bareMinerals foundation

For a while, I have heard much ravings about using mineral foundation. Some mentioned that they do not get breakouts as compared to when they were using liquid / 2-way foundation, some raved that their skin condition became better (smoother, smaller pores) and most raved about the natural look mineral foundation provides with the benefit of buildable coverage.

So much ravings!!! Who can resist the temptation to try right??? So when I saw a mailer from Sephora stating a starter kit with a full sized foundation of our shade (with the option of getting the original / matte version), I decided to give this a go.



This set is $119 as I chose to get the matte foundation. If you are purchasing the original foundation (that gives more glow due to slight shimmer particles in the powder), it will be $115. Honestly, I find this quite a good deal as it comes with 1 dvd guide, 1 mini guide (if you r lazy to watch the dvd), 2 face brushes, 1 concealer brush, 1 trial size mineral veil (setting powder applied after the mineral foundation), 1 trial size warmth powder (looks like bronzer to me to get that healthy glow), a trial size bareMinerals Prime Time base (makeup base to be applied before the foundation) and 1 FULL size mineral foundation of my shade. Brushes are always more expensive and I get 3 of them in this??? WoOOWwww!

My thoughts about this foundation after using it:-

1) Super natural........... LOVE IT! I applied Bobbi Brown Concealer on my undereye to cover the panda eyes and then buff on the foundation. As it is buildable, I buffed in a few rounds to get to a reasonable medium coverage. Even then, I look the natural look as if I am not wearing foundation but with smaller pores and smoother skin.

2) Last very well......... Coupled with the Prime Time base (a clear gel), I did not get any shine on my usual T zone until 6 hours later (I usually need to blot once every 4 hours) and when I blot using tissue paper, I do not see the tissue paper soaking up the foundation (unlike when I was using liquid foundation & powder where the tissue turned beige)

3) Simple to use

All you need to do is just to tap some powder on the lid and using the brush to swirl around the powder, tap off the excess before buffing onto your skin in circular motion.

4) Did not oxidise

This could be due to me using the base. But then again, no oxidisation is really WOW.

Looks like this foundation is definitely here to stay in my makeup drawer... :)

Cute stuffs!!

A colleague whom I knew today did some cutesy balloon today!!





Elmo and Hello Kitty!!!! Apparently this colleague did not take any official training to pick this up and learnt it based on trial and error and seeing how certain balloon figurines were done by professionals. This is what I call PASSION.

She was kind enough to do a Hello Kitty when I just casually asked if she can do it. So generous of her! The Hello Kitty is actually a big corsage like balloon figurine which can be tied to the wrist. Damn cute!!

Let Me In

Weekend comes and it our DVD fix again! Movies are getting so expensive now that we can't afford to go once a week like before.

BC and myself are usually quite interested in vampire shows such as 'Blade' trilogy and this time round, we chose the DVD 'Let Me In' which tells the story of a 12 year old boy developing a friendship with a vampire girl who looks like his age but has been at that age for ages.

Honestlty, I find it a weird show. Weird that it is not scary nor exciting and the friendship that developed between the 2 main characters evolve to some what like a romantic relationship. There were bloody scenes typical of a vampire show but it was still acceptable and I do not see myself hiding behind my cushion most of the scene and that means it is not scary. Lol.

To a certain extent, I am not sure if the vampire child really fell for this young boy or does she just need someone who get 'food' for her eventually which is why I felt confusing about how the movie was heading. What I hate about this movie is the filming style as there were alot of closeup scenes which we could not really tell what is going on and also the whole show is always dark (which on hindsight made sense since vampire cannot come out in daylight).

I am glad we only rented a DVD to watch this show as it definitely does not warrant paying a hefty price to watch it on the big screen.

Cat loving her hat!

This video is damn cute!!

Chicken Hotpot

My bro-in-law has been a vivid fan of Chicken Hotpot as I always see him checking into this place on foursquare (what a good way to spy on people, haha!), so I have been thinking is the food really sooooo good???? Well, I finally has a chance to try this last Friday when I met my parents for dinner and WOW, it was good!!!

