Big Bad Wolf 2012

These are the books I've bought at Big Bad Wolf Book Sale 2012 at The Mines Convention Centre. A total of 10 titles at RM100 only (one title was taken away by my sister though)!!! Those who have missed the sale will have to wait for next year.

Except for "The Concise Encyclopedia of Fishing" which is for my hubby, you will notice that all are of non-fiction genres. It's either about business, marketing, or self-help/self-enrichment.

Haha! Fictions are just not my cuppa! I read because I want to gain or learn something from the books. For me, reading is not for fun/enjoyment only. Of course I enjoy reading non-fiction books if it's interesting.

Since mid Nov, I've finished reading 4 books, and now into the 5th book.

Wow! I feel so accomplished and enlightening! I hope this habit will continue.

I'll probably share the 5 books that I've read in my next blog entry. Till then...

More Obsessions from Sigma Beauty

 

 

Yes, I'm buying beauty stuff from Luxola.com again, which is based in Singapore. This time, the prices are higher than before, probably after they have brought in new stocks from the US.

 

This time I've bought a brush cup holder and Dry 'n Shape, both from Sigma Beauty. Both costs me around RM165, which is still cheaper than if I were to buy from US, since Luxola is giving me a RM25 discount voucher. So happened that they have these 2 items as new arrivals which are already in my wish list.

 

Dry 'n Shape, as the name suggests, is for drying while shaping your brushes. It claims to allow drying in 4-6 hours! Normally I'll leave my brushes overnight to dry, especially those thick ones like face/foundation brushes. I haven't tried this Dry'n Shape though but am definitely looking forward to this "patented-pending" method of drying brushes. Do you really need this aid?! For me, I want the "shaping" effect as sometimes, brushes tend to be frizzy and may go out of shape after contact with water.

 

Haha! I do appear like a professional for having to use all these tools but seriously, I'm not. Perhaps I just like to buy stuff and try out new things. I hardly put heavy makeup.

 

I do read from an article that applying makeup with brushes do give better effect. I did try the contour brush for applying blusher and somehow, it does give a better contouring effect than using normal brush. So give it a try!

 



A casual Sunday outing

Feeling great today!!
This photo was taken before going out for shopping.

What I'm wearing today:
Beige top by Zara
Black printed pants from Zara
Loewe Amazona bag




Ended up buying lots and lots of skincare from Clarins...




And went to Popular to get myself these 2 books -
1. 大口吃遍首尔甜点最幸福
2. NLP速读术

Oh, by the way I've finished reading "The Most Important Graph in the World" and is now reading "这样吃，一定瘦” by 王勇明. Hopefully will continue with this reading habit!!


Sigma Beauty Mrs. Bunny Essential Kit

 

This is my newly bought Mrs. Bunny Essential Kit (brush set) by SIGMA BEAUTY.  

I bought it at RM333 nett from Luxola.com, a Singapore based retail outlet. Luxola is offering free shipping by DHL to Malaysia for purchases above RM100. I'm glad to have bought from Luxola because if not, it would have cost me USD120 + min. USD20 shipping fees which may end up RM420 or more!!! Imagine the cost saving I've gained.

 

This essential kit consists of 12 brushes for the face and eyes which include:

 

E05 - Eye Liner: Create smooth and even lines. Use with gel or liquid liners.

E30 - Pencil: Soften and smoke out lines. Soften pencil liners along the top and bottom lash lines, add shadow to line the eyes, or use to highlight inner corner of eyes.

E40 - Tapered Blending: Soft blended crease. Using just the tips to apply color, sweep back and forth through the crease for a diffused and blended finish.

E55 - Eye Shading: Even application of color. Place color across the whole lid for an even and strong application of product.

E60 - Large Shader: Uniformly cover the whole lid with product. Apply cream shadow base or cream shadow for quick and even coverage.

E65 - Small Angle: Create precise lining. Moves fluidly and easily across the upper and lower lash lines. Use with gel, cream or powder liners.

E70 - Medium Angled Shading: Soft application of color. Use for brow highlighting or to blend the crease.

F30 - Large Powder: Even powder application. Uniform blending of powder products onto the face and body.

F40 - Large Angled Contour: Subtle cheek application. Use the angle to softly contour the cheekbone. Can also be used to apply blush.

F50 - Duo Fibre: Creates an airbrush effect onto the skin. Can be used with powder, liquid or cream products.

F60 - Foundation: Smooth foundation application. Apply liquid or cream products such as foundation and primer.

F70 - Concealer: Conceal small areas. Conceal the hardest to reach areas such as around the nose and eyes. 

