May 2014

On my nails today is the Chanel Le Veris Sweet Lilac 615 from its Summer 2014 Reflets D’ete Collection. I don’t know how Chanel does it – they can always transform a basic color into something so beautiful and elegant in an expensive way. I am completely head over heels for these candy colored nail colors from the latest collection – they are so sweet and fresh, and surprisingly they don’t make me feel like I’m wearing a teenager’s shade! Love the sweet lilac – not an easy color to pull off for Asians with yellow tone, but this one completely complements my skin color and add a youthful pop. Quality is of standard Chanel- takes two coats for an opaque and streak-free cream finish.

chanel-le-vernis-sweet-lilac-615-summer-2014-swatches-1Bought them all (except for the eastern light which is a repromote – swatched here)!

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And I have a lot more product reviews for the Chanel Summer 2014 makeup collection to come 🙂 Have a good weekend everyone!

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Bobbi Brown’s skincare products are just as divine as their makeup line. Though it is primarily a makeup brand, the skincare products I have used are just far more superior than some other major big brands. A case in point is the Bobbi Brown’s Vitamin Enriched Face Base that remains as their best seller for many years..

Bobbi-Brown's-Vitamin-Enriched-Face-Base-review-2This is a double duty product – it can be used as a moisturizer or makeup primer. I bought it for the purpose of using it as a makeup base. The minute I took it out from the box, I was drawn to its simple and sleek glass jar design, and its signature luxurious citrus scent. The texture is creamy but silky and lightweight, and it glides on skin soft and smooth like cashmere. It gives the skin an instant boost of moisture with a radiant glow, so it gives the appearance of more plumped skin.  This is a product for people with normal to dry skin, or anyone who wants to achieve a natural glowy complexion for a photo shoot. It makes the skin slightly emollient (but doesn’t feel like a film) with plenty of slip, so it allows the foundation and other base product to adhere to the skin much better as well as for ease of blending. The only drawback would be it makes my T-zone slightly oily after 5-6 hours of wear (which is fine with me as at this old age I appreciate any natural oil on my face!), so this will not be the right product for anyone with oily skin or living in humid/hot weather condition for daily use.

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I personally do not like any primer that feels siliconey with a matte finish. My skin is dry, so I need a good moisturizer-like primer that is packed with nurturing ingredients that makes my complexion more smooth and dry patches free for subsequent makeup application. The Bobbi Brown is a savior for people with normal to dry skin as it turns any foundation into dream-like application for a radiant finish. It’s a just a classic product to have in your makeup kit.

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I have used quite a few BB skincare products and I absolutely love them all – here are the backups of some of my favorite Bobbi Brown products!

Intensive Skin Supplement; Buffing Grains; Hydrating Gel Cream; Vitamin Enriched Face Base. I have also reviewed the luxurious Extra Rinse Balm here.

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It has been many months since my last update on my post pregnancy weight loss progress, and I’m happy to say that I have finally shed the extra kilos.  I have received many emails from my readers that they were also expecting or just became a new mum in the past 12 months. I’m so grateful to hear their stories so I thought I’d share my experience with you all too.

Set your expectations right

With all the celebs/models posting pictures of their sexier-and-skinnier-than-ever bodies shortly after giving birth, it’s creating a lot of unreal expectations on normal women like us. Unless you have a super fast metabolism or an entourage of people such as nutritionists, personal trainers etc at your disposal, the average time for most women to get back to their pre-pregnancy shape is about 9 months. It takes 9 months to give birth, so it is natural and normal for your body to “reverse back”. As for me, it took a total of 7 months to achieve my goal, with a disciplined eating plan and daily workout.

The workout that works – Pilates

I am not a “dance aerobics by myself in front of the TV” person – I like working out with other people and seeing them highly motivated!  So I try to go the gym every 2 days, or at least 3 times a week. My gym offers a range of different types of pilates and yoga classes, and my favorite is the pilates reformer class. It is the most amazing and effective workout to tone up whole body without bulking up, and it targets core strength so it promotes flat abs and good posture which is exactly what I need. I never thought I would say it but I really enjoy fitness these days!

Me on the reformer machine!

Portion control

No matter how much exercise you do, it’s redundant if you don’t control the food intake. I don’t diet, and I don’t believe in depriving myself from a complete range of food classes.  I find that the weight just bounces back as soon as I stop following the diet plan, and I cannot commit myself not to eat tasty food for a lifetime! I find the easiest way for me to lose weight is not to eat after 6pm (or 6:30 by latest), and no water after 9pm. I normally have a big breakfast, and eat whatever I want for lunch but at a small portion. For dinner I eat healthy and carbs free. This is tried and tested as this eating plan works every time I feel the need to shed some weight.

Some superfood I take throughout the day. I also drink a glass of green juice everyday – it’s the best natural remedy for detoxification.

