RETAIL THERAPY!

Today's SPLURGE (caps, yes) warrants an entry. I've stopped blogging for a while cuz' I really had nothing to write or rather, nothing to write which could be made public.

Anyway, I don't usually splurge. I think I'm pretty rational (not) when it comes to money and I would really think twice, thrice, if I have to pay a lot of money. I wished I could be like "I want this, I want that" and just buy but no, money doesn't come easily. Work is tough so we should treasure every cent, no? *I should totally take my own advice*

Lunch at Aoki at Shaw Centre was $50 but the chirashi don was so good! Full of awesome goodness which is (I believe) good for you cuz' it's all fishhhhh and no fried stuff and no oil (I think?). Very little rice as well! Very generous with the fresh sashimi (did not really see salmon though) and there was uni and prawn! 

fancyschmancy salad appetiser

CHIRASHIIIIIIII! can barely see rice beneath all that ingredients :)

my half melted dessert: mango ice cream, mango mousse, plum jelly

The place was quite hard to find especially if you don't frequent shaw centre. I felt really foolish. First, I thought it was at the lido shaw but I couldn't find it on level 2. After I found shaw centre, I couldn't find an elevator which would access level 2. It was only then did I ask the security guard for help and he's like... that's outside shaw centre. 

Good food is hard to locate. 

gift wrapped my barang! i must start doing that in future. the box is good quality!

Spent quite a few hours in Sephora and ended up with a $150-odd purchase. *rolling eyes at myself* I've always said Sephora is way overpriced in Singapore (it's true) but I still like going into it and wistfully looking at stuff that I totally like but can't bear to buy in-store. One of it is the Naked 3 palette. Actually all of them look good to me. The original palette has bronze shades, Naked 2 is taupe while 3 is rose gold. Personally, I think bronze/taupe would be abit more useful but the rose gold does look quite chio. I will never get around to that cuz' I don't use eyeshadow! 

Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser is another thingy that I have been thinking of ($70 you kidding me?!) but haven't found a reason to buy. I'm using the Naked BB Balm now and while it offers really really sheer coverage (it's like a tinted moisturiser), I find it quite usable. In place of BB creams which I find to be a bit thick and my CC cream which I feel makes my face super shiny, I'm using it. So far, it's ok. I don't think it makes me hideous so... I bought the travel sized one cuz I just wanted to try it out and I'm the sort who wants to try stuff so no point having something which I'll have to use for a long long time! I've seen the LM in travel size before at the PS Sephora but not at Ion. Guess I'd have to go to PS. 

Anyway, I didn't get my Philosophy Brightening thingy in the end. $90 for something which could go either way (hit/miss) - nah. I did get Purity Made Simple which, I just realised today, does not cause redness. You know I've been taking it for granted! Till I stashed it away for gym but found that using other cleansers gave me redness. It's only when you stop using it that you realise how good something is. That applies to people too, well, not that you USE them but you get my drift. 

I also bought the microdelivery wash. The peel is too ex. $100-odd.. *coughs* 

I finally bit the bullet and bought the Strivectin eye cream! I know I don't have wrinkles but hey, it's never too early to prevent them right? Anyway, it says that it targets dark circles, puffiness and fine lines too so it does address my concern - dark circles! I bought the Percy Reed conditioner on a whim. It was at the checkout line. It tempts people into making hasty purchases. I guess it was okay. It's a conditioner. 

SKINC customised serum and the overnight mask. I have high hopes for this (not) so... let's keep our fingers crossed. The whitening mask looks really awesome though but it's a cool 200 odd bucks. Well, I'll wait till my next bonus and perhaps I will feel like I can afford that. In something like 5 minutes, you can see a noticeable brightening/lightening! I mean, if I am shelling out good money for a whitening product, I'd pay for something I know would give me results. So, this is something to keep on the wish list. The serum is chio! That's not the main point, I know. Anyway, shall try it out and monitor my skin :) Damage was 200 odd. 

I talk too much.

