Happy New Year's Eve!

I'm back from Hong Kong, and I had a wonderful time - eating, shopping and spending time with my family. It isn't often we all get to be together at the same time, and actually, this time was no different, because my youngest brother wasn't with us - but the rest of us had a really nice time because it's been ages since we've been on a family holiday.

I've been reading all these lovely post-Christmas posts, and I have a mini-post like that to share with everyone too! Hope that your holiday season was warm, joyous and bright. As 2011 draws to a close, I hope you've all got your resolutions drawn up too!

Family duties call, as I have a function to attend tonight, but in advance, I hope that everyone gets a kiss when the ball drops. Goodbye 2011, hello 2012!

I'll let the lovely Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt play me out: What are you doing New Year's Eve?

Merry Christmas!

I'd like to take the opportunity to wish everyone a merry, merry Christmas!

Hope that your holiday season is merry and bright, and that everyone gets to spend time with the people they love, with loads of presents!  ^~^

I got spoiled this year by the hubby and family - will post pictures when I get a moment, as I'm off to Hong Kong for a short trip tomorrow. Are you going anywhere nice for the holidays?

Going off to pack now, but I leave you with happy Christmas greetings from cats in party hats.

Haul: Pre-Christmas Things

I've been stuck at work the past week or so, and have fallen back on the Christmas shopping! I managed to go out and get the last couple of bits for Christmas this weekend, though, which was a relief, because scrambling last-minute is never nice. ^~^ The husband was nice enough to follow me around unquestioningly around town while I picked up Christmas gifts for family and friends, but invariably I managed (eep) to get a couple of things for myself. Here's what I got:

 Canmake Christmas Bag - S$24.90 from Watsons   Beauty Credit Lovely Liptint in Red - S$15.90 from Beauty Credit, Raffles Place   Artbox Pink Glitter Cat Cup - S$6.90 from Artbox   David & Goliath Goodbye Kitty Pocket Mirror - gifted by a friend! 

Daiso Sweet Room Soft Hairband - S$2 from Daiso 

Daiso Apple and Rose Hand Cream - S$2 from Daiso Have you finished your Christmas shopping already? :3

Surprise Hair Bobbles!

I've been complaining about misplacing my hair bobbles for the past few days, so the husband brought me back a surprise today when he got home from work:

Aren't they cute? I like the polka-dots - it also means that I don't have to go around with my hair looking like I've been dragged backwards through a bush then! ^~^

Have you had any surprises lately?

Giveaway: Makeup Stash! Christmas 2011 Giveaways

Mag from Makeup Stash! is organising another one of her wildly successful Christmas giveaways, and it looks set to be a corker! There'll be items from Anna Sui, Maquillage, Clarins, and even a little something from the limited 2011 Holiday Collection by Wong Kar Wai for Shu Uemura range.

Click on the image to go straight to the giveaway page! Unfortunately, the cut-off date is midnight 18 December 2011 (that's this Sunday), and the giveaway is open only to Singapore residents. That said, good luck to anyone who decides to enter, and big kudos to Mag for organising such a generous giveaway ♥

SOTD: Elle Me Dit - Mika

This song makes me want to jump around - which is rare, believe you me. ^~^

Review: EOS Sugar Candy Pink

I wanted to share this post, because I recently acquired a pair of circle lenses from a place called Kawayii Lens Shop (no relation to Kawayi Beauty Salon, from a few posts ago). I got a couple of pairs of lens about a month ago when I was in KL with my parents. Of these, I was most excited about the EOS Sugar Candy Pink contact lenses, because I've always wanted a pair of pink lenses, but up till recently, only plano (0 degree) pink lenses were available.

Sugar Candy Pink Color Contact Lenses

Product Specification:

Brand: EOS
Place of Origin : South Korea
Material: 2-HEMA
Water Content : 38%
Center Thickness: 0.05mm
Diameter: 14.5mm
Base: 8.8mm
Duration: 6 months Disposable

These lenses come prettily packaged like so:








Even got a free contact lens case! Which was lucky, because I wanted to throw out a few of my older lens cases ^~^ I can't remember what possessed me to call the lens "Pink Sakura" when I was labelling them, but I had already stuck the label on once I found out, and didn't want to fiddle with the tiny labels again, so I left it, hehe :P

Right, slightly creepy photos coming up - get ready!


Right lens in.


Both lenses in.

Enlargement effect: The enlargement effect is really pretty good, due to the thick limbal ring around the lens. It defines the eye and makes it 'pop', which means that it looks good with make-up, but might be a little too intimidating if you're intending to go au naturale. That said, it really gives you a wide-awake look, as shown in the picture above. Even without eyelid glue or make-up, the lens makes the eye look so much bigger!