Wow!! Definitely it looks professional and do one really need so many brushes? You must be thinking that I'm very good in makeup. No. In fact, I'm only a beginner and I doubt if I will ever use up all.

Then, why am I still purchasing this kit even though I'm not using all?!
Of course other than the more you buy the better bargain you get, brushes from Sigma Beauty are relatively cheap compared to brands like Bobbi Brown or Shu Uemura which costs around RM100 per brush!!! With RM333 I can only buy 3 brushes from Bobbi Brown but now I'm getting 12!!


Even a travel brush set like the image above (Caviar & Oyster Collection Travel Brush Set by Bobbi Brown) costs RM380. It comes with 6 mini brushes and a hard cover. I've compared prices from Shu Uemura and they are offering something similar too. 

 

This Sigma Beauty brush set comes with a Cup Holder for you to hold the brushes and is handy for travelling. The only down side is Luxola doesn't have the black color. The light blue is cool but gets dirty easily.

WKW Holiday Collection

Love this latest collection from Shu Uemura by WKW (wong kar wai) -- the famous Hong Kong film director.

Of course I was attracted by the packaging design and not by the director.

Nowadays there are many such crossover to get consumers' attention, like the recent Versace for H&M, or Kate Moss for Longchamp, Kate Moss for Topshop, Mulberry for Target, Stella McCartney for Addidas, to name a few.

Back to WKW collection, out of many I only bought two items.

Lustrous Glow Powder - Pleasure Rose RM140

I love this shimmering gold pearls effect on the cheeks. It's light and the colour is natural. Surprisingly it stays on even at the end of the day. I even love the shinning gold packaging more. I must say I've soft spot for nice packaging.

Flashing Gold Mini Brush Set RM190

I got to buy this limited edition mini brush set at RM120 instead since I've purchased above certain amount. I've tried only their blush brush so far and it's so soft!! The other 3 brushes are for powder eye shadow, cream eye shadow, eyeliner/lipliner.

Quite a good buy since its normal brush would cost RM200+ and Shu Uemura is renowned for its quality brushes.

My New-Found Love

Came across Urban Decay through a Korean-American blogger who can speak very fluent English. I saw her using this brand very often, especially the eye liner. So when I was in Singapore in early October, I saw this brand in one of the Sephora outlets and immediately picked up its eyeliner from the shelf to try it on. Surprisingly, it's the first ever eyeliner which I've tried so far that actually glides on my hand so smoothly. Without much consideration I bought 2 neutral colours home - Black and Bourbon.  Later only I realised we also have 2 Sephora outlets in KL. Luckily the price difference is very little.

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil RM75

Believe it or not I've bought many eyeliners before, ranging from liquid, eye gel or pencil, and brand from cheaper range like Kate, Majolica Majorca, Maybelline, The Body Shop to more expensive ones like Anna Sui, Bobbi Brown, and Paul & Joe, and have yet to find a satisfactory one until I found UD.

Bobbi Brown gel liner is undeniably good but I find it not easy to use especially for a beginner like me and it tends to dry up very fast. But it stays put longer than UD's I'd say.

After trying the liners, I'd love to give their hottest selling Naked Palette a try, as it was also highly recommended by the Korean blogger. As I hardly make up my eyes, so I think neutral colors would suit me well. And I was so surprised how hot selling they are that everytime they brought in the stocks, it would be sold off within few days. I'd gone to Sephora KLCC twice and twice also I came back empty handed. The SA told me it was just sold off days ago. And I thought they just stocked up days ago!!! Now I'm so desparate to get it somewhere else... either Singapore or USA.

Urban Decay Naked Palette RM175

~My new baby~

My new baby... yeah... FoFi ~ that's what the FB fans called...
FoFi stands for Ford Fiesta.

At first wanted to go for chilli orange but hubby insisted on red and so...

Didn't regret buying red though... definitely eye catching and sometimes attract unnecessary attention especially at the petrol station. I guess that's because it's still new in M'sia and it's generally guys' favourite due to its sporty look. I chose this because of its claim safety feature. Don't ask me about technology! All I want are compact, pretty outlook, safety, below RM100k and efficient fuel consumption.


Front + Side view


Back + Side view


Filter effect by Instagram

Mulberry Craze

My Mulberry Collection - Mulberry Daria Long Wallet in Black & Maroon
Which colour do you prefer? (one of them is not mine though... i'm not that crazy, ok?!)
In fact I love both! Black is classic while maroon is unique.

