Eyemazing 101 by Jun Komori review

May 8, 2013, 1:50 am

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Hi lovelies, today I'm going to share about Eyemazing 101 eyelashes by Japanese TV star and fashion model, Jun Komori.

Jun Komori produced 3 types of eyelashes under the Eyemazing brand, namely no. 101, 102 and 103.

Eyemazing 101

Black Base with natural black lashes for intellectual beauty! It has more lashes near the end of the at the eye a beautiful shadow due to the gradation of Natural Black lashes towards the end of lashes.

Eyemazing 102

I was unable to find any English translation for Eyemazing 102 's description, here's my thoughts on it just by looking at the picture. Although it is very similiar to Eyemazing no. 101, unlike Eyemazing 101 which is denser at the end of the eye, it is denser in front (the area near your tear ducts).  

Eyemazing 103

Black base with natural brown lashes - evaluated as the No. 1 eyelash! Very natural and soft look created with gradation begin at the half the width for a beautiful completion. Eyelashes become gradully darker from the inner corner to the tail of the eye. 

Here's a couple of pictures of me wearing Eyemazing 101 lashes.

Eyemazing 101 when worn

And here's me trying to impersonate Jun Komori 's sultry eye look. Failed attempt, I know!

Impersonating Jun Komori

Close up of Eyemazing 101 when worn

My thoughts:

In case you are wondering, I only had liquid eyeliner, kohl eyeliner and drew my brows apart from wearing Eyemazing 101 lashes for eye makeup!

If you look at the 2nd picture, you would probably notice a bit of shadow at the end of my eye on both upper eyelid and lower eyelid. Guess what? Its not because I had eye shadow on but its because of Eyemazing 101 lashes! Isn't it awesome? Yet another way to lessen the time spent on doing my eye makeup for larger and brighter eyes! I don't know about you but because I have got small eyes, I do notice a huge difference in terms of my eyes appearing larger, brighter and even the shape of my eye changes when I have got my double eyelid tape or false lashes (or both) on. In the past when I haven't really experiment with makeup that much, I really wanted double eyelid surgery because I have small, hooded or folded eyelids and in our society, big and round eyes are considered as feminine and beautiful. But now, I can fake big eyes with double eyelid tape and false lashes! I can have big eyes without surgery!

Okay, enough of digressing, you see I get excited too easily. Eyemazing 101 lashes are very easy to wear. After snipping off about 5mm off each side at the front, it took me only one try to get it on perfectly! I think it might be because the lash band is very sturdy. Eyemazing 101 lashes are very comfortable to wear. Throughout the 6-7 hours that I had it on, I did not experience any discomfort or irritation. Plus, Eyemazing lashes gives me a bit of volume yet still look natural, not over the top. What's more - the lashes feel quite soft too - this is important to someone like me whom blinks quite a fair bit because you wouldn't want your false lashes to hurt the sensitive skin below your eyes.

Tips:

- For easier application, apply eyelashes from the outer corner of the eye inwards.

- To soften eyelash band, wrap both ends of the eyelashes around your finger gently. I like to do this so that the eyelash band will be more 'curved' and I find it easier to put it on this way.

- For clean and thorough removal, wet lashes with warm water before removing, remove any excess adhesive from the band of the lashes with a tweezer carefully, dry it and put it in the eyelash box.   

I hope you like this post! Thanks for reading. If you have any questions, just comment and I will get back to you asap.

Love,
Patricia  

Price list:

Eyemazing no. 101 retails at $23.90

Disclaimer: Product featured was sent to me for review purposes but the above-mentioned consists of my honest opinion as always!

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Bellabox May 2013 Ready for Cannes Sneak Preview

May 9, 2013, 12:52 am

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≪ Previous: Eyemazing 101 by Jun Komori review

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Hi lovelies, I just received my Bellabox May 2013 and I can't wait to share about it with you.

Don't you think that the product description card for this month is very creative and cute - in the shape of a ticket?

On top of that, check out the sticker on the wrapper - its like saying Lights, Camera, Action!



Bellabox May 2012

First up, we have got -

Model Co Lipgloss - Striptease

What is it:
Unbeatable reflective, shimmering gloss that creates a glamourous, lacquered effect. The non-stick formula glides on evenly, leaving your lips with a lucious, long-lasting shine.

Lanvin Me Eau de Parfum

What is it:

Unique blend of tuberose, blueberries and licorice. Lanvin's head designer Alber Ebaz strove to create a parfum that defined the essence of female individuality and self-love and he succeeded in doing that with Lanvin Me. 

Dr Morita Hyaluronic Acid Essence Mask

What is it:

Reintroduces Hyaluronic Acid along with other natural ingredients to soothe and protect your skin.

Contains cucumber extract, marine collagen and seaweed.

The Lash Card (bonus item) 

What is it:

Excess mascara gets on to the card, not your lids and lashes stay separate.

Talika Eye Therapy Patch

What is it:

Developed with post-surgery technology, this reusable eye patch delivers moisturizing and anti-aging ingredients directly to the skin by osmosis. Can be reused up to 3 times.

Sasa Oil Blotting Paper

What is it:

Instantly get rid of shine for the matte look you need. Rose-scented.

I can't wait to try the items and share my thoughts on them with you!

Hope you like this post. Thanks for reading.

Love,

Patricia

To be notified of the latest beauty news, launches or events, follow me on or like SweetestSins on

SweetestSins x KMS iPhone Cover Giveaway

May 12, 2013, 6:52 pm

≫ Next: 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 4: Danshui Old Street, Taipei Main Station and Ximending

≪ Previous: Bellabox May 2013 Ready for Cannes Sneak Preview

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1) Like SweetestSins and KMS California Singapore on Facebook
2) Upload a post to tell us why you are unique and tag SweetestSins and KMS California Singapore in Facebook post
3) Email me your details such as name, URL of Facebook post link and iPhone cover model (iPhone 4/iPhone 5) with the subject “Multi-colored Jewel Encrusted KMS California iPhone Cover Giveaway”

Additional information:

Giveaway ends on 31st May 2013, Friday or when up to 100 KMS iPhone covers are given away

Winners to collect KMS iPhone covers 1 working day after acknowledgement of entry by KMS” to “KMS iPhone covers can be collected from 3rd June, Monday onwards.

To be notified of the latest beauty news, launches or events, follow me on or like SweetestSins on

台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 4: Danshui Old Street, Taipei Main Station and Ximending

May 15, 2013, 7:20 pm

≫ Next: Crabtree & Evelyn Pomegranate Argan & Grapeseed Conditioning Hand Wash and Hand Therapy

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On Day 4, we grabbed a quick breakfast over at Ximending before heading over to Ximen station to take the train to Danshui station.

Along the way, we spotted the setting up of 周湯豪 NICKTHEREAL 's album signing and meet the fans session (签唱会).

周湯豪台北簽唱會

Bought myself a donut from Mister Donut (Japan No.1甜甜圈專賣店) for breakfast. Make sure you get donuts from the 波堤系列, they are more chewy and special.

Mister Donut 台北西門町

108台北市萬華區漢中街110號(近捷運西門站6號出口)

Near Ximen station, exit 6

Opening hours: Mon-Sun, 10:00-23:00

http://www.misterdonut.com.tw/

Camwhored while waiting for the train to Danshui station.

淡水老街 Danshui Old Street / Tamsui Old Street

Zhongzheng Rd, Danshui District New Taipei City, Taiwan 251

Nearest station: Danshui station

Directions:

1. Head northwest toward 中正東路/台2乙線 29m

2. Continue straight onto 中正東路/台2乙線 140m

3. Turn left at 中山路

Danshui Old Street / Tamsui Old Street (淡水老街) is on the right

I have included two maps, one in English and the other in Chinese that shows the directions from Danshui station to Danshui Old Street.

Danshui Old Street is located along Gongmin Street and Zhongzheng Road.

When we reached Danshui Station, it was raining very heavily and we almost wanted to turn back because there is no way we can enjoy the scenery of Danshui Old Street when its raining. We waited for a while before it stopped raining that heavily and braved the cold dark weather with our umbrellas. The rain was also part of the reason why we didn't take any photos along the way from Danshui Station to Danshui Old Street .

But fret not because.. to make up for that, I have got the map that shows the directions from Danshui Station to Danshui Old Street in street view below.

Click here to view street view map from
Danshui station to Danshui Old Street

I guess it was the rain that got us really cold because our feet were wet from the rain so we decided to seek shelter and fill our growling stomachs at the same time at 淡水老店 喜相逢 古早味小吃店.

淡水老店 喜相逢 古早味小吃店

喜相逢

No. 2號, Zhǎngxìng St, Danshui District, New Taipei City, Taiwan 251

5 min walk from Danshui station

Thick Vermicelli Soup 古早味米粉汤 NT $30 和 Pork skin 猪肉皮 NT $30

I wanted something soupy to combat the cold so I got myself a bowl of 古早味米粉汤 which is actually bee hoon soup. 古早味 means traditional taste retained. Compared to the thick vermicelli (beehoon) soup that we have in Singapore, the rice noodles in古早味米粉汤 is not as chewy or smooth, it has got a rough texture to it and the soup taste rather bland and is quite oily. For the sides, I got myself a plate of 猪肉皮 which translates to pork skin. This is good stuff for the knees and complexion because its collagen!

Shin ordered 客家鹹猪肉 which literally translates to Hakka-styled marinated pork.

客家鹹猪肉 NT$ 70

Its very similar to that of char siew except that its fried instead of barbecued.

After lunch, it was still drizzling slightly as you can see in the photos below.

洪媽酸梅湯 (福佑宮邊)

台北縣淡水鎮中正路182號

Apparently, sour plum drink (酸梅湯) is really common in Danshui Old Street, you see stalls selling them almost everywhere.

Just beside 洪媽酸梅湯, there's this German bakery called  紅旗德國農夫面包 Berliner Landbrot and their bread smells heavenly. I was super tempted to get the Bull's horn croissant but my girlfriends rolled their eyes at me. Chuan was like, "What? You're coming Taiwan to eat croissants? Oh please!" Decided to give it a miss since I was still full from lunch.



淡水 紅旗德國農夫面包 Berliner Landbrot



Our first stop in Danshui was -

醒醐大师 (中正店)

台灣新北市淡水區中正路123號

No. 123, Zhōngzhèng Rd, Danshui District

http://www.tihudashi.com.tw/tihu.jsp

The must buy local specialty products from Danshui Old Street include:

1) 鐵蛋 (Iron Egg) and

2) 魚酥 (fish crackers)

The process of making 鐵蛋 (Iron Egg) is braising egg with soya sauce and tumeric spices before airing it with electric fan. The process is repeated daily for a week before the 鐵蛋 (Iron Egg) is ready for sale. There are quite a lot of different flavours for 鐵蛋 (Iron Egg), the more common ones include original, spicy, pepper, barbeque and garlic.

Apart from 鐵蛋 (Iron Egg), fish crackers, you can find other common local snacks such as nougat and mochi for sale.  

Part of our massive food haul

While walking down the street, we spotted another branch of 洪媽酸梅湯.

洪媽酸梅湯 (渡船頭邊)

台北縣淡水鎮中正路11巷1號

I really like how the two rows of shops converge into one so I asked Andeline to turn back so that I can snap a picture of her.

And that's me below. I think we look very 'auntie' because we had so many bags in our hands.

Here we are, opposite Danshui Fisherman's Wharf. Although it stopped raining altogether, but the skies were still gray. I like how the photos turned out to look like the effect, color splash has been applied.

Here's the boarding point for the ferry to Danshui / Tamsui Fisherman's Wharf 淡水漁人碼頭.

While we were admiring the scenery, we met this group of 3 friends (one of the guy is from Hong Kong and the other is from India while the girl is from Taichung) whom asked us to help them with a group shot and we started talking. Turns out that they were studying in Taipei and they took the chance to travel around. The Hong Kong guy uses a DSLR and he had a hard time with our compact cameras while he helping us with a group shot. Got to thank him for finding the best angle though because he was moving left and right and shifting our cameras up and down to get the best angle.    

With Shin, Andeline and Chuan at Danshui Harbour

Me at Danshui Harbour

We spotted 酸梅湯 (sour plum drink) again! This time its 阿媽的酸梅湯.

阿媽的酸梅湯

新北市淡水區中正路135之1號, Taiwan

Near Danshui Harbour

Chuan bought a cup of 酸梅湯 (sour plum drink) NT $30, approx SGD 1.30 to try. I think that it tastes like normal sour plum drink/juice, its rather refreshing though.

The shops around Danshui Harbour gives off a nostalgia feel. Its super relaxing and you just feel like slowing down your pace and embrace the natural and old-school surroundings.  

Check out the super big bowl of noodles on display (on the right) below.

As typical Singaporeans, we flock to places where there is a queue. When we saw that a queue near Danshui Harbour, we went to check it out and it turned out that people are queuing for the tower tall ice cream!

