WHY?

Let me tell you our story. It was three years ago. He was on an assignment to review a romantic cruise promotion for the paper he wrote for. I was the good friend who heard about the assignment and wanted to experience being out on a yacht, cos well, it sounds fun right.

So off we went. Casual friends out to have some fun courtesy of the company organizing the cruise.

It could not have been more idyllic. The fresh tang of the ocean; the light mist of spray; sharing a joke over a glass of fine wine, as the setting sun threw hues of orange and pink into the horizon. A lovely seafood dinner as dusk fell and the stars came out.

Then somewhere, somehow, along the way, spontaneously, with no prior plan, no premeditated intentions and no expectations, our hands moved with a volition of their own, as we reached towards each other.

And as two cynical hardened people lay on the deck of that yacht under a starry night sky, two unromantic souls fell prey to the overly cliched, ultimate romantic cheesiness of it all, and emerged as something more than "just friends".

Fast forward three years, and here we are: happy, together, everyday.

Reconciling two diametrically different personalities and characters certainly hasn't been a bed of roses, nor have we ever expected it to be so. But working together for each other has helped us grow so much; stronger, closer, more content.

I simply cannot envision a more appropriate and perfect Valentine's Day gift for each other than a cruise trip to pay homage to how it all started, and to celebrate how far we've come together since then.





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So anyway, my friend asked me what I felt was essential for a skincare regime, so i compiled a list of my must have products and recommendations for her.

THought i might as well post it up here too!

ok here goes. the A-Z of my skincare regime.

ok first up, what i recommend may suit me but it may not exactly suit you.. my experience for skincare is that sometimes you gotta use products for awhile before you find what suits you.

my skincare products are all selected for oily combination skin. i have oily skin on t zone, normal skin on cheeks.

for me, basic regime should include the following products:

for use in the shower/cleansing
a) a facewash that's heavy duty cleansing for those oily skin/post makeup days (im currently using brtc aqua foaming. but it's not available here. U can try the brtc gentle facewash $20, or for a cheaper option, himalayas foaming neem wash or clean and clear foaming wash $9 is also good. for ultimate cheapie, the clean and clear tube face wash $4 is the best! skin is REALLY squeaky clean but that means you CANNOT skip moisturizer.. I also heard much good things about the neutrogena wave cleanser but that seems a lil troublesome to me..
b) a daily facewash that's relatively gentle the clean and clear foam pump one is not half bad but a tad strong.. alternatively the ginvera green tea facewash $8 looks good. im using pure luxe calamine soap.
c) a good makeup remover (eye and face) currently my fave is mandom cleansing water. it feels like water but strips off most waterproof makeup. good for eye and face $16 plus. for stubborn waterproof makeup, loreal eye and lip makeup remover is good. so is ZeA cleansing oil.
d) a peeling exfoliator (the type where u rub and little balls of dead skin form) MUST HAVE ginvera marvel gel! $16 plus
e) a rough exfoliator (those with bits in the product) st ives apricot scrub is good. bout $7 plus. an alternative is queen helene mint julep scrub

for use post cleansing
f) a good face toner. Depends on your skintype. i have 3 diff type. I use: vichy normaderm. good for combi skin. Clinique clarifying lotion 2 and 3 for when im breaking out. it's quite strong. Fancl white EX for whitening and moisturizing on dry skin days
g) facial essence/serum/ampoules. depending again on your skintype. personally im currently using ampoules. from france. $2 each. i pour into a bottle and mix with water, then spray on. A good essence is also the H2O whitening range night time essence.
h) a good oil purging gel thingy to get oil out from your pores. U can use b-liv pro sebum gel $125 or a cheaper alternative would be witch brand pore gel$10plus)
i) a good spot corrector for pimples. (i use undiluted tea tree oil, but that's quite strong for most faces. Also, the nexcare acne patch is damn good $7)
j) a good whitening spot corrector for scars. (the best ive used is my mom's lancome white rx$100+. an alternative is neutrogena spot corrector$17+)
k) a good moisturizer for daytime use. Im using korres yogurt cream. it's awesome cos it's moisturizing w/o being too oily, $57 a jar.
l) a good night time moisturizer. Im using a night time bb cream from skin 79, but it's discontinued already i think. Another good nighttime moisturizer i like is vichy, but that's more for oily skin $60+
m) a good eye gel for daytime use. I have and like the following: garnier roll on $19+, body shop elderflower $17, ginvera green tea gel $12+. I also heard lots of good things about the ginvera green tea roll on$18+..
n) a good night time eye cream. i use clinique all about eyes rich for my dark eye circles. it's pretty good. fullsize jar is $40+ but u can get the small jars to try first from those small hdb parallel importers for like $10+
o) a daytime oil control serum. my fave is skinfood peach sake pore serum $37 retail, but online can get at about $20+ hah

the 3rd part of the regime is the masks and treatments
p) for sheet masks, guardian masks are surprisingly good. i like the collagen and whitening ones $1.50. also my beauty diary masks are also not bad. $16 a box of 12 from guardian
q) eye masks: i like guardian brand again$1.50, bioessence dark eye circles mask is also pretty good
r) must also have a mud mask for purifying. a really good one is queen helene mint julep mask, but that's not really available here. gotta spree. $10. another one you can try is prolly st ives. their stuff is not too bad. Face shop and skinfood also have mud masks i think
s) the 3rd type of mask is the peel off mask. This is esp important for whitening. my must go to product is actually from daiso. $2 only!. charcoal peel off mask. it's AWESOME!
t) also, biore pore pack is essential to keep the nose from becoming like a strawberry!! $4
u) i did also buy kaolin clay to make my own masks! it's pretty good for a gentle purifying, and i can use whatever extracts/ingredients i like! from green tea to honey!

finally! beauty tools for the occasional home facial
v) tweezers to pluck facial hair
w) blackhead squeezer
x) facial steamer (optional) but you do need to steam before extracting blackheads to avoid scars!
y) facial brush/scrubber for deep cleansing
z) a clean face sponge for washing off masks

YEAP
there you go!
phew

ALL THE BEAUTY BRANDS YOU LOVE!


