Nail of the week!

As I'm rushing to finish up my manicure package, I've been visiting my usual nail salon fervently! And without fail the bling lover in me will opt for glitter tip!

This week was a tone-down version with pinkish purple tip. Love how it's rather 'understated' yet sparkles.. Lol.

This design is composed of OPI's bubble bath and TINS pinkish purple glitter. ❤

Major Revamp

Did a major revamp to this site as many broken links were discovered. :( Many apologies!
Anyway, did'nt have enough time to find a nicer template or to tweak my own, so here's one thats blue and pink! Hope it looks fine! hehe..

I think I should start my blogging again! 'Been too busy' is simply an overused excuse that I've clinged on for the longest time ever....
I'm itching to blog and take part in Yumeko's weekly photo challenge, everytime I read it! Urgh! If only I was more conscientious..........

As some of you might know, I'll be relocating to Tokyo, Japan in October this year. Yes, this spells that I have only 1 month to pack, and get out of Singapore! The fear of uncertainty is definitely there, but I hope Japan will be kind to me in all ways. Especially when my Japanese is really sucky! My my....

Ok! That shall be all for now! *scrambles back to work*

I am back from the States!

I'm back! After a month long stay shuffling between the cities (NY, Philidelphia, Washington, Boston, Toronto, San Francisco)! And I must say I have gotten quite a satisfactory haul of cosmetics and skin care! :)

Here's a preview of them!

The Body Shop Candied Ginger collection!

For this Christmas, my mum gifted me with a bottle of 'dubious' looking shower gel from The Body Shop that says 'candied ginger'. Being the super ultra ginger-hater, I can't help but frown upon such a gift! Not that I'm not appreciative but I just simply hate ginger! After some coaxing from my mum, saying that ALL woman should love ginger for its wonder, I've decided to be a good girl and give it a shot.

My my my... Boy am I mistaken! This shower gel smells lovely!!!!! Love love love it! It smells nothing gingery.. Just a very minute hint of ginger's spiciness and the body was like salted Sarsi! Yes u did not read me wrong! Salt+ sarsi! Not too sure if anyone still remembers that drink. But it's a nice smell! Madly in love with it, thus this entire haul! I'm just lacking the hand cream! Haha.


3 shower gel+ 1 bubble bath+ 1 body lotion+ 1 lip balm + 1 burner oil essence = happy me!

In case you are interested, do stock up now! As there is discount in all body shops and it's limited edition! Only for Christmas!

Sephora Color Wand lip gloss

Just bought Sephora's color wand lip gloss in Hydra (the one on the left) over the weekend and it was LOVE!!!!! Its 6 mini lip glosses all in a long tube! I simply just need to bring one out and I get to change my lip gloss color 6 times!!haha.. I must say that I have always faced the problem of unable to decide what color of lip gloss to use for the day's makeup and this is simply great! 


Although it only contains 6x0.025oz, I think its sufficient for quite a while! I seriously think this is the only amount of gloss I use up before I had to toss them into the bin! I bought it at S$18, quite a good price as compared to US$10 (if you get them from the States). The glosses comes with a doe-foot applicator for each color and was attached to the bottom of the previous gloss. If only we could detach the glosses into their individual color and combine a stick of our own favorite color! 


There were 2 colors on sale at great world city's sephora (as shown in the pic) and I had such a hard time choosing between the two! Somehow I just have a feeling that I will end up getting the other pinkish tone one someday! Haha!


Now to the review of the quality:
yes, although the glosses were made in China, its non-sticky! That is simply the most important criteria for me! I simply cannot stand lip glosses that attempt to glue the lips together! :( as for the color selection, its quite alright, nothing much to rave about as there seem to be some overlaps in color and shades (just some minute difference in glitter etc). 


To take note:
The sample in sephora was in a bad shape as the glosses were leaking out of the screw-threads. I guess you'll just have to be very careful when replacing the cap after use and not allow too much excess to accumulate near the cap!

