Want: Maybelline The Magnum Volum' Express Cat Eyes Mascara

I recently saw the TV advertisement for the Maybelline The Magnum Volum' Express Cat Eyes Mascara and I was HOOKED. I need it in my life and I need no justifications. I have too many mascara but having one more doesn't hurt! Having one more great one is terrific! The problem is why is it S$20.90? It's not that I can't afford it, but I can't bear to spend that amount of money on a drugstore product! If I topped up a few more dollars, I can buy a high-end mascara already! 

I really don't get drugstore pricing in Singapore. I hope they have this in Malaysia/Indonesia soon so I can purchase mine there! 

Maybelline The Magnum Volum' Express Cat Eyes Mascara, I need you in my life!!!!

I'm quite a collector when it comes to Maybelline's Volum' Express line of mascaras. I have 3 currently, The Colossal Volum' Express, The Magnum Volum' Express Waterproof and The One by One Volum' Express. I LOVE ALL OF THEM! Can't wait to get my hands on this new and exciting one. CAT EYES! :D 

Here's the TV ad that caught my attention. In the ad, they are promoting another mascara that's similar (The Colossal Volum' Express Cat Eyes). 

What do you guys think? Should I get this mascara ASAP? :D

Free Sample: CURE Natural Aqua Gel

Click the link and fill in your particulars to get your free CURE Natural Aqua Gel samples! :)

http://www.japalang.sg/cure/Free_Cure_Samples.html

Only for Singapore residents! Hooray to freebies! :)

Free Sample: Biotherm AQUA3STEP daily skincare

Just click the link and fill in your particulars to get your 3-day trial kit! :)

http://marsbiotherm.crmxs.com/?xs_app=survey&guest=fa8910_D_206&xs_survey=d9ba6d_56

YAY TO FREEBIES! :) (Sadly, this is only for those in Singapore!)

Travel essentials - light makeup edition

This is the second part of my "travel essentials" post - all about the makeup that I bring with me when I'm traveling. 

However, because of my fussiness about makeup looks, this post will only be for the products that I bring along with me for trips that require no heavy or fancy makeup looks! For those looks, I tend to bring a much bigger makeup bag filled with a lot more products haha. 

I have a lot of makeup bags, but I prefer to use a clear one during traveling just so that I can save seconds when looking for the products. It's not a lot of time, but the seconds add up! 

My current go-to traveling makeup bag is this Banila Co. one which Eve got for me from S. Korea. It's not so huge but it can contain a lot of products! Also, it's clear and it's bright orange. I'm sold. 

• Sunscreen - I always use sunscreen before my actual foundation routine. I'm paranoid of getting old and the sunlight is no longer my friend at this age!
• Concealer - MUST HAVE. Without a concealer, I think I will just stay indoors all day. 
• Two-way foundation - I always use the ZA two-way foundation. I have used more expensive powders and I still think the ZA one is the best. I will use the sponge for under-eye area, then use the everyday minerals brush for all the other parts. This way, my face will not look cakey! 

• Tinted moisturiser - I completely forgot to include this on the above photo! I will use my tinted moisturiser before concealer! I'm running out of my Laura Mercier one and I'm sad. :( 
• Blush + Bronzer - I have too many blushes and too many bronzers, but when I'm traveling, I will always bring my elf Contouring Blush & Bronzing Powder because the packaging is not bulky and I get two products in one. I always apply them with my trusted elf blush brush!

I tend to bring more eye products. haha.

• Eyeshadow base - it's my habit to use an eyeshadow base because it makes whatever eyeshadow I apply last longer and smudge-proof. 
• A good neutral eyeshadow - the one that I like is Elianto's brown eyeshadow! Enough shimmer for everyday wear! 
• A good highlight eyeshadow - I MUST blend my eyeshadow to make it look more natural, so I will always bring a skin-shade eyeshadow. 
• Trusted pencil eyeliner - Urban Decay's 24/7 in Perversion (LOVE!) 
• Trusted felt-tip eyeliner - for the winged eyeliner look that I love so so so so very much. 

