Haul of the Day #43

I have been on a long, long hiatus. Partly because I get wrung out from my current projects that I have no motivation to switch on the computer outside of work, and also partly because I seem to have temporarily misplaced my blogging mojo. I do have quite a bit to post though! Let’s hope things get a little saner for the new year.

Happy Christmas and to a wonderful new 2010 everyone!

Taking my cue from Nigella and her decadence, I gave everyone cupcakes this year!

Meg of Dreamers Loft (her blog address is there, go check it out!) does some of the best cupcakes I have tasted and I got boxes for my colleagues in office.  My personal favourite is the Earl grey tea cupcakes with orange blossom & white chocolate frosting. The brother, on the other hand, vacuumed me clean of the Nutella cupcakes with nutella praline frosting. Good start to the festive season eh?

I got my advance presents from BFF, P, a few days back.

I have been lamenting on the lack of fragrance-free hand creams (my lotions are majority fragrance free and dermatologist tested) on the market. She got me Neutrogena’s concentrate hand cream!

P also threw in this owl necklace in the bag! I have been eyeing this piece for the longest time. Animal necklaces seem to be the in thing right now and it does make a statement to jazz up a plain outfit in a jiffy!

G gave me 2 pairs of quirky Christmas earrings! The moment I unwrapped them, I burst out laughing as these are right up my alley. G does seem to have my preferences pat down. Think I will share them with P force P to wear these with me when we head out to Batam for our post-Christmas trip together. Both of us will be donning mismatched pairs – one tree and candy cane each.

N gave us all customised nylon luggage tags! And in my perky colour of choice – pink – and adorned with…. *drumroll Hello Kitty. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

To my extreme glee that had me unable to stop grinning was C’s present.

A full set of multi-coloured Uni ball rollers!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG I am such a geek but I love stationary!

Because I love them so much, here’s another picture.

S gave all of us more food, from her to us are 2 tins of Crabtree and Evelyn cookies each. Food is, I feel, one of those idiot-proof presents anyone can receive. Food is good, for food-crazy Singaporeans. Food brings a lot of satisfaction, especially when shared and enjoyed with people you love. Give me more food (guess which is why I like giving people food too. That and the fact that I get to eat all the leftovers myself. Ha!)!

The boss lady gave me the largest package of all (thank you L, I love everything to bits!). She also highly customised everything. How’s that for heartwarming efforts? Being a chocolate and sugar (more sugar then chocolate actually – anything sweet!), I received a HUGE bottle of hot chocolate powder! This stuff is way sinful. Paired with warm milk, this is powerful to topple even the most hardy chocolate-haters (are there even people like that in the world?). I must make it for everyone around me someday.

She also threw on foot balm and spray, all natural! Fragranced heavily with lemongrass, this stuff is bound to revialise the overworked feet and give it a bit of pampering.

A pumice stone came wrapped together with the balm and spray. An extremely thoughtful gesture which I appreciated. First with the callous removal, then on with the nourishment!

And my own small present to myself, putu mayam. HAHAHAHAHA. Not. Those are actual facial loofah from The Body Shop, which I have been looking for yonks. Sold out everywhere!

That’s a partial round-up for my Christmas haul this year.

How has your day been going? Here’s to a great 2010! *clink of champagne glasses

Here we go, down the fussy road: part 7

Everyone needs a bit of glitter and sparkle in their life.

Do it with a pretty blush with glitter! Start dusting from directly under your eyes and move it upwards towards your ears to create the illusion of high cheekbones.

Tada!

Here we go, down the fussy road: part 6

They say laying a good foundation makes for a smooth building process. I could not agree more and apply the same principles to my make up regime.

I set my face first, but not with foundation as I find that it clogs my pores. Instead, I prime the face in preparation for make up with my usual essence, eye gel and moisturiser with SPF (Oh! It just struck me this is the acronym for the Singapore Police Force too! Not funny. Fine.). I let the serum and moisturiser do their work.

Then I hide any existing blemishes with concealer from The Face Shop. Albeit a temporary solution while waiting for the skin to repair itself. I have been sticking to this concealer for some time now and it is great for hiding those red spots and ugly scars.

After that, I finish off with a light dusting of powder to set everything and matt the face of any oil and shine.

I still have the Chanel’s Matt Reflecting Powder, which I got as a gift from R, T and L back in March. In fact, I have not even started on it! I like shoring up the better quality products for special occasions. Hoarder, I am.

