Shu Uemura whitefficient clear brightening gentle cleansing oil

Shu Uemura whitefficient clear brightening gentle cleansing oil........ Honestly, this name is a mouthful for me and I will just remember it is Shu's cleansing oil in the purple bottle with whitening function, haha. This post is not exactly a review post but more of an initial feel of the product since it was a sample bottle of 20ml which last me about 1.5 weeks with about 10 usage.

I received a 20ml Shu Uemura whitefficient clear brightening gentle cleansing oil as 1 of the items from BellaBox few months ago and never got to use it. I have been using Shu Uemura fresh pore clarifying gentle cleansing oil (pink bottle) for a number of years and I love how light it is in terms of texture and yet is a fuss-free cleansing oil which I can remove face, eye and lip makeup at 1 go. For this post, I will make most comparison against fresh pore clarifying gentle cleansing oil just to give you a rough idea of how whitefficient clear brightening gentle cleansing oil is.

Functions
Whitefficient clear brightening gentle cleansing oil contains combination of Mito-White Complex and Vitamin C to help prevent the accumulation of melanin deep within and is very much suited for ladies who hates their dull complexion and wish for a product that can remove melanin-filled dead cells and reveil a brighter skin. Fresh pore clarifying gentle cleansing oil, on the other hand is more suited for ladies with combination or oily skin and would like a lightweight cleansing oil that effectively remove makeup, dirt and sebum.

Texture
Fresh pore clarifying gentle cleansing oil has a slightly more watery texture than Whitefficient clear brightening gentle cleansing oil.

Fragrance
Whitefficient clear brightening gentle cleansing oil has a slightly floral scent which I kind of enjoy whereas Fresh pore clarifying gentle cleansing oil is almost fragrance free.

Effectiveness in removing makeup and waterproof eye makeup
Both oils are on par in terms of the removing normal and waterproof makeup without irritating the eys or causing discomfort (such as tightness to the skin after cleansing).

Do I feel my skin looks brighter after using Whitefficient clear brightening gentle cleansing oil? Honestly, NO. Perhaps you need to use a full bottle to get the effect, I'm not sure. However, I am still going to be sticking to my trusted Fresh pore clarifying gentle cleansing oil for now. :)

Spruce @ Phoenix Park

After completing my 2nd year with the current employer and stepping into the 3rd year, L and myself (we joined on the same day) decided to pamper ourselves by going for a nicer lunch. L, being a foodie went online and search for a place near our office and we eventually settled for Spruce.

Spruce is located at Phoenix Park, which is along Tanglin Road. A cozy place on a mini hill top and surrounded by trees and greens, it looks extremely relaxing and definitely a wonderful place for weekend brunch. I am soo going to ask BC to go Spruce for the weekend brunch!

The indoor area looks bright and white with many nice art pieces hanged on the wall. I like the relaxing greens of the outdoor area and we opt to sit outside since the weather was not too hot that day.

They do serve brunch menu but only on weekends and I was actually quite disappointed since I am a No. 1 brunch menu lover. Me and L decided to order 2 main course from their lunch and dinner menu to share. L chose Spruce burger (which is highly recommended by her friend which also seem extremely popular since we see a lot of patrons ordering it as well) and I chose Orecchiette, a pasta dish served with chopped prawns in zucchini and garlic cream.

In case you are wondering why is the Spruce burger and fries so small in serving size, I have to say the staffs there are very attentive to the customers. While placing our orders, L mentioned that we are sharing the food, they took the initiative to serve the burger and fries on 2 plates, this is what I called excellent service. :)

L saw her favourite cider and we decided to share a bottle. Although it has 4.5% alcohol content, we did not get drunk enough to be unable to work after lunch, haha.

And here I am posing like a silly gal!

Forgotten haul.... Rouge Dior Serum De Rouge 580 Smoky Pink Serum

While rambling through my Muji drawers last week, I noticed a slim dark blue case hidden right at the end of the drawer. Wondering what treasure is that, I pulled it out and saw it to be a lovely lipstick that I bought 2 years ago (!!!!) which was left forgotten for the longest time! *slap forehead*

If my memory did not fail me, Rouge Dior Serum De Rouge seems to be an older formula as compared to the new Dior 'Serum de Rouge Crystal' Luminous Color Lip Treatment or Dior 'Serum de Rouge' Luminous Color Lip Treatment. The texture is smooth and moisturising without compromising the colour intensity. Lucky for me, as the lipstick is stored in a room where air con is switched on almost every night, I do not smell anything funky from it.

580 Smoky Pink Serum is a cool-toned mauve pink shade, and if I recall correctly was part of the autumn collection years ago. The slimmer than usual tip makes it really helpful to apply the product at the corners of the lips.

I love the colour intensity and moisturising shine from this lipstick and have been using it for the past 1 week. At the same time, I actually get a kick from the clicking sound when twisting the lipstick, sound so mechanical but I like it (weirdo, right???)