天霸王霸淇淋

Near Danshui Harbour

You get to choose either vanilla or chocolate or the best of both worlds - mixed!

Check out our tower tall ice cream!

Me with my tower tall ice cream

We took turns to take pictures of the ice cream until the ice cream started to melt and we were like, "Okay, time to eat the ice cream and stop taking photos!" Haha. The ice cream isn't fantastic but c'mon its just NT $20, approx SGD 0.85. I think its worth getting it even just to take photos, no?

There are a few shops that are pretty interesting along Danshui Harbour such as the shoe shop below, old school snacks shop and old school fun fair games store.

Check out the super big flip flops on display at this shoe shop at Danshui Harbour!

Old school snacks shop

This old school snacks shop was also where we bought a lot of nonsense. They have got sweets in super nice chinese vintage packaging that most of us can't resist.

Old school toy shop

Old school fun fair games

When we saw this, I was exclaiming, "OMG!" I mean, we don't really see these nowadays in Singapore do we? Gone were the days when our parents brought us to fun fairs over the weekend for bumper car rides, mini viking and old school games like the above which is rather hard to win. I remember that I used to pester my parents to exchange more tokens so that I can try my luck again because 3 or 5 wins allow you to trade up your prize to the super huge teddy bear or equivalent. Those were the days I tell you! As I'm saying this, I suddenly feel very old.

After that, we went in search of a good place to try the must-eat in Danshui Old Street -

1) 阿给 A-ge

2) 淡水鱼丸 Fishball soup

四十五年淡水老店淡水鱼丸

新北市淡水區中正路135-2號

This particular shop has got 45 years of history. I wonder if they change their signboard every year to add to the number of years in operation.

Shin bought Danshui fishball soup, more commonly known as 淡水魚丸, she said that she heard that these are really good.

魚丸湯 NT $35, approx SGD 1.50 for 4pcs

It is really cheap, say $1.50 for 4 fishballs. Who's the hungry fellow that ate up two even before I could snap a picture? I think they are very much like the Fuzhou fishball that we have in Singapore. In short, Danshui fishball contain minced pork. I think they are average though, not a big fan of it sadly.

And I got my 阿给 A-ge! I have been wanting to try this since forever, ever since I saw it on a food variety show and the host was saying that its a must-try if you are at Danshui (Tamsui)!

You might ask, what exactly is 阿给 A-ge? What's the fuss about?

Well, 阿给 A-ge is actually taupok (fried beancurd) stuffed with tanghoon (冬粉/glass noodles) soaked in braised sauce, sealed with fish paste, steamed and drizzled with sweet sauce before served.

Presenting to you.. my  阿给 A-ge!

阿给 A-ge NT $35, approx SGD 1.50

I think you will like 阿给 A-ge if you are a big fan of yong tau fu. Just imagine, fish cake with glass noodles and sweet sauce that taste like satay sauce! Even though I was really full, I ate quite a bit because the glass noodles were too good to be passed! Its really smooth and fragrant. Shin only took a bite or two while Chuan and I love 阿给 A-ge very much. We didn't finish it though because its really a huge serving. We were told that 阿给 A-ge keeps you very full and is of a very generous  serving because it is a fisherman's staple - they have it before going out or coming back from fishing to keep themselves full.

After filling our stomachs, we walked around Danshui Old Street and came across many traditional architecture.

Busy street along Danshui Old Street

Ramen mascot or raincoat hanger?

We spotted this super cute and girly boneless cheese pork cutlet.

Cheese Boneless Pork Cutlet

Then, we left Danshui Old Street and headed back to Danshui station as we had other places in mind for the day. Here's what we came across on the way back.

Eudora, European-inspired/styled cafe

Spotted Yoshinoya

Danshui station

Danshui Station is very special, built with red bricks, very similar to that of shop houses seen in Danshui Old Street.

I took the picture below from the train. Check out the not just double but multi duplex Mcdonalds!

Spotted McDonalds!

We headed to Taipei Main Station 台北車站 next to get our train tickets 台铁票 because we wanted to head to Taichung for a day trip the day after.

While we were getting our tickets from the automated machine, there was a speaker that kept repeating, "便当，好吃的铁路便当，快来买哦!" which translates to (Bento, awesome railway bento, get yours now!)

台铁路便当 Taiwan Railway Bento

The most traditional railway bento would be the Pork Rib Bento, it is the cheapest among all - only NT $60 (SGD 2.50).

Passed by Breeze Center at Taipei Main Station and I was drawn to the pretty and girly window display of Lavshuca. Its inspired by a dressing table!

We went to check out 李儀餅店 that was introduced by one of our friend since it was along the way.We were told that their pineapple tarts and suncake (literally translated from 太阳饼 tai yang bing) are very good.

李儀餅店
台北站*站前*地下街11-2B
國光客運.西站A棟(往桃園機場、基隆的巴士站)Z3入口,懷寧街Z6入口
Opening hours: 10am - 8:30pm
http://www.lecake.com.tw/

They have got butter suncake, curry pastry, yam pastry apart from just pineapple tarts and the original suncake. 

We thought that we would get a few boxes of pastries for our friends and family on the spot so we need not travel back again but it turned out that they don't have any extras for sale that day. Hence, we had to place our order and let them know when we will be collecting it. 

I have included maps below to show you guys how the directions to 李儀餅店 from 台北站.

Backa at Ximending, we came across 哇青蛙下蛋 (frog lay eggs) - which I remember trying on my last Taiwan trip in 2004.

That's all for my Day 4 in Taiwan. I hope you like this post. Thanks for reading.

Love,

Patricia

You might want to check out these posts:

✰ Taiwan Taipei Accomodation/Hotel: ECFA Hotel Wan Nian 愛客發時尚旅館萬年館 review
✰ 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 1: Taipei Ximending and Shi Da Ye Shi
✰ 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 2: Ximending, Taipei 101, agnes b cafe, Wufenpu and Raohe Night Market
✰ 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 3: Sogo, Hello Kitty Sweets Cafe and Miramar Entertainment Park
✰ 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 4: Danshui Old Street, Taipei Main Station and Ximending

To be notified of the latest beauty news, launches or events, follow me on or like SweetestSins on

Crabtree & Evelyn Pomegranate Argan & Grapeseed Conditioning Hand Wash and Hand Therapy

July 24, 2013, 8:15 pm

≫ Next: Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15 Rose Tinted review

≪ Previous: 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 4: Danshui Old Street, Taipei Main Station and Ximending

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I must admit that I was really excited when I received Crabtree & Evelyn Pomegranate Argan & Grapeseed Conditioning Hand Wash and Hand Therapy because I'm quite a fan of Crabtree & Evelyn, all thanks to my cousin, Si Ling whom got me hooked on La Source Relaxing Body Wash, hand therapy (a common sight in office on female colleagues' desk) and Evelyn Rose Eau de Parfum which smells so feminine. I swear it has the best rose scent!

Pomegranate Argan & Grapeseed Conditioning Hand Wash

What is it:

Tough enough to clean deeply, but gentle enough to use throughout the day to sweep away impurities and retain your skin’s natural oil to have cleaner, softer and more youthful looking hands.

Enjoy the tartly sweet scent of pomegranate coupled with a burst of citrus and fresh fig leaf.  This hand wash containsextracts of pomegranate and grape seed to help leave skin soft and conditioned.

Available in Lavender, Iris, Lily, Rosewater, Wisteria, La Source®,Citron, Honey & Coriander, Pomegranate, Argan & Grapeseed

My thoughts:

I am used to washing my hands a lot. When I say a lot, I mean it. For instance, on top of the usual before and after eating, before and after using the washroom, I have the habit of washing my hands with hand wash the minute I reach home (imagine how much bacteria there is when you grab the pole on the bus/mrt), before washing my face, before applying skincare, before and after applying makeup etc. Hence, the hand wash that I use have to be gentle if not my hands will look way beyond my actual age due to the frequent hand-washing.

In terms of foaming, Crabtree & Evelyn Pomegranate Argan & Grapeseed Conditioning Hand Wash creates just the right amount of foam - not too much, not too little, just enough for lathering. Best of all, it doesn't make the skin on my hands feel tight after washing.

Pomegranate Argan & Grapeseed Hand Therapy

What is it:

Age-defying formula helps reduce the visible signs of aging, leaving hands soft and smooth with a more youthful appearance.

Available in Rosewater, Lavender, Pomegranate, Citron, La Source and Gardeners fragrance.

My thoughts:

Tell me I'm not the only one whom apply hand cream on my hands each time after I wash my hands! When I told a few random ladies (colleagues and friends) that I apply hand cream each time after I wash my hands, they were shocked. Some of the girls even tell me stuffs like, "I thought we are only supposed to apply hand cream when our hands feel dry?" Personally, I think that it is easier to maintain overtime rather than try and salvage the condition when it takes a turn for the worse.

I think that Crabtree & Evelyn Pomegranate Argan & Grapeseed Hand Therapy absorbs well and don't leave too much of a greasy after feel. Unfortunately, I must say that I'm not very much a fan of the pomegranate fragrance as its too overpowering for me and it took me quite a while, say about 2 weeks to get used to the scent. However, my colleagues, Kris and Qin are fans of the scent. I guess when it comes to fragrance, it can be rather subjective. Remember the idiom - one man's meat is another man's poison?

Price list:

Conditioning Hand Wash SGD$30
Hand Therapy SGD$33/100g

Crabtree & Evelyn stores location

Jem #01-60
The Star Vista #01-03
Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands #B2-16A
Takashimaya Shopping Centre, Ngee Ann City #B1-36/36A (Opening Soon)
The Centrepoint #01-12A
Raffles City Shopping Centre #B1-29
VivoCity #01-09
Suntec City Mall #01-320 (Re-opening in July)
Bugis Junction #01-14
Tampines Mall #01-31A
Parkway Parade #01-07
Paragon #B1-26

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Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15 Rose Tinted review

July 30, 2013, 7:21 pm

≫ Next: Phillip Wain Personal Training and Nano Facial review

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What is it:

A hydrating treatment that nourishes, protects and plumps the lips

Ingredients:

-Sugar: Prevents moisture loss.

-Blend of nourishing oils, including meadowfoam seed, black currant seed, avocado, and jojoba: Deeply moisturizes dry areas.

-Grapeseed Polyphenols: Protect, smooth, and soften.

-Avobenzone and Octinoxate: Provide SPF 15 UVA/UVB sun protection.

Octinoxate (Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate) 7.49%, Oxybenzone (Benzophenone-3) 2.00%. Cera Alba (Beeswax), Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Hydrogenated Olive Oil Decyl Esters, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil, Parfum (Fragrance), Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Limnanthes Alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil, Ribes Nigrum (Black Currant) Seed Oil, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Rosa Damascena Flower Water, Retinyl Palmitate, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate, Tocopherol, Sucrose Tetrastearate Triacetate, Ci 15985 (Yellow 6 Lake), Ci 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), Ci 15850 (Red 7 Lake), Polyglyceryl-3 Polyricinoleate, Ci 77491 (Iron Oxides), Ci 77499 (Iron Oxides), Propyl Gallate, Limonene, Benzyl Alcohol, Linalool, Bht, Citral, Citronellol, Geraniol.

My thoughts:

If you are following me on Instagram, you probably would have seen Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15 Rose Tinted when I received it in the package that contains Brands Sesamin with Schisandra extract as well as when I mentioned how it kept my lips from cracking when I was in Taiwan.

Without further ado, let's take a look at Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15 Rose Tinted swatch.  



Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15 Rose Tinted swatch



As you can see from the swatch above, Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15 Rose Tinted gives a sheer rose color.

I have also done a bare lip swatch as well as a lip swatch for comparison purpose as well as to show you how it looks like on the lips.

This is how my bare lips look like in the morning. Dry, thank God its not cracked! But still, it looks scabby and it looks rather gross to me.





Bare lips

 

Here's how my lips look like after applying Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15 Rose Tinted. 






Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15 Rose Tinted lip swatch

 

I like how Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15 Rose Tinted can be used on its own or as a base before layering on lipgloss or lipstick.I know of girls whom do not fancy lip products apart from lip balm. Thus, I think this will be the product for you because it gives your lips a sheer rose color - natural looking rosy lips. Plus, it moisturise my lips very well too!

On normal work days, I usually have got base makeup (foundation/bb cream) on with blusher. My bare lips will make me look pale/sick thus the application of Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15 Rose Tinted gives my lips a bit of color without being OTT. On days when I need to dress up a bit more for meetings, events or meetups, I usually layer my favourite lipgloss or lipstick over Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15 Rose Tinted.

Here's how Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15 Rose Tinted look like on me when worn.



Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15 Rose Tinted when worn



I hope you like this post. Thanks for reading.

