Beauty

I was excited to get my May’s Vanity Trove delivered to my door step once again. Just in case you missed out on my Vanity Trove post in April and have no idea what this little surprise is all about, Vanity Trove is a surprise box of beauty delivered right to your door step each month which you can get for a simple subscription fee of SGD25 a month.

It’s packed with goodies worth more than the subscription amount so what’s in store for me in the month of May?

A whole lot of unbelievable goodies it seems!

The first things that caught my eyes were the Aqua Rine Japanese Aroma Bath Sea Salt in Peach and Rose . It has exfoliating and anti-aging properties and I’m excited to try this out soon because they smell so good ( Yes, you can smell it even before you open the pack)! Most importantly, it is in favor of eliminating tiny inflammation of  skin, stop itchiness and minimizes big pores. I’m intending to use these after my swimming sessions so that I can keep my skin smooth, radiant and younger looking after swimming in all that chlorine.

Next item that caught my attention was the GO60 mask with the cute blue ribbon on the packaging. G60 is from Mary Chia and offers quality treatment and affordable prices. The Go Hydrate! Treatment Masque is perfect for me as it will quench my skin’s thirst with their lock-in hydration formula. Since it’s an overnight mask, I’ll wear it on board long flights so I don’t have to worry about removing the mask after 15 or 20 mins. I can leave it on while I sleep away and wake up to supple hydrated skin when I wake up at my destination.

Also included in May’s Vanity Trove is Kose Infinity Deep Protection UV. I’m a huge Kose fan and their sunscreens are always light and not greasy. I love the sample size because it’ll fit right into my cosmetic pouch, making it handy for reapplication throughout the day.

Lunamer Brightener is Lunamer’s star product and I didn’t get a chance to try it out until now. It is an energizing essence that recharges the skin by removing dullness-causing keratin.

Another handy travel size sample is the Nuxe Gel Demaquillant Fondant. This is a cleansing gel with rose petals that is suitable for both face and eyes. I’m not sure if I was just lucky  or if Vanity Trove took note of my skin type because because the one I received is perfect for my sensitive skin.

An unexpected product is Sebamed Feminine Intimate Wash. I’ve tried Sebamed products before and I always love their cleansing shower oil for dry climates as well as their natural deodorants. What I didn’t know was that they also carried feminine wash. Their wash is specially formulated to the pH value of 3.8 of the genital acid mantle with skin-related lactic acid. The acidic balance of the pH value in our sensitive area is essential prophylactic protection against bacterial and fungal infection.

Last but not least is Bach Rescue Pastilles. They are made from natural remedies of flower essences and can help restore inner calm, control and focus. These addictive blackcurrant chewy lozenges came in super handy when I was recovering from my recent cough.

After reading all the surprises I had in May, you must be tempted to try some too! Sign up for Vanity Trove and you’ll be able to try you hand on even more exciting surprises next month!

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Outfit of the day

Cap: China

Sweater Top : Dip Drops

Shorts: Hong Kong

Shoes: Marc Jacobs

Went PS yet again because of truffle fries  and desert cravings.

Had a great catch up session at PS with Wendy. It was her first time there and she loved it.

I wore this yellow korean rosette dress with Chanel shoes.

Sushi threw a cool vegetarian tea party so we could meet up with Vernice and her little baby girl. It’s been awhile since I saw Vernice.

I attended The LINE official launch party and it was awesome! Their original characters are so cute and I love the app.

Was obsessed over Tokyo Bananas for awhile. I think the pink one is cute but I actually much prefer the taste of the original one.

April’s Vanity Trove which I included in my giveaway.

Late night foot reflex with Sushi followed by mee sua supper!

And Chew Kway for breakfast. I do love my local food!

Haven’t had a free window of time in awhile and I had fun using my free time trying out sketching and mixing it up with digital art medium.

Outfit of the day as I took my granny out to run some errands.

Look at my bag filled with Cadbury chocolates and my cutest thumb drive ever! I got it at the Cadbury event.

