Review | Aritaum Mono Eyes Eyeshadow

Happy Sunday everyone!

El here with a review on Aritaum Mono Eyes eyeshadows! I got these recently after watching a Youtuber swatch #70 Evro and fell in love with it. Instead of 1, I got 3 as the seller on Qoo10 had a buy 2 get 1 free offer, so I might as well....
I was so excited to try them out when they arrived in my mail!(but I had to wait since I had a couple of deadlines coming up)

 Read on to check out whether I love them and also the colour swatches!

5 Beauty & Makeup Essentials to Look Fresh Faced for School!

Hi Everyone!

  Hope you're having a great week so far. It's said that it's the clothes that make the man, but don't neglect your face! All the cute clothes in the world will not make you look any better if you've got dull skin and dark circles. So here I am, sharing with you 5 makeup and beauty products in my arsenal that I find to work well and are budget friendly.

#1// Eye Roll On

  Frequently stay up late? You probably have to deal with puffy eyes and dark circles in the morning. Personally, I really hate it when my eyes get so puffy that I find it a pain to fully open my eyes.

  A solution to easing the puffiness is to massage and cool down the eye area, improving the circulation there. This will help to ease the fluid retention which causes puffy eyes a well as help lighten the dark circles. I recommend using a eye roll on which usually has a metal ball roller which helps to massage the serum into the eye area as well as cool the eye area.

  Personally, I use a small tube of Clinique's All About Eyes Serum which has a metal ball roller inside. I got this while I was overseas. There are cheaper alternatives from other brands like Garnier.

  No spare cash to buy an eye roll on? Fear not! There are many home remedies that can be found online (do research well though). Personally, I like the cold spoon trick and doing the eye massage myself. For the cold spoon trick, just place a metal spoon in your freezer before you go to bed so that in the morning, you can use the cold spoon to press against the eye area to help with puffiness.

~Beauty Myths Experiment Diary~ Will drinking 8 cups of water a day really give me good skin? | Week 4

Guess what guys!
We've made it! Finally it's the last week of testing the myth that drinking 8 cups of water a day will give us good skin, in the Beauty Myths Experiemt Diary series
From struggling to drink 2l a day to drinking more than 2l a day with ease, these past 4 weeks have been an interesting water experience. If you haven't already, check out our previous posts for the week-by-week breakdown of our water journey -->> Week 0, Week 1, Week 2 and Week 3!

With that aside, let's see just how our skin has fared after 4 weeks! :)

	Will drinking 8 cups of water a day really give me good skin?!
Picture	Christine	El
Current Skin Condition	I jinxed it. Got a few pimples popping out :( I also don't see any changes with pore size when I wake up.	Well my skin is back to amazing again, and definitely better than when I started the experiment. Not sure if it's thanks to the rash cream my Dr gave me but I've got barely any pimples after my rash gone off. My skin texture is back to being good.
Signs of Pimples	Okay, this has to be the weirdest place to have a pimple - on my eyelid. I don't know how it happened but I think it was due to an ingrowth eyebrow so...probably nothing to do with water. That aside, I think my period pimples are popping out again. (I paid attention this time!! haha) either that, or I over-exfoliated >.<	One or two tiny white pimples which are easily rid of.
Hydration	Definitely hydrated :)	My skin's now is less dry than last week. However, there's still a tight feeling there because I haven't been sny moisutriser beside my aloe vera gel.
Oil Control	Haven't blotted, won't be starting anytime soon.	My skin is less oily now. Only need to blot once a day.
Other Comments	I am happy (no more multiple toilet trips in an hour) and sad (it's our last post) at the same time. 1 month passes so fast. Here's what I think so far: I'm not 100% satisfied with how my face condition is right now as I was hoping that drinking 2l of water a day will help prevent pimples from popping out but I guess I had too high an expectation. Regardless, I do find that my pimples do heal faster and scarring fades quicker doing the experiment. Sadly though, I don't think the water helped in tightening my pores - they still look as big as ever.	I'm super happy about my skin condition right now. I'm also thankful that the rash did not leave any major scarring behind beside on the sides of my face. They'll probably fade after some time. I think drinking water really helped to speed up my skin's recovery, especially the scarring left by blemishes and the rash. This is because some of the blemish marks healed really fast without me having to use special creams. My pores also seem smaller! Is this the power of water~?