Daria is my 2nd Mulberry item after Mulberry Alexa in Oak.
Why not LV or Gucci??
Sick of seeing LV & Gucci everywhere.... So I prefer British design instead.

My next wish list - Mulberry Bayswater in Oak. kekeke....

Ya, this is the one!!!

(picture taken from Mulberry@FB, fan photos)

My Vintage Crave

Lately I'm crazy about everything leather or brown. Owned 2 brown designer's bags and bought few pairs of brown/beige colored shoes. Even clothes I'm into beige lately.

Spotted this vintage, brown, small briefcase at one of the boutiques in Sunway. After asking for the price and taking a closer look, I bought it without much hesitation. It's not a leather of course, for the price I paid. It's not wide enough to hold many things also. But I like the design and it's unique. Moreover it's inexpensive, can be used regularly. Now it accompanies me to work everyday. And I received compliments from few colleagues, both guys and ladies.

Usually I don't buy bags that are common. Especially now that colourful vintage-looking sling bag is very common among teenagers and is a no-no for me however cheap. But this is special and so an exception.

My First Laptop

Woohoo~ finally my Dell has arrived!!!

So now I've my first computer/laptop.

Yeah, all the while I have been using company's or other's computer. Now I can freely download whatever software that I would like to use... heheh... of course must be careful on internet usage... since I'm not IT savvy, quite worried also.

Initially I though of buying MacBook Air but due to budget concern and I'm not familiar with the Mac OS, I save it for next purchase.


Dell Inspiron 14R
Intel Core i5-460M processor
Window 7 Home


I was so so so excited when I was opening the package!!!


Spent hours downloading updates & stuff, not forgetting to put up my fave desktop wallpaper.

The only thing I overlooked was I didn't purchase Microsoft Office Home which comes with powerpoint. It's quite expensive to buy the whole package...

Find out your Day Master

Do you believe in Bazi, astrology, destiny, fengshui & stuff?

I'm quite interested and wanted to learn about Bazi and even enroll myself into a course by Joey Yap. What were stopping me were the time (the course falls on weekdays and normally takes 2-3 days) and money (it's in thousands. forgot the exact amount).

Yesterday while shopping in a book store and looking for Joey Yap's book, spotted this series of Bazi essentials written by him. I remembered my day master was Wu - Yang Earth. Wanting to find out more about my character, without much hesitation I bought this at RM19.90.

I spent about an hour to finish reading the whole book. A total of 117 pages and the fonts are big, quite costly for such a thin book. He really knows how to make money. If you have the time, you can finish reading the whole book in the store itself. However, you can't keep it for reference in future.

Generally the descriptions are quite accurate. Find out what type of person you are will help discover your strengths and weaknesses; thereafter you have to help yourself magnify your strengths and attenuate your weaknesses.

Below is a short description of what a Wu day master person is:

Your Day Master Is:

WU
YANG EARTH

Wu earth people offer a sense of security and reliability to those around them, yet, they find it difficult to express their inner thoughts and feelings. Wu earth personifies utter stability, and as such these people tend to procrastinate. But when they find the inspiration and motivation to accomplish a task, there will be no stopping them. Wu earth is the dam that controls the insurgence of a flooding river – these people are able to withstand tremendous amounts of emotional and psychological pressure.

If you want to find out what your day master is, all you need is your birth date.
Follow this link to calculate --> www.joeyyap.com/dm

Paul & Joe 口红

好久没blog了。。。就分享一下最新添购的Paul & Joe彩妆 ~ 限量版、刻有猫头设计的口红。

涂在手上色泽很漂亮。有点舍不得用呢!!

所以想到在用之前先摄下来分享。

各有三种颜色。

总觉得彩妆的包装很重要。精致、漂亮的包装总是让人想要拥有。

My 5th Shop 'n Eat HK Trip

Yes, it was my 5th trip to Hong Kong. This time a 5D4N trip. But the first & the last days can't be counted since most of the time was spent on the flight.

If you ask why I go to Hong Kong so frequently, I guess because it's a shopping paradise, which women like, and they've got good food. It's a familiar place to me, a not-so-stressful place for me to "relax" by just shopping & eating. I don't have to crack my head to plan itinerary. Just mark down which are the shopping places I would like to go, where is it and how to go.... that's it!!!

As to eating, believe me, most of the restaurants won't disappoint you. In fact, 9 out of 10 of the restaurants we went to, out of the 5 trips, were rated above average. Probably I'm not too choosy in terms of food. I must say Hong Kong food is nice. We never bother to go to posh restaurants but all those street shops which don't look good from the outside. We want to taste what the locals are eating. Goose & duck meats are my favourites!!

