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Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category

DIY Donut Hair Bun in 6 Minutes

Posted in Beauty, Fashion, Reviews, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 29, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Friends have been asking me how I am able to do this “professionally” done hairstyle all by myself. Whenever I attend events, dinners, parties etc in this hairstyle, I always get very nice comments on it and often think that I came from a photoshoot because of my nice up-do! So… when I say to them it’s really easy and takes me less than 10 minutes, no one believes me.

This is the messy donut which I prefer for a slightly more casual feel:

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IMG_1553So now… watch this 6 minute video tutorial I made to show you how it’s done! (I wasn’t joking when I said it takes me less than 10 minutes)

Hope this helps you all! It took me some time (a few months maybe?) to figure out this method since I purchased this donut to use. I found the official methods much more difficult and challenging to DIY. Have fun practicing!

XOXO

Jessica

 

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Day Look with Urban Decay’s Naked 2 Palette

Posted in Beauty, Fashion, Reviews, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 26, 2014| Leave a Comment »

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It’s been about a week or so since I’ve received my Urban Decay Naked 2 palette (paid £37 for it) in the mail and I’ve been happily experimenting on the wonderful taupe colours! Since I am now living in Hong Kong, it is so hard to find this palette!!! Moreover, the online websites that carry the Naked palette had no stock since the Christmas season until recently. 😦 For those living in 852, you can check out BeautyBay.com or lookfantastic.com for beauty products you can’t find locally. It helps that these websites offer free international delivery!

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So… how do you create a simple day look in under 15 minutes with Naked 2? (HINT: don’t try to use every colour you think it’s pretty! Less is more) I know it’s VERY VERY tempting to want to use all these pretty colours inside the palette all at once! (I was guilty of it on the first few days upon receiving it *hiaks* but it also gave me a good idea which colour combination works) All you need is 3 colours in the palette. (Yes, you heard me… THREE) Namely Foxy, Booty Call & YDK.

First, use Foxy under your eyebrows for a slight highlight. (P.S. Foxy is also a great colour to use to highlight your nose bridge & lighten under eye dark circles) Then apply Booty Call all over your eye socket area. Don’t have to be too detailed with this as all you need to do is to make sure your eye socket area is totally covered with this base colour. 

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Once that is done, now comes YDK to add a 3D effect to your eyes and make them shine.

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As you can see, I only added YDK towards the end of my eye socket area from lash line to the start of my brow bone. (approx. 1/3 of my eye) If you are new to applying make-up, just imagine your eye socket is divided into 3 parts. Tear duct to before the mid line of your eye or the highest point of your eyeball is the first section. Second section is the mid point of your eye or centreline or highest point of your eyeball. And last section is towards the edge of your eye where I am applying YDK. Add a little YDK to that section and slowly blend inwards. Ensure that you don’t overdo this so as to not have 2 stark contrasting colours on your eye. It should look like the colours naturally merge from light to dark.

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With only 3 simple colours, you have a nice, natural & seemingly professional DIY day-look. Now, flip the Urban Decay’s brush over to the flat brush and dip it into the dark colours. I used Busted which is a dark brown, but you can also use Blackout for a sharper look. Line your lash line with this dark eyeshadow colour. I like to wing my eyeliner upwards to create a more cat-eye look. Finally, curl your lashes & coat them with layers of mascara & you are done! Remember to use a coral toned blush for a natural flush look.

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This is my simple 15-minute day look created using the Naked 2 palette’s colours. Hope this is helpful to those who own this palette & those who are new to applying eyeshadows! Have fun!

Now… I’m totally tempted to splurge on the Naked 3 palette to play with a new set of colours! Maybe I will treat myself to it on my birthday in April! *hee*

XOXO

Jessica

 

 

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Nails for The Great Gatsby

Posted in Beauty, Events, Fashion, Reviews, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 24, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Needed some really pretty nails to match my Great Gatsby outfit & accessories to attend a theme party over the weekend. And thanks to MyVisitDay.com they arranged a soft-gel nail treat for me at Nail & Waxing@LKF to get them “dressed-up” for the party!

