Emma Watson's Partially Painted Nails: Yay or Nay?

So I've been seeing a number of tutorials for a partially painted or deconstructed nail look, and I was pretty puzzled. Since when did we start putting out tutorials on how to make your manicure look totally ruined? Turns out, a celebrity wore it in a magazine! Emma Watson, in November's Elle magazine, had her nails painted to look half-done. This is the look in question:

(Image Source)

Some bloggers have called it a 'reverse french manicure', but to me, it just kinda looks like a very badly executed Ruffian manicure. And from the Elle website, seems like a lot of work went into getting it to look like that. The nail artist first painted the areas near the cuticles, and then used an airbrushing tool to get the colour gradation, but left the middle part unpainted.

Since the photo above wasn't too adequate in showing the nail look, I tried getting screencaps of the behind-the-scenes video. Here's what I got. I couldn't get a bigger version...it just ended up looking blurry.

I'm scratching my head as to why an airbrushing tool, of all things, was needed to make your nails look like a 5 year old painted them halfway. Hey guys, I'm airbrushing my nails to make them look all messed up! LOL.

Anyway, based on the tutorials I've seen, the look can be recreated using variety of other, much simpler, methods (smudging the polish while wet, painting the whole nail and then removing the center, and basically other methods of destroying your mani, preferably while it's still wet).

Anyway, I can't say I'm a fan of the nail look, although I love Emma Watson (aww, come on, who doesn't?). To me, it doesn't look deconstructed or trendy, it just looks like a manicure worn for waaay too long. And for some reason, it looks really dirty, as though dirt collected in the cuticle area. Well, on the bright side, if I walk into work with chipped and disgusting nail polish and my boss complains about it, I'll just tell him that this is how we all wear our nail polish nowadays!

What do you think of this look? High fashion, or just sloppy? Let me know!

Giveaway: Win a Dr Organic Manuka Honey Soothe & Restore Set!

It's Winter, it's Christmas, it's giveaway season! If you're like me, and dry weather really hurts your skin, then this giveaway is for you! We're giving away a Dr Organic Manuka Honey Soothe & Restore Set, consisting of a cleansing glove, Manuka Honey Hand & Nail cream, Manuka Honey facial emollient rescue cream, and Daily Skin Body Moisturiser.

To enter, you have to be a follower of this blog, and leave a comment with your GFC username/whatever you use to follow, and share your best wintertime skincare tip! One tip will be chosen to win the prize Of course, you can boost your chances of winning!

Here's an example health tip, brought to you by leading health store Holland & Barrett. (Your tip does not have to be releated to any brands/products, however, I just want to hear what works for you!)

As the temperatures change, so should your beauty routine. The cold air can make skin incredibly dry and the best way to fight this is to incorporate moisture into your beauty regime as much as possible. Switch your usual shower gel to one that contains moisturising ingredients, such as Manuka Honey. Native to New Zealand, this natural supplement has a hydrating effect, helping to soothe and heal dry, damaged skin. If your hands and feet have become particularly dry, lather on a rich moisturiser, then slip on socks or gloves to lock in the effects.

This giveaway is open worldwide and ends on 15th December, so good luck!

Viva La Nails 3-Day 25% Off Sale!

Just a heads up for those interested, Viva La Nails, the online Europe-based retailer of nail art products, is having a 25% off sale for 3 days! This discount applies to ALL the products in their store, and you need to use the code BLACK to get the 25% off discount. They sell a huge range of really cool stuff, including nail stickers, rhinestones, fimo canes, decals, and so on, so if you're itching to stock up on more, why not check it out?

I've had pretty good experiences with Viva La Nails so far, and I've previously gotten stuff from them without delay, and I've also previously done a grey and black nail art with their products that actually turned out pretty nice.

(I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Dupes or Not? Benefit Dallas vs MAC Flirt and Tease

Here's a quick swatch comparison of Benefit Dallas and MAC Flirt and Tease blushes. Both Benefit and MAC have great blushes, and between Dallas and Flirt and Tease, both are powder blushes, with similarly nice textures, and good pigmentation. I have to say though, Benefit tends to scent their powder blushes, so Dallas smells a little sweeter to my nose, for some reason.

