Keep on moving anyway

Whaddup Monday! Trying to keep as positive as I can in the light of my fatigue. I burnt my weekends in March with events work and Lace & Ebony launches. It's gruelling but I enjoy every bit of it, truly. I'm tired, but despite everything, I try to keep my head up and carrying on fighting.

Fashion feature of today is the Peprt Flow Top : one of my favourites in the latest collection from Lace & Ebony. It's such a simple top made from a polyester fabric I've used in my previous manufactured designs, smooth, light, and easy to wear. The back details of this top is especially pretty, tailored in a way to look like a diamond, but at the same time not too low to cause any inconvenience of having to wear a Nu-bra. Another casual basic piece to add to my collection, score! Sold out during the launch and available on backorder ;)

This is a very old OOTD, dating back to the start of March when I've just had my hair dyed @ Bloc+, heehee. Too excited to launch this piece but I forgot to bring it to one of my shoots, resulting in pushing back the launch of this top to the end of March. And wow... have we just crossed the first quarter of this year already??

Have a good week ahead everyone. No matter what this week may bring you, keep on fighting!

xx

Etude House Every Month Cleansing Foam

Have you seen these new little babies around? :) 

Etude House introduces not 1 but 12 new facial cleansers! Termed as Every Month Cleansing Foam, it has 12 different types of facial cleansers for you to use a new set every month according to how the weather or your skin condition changes. Singapore might not have the luxury of having four seasons or drastic weather changes (okay we sorta do rain/shine haha), but we can adapt it to how our skin feels at different periods during the month (in need of moisture, calm relief etc).

A mild cleansing foam that washes away all impurities. Each cleansing foam has a different texture and of course different key ingredients to suit your needs. Gently massage over face with enough foam of this cleanser and rinse it thoroughly with lukewarm water, leaving your face especially clean & refreshed.

It also comes in a compact size of 100ml, which means it's GREAT for travelling junkies because it fits right into the cabin luggage (if you're travelling light), without all the hassle of squeezing it into smaller jars to bring along. I've always been fretting about my skincare when I travel, and now, no more with such cute compact sizes! Another good reason why it'll be good for frequent travellers, is because of the varying ingredients in each cleanser. If you travel to a country with a colder climate, you can chose to bring along something that's a little more moisturising to help your skin combat the dryness.

The Every Month Cleansing Foam I've gotten are:

1 - Avocado & Butter (Deep moisturizing)

Skin Types: Exhausted by cold wind, Dry skin

2 - Pomegranate & Berry (Firming)

Skin Types: Skin with loss of elasticity

3 - Apple & Tomato (Tone clarifying)

Skin Types: Dull and discolorated skin

5 - Green Tea (Fresh & clean)

Skin Types: Skin with excessive sebum 

7 - Aloe Vera (Soothing relief)

Skin Types: Irritated Skin 

Here's a little swatch I did with the cleansers. 

1, 3 are of a mild and moist pearl cream. 

5 is of a fresh cream texture. 

2 & 7 are of a moist gel texture.

There are four different textures in this series too!

I've also done a little test to see how much make-up it can remove. Though it's not touted as a 2 in 1 cleanser, it'll be good to see how much make-up it can remove! It'll also assure us that all our make-up will be completely removed by the time we are done with our make-up remover, and the cleansing step!

Here, I have on basic make-up that women would wear on a day-to-day basis. Hehe, okay maybe not all at one go, but here's what you'll have on if you have a full face of make-up. From top to bottom: Foundation, Concealer, Waterproof Eyeliner, Lipstick, Eyeshadow.

I applied 5 - Green Tea to the concoction of make-up on my hand. 5 - Green Tea was also the one that I've started using first to suit my skin's needs. It's gotten rather bad after I got back from my recent holiday *BOO* :(

Mix it all up and add a little water to make it foam!

