Review: Coffret D'or AQ Modelling Nuancer

I won this at Makeup Stash's Christmas giveaway! It's a complexion enhancing cream colour which comes in 2 colours - white for highlighting and brown for contouring. Mine is the white one. I love the case it comes in - gold and pretty. I'd have liked it to be heavier though. I like compacts to feel heavy and expensive. The price of this is 5,000 yen which is pretty high-end, so I expect better.

The description:
"Face color with a silky cream texture that highlights and redefines facial contours to create an elegant, sculpted look."

- Spreads smoothly for a long-lasting, natural finish.
- Contains natural aromatic. Based on the idea of aromachology, they are extracted from fresh-picked plants.

Doesn't it sound amazing? It smells really nice, so I kind of buy into the aromachology thing, though I know fragrance doesn't really help in skincare; it just makes me feel happier.

The instructions say you're supposed to use it under powder foundation, over liquid foundation. It comes with a sponge applicator and you're supposed to blend it in using a light patting motion. I find it difficult to blend though, so after applying with the sponge, I use my fingers to blend it in properly.


The swatch, unblended and blended. Can you see it when it's blended in? It's a matte white cream, no sparkles or glimmer. That's the part I don't get.

When I use it under my powder foundation, it acts as a kind of primer - it keeps my foundation on longer, but the effect of the highlight isn't really apparent since it's matte and doesn't have glimmer or glow to give a 3D effect. When I use it over liquid foundation, it leaves a white cast on the areas I use it on, and it's even more difficult to blend over liquid foundation (since it's already quite difficult to blend on its own).

Overall, I'm quite glad to have been given the chance to try this since I've never tried Coffret D'or before (it smells really good!) but I don't think it works well as a highlighter.

Rating: fail

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Last week I went out with my old friend from high school and we went to explore the new mall, Serangoon NEX!

Dress - Taiwan, Jacket - Miley Cyrus for Walmart, Bag - Rebecca Taylor (free with mook)

I love the flats, the colour reminds me of Tiffany blue. And can you believe I got the Miley Cyrus jacket for only USD$1 at Walmart?! OMG. Best buy ever.

We had lunch at Freshness Burger, which is apparently from Japan. I had the Bacon Omelette Burger, not bad. And the fried Hokkaido potatoes were so good! They're very lightly salted and you can really taste the natural flavour of potato. And I had the Yuja Cha which is honey citrus tea with lots of candied citrus peel - it doesn't contain any tea, it's more of a very sweet drink.

And we had dessert at Lena's, which is opened by Lena Sim, the founder of the Ministry of Food chain. I read an interview of her before, she's quite an inspiration. They seem to have lots of desserts featuring fried bananas (or goreng pisang, a local fave) and you can choose to have it breaded or fried like a spring roll. I like the spring roll kind better, the breaded one made the banana inside a little too mushy.


Fried bananas and vanilla ice-cream


Breaded bananas and brownie on a hot plate


The hugest mint tea ever


The brownie on the hotplate was good, except the parts that are on the hotplate too long tend to get a bit hard. And the mint tea - I thought one jug was for both of us to share, but it ended up that we each got a jug to drink from. Like, omg! And we kind of forgot how filling bananas can be, and got super stuffed... Haha!

That's all for today, hope you enjoyed reading. I have finished one week of my peak period and it was like a really really long week. I hope leaving work at 12am will be the max for this week. -prays- Have a great week ahead everyone!

Review: Bio Beauty Skincology Advanced Hydrating Serum II and Beautymaker Aquamarine Hydrating Serum

Happy New Year everyone! Apologies for lack of updates, life's been hectic. I'm gonna start the year off with a rave review for these 2 hyaluronic acid serums I bought in Taiwan last year and only got around to finishing recently.

Kevin Beautymaker Aquamarine Serum II and Bio Beauty Skincology Advanced Hydrating Serum.

