Quick Meetup & Dinner

Had a short but lovely dinner meeting with my bestie from another mother, Steph the Magnificent!

Didn't do much other then having dinner at a cafe she hadn't tried and some window shopping, but nonetheless it was fun.

Camwhore pic of the day! This is also my most recent photo after I did a hair dyeing session and quick trim last week, my hair is now a dark brown.

Blurry outfit pic, but it'll have to do as I didn't take any other pic of my outfit

Cropped top: Boy London

Inner dress: M.O.S.

Stockings: Can't remember

Ankle Boots: Online

Spiked hairband: Online

Bowtie choker: JRunway

Winged backpack: Glad News

We ate at this Parisian eatery called PAUL. I've tried their pastries and sandwiches numerous times and dined in once before with the bf. Honestly, I think their pastries and sandwiches to go are better then their dining in options. Their service is also bit slow and lacking.

Had an open-faced beef sandwich, it had a fancy French name, but I've forgotten what it was. I hate raw onions so it was immediately scooted off to the edge of the plate. The salad had a nice vinaigrette  dressing and was pretty fresh. The sandwich itself was overwhelmed by the cheese, I hardly tasted any beef though the crusty bread was good.

Had Strawberry Millefeuille for dessert and was highly disappointed by it. Steph said my picture made it look so much better then how it looked like in real life. it was served shoved towards one edge of the plate though it did look pretty. The pastry layers were quite hard and not at all crisp, light and buttery. The choux cream was too sweet, overwhelming the strawberries and pastry. At least the strawberries weren't too sour.

I'm craving for some decent pastries right now after the disappointment of the dinner. But at least I did manage to have alittle catch up session with Steph. 

Now it's back to cleaning and clearing my pig sty of a room.

Gel Top Coat Review

Ever since I started using Majolica Majorca's gel top coat, I've been a fan. I adore the shine it gives and since then, I've refused to use normal top coats ever again.

One day, I stumbled upon this alternative gel topcoat whilst randomly browsing the display racks of SaSa.

 

It's called Do Best Loujene Gel Nail Topcoat, made in Taiwan and costs only $3.90!!

I figured why not? It's mega cheap and if something goes wrong, not much of a loss made. But this top coat has been pretty decent so far.

Packaging: rectangular bottle in an easy to remove plastic and cardboard packaging and I like that it's clearly labelled that it is a gel topcoat.

Weight: 10ml, decent size for quite a number of applications.

Texture: Thick and gloppy like most gel topcoats I assume, but easy enough to control

Application: Use the thickness to your advantage, don't be afraid to apply quite a thick layer because if you stinge on the amount, you wind up with ugly streaks on your nails. The brush it wide enough to cover the nail, I just use it to guide along the edge.

Drying time: Dries in minutes!!! Within 5 minutes it's done!

Lasting ability: It lost its shine after 3-4 days of normal wear and started cracking around the same time. The nails on my right hand started chipping after 4 days but it could be because I'm right-handed, I'm not exactly sure.

Price: Only $3.90, okay $4 if you wanna be picky. But that price is incredibly hard to beat! Even Majolica Majorca's version cost bout $20 can't really remember but I know isn't wasn't this cheap.

I've switched over to this topcoat since my Majolica Majorca version is nearly done and its getting hard to apply with so little left in the bottle. Of course, the packaging isn't as pretty but it does pretty much the same job and for such a price, I'm super stoked to have grabbed such a bargain. I should definitely look around SaSa for bargains like this next time. 

Chanel Nail Polish Review

Chanel nail polishes are my recent obsession and I've been in love from the very first stroke of the brush.

May was my very first Chanel polish and I actually bought it at the spur of the moment whilst looking for my perfect nude polish (I've yet to find it). It's a very sweet pink that's not too glaring, it reminds me of the sweet colours that Rinka likes to wear.

Jo helped me to get this Peche Nacree shade during her last visit to Singapore. True to it's name, it's a subtle peach shade that goes with anything.

Rose Cache was another shade that Jo helped me get, I was alittle apprehensive abotu the colour as it appeared darker then what I thought, but after application I changed my mind. It's an elegant understated darker nude, almost tan shade.