Comfort: Good for long hours of wear. The first time I wore this pair of lens, I went ahead and wore it for more than 12 hours straight - without eye drops. The lens are comfortable, and don't irritate the eye, even in air conditioned / windy environments. The only time I experienced a little bit of irritation was when a speck of dust got caught in my eye while I was wearing the lens.

Colour: The pink is a true baby pink - blue-toned, almost lavender in some lights, especially when combined with dark brown eyes (like mine!). I've tried purple contact lenses in the past, and those tend to look unnatural and slightly odd when placed against brown eyes. The pink lenses, however, blend nicely with dark brown eyes and give a subtle pinkish tinge in natural light, that shows up much more starkly when photos are taken with flash.

The following photos aren't with full make-up, just eyeliner and eyelid stickers, all taken without flash in natural light:








These are taken with flash, at night, with full make-up - eyeliner, eyeshadow, fake lashes, the whole shebang.








What do you think? Are these lens better with makeup, or without? :3

Eki did a video on these lens a while ago, too! I understand that these can be bought at the Kawayii Lens facebook page, or at Color Lens World, if anyone is interested!

O.P.I. Muppets Collection

I love the Muppets. They sing, they dance, and they filled my childhood years with a great deal of joy. Who didn't sing along to the Muppets theme tune? I remember crying when I learnt that Jim Henson, the creator of the Muppets, passed away, despite not being acquainted with the mechanics of life and death at the time. These days, the Muppets are a Disney franchise, and The Muppets Movie, released in late November 2011, is the latest in a string of Muppet movies that have seen kids through the years.

As a tie-in to the movie, O.P.I. released a series of 12 polishes (6 glitter, 6 sheer) inspired by Muppet characters. I found the mini-manicure sets recently when I was roaming the little shops in the shopping area near my workplace. Sadly, most of the glitter colours are gone, leaving the burgundy-ish, maroon-ish shades, but nonetheless, it was an awesome throwback to my youth to be able to see these fun polishes. Maybe I'll think about getting some the next time I'm in the vicinity ^~^

(From left)

Fresh Frog of Bel-Air - A glitter that prefers the greener things in life. Of course, inspired by Kermit, because it isn't easy being green ^^

Excuse Moi! - Ahem! This pink glitter has something to say! That would be Miss Piggy. She is the inspiration for the most of the glitter polishes in this line.

Gone Gonzo! - The aqua-blue glitter is taking over the world! The Great Gonzo lends his name to this polish, and it's one of my favourites of the lot, too.

Rainbow Connection - The rainbow glitter of your dreams. Named after the brilliant, brilliant song, the Rainbow Connection, it's a multi-colour glitter that just looks perfect for the holiday season.

Getting Miss Piggy With It - Red glittery fun for everyone! Another Miss Piggy-esque polish, this time a pretty cherry red.

Divine Swine - The finest, most fabulous magenta glitter ever. Yup, another Miss Piggy one, only purple.

p/s: I also love how some of the names for the glitter have Fresh Prince of Bel-Air references!

(From left)


Designer, De Better - And this light metallic bronze is ready for the runway. I like the sheeny, shimmery quality of this creamy, silvery polish.


Warm and Fozzie - A feel-good shade of metallic copper. Of course, named after Fozzie Bear!


Wocka Wocka - The popular deep berry makes everything fun and merry! Another Fozzie Bear colour, though the berry shade is so-so.


Pepe's Purple Passion - This deep, decadent shade is the best purple ever, okay! I like how this one is named after Pepe the king prawn. I do love the berry, almost brown shade.


Animal-istic - This wild bright red cannot be tamed! It's exactly the shade of Animal's fur!


Meep Meep Meep - Missing out on this fuchsia would make you weep, weep weep! Although I think the colour is pretty generic, I love how the polish is named after the sound Beaker makes!

The glitter colours are far and away my favourite - just look at Rainbow Connection! Have been bugging hubby to watch the movie with me after I watched the trailer:

More about The Muppets Movie can be found here.

NOTD: Kawayi Beauty

I don't often get my nails done, because I either tend to leave them bare, or use one of my mother's many bottles of nail polish to give them a quick lick of nail paint. So naturally I'm more than happy to let my nails get looked at by a professional. On a friend's recommendation, I recently went to a place called Kawayi Beauty, which has an outlet in town.

The deal that I got included an express manicure, fitting of full-tip nails, polish, and 5 pieces of acrylic nail art. As I've never had fake nails or gotten nail art done before, I was pretty psyched.