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Met Fran who is the boss-lady who also did my nails for the occasion. Fran is originally from HK but she was raised in Canada (hence fluent in Cantonese & English), learning the trade of nails & waxing when she was there. She has been in the business for a long time with her first nail/waxing salon in Canada. She had to give up her business back in Canada to come back to HK because of family (which is the most important thing in the world IMO) and thus she opened up Nail & Waxing@LKF 4 years back. I told Fran about my theme party & what I was gonna wear, so she let her creative juices flow & thought up of a nice set of nails to go with my outfit for the night… I was in for a NICE surprise!

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After about 2.5 hours of meticulous manicure with a revitalisation hand scrub, I was presented with the most beautiful set of soft-gel nails!!! Sparkly but yet edgy & not too girly because I’m not a girly-girl. Perfect for me!

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They look even nicer with the accessories I donned on for the event! The nails completed the whole look perfectly! Thank you Fran!

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Here’s some pix I took to create the whole Great Gatsby look… It’s all about accessories & bling! (with a modern touch of sparkly nails to add!)

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If you want a good professionally done manicure & pedicure with someone who speaks perfect English & Cantonese, do look up Fran from Nail & Waxing@LKF. She will do magic to your nails!

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There’s a promotion going on from now till 30 April 2014 (who doesn’t like discounts?!). For the soak off gel manicure + revitalising hand scrub treatment that I did (additional charges apply for nail art), it’s now 30% off!

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Drop by Nail & Waxing@LKF for a visit soon as Summer is approaching and we do need pretty mani’s & pedi’s to show off in the Summer! 😉

Address:
Nail & Waxing @ LKF
11/F, 1 Lan Kwai Fong,
Central, Hong Kong

Telephone:
+852 2530 2022

Website: http://nailatlkf.hk/central/

Remember to also LIKE their Facebook Page!

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Using Botox to Relieve my Teeth Grinding Aches

Posted in Beauty, Reviews, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 12, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I have a terrible habit of grinding my teeth at night when I sleep and only found out about it in recent years. So I started reading up about it on WebMD and realized that it can be caused by stress, abnormal bite or crooked/missing teeth. I’m pretty sure mine is caused by my abnormal bite as my upper and lower jaw doesn’t line up symmetrically.

As a result, I often wake up with muscle aches along my jaw after a night of teeth grinding. And recently I’ve noticed that my face is looking more square too (looks like I’ve put on a lot of weight on my face). So I consulted Dr Kwan from Dermacare regarding this and from the last time I saw him in August till yesterday he actually noticed a huge difference in size of my jaw muscles. And Botox is recommended to shrink those muscles and stop those aches. He also recommended to use a bite guard once I Botox’d my jawline to stop my bad habit of grinding teeth and this is a long term solution to stop those terrible muscle aches and sometimes headaches. (I’m gonna collect my bite guard next week and will start using it immediately!)

What Botox does on the jaw muscles is that it paralyses those muscles and stop them from being active and they will shrink back to original size after a month or so. And I will start seeing results after 2 weeks. I took photos of myself yesterday before I got the Botox jabs and today 24 hours after receiving it. There was no obvious change in the size of the muscles but I did notice that my jawline does look slightly “softer” as compared to yesterday. Not as tense. And the best thing is… No aching jaw this morning!!!

After reading on about teeth grinding I learnt that it can get quite serious to the extent that the teeth are worn down to stumps and serious after effect will be felt when I’m old. So from now on, I’m gonna rely on that uncomfortable bite guard & hopefully prevent any detrimental damage to my teeth & jaw! No pain, no gain right?

If you are having the similar problems as me, do consider doing Botox on the jaw muscles to shrink them back to normal & buy a bite guard! Botox on the jawline at DermaCare costs SGD$1000/session and the effects can last till about a year or even longer with the bite guard.

Dr. Kwan also shared with me that after about 2 weeks where the effects of the Botox will be more visible, that DermaLift might be required to tighten up the skin around the cheekbone area after the muscles shrink and skin might look looser. But this is dependent on individuals and how elastic your skin is. DermaLift is the injection of small doses of Botox on the skin level to create a tightening of skin and give a “mini face lift”. This treatment is highly popular amongst brides who want to look their best on their BIG day! For DermaLift it’s SGD$600/session. And if you want this lift to be long lasting, Dr Kwan recommends 3 sessions of this.