The three current shades that I have in my collection.

Colour: true to the bottle, it require only one coat for the colour to cover the nails but I apply two coats for a stronger colour

Ease of Use: The brush was large enough to cover most of my nails, the mixture wasn't too thick and streaking was minimal, I could even apply without paying close attention and there wouldn't be much streaking

Drying time: Dries insanely fast!! From starting with my base coat to the final top coat, it takes only roughly a half hour to dry. This is perhaps one of the greatest perks for me especially now that I'm quite strapped for time.

Packaging: Elegant and instantly recognisable with the Chanel logo on top of the cap and splashed across the front in large bold lettering, the top cap pops open to reveal the smaller brush that is also embossed with the Chanel logo.

Lasting Ability: The shortest time before chipping was about 4-5 days and that was after opening mutiple drink cans, the longest was slightly over a week though I could see cracks forming but it wasn't visible from far.

This is perhaps the only polish I'm using currently, the colours are suited for my office within a corporate environment. Now that I'm constantly meeting clients, I doubt it's appropriate to show up with bright, flashy colours or with chunks of glitter, these colours make me feel professional and pretty at the same time. 

I plan to add more colours into my collection and am currently eyeing a colour, specifically, Majesty. I also managed to get another colour Fracs, which I just managed to paint on, hence no picture, but you can see it on my Instagram. I'm also still looking out for my perfect nude nail polish, I plan to try out Estee Lauder's new nude collection but does anyone have any reccomendation? 

                          

Dollywink Nail Polish Review & Quick Update

Gonna do a quick review on my Dollywink no.8 nail polish. The colour is pretty blue, like a sky blue which is really sweet looking. I'm not sure about the price as I received it for free during the gyaru event run by Watsons ages ago, but I do recall it not being that worth the price for its tiny size as compared to say OPI brand.

Outer Packaging: Was inside a plastic package which had cute lace designs and a large bow print on the top (sorry I forgot to take pictures but you can find it all over the internet). It was relatively easy to open as it was secured simply by tape, so cut the tape and you're ready to go.

Design: the bottle is shaped abit like a jewel, so its really endearing and just screams cuteness. The cap was long enough to paint with though the entire thing is rather small and only contains 4.5ml of nail polish.

Ease of use: The brush was large enough to glide along my nail, however, the formula was thick and gloopy causing alot of product to land on the sides of my nails and made it difficult to control. When I tried to reduce the amount of polish on the brush, I wound up with super thin streaks of polish and I had to apply many times just to create one layer of polish. This created alot of ugly streaks on the nail.

Drying time: It takes an insanely long time to dry! I was watching a movie whilst painting but even after the movie had ended, the polish was still soft when I pressed gently against it. It could be becasue I had to build up a pretty thick layer for the colour to look nice on my nails and to remove any streaks.

Lasting ability: I applied my Majolica Majorca glass drop top coat over it to give it a gel-like shine and it looked really pretty, but it started chipping after 3-4 days. Then again, I do housework and stuffs so nail polishes don't last very long on my hands, however, I've had polishes that last up to a week so comparatively, this polish isn't really resistant to external factors.

Overall: 4/10, only the Dollywink brand and cute colours attract me to it. However, the colours can be bought else where so I probably won't ever purchase Dollywink nail polishes. I'm just glad I got it for free instead of shelling out money only to be disappointed.

On a side note, I'm settling into my new job as a marketing executive pretty nicely, my colleagues have been very nice and patient and there's been alot of guidance along the way. I.m really hoping to stay in this company for the long haul so I am trying my best to get used to everything despite being on a steep learning curve as I've never done design work, whichc now I'm required to do.

Unfortunately, I haven't had the time or energy to dress up lately as I'm either deadbeat or not planning to go out these past weekends. I am getting a shipment of new clothes to suit my cult party/mori/dolly wadever mix it is style that I'm heading at so hopefully, things will get more vibrant on this blog in time to come. In the mean time, here's a super simple outfit I wore last week on a date with the bf:

Shirt: Uniqlo

Inner camisole: Giordano

Shorts: Uniqlo

Wedges: Pretty Fit

I wanted to do simpler makeup a la Rinka style but I ended up back in my old heavier gyaru style, though I only put Dollywink half lashes and only mascara on my bottom lashes.