I had a couple of really long days in April and this was a selfie I took on one of them before I was ready to bathe and crash.

Met up with Yan and Melvin for Thai dinner and late night drinks at Timber!

I had these for for awhile but it was only recently that I started to use my pink crystal calculator and fabric mouse pads.

Arranged dinner with Melva and blogger friends – Elaine, Herine, Tselyn and Verlyn at MooJaa for yummy thai UFO BBQ. Review coming up soon!

After being overstuffed at MooJaa, I wonder how I was able to fit this giant mudcake from TCC when I met JW, Regina and Sushi at the airport for supper before Regina flys off to China for work.

Learnt about Shiseido hair and fashion trends for 2013. Will be sharing those information with you soon!

Kombi Rocks is one of my favorite chill out place cause I love the root beer float.

A selfie with my new cap.

Late nights are for hot chocolate. One cup of milky hot chocolate always helps me to sleep better.

Went to catch Edges, The Musical with friends.

Had a great time at Savour 2013 with all the gourmet offerings. I especially loved Fadina chocolates.

Had the pleasure to meet AKB48 girls live and give them hi-5s at the Tokyo Auto Show 2013.

I really enjoyed seeing all the cars as well! Definitely worth going.

Charcoal promfret fish soup and dishes with my family for weekend dinner. It’s perfect for the rainy days.

Kimchi Fried Rice with Egg for supper. Another obsession in April.

Attended a Bliss House party with Regina and my sister.

Had dinner at Two Chefs with Eunice, Smith and Pearlin.

Was in a Balenciaga mood in April.

My home cooked Kimchi fried rice is freaking good!

Throwback Thursday with my godma/aunt and my first dog, Melody.

Attended Bartitude grand opening. Owner is my gf Koji and I’m so proud of her.

Nailvibe is a sponsor for Korean boy band Ukiss and I attended the concert with Melva and friends!

Looking down, this was my view. Emmie and my green Dior flats.

The goody bag hamper for my Easter giveaway winner Eileen Lim!

Surprise Hello Kitty donuts that have been hand carried from Tokyo.

Yay! I’m in GLOW magazine couldn’t make it for the cover shoot as I was in China but flip inside and read all about me and the other lovely bloggers!

Awesome so-gyu I had at Kinsa sushi the other day. Wagyu beef from Japan. Review coming up soon.

The huge platter Morganfields with one of their signature garlic BBQ ribs. Review coming up soon.

Popping by 40 Hands for a quick chocolate or coffee fix with my dogs in the afternoons is a luxury I treasure.

Had a great time at the Singapore Turf Club at their Queen Elizabeth II cup! More photos soon!

Loving my book clutch from myjotterbook.

Makeup free and wake up hair. On the way to the studio to film with 蓝心湄 .

Had so much fun and learnt so much while filming Queen 女人我最大.

Another early morning…. Off to hair and makeup for another program, this time its on Channel U.

The lovely makeup artist yesterday that so kindly did all my touchups, wipe perspiration and sheltered me with umbrella throughout my shoot.

Behind the scenes with pretty babe 汤老师 Ling Yi.

Last month, at the DHC event I attended, they gave away cute Fukubukuro (福袋 ) which means everyone walks away with an unknown unique set of products from DHC.

I thought it was a real fun way to give out goodies because there in nothing in DHC that I wouldn’t like anyways.

I unpacked my little cloth bundle to find DHC collagen drink as well as DHC newest skincare offering, their Kakon Juka skincare range. I will be reviewing the Kakon Juka skincare range on Watsons beautyplayground so look out for it!

Truth be told, I’m already a big fan to DHC 7,000mg collagen drink even before DHC was launched in Watsons. I love the berry taste of this drink and it’s effects on making my skin, brighter, clearer and more elastic.

I don’t take collagen drinks, powder or pills all the time. But every once in awhile when I feel that my skin seem to be getting dull and haggard, I’ll try to kick start my internal skincare with a 3 months collagen program.

