El's Hair Update

Hello lovely people!

It's already Sunday. I can't believe it'll be Monday again so soon.

Here's the post about my hair that I promised way back in December. Sorry it took so long, because there were so many events in between that I wanted to write about first. Also, this post is quite long since I put in a slight review of the salon I went to. It was a good salon, hence I'm writing it in. If you're just interested in how my hair looks like, just scroll all the way down to the section titled 'Living with Curls'.

If you haven't noticed or realised, I've had my hair permed and coloured! This wonderful hairstyle of mine is thanks to Fion from 99 Percent Hair Studio@Haji Lane. I'm in my salon hopping phase still, so I visit different salons in search of THE salon for me. If you have read my previous hair post, I had  mentioned that I went to I*CON Shunji Matsuo by Lily Xu@ FEP to cut my hair short. The experience there was pretty good, but I'm always trying to find a better one(aka cheap and good). It's like my constant search for the holy grail of all foundation/skincare. If you're interested in 99 Percent Hair Studio, you can check out their Facebook page here.

99 Percent HS is not cheap in my opinion, but at least I'm really happy with my experience there. I spent around 6 hours there. 6 HOURS. That's like one of the longest time I've ever spent in a salon. Thus it was lucky that I had a good experience there. It was also nice that my friend came along as she wanted to get her hair coloured. Thus we had each other for entertainment, even though it did get boring at times.

Why a perm?
My hair is naturally wavy/frizzy. I go for rebonding every now and then to get my hair tamed. My mum prefers the silky straight hair look, so I've never really gone for a perm. However, I had this sudden epiphany one day. 'Won't a perm be better since my hair roots grow out curly/wavy?" I was also sick of flat, black hair. I became convinced that a perm will be better. It took some effort to convince my mum before she gave me the green light to go ahead.

I booked an appointment at 1pm (11 Dec) with the salon, but ended up reaching later. The salon was pretty busy. It's a small but cosy salon. It's located in Haji Lane itself, so if you're waiting for your hair colour to set in, you can always go out and shop for a while. Haha. I booked Fion since her skills are highly reviewed!

 Anyway, I told Fion that I wanted to perm my hair and maybe even colour it if possible. Usually, it is advised that people don't get colouring and perming/rebonding done in one sitting because that can seriously damage the hair. I was able to perm and colour at one go though, because Fion said my hair was strong enough. I told her how I wish for my hair to look like and she gave me a couple suggestions. We discussed for a while and she also showed me pictures of what to expect. Cool fact: she told me that if I coloured my hair and then perm, the perm solution will lighten up some parts of my hair, resulting in slight highlights! I thought this was pretty ingenious. After that, she gave me the colour book to pick a colour and left me. It was almost an hour till she got back to me (she had so many customers' hair to do!). It was such a long wait that me and my friend got bored talking to each other. Haha.  Thankfully, Fion returned! I was stuck between 2 shades of brown (yep. brown has more than one shade) but managed to pick one quickly.

This is kind of how my hair looked like before cutting. Black hair. Flat. Help.

We finally got down to the wash and cut phase. Whew. That was a long wait. The washing part was ok. It didn't hurt or anything. On a side note, the shampoo smells really gooooood. So with my hair washed, Fion got down to cutting my hair. The first thing she did impressed me. She didn't ask me where my parting was and got it right at first go! This might be insignificant to you, but a huge relief for me. Usually, I would get stressed when hairstylists ask me where's my parting, because I don't know it exactly myself. (I just figure it out somehow while drying my hair) As a result, I would end up with weird strands poking out when I do not get back to the same parting after the haircut. Thus imagine my relief that she got my parting right without asking me. It shows that she actually noticed where's my parting before she washed my hair. Or maybe she decided it on her own. Or maybe she just got lucky.

Moving on, this is how my hair looked like after it got cut:

a tiny picture of me from my chair. Hair's not looking that great yet.

After that, I got my hair coloured. I had to sit and wait for almost an hour for the colour to sink in.

