UEFA Super Cup 2013 Bayern vs. Chelsea 2-2 (penalty shootout 5-4)

OMG I almost had a heart attack. The entire game was intense! I was certain that Chelsea was winning again. Congratulations to Bayern for never giving up!

Mizon Snail Recovery Gel Cream Review: Real vs. Fake

First of all, I'm not gonna explain in detail why I'm not grossed out by snail extract. When it comes to skin care, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. I needed some time to get over my own fear, but there really isn't anything creepy about it. Now I can't live without snail products. I bought the real one from "Royal Wellness" on Amazon Germany for about 12 Euros (~16 US$) and the possibly fake one from "ideaseller_kr" on eBay (South Korea) for 6 US$. I'm not saying it definitely must be fake, I'm just strongly assuming. There can be fake products on Amazon too, I did receive fake Missha Perfect Cover BB Creams No. 21 and No. 23 from Amazon UK back in April. It always depends on the individual seller if the products are genuine or not.

1. Package:

From color tones to writings, the packages appear to be identical. It was very hard though to pull the silver Mizon Sticker off of the fake one (right), I had to destroy the sticker to open the carton. The real one (left) opened easily.

2. Tube:

The real one (left) has sharper edges on the top, while the fake one (right) has quite round edges and a slightly smaller tube. I have compared both tubes to photographs on www.mizon.co.kr and http://en.koreadepart.com,  realizing that the edges are in fact sharp and not round. There are also differences in colors, as the fake one has a darker pink color and the writings are darker and more visible. [Don't get confused by the big white sticker on the left tube, it's the address of the Amazon seller I bought it from.] They don't have the same caps either, but you can only tell by observing closely.

3. Texture:

Left (real) and right (fake). The texture seems to be very much the same. You can barely tell the difference by looking at and touching it. Both are made of some kind of translucent, water based gel consistency. They feel sticky at first, but absorb quickly and thoroughly, leaving no sticky or oily residue whatsoever. 

4. Scent:

The real one has a little bit of an artificial smell to it, it reminds me of glue. Some people say it smells like plastic. However, the smell disappears right after applying it, so no worries. The fake one has no particular scent, no matter how long I sniffed.

5. Effect:

I've been using the real one as the last step of my skin care routine, applying it after my cleanser, toner, serum or moisturizer and eye cream. It keeps my skin hydrated during day or night. Since I have combination skin (dry spots, oily t-zone), I can tell it works well on both, making my skin firmer and smoother than it was a few weeks ago. I mainly use it to treat breakouts and red spots. It makes fresh breakouts vanish incredibly fast (in a few hours up to 1-2days), but it also heals and brightens older scars and redness if you use it for a longer period of time. I'm not sure if it reduces wrinkles and  fine lines though, I do have fine lines around my under eye area and I haven't noticed any significant improvements. As I've received the fake one today, I can't say anything about the effects yet. Maybe I will update this in a couple of days.

Top 5 Jogi-Löw-And-Bierhoff Excuses...

...Why We Can't Win The World Cup Or European Championship (like ever):

1. "Never in the history of World Cups has a European team won in South America."

The heat, the humidity, the long distances, the whatever and whatever. Might all be true. Did we win it in our own country then? The UEFA recently decided that it'd be a great idea to host the Euro in several countries simultaneously. So what about the travelling and unequal climate conditions?? Remember the Euro in Poland & Ukraine? It was only 2 countries, but there was a lot of travelling back and forth thousands of miles. Needless to say: Best of luck with 20 hosts, UEFA! Thanks for helping Coach Löw create more excuses.

2. "Defense is important, but we stand for magical attacking football."

Personally I didn't feel like cheering, when we defeated Greece 4-2 (Euro 2012 quarter finals). Those results just didn't meet our standards. We only made it to the semi finals and then got knocked out again. A few months later, when we turned a WC qualifying game 4-0 lead against Sweden into a 4-4, I wasn't as surprised as many people were. Last week we embarassed ourselves in another friendly with Paraguay (3-3), though all the first-team regulars except for Schweinsteiger were there and played. Attacking or defending, we basically can do neither. Paraguay grabbed 3 out of 4 chances, while we scored also 3 out of 20ish (!). We didn't even win the game to hide our defense flaws. Honestly, a last minute 4-3 win still would've given me a lot to write about. At this low success rate we would score 0 goals if we got 5 chances, I'm not sorry.

3. "Bayern & Dortmund made it to the Champions League Final this year, however, half of their regulars weren't German nationals."

Seems like Barca and Real don't have any foreigners! If I remember correctly, C. Ronaldo, Mesut Özil, Karim Benzema, Raphael Varane, Marcelo, Sami Kedhira and Angel di Maria are key players of Real Madrid. Whereas FC Barcelona has Dani Alves, Alexis Sanchez, Javier Mascherano, most importantly Lionel Messi, and newly arrived Neymar. Wait a minute, those guys are not from Spain? How did Spain win 3 major trophies in a row? What else you got, Mr Bierhoff.