TA-DAH. Here's the end result! Admittedly I was quite heavy handed and accidentally applied quite a bit more foundation & concealer to my hand. But all that's left on my hand is the imprint of the waterproof eyeliner, which you should really try to remove with your make-up remover first, and a few faint splotches of the concealer! Successfully removed 95% of my makeup with just the cleanser!

Always always double cleanse to make sure your face is free of make-up before bed! Unless of course your cleanser is a 2 in 1 step, but I always like to be sure. Better safe than sorry ;)

Here's the entire list of Etude House's Every Month Cleansing Foam for you!

1 JAN Avocado & Butter - Deep Moisturising

2 FEB Pomegranate & Berry - Firming

3 MAR Apple & Tomato - Tone Clarifying

4 APR Lemon & Garlic - Purifying

5 MAY Green Tea - Fresh & Clean

6 JUNE Tea Tree - Trouble Care

7 JULY Aloe Vera - Soothing Relief

8 AUG BlueBerry - Revitalising

9 SEP Rice - Richly Moist

10 OCT Green Vegetable - Clean Moisture

11 NOV Walnut - Smooth & Nourishing

12 Red Wine - Soft & Moist

Which ones are your favourite?
To suit my skin type, I think mine are Green Tea & Aloe Vera! :D

Also newly available in stores is the Milky You range consisting of a Make-up Remover, Facial Cleanser, One-Step Cleansing Foam (yes a make-up remover & cleanser all in one!) and Baby Milk Water (cleansing water). Can't wait to try them as well! :)

Say YAY to better skin and it really starts from within! 

It's important to have a proper cleansing system, so that your canvas is preen & good enough to have make-up on :)

x

Savour 2014

We were excited to head down to Savour 2014 after missing it last year because it clashed with G's exams. A food festival with Michelin starred chefs and lots of gourmet food all around? Totally our thing! ;)

It was held at The Promontory this year and it offered us an interesting insight to an otherwise busy district on the weekdays. I've never seen the CBD so empty and void of cars, heehee. The sun was blazing that day and felt just perfect for a day out.

I should have captured the difference between the fake carpet grass and the real grass that was peeking beneath. The dry brown grass really made me feel like I'm in a barn, haha!

Sunny sunday with my sunshine! <3

And check out the guy that we've (accidentally) successfully in between us :P

Preedy boy! ;)

Umami & Lap Mei Fan by Bo Innovation

Our first stop was Alvin Leung's booth because we were very much looking forward to his molecular XLB which unfortunately sold out very quickly! We settled for Umami (Black truffle, Toro, Rice noodle, Vermicelli, Dry shrimp powder) and Lap Mei Fan (Foie Gras, Rose Wine, Crispy Rice).

We were sorely disappointed with his offerings and expected a lot more from a 3 Michelin Starred chef. The Umami tasted a lot like the bee hoon that G's popo would ocassionally whip up, geez. The Lap Mei Fan was worst? It was essentially cream & crispy rice. There's supposed to be foie gras in the dish as well but I think it's infused into the cream and we could barely taste it -.- Feeling VERY sore we paid so much for these two dishes and it didn't even hit any sort of expectations even if he wasn't a 3 Michelin Starred chef >:(

Nevermind, moving along...

Emmanuel Stroobant! I really hope to get a chance to dine at Saint Pierre after hearing so much about it!

Homemade Foie Gras Terrine Tempura, Lobster Mayonnaise, Apple Salt by Saint Pierre

SO GOOD!!!!!!! The first bite was pure heaven, then came the next, and next... I didn't want it to end. It's really sinful, this dish. They weren't stingy with the foie gras at all, which was awesome, fried in tempura batter. It was perfect with the mayonnaise and the scattered apple salt. We practically licked this plate clean!

Soy-marinated Wagyu Beef Shank with Crystal Noodle in Hot and Sour Consommé by Blue Lotus

This dish was by Blue Lotus, which shared the same booth as Saint Pierre. It was an interesting bowl of beef noodles with the hot & sour consumme broth. It looks simple but the broth was hearty and a tad different from the usual beef broths. It was yummy but not one that I would have again if I had the choice.