At first I thought they'd be similar in the pan, but on the skin they're actually pretty different. Dallas is more brown and less shimmery than Flirt and Tease, although they're both pretty wearable. I know Dallas is meant to be more of a bronzer, while Flirt and Tease is a blush, so that accounts for some of the colour difference. I do feel like Dallas could be a perfectly fine blush as well, though, for days where you want a more nude cheek kind of look. In my opinion, I prefer Flirt and Tease, just because I like the shimmery plumminess of the shade, but both look pretty good.

Shills Disco BB Whiten Conceal Disk Swatch

Shills is a Taiwanese brand very much engaged in Asian beauty as far as its products are concerned - there's a whole slew of BB creams, and other products including various types of skincare, such as moisturizers, and products to clean up the gunk in your pores. Today's quick entry is a swatch of their Disco BB Whiten Conceal Disk Swatch.

The Shills Disco BB Whiten Conceal Disk is a BB cream that has a rather thick emollient texture, and is thicker than most BB creams. It doesn't come in a tube, like most BB creams. Instead it comes in pan form (hence the name Disk). The packaging sort of looks like the Max Factor Pan-Cakes, if anyone still remembers those.

The colour of the Shills Disco BB Whiten Conceal Disk is very peach leaning, and swatching it, I felt like it felt very silicone-y - it had that characteristic silicone slip and feel. It eventually blends to a dry finish, and does not have any shimmer or glitter. On my NC20 skin, it looked a little bit peachier than my skin, but would probably blend better if sheered out more.

Collection 2000 Aztec Gold Nail Polish: Classy, Understated and Neutral

Collection 2000 is probably one of the cheaper UK-based drugstore brands out there, and as a fan of drugstore gems, I'm starting to really like some of what the brand has to offer. For a good price, you get products of decent quality. Here's a quick NOTD (Nail of the Day) featuring one of my favourite Collection 2000 products, the Nail Polish in Aztec Gold.

I'm really love this colour because it's a very understated gold - it's not a blingy, catch-your-eye foil gold, but it's really more of a muted antique gold, with a shimmery metallic finish. And, it's not too brassy-looking for cooler skintones, either. Very classy, understated, and neutral. And if you ask me, it's wearable to the office, too (if your office environment isn't too strict).

Application was alright - it can be prone to brushstrokes, but I didn't have too many major issues, and the brush suited me just fine. It was also nicely opaque in two coats. The only gripe I have with Collection 2000 nail polishes is really the weartime - they typically wear well for a couple of days before chipping on me. I love this colour, and I wish it lasted longer, but for the price, I'm not complaining.

Maybelline Color Sensational Lipstick Swatches, Review

Maybelline is launching its Color Sensational line of lipsticks in Singapore, and I am so excited for these. Although we aren't getting in the whole range of shades (we are getting just under half of the 54 shades available), there's a wide array of shades guaranteed to have something for everyone.

The selling point of the Color Sensational Lipsticks is two-fold: first, the pigment in the lipsticks is supposed to give good colour payoff; second, the lipsticks are supposed to feel creamy and non-drying. Sounds great right?

The lipsticks come in rather clunky, brightly coloured plastic packaging. I have four colours, and the colour of the plastic packaging is different on each of them. That's a cute touch.



The lipsticks themselves come in a good range of shades. I have Pink Peony, Peachy Scene, Yummy Plummy, and Tinted Taupe - thus covering all the bases of pink, peach, plum, and neutral. I've read some reviews where the scent of the lipsticks were noted as being unpleasant. It seems to be a little hit-and-miss, depending on which batch you get, but mine smelled fine. The lipsticks I got had a slight vanilla smell, but otherwise they were mostly scent-less, if a little bit plastic-y.



Here are swatches of the lipsticks. As you cam see, they do have good pigmentation, and are fully opaque after a few swipes. And every single colour is very wearable, too. Maybelline have chosen their shades well.