OPI-Got a date to Knight

Was lazing at home today and decide to dig out my stash of OPI and try some of the very pioneer OPI nail polishes I've ordered from the states in the very early days! and Got a Date to Knight, from the princess series were one of those that first occupied space in my now very overly populated box for OPI nail polishes. Yes, I do have quite an extensive collection of OPI nail polishes. Approximately 24 bottles as of now.. Don't ask me how do i finish or even think along that line. I just followed the protocol of 'see-like-buy'! Notice that there is no thinking step involved? :P

I usually would go for a manicure and pedicure when i see that my nails are in a very bad shape! But somehow I just don't have the motivation to visit one recently hence the lousy state of my cuticles etc! Please pardon that!

Here is how Got a Date To Knight looks! This is after 3 coats and it still look kinda sheer.. Actually, for most of the nail polishes in the Princess series, they are mainly sheer and pink and light! I guess that's because you'll seldom spot a princess with red hot nails?

For this, I have topped it up with the Canmake Gel nail polish top coat which I got when Watsons was having a 25% sale! I would never spend $17.90 (if i remember correctly) on a top coat if there were no sale. Especially a Canmake one! But since I am recently obsessed with gel-looking top coat, I knew I just had to bag this! Disappointing as it is with all 2 other self-claimed gel-like top coat (one from Daiso-EXPECTED; and another from Taiwan). It does not have the gel-look I was after! It is glossy and smooth, but isnt ALL top coats supposed to do this? In fact, the level of glossiness is one notch down from Poshe Fast dry Top Coat (my hiatus till now)!

Maquillage Face creator

For my birthday, my dearie Charrisa also gave me another item-- the Maquillage Face Creator from Shiseido! *love*

I originally have another one already (which is no. 33 of the series for natural glow). Got this when it was first released and it has been one of my staple when I see that my face is bloated like a balloon! and it really works to slim the face down especially for photos! Yes, it is an illusion, but who cares! as long as I appear to have a skinny face! I'm sure many gals out there will be nodding in agreement! hehe.. :)




now now, back to this one (no. 66 of the series for the nude look). It looks so sweet and pretty with its glittery bits all over the 5 colors! But I was once again reminded that the glittery bits you see is only at the top layer of the powder! when you swipe your brush a few times over the colors, the glittery bits will cease to exist!! and what you get is just the matte colors that you see in my comparison photo!

The face contouring effect is not as obvious as compared to the no. 33 (on the right) but it does make the whole look less made up. I would definitely recommend the no. 66 (on the left) for day time and no. 33 for night!! its a perfect match this way! no. 66 is also much easier to blend without worrying that you will look patchy and dirty! Dirty look comes from the very dark color which is the one that helps to contour the most! If you have a heavy hand at this, you will definitely look dirty at the outer rims of your face! so do beware! :)

if you are one who wears BB cream, you can jolly well skip the loose powder and jump straight into contouring with the no. 66! i've tried it this morning and it looks indeed very natural and not too powdery (as if you have a very thick makeup on!)

the blush color on no. 66 is also very sweet and shows up well on light colored skin.. :) whereas the blush on no. 33 has the orangey tone which works slightly better for darker skin color to give the rosy and suntanned glow.. :)

Shiseido white lucent concentrated brightening serum

This serum was a gift from My dearest babe, Charissa! Knowing that I'm dying to try it out so i now have one!! Couldn't wait any longer so I tried it out that very night! Yes, I am VERY impatient when it comes to skincare and cosmetics!!

First of all, I was a fan of the white lucent range especially the gel moisturizer! I finished 2 jars! No joke.. It was of a light texture, easily absorbed and made me fairer! But..sadly, it lost it's effect on me after the 2nd jar.. So I made a switch to skII.. Now that they have this CONCENTRATED serum, it tugged at my heartstrings!!! Hee.. This serum's packaging is the same as those in the white lucent range.. Crystal, pink and girly! *love* one thing to note is that it came in a squeeze tube that does not allow air tone sucked back in.. Which means that there could be whitening agents that oxidizes easily upon contact with air (for eg. Vitamin c)..I will go check out the ingredient list and confirm! The texture of this serum is indeed CONCENTRATED! Usually serums are more of a watery texture.. But this was liken to a thick cream moisturizer!I must say that this is one of the rarest texture for serum I came across!

