The Spa-Lon Spa Buffet *Advertorial*

* Advertorial* Brought to you by Cozycot & The Spa-Lon (Local readers only)

Moi was lucky enough to receive this blogger invite by Cozycot to attend a spa event on Saturday. So I excitedly dragged my fellow (beauty) blogger friend, Patricia (http://sweetestsins.blogspot.com/) along to the event to check it out. I was really intrigued with the name of the spa treatment (ATP 38) as most spa treatments tend to be named after some organic, floral thing to give you the impression that its relaxing and natural and all that, but when I noticed it was simply named ATP 38, that really caught my attentuon.

Here's the invite!

We were briefed on the amazing technology wonder that is the ATP 38. Its basically a machine that emits pulsing LED light rays to penetrate deep into the inner most layers of your skin to stimulate your cells. This would encourage healing, regeneration, pain relief, anti-inflammation and tons of other positive stuff. Best part is, it can actually be applied to any area of concern, not just the face but even body and hair too!

With an overwhelming number of people who turned up for the event, not everyone was able to try out the treatment. So after the first volunteer was randomly selected, I was quick to voice out my willingness to be the next volunteer to try out the treatment and was ushered to the changing room to change into the spa's fluffy robe, shorts and slippers. Loved the dressing room, it was large with multiple cubicles and a long makeup table and comfy chairs to sit on.

Unglam picture of me after changing into the spa's robes, with unstyled hair, minimal makeup and a dorky smile. I doubt photoshop would be able to salvage it, so I'm not even gonna try.

The first volunteer (I found out her name was Pris later on), trying out micro-dermabrasion and then doing the LED treatment on her face. I didn't manage to talk to her so I can't verify just how well the treatment went for her.

When it was close to my turn to try out the ATP 38 treatment, I asked the staff of Spa-Lon if instead of doing the same facial treatment for me, they would actually try out their LED treatment on my eczema wounds instead. I figured that if it worked pretty well for acne and stuff, it could potentially help me with my eczema problem. I know I probably threw a wrecking ball at their carefully-laid plans, but they amazingly accepted my random request!

Another unglam shot of me, with the LED lights focusing on my legs. I'm sure there's plenty of mug shots of me being posted around the internet as other bloggers were taking pictures of me doing the treatment.

Shining the LED lights on my legs to help with my eczema.

Treatment process

I honestly was so comfortable during the entire duration of the treatment that I was seriously tempted to just snooze right there and then. Of course the thought of me potentially snoring and drooling at how relaxed I was during the process and potentially embarassing myself in front of a multitude of bloggers kept me awake, but I seriously had to fight the urge to just doze off and sleep because I just felt so warm and comfy throughout the treatment.

Results of the treatment

To be honest, I didn't feel any different before or after the treatment, just terribly sleepy because I was so relaxed. But amazingly, that very evening I noticed that the skin on my legs had a healthy glow to it, something that I haven't seen since my eczema started appearing. My eczema patch has also started to scab over and its become less itchy and swollen. Which is amazing since it was just one session and trust me, I've tried everything possible to help my eczema and nothing has ever worked this fast or effectively before. So imagine if it works this well for my eczema problem, what could it possibly do for your skin?

I'll definitely consider approaching them for potential treatment for my eczema if my skin condition worsens and they have a branch conveniently located pretty near my home. If anyone is interested, this is the outlet I went to:

The Spa-Lon

302 Tiong Bahru Road

#05-08/09

Contact Number: 6276-6313

Do check out their website for more details at: http://www.thespa-lon.com/

Skincare Review: Sana Nameraka Honpo Soy Milk Moisturizing Cream

As always, school has started and immediately I'm fighting deadlines and the urge to leave assignments to be completed at the last minute. I seriously blame Republic poly, it screwed me over by having 3 years of zero homework and now I'm still trying my best to get my engine started on doing my assignments.