My new hair colour! If you're wondering about the book, it's James Joyce's Dubliners, which is a good read:)

Next, the perm solution was applied to my hair and left to sit. I had to do digital perm, because of my rebonded hair. According to Fion, the cream that is used in rebonding can only be 'overwritten' by the solution used in digital perm because they're the same cream. Worst still, my hair is resistant to chemical treatments, so she had to leave the solution in a little longer.

Waiting for the perm solution to sink in... Here's a super unglam photo.

Next, she used a curling wand to curl my hair. I was surprised since I expected those rollers that you see in dramas. I had a slight shock seeing how tight the curls were initially. After Fion loosened the curls, they looked much better. A bit of styling cream and some fussing later, a beautiful head of curls is born.

And now I'm done! Yay!

So that's how my hair looked right after the salon visit. Honestly, I wasn't totally wowed by my hair initially. I really like the colour, but wasn't too sure about the curls.

The whole trip cost me around $289, after paying for membership and using the discounts that comes with it. Fion charged me lower than the listed price for colouring and perm as my hair was short. Anyway, I paid more than this when I went to get my rebonding done at Jean Yip with my long hair, so I saw it as paying for my yearly rebonding.(Jean Yip's silk rebonding is the only rebonding treatment that looked good and didn't dry the hair up like crazy).
However, the curls looked alot better loosened out a few washes later. My love for my hair grows each day. Plus, I've received many compliments for my hair (Yay!).

My hair a few washes later~ Can you tell that the curls have nicely loosened to look slightly more natural now?

Living with Curls
2 months later, I'm still in love with my hair. My roots has grown out somewhat, but I really like the curls. My hair has that nice swishy feeling when I shake my head. Having colour and perm done haven't seriously damaged my hair. My hair doesn't get tangled much and my ends are not dry(despite how it might look). I got the volume and lightweight look that I wanted. The bonus is that I wake up with pretty much amazing hair on most days. Who knew curls are so fuss free(for me at least)? To maintain my hair, I just do my usual routine of shampoo and deep conditioning every other day. I make sure to blow dry my scalp and the hair near the scalp, leaving the ends to air dry. The curls spring back after the hair's dry. On days when I really want to enhance the curls, I add a bit of mousse.

My hair after adding in some mousse. My curls are still not fully dry so it's not poofy yet. My hair gets curlier the next day.Bedhead+mousse=Curls galore
(Btw, this is me barefaced, aka no foundation. I love how clear my skin is right now. HAHA)

Caring Hair Expert Contour  Styling Mousse, It contains hair conditioner which helps keep my ends soft. I got this from a Watsons in Bangkok for 64baht (I think). I think this mousse is not bad. It doesn't give that 'crispy' feel that some brands do.

Thanks for staying with me till the end of the post. I know it has been a very long post(but it's a detailed post about my 6 hours long trip that has been condensed into a 5 minute read). I hope my story has contributed to your own research on hairsalons and hairstyles that you might want to try out in the future. For those looking to try out 99 Percent Hair Studio, I highly recommend Fion ^^(but do book an appointment before you go, since they can be really busy). So what do you think about my hair? Do you like curls or straight hair? Feel free to comment or tweet me (@yangel0130)!

Till next time,
Love,
El   xoxo

Cosy, meet Edgy

My mum drove for the first time in a long long while. 

Since I didn't have to take the public transport (read: standing; not that there is anything wrong with taking public transport!! I love it and it gets me to places), I broke out these lovely babies of mine from Jeffrey Campbell.

No pain (on my soles) no gain (in height)....right?

Knits, Spikes and Crosses

Outfit

Top: H&M

Dress: Cotton On

Socks: Primark

Shoes: Jeffrey Campbell's Tardy (mine's in green!)

Necklace: Dorothy Perkins

Ring: H&M

Belt: Primark (gift)

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Finally went to get my long coveted Samsung Galaxy 4 LTE+ at a place called J2mobile in Far East Plaza. Check my Instagram (christinehzy) if you would like to see a photo! 