Love,
Patricia

 

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Phillip Wain Personal Training and Nano Facial review

August 6, 2013, 1:48 am

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I was never the skinny or thin girl at school. I inherited my dad's big frame. At my heaviest, I weighed close to 70kg. Gasps right? I know. #whatpubertydidtome. I started ballooning in Primary 4 when I grew chubbier and by Primary 5 and 6, I was overweight and asked to join the turf club (some call it trim and fit, TAF or fitness club). I was in the TAF club all the way until Secondary 2. I remember we were made to go to school earlier, before the flag raising ceremony every morning to jog walk to lose weight. I can't even walk fast without panting then, not to mention jog because each step requires a lot of effort. I didn't fancy exercising then because I perspire a lot and that meant that I will smell bad in class.

I often had to put up with the teasing from my classmates especially the guys whom will call me nasty names like, "Pig, Zhu Ba Jie, Fatty". It was under my turf club teacher, Mr Tan's constant encouragement as well as the boys' taunting that I set my heart on losing weight. First, I cut down on the amount of fast food that I consume and slowly to not consuming fast food at all. Slowly but gradually, I lost about 12 kg over a year and I 'graduated' from the TAF club. I started exercising more frequently and I could run as my body wasn't that heavy anymore. I remember weighing the lightest at 55kg during my Prom Night after O levels in Secondary 4.

For vanity's sake, I won't deny that I did take some 'shortcuts', meaning I took slimming pills from Brand X endorsed by a local celebrity for a period of 2 weeks. I lost 3kg from eating the pills alone but I gained 6kg when I stopped. Plus, the side effects from it include heart palpitations and sleep disorder due to the caffeine content. Thank God I was only on it for a short period of time if not, I think I might have damaged my liver.

Since then, I have incorporated various form of exercise in my life. When I was in Poly, I would play squash once a twice, swim once a week and jog once a week. You know girls being girls, sometimes we get lazy and we stop exercising altogether and then suddenly either you feel motivated or perhaps you feel ‘too fat’ then you start the whole exercising regimen again.In Uni, I would try to go jogging every once a week. After I started working, I seldom exercise. I only go jogging occasionally when I feel too stressed. I only started jogging on a regular basis when one of my colleague asked me to join her and her friends for weekly jogging sessions. I ran with the guys and trust me, it was very hard to keep pace with them initially. I think I can only keep pace with them for the first km and that’s about it. Slowly but gradually, I managed to keep pace with them for longer distance.

More recently, I have been hanging out a lot at the gym, about 2-3 times per week. I will do a session of yoga, a session of cardio (either kickboxing, zumba, or pilates) and jog 5km.

It takes a lot of discipline to exercise on your own, you know how sometimes we feel lazy to get to the gym or even cheat during workouts. When Phillip Wain extended a personal training session to me, I took it up gamely. Having not done personal training before, my impression of personal training was weights.. weights and weights. But it turned out that I was wrong. Personal training ain't just about weights.

Maryann was my personal trainer for the day. After taking my height and weight, I was told to cycle on this bike to check my heart rate.

I think I cycled on it for about 15 minutes. Maryann was telling me that by mid-way, most people heart rate will shoot up but mine didn't and it meant that my heart is strong. I always thought that my heart was weak though. Hence, I was quite happy to know that my heart is considered strong.

After that, we did interval training - switching from crunches, squats and push-ups. These may look easy but it certainly make me break out in perspiration.

Interval training - crunches

For crunches, Maryann said that it is very important to look up at the ceiling instead of looking forward when doing crunches to avoid injury.



Interval training - squats



I know how we ladies shudder at the very thought of doing squats. Somehow, it just bring back memories from our PE lessons, no?

1) Squat down until your upper thighs are parallel to the floor

2) Make sure your knees don't extend beyond your toes

Interval training - push-ups

In school, I dreaded push-ups the most. Maryann taught me an easier way of doing push-ups which is to cross my right leg over my left leg before going down and never to lock my elbows.

After the personal training session, I had a quick shower and grabbed lunch before popping back to Phillip Wain for my facial. The facial that I went for is Nano Hydrating Facial that is for sensitive skin.

About Phillip Wain Nano Hydrating Facial A brilliant facial using the wonders of Grape Seed Extract for greater hydration and suppleness. Grape seed extract is a natural plant constituent (bioflavonoid) that strengthens and protects cell membranes from oxidative damage caused by free radicals and help reduce allergic responses. Grape seed extract is 50 x stronger than vitamin E and 20 x stronger than vitamin C. Grape Seed Extract is anti-allegeric, anti-histame, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant. It strengthens blood vessels, improves complexion and aids in circulation to prevent and treat common problems including cardiovascular disease, varicose veins, water retention, collagen damage and arthritis. Enhanced with a patented dual technology, Nano-mist and LED (Light Emitting Diodes) blue light therapy that breaks down larger water molecules for better absorption into your skin. You get greater hydration and skin renewal! LED blue light is very much beneficial to calm and sooth stressed and fatigue skin. It is recommended to treat acne and sensitive skin condition. Benefits: 1) Anti- Aging 2) Deep Hydration 3) Firming and Anti-Wrinkle 4) Healing, ideal as post treatment for IPL, skin rejuvenation and chemical peel etc

Upon knowing that I use cleansing water to remove my makeup, my facialist recommended that I use cleansing milk instead. She said that cleansing milk contains a bit of oil and thus it helps to cleanse the face better.

Here's how I look after the facial. I would have expected the redness to be more visible after extraction but it was rather subtle, not those that screams for attention or tell people upfront that hey-i-just-came-out-from-a-facial kind.




After Nano Hydrating Facial

 

I did noticed a glow on my face right after the facial as well as the next few days after.

I like how Phillip Wain is a one-stop beauty and fitness center where I can keep fit, pamper myself with a facial, shop at its retail gallery and dine at its Health Juice Bar. Its like I can spend an entire day there!

As Phillip Wain launching a new treatment called Ayurveda Holistic Therapy, they had a booth that does colorful henna stickers with rhinestones.

I decided to give it a try, see how pretty the end result is!

Henna stickers with rhinestones - work in progress



Henna stickers

I like how it dresses up my sans-manicure hand instantly. Plus, application is easy and quick. Removal is fuss-free too!

I hope you like this post. Thanks for reading.

Love,
Patricia

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Korres White Tea Gel Cleanser review

May 7, 2013, 7:02 am

≫ Next: Eyemazing 101 by Jun Komori review

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What is it:

Formulated with vegetable derived soap substitutes, the White Tea fluid gel deeply cleanses and refreshes, without dehydrating the skin. While the gel is very easily rinsed off, yet the Oat proteins' moisturizing layer remains on the skin.

An active combination of oligominerals provides energy to skin cells and hydrates the skin. The White Tea liquid gel is fine-lathering to avoid over-stripping the skin. The selected combination of 100% natural cleansing agents ensures excellent tolerance by the eyes and the skin.

Directions:

Rub gently into wet skin and rinse off with plenty of water. Use once or twice daily. 

Ingredients list:

White Tea extract (Camellia sinensis), Oat proteins, oligo-minerals, glycerine, Aloe vera.

Dermatologically tested, Opthalmologically tested, soap free

My thoughts:

Although Korres White Tea Fluid Gel Cleanser was part of a customized skincare set sponsored by Korres last year, I haven't got a chance to try it until recently (and yes, I blame that on my huge stash of skincare products). For those of you whom are not familiar with Korres, its from Greece and they place emphasis on natural products.

Korres White Tea Fluid Gel Cleanser has got a nice light, natural and calming scent to it. It lathers up a little when I rub my palms together but it definitely don't create as much foam as cream cleansers.

I have got combination skin and I don't experience any tightness in my skin after cleansing my face with Korres White Tea Fluid Gel Cleanser. Instead of the very clean feeling that I get when I cleanse my face with other cleansers, Korres White Tea Fluid Gel Cleanser leaves my skin feeling moisturized.

Rating:

★★★★☆

I hope you like this post. Thanks for reading.

Love,
Patricia

Disclaimer: Although product featured in this post was sponsored, the content above consists of my honest opinion as always!

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Eyemazing 101 by Jun Komori review

May 8, 2013, 1:50 am

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Hi lovelies, today I'm going to share about Eyemazing 101 eyelashes by Japanese TV star and fashion model, Jun Komori.

Jun Komori produced 3 types of eyelashes under the Eyemazing brand, namely no. 101, 102 and 103.

Eyemazing 101

Black Base with natural black lashes for intellectual beauty! It has more lashes near the end of the at the eye a beautiful shadow due to the gradation of Natural Black lashes towards the end of lashes.

Eyemazing 102

I was unable to find any English translation for Eyemazing 102 's description, here's my thoughts on it just by looking at the picture. Although it is very similiar to Eyemazing no. 101, unlike Eyemazing 101 which is denser at the end of the eye, it is denser in front (the area near your tear ducts).  

Eyemazing 103

Black base with natural brown lashes - evaluated as the No. 1 eyelash! Very natural and soft look created with gradation begin at the half the width for a beautiful completion. Eyelashes become gradully darker from the inner corner to the tail of the eye. 

Here's a couple of pictures of me wearing Eyemazing 101 lashes.

Eyemazing 101 when worn

And here's me trying to impersonate Jun Komori 's sultry eye look. Failed attempt, I know!

Impersonating Jun Komori

Close up of Eyemazing 101 when worn

My thoughts:

In case you are wondering, I only had liquid eyeliner, kohl eyeliner and drew my brows apart from wearing Eyemazing 101 lashes for eye makeup!

If you look at the 2nd picture, you would probably notice a bit of shadow at the end of my eye on both upper eyelid and lower eyelid. Guess what? Its not because I had eye shadow on but its because of Eyemazing 101 lashes! Isn't it awesome? Yet another way to lessen the time spent on doing my eye makeup for larger and brighter eyes! I don't know about you but because I have got small eyes, I do notice a huge difference in terms of my eyes appearing larger, brighter and even the shape of my eye changes when I have got my double eyelid tape or false lashes (or both) on. In the past when I haven't really experiment with makeup that much, I really wanted double eyelid surgery because I have small, hooded or folded eyelids and in our society, big and round eyes are considered as feminine and beautiful. But now, I can fake big eyes with double eyelid tape and false lashes! I can have big eyes without surgery!

Okay, enough of digressing, you see I get excited too easily. Eyemazing 101 lashes are very easy to wear. After snipping off about 5mm off each side at the front, it took me only one try to get it on perfectly! I think it might be because the lash band is very sturdy. Eyemazing 101 lashes are very comfortable to wear. Throughout the 6-7 hours that I had it on, I did not experience any discomfort or irritation. Plus, Eyemazing lashes gives me a bit of volume yet still look natural, not over the top. What's more - the lashes feel quite soft too - this is important to someone like me whom blinks quite a fair bit because you wouldn't want your false lashes to hurt the sensitive skin below your eyes.

Tips:

- For easier application, apply eyelashes from the outer corner of the eye inwards.

- To soften eyelash band, wrap both ends of the eyelashes around your finger gently. I like to do this so that the eyelash band will be more 'curved' and I find it easier to put it on this way.

- For clean and thorough removal, wet lashes with warm water before removing, remove any excess adhesive from the band of the lashes with a tweezer carefully, dry it and put it in the eyelash box.   

I hope you like this post! Thanks for reading. If you have any questions, just comment and I will get back to you asap.

Love,
Patricia  

Price list:

Eyemazing no. 101 retails at $23.90

Disclaimer: Product featured was sent to me for review purposes but the above-mentioned consists of my honest opinion as always!

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Bellabox May 2013 Ready for Cannes Sneak Preview

May 9, 2013, 12:52 am

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Hi lovelies, I just received my Bellabox May 2013 and I can't wait to share about it with you.

Don't you think that the product description card for this month is very creative and cute - in the shape of a ticket?

On top of that, check out the sticker on the wrapper - its like saying Lights, Camera, Action!



Bellabox May 2012

First up, we have got -

Model Co Lipgloss - Striptease

What is it:
Unbeatable reflective, shimmering gloss that creates a glamourous, lacquered effect. The non-stick formula glides on evenly, leaving your lips with a lucious, long-lasting shine.

Lanvin Me Eau de Parfum

What is it:

Unique blend of tuberose, blueberries and licorice. Lanvin's head designer Alber Ebaz strove to create a parfum that defined the essence of female individuality and self-love and he succeeded in doing that with Lanvin Me. 

Dr Morita Hyaluronic Acid Essence Mask

What is it:

Reintroduces Hyaluronic Acid along with other natural ingredients to soothe and protect your skin.

Contains cucumber extract, marine collagen and seaweed.

The Lash Card (bonus item) 

What is it:

Excess mascara gets on to the card, not your lids and lashes stay separate.

Talika Eye Therapy Patch

What is it:

Developed with post-surgery technology, this reusable eye patch delivers moisturizing and anti-aging ingredients directly to the skin by osmosis. Can be reused up to 3 times.