The salon didn't look too bad, and I was ushered to a bench directly opposite the red easy chairs (pictured) to have a seat. There were red easy chairs free, but the girl who did my express manicure asked me to sit on the bench the whole time. I was a little confused, because apparently they only let customers who do a full mani pedi sit on the easy chairs. Nevertheless, I pressed on.

The girl discouraged me from doing the full-tip nails, even though I wanted to get it as it was part of the package, and kept on pushing me to do a Gelish manicure or acrylic nails. In the end, it came to a point where I just gave up on insisting that she give me what was stated in the package and asked her to do the mani on my own nails.

I chose bows for my nail art, hoping that said bows would look something like this:

Anyway, here's the finished product:



Hurriedly taken because I was heading out for an event. I think it's safe to say that the quality of the mani wasn't all that, and that I can say with some certainty that I won't be revisiting that salon. However, the mani was cute, until everything started to peel off, less than a week after I got it done. In the end, I just washed everything off and redid my nails by myself (with Etude House's PK013 polish, which, by the by, is gorgeous).

Have you ever had a less-than-ideal salon experience? Feel free to share in the comments!

Kawayi Beauty is located at Far East Plaza, 14 Scotts Road #05-47 Far East Plaza, Singapore 228213.

SOTD: Wherever You Will Go - Charlene Soraia

Beautiful cover of a beautiful song that I chanced upon recently. Brought back some poignant memories ;~;

What song has been on your replay list?

FOTD: 3 December 2011

Being brave and going (almost!) bare-faced for a quick lunch with the husband.

Items used:

Base / Primer: Elisha Coy Water Sundrop Cream

Lips: The Body Shop Cranberry Joy Lip Balm

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette

So, the Urban Decay Naked2 palette was released on 1 December 2011 (yup, a whole 3 days ago), and I actually crawled out of my medication-addled stupor to get up and head on down to the Urban Decay website just to have a look at it.

I admit, all the hype over the original Naked palette and the added hype that Naked2 was going to be bigger, better and more awesome than the first gave me intense lemmings for the sequel. Furthermore, look at these beautiful nudey, griegey shades:From left: Foxy, Half Baked, Bootycall, Chopper, Tease, Snakebite, Suspect, Pistol, Verve, YDK, Busted, Blackout.

Naturally, they're all sold out on the UD webbie by now, but looks like they'll be hitting Sephora stores end January 2012. Maybe I'll be able to mull it over the Christmas period, hehe ^~^

Did anyone else get the Naked2 craving? Or are you one of the lucky ones who managed to get hold of one? If so, do you think it lives up to the hype?

Images courtesy of Urban Decay.

Lush in Singapore!

Ever since I was a wee student in the UK, I've loved Lush. The products look great, smell great, and are just hippie enough to be cool (Karma soap, anyone?). Actually, what's best about it is the scent - every Lush store has a heady mix of scents - from handmade soaps, bath bombs, bubble bars and shower smoothies, that is unmistakeably Lush. You can literally smell a Lush store from down the street! About a decade ago, there were 2 Lush outlets in Singapore, but those bombed (pun very much intended) after a time, leaving Singaporeans decidedly Lush-less. Ever since then, we've been jetting to the likes of Hong Kong, Australia and the UK to get our Lush fixes.


Well, wait no more, because finally, Lush is back in Singapore!

(Wait... I'm a poet! ^~^)


Above images courtesy of the aptly-named LushJunkieForever.

The grand opening of the first Lush outlet to grace our shores in a decade (or so) was today, 2 December, at 12.30 pm, with a '40s themed cocktail party. Yum! Unfortunately, I couldn't be there to witness the occasion as I'm still recovering from sinusitis, but it was great just to see the amount of support the LushSG crew garnered on their Facebook page. Can't wait to see the photos that they'll be posting up from the opening event!

While I'm here, I'd like to share a Lush Christmastime staple of mine: Whipstick Lip Balm.

It may not look like much, but it's actually a chocolate orange lip balm. How awesome is that? Using it is like using a calorie-free version of a Terry's Chocolate Orange (which is also intense yums, but that's by the by). Whipstick contains lip-loving ingredients such as shea butter, honey, beeswax and oat infusion will keep lips soft even through the harshest winter weather. I found this product useful when I was in the UK during the cold winter months. My lips tend to be on the dry side in normal weather, and subjecting them to cold January winds made them chap and crack - honestly, I've never had so many split lips, ever! This lip balm soothed and softened my lips, and worked great to prime my lips for lip glosses and lipsticks. Perfect, really, if you're going to be kissing someone under the mistletoe / when the ball drops this year.