Christmas Celebration & Reflection for the New Year

Late post but then again better late then never right?

I had a quiet (okay not quite quiet when a gang of relatives invaded my home for the night) Chrsitmas eve dinner with relatives and we had a pot luck party with plenty of food to go around. Too much food actually, my fridge and freezer is still stuffed with leftovers that my sis and I are slowly trying to finish. We had roasted chicken, Black pepper & Honey herbs, honey baked ham, Bratswurst sausages, garlic bread, potato salad and 3 different desserts. No pictures because the table was a mess with everyone ravaging the food hahaha.

I did manage to take shots of 2 of our desserts before they were sliced up and served:

 Bf's contribution to the potluck was the lovely cream tart. I still have 2 slices in my freezer, I love this company's fruit tart though it can be bit heavy sometimes

 Stupid blogger is being stupid, refusing to turn my pic around. Anyway this is German Stollen, my aunt brough this as well as half a Carrot Walnut cake with cream cheese icing. It's my first time trying Stollen and its definitely better then fruit cake, I hate that stugg, but the preserved candied fruits still got to me after awhile, I'm just not fond of the taste.

In my childhood, Christmas day was spent with the relatives on my Dad's side of the family. However, ever since my paternal grandmother passed away, everyone has sorta gone their own paths, bit sad but nothing can be done I guess. My dad is also currently away due to work, so my sis, mom and I decided to watch Les Miserable!

 Our Tickets

The movie was amazingly great!! Hugh Jackman was stellar in his performance and I love Amanda Seyfried being cast as the sweet innocent daughter and her high voice totally suited the look for the role. Anne Hathaway was wonderful and it was brilliant to watch her character fall from grace on screen, and I love how hilarious Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter were as the antagonists of the movie. I still hum their song "Master of the House" from time to time as their scene replays in my mind.

My mom wasn't impressed by Russell Crowe's singing, not that there's anything wrong with his performance, but when you compare his performance to the Broadway version, there is a significant difference, but then again, Broadway and film are different.

Anyone, on to the fun bit of Christmas, pressies!!!

  

 Blogger being ridiculously stupid, shall just ignore. Anyway, here's some of the presents I received from family and friends, not everything is here as I couldn't fit all of them in. The bf bought me a mini vacuum that resembles a pokeball/Haro when not in use ROFL, and a pair of Necomimi (been eyeing it since forever!), My sis got me a picture book of Howl's Moving Castle (useful to ogle at the film's beauty without needing to play the movie), Steph got me an amazing Emoda top (so comfy & stylish) and cute nail polish and her mom surprised me with an amazing Christian Dior charm bracelet.

 The nail polish set from Steph. It's supposed to be used to create checked patterns and the different colours can be mixed together to create new colours! Unfortunately clumsy me hasn't gotten the hang of it, but I do love the colours alot!

 The beautiful Christian Dior charm bracelt that Steph's Mom surprised me with, I had been wanting a charm bracelet for a long time but I figured I'd might as well save up and get a Tiffany or a Thomas Sabo version, but now I don't need to! I love how the charms look like little presents, too cute!

Here's a picture of me playing with my Necomimis before my relatives came. It's so fun to watch feel it swivel around though its near impossible to really control their actions. It took awhile before I could get this shot of the ears on alert mode, as they kept swivelling around or drooping down into relaxed mode. My mom and sis were quite amused by it, though Dusky couldn't care less. Funny because I thought he would freak, but maybe he's finally gotten used to the fact that he has a weirdo for an owner hahah.

Tomorrow's the last day of 2012, it's been a great year though alot of crap has happened lately, but still I'm grateful. I graduated, got a job I somewhat enjoy, attended nearly all cosplay events and made so many new cosplay friends as well as getting to know some of the cosplay elites that I had always admired from afar, became closer to some friends and went overseas with one of the best friends I'd ever known. It's had its fair share of ups and downs so here's to wishing to a better year ahead.