After applying, it seems to leave a thin protective film over the face.. Giving the impression that ur skin is moisturized and make one have the tendency to skip moisturizer! So I guess this texture works well with it's light moisturizer gel in the same range! The skin also feels smoother somehow after the application. I would recommend a light moisturizer with this or simply skip one for the morning if you will be putting on a good bb cream with good moisturising property after that! This serum does not seem to have fragrance like it's gel moisturizer which I didn't mind.. My skin isn't that sensitive to added fragrances..*luckily*

 Will review on it's effect once I'm done with the tube!
 

Heme Sparkling Diamond Instant Lift & Contour Firming Night Jelly

Yes... It is a super long name! basically whatever it does is stated on it product name! haha.. This is the first time I am trying out this brand. It first started with my sister-in-law purchasing the rose moisturing night jelly and I got interested in it as well! so after spending 30mins in Watsons, I finally came home with this one!
The description on what it is capable of doing hits me exactly at the soft spot!
It's supposed to lift and contour my face! Ie. make it look smaller! Wow! Who in the right frame of mind can resist that?
After using it for a couple of times, I noticed that there isn't much contouring properties. Lifting wasn't very obviously as well. But it does keep moisture in especially if you sleep in an aircon room. But in my opinion, any other night jelly would be able to achieve this. So I guess I will not be repurchasing it!

Kose seikisho perfect cleansing oil

Finally got round to using this cleasing oil I hauled from Japan last year! I know its been ages but my stock of cosmetics and skin care just NEVER seems to finish! I mean it.. :S

Ok, back to the review for this Cleansing oil! I must say that I LOVE it!!! As compared to my usual favourite FANCL Mild Cleansing oil, this cleansing oil was much lighter (Read watery.. :P)! but it could be very well due to this texture that it was able to clean deeper into the pores! and by now you must be wondering how do I know? did I put myself under the microscope in my lab? Nooooo... because after massaging it on my skin for a while, small whitish-hardened-sebum looking stuff (aka whiteheads) started to appear on my fingers! but somehow this phenomen was only observed upon using it for the first time. Subsequently, nothing came out. This could be due to its really in depth cleansing power, resulting in removing all possible clots. Oh well, will just wait and see if I still do see any whiteheads forming!

this oil also rinses off very well! no oily residue for sure! and for that i absolutely adore it! really hate those oily film on my face..

however, there is also a drawback of this cleansing oil.. Not as perfect as it claims to be (look at its label on the bottle :P)! it seems to have some problem removing waterproof mascara! i have tried it with Kiss Me Heroine mascara and Majorlica Majorca (MM) Waterproof masacara and my lashes still feels kinda stiff after attempting to remove the MM one. It worked fine for the Heroine masacara though! This does not bother me much as I would usually use a seperate eye makeup remover for MM mascara.

Overall, I think its price is reasonable and would definitely repurchase this!

Its Celebration time!

Yes!! I've finally finished up my thesis and submitted!!!! after 4 years of hard work, sweat, tears etc.. it has all come to an end.. :)
I can still vividly remember the times where I cry over animal experiments, the late nights scares which I have etc.. all the asking 'have you finished your thesis', will also come to an end.. I am so glad I will not have to answer to this question anymore in the near future. although the defense is not over yet, but this is already a HUGE hurddle.

when i was toiling and sweating away, typing furiously at my laptop, so many freebies and samples came in!! i cant wait to try it all!!! seriously, I can now let myself loose and be a BIMBO for a good one month? haha.. before I have to start preparing for my defense!! Hope the examiners will be nice and gentle to me.. :(

In any case, am just HOORAYING non-stop in mind..hehe.. *fireworks*

Asience Nature Smooth

I was super thrilled to receive this in my mailbox few days back! Samples to try and review! Yipee~ thanks Kao! I have always wanted to try out this new range launched in Singapore in Feb this year.. They have sent me the Nature Smooth range for oily scalp and dry hair! this description fits my hair perfectly! Sadly, it used to be just oily scalp and normal hair, but after a disastrous perm, it became dry like hay.. *sob* no matter how much conditioner I let it drink, it's still the same condition. *sigh* I have tried using masks (Pantene Mask in small tube form/Essential) everyday like regular conditioners, tried all kinds of leave-on treatment, they still behave like frayed raffia strings.. :( But I think I've found a saving star! After using twice of this new shampoo and conditioner, my hair has slightly budged and become not so hay-ish! Although their scalp oil controlling property is normal.. Hair was still oily at the end of the day but am glad at the conditioning effect! Something I thought only my fav tsubaki can do..