The shop has pretty reasonable, and dare I say relatively cheap, prices. They do boast of having the cheapest mobile prices in Singapore after all. The lady was really friendly and helpful too :)

My mum found what she wanted as well (work shoes, spoon and intimates).

Really fruitful day all in all :) 

 Lovely weather too <3

(or maybe it's because I was in the car and therefore, no sweating!)

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I'm curious.

How would you style the Tardy?

Leave a comment below or Instagram/Tweet me your outfit!

Would love to hear from you :)

Till next time.
Love,
Christine xoxo

It All Began with a Rose...

Hello everyone!

So, Valentine's day is over. We hope you enjoyed yourself (whether you're single, attached, married, or in a complicated relationship). Christine and I spent our V-day (or rather, night) seeing off our friend, Hannah, at Changi Airport. Thus, we thought it might be apt to do a OOTD post since it has been a while since we did one together. Plus, Christine received a rose from a recruiting event in school, which made a pretty nice V-day prop(thus the title of this post) :D

Firstly, here's a rose kiss from the lovely Christine!

 So, here's Christine's OOTD! She wore this to school and you can tell she's in the romantic mood. That day, she wore a lace chiffon top that is both feminine and soft. She matched it with an equally soft pair of drawstring black shorts. To make the outfit look less slack and more put together, she wore knee high socks with a pair of black combat boots. It was a good thing she wore boots too as it was pouring heavily when she left school.

Outfit-Top, Chicwish; Shorts, F21; Socks, NA; Shoes, Nastygal, Shoecult, Necklaces, I AM (Jem @ Jurong East); Rings, Small random shops; Watch: Fossil; Hairtie, H&M (Haha). MakepLips- Lips, NYX Matte Lip Cream (Amsterdam)

For her makeup, Christine decided that red lips are the way to go for Vday! Red is the go to colour for many and here she's using NYX's matte lip cream in Amsterdam. I'm so happy that Christine has finally seen that red lips are not just for 'aunties'. I still remember the days when she'll chide me for my obsession with finding the perfect red lip shade, among my many other quirks. Red lips not only make a great fashion statement, they will also bring colour and life to pale skinned people..

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Now it's my turn. For my OOTD, I wore the striped long-sleeved shirt that I got from Hong Kong (read  about them in my Hong Kong Haul post). To achieve the minimalist look, I chose black pants, which let the stripe top stand out. I end my outfit off with my current favourite pair of shoes, which I also got from my recent HK trip.

Outfit- Top, Kwai Fung; Pants, H&M, $20; Shoes, Hong Kong; Bucket bag, Bangkok, $8. Makeup- Eyeliner, Canmake's Quick Easy Liner; Eyebrows, Benefit's Brows-zing Palette; Cheeks, Benefit's Coralista; Concealer, Revlon Colorstay.

Makeup wise, I put on very little as it was a good skin day. Thus I just put on sunblock, a little concealer and some blush. For blush, I'm using Benefit's Coralista, which is one of those pinks that looks natural on my slightly tanned skin. I think this blush is great for spring because it gives a fresh but natural makeup look. I also drew my brows and did a subtle cat eye. I like going for the 'no makeup' makeup look on most days. Plus, it only takes me less than 10 minutes to do it.

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Anyway, that's all of our short post! How did you spend your v-day? We'd love to know. Instagram/Tweet us your v-day outfits if you'd like. It would be great to share outfit ideas :) (Twitter @ChapalangGirls)

Till next time,
Love
El and Christine   xoxo

What's your Fashion Week Personality? (WhoWhatWear)

NYFW ended last week! Anyone feeling withdrawal symptoms? 

I didn't manage to catch any live-streaming shows so, can't say that I am.

El chanced upon this quiz by WhoWhatWear on her bloglovin' feed the other day during NYFW and got me to do it as well! Like the title of this post suggests, this quiz gives you an idea of what Fashion Week Personality you are. Just answer some questions related to your fashion, make-up and linguistic choices and voila, there you have it.

