Birthday, presents, friends and turning 24.

My birthday's a good three weeks ago and I'm only writing my birthday post now. Priorities are now placed on pewdiepie's The Last Of Us and Outlast videos, hence I barely have time for blogging. I really am addicted to pewdiepie's videos. He's extremely hilarious, especially when he's scared while playing the game. HAHAHA. I seriously cannot stop laughing when watching his videos!! :D

 

Anyway, continuing with the post...

 

I'm officially 24 and I don't like how fast my twenties are zooming past. I thought I just turned 20?!?! I don't know what happened to time, but I certainly don't want to be 30 that soon. :((

 

This year's birthday was a great one! I thank all my friends and colleagues and boyfriend and family for the simple yet very very very rewarding celebrations. :)

 

Presents presents! I have to thank Ong, Kokky, Konkon and Eve for the Juicy Couture perfume. This smells FABULOUS and even have praline as one of the base tones. DELICIOUS SMELLING.

 

Lily gave me Real Techniques brushes. I wanted them since forever, but didn't want to spend so much on brushes, so thanks Lily for the amazing present! I have been using the expert face brush RELIGIOUSLY because it's simply amazing. Review on the brushes coming soon!

 

My supervisor gave me Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker! It's not what I will normally reach out for, but I'm glad she gave this to me because I'm slowly getting used and liking the smell! Yay new perfume territories! 

Another of my colleague drew this for me!!! Such amazing talent!! I'm definitely going to frame this up.

Thanks to my colleagues for the surprise birthday celebration! Four cake flavours to munch on! :D

Met up with the MTV gang on my birthday too and we went to Five & Dime. I LOVE LOVE the mentaiko pasta. I want it NOW.

These people so nice, surprised me with Twelve Cupcakes cupcakes. :')

The legendary mentaiko pasta!!!! This was so good and I was so sad when I was finishing the plate of awesomeness. Definitely must come back for this!

YAY thanks guys! :')

We walked to Magnum pop-up store after our dinner and had a bad experience. Extremely rude waiter, BLEH.

Kengyang got me an external charger (HUAT AH) and a Bershka shorts, which I already posted in one of the earlier posts. :) He brought me to SEA Aquarium too. Heehee great experience but wtf so many tourists. It's like taking a train during peak hour, but instead of being in the tunnel, you are in an aquarium with all the fishes laughing at us.

Anyway, Kengyang and I found this affordable restaurant opposite Beauty World that served surprisingly yummy food! We went in with no expectations whatsoever, and was quite pleasantly surprised by the quality of food! I really hope this restaurant can withstand the competition from Al Azhar. So many restaurants have opened and then closed months later simply because no one wants to give new restaurants there a try!

Kokky, Ong, Konkon and I went to Saigon Lotus and wow I love the Beef Pho. Such a mega huge serving for quite an alright price (S$11 I think?).

I met up with Junyi, Lily and Weijie (finally) and we had a great dinner at Burger Shack. They always serve good food and that's the reason why I keep going back. Look at the huge chicken chop!!! This wasn't even close to S$9!!!

Of course had to complete the meal with some Island Creamery goodness. HEH.

Kengyang and I are on a mission to hunt for delicious hawker food and we went to ABC Brickworks Food & Market Centre last week. We had an alright claypot rice for dinner but the highlight was this Taiwanese dessert. It's much cheaper than Black Ball and it was so much more delicious!! Please get your Taiwanese dessert fix here! No need to spend so much money anymore!!

My boss treated us to Japanese food last week. First time ordering in Japanese food and I must say Sakae Sushi serves better food when it's an online order. :S Every single time I visit Sakae Sushi, I always leave underwhelmed by the mediocre sushis. However, this online order came fresh and delicious!



I feel like this is such a messy post. Gonna get back to reviews proper soon! :D

Have a great week guys! :)

Taobao September 2013 Haul

Here we go again. HEHEHEHE.

 

Yes, this will be my only taobao haul for this month. All the below products for only S$26! Of course the price is before shipping charges and agent fee. But I think even with all those extra charges, the total cost for all 6 items will not go beyond S$40. YAY! :)

 

I realised my taobao haul posts haven't been helpful at all, so from this post onwards, I'm including the links to where I got my items from! Do take note that sometimes the items are taken down quite quickly or the online shop is shut down.

