Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Formally Casual
Did I mention that these days I love empire cuts and wrap-tops so much? Look at this beauty! I feel a tingly, happy sensation already just looking at it! Haha! It’s available in green, blue, maroon, pink, white, and cream.
And to power up in the office, I'm loving this chica (the jacket, duh!). Put it on over a tube or nothing at all! You’ll set the office on fire! ;)
Labels: House Dressing
Monday, October 29, 2007
Maybelline’s New Shine Seduction Gloss Lipcolour
It’s official. I’m an addict. A lip gloss addict and there’s no U-turn! (Erm, even if there’s any, please don’t highlight it to me. Don’t you know? Ignorance is bliss :)
My friend was out at a L’Oréal / Maybelline warehouse sales last Friday, and she asked if I’m interested to get anything. My first reaction was “really? Please do check out the glosses for me! Pleaseeeeee?”
So ladies and gentlemen, I present you, a new member to my makeup bag…
Maybelline’s new Shine Seduction Glossy Lipcolour!
which was a total steal at RM10.00 (RP RM29.90)!
The product comes in a shiny, steel-y packaging that gives only a glimpse of the colour peeps through it, which got me really excited wanting to test it out.
Using a twist-and-apply method, the tube is supposed to deliver just the right amount of gloss for each application. The only downside with this is that you’ll need to tilt the tube upside down in order for the gloss to be released as you twist, and that, at times may cause an over-gush of gloss, leaving you with no choice but to spread it out on your lips or run the risk of wastage.
According to Maybelline’s official website, the glossy goodness is enriched with
Vitamin E and aqua-botanical extracts which keeps the lips smooth and kissably soft without giving the sticky feeling.
My verdict? No doubt the gloss is not as sticky as other glosses which I’ve tried on, but it doesn’t last (I guess that’s a standard downside with lip glosses as compared to matte lipsticks), and that also means you don’t get that super-water-shine effect; and applying on dry or chapped lips means to be prepared with obvious skin-peels on your lips half an hour after application or till the moisturiser of the gloss runs dry (euw!).
So my suggestion is to slap on a layer of lip balm to moisture your lips (daily, of possible) before applying the gloss. Any gloss, for that matter.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Shoe Craze!
Don't you just love Fridays?! It means 2 things to me, that TOMORROW is Saturday! And flats! Oh I can't get enough of flats and ballerinas, and moccasins! The well loved Kate Spade always has something pretty to offer to your sole, literally! :)
Check these babies out!
Labels: Feet, House Dressing, Shoes
Monday, October 22, 2007
6 Steps To Beautiful Skin
Here’s a reminder (for myself) to maintain a healthy skin.
I’ve been suffering from pimply, blotchy face all my life, especially when it comes to my period days; trust me when I say, it’s traumatising. OK, maybe that’s an overstatement, because you kinda learn to live with it as time goes, besides it’s not all too serious till I have to seek medical help.
But undeniably, it’ll be really nice to not have to worry about my face and spend tons of money in buying lotions and creams and ointments just to try-and-error on my skin (which I think it’s really taxing to the face!)
So I figured what slaps on your face is not as important as what goes into your mouth down the tummy.
1. Yup. Eating right is almost the only way to go with gorgeous skin, sadly. What you really need is a balance diet but cash in on foods that offer benefits of anti-aging like fruits (berries), greens (beans), nuts (hazelnuts and walnuts), dried fruits (non-sweetened. Sugar is BADDD), spices (this shouldn’t be too difficult nor bad as we Asians are used to herbs and spices in our food and herbal drinks), and cereals (not necessary cornflakes every morning. You can add/substitute your white rice which offers no nutrition anyway with unpolished brown rice. Alternately, you may add barley, beans, sesame etc into your white rice too)
2. Protection from the sun! I hate to mention this but there’s no other way than to slap on the sunscreen and avoid spending time in the sun too much. Harmful rays of the sun damage your skin and make it rough and wrinkly way before time.
3. Do not smoke - so bad for your skin PLUS it damages your lungs! (If you don’t smoke, you only have 5 tips to keep!)
4. Take antioxidants (berries, beans, nuts) to fight the free radicals in your body - the reason that causes aging. Certain vitamins and minerals like Omega-3 are important to maintain healthy and supple skin.
I’m taking cod liver oil now, and I actually do see improvement on my face - breakouts are under control (esp during pre-period days), pimples dry out fast without growing into some full-grown monstrous uh, pimple, and no patches of red skins, till now (it has been half a month since I started on cod liver oil, 2 capsules per day).
*Do check with your gynae about consuming fish oil if you are pregnant.
5. And my most dreadful tip - EXERCISE. Apparently the best type of exercise is about 30 minutes of light aerobics, walking, or swimming. If done daily, it’ll greatly improve your energy level and help your body feel younger.
Actually, staying in my current apartment which is 3 floors up does help! Seriously! My thighs and buttocks are ACTUALLY firmer and toner. So imagine you actually keep to an exercise routine, how great you’ll look!
6. Finally, get enough and quality sleep every night. This could be a very difficult tip to keep for many of us as our lives are just so busy! Sleep? What sleep? But unfortunately, if you want great skin, then you gotta reassess your schedules and make quality sleep your top priority.
Credit: The above steps/tips are collected from various websites through the net. You may google and map out tips that are relevant to your own lifestyle instead.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Wear Pants. And Still Look Like A Girl!