By the way, if you haven't followed us on bloglovin' and would like to, click the tab on the right ^^

There are 4 results that you can get with the quiz:
Off-Duty Beauty - The Wrangler - The Editrix - The Trendy Techie
Wanna hazard a guess which one El and I got?

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El is The Editrix while I'm the The Trendy Techie!

Here's what WhoWhatWear has to say about the two.

This is the conclusion we came to with our results:

With an Eva Chen and a Susie Bubble, this blog will be THE BEST THERE EVER IS :D
Killer combination for a fashion blog.


Any of you guys agree? Haha.

Leave us a comment with what Fashion Week Personality you are!
We'd love to hear from you :)

Till next time

Love, 

Christine xoxo

How I met Christine-- A Story of the Dark Ages

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

I'm part of the Singles camp, so I celebrate my friendship with the people around me instead. I thought it might be fun to write a story about my first meeting with Christine. My version might differ from Christine's memory, since it has been so long. We just sort of got together through multiple meetings. Brace up for the long tale of how El met Christine.

  El was feeling tired. It had been a long school day and having to run laps around the big school field only made matters worse. You may be wondering,'Why is she running laps?' at this point. Well, this is because the school authorities had determined that she was too fat to not run, hence had decreed that she was to be a part of the TAF club (or 'Tough' as El liked to think). The TAF club was (and still is) an exclusive club that only accepted members after a strict screening process. The screening process involved standing on a weighing scale and having the digits recorded in the school's records. The members were picked by the school and once you were selected, you cannot leave until you lose enough weight.

  As I was saying earlier, El was running around the field. She stared down at the unchanging grey, concrete path as she trudged forward step by step. Her calf muscles were burning and her heart throbbed painfully in her chest. She wondered this would the suffering end. A whistle pierces the air. "Gather up!" Relieved, she walks towards the teacher along with the rest. The air was putrid with the smell of sweat, enhanced further by the close proximity of everyone around her. They were told to split into 2 teams and sent to the netball court. Being the first day of the club activities, most new members were not particular about which team they joined. El found herself among a group of girls and they did self-introductions before the game started. 

  This was when she met Christine for the first time. Even though her whole body was glistening with sweat, it was not sexy. She just looked miserable and tired, just like everyone else who ran. At that point in time, El did not realise that it would be the first of the numerous meetings in the future.  She introduced herself. El did the same. There was not much time for small talk as the game started. Girls ran to catch the ball and throw passes. They were surprisingly agile and quick despite the earlier run. It was the best part of TAF club activities-- having fun and making friends with people who faced the same challenge of being too heavy. 

  El met Christine again in the school's band activities. El was glad to recognise someone in the sea of strangers. They exchanged polite greetings and parted ways as El went to join the brass section.

  Somehow, their paths often crossed. It was as if it was fated. Not only did she meet Christine in band practices and TAF club activities, they were both competing in the Discus category for their school's sports day games for their house. As time went by, El got to know Christine more and more. They had many common friends, thanks to TAF club and school. They did not have much in common at first, but like many friends, they influenced each other's interests. Time passes and by some miracle, El is still friends with Christine today. They've experienced the trials of academic life together and El pretty much saw Christine transform into the person she is today.

This was taken when we were 16! We still look the same. I wish I could have shown you Christine in her secondary school days. She looked quite different then.

They both got into makeup and fashion together, and has seen each other's worst fashion disasters.

Super Show 3! First Kpop concert ever (and my last)

 They got the K-pop fever and turned into fangirls for a short while. 

They went overseas together. 

This is Christine having her 1st hair colouring done. (I'm out of frame. Our friend Hannah took this photo)

They had their hair coloured for the first time together.

 They shared many first times through the years, and they were all fun. They decided to start a blog together, charting their fashion experiments and musings so that they can share with the world.

