I’ve been trying out a few new products for some time now and I know those readers who are accustomed to reading my semester-reviews on new facial products must be wondering if that’s ever gonna come for this semester. Rest assured that I’ve many products which I can’t wait to share with you guys, including Biotherm’s Skin Vivo Series, Shu Uemura’s new UV Under Base Fluid. This time round I’d also like to share some of my favourite make-up stash with you guys.. The many little magic that does wonders to your face :) But all that has to wait cause a full blown review on all that is gonna take me a long longggg time, which explains why I’m here to do up a short review on 2 of my current cant-live-withouts – DHC’s Acne Spot Therapy & Bio-Essence Inchloss Body Cream.

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My previous pimple cream (Vichy Anti-imperfections) has officially retired after serving me well for almost 5months. DHC might be new to some of you but it’s no stranger to taiwanese. DHC has been around for a pretty long time, in fact, my very first skin care starter’s kit was from their line. Looking back, it’s been a good 6 years since I first used their products. My top favourites  includes their iconic Extra Virgin Olive Oil (some uber shit), Cleansing Oil and their Olive Oil Soap (my absolute fav!). This is the first time I tried their Salicylic Acid collection and I’m highly impressed by their Acne Spot Therapy. While most pimple cream attempts to dry out your skin asap, the spot therapy does so without being harsh on the skin around it. While my concealers usually end up cracking over the pimple due to the dryness, this was totally not the case with the Acne Spot Therapy. Very simple packaging. Delivers everything a pimple cream should. Minimises redness and de-swell pimples in a blink. I love it! :)

The 2nd current cant-live-without is my Inchloss Body Cream. Many out there might be skeptical about slimming creams and to tell you the truth, they don’t work the way you think they do. hahaha. confused? Well, let’s all face it, if rubbing some cream can make your fats go away, there will be no fatties on this planet. These slimming creams (I’d like to believe..) are there to “assist” or “speed up” the slimming process. Having said that, by means of laws of thermodynamics ( = me bullshitting hahaha!), you can’t create or destroy energy. This also means, since we’ve all established that creams can’t just make your fats DISAPPEAR, if you want to make them disappear, you gotta input a certain amount of energy. The way I do it is through massaging. I’ve with me an applicator/massager of sorts with rollers which I’ve been using faithfully for the past 1 year (I think..). There came a time after all that weight loss you realise that’s probably the lightest you’ll ever go. My body weight became stagnant and though overall average, I was (still am actually) unhappy about my legs. ooOOOoo how I wish I can just chop off that chunk off my inner thighs and calves hahaha. ok, stop giving me those stares.

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ANYWAY! I started massaging my calves faithfully with the roller along with various slimming cream (I’ve tried so many! Every single one from Loreal and Nivea series. It’s crazy!) and I dare say massage really works! (It’s a lot slower and more time consuming but it doesn’t rebounce and despite the results being subtle, they don’t go unnoticed!) A lot of work yes but hey, no pain no gain! We can’t all be lucky babes with high metabolism to eat carefreely so if you can’t give up food, you gotta work hard somewhere down the line yea? :) So why particularly review the Inchloss Cream since I’ve used so many others? Firstly, I must say, I think they work ALL THE SAME. They more or less deliver the same results (Loreal’s Perfect Slim Laser/Loreal’s Perfect Slim Lifting Pro, Nivea’s My Silhouette Slimming & Reshaping Gel-Cream/ NIVEA’s body Good-bye Cellulite Gel Cream/Vichy’s Lipo-Metri Slimming Treatment). The products I’ve mentioned usually cost abt $39-$69 which if you use at my intensity, it’s crazy. So on that fine day when I saw the packaging of Inchloss that reads “Burns fat THROUGHOUT the day!” I was sold. hahaha and I’m glad I was cause at only half the price, this product delivers too! So if you’re looking for something to go along with massaging, a long term plan that is, you might wanna consider the Inchloss Cream (pardon the typo below).