L-R: Pink Peony, Peachy Scene, Yummy Plummy, Tinted Taupe

Pink Peony is a shimmery light pink, Peachy Scene is, as the name describes, a peach shade with shimmer, Yummy Plummy is a purply-pink plum shade (more purple leaning than pink, methinks), and Tinted Taupe isn't actually taupe at all, but a medium-dark MLBB (my lips but better) pinky-brown shade. Pink Peony and Peachy Scene both have shimmer, bordering on frost, while Yummy Plummy and Tinted Taupe both are cream finishes with no shimmer.

Here's Pink Peony on my lips. As you can see, the shimmer is more obvious on the lips than in the tube, and looks a little frosty on. The pink shade is very pretty, though.



Peachy Scene has the same almost-frost finish as Pink Peony. This peach shade would look better on warmer-toned girls, but even on me I think it looks quite wearable.



Yummy Plummy is probably my favourite of the bunch, together with Tinted Taupe. It's a gorgeous grapey plum colour that's very wearable. And I love the finish too - it's creamy without feeling or looking matte.



Lastly, Tinted Taupe. This is a very wearable pink-brown colour, sort of like MAC Twig, but lighter and a bit less brown. In anycase it's in the same colour family, and has the same matte-but-creamy finish which I quite like.



Both Pink Peony and Peachy Scene glided on fairly well, but I didn't feel like they were particularly moisturizing or drying...they were just all right, I guess. In fact, I feel like the frosty glitter was more likely to accentuate the look of fine lines and dry spots on the lips. I felt like the cream finishes, Yummy Plummy and Tinted Taupe, were more moisturizing and didn't accentuate lines or uneven spots on my lips.

I'm pretty excited about the Maybelline Color Sensational Lipsticks, and I think they're pretty good for a drugstore range - they have good colours, a decently nice formula and are overall good value for money. If you find a colour you like, it's worth a try. Just cross your fingers and hope you don't get one of the stinky tubes.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Stuff I'm Using Up: NYX Stone Blush

OMG, I'm actually using up a colour product! This lovely baby is NYX Stone Powder Blush, and man, obviously it's showing some wear. And why not? It's only showing wear because it's one of the best go-with-everything blushes I've come across. I bought this online a long while back, when Cherry Culture had a discount, and I'm so glad I did.

I mean, granted, it doesn't look like much in the pan - if anything, it looks kinda brown and muddy and blah. But once on your skin, it just amps up the wow factor so much. On my skin, it's a perfect neutral pinky-brown without any shimmer or glitter. This really makes it go with every kind of makeup look out there. It's also super massively pigmented, so if you apply too much you run the risk of looking like a sunburned clown, especially if you are fair. But that's not necessarily a bad point - I like how I can use a sheer wash of the colour on my cheeks for a barely-blushed nude look, or layer a tad more to give a more rosy flush.

I know my pan of NYX Stone looks really crummy and all smashed up, and that's because I've been bringing this blush with me whenever I travel (well, until it got smashed up anyway). Poor Stone baby got all messed up on a United Airlines long-haul flights from USA to Singapore. Damn. 22 hours on a plane (even with a stop-over) isn't any fun. Especially if the airline smashes your makeup! *Shakes fist at United Airlines*



Anyway, the good thing is that I do have a backup of my beloved NYX Stone, so all is still well (no, unlike these guys, I'm not going to write a United Breaks Blushes song and upload it on Youtube..but I am going to make sure that all my stuff is bubble wrapped the next time I have to fly with United). And if you haven't gotten Stone yet, don't wait! The fact that I'm almost done with this blush (okay, not almost done, but you can see pan) when I have enough cheek stains, blushes and tints for my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren must surely tell you how awesome this is.

L'Oreal La Couleur Infallable Eyeshadow Swatches

I'm late to the party with these swatches, but man, the L'Oreal La Couleur Infallable Eyeshadows are amazing. They've been all over the blogosphere, of course, so I needn't say more. But here are swatches of the eyeshadows, anyway! When it comes to swatches, more is always better right?

The La Couleur Infallable Eyeshadows are awesome. When I swatched them, they were pigmented, smooth, and had a nice texture. All of them have dense shimmer that translates into a slightly frosty finish. I've swatched the shades which are available in Singapore (sadly, that's not much...why, L'oreal, why do you not give us the full range of such a gorgeous product?).