That's the end of this week's report on our progress! So far, it does seem like drinking 8 cups of water helped improve our skin condition. What do you think? Is it just us hoping that it's working or do you believe that it's true? Have you tried this out before? Tell us what you think in the comments section or tweet us @ChapalangGirls!

Remember to use #TCWBMED! :) Follow us on twitter @ChapalangGirls or like us on our Facebook page to keep track of our progress!

OH. BY THE WAY
We've decided to give you guys an overview of our thoughts on this water myth. As Christine will be overseas at the time of publishing this post, our overall post will be a little after 2 weeks! So stay tuned! :)
Till next time.
Love,
Christine & El xoxo

~Beauty Myths Experiment Diary~ Will drinking 8 cups of water a day really give me good skin? | Week 3

Welcome back!
In this segment, we try out beauty tips raved about by celebrities and media and see if they're just myths, or if there is an element of truth in it.

And right now, we're onto week 3 of testing the water myth (as seen in the title)! If you've missed our previous instalments, just click here -> Week 0, Week 1 and Week 2!

With that done, let's move on to the exciting part~

	Will drinking 8 cups of water a day really give me good skin?!
Picture	Christine	El
Current Skin Condition	I really hope I won't jinx it but the pimples are almost gone~ The minor scarring left behind seems to heal pretty quick as well. I hope this continues on! Go water! (If only you'll get rid of my dark undereyes too)	Well if you read the previous week's post, you'd be wondering why my photo for this week is still the same. The problem is that I've got a really bad rash breakout all over my face, so I'm unwilling to show it here for the world to see. No idea what caused my allergic reaction since I've not changed anything in my routine.
Signs of Pimples	Just one near my left upper lip (no idea why there is one there though...funny place to have a pimple)	I've got some pimples, but less than last week. Although for now I can't differentiate my pimples from the rash since they're both red and bumpy.
Hydration	Looks and feels pretty hydrated to me.	My skin's dry due to the medication.
Oil Control	Still the same, not blotting.	Same as last week!
Other Comments	Pretty great week so far for my skin. Also, it feels like my body is craving for its hourly water dosage now. I get thirsty easily and can down more water compared to before we started this experiment. That aside, I do hate making so many trips to the toilet though...	Well this week sucked. Who knew I'd get a skin rash? Totally didn't expect such a thing to crop up in the middle of the experiment. What I can say is that it's not the water's fault for the rash. I'm sorry that I'm not able to give a very accurate reflection on the effects of drinking 2L of water a day on the skin. At this moment, my skin's recovering and the parts with the rash are flaky and dry. I can only hope I do not have much scarring left from this. I can't use any of my skincare for now... not even to wash my face with soap. :(

That's the end of this week's report on our progress! So far, it does seem like drinking 8 cups of water helped improve our skin condition. What do you think? Is it just us hoping that it's working or do you believe that it's true? Have you tried this out before? Tell us what you think in the comments section or tweet us @ChapalangGirls!

Remember to use #TCWBMED! :) Follow us on twitter @ChapalangGirls or like us on our Facebook page to keep track of our progress! Just one more update for this myth and we're done with the month-long testing :( Time passes so fast.

Stay tuned for next Wednesday's update!

Till next time.
Love,
Christine & El xoxo

~Beauty Myths Experiment Diary~ Will drinking 8 cups of water a day really give me good skin? | Week 2

Welcome back to The Chapalang Way's "Beauty Myths Experiment Diary"!

In this segment, we try out beauty tips raved about by celebrities and media and see if they're just myths, or if there is an element of truth in it.

As of now, we're on to week 2 of testing if drinking 8 cups of water a day will give us good skin. If you've missed our previous posts, check them out here: Week 0 and Week 1. With that, let's see if our skin has improved~