I'll be attending an office party on new year's eve before making my way to a Kenneth's belated birthday/New year party. It'll be the first time I won't be celebrating the new year with my family but since I'll be surrounded by great friends from a hobby I love, it'll be a great start to the new year.

How will you be celebrating your new year?  In th mean time wishing everyone a Happy New Year! 

Sponsored Review: Nail Decor

Been super busy with work as its been a real learning curve from knowing the products to how the office is run and stuff. It's a good thing that being a small company, there isn't much politics or a strong heirachy system since everyone's work differs from each other slightly so at least that's one less worry.

Today's review, kindly sponsored by KKCenterhk is about nail products that change your simple nail polish to something fancy and totally different from simply having plain, blah nails.  

No idea why blogger is being a bitch and refusing to let me turn the picture, but these were the items I chose for the review. Lovely nail stickers and ribbon decorations

I used a Dollywink nail polish (review coming soon!) for the bluish-green base and then carefully applied the nail stickers over it before sealing with a top coat. The ribbon was stuck on with nail glue

 Here's how my right hand design looked like, just some minor changes but the overall look is the same

The completed result! LOL only whilst taking this picture did I realise that the ribbons on my nails coincidentally line up when my hands are stacked this way

Picture of the completed result! From a different point of view 

My initial inspiration for the design of the nails was the manga/anime Paradise Kiss, and more specifically the dress the protagonist wore during the showcase of the team's final work.

You can clearly see why I chose the stickers with the butterfly and cloud motifs as well as the beaded butterfly decoration

What surprised me was how the eventual result actually looked pretty Oriental in design, kind of like a chinese porcelain vase motif or something. Oh crap I'm digressing again anyway here's the review:

Ease of use: 9/10 (just peel the sticker off the board and stick, I use a nail clipper to cut away the excess and I was done)

Effect: 9.5/10 (I loved the look of the stickers though it was pretty obvious that it wasn't painted on when viewed up close but there's only so many people who would scrutinise your nails from a super close range right?)

Lasting Power: 8/10 (being a rather rough person, I'm surprised it lasted a total of 4 days before I noticed the edges starting to peel off. A little tip is to seal the nail's edge with your top coat to try and make it last a day or 2 longer. The ribbons dropped off after 2 days but it wasn't surprising since the ribbon is fairly large and got in the way some times.)

Overall: 7/10 (really recommended for a special look like for an event or something but not regular use since it does take alittle more work on top of painting your nail polish.)

If you wanna purchase these lovely nail stickers or beaded ribbons or even other things (KkcenterHK has a wide variety of wigs, eyelashes & eyeshadows too!) do take a look at their online shop. Just remember this unique coupon code: somethingborrowedornew in order to get 10% off!

I'll be really really busy next week as I've got 3 different activities lined up. This of course means plenty of new material for you guys to read so till next time!

Quick Getaway (Super Image Intensive)

Steph and I had a quick but refreshing getaway to Kuala Lumpur last weekend for some shopping, lots of bonding and just basically destressing. We both badly needed this trip as we had been under alot of stress and pressure from alot of things, so it was the perfect excuse for some R&R.

Me on the bus ride there, with zero makeup. I was sleeping most of the time so the five hour bus ride flew by pretty fast.

The coach made a quick stop at Yong Peng for us to stretch our legs and have a quick toilet break. While wandering around, we both spotted this amazing vintage Bentley for sale. It's almost perfect, just need alittle cosmetic touchups here and there

After bout an hour more of riding in the coach, we finally reached our hotel. We stayed at the Dorsett Regency, not exactly five-star with the limited facilities but comfortable nonetheless and the best part was being conveniently located near KL's Golden Triangle, so we could shop to our heart's content. After unpacking, we applied makeup, refreshed ourselves and got ready to head out.