Changi Airport Fab buy!

I can't believe I got such a good deal from the airport (Nuance-watson) recently! Was going away to Phuket for a short holiday and spotted this at terminal 1! The Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour cream was going for S$10 and with any purchase (this discounted lip protectant included), you can get the Elizabeth Arden High-shine lip gloss for S$9.90! 

I knew I just had to get them both! The lip gloss colour I chose was pink.. not too sure how it will turn out as there were no tester for this particular shade but I took the gamble nonetheless.. :) shall do a swatch for this soon! 

Heard all the raves about EA's 8hr cream so I just had to try this. It came in a metal tin (with no applicator etc) and the cream looks slightly salmon-pink colour. Not too sure how it will perform in contrast to my ALL TIME FAV LOccitane's Shea butter lip balm.. 

Actually I'm rather particular about lip balms as I have got really sensitive lip that crack at almost everything! I have tried tonnes of lip balms, ranging from medical to cosmetics and even to doctor's cream! so I cant wait to see if there is any other lip rescue products that can help with my dry and wrinkly lip! 

Pana AHA Morning Face Soap

This is another Top 10 facial wash I've bought from COSME japan at 1260yen. It is a real convenient facial wash for mornings as it self foams really well! The foam produced is fine but not as fine as the one by Matsu Yama Facial wash. The curious me went ahead to open up the bottle and was shocked to see that the liquid in the bottle was very watery, transparent and diluted looking! It just looks like normal tap water! 

This cute facial wash contains AHA for the removal of dead skin cells/toxin produced during the skin repair happening throughout the previous night. I've got to admit that this facial wash does feel a little too drying on the skin, with the squeaky clean feel. After using this I do not dare to use any other toners with AHA/BHA for fear of making my skin too sensitive! After many trial and errors, it makes a great pair with the Laneige Power Essential Skin toner. 

Although its convenient, somehow this facial wash caused breakouts in both hubby and brother! it was pretty alright for my face though. hmm.. I have absolutely no idea why.. Overall, it also did not produce any visible results for me to purchase it again..

Matsu Yama Facial wash

got this from one of my japan trip last Feb (if i remember correctly) from COSME! one of my favourite shopping haunts in Japan. This facial wash was rate top facial wash for that period of time, so being a beauty junkie, how could i resist not putting it into my shopping basket?! besides that, it was only going for 1000+ yen!

The selling point of this facial wash is that there were no addition of fragrance, no mineral oil, no coloring etc.. all natural.. it also contains some plant ingredients and stone-related ingredients (my jap is really not that fantastic..). This facial wash claims to be able to wash out dirt/sebum trapped in the pores, dead cells, waste and toxin through the absorption by its foam. I've got to admit that this does indeed lather up exceptionally well (about 1cm can produce up to a good half bowl of foam)! and the foam is really fine..which feels wonderfully soft on the skin and luxurious.. but after washing, the face feels squeaky clean!And i really meant SQUEAKY! without making my skin feel tight.. somehow I did not notice what it has done to my skin after using it for a month.. guess its just another regular facial wash with the Neutrogena-type facial wash's squeaky feel. :)

Hada Labo Tamagohada facial wash

was so surprised to see this facial wash at watsons!! I have been lemming it since i first saw it on jshoppers... but have yet to get down to purchasing it until it was spotted at watsons! it was going for $15.90 at watsons ngee ann city.. apparently watsons brought in the whole entire range, consisting of the whitening range and moisture range. i've  hauled back the entire whitening range 极白  (toner and moisturiser) and the moisturising range's 极润moisturiser from my previous trip back to japan in april..
will be reviewing these after i'm finished with my SK II whitening range.. which will take about another 2-3 months? :S