Anyway, today's review is a product that I've been raving about non-stop to my family and friends. I'm completely addicted to it, and its been the best skincare product that I've ever gotten my grubby hands on.

The product is:
Sana Nameraka Honpo Soy Milk Moisturizing Cream

The packaging is relatively simple and fuss-free, not something to display prettily on your vanity table. But while it lacks in the looks department, it's a super effective cream that's solved numerous skin problems that had been plaguing me for the longest time. It's packed with rich soybean isoflavone and ceramide which is the secret ingredient in this product as the isoflavone mimics female estrogen (a hormone) thus boosting collagen production in the skin and resulting in wonderful, soft, smooth and bouncy skin.

My skin bout 3 months ago, during my PMS once again. There's the usual breakouts and redness.

My skin last month, less breakouts but minor redness is still present.

My skin now, it isn't perfect during PMS as I do get occasional whiteheads and the rare pimple, but my skin's condition the best it's ever been for a really long time.

I used to suffer from really really bad breakouts everytime I had my PMS, the pictures from my previous reviews can attest to it. I also had this problem whereby, if I slept too often on one side, I would develop breakouts on that side, so I had to try and force myself to sleep face up to avoid that problem (all that suffering for beauty's sake >____<"). But with this little pot of miracle cream, all those problems have been left in the past. With regular use, I've also noticed that my skin looks more luminous and has a glow to it, the kind which SK-II models seem to have and my pores appear smaller and my skin is definitely smoother then before.

Texture: Thick and rich

Recommended skin type: All skin types (use less if your skin tends to be oily, I have combination skin, so I use less on my T-zone area)

Absorption rate: pretty fast, I don't get the sticky feeling I used to have with my previous night cream so honestly, I don't wash my face in the morning with a facial wash. I just splash some water and I'm good to go.

Amount needed: I use slightly more then the size of a large coin, because I also apply it to my neck. But each pot lasts me about a month and a half to 2 months, which is real value for money

Price: bout SGD$20 if I remember correctly, but Sasa tends to have occasional discounts from time to time, so I got my last pot for only SGD$16

Popularity: Constantly featured in Koakuma Ageha magazine's annual skincare and makeup poll and is always in the top 3 ranking for moisturizing cream (if it's good enough for a hostess, its good enough for me!) and various online sources claim that over 35 million of these little pots have been sold (not sure if its international figures or just in Japan alone)

Options available: 3 different series in this product line, the one featured here is from the moisturizing line, there's also a brightening (whitening) line and an anti-ageing line containing CoQ 10 to improve skin's elasticity to get rid of any fine lines

Plus points: It's free of fragrance, mineral oil and artificial colourants. And they use only organic soybeans in the production of their products (not crappy genetically modified ones) so it's really good for people with sensitive skin (like moi!)

I can't stop raving about this product, though I've yet to try out any of the other products in their line, so I'm planning to get a box of the facial masks soon. Anyway, if any of you guys remembered that I used Hada Labo products at one point, I've actually stopped using them after I realised the product was too rich for my sensitive skin. It caused me to develop really nasty breakouts, but my friend loves it as her skin is really dry, so do remember that while a product may work for me, another person may not achieve the same results I have due to different skin conditions and sensitivity and vice versa.

Cosplay Photoshoot (Just Be Friends)

Had a relatively casual shoot yesterday following the Vocaloid MV, Just Be Friends. We didn't follow the whole video exactly since both my partner and I were having wardrobe and budget constraints so we just wore the more iconic and casual clothes. We actually took most of the shots at a back staircase in a mall, since hardly anyone except the staff who worked there uses it, but as always, security chased us out and demanded that we seek permission to use the damned location next time. Seriously, not like we're planting a bomb or something or disturbing the shopkeepers and their customers, we even clean up our mess, geez!

So we left and ended up finding this pretty nice outdoor location, which we might use for future Vocaloids shoots too! If anybody chases me away from this location too, I'm gonna take up law and study the clauses and conditions and rights for the public to use public property for whatever the hell reason we want!