Feb Favorites

Clockwise from top left:
1. Josie Maran 100 percent pure Argan Oil Light
2. Tarte Maracuja Creaseless Concealer
3. Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Gel
4. Benefit laugh with me Lee Lee eau de toilette
5. Toni&Guy Cleanse: Dry Shampoo
6. Skin Dip (by Dr Eileen Tan) UV Shield
7. Canmake Bye Bye Oil Stick
8. Etude House Water Color Blusher in Lilac
9. Travalo Perfume Spray

9 products which I feel were really worth the money. 

1. The JM Argan Oil came with a couple of other things in the Escape to Morroco: Holiday Lights & Brights set. Don't think it's available on Sephora anymore. It's a really light multi-purpose oil which doesn't have a heavy fragrance and isn't oily. It just absorbs really quickly and doesn't make the skin any oilier. Apply it to hair ends and it also makes hair look better. Would probably get the original size (1.7 oz) once this runs out.

2. When I first got this concealer, I thought it was really dry. Couldn't seem to squeeze the product out of the tube. However, now that I have used it almost daily, I don't have this issue anymore. So, don't give up after one try if you think it's dry! It must be because it's new. A little goes a long way and I think this tube would last me a year? I don't use much concealer so this is pretty value for money. Even without a primer underneath, this concealer doesn't crease, run or smear. It also doesn't produce additional oil and stays matte. 

3. I tried the Clinique 3-step skincare routine previously but wasn't impressed. This is my second bottle which I bought on a whim. Metro purportedly had a 20% off sale but turned out to be false advertising. Instead of giving me a 20% discount, they issued me a credit note for my next purchase. 20% of my item price. Wth! 

Anyway, this moisturiser is intended for oily/combi skin. It absorbs quickly and isn't heavy at all. Doesn't break me out and doesn't sting my face. I used to feel that moisturisers would make my face oilier if I wore it under makeup so I never did that. But with this product, I have been using it under my BB/CC creams and I don't feel that it produces additional oil. 

4. One of my favorites fragrances! I can't describe fragrances so I won't even try. But I have received compliments on it so... it's a good scent is all I can say. 

5. Dry Shampoo. Lifesaver on days you have second-day hair / hair's too flat. There's no powdery residue and the price point is attractive. $5.90 for 1.53oz. 

6. This sunscreen is very runny. It's pricey as with most doctor-prescribed products (rolls eyes). I am not a fan of sunscreen. I would think oh there's spf in my foundation so that would do. However, because I removed a mole recently and the doctor recommended A LOT of sunscreen. I took this out and used it religiously (sort of). It's white but the texture is very light so it actually gives you a glow rather than a white cast. One of the things I hate about sunscreen is the sticky feel but this one isn't sticky at all. I think the best part is its watery consistency. I detest sunscreens that feel heavy/creamy. It's so... urghh gross. A little goes a long way and this tub would probably last a few months. 

7. I have had auditees asking me what this is before (haha). It's a stick primer, I would think. Because it's japanese, it doesn't say that it's a primer. It markets itself as an oil remover. I think Benefit has a similar stick primer product. My face tends to look shiny very quickly so this is really handy for touch ups. You just blot your face (NO oil blotters, use tissue) and then apply this to the shiny areas. This has no color and doesn't actually leave any product on your face in my opinion. However, the area you apply to just looks matte for some reason. There must be some science behind it that I'm missing cuz' I'm such a noob. But anyways, it is one of those life savers that I tote around daily. 

8. This blusher was used on Get It Beauty as part of the Baby Face Makeup look . Video is linked here.

The lilac is pretty light or rather, I think I'm too dark for it to properly show up. Anyway, I don't mix it with the cc cream. I just apply it to the butterfly/apple zone instead of using it as a blusher. Because it's so light, it doesn't look weird when you apply it to your nose. The texture, as the name suggests "Water Color", is really like water. It's not a heavy cream so blends out very easily. Under cooler lighting, I can see the lilac but it's not that apparent under warm lighting/out in the sun. 

I really like this! On the same video, they mixed an orange blusher with cc cream to conceal dark circles. I've never thought that orange would work but it did. 