I don't really bring mascaras because I will be out and about, and hence I don't want my mascara to smear, melt or just create a mess lah.

The above products are must-brings for me, no matter where I go. In my makeup bag, these products will always be present. I will only add other things and never take the above products out. If I'm going to school or just going out in Singapore, I will normally just bring out my two-way foundation out.

Should I do another post on heavy makeup edition? I'm on the fence because I will be featuring many similar items and the post will be a bit boring then. :S Do tell me if you guys want to read a post on that though!

Have a good weekend and hope the two posts have been useful for your traveling plans! :)

Travel essentials - Skincare edition

I have been getting lots of queries on the products that I bring with me during traveling, so I decided to separate the products for double "travel essentials" posts! :) This one will be for the skincare products that I bring with me! 

Traveling is quite troublesome because if you take a plane, you have to keep track of what you put in your hand-carry luggage. Any containers above 100ml will be forfeited and thrown away at the airport! Hence, it will be better to keep all the huge containers at home! Travel bottles are available everywhere for almost any brands and also you can get travel containers at Daiso! 

I bought my travel skincare bag from Qoo10 and it's really quite useful! S$5.90 only!! Here's the link for the travel mate bag: http://list.qoo10.sg/gmkt.inc/Goods/Goods.aspx?goodscode=407421277 

The Travel Mate bag is amazing and I can pack everything into one bag, and then bring the entire thing to the washroom/shower! The only negative thing is that the bag is not waterproof, so you have to hang it away from the shower head. 

There seems to be too little space for products, but don't be fooled! The second tier also has a zipped pocket!

First up are my must-have health-related products. Medicated oil, eye drops and plasters! Medicated oil is my addiction. I love the smell and sometimes I apply it for no reason. Haha. Eye drops is also a must because I tend to get irritated eyes, especially in countries with bad air quality. Plasters are...well, essentials!

My travel body care products:

• Rexona deodorant - I don't have a preference for this. Anything that can make my armpits nice-smelling and not sweaty will be great!
• Hand cream - MUST HAVE because I have really dry hands now. D: 
• Body spray - I don't have a habit of applying perfume so I rely on body sprays instead. It's lighter and haha not so expensive #woesofanundergradwithnojob
• Sun Screen - I usually apply this on my neck and my arms. 
• Roll-on perfume - This Silky Girl one is REALLY cheap (like S$5 cheap), but it works and it smells like baby powder. LOVE. 

Make-up removing essentials:

• Make up remover - To remove makeup, I use cotton pads soaked with whatever makeup remover I brought with me. I focus more on removing eye makeup at this stage. 
• Two cleansing creams, one gentle and one for acne-clearing purposes - I always use two cleansers at night after removing makeup. This is to make sure I have removed EVERYTHING. Do remember that you need to remove your sun screen/sun block too! 

Skincare products:

• Eye cream - I'm paranoid about wrinkles so I'm starting young. 
• Tea tree lotion - I apply this on areas that are more prone to breakouts. I don't bring an acne cream with me during short getaways because my skin is under control now and this tea-tree lotion is quite powerful in protecting my skin against future breakouts. 
• A good moisturiser - no matter what skin type you have, you NEED to moisturise. 
• Trusted concealer - this is more for the mornings when I need to cover up red areas but still do not want to look like I have full makeup! 

I tend to not bring a toner along with me when traveling, hence I make sure that the cleansers that I bring are pH balanced (QV or Cetaphil cleansers fit perfectly into this category!).

The products that I bring with me always change for every trip simply because I always buy new products. However, I make sure I bring all the products listed above because you really need to take care of your skin since young! Some people ignore their skincare routine when traveling and that's really a taboo in my book. You have to be responsible for your own skin!

Traveling is almost always done to wind down and get away from stressful environment, so don't let your lack of skincare protection ruin your experience! :)

Review: K-Palette 24H Real Lasting Eyeliner (1 Day Tattoo) in Super Black

The K-Palette 24H Real Lasting Eyeliner (1 Day Tattoo) in Super Black has been on my to-try list for the longest time ever. I have wanted it since it was launched in Singapore a few years back and back then the price stopped me from buying it (S$20+ for an eyeliner pen? No way!) and slowly I forgot about the existence of this product. 