 

First up, this pretty blue ankle boots (S$6.56 with domestic shipping)! I have been wanting this pair since March and I finally bought it because the price went down significantly as this was an old design. YAY.

 

Link: http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.1.w5643950-3521950334.21.0xfqth&id=21926367026 

Two sunglasses because I need new sunglasses (S$5.36 for both with domestic shipping). :D

Link: http://shop100449184.taobao.com/?spm=2013.1.1000126.d3.gza3yS

The following three tops are bought from the same shop. I always like to bulk purchase from one shop because then the domestic shipping is cheaper. Certain shops give free domestic shipping for bulk purchases too!

The three tops shared a domestic shipping cost of approximately S$2.16.

Sweater (S$4.95): http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.1.w1028-3399564262.17.oecveN&id=19644870416

Striped top (S$3.23): http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.1.w1028-3399564257.21.oecveN&id=19740797044

Daisy denim top (S$4.73): http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.1.w1028-3516134281.11.oecveN&id=22243911194

I chose Economy Air shipping from Shanghai this time because all shops were nearer to Shanghai! Yay! Can't wait for all of them to arrive!! :D

Review: forme Acne Care Medical Pack for Strawberry Nose

Blackheads. No one really wants them. Personally, I HATE blackheads. No matter how clear or smooth your skin is, if you have a farm of blackheads on your nose, you still look like you couldn't care less about your skin. Unless you converse with people by standing very far apart from each other lah, if not it's really sickening when you are very near to someone and then start to worry about how terrible your blackhead situation is.

My blackhead removal procedure is quite .... painful. First, I will use the ever-popular nose strips from Biore, and then after admiring the gunk that was pulled out, I proceed with squeezing out additional stubborn blackheads using clean tissue papers. It's really very very painful and usually after a good cleansing, the skin around my nose area will start peeling. BLEH. Of course, the way I remove blackheads is not the correct way and it's super damaging for my pores - which is why I'm trying to use less crazy ways of removing them.

So, I was really intrigued when I saw the forme Acne Care Medical Pack for Strawberry Nose in a random Japanese drugstore. Just use daily and you will see a reduction of blackheads? Also, it was ranked the 3rd best product by consumers! CONFIRM MUST BUY RIGHT?!

So I did.

The forme Acne Care Medical Pack for Strawberry Nose retails for 987 yen, with tax included, which is roughly around S$11-S$12.

To be frank, I wasn't expecting anything miraculous to happen after using this product. Less expectations, less disappointment!

However, the forme Acne Care Medical Pack for Strawberry Nose is proving its worth!

Packaging: Honestly, the first thing that caught my attention was the packaging. So cute lah! The product itself is packaged minimalistically - a rather huge contrast with the product insert. I think it's quite clever! Capture the consumers' attention by huge contented face and large pink stuff first, then make the consumers intrigued by the professional-looking product.

Directions: Everything was in Japanese and I was lost, so I turned to everyone's best friend, Google, to find out how exactly to use this product. It's quite simple. After you are done with your cleansing routine, just massage a tiny bit of the product on yout nose for 30 seconds, and then wash away.

Consistency: It's like a transparent Cetaphil. If you have used the highly raved gentle cleanser before, you will know what I'm talking about. The consistency of the forme Acne Care Medical Pack for Strawberry Nose is quite pleasant; like applying a liquid gel mask on your nose. When you massage the product on your nose, it doesn't feel slimy or sticky. Instead, it feels like a nourishing serum!

The important question is ....

DOES IT WORK??

At first, I didn't really believe the claims that the forme Acne Care Medical Pack for Strawberry Nose has. After using it for 2 days straight, I stopped using and went back to my old ways of extracting blackheads. As expected, I went a little too crazy and the condition of my nose was way off the normal radar. I got really scared. So, I decided to give this product a try.

