Happy Chinese New Year people! Gong Hei Fatt Choy!!!

Hopefully everyone’s doing well and is prepared to celebrate this upcoming festival! I’ll admit that I haven’t really done much this CNY as I’m running around with lotsa things on my mind.

For those who aren’t celebrating, just kick back and relax and enjoy the holidays

I’ll be away (as usual ) to attend to family gatherings and other activities, and will be back at work on Wednesday itself. I’ll be running a pretty hectic schedule at least until February, and hopefully things settle down soon then I’ll have a bit more time for the blog.

Until then, take care everyone! Keep yourself safe and most important of all, have fun!

Hello from Taiwan!

If you have been following my tweets/ Facebook, you’d know I am off for a vacation in Taiwan I brought my laptop with me since I’ll be here for a while, what’s better entertainment than the laptop should I decide not to go out for a day or two? The weather’s here a little mad, cold yet hot at the same time!

Here’s a short review for something which I randomly picked up at Cosmed (康是美) and I thought I’d share with you whilst I am here.

My Beauty Diary Blooming Garden Lemon & Verbena Body Lotion

Picture has been edited due to the yellow lighting in the hotel room, and there’s no decent sunlight for the past few days, and I doubt I’ll be seeing any sunshine right till the day I leave. It’s winter after all

Back to this body lotion.

My Beauty Diary started off with their sheet mask and has received really good reviews for them. Then they branched out and introduced skincare products and now, body care products. I think it’s a newly launched range specially for this winter if I am not mistaken. Lucky me to chanced upon this body lotion on a quick trip to Cosmed and got it for NT99 (~RM10).

They have 3 variants, Cassis & Rose and the other one Peach & Apple Blossom. I picked up Lemon & Verbena just because I love it’s sunny yellow packaging and the scent sound very refreshing. It feels more summery than winter!

Cute packaging aside, it’s the content that counts. Flip it open, you get a soft whiff of the scent. It’s lemon alright, but it’s the kind of lemony scent that usually comes from dish washing liquid. Luckily it’s not very strongly scented, and you need to really put your nose close to dispenser to sniff it.Does it dissipate fast? I’ll tell you that in a bit.

It’s very easy to spread and absorbs easily. I use large amounts of it and there’s no greasiness. It might be due to the cold weather here, that my skin is drier than normal. So far my skin hasn’t give me any problems with drying or anything, so it’s safe to say this lotion is doing it’s job. I can’t say if this will work as well once I am back to Malaysia though, as the weather is rather different

About the scent, though it does smell like as though I slap on dish washing liquid all over myself, but after 5 to 10 minutes, the scent smells more like a soft floral scent, I’m not sure if it’s the verbena (don’t own any scent of it so can’t say), but it’s light and refreshing and the floral scent is really comforting. Reminds of me the cool sunny days we have in Malaysia. The scent lasted a good 4 to 5 hours I think. Maybe because I was wrapping myself up in thick clothing? Not that I mind hehe.

It’s pretty travel friendly too, at 100ml. I am suspecting I’ll be finishing this off by the time I leave Taiwan. Hoho. I love sizes like this as I can try out more items and never need to worry of “hitting pan”. Hehe. I guess you know what I mean.

Overall, at approximately RM10 a pop, I think the body lotion is quite good for it’s value. Even if you don’t like it, chucking it aside/ throwing it out doesn’t hurt as much, right?

Repurchasing? Not sure yet, I still have time to think!

Tell me you don’t know about this picture or the brand above here and I shall spank you! Really, I would. :p

I never knew of it wonders until Kahani wrote about it, and while she loves it to bits, I, on the other hand finds it hard to believe that such a gentle product you can use it for a myriad of things!

Like the saying goes, “If you don’t try, you’ll never know.”

• Brush cleanser? Checked.
• Facial wash? Checked.
• Handwash your delicate laundry? Checked.
• Body shampoo? Checked.
• Hand wash? Checked.
• Clarifying shampoo? Checked.

I don’t know what else am I missing because it’s basically what I use this baby shampoo for. I’ve had friends telling me this is just weird to be using such a multipurpose product on my face. Yeah, it’s hard to believe, but then again, this stuff works.

It’s really mild, since it’s made for babies, so if you can use it for babies why not for adults? Shouldn’t be harmful. I’d even use it to handwash my inner wear when I am travelling, and it works perfectly fine. As a brush cleanser, it cleans good enough so I have got no complains.

As a clarifying shampoo, I find that it works well but it does leave my tips dry. A hair mask/ conditioner fixes things though. Facial wash? When I have horrible skin day and can’t be bothered with it, this is my to-go facial wash. Easy peasy. No breakouts or anything. Just a clean face.

This is always in my travelling bag and I have re-purchased it countless times. It’s what I call “the essential item”, like what would fashionista think about the LBD that never goes wrong.

The Almighty Johnson’s Baby Top-to-Toe Wash certainly deserves it’s title!