I usually start the first 2 weeks of my 3 months (12 weeks) collagen program with one bottle of DHC collagen drink every single day. My skin is at its dullest when I want to start my collagen program so I need a high level of collagen (7,000mg) every day to force my skin into a renewal cycle.

After the first 2 weeks, I can already see a stark difference in the radiant level of my skin. Thus, for the next 8 weeks, I will take the DHC collagen drink only once in 2 or 3 days. In those in between days when I don’t drink the collagen drink, I maintain it by adding some DHC collagen powder (5,000) into my drinks of food or by taking the DHC collagen pills.

When I reach the final 2 weeks of my 3 months collagen program, I’ll just rely solely on the DHC collagen powder or pills. If you want you can continue to maintain with DHC collagen products but usually I will stop so that I can test other products without the aid of  DHC collagen in other for me to see if the other products I review are working. When my skin gets dull again or if I don’t have beauty products I need to review, I’ll go right back to my DHC collagen program!

Try it and let me know if it works as well for you. But don’t forget that your topical skincare is also important!

All DHC products can by found in any Watsons store.

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Outfit of the day

Dress: Liz Lisa

Earrings and ballet flats: Chanel

Sometime ago, I blogged about going to J & Y Nail studio to learn all about nails from the experts.

J & Y Nail Studio offers all kinds of nail classes from the most extensive program to the basic ones. Since gel nail polish are all the rage these days and I was keen to learn to work with gel polish applications and some simple gel designs that can be used for everyday wear.

J&Y Nail Studio Educators Jess Puan and Yoko Naito are both recognized and international accredited in professional training of nail technicians. Their new studio is located at 195 Pearls Hill Terrace #02-65.

There were already some students busy  practicing what they have been taught when I arrived at their studio one late afternoon.

I marveled at the may trophies and certificates decorating the classroom while I wait for my teacher, Ms Yoko Naito to prepare my necessary equipments so I can start the class.

They have a whole range of classes for different levels and capabilities. I decided that I should start with the simplest one which is the i-GEL Basic Art.

Here are some of the types of nail art that will be taught in the basic art course. I feel that it’s much easier to paint with gel polish as you can correct it easily layer by layer instead of normal nail polishes.

J & Y Nail Studio uses ONS i-Gel system as it has excellent adhesion, low odor and superior shine. I was told that it makes fine lines and delicate artwork painting much easier compared to other brands of gel polishes.

There are obviously tons of designs to be learnt but let me share with you 3 designs that I have learnt. During the lesson, you have a choice of doing it on your own nail or on fake nails. I chose to do my training on fake nails as it means I can try on as many designs and color combinations as I like without having to worry about removal.

If you do decide to try on your own nails, be sure that you first gently buff your nails to remove the shine. Apply one layer of ONS Top2Bottom i-Gel and cure with a UV lamp or LED Lamp. I used an LED lamp so the curing only takes 30 seconds.

These are the 3 design techniques that I learnt.

 At J&Y Nail Studio, their ratio is capped at 5:1. With a maximum of 5 students to 1 Educator, so students can receive more personal attention and get more value out of their education.

For the floral design, you can place your 1st base color (I chose white) cure it then place your 2nd base color over (I chose mint) and cure again.

Now for the design portion. You may use an art palette to hold some of the ONS i-Gel nail colors that you want to use for your designs.

First add some pink dots on the white base and gently swirl in some red to make an easy rose similar to the Cath Kidson designs. Cure it under the LED lamp for 30 seconds.

Next, add the leaves by dotting green near the rose buds you’ve created. To give the leaves more dimension, start with a dark green and dot a lighter shade of green over your dark green leave dots.

Once again you can cure it under the LED lamp and it’s almost complete!

The last step to to add sparkly polish and stick on gems to wherever you see fit for the final look.

I’m really amazed at how simple the roses were to create and yet delivers such pretty results.

I won’t be diverging all the things that I learn step by step because I think I’ll make a terrible nail instructor but if you are keen on learning how to do some nail art on your own, J & Y Nail Studio is the place to go.