	Will drinking 8 cups of water a day really give me good skin?!
Picture	Christine	El
Current Skin Condition	Quite miraculously, within 2-3 days, the pimples that popped out are all gone/on the way to healing (fingers crossed that there won't be any scarring). It usually lasts about 1 week and gives me a great headache. Besides that, my skin seems to be brighter than before. Oil production rate seems to have gone down too.	It's torture week for me. It's as if all the pimples have been waiting patiently to come out together. Other than that, texture of skin and looks wise is still ok. Suffering from redness and blemishes now, which you can see from the picture above >.<
Signs of Pimples	Only the leftovers, one or two, from the last pimple bout. No others have appeared.	It's almost that time of the month again, but this time I'm glad to say no major zit appeared. The most painful one was on my nose, which disappeared surprisingly quick. I've got around 10 small pimples coming out all over my face, with a few on my forehead. I expected more pimples(touchwood!) to come but thankfully there are less this time round. Could it be the water helping?
Hydration	Appearance-wise, my skin does feel more plump up and looks more hydrated.	My skin is still flaking at certain parts of my face, but less visible.
Oil Control	No blotting occurred.	Same as last week!
Other Comments	It's getting easier to drink 2l a day, hooray! In fact, I keep reaching for my water bottle for water throughout the day. Seems like my body has adjusted and now, it automatically reminds me to drink water. Before this week, it was such a chore to drink 2l before 12mn. Now, I can easily finish 2l before 9pm but I try not to because going to the toilet that many times in an hour is SUCH A HASSLE. By the way, I think those pimples could have been due to my period coming as the latter came a day after those pimples popped out. However, I'm not too sure because I've never paid attention to this. But, if that's the case, then I think drinking water has helped with clearing the pimples.	I fell sick this week! Despite drinking 2 liters and more a day, I still caught a cold. Sore throat, cough, flu-- the usual trio that I'd always get once a year at least. I think it was because I worked 2 11 hours shift on consecutive days, hence my immune system got screwed. My sore throat did go away pretty fast though. I think the water really helps in speeding up body recovery besides boosting skin quality. I think it's thanks to the water that there are less pimples coming out. Who knows? Maybe I'll stick to 2L per day and give a short update next month.

That's the end of this week's report on our progress! What do you think of the our progress so far? Do you think it's just a myth or think that it's true? Have you tried this out before? Tell us what you think in the comments section or tweet us @ChapalangGirls!
Follow us on twitter @ChapalangGirls or like us on our Facebook page to keep track of our progress! We will be updating our observations every Wednesday for a month :)

Till next time.
Love,
Christine & El xoxo

~Beauty Myths Experiment Diary~ Will drinking 8 cups of water a day really give me good skin? | Week 1

Hello everyone!

Welcome to The Chapalang Way's "Beauty Myths Experiment Diary"!
In this segment, we try out beauty tips raved about by celebrities and media and see if they're just myths, or if there is an element of truth in it.

Right now, we're in the midst of testing if drinking 8 cups of water a day will give us good skin. Last week, we posted a post of us at the start of this experiment (click here to read Week 0). This week, let's see if there're any changes to our skin~

	Will drinking 8 cups of water a day really give me good skin?!
Picture	Christine	El
Current Skin Condition	One word: BAD (see below). Otherwise, my skin seems to be pretty much the same - oily at my T-zone after a day although I dare say it's a little less oilier than usual; undereye circles are still there as dark as always and skin on my nose is now flaky at night for some reason.	Pretty great still^^ I've only got a small patch of flaking skin around my left cheek which is not really obvious unless you look really closely. I don't particularly see my skin glowing but my face seems to produce oil at a slower rate.
Signs of Pimples	On Thursday, a pimple popped out on my nose. It came to head the next day and I took care of it. Right after that, it felt like my face became a free for all pimple zone :( One more appeared on my nose, another on my left cheek and tiny ones on my right cheek. I really hope that this is the effect of the water flushing out the toxins in my body and it will clear up soon.	I'm still having my good skin week~ I've not gotten any major breakout yet(We'll see what happens in the next two weeks). Usually I would get a big, painful zit around this time of the month but all's well so far. I've got a few tiny little insignificant pimples though but some tea tree oil after two days they disappear.
Hydration	I dare say my skin feels more hydrated and a little glowing from within...but it could be my imagination too. Haha	My skin is a little flaky in parts of my face but most of my face feels less dry.
Oil Control	Still didn't blot for this week.	Still blotting, although I do notice that my face seems to get oily slower. It could be due to the water doing its magic or it could be my mind thinking about it. Haha.
Other Comments	Quite honestly, I didn't manage to drink up to 2 litres every day just because it gets sickening trying to drink so much water at one go, even at intervals. Plus, I had to work full days for 3 days last week and it was pretty hard trying to get the required water intake. Also, I would think that drinking so much water each day would mean that my lips won't be dry but quite surprisingly, my lips feel drier than usual. I wonder if it's a sign of over hydration. Anyway, If you're planning to do this, I highly recommend getting a 1 litre bottle and familiarising yourself with the nearest toilet. Be prepared to make multiple trips to the washroom.	I would say it's pretty sickening having to drink so much water a day when usually I would drink at most a liter... Plus I only drink when I've got time at work or at home. It's annoying having to go to the toilet so frequently. I do notice that for the first 2 days after starting the water experiment, I kept having diarrhoeastomach pain(TMI I know. But I thought I should add this in for the sake of sharing information)! I think it's the water purging my body of all the junk I eat sometimes.