I also found something else which works as lovely makeup brushes cleanser too! And it’s still from trusty Johnson & Johnson. Although it’s not as almighty as it’s younger sister (I believe Top-to-Toe came into the market much later), it certainly has a special place in my heart.

Johnson’s Baby Conditioning Shampoo

Smelling my freshly washed brushes always bring me a good trip down memory lane. My brushes are soft and clean and smelling like how I used to smell, isn’t it a happy day?

Happy Friday to you ladies!

Was madly in love with both of this colours quite a while back. No complains on the application, the formula, the colour payoff and the drying time. Everything’s just perfect.

First up, China Glaze 108 Degrees from the Island Escape Collection

Awesome colour in the bottle, even better in person IMHO!

A beautiful raspberry red with bits of silver and fuschia shimmer bits that’s just pretty and I can’t stop staring at it! Blue toned red polish brings out the fairness in me, what else could I ask for more?

Next one, an orange nail polish that actually look good on me! Not that it’s a straight up orange, more like a burnt one?

Usually colours from the orange family and I aren’t the best kind of friends, but this one… it’s just lovely

OPI Hong Kong Sunrise from the bottle that looked so so in the bottle but on my feet…

It’s a beautiful peachy orange kind of colour, with some red in it, coral orange red maybe? Or burnt orange? I can’t quite decide.

It’s a frosty kind of burnt orange that’s glossy even after it has dried. Love love love the shade!

By the way, this colour reminds me more of a sunset than a sunrise though… But naming things doesn’t need to make sense right?

Sometimes it pays off to try out something different from what you usually use eh? Discovered anything different lately? Do share!

I know the blog’s pretty dead and quiet as of late. Am very uninspired and I really can’t be moved to take pictures for the blog. Blame the lazy bones in me. Hey I love Bruno Mars The Lazy Song okay, which is the perfectly perfect song for lazy bums like me.

Anyway, I digress.

When you hit 25, things just change. I don’t know if that happens to you, but to me it does.

I become a more homebody person. I love to do my laundry and room cleaning and I go nuts if it doesn’t get done properly. I am even going to the aunty homebody side of the world, thinking what sort of detergent to use for different fabrics and such. Too much, you say? Yes, it is.

So today I’m going to tell you something that’s not so beauty related but it is related, well maybe just a little.

I never really thought of using any special detergent or whatsoever for my clothings, I always thought normal detergent would do. Until the kind lady at Wacoal told me the correct way to clean and keep my bras, I just know I had to follow. She’s one amazing woman and really nice, never once I met such a nice bra salesperson who knows her stuff in and out! She did mention baby shampoo or any mild shampoo can be used to clean them, but best would still be detergents made for delicate stuff.  So ever since then, I was on the lookout for it.

Cosway Ecomax Delicate Fabric Wash

I stumbled upon this quite accidentally actually. The BF is a member of Cosway (don’t even know since when he is one) and I saw there’s quite a few bottles of it at his place, so I thought I’d sneaked one away.

This is what I use to wash all my innerwear and some other clothings which I treasure a whole lot, and usually those cost quite a bit of moolah, and the material requires more care.

And it turns out I am really liking it!

It’s gentle because it doesn’t dry out my hands like normal cleaning agents, and yet cleans my bras and whatnot very well. I wash my innerwear almost everyday and I don’t sweat much hence not much dirt/ grime. It’s easy to rinse everything out, I didn’t need to rinse it with a few pails of clean water and still find things are still a little soapy.

But I must say it doesn’t clean stains that’s been left there for a while, like stains that was caused because it’s that time of the month or really stubborn dirt stains. I think the formula’s a little too mild for it so you need the normal detergents to remove it completely.

It’s quite affordable and a bottle is 600ml, which will last you more than just a few washes, since you don’t need a lot to begin with.

I have already nicked another bottle to put it at my dad’s place and another one in my own place. Hee. Yup, I’m liking this stuff!

In Facebook style, *LIKE*

By the way, using Cosway products doesn’t mean I’m being auntified right? Right?

Does this look familiar? If you were there, you definitely would remember this! Just two weekends ago, the lovely Paris hosted the first ever #MWSAwards! Bet you saw all the tweets and the twitter hashtag #MWSAwards flying around eh?

The host, ParisB. Don’t even need to think twice why is there such a happy smile on her face yes?

Working hard to make sure everything is done properly before the party starts! Must not fail Captain Paris!

Announcement of the brand/product winners of Reader’s Choice Awards 2011! Look at the excited crowd! And the lucky girl Hsu Jen who won the pop quiz!

Mingling session / lucky draw time!

I wasn’t that lucky to have won anything, but it was great fun nevertheless

And if you think that you are going to walk home empty handed, well lookie here!

And the goodies inside

And that’s a whole lot!

My favourite item will definitely be the accessory from Sweet Contemplation Accessories handmade, and flown here all the way from Australia!

What’s a gathering without a group photo of the ever growing group of #evurl girls?

Left to right: PinkElle, Beetrice, Dom, ParisB, Connie, Rinnah, Hui Xin and Lyn. Emcee Juan, Yani and me left earlier, hence not in the picture

And the attack of Connie’s Collage!