In case you have never tried Chicken Hotpot before, they basically have 3 types of dishes: Chicken (non spicy, mild spicy and spicy), Prawn (only spicy) and beef (cannot remember if they have the option of spicyness like chicken). How the dishes work is they are served in mini pots like below over a flame and it will always be warm. You can request for the servers to pour soup into the pot so you get a mini steamboat, nice right? Now, the best part is after you finish the food in the pot, you can get the server to replenish the soup and then you add extra ala carte dishes (ranging from $1.50 for a plate of veg to $3.50 for a plate of meat) to your soup. So you get an all new dish!!!

My parents and myself ordered a small pot of non spicy chicken and a small pot of prawns. And there were a lot of ingredients in it like cucumber and celeries in it which I totally like. After we added soup to the pot with prawns, it taste like we were having tom yum soup!!! Yum yum.



Yummy spicy prawn hotpot

The signature chicken hotpot, we had the non spicy version

The service of the staffs were very efficient. As we were queueing for a table, they already took our order and got it to the kitchen to prepare. After a short wait of about 5 - 10 minutes for our table and we got seated, our food arrived within 5 mins, how efficient is that? The staffs were always walking around to pour soup into the hotpot upon request of the customers so we do not have frustrating and unhappy customers.

Overall, this is an excellent dining experience with good food and good services, definitely a plus point. Try it if you have a chance, I think they have a branch at Novena Square 2 also.

Celebrity Couples

This is my 2nd article to CozyCot and the topic is 'Celebrity Couples'. To be honestly, I was hit with a block on this topic as I am unsure what to write about. Just a simple, short article for your reading pleasure.....

http://www.cozycot.com/article/celebrities_articles/celebrity-couples.html

Beauty Blogger of CozyCot

As some of you may be aware now, I am contributing articles to CozyCot on a monthly basis. In addition to being a Celebrity blogger for CozyCot, I am also doubling up as a Beauty Blogger to write about my limited beauty knowledge, lol.

Here us the beauty article I contributed last month which was published recently....
http://www.cozycot.com/article/beauty_articles/eyelashes-mania.html

Ramen Dining Keisuke Tokyo

After a movie at Marina Sqaure yesterday, it was about time to have a late lunch. Have heard about a number of decent japanese food eateries within Parco at Millenia Walk thus we decided to head there to take a look.

We decided to try out Ramen Dining Keisuke Tokyo as the prices seems to be most friendly (lol!!!) within $20 per pax. Interestingly, their rice bowl are quite cheap around $6 or so (which I find almost food court prices???). Of course, their size is also smaller but I find it a just nice size for me. BUT I did not eat rice bowl (although BC did) and I order their Tokyo Shouyu Ramen.

What is interesting about ordering their ramen is you can choose the following to your own preference:-
1) Flavour of soup (Light, Normal, Strong)
2) Amount of oil (None, Less, Normal, More)
3) Texture of noodles (Very hard, hard, normal, soft, very soft)
4) Onions or leeks? eggs? and something else that I cannot remember

I chose normal level for everything with less oil. However, the soup base still came a bit salty to me. Perhaps, the chicken stock base will be a better choice.

Tokyo Shouyu Ramen

Toppings for ramen: Slightly spicy beansprouts and raw chopped onions. Tried the beansprouts, was not bad.

BC ordered a minced chicken rice (that looks like Taiwan's ru rou fan) and teriyaki chicken and he likes it!!! I must try the rice the next round since it is $5 (if I remembered correctly!). Forgot to take a picture of the minced chicken rice but here is the teriyaki chicken....

Myers-Briggs Personality Type

Not sure how many of you heard about Myers-Briggs Personality Type (MBTI®)  test but I took like a few years ago when BC was working with a training company. I find it a very accurate indication of my personality and character and it really help me to understand myself better and also for BC to understand me better.