anyway, this facial wash promises to make your skin as smooth as as a hard boiled eggs' egg white.. thus the name tamagohada (tamago= egg). its quite a strong exfoliating face wash as it contains both AHA and BHA for chemical exfoliation. As most of you know, there are 2 types of exfoliation you can do to your skin. One is by mechanical methods using scrubs with beads that mechanically remove the dead skin cells. Another is by chemicals such as AHA and  BHA. Some of the toners and facial wash (especially whitening range) do contain AHA/BHA but both of them coming together in 1 product is quite rare. People with sensitive skin may not be suitable to use this as AHA and BHA may cause redness of the skin and increased sensitivity. but after using, i find that it does improve the clarity and brightness of the skin! my skin feels smooth and clean though not the squeaky clean type which i dislike. so in this case it does not strip off too much moisture from the skin. This product is also free of frangrances, mineral oil, alcohol (dehydrating for skin), and colorant. It lathers up very nicely and feels quite gentle on my skin. I seriously this is fantastic for guys as they have thicker layer of dead skin on the face, thus using a more potent exfoliating wash makes sense! 


From the ingredients list, I've spotted the addition of salicylic acid, which is good for those with acne/problematic skin. Most of the products for such skin type contains a certain amount of salicylic acid to rid pimples. 


am definitely keeping this new found baby for days where my skin looks dull and in need of through exfoliation! :)

Shiseido sale 21may2010

Went down to shiseido sale at their office today with mummy and bought back all these! Think I'll never run out of foundation for a long long time to come! 3 majorlica Majorca skin remaker foundation for $18 and a maquillage lasting powdery uv for $20! Also grabbed a za face powder for fun cos it's really too cheap($5)!

 Another of the major buy is the maquillage contrast eyes palette for $20.. But the colour is really lovely! Will do up a swatch when I finally use it.. Oh ya not forgetting my MM liquid eyeliner which only costs $7!*love* overall, they do have quite a decent spread of make up.. Most of the shades for foundation were also still available.. Only thing is that their range of skin care was disappointing! Only have 1 traveling set.. No other ranges were made available as well! Was so looking forward to my white lucent products but *sigh*

Will be reviewing some of the products real soon!

Roaming the world

it is when you are trapped at home that you miss the air out there. It is when you are confined that you'll miss freedom.

I miss the air outside the house. I miss the horribly polluted air on the roads. I miss the insanely cold air conditioned air in the shopping malls.

but I am grateful for the internet. it lets me catch a glimpse of whats out there and beyond. surfing blogs of people overseas bring me to literally to where they are and makes me miss France. I wish I could speak french, the ever romantic language. I miss Japan, the place i call home.

all these memories were triggered simply by reading Sharon Au's blog (http://negi.wordpress.com/). She is in france. the place that looks totally different above and underground. if you've been there, you will know what i mean.

I want to roam the world, slowly savor every single bit the place has to offer. I want to feel the world. am sick and tired of trying to cover as much as possible in every single city..this is not feeling the place. this is doing a tourist endorsed route march of the place! from now on i shall make it a point to connect with every new place i'm going. only then the memory will last and will be beautiful. with that, i shall start with Phuket. 2 more days and no planning was done. i'm not panicking unlike what i usually would feel. great...

roaming the world shall forever be my dream.. the one that can only take place when i'm asleep..to those who have the privilege to do so, be grateful that you are the chosen one. we all have a role to play in life and yours is to go.....

without the atmosphere and connection with the place, these 2 places look exactly the same.

<----Efiffel tower <---Tokyo tower

I see light!

yes.. the light at the end of the tunnel is calling me to its warm arms.. i see it waving lovingly at me.. i must strive.. i cant succumb to the evil temptation of the internet and surf away from my target. I need to finish my thesis.. i NEED.

anyway, just wish to share this with everyone.. I've just downloaded a new app for my iPhone and i think it RAWKS! its called 开心听.. its basically a song downloading app. after listening to the zillions songs, it will download it into the app for you so that u will be able to listen to it again even without network (3G/Wifi). there are gazillion charts where u get the latest and newest chart topping songs.. English and Chinese alike.. there are even classical and songs suitable for yoga! truly blown away by this app~ (this is not an advertorial.. so don't worry!)
shall start my review blog soon.. just simply love reviewing things.. be it cosmetics, skin care, apps, programmes, shows, movies, travel locations, food etc.. basically i'm a born critic.. (pls do not read critical. i'm a nice and sweet gal.. :P )

thought i will be free-er after the wedding.. i was wrong!

