12. Holy Grail Products

Hi guys! Today I'll be talking about my holy grail products - needless to say the products I'll always go to and trust to work. These are a mostly skincare and make up :) The pictures are bigger than normal as the smaller size would compromise quality.

Skincare

L-R: The Body Shop Seaweed exfoliator, The Face Shop Black Yeast peel-off mask, TFS mango butter lip care cream, TBS Seaweed Clarifying night treatment and TFS Herb Day make up remover.

Okay I did not plan for this to be a face shop and body shop filled product list but as I am typing this I realize most of my skincare and bodycare products are from them. They're pretty affordable and some of their products work wonders for me. 

The exfoliator ($24.90) helps cleanse my dead skin cells plus all the debris and residue from the outside elements that are trapped in my pores. I absolutely love how a little goes a long way for this product and I can see that it'll definitely last me a while before it empties out. I love feeling my skin all baby-like and supple after using this once a week before I sleep after washing my face and toning. 

I use that together with the night treatment from the same range (every night) ($32.90) and I must say this product surprised me. I have oily skin/combination throughout the day and I decided to try this product to see if the next day it made a difference to the amount of oil produced. Indeed, my face stayed more matte and I found myself reaching less for oil blotting paper. I can't wait to try the day moisturizer and more of the range once my current ones finish (currently using TFS pore minimizer controlling cream as a day moisturizer). This product also does not dry out my skin so props for that. 

The face shop items here are pretty self explanatory. The black yeast peel-off mask ($17.90) is extremely underrated and I do hope they're still selling it! I love how dewy and springy my face looks and feels after this. It does exactly what it says: leaves skin clear. I love this for a less harsh version of an exfoliator. Also, peeling it off gives me great joy (who else loves doing such things?) haha. The consistency is very sticky as you apply it but it takes little to no effort to peel it off once dry. This is done after washing, toning and moisturizing your face (once a week). 

The mango butter lip care cream is basically just a typical lip gloss but for it's price ($4.90) I was thoroughly impressed by its abilities to keep my lips supple, soft and well hydrated. I've used lip glosses from various other brands that surpass the price range of this little miracle and they do not work half as well as this guy. 

The make up remover for sensitive skin ($7.90) is one of the few that works for me. I used to frequent L'oreal or Maybelline's oil based ones but I disliked the oily residue it left on my face. This works so well and does not leave my eyes stinging!!

Yeast peel-off mask - seaweed night treatment - seaweed exfoliator

Make up

Brows are a tricky thing. I used to get my eyebrows done at the Benefit Brow Bar when they were about $28 or $26 but since they've raised their prices to $30-35 I've plucked them myself whenever I saw the hairs growing out of the area the beautician helped to create for me.

These two products also helped in filling them in since my brows can be considered fine/sparse. I start with the Benefit Gimme Brow (which has also increased price from $28 to $35, sigh why!?) to set the hairs in and give them a darker color.

I then fill them in with Etude House's brow pencil (there are various colors all at $5.90) which comes with a spooly at the end. I love it cause it's so affordable and does its job. 

My mom got this Estee Lauder palette from a gift set last year because she wanted everything else but this so I inherited it and found out that their pigmentation is pretty amazing. I've been using this for an everyday look (when I do bother).

08 - Peach Passion as blush (the one on the right was a tad too pigmented for my skin tone)
50 - Sandbar Beige (matte) on the entire lid,
30 - Sugar Cube as a highlight on the brow bone and tear duct so as to give my eyes the pop it needs (this also can be used as a highlighter on the cheek bones pretty well)
18 - Serpia Sand on the crease followed by 65 French Vanilla, a gorgeous shimmery gold on the middle crease.

This was inspired by ilikeweylie on youtube as her tutorials are great for monolids like mine and pretty simple for an everyday look.

Clinique is terribly expensive in Singapore so when my sister went to the states I asked to kindly get me a lipgloss of any sort from their range. She came back with this and I wish she bought more! It's their vitamin C lip smoothie and works on a twisting mechanism to get the product out.

It doesn't have the plastic smell a lot of lip glosses and products have. This is the color guava good and it's amazing as an everyday lip gloss. It goes on super smooth and doesn't have the icky sticky feeling too. I went scouting and found that it costs $31 in Singapore departmental stores and she paid $12.90 USD over there. 

These were mine before knowing about the Vit C lip smoothie. I got them from Singapore Airlines when I was on the way to Tokyo in June and they're travel size, from the range 'full potential lips'. The color payoff is amazing and I love how cute and small they are for handbags, pouches and on-the-go purposes. There are 5 in this pack and that gave me 10 colors to experiment with. Only 5ml on a side but surprisingly they're still lasting! I use these almost everyday too.