Sasa Oil Blotting Paper

What is it:

Instantly get rid of shine for the matte look you need. Rose-scented.

I can't wait to try the items and share my thoughts on them with you!

Hope you like this post. Thanks for reading.

Love,

Patricia

To be notified of the latest beauty news, launches or events, follow me on or like SweetestSins on

SweetestSins x KMS iPhone Cover Giveaway

May 12, 2013, 6:52 pm

≫ Next: 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 4: Danshui Old Street, Taipei Main Station and Ximending

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1) Like SweetestSins and KMS California Singapore on Facebook
2) Upload a post to tell us why you are unique and tag SweetestSins and KMS California Singapore in Facebook post
3) Email me your details such as name, URL of Facebook post link and iPhone cover model (iPhone 4/iPhone 5) with the subject “Multi-colored Jewel Encrusted KMS California iPhone Cover Giveaway”

Additional information:

Giveaway ends on 31st May 2013, Friday or when up to 100 KMS iPhone covers are given away

Winners to collect KMS iPhone covers 1 working day after acknowledgement of entry by KMS” to “KMS iPhone covers can be collected from 3rd June, Monday onwards.

To be notified of the latest beauty news, launches or events, follow me on or like SweetestSins on

台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 4: Danshui Old Street, Taipei Main Station and Ximending

May 15, 2013, 7:20 pm

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On Day 4, we grabbed a quick breakfast over at Ximending before heading over to Ximen station to take the train to Danshui station.

Along the way, we spotted the setting up of 周湯豪 NICKTHEREAL 's album signing and meet the fans session (签唱会).

周湯豪台北簽唱會

Bought myself a donut from Mister Donut (Japan No.1甜甜圈專賣店) for breakfast. Make sure you get donuts from the 波堤系列, they are more chewy and special.

Mister Donut 台北西門町

108台北市萬華區漢中街110號(近捷運西門站6號出口)

Near Ximen station, exit 6

Opening hours: Mon-Sun, 10:00-23:00

http://www.misterdonut.com.tw/

Camwhored while waiting for the train to Danshui station.

淡水老街 Danshui Old Street / Tamsui Old Street

Zhongzheng Rd, Danshui District New Taipei City, Taiwan 251

Nearest station: Danshui station

Directions:

1. Head northwest toward 中正東路/台2乙線 29m

2. Continue straight onto 中正東路/台2乙線 140m

3. Turn left at 中山路

Danshui Old Street / Tamsui Old Street (淡水老街) is on the right

I have included two maps, one in English and the other in Chinese that shows the directions from Danshui station to Danshui Old Street.

Danshui Old Street is located along Gongmin Street and Zhongzheng Road.

When we reached Danshui Station, it was raining very heavily and we almost wanted to turn back because there is no way we can enjoy the scenery of Danshui Old Street when its raining. We waited for a while before it stopped raining that heavily and braved the cold dark weather with our umbrellas. The rain was also part of the reason why we didn't take any photos along the way from Danshui Station to Danshui Old Street .

But fret not because.. to make up for that, I have got the map that shows the directions from Danshui Station to Danshui Old Street in street view below.

Click here to view street view map from
Danshui station to Danshui Old Street

I guess it was the rain that got us really cold because our feet were wet from the rain so we decided to seek shelter and fill our growling stomachs at the same time at 淡水老店 喜相逢 古早味小吃店.

淡水老店 喜相逢 古早味小吃店

喜相逢

No. 2號, Zhǎngxìng St, Danshui District, New Taipei City, Taiwan 251

5 min walk from Danshui station

Thick Vermicelli Soup 古早味米粉汤 NT $30 和 Pork skin 猪肉皮 NT $30

I wanted something soupy to combat the cold so I got myself a bowl of 古早味米粉汤 which is actually bee hoon soup. 古早味 means traditional taste retained. Compared to the thick vermicelli (beehoon) soup that we have in Singapore, the rice noodles in古早味米粉汤 is not as chewy or smooth, it has got a rough texture to it and the soup taste rather bland and is quite oily. For the sides, I got myself a plate of 猪肉皮 which translates to pork skin. This is good stuff for the knees and complexion because its collagen!

Shin ordered 客家鹹猪肉 which literally translates to Hakka-styled marinated pork.

客家鹹猪肉 NT$ 70

Its very similar to that of char siew except that its fried instead of barbecued.

After lunch, it was still drizzling slightly as you can see in the photos below.

洪媽酸梅湯 (福佑宮邊)

台北縣淡水鎮中正路182號

Apparently, sour plum drink (酸梅湯) is really common in Danshui Old Street, you see stalls selling them almost everywhere.

Just beside 洪媽酸梅湯, there's this German bakery called  紅旗德國農夫面包 Berliner Landbrot and their bread smells heavenly. I was super tempted to get the Bull's horn croissant but my girlfriends rolled their eyes at me. Chuan was like, "What? You're coming Taiwan to eat croissants? Oh please!" Decided to give it a miss since I was still full from lunch.



淡水 紅旗德國農夫面包 Berliner Landbrot



Our first stop in Danshui was -

醒醐大师 (中正店)

台灣新北市淡水區中正路123號

No. 123, Zhōngzhèng Rd, Danshui District

http://www.tihudashi.com.tw/tihu.jsp

The must buy local specialty products from Danshui Old Street include:

1) 鐵蛋 (Iron Egg) and

2) 魚酥 (fish crackers)

The process of making 鐵蛋 (Iron Egg) is braising egg with soya sauce and tumeric spices before airing it with electric fan. The process is repeated daily for a week before the 鐵蛋 (Iron Egg) is ready for sale. There are quite a lot of different flavours for 鐵蛋 (Iron Egg), the more common ones include original, spicy, pepper, barbeque and garlic.

Apart from 鐵蛋 (Iron Egg), fish crackers, you can find other common local snacks such as nougat and mochi for sale.  

Part of our massive food haul

While walking down the street, we spotted another branch of 洪媽酸梅湯.

洪媽酸梅湯 (渡船頭邊)

台北縣淡水鎮中正路11巷1號

I really like how the two rows of shops converge into one so I asked Andeline to turn back so that I can snap a picture of her.

And that's me below. I think we look very 'auntie' because we had so many bags in our hands.

Here we are, opposite Danshui Fisherman's Wharf. Although it stopped raining altogether, but the skies were still gray. I like how the photos turned out to look like the effect, color splash has been applied.

Here's the boarding point for the ferry to Danshui / Tamsui Fisherman's Wharf 淡水漁人碼頭.

While we were admiring the scenery, we met this group of 3 friends (one of the guy is from Hong Kong and the other is from India while the girl is from Taichung) whom asked us to help them with a group shot and we started talking. Turns out that they were studying in Taipei and they took the chance to travel around. The Hong Kong guy uses a DSLR and he had a hard time with our compact cameras while he helping us with a group shot. Got to thank him for finding the best angle though because he was moving left and right and shifting our cameras up and down to get the best angle.    

With Shin, Andeline and Chuan at Danshui Harbour

Me at Danshui Harbour

We spotted 酸梅湯 (sour plum drink) again! This time its 阿媽的酸梅湯.

阿媽的酸梅湯

新北市淡水區中正路135之1號, Taiwan

Near Danshui Harbour

Chuan bought a cup of 酸梅湯 (sour plum drink) NT $30, approx SGD 1.30 to try. I think that it tastes like normal sour plum drink/juice, its rather refreshing though.

The shops around Danshui Harbour gives off a nostalgia feel. Its super relaxing and you just feel like slowing down your pace and embrace the natural and old-school surroundings.  

Check out the super big bowl of noodles on display (on the right) below.

As typical Singaporeans, we flock to places where there is a queue. When we saw that a queue near Danshui Harbour, we went to check it out and it turned out that people are queuing for the tower tall ice cream!

天霸王霸淇淋

Near Danshui Harbour

You get to choose either vanilla or chocolate or the best of both worlds - mixed!

Check out our tower tall ice cream!

Me with my tower tall ice cream

We took turns to take pictures of the ice cream until the ice cream started to melt and we were like, "Okay, time to eat the ice cream and stop taking photos!" Haha. The ice cream isn't fantastic but c'mon its just NT $20, approx SGD 0.85. I think its worth getting it even just to take photos, no?

There are a few shops that are pretty interesting along Danshui Harbour such as the shoe shop below, old school snacks shop and old school fun fair games store.

Check out the super big flip flops on display at this shoe shop at Danshui Harbour!

Old school snacks shop

This old school snacks shop was also where we bought a lot of nonsense. They have got sweets in super nice chinese vintage packaging that most of us can't resist.

Old school toy shop

Old school fun fair games

When we saw this, I was exclaiming, "OMG!" I mean, we don't really see these nowadays in Singapore do we? Gone were the days when our parents brought us to fun fairs over the weekend for bumper car rides, mini viking and old school games like the above which is rather hard to win. I remember that I used to pester my parents to exchange more tokens so that I can try my luck again because 3 or 5 wins allow you to trade up your prize to the super huge teddy bear or equivalent. Those were the days I tell you! As I'm saying this, I suddenly feel very old.

After that, we went in search of a good place to try the must-eat in Danshui Old Street -

1) 阿给 A-ge

2) 淡水鱼丸 Fishball soup

四十五年淡水老店淡水鱼丸

新北市淡水區中正路135-2號

This particular shop has got 45 years of history. I wonder if they change their signboard every year to add to the number of years in operation.

Shin bought Danshui fishball soup, more commonly known as 淡水魚丸, she said that she heard that these are really good.

魚丸湯 NT $35, approx SGD 1.50 for 4pcs

It is really cheap, say $1.50 for 4 fishballs. Who's the hungry fellow that ate up two even before I could snap a picture? I think they are very much like the Fuzhou fishball that we have in Singapore. In short, Danshui fishball contain minced pork. I think they are average though, not a big fan of it sadly.

And I got my 阿给 A-ge! I have been wanting to try this since forever, ever since I saw it on a food variety show and the host was saying that its a must-try if you are at Danshui (Tamsui)!

You might ask, what exactly is 阿给 A-ge? What's the fuss about?

Well, 阿给 A-ge is actually taupok (fried beancurd) stuffed with tanghoon (冬粉/glass noodles) soaked in braised sauce, sealed with fish paste, steamed and drizzled with sweet sauce before served.

Presenting to you.. my  阿给 A-ge!

阿给 A-ge NT $35, approx SGD 1.50

I think you will like 阿给 A-ge if you are a big fan of yong tau fu. Just imagine, fish cake with glass noodles and sweet sauce that taste like satay sauce! Even though I was really full, I ate quite a bit because the glass noodles were too good to be passed! Its really smooth and fragrant. Shin only took a bite or two while Chuan and I love 阿给 A-ge very much. We didn't finish it though because its really a huge serving. We were told that 阿给 A-ge keeps you very full and is of a very generous  serving because it is a fisherman's staple - they have it before going out or coming back from fishing to keep themselves full.

After filling our stomachs, we walked around Danshui Old Street and came across many traditional architecture.

Busy street along Danshui Old Street

Ramen mascot or raincoat hanger?

We spotted this super cute and girly boneless cheese pork cutlet.

Cheese Boneless Pork Cutlet

Then, we left Danshui Old Street and headed back to Danshui station as we had other places in mind for the day. Here's what we came across on the way back.

Eudora, European-inspired/styled cafe

Spotted Yoshinoya

Danshui station

Danshui Station is very special, built with red bricks, very similar to that of shop houses seen in Danshui Old Street.

I took the picture below from the train. Check out the not just double but multi duplex Mcdonalds!

Spotted McDonalds!

We headed to Taipei Main Station 台北車站 next to get our train tickets 台铁票 because we wanted to head to Taichung for a day trip the day after.

While we were getting our tickets from the automated machine, there was a speaker that kept repeating, "便当，好吃的铁路便当，快来买哦!" which translates to (Bento, awesome railway bento, get yours now!)

台铁路便当 Taiwan Railway Bento

The most traditional railway bento would be the Pork Rib Bento, it is the cheapest among all - only NT $60 (SGD 2.50).

Passed by Breeze Center at Taipei Main Station and I was drawn to the pretty and girly window display of Lavshuca. Its inspired by a dressing table!

We went to check out 李儀餅店 that was introduced by one of our friend since it was along the way.We were told that their pineapple tarts and suncake (literally translated from 太阳饼 tai yang bing) are very good.

李儀餅店
台北站*站前*地下街11-2B
國光客運.西站A棟(往桃園機場、基隆的巴士站)Z3入口,懷寧街Z6入口
Opening hours: 10am - 8:30pm
http://www.lecake.com.tw/

They have got butter suncake, curry pastry, yam pastry apart from just pineapple tarts and the original suncake. 

We thought that we would get a few boxes of pastries for our friends and family on the spot so we need not travel back again but it turned out that they don't have any extras for sale that day. Hence, we had to place our order and let them know when we will be collecting it. 

