"Humanae [by Angelica Dass] is a chromatic inventory, a project that reflects on the colors beyond the borders of our codes by referencing the PANTONE� color scheme."

I'm not quite sure how I would like to interpret this particular project. On one hand, Ms Dass does a fantastic (and might I add, a rather thorough) job at highlighting that [skin] colour is nothing more than pigmentation, that diversity and variety are quintessential features to human existence. Yet I can't help but be slightly bothered about how skin colour is being tied to the Pantone colour scheme. It is almost dehumanising, especially when one notes that "[the] project's objective is to record and catalog all possible human skin tones", as if colour, and by extension the people that society have come to define them by can be treated as mere items that belong in a record.

And because I don't know what to make of this, I'll simply term it as remarkably interesting. But that doesn't do the work any justice. Hmm.

I musn't borrow other's skincare products

Having extremely sensitive skin is a grave curse, especially when the most sensitive part lies on the face. Just a few days ago, my face flared up again - this time because of some sunscreen that I had borrowed, in a bid to protect myself against the intense sunshine that characterised the 9th of August (yes, I was on duty that day, doing crowd control for NDP).

This wasn't the first time that my skin had flared up because of a product.

The earliest instance I can remember was in 2004 when I was in Shanghai. The cold cracked my skin, and the polluted air didn't make it any better. My lips swelled, though in a somewhat restrained manner.

Then there was the start of JC; it was just after the council selection camps, and I had just purchased a new face wash (Loreal - it just doesn't work for me) that I thought could serve as a perfect replacement for one of the 2 that I use (Nivea). I was wrong. Within a few washes, the skin on my face cracked, rather scarily might I add, and peeled quite dramatically.

The worst incident however would be what happened in Hong Kong in 2010. It was winter (seriously, I have a problem with dry weather), and I suspect that the lipbalm I was using was contaminated (what was worse was that it was purchased from the airport). Instead of sealing the cracks on my lips, it infected those small open wounds, leaving my face in a really sorry state - little bubbles of pus began to form and pop. Then the peeling came (it was terrible - brown flakes fell off) before everything finally faded away. I can vouch that it was the lipbalm - at the start of 2011, I had decided to try it again (albeit briefly, but it was in school), and my lips swelled. Definitely an unpleasant experience that marred my trip completely (I refused to go out much).

And now, since the 9th of August, I've been pretty much stuck at home. My lips are once more peeling, as is the skin around it. It isn't merely because of a sunburn, it is because of a photosensitive allergy. That ruined my weekend plans. Really, it did.

What's worse, it continues to peel. But that's a sign that its healing. Though its still really dry and cracked.