Looking back...

The end of the year is in a few hours time *sad* I would like to take this opportunity to thank so many of you readers for constantly supporting me for the past 2 and a half years. I would also like to thank sponsors, PRs, bloggers and friends who have given me much opportunities to pursue my passion =)

Anyway, I have been reminiscing about this year and walking down memory lane surely brought back so many happy memories!! Highlights of the year 2012:

I appeared in Cleo February issue for the hair makeover. The shorter hair needed high maintenance but I looked so much younger =) However, I think I would keep to my long mane because I just don't have the time to iron it every other time LOL

I was the face of Aspirer Studio advert for a CNY promo. I had a lot going for that month of February. I was celebrating Chinese New Year, I was working part time, I was blogging and I was studying for my nearing finals. But I also managed to sneak in a little time for a photoshoot for a 1 Malaysia theme =)

Then finally when exams were over, I got to celebrate my adulthood hehe This was the year I turned the big 2-1 and my first time getting cupcakes *laughs* Also, it was the day a BFF lost a best and had to fulfil a certain embarassing act at Sunway Pyramid *laughs harder* Altogether, my three celebrations were awesome with awesome family and friends =)

I also finally get to explore Langkawi and its beautiful sceneries!!

Nuffnang Blogopolis was the highlight of me as a blogger!! I learnt so many things, met so many new people, had so much fun and was quite excited to see famous bloggers whom I read everyday!!

This is also my first time trying out the Body Perfect Photothermolysis, sauna at Ecoparadise and slimming at Slimming Sanctuary! I don't normally go to those beauty centres but well this year I got to experience all of these =)

I am also proud to say I managed to complete the Extreme Challenge at Skytrex!!!! FYI, I'm not a sports person but time to time I like to do some outdoor activities and I was so happy I managed to finish the challenge without help hehehe

Further, I have never been to any concerts before and this year itself I went to two =) I went for Maroon 5 and David Guetta Now, I'm no more a concert virgin LMAO!!

And of course, the most important event of my year- I graduated!! Nuff said!

Besides that, through blogging I got to attend many exclusive events like SUEN jewellers, lingerie fashion shows for de Jouer and Audrey, be part of Only Beauty Bloggers and the first preview of Senka, Ma Cherie and Za


....and many many many other highlights...personally and publicly!

Through these experiences, I've gained so much, went to places I've never been before, learnt so many new things, made new friends and I can't be more thankful for all the love and happiness in my life!! I've also changed much this year. Most have told me so and it's for the better so I'm grateful!

One thing I've learnt- Great experiences can only be enjoyed with good company and staying positive and keeping that smile on your face will always make the day brighter =)

Here's hoping 2013 will be even better!
Cheers! Stay happy and healthy!!

Party safe, people!!

This is my last post for this year.
See you next year =)


XOXO

Taylor Swift Wonderstruck

I now own Taylor Swift's Wonderstruck perfume thanks to a Christmas pressie *yay* =)))

I have always seen ads of this perfume in magazines and been wanting to try it for quite long.

Wonderstruck is the first fragrance from Taylor Swift, launched in cooperation with Elizabeth Arden.

It is named after the lyrics from the song "Enchanted": "I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home," which tells about the feeling and the impression you get when you first meet someone you like. 

Wonderstruck.

The scent of Wonderstruck is described as woody and fruity floral, meshing notes of freesia, apple blossom and raspberry with vanilla, sun drenched honeysuckle and white hibiscus with layers of golden amber, sandalwood and lush peach.

The fruity floral scent is significant at first spritz and it gives a feeling of spring season. It does dry down to warmer notes and overall the smell is pleasant and not too girlish. This is suitable for daytime. Lasting power isn't that great though. 

The bottle is an iridescent purple with a gold embossed pattern and three gold charms; a 3D star, a bird and a birdcage- which is soo gorgeous I must say!! The charms on the bottle is pure genius and unique!! I really love pretty packaging and this bottle has it all! 

This perfume definitely appeals to younger crowds and if you're a fan of Taylor Swift, you would not regret this fragrance =)

Look at that princess gown for the commercial!!

Spotted!

