I know that some of you were asking me about the dress I wore in my Watsons Final Tote Design video (direct video link is here.) Well, it’s a mint colored scallop dress from Eternity Loft! The mint color is all sold out already but I think they still have it in Navy blue and Coral blue. The best part is that it’s only $27.50 including postage. Absolutely gorgeous! I love the fully lined soft lycra material cause its so comfy!

And I also had readers telling me they loved my ballet shoe tote bag I did for Watsons (Thank you!) and wanted to know exactly what gave me the inspiration for ballet shoes. Well, I’m no ballet dancer even though I had a couple of lessons when I was about 6 or 7 years old. I’ve always felt that ballet was a beautiful expression of art and had great admiration for the dedication, precision and strength of the dancers. During the week I was working on the tote bag design, I had a mini potluck gathering at my place and I was crafting fondants for my cupcakes. While molding a pair of ballet shoes, the inspiration hit me that I should use that design for the tote bag and so I did.

If you are curious, below is the photo of my ballet shoe on my cupcakes. I actually did a whole range of designs for my cupcakes that day but that’s another story altogether! LOL.

I’ve recently went for my facial appointment at Porcelain The Face Spa and it’s been my only facial provider for quite some time already (why change something that works right?). Some of you have emailed me questions about Porcelain and since quite a few are repeated questions, I’ll answer some of them here so that others can use them as reference.

1. Where is Porcelain located on Cantonment Road?

A: It’s in a row of shop houses opposite the Police Headquarters. Remember that it’s located on the 2nd floor so look out for the Porcelain sign. This map should help.

2. Does it really work?

A: Definitely! But as with all things, it would take effort and time. Depending on your skin’s problems, the therapist would tell you how many sessions you would need to achieve Porcelain clear skin.

3.Which therapist do you recommend?

A: To be honest, I’ve tried all the therapist before and they have all been good! The director, Jenny, is the most experience facial therapist and is best for those who have severe problem skin. However, since her services are also more costly, if you have just slightly troubled skin, any of the therapist there would be good enough. The therapist at Porcelain all go through an additional in-house training regardless of the experience they have gained elsewhere. They spend 6 months just observing the director before they are given the green light to work on clients! Such dedication to perfecting the craft is seldom seen at facial salons.

4. Are they expensive?

A: I think this question of whether it’s expensive is rather relative. They have a range of facials and the type you should go for depends on the condition of your skin. We spend lots of money on skincare all the time and many of us would buy an expensive bottle of lotion only to realize that it doesn’t work or that our skin condition has changed after 2 weeks! But since the facials at Porcelain is customized, you would get exactly what your skin needs and as your skin changes and requires different products or treatment, the therapist would customize accordingly with no extra charge! Thus the facial is really value for money! The best part is that if you want to try them out, your first facial would be 50% off! Just quote ‘Renzze’!

5. How long is the facial treatment?

What I like about Porcelain Face Spa is that they get the job done properly, regardless of how long it takes. They don’t set a fixed time where they do a quick job so they can pack in more customers in one day. Instead, they comb through every pore on your face in great detail. The first time I had my facial done there about 1 year plus ago, they took 3 hours for my facial! These days, my face has less oil bumps and my facial lasts about 2 hours.

After all the serious Q&A, I’ll leave you all with a light hearted hamster escape video. Even the hamsters know what and who to look for if they want good skin!

The link to the video: http://youtu.be/SQR6gDdlfHA

I currently own 2 cameras.

1. Canon EOS 500D DSLR

The Canon EOS 500D is an entry level DSLR and I have had it for a couple of years already. Haven’t thought of switching it as it’s still working fine for me. If you intend to get a DSLR of the same caliber, I recommend the Canon EOS 550D which is the improved version of mine. In fact that’s what I recommended to my friend, Clara and she’s now an owner of a EOS 550D and loving every bit. Most of the videos I’ve shot are also taken with the HD video recording of this camera. It’s served me so well and is one of my happiest buys!

2. Canon S90

But I can’t really carry my DSLR everywhere because of its bulk so usually you’ll catch me with the Canon S90 instead. This camera was also bought a coupe of years back and is no longer available. In it’s place is the slightly improved Canon S95. This camera is an absolute favorite mainly because of it’s compact size. Despite it’s small size, photos have great quality and there are many settings to play with. You can adjust aperture, shutter speed, white balance, etc. And if you want a point and shoot, the auto function works well as well. In fact my whole group of girl friends uses this camera! Clara and I bought it first then Regina and Melva played with my camera and decided to get the same!