  Well, my dear readers who are awake still, the story shall now stop here. Their lives are still not over thus it would be rude to end with a 'and they all lived happily ever after' like fairytales. Why? Because real life is not like that. Who knows. Maybe El and Christine might get into a fight one day and stop talking to each other. Or they might drift apart after a long time. As it is now, El and Christine are still friends in the present, commenting about each other's clothes or having fun talking. One truth that can be said is that El had Christine's back and vice versa, which is what friends are for.

Hence, cherish your friends around you and show them how much you appreciate them if you haven't been doing so. Say hi to the friends whom you've not spoken to in a while this Valentine's day or give them a random hug ^^.

Also, here's a shoutout to our dear friend Hannah, who's flying back to Sydney today. We've been a trio for a long while and it's sad she's leaving us again. Here's to our 9(or is it 8?) years of friendship and probably 50 years more.  See you this December again (hopefully) Hannah <3

Yay to fun times...

and to some booze :P

I hope you've enjoyed the story!

Till next time,
Love
El   xoxo

  

At The Bottom Of Everything.

As promised in my shopping haul post last month, 

here's how I would wear these 6 different bottoms.
Just one of the many ways, of course.
:)

This is pretty overdue but better late than never...right? >.<
I went on a cruise during Lunar New Year and decided to shoot this onboard. With the help of my mum and her phone (Samsung Note 2), of course! :)

Hope you guys like it! :)
Pardon the grittiness for some of the photos.
I need to invest in a camera, obviously.

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Neon Days

       

Orange Right In Your Face

Shirt: H&M

Denim Shorts: F21

Belt: gift (From El)

Sandals: Senso

Necklace: Aldo

Sunnies: Fossil

Supermassive B(l)ack Hole

Shirt: Sister Margarita

Tubetop: Random online shop

Denim Shorts: F21

Belt: H&M

Shoes: Itti & Otto

Bag: Aldo

Cap: A stall from *Scape (they were at my school!)

Necklace: Zara

Sunnies: Isetan

Take a chill pill and hang around the beach (or on vacays in those tropical places) in these outfits!

Denim shorts are the basic of the basics while
T-shirts and shorts are the easiest combination of them all.
But we don't want to be the typical tee and shorts dresser so...
Look for T-shirts with interesting details to stand out even in the most ubiquitous way of dressing!

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I WAS ASKED TO WEAR SOMETHING

 ...RED

Please pardon the piss-poor quality of the photos!

Made of a super thin cotton, these drawstring shorts are oh-so-comfy.

I can just lounge in them all day.

The heat will never get to me! 

They may look like bed-material, but who says you can't wear pyjamas out-to-town?

Pair any pyjamas bottom with polished or luxe-feel looking tops and you're good to go! 

It's all about contrast, baby.

Shirt: NastyGal

Red Vest: Topshop

Shorts: F21

Shoes: Itti & Otto

Necklace: H&M

Arm Candy (Bracelet Ring): ASOS (I think)

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Vroom-Vroom 

Jeans; another staple of anyone's essential wardrobe.

Yes, t-shirts are the way-to-go, always. But as always, also, details play an important part!

Tie a flannal shirt, or in this case, a denim jacket, around your waist to create another dimension to the otherwise boring tee&jeans combo.

Shirt: Uniqlo X Laduree

Jacket: Warehouse

Jeans: Topshop

Shoes: Itti & Otto

Cap: (same as previous) *Scape

Sunnies: Isetan

Necklace: From an online shop, eons ago

Bracelet: Topshop

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Colour Me Plaid

The only photo not taken on the cruise... In my defense, I did bring them onboard. Unfortunately, we missed one dining night and I didn't wear this in the end.

It seems like a difficult thing to match plaid but when all else fails, go for a solid coloured top that matches one of the colours of the plaid!

This also works with every other patterned/colourful bottoms :)

Or if you're just not feeling it, a plain white tee will ALWAYS work.

Top: Dorothy Perkins

Skirt: Pull & Bear

Shoes: ASOS

Arm Candy: Hand-me-down

Rings: Can't quite remember...

