Saturday, November 9, 2013

October Favorites 2013!

What's up home skillet? (I realize "Hey everyone!" is getting dull.) I'm aware that I'm more than a week late for October Favorites but like what everyone says better late than never. I'm not gonna blab on and on and probably bore every atom of you so here's what I have been obsessed with in the month of October!

Skin Care
My skin has been the worst the past month and I felt like I had to actually unzip myself out of my atrocious skin and zip myself back in a flawless one. It was that bad and I guess I can only blame it on one thing - change of skincare routine. (Don't worry, I immediately diverted back to my previous skincare routine which does wonders to me!) I actually purchased the entire Clinique skincare set and I hated it so bad with the exception of this moisturizing gel! Everyone's been raving about the Clinique + instead of the one I am head over heels with and I have completely no idea why that is so but nonetheless, this works just fine for my absurdly sensitive skin. It absorbs into your skin immediately when you smear it all over your face and it's definitely not one of those thick moisturizers which will end up making you feel like there's a gallon of water on your skin.

Holy grail. I hate myself for not wanting to try this amazing face mask until I had to spent $20 more to receive a stamp from The Body Shop. I have always find myself pampering my skin with My Beauty Diary's sheet masks until I discovered that TBS's Tea Tree clay mask is actually my best friend. Personally I think it's a tad bit pricey but it is the most accurate thing to a miracle in a tub. It does not feel heavy or too thick for the skin at the slightest except for the scent of it. I have never been fan of the smell that tea tree products have to offer but I don't really let it affect me because it actually made my skin condition a billion times better! I know that you're supposed to apply masks on your face only about two to three times a week but personally, applying it every other day works best for me.


Make Up
Moving on to my forte, I have been attached to Benefit's they're Real! mascara. I don't favor wands with natural bristles because plastic bristles works best for my lashes! Benefit's they're Real! has an astonishing wand with plastic bristles and it gives me lashes a darker, longer and full finish - which is exactly how I want my lashes to look like! The only downside to plastic bristles is that it is sadly pretty stiff and not soft so it may hurt your upper water line when you don't apply it the right way or when you're just rushing and all that silly jazz. I have received compliments on it and people honestly thought that I had falsies on! It does not look clumpy - infact it does a majestic job at separating my lashes. It's definitely waterproof and thankfully I don't suffer getting it removed at the end of the day!

I am a credulous for essence's mascaras like I have 3 of them and counting. They offer the best drugstore mascaras in the entire drugstore world! I kid you not. No doubt they're the most inexpensive yet does a pretty insane job at keeping your lashes looking stunning throughout the entire day. It's all under $10 and that it a mental price for mascaras in Singapore. Stay All Day does not really give you thick and dark lashes but it does a stupefying job at making your lashes look naturally long and curled. This is literally the quintessential everyday mascara for a more natural look! It does not smudge and it does what it says - stays all day keeping your lashes look stunning!

Maybelline's Baby Lips (color) chap sticks has gotta be my most used chap sticks currently. It is insanely moisturizing and the exciting part is that it gives off a tint of colour when you have it on your lips. It does not have an overly glossy finish but it definitely look more glossy than any other chap sticks around town. I managed to get my hands on these babies when I was in Malacca and they have it in their drugstores. I am not too sure if they have these in Singapore, unfortunately.

I decided to go for Berry Crush since it is that time of the year to have bold, dark and berry lips! It is not opaque and neither does it appear heavy or thick on your lips - it's a really light and glossy berry tint which I am absolutely in love with because it is perfect for school and an everyday lip colour!

I figured that since you can't get it in Singapore, there's no harm getting two of them. The other chap stick I got is in the shade Coral Flush. It is leaning towards the orangey-coral rather than the pinkish-coral tone and if you're not comfortable to have orange lips, then not to worry because the pink in your natural lip colour will help to tone down the orange in Coral Flush!