The dirty staircase that we used for our shoot, I didn't even realise this pic had been taken as I'm clearly distracted with kicking around the rose petals haha! Esther looks cute and bishie as a Starry Sky (dating game for girls where the characters are all created after different zodiacs) character.

Esther took this shot of us, I think she lost the mood to do her own shoot after we got chased out. The left are Kenneth, a photographer and the one with his back to the camera is my partner for the shoot, we call him Daisy (long story...) and you can see me and the other photographer on the right.

I don't think the pictures here turned out that nice because it was towards the end of the day already so we were slowly losing light, plus my helium balloons magically untied themselves from my bag and flew away, ugh! I watched my $8 worth of balloons floating away till they became tiny black spots, carrying some of my ideas of some shots with the balloons away with them.

I'm waiting for the photographers and Esther to do some editting to the pictures before they send them to me, but so far in my head, I only have one picture that I really like and I hope its as good as I am imagining it. I also need to work on looking sad in pictures, because no matter how much I try, I either crack up or look like I'm bout to slaughter someone. So no depressive characters for me now till I learn how to get the sad look right.

Now that this shoot is done, I need to channel all my energies into my upcoming cosplays Cosfest, taking place in end of June. I'll be cosplaying Kagura from Gintama (Yoshiwara Arc version) for the first day and Alois Trancy the next day. Hehehehehe, I managed to bully Daisy into becoming my Claude Faustus so I have a butler to boss around on the day itself! Cross my fingers that the preperations get done as soon as possible.

*Just a little extra ranting* I got quite annoyed when I saw this family staring at me when we went to a nearby mall for dinner, the daughter even turned around after her father gestured at me and opend her mouth so wide, I swear I could shoot marbles in for fun. I had removed my wig by then but was still wearing my photoshoot makeup, and I fought the urge to walk up to them and tell them off, especially the mother and daughter for looking at me with a look that was a mixture of shock and disgust. I nearly spat this out at them "Sweetie, shut your mouth dear and learn to accept others instead of judging them before you know the whole story, and you're not that pretty yourself so don't hate. Your mommy dearest should teach you this much to not to judge others by the way they look." But I just forced myself to carry on walking. Esther did purposely smile sweetly to them on my behalf to make them realise that we did know that they were staring too obviously at us. A group of fat office ladies turned round and stared too as we were walking past a pizza place, though I could sense that all the stares were directed at me. I don't usually care when people stare, but just that family's reaction really hit a sore spot with their looks of disgust, stupid closed-minded people in Singapore. We're supposed to be a bustling, international metropolitain city for goodness sake, change your attitudes instead of acting like you just came from a farm in the countryside and pointing and gawking at everything that is just slightly different.

Funny thing is, I got more reactions that day then when I usually go out dressed in gyaru, I wonder why....

Personal Outfit 62 (Melting Under the Blazing Sun)

With temperatures in my country reaching bout 37 degrees celcius, I feel like a slug these days and all I want is to lie under a cool shade with the fan blowing directly at me and a cool drink by my side. However, my university friends decided on a movie outing so I was left scratching my head at deciding what to wear that could withstand the intense heat without making me sublimate in a fraction of a second whilst not freezing in the cold frosty air conditioning of the movie theatre.

I managed to balance both somehow with this outfit:

Maxi Dress: Random Shop in Holland Village

Lace Cropped Top: Online

Quilted chain bag: Bugis Street

I actually styled my hair, kindda like how Muto Shizuka constantly does it, a high ponytail with loose curls, but all my efforst went to waste when I got caught in the rain. So my hair went flat and frizzy and my left wedge broke. Not to mention, we ended up watching some teenage flick called Beastly that's a modern version of Beauty & the Beast in a high school setting.