If you are interested in trying this out, do give Dr Dennis Kwan a visit at their Ion Orchard clinic.

DermaCare Aesthetic & Laser Clinic
2 Orchard Turn #05-05 ION Orchard
Singapore 238801
(Enter from Lift Lobby A)

Operating Hours:
Monday through Sunday
11am to 9pm

Main Line: 66346328
Second Lines: 66346327/ 66346329

Visit their website at www.dermacare.com.sg

I simply can’t wait to see some results after 2 weeks! More photos then!

XOXO
Jessica

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Trying out Lip Fillers at Dermacare

Posted in Reviews, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 5, 2012| 3 Comments »

After giving much thought and contemplating over this for a couple of years, I’ve decided to give natural fillers a try! I’ve always wanted my upper lip to be slightly fuller than what it already is. Always found “pouting” in front of the camera a huge challenge for me as my upper lip was thin and I had to really be conscious and controlled with my lip muscle (believe it or not it’s a lot of muscle control for me and didn’t come naturally) to look good with that “parted lip look” that photographers really love!

So finally I decided to take the plunge and try out Restylane Vital fillers which is 99% hyaluronic acid that is a natural occurring substance in our body so this will eventually be absorbed by our bodies. (also it being non permanent and lasts about 10 months gave me the insurance to not do it again if I didn’t like the end results)

I consulted Dr. Dennis Kwan from Dermacare in Ion Orchard and he gave me very honest and reassuring advise about doing lip fillers. My hugest concern raised was I didn’t want my lips to look unnatural or overly filled and have “sausage lips” like how some Hollywood celebs like theirs. Dr. Kwan did say that my upper lip was slightly thinner than usual and when I smiled it totally disappears. He advised that I only really need fillers for my upper lip and very minimal for my lower lip just to even out the fullness overall. So after raising my concerns and repeatedly telling him I want it natural and not over filled he reassured me that I will have beautiful lips after this session. I went ahead.

After my RevLite Laser session on my face, I went forth to get my lips filled. Numbing cream was applied on my lips for about 25 minutes so numb and prep my lips for the injections. NERVOUS!!! The uncertainty of the outcome was kinda nerve wreaking but yet I was excited at the same time as I wanted to see how I’ll look like with fuller, poutier lips!

After the numbing cream took effect, Dr. Kwan came back and started with the procedure. Honestly, even with the numbing cream, the injections still hurt. (explained by Dr. Kwan that our lips are extremely vascular and pumping liquid into it will definitely hurt a little) I just kept thinking to myself “no pain no gain!”. After about half and hour and “balancing” out my pout. It was done! And I’m extremely happy with the results!!! My lips still look like mine just with a bit more “meat”. Kinda how it looks like after eating lotsa spicy food and it swells! Lol.

And there was no bruising on my lips! Happy with the results, I immediately took photos of myself and sent it to my close girlfriends to rave about it to them.

Full lips for the next 10 months and the pain was well worth it!

For those who interested do visit their website to find out more! I simply love their RevLite laser treatments (even my mum sees a difference in my skin and she’s doing it now!) and find out more about the fillers they have to offer. http://www.dermacare.com.sg/

XOXO
Jessica

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Laser Skin Rejuvenation using RevLite

Posted in Reviews, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 19, 2012| 6 Comments »

Yesterday I underwent my very first laser for my face. I felt that my skin is starting to look tired, freckles on my nose bridge/cheekbone area is becoming more noticeable and my open pores have been bothering me for some time. (My irregular hours & sun damage from scuba diving is probably the cause of it) So I decided to give RevLite a try at Dermacare@ION. I heard rave reviews that after one session you can immediately see a great improvement in skin tone & fairness.

I met up with Dr Dennis Kwan and consulted with him raising tons of questions regarding my skin. From my clogged chin area – is it due to fine facial hairs? – YES. To is there any downtime or side effects with this laser? – NO. After spending about half an hour bombarding him with all my concerns as I’ve never tried laser treatment before and I’m naturally worried. I was ushered to take a before photo of my skin *horror*.

