Makeup Essentials - Brush

Re-posting from Dec 05, 2008

Women are particular about their makeup brushes. I am. How we use them really comes down to personal style. Some women want their brush collection pared down to the core four or five essentials; others like owning an entire palette of them, delighting in the nuances of application. But I think there is no right or wrong way of using them. I have bought one real brush from, again, Clinique. It cost quite a bit, I know... being 100RM just for one foundation brush. But I know it's worth buying it and I can use it for years. And besides, it is soooo gentle. When I use it, it feels like a light feather is caressing my skin.

When you apply your make up with a good brush, it feels wonderful. You're an artist and we your face is your personal canvas. Applying makeup is a uniquely sensual experience, in which you really get to pamper yourself. A good brush is a precious, handmade instrument. Merely holding one makes you feel creative and glamorous.

Which Fall's Fashion is Right for You?

Sophisticated Sistah

You've got an effortless elegance that makes you a natural leader and — c'mon, admit it — slightly intimidating to those around you. We bet that you have a taste for life's luxuries and aren't afraid to pamper yourself a little now and then, whether that means treating yourself to an extravagant spa treatment or picking up some 600-thread count sheets. Head out on the town in jeans and sneaks? You could, but why would you when fall's got so many great looks for a cool cat like you? Be on the prowl for a pair of sharp stilettos, a fur-trimmed jacket, and a leopard-print handbag. Meow!

Your splurge: Flash a little of your pampered flesh in a sexy silk evening dress, or wrap up in a chic capelet. Ooh la la!

Take Test here.

IPL Treatment

I have gone through IPL treatments (thanks to the hubs) during my skin consultation with a beauty consultant from Assata. What is IPL treatment by the way? It is a treatment called Intensed Pulsed Light treatment and is also known as photorejuvenation or photofacial treatment. I have read reviews that says it zaps the skin and it hurts or give you that burning pain but so far, for me, I didn't experience all those. Maybe my beauty specialist knew not to use too strong an IPL for me? I'm not really sure. One of my friends told me I looked younger (that's from seeing me after a couple of years). But also, I just trimmed my hair before meeting her so I wasn't that sure if it's because of IPL treatment or my newly trimmed hair.

Anyways, when I went to Bobbi Brown just to check out their products, the lady who was in charge told me my skin looked dehydrated. And I thought my skin should have improved by now after undergoing IPL treatment?

What are the side effects of IPL treatment?

I have read some reviews and most of them said they suffer from redness for the next 24 hours and that's about it. Does it cause Mesothelioma cancer? Definitely not as the major cause of Mesothelioma cancer is exposure to asbestos. According to studies, it does replace collagen so it's good for anti-aging treatment.

I just can't believe I am doing all this anti-aging thingy now. I feel that I am too young to be doing that. But my face apparently needed that, so... and my husband is so supportive about it.

I just hope there's no long term side effect of IPL treatment.

Convenience Fee

It's just a recent discovery for me. Last time, everytime I booked my air tickets online, especially on Air Asia, I didn't have to pay convenience fee. Recently, I booked my parents' air fare from the Philippines to Malaysia and was surprised that I had to pay convenience fee, already!

And today while I was browsing through the rooms and rates for one of the resorts in South Thailand, I was also surprised that I have to pay a certain amount for paying online, plus a certain percentage of using a credit card.

So now, everything you do online has a fee. I hope that when you use gift cards online you don't need to pay a certain fee just for using a gift card. Hehehe.

I guess convenience nowadays don't come for free. And why not, it's very convenient to just sit and do stuff one click away. It saves a lot of hassle. And so while you're saving energy, hassle, gas emissions, etc., you pay for your convenience as well. Makes sense, really.

Barbie and the Fashion Fairytale

My girl loves everything Barbie, except Barbie dolls. LOL. She loves the stationeries, bags, accessories and the movies. She has seen almost all of the movies. In her latest collection is the Barbie and the Fashion Fairy Tale movie. I love watching with her Barbie movies.

One of the characters in this movie is Marie Alecia (Alice), an Italian budding designer.