Alright! That’s all for now. On a side note, FYP is ending and I’m kinda sad cause I made so many good friends through FYP and I really really can’t express how blessed I am to have met these wonderful people. This is probably not a good time to emo, I’ll be back in a future post after the final PPT. Have a good day everyone! :)

as i’ve  previously shared, i was highly impressed by IQQU’s acne serum so i decided to give another product from the line a shot and i was pleasantly surprised yet again! *beams* this review is gonna be really short cuz i’m really burn out this week. i’m trying to cramp everything so i can free up more time for thesis later this mth. anw. i wanted to address some concerns abt bad reviews with regards to facial products. we all know that there is no one product that suits everyone. and we know that there is no one single invention or policy or promotion or song or movie or whatever else u can name on this planet that pleases everybody. somehow somewhere someone is gonna say a certain something sucks. usually the majority wins (note: USUALLY, not always). anw, so the question lies in to follow the majority or not. to take that leap of faith to attempt at sth everybody says otherwise. i’d like to say that majority is usually a good gauge. if a certain product has excessive bad reviews, i’ll prob be turned away. but that being said, there will ALWAYS be bad reviews. it is up to u to interpret. i always take reviews with a pinch of salt. both the good ones and the bad ones. i go by instincts. if i feel that the good reviews or the marketing makes the product looks try-worthy, i’ll heck all bad reviews and go ahead. afterall, reviews will be meaningless if it’s not tried and tested personally, who else better to give the final verdict but urself? if the product turns out to be hideous and my instincts were proven wrong, then so be it. whether it’s good or bad, i’d have bagged a little sth to share with my frens and readers. as u make more leaps of faith, u’ll eventually master the art of “near” perfection. ur instincts become more reliable and u make lesser wrong choices. unless of cuz u’re totally cursed and condemned to make all the wrong choices in life (may god have mercy on u), i think we’re all good. generally :) -i hope-

so here’s IQQU’s Jasmine Rice Scrub. it smells delicious! and i mean really delicious. it smells candy and creamy and flowery all at the same time. when i read that countless commented on its good smell, i was skeptical. but now i totally believed it when the reviewer wrote that she had to exercise a certain amt of self control to refrain from eating the scrub during washing. lol! anw, the product is to be used AFTER u’ve washed ur face. it basically has the same application as facial wash. after u’ve washed ur face, take a suitable amt and go in circles round ur washed (wet) face. rinse off thoroughly after that. this scrub is not only cleansing, it is also the most moisturising facial scrub i’ve used. most facial scrubs i tried are super cleansing but they usually leave my face real tight. IQQU’s scrub is a sweet change. the micro-beads are gentle yet able to clear up the dirt clogging ur poles. leaving ur skin soft and smooth. i personally loved it! at only USD$15, it is a very investment-worthy purchase! i even recommended it to my mum. lol!

with all the deadlines kicking in, 24hrs a day is totally not enough. sth to keep readers entertained. here’s a short post on Ma Maison revisit. i’ve always liked the interior design of this place. food wise it’s decent but not too impressive. other than its butter rice which is pretty iconic, i cant remember anything else from the menu.

tried their cheese fritters for the first time and it was surprisingly pleasant with the sweet sauce provided. for the cheese-loving pple :)

our mains. ed commented that the portion was too little for mine but i thought it was alright. standard wise, hmm.. nothing too impressive. stick to the butter rice pple! :)