After that I was laid down on the treatment bed, had my sunblock removed & started the laser treatment. The first time the laser touched the skin on my cheek it felt like someone just gently snapped me with a small rubber band! Kinda shocked me a little. But after a while I got used to the sensation and it was like tiny ant bites on my skin which didn’t really hurt. And after 5 minutes I got used to the feeling and it felt like a massage – sore but soothing as the skin warms up as well.

What I am most happy with is that RevLite will also ‘burn’ off the fine facial hairs that cause my pores to be more open & skin more prone to white heads. Something that’s been plaguing me and I’ve tried so hard to battle it. Immediately after the laser, I found my pores tighter, and skin more radiant n fair.

So I decided to sleep over it and take a photo of my bare skin with no make up the minute I woke up this morning. I’m happy! My chin actually seems less clogged and pores definitely smaller. I also found that my eye area less dark. Freckles still look about the same to me. But generally I find my skin a lot smoother than before without a single bit of make up.

So I did up the before after treatment photo and also noticed that I’m slighter fairer! *yay*

Can’t wait to go down for my next treatment and see more improvements on my skin!

XOXO
Jessica

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Pantene Beauty Round Table at Stellar@1-Altitude

Posted in Events, Fashion, Reviews, tagged , , , on September 13, 2011| 3 Comments »

Attended the Pantene Beauty Round Table this morning over a nice luncheon at Stellar@1-Altitude to talk about hair care & how to improve our hair texture.

I took up the Pantene 14-Day Challenge and started using the Hairfall Range. Yes, the word “Hairfall” is such a sensitive word to us girls! But I have to admit that ever since I entered the entertainment industry on top of my frequent scuba diving, I realized how much more hair I have been dropping. 😦 initially I thought it was hair loss but then I realized it’s due to hair breakage from really dry and damaged hair. After talking to Dr Jasmine Karsono, I learnt so many useful things about hair. Styling, blow-drying, back-combing are all well known factors to damaged hair. But Dr Karsono told me that salt water is even worse! As salt dehydrates the hair a lot more on top of the prolonged UV exposure which makes hair so much more brittle and prone to breakage. No wonder I get so depressed looking at the amount of hair I drop washing my hair after scuba diving! And the many days after.

So…. I used the Hairfall range and I’m still using it as I really love the effects that it has on my hair texture. I used to wake up with really tangled and unruly hair spending quite some time brushing my hair. But after the 7th day of using Pantene’s Hairfall range, I found brushing my hair in the mornings so much easier and less hair is found on my brush. On top of that I too changed to a new Protection brush by Acca Kappa which helped with the brushing through my tangles. My hair now is a lot more shiny especially on the crown of my head and texture is slowly improving. I can’t wait for my hair to feel baby soft again!

Now I am a big fan of Pantene’s Hairfall range! And to all of you out there suffering from easy hair breakage like me, please go to your nearest supermarket of pharmacy to grab the Hairfall range and take up this 14-day challenge! (TIP: if your hair is really dry n weak, use the treatment in place of the conditioner – that’s what I’m doing!)

XOXO
Jessica

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Great Eats at DB Bistro in MBS

Posted in Food, Reviews on January 20, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Hello hello!

Visited DB Bistro by Daniel Boulud in Marina Bay Sands, one of the celebrity chef restaurants that is in Singapore! Was really excited to eat in his restaurant as I’m a Top Chef fan and heard so much about him through the reality series. His French-American style restaurant offers nice eats at an affordable price. If I remember correctly, the most expensive item on the menu was a Black Truffle crusted Dory ($45) which is ok for a main course.

The food there is good, but it can be better to hit my excellent restaurant list. Guess I expected more being a Daniel Boulud restaurant. But I must say, the desserts there are excellent! Especially the Sundae I had! Yummy! I would definitely go back for desserts!

For starters, there was
Tuna Tartare ($26) – yummy & I would have it again.
Foie Gras Terrine ($28) – this was so so, tasted like expensive pate.

Mains:
Black Truffle Crusted Dory ($45) – it was not bad, the mash was delicious, would probably try something else next time.
DB Burger ($38) – house speciality of a burger patty stuffed with short ribs & a juicy piece of Foie Gras. This I would definitely order again!