I am no expert in explaining how this works but in a nutshell, it is saying that each person can be Extravert (E) or Introvert (I); Sensing (S) or Intuitive (N); Thinking (T) or Feeling (F); Judging (J) or Perceiving (P). For details on the description of each trait, you can refer to this.

And for you guys out there who is interested to do a free assessment (rather than paying to do a much more comprehensive one on the link I attached above), you can go to this site. Don't worry about the accuracy of this test just because it is free. I done this free assessment as well and my results came out same as the one I did years ago (which is the more comprehensive version that requires payment).

Hope with this, you know yourself better. :)

Japan Earthquake

After the terrible earthquake and tsunami attack in Japan last week, many friends and people I know have been feeling down. Down that life is so fragile and not to mention the amount of casualities in this calamity. It's sad that while Japan is already facing challenges in it's economic growth, they are hit BIG TIME with this calamity. My heart goes out to those who lost their homes and now having to wait for assistance in terms of food, water and electricty. And the animals too....... It's sad to even think about how are they now......

Saw this video on Youtube about a dog who stayed by his friend....... it's really sad and I really hope that they were rescued and now housed in shelter as per stated.


For kind hearted people out there who would like to make donations to these animals in Japan, you can refer to this website. Every cent helps!!!

Those were the days.....

Singapore has evolved and change so much for the past 20-25 years that it's amazing just looking back what has became different. I still remembered when I was probably 5 or 6 years old, it is possible to see Changi Airport control tower from my parents' place. However, within a matter of 5 years or so, it became not possible as the view was soon blocked by blocks and blocks of HDB flats that the government start building.

Cost of living then was much lower. We were able to buy 3 sweets for 10cents and a bowl if noodles cost $1.50? And it came with decent amount of ingredients! We do not have air conditioned buses then and MRT were not available too. Kids played with five stones, zero point, hide and seek, unlike kids nowadays who has Xbox, PS and Wii. Life was simply much simple and we appreciate the small little things we had.

In terms of people, there were definitely much lesser and not so crowded. If we were to walk on the street of Singapore, we can see many people of different nationality: Malaysian, Indonesian, Filipino etc etc. In fact, at 1 of the dinners I had with my colleagues last month, out of 6 of us present, I was the only Singaporean! Wow!!! I wonder where had all the Singaporeans gone to....

A part of me is still stuck in time.... At a time where life is much simpler... Is this a sign of ageing? Because older people always start their comments with 'During our times......' LOL

Urban Decay Naked Palette

Based on my limited makeup knowledge, it seems that the highlight of last quarter of 2010 is the launch of Naked Palette by Urban Decay. If you are a makeup fanatic, you know this is the DIE DIE MUST HAVE eyeshadow palette of the year. From some forums that I have been following, there were some ladies who were very disappointed to not be able to get their hands on this beauty. However, I was lucky to have my makeup junkie pal who managed to snag this for me when it was available at Sephora. It has been sitting in my drawer for months before I finally break into it and start using it. The colours are so pigmented and neutral that you can be assured to be able to create multiple looks for different events (work, party, casual, formal etc etc). This is definitely my favourite palette!!! I will reach for this palette like 3 days out of 5 working days???

Not only are the colours gorgeous, the texture is fine and pigmented. The lasting power is amazing....... Using any other drugstore eyeshadows coupled with Too Faced Shadow Insurance, the most the eyeshadow can last on my oily lids is maximum 8 hours. However, Urban Decay's intense pigment coupled with the same Too Faced Shadow Insurance last a good 12 - 13 hours!!! And this is taking into account that I have oily lids. Don't believe, look at the following pic which I took 13 hours after application (sorry for the disgusting shine on my face since it is end of day).

I used Sin on the inner corner till 2/3 of the crease, Toasted on the outer corner and Darkhorse to create outer V and BLEND. Eyeliner used is Chanel Stylo Yeux Waterproof Long-lasting Eyeliner in Espresso.

I have not seen this palette available in Singapore Sephora after all of it has been grabbed and bought by the many many ladies out there but I did see postings on forum whereby ladies made their purchase online from Sephora USA. However, shipping cost can be quite high so if you are desperate to get your hands on this wonderful, amazing palette, you might want to consider organising a spree to split the shipping cost.