Until I saw it again at BHG counters. The princessy-pink packaging caught my attention immediately and since there was a 20% off storewide for beauty products, I just grabbed it! 

The K-Palette 24H Real Lasting Eyeliner (1 Day Tattoo) in Super Black currently retails for S$19.90 at BHG and Watsons. 

Packaging: Such a cute packaging right?!?! I always thought K-Palette products were always decked in either black or red packaging, but this pink-purple bonanza is too cute! Maybe it's a special edition or collaboration special! TOO CUTE.

The K-Palette 24H Real Lasting Eyeliner (1 Day Tattoo) in Super Black promises:

• quick-drying application
• waterproof wear
• superb control and ease of drawing
• lasting and non-smudge wear

It is also indicated on the packaging that the eyeliner should NOT be used for inner eye lining (See point 6). For those who prefer a blacker eyeline, it's good to use a non-waterproof pencil/khol eyeliner because it glides more easily on the inner eye area and there is no long-lasting formula to dry the area out! 

I still prefer to not line my inner eye area if I'm wearing makeup for a long day because my eyes are quite sensitive!

Ingredients list

Brush design: Extremely fine and it has a low-medium flexibility. The brush is so fine that you can go for the thinnest of eyeliner looks to the extremely thick ones. Its flexibility is also of low-medium strength, and this is important for felt-tip eyeliners because if the brush is extremely flexible, you will need more control to prevent smearing.

Swatch taken with camera flash

Swatch taken with camera flash (one swipe of eye makeup remover)

Swatch taken with camera flash (Third swipe of eye makeup remover)

Swatch taken with camera flash (fourth swipe of eye makeup remover)

Waterproof? Yes. The K-Palette 24H Real Lasting Eyeliner (1 Day Tattoo) definitely proved to be very much waterproof. The swatch did not budge under running tap water or when I rub it with water.

Smudge-proof? Yes, provided you wait for the application to dry.

Quick-drying? It really depends on how many layers you are piling. One layer of this eyeliner instantly dries, so that's amazing. More layers will obviously mean a longer waiting time for the eyeliner to dry, but the waiting time is minimal and less than average felt-tip eyeliners and very much faster than your average liquid eyeliners.

Swatch taken with camera flash (The K-Palette 24H Real Lasting Eyeliner (1 Day Tattoo) in Super Black compared with Urban Decay 24/7 pencil in Perversion)

Pigmentation: Is it Super Black? I'm not very convinced about the proclamation of the eyeliner being of "Super Black" pigmentation. When I compare it to my Urban Decay 24/7 eye pencil in Perversion, it seems darker but that's because the K-Palette 24H Real Lasting Eyeliner (1 Day Tattoo) has a shine to it and Perversion is matte. If you look at the above photos, the swatches didn't look that black at all. Overall, Im quite disappointed with the pigmentation.

However, that doesn't mean that I'm going to completely throw it aside. The K-Palette 24H Real Lasting Eyeliner (1 Day Tattoo) does make eyeliner application much easier, especially if you want the cat-eye look. Hence, usually I will use a trusted pencil eyeliner to line my eyes first without winging it out, then I will use this eyeliner to create the winged look. Just like the photo below! :)

Longevity: Lasts a long, long, long, long, long time. Tattoo means TATTOO. I had this eyeliner applied on top of Urban Decay 24/7 Eye Pencil in Zero and the combo lasted me a crazy 16 hours. Usually, the UD alone will start to smudge 10 hours in, but with the addition of the K-Palette 24H Real Lasting Eyeliner (1 Day Tattoo), it lasted so much longer, and there's no smudging!! The above photo really looked like I just did my makeup but trust me (plus evidence from the tired and reddish eyes) this was taken at around 1130pm! AMAZING!