Desserts:
Poached Pear – not bad for a ‘healthy’ sounding dessert
Baileys ice-cream Sundae – as I mentioned before this is super yummy with cookie bits & melt in your mouth milk gelee. Mmmmmm….
Mango ice-cream – the ice-creams here are homemade & fantastic!

Dinner was satisfying & I would definitely return to try the other items on the menu!

XOXO
Jessica

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My Day at Auriga Spa in Capella, Sentosa

Posted in Reviews on September 9, 2010| 4 Comments »

Last week, was pamper myself week. I decided to give myself the full indulgence, from going for facial, visiting the spa for a good 5 hours and giving my hair the all needed treatment.

On spa day, I checked myself into Auriga at 9:30am for my 3 hour Auriga’s signature Waning Moon treatment scheduled at 10am. The waning moon treatment is a full body cleansing treatment that starts with some detoxification supplements taken orally to cleanse the body inside. The body pampering then begins with a foot massage using essential oils, going on to a full body exfoliation using organic and natural products like pomegranate seeds mixed with lime skin. After a good scrub, my body was then treated to a seaweed wrap releasing toxins from the inner organs. During the wrap, the therapist started giving a well welcomed head massage using oils that will help treat my scalp and hair at the same time, she then proceeded to giving me a facial massage using organic serum and moisturizer. After 20-30 minutes, I showered off the wrap and the therapist continued my indulgence by using silk garshana gloves to gently exfoliate my body, creating heat deep within the muscles and smoothing the body. She then began the lymphatic massage which put me into a very deep sleep. My sleep was deepened by the heated massage table that made me so relaxed and snuggled all over.

When my 3 hours was up, I was hoping it was just a dream and it could start over again! I was then escorted to a special relaxation room to rest (more like recover from dreamland) on physioacoustic therapy beds. (these beds are apparently the exact same beds that F1 racers use before and after a race to relax their stressed out muscles) In the room, I was sipping fresh herbal tea and snacking on dried apricots while enjoying the nice bamboo garden outside.

Now, time to pamper myself further with the wet facilities. I first went into the hot rainforest shower with floral scents while water is pouring down onto you, then I headed into the herbal steam room. In between using the steam room, I went out and massaged myself with crushed ice provided in a chilled bowl. Apparently, by doing so, your skin will become firmer and it will get rid of cellulite! Did that a couple of times, steam, ice, steam, ice, steam, cold mist shower with refreshing peppermint and orange oils! Sat on the hot stone for a while to take a break then I decided to try out the heated jacuzzi. It was shiok!!!

The best thing was the bathroom was totally empty and I could use everything as long as I wanted as much as I wanted. An hour or so later, I was very happy and satisfied, so I showered and got ready to leave.

Went out to pay the bill. My damage was $494.34! Back to reality…

Pampering never comes without a cost.

XOXO
Jessica

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A Very Good Read for every Singaporean

Posted in Reviews, Travel on June 9, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Hello everyone!

I chanced upon this title while surfing d Internet for some information about unatural deaths in Singapore (yes it’s morbid but very interesting) and decided to head down to Borders to look up this book. Flipped thru it and felt that it’ll be a good book for easy reading. Mind you I’m one of those that hated history lessons. But this book is more than the history of Singapore, it includes interesting stories like the King of Siam bringing us the gift of a little bronze elephant in the 1800s which is still displayed till today. And Sir Stamford Raffles possible local mistress?!

Some other interesting reads are: (titles from the book)

– The Door Gods of Orchard Road
– Grand Old Hotel Tales
– The Curry Murder
– A True War Hero
– A Sadly Unfinished Monument (I never knew we attempted to make a monument for early settlers of Singapore before Raffles)

In fact almost everything is interesting n easy reading. If only our Singapore history textbooks in schools are this fun to read then studying wouldn’t be so much effort!

Go buy it and find out a whole lot more about our homeland! Great easy reading for both the foreigners and locals!

Title : Insider’s Singapore by David Brazil. $25.90 from Borders.

XOXO
Jessica

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