Katie Holmes looking as hot as ever in a hot pink Narciso Rodriguez dress!
She was spotted at the Late Show with David Letterman in NYC. The trenchcoat just adds an edge to the whole look, so that it neither looks too sexy nor too covered up =) Well put together!!

Victoria's Secret 2012 Fashion Show

The Victoria's Secret fashion show this year was not as good as last year's I think. Last year had great performances and models but this year was not very exciting except with performances by Bruno Mars, Rihanna and Justin Bieber. Even so, performances were not that great >.<

I love two themes which are Calendar Girls and Angels in Bloom =)
Check out the full video of Victoria's Secret's angels in gorgeous lingerie *winks*

L'OREAL Casting Creme Gloss in Auburn

So remember I did my blue highlights? Now it has all faded to blonde and I'm bound to dye my hair again just in time for Christmas.

From the moment I opened the box, the fragrant smell quickly escaped and it's soo lovely! Unlike any other dye boxes I've opened, where all I've smelled is ammonia which is really pungent.

Casting Creme Gloss Dye.

No.426- Auburn

What's inside the box.

  

Add the creme colourant into the developer creme. Then shake well. It has a non drip formula which is really convenient!!

This is the intial colour- purplish. However, after mixing, it turned into very dark purple, almost violet-ish.

BEFORE(All the faded blue highlights to the blonde)

AFTER(it's purple in colour now!!)

BEFORE(back view)

AFTER- well, I guess you can see my DIY is not even >.< but nevertheless my hair is now dark purple.

Room lighting. 

The colour is not so obvious indoors and I look almost vamp-ish and gothic at first glance. I'm not used to having so dark hair after I first dyed my hair red right after high school. It took some getting used to and after  a few washes, the colour started to fade and I'm starting to like my purple hair =)

Outdoor. The auburn colour is a bit more obvious.

Yes, I know I have been dyeing my hair a lot and that it's going to die very soon(pun intended) However,  I found that LOREAL hair dye is not drying at all! In fact, my hair is more moisturised and looks healthier and shiny. Probably the colour makes it look healthier as well rather than the blonde colour. It did promise a glossy long lasting colour and that's what I got!

The conditioner in the box, enriched with Royal Jelly, is great for the just dyed hair and overall my hair smells really nice after and it does not smell like ammonia. Even while I was dyeing my hair, my room had a delicate fragrance XD I was not suffocating with the ammonia smell like I used to previously with other hair dyes. I'm also very happy with the colour turn-out. It's the same colour indicated on the box!

I'm really satisfied with this home dye. I've been trying many self dye products in the market and this can be safely said the best thus far! I think I might ditch red and stick to purple hair from now on hehe

Thank you Only Beauty- Freebies to your doorstep!

You can now Save up to 63% while shopping for your cosmetic & beauty needs with OnlyBeauty!! Sales happening this coming 3rd - 6th January at Centrol Mall, Klang! Sales up to 63% discount for personal care products brand L'oreal, Maybelline, Garnier and more up for grabs!

Sign up now @ http://tinyurl.com/bp4qndt and you will receive a Free Gift Voucher via SMS where you could redeem a Maybelline BB Lips for FREE during the sales @ Centro Mall, Selangor.

What's more? Share this photo now and you could win RM10 McDonald's Cash Voucher!

To Participate,
Step 1: Like OnlyBeauty Facebook page 

Step 2: Share this photo on your wall by posting "@OnlyBeauty Sales is offering L’oreal Paris, Maybelline New York and Garnier products up to 63% discount!!" as your status, and tag any 5 of your friends.

*Don't forget to set your post's Privacy Setting to PUBLIC before clicking "Share Photo"*

Terms and conditions
1. This giveaway runs from now until 6 January 2013.
2. You need to be a fan of our page and complete the steps above to be eligible as a winner.
3. 20 winners will be chosen using random.org

Good luck and see you at Centro Mall!!

Starbucks Peppermint Mocha

I always look forward to Starbucks Christmas special and the latest Christmas Special Drinks are Toffee Nut Frappuccino Blended Beverage, Toffee Nut Latter & Peppermint Mocha !!!