I have included maps below to show you guys how the directions to 李儀餅店 from 台北站.

Backa at Ximending, we came across 哇青蛙下蛋 (frog lay eggs) - which I remember trying on my last Taiwan trip in 2004.

That's all for my Day 4 in Taiwan. I hope you like this post. Thanks for reading.

Love,

Patricia

You might want to check out these posts:

✰ Taiwan Taipei Accomodation/Hotel: ECFA Hotel Wan Nian 愛客發時尚旅館萬年館 review
✰ 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 1: Taipei Ximending and Shi Da Ye Shi
✰ 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 2: Ximending, Taipei 101, agnes b cafe, Wufenpu and Raohe Night Market
✰ 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 3: Sogo, Hello Kitty Sweets Cafe and Miramar Entertainment Park
✰ 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 4: Danshui Old Street, Taipei Main Station and Ximending

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Hatomugi Lotion Skin Conditioner review

May 18, 2013, 5:53 am

≫ Next: Elite Models Tapis Rouge Cinema Volume Mascara review

≪ Previous: 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 4: Danshui Old Street, Taipei Main Station and Ximending

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What is it:

Contains natural plant extract, hatomugi (coix seed)

- A moisturizing and non-sticky lotion that penetrates easily into areas of dry skin.

- Provides ample moisture to the skin, keeping it smooth and free from roughness

- For best results, pour a generous amount of Hatomugi lotion onto cotton pads and apply it as a face mask for approximately 5-10 minutes daily. 

- Soothes skin after sunburn, has cooling and tightening effect. 

- Can be used as a face and body mist.

- Use generously after a shower or bath by lightly padding it into the skin for moisturizing effect. 

- Fragrance and color free.

Ingredients:

Water, Butylene Glycol, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, Coix Lacryma, Jobi (Job's Tears) Seed Extract, Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer, Dipropylene Glycol, Alcohol, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Methylparaben, Propylparaben

Made in Japan

My thoughts:

I was first introduced to Hatomugi Lotion Skin Conditionerat More and more matte with Dejavu event. If you haven't already know, it is the number one selling lotion on Amazon Japan as well as a top selling product on Cosme.com!

I have been using Hatomugi Lotion Skin Conditioner ever since I ran out of my trusty Hada Labo Super Hyaluronic Acid Lotion and I thought that its time to review it since I have been using it for more than 2 months.

Initially, I wasn't quite used to the light and watery texture of Hatomugi Lotion Skin Conditioner especially having switched from Hada Labo Super Hyaluronic Acid Lotion which is thicker in texture. But overtime, I grew to love Hatomugi Lotion Skin Conditioner.

Because Hatomugi Skin Conditioner comes in a very big bottle at a very affordable price (which I will reveal at the end of the post), I can afford to be very generous with it. I usually pour quite a bit of it onto a cotton pad and pad it all over my face. I like how cooling Hatomugi Skin Conditioner feels on my face. What's more its non-sticky and it absorbs rather quickly into the skin. Its pretty moisturizing too. I read some Japanese beauty blogs and most of the Japanese beauty bloggers raved about how Hatomugi Skin Conditioner moisturizes even dry skin and is good for people that have trouble with pores and acne. Besides, I can use it for DIY lotion mask!

The only thing that I was uncomfortable with trying Hatomugi Skin Conditioner out initially was that it contains alcohol and my skin can't really take products with alcohol most of the time. Surprisingly, my skin could take it and the only reaction that my skin had was that it felt slightly tight after I applied Hatomugi Skin Conditioner.  

Rating:

★★★★☆

I hope you like this post. Thanks for reading.

Love,
Patricia

Price list:

Hatomugi Lotion Skin Conditioner $10.90

Available at SaSa.

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Elite Models Tapis Rouge Cinema Volume Mascara review

June 3, 2013, 6:15 pm

≫ Next: 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 5: Taichung Sitou Monster Village 台中溪头妖怪村 and Fengjia Night Market 逢甲夜市

≪ Previous: Hatomugi Lotion Skin Conditioner review

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What is it: 

Achieve red carpet moments with this amplifying mascara that separates each lash for a net result with its unique 300 bristles brush.

I was first introduced to Elite Models makeup over at Watsons Beauty Day Out. 

For those of you whom are not familiar with Elite, here's a little background information on the brand. 

About Elite

Founded in Paris in 1972, it is the no. 1 modeling agency in the world and home to some of the world's most renowned fashion models. 

Elite models cosmetics is developed to bring the latest makeup trends to the everyday woman. Inspired by runway fashion, Elite aims to provide fashionable, innovative, professional and affordable makeup to help one look and 'be a supermodel in your own way'.

If you haven't already know, I have got hooded/hidden/folded lids and it makes my eyelashes seem shorter than they really are. Although my lashes ain't exactly what you would call short but they grow straight down, hence I can never do without a good eyelash curler. At the last count, I have got a total of 4 eyelash curlers!

Here are my bare lashes before applying mascara.

Bare lashes before applying mascara

Curled and applied Elite Models Tapis Rouge Cinema Volume mascara on my right eye (or left eye as you see in the picture below).

Left: with Elite Models Tapis Rouge Cinema Volume mascara | Right: bare lashes

Here's how my lashes look after applying 3 coats of mascaras on both sides.

with 3 coats of Elite Models Tapis Rouge Cinema Volume Mascara

Volume: ★★★★☆

In terms of volume, I think that Elite Models Tapis Rouge Cinema Volume Mascara does a good job. It thickens my lashes at the very first coat. 

However, after adding subsequent coats of mascara, it becomes a little clumpy. There's nothing a lash brush can't fix though. I swear by my good old trusty lash brush from Cyber Colors that I got from Sasa (I have got 2 of them) -  not only it helps to separate my lashes and remove the clumps, I use it to soften my brows after drawing them too!

Length: ★★★☆☆

In terms of length, it doesn't lengthen my lashes as much as I would like such as Maybelline Volum Express Magnum Ultra Comb Waterproof Mascara or Kate Volume Mascara FR does.

Anti-smudge: ★★★☆☆ 

By mid-day, I noticed slight mascara smudges under my eye. It can be removed easily with tissue using gentle swipes though. 

At the end of the day before I remove my makeup, I noticed slight mascara smudges on my undereye again. The mascara smudges are quite subtle compared to the times when I use other mascaras.  

Ease of removal: ★★★★☆ 

In terms of removing Elite Models Tapis Rouge Cinema Volume mascara, I tell you - its such a breeze! Why do I say so? Well, it is because - Elite Models Tapis Rouge Cinema Volume mascara can be removed with just cleansing water alone! I normally follow up with either cleansing gel or foam just to make sure that its properly cleansed though. 

Overall: 3.5/5

Here's a portrait of me with just Elite Models Tapis Rouge Cinema Volume mascara for my eye makeup, no eyeliner or anything else except that I had my brows drawn.

I think with just mascara alone, it helps to open up my eyes and make me look more awake.

No wonder Kevin 凯文老师 said in an episode of Queen, 女人我最大 (Nu Ren Wo Zui Da) that he would rather that girls apply mascara alone instead of eyeliner alone if they are in a rush because mascara helps to open up our eyes and make it look brighter.

I hope you like this post! Thanks for reading!

Love,
Patricia

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台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 5: Taichung Sitou Monster Village 台中溪头妖怪村 and Fengjia Night Market 逢甲夜市

June 9, 2013, 5:09 am

≫ Next: 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 7: Ximending 西门町 and Taoyuan International Airport 桃園國際機場

≪ Previous: Elite Models Tapis Rouge Cinema Volume Mascara review

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Hi lovelies, I'm back with blogging about my Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 5. Though my updates are slow (travel posts require more time to write compared to beauty reviews), I'm determined to finish this series, followed by my Korea Trip in November/December 2012 and my recent Taiwan Yilan Taichung and Taipei trip in May 2013.

We bought our Taiwan Railway train tickets the day before at NT$ 676, approx SGD$ 28.30 each.

There are different types of train - Tze Chiang Limited Express,  Chu-Kuang Express and Fu-Hsing Semi Express. We chose Tze Chiang Limited Express because Tze Chiang is the fastest of all train classes and also because it has got reserved seating meaning that you get a seat reserved for yourself. It is also the highest class of deluxe express passenger train and has the highest ticket price per mile (most expensive). 

Did you know that Tze Chiang was named after Mr. Chiang Kai-Shek, the former President of Taiwan (Republic of China) issued a speech to his military and civilian compatriots to urged the country to respect the homeland, strengthen self (Tzu-Chiang), respond to change without fear. Hence, Tzu-Chiang is sometimes referred to as "Self-Strengthening Express".

As the train tickets that we got from Taipei to Taichung was for 9am in the morning, we woke up super early and took Taipei Metro to Taipei Main Station from Ximen Station. The metro station is connected to the basement of the railway station. 

Entrance of Taipei Railway Station 台铁台北站

While waiting for our train, I took a picture of this train conductor. I think he's dressed very smartly, no? 

Taiwan Railway Train Conductor

And here comes our Tze Chiang train - easily identified by its bright cheery orange color. 

Don't say I didn't warn you. The trains in Taiwan arrive very punctually and leave after a minute. Our train came at 9am sharp and it left at 9.01am. So make sure that you reach the station early or on time and not late if not you won't be able to catch the train. 

As mentioned earlier, we took the 9am Taiwan railway train from Taipei to Taichung. Check out how crowded the train was early in the morning! It was filled with students, housewives, tourists, the elderly and even businessmen.

We just had to take these obligatory tourist shots. 

Andeline and me on Taiwan Railway train from Taipei to Taichung

Self-shot with Andeline

While the girls were catching up on sleep, I took the chance to snap some scenic pictures for keepsake and to share with you my lovely readers of SweetestSins. I mean, how often am I on a train (excluding SMRT of course) and how often do I get to look out of the train window and see lush green scenery (excluding the view of Lower Seletar Reservoir between Khatib and Yio Chu Kang train station) and old buildings?

I really like the picture that I took of the girl with her yellow umbrella waiting for her train to come below. Somehow, the picture alone seem to convey a lot of unspoken words. 

Spotted a lot of transmission lines, something we don't really see in Singapore anymore.

These old buildings reminds me so much of those in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong.

Not long after, we reached Fengyuan Railway Station and that meant that we aren't far from reaching Taichung Railway station.

Fengyuan Railway Station 豐原火车站

We finally reached Taichung Railway Station 台中車站 after 2 h 18 mins. 

Check out how orderly the Taiwanese are after getting down from the train. We have got a lot to learn from them!

Spotted this drinks vending machine at the platform of Taichung Railway Station. How convenient, no? 

Drinks vending machine

There's a tourist information centre at Taichung Railway Station hence we went to enquire about how to get to 妖怪村 Monster Village and the girl there told us to take a bus from 南投客運 Nantou Bus Transportation. 南投客運 Nantou Bus Transportation isn't exactly near Taichung Railway Station, its about a 9 minutes walk away from Taichung Railway Station. Thinking back, I'm quite proud of ourselves because we managed to find the place without Google maps or anything and with just the directions that the girl from the tourist information centre gave and us asking an auntie for directions at the wet market that we passed by. 

Here are some street view photos that I took while walking from Taichung Railway Station to 南投客運 Nantou Bus Transportation. 

We passed by this wet market that had live chickens! Its such a rare sight I must say. In Singapore, the chickens that we see in supermarkets and wet markets are all dead and skinned.

We finally arrived at 南投客運 Nantou Bus Transportation.

南投客運 (台中站) Nantou Bus Transportation (Taichung Railway Station)
干城車站雙十路一段35-8號
台中火車站乘車處－火車站左斜對面神鑑大樓前  (原金沙百貨)

They offer bus routes to attractions such as Sun Moon Lake and Cingjing farm too!

I know you are probably asking, "So how do I get to 南投客運 Nantou Bus Transportation from Taichung Railway Station?" 

I have included a map below that shows you the route from Taichung Railway Station to 南投客運 Nantou Bus Transportation. 

Directions to 南投客運 Nantou Bus Transportation from 台中火車站 Taichung Railway Station

1. Head northeast on 中山路

2. Turn left toward 建國路

3. Turn right onto 建國路

4. Slight right onto 雙十路一段

Click here to view street view map to 南投客運 Nantou Bus Transportation from 台中火車站 Taichung Railway Station

We got our tickets from 南投客運 Nantou Bus Transportation to Sitou Monster Village 溪头 妖怪村 for NT$ 165, approx SGD$ 6.90. 

As we still have some time to kill before the bus departs, we decided to have brunch at one of the eatery near 南投客運 Nantou Bus Transportation. Yes, you heard me right - I said brunch. We skipped breakfast altogether because we thought that we could get Taiwan Railway bentos 台铁便当 either at Taipei Railway Station or onboard train. Turns out that we were too early and they haven't started selling them at Taipei Railway Station and there wasn't anyone selling them onboard our train. Such a bummer right? T_T

公园小吃

3 Gongyuan Road, Zhong District, Taiwan

Our NT$50 fried rice

At least our NT$ 50, approx SGD $2.10 fried rice with pork and pork floss made up for it! Its such a simple dish yet its close to heart because it taste like home. The lady boss was very friendly, she offered us free soup which we didn't take because we were already very full given the very generous serving of fried rice.