I'm glad I did because now my nose looks less pimply and less red. My verdict for the forme Acne Care Medical Pack for Strawberry Nose will be that if you are a person with a relatively mild blackhead situation, please don't expect this product to do magic for you. However, if you have a really bad blackhead tragedy, then the forme Acne Care Medical Pack for Strawberry Nose will make life a little bit better. My extremely sensitive and inflamed nose (with hugeeeeeee pores from all that squeezing omg NEVER AGAIN) calmed down even after only one day of product usage. Today's my fourth day of using it (I only use it during my night skincared routine) and the redness is almost completely gone, and my unsightly huge pores look less monstrous. I'm a very happy user. Want to cry already. :')

Will I buy it again? This will depend on my needs. You know how the skin condition always changes throughout your life? If I have crazy blackhead nightmares again in the future, then of course I'll purchase this again (I hope it's available in Singapore!!). If not, then I probably will not. Overall, the forme Acne Care Medical Pack for Strawberry Nose really works if you have a bad blackhead situation to start with!

Of outfits and Johnny Depp

It has been a rough couple of weeks. I'm not talking about work, family or love, but more on my mental stability. Things went pretty cray cray because of how my mind rationalised things when it's wonky.

 

To be really honest, it's because of a weak mental stability. I worry too much, think too much and blame myself too much. A tiny dosage of that is great for success, but an excessive amount is unhealthy. I admit that I have a psychological problem that is slowly devouring my sanity. What Kengyang said was true though - I need to occupy myself more at home and I need to get rid of people who make me feel terribly bad about myself.

 

I have been working on that these past couple of weeks and I'm slowly getting back to normal now. Nobody knows about this bug in me except for Kengyang because I simply don't want to let people know. But I realised that if I hide everything to myself, it's slowly going to affect my relationships with other people. Sad being a sad kid/adult.

 

It gets a bit extreme. Now I can type everything out nonchalantly because I'm over this round of viciousness. But, I know another round is coming, I just don't know when.

 

Anyway, extreme like - when people don't reply my whatsapp/sms, I will first hate the person for doing that, then it will slowly evolve into self-blame (people hate me so they don't reply me), and then it will take over me entirely for that night and I will cry myself to sleep (occasionally with shaking fingers). You may think I'm being too overdramatic in terms of my description, but no, that's just a normal thing that I go through whenever the bug hits me. Something so small and easily reasoned out (the person is sleeping/the person is in the toilet/the person is busy so cannot reply) can escalate into something so irrational and disgusting.

 

It's a painful process, but I'm getting it less and less these days. That's an improvement right? I don't want to rely on anti-depressants so I normally just cry to sleep when needed. That's also an improvement right? But ohmygawd the puffy eyes that I get the day after is no joke. D:

 

Sorry for ranting so much about my strange mind. I feel slightly better typing this down. Let's work into making this craziness go away! Anyone with the same mental problem also? Can you please tell me how to slowly make this go away? It's so easy when people say, "aiyah just don't think so much loh!" or "drink tea/eat chocolate can already", but no it's not that simple okay.

 

OKAY LET'S MOVE ON TO OUTFITS. HAHA.

 

Freaking IN LOVE with my H&M Johnny Depp tanktop. I want to wear it EVERYDAY.

 

Blazer: Cotton On

Tank: H&M

Jeans: New Future

Bag: Qoo10

Shoes: FEP

 

That single day when I went crazy and had this combination on my legs. I now cringe at it, but aiyah what to do, I really love my Pokemon socks.

Leggings: Taobao
Socks: Pokemon Centre
Boots: Cotton On

Ah, pretty pastel glittery nails! Rediscovered my Innisfree nailpolishes and fell in love all over again! :D

Kengyang and I chillaxing at the S.E.A. Aquarium after squeezing with n number of tourists.

My outfit for my birthday celebration at S.E.A. Aquarium! It was a blazing hot day and a flowy top + shorts combo is a must!

Top: Forever 21
Shorts: Forever 21
Necklace + Bag: Qoo10
Platform sandals: Taobao

Kengyang bought me this pair of lace denim shorts! YAY! :) It was originally S$75.90, but was on sale for S$19.90. SCORE! It's a bit short at the sides but I'm wearing it low-waisted to prevent accidental indecency ahaha.

Jeans makes me look fat :( But jeans are comfy so WHATEVER.

Top: Forever 21
Jeans: Uniqlo
Shoes: Cotton On
Bag: Qoo10

Denim top (inner): Uniqlo
Stripe sweater: Gu Japan
Shorts: Forever 21
Boots: Cotton On
Bag: Qoo10

I think I need to cut my hair soon. My fringe is so long, it's tickling every part of my face every time a slight wind is present. Major irritating.