Pan-Fried Rye Bay Scallop with a Tomato, Chilli & Broad Bean Salsa by Rock Salt

We really enjoyed savouring this dish with the succulent & sweet scallops and flavourful salsa! Again, we cleaned out this dish with seconds and slurped every bit down. *Thumbs up!*

Oyster Taster (Japonaise Truffled oyster omelette, tempura oyster maki, freshly shucked oyster with rice wine jelly) by Stellar @ 1-Altitude

This was hands down one of the dishes that made me open my eyes and left me wanting more. The freshly shucked oyster that was topped with rice wine jelly was my favourite! The rice wine jelly tasted slightly sour and refreshing, goes incredibly well with the oyster. It was so difficult to share this dish with G, heehee! The tempura oyster maki and oyster omelette were equally good by the way. So much love for this dish! :)

Chocolate Violette Earth with Strawberry Blossom Sorbet by Stellar @ 1-Altitude

I love desserts and we were really delighted by the dessert offerings in Savour. The strawberry sorbet was perfect in the sunny weather with the chocolate "soil". We had no idea what's what but we both loved it so much!

Valrhona Chocolate Pot, Fresh Cream & Homemade Honeycomb by Oxwell & Co.

Whoa this was another sinful indulgence. Chocolately, only very slightly sweet because of the honeycomb. The chocolate & fresh cream had a hint of alcohol which made the dessert a lot more refreshing than gelat because of the huge amount of chocolate in there. A good proportionate combination of everything! Desserts won our hearts that day.

Can I just say how much I love my hair color from Bloc+? It may seem loud here but it really only gleams in the sunlight! :D

Taking of the awesome sunlight. Pictures always always look better in natural sunlight. I love it even though I think I got a shade darker from Savour, hehe.

Savour really was quite a fun experience for G & I because we love food so much! The Savour dollars that came with our tickets weren't enough and we ended up topping up more cash, heehee. The sun was blazing but that didn't dampen our spirits at all. The food was generally really up to standard, and well, though everything was expensive, it came along with the quality expected of it (for most of them). We attended 2 classes hosted by celebrity chefs and gained a little bit more knowledge, which will be very very useful as I intend to explore more in the kitchen. It's fun to me. I love cooking! :D

#OOTD: Ginette Cut Out Dress from Lace & Ebony

Sorry for the lack of updates because if you'd realised, Lace & Ebony is in full swing with the Spring Collections! Can I just say how much I'm loving the selection this Spring?? :D Happier girl with happy clothes for everyone! I'll probably do another post showcasing my favourite outfits from the recent Spring collections soon.

I've also been well occupying myself with event jobs. I'm not sure if I'm over-commiting, or pushing myself way too much because I've recently strained my back. I've been telling myself to push myself further this year because I really am not getting any younger and honestly a tad too old for event jobs. Physically I'm not as capable as taking in as many hours as I used to do. But that being said, I'm still incredibly thankful when opportunities are thrown my way and I'll do my best to do them all to be a step closer to my personal goal. Got to work harder & be better! :)

New Kid on the Bloc+

My tresses are extremely important to me. As a model for my own webstore, it's important to take extra care of my hair because I frequently curl it for shoots / events, or even during special occasions. Besides the frequent damage I do to it, it's also essential for me to maintain my mane by trimming it often. 

I am extremely guilty of not being diligent enough to care for my tresses by giving it the frequent trims to help it to grow healthily. But now, I don't have to worry about my hair because I am now in the very good hands of BLOC+, my new hair salon sponsor, with Celia as my hair stylist! 

BLOC+, a young new salon has just popped up in the districts of Katong, and lies just opposite i12 Katong! Just a walk away from Katong's famous eats & cafes, it's extremely well located if you'd ask me. It's so easy to grab a bite nearby, or go for meals right after your appointments. 