Looking forward to the next #MWSAwards!

Recaps from other attendees:

• Juan
• Xin
• Beetrice
• Lyn
• Domcroxd
• Rinnah
• Connie
• Paris B

Pictures are courtesy of Xin/Chai/Paris B/Connie.

Have been pretty much on a roll with deep cleansing mask for the past 2 months, all the stress and what nots are just giving driving my skin into oiliness overdrive, that I can’t really live without one right now.

This 3-in-1 mask here reminds me very much of Lush’s Mask Of Magnaminty. It’s pretty much the same. It deep cleanses your skin, purifies it and also exfoliate it.

The difference between the both?

I ‘d say that The Bodyshop version is the harsher, or more abrasive version of Lush.

I find that it stings my skin a little, usually when my skin is on the drier side, but not when my skin is oily. The scrubby bits are more abrasive than Lush, I feel. Maybe that’s why it stung, but I never had such problems with Lush, whether my skin was dry or oily.

Apart from it being a little stingy (as and when it likes), the scrub is actually pretty nice. It really does give you bright clean skin, that’s smooth to the touch. The glow is actually better than what Lush’s counterpart can offer, in my opinion.

And yes, this mask also leans closer to the “drier” side, which like as though you are putting on slabs of dry clay paste onto your face. It takes a bit of effort in applying but it can be done. But the cleaning up isn’t as bad as using Lush, so it’s a pro!

I usually leave it on for about 10 minutes, let it dry a bit and then use warm water to gently rinse it off, while I give my face a scrub. And yay to a really clean and bright face! It didn’t dry out my skin, nor did it make my skin feel tight, it just leave my skin feels like as though I gave it a really good wash inside out.

Would I repurchase? I don’t think so. I really like the effect it gives, but I don’t want to deal with the sting. There are other scrubs out there like this (Lush, for example) which is gentle enough yet does the job. It’s a pity Lush isn’t available locally.

The Bodyshop Blue Corn 3-in-1 Deep Cleansing Mask is easily available in The Bodyshop outlets, retailing around RM60 or so. Watch out for their sales and you may get to bring it home for a much cheaper price! And remember, do a patch test first before you go slab it on your whole face!

Celebrate together with them with some really nice promotions

RM10 Anniversary Sample Kits

Anniversary Sample Kit includes:
2 – 1/4 tsp. Loose Mineral Foundation in sample baggies
1 – 1/4 tsp. Finishing Powder in sample baggie

Baby Kabukis is RM18 while the Handy Kabukis is priced at RM30. It’s a steal for these soft brushes!

They also have various offers and discounts up and running, so be sure to check them out often!

All offers valid till 31st October 2011. Grab your stuff before it’s too late!

Mud mix with loess (read here for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loess) and vegetable oil. Yucky no?

Quite the contrary though.

Like it’s clay mask counterpart, this one is even more “moist” (god forbid I use that word) and it doesn’t dry out my skin at all. In fact, it feels kinda creamy, and dries down smooth and matte. It doesn’t even crack even when it’s dried.

This one doesn’t make me feel as clean as the clay mask, nor have great oil controlling properties, it makes my skin feel just… normal. Maybe just a little softer, a little more plump, but that’s about it. I don’t get the smooth skin feel from this mask too.

The only thing I love about this mask is the lovely scent! I can’t say exactly for sure what scent it is, but it’s light and sweet, maybe citrus?

This mask is probably suited to those who have drier skin, not so much for girls with oilier skin type.

Not my cup of tea, but maybe it’s yours. Who knows eh?

Retails for RM70 (120ml) at NOPS outlet in Sunway Pyramid.

Disclosure: Product featured was a press sample provided by PR or the product’s respective company for review consideration. I do not do paid or guaranteed reviews.

This NOPS Green Clay Pore Mask is currently my favourite clay mask at the moment.

It spreads well and doesn’t have any icky scent, possibly a very light clay-ish smell but not that my nose can detect anything. It also doesn’t dry out my skin nor makes it feel super tight after washing it off, it controls the oilies very very well (imagine waking up the next morning with skin that is close to being matte!), makes my skin feels very soft and smooth, best of all, it makes extractions of yucky blackheads extremely easy! Though it doesn’t really made my pores go any smaller, or made me think my pores has shrunk. LOL.

Beware of the gory picture ahead!

Gross huh? But I totally love the results, 15 minutes of ugliness is okay with me! Hehe. But please don’t ask me why the nose area didn’t turn as whitish grey like the rest of my face, because I really haven’t got the faintest idea!

Am using this mask twice a week, and so far it has been good. I guess this is good for those with oilier skin types, while dry skin girls you might want to be a little bit more careful with this, as the oil control properties is really quite good, it might give you flaky skin if you use too much!

Retails for RM70 (120ml) at NOPS outlet in Sunway Pyramid.

Disclosure: Product featured was a press sample provided by PR or the product’s respective company for review consideration. I do not do paid or guaranteed reviews.