here’s us before i leave. i tried on the eye shadow quad from Lancome-USA and the eye shadow brushes. it’s wonderful! haha, it’s officially my fav brush now. and i’ve 4 other eye shadow brushes. just like clothes, u can neva complain one too isnt it? i’m currently deliberating on the need for a large powder brush. cuz my goat’s hair powder brush from Laura Mercier is totally under-utilised. not to mention it’s only 2 mths old. but having that big fat volume brush looks so shiok!! ahhh. right now i’ve only found the MAC one that i particular like cuz it’s seriously huge. it’s very value for money cuz for such a big fat brush it’s only $80? i got the MAC small duo stipling brush for $75! hahaha, yes i noe the size has no relations to the monetary value. owells. after i’m done with deliberating on which brush to go with wad i will come back, u’ll see my answer in another post. in anycase some of u are wondering why i need so many brushes of similar functionality, teepee has this OCD thing abt her brush applications. i’ll have 2 blush brushes. one for matt one for shimmer. 2 powder brushes, one for mineral one for normal. 4 eyeshadow brushes (now 5), 2 for fine application (one for dark one for light colours) and 2 for broad application (one for dark one for light colours) and so on… basically everything in sets of 2 and above cuz i cant stand the powders mixing. and sometimes when u’re doing make up, u cant possible wash the brushes immediately in between product switching  and i prefer each application with a fresh clean brush. so i’ll have several brushes with similar functionality such that i can work on different colours and textures simultaneously without fearing colour crossings. it’s a very sick OCD which i totally dont recommend anyone to catch on. technically it’s a little redundant haha and u noe brushes aint exactly cheap… owells :)

3 of the 5 (and counting) parcels came in last week after the cny hols. i LOVEEEE receiving parcels. it’s like children getting their xmas presents from their xmas socks! there’s the old time VS and Quiksilver. sth which i wanna recommend to girls out there is Lancome-USA. this is actually the first time i purchased sth from the site and it’s a very pleasant shopping experience.

if u’re a frequent online shopper, u shld be familiar with discount coupons. very often we do not have them but a little googling does the magic. there is no harm trying really. saw sth u fancy on a site? google for discount codes! u neva noe wad u will find! anw, so i came across Lancome-USA.com in an attempt to purchase some brushes (make up brushes). i find their brushes very reasonably priced but tt’s not the best part. it’s the insane number of freebies u get from each purchase! i only purchased 2 brushes from the site but i did a little googling and found a 6 pieces freebie discount code! i applied it and tada! the parcel came in with a shitload of goodies! there’s the High Resolution Collaser 5X Serum, Effacil Eye make up remover, Cover Fever Lipstick, Colour Design Eye Shadow Quad, Bi-Facil make up remover and Definicils High Definition Mascara! the 2 bottles of eye make up remover are quite sizable! 50ml each! super worth it dont u think? hahaha, they’re not in little miserable sachets which u get from the lancome counters in singapore! so i’m recommending girls to visit lancome-usa for some super value steals!

as for guys, quiksilver.com has good sales. all those tshirts for only SGD$150! if u divide it out, including shipping, each shirt is only SGD$25! shopping brings such joy. i’ve just placed another order with VS, they’ve some hottt heels for this season. for those using Borderlinx, do not forget to google for discount codes! i got 10% off my previous shipping :) google is one’s best fren.

ed is one of those typical untidy boys. and him being him, all sentimental, keeps ALL things. he even has worksheets from his RI days. he keeps every single book he has ever read since he was a kid. basically he stores everything. i’m perfectly fine with sentimental pple. i mean if u keep every single card or present or present wrapper even, that’s fine. but! u must tidy them. wads the point of having boxes of randomly thrown in presents/cards/old books/worksheets without organising them? i mean the purpose of keeping is so that u can remember and be able to go through them when u grow older. yanoe, look back at the good old days etc. but without organising ur oldies, it’s as good as throwing them away cuz in the first place, u wont even know where to start looking for them even if u want to. isnt it a lot easier to just organise them neatly. according to wadeva categories appropriate. eg. primary sch/ sec sch/ jc/ uni/ hall etc. at least u noe exactly where to look when u really wanna go through them. without organisation, they’re no different to junks honestly. anw, so we’ve been having this disagreement for the longest time cuz i cannot stand the state of mess his room is in and i cannot believe he’s been living in tt pig’s sty over a decade. i made him throw away a lot of stuff 2 years back. hahaha, it was one tough fight. this CNY, i attempted to make him clear up his room again. this time a tad more successful. i told him one basic rule. u wanna keep it? get organised. so it’s a choice between just flinging them right into the garbage bag on the floor or painstaking sort them out from the giant pile i pulled out from his cupboards. u see, u wont have to endure such pain if u got organised from the very beginning. storing them for 10 years and trying to get organised later is no joke. him being half lazy and half driven mad by my persistence, he threw quite a bit of stuff away. (thank god! hahaha)