What got me to writing this?

Ahhh... Alice.

Samantha got Alice as one of her birthday gifts. I was the one who was more excited about it. Like I said, my girl is not into dolls, yet. So I am keeping it now. My girl doesn't know I have been collecting Barbie dolls for her, but they're all in a safe keeping. I wanna make sure she appreciates them first before presenting it to them. Barbie dolls are not cheap, unless of course you buy then during Black Friday sale. But they are fun to play with if you're into it already.

Why did I start collecting Barbie dolls for her? I guess I want to fill up what I was deprived of before. LOL. Really, I remember how envious I was to those girls who could have Barbie Dolls as their dolls. Well, I can still collect them as mine if Samantha will never get into Barbies, right? ;)

Too Busy

We've been too busy the last couple months. I just couldn't help it. We had birthday celebrations, anniversary celebrations, family trip to Hatyai, Christmas celebration, meeting some friends, etc that I have forgotten one small detail: send thank you cards to all those who attended our parties.

I guess it's one of those that I want to improve in the year 2011, aside from getting healthier. It's great that even before I sit down to reflect on the year 2010 and set goals for 2011, I have written a couple of things I want improved for the year 2011.

Healthier 2011

I haven't sat down and listed my resolutions for 2011 yet. But if you ask me what would be on my list, I would definitely say a healthier me in 2011. I guess that's one of the most important things we can do to help ourselves. There are many ways to keep ourselves healthier and it's quite basic if we just think about it.

1. Getting enough sleep
2. Keep food healthy
3. Drink lots of water
4. Don't smoke - others would have a hard time and they have to do a lot of research about how to quit smoking and I commend them for doing that as a start.
5. Take time to relax.

Like I said these are very simple to do but once you get sidetracked, it's kind of hard to get back into the momentum.

Central Shopping Center

My favorite thing to do while in Hatyai is to visit Central Shopping Center. I used to buy my clothes there. They're not cheap but you can be sure of good quality. One time I bout a pair of short pants there. I guess I used it for more than 5 years.

Today, in the morning, I went to visit the shopping center and gawked at some shorts. Hahaha. But I didn't make any purchases yet. I am now thinking whether to buy a pair or not. Hmmmmm... Decisions, decisions.

Lee Garden's Breakfast

I always look forward to hotel breakfasts. And so when we checked into our hotel now at Lee Garden's, I felt the same way. But when we went down to the lobby to have breakfast, I was dismayed because there wasn't a lot of choices. I definitely prefer the breakfast buffet in Central Novotel Hotel. But it's better than getting the breakfast outside. So we contented ourselves in sitting in the lobby to have breakfast instead of going out.

Honey-Cucumber Facial Treatment

There's no better way to end your island trip than to go for a honey-cucumber facial treatment. We did just that after we traveled to and from different islands. You know how it feels like to be under the sun and in the sea breeze. It's so not cool for the face. And so to cool it down, honey-cucumber facial treatment was the best way to do it.

Our face needs to have some kind of rejuvenation after being exposed to the heat of the sun and the sea breeze for a long time. We do need to invest for our face, otherwise, when we get to that dreaded age, we won't regret that we didn't take good care of our skin.

It's like investing in gold. You buy gold bullion and keep it as an investment. The demand for the gold now is so high and it's getting an annual increase in productions. So there's no better time to buy those precious metals than now.

Like I said, it is the same thing with our skin. There's no better time to invest on our skin than now. I am sure we would be grateful at the end of the day. After all, it's our life we're investing on.

Anniversary Gift

A friend who recently just married asked what's the best 1st anniversary gifts for husband. You know, when you're new to things or situation, you can't help but asking others for opinions. But really, if you're into traditional wedding anniversary gifts, you would prepare something paper-y as paper is the symbol of first year anniversary (if I'm not mistaken, that is). Anyways, if you don't care about it, it's the best time to shop for gifts now as there are many (if not all) shops that are on sale for Christmas or year-end sale. There's just a wide array of ideas on what to give.