Necklace: Zara

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(p)Leather 

Yay for a library onboard!

Invest in a leather skirt.

It has the ability to instantly "coolify" an outfit.
Same goes for a leather jacket.
Anything leather, really.

The zipper running down the front and the uneven hemline lends this skirt its character.

I love it.

Top: Cotton On

Skirt: Pull & Bear

Shoes: Americaya

Necklace: Zara

Ring: Diva

Arm Candy: Dorothy Perkins

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(too) Prim and Proper

Not too fond of this photo...sadly.

Honestly, I would have done my hair up and change the shoes but...
they had to collect our luggages and I had to pack my heels in T.T

Taking the fail-safe fashion route, I paired the patterned bottom with a plain white top.
Jazz it up with a statement necklace and/or a colourful clutch!


                        





Top: Miss Selfridge
Skirt: Warehouse
Shoes: Itti & Otto
Bag: Aldo
Necklace: Dorothy Perkins










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Hope you guys were inspired by this :)
Leave a comment below or tweet/tag me (Instagram: christinehzy) how you guys would dress your bottoms!
Would really love to see them :D

Till next time.

Love,

Christine xoxo

Chinese New Year OOTDs!

Hey everyone!

First of all, Happy Chinese New Year to all the readers celebrating. May you have a prosperous and fantastic Horse year! 

Secondly, I apologize for the long silence on this blog. I've been terribly busy with all the spring cleaning and preparations for the biggest Chinese festival of the year: Chinese New Year!

If you don't know what Chinese New Year(CNY) is, then here's a very brief introduction. CNY is the time of the year when the new lunar year in the Chinese calendar starts. It is like the Western world's equivalent of Christmas. To celebrate, we deck ourselves in new clothes, cook lots of food and clean the house to prepare to welcome in the good fortune of the new year. People will visit each other and give out red packets with money inside.

This is one of the most stressful period of the year for me as my life gets turned upside down. I get kicked out of the usual room I sleep in for my grandparents, which really messes with usual routine. There's a TON of cleaning to do (from kitchen tiles to crystal lights... and the list goes on). Furthermore, my food intake increases by 200% during new year, thanks to the incredible food my grandmother cooks. Coming from a Hakka+Hainanese family background, my CNY usually involves having a huge table loaded with super yummy  fattening food, such as yam & pork, braised pork with leeks etc. One thing for this year was that my birthday fell on the eve of CNY. On that day, my house is THE place to go for the annual reunion dinner, so my birthday got overlooked in a way. I did get  3 birthday cakes because I celebrated my birthday with different groups of people. Overall, CNY was pretty crazy for me. I've got my pimple breakout to show for the stress I went through.

I did my new year clothes shopping waaaay ahead of CNY (last June) to avoid the hassle of shopping during the peak period. That's probably why you didn't see a CNY outfit shopping post from me. Without any further waiting, here're my outfits! (there're only 2 outfits because I only visited on 2 days)

DAY 1

Outfit- Dress, ~35RM from some shop in JB Citysquare(cheap dress); platform sandals, ~SGD30,Guangzhou; Purse,Hong Kong; Watch, Wired(Hong Kong)

For the first time in a long while, I decided to wear red for CNY. Red is considered to be an auspicious colour, thus I chose red. Personally, I think my figure looks really amazing in this dress because it showed off  my curves that I'm proud of.  This is because of the support wear/corset pants from Black RaRa** that I wore inside. It helped to pack all my excess bulge nicely :)  It was tiring to pull the pants up, but I was comfortable once I was in it (I even fell asleep in it!) So, with my tummy all tucked in nicely, the dress accentuated my waist and curvy body shape, which I liked. I think I looked slimmer and the red really brightened my skin nicely.

**If you're interested in the Black RaRa shapewear, check out their facebook page. I'm wearing the Agent 001 Slender Sally, which cost me $49 at Metro before 20% discount.