I would have been pretty upset considering my bad luck during the day, but things worked out. I actually kindda enjoyed the movie because the 'prince' was nice eye candy and the 'witch', played by Mary-Kate Olsen, had a great wardrobe. Man, I wanna steal all the costumes from her character, everything was so goth-influenced with amazing hats and dramatic stockings and killer heels, they're everything I need in my cupboard like right now! Plus I made some new friends and laughed so hard that I was hoarse for the night.

Just the kind of outing with friends I needed for a few (or many) laughs....

Help!!!!

Hi guys! I need your help real bad!!! I've had this shirt stuck in my head for awhile now and for the life of me, I can't remember what brand they're from. I clearly remember reading about them from someone's blog, but I can't find the post anymore T^T

Here's 2 pictures of the back and front, so please if anyone recognises it, please let me know! Thanks!!

The front, as you can see, the picture is too small and blury for me to see the brand! Whyyyyyy????? The "skull" is actually formed by phrases that are supposedly the last words of some famous people (macabre I know, but that's what intrigues and appeals to me the most about it)

The back has cut outs at the top and chain links

I've kindda exhausted all methods of searching as nothing seems to yield the result I'm looking for, so if anyone knows, please let me know!

(I keep getting the feeling its from Gilfy or Backs or something, but I really can't confirm)

Blonder and Blonder....

Bleached my hair again on Thursday evening, so I finally managed to be rid of the icky black roots.

After the twice bleaching process again, my hair is less orange but still yellow

So my hairdresser again dyed my hair after the bleaching process

End result! The top is alot lighter almost a milky kind of blonde (think Chii from Chobits), though my ends are still just a tad lighter then my previous colour

I'm abit surprised at the milky colour of the hair, though at least this means its reaching the nearly whit-ish blonde that I'm looking for. I just need to get it abit more ashen looking and not completely white and it should be exactly like Nonoka's. I also plan to add one lock of pink down one side, though it may be detrimental to all the efforts made to get my hair blonde, because of all my hair, the parts that had been dyed pink previously are the hardest to actually turn blonde. So once the pink starts coming off, I may end up with a weird orange streak. But the idea of doing that pink streak is too tempting, I may end up just buying a bottle of pink dye and constantly touching up on my own.

Personal Outfit 61 (Twin Coordinate & Night Out with Steph)

Met Steph on Friday for some drinks with her and some friends. After one guy left, we went off to sing karaoke till bout 5 the next morning. Had alot of fun with her despite the drunken antics of her friend and getting yelled at by my parents for coming home so late.

So outfits:

Oversized knit top: Forever 21

Leopard Scarf: This Fashion

Shorts (hidden): Can't remember

Stockings: Anna Sui

Knee High Boots: Taobao

Bag: Chanel

If you're wondering what's so special about the stockings, that's because I wore them back to front, because I felt like there was too much details if I wore the lace-up design on the front. I bought them awhile back, but been too chicken and unsure how to coordinate it to wear it out.

Steph and I, with our twin coordinates. We both wore oversized knit tops, stockings and boots and even carried our Chanel bags. We also matched our contacts by wearing green ones and she wore her Navana wig to match my hair length. It was really nice when 2 ladies came up, chatted abit and complimented our bags.

A close up pic

We actually exchanged our knit tops because the one I had ordered from Taobao was so long, it reached my knees, whereas Steph's was so short it barely reached her belly button. But considering our difference in heights, our knits fitted each other perfectly haha!

I think Taobao knits hate me, the white knit that I wore in my previous outfit post was supposed to be cropped but it ended up too large again. Luckily this time it looked just like an oversized knit on me so I guess its okay, though the outfits I had previously planned had to be scrapped. Totally sucked!

Oh, Steph and I also took some purikura, so I'm waiting for her to scan them and I'll show them here once I get them. We'll definitely have moore twin coordinates up our sleeves so do check back!

Check out her outfit at her blog: http://zombie-hero.blogspot.com/