Now that I thought about it, I wonder what gift I gave for my husband for our 1st wedding anniversary. I can't remember at all. LOL.

Banana Republic

Gosh. Banana Republic is on sale. Why oh why it has to be the time when we won't be around? Banana Republic Classic perfume is my favorite perfume of all times. I sure don't mind getting that one here.

When my husband went to the US for the first time, the only thing I asked him to buy for me was Banana Republic perfume. It has be be "Classic" please. So he came home with the right perfume.

But that was 2.5 years ago - well almost. You can only use perfume one year after you open it. After one year, it will be bad already.

And so, I was really hoping to get a perfume that's on sale.

Banana Republic outlet in Malaysia is at Suria KLCC, The Gardens.

South Beach Diet Days 1-5

I am already on my 5th day of the South Beach Diet. I have already lost 2 kgs. I actually started with 7kgs to lose. Now I have lost 2 kgs over the 5 days that I am doing this diet.

So, what's with this diet?

For the first phase, you eliminate your carbohydrates and sugar intake. Carbs is the culprit why we gain weight build fats very fast. My friend who shared with me this diet has lost 3 kgs in 4 days.

I am not sure why I am on the slower side.

I have lost 2 kgs in 3 days.. but remained like that todate, my 5th day. I guess I blame it on the period thingy. I felt lightheaded only on the 4th day. Today my 5th, it's so excruciatingly painful, plus I am having a bad case of dysmenorrhea. Let me see tomorrow the result. Also, because of my period, today, i didn't feel like eating much. So I am not sure whether it affects the diet.

We'll see how tomorrow. Also, I need to post my menus for my South Beach Diet phase 1. I didn't take photos of everything but I have a couple of photos to show.

The Glory of Men

We must admit it. Women are the men's glory, as hair as women's glory. Men tend to be proud and showy when their girlfriends or wives look beautiful and presentable. It's like trophies for them.

Some husband do encourage their wives to maintain their pleasant appearances. Some don't care. Some would spend bucks for their wives' makeovers.

I guess for some it's in the status quo. But whatever men feel, we, women, when we look good, we feel good and when we feel good, we look good.



Anyways, the best glory of men is the wife:

He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD. Proverbs 18:22. Nuf said.

But having said that, a nagging wife (nagging girls and women in general) is a downfall of men.

Fashion Faux Pas

Sometimes, when we think of celebrities and their fashion sense, we think that they are the perfect people to follow fashion about. We tend to watch what they wear and try to copy it ourselves. The biggest event and the most followed fashion event would be the Red Carpet even when we, with our macro-lensed eyes, study what these people are wearing. Sometimes, we get a little bit overboard and follow every style we see.

But celebrities do make fashion disasters. There are magazines' columns intended to publish about the worst dressed personalities during a red carpet event. And indeed, there are a lot of them that made it to the worst-dressed category.

So when do we know, even without reading the worst-dressed column, that it's a fashion faux pas?

I guess the basic rule is to learn how to match colors and patterns. Imagine seeing a person wearing a bright yellow dress with a red hand bag. wearing orange pumps. I guess you don't have to be a fashion designer to notice that it's indeed a wardrobe disaster.

And of course, I guess it would be best to match your shoes and your handbag and your accessories. I guess, whatever color your dress is if your shoes and handbag match (by match I don't mean they always have to have the same color. You can match different colors but same shade or same tone. Just don't match contrasting colors and patterns), you'll go a long way, baby!

We must always remember that celebrities, too, make mistakes. So we don't have to follow them everytime. We can do our own mix and matching and could still look great. As my husband would say, we don't need to follow fashion to look great. He is right. As long as we accentuate at the right place (which is our best asset), we, too, can look great.



And so... look at Britney Spears. She's a celebrity, famous and rich. But look at her ensemble: a trilby hat, a see through white dress that almost looks like a nightie, and a pair of Ugg boots. Really... ugh!

I mean wearing a pair of Ugg boots is good because it can totally warm up your feet. But you have to wear something that would match with it, right?