Random products

I use this L'oreal Extraordinary Oil Mist ($25.90 if I'm not wrong) before blow drying my hair (you can use it after or even on dry hair too), to protect it from the heat of the blow dryer and also to detangle the messy knots I have.

This claims to give flowing softness and a veil of brilliance to your hair. There are different ones for different types of hair. It does the job and the smell is probably one factor as to why I love this product so much. It also takes forever to finish, and a spritz or two goes a long way. I'm not even halfway through this bottle and I bought it in the first half of the year.

On a recent visit to Tangs, my mom and I came across this brand, 1872 Clipper Tea and we decided to try their candles cause it smelled so good. This was created in collaboration of To Be Calm. Both are home grown brands :)

They're $23 each and sold in a set of 3 (Singapore, London and Paris) at $60. I was back the next day to get the trio. It burns so well (18 hours), doesn't cave in, and way cheaper than Yankee Candle or what have you. Currently they only have a small size, I really hope they bring in bigger ones. All scents are infused with tea thus its calming abilitiy; 10/10. The Singapore Sunrise (my fav) is a soy candle with green tea, mango and passionfruit.

Before Oct ends ya'll should head to Tangs and become a member for free as only in this month do you get 12% rebate ;)

Yup 1 has already finished haha

And that my lovelies, concludes my post on some holy grail products that I would like to share with you this lazy weekend in. If the haze goes well, next week I'm off on an adventure that involves nature....... ;)

x

11. Why I Love Staycations

I had a lovely staycation in the first week of Oct but I've recently changed my phone so not much of pictures was brought over. I still wanted to do this post on why I absolutely adore the idea of staycations, especially for students on a budget or time constraints and can't travel. You can definitely feel like a tourist in your own country!

1. You forget the hustle and bustle of the everyday

Immediately the worries of yesterday and the week before or even months back slips to the back of your mind or even completely out of it whilst you spend the entire day or two with your loved one. It's as if everything that could go wrong, did not. In that few days, the anthem of it would most definitely be:
'It means no worries for the rest of your days
It's our problem-free philosophy
Hakuna Matata!'

2. Me-time / couple-time is abundant

For us that also means fueling our hobby

He's there surfing the web on the latest news of the sports world/trying to load an episode of Gotham for the both of you. You're on the sofa reading a book or scrolling through the webs without a care in the world. It's as if time stood still and co-existing together never felt so right.

Go to museums, come back at 3am, explore parts of the city you'd never do on a normal basis and trust me it is SO worth it.

3. You get to imagine how living with your significant other feels like

The cliche brushing of teeth over the same sink, timing each others' showers, looking at how they would behave at home really gives you a glimpse into what life would be together next time. It's a surreal and endearing way to experience a staycation. You'd also notice habits of one another you wouldn't normally when you go to the movies, have dinner etc. Also, maybe some times you find terribly annoying traits of your significant other you'd love to change.........but succumbing to the fact you've got to love them for who they are, perfectly imperfect individuals.

4. Strengthen your relationship 

I did that 36 questions quiz where you could have two individuals do and they'd fall in love with each other right after. I guess we weren't strangers nor on a first date but it was pretty interesting still, to hear each others' answer. It could surprise you how much you still don't know about your significant other and through that, you learn so much. At the same time, you feel so much closer to one another. It could end in laughter, or tears and that definitely brought me closer to my boyfriend just from answering a few questions!

Here is a link to the questions. 

5. See the beautiful and ugly parts of a person

Farts. Digging of noses. Toilet seat up? or down?
There's also the hugs from the back before falling asleep, sharing food and one leaving the last piece for the other. These certainly make up for the 'ugly'. Where else could you be 100% comfortable with each other?? Definitely not in public where farts are concealed, eating etiquette must be met and oh forbid nose crap to be flung at one another.

I've come to cherish and love parts of my boyfriend I never thought I could tolerate in another individual.

6. Takeaway food + hotel bed = bliss

There's just something about bringing back food from a crowded mall and having your own space and time to eat. No annoying people talking too loud for you to hear your own conversation, no service staff inherently in a rush to create space for more customers especially during peak hour, no soggy and distasteful portions because it probably only took you 10 minutes to get back 'home'.... It is indeed true bliss. 