Will I buy it again? So far, the K-Palette 24H Real Lasting Eyeliner (1 Day Tattoo) has been quite a good companion to my other pencil eyeliners, and I use it every single day without fail. I'm quite confident that I'll buy it again just because it lasts so so long!! It disappoints in terms of pigmentation but the longevity of the product triumphs that!!

Have a good weekend everyone! :) Hope this post has been useful!

Review: The Face Shop Lemon Brightening Nail Pack

This review post is a unique one! I discovered The Face Shop Lemon Brightening Nail Pack by accident when I was loitering outside the shop while waiting for my friends to be done with their toilet business. The product intrigued me because I have never seen anything like it. Masks for your nail area? Weird but ingenius! It's also quite cheap, at S$2.90 per nail pack, so I just grabbed one to try! 

From the packaging itself, you would have already guessed what this nail pack does. It's a brilliant idea, especially for those who change nail colours so frequently. The acetone in nail polish removers is effective in removing nail polish, but at the same time, it is also extremely drying. You can say your nail polish remover has no acetone in it and it's written on the label! Well, my answer to that is you often see fruit juice labels that claim "no sugar" or "100% from fresh fruits", but we know the truth behind those labels right? 

The Face Shop Lemon Brightening Nail Pack aims to moisturise those dry nail areas. The lemon in it is also supposedly great for brightening up the areas, or reduce the appearance of blemishes at those areas. 

Well, we don't really know the truth in those claims, so let's see if they really work! 

Packaging: No fuss and extremely straightforward. From the front, you immediately know what the product does. The nail pack is divided into 2 sections and in each section you have 5 individual masks for each of your fingers. It is advised to use up all 10 at once. I tried only 5 masks (left hand first), and noticed that after 15 minutes, there were still enough liquid for the other hand. So now, one nail pack can be used twice! Hoorah! :) 

Mask texture: It's just like any of those old face masks, but now in tiny pockets. The cloth used is quite rough, but since I wasn't using it for my face, the roughness didn't bother me at all. Obviously, the nail masks were longer and bigger than what was indicated on the front packaging.

Do be very dainty when you use The Face Shop Lemon Brightening Nail Pack though. I wasn't and I immediately noticed the holes. =_=

LEFT: BEFORE NAIL PACK & RIGHT: AFTER NAIL PACK. 

Did it work? It's quite miraculous and I'm pleased to say that The Face Shop Lemon Brightening Nail Pack did actually make my nail area more hydrated than before! If you noticed in the photo above, the fine lines on the right hand just above the nails were visibly reduced! I'm quite impressed by this product!

Will I buy it again? It's an accidental find, and I'm glad I bought it. I always complain about my increasingly ageing hands and now I can add The Face Shop Lemon Brightening Nail Pack to the repertoire of products that I use to counter the ageing effects!

Do give The Face Shop Lemon Brightening Nail Pack a try and I hope you guys are as blown away as I am! :)

Hello March! Past week's WOW FANTASTIC BABY!

Dear fellow VIP blog readers, my blogpost titles are for you. :)) 

Last week has been .... sinful. I ate so much good stuff, I doubled all my exercise routines. A typical day for me last week = woke up, drank coffee, gym-ed for double the time, went to school, gorged myself silly for dinners, went home, slept. 

Yes, I skipped my lunches. =S

Last Sunday, kengyang's family invited me to have dinner with them at Jumbo Seafood Restaurant (East Coast). Kengyang very subtly told them that I didn't lou-hei at all for CNY, and so his parents ordered yu sheng! :') YAY, SO I FINALLY LOU-HEI-ED! On the last day of CNY some more! 

Ordered so many dishes, but we polished everything off! 

Monday night was Eve's birthday dinner at Standing Sushi Bar. Sashimi slices were going at 5 slices for S$3, so we went a little crazy! I had 17 slices on my own. HEEHEE.