I’m a little slow with trends and stuff, but lately I kinda heart those mini dresses that you wear over a pair of skinny jeans or pants or dark stockings! I find them so versatile, comfy (no accident butt-crack flashing!), and feminine! You can either wear it with a wide belt hung low on your waist, or none altogether, it’s still so chic and clean. I like “clean” looks.
I’ve bought 2 such tops - one grey T-shirt from Yishon (with a real cool retro print!) and the other sweater-like from Zara that suits both work and play (will post pictures soon. Camera kaput-ed -_-)
Anyway, here’s one that shouts retro-groovy baby!!!
Labels: House Dressing
Friday, October 12, 2007
Before Nine's Virgin Tag
Here’s the mentioned tag from Beautyholics Anonymous. I’m supposed to copy the whole list (below) and add my own shopping tip to the bottom and pass it on.
~ Start copy ~
1. Wear comfy clothing when you’re shopping. You don’t wanna fuss with too many laces and buttons when you’re trying clothes on. http://rinnah-marketplace.blogspot.com/
2. When buying pants or jeans, try to try them on with a pair of heels so you know its the right length. If you don’t and wear it with heels later, you might find that it hangs at an awkward length. http://www.all-aboutshopping.com/
3. When shopping for makeup, do avoid using the makeup testers on your face. I know this is difficult, especially when you're looking for foundation (the tone is best selected when tested on your jawline), but drugstore brands like Maybelline, Loreal, Silkygirl, etc do not exactly have clean makeup testers, as everyone else has dug their grimy fingers on the stuff. If you want to try it on your face, I'd suggest you to take a piece of tissue, and rub the powders for a bit first, before you apply it on your face. It's a bit of a waste, but at least you don't have to worry so much about the hygiene of the testers. http://www.beautyholicsanonymous.com/
4. When out shopping, especially for clothes, do wear a strapless or silicon bra so that you can get the right feel and look if you happened to try on tubes/ gowns/ anything that bears your shoulders and/or back. http://www.before9.blogspot.com/
~ End copy ~
If you’re interested in the tag, please feel free! Just copy the above list, add your tip, and pass it on to your friends!
Thursday, October 11, 2007
A Typical Sasa Experience
Totally my bad for abandoning this blog for so long! Life’s been crazy and all over the place for the past couple of months. But now that I’ve more or less settled with my career plans, it’s about time I give my attention back to blogging!
I was reading Beautyholics Anonymous and I found myself tagged, which is cool and timely for a blog resurrection attempt. So I’ll do the tag, but before that, I’ll like to give my 2 cents here about my experience with Sasa after reading B.A’s, whose post was inspired by My Women Stuff’s experience with Sasa and Mac. It’s like a whole new tag altogether sharing about each others’ experience with the outlets!
I haven’t been too big a MAC fan, mainly because I don’t fancy the sales assistants’ loud makeup and snobbish attitude towards potential customers. So I’ll just leave that as that. Now Sasa, on the other hand, is a place where I don’t mind going into if I’m out window shopping and want to get updated with products from Japan and Korea.
My recent trip to Sasa was last weekend, over at 1 Utama. Call me jakun, but I was pleasantly surprised when I saw a range of Tigi's Bed Head/Catwalk hair AND makeup products on display.
So I was looking at the make up products (which sadly, all looked awfully un-fresh - cakey liquid foundation, eyeliners, and expired-looking lipsticks), and this sales assistant who has been tailing me the minute I stepped in, was commenting really loudly about how good the products are, in Cantonese.
“YEAH. THEY NOW HAVE MAKEUP PRODUCTS” (erm, I can see that…)
“THIS IS EYE LINER” (well, thanks for letting me know…)
“IT IS REALLY GOOD! SEE MY EYES? BLACK RIGHT?” (she meant the eye liners she’s using)
I just nodded along and agreed with her statements. She then walked away and came back with a plastic basket and thrust it into my hand.
The thing is, in my opinion, baskets should be offered to customers who are already holding products from the shop but are still browsing, which I’m sure they’ll really appreciate. But for anyone who has no intention of buying (seen by their empty hands), giving them a basket to hold on to is rather awkward. But no matter, it’s only, after all, a basket.
So I held on to the basket and continued checking out the hair product range. The same girl came standing next to me and started proclaiming how great the products are, again.
“THIS HAIR GEL VERY GOOD. HARD.”
Now, at that point, I was interested in getting a “Hard & Wet” hair gel that is capable of spiking short hair. So I proceeded to ask if there’s any from the brand.
“THIS MAKES YOUR HAIR HARD.”
“Oh. But does it give the wet look?” I asked.
She went on to literally shout across the room, consulting her colleague.
“THIS GEL GIVES WET LOOK AH?”
The answer was shouted back, “NO”
She then looked at me and said loudly, “MISS, NO!”
“OK… so do you have any gel that gives the hard and wet look?”
Same thing, shouted across the room.
“WE HAVE ANY HARD AND WET GEL?”
The answer came back negative.
“NO LAH, MISS”
-_-
I then thanked her, and proceeded to the next aisle. What happened next was rather, shocking for me.
The same sales girl, 3 minutes later, came towards me, and matter-of-factly grabbed the basket in my hand and walked away, without so much of a word or nod or any sort of body gestures. Just grab and go, as if I’ve over stayed my welcome in the shop!
I don’t know about the majority, but for me, I usually decide to purchase an item from or dine in a certain shop because I feel welcomed, and I’m treated like a human with good manners. So, looks like I won’t be back in Sasa for a long time. Not unless they start bucking up their customer service!
Labels: Gripes