Car rides + free parking (1 day in a hotel could cost $50) equates happy us

Love it when the sun works in our favour

He even took an ootd, something he'd never on a daily basis lol

Of course not to say you can't do these on a normal everyday basis but circumstances are different for everyone. Needless to say, a staycation is a time for both individuals to recuperate, relax and bask in the company of each other. Some budget friendly ones would be: York Hotel (situated in town too), Bay Hotel (near vivo/harbourfront/sentosa) and Hotel Clover (beach road/bugis/cafe galore). These would set you back about 90-100 per person. Rooms range from 26 to 32sqm which is quite decently sized (if you've seen the rooms in Tokyo at 16-18sqm you'd get it).

Just a couple of weeks (2.5-3 to be exact) left of my semester break and there's so many things I've yet to do!

Also, 6.5 months before I'm done with being a university student, WHAT. I can't. even. 

x

10. First Trimester As A Honours Student

Today I'll be blogging a short one about my experience as a honours student, well, just the first 3 months of an experience. I'm not going to bore you with the technicalities, every university is different and thus, these are just my personal feelings & thoughts.

It's been a slow whirlwind (I say slow, and you'll soon realize why) in school the past couple of months. I was overjoyed when I got the email in my last term break, notifying me that I got into the Honours program for my Psychology course (there are certain requirements you have to meet - e.g Distinctions for 5 level 3 subjects and statistics modules) I was HYPED. I couldn't wait to start lectures again, learn new things, plan my thesis topic. . . . .

#STUDYSESH

I couldn't be more wrong about the exciting bit.

It was quite a drag. I only had 2 modules, ethics being compulsory. I had a hard time choosing the second module. It was a case of 1. hmm I like that module but the lecturer is a pain, 2. damn if I went for this module it's supposedly easy to score but sounds iffy as hell and 3. i guess this module is cool cause i've got friends. I ended up taking Time Perception - whuuuut - by myself - whuuuuuuut. It was a cool field of study, something that you wouldn't get to learn elsewhere. Also, no exams. Seeing as ethics was a dry and heavy topic, I didn't want to weigh myself down with two exams. I also managed to make a couple new friends which is a plus point :)

Nonetheless, I didn't know having 2 modules instead of the usual 4 could have that much of a toll on me. With the luxury of so much time on my hands, I could do anything !!! Get an internship, part time job, exercise and actually stick to a proper regime, read a dozen or more books, travel..... alas none of that happened (Except only a week of workout and a fraction of a dozen books were read).
I didn't know what to do with all the time I had. It was so confusing, I was begging for work to be given to me.

GIVE ME MORE ASSIGNMENTS!!! 

Even whilst studying for the ethics exam, I was relaxed; I finished my notes and sat around idling through the likes of youtube and tumblr. It was so unproductive for my brain and although everything was done on time, I still felt so very restless and useless..

I was in such a rut. Having multiple assignments due every other week when I had 4 modules and 4 exams to sit for during the previous 6 semesters before embarking on my Honours journey prepared me for a semester even crazier than that. I was wrong... I know I'd regret complaining of being free when the next two semesters come round, when I'll camp in school collecting data and finish off a 15,000 word thesis. But at that time, it was weird being so free and I felt like this everyday:

I had no direction! Its scary that I'm almost graduating and I have no idea what to do with my life yet. That'll be a topic for another blogpost......... my existential crisis *sad laugh*.

Now with the start of the holidays I'm excited as to what the next month has in store for me! I even got a critique and a thesis to work on but hey, a break's a break for a reason. Got a staycation coming up later this week & will be blogging about that too : )

Stay tuned,
x

09. Why I Dislike Carousell

Hey guys, can't believe it's been more than a month since I last posted, 2015 is passing way too quickly! Now I'm on my semester break so I'll be filling this space up more - already have a few posts drafted and a long list of places to visit over this break :)

You may have noticed.... there a change in the url - piccolo basically means small/little in italian and ann is my middle name. Felt that his url represented me more personally! Also, standing at 1.55 I am pretty small..... Piccolo also happens to be this creature in dragonball Z and a flute.

Disclaimer: the contents of this post are based purely on my personal thoughts and feelings. Do use your discretion before making any decisions based on the information in this post. 

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In reference to my most recent Instagram post (@gwyn1612) whose caption read, 'UGH I'm so done with Carousell and the buyers/sellers there who seem to have the pride of Thor and audacity of Loki to stir shit up once behind the barricade of the world wide Web. I'd much rather pay thrice to get my item from the physical stores. If you really need to sell/buy at a fraction of the cost, go to Shopee they've got discount codes and a system whole lot better to protect your interests.'