Coconut Water, Organic Yoghurt, Chia Seed Pudding, Goji Berries, Quinoa

Please note that I am no expert in nutrition neither in fitness, this post is purely for sharing my own weight loss journey. Do you have any tips and advice to share?

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I got a little carried away buying Korean makeups online of lately, and they can be hit and miss. So I’ll only talk about the products I’m thoroughly impressed with which include the 3 Concept Eyes (3CE) Glossing Waterful Foundation and the Waterful Concealer. 3CE is a highly popular Korean cosmetic brand that is like the Asian version of MAC but cheaper – they have a huge range of products in a rainbow of colors, and they all look so damn good on the beautiful models. The entire range is available on StyleNanda, or you can also buy selected products on COSME-DE (cheaper than its official website).

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The 3 Concept Eyes Glossing Waterful Foundation is as per the name suggests – it has an ultra lightweight fluid consistency and leaves a soft dewy ‘wet-like’ finish. If you have ever seen how flawless and dewy Korean actress’s complexions are, you will know what I am talking about here! The foundation is housed in a sturdy frosted glass bottle and has a drop applicator like the Giorgio Armani Maestro Fusion Foundation. The formula has very high water content so it melds into the skin with no blending required (I just rubbed it in with fluid movement then tap it), and leaves absolutely no trace of foundation marks on the face. It has no shimmer but gives a lit-within radiant glow, and the hydrating formula works well with dry skin as it doesn’t enhance any dry patches and pores. The coverage is quite sheer which it is meant to be – it only evens out the complexion and covers small imperfections. If you have relatively good skin to begin with and like the minimum bare-face dewy look, this foundation would be your match made in heaven. Otherwise it is recommended to use a BB cream underneath this foundation for a more polished look.

This foundation only comes in 4 shades, and here is a picture for shade reference. FYI I bought the foundation in shade ‘Natural Ivory’ and it matches me perfectly (as you can see in this FOTD).

Image credit from StyleNanda

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Here is how it compares to some of my other foundations:

I was so impressed by the foundation, so I ordered its matching Waterful Concealer (in shade 01) straight away and it totally lived up to my expectations. It is very similar to the foundation and gives the same “glossing” effect. It has a thicker consistency to the foundation since it is more pigmented and is made for better coverage. I only use this to cover my dark circles, and what I love about this concealer is that it feels like applying a hydrating eye gel. It feels refreshing to apply and the ultra lightweight formula just sinks in to the applied area. There is no cakeiness; doesn’t get caught in fine lines, and doesn’t make your eyes appear more dry and aged. It softens the appearance of dark circles, brightens and illuminates the eye area. It is not a heavy duty concealer so I won’t use this to cover blemishes or discolorations. This is more of a cross between under-eye highlighter and concealer that is suffice for people who have mild under-eye imperfections.

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Overall thumbs up for these two products.  You don’t feel like you are wearing makeup at all with these two products, and they go really well if you just like to wear some light makeup during the day.

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Hi everyone I’m finally back from my months long hiatus! My computer crashed (which was catastrophic!) and I lost all my pictures soon after my previous post, and that just completely killed my blogging mojo for longer than I thought…Big thanks to those of you who messaged me!

I spent a few days thinking about what my ‘first post’ should be upon returning, and I decided on doing a FOTD with some of the new makeups I recently bought.  It is my go-to makeup look now, with an emphasis on creating a translucent complexion and very light touch of neutral eye shadows with the MAC Golden Hours Mineralize Eyeshadow from the “Fantasy of Flowers’ collection.

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Being a 24 hours on-call mum, I find that warm neutral shades are easier to work with and look more flattering on tired eyes than the cools. The colors from MAC Golden Hours do a fantastic job in opening up my eyes and add a lovely warm glow to them. Though the texture of this quad feels a little gritty and dry, they apply smoothly and are relatively easy to blend without any fallout with the use of an eyeshadow primer. The color payoff is semi-sheer when applied dry with a translucent soft shimmer finish. Overall this is a lovely and affordable warm neutral eye shadow to own, as it is priced the same as a single MAC Mineralize eye shadow but you get 4 different shades. The quality may not blow you away, but I love the flattering complementary shades that are fool proof to use.

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Swatches
MAC-golden-hour-mineralize-eyeshadow-swatchesApplication Method:
Upper Lid – Applied the golden brown shade all over the socket then layer it with the peachy shade. Then applied the bronze shade on the outer-v.
Lower Lid – Applied the vanilla shade on the tear duct and the bronze on the outer 1/3.

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Other products used:

Using my favorite base products of the moment which are from a Korean cosmetic brand called 3 Concept Eyes . The Glossing Waterful Foundation and its matching Concealer feel almost like water upon contact with the skin and gives the skin a soft ‘wet look’ radiance. I like to use the Nars Adelaide Illuminator as a blush base, and in my FOTD it was layered with the cult favorite Nars 0rgasm.

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