After brunch, we headed to Hi-Life (convenience store) to get drinks before we headed up to our bus for the 90 minute journey to Sitou 溪头.

This is how our shuttle bus look like from the inside.

南投客運 Nantou Bus Transportation Shuttle Bus to Sitou 溪头

And here's how our shuttle bus look like from inside. Its looks very similar to Freego bus 飛狗巴士 (airport shuttle bus) that we took from Taoyuan International Airport to Zhongxiao Fuxing station. 

It is quite spacious and quite comfortable.

After 90 minutes and going round and round the mountains, we finally reached Sitou 溪头!

This is what greeted us when we alighted from the bus.  

It reminds me very much of Genting. Well, its up in the highlands too, probably that explains the similarity!

Monster Village 妖怪村 is about a 5 minute walk from our drop-off point. 

Once you see these Japanese lanterns, you are a few steps away from entering Monster Village 妖怪村.

溪头松林町 妖怪村 Monster Village

No 2-3, Xingchan Road, Lugu Township, Nantou County 558, Taiwan
南投縣鹿谷鄉內湖村興產路2-3號, 558

Opening hours:
Mon - Fri: 10am - 8pm
Sat - Sun: 10am - 9pm

Entrance fee:
Free

http://www.facebook.com/TheMonsterVillage
http://www.mingshan.com.tw/

About Xitou Monster Village 溪頭怪物村/松林町: Japanese style village built in 2011, located near Xitou Nature Education Area. A torii, a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found within a Shinto shrine, stands at the entrance of the village. It marks the transition from the profane to the sacred. Cute Japanese monster statues are all over this small village and red lanterns hang on the eaves. Restaurants and souvenir shops are named after different kind of Japanese monsters. During the Japanese occupation of Taiwan, Kubota (久保田) and Katsuichi Matsubayashi (松林勝一) were close friends and worked together in Xitou. Kubota was Japanese and Matsubayashi was Taiwanese (in that period, all locals were forced to use Japanese name). Their friendship lasted even after Japan lost WWII and Kubota went back to Japan. Kubota ran a bakery with his wife and named it Matsubayashi Kubota. However, years later the bakery was destroyed by fire and his wife died. Matsubayashi knew about it by mail and sent some money to Kubota. In 1974, Matsubayashi received another mail from Kubota. Kubota mentioned in the mail that he had a wooden sculpture and wanted to give it to Matsubayashi as a present. They did not manage to meet each other for the last time.  Before Matsubayashi died, he told his descendants to fulfill his last wish. The wooden sculpture is placed in Ming Shan Resort. In order to commemorate their friendship, Ming Shan Resort built Monster Village and named it after Matsubayashi. Meanwhile, a bakery was named after Kubota. Today, tourists can be seen queuing up in front of the bakery at two intervals, 10:30am and 14:30pm for freshly baked bread.

Our spirits were dampened because it was raining when we got to Xitou Monster Village 溪頭怪物村/松林町.

Although Xitou Monster Village 溪頭怪物村/松林町 is a small place (you only require at most 45 minutes to walk through it), it feels very calming and peaceful especially with the cool weather (about 23-25 degrees celsius) and traditional Japanese music playing in the background.

The main attraction of Xitou Monster Village 溪頭怪物村/松林町 is that you will spot these 'little monsters' throughout the monster village. If you are keen on staying in the vicinity of Xitou Monster Village 溪頭怪物村/松林町, Ming Shan Resort would be a good option. 

Here is a full list of the stores in Xitou Monster Village 溪頭怪物村/松林町.

- 妖怪雜舖
- 利元居酒屋
- 黑心店
- 山大王 包子簡
- 妖怪診所
- 妖雞
- 無爛餃鍋貼
- 佳泰茶行
- 有機芭樂
- 茶生津
- 蕃薯の家
- 妖怪映像館
- 梅珍花生糖
- 大嶽蔬果舖
- 台灣老味
- 精靈屋

There are actually quite a number of stores within Xitou Monster Village 溪頭怪物村/松林町 ranging from a bakery, teahouses to stores selling souvenirs, food/snacks such as fried chicken, gyoza, tea, guava, sweet potato, peanut candy etc.

大嶽蔬果舖

妖怪診所

This is the store that we spent most of our time in checking out the merchandise that they have for sale. 

Check out the Marlboro and Pepsi lookalike packaging! 

They have got clinical theme for their packaging as well - think syringes and x-ray machines! 

When I saw the vintage set-up below, I knew that I had to take a picture of it because it reminds me so much of old school provision shops that I used to go to with Grandma when I was younger. I didn't understand why she had to buy groceries from not just one but three different places - the supermarket, wet market and then the provision shop. 

This packaging cracked me up again because it reminded me of Wang Wang rice crackers (旺旺仙贝).

And instead of Salonpas, we have got Salongpass in Xitou Monster Village 溪頭怪物村/松林町.

KEC 妖雞

In Xitou Monster Village 溪頭怪物村/松林町, they have KEC fried chicken instead of KFC.

Check out this lovely vintage tricycle that I spotted outside 久保田 Bakery (久保田面包店) in Xitou Monster Village 溪頭怪物村/松林町. 

Vintage tricycle

Around 2:20, we went to queue for 久保田 Bakery (久保田面包店)'s 咬人猫面包 (literally translates to as human-biting cat bread).

久保田 Bakery (久保田面包店)

久保田 Bakery (久保田面包店) bakes fresh bread for sale at two intervals (10.30am and 2.30pm) daily. Once the bread is sold out, you can only wait for the next batch if not the next day because they won't bake any more. Not to worry about the supply because the bakery limits each customer to a maximum of 2 咬人猫面包 (literally translates to as human-biting cat bread). 

咬人猫面包 NTD $30

咬人猫面包 (literally translates to as human-biting cat bread) has got ham and cheese filling in it. While it certainly ain't the best-tasting ham and cheese bread that I have tried so far, it did certainly keep us full and warm from the cold rain. 

There's photo taking opportunity at every corner of Monster Village 妖怪村. They have got lot of huge artifacts on display.

Andeline and Shin

I wasn't lying when I said that Monster Village 妖怪村 looks very serene. Don't you all secretly wish that you can live in somewhere like that in the midst of the woods and near Mother Nature?

Mr Postman says hello!

I can't remember the name of this store in Monster Village 妖怪村 but its yet another store that we spent most of our time in choosing gifts for family, friends and colleagues. 

They have got a lot of confectionery such as - 

Chocolates

and other food stuffs such as - 

Cup noodles

Lollipop

Here's my humble haul from Monster Village 妖怪村. Got these partly because of the cute packaging. I know I'm not supposed to buy things just because of the nice packaging but I guess I wanted to get something from Monster Village 妖怪村 especially after spending such long hours to get there.  

妖怪面 Monster Cup Noodles NT$ 35

妖怪巧克力 Monster Chocolate NT$ 100

精靈屋

Check out what I spotted, yet another vintage artifact - wheel cart!

妖怪映像館

妖怪雜舖

山大王 包子簡

They have got foot massage in Monster Village 溪头妖怪村 too!

After we finished touring Monster Village 溪头妖怪村, we took 南投客運 Nantou Bus Transportation shuttle bus back to 台中火車站 Taichung Railway Station.

Back at 台中火車站 Taichung Railway Station, we checked with the girl at the Tourist Information Counter what are the public buses that we can take to Fengjia night market 逢甲夜市. She told us a few buses that we can take and off we went to the bus stop outside 台中火車站 Taichung Railway Station.

We made a big mistake - instead of taking any of the buses that she advised us, we hopped onto Bus 33 (1st bus to arrive at the bus stop) when we saw Fengjia night market 逢甲夜市 on its LED screen.

Interior of Taichung Bus 33 / 台中客運

This was a real bad move because it took us more than 30 stops to get to Fengjia night market 逢甲夜市 and it got most of us real dizzy because we have been traveling on rail and bus for already more than 4 hours before that.

Travel tip #1: 

Always ask for directions and bus routes when in doubt and double/triple check with bus driver before boarding.

We alighted at Fengjia University (逢甲大学) Fuxing Road (福星路).

Fengjia University (逢甲大学)

We wasted no time by diving into Fengjia night market 逢甲夜市 straight to check out what it has to offer. 

After all, Fengjia night market 逢甲夜市 is the largest night market in Taiwan and a lot of Taiwan bloggers raved about how Fengjia night market 逢甲夜市 is the best night market to shop and eat (street food)! 

逢甲夜市 Fengjia Night Market 
Xitun District, Taichung City, Taiwan 407
台中市西屯區逢甲路跟福星路交叉口

Public transport - buses:
台中客運 Taichung Bus no. 27, 35 or 
仁友客運 Ren You Bus no. 22, 25, 37, 45, 46

86碳烤雞排
台中市西屯區逢甲路20巷16號 (全家便利商店旁 - next to Familymart)

Opening hours:
Mon-Thurs 3.30pm - 1am
Fri-Sun 3.30pm - 2am

http://0987098715.tranews.com/

What is so special about 86碳烤雞排 is that after deep-frying the chicken cutlet, it is barbecued over charcoal so it retains its juiciness. 

碳烤雞排 Charcoal BBQ chicken cutlet, NT $55

Couldn't resist snapping a picture of these super huge prawns from Thailand.

As we walked down the street, I spotted a shop selling - oyster omelette 蚵仔煎! I love oyster omelette, its one of those local favorites that I will waste my calories on. 

廟東蒜肉飯蚵仔煎
台中市西屯區逢甲路20巷內

蚵仔煎 NT$ 55

I bought the oyster omelette 蚵仔煎 to try but I guess we were too hungry that we gobbled it up even before taking a picture of it. The oysters are very fresh. What makes it different from the Singapore (local) version is that instead of chili sauce served on the side, sweet sauce is drizzled on it and it comes with one serving of vegetables.

We had to leave Fengjia night market 逢甲夜市 around 9+ as we had to take a bus back to 台中火車站 Taichung Railway Station to catch our train back to Taipei. 

Travel tip #2:

Never ever do a one-day trip to Taichung. Its not advisable because it will be too rushed and you can't simply finish walking or shopping Fengjia night market in a day.

When we finally boarded the train at Taichung, we were relieved that we didn't miss our train. We were so exhausted by our one day trip to Taichung from Taipei that we slept throughout the entire journey back to Taipei. 

Check out how empty the train (Taipei Railway) is at night! 

When we reached Taipei Railway Station, we saw on the LCD panel that the last train back heading back to Ximen Station (heading towards the direction of Yongning station) is approaching Taipei Main Station hence we ran all the way from the exit of Taipei Railway Station to Taipei Main Station.

With that, it sums up our Day 5 in Taiwan, Taichung. 

I hope you like this post and do check back for my Day 6 and Day 7 blog post!

Love,

Patricia

You might want to check out these posts:

✰ Taiwan Taipei Accomodation/Hotel: ECFA Hotel Wan Nian 愛客發時尚旅館萬年館 review
✰ 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 1: Taipei Ximending and Shi Da Ye Shi
✰ 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 2: Ximending, Taipei 101, agnes b cafe, Wufenpu and Raohe Night Market
✰ 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 3: Sogo, Hello Kitty Sweets Cafe and Miramar Entertainment Park
✰ 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 4: Danshui Old Street, Taipei Main Station and Ximending
✰ 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 5: Taichung Sitou Monster Village 台中溪头妖怪村 and Fengjia Night Market 逢甲夜市

To be notified of the latest beauty news, launches or events, follow me on or like SweetestSins on

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台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 7: Ximending 西门町 and Taoyuan International Airport 桃園國際機場

August 10, 2013, 4:57 am

≫ Next: SKII Cellumination Blogger Challenge

≪ Previous: 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 5: Taichung Sitou Monster Village 台中溪头妖怪村 and Fengjia Night Market 逢甲夜市

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After checking out from ECFA Hotel Wan Nian, we headed to ECFA Ximen Branch or 愛客發西門館 (本館) as the ECFA staff refer it as. Reason being - Freego bus only pick up passengers from ECFA Ximen Branch 愛客發西門館 (本館) and not ECFA Hotel Wan Nian that we were staying at.

愛客發西門館
台北市萬華區成都路101號1樓
1F., No.101, Chengdu Rd., Wanhua Dist., Taipei City 108, Taiwan

We left our luggage at the hotel lobby and we went for breakfast at KFC since it was round the corner. Taiwan's KFC has got shao bing etc that is unique to their country.