I'm not being paid by Shopee (wish I was haha) to say any of the following in this blogpost, I just genuinely feel this way about Carousell. 

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The obvious reasons are the people on Carousell - those who try to negotiate well beyond logical sense, who enquire 101 questions and end up not purchasing the item, who claim it to be 'brand new' 'defect free' and when you receive it it's the opposite, who provide incorrect measurements, who want you to meet at the other end of Singapore - people who don't read descriptions...... the list goes on.

My concern is with what the app is doing to make the online shopping experience a better one.

If you read my previous posts, I was scammed and taken as a fool while waiting patiently for her account to be suspended (how many more did she scam in that time frame?), I later found out that she created ANOTHER account to do her deeds. Isn't there a way Carousell can track accounts based on I.P addresses and stop one person from making multiple accounts? I ain't a tech prowess, but there has to be a way? 

While we're on the same topic of said scammer creating multiple accounts, why are the people on Carousell so filled with the notion that they're invincible and can get away with doing such things over and over AND OVER again with no repercussions? PRECISELY cause there aren't any consequences. 2 weeks to get an account suspended, that's probably all you get - a suspension. Nothing's stopping them from creating a new page to do the same ol' thing!!11!! And customers are left to believe that Karma will do the job and get back at these assholes one day. 

I took the liberty to read some of Carousell's community rules (last updated 2nd October 2015) - several of which is particularly noteworthy. 'Be a responsible seller and buyer' Treat others as you would like to be treated. Blablabla 'Scammers will not be tolerated and we'll be taking action against them, including assisting in the reporting of fraudsters to the police' - really tho, the police? 

'Do not be rude' If we receive valid complains about your conduct, we will send a warning and will not hesitate to suspend your account.

'We do not have a seller refund policy' 'Please reach out to us and we will take action ASAP. This may include removing listings or even banning users' 

'You might find yourself wanting to post a screenshot of the offending account on your profile to blacklist them, however, that might not be the best way to solve this problem.' Apparently, singling out users is harassment and violates their guidelines. I'm supposed to entrust them onto Carousell's team to flag and remove them 'ASAP'. If I waited for them to do that, about 4 other people who contacted me based on my post and listing on Carousell warning others about her scamming, WOULD HAVE FALLEN VICTIM. 

And the pattern here is: do something bad, you'll be suspended/warned/banned.... For superheroes hiding behind the facade and barrier of the world wide web that isn't enough to scare them away from creating multiple accounts. We live in a society where we assume everyone would be responsible for their actions and we're all naturally ethical individuals who would not dare to pursue misconduct. That's not true. 

Do I have a solution? No. At the very least, if you can't stop people from being unethical, ACT FASTER. Don't wait for 10 people to be scammed before you suspend said account, don't wait for someone to inform you 3-4 times about an account before looking into the matter..... 

Do I have an alternative? Yes! Seeing as I buy alot, I do need a platform to sell my things... and maybe purchase a lego or two to fuel my boyfriend and I's hobby. Shopee SG is a relatively new app that does the same thing as Carousell (sell and buy in a matter of half a minute) but is so very different. I've only recently started using it a few days ago and I'm LOVIN it! Of course it's going to take a while before I find out if it's truly safer than Carousell... but of all the deals I've made so far, of which all are successful, there's this thing called the 'Shopee Guarantee' which is when Shopee holds the payment till you confirm you have received the order, only then will payment be released to the seller.

You can even disable 'buyer-seller self arrange' and strictly deal via post or chat them up personally if they'd prefer to meet up only once payment has been in through the app's system. 

I absolutely love these little improvements and ideas that make me feel safer and that my interests are looked after. Plus they have codes almost all the time to give you discounts ($10 off minimum spend $20, $7 off minimum spend $10), what's not to love?

As they say... one man's meat is another man's poison. You could hate Shopee and love Carousell and vice versa OR completely are thrown off the realm of online shopping ever again due to bad experiences. I've learnt the hard way that if I want to buy/sell online (particularly clothes) there'll be risks and implications that apps are not able to control. I've also learnt that if you want to be penny wise pound foolish and save a couple of dollars here and there, you'd pay the price (ha ha get the pun). I'd much rather go to the physical store and make my purchase rather than have faith in humanity over the interwebs, it's gotten to that point :/ E.g Who likes to be told ptp is 16 inches and fits uk8 but when you receive it, it looks like it could fit a tween (uk4-6) instead?! However, legit websites like asos, pomelo etc do a good job and those websites would probably be the only places I get my clothings online from now on.

xx

New post up tomorrow!