I paired the dress with the pair of white platform sandals that I bought in Guangzhou in June last year (yes, I managed to stop myself from wearing these lovely babies all these months). I carried a small purse which I love because of the cute cat prints, colour and sequins on it. It probably didn't match very well with my red dress but whatever. It's CNY and I adore cat prints.

Accessories that I wore: Hearts bangle, Qoo10; Heart Necklace, SK (my 22nd Birthday present); Set of 6 Silver Rings, H&M, $4.72.

I put on some silver accessories which I felt added a glam factor to my outfit. If not, the dress would be really plain. I think this outfit will also make a good Valentine's Day outfit too, considering that it is red and has heart-themed jewelry.

Makeup wise, I didn't do anything too difficult except for the red lips. I put on a light layer of foundation and blush and also used some bronzer. On my eyes, I used some of the neutral eyeshadow colours from my Sleek palette and my Fasio mascara. To complete the look, I drew my eyebrows with my brow pencil. I think it's important to define your brows to really bring the look together. This is especially so if you're going to do bold makeup. I focused mostly on my red lips, which are tricky things to handle. I lined my lips first with NYX's lip pencil (Brick red) and then layered Rimmel's lip lacquer over the pencil. I blotted the lips with a tissue and then used the same lip pencil to shade the outer corners of my lips. I then dabbed some more of Rimmel's lip laquer in the centre of my lips to give some depth to the look.

Left: Sleek Au Naturel Palette; Fasio's Mascaliner; Revlon Colorstay Concealer; Bourjois Blush; Rimmel Natural Bronzer.
Right: Rimmel Show Off Lip Lacquer in Big Bang; Origins Lip Remedy; NYX Lip Pencil in Deep Red. 

The colours that I used in my Sleek palette: Honeycomb-- an amazing base colour because it covers up the pigmentation/darkness on my eyelids; Moss-- contour; Mineral Earth-- used at the outer edge of my eye; Taupe--inner corner highlights. Taupe is a super pretty colour that lights up the inner corners of my eyes subtly.

DAY 2

The second day of CNY involved everyone coming to my place again for lunch. I was planning on going back to bed after everyone had left, so I decided to wear my recently purchased dress from H&M. It's comfy to sleep in yet looks presentable if I go out in it.

Outfit- Jersey Dress, H&M, $9.90; Hat, Hong Kong; Orangle bucket bag, Bangkok, ~$8; Necklace, Qoo10; Rest are the same as outfit 1.

As it turns out, I went to my grandparents' place to play with my little cousin who came from Guangzhou after lunch. I ended up staying overnight because I played some mahjong till quite late... and I slept in the dress too. Haha.

I adore the hat I'm wearing in this photo because it amps up the chic factor of any outfit. It helped to block out some of the sunlight too. For makeup, I just put on the bare minimum of foundation, liquid eyeliner and blush. Not to forget, I also drew my eyebrows because not having defined eyebrows makes me look washed out, thanks to my lighter hair colour. I kept accessories simple to match the simplicity of the outfit, so I only wore my watch and my cheap gold triangle necklace. The total outfit probably costs less than $60(excluding my watch), which is pretty awesome for those of you who are on a budget.

A photo of my hat. I bought this when I went to Hong Kong with Christine a few years back. I can't remember how much it cost me but it's less than $10. Hats are a great way to chic up your outfits.

Well that's all for my CNY post folks! I hope you've had an enjoyable CNY too! Feel free to use my OOTD as reference for your V-day outfits since they're red (red symbolises passion and love). Happy Chinese New Year to all the readers :) :)

Till next time
Love,
El   xoxo

Single? Here're 5 ways to ENJOY Valentine's Day

Hello people!
It has been quite a while since a post has been up. Afterall, there was this big event called Chinese New Year, which I shall blog about in an upcoming post.