9. Travalo spray is so handy to tote around! I'm sure lots of people experience their perfume fading over the course of the day and it doesn't make sense to tote that glass bottle around. With this spray, you can carry your fragrance with you! It fills up easily with no mess. It doesn't leak and it's lightweight. With this, I feel that I would get round to using my perfumes. In the past, I would just let them sit there and go to waste. So this is brilliant! 

HELLO MONDAY

1) Morning selfie with natural light leaks and candy camera. I think candy camera has really nice filters, is easy to use and its edit tool is much more user friendly compared to 美图秀秀 and 美人相机. The latter used to be my HG photo editing tool but it is now stupid, thinking it is better to upgrade to the push method. Anyway, this is one of the more successful >.- faces out of the 10,000 million times I have done it. I d'no why I just said that. Is it even important?

2) I went to Tim Ho Wan today! There was NO QUEUE. Ok, kidding. There was a mini queue but they let me in anyways cuz' 老娘 too chio le. KIDDING. For some reason, they let us in immediately! SO.... I thought it was ok. Would I go back? If someone treats me. Nah, it's ok. I am highly undiscerning and can't tell good from bad. It is dimsum to me, that's it. I am not a charsiew fan so the buns... I can only say I liked the skin while the filling was ... you know, char siew. I have photos of almost everything I ate. The next table were like "this girl is weird..."

3) I wanted to do a Narae-inspired Do You Love Me look. When I got home. Yup, I would usually pile on more makeup when I get home because I don't want to waste the base look. HAHA. Zhuo bor at home = makeup frenzy. Makeup for taking selfies but nowhere to go, no one to meet. So... this is the look I did. Which is, not very much different from my usual pre-lash extensions look.
Tested out the gel liner from Tony Moly which was recommended on Get It Beauty (which is the Korean version of 女人我最大). If anyone is interested, channel M has it on ... I only know it's on at 4 am cuz I have it recorded. Youtube has a channel called ibuybeauty (ibuybeauti?) which eng-subs it.
Quite interesting. I watched the ep on how to achieve a baby-faced look and ended up buying a purple cream blush *cough, LAVENDER, simi purple* from... Etude House. SEE! The products used are so accessible and cheap! Not like asking you to pay for Naked palette/NARS blush/RMK foundation or some other pricey shiz.
Anyway, I tried a zillion times to get that expression but failed. Somehow my camera can't take a straight pic and it's always angled. Hello, 老娘 doesn't want a taken-from-top-face-smaller look today!
SO... *twiddles thumbs* People don't love me but I'm still smiling. Ohshwellssss.

My inspiration! 

I realised I didn't talk about the gel liner. Hmm, it is creamy and easy to use. However, the tip isn't sharp (duh, it's not a liquid liner) so it's not that easy to achieve a sharp wing. But it didn't smudge during the time I wore it so... I think it's okay. I'm not sure if it's waterproof but I don't usually walk in the rain so...
Other makeup products:
Hourglass Mineral Veil primer - people talk about it like it's some HG shiz. To me, it's just... like that lo.
Etude House CC cream - WELL... it's okay if you don't need high coverage.
Benefit Browzings - It's a highly futile attempt to zhng my brows. Brow tints to lighten them don't work. This shade was recommended as a good match for my hair color (then) but it doesn't seem to change anything on my dark brows. It's kinda weird if you look closely like 2 different colors. I think I need to tint my brows. Or simply, dye my hair black.
Clio Lipnicure in Tension Red - AWESOME color payoff. Photographs well. In reality, kinda rubbish. I had the lip primer under it this time and didn't eat so I can't say if it improved. But the last time, without the primer, it got really dry and looked really dry as well. Needs to be removed using a makeup remover. Slightly stains and make you look like you just puked blood or came from a vampire's dinner date. Color is good though.

4) *scoffs*Men are how shallow. When you're chio, they come running. When you're not, they disappear. Phooey. Eh I want true friends, not such superficial friends. It's highly irritating. What do you expect? You just want to see if I got plastic surgery/look like my photo RIGHT?