You wouldn't miss BLOC+ the salon with its raw industrial & minimalist design that transcends from the decor, to the furniture. The decor of the salon is enough to capture my attention, and make my visit so pleasant! I must say, a lot of meticulous thought went into curating this space to make it boast of an old school charm.

The salon also has superb lighting! :D My hair is especially flat & limp here because I haven't washed it yet, heehee.

My bag was placed in this super cute vintage trunk! What a nice touch.

And they serve green tea toooo! My favourite :P

After being ushered to my seat, I was given a hot towel, and some hand cream to moisturise my hands. This is the first time I've experienced such warm service even before anything is done to my hair! The service is really meticulous and I am sure a lot of women out there would love such pampering treatments.

My Before hair: Straight, limp, and the length of my hair weighs my tresses down to make it very flat.

Celia mentioned to me that Caucasians have really fine hair, just like me, but perhaps a little bit finer, but they make it up for it in terms of volume (of hair). Asians stereotypically have coarser hair. But well, look at me, I'm the worst of both worlds. Fine hair, and little volume to make up for it. >.< #womenwoes

Only a few would understand how difficult it is to style such hair!

Hence, Celia suggested that I should better layer my hair to give my hair the illusion of more volume, which is done by cleverly layering without shedding too much length. I also did toning under her recommendation, to give my tresses a richer color to make my hair look healthier! I completely trust Celia and put the fate of my hair in her hands! :)

Done with the application & now to wait for it to set in!

Oh & yes, did you know BLOC+ offers a complimentary eye gel mask treatment for you with any chemical treatment done! I had it on for me the entire time my hair was being shampooed :P and the head massage was sooo long & good! It wasn't just a few rubs on your head, really, much much longer than any other salon I've experienced before. Thumbs up for a salon that goes all out to pamper their customers!

After my hair was washed, it was time for the hair cut! My hair was very swiftly cut by the nimble hands of Celia and very quickly, a new hair shape was emerging before my eyes. But the magic truly happens during blow dry. I can never, ever blow dry my hair like salons do. The way they meticulously dry it out, section by section while curling it at the same time... wow.

This is the end result!!!! The color is superrrrr gorgeous. It really makes me feel like a diva! Such a understated color that's not over the top loud, but adding on such a lovely tint of deep red.

Celia also gave me a lot of advice as to how to volumize my hair, and the products that would help me to do so. My hair really is quite tricky to manage, so I really took note of the advice she gave! ;) The products used were Original & Mineral's Rootalicious which was sprayed on my roots before blow dry, and Wella's Shimmer Delight Spray on my ends after the blow dry is done. The Shimmer Delight Spray is especially good for fine hair because serums which are used to help your hair shine, would weigh fine hair down because of the oil. There, valuable advice shared to everyone who's sharing the same woes!

BLOC+ also carries Original & Mineral products too, which is my new hair product sponsor and I've received so many goodies to try. Will share more about the various products soon! :)

I could have cam-whore endlessly with my new hair that I really love, but felt really paiseh because I don't usually do too much of it in public hehe! Yes, I really don't!

Just another picture to show you the volume from the products and the blow dry! I wish I can walk out of my house with salon styled hair everyday *.*

After being outside in the sun, wind, & the humidity for a few hours, this is what I came home with! The soft waves are gone, but the volume of my hair is still there. It will be especially hard for me to achieve such magnificent volume every day so I took as many pictures as I can to document this, hee.

I met G for a few minutes after my hair appointment and before he headed off to school, and he loves my new hair too! Thumbs up from the boyfriend! ♥

I love my new color and my new hair shape! 

Yay to a fresher look and a lighter crop of hair which will hopefully be more manageable! ;) 

Thank you BLOC+ for the wonderful (pampering) service and my fresh new look! 

BLOC+ has very kindly provided a discount code for my readers!

Here's how you can experience their magic first hand: 

Like BLOC+'s Facebook Page and receive a 20% discount off all hair services ;) 

BLOC+

462 Joo Chiat Road

Singapore 427674

Tel No.: 64400316