L-R: Sahara Treasure 021, Black Onyx 023, Goldmine 027, Emerald Lane 022, Bronze Goddess 024

Sahara Treasure 021 is, as the name suggests, a sandy, light beigy brown.
Black Onyx 023 is a black with silver glitter.
Goldmine 027 is a pale gold. The finish on this one is more foil than shimmer. Very stunning. It's a great gold that would look good on cooler skintones too.
Emerald Lane is a deep forest green with gold glitter. I like this colour, it has some depth and interest to it.
Bronze Goddess 024 isn't bronze, but more of a khaki or olive colour, with some brown and bronze thrown in.

Maybelline Pure Mineral BB Mousse Review/Swatch/FOTD

Since BB creams were introduced a few years back, it looks like the BB trend is still going strong, and consumers remain eager to snap up more BB-themed products. With that in mind, Maybelline's latest BB-themed product, the Pure Mineral BB Mousse SPF30, is sure to be a hit.

For those not familiar with BB creams, this was the product that started off the whole BB trend. BB creams were Blemish Balms (BB), touted to provide coverage as well as skincare benefits. In practice, a lot of BB creams I've come across are similar to creamy foundations and thick tinted moisturizers, right down to the ingredients (I need to do a post on the ingredients in BB creams sometime, but I'll probably get slammed for it). Hence I've been very skeptical of the "BB" label - like the words "mineral" and "natural", to me it's just marketing spiel to sell products. And as with supposedly "natural" or "mineral" products, the wild claims made by some brands have made me, and other consumers, I'm sure, tired of the whole BB label altogether.

Fortunately Maybelline is smart enough to put a new twist on an old product. The selling point of the Pure Mineral BB Mousse (wow, two marketing keywords here - BB and mineral) is not so much that it's a BB product, although there are some skincare claims made, but rather that it's a mousse. The mousse is supposed to lend a lightweight texture and feel to the product, and is supposed to be easy to apply too. Sounds like a winner, right?

The Pure Mineral BB Mousse is dispensed through a can bottle with a pump top. It can be a bit tricky to control how much product comes out of the pump (there were a couple of times where I wanted a small dollop and I got lots of foam by pressing too hard), but otherwise, this is convenient and sanitary to use.



This is what the Pure Mineral BB Mousse looks like when first dispensed. It's a huge big dollop of foam! Although it's somewhat similar to Shu Uemura UV Under Base Mousse, in that both are foam products, the novelty value on the Pure Mineral BB version is still quite high. I mean, the foam looks fun, right?



I have to admit, when I first saw that foam, I was wondering, how am I supposed to apply this to my face? Do I just smoosh the entire dollop of foam on my face and rub? Do I apply the foam bit by bit to my face? Do I use my fingers? Do I use a brush? Man, using this foam product was harder than I thought! But eventually I found that fingers worked best, and because the foam dries fast, whether you are using a large dollop or a small dollop, it's better to work on your face in sections (e.g. forehead first, then right cheek, left cheek, nose, etc).

Here's a swatch of what the product looks like. It actually dries pretty fast upon application, and dries out to a pretty matte finish, without any shimmer or glitter. It blends out decently with my skin, especially if using a thin layer. Although the product itself is slightly more orangey and darker than my actual NC20 skintone, I found that with a bit of blending, the colour match isn't too bad. Another thing is that because this product dries matte, it does have a tendency to settle into fine lines and creases, and the effect worsens the more product is used (my under eye area didn't look too good with this product). So if you have fine lines, be careful not to pile it on!



To me, the really tricky part of using the Maybelline Pure Mineral BB Mousse was really the application. The mousse itself is pretty blendable, but once it dries, it doesn't really blend very well, so I found it best to work quickly while the mousse was still wet to get an even coat, if not the result could look patchy. But overall, I didn't have any problems with application. I found that the finish was pretty matte, which is to my preference. Here's a shot of me wearing the Maybelline BB Mineral Mousse. As you can ese, it blended into my skin just fine. I was worried the colour match would be off, but it turned out alright.