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with everything out of the way, i helped him organise the remaining keepers neatly into the cupboards and freed up quite a bit of space. the long bench (see diagram below) by the window used to be flooded with books and notes has been entirely emptied. leaving a spacious wide area for him to carry out his electronic works (sth he has been very pleased abt). i also made him clear up the trash under his bed. they’ve been there for eternity. cny is just abt time for massive clean up. and the bed broke during the midst. hahaha. it has lived out his life i guess. the bed has been with him for over 10years since he moved into his current place. i suggested him to get a sofa bed so he cld free up more living space in the room. given the new found dimensions, he can have friends over for board games, have proper seating avenues. most friends used to sit on his bed to watch tv which is at an awkward angle. he thought abt it and agreed that a sofa bed will be an excellent idea. so where else better to get a sofa bed other than Ikea right? here’s the change in living space (shaded in blue) after ed got rid of his old bed and bought the new sofa bed. pretty good isnt it? :)

the sofa bed looks deceivingly small but it actually opens up to queen size! (slightly shorter in height. queen is 200, the sofa bed is 188, the difference is barely noticeable) if u remember, tt’s the couple pillow case i got him last year for vday. i sent it over to finland while he was on SEP :)

it’s an extremely worth it purchase and ed has been extremely pleased with the tranformation to his room. hahaha. this is the time where teepee says “what wld u do without meee?” MUWHAHAHAHHAHA.

i’m finally here doing my review on the IQQU acne serum. i noe i took forever hahaha. busy is my excuse :) anw! so here is the amazing serum which i’ve used for about 2 weeks now. it’s 30ml, designed with vacuum pump squeeze. in another words, there is no tubing that transports the serum to the outlet. those who just obtain their bottle might find themselves not being able to squeeze out a single drop after several presses. michelle phan explained that it’s becuz of the pressure change during shipping. my solution to that is easy. simply unscrew the cap, put it back on tightly and give it a few pumps to remove the air u’ve just introduced and there u have it!

some thoughts on the product itself. it has a thick creamy texture. a lot of pple said it smells orangey but honestly, i think it smells like mosquito repellent. it is not entirely unbearable so dont get me wrong girls.  u’ll prob get use to it after a while. the serum comes before ur other serums followed by ur moisturizer/creams. this serum is so easily absorbed. it doesnt leave ur skin too dry and the best part of the deal is that it assists in the absorption of ur other serums and creams. the whitening serum i’m using from Shiseido (Melanor Reduce Ex) takes a while to work into the skin but after putting on the acne serum, the whitening serum disappears in a blink! lovely :)

u can feel the effect of the serum just a day or two after u start using. some reviews i’ve read say that they’ve massive breakout during the first week and according to IQQU, it’s due to the presence of retinol. it’s also said to go away after u skin gets used to it. not too sure abt tt cuz i didnt have breakouts. i’m assuming if u’ve ultra sensitive skin, then maybe it’s not too wise to be too adventurous. all things else, i think this product definitely delivers wad it promises. it handles my breakouts during period days well too (not totally breakout proof but it keeps things under control) so i’m highly recommending it to all girls out there. guys with acne issues or basically anyone who wants refine skin, do give this product a shot.

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below is a shot taken on vday. with no foundations or wadsoeva. just my moisturizer :) i’m loving it :)

every valentine’s, the bouquet is always the highlight. 

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2008

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on our 1st vday (2008), edward made (yes, he wrapped it himself) a bouquet consisting of 60 white roses that formed a heart shape in the center, surrounded by 99 red roses. it was soo huge, u cant even see the red roses from the top cuz the whole bouquet curves into a sphere.

2009

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last year (2009), he was away on SEP in finland so no handmade bouquet. to make up for that, he gave me 2 bouquets. one small one as a surprise with the help of kaifen (we were interning at the same company tgt). the other one, 99 roses delivered by emma. i lost the original photos cuz i didnt back up my photos for the first half of 2009 so everything during that 6mths is gone. thankgod for blogging. here’s a collage i did then.