I absolutely love Peppermint Mocha!! I like anything peppermint- peppermint chocs, peppermint ice cream and peppermint drinks! I just like that cool feeling in your throat =) So, it was a no brainer to choose the peppermint mocha and YUMS!!

Peppermint Mocha has a rich, bittersweet chocolate taste infused with bright peppermint flavor, combined with espresso and steamed milk, finished with whipped cream and mocha drizzle.

It's a definite must-try!! Peppermint lovers would be pleased!

Can't get enough of it =)

The Hobbit

I did not watch or even attempted to watch any of the Lord of the Rings trilogy *gasp* These kind of fantasy/ animation genre of movie just do not appeal to me. Hence, The Hobbit was not under my to-watch list as well...until, well, I got dragged to watch it *laughs*

The shortest synopsis is that this movie is about the dwarfs and a Hobbit making a journey towards a mountain to capture it back from the dragon. Along the way, they have to overcome so many obstacles in the jungle.

I must say this movie was superrr loong!! Three hours!! Since because I didn't know anything about The Hobbit, I was not aware that it's supposed to be a trilogy hence, there'll be a cliffhanger at the end and that it's going to be somewhat like The Lord of the Rings duration of a three hour movie -.-

And also because as I mentioned above, this is not my kind of movie genre, I felt that it was dragging. Those who love it, will love it and will feel it's worth the money for the ticket. Those who don't, three hours will be freaking LONG!! The first half of the movie was a real drag, my eyes became droopy >.< The second half was much better with a lot of adventure and obstacles. I kept thinking, are they ever going to reach their destination because they never seem to reach *laughs*

They were some recurring characters from LOTR like Gandalf, Frodo which made a split second appearance, Cate Blanchett which looks like an angel and Gollum which is still as ugly as ever. Therefore, if you're a real fan of LOTR or a fan of those fantasy/animation kind of movie, you might enjoy The Hobbit.

My rating: 2 and a half stars(but don't take my word for it because I'm bias)

Merry Christmas!!

Tonight is Christmas Eve!! I'm sure most Christian families will be busy preparing for the Eve dinner. Today and tomorrow will be the gathering of family and friends to celebrate the birth of Jesus =) Exchange of presents is the norm and of course as Malaysians, we'll be stuffing ourselves with whatever food we can get our hands on resulting in bloated tummies!! LOL

Here's wishing all of you a Blessed Christmas and may this season of peace, joy, love and hope bring happiness in you and your family =))

Party safe people!!

XOXO

Garnier Anti Imperfections Cooling Roll On

I love Garnier products. It's reasonable in price and can easily be found in any pharmacies or stores. Thanks to the Only Beauty gift bag once again at the launch party, I'll be reviewing this Garnier Anti Imperfections Roll On. It's actually quite unique because I'm using another Garnier roll on but that's for the eyes. This one however, is for blemishes.

Anti Imperfections cooling roll on.

HerbaRepair: The herbal scent may be a little irksome to some, but I wouldn't say it is intolerable.

Just roll onto any imperfections on your face- it's that easy without needing to use your fingers!

Texture wise it is a colourless light-weighted aqueous gel. It's cooling and a tad-bit moisturising; also, for a product that contains salicylic acid, it is not very drying. Once rolled on blemishes, product is absorbed into skin within a minute.

Visible efficacy: In 5 hours, redness is reduced. In 2 days. imperfections and marks visibly reduced.

Though it did reduce redness in 5 hours as claimed, it was not very effective in drying up zits/ imperfections/ blemishes/ acne. No significant drying of imperfections was observed even up to day 4 of application(of course this varies from person to person, and the severity of the blemishes). But it helps to conceal minor imperfections. It is not suitable for individuals who have a known allergy to salicylic acid.

I like creams that are rolled on to avoid using my fingers which I'll have to wash later on due to the salicylic acid properties. Hence, it's a really good innovation from Garnier unlike other pimple creams which comes in a tube.