Weartime on this was also pretty decent. I found that if I perspired alot, some of the mousse on my skin would rub off unevenly, and end up looking patchy, and it's hard to fix the patchiness after that (I mean, what am I supposed to do? Put on more mousse? Cover it up with powder?). But otherwise, if I wasn't running around, I found this quite good, as it stayed on my skin and didn't move or shift. I found that if I set it with a bit of transparent loose powder, the staying power is actually quite impressive. I wore it out for half a day, and by the end of the day, mhy T-zone started looking a little oily, but the other parts of my face were fine.

All in all, I quite like this product, but I wouldn't wear it if I knew I was going to be in for a time where I would be sweating a lot. If you have a lot of fine lines, the Mineral BB Mousse may also settle into them. But if you want a matte finish foundation that has good staying power (as long as you aren't sweating), this is a good bet. The mousse foam is really cute, too, and the novelty factor is really quite fun. I think Maybelline has just found their next big hit!

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Eucerin DermoPURIFYER Active Concentrate, Day Care, Night Care

I've always had a special fondness for Eucerin. I always believe that when it comes to skincare, the simpler, the better, and in my experience, some of the most effective skincare products I've tried were also the cheapest. Thus, I was pretty excited to try out some of the products from the Eucerin DermoPurifyer range. As the name suggests, this is meant for skin with acne, and since I am very acne-prone, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this range!

I tried some of the newer products in this range - the DermoPurifyer Hydrating Care, the DermoPurifyer Active Concentrate, and the DermoPurifyer Active Night Care. The first product is a day cream, the Active Night Care is a night cream, while the Active Concentrate is more of a serum to be used in tandem with either of the other two products. All of these products come in rather clinical looking off-white boxes and bottles. Very professional looking.

The DemoPurifyer Hydrating Care is a light moisturizer that's meant to be used during the day. Although it doesn't have any SPF, the texture is lighter than that of the Active Night Care cream. It comes in a pump bottle, which is hygenic and easy to dispense.



The Hydrating Care cream is a off-white cream that's fairly light in texture. It absorbs fast, and doesn't feel sticky or shiny on after application. The marketing blurb on the box of the Hydrating Cream says it makes a good base under makeup, and that seems to be pretty accurate for me. I generally found it to work well under my makeup, although with some types of sunscreen, I seem to get a bit of peeling when the two weren't compatible.



The Demopurifyer Active Night Care is the night companion to the Hydrating Care cream. This one come in a tube, and has a thicker texture.



It's a white cream, that is thicker and absorbs well as well, but I never tried it under makeup, since I've never tried using it as anything else other than a night cream.



The last product, the DermoPurifyer Active Concentrate, is meant to be used under either the Hydrating Care or Active Night Care creams. Unlike the other two products, which come in plastic packaging, this one comes in a fancy glass bottle with a pump dispenser. So it's probably best to handle this one with care, since it's breakable!



The Concentrate itself is a very light, almost watery, milky looking liquid, which absorbs very fast. I actually really like this product very much, since it is fast and light.



I used all three of these products altogether, and I felt like they did help my pimples, as while I was using the products, I did notice an improvement in my skin, and my pimple flare-ups lessened. But then again, as previously mentioned, I'm quite partial to Eucerin for skincare. I do think that the Eucerin DemoPurifyer range is good as a basic, no-frills, and no-nonsense selection of products to use on a daily basis if you have skin that's suscceptible to spots and oiliness.

Lastly, the Eucerin DermoPURIFYER range is available in Singapore at most leading pharmacies, including Guardian, Watsons, Unity, hospital retail pharmacies and National Skin Centre. There's a coupon below that you can get from the Eucerin FB page, as well as some free samples too. (Coupon image provided by PR.)



(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. Promotional I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Hada Labo Cleansing Oil with Olive Oil Review

Hada Labo is a brand that's quite noted for their skincare, thus it's no surprise that the brand has moved into the area of cleansing oils. Hada Labo (meaning "skin lab" in Japanese, "Labo" is a direct transliteration of the word "lab") has launched their new Cleansing Oil with Olive Oil, and if I know Hada Labo, this is probably bound to be good. I've tried Hada Labo's Retinol Lifting and Firming Lotion, as well as a few other products fro the brand, and I have to admit I've grown quite fond of some of their products.