Update: My makeup pal, Queen of Makeup Junkie just informed me that Naked Palette is sighted at Sephora at Great World City!

Invictus

After watching 'Invictus' on blu-ray yesterday, both me and BC agreed it is a very well done film. As with all Clint Eastwood's films, it evoke much emotions and after thoughts about the film which I really like about Eastwood's films.

If you are someone who do not understand why a bunch of men can sit down and watch 22 men running after a ball on a huge field, you will understand it after watching this film. And for once, I truly understand how a sport can bring a nation together especially a nation so scarred and separated by the system of  apartheid previously. I cannot imagine the pressure on President Mandela's shoulders then when he had to forgive the ones who put him behind bars for 30 years and unite the country together in the midst of tackling other social issues like crime rates, employment and building of the economy.

Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon received multiple nominations for their roles in 'Invictus' and they truly deserve it. GO watch this show if you haven't, it can evoke so much emotions in you then you can imagine.

Glee

Not sure how many of you actually watched Glee, but if you haven't , YOU SHOULD. It's like my next favourite TV serial after 'Criminal Minds'. Erm, yes, they are of different genre but I cannot be watching psychos killing all the time right? I need music and comedy too, lol.

Anyway, for you out there who have yet to watch Glee, it's about a high school show choir preparing themselves for show choir competition. But each and every one of the members has issues of their own: sexuality, pre marital pregnancy, relationships and any other social issues that any high school students and even adults faced. Not only was the storyline close to what we faced in modern day society nowadays, the music were great. And for your information, the casts in the show DID SING all the music in the show. Just that they were pre recorded in a studio and lip sync-ed while they were filming. But man, I think they can sing, even it was pre recorded.

I did not managed to catch Season 1 consistently so it was quite a pity. Now I setting to 'Series recording' on my StarHub Hubstation to make sure that I don't miss any episodes of Glee Season 2. It's aired on Star World every Tuesday, 8.55pm. Catch it if you are interested!

Soup Restaurant

BC and I wanted to grab a late lunch last Sunday and he suggested Soup Restaurant while we were strolling in Jurong Point. He has cravings for their Samsui Chicken!!!

I love soups and Soup Restaurant does serve yummy soup (just as their name indicate) but this time round we did not order any soup as it's just the 2 of us, we might not be able to finish the food. So we ordered Samsui Chicken, Ah Gong Potato Leaves (with sambal chilli) and Claypot Beancurd.

Yummy Samsui Chicken came first, since the chicken was already pre-cooked. Just need to chop up the chicken and serve with ginger, cucumber and a plate of lettuce! I love wrapping the chicken and ginger with lettuce as the taste combination is just nice! Crunchy lettuce with soft chicken with ginger is yummy!!

Next that came up is Ah Gong Potato Leaves. We never fail to order this dish and Samsui chicken when we visit Soup Restaurant as these 2 seems to be their signature dishes. For non chilli eater, you can order Ah Ma Potato Leaves which does not have sambal chilli in it.

Next up is Claypot Beancurd and this is the first time we are trying it. It's basically braised beancurd in some seafood sauce. The sauce has a sweet seafood taste and goes very well with white rice. Nom nom.......

As we only had our lunch later than usual around 230pm, the restaurant was pretty empty except for us and another 2 tables of guests. Service was very prompt and fast and we were served with our 1st dish, Samsui Chicken within 5 minutes after placing our order. The remaining dishes stream out in less than 10 minutes as well!

Celebrity blogger for CozyCot

Remember me blogging about 2 weeks ago about me writing some articles? Well....... I am actually helping to contribute articles to CozyCot as their Celebrity Blogger! Chanced upon this opportunity through someone I knew from a pet seminar and I thought it would be quite fun to do this on a monthly basis.