As you might have noticed from all the blogs/videos/twitter etc, Valentine's Day is coming. There are lots of people excited about Valentine's Day and there are just so many Youtubers etc who are producing content about looking good for V-day. Restaurants and cafes start promoting their Valentine's specials, shops start advertising on the perfect gift for your special half, florists jack up their prices and so on. It gets a little annoying for those who are not celebrating Valentines to go out because it's so expensive to go anywhere(and also because looking at all the couples engaging in PDAs can be sickening). I never really understood what makes Valentine's Day so special, since if you love a person, shouldn't you be treating that person nicely everyday? It's like Mothers' Day--what's the point of showering your mother with love and gifts when you treat her like s*** for 364 days of the year(or maybe 362 days, if you treat her nicely on her birthday and for christmas...). Anyway, if you're single and you want to still celebrate and enjoy Valentine's Day, keep on reading!

1: Get a friend to share in your'misery'. True friends stick with you through thick and thin.  (or get many friends. The more the merrier!)
If you're one of those people who feels extra lonely on Valentine's Day, get some friends and get together for some fun! (According to Wikipedia, Feb 14 is also when Singles Awareness Day fall on.) You can be like the character Kara in the movie Valentine's Day who invites her friends to her annual 'I Hate Valentine's Day' Party or you can ask your similarly single friend(s) out to hang out. Have a movie marathon, or go out for food and drinks together. Since this year's 14/2 falls on a Friday, why not take a short weekend trip and celebrate your single status? Celebrate your single status on this day of love.

2: Disturb Couples who are PDA-ing
This is for those brave-hearted(or really bored) people. This may be a little childish, but it is a lot of fun. If you've got no idea what PDA means, it is an acronym for Public Displays of Affection. This includes couples kissing, fondling, hugging etc. One of the easiest way to disturb them is to just STARE and make it really obvious that you're staring at them. Let them feel the hair on their necks raise up from your creepy,unembarrassed stare. If they confront you, you can tell them that if they're not embarrassed about their disgusting actions, then you're not ashamed to be staring at them. Or you can tell every couple you see engaging in PDA to 'get a room!' or cheer for them. Haha. Their reactions can be quite amusing. Pretend you're drunk if you're feeling a little scared or just sincerely tell them that you wish them the best in their relationship(if they're angry that they got disturbed).Make up a stupid reason. Why? Because it's fun. :)

3: Gift your friends
V-day is not just limited to couples to celebrate. It is also a day to show your friends how much you like them. Make a tiny gift bag for them to show your appreciation, like giving them lip gloss, chocolates, friendship coupons or just a hug. I am sure your friends would love receiving things from you on V-day. Seeing your friends happy will definitely make you happy (for me at least.)

4: Treat yourself
Book yourself an appointment at your favourite beauty place or spa or salon and pamper yourself with massages, manipedis or a beautiful hair blowout. They'll make you feel special and beautiful if you feel like you need a little encouragement. For those beautiful girls on a budget, go home early and have your own DIY pampering session. Do a face mask, exfoliate and massage some body butter into your skin and do your own manicure! Even better, get a friend and you can do each other's nails (and have a sleepover too!).

Use Soap&Glory's body butter! It smells amazing and makes my skin uber soft! (Pic from Soap & Glory)

5: Sleep
For those of you who have been dealing with deadlines and have lists of things to do, sleep is the best thing to have. Instead of doing things when you reach home, go and grab an extra few hours of sleep. It'll give you a good recharge and you'll feel wonderfully refreshed when you wake up :) Lack of sleep can cause mood swings and you really do not want to be grumpy all the time due to insufficient sleep. Those extra few hours of sleep might just give you the extra glow that will attract a potential guy! ;)

Alright, that's 5 ways to have fun this Valentine's Day! I'm sure you probably have many more things planned for valentine's day. Well, for those who've not (and are not going to) signed up for singles' meeting events and speed dating etc for this V-day, you're not alone. I'm happy being single and these 5 tips are probably what I'm going to be doing this Valentine's. I hope you've enjoyed reading this post and have a good Valentine's day(whether you're single or attached)!

Till next time,
Love
El   xoxo