4. "The Spaniards have played together since childhood. Our team is still very young, their development has not ended yet."

Our U21 team won the Euro back in 2009, so it's safe to say the majority knows each other very well. I feel bad for the likes of Philipp Lahm and Miro Klose, who aren't getting any younger. Maybe we won't find a left-back and a striker like those two in another 30 years. (I can't wait that long!) A playmaker like Mesut Özil is also extremely rare in Germany. Besides, ever since Julian Draxler joined the team two years ago, no outstanding youngsters followed up. We've heard the young-team line since 2006, there is no such thing anymore. Other nations call us "the best national team that never won anything." Thanks I guess for acknowledging that? We should all be grateful being a runner-up for many years. I think it's only fair to honor Coach Löw for being the best national coach who never won anything too. Unfortunately, he won't be remembered for it.

5. "Friendly games give me the opportunity to experiment. We didn't win this game, but I gained valuable insights."

It's been 9 years, next year it's going to be a decade. Even though Löw was assistant coach in the first few years, it's been his strategies all along. We've had enough time to experiment and gain "valuable insights," it's time to take care of our flaws. We got defeated by Italy twice in major tournaments and tied once in a friendly game, nothing in the world can make up for the heartache. We need to prove that we're no longer scared of Italy and that we won't be runner-up to Spain forever. Go the extra mile and show some confidence.

Freundschaftsspiel Deutschland - Paraguay [3-3] in Kaiserslautern

Taktik 4-2-3-1: 
Neuer - Schmelzer, Hummels, Mertesacker, Lahm - Gündogan, Kedhira - Reus, Özil, Müller - Klose

Einwechslungen:
L. Bender für Gündogan (27)
Boateng für Merte (46)
Gomez für Klose (54)
Podolski für Reus (62)
Schürrle für Müller (81)
Jansen für Schmelle (81)

Positive Erkenntnisse:
- Heimvorteil + Deutschland beginnt mit Bestbesetzung
- attraktiver Offensivfußball
- keine Ausreden und Schönreden mehr für Coach Löw
- neuer Denkzettel für Coach Löw

Negative Erkenntnisse:
- schon wieder katastrophale Chancenverwertung
- trotz reiner Offensive nicht mehr Tore geschossen als der Gegner
- schon wieder ungefährlich bei Standartsituationen
- schon wieder katastrophale Defensivleistung, anfällig für jeden Konter

Heute haben wir in der ersten Halbzeit gesehen mit welcher Formation wir in Brasilien antreten könnten. Von den Namen und der individuellen Verfassung her ist es die derzeit beeindruckendste Besetzung. Coach Löw trainiert diese Mannschaft mittlerweile 9 Jahre. Bin ich dankbar, dass wir bei großen Turnieren immer mindestens das Halbfinale erreicht haben? Absolut, das können nicht viele von sich behaupten. Gehe ich davon aus, dass wir nächstes Jahr ewiger Zweiter oder Dritter bleiben werden? Absolut, man gewinnt ein Turnier nur, wenn man hinten stabil steht und seine (geringen) Chancen nutzt. Sind wir noch weiter davon entfernt einen internationalen Titel zu gewinnen als 2006? Absolut, denn da waren wir immerhin noch euphorisiert von der Heim-WM.

Bemerkung an ZDF: Wenn Katrin Müller-Hohenstein wenigstens etwas sinnvolles zu sagen hätte, dürfte sie ausnahmsweise auch mal Oliver Kahn ins Wort fallen. Ein gutes Licht wirft sie jedenfalls nicht auf uns sportbegeisterte Mädels.

That's it?

Pick-up Artist hin oder her, Mutprobe hin oder her. Vertieft in einem Telefonat mit meiner Bank, sprach mich heute ein Typ (brünett, Anfang-Mitte 20) in den Mannheimer Quadraten nach einem PUA Streetgame Schema an. Als ich ihn bat eine Sekunde zu warten, sagte er, er müsse nur rasch was loswerden, fügte ein kurzes Kompliment hinzu - auf das ich nur mit einem verblüfften Danke reagieren konnte - und haute grinsend ab. Das war alles, oder wie?

Zuerst einmal hatte ich damit gerechnet, dass man mich nach dem Weg fragen wollte. Dafür wollte ich zumindest mein Telefonat abschließen. Aber kaum hatte er seinen schlauen Spruch ausgesprochen, war er schon lachend über alle Berge. Hätte ich die Bankangestellte an der anderen Leitung abwürgen und nach seiner Nummer fragen sollen?

In solchen Fällen ist es nur hinderlich, wenn man weiß, wie ein Pick-up Artist operiert. Man kann sich nicht sicher sein, ob ein Kompliment wirklich so gemeint ist oder ob der PUA die Straße runter rennt und Nettigkeiten an alle verteilt, um sein Inner Game zu erhöhen. Aber PUA hin oder her, im Nachhinein ärgert man sich trotzdem, dass man nicht mehr aus der Situation gemacht hat. Sowas ist mir auch noch nicht passiert.