HAGGLE AWAY! Priced to sell, or quote me your best price!

SGSTSGFB:

+5/0- Im new but reliable!

also have feedback on mua under audreyozi and on ebay under eisenteo =)


( Sale of the season! )

MAC, Stila, Bobbi Brown, Smashbox, Urban Decay, Clinique, Eyeko, Loreal, Maybelline
(psst, urban decay primer potion inside!!)

ALL THE BEAUTY BRANDS YOU LOVE!


HAGGLE AWAY! Priced to sell, or quote me your best price!

SGSTSGFB:

+5/0- Im new but reliable!

also have feedback on mua under audreyozi and on ebay under eisenteo =)


( Sale of the season! )

My deepest apologies to the occasional visitor to what is now a ghost town of a blog. Being a natural procrastinator and a lazy girl, i really havent been updating much.

Nonetheless I felt inspired (ok bored enough) tonight to put up another post =)

This one's about STRONG LIPS.

Of late, ok not really of late, but strong lips have been quite a trend for the past few seasons. YSL launched their black lipgloss awhile back, followed by Lancome, and recently, MAC launched their Style Black collection featuring black tinted glosses, jet black lippies and a gorgeous deep purple one.

Well and good if you're gonna be wearing these for halloween, or for a really glamourous event. But what of the average gal on an average day out?



Here's my attempt at a strong lip, or at least stronger than what I'd usually do. Im ok with bright reds, hot pinks, peachy corals, but this is my first attempt at a deep maroon. Turned out pretty fine.

However, you know that rule of thumb where you do a neutral eye with a strong lip? Thing is, for someone with small chinese eyes, it's not very flattering to have big lips and lightly done eyes. So I paired this up with a slightly smokey shadow. I do think as long as you dont do a full smokey eye, you will end up looking bold but polished. (and without the beady eyes)

Just make sure you head out the door with a lotsa confidence and a big dose of attitude. Cos with bold lips, you can be sure you'll draw a few stares =)

More about the products i'd pick for bold lips in the next post. I promise. SOON. heh

Grab a great deal here! MAC pigments at cheap prices!
Am clearing my stash so this has all gotta go!!

Grab 4 samples for $13 mailed with a free gift!

I have many LE pigments, including spiritualize and reflects purple duo from the latest MAC metal urge collection!



SGSTSGFB:

+10/0- Im new but reliable!


( Colours of the rainbow! )

ok i know this is kinda random on a makeup sorta journal, but..

is it just me or do these look like gummi kids instead of gummi bears?

I was steadily munching my way through a pack of Haribo's Kiddies' Super Mix when I paused a moment before i decapitated a gummi bear..

only to realize that:

a) it's not exactly a fat bear
b) it doesn't have bear ears
c) fuck it has a face
d) it REALLY looks like a little kid.

i kid you not.

judge for yourself:




i couldn't quite capture the details on most of the colours but the purple in particular stands out.

eeps.

they're REALLY chewy and yummy and tasty though. hrm.

gummi kids anyone?

Im mad on baking things. Cakes, cookies, souffles, meringue, pie, you name it ive probably baked it before. including savories like baked fish and chicken.

SO after all this baking, i decided it was time to proceed to baking cosmetics. hoho.




( Colours of the rainbow! )

http://www.fr3b.com/referral_program.php?referrer_token=fe58d235a3c670f11016c5e49c0f8f5b

This is a great website where you can grab samples for free! They do have lotsa products, and the ones i've grabbed which i love most are the BRTC bb cream samples as well as the deluxe sized samples of liole and goowoonsesang bb creams!

All you gotta do is sign up by clicking the link above, and start adding samples to your cart. You just have to cover postage and they usually get the stuff out to you within a day or so. =)

For some reason, I'm inspired to post up a blue eyes fotd pic.



Please excuse the bad photography, and the unruly eyebrows as that was the week before they got threaded.

Anyway, as you can see, lash growth serum + a great mascara REALLY works wonders! No need for falsies!

here's what I used based on what i can remember. this pic was taken some time back


Eyes:
Loreal HIP liner in midnight blue
MAC mutiny pressed pigment (all over lid)
MAC freshwater eyeshadow (outer 1/3)
MAC Deep truth eyeshadow (crease plus wing)
MAC shroom eyeshadow (highlight)

Lashes:
one coat of talika lash serum (always use this under mascara to protect my lashes)
one coats of charming cat mascara
one coat of maybelline volume express
topped with another coat of charming cat mascara
and lots of combing between the coats with my trusty tweezerman lash comb!


Face:
Etude house magic bb
Neutrogena blush

Lips:

i really cant remember.