself. I don’t want anything materialist. I want to be able to look back on my life and laugh, maybe cry a little, and have no regrets.

1.       I want to go back to Jamaica (that’s where we went for our 1^st anniversary) and go to Ricks Café… and jump off the cliff! We didn’t jump because neither of us know how to swim. So we decided we would either learn how to swim or bring a life jacket.

 

        2.       Try new food! Both my husband and I love trying new dishes and restaurants. Only thing is my husband won’t try seafood, other than that he will eat anything. Along with trying new food, we are trying to be healthy. Switching to whole wheat, organic meats, and less salt. Anything that will keep us healthy and fit.

    [SAX DC]

 [Marie Belle NYC]

3.       Start a Non-Profit Organization in honor of my grandfather, Jora Singh. He has always been like a second father figure to me. He may not even know how much he means to me. I have learned so much from him throughout the years. Taught me how to be humble, respectable, and a man of my word. I’ve learned about Sikhism from him, Indian history, Hinduism, and more; basically any history I know is because of him. He can’t read or write any language but he has knowledge about everything and anything you can imagine. Therefore I want to start some kind of organization that will let this legacy live on. 

[my husband +Manpal Singh and my grandfather, Jora Singh Gill at my sister's lady sangeet]

 

4.       Be successful. No matter what path life takes me. I want to be successful. Be able to face any difficulties face on and prospers.

5.       Jump off an Airplane. Yes, I know this is crazy but I wanted to do this for a while and haven’t been able to. So this next quarter-century, I want to laugh at the face of death.

6.       Visit new places, countries, islands… just explore. Now that the love of my life and I are married, I want to see new places with him. We already had some fun and adventurous trip and I want to continue it. There is nothing like seeing wonders of the world with your love.

7.       Do something of Sikhism, on behalf of my Late Shaheed Chamkaur Singh Dala. It may seem like we aren’t that religious, but you are wrong. One of the reason I love my husband is because how passionate he is about Sikhi. And being a martyr’s niece, I have the same passion like mama ji (mom’s brother). I also want this legacy to live on. I’m so gratified to be known as his niece. Both my husband and I are willing to anything for Sikhi. I guess time will tell us what exactly we will do.

 [my favorite picture of my mama ji and mami ji (uncle & aunty) and me in Agra, India.] 

 [Picture of them during the 1984 Golden Temple Attack. (Sikh genocide basically...)] 

8.       Start a family. The Ghuman family. I want to have kids by the age of 30. I want to be a young mom and be able to as much as I can with them. My husband only wants two kids but I want four, just like me and my siblings…so I guess this is yet to be determined.

9.       Make an impact on our parent’s life. I believe no matter where life takes you, you need to thank the parents that brought you into this life. I want to give back to my parents that have done so much for me. Same thing with my husband, I know he wants to give back to his mother that has done so much for him. It don’t have to be materialist; a gesture of kindness.

10.   Remarry the love of my life again! Either 25^th or 50^th anniversary I want to remarry my husband. Redo the wedding celebrations, the fun, and the excitement. I know most of you may think… how you know you will still be married to him. Well, I have a gut feeling our love will only get stronger with time. (wink)

 [+Manpal Singh  and I on our wedding day =]

 

So this is what I want for the coming years. I know some may take more time than other but I’m willing to take my time in making it happen. I’ve already done the topically bucket list, like get a tattoo, road trips, and party until 6am. I’ll probably do those again with my husband. Maybe add a few more goals later on. Who knows…?

Happy New Years! 2014! The year of the Horse!

Wine Tasting at the Galleria

White or Red Wine?

Over the weekend, we went to a mini wine tasting at Tyson Galleria Mall. A new restaurant opened up called Vino Volo. After a week of craziness, this was perfect. We sat at the bar and took a look at the menu. The menu was clipboard to a wooden cutting board; simple and cute. There is a set of three wines in each tasting. The catchy and creative names made it hard to pick. I got the Fireplace Red and my husband got the Winter Whites. The waiter was polite and knowledgeable about wines.

Alongside our wine, I got a salmon dish and bowl of almond. I have to admit the almonds were delicious! The unique blend of herbs went amazing with the wines. I liked the salmon dish as well. My husband doesn't eat fish so I can't say we both enjoyed it. We sat there for couple of hours just talking... about life & business of course. The atmosphere was so relaxing. All you needed was a fireplace and it would be perfect! 

We had a slight buzz going on from the wine. We decided to go home and make it a movie night. Looking through our list of option, we picked The Butler. Wonderful choice. It really makes you understand and feel what it was like to be an African American during those times. The difficulties they faced constantly. Not being able to look a white man in the eye or stand for what you believe is right. It was also interesting to see that not every African American was for the movement, Freedom Fighters or Black Panther. Also to realize that this wasn't too long ago. And now we have an African American President. Amazing how times have changed yet there are still people that are racist.

Great way to end the night, with great wine and an amazing movie. 

Lasers! Lasers! Lasers!