I found an advert of it on the Lush Youtube channel. How cute?



So this Christmas, be sure to share some Lush love with the people you love. Furthermore, with a mission statement like this, what's not to like?

"We Believe in making products from fresh organic fruit and vegetables, the finest essential oils and safe synthetics.

We believe in buying ingredients only from companies that do not commission test on animals and in testing products on humans.

We invent our own products and fragrances, we make them fresh by hand using little or no preservatives or packaging, using only vegetarian ingredients and tell you when they were made.

We believe in happy people making happy soap, putting our faces on our products and making mums proud.

We believe in long candlelit baths, sharing showers, massage, filling the world with perfume and in the right to make mistakes, lose everything and start again.

We believe our products are good value, that we should make a profit and that the customer is always right.

*we also believe words like 'fresh' and 'organic' have an honest meaning beyond marketing."

Find Lush in Singapore on their Facebook page, or at their brand new digs at B1-13, Wisma Atria, 435 Orchard Road, Singapore 238877.The world definitely needs more Lush! Do you have a favourite lush product?

Haul + Review: Paul & Joe Fall 2011 Collection - "Manhattan" + Swatches

I'd like to share a couple of eyeshadows that have been on heavy rotation for me of late. They're from the Paul & Joe Fall 2011 Limited Edition Manhattan Collection, and are named and inspired by none other than the Big Apple - New York City.


Featuring an undeniably chic chequered design, each eyeshadow pot consists of two complementary colours, and are fashionably named (in the below image from left): Brooklyn Bridge, Empire State, and 42nd Street. The only gripe that I had in relation to the packaging of the shadows was that they can get a little bit fiddly to use, when trying to pick up colour, thanks to the criss-cross design. This can be easily rectified though, with a sponge eyeshadow applicator or eyeshadow brush. If the colours do end up mixing, a quick blow will get rid of any loose bits of eyeshadow - hey presto!
I love the sleek packaging of the shadows, and the pretty prints that, as always, are prints from Paul & Joe's catwalk collection. Paul & Joe eyeshadows offer a soft wash of colour, which is really pretty and subtle, so when I saw the colour combinations for the Manhattan collection, I had to get them. It took a while of collecting and watching out for bargains, but I managed it in the end ^~^



The eyeshadows can be popped out (see below), by sticking a paper clip or similar pointy item into the hole on the back of the pot, and are interchangeable with any other Paul & Joe Face & Eye Color CS shadow. I call them eyeshadows, though they are technically okay to use on the face as well. (I'm guessing cheeks). That said, the lighter shades would do beautifully as a highlighting powder for cheeks and nose bridges - even decollete, if you so choose!


Brooklyn Bridge

Named after one of the oldest suspension bridges in America, Brooklyn Bridge is a really pretty combination of two pinks - a golden, dusty rose, and shimmery baby pink, that are really adorable together. I really love the darker shade just at the outer corners of my eye for giving depth, and the lighter shade for highlighting. Both colours carry a little shimmer, which give a sheer wash of colour to the whole eyelid when used together. I like to think the two shades can help create a dreamy look, like watching a sunset from the Brooklyn Bridge!


Swatch: Under natural light


Empire State

This duo consists of a sheeny, shiny light gold colour twinned with a dark, matte navy blue/black shade. I like how the colours are subtle enough to wear to work, but can be built up to add a bit of sparkle after office hours. The dark shade is good for use as an eyeliner, though you'll probably need a good liner brush that will pick up a good bit of shadow. As you can see in the swatch below, the darker shade can end up looking a bit patchy, as I swatched without using primer, and had to pat on the colour a good four times to get that swatch. Like the Empire State Building, these colours are reminiscent of the roaring '20s and Art Deco, and can be used to recreate the graphic, dramatic eye make-up of ladies during that period, like so:




Swatch: Under natural light


42nd Street

This was tough to capture on-camera. The shades are a light pink - not as light as the pink in Brooklyn Bridge (above), with pink glitter, and a twilight blue shade with blue glitter. The shadow is named after 42nd Street in downtown New York, right near the famous Times Square. I like how vibrant and buildable the two colours are, and when combined, create a shimmery eye that is just lovely. The sparkliness of the colours meant that the shadows didn't photograph very well, but they are definitely worth a look.


Swatch: Under natural light



As the colours are limited edition, this collection will soon be retired (if this hasn't already happened) , to give way to the Holiday 2011 and Spring 2012 collections. These are easy-to-use colours that will see you through the seasons, so if you come across them, it would be a shame to pass them up. Empire State can still be purchased here for £8.95. Since each pot retailed initially at £15 each, it's quite the bargain!