That's the end of this week's report on our progress! What do you think of the our progress so far? Do you think it's just a myth or think that it's true? Have you tried this out before? Tell us what you think in the comments section or tweet us @ChapalangGirls!
Follow us on twitter @ChapalangGirls or like us on our Facebook page to keep track of our progress! We will be updating our observations every Wednesday for a month :)
So far, Week 1 has been a struggle. Drinking so much water each day, coupled with other liquids that we might take (soup, tea, Starbucks), has made the bathroom our new hangout. Nevertheless, we will persevere and come to a conclusion on this myth! Join us in our myth adventure with the hashtag #TCWBMED! Hope to hear from you guys~

Till next time.
Love,
Christine & El xoxo

El's Recent Hauls

Hey everyone!

El here! It's GSS season in Singapore which means sales galore! It's not even end of June yet and I've been doing quite a bit of shopping. Originally, I was planning on just doing a quick post on my shopping haul from my recent trip to the Metro sale. However, thanks to all the 'SALE' signs that I see during my lunch hour, I've been shopping more than I ought to.

Here're the new things that I welcome into my family:

Striped Dress: H&M; Jacket: H&M; Bunch of rings: Lovisa; Shoes: Tracce

First up, let's talk about that striped dress I've got. This is like the dress of my dreams. I'm sure everyone knows that horizontal stripes have a widening effect and vertical stripes are slimming right? All these years, I've been hoping to get a dress that has horizontal stripes for the top part and vertical stripes for the bottom. Why? So that my big butt will look slimmer and my top look wider! Finally I get such a dress. I got it at H&M at 19.90. Who cares if it wasn't on sale? I've been waiting for this to appear since forever.

Next up is this beautiful brown double row buttons jacket from H&M that I'm in love with because it's one of those pieces that can be styled in many different ways. It can be chic, cool or casual-- it's a chameleon piece. Best of all, I got it at $30 which is almost 50% off the normal price.

For some reason, I've been in the mood to buy rings, especially gold coloured ones. It didn't help my wallet that Lovisa had a bunch of stuff going at 3 for $13 so I helped myself to some. I got the 'WISH' ring, the geometric ring and the bunch of gold midi rings for $13. I got the pack of 4 gold rings for $5, as you can tell from the stickers.

The wish ring is a really cute ring that can be flipped over to a star pattern. I thought it would be fun to own a ring like that so I got it.

Here're the items I got at the Metro sale

I got myself a pair of new shoes!!! They were $49 and there was a 20% discount so they're in my budget range. These pair of shoes are like the crystallization of the ideal pair of sandals I've been looking for. I've been wanting a pair of heels that has ankle cuffs, gold metallic elements, black straps and also won't make my legs look short. Imagine my joy when I saw this pair of shoes at Metro. I love how they're not too high for me and how comfortable they are! The nude coloured ankle cuffs also does not cut off my legs visually so my legs are still proportionate. Plus the gold heel detail ups the style factor of the shoes. When I wore them out for the first time, it felt like I was wearing flats. However, my legs were sore from wearing them when I took them off at the end of the day. I was surprised because it felt like I was wearing flats all day but the ache was the kind that I'd usually get from wearing heels. Lesson learnt: Heels will always be heels even if they feel like flats.

Besides the pair of shoes, I got myself the lipbalm from Shu Uemura.

I absolutely love this balm, but this is like the most expensive lip balm I've ever used so far. It's $48 usually but thanks to the Metro sale, I got it at 20% off. Honestly, I would never have bought this lip balm if I did not use this at my workplace everyday (so it has been 1 month of trial). This keeps my lips moisturised for a long period and does not dry out to form a thin flaky layer on my lips which I find many lip balms tend to do (like Origins' Lip Remedy, Nivea's and Burt's Bees' lip balms). It's also not sticky too! This is more like a gel than a balm I feel. The texture is like a non-sticky gloss that the lips will absorb and stay moist for hours. Anyway, it's a pretty big tube so I guess it'll last for quite a while. Besides, it was a great time to get it because there was a direct 20% discount! :)

Here's a makeup tip for the lip balm: First layer on the lip balm. Then apply a bright matte lip colour on the lips using a lip brush. The colour will be sheered out by the balm as well as appearing glossy. Nonetheless, the colour will still be bright and long lasting. You'll get the bright colour payoff from matte lipsticks and still get moist looking lips! I know the point of matte lipsticks is so that you'll have matte lips but there are times a girl's lips are not in the best condition to be wearing matte lips. Also, most brands don't sell certain colours in normal/glossy finishes that are available in matte finishes. So this method will enable people to wear their favourite matte lip colours in different ways.