I'm not a fan of photography. Not that I don't like but maybe I'm too shy. So there aren't much photos to show. Also there aren't much to show in Hong Kong.


Langham Place (朗豪坊) is our favourite hangout place. This trip alone we went there twice. Firstly, I love the long escalator which spans straight from 1st to 8th floor. Second, we love the desserts by 满记甜品.
(pic) This is them showing famous streets in Hong Kong made from papers.


We went to 许留山 to try out their famous 芒果粒粒爽, and ordered this new durian flavoured muachi. It was advertised on the table that the durian was taken from Malaysia's D24. Haha!


We even went to the biggest music instrument+academic shop in Hong Kong called Tom Lee. I was asked to pose with this guitar. See the relunctance on my face?! Haha~

The most exciting part was my shopping spree! See my victory?!
If you remember my earlier post about wanting to buy a Mulberry Alexa? Yes, I got it! From this shop in Elements, Kowloon. So I must pose in front of this shop for remembrance.


Elements (圆方) is a rather big shopping mall. Our 1st time there and was where I bought my Mulberry Alexa.


Spotted this glittering Mercz and many people were taking picture of it & with it.


On our way back, we took airport express which was an around 20mins trip from 青衣．The seats were comfortable.


My biggest & craziest spending first time ever. Bought 2 bags - agnes b. & Mulberry Alexa. Both are leather & brown in colour.


I don't know why but I tend to like brands adored by Japanese. You can't get agnes b. stuff in Malaysia. The nearest is in S'pore. This leather shoulder bag can be carried fold or unfold. The sales girl said this model was hard to get & hot selling. They have been repeating orders and sometimes don't get it. Haha~ fall prey to another sweet talk, I guess...


Finally~ got my fave at 10% discount & it was close to online price, to my surprise!
Just few minutes after I said yes to this bag, a chinese man from China asked for the same bag and this is the last one they have! In fact, the first outlet I went to in Harbour City, the stocks had just arrived but reserved for customers on the waiting list. This one was originally reserved too but the customer couldn't be reached. I was lucky!!!

After this shopping spree, I don't think I will get my hands down on any branded stuff in near future. My first time buying desinger's item out from my own pocket and phew~ what an experience.

Wedding Band

今天终于拿到了在Diamond & Platinum买的wedding band。
是选了好久的哦!!!
曾到过当初在那买下单钻的DeGem，还有Wah Chan, Love & Co., SK, Goldheart等。
最后还是选了D&P，除了喜欢它的设计，也因为想要找plantinum的，较不易变黄。



就是这一款咯!!! 可是尚未刻字。

Guess无袖上衣

之前就看中了这件设计简单且不易过时的Guess无袖上衣。
但当时售价RM299，真的不舍得买。
想了很久很久，看了又看，结果再度光临时已经在架上找不到了。。。
没想到在近期的sales期间又给我碰见，而且还找到我的size - XS。

嘿嘿! 是五折也!!!

虽然有点脏，但相信还可以洗干净就不管三七二十一，买了下来。
还没正式穿却好开心哦!
是因为我很喜欢，又半价给我买到。

注：上面的照片是洗了过后还没烫，所以显得有点皱。

我的 Harinezumi Chinon

好久没blog了~因为太忙得关系。。。

其实是上个月买的。。
考虑了很久，结果很喜欢，狠下心肠，花了RM720买了下来。

其实是因为喜欢lomography，喜欢那retro的效果，可是因为不是professional，也不是特别喜欢拍照，更没有耐心去和花钱洗相片，结果就买了个所谓的digital lomo。很多人说那不是lomo，因为lomo没有digital。


日本品牌，中国制造的Harinezumi Chinon - RM520 + accessory kit RM200。


Chinon 是 Harinezumi 附有 hackable mode的其中一款，即颜色可以调整。


随便在酒店内乱拍。。。
这就是颜色调整后的效果。


蓝色偏多。


在车内往外拍的。当时正下着雨。

现在为止还没有拍到retro效果，有点失望。或许是我的技术不到家。
还待慢慢研究。。。

agnès b. cardholder

Spotted this in Tribeca boutique on Friday when we went to the newly opened Empire Gallery in Subang.

It's a cardholder by agnès b. which costs me only RM19. Each slots are a bit tight and can't hold many cards. But I like the material which is shiny on the surface. Not leather though.