yes! we had a fantastic wedding on the 5th Dec 2009.. since then its been 76 days! time really seems to fly.. our super duper long honeymoon (literally moon cos almost a month in france and london) and CNY just flew past!!! so scary.. its now feb.. urgh.. how i wish time could standstill and let me slowly enjoy and savour every moment of all the happenings.. :)

oh well.. now that everything is over, i can no longer find excuses to get busy with things other than work.. but it seems so difficult to get the engin started! sometimes i just feel like giving up.. its so difficult.. to write thesis, do work, housework, watch tv, surf web, etc.. the bad thing is that there are simply too many things that i set out to do! and so many are still undone.. promised to do up a iphone case with diamantes (still undone), promised to finish thesis (still undone).. urgh.. the undone list goes on and on.. how i wish time could really come to a standstill.. let me finish everything! i can no longer remember the times where i had absolutely nothing on my mind and nothing to do!

but at least now my hubby has promised to be my motivation.. so am more motivated in doing work, paper, thesis etc.. i'm working on it.. :) so PLS stop asking me hows my thesis and paper whenever anyone sees me! i'm starting to get phobia of talking to ppl.. :S

on this note i shall continue to get back to my paper amendment! hope to get it done real soon and will be able to STRIKE off SOMETHING from my list.. :)

Jia you!!!!!!!!!!!

Wedding Prep

its 81 days to our wedding.. and we have been busy!
so far we've managed to engage Don-Don to be our interior designer.. from weiken.com.. he is such a nice guy..its guranteed to be fun and filled with laughter everytime we meet.. but somehow his designs are always not what i wanted it to be.. he loves bali-resort style but what i want is luxurious hotel style and what thomas wants is modern style.. so we are still in the midst of discussion.. :)

it seems that our house has amazing MANY recess areas! too many for good i must say.. so its super challenging for don-don and us to design the layout etc.. and we've just decided to use the layout of the bedroom by top designer Erin! haha.. amazingly the one i've designed was more designer-ish.. and more creative i must say.. :P nothing wrong with being satisfied with my own design right? ;p
actually i must admit that i am a super difficult customer.. hehe.. but well i've got my principles to stick to! :P i told don-don explicitly what i am looking for... keywords: luxurious hotel style, plenty of sunlight, plenty of room, a king size bed, a bathtub, a walk-in wardrobe.. and the rest i can close one eye..
but it seems that to satisfy my all my criteria, i really need to live in a hotel.. bleah.. :(

thats for the house..

will be going down to fullerton to decide on the deco theme and wedding invites today.. excited.. hope they have what i fancy! being notorious for being particular, i have to keep my fingers crossed.. :P

as or my gowns, i am so in love with michelle's design!no wonder i am paying such premium to get my gowns done at Bridal veil.. she has given me 4 designs to choose from for my wedding gown, but i am so super stuck! cant decide which one to choose! can anyone help?! am supposed to tell her which one i want by tues! urgh! and first fitting will be next week! amazing speed at which they sew the gowns! no choice i guess as my photoshoot will be on the 12 oct!

just settled the actual day wedding photography.. its going to be by kelvin of avenue 8.. his photography is not too bad and he has quite an impressive portfolio for shoots at fullerton hotel.. am in safe hands!

but somehow i am more excited about my pre-wedding photoshoot by kelvin from potraits! yes, both are kelvin.. how nice to call all my photographers kelvin.. they only have 1 name for me to remember! haha.. pure coincidence la.. i am so so so so in love with this kelvin's photos.. artistic to the max! am so going to blow up big pictures of us and fill up all empty walls of our house.. hehehe..

sweet air~

somehow the air smells sweeter when u see people in love.. newly in love, very in love or elderly in love.. somehow this warm and fuzzy feeling arises when i see old granny and grandpa hold hands..

just checked my facebook and saw my pri sch best fren got attached.. and immediately the air smells sweet! so nice to see loving couples!

somehow it makes the process of wedding prep sweeter too.. too many decisions to make at this time.. deciding which gown design to take.. how to layout the house and what style to design it in etc.. its tiring but i guess worth every single brain cell i destroy in the midst of it..