Hyaluronic acid, I believe, is the best kind of moisturizer for people with oily, acne-prone or reactive skin that is prone to breakouts. A lot of people who have problems with oiliness actually have dehydrated skin as well. The oily-but-dehydrated skin thing, what an irony. :( But hyaluronic acid is good because it is light, but it's a great humectant as well, attracting more than a thousand times its own weight in water. Read this for more information! I like how hyaluronic acid leaves my skin plump - it's because it retains water in the skin and brings about plumpness of the skin due to retention of water.

L-R: Bio Beauty Skincology Advanced Hydrating Serum II, Beautymaker Aquamarine Hydrating Serum

Same, to show the texture.

Bio Beauty Skincology Advanced Hydrating Serum II
This is a lighter, more watery serum than the Beautymaker one. It plumps up my skin real good! It's very fluid and dries quickly, but once it dries it can give a tight feeling, and I find it can't be used on its own. Instead, I have to layer another lightweight moisturizer over it. While the serum's not too substantial by itself, I can definitely tell the difference when I use it - it really helps prevent my skin from drying out and extends the moisturizing capability of whatever I layer on top of it. I use this up very quickly - 30ml is gone in a month!

Plus - it's very cheap, I think about SGD$17 a bottle or around USD11 for 30 ml. I like the clean glass bottle with the dropper, very hygienic and practical. But the only way you can get it is through the Payeasy website which I don't think delivers outside of Taiwan. Thank God I have a Taiwanese friend, I'm thinking of getting her to CP me another 5 more bottles (there's a discount if you buy 5).

Ingredients: Purified water, sodium hyaluronate, panthenol, sodium PCA, natto extract, cactus extract, butylene glycol, dmdm hydantoin, iodopropynyl butylcarbamate.

Rating: 10/10

Kevin Beautymaker Aquamarine Hydrating Serum
This is a thicker, slightly sticky serum. It smells really good, like rosewater. It may be a serum, but I find it hydrating enough to be used on its own. In fact, my favourite way to use these 2 serums is to layer the Aquamarine Serum over the Advanced Hydrating Serum. This method really locks in the moisture the whole day. The Aquamarine Serum is slightly more expensive - about USD14 for 30ml if I remember correctly. I used this up in about 1.5 months.

Ingredients: Carbomer, deep sea water, hyaluronic acid, cucumber extract, butylene glycol, glycerin, ethyl alcohol, gamma-polyglutamic acid, triethanolamine, glycine, cyclomethicone, serine, auqa and chondrus crispus, hydrolyzed placental protein, methyl paraben, disodium EDTA, hydroxyproline, ethylisothiazolinone, mica & titanium dioxide, hydrolyzed ulva lactuca extract, algae extract, pelvetia canaliculata extract, codium tomentosum extract & propylene glycol, fragrance, acetyl hexapeptide-3.

Rating: 10/10

Another thing to note - I have been looking at other hyaluronic acid skincare brands like Aquajuju,Hada Labo and Shiseido Aqualabel (because my Taiwanese friend is kind of busy and I won't be getting my back-ups anytime soon and I need a replacement), and looking at the ingredients lists, I realised that for all of them, the hyaluronic acid (or sodium hyaluronate) component comes much later in the ingredients list. On the other hand, you can see from the ingredients lists above that for both the Bio Beauty and Beautymaker serums, hyaluronic acid (or sodium hyaluronate) is the first active ingredient. I'm not sure if this makes a difference, but I'll be trying the AquaJuju, Hada Labo and Aqualabel ones soon to see if I can find a suitable replacement.

However, if I had a choice, I think these 2 serums are the best because they're so pocket-friendly! (AquaJuju, Hada Labo and Aqualabel are about 50% more expensive I think.) I especially like the Bio Beauty Advanced Hydrating Serum II because the ingredients list is very simple and doesn't contain weird chemicals that may irritate skin.

If you haven't tried hyaluronic acid skincare yet, do give it a try! This miracle ingredient has really done wonders for my skin. However, just one thing to take note - hyaluronic acid works best in humid climates (like Singapore!) because it draws moisture from the air and retains it on your skin. If you live in a dry climate (like Australia), hyaluronic acid might actually leech moisture from your skin instead (because there is no moisture in the air). In that case, you can try taking hyaluronic acid supplements. Fancl makes a good one.