Yes I'm repeating outfits. HAHAHA. I still remember in year 1, Wang and I had a pact to not repeat clothes at all for an entire semester. We both passed  but now I think it's a bit silly because I would want to rewear my favourite clothes right??

YAYYYY pretty bracelets from Taobao have arrived!! They are all kind of filmsy but I think I can turn them into necklaces if the bracelets break! YAY #harrypotter #hungergames FOREVER. :D

Have a great week ahead guys!! :))

Hormonal Acne

The last time I had clear skin was in 2010. Yes, it has been that long. Usually, it's always a pimple here and there, but last year I had a massive breakout because of one very fail product. Luckily, I managed to survive that massive breakout and my skin was relatively clear for a while.

Now, I have tiny spots all around my mouth area and my chin. They are just tiny spots, but sometimes some of them will turn into painful cystic acne. :(

The thing that frustrates me the most is whenever I apply concealer to at least look presentable, it makes the spots stand out more. Many of you will wonder why I'm still using makeup when I have acne problems. Well, many of you have the misconception that applying makeup will guarantee the production of more spots and pimples. That is generally untrue because makeup products have advanced so much in the recent years. Now beauty users have the option to use oil-free and non-comodegenic products that do not exacerbate the acne situation, but can still conceal the redness.

After many days of googling, I realise I have hormonal acne. It's not a good thing though because this means whatever impurities that exist on my skin cannot be solved by using acne-clearing or acne-preventing products. Those products only work on the surface and cannot work on hormonal imbalance - the main cause of hormonal acne.

Getting hormonal acne is not funny AT ALL because it's more difficult to get rid of. You need to restore the balance in your hormone system and that's more easy said than done.

I reviewed my current lifestyle and finally understood why I'm getting this terrible hormonal acne:

• I drink way too much coffee (sometimes 3 servings a day!)
• I sometimes munch on too much nuts and drink too much soy milk (which apparently can throw your hormones off the radar)
• I eat processed food way too often (instant noodles, instant pastas, instant whatever)
• I don't sleep very much.
• I'm easily stressed and I have low self-esteem, which adds to the stress factor.
• I don't change my bedsheet very often.
• I have stopped take evening primrose oil pills and other supposedly good-for-your-skin supplements.
• I live in a country where hot weather is a daily occurence and I go out or come home during peak hours - more toxins in the air from cars, trucks, buses, etc etc etc.
• I have a weird problem with vegetable and fruits. When I want to eat them, I eat them in excess. When I don't want to eat them, I don't eat them at all.

It's a terrible lifestyle, and I'm determined to change it so that this stupid hormonal acne will disappear.

I have decided to cut on my coffee intake. 3 servings a day is bonkers and so I will cut to 1 serving a day, and then replace the other 2 servings with green tea (which is supposed to be good for your skin and overall well-being).

I have decided to cut on the nuts and soy milk. The thing is I cannot drink normal cow milk because my skin does not like it at all (BAM a pimple after I consume normal milk, no joke at all). Hence, I drink soy milk to replace it, but it seems like I'm over-consuming haha. It's time to consume soy milk maybe like twice a week. Also, good bye nuts for the time being! Time for a regular intake of vegetables and fruits!

Sleeping sounds easy but it's not so easy at the beginning. I'm trying to sleep more nowadays. 11pm is my bedtime and I sleep for around 7-8 hours, which should be sufficient. So that's one change done.

I'm going to change my bedsheet tonight. LOL.

It's time to go back to EPO pills and multi-vitamin pills. They are expensive, yes, but I guess they are an investment to a happier me. So why not? EPO pills are magical, to be honest. In the 6 months that I consumed EPO pills last year, I had zero menses cramps. Excellento.

I can't change the environment that I live in, so maybe I will try to remove my makeup and the impurities as soon as I reach home. Maybe I need to sweep and mop my floor more frequently. My room is really dusty ah, I don't know why!

I hope my hormonal acne clears up soon. I'm not expecting overnight miracles but I hope it will go away in a couple of months' time. Before then, I'm sorry if you cannot take the acne around my mouth area. I know it's very ugly but just ignore them okay? :(

Please go away acne!!