The first thing you notice is how similarly packaged this is to the other Hada Labo products, right down to the label design. I'm mildly surprised that they didn't come up with another "one drop" tagline as per their other products, like "one drop reveals clean skin" or something like that. Perhaps because consumers can tell that you can't remove all your makeup with one drop of cleansing oil, LOL.

The Hada Labo Cleansing Oil comes in a tall plastic bottle with a pump, like most other cleansing oils. Practical, fuss-free, and hygenic. One thing to note, however, is that although Hada Labo claims that the cleansing oil is primarily comprised of olive oil, the Cleansing Oil does not look or feel anything like olive oil at all. Unlike the DHC Cleansing Oil, which actually has the deep yellow colour, thick consistency, and even smell of olive oil, the Hada Labo Cleansing Oil is a clear, thin, runny oily liquid. In fact, the yellow you see on the bottle isn't actually from the Cleansing Oil - it's just the bottle has been coloured yellow to indicate that it's an oil cleanser (as opposed to another of Hada Labo's water-based makeup removers, which has the bottle coloured blue).



My guess is that Hada Labo must have added some other ingredients to change the texture, colour and consistency of the Cleansing Oil, to make it more pleasant to use. (On the ingredients list, olive oil is the 4th ingredient.) So, although it doesn't look, feel or smell like olive oil, that's not a bad thing. The cleansing oil is light-textured, easily spread around on the face, and also easy to wash off without leaving behind a residue. (If you've ever tried using real olive oil by itself, without any emulsifiers, you'll find it very hard to wash off.) And yes, it does remove your makeup.

So as a cleansing oil, I have no complaints whatsoever about the Hada Labo version. It's light, easily spreadable, easily emulsified, and doesn't leave any weird residue behind. It also is very effective at removing makeup, and doesn't feel oily or greasy. I personally find it comparable to the Fancl Cleansing Oil, another product I love.



Finally, a point I'd like to make is on Hada Labo's insistence on including the phrase "super hyaluronic acid" as part of the marketing spiel for products. Okay, I get it, it's their signature marketing claim, and it's been popular. But in an oil cleanser? Seriously? I don't expect my makeup remover to be moisturizing, and anyway, whatever ingredients are in a cleanser don't stay long enough on your skin to take effect before being washed off. So for me, as long as my cleansers aren't harsh and drying, I'm personally indifferent to whatever magical ingredient the brand's marketing department claims to have, especially if they use that as a basis to inflate prices. Thus, I find this whole "our oil cleanser has hyaluronic acid in it" claim a bit bizzare and unnecessary. But yes, if it matters to you, it does have said ingredient, although it's in the second last and last of the ingredient list.

All in all, ignoring the weird "hyaluronic acid" marketing claims which I don't understand, I really like the Hada Labo Cleansing Oil. It removes your makeup, is easy to use, and has a nice, light texture and feel. I do generally like Hada Labo's products, and I do feel that the brand does have a good quality line up of products. I would wholeheartedly recommend this, if you're looking for a good cleansing oil. If you're interested, you may visit the Hada Labo FB Page for more details.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Revlon Age Defying DNA Cream Makeup Swatches

Revlon has been making waves with it's Age Defying DNA Cream Makeup, which is a foundation that claims to have anti-aging ingredients, which will slow down and reverse the aging process with prolonged use. I don't know about you, but to my skeptical mind (really? A foundation can reverse aging?) this is probably the best excercise in marketing I've seen. Everything, from the bottle to the helix-shaped container to the copywriting smells like a huge marketing stunt to me. I should so forward their ads to the professors who taught me my marketing classes back in University. I'm sure they could use it as a case study for their classes, LOL!

Anyway, I can't be commenting on the effectiveness of the product, but I can provide you with some swatches. The first thing I noticed when swatching these is that they oxidize really fast on my arm, and when they oxidized they became slightly darker than they appeared in the bottle. It's not a huge difference, but it was one thing I noticed. I couldn't swatch all the colours (only 4 are available in this part of the world, anyway), so here's what I could get.

10 Bare Buff is a light beige, slightly lighter and pinker than my NC20 skin, although it oxidizes to look slightly closer to my shade.
15 Tender Beige would be about the right shade for me, although I think in all honesty I'm somewhere in between Bare Buff and Tender Beige.
35 Honey Beige is a tan beige that leans warm.

