Product Review: Benefit Cosmetics Ultra Shines Lip Shine in Back to the Fuchsia

Posted on 29 January, 2012 by J

*Ahem* NEWSFLASH! Did you know that Benefit Cosmetics Singapore recently revised their prices? You will be pleased to know that significant reductions have been made with effect from 1 January 2012. Yay for the wallet! Go stock up on your Bene-goodies! ;)

Last Christmas (okay, a month ago), I received a Benefit Cosmetics item from my work buddy – an Ultra Shines Lip Shine in Back to the Fuchsia!

A while ago, I reviewed Spiked Punch; back then, I added Back to the Fuchsia and Foxy Lady to my wish list. Well, now I do have them – remember, Renesmee gave me a Benefit Cosmetics kit and Foxy Lady is in it! Mad awesome.

Continue reading →

DIY Hakka Dish Recipe: Abacus Seeds

Posted on 25 January, 2012 by J

It’s the third day of the Lunar New Year – back to work for me! I hope you all had a great celebration.

Several years ago, I was taught to make a Hakka dish – Abacus Seeds (or 算盘子 in Chinese). I’m not Hakka; Skye is. Therefore, Abacus Seeds is a must-have dish every time we celebrate the Lunar New Year.

Last year, I had wanted to do up a blog post on how Abacus Seeds are made, but I didn’t manage to get around to doing it. So this blog post is a year overdue!

This dish has an auspicious meaning – resembling beads on an abacus, Abacus Seeds signify abundance of wealth.

Alrighty, so, to make this dish, you will need:

Yam
Tapioca starch
Water
Cooking oil
Diced garlic
Diced mushrooms
Black fungus
Minced meat
Pepper
Salt
Sugar
Light soy sauce
Fish sauce

Here we have some yam. These weigh about 2kg after peeling, and would serve an army.

Continue reading →

Winner of the Blog’s New Year Giveaway!

Posted on 21 January, 2012 by J

It’s Saturday night, whee! I hope the weekend has been great for you so far. :)

I’ve been busy with preparations for the Lunar New Year, and I’m so thankful for the long weekend. Here’s wishing all of you who are celebrating this awesome occasion, a very HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR! ;D Have lots of fun, catch up with your loved ones, and collect all those red packets!

Okay, so the New Year giveaway closed last night. :)

The winner is…

Continue reading →

Product Review: La Roche-Posay Anthelios XL SPF 50+ Extreme Body Fluid

Posted on 17 January, 2012 by J

Just three days left to enter the blog’s New Year giveaway! If you have not participated, there’s still time, so hurry! :)

Okay, how many of you have the habit of wearing sun protection on your body, even on days when you’re not really out in the sun?

You could be basking in the morning glow, or just running across the street at noon to grab a sandwich, or running a quick errand in the afternoon.

While the intensity of UV changes throughout the day, you will be exposed to harmful UV rays as long as you are out and about. With skin damage, aging and melanoma, one can never be too careful.

Which is why I wear sun protection everyday. On my face, arms, legs – anywhere that’s exposed to the sun’s rays. I didn’t use to do this top-to-toe thing before; I only started in the past couple of years after I realised that skin damage is something too important for me to ignore.

A few months ago, I popped by the pharmacy and picked up some products from La Roche-Posay, a brand renowned for its extensive sun care range. As I was in need of sun protection for the body, I bought the Anthelios XL SPF 50+ Extreme Body Fluid. That’s a mouthful!

Continue reading →

Product Review: Soap & Glory Slimwear

Posted on 9 January, 2012 by J

Hi everyone! How was the weekend? :)

To kickstart the week, we look at something from the House of Pink - Soap & Glory! For those of us who will be celebrating the Lunar New Year in just two weeks, there’s still time to firm things up. ;) (And if you have not taken part in the blog’s New Year giveaway, it’s closing next Friday!)

Presenting, Slimwear - a triple-action peptide balm that helps to firm, tone and reduce the appearance of cellulite on “orange peel” areas.

To those of you who have been asking me, “Does it work?” – we’ll find out!

Continue reading →

A Slice of My Weekend: Dinosaurs – Live! Exhibition at Science Centre Singapore

Posted on 5 January, 2012 by J

It’s almost the end of the first working week of the New Year, and I hope your year started great! Just in case you haven’t noticed, I have a Marc by Marc Jacobs New Year giveaway going on right now. :)

So I started the year by visiting the Science Centre! It’s been almost a year since my last visit; I’m glad I didn’t wait another decade to visit again. :P

When I first learnt of the Dinosaurs – Live! exhibition sometime last year, I knew I had to make time for it because Skye and I are both interested to learn more about dinosaurs. When we were kids, we pored over issues of Dinosaurs! and ate dinosaur-shaped gummies; now that we are considerably older, we are still fascinated by these ancient creatures that once walked our Earth. Dinosaurs – Live! features almost 50 life-sized animatronic dinosaurs nestled in their recreated habitats; naturally, we had to go!

Continue reading →

New Year Giveaway: Marc by Marc Jacobs Totally Turnlock Key Pouch

Posted on 1 January, 2012 by J

HAPPY NEW YEAR, LOVELIES!

It’s the first day of the first month of 2012, and in about three weeks’ time, we’ll be celebrating the Lunar New Year. :) I hope you’re enjoying the holiday!

By the way, I’m so happy to read all your messages and compliments on the new blog graphics! I updated the header, sidebar and background; I call this a more “sophisticated” take on my favourite things. As mentioned here, I have been wanting a coral, navy and mustard theme. I worked on the graphics with the three colours in mind, and it just happens that my favourite things fit very well into the colour scheme. I switched the striped background for houndstooth – one of my favourite patterns. I still love stripes, though – as you can see from my contact graphic. :)

To prepare for the New Year, I have been trying to destash as much as I can since sometime towards the end of last year – I desperately need space in my wardrobe, and room for walking!

During the destashing exercise, I also discovered forgotten gems, one of which is the Marc by Marc Jacobs Totally Turnlock Key Pouch. This precious thing has been sitting in my wardrobe for a while - never got the chance to use it! Wrapper, tag, box intact. Ah well. Such a beauty!

Made of sturdy yet buttery soft black leather and adorned with matte gold hardware, the Totally Turnlock Key Pouch is a great staple item to have.

To kickstart the year, I am giving this recovered gem to one of you. See, this blog has slowly evolved (and is continuing to evolve) to include topics other than beauty – fashion, lifestyle, and more to come. What better way to celebrate this evolution than holding a fashion-related giveaway? This is it!