After breakfast, we took a train to Taipei Main Station to pick up our suncake (literally translated from 太阳饼 tai yang bing) from 李儀餅店 that we ordered 3 days in advance.

Click here for 李儀餅店 address and directions from Taipei Main Station 台北站.

Check out the amount of suncake (太阳饼 tai yang bing) that we bought in total! They remind me so much of lego bricks haha. 

Saw these freshly-made yam pastry 芋頭酥 when picking up our sun cake (太阳饼 tai yang bing), couldn't resist but to pick up a box of them. 



Yam pastry 芋頭酥



The girls and I decided to do some last minute shopping at Cosmed to stock up on some of our favourite beauty products. For those of you whom are unfamiliar with Cosmed, you might want to check out my post, Beauty Sightings in Taiwan Cosmed to know what to expect from Cosmed. 

Chuan and Andeline stocked up on Skin79 Super Beblesh Balm (BB) cream and Sexylook Duo Lifting masks.

After that, we took the train back to Ximen Station, got our refund for any leftover value in our Easycard 悠遊卡 (the equivalent of our ez-link card in Singapore). 

The Freego bus driver was very kind to help us with our luggage up the bus when he saw that the 4 of us are girls. We had to take a smaller bus from ECFA Ximen Branch before transferring to a bigger bus at a transfer point. The smaller bus didn't have the undercarriage luggage compartment like the bigger bus so luggages have to be carried up onto the bus.

We were famished by then so we grabbed lunch at the airport. 

卤鸡腿饭

流沙包 Custard bun 小笼包 Soup dumplings

猪脚面 Pig trotters noodles

Before boarding, we passed by this Hello Kitty store that was too cute to be missed! 

Hello Kitty Travel Store

After 4 hours, we landed in Singapore Changi Airport. 

Us back in Singapore

I don't know why although its fun to travel, nothing can describe the feeling I get each time I touch down at Changi Airport - back home to where I belong. 

I finally managed to finish my Taiwan Trip 2012 travelogue. Gonna start working on my Korea Trip 2012 posts soon. Super excited to share about my Korea trip with you guys. Till then, stay tuned yea? 

Love, 

Patricia


You might be interested in these posts:

✰ Taiwan Taipei Accomodation/Hotel: ECFA Hotel Wan Nian 愛客發時尚旅館萬年館 review

✰ 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 1: Taipei Ximending and Shi Da Ye Shi

✰ 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 2: Ximending, Taipei 101, agnes b cafe, Wufenpu and Raohe Night Market

✰ 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 3: Sogo, Hello Kitty Sweets Cafe and Miramar Entertainment Park

✰ 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 4: Danshui Old Street, Taipei Main Station and Ximending

✰ 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 5: Taichung Sitou Monster Village 台中溪头妖怪村 and Fengjia Night Market 逢甲夜市

✰ 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 6: Shilin Night Market 士林夜市, Ximending 西门町 and 太平洋SOGO忠孝馆

✰ 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 7: Ximending 西门町 and Taoyuan International Airport 桃園國際機場

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SKII Cellumination Blogger Challenge

August 12, 2013, 7:26 pm

≫ Next: Bellabox July 2013: American Beauty

≪ Previous: 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 7: Ximending 西门町 and Taoyuan International Airport 桃園國際機場

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Prior to trying out SKII Cellumination range, I went down to the SKII counter over at BHG Bugis for my SKII Magic Ring skin analysis.

1st Magic Ring skin analysis result (before starting on SKII Cellumination range)

I started on my SKII Cellumination Regimen after I came back from Taiwan. This time round I went to places like Yilan, Taichung and Taipei. We visited lots of sightseeing places and boy, the sun was scorching hot! I came back with not just one but two shades darker! Even my fellow colleague was like, "Patricia, you're looking brown after your Taiwan trip!" I even have got colleagues asking me if I went to Phuket instead of Taiwan.

I was determined to get fairer or at the very least brighten up my skintone. I don't want to look like Justice Bao whom I have been made reference to. I guess in our society, especially in Asia, we still embrace fair skin afterall. Why do I say so? Well, I have been asked a lot of times, "Why are you so tanned? Why do you go tanning? Why are you so dark? You mean you like to be tanned? You're not Singaporean, are you? Do you know you look like you're from Country X (usually less-developed countries)? You sure you're 100% Chinese?" I do get hurt whenever someone makes a comment like that. To answer the questions above, I actually do not like to be tanned. The reason why I am so tanned is because I get tanned easily and due to the fact that I had to spend a lot of time in the sun for footdrill and physical training sessions when I was in Secondary school as I was from the Red Cross then. Plus, I swam a lot when I was a teenager. When I was in Polytechnic, I still swam and play tennis occasionally. I haven't been to the beach for tanning session since my Poly days but still, I am not getting any fairer. Sometimes, I will be really tempted to go for whitening drips/injections to get fairer faster but then again, I didn't because I was afraid of the side effects after the treatment plus its not a one-off thing, you will have to go for treatments every  month to maintain it.

I have been using SKII Cellumination Mask-in Lotion, Cellumination Essence EX and Cellumination Day Surge UV for more than 2 months now and I thought that its time that I share my thoughts on them with you.

Here's a summary of my Magic Ring skin analysis results on 3 different occasions over the period of 2 months.

Date	Texture Refinement	Firmness Power	Wrinkle Resilience	Spot Control	Radiance Enhancement	Total
3 June	26	57	60	54	49	55
9 July	48	51	50	65	51	53
5 August	63	48	49	57	53	54

Let me share with you my day and night skincare routine.

Day

Cleanser > SKII Cellumination Mask-in Lotion > Cellumination Essence EX > Cellumination Day Surge UV > Makeup

Night

Double cleanse > SKII Cellumination Mask-in Lotion > Cellumination Essence EX > Stempower

After 5 weeks of embarking on my SKII Cellumination regimen, I had my 2nd Magic Ring skin analysis.

2nd Magic Ring skin analysis result (after 5 weeks of using SKII Cellumination range)

	3 June	9 July	Difference
Texture Refinement	26	48	22
Firmness Power	57	51	-6
Wrinkle Resilience	60	50	-10
Spot Control	54	65	11
Radiance Enhancement	49	51	2
Total	55	53	-2

Boy, I was surprised that my total score dropped! Of all, my texture refinement improved the most, followed by spot control and radiance enhancement. My wrinkle resilience and firmness power results became worse, each scoring -6 and -10 respectively.

I was rather concerned about it hence I asked my beauty advisor why is that so. She recommended that I use SKII Facial Treatment Essence after SKII Cellumination Mask-in Lotion by dabbing it onto my face with a cotton pad before swiping it with upward motion.

Hence, I incorporated SKII Facial Treatment into my skincare routine thereafter. Here's my skincare routine as of 9 July.

Day

Cleanser > SKII Cellumination Mask-in Lotion > SKII Facial Treatment Essence > Cellumination Essence EX > Cellumination Day Surge UV > Makeup

Night

Double cleanse > SKII Cellumination Mask-in Lotion > SKII Facial Treatment Essence> Cellumination Essence EX > Stempower

3rd Magic Ring skin analysis result (after starting on SKII Cellumination range including the usage of Facial Treatment Essence)

	9 July	5 August	Difference
Texture Refinement	48	63	15
Firmness Power	51	48	-3
Wrinkle Resilience	50	49	-1
Spot Control	65	57	-8
Radiance Enhancement	51	53	2
Total	53	54	1

After incorporating SKII Facial Treatment Essence into my skincare routine for close to a month, my texture refinement improved the most, followed by radiance enhancement. However, my spot control, firmness power and wrinkle resilience results became worse.

Let's look at my Magic Ring skin analysis results over the period of 2 months, comparing my before and after results of using SKII Cellumination range.

	3 June	5 August	Difference
Texture Refinement	26	63	37
Firmness Power	57	48	-9
Wrinkle Resilience	60	49	-11
Spot Control	54	57	3
Radiance Enhancement	49	53	4
Total	55	54	-1

From the analysis, my texture refinement improved the most, followed by radiance and spot control. As for wrinkle resilience and firmness power, I guess I will still need to work on them.

After sharing my Magic Ring skin analysis results with you, I would like to share with you my thoughts on each of the SKII products I have tried from SKII Cellumination range. 

SKII Cellumination Mask in Lotion

What is it:

First step in the way to glowing skin is the Cellumination Mask-in Lotion. This unique everyday lotion offers mask-like hydration benefits, boosting skin’s hydration levels throughout the day so skin stays well-moisturized, soft and supple.

My thoughts:

I first came across SKII Cellumination Mask-in Lotion at Translucent Aura Bright Skin Media Event and I told myself its one of the SKII product I must definitely try out. You might be wondering why is it called Mask-in Lotion. Well, it is because SKII Cellumination Mask-in Lotion hydrates the skin just like how facial masks do!

You can use SKII Cellumination Mask-in Lotion either by pouring it onto a facial cotton pad before patting it on your face or pouring it directly on your palm and pat it onto your skin (akin to how the model uses Hada Labo SHA lotion on TV commercials). Personally, I prefer the latter as I feel that it absorbs better and faster into my skin.

In terms of texture, its slightly thicker than Hada Labo SHA lotion. SKII Cellumination Mask-in Lotion reminds me of Albion Excia Whitening Lotion.

I might use SKII Cellumination Mask-in Lotion as a lotion mask in future if I'm feeling extravagant.

SKII Cellumination Essence EX

What is it:

Designed to improve both RGB balance and RGB variance for brilliant translucent aura skin, as if you are wearing light foundation. Its Aura Bright Cocktail with Pixel White™ evens out texture & tone from micro level on top of treating spots or freckles as well as epidermis plumpness and collagen glycation.  

My thoughts:

SKII Cellumination Essence EX has got to be the star product out of the 3 that I'm reviewing today. It brightens up my skin immediately after application, giving the pearlescent effect.

If you have been following SweetestSins, you would have know that I am quite wary when it comes to whitening or brightening products because generally, my skin can't take them anymore due to whitening overload (there was a period of time when I piled on and used too many whitening products at a go). Hence, now I can only use whitening products from a few brands. If you haven't guessed it, SKII is one of them!

SKII Cellumination Essence EX glides onto my skin really well. Upon application of SKII Cellumination Essence EX, my skin looks brighter and more radiant. SKII Cellumination Essence EX absorbs into my skin faster when I use SKII Facial Treatment Essence prior to applying SKII Cellumination Essence EX. When I did my Magic Ring skin analysis, the SKII beauty advisor recommended that I use SKII Facial Treatment Repair C before SKII Cellumination Essence EX to combat dryness.

SKII Cellumination Day Surge UV

What is it:

Dual-action whitening emulsion with UV protection (SPF30/PA+++) for daytime use.

Cellumination Day Surge UV primes skin to realize the full benefits of a night time skincare regimen through the management and prevention of daytime skin damage.  Cellumination Day Surge UV balances skin’s red, green, and blue light (RGB) variance, paving the way to Brilliant Translucent Aura.

My thoughts:

I was quite hesistant to try SKII Cellumination Day Surge UV initially. You know, most of the time we will be worried as to whether new sunscreen will be too oily for our skin, make our skin feel tight or even break us out.

I guess my worries were unfounded because SKII Cellumination Day Surge feels like an emulsion, it is rather moisturizing and it didn't make my T-zone look shiner. One of the SKII beauty advisor that I spoke to refer SKII Cellumination Day Surge as the day version of SKII Cellumination Deep Surge EX.

Being someone whom emphasize a lot on base makeup, I can say that I almost never leave for work without having at least foundation or BB cream (now sometimes CC cream) on. I guess it has very much to do with my complexion. Without base makeup, my complexion is yellow-looking and looks dull.

Recently, I have been gyming a lot (this won't be new to you if you're following me on Instagram) so there are days when I head to work without any makeup - just SKII Cellumination Day Surge after my usual regimen that consists of SKII Cellumination Mask-in Lotion, SKII Facial Treatment Essence and SKII Cellumination Essence EX. 

Here's a picture of me with no makeup, just SKII Cellumination range skincare.



Sans makeup

 Surprisingly, I felt good about it and confident enough to show my bare sans-makeup skin! I need not worry about my makeup oxiziding or my skin feeling dry by mid day.

In fact, I remember there was a day where I had to head out for a gathering last minute after work and I didn't have any makeup on. Thus, I reached out for the makeup pouch that I have on standby in office (you never know when there will be an emergency!) to whip out my foundation. I was applying my foundation halfway (I usually start with half of my face before moving on to the other) when I realised that the side that had no foundation actually looked brighter as compared to the side with foundation!

I hope you like this entry. Thanks for reading .