Instead, I have made huge in-roads into my stash of OTC pharmaceutical brands like L’oreal and Maybelline. I got both last Christmas when they were running seasonal festive design packages for their powders.

Maybelline’s Angel Fit packaging was designed in collaboration with Nadya Hutagalung (I think?). This powder is extremely soft and offers great coverage even when lightly dusted on.

And L’oreal had a festive design pack too and I bought this because of the pretty visuals and flowers! I can’t find it online for nuts so pardon my lacklustre photography skills. I moved on to the L’oreal since I completed my Maybelline course and this has not failed me either.

It is a quick one-two step for me every morning to prepare for a working/public facing face. I toast to letting the natural glow shine through! While I am not one to pile on stuff on my face, I do acknowledge the need for some help to get that polish required when one needs to make an  impression on an external business associate or even when networking and meeting new acquaintances. As superficial as it really is, first impressions are made in that few seconds when the other party sizes you up based on your physical appearance. And since I am championing myself to be a people person, I am not going to deny that concealer and powder are at least the barest minimum I need to change a drab me to a better looking me!

Make up proper aside, I am a sucker for design, packaging and advertising. Get sucked right in. Besides, I love collecting these make up boxes (other than clothing labels. I kid you not – 2 boxes full!) and it is fast filling up drawer space. But I love it when I pick up a limited edition or festive piece, especially if I like the design. It is the glee that keeps me going back for more. Which is why, I will probably be stationing somewhere near Watson’s when the festive season rolls round, in anticipation and look out for the newest offerings. Read: addiction!

Here we go, down the fussy road: part 5

A short one for Friday!

I trust no one with my lips protection but Carmex.

End of post.

Here we go, down the fussy road: part 4

Showering is my favourite part of the day! It is a (almost spiritual) ritual for me at the end of a long day, using water to wash away the day’s accumulation of grim, dirt, stress, problems and pains. It is a rejuvenating process of (almost) rebirth! Ah, such literal and figurative meanings I have tagged onto the simple process of showering.

Of course, having a little help along the process comes in the form of great smelling shampoos, shower gels and other bath doo-dads.

I am firm supporter of Dove’s products.

Which is why I use the shampoo…

And conditioner…

And body washes!

Dove’s products have always left me smell wonderful and feeling relaxed after stepping out of the shower. Those fragrances really have you go on a nice plateau of euphoria, preparing you for a comfortable night ahead so that you can be re-energized for a new day.

Of course, there might be some days when you need to work your frustrations out a little bit more. For that, I recommend The Body Shop’s Bath Brush.

(Hmm… the local version comes with a colourless, transparent acrylic handle instead.)

This brush is great for daily exfoliation without taking your skin right off. The nylon bristles scrubs and massages at the same time so it is great for getting those top layer dead skin right off to stimulate repair and rejuvenation! And you can scrub away your frustration and anger without stripping your person down to raw, red skin. This is called Channeling Your Anger. Heh.

What with the recent crazy weather (34 degree celsius days on average), writing this post has made me want to pop into the shower to cool off.

10,000 titles in my pocket

I am feeling ostracized.

Hint: Christmas present

Hint x2: Second choice

Because they don’t deliver either out here.

Shit you.

Here we go, down the fussy road: part 3

Have you ever come across this sacrilegious word Moisturise and its many permutations (I did a biref write up on the application to the face)? If you have not paid attention to it, shame on you! Especially more so if you are of the female varierty. That is a revered word in women’s beauty, yes?

The QV skin lotion is one of the best recommendations I have from my friend and I lather this stuff all over my person daily – body, arms, hand, legs and even the feet and heels. I particularly like it for its great repairing properties on dry, peeling and scaly skin. And because it is perfume-free and dermatological tested for dry and sensitive skin, you know your skin can absorb most its the moisturising essence safely without any damage or after effects. Best of all, it absorbs quickly into the skin and leaves no sticky nor oily feeling on the skin.

I like all-in-one stuff and this works well as a heel and foot cream and hand cream too. Again, it dries quickly, so I do not have to waste any time in letting the cream dry before moving on to doing other things. It has a long-lasting effect too, bringing me from day to night with one application.

In my air-conditioned work place, I keep a large tube of Ahava Mineral Hand Cream handy (Ha! Unintended pun. Really.). K got this for me when he was in Israel for travel (Come to think of it, I have a lot of stuff from his many Israel trips, all sitting in the cupboard waiting to be used.) and it is a great supplement when ever I feel the need to amp up the moisturising. Unlike QV, Ahava has a thicker, creamier texture and an extremely sweet fragrance. It is all good though. I have been passing the tube around my colleagues and all of them are complimentary of it.