Moving on to face products, I used up Benefit's the Porefessional like cray and I need to rush down to Sephora as soon as I'm done with this post! It's known to minimize the appearance of huge and visible pores and at the same time create a smooth canvas on your face before applying foundation and all that jazz. I personally prefer to apply this on my forehead (where I have break outs) and cheeks (where I have ridiculously large pores) to create an insanely smooth canvas for me to work on. It does make my make up stay a little bit longer than usual and in case you're wondering, the Porefessional balm is a skin tone primer. So you don't have to worry about it creating white patches under your make up throughout the day.

I have also been using Benefit's Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Foundation this past month and I am obsessed. It is no doubt a heavy coverage foundation and you can skip concealer with this foundation. I feel that it is very lightweight, creamy and very easy for you to blend it in (great for beginners). This would be one of those foundations that looks better throughout the day after it oxides and it adds luminosity to your skin without making it look oily!

To seal all the good stuff, I have been spritzing Urban Decay's de-slick Make Up Setting Spray (oil-control) after I have applied all my make up. I feel that this works best for those who wants to achieve a dewy finish rather than matte. It is oil-control so it makes your skin look dewy but not over done and at the same time help to control the oil throughout the day.

Miracle in a bottle. This would be an alternative for Bioderma. I have been using Caudalie Make Up Remover Cleasing Water at the end of the day to remove my make up and it is by far the best - if not the just as goos as Bioderma. You get more product and it is a couple dollars cheaper than Bioderma. It does not come with any scent, which I like and I would apply it a cotton pad to remove my make up. (usually 2-3 cotton pads) Bioderma can sometimes break me out but Caudalie has actually made my skin appear a lot better!

Hair
If you know me, you know I love TRESemme. I am currently using their shampoo and I have never stopped using TRESemme's Heat Tamer Spray eversince the first bottle. I can tell you that there is a massive difference between having the heat tamer spray in your hair before applying heat to it and not having it in your hair. Heat would definitely dry up your hair without any heat protection product and this is actually inexpensive at all. It smells great so why the heck not?

I can never stress you enough about how much I love my Tangle Teezer. It is effortless to get your hair tangle free. No unnecessary tugging and you do not have to worry about hair loss or damage when using it on wet hair.

Non-Beauty Favorites
We all know that Yankee Candle comes up with the best scented candles all year round. The entire shop smelled divine and they were having Autumn Leaves burning in store. I immediately told them that I wanted whatever candle that was burning and I fell in love. I have this burning almost every night and you can see how slow it's burning and I'm guessing that this will be able to last me until next Fall. It smells like Bath & Body Work's Leaves candle except spicier.

I have tons of basics in my closet and the only way to make it look more put together and dressed up would be accessorizing it. I have been pairing most of my basics with this amazing statement necklace which I got from New Look! It is not one of those ridiculously heavy chunky necklaces. Quintessential.

Un-favorite

Like what I've said earlier in the blog post, my skin broke out so bad because of Clinique's products and one of their products which broke me out would be the Clarifying Lotion. It says that it helps to exfoliate your skin and obviously it does but it was a bit too harsh for my skin. You can literally feel it peeling and it usually stings. Also, the fact that it is too harsh for my skin, it made my skin more oily than it already is.

That is it for my October Favorites xx 

Friday, October 18, 2013

Life Update: What I did during the semester break!


Hey everyone! If you're someone close to me then you'd probably know that I am still on my semester break. Unfortunately, school's resuming for me in a couple days and I am kind of befuddled or having mixed feelings about it. I've spent quite a number of nights listing down reasons (in my head) why the confusion and the main reasons as to why I am not looking forward to school would be the hassle to wake up really early (I'd consider 6.30AM early since I've been waking up around noon time for the past month.) and I am more of a shy and timid person but get mistaken as arrogant, unfriendly or what some judgmental kids in school label as anti-social. What's bothering me would be the first few days of school - not being able to confidently socialize with new people. On the bright side however, I'd soon be able to adapt to all the changes and hopefully look forward to school and the exciting new modules!

I doubt any of you would bother to know what has happened in my life during the semester break but I thought I'd just share a couple of interesting and memorable events with those who are interested.