Love,
Patricia


You might be interested in these posts:

☮SKII Cellumination Blogger Challenge
☮SKII Empower Me Campaign Launch Event with Sheila Sim
☮SKII 10 day Stempower Challenge
☮My experience with SKII Facial Treatment Essence
☮[New] SKII Stempower

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Bellabox July 2013: American Beauty

August 18, 2013, 11:39 pm

≫ Next: John Frieda Full Repair Range review

≪ Previous: SKII Cellumination Blogger Challenge

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Hi lovelies, I know I haven't been updating SweetestSins regularly. But I haven't forgotten about you guys. Recently, I have been spending most of my time in the gym, say about 3-4 times a week doing yoga, pilates, kickboxing, circuit training and my weekly 5km run. Apart from that, I have been spending quality time with my loved ones (family and friends) and attending media events.

For more timely updates, you might want to follow me on my Instagram and SweetestSins Facebook Page where I share about my latest fitness plan, weight loss secrets, what to eat/what not to eat, fitness journey, latest beauty raves and beauty products I love.

  

Sage + Fasten Common Sense Eau De Parfum

What is it:

Sage + Fasten signature scent, Common Sense. Concoction of florals (orchid and lotus flowers) and fruity goodness (mango, peach and lychee) and you're good to go!

theBALM Cosmetics Mary-Lou Manizer Highlighter/Shadow/Shimmer

What is it:

Honey-hued highlighter/shadow adds a sexy sheen to your features.

My thoughts:

I think this will work out to be very pretty on the lids as a base. Not too sure on how it will look like on the brow bone as a highlight though due to the fact that it contains shimmer.

Clark's Botanicals Deep Moisture Mask

What is it:

Contains high concentration of algae extract to revive that dry and tired look.

My thoughts:

The texture of Clark's Botanicals Deep Moisture Mask is rather thick which reminds me of my Tony Moly Dual Effect Sleeping Pack Intense Repair. I like how it helps to plump up my skin the next day when I apply it onto my skin the night before.  

Jane Tran Bobby Pin Set

My thoughts:

I'm quite loving the set of bobby pins from Jane Tran as I had a haircut recently and my fringe won't hold up each time I'm working/typing on the keyboard. I brought these to work and they are indeed good for holding up my fringe so that I won't be bothered by it when I'm working. It doesn't leave any mark on my hair but then again, my hair was rebonded and it don't hold any curls well.

Organix Shampoo & Conditioner

What is it:

Indulge the senses with this precious blend of Moroccan argan oil which instantly penetrates the hair shaft restoring shine and softness while strengthening.  This renewing formula is free of sulfates and parabens, and is safe for color-treated hair.

Shampoo: Restore moisture to dry hair, protect from styling heat and UV damage while creating soft, seductive, silky perfection.

Conditioner: Organix Renewing Moroccan Argan Oil Conditioner will restore moisture to dry hair, protect from styling heat and UV damage while creating soft, seductive, silky perfection.

My thoughts:

I had high hopes for Organix Moroccan Argan Oil Shampoo and Conditioner because one of my Uni friend, X raved about Organix. Her favourite product from Organix is the Vanilla Silk Serum.

Although quite a lot of reviewers on MUA like the scent of the shampoo and conditioner, it didn't really appeal to me as it wasn't quite my type of scent. Shampoo-wise, I think its like your regular shampoo - nothing to rave about. I do see myself squeezing more in terms of quantity when I use Organix Morcoccan Argan Oil Conditioner as compared to when I use Loreal Paris Hair Expertise Eversleek Conditioner.

In line with Singapore's National Day, Bellabox has got these pretty National Day-Inspired Nail Stickers for this month! 

National Day-Inspired Nail Stickers

 

Price list:

Sage + Fasten Common Sense Eau De Parfum 50ml/$65

theBALM Cosmetics Mary-Lou Manizer Highlighter/Shadow/Shimmer 8.5g/$29

Clark's Botanicals Deep Moisture Mask 50ml/$94

Jane Tran Bobby Pin Set $15

Organix Shampoo & Conditioner 385ml/$15.90

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John Frieda Full Repair Range review

August 29, 2013, 12:48 am

≫ Next: Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask review

≪ Previous: Bellabox July 2013: American Beauty

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Today, I'm going to share my thoughts on John Frieda Full Repair range.

Read on to find out which product worked for me, which did not and find out what's my favourite product from this range!

John Frieda Full Repair Full Body Shampoo

What is it:

With Inca Inchi, a lightweight micro-oil rich in omega-3, this formula repairs the look and feel of overworked hair and adds body for full, flowing styles. Detangles strands, reducing the risk of breaking and snagging while combing or brushing.

My thoughts:

John Frieda Full Repair Full Body Shampoo doesn't foam as much compared to the other shampoos that I have tried. Having said that, with John Frieda Full Repair Full Body Shampoo, you will only require very little product (about a Singapore 20 cent coin size) and its enough for the whole head.

I quite like the scent of John Frieda Full Repair Full Body Shampoo. It smells really good.

I know of people whom hate how John Frieda Full Repair Full Body Shampoo because they say that it weighs their hair, especially the crown area down. I don't have a problem with getting flat hair after shampooing with John Frieda Full Repair Full Body Shampoo though. I'm thinking probably it is because I have got thick hair.

John Frieda Full Repair Full Body Conditioner

What is it:

With Inca Inchi, a lightweight micro-oil rich in omega-3, this formula repairs the look and feel of overworked hair and adds body for full, flowing styles. Smoothes and detangles strands, reducing the risk of breaking and snagging while combing or brushing.

My thoughts:

For a conditioner, I thought that John Frieda Full Repair Full Body Conditioner had more of a gel texture rather than a creamier texture. The after effect of using John Frieda Full Repair Full Body Conditioner actually reminds me of Loreal Eversleek Intense Smoothing Conditioner.

I usually apply conditioner starting from the ends of my hair to cover 3/4 of my entire hair length. When I was rinising John Frieda Full Repair Full Body Conditioner out from my hair, I could easily comb through my hair without it getting tangled. I know if a hair conditioner is good when I rinse it out and if I can comb through my wet hair easily without it getting tangled. Usually I stop at John Frieda Full Repair Full Body Conditioner when I'm in the bathroom. On days that I have got special events, I will follow by using John Frieda Full Repair Deep Conditioner.

I know you might be wondering - how exactly does John Frieda Full Repair Full Body Conditioner differ from John Frieda Full Repair Deep Conditioner. Well, John Frieda Full Repair Deep Conditioner is a hair mask and is richer in texture as compared to John Frieda Full Repair Deep Conditioner. 

John Frieda Full Repair Deep Conditioner

What is it:

Intense repairing formula, with lightweight Incha Inchi Oil, penetrates deep and repairs the look and feel of overstyled hair , reducing the risk of breakage. Damaged hair becomes silky and full. Safe for colour-treated and chemically-treated hair.

My thoughts:

When I first tried John Frieda Full Repair Deep Conditioner out, I was quite taken aback at how light it felt in terms of texture as I expected it to be richer and not so runny. Although the texture of John Frieda Repair Deep Conditioner is more runny than I thought it would be, I was amazed by how smooth and soft it made my hair feel after using it. Its like even though its not that thick in terms of texture but the after-effect completely wowed me.

In fact, John Frieda Full Repair Deep Conditioner is one of my favourite product from John Frieda Full Repair range.

If you think that John Frieda Full Repair Full Body Conditioner isn't rich or moisturizing enough for your hair, I'd say go for John Frieda Full Repair Deep Conditioner! In fact, if you were to only get one product out of the two, I would recommend John Frieda Full Repair Deep Conditioner.

John Frieda Full Repair Perfect Ends Deep Infusion

What is it:

Smoothes and protects medium-textured hair damaged from high heat. This breakthrough formula with Inca Inchi , a lightweight, micro-oil rich in omega-3, feels like it absorbs into worn-torn strands instead of just coating the surface. Weightlessly reverses the look and feel of damage on lengths and ends to leave hair smooth, shiny and full of body. Helps protect against breakage from heat styling.

My thoughts:

I have been asked countless of times before, "What hair serum do you use?" Frankly speaking, I haven't really been very diligent in applying hair serum until my hair got to waist length. I didn't see the need to until I saw that my ends were getting a bit frizzy.

I know a lot of girls don't like to apply hair serum and the top reasons include -

1) It makes my hair feel oily
2) I suffer from back breakout (acne)

Well, applying hair serum will not make your hair feel oily. That's if you follow what I did. This is purely through trial and effort plus self-discovery by chance, I wasn't told by any maestro.

Tip: Apply hair serum to semi-dried hair

When I can afford to, I usually dry my hair with the fan. When I can't afford to due to time constraints, I usually dry my hair with a hairdryer on cool air mode (I think every girl should invest in a hairdryer that has 'cool air' mode). Normally, I will wait until my hair is almost 50% dried before I apply hair serum onto it and drying it again.

For girls whom think that they don't need hair serum (just like I did in the past), perhaps you want to take a look at the before and after picture below before coming to a conclusion. I'm pretty sure that I won't have to label which is which because its rather obvious.

You can probably tell that my hair on the left side as shown on screen (or rather on my right) looked frizzy, akin to that of a broom, dull and had bits of hair sticking out here and there which makes it look rather messy compared to the right side as shown on screen (or rather my left side) which looks smoother, shinier, less messy and my colored hair looks more obvious too!

Just the other day when I was at the pantry in office. Colleague: What hair products do you use? Your hair is so nice. Me: Do you mean shampoo or conditioner or mask or serum? Colleague: Hmm... what serum do you use? Me: I have quite a few of them but I'm currently using John Frieda Full Repair Perfect Ends Deep Infusion. I have it with me, you can try it out if you want to. Colleague: Really? You sure? Okay! - After trying John Frieda Full Repair Perfect Ends Deep Infusion -  Colleague: Omg, it makes my hair straighter! It looks smoother and less messy too. I want to get a bottle. - After lunch - Colleague: Omg, Watsons packed to the brim because of Watsons sale. Sighs, didn't managed to get the serum. ): So gonna try Guardian after work today. - Next day - Colleague: Patricia, I got the hair serum already! Check out my hair *flicks her hair*

I usually carry John Frieda Full Repair Perfect Ends Deep Infusion in my bag so that I can use it after I shower in gym and still have nice hair even though I don't use hair mask as I normally only bring shampoo and conditioner to gym.

John Frieda Full Repair Perfect Ends Deep Infusion was the first product that I tried out from the range and yes, its also one of my favourite product from John Frieda Full Repair range.  

Here's another picture of how my hair looks like after applying John Freida Full Repair Perfect Ends Deep Infusion.

Say bye to unruly hair!

John Frieda Full Repair Protecting Root Lift Foam

What is it:

Root-boosting formula with Inca Inchi Oil adds a weightless, flexible and lasting lift at the root. Gentle foam provides heat protection and helps prevent breakage from styling.

Safe for colour-treated and chemically-treated hair.

My thoughts:

While I haven't tried John Frieda Full Repair Protecting Root Lift Foam out for myself yet. Both colleagues of mine whom tried it out when the package first arrived in office liked it. They said that it helps to give them more volume on the crown area. In terms of texture, I think its rather similiar to that of mousse. It reminds me of Liese Wave Up Foam.

If you were to ask me to pick my favourite product from John Frieda Full Repair range, I say it will be.. not just one but two products - John Frieda Full Repair Deep Conditioner and John Frieda Full Repair Perfect Ends Deep Infusion.

I hope you like this post. Thanks for reading.

Love,
Patricia

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Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask review

September 5, 2013, 9:39 pm

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What is it:

Contains Avocado and Apricot Kernel Oil which deeply and instantly quenches compromised moisture reserves and builds a reservoir for tomorrow. Japanese Seaweed repairs skin's barrier to prevent future dehydration and signs of premature aging.

My thoughts:

I have been using Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask for close to 2 weeks for now and I thought that its time I share my thoughts on it. For those of you whom are familiar with Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask, you would probably realised that the packaging has changed to something that looks more youthful and fun-looking.

Although Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask is a sleeping mask/pack, I have been using it as a moisturizer every night for the past 2 weeks by applying it straight onto my face after using toner/lotion.

Until now, I must say that I still can't really take the scent of Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask which is a tad too strong for my liking.

In terms of texture, Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask is rather thick. So all you need is to spread a thin layer onto your face the night before and wake up to well-moisturized and plump skin.

I like how it helps to plump up my skin the following day. On top of that, I also realised that it helps to reduce the size of my pores!

As I spend very long hours in office (think air-conditioned environment for at least 9-10 hours a day), it does take a detrimental effect on my skin. In fact, the sides of my forehead tend to get dry very easily and its till the extent that it becomes itchy. You know how prone it is to scratch it when it is itchy and then there will be like two red patches at the sides. After using Orgins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask as my moisturizer daily for a period of 2 weeks, I don't have any problem with the sides of my forehead being dry anymore.

Rating:

★★★★☆

Verdict:

If you have combination skin like me with oily T-zone and dry cheeks or dry skin, you would probably like Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask. I would have given it 5 stars if not for the overpowering scent.

I hope you like this post. Thanks for reading!

Love,

Patricia

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