So there you have it! I’ll end this post with an outfit to share

And you know Louis is due for a haircut when he looks like this!

Sometime ago, Bianca Zen from My Fat Pocket interviewed me for their portal. And I though I’d share the interview here as well.

FASHION INTERVIEW
by Bianca Zen

Karen Ashley is a petite blogger who is currently the fashion ambassador for ClubCouture. She currently resides in Singapore but has travelled to places we can only admire on postcards.

“I’m an travel junkie blessed with a job that allows me to be rather flexible. I love my 2 dogs and secretly hope I have the time and effort for more, I speed on the roads, I love horses, I love to bake, I speak my mind and worry about it later, I can’t sing but sing anyways, I love horse riding, water rafting, mountain hiking and eat ice-cream straight out of their tubs. I look forward to Christmas and birthdays but don’t really drink. I shop more than I like to admit. If I could have a superpower, I want to be able to teleport.”

Ain’t she a doll? This adventurous lady reveals more about herself…

Tell us, why Renzee?

It’s pronounced as Ren-zee but spelled Renzze. I had that nickname from my first love. We were together for 7 years so that nickname really stuck even after the flames sizzled. I used it mainly because it was one of those nicknames that was unique enough to let me sign up on most forums or websites online at the first try. (If I went with Karen then I probably be Karen1243435363567!!!) Of course these days it seems that there are more “Renzze” appearing as well.

You have a section on “What Renzze Is Wearing today!” You stopped from 2008! Why so?

I’ve been posting up my outfits for a couple of years now. And I am still doing so everyday. What started out for fun is now habit. (bashfully) I haven’t updated the ” What Renzze Is Wearing Today” page since I changed my blogskin in 2008. I’ve been meaning to do a revamp on that page to sort out the year, month and different outfits in a more viewer friendly way but sorting 5 years of outfits is a little daunting. Hopefully I’ll have a time for revamp before the end of this year. Meanwhile, readers that would like to see my outfit everyday can still do so from the posts that I put out as regularly as I can.

You moved to Singapore from Brisbane. Where you born there?

I’m a true blue Singaporean. But the travel bug hit me from an early age and so I’ve moved around to work or study in several places. Brisbane, Australia is one of them and before that I was in Florida, USA. I’m still moving from place to place even now and have plans to shuttle between 2 homes. But at heart, I’m always a Singaporean and I always come home.

If you can live in a city of your choice, where would it be and why?

This is a tricky question cause living in several countries before I know that there is never a perfect place.  Friends and love ones are the main draw that makes everything homely and comforting. I’ve been lucky to have friends and family scattered across the globe so there’s a always a warm and friendly face. At the moment, I’m considering buying a retirement home in Canada because the beauty of that land is very enticing. Summers in Canada with lots of mountain trekking and winters in Florida where the weather is kind and I have family to spend Christmases with.

You are a dog lover. Tell us more about your dogs.

I would love to own horses but it’s not too practical in Singapore so I own 2 dogs. Louis, a 5 year old English Cocker Spaniel and Emmie, a 4 year old Kline Spitz ( same family as Pomeranian). They are both extremely loving dogs that enjoys beach runs and a cool dip in the ocean once a week.

Louis is the intelligent but naughty one. He’ll tap on me and show me his food bowl when he’s hungry or his water bowl when he’s thirsty and taps on the main door if he feels he needs a walk. My dogs stop eating when it’s enough so I just feed them whenever they ask. He puts his head on a pillow when he sleeps and hugs soft toys.

Emmie is has more typical doggy behavior but she is extremely obedient and loyal. I almost never have to scold her cause she rarely ever makes any mistakes. She’s extremely fond of cuddling and acts like a baby but is actually the independent one between the two of them.

I don’t exactly have a fix routine and my dogs are the same. When they wake up in the morning and see that I’m still asleep, they won’t wake me up. But the moment I open my eyes, they’ll rush to me like they haven’t seen me in days and want their morning cuddles. It’s a lot of work having dogs but it’s really hard not to fall in love with them. They make you their everything.

You are the fashion ambassador for Club Couture. How is their style similar to yours?

I love experimenting with different styles but I always fall back on the classics and I think ClubCouture is the same that way. They bring new types of outfits every season and it pretty trendy yet you’ll also notice that they always have a good selection of classic styles that will work for every girl. One of the things I love most about them is their fast and excellent customer service. They respond to queries within 60 mins and have the people behind the emails are real human beings with deductive reasoning and not just throwing out automated replies. How many web store can you say would provide such dedication?  That’s they way I like to run things too… the human touch.