White shirt: Uniqlo

Skinny jeggings: Uniqlo

Black heels: Charles & Keith

Bag: Longchamp

Necklace: borrowed from mom 

We quickly realised that the bathroom had the best lighting for camwhoring LOL

Had lunch at a random Japanese Restaurant at Pavillion, the sushi and vegetables were quite fresh



We wandered round a few malls and I really wanted to get my nails done, after checking out a few shops we settled on one shop at the top floor of Sungei Wang, a local mall with lots of cheap trendy clothes.  

Steph's nails are already pretty long and considering she'll be playing bass pretty soon, she didn't wanna waste money getting extensions done. But she did get this amazing nail art as she waited for my extensions to get done, sorry babe for making you wait >w<

I had extensions done before painting on the nail art. I showed my manicurist some Rienda/Rady prints and similar looking nail designs before settling on this particular design.  It cost me bout S$96, peanuts compared to the prices local nail salons charge for such good work

After getting our nails done I was feeling peckish so we went to Jalan Alor and stopped by an Egyptian food stall. I ordered a simple meal of warm pita bread with hummus, delicious, healthy yet filling. 

 On our way back we spotted this little road side stall with these cute home-made sponge mice toys, Steph bought a pink one for her cats, I regret not getting one now as I'd really like to see how my Dusky will react to it.

Before heading back to the hotel we popped by this Latin bar close to our hotel, Steph introduced me to cigars and I was curious enough to try one. It's almost like smoking a strong espresso, pleasant but non addictive I quite enjoyed it! 

We ended the night by using our room's wi-fi to the max! I was busy messaging my bf and checking out my phone apps like Facebook and Instagram while Steph surfed the net on her Macbook pro, guess we're too addicted to the Internet LOL!

The next day, we got up really early and had a light breakfast before heading to the hotel pool

The weather wasn't too hot and there was a constant breeze, the pool was also mostly empty with just a couple of kids splashing around. Perfect for us to catch some rays without burning to a crisp

Steph looking hawt in her red bikini and shorts

My bikini finally saw the light of day after god knows how many years, but I'm still not totally happy with my body. 3 weeks of non stop stress eating and not exercising has caused me to pack on some of the weight I had lost.

After catching some rays, we went back to our room to get changed and ready for another round of shopping

Maxi dress: random shop in Holland Village

white shirt: Uniqlo

black heels: Charles & Keith 

Styled my hair abit more then the day before, I also backcombed my crown abit to give it more volume

 Quick mirrorshot whilst shoe shopping!

 While shopping at Sungei Wang again, we went past a hair salon and spotted this picture of a girl who looked EXACTLY like Steph! We were laughing so hard about it! Maybe she's Steph's sister seperated at birth hahaha

For lunch, we went to The Ship a fabulous restaurant with great steak and seafood dishes! The outlet at Penang is particularly fun since the whole restaurant is housed within an actual ship!

 Shared this bowl of Indonesian Oxtail soup, spicy but sooo good! I love eating oxtail stew!

My Beef Stroganoff with buttered rice, a tad too much balsamic vinegar but still delicious. The portion was so huge that I couldn't finish it 

 Steph dug into her massive Seafood Platter, the crab looked really yummy! Of course, she couldn't finish her plate like me haha



We did alittle more shopping and even went to Berjaya Times Square where we did foot reflexology to rest our tired feet. it was Steph's first time doing foot reflexology so she was squealing and squirming quite abit, it was really hilarious!

 We went back to Qba for another round of cigars and I also got to catch up with an old friend, a photographer called Hexlord. It was great to meet up with him as I didn't have the chance to meet up on his last trip to Singapore.

I tried a Cosmopolitan which was incredibly sweet, Steph had a Strawberry Margarita which tasted alot better. Maybe I should just stick to Pina Coladas or Mojitos if I want something sweet

Had tacos for dinner, Steph's is tofu with chilli jam and mine was spiced beef

On our last morning, we ate till our heart's content at the hotel buffet breakfast, love the french pastries there. Then we went to Pavilion and did some last minute shopping before catching the coach home. We were lucky as we only experienced a mild traffic jam on the way back.

 I didn't shop as much as I expected and I regret not taking more pictures with Steph but it was a great trip and if things go according to plan, we might travel together once again next year.