Pitch Perfect

This movie is like a mash of high school musical and glee *laughs*
It revolves around Acapella groups in a competition and this all girl group is trying to win the competition with new members.
However, this Acapella competition is quite different. No musical instruments are involved and every sound will have to be from your own mouth. So you can beat box your way into the tune or whatever so that's quite unique about this show =) You can actually see real talents in this show!

I was quite surprised to see Anna Kendrick sing! I didn't know she could and her mash-ups were not bad!! Since it's an all girl group, there are bound to be catfights and bitchiness. Rebel Wilson is quite funny though with her weirdness and antics LOL

However, there's not enough 'wow' factor into those performances unlike dance movies and the storyline was pretty predictable.

My rating: 3 stars

Maybelline Long Extreme Double Stretch Mascara

Thanks to Only Beauty, I got this Maybelline mascara which is my first dual ended mascara! So I find it quite fascinating that this Double Stretch Mascara has a base coat before you apply the top coat.

Maybelline Long Extreme Double Stretch Mascara.

Dual ended.

First step.

The base coat

Apply on lashes and it'll be white in colour. The white base coat primes lashes by perfectly setting them with balanced combination of conditioning agents and polymer.

2nd step.

The mascara.

Apply above the base coat.

BEFORE.

Base coat.

AFTER- with two coats of base and mascara.

BEFORE.

AFTER.

Really long spider lashes <3

- This Double Stretch Mascara really stretches your lashes and elongates it. It is best to be used with the Loreal Renewal Lash Serum and you'll end up with super long lashes!
-The base coat makes the mascara application easier as it primes and hardens the lashes first.
-Very long lasting and smudge proof.
-It's clump free and lashes are separated for longer illusion.
-Best part about this mascara is that it is super easy to remove- even with just warm water! Unlike other mascaras, where there'll be some leftover clumps even after removal. This one however, will be completely removed and leaves no residue behind!!

-It however does not have volumising properties so best recommended for those with already bushy lashes but short lashes.

This mascara retails for RM39.90.

Cassadee Pope: winner of The Voice 3!!

Yay!! I've always wanted Cassadee to win and she finally won Season 3 of The Voice. She and Blake make a perfect team and Blake is once again the winner coach for two seasons consecutively =))

Cassadee Pope; Beautiful pop rocker with an edge!!

She definitely deserved to win with her awesome vocal chords and the amount of fans she had especially when her songs from The Voice keep getting in the Top 10 singles charts on iTunes. She was previously from a band, 'Hey Monday' but she wanted to go solo hence she joined this competition.

I always love her style and her dresses on The Voice stage and she just had the absolute package to win this! She's like another version of Avril Lavigne which happened to be her idol and whom she sang with in the finals. 

From four chairs turn during the blind auditions till finally winning it, this must be the best part of her singing career!! Blake is super proud of her!!

Cassadee singing with her coach, Blake Shelton.

Next season Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green will be having a break and Shakira and Usher would be filling their places. It'll be nice to see some game changer and how those two new coaches will react to Adam and Blake's banter *laughs* 

Although I do hope next season all four coaches' team would remain alive till the finals. In this season, Christina and Adam's team got eliminated wayy too fast >.< 

Til Season 4 of The Voice!!

P/S: Do anyone watch X Factor or is anyone still watching American Idol? lol!

Sephora douche body wash

Have I mentioned how much I love Sephora? *laughs* It's like a beauty heaven I could die =p
So anyway, thanks to Sephora, I got to try out the coconut milk shower gel!

At first whiff of the product directly from the tube, it felt overpowering- as if like you’d be a walking perfume bottle after using it *laughs* But after testing out the product, I was proven wrong; it has a sweet and nice lingering coconut scent which is light. The scent quickly wears off after an hour or so.

It only needs a minimal amount of water to work up a good lather. It generally lathers easily, however, a significant amount of the product is required to wash your whole body. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t say it’s a huge difference as compared to other shower gels.

Foaming, creamy and non drying formula.

The texture is rich and creamy; very smooth + non-sticky and  it does not leave a greasy/ oily feel after washing. It is remarkably moisturising!! Your skin won’t even feel dry when you wake up the next morning in an air conditioned room =))

This is the first time trying out a Sephora branded bath product and safe to say, I'm pleased =)