I'm not too sure whether agnès b. products are sold in Malaysia but it's a rather famous brand in Japan & Taiwan. I've no idea on the prices but my impression is they are expensive. I was told by the staff there that the cardholders are genuine but rejected items. On closer look, you won't see any obvious flaws and we are not sure why these were rejected.

A good buy though, I would say...

A good makeup base in mousse form

Bought this Shu Uemura UV under base mousse SPF30 PA+++ at RM108.

I've been trying to search for a satisfactory makeup base with sufficient UV protection & finally came across this. Most of the makeup base are in liquid form and if I'm not wrong, this is the first and only mousse type ever available. My reason for buying this 2-in-1 is so that I don't have to apply separately 1 layer of makeup base & another layer of sunblock. Another reason is that it makes your skin oilier by applying so many layers of skincare.

It's a new product and is a newer version of the previous base mousse which comes with SPF17 PA++ only and is priced at RM135.

The best thing I like most about this mousse is that it's not only NOT oily compared to the sunblock I'm using now (also by Shu Uemura), it also provides moderately good coverage, so that you only need to apply a thin layer of powder after this. I believe it looks good on itself for those whose skin tone are even. The only downside is I'm not so into its smell. It doesn't smell bad though.

Overall, my rating for this product is 4/5. A good try for somebody looking for natural makeup with sun protection at the same time. You may want to dust a light layer of loose powder after the base to make it more lasting.

~My first Solitaire ever~

Finally ~ got my solitaire!!!

No romantic proposal or whatsoever. Even getting this so-called engagement ring was initiated by myself. I even spent the whole day studying about diamonds through forums & info online. Luckily I am a rather contented person. ~heheh~

We visited a few jewellery shops including Love & Co., Gold Heart, Diamond & Platinum, and Selberan before setting our eyes on this Lazare Diamond from Degem. I wouldn't say I have visited all jewellery shops and done a thorough survey before our decision. It was an "impulsive" purchase I would say. Because I thought I would have visited more shops. Even my boyfriend who used to be a patient shopper did not think much after being "mesmerized" by Lazare diamond.

I can't deny how attractive Lazare diamond is due to its Lazare's ideal cut. It's so sparkling that once you put it on, you can't keep your eyes off it. Its sparkle really makes a big difference from others. Of course I am still a dumb when it comes to diamond. Although I've not compared to other branded diamonds such as love diamond, hearts on fire, tiffany's... but it was like "love at first sight", and immediately we made the deal.

Although the picture isn't clear, don't expect it to be a big stone and the price is also affordable. Degem gave us 10% discount and we never bargain also. After we went home, I felt kind of stupid to not even bragain a single cent. I guess the price should be reasonable. Don't care lar!! As long as we like it!

Of all the shops we went, I would say Degem at The Garden provided the best service. We were served by a Malay sales exec, Affendi. He was polite and smiley, professional also. The thing I like most is he wasn't pushy at all and he recommended according to our budget.

Diamond & Platinum is owned by Degem. D&P wasn't bad too but the guy who served us wasn't too humble. As to the others, the sales people never really serve us but treat us like window shoppers only.

The worst is Love & Co. at The Garden. Their wedding bands are undeniably nice. I would love to go for their wedding bands if not because of their sales persons who appear to be not only ignorant but arrogant. I'm willing to ignore their arrogance because of their design but my boyfriend didn't even want to step into the shop again. However, when I first visited Love & Co.'s branch in Penang, the service I got was totally different and was so impressive! I guess it's the people. The Garden's branch should re-evaluate their staff if the sales is not coming in...

Anyway, I'm very satisfied with this gift and I'm looking forward to my wedding band...

Online Purchase Again...

Haha~ can't wait to show off skincare/makeup/haircare products that I have just bought online...

It all started with me reading a local blogger's blog by chance. She likes to try out different skincare brands and share her review on her blog.

She bought many unfamiliar brands (but popular in Taiwan) online and she mentioned about using Niu Er's (牛爾) products which she has also bought online and which she said rather good. This led me to check on the websites she mentioned.

I don't buy just because of her recommendation but because I'm also one person who likes to try new things especially skincare and makeup. I'm one of those consumers who have no brand loyalty. Of course, since it's Niu Er and Kevin's products (they are very famous skincare/makeup gurus in Taiwan due to the famous program show - 女人我最大), my confidence towards the products has increased.

Surprisingly, the price range is also affordable. Why not give it a try?! If it's good, I may switch to Kevin's makeup products! As for Niu Er's products, I'm still uncertain as I have to be quite careful with skincare products since I've sensitive skin.

Ok, will talk about effects of the products next time after I have used it...