The Age of Lasers

Lasers, it seems like everything you want done can be done by a laser. Lasers offer variety of skincare treatments. For example: optical procedures, hair removal, spider veins treatment, skin resurfacing treatments, and more treatments are being introduced. However, the thing with laser are you have to very careful and know what you are doing.

When you pick out an office/med spa ask questions. ALOTS of them!

• Are they licensed? [Most states require laser tech to be at least esthetician if not master esthetician or physician. There are some exception to this depending on practice, a physician may allow experienced medical staff to perform procedure. Again its depends on state and practice] 
• Where they got their training?
•  How long have they been doing the treatment/procedure?  
• What are the side-effects?
• Is my skin type suitable for the procedure/treatment?  (Take note: Dark skin type need to be extra careful with this! Because most lasers are not for skin type four and up. Check what Fitzpatrick scale is your skin type. However new technology does allow procedure to be perform on darker skin type.)
• Is there any medication to avoid pre and post treatment? [Some procedure may require you to discontinue any medication that makes you photo sensitive. Ask you technician and review your medication with them]

These are just some of the basic questions. Depending on the treatment being performed, there are other questions you may ask.

This is a Fitzpatrick Scale below. It allows laser techs and estheticians to classify skin type. Ethnicity also is something the laser tech has to consider. For example, I have Indian origins but my face color is much little than a topically Indian, so the technician is going to factor in my ethnicity. My ethnicity is what determines how my skin will response to the laser. I am a skin type 4.   

Forever Young... I wana be young forever! (Jay-z Song)

Prevent Yourself from Aging

We all want to be young forever, but are you really working towards being young forever? We stop producing collagen as early as the age of 18! Collagen is what gives us the firmness and the youthful appearance to our skin. If you follow my jewelry page on Facebook Lishkara Beauty , there was a trivia question about collagen.

The only pure form of collagen you can get is from a placenta, that's if you are a female that recently give birth Placenta was the topic on a recent Keeping up with the Kardashians episode, the sisters wanted to feed the family a placenta. EW! You do not eat it! You storage it until you need it and get it injected into the area you want. I know what I am doing with my placenta when I have a baby =) 

If the placenta is not an option for you there are other ways to delay the process of aging. You may not get the purest form but there are plenty of products that are very close to it. (which I will mention in later blogs... =] so stay tune)

Wear SPF! YES this will help you delay the process of aging. No more sun bathing and lathering on baby oil (That's BASICALLY ASKING FOR SKIN CANCER!) Wear SPF no matter if you are inside the office or the beach, it's a MUST! Also make you have a good mixture of chemical SPF and physical SPF. Chemical SPF will absorb the sun rays and physically blocks/deflects sun rays.

The ingredients for physical blocks are:

• Titanium dioxide (TiO2) 
• Zinc oxide (ZnO).

For chemical block ingredients are:

• Octylcrylene
• Avobenzone
• Octinoxate
• Octisalate
• Oxybenzone
• Homosalate
• Helioplex.

So be an educated consumer! Also recently the FDA has passed a law that sunscreens cannot be label more than 50. So when you see SPF 75 or 100, just know its false advertisement. Look for SPF of 50 and PA+. PA means the protection grade from UVA rays, more the plus signs the better. 

Your diet is another major part of the aging process. Try to stay away from GMO products and smoking. Incorporate natural ingredients, and local raised meat. I know it is hard with our busy lifestyles; but not only will you look good later, you will feel energetic and be fit! Avoid smoking. Period! Smoking defiantly speeds up the aging process! Instead drink more water! Eat fruits and veggies! You can do it! Drinking alcohol is another factor that will speed it up. Red Wine is good once in a while (I'm defiantly a wine lover 0=), but excessive hard alcohol drinking will damage your liver... and face.

 OK, that was good overview of how to prevent aging for now. Later I will post products that help keep your youthful appearances last longer.

  

Once upon a time... it all started...

Introduction to my life!

 Hello! Hi! & Sat Sri Akal! Yes I am a Sikh-Punjabi Medical Aesthetician. I have been born and raised in Virginia, USA!

I have not always like skincare or beauty but little did I know that I would be writing a blog because I am so passionate about it!

Junior year in high school, I started attending Monroe Technology Center in Leesburg, VA for Cosmetology Classes. I had a great teacher that I will never forget, Mrs. Dee Edmond. (RIP she has passed away this summer of 2013 fighting Breast Cancer) Not only was she a big part of my change in personality but appearance too, setting my foundation in the world of beauty.

After finishing and getting my cosmetology license, I realized that I have more of a passion for skin. I went to a local aesthetic school where I completed my basic and master aesthetic course. I attend all skincare, laser, and training seminars that were available to me to get all the knowledge I could about skin. Kept up to date with the latest technology and ingredients for proper skincare as they are important in this field

 Me! Back in 2007

There you go! That is a glimpse of my background! I will post more about me later. However I will be focusing on skincare products, makeup, laser, technology, and anything else that is related to the beauty field! And of course about my crazy fun Punjabi married life!!