5) I have always been more comfortable with girls. I know girls are full of drama but guys... I d'no, some just make me feel really uncomfortable. Guys can be full of drama too.

6) Met up with Jars the other day and some of her quote-worthy lines:
"You always meet the douchey guys." - I fully agree. Even when I'm living my boring little life, minding my own business, the douchey guys look for me. WHY?
"IJ girls are either complete angels (like you) or downright bitches. Before I met the bitchy ones, I thought girls-school girls are all nice and easy to get along with. They made me bitchy!" - HAHA. You know, I kinda agree. Although I personally think there's nothing wrong with being bitchy. All girls are bitchy to some extent. I can be nice but I am full of mean comments too. But I think bitchiest must be KK since he knows all about bitch faces. hahaha

7) I have this dream of covering The Leaders (GD, Teddy, CL). I know Teddy and CL's parts but GD's part eludes me. Can't really grasp the beat :(

8) Seoul Music Awards. Ahh during the finale, can you feel the SM Town love??? SNSD's performance outfits were rubbish though. But I think I can appreciate IGAB a lil' better with the translation. The disjointed bits now make sense to me. It's kinda like act 1, act 2, act 3 that sorta thing. SHINee as usual, performance was on point. "Everybody" stage was awesome! EXO... I like Growl. I think they have done really really really well. My favorites are D.O and Baekhyun. Baekhyun's voice is so unique!
I love these award shows. They have all the songs I know! BAP "One Shot", APink "No No No", Sistar "Give It To Me", "Gone Not Around...", 4minute "What's Your Name", B2ST "Shadow", K.Will "Love Blossom"...

I covered JT's Mirrors!

  After hearing Mirrors played on Ting's turntable, I fell in love with the song!
Adding one more half-assed cover to my soundcloud but got effort ok! Anyway, no excuses for my blah singing. When you are blah, you are blah. *what Rafe said still stuck with me after so many years though he wasn't referring to me* You know how some people sing badly then say "oh I'm not feeling well today" or "I was nervous" or "I usually don't sound like this..." Once you stand on the stage or put up a recording, you give your all. No excuses.

CLIO Lipnicure

(from L-R) Tension Red, Rumor Coral & Guilty Pink

Recently, I got my hands on 2 of Clio's Lipnicures - Tension Red and Rumor Coral. I had swatched Tension Red at Watson's and simply adored the color! It's a really bold red but it stands out in a good way. So gorgeous! I also noticed that despite washing my hands a couple of times using soap, the swatch did not budge easily. Too awesome!

Due to the flash and lighting, I feel Rumor Coral is pretty misleading. It isn't a pale pink. It looks good on Dara however, when I swatched it on my lips, I felt it was so neon! Didn't really like it hence I'm selling it on Carousell. I'll give it another go tomorrow and see how it looks. 

Anyway, Tension Red is really pretty. 

I'm wearing Tension Red here. Looks kinda uneven partly due to sucky front cameras, filter, no skill and dry lips. 

The lip product itself is highly pigmented. When it dries, it stays on. You can't clean off messy bits like you would with your usual lipsticks. You have to scrub at it but hey, you shouldn't be scrubbing at your lips! 

My first issue while applying this was how to not look like the Joker. I don't have thin lips. My lower lip is pretty full and it was highly possible that outlining my lips would make them look huge! I had to sorta paint inside the edges. The doefoot applicator is pretty nifty to use for such outlining work. 

After that was done, I made the mistake of letting my lips touch. For usual lipsticks/glosses, it's quite common for people to sort of purse their lips to let the product coat evenly. With the Lipnicures, the product transfers and becomes uneven when you purse your lips too quickly i.e. before the product is dried. 

Remember when I said the swatch on my hand refused to budge for days? I had thought the Lipnicure would be super long-lasting i.e. it won't come off even when you eat ( a lot) and drink. However, much of it came off during dinner. I think I ate them :(

Imagine my surprise!! 