Here is my first article for them!!! http://www.cozycot.com/article/celebrities_articles/celebrity-outfits.htm

As I am still an amateur writer, I hope u guys will not laugh at my language and writing style. :)

Basic responsibility

I'm cautious about ranting about work on my blog especially after I have open up my blog for public viewing but I am seriously getting pissed off with some people's irresponsibility at work........

I value team spirit and cohesiveness as I always feel that is a sure win factor in achieving efficiency and better environment for everyone. Come on, we spend at least 8 - 10 hours a day from Monday to Friday, the least we need is people pissing each other off right? Unfortunately for some asses, selfishness is all they have and that really irritates me.

In the coming weeks or months (I hope not months....), I fear that I will get into some serious shit just to cover the work of a irresponsible team mate. Friends..... please pray for me......

倪安東-散場的擁抱

A very touching song........ 倪安東 really can sing!

Lipsticks I am using now

I thought it would be interesting (or boring) to just show you the lipsticks I am using right now. I am not a fan of lipglosses as I do not like the sticky feeling on my lips as well as the fact that they doesn't last very well.

Just to let you know I have pigmented lips which is why I avoid light nude colours as they make me look like a zombie. I usually go for pink and brown tones. Red is still a color that I have not explore as I do not think I will carry them very well.

So here we go........

1) Chanel Rouge Hydrabase in 136 Rosedrop

I am guilty to admit that I bought this lipstick like 2 years ago (!!!!!) and only started using this like 6 months ago, damn....... I was initially worried that this lipstick could have gone bad but thank goodness, it was still ok and I can still smell the rose fragrance in all Chanel lipstick. This range is not available anymore and replaced with excellent range like Rouge Coco and Rouge Allure. This shade is a dusty pink shade which looks extremely natural and suitable for anyone.

2) Paul & Joe lipstick in 002 from 2010 Sahara Collection

Got this lipstick via a 'phone order' with my great makeup junkie friend, T during a sale last month. It was actually last year's summer collection and I have completely no idea what colour was this but I totally trust the taste of T and it turn out really well! Not only is it lovely shade of neutral pink, it is very very moisturising.

3) Dior Addict High Shine in 352 Champagne Blush

Among the 3 lipsticks, Dior Addict High Shine has the most glossiest finish and the colour is also the most sheer. But it leaves this faint pinkish glittery look on the lips that I totally love.

From left: Chanel Rouge Hydrabase, P&J, Dior Addict High Shine

As you can see from the swatch above, the colour intensity does decreases with Chanel being the darkest to Dior being the lightest.

I am seriously hoping that I can quickly finish these lipsticks so I can start on new ones. Hehe.....

The Adjustment Bureau

When I first saw the trailer of 'The Adjustment Bureau' while watching 'The Green Hornet', I thought it would be a thriller. But after watching this movie yesterday, it's more of a love story to me. It's not boring, enough to keep us watching but it is not exciting either.

My personal thought of this show is to remind us that 人定胜天, that we create our own destiny and not leave it to chance or fate. Just a bit spoiler here but apparently the character played by Matt Damon is NOT supposed to be together with Emily Blunt as it will destroy the great careers they have in front of them but they basically fight all odds to be together and eventually convinced whoever that is in higher power that this should be the case.

 

Did I mention how I think Emily Blunt is so so beautiful in the show?? Man, she is damn pretty........ and interesting I did not exactly noticed her in 'The Devil Wears Prada' probably because she was such a bitch in it, haha.

Well, ask me if this show is a MUST watch, I would say not really.......Renting a DVD or Blu-Ray makes no difference vs watching it in the theatre. In any case, I still prefer Matt Damon as Jason Bourne. :)

Paul & Joe 15th Anniversary Special Issue Mook

Got my 2nd mook, courtesy of L again!!! Yeah and this time is 1 of my favourite cosmetic brand, Paul & Joe!!!

The designer for Paul & Joe is a cat lover like me!!

 

I love their special collections which come in cute pouches! Check out the cat lipsticks at the bottom left hand corner, I have 1 of those lipsticks. Lol.

I am not exactly a fashion follower but can't help but notice these scarves......... looks nice!