2010

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this year, i told him no more roses. or soon we’ll be looking at 999 in a couple of years. i told him i want something refreshing. soo…. here’s the BIGGEST bouquet i’ve ever received. not only does it weigh a tonne, it is also MOTHER huge. 60 sunflowers. self-wrapped no less :)

just a sneak peak on my vday. full post coming up soon but it will be password locked. those who knows the password knows it *wink* till then!

Reunion Dinner (Eve of CNY)

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reunion dinner with ed’s family this year was held at a chinese restaurant in NTU Alumni house at buona vista. sth different from the past years was that there was Lion Dance at the restaurant. it was interesting and all for the first 2 mins but when the loud drums and gongs started to get a little overbearing, we almost wished the pinkie man can quickly make his exit with the 2 lions hahaha :) owells, it was still entertaining though :)

we had to eat fast cuz ed’s aunt hired transport for everyone at 830. but by 820, we were still not down to the 2nd last course. lol!

this CNY was like a clothes clearing session for me. i didnt have to shop for any new clothes cuz i had so many zara and mango stuff from europe which were totally unworn since we got back last july. i totally LOVEEEE the broad pants below to death. it’s got to be the broadest pants ever. it spans 40cm in diameter, making it skirt like. in comfortable silk satin that makes it a joy to wear *beams*

as all of u noe, vday coincides with cny this year. it’s super sian! not only does cny totally overshadow vday, it makes it *almost* impossible for any couples to celebrate the actual event itself. since u noe, the whole chu yi then must go bai nian and stuff. and the fact that chu xi is a family day thing, u cant just abandone ur family and go have time alone with ur the other half. i guess the florists must have been hit the hardest. nobody was walking around in orchard road with roses and u dont see couples at all!

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Chinese New Year Chu Yi

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anw, so we got up early on chuyi to get dress to go ed’s ahma’s place. the weather was very good at the start of the day, at least the heat was bearable. as usual, ed’s aunt prepared a fest. the amount of effort she puts in, it’s amazing :) our 2nd visit was to ed’s mum’s side where we spent the entire evening till abt 8pm+. usually there will be majong but somehow this year the power of Avatar must be too strong cuz everyone was glued to the TV. haha, ok, i’m just saying. not everyone enjoyed Avatar, jacq detests the blue pple. lol!

so we stayed there for a good few hours. by then the heat got unbearable and the crowd didnt help. so everyone was sitting in their sweat. clammy and agitated. i dozed off cuz i got drowsy. everyone’s hair started to chui and the heat doesnt do make up any good. ed commented that the house is starting to get a little too small for family gatherings cuz all the kids r so grown up now. and ed’s cousin asked if he was 28. MUWAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH!

so that was our super crowded cny. u must be wondering so what abt the vday?????? hahahaha, i’m gonna leave that to the next post. stay tune and find out how we squeezed in our vday celebration throughout the cny bainian schedule and wad we did :) some very good recommendations coming right up! happy new year everyone! :)

so once in a while a gorgeous pair of heels comes along and u just cant resist it. u just HAVE to get it. though once in a while is probably an understatement. hahaha, i see gorgeous heels all the time. teepee loves high heels. the higher the better. most if not all my heels are 3.5inches  and above. and i shop in them all the time. for 6 to 10hrs straight. no problem at all. in fact, i find it a lot easier to shop in heels than in flats. strange huh?