Have a good 2011 everyone!

Merry Xmas 2010

Hope everyone had a happy Christmas!!! :D


My present to myself - a Kate Spade Jane Street wallet! I love it to pieces - it's huge and bulky but the chain strap is so versatile - I can wear it as a handbag, clutch or wristlet. And the leather is very durable.
A souvenir from Bangkok - it's so pretty. I want to go there because everyone's been there but they all tell me I won't like it. -_-U
A gift exchange present. Like, what? Lol.
Baylis & Harding bath stuff. Will be trying it out soon!

Have a happy New Year everyone! My New Year's resolution: To gain weight on my upper body (like around the shoulders and chest). I hate looking too skinny on top. I look like some half-starved orphan in some photos recently where I wore a scoop-neck top, and I hate that. Any advice? (Other than eating more, because any weight I gain goes straight to my hips.)

Regular posts to resume next week! I won a Cosme Decorte highlighting thingy from MakeupStash and I hope to review it soon. (: My first time winning something! Woohoo. :D

Review: Fasio Lash Style Perfector Mascara

Recently I've been using Fasio Lash Style Perfector in Deep Brown. It comes in a sleek gold tube, really elegant! The most unique thing about it is its lack of bristles:

Instead it has coils! This makes the application technique very different from usual mascaras. For regular mascaras, I'd usually wiggle the brush in a zig zag motion through my lashes from base to tip to separate and add volume evenly throughout. But for this mascara, there are no bristles, so wiggling the brush doesn't work and instead makes my lashes clumpy. The best way to apply this mascara is very simple - just brush it up straight. It tends to clump with 2 coats or more though, so I use my Tweezerman brow brush to brush out the clumps.


Here's how it looks after just one coat (I like one-coaters) - curled and with just enough volume for everyday. It stays on very very well, no smudging at all (just a wee bit after 12 hours) and holds a curl all day long! I love this.


The only quibble I have is the tendency for clumpiness - I can't use this without a lash comb/brush. Then again, I hate clumps so much that every time I use mascara, I need to use a lash comb/brush so this mascara doesn't add much fuss to my routine.

Rating: 9/10

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I went for a session at my regular Chinese doctor this morning - it's like a chiropractic/massage/acupuncture place. I got this recurring injury and slumping over my laptop at work doesn't help much. I try to go once a month but this was my first visit in 2 months cos I was busy. Got myself a chiropractic alignment, massage and acupuncture. God, today's acupuncture session really hurt!!!!!!! Usually the doctor just pokes in, out, like ant bites, but today, he really drilled in the needles deep into my so very sore muscles. After that I had lunch, did some shopping and went home for a deep snooze till dinnertime. Acupuncture really gets my blood circulation going. Today's was so painful that I cried! But I will go back again after my busy period ends in May - I'll have some super sore muscles then, I'm sure.

Christmas week, I'm so happy! I still haven't sent my Xmas cards cos I've been too busy to get stamps (oops). I'm looking forward to partying!!!!!!!!!! Partayyyyy!!!!!

Happy holidays everyone!

Reverse Flower EOTD + Tokidoki Robbery Palette!

This seems like a reverse of my Tibi Spring-wannabe EOTD. I used the lime green shade in my new Tokidoki Robbery Palette (Soya) on the lid and the white-gold (Candycane) on the inner rim, and hot pink Raspberry blush from my Bobbi Brown palette on the outer rim. Mascara - Fasio Lash Style Perfector which I will review in an upcoming entry! The colours always look washed out; I don't know, I need to get a new camera maybe.

See how washed out it is? (And don't say I'm not slapping on enough makeup >_<) I woke up bright and early for breakfast with my uni girls and I'm always rushing and FOTD photos take up so much time because my camera has a hard time capturing colours, and I have to find ways to face the sunlight etc etc. On to the make-up!!! Drumroll please... Presenting... the TokiDoki Robbery Palette!!!
It comes with this super cute magnet on the top!!