What keeps you busy daily?

For most parts, I’m working as a researcher in developmental psychology. I look after my 2 dogs and travel a lot. I’m also planning my time between 2 homes in KL and Singapore and co-writing a research paper with an old friend so those are extremely time consuming. The remaining pockets of time are spent with what matters most, love ones and helping others.

In your own definition, what makes a woman modern and smart?

With the availability of educational opportunities, I think most women these days are both tech savvy and intelligent. But it’s also important for a woman to be wise. Wisdom and intelligence are not the same thing. For a woman to be both modern and smart, she must embrace the understanding of situations beyond what you can see on the surface. She is empowered to make insightful decisions with the knowledge she has. Not afraid to assume women roles like nuturing or mothering yet strong and independent enough to have a boardroom of intelligent minds respect her opinions and authority.

What, to you, is being financially independent? Do you think you are financially savvy and smart? Why?

Being financially independent to me is to be able to not work and be able to live off my personal wealth indefinitely. As such, financial independence vary from person to person because of the lifestyle they choose to sustain. If I choose to survive on simple basic necessities then the income that I can generate without working is more than sufficient but I don’t only want to survive but to achieve a sustainable lifestyle. I can’t say I’m financially savvy when I can’t resist the temptation to gorgeous silk and hand stitched leather but I do believe I have financial common sense and would never buy beyond my means or get into debt. I plan reasonably enough for my wants and always make sure I have enough for my needs.

What does the phrase “My Fat Pocket” remind you of?

It reminds me of an art assignment I did when I was 12. I drew the back of a jeans pocket with hearts overflowing. In each heart I wrote my desires. “My fat pocket” brings that overflowing image of abundant hopes and dreams to mind.

]]> http://www.renzze.com/index.php/2010/08/14/my-fat-pocket-interview/feed/ 10 http://www.renzze.com/index.php/2010/04/23/dear-renzze/ http://www.renzze.com/index.php/2010/04/23/dear-renzze/#comments Fri, 23 Apr 2010 05:39:27 +0000 Renzze http://www.renzze.com/?p=1884 Ever since I started this blog many many years ago, I’ve been having a sort of questions being us. Some of which are too personal but there are many who just need more information in regards to the topics I’ve raised up on my blog before. I also noticed a trend of similar questions being asked and instead of typing my answers over and over again, I thought it’ll be a good idea to share some of the questions I’ve been posed especially through emails over here.

I’ll be posting the question and my reply as a short post once every fortnight. Here’s the first one from a reader not too long ago.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

DEAR RENZZE QUESTION

Hello,

I am wondering if you have problems with boots turning moldy if unused and kept for too long? I’ve used charcoal and some other moisture absorber but most of my boots can’t seem to last longer than 2 years. Recently I noticed the man-made leather on my Aldo boots flaking off and I was rather ‘devastated’ because that was the most expensive pair I’ve ever bought. I didn’t apply any protection coat though.

I don’t travel to cold countries as much as you do but I have a habit of collecting boots so that I can have them ready when I need to travel. Now it turns out that I can only buy when the need arises and I worry might not be able to find designs I like on last minute shopping.

Please let me know if you have any methods to save me from losing my beloved boots~~
Thanks!

–
Warmest Regards,
Cheryann

RENZZE REPLY

Hi Cheryann,

With Singapore’s humidity it’s not surprising that boots turns moldy. Man-made leather would also tend to flake off as it’s not exactly meant to last.

It would help by keeping your boots in a cool dry place away from sunlight. I put a couple of thirsty hippos to be changed monthly and an electrical humidifier in my wardrobe. If you intend to collect your boots and maintain them for several years then it’ll help to clean them with a damp cloth to remove all the dirt and grime then dry it with another dry cloth, adding a very light tinge of Vaseline to coat the boots before storage. Do not put them in plastic bags as these would trap moisture. And it’s also good to air out or put them outdoors away with mild but not direct sunlight every once in awhile to prevent mold from forming.

Cheers,

Renzze

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I’m definitely no expert but I do hope all my readers who have similar concerns would benefit from my personal experience

Now for my usual food and outfit updates!

Had delicious ayam penyet at East Wood! Which reminds me that I’ve yet to try out the Indonesian place at Lucky Plaza that Regina recommended!

Here’s my outfit.

I’m letting this printed dress (without belt) go at $16 with normal mail so leave a comment or email if interested. Also, I’m letting go of the white lace romper I posted previously at $16 with normal mail. I’ve include the photos of the romper below for convenience.

Please note that both dress and romper is already sold. Thanks for your interest.