In comparison to Chanel Rouge Coco Shine and Dior Addict, I would rank it in the following scale:-

- Chanel Rouge Coco Shine win hands down in terms of moisturising factor followed by both Dior Addict and Rouge Dior Serum De Rouge

- Rouge Dior Serum De Rouge is ranked higher in terms of colour intensity followed by Dior Addict and Chanel Rouge Coco Shine ranking last.

I hope you ladies have not forgotten any hauls that you made previously and it is definitely good for you to pull out your makeup drawer and take a good peek now. :)

Miaka's tips on smudge-proofing her eye makeup

Hi all!!! How have everyone been? Sorry that I went silent for a while because I was falling sick and work has been extremely busy where I had to work into the wee hours of the night in the office. This basically left me with not much energy to do anything once I reach home except to take a quick shower and throw myself onto the bed and sleep.

To be honest, I have not been hauling much so there is really no product to share in this post. But I thought I will share some of the small things that I do to prevent my eye makeup (especially eye liner and mascara) from smudging and giving me the 'panda' eyes by mid day.

So a simple introduction on my skin condition: combination and occassionally towards oily (especially in the extremely hot and humid weather in Singapore). I have very sensitive eyes (which tear often) so especially during long days in office, I will avoid eye makeup. All these are factors that contributed to my eye makeup not able to last well. Over the years, I have tried ways and means to try to preserve the eye make up and avoid smudging as much as possible and I would not say the tips I am sharing are fool proof but they do help.

1) Using waterproof mascara

Needless to say, with a waterproof mascara, smudging can be reduced to the minimum. We just have to make sure a proper oil-based eye makeup remover is used to properly clean the lashes

2) Avoid rubbing your eyes (I think this is pretty logical :))

3) Layering a light layer of powdered eyeshadow over the eyeliner (of the same shade or close)

We typically apply our eyeshadow before drawing the eyeliner as a final touch so as to get a clean, crisp line. For me, I prefer to apply my eyeshadow, draw my eyeliner and THEN lightly apply a thin layer of powdered eyeshadow over the liner (using the same colour or close). I find that the eyeshadow powder helps to 'set' the liner in (similar concept to using powder to set the liquid foundation). You just have to take note to use a light hand and dap on the powder eyeshadow using a thin brush so that the liner will still remain as a clean crisp line and not a smudged smokey look to be.

I have tried this method over my HG Chanel Stylo Yeux waterproof eyeliner, Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner as well as K Palette liquid eyeliner and it certain minimise smudging to a huge extent. However, for ladies who love the sharp and intense dark liner on their eyes, you might not like this method since the layering of the eyeshadow over the liner will soften the line.

4) Using a powder puff instead of loose powder brush to set your loose powder after liquid foundation

My rationale of using a powder puff instead of brush to set the loose powder is that the puff covers the moist portion of your face better thus your face is 'drier' and less prone to smudging. Think of it this way, when you use a puff to roll the powder over the foundation, you roll and set it in. However, when you use a brush and dust the powder on, the powder just stays on and does not seems to really settle in.

You might be concerned that you might be pushing more powder into your pores which will end up with more blackheads and all but with proper makeup removal, it should not be a problem.

5) Powder your undereye lightly for touch up

When your undereye is kept 'dry' with light touch up, smudging can be minimises since the surface is dry and does not 'attract' the pigments from your eye makeup.

I hope the tips I shared above will be helpful to you. Given the different skin conditions and products that we are using, results may defer though. :)

Shiseido Lacquer Rouge in RD311

I have seen many ladies laying gloss over lipstick in order to achieve the intense lip colour and yet have that shiny glossy pout but to me, it was just plain troublesome. Furthermore, I always have concern about dirtying the doe foot application of the gloss when it sweep pass the lip colour of the lipstick. I know I am being paranoid but that's just me. As most lip glosses are sheerer in colour intensity, lacquer rouge are what ladies should look out for to achieve the 2 in 1 colour and gloss look. Today I am posting about the new Shiseido Lacquer Rouge that I purchased while I was feeling down and crappy with a bad bad flu.

Shiseido Lacquer Rouge is housed in a chic black plastic tube and comes with a doe foot applicator. Although I hardly was able to finish any lip product, I would prefer the case to come with a small window so that I am able to see the amount of product left in the tube (similar to YSL Glossy Stain).

Size-wise, it is slightly longer than Chanel Coco Rouge Shine.

I think I have mentioned several times that I have naturally darker lips and thus finding the most suitable  shade that is 'lighter than my lips and yet not making making me look ghostly' is pretty challenging. However, when I saw the swatch on Sophie's post I am immediately drawn to shade RD311 which is reddish beige shade. In fact, when I went to the counter at Clementi BHG, that was the only shade I swatched, tried and finally paid. The shade came out exactly like I wanted.... slightly lighter than my natural lip colour and yet looking natural. LOVE LOVE LOVE!