The cute tin box houses 3 portable palettes. There's a mirror on the lid but I never use it, cos I'll pop out whichever palette I'm using. So honestly I don't find much use for the tin box, especially since my desk is full of clutter as it is. But it's so cute!






I find the eyeshadows really pigmented and blendable, very easy to work with! I like the blush in the middle (Momobella) the best; it's kind of like my Urban Decay blush in Score, except less pigmented. It's quite glittery and peachy; I don't own NARS Orgasm, but I have a feeling it's similar, except Momobella's more pink. The other blush, Polpettina, is more pigmented and a deep pink with peach undertones. I really need to use a light hand with it, or use a skunk brush. The bronzer is slightly glittery, and I use it on my nosebridge. I don't use bronzer much and I don't do contouring since people usually contour to make their features sharper (nose, cheekbones...) and I don't exactly want to emphasize them. So I use it as an eyeshadow wash for work, which works out ok.

--------Last weekend I went to this Japanese restaurant called Irodori for dinner. It serves ala-carte buffet; you can order what you want from the menu and they'll serve it. The food's not bad, but I always believe you can tell the quality of Jap food from the tempura. The tempura they served was slightly better than in most Jap restaurants in Singapore I guess, I'd say it's 75% there. The batter and the crunch is not perfect. My recommendations for Irodori would be the pumpkin, sweet potato and lotus root tempura! Yum yum.

Irodori is indeed colourful.

The thing about buffets is that I hardly ever photograph everything; I photograph the 1st round and after that I don't bother because I'm too busy eating, lol!

This morning I had brunch at Hot Tomatoes at 313 Somerset.

Both the tomato and mushroom soups were really flavourful! Not runny like most set meals you get from other places.

I had the sirloin and lobster au gratin. It's quite perfect except the steak was a teeny bit tough even though it was medium rare and nicely pink in the middle. With lime juice, the entire set meal cost only about $20 inclusive of 17% tax and service charge. Really worth it in my opinion!

Yesterday I went to watch Walking with Dinosaurs. (Geeky, but I like it lol. The tickets I consider cheap as compared to going for an SSO concert or SDT ballet. This is how I enjoy spending my weekends - I don't club, I am a very very good girl. ^^)







It was only about 1.5 hours long excluding intermission, but quite fun cos we got to take this video where a fake digital dinosaur will appear on the screen behind you and you get to interact with it. LOL. I wasn't even tall enough to reach it though. :(

It has been a good week; I managed to watch Rapunzel after work and on Friday night I crashed a particular company's Christmas Party at Powerstation and had free-flow. :D I only had 3 drinks before they stopped though. Here's to work-life balance! Have a great week everyone (:

Fancl Voyager Christmas Collectibles and more food!

Last weekend I stocked up on my base make-up from Fancl because they were 10% off, and I got their Voyager tumbler, lunch bag and calendar!




260ml capacity as compared to Starbucks

I like how the lunchbag has a holder to keep the tumbler upright because such tumblers always tumble over in my bag and leak.


The calendar has a weird format though. It's not tabled, instead it has lines for every day. Not very good for people who like to write lots of stuff or check their schedule quickly at a glance. And I hate how they have product pictures every month; it makes me wanna buy more stuff. ;_;

Dinner at the Handburger at 313 Somerset last week. It's not a very conducive place for a date so it's best to go with friends because it has canteen style benches and everyone's too close for comfort.

Chilled stuffed tomato. Looks crappy but delish!!!

The works burger - it has the crispiest bacon and onion rings I've ever had!!! Omg. And runny egg yolk. Yums!

Duck confit burger. Quite interesting. It has raw dou miao (pea shoots) which I don't quite appreciate. :P The mandarin orange sauce is nice though.

Oh God the Christmas sales are upon us and I hear Chrismassy songs everywhere!!! I don't feel like working and I feel like spending a hole in my wallet. ;_; Falalala! Which reminds me - I'd better start sending out Xmas cards soon especially to my friends overseas!!! Till next time ;)