The last of the lotions and creams I own is the Rosewater Hand Therapy from Crabtree and Evelyn. Where QV and Ahava are large, I bought this because it comes in a tiny 50ml packaging that is so convenient to carry around in the bag. It is my to-go hand cream, which frequently gets lost, also because it is so small. But it smells so nice! And is so cute! Which is why I might just nip down to my nearest boutique to pick up another as I cannot find the latest new tube. *aghast

This is it for my very limited collection of moisturisers. Ahava and Crabtree hardly signify really, since I only regularly use QV to death. Maybe it is a good thing, since QV is the most reasonably priced of the three. Heh.

Outfit of the Day #116

Tank from Mango, vest from ATBU, skirt from Iora and pumps from Clarks

I think I have ugly knees.

Anyhoodles.My boss commented that I was a little “bare” turning up at the office today and coupled with my lack of fat content on my person, no wonder I was shivering through the long meetings. Not fun at all.

The vest is cute! Aptly named Vest in a vest, it looked the part when someone asked if I was wearing 2 vests today. It was great fun though, as this isn’t quite my usual look so I had a lot of preening time in front of the mirror the whole day deciding if this outfit will remain in my wardrobe. A “maybe”.

Since I didn’t like the original button on the inside vest, I switched that out and sewed a black pearl button in its place. Much better already!The outer vest doesn’t come with any closure so it does flap when I go into a fast trot — a manta ray I am not!

The vest, I got it on a wimp from an blogshop (amusingly) named Across The Bloody Universe. Their stuff are really quite nice and N has some of their other pieces with no complaints. While there are the usual trepidations when buying “blind” from a blogshop, ATBU has not disappoint with the quality of their offerings. Both of us sent our orders to the office and it is pretty awesome to have appreciative girlfriends squealing with you over newly bought clothes. Cheap Affordable thrills like these are marvelous and we need to have more of those more often!

I also hemmed up an old Iora skirt from the back of the wardrobe to complete the outfit. It is actually now a good 3 inches above my knees (there goes the ugly knees again) but it seems so much longer in the picture!

The whole outfit brought to mind the days of black and white television. They didn’t show much knees back then so we wouldn’t know better if their knees were ugly. Perhaps precisely because they were ugly that they didn’t show it?? The possibilities!

Here we go, down the fussy road: part 2

You know how some people have sensitive ears (Does that mean you are a good, sympathetic listener? Heh. Bad pun. Couldn’t help it.) while others can wear any-o-how earrings that they like at anytime and have nothing bad ever happens? Like having ear infections or more disgusting, yellow gooey pus developing at the earholes. Gross.

I have 2 earholes on each of my ear lobes. It came from the younger days where having many earholes and wearing multiple earrings at one time was cool. Thank goodness for some semblance of good sense not to go wild with some what 20 piercings that line the entire outer edge of the ear. Hallelujah. Why am I going off course?

Anyhoodles, my earholes have moods. Somedays they are fine as a dandy and I can wear and change multiple cheapie costume jewelry earrings without batting an eyelid. Other days, it acts up and decides to go itchy-scratch on me. These mood swings can only persist for so long before I take action – why let the earholes order you around (starting to sound ridiculous here when I battle with something as inanimate as earholes)?

A visit to the friendly Guardian pharmacist resulted in a bottle of Octenisept antiseptic solution.

I told him that I’ve always used alcohol wipes on the earrings that I wear but he replied that the alcohol evaporates too fast to do any good (wow, that’s one cleaning myth flushed down the toilet bowl, fast).

So he brought out Octenisept and told me to spray the liquid on the earrings before butting them on. The solution keeps on for a while and offers better antiseptic protection. For those of you who want to take the word precaution even further, the solution can also be spray directly onto the eraholes and lobes, front and back, to be rubbed in before the earrings go on.

I have never had a problem since picking Octenisept up – even cheapie jewelry is wearable now. So if you are one of those good listeners with a kind, and gentle heart with sensitive earholes, Octenisept comes recommended after having used it loads of times, and it works!

Haul of the Day #42

Company landyards and ghastly pull reels with organisation logos don’t quite work for me. And every girl needs her own stylist card holder, don’t you think?

I opted for the chirpy yellow leather card holder from Renoma to add a bit of sunshine to my bag everyday. And the leather smell is my own brand of perfume.