Lastly, I also made the mistake of not putting a lip balm prior to applying the Lipnicure. It was SO DRYING!!! I knew the product dried dry (haha). No sticky feeling and totally matte. I'm not sure if it dries the lips? Probably not the lips but the product itself simply dries? Does that make any sense? Anyway, yea, if you wipe your mouth, it kinda flakes off! I just read reviews which shared that it is really important to use a lip balm under or perhaps use Clio's Lipnicure Primer. I'm not too sure what the Primer does but I doubt it's available here in Singapore. Anyway, they also suggested using a clear gloss however, some actually accentuate the flaking process :( 

I had applied a layer of Benefit's clear gloss... however, I don't think it's the cause of all the dryness. 

The single reason why I am not in love and HG-ing this product - it is SO DRYING! 

It is not a good look to have patchy lipstick. Literally patchy due to random bits flaking off. Trust me, you do not want to look like that. Can't even wash everything off cuz it might stain your face. Gosh. And yet, it flakes. I could only reapply when I saw patches. 

Clio came up with a Lipnicure remover but I just use normal make up remover. It's not even oil-based. When I use the Biore makeup sheet remover, it kinda stains the area around my lips. I look like I have some rash haha. I also Bifesta make up remover and it works. So... save $. Primer and remover both kinda pointless to me. 

weird sleeping patterns, solo pity party, why 'Ch' names are taboo

I have been sleeping horribly lately. I swear Ish passed her weird sleep syndrome to me over lunch or something. I don't sleep very early; I go to bed like 12ish. It's like, I only have 6 hours to shleeeeepp!

Ya, I'm the sort who counts the hours I get to sleep and kinda feel sad that it's less than 8. 

ANYWAYS. I then wake up around 3/4 am! And I'd be like wide awake. Seriously. It's too early to be doing anything. I can't possibly potter around or head to work. I'd feel like I'm totally shortchanging myself. I need shleeep! Yea, so after tossing, musing, doing crunches (Ikr, don't judge) I manage to fall asleep when it's like 5? Only about an hour or so to go before the alarm rings. When the alarm rings, I'm like hnghhh? Sho fast? I don't wanna wake up :( 

So last night's musing episode made me feel pity for myself that I don't have a close male friend. Then, I sorta thought of J (not me, we share the same initials) and how we were that close but also got not-close all of a sudden. I think the gf had something to do with it :( 

I'm kidding. I didn't have a solo pity party. It's more of a 'what a waste' kinda feeling rather than cry my eyes out tragedy. It's totally possible to be just friends and not feel anything for an otherwise super awesome guy. Let's just say, the only feeling I had for J was that he was freaking impressive. Like, everything about him? IDOL. Ok, I sound like a groupie... But really, he was an all-rounder and he wasn't haolian about it! You know some guys *cough*SO*cough*weirdleatherjacketguy*cough* are smart but come across arrogant/smarmy. J was different. If you're wondering, he's not ugly ok! When I say all-rounder, looks were considered too. 

So why was ever-superficial me not attracted to him? I have asked myself that too but I can't find that attraction ever. It's weird. I think the universe malfunctioned. Or I just felt so groupieish that my brain malfunctioned. So yes, he was just that friend whom I could talk to till late (both nocturnal), always there for me even when he was on exchange (darn that US time difference!), study with, laugh at random things (mainly at him), give me rides to exams so I could sleep in, give guy advice, suss out potential guys with. Still remember him at b&j being all agog and "omg did he just put his hand on your back? he totally did it on purpose cuz i'm here!"
Can someone say trusted confidante?  

Totally awesome right! So... I just feel sad that he's not part of my life anymore. If you are thinking it's cuz I friendzoned him, nah, both of us knew we were just friends. So it's not like any one of us had any other ideas apart from being friends. 

WHY? Such an awesome guy. The gf must have saved a country in a past life.
*cough* I will name my son after him. (Sorry husband) Why not? People say (who and where are these people?) that it's normal to name your child after someone you have observed to have admirable characteristics. It kinda embodies your hopes for them, that they'll grow up to be that kind of awesome person too! You won't name your kid after someone you hate right? Just saying that name will feel like acid on your tongue. Pffft. Or after some disgusting person? Later the kid, suay suay, grow up become as disgusting. I already have 2 male names that I will NEVER use because of aforementioned reason.