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i’m a firm believer of price for quality. however, sometimes even after spending a little extra u might still find ur gorgeous heels a complete killer.  so wad do u do when u just got urself a pair of killer heels which is to die for but u simply CANT WALK IN IT?! here’s my ultimate solution. take for example this uber bling pair of Aldo heels. its structure is theoretically proportionate. meaning it is a well engineered pair of heels. but somehow, i keep finding myself leaning forward when i’m on it, unable to balance myself.

each time i come across a pair of problematic heels. i’ll bring it back to a trusty shop in taiwan. depending on the type of problem u face. they offer complete solutions to all sorts of hard to wear heels. they can chop/file down ur stiletto’s heels to even out the front and back proportions, pad the front to provide more cushioning, simulate walking on soft cushions. or even trimming the heels to make it fit if u bought a size too big! loads of amazing stuff. in the picture u see below, this Aldo baby went for cushioning since i found the balance to be slightly off center. after adding the padding as indicated by the yellow arrow, the front became half an inch higher and thus solves the problem of me leaning forward when wearing it. u will also notice that the padding is a lot thicker than the usual padding u add to the base of ur shoes. it provides DAMN a lot of cushioning and one can walk for hours in a pair of heels like that. it absorbs the shock/impact for u as u walk, alleviating the stress that ur ankle experiences after prolonged walking on heels. uber amazing.

here’s how the bottom looks like.

to fix a bottom like this, workmanship+material cost is only $15SGD.

i pad most of my heels. it’s a very worthwhile investment. afterall, if u’re willing to spend hundreds on it, another 15 to make it more wearable makes perfect sense. plus dont u secretly lovee the stares of envy as u stroll down orchard road in a pair of killer heels, with girls marvelling over ur ability to wear ultra high heels? hahaha it’s kinda my sick pride. lol!! here’s another sth i do for my lovely heels if i’m not padding them. take for instance this gorgeous purple i got last year.

dont be fooled by its innocent look. this baby is 13cm in height! i’m a towering 1.8m when i’m on it. in another words, i’m taller than any typical guys u see on the mrt. it gets me a LOT of stares. mostly unfriendly ones though. hahaha :) here’s a shot of the soles. take a good look at it. see if u can spot anything. (pardon the filth, i dont wash the soles. heh)

well, pedderred heels are one of the most comfortable heels ever. even at a height of 13cm which translates to abt 5.2inches, it’s absolutely weightless. i can walk hrs in it. so for heels like this where no extra zhng-ing is required to make it more walkable, i’ll add an extra sole to add more traction (anti-slip) to the heels and also to make it more durable. preventing it from wear and tear. the workmanship is a piece of art. i’ve actually marked out the extra sole tt’s been added with yellow arrows. pretty nicely done isnt it? this service is more common in sg. i’m not sure how much is it, i pay $10SGD for each pair in taiwan. lifetime warranty :)

i’m not saying u shld zhng every single pair of heels u have. and of cuz u must consider the worthy-ness of it all. if u paid $25 for a pair of heels then it doesnt make sense to pay another $15 to make it more wearble. but if u paid well over a hundred, then it makes sense that u must make it more wearable or ur couple of hundred dollars will be sitting in ur cabinet rotting away, or even worse, kill ur feet each time u wear it out. i dont buy heels randomly. not becuz i’m trying to be a classy bitch but rather, i work on a very basic set of reasoning. heels are meant for girls to look good. add that air to doll up girls. accentuate ur curves. basically all things beautiful. it is at the same time, VERY space consuming. compare the shoe box of a pair of heels (not kitten heels pls) vs a pair of slippers or snickers. heels boxes are ginormous. it doesnt make sense to just buy heels on impulse becuz u thought they look kinda cute and have them taking up a huge load of spaces at home. and honestly, wad are the chances of finding a perfectly comfortable pair of heels without the need for plasters or gel pads at $25-$50?? if i’m going to get a pair of heels. it will have to satisfy a few criteria. one, it must be able to match more than 1 style of clothing. 2, it must be more than 3.5inches. 3, it must have comfortable interior without the need for plasters. 4, it must be timeless, i dont want to have to throw it away the next season. 5, it must be durable, broken heels can NEVA ever happen. if u were to apply these 5 rules, u’d have established the fact that every shoe box u’ve stashed in ur cabinet  has earned its place. and tt the space awarded is justified.

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u may not agree to my reasoning and tt’s alright :) wadeva works. i’m just sharing my 2centsworth. i hope every girl finds joy in wearing heels cuz nothing makes a woman more womanly (other than make up) hahaha :) it is afterall, specifically designed for women :)