MY 17 SLICES OF SALMON SASHIMI + SUSHI RICE. TOTAL BILL = S$12.50. (I kop-ed two slices of sashimi from the very kind Jeremy Ong hahahahaha)

Ronald introduced us to this glorious salmon head. It was NOMS NOMS NOMS. I'm not a food reviewer, so my definition of a good dish is measured in NOMS. :D 

Then Tuesday night was a gathering with the ex-MTV colleagues at Tampopo! Even though only 4 of us could make it, it was still a good catch-up! :)

Glorious, glorious tempura egg. But hor, the photo in the menu looked nicer le. :( 

I wrote a blogpost on Swedish music a few weeks ago, and the Embassy of Sweden rewarded me with some vouchers! So nice of them! And they even blu-tacked the horse figurine and the pin. CUTE! :)

Totoro obsession #1

Totoro obsession #2

They are really expensive! :(

The most worth-it ViVi that I have bought so far! :D

Beautiful lightings at Wheelock Place. I think everyone who rode the escalator and saw this immediately took out their smartphones to take a picture. Too pretty!

My favourite purchase in February 2013 - flamingo iphone case!

I got it from Qoo10 for S$7.99 (free shipping) and it came with a free screen protector! AW YEAH!

Here's the link if you want to get the case too! The phone cases are available for Samsung phones too! :) http://list.qoo10.sg/gmkt.inc/Goods/Goods.aspx?goodscode=405776339

To end of this post, here's a photo of my work for last week's Introduction to Printmaking class! :)

Have an amazing weekend guys! :)

Mr Chung's birthday celebration part 1 (Chili's at JCUBE)

My man, Mr Chung, turned 23 on 27th February. Yes, he's younger than me, but only by 6 months! I always tell people that when he was born, I was 6 months old and knew nothing but to sleep, eat and shit so technically we are the same age lah. 

But yes, he's 23 years old and this year we went to 2 new places to celebrate! We went to Chili's last Wednesday and this coming Sunday, we are going to 4 & A Half Gourmands! 

The story as to why we ended up going to Chili's is quite hilarious, now that I think of it. We originally planned to go to The Manhattan Fish Market at JCube. We reached the restaurant and was waiting in line to get seated. We were the only ones queueing and there were empty seats everywhere, however NOBODY served us. The girl at the counter definitely saw us, and she and I also had a brief eye contact. We said "excuse me" for umpteen times and still no one bothered to serve us. EXCUSE ME AH The Manhattan Fish Market, we are paying for service charge okay?! Kengyang got pissed off with the non-existent service so we changed our plans and went to Chili's instead. 

WHICH PROVED TO BE AN APPROPRIATE MOVE!

Yes, Chili's may charge higher prices, but the food is good, the service is excellent and the staff members are extremely attentive. It's definitely a place I will highly highly recommend to everyone! 

Some examples of the excellent service that we enjoyed:

1. Chili's was quite packed on the day we went, but once we appeared at the store front, a staff member immediately acknowledged our presence and told us very nicely and apologetically to sit at the waiting area first. 
2. The staff that took our order was really amazing too! He listened to our special orders and even though I was quite picky, he smiled all the way through. 
3. The food took quite some time to arrive, so this particular staff kept coming back to our table to apologise for the delay. 
4. We ordered three items, and kengyang's order came later than the others. When the first two orders arrived, the staff remembered that we had three orders and she very nicely told us that she would go and check whether the third one was ready or not. ATTENTIVE. 

Basically, it was amazing service at Chili's! 

The food was beyond delicious also. Servings are humongous and even their mashed potato was done beautifully. 

Country Fried Chicken - Too good. Mashed potato and garlic bread were stellar! 

Wings over buffalo (or simple Buffalo Wings lah) - my favourite buffalo wings to date. Tangy sauce and the chickens were still crispy! 

Crispy Honey-Chipotle Chicken Crispers - Another amazing dish. The corn was so juicy!! 

JUST GO AND EAT THERE PLEASE, JUST GO. However, go with an empty stomach because servings are HUGE!! :)

The Chili's that we went to was at JCube and here's the address:
2 Jurong East Central 1, #03-10 JCube
Singapore 609731