Review: SHISEIDO INTEGRATE Cat Wink Black Eyeliner Limited Kit

If you are a regular reader, you will know my obsession with eyeliners (and mascaras...and concealers...and neutral eye palettes...and I have a problem I know). I was very excited about my Japan trip because Japanese cosmetic brands are supposedly really good at producing high-quality eyeliners at affordable prices! 

I saw this SHISEIDO INTEGRATE Cat Wink Black Eyeliner Limited Kit at a random drugstore and I knew I had to get it because wah two for the price of one! Moreover, it's not two of the same eyeliner but two different types of eyeliners! I remembered that it was the first thing that I saw in the store and also the first thing that I put in my basket. Heh. 

I can't recall how much these were, but it's not very expensive, maybe at most 1200Yen (~S$15)? 

So did the SHISEIDO INTEGRATE Cat Wink Black Eyeliner Limited Kit live up to expectation?

My final verdict is one did better than the other. Much better. Maybe that's why they were packed together - nobody wanted the not-so-good one. :( 

The SHISEIDO INTEGRATE Cat Wink Black Eyeliner Limited Kit contains two eyeliners:

1. Cat Look Liquid Liner in BK999
2. Wink Gel Liner in BK999

When we talk about gel liners, the first thing that comes to mind usually is the circular pot of product. However, the Shiseido Integrate Wink Gel Liner comes in a pencil form. Dissonance is happening in my head, but I will try to open my horizon haha.

The slogan for this is "Rich and smooth!", which I agree wholeheartedly.

The Shiseido Integrate Cat Look Liquid Liner comes in the normal pen-like packaging, which I adore. The felt-tip brush really makes it much easier to apply and you get so much control out of it.

I'm guessing this is specially made for the sharp cat-eye look. Score for me because there's nothing I love more than a cat-eye eyeliner look. :D

So how did the SHISEIDO INTEGRATE Cat Wink Black Eyeliner Limited Kit fare?

Pigmentation: Both eyeliners are really intense in their pigmentation. No joking around here. You want the blackest of black, I will give you the blackest of black. Full marks for both eyeliners!

Application: The Cat Look Liquid Liner triumphs slightly in this department because it's hassle-free and very smooth. The Wink Gel Liner is okay but sometimes when you go back for a second application, the gel liner stick scrapes the first application away and you get ugly fallouts and an uneven application.

Swatches taken with camera flash

Swatches taken under normal lighting

Swatches after one normal swipe

Swatches after one normal swipe under running tap water

Smudgeproof? The Cat Look Liquid Liner definitely did better here than the Wink Gel Liner. I think part of the reason why the latter did worse is because it takes a longer time to dry and settle. The Cat Look Liquid Liner dried within seconds and a normal swipe didn't budge it at all. The Wink Gel Liner, on the other hand, failed after the first swiping attempt.

Waterproof? Both are not waterproof. If you want to really pinpoint a winner, then the Wink Gel Liner performed better. I'm a little bit saddened by the fact that they are not waterproof but ohwell this means I can only wear them for long days in an air-conditioned room.

Longevity: I have yet to try this on my eyelids, but I noticed that after around 5-6 hours, the Cat Look Liquid Liner that was swatched on my hand was still doing well, but the Wink Gel Liner started to look a little funky. Funky like I'm-going-to-disappear funky. I don't think that's due to housework/errands because I swatched them on a Saturday and I only lazed around on my bed (yikes), so why does the Wink Gel Liner fade? I guess it will be better to judge if I tried these on my eyelids. Time to whip these out for tomorrow!

Will I buy them again? As much as I love most of Japanese cosmetic products, these were a sad disappointment. The Cat Look Liquid Liner is decent but it's not waterproof! I think we have evolved into beauty users who demand waterproof eyeliners! Try living in Singapore (or other humid + hot countries) and wearing non-waterproof eyeliners - it is a NIGHTMARE.

I shall continue my journey in finding the most amazing liquid liners!

Hope this post has been insightful! Have a great week ahead guys! :D

grav3yardgirl's videos

I know, I know. I haven't been updating lately. So here's a video from grav3yardgirl, one of my favourite Youtubers. She's really loud but she's incredibly hilarious. When I first stumbled upon her video, I was quite annoyed, but then I ended up watching 20+ video at one go. ADDICTIVE! :)


Hopefully I'll be more diligent next week! :S Have a great week ahead, lovely readers!!