 

Now..... to my favourite section of the mook..... MAKEUP AND SKINCARE! Yeah!!!

Paul & Joe has very good primer and foundation. I am personally a lover of their moisturising foundation primer and Creamy Powder Compact Foundation. Makes my makeup stays on longer without the oily or cakey look. *thumbs up* 

The free bag that comes along with the mook. I must say it is a very good size (bigger than A4 size) and can be shoulder slinged. It's waterproof as well!! I can already imagine bringing this bag down to the beach (if I do go to the beach, hahaha).

Customer service quality in Singapore

I'm not sure how many of you are particular about customer service quality but I personally get peeved when I am spending money and in turn getting lousy customer service. Just this afternoon, me and T were just chatting about random makeup stuffs (AGAIN!) and she was considering whether to get MAC Wonder Woman Collection from Tangs today on their launch or wait till next week when it is launched in other outlets so that she can patronise this wonderful SA who has been giving her excellent service. My reply to her was if she can wait, why not getting it from this wonderful SA.

If someone gives me good service, I feel happier and I will be more inclined to going back, buying from them again and in turn they get their commission from my purchase. It's the same concept of going back to a restaurant because their food is good. Many years ago when I was using alot of Clinique skincare and makeup, I always make sure I patronise the counter when my favourite SA is around. In fact, when she was transferred to other counters, I followed her! In exchange for my 'loyalty', not only did she continue to give me good service, she will always give me frank opinions about how skincare of other brands are better than Clinique and even giving me sample of products that I want to buy to 'tide' me over (for a while, of course) so that I can purchase what I needed when they are having special promotion! How good is that????

Of course, I do not deny that we usually develop this kind of 'friendship' with a SA by spending money at their counter but good service comes when you do not spend a single cent and they are STILL providing you with good service! For me, sometimes being a cheapo, I would like to ask for sample of products before deciding to buy or not. If a SA is generous to offer me a sample, I would usually ask for their name and make sure when I go back to buy the full size product, I only look for them. THEY DESERVE TO EARN MY COMMISSION.

On the contary, if I receive lousy service, no matter how hard up I am to buy the product (even knowing if I do not buy it there and then, I will lose my sleep), I will rather lose my sleep than giving them the pleasure of earning it. There are so many counters in Singapore, I can jolly well just go to another counter. On extreme cases, if the service is so damn lousy, I will not hesitate to lodge a complaint! I strongly believe that only with feedbacks from customers can a company properly identify the service quality of their staffs, training them to ensure their customers getting reasonable service.

Swiss Culture Cheese Fondue

My colleague, L has been CRAVING badly for cheese fondue for the longest time and we finally made our way to try it! I have never eaten cheese fondue before and was told that it was a pot of melted gruyere and emmental cheese with some white wine. I always see cheese fondue in movies but never got around to trying it thus I just have to try it when L suggested.

We headed to Swiss Culture at Suntec City Level 3 with another colleague and my hub and I was surprised that the restaurant is actually pretty small. All customers are seated OUTSIDE of the shop but there is a nice country ambience to this place as we get to enjoy live singing from a singer who is singing inside the shop. So we HAD to order their recommended cheese fondue (since this is why we were here for!!) with bread and a plate of vegetables. We also ordered a plate of mixed grill and chicken wings on the side to share.

A pot of nice melted cheese!

Mixed grill on the side to share, yummy

There are no restriction to what u can or cannot dip in the cheese fondue so we were practically dipping any food on our table (bread, veg, mix grills) into the cheese so as not to waste any single bit of it! And man, it was sinful but super satisfying........ Just as we thought we are done and cannot swallow anymore (FYI, the cheese fondue was 99% completed), the men on the table suggested chocolate fondue for dessert!!! These boys have sweet tooth!!!

The whole experience of dining at Swiss Culture is very enjoyable. The food was great, the people were fun and the service at the restaurant was decent, friendly and prompt. I would definitely recommend this place to any of my friends who would like to try their cheese fondue!