The texture is amazing. Smooth and colour is thick and glossy, without the stickiness of MAC lipglosses (which is seriously a pain in the a**). Comparing Shiseido Lacquer Rouge to YSL Glossy Stain, the latter is lighter in texture and sheerer in terms of colour intensity. Having said that, I would not say I prefer one over the other, both are in a league of it's own.

Although this haul was an impulsive one (especially with the effect of the flu medication, haha), but it certainly was a GOOD one. :)

Ardent's Cafe @ Neil Road

This is another week of brunch outing again. I love brunch (so I can sleep in later) and I love all day breakfast because I can never get enough of scrambled eggs. The new place which I had explored last weekend is Ardent's Cafe at Neil Road.

The decoration of the cafe is actually not bad but I forgot to take picture of the place as I was busy chatting with juju and BC most of the time when we were there. It is actually quite cozy with big arm chairs and sofas or normal dining table. The 3 of us ordered different food from the menu they are taste quite nice.

I shared a Big Breakfast and mascapone and nutella pancakes with BC. By ordering Big Breakfast, we get to choose 5 ingredients ranging from eggs, ham, bacon, snail sausages, smoked salmon, potato balls, sauteed mushrooms, baked beans, roasted beef, turkey ham with toast and salad. I like the flexibility of mixing and mataching what I want in my breakfast. We chose 2 portions of eggs (scrambled, of course), snail sausage, turkey ham and potato balls. The eggs is nice and smooth but could be a bit more salty (as it was quite plain) and the snail sausage has cheese oozing out which is quite nice. I like the potato balls because it is something different from the usual hash browns.

We had a surprise with the mascapone and nutelle pancakes as it came looking like pancakes with a scoop of chocolate ice cream. But the chocolate ice cream is actually nutella mixed with mascapone. It taste really rich and goes very well with the pancakes. However, for me who doesn't have sweet tooth, we couldn't finish the nutella spread at all. It was served with maple syrup and some pureed kiwi (i think) which we hardly touched since the nutella spread is all we need.

Juju ordered a baked omelette which looks quite interesting. It has tomatoes, mushrooms, asparagus and I think ham in it? I had a taste of it and it has a slight tangy taste from the tomatoes.



Ardent's cafe has a very interesting man-made grass area as their outdoor area. It has swing and some outdoor tables and chairs for outdoor dining which is quite nice. Unfortunately I did not managed to take any pics as it was raining when I wanted to. But if you are interested to see more pics of their cafe and outdoor area, you can check out Beatrice's blog posting here and juju's posting here.

I have no complaints about the food at Ardent's and in fact I like their all day breakfast menu. But I certainly has issue with the service staff there. When we arrive at Ardent's, we were the first customer and there were only a female staff there. Her service attitude is really bad..... She doesn't smile, and when we ask her question about the option of choosing 2 portion of eggs in our Big Breakfast, she was impatient in explaining to us and answered in a tone like we were idiots. Seriously, I am put off by it. I'm ok with no smiles because I don't smile as much too but as a service staff, it is important to take note of your tone when talking to your customers, isn't it? If I know everything about your menu and cafe, why would I bother to ask you??? For someone from a country whom I know ALOT of friendly people, I think she really need to self reflect.

Nonetheless, for brunch fans, I would still recommend this place to you for your enjoyment of their food but I will be praying for you that you do not get the lousy service I exprienced.

Dior Fall 2012 Golden Jungle collection - let's crackle!!

I have seen many beauty bloggers blogging about the croc crackle nails from Dior 2012 Golden Jungle collection for a while now it seriously look lovely on ladies who have long nail beds. Unfortunately for me, my nail beds are naturally small thus it didn't cross my mind to get this beautiful nail polish since it is not cheap. But lovely juju bought it and immediately watsapp me and offer to give me a manicure when we meet up for brunch, always nice to have such a wonderful friend. :)

While juju gave me a simple manicure, she was explaining to me the various techniques and areas to take note when trying to get the lovely crackles to look like crocodile skin.

1) You have to apply the golden base and the khaki crackle coat immediately. Need not wait for the gold base to dry before applying the khaki crackle coat
2) Skip any base coat. It doesn't crackle with base coat
3) You need an ample amount of khaki crackle coat in order to get nice crackle. But if you get greedy and apply too much khaki coat, the crackle becomes not obvious

We experimented with the different methods to prove that this is true and below shows the outcome.

Starting from the pinkie from the top:-

1) You can see the crackle is not as obvious as the coat applied is the thinnest
2) The khaki coat is applied thicker on the ring finger and thus the crackle does not look as nice as well
3) This is the PERFECT croc nails! Just enough khaki top coat and mind you, it wasn't even over the golden base. We experiment by applying a beige Essie nail polish instead and it works fine
4) With a base coat..... this is the worse sight as the crackle effect just doesn't comes out.

In the experiment above, no base coat is applied for the first 3 fingers and only the middle finger is applied with Essie beige polish instead of the golden base.

After the experiment, it is time for the manicure and I got crocodile nails!