This is another simple but effective technique I learnt. Run alternating colors parallel to what every lines you like to draw. Then just run through those lines at a 90 degree angel with a clean thin brush to get a beautiful feather-like effect.

It’s simple, and works with any color combination you choose.

To add that extra oomph, just add on some sparkles!

The last of the 3 designs I want to share with you is this rose design. The ONS i-Gel system allows you to blend colors beautifully so you can just lightly layer color on color to get a nice subtle hue before drawing your design.

I love this design because it’s so easy to draw but turns out really elegantly. With the base hue established and cured, using a brush and black gel polish, start drawing the rose. Draw a small oval in the middle and just keep building petals around the middle till you reach the edge of the nail.

These 3 designs are just the peak of the iceberg. There are just so many simple and effective techniques you can learn to style and design your own nails using Gel polish.

Currently, there’s a one day class that J & Y Nail Studio are conducting for ONS i-Gel Training.

Included in the gel polish application and gel art design, you’ll get:

5  ONS i-Gel polish colors

1 Top2Bottom polish

1 ONS Smoother File

1 ONS Certificate of Training

This training session costing SGD 500 can be arranged anytime on Tues and Sat at 10.30am to 5.30pm or on Wed and Fri at 10:30am to 9:30 pm.

Award winning Jess and Yoko are the only instructors at J & Y nail studios so you can be sure that you will be learning from the experts directly.

At J&Y Nail Studio they adopt a flexible timetable, which means students have significant freedom over when they like to attend their courses. Be it work during the day or  commitments in the evening, with the freedom to plan their own timetable, students can better focus on their learning without time pressure.

Here are some of the cute stuff that their students have done I really like the Rikkimaru ones!

The instructor’s competition pieces are simply exquisite. I don’t think I’ll ever reach their standards but for someone who couldn’t even apply her own nail polish previously, I’m mighty happy with my simple roses and swirls.

If you are keen on taking a nail course, please contact J & Y Nail Studio at 96908083.

When I’m traveling, I usually don’t wash my hair everyday. This is especially true for places that are cold, dry and where daily washing, strips the hair of beneficial oil (called sebum) which can damage my locks.

But being brought up in hot and humid Singapore, I have developed a habit of shampooing everyday so I find it impossible to bring myself to do the “shampoo only once a week” regime. The best I can do when I travel is to shampoo every alternate day and use a dry shampoo for those in-between days.

For those alternate days when I don’t wash my hair, I wake up looking somewhat like this.

So I use 2 main products to help keep away the oily look, make my hair smell nice and keep the shape.

Marc Anthony 2nd Day Clear Dry Shampoo and Ma Cherie Hair Fragrance are my 2nd day hair secret arsenal.

This residue-free 2nd Day Clear Dry Shampoo lets you instantly cleanse your hair without the wash while absorbing excess oil and adding volume to flat, lifeless second day hair.

It was developed with Nanotechnology and Zeolite, a micro-porous mineral, to cleanse hair without a chalky residue or gritty texture. Its invisible, extra absorbent formula lets you remove excess oil, eliminate odor and add volume. It is perfect for all hair types, styles and colors to get beautifully fresh hair between washes. You no longer have to worry about greasy, flat hair between washes.

Lightly spray 2nd Day Clear Dry Shampoo on dry hair, concentrating on the roots area to absorb excess oil and add lift.

Let dry for one minute then brush through.

Unlike a lot of  other dry shampoos in the market, this one does not leave any chalky residue!

Next, it’s time for my 2nd tool. The Ma Cherie Hair Fragrance.

I love the whole Ma Cherie range mainly because they smell so good. But the hair fragrance is really useful when you need your hair smelling fresh. Whether its because you are having 2nd day hair or because you just came out of an oily smoky hawker center.

A couple spritz of the Ma Cheire hair fragrance and no one would even know you are having 2nd day hair!

So there you have it. Secrets to my 2nd day hair.

Both Marc Anthony 2nd day clear dry shampoo and Ma Cherie hair fragrance can be found in any Watsons store