That's the end of my haul post. Expect another one soon as GSS season ends in July. More shops will be having sales and that's when I'll really go crazy. Thank you for staying till the end of the post with me. Comment in the comments section if you do like the post. For more updates on this blog, follow us on Twitter @ChapalangGirls or like our Facebook page here!

Till next time,
Love
El   xoxo

Product Review: Bio-Essence's Hydra Tri action Aqua Droplet Sleeping Beauty Mask

Hello everyone!

Sorry it has been so long since I've written a new post. I've been working and my work clothes have to be all black, pants and long sleeves combo, so there's nothing fashion-related I can post about sadly. I've been working as temporary a sales person and have 5/6 days work week depending on the schedule :(

Hence, I've decided to do a beauty product review because I really, REALLY like this product. It's Bio-Essence's Hydra Tri action Aqua Droplet Sleeping Beauty Mask. Ridiculously long name I know...Let's just call it the sleeping mask.

Just so you know, this is not a sponsored post (we're faraway from that and I don't rave about stuff I dislike). Anyway, I've been a fan of Bio-essence's ATP Exfoliating Gel for a few years now and I keep repurchasing it despite the many changes it has undergone. I decided to get this sleeping mask in Watsons after having tried the tester and really loved the texture. I actually hesitated a long while to get it because it's so expensive! In stores it retails at $33.90 but I managed to get it cheaper because there was a Watsons sale and I also got an additional 20% discount thanks to my aunt who got a special SMS from Watsons (This is called shopping smart!)

I love the concept of Sleeping Pack/Masks which claim to hydrate and nourish your skin while you're sleeping. It's like the lazy person's way out of having to do a mask and wait for 20 minutes to remove it. I've used Laneige's famed Water Sleeping Pack EX, which I enjoyed and also a sample of Neutrogena's  Hydroboost Water Gel which also has the sleeping mask concept. Surprisingly, I like Bio-Essence's version the best since it's cheap(affordable) and also works well. I also prefer the texture of this as it's not sticky, which I like, unlike Laneige's Sleeping Pack which I found it a bit sticky.

I started using sleeping masks more when I started sleeping in my sister's room. In that room, the aircon will be blowing directly at my face because of my bed position and my skin will feel tight and dry in the morning. My throat will also be hurting from the dryness. Sadly, my sister will not let me switch off the aircon even though it's ridiculously cold, so I had to find a way to deal with the dryness. My usual moisturiser wasn't working well enough so I decided to try sleeping masks! With this product, I wake up to nice and supple skin!

The good thing about this product is that it's not sticky and it absorbs fast, so you can go to bed sooner!


Here's a picture of the product:

Half the jar is gone because I love using this so much! <3

Here's why it's called "Aqua droplet": It's originally in a gel form but when you massage it into your skin, it turns into water droplets!

Packaging

Packaging wise, it's a pretty sturdy yet lightweight jar, making it easy to put in a travel bag. However, I wish it's in a squeeze tube form so that it'll be easier for me to control the amount I take and also more hygienic! It's a little disgusting to be digging in the jar for the gel using my hands all the time, so I use my own spatula to scoop out the product.

Texture 

It's not sticky and when applied to face it feels like I'm spreading water on my face I guess. It absorbs fast and feels good!

Scent

I love how this sleeping mask smells. It has this really nice refreshing and calm fragrance that's not overpowering, which helps me to relax before bed. For those of you who believe that scented products are bad for your skin, skip this.

Overall rating:4.5/5

It's close to 5 but the packaging and the price could be improved on. The product works well for me though. Usually I use these kinds of sleeping mask at night but I love it so much that I also use a small amount of it in the morning. I find that it helps to keep my skin hydrated longer hence I get less oily throughout the day despite having lots of makeup on at work. For those of you interested, you can try the testers at Watsons/Guardian and feel the moisturising property of the product for yourself. With skincare, every individual's skin differs so it's important to test the product first :)

Till next time
Love
El   xoxo