Another thing I noticed when swatching these is that all the shades have microshimmer. While the shimmer is quite tiny and individual particles aren't visible to the naked eye, the amount of shimmer inside ends up giving a somewhat shiny effect to the foundation. You can see this in the swatch photos, where the foundation looks kind of "wet". That's the microglitter shiny-ing up the foundation, which may be a plus or a minus, depending on the finish desired.

My Cozy Room Boutique Spa: Food, Fun, Fashion

If you've ever looked for a cozy, intimate place in a modern setting, My Cozy Room Boutique Spa may just be the place you're looking for. Despite being set in the heart of the Orchard Road area in Singapore, My Cozy Room is exactly what it sounds like - a cozy, homely spa in a bustling environment.

My Cozy Room is run by Celine, together with her business partner. The first thing you notice is the welcome, personal atmosphere. Everything is done up in a very homely, girly fashion, and the attention to detail really stands out here - almost every corner of this place is decorated with something pretty and girly. If you're a girly girl, this would be right up your alley!



My Cozy Room provides face, body, and nail care. They do have a great array of treatments, including the Soothing Hot Stone Massage, the Choco Indulgence Massage, as well as the Enchanting Rose Quartz Massage. The Hot Stone Massage, as the name implies, massages your body with heated stones, and is great for relaxing sore, tired muscles. The Chocolate Massage, using chocolate oil, is very pampering, while the Rose Quartz Massage uses rose quartz crystals to massage your body, which really perk you up.



I got to try the Hot Stone Massage (no photo, sorry, they didn't turn out very nicely in the ambient lighting), and it was really very relaxing. I felt like the use of heated stones really helped to warm up the muscles and prime them for the massage. I did feel very nicely relaxed after the massage, and the masseuse was also friendly and responsive. The really cozy atmosphere of the room really helped, too. Definitely a great place to go to!

While waiting for the massages, we got to look at a selection of dresses from Pearlavish, a bloghop that sells a wide range and style of clothes. Generally, the style tends to be on the girly and feminine side. Their dresses were really a hit with the girls.



Pearlavish sells their dresses through their Livejournal sales blog, but they also have a Pearlavish Facebook Pate. I think there's a good mix of dresses that are sold on the site - there's florally and bohemian, there's understated and work-appropriate, there's feminine, there's flirty, the list goes on.



There were a few which I really liked, but after much vacilliating, I picked a very work appropriate dress in a faded dusty pink colour. The material is thick and of good quality, and I like how it really fits my body shape pretty well, and accentuates all the right places. Very figure-flattering. You can see me wearing the dress below.



And here's another shot of me wearing the dress, this time with fellow blogger Rachie from The Cambelles, a local lifestyle blog. The floral, flowy dress Rachie is wearing is also from Pearlavish. A bit of trivia I learned is that Pearlavish store is run by Pearlyn, who is only in her 20s! It's so inspiring to see how much an entrepreneurial spirit can accomplish!



Lastly, it wouldn't be a party without food, so there were some awesome desserts and finger food, courtesy of Super Desserts Market. Like Pearlavish, this is also another entrepreneurial venture by Fiona and Joanna, two young SMU graduates who obviously have a talent for baking! Super Desserts Market made these really awesome macarons, which is pretty impressive because good macarons are hard to make.



In addition to cupcakes, there were also cookies, fondue and cupcakes. There was also a very nice touch added with the customized cupcakes. Every cupcake had a blogger's name on it, which was pretty cool. I imagine for small-scale intimate parties, these would add a very nice touch to the menu - who doesn't like having a cupcake with their name on it?



If you visit the My Cozy Room Facebook Page, you'll notice that there are event photos posted there (inculding an unglam shot of me stuffing my face, LOL!). These were taken by Yong Xin, the photographer for the day. Yong Xin's Flickr stream contains a sample of his work, and his photos on the Cozy Room Facebook really put my noob photos to shame.



I came away really impressed with My Cozy Room - the atmosphere, products and services are great, and Celine comes across as a very friendly, tireless person who is very passionate about what she does. And I was also impressed with Pearlavish and Super Desserts Market - I can't imagine myself running a successful business, but these young girls totally do! It's always great to know not just what the business does, but also to see the passion and hard work that goes into them.