On a side note, SL is a good catch too. Congrats to him. He is the kind who is normal and down-to-earth while liking normal-people things i.e. good food, f1, stuff I can relate to. The gf, similarly, must have saved a country in a past life. 

Time to write ML. 

On a sidenote, I will never name my daughter "Chxxxxxxxxxx" because I am currently hating a lot of girls whose names start with Ch. I think our 八字clash. 

So? Bite me.  

Thoughts on paying on a "date"

I say date in inverted commas cuz what counts as a date is pretty subjective imo. Some people say guy and girl out = date.
Personally I think 2 people aren't dating until they're officially together. So I would only count all those previous meetings as appointments. Very strict definition, I know. But in this entry, i'll just use date since it's shorter to type. 

Lots of girl friends tell me the guy should pay for the date. Especially the first date. The meal, movie, everything else. I'm not really comfortable with that cuz sometimes I don't want it to feel like a date! Going out with someone doesn't mean you are interested in them in that way. Having them pay for things make me feel like I'm exploiting the fella.  Worse if I don't like him in that way and I know I won't like him in that way. You ask why I go out with a guy when I don't feel anything for him? If it's the first meeting, it's mainly curiosity to see how he is irl or in a private setting. Some guys manage to turn me off during the meeting hence I don't want to owe him anything else. If he treats, I feel like I owe him a next meal. Especially hate it when some guy says oh you can buy the next meal. Me: what next meal? *inwardly*

I remember literally shoving the $ at this hapless guy. Refused to let him send me home as well cuz it was just so ... I'm rather sorry for being so not nice. I think we kinda made up later on so all is good. Such situations scare me. I don't  know how to deal with guys who like me but I don't like them. Anyway I have sidetracked.

Personally I think it is good enough when a guy offers to pay. It's gentlemanly. Shows he might be interested in being more than friends. I have learnt that forcibly sharing or refusing to let them pay makes things awkward so... If they really want to pay then sure. But don't use the next time card on me. It's like if I want to pay, I will do it. Don't have to suggest it to me. I have met guys who are super generous. They offer to pay for all their friends. Doesn't matter if it's a guy or girl or a whole bunch. He would just take up the tab. I was really surprised by that guy.  Didn't think he was very rich but the way he did it was just very natural.  He even said he doesn't feel there's a need to draw the line at mine and yours. All those times we went out I think I only paid once and sneakily too.  Really feel like I owe him big time. That guy really knows how to play the game.  He's good. Hahaha.

Player or not, I did sort of get influenced by his ideas. I don't pay for every one but at times I don't mind paying for friends. Don't have to be so 计较 over these things. Not like treating them to banquet dinner. And similarly, I don't mind being the one to pay on a date. Remember,  I don't think of it as a date.   Paying for a friend is ok. So that friend is a guy? Same deal. I do it because you're a friend and we're meeting for a meal.  Simple as that. No need to read too much into it or expect me to give a good reason. When you're in the getting to know each other phase, you're equals. I don't expect the guy to always pay.  Sorry, independent female here. If the guy always pays, i'll feel a little paiseh. Go out to get free meal? It's kinda like selling myself. Sit there, look pretty, smile, engage his friends if brought as a date. Too tiring. But he really did give me good practice. How to be a vase. But the friends were good people. I did genuinely like a few of them.

When a girl pays on the date, she could be making a point.  Either she's financially independent so don't you belittle her or you have been friend zoned. I don't like guys who make women sound like materialistic gold diggers. I am definitely not one. If I want something I will work hard and use my own money. Do I have to prove my point by paying for you ? don't want to owe any favors. I also think the person who initiates the date should pay. If the girl initiates then she should pay. It's weird that you ask someone out so they can pay for you.

Reference to the wongfu video on friends vs more than friends. If the guy allows you to pay, does it mean you are just friends then? Thoughts?