The number of times I spent an entire day in town would be countless. It is getting really dull for me and I am actually really glad that school would distract me from shopping because I've spent my last dime on clothes. Here are a handful of pictures which are taken when I was in town!

My world has always been revolving around cameras. If you're following me on Instagram, you're probably aware that I would post selfies every now and then (I know I need help, major help!) but I am a wee bit camera shy when I don't feel comfortable with the individual who's holding onto the camera while I get my shot taken. Sahara, an extremely close friend of mine, thought that it would be great to catch-up with each other before school resumes for both of us. The sun was beaming that day and I figured that the lighting was fricken' genius for photos so I took the opportunity to snap some pictures in town! Besides that, we lived beyond our means and spent our last dime on food - ridiculously mouth-watering food.

Like what I've said earlier, school resumes sooner than I expected for the three of us and thus we felt the need to have lunch and spend quality time together just like the days in school last semester. If you know me, it'd be a miracle if I ever arrive early or at least on time. It was no surprise that I was late for an hour and four minutes to be precise. Definitely didn't want to waste anymore time so we headed straight to 18 chefs for lunch and it was pretty good but I can tell that I am getting sick of it already. I am not a penny pincher so I forked out quite a bundle for stickers to bombard my dull laptop and we only did window shopping since we were all broke after that. (We should consider calling ourselves "Broke Friends Forever" you guys.) It was humid on that day, no doubt so we felt extra lethargic and decided to take a short rest and we ended up snapping quite a number of shots but I've decided to only share with you some.
Holy guac! Can we at least have a decent shot together?

Clearly, I wasn't ready and every atom of me was already feeling utterly lethargic. 


I also spent Eid al-Adha with the entire maternal family at Malacca this year and it was such a worth eyeteeth experience. I have always preferred the shimmering and reflective city lights instead of the countryside where you hear birds singing and see greenery at every inch. This leads to only one conclusion - I am a tad bit spoilt and I don't deny that. When my parents told us (my sister and I) that we'll be away for almost an entire week at the countryside, I started to panic. I started to think about how it would be like without the internet and all the posh things you get to experience in the city. I honestly can't go a day without Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube as well as Instagram. I'm aware that sounds ridiculous and bad but that's how it is for me. I treated packing as a burden but I know that it would be fun to experience the country life. The adults thought that convoying would be a hassle so they decided to travel by a family van. Me being me, I slept throughout the entire journey there and only woke up when we stopped for food. We reached in the evening and my cousins and I were already thinking of ways to get connected to the social networking sites. Thankfully, Dad agreed to drive to the nearest convenient store and bought us a 3G prepaid card thingy. We were playing games and having dinner while he was away and found ourselves glued to our phones the moment he's back. I am not going to bore you with whatever happened during the trip. So long story short, I realized how the internet acts as an obstacle for us to interact with others literally around us. My cousins and I obviously had to do chores and we did complain and sigh every now and then but it was all for the ceremony which was held on the night for Eid al-Adha as we recite some prayers for my late grandparents. The entire thing was held over at my extended family's place and thank god it's not a wooden kampung house. Anyway, we had a group of orphan boys, choir(?) people and the other villagers. It was something which will never happen in Singapore.  

 Fun fact! It has been years since I last consumed the meat of the animals being sacrificed. I just eat other dishes prepared that day. 


That's my dad in case you're wondering. Right, I'm not gonna gross you out with anymore pictures of the meat.

They were all reciting some prayers and I couldn't actually go any nearer to snap a picture because I had no hijab on. 

That's Mom with a quarter of the cute orphans. 

This boy caught my attention throughout the entire performance. They played for almost two hours and he is so tiny but he played whatever the instrument is called for the entire performance. 

(Pardon my boxed-looking bum! I had my phone in my pockets.)

Of course, there are more pictures but enough for now because I am feeling so fatigue but if you'd like to see some more pictures of the trip, then follow me on Instagram or Twitter. I need to catch up on 2 Broke Girls!

Love, 
Izza