My Cozy Room Boutique Spa is located at:
56A Cairnhill Road (5 mins from Paragon)
For enquiries;
Tel: +65 67320030
Email: info (at) mycozyroom.com.sg

(Treatment was provided at an event. All opinions are my own. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Lunasol Shiny Gold EX33: Why I No Haz?!

Isn't it frustrating when you see a polish you like, and want to buy, but just when you decide to part with your hard-earned money, find out it's OUT OF STOCK? That just happened to me the other week!

Anyway, Lunasol Nail Finish Polish in Shiny Gold EX33 is part of the Lunasol Fall/Winter collection. I hope it's not that dreaded Limited Edition, because I still want it! (Knowing my luck, though, I'm pretty sure it is.)

Here's a finger swatch of the shade. Isn't it absolutely beautiful? It's a sheer off-white base with varying sizes of gold glitter. The colour is light enough to be pretty and feminine, but the glitter gives it an edge that really brings the shade to the next level. And it's opaque in two coats!

Anyway, if anyone still sees bottles of these lying around, quick, let me know! Or if anyone can suggest a dupe for this, let me know too! Or even frankening suggestions? (Although I don't generally franken my polish - I tried it once and it was a fail.) Man, I hate it when I cannot get my hands on a lemming.

Leader's Clinic PDT AC Dressing Ampoule Mask

The last time I tried Leader's Clinic's Collagen Infusion Mask, I rather liked it. So I thought - why not try another Leader's Clinic mask? This time around, I tried the Leader's clinic PDT AC Dressing Ampoule Mask. I'm not too sure what PDT or AC stands for (I think they stand for Pure Derma Therapy and ACne respectively), but this mask is mean to soothe skin and control sebum, and has a whole ampoule of serum inside the mask.

Leader's Clinic differentiates itself from the competition by stressing its dermatological roots - the brand is apparently formulated by dermatologists in South Korea, and thus places a lot of emphasis on how it actually works. Well, I'm all for that - give me something no-frills that works over some souped-up marketing schtick with a skinny celebrity on the front anyday. One of the key ingredients the mask claims to have is salicylic acid, well-known as a pimple fighter.

The mask comes in a blue-and-white foil packaging, very neat and professional-looking.



The mask inside is a very moist-looking sheet of silk cellulose swimming in a clear essence. Ooh, so that's what a mask swimming around in a ampoule of liquid looks like. The packaging and form of the mask is quite similar to the Collagen Infusion Mask I tried last time too, which is a good thing, since I liked the Collagen Infusion Mask.



The mask has a slightly sweet, pleasant smell, but the smell doesn't linger. The serum in the mask is easily absorbed, and doesn't sting the skin. The silk cellulose mask is also one of the things I liked about the product - like the Collagen Infusion Mask, the PDT AC Dressing Ampoule Mask also uses the same silk cellulose material, and also has the same size, shape, and cut of the mask. Personally, that's a great thing for me, because the mask fits really well on my skin, and is thin without being broken easily. Here's a photo of the silk cellulose mask. As you can see it's very porus.



If you're interested, you can also take a look at the Collagen Infusion Mask review, which has a really unglam photo of myself wearing the mask. Unglam as the photo is, it really demonstrates the very snug fit of the mask on my face.

After using this mask, I did feel like it helped calm my pimples somewhat. Of course, there's a limit to what a mask can do, so it's not like all my pimples and acne disappeared or anything like that, but I felt like there was some improvement in my skin, as though it helped to calm my skin somewhat. I do like this mask, and based on my experiences with the brand, I do have a generally good impression of Leader's Clinic as a whole, as they seem to have pretty good products all around.

If you're ordering online, Leader's Clinic is available on Joypharm's Wordpress Sales Page, which sells Leader's Clinic and other Asian brands (both makeup and skincare). The customer service is also good, and she's generous with freebies and samples to boot! If you use the code JERLENEJP with your order, you'll get a free facial mask with every S$30 purchase on top of the usual freebies. So do check out Joypharm's site if you're interested.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)