I don’t really know how I’m getting all these hits after the skin post (besides visits from my loved ones ~ Eevonn, Nicole ^^) but I just want to thank everyone who’s taken their precious exam-study time to read my goo goo blah blah of a blog. I suppose it’s because skin concerns us all since I haven’t met anyone yet that doesn’t have any skin on em’. I mean, I’m no homicide detective or nuthin’ and seeing what they see would probably scar me for life despite all the horror movies I can stomach.

Anyway, onto make up talk since that’s what I promise y’all (it still amuses me that English classes in France teach this phrase). So yah. I never used to wear make up until before and around France when Nicole lured me to the dark side. Slowly I learnt about foundation, application, and beauty tools and now, apprentice has become master ! X-D JK. I still only wear the basics so here’s explaining what these ‘basics’ are. By the way, I apply in this order:

1. Primer base WITH SPF.

Using a primer before putting on foundation is important because it helps keep the foundation on. I always use a primer with a high SPF (over 30) because it will protect your skin from the sun’s harsh rays and prevent things like sun spots. So primers like this will act as sunscreens too. And no Nicole, it does not whiten your skin — it just prevents it from getting burnt ! I found a really interesting article on sunscreens here if you’d like to read it ! The one I use is from the Dior Snow range which has an SPF of 50+ :-D

2. Foundation

When choosing a foundation, I take into consideration a few things. First be sure to choose one that matches your skin type (dry, oily, combination). People with oily skin tend to go with the powder forms while if you have dry skin, liquid foundation is best ! The coverage is differs from product to product but what I’ve found overall is that liquid seems to cover up pores better. In that way, I think I’m starting to prefer liquid forms ! Secondly, make sure you choose a colour that matches skin undertone. Generally there’s pink, golden and brown. If you’re Asian like me, golden or ‘yellow’ is best. That is why I prefer to buy brands marketed to this demographic. Brands such as Paul & Joe (amazing !), Shiseido, and Kanebo.

In terms of application, it depends what form of foundation you’ve chosen. With powders I use a Kabuki brush while with liquid foundations I use a damp sponge to give more of a natural effect cause’ liquid foundations tend to look more ‘matte’ when applied straight to face.

3. Concealer / BB cream

After applying foundation, I a BB cream for the job of ‘concealing’ any blemishes such as acne scars or dark areas under my eyes, sides of face etc. You can use a product marketed as a ‘concealer’ but BB creams actually have properties that help lighten and get rid of blemishes so I use that instead of just using a cream whose sole purpose is to cover them up ! Now BB creams aka ‘blemish balms’ are extremely popular at the moment so there are many brands on the market. If you’re wondering which ones to go for, I’d recommend these (based on use, research & hear-say — aren’t I dedicated ?! X-D): Dr. Jart Detox Healing Black Label Bb Cream SPF 25/ PA++ (this tends to give you skin a ‘greyish’ tone IF used WITHOUT foundation !) or Missha M Perfect Cover BB Cream SPF42 PA++. There are a few more I want to try though !

4. Eye liner

For years I never wore eye liner because I kept seeing people wearing harsh black eye liner underneath their eyes and I always thought that looked quite un-natural and not flattering at all though I mean I can’t say that absolutely. It does suit some people. But that is still why I never wear black eyeliner underneath my own eyes. Over the top is fine — however I don’t do that daily. What I do do daily is use a brown more natural colour underneath my eyes but not in the watery part. In the watery part (i’m sure there’s a name.. but I have no eye deer ! ;-P), I use a white eye liner as it makes your eyes look bigger. And starting for the corner of my eye I’ll use brown until about half way across my eye and then I’ll stop. It’s awkward to explain — perhaps I should do a viddy. In any case, this is really *my* personal preference on how to apply eye liner. I’m sure we all have our ways so whatever suits you ! My favourite eye liners are from Urban Decay cause’ they’re just SO SO SO creamy, smooth, waterproof, and easy to apply ! They have lots of awesome colours too and they’re WAY cheaper than MAC ones. By the way, waterproof is always better (especially as I yawn and tear a lot in the morning) !

5. Mascara

I don’t really like wearing mascara all the time because it’s really annoying to get off and because I just feel too.. ‘dressed up’ when wearing it. I’m so used to my eyelashes going unnoticed haha. Also, I’ve always thought that it’s more practical for those who don’t have dark lashes. But when I do use it I use the Helena Rubinstein one but only after I’ve curled my eyelashes using the Shu Uemura eyelash curler (Tip: I use the blow dryer on it first so it really keeps the lashes curled !) otherwise you won’t really be able to see that I’ve got mascara on in the first place since my eyelashes don’t really curl. They’re just straight, and asian-y.

And yeah. That’s about it. Not too complicated ain’t it ?

14. Participate in Project 365 ; 1 photo a day for 365 days (62/365)

Thanks for all your (my adored readers) comments & sympathy & love. I hope your exams are going excellent. :-D

September 16th 2009

Movida Next Door which < Movida. A slightly-but-hardly-noticeably cheaper alternative. Personally it doesn’t make my top 20 especially as this Spanish bar/restaurant doesn’t serve sangria amongst other things you can only find in Movida (habit, habit, habit) which I was in the mood for ! Sho shad.

September 17th 2009

Our OPI collection ! You can buy them for like $6US online compared to $20AUD at David Jones. @_@ I love la Toile (the internet) !

Living in the city, in THIS apartment is great. Aesthetically speaking that is. The community spirit is lacking but slowly I’m getting to know the other residents who live in this building. However, what I ABSOLUTELY cannot stand is the fact that Quest is illegally carrying business in this officially ‘residential’ building aka allowing guests to stay in the Quest apartments here.

I can’t emphasise how FRUSTRATING it is to live alongside with these rude, often drunk, horrible, selfish, inconsiderate visitors and their obnoxious, plastic staff who smile and are nice to their guests but when it comes to the residents who aren’t on their payroll, their true horrid nature comes out. Recently, I mentioned that my parents have moved out from the suburbs to the city which meant that I got my piano back ! So everyday for at least one hour I’ve been practising and practising. However, I got a note from some Alex-guy (manager) saying that I was causing a nuisance and to have some consideration for the guests staying next door (for like a weekend — dude.. I have to LIVE here under your contradictory rules). Of course, I did happen to play at 3am but at the time I didn’t actually realise that the walls *are not sound proof*. So the next night I played before 12am as I assumed I would be allowed to play before that time (like last year during house warming) and again someone had the nerve to knock on my door (I don’t answer to strangers). Since when did the rules change ? Honestly, if you have some rules and policies you want us to graciously obey, could you at least advise us in advance ? Because this is total bull. I mean — DO YOU KNOW WHAT WE RESIDENTS PUT UP WITH ? I’ll give you a list !

1. Quest’s lack of accountability on their part

They complain all they like but when we complain about something to them, they totally push it aside and belittle it.

2. Drunk people on Thursday night

It’s not uncommon to see drunk people around the entrance. Worse is when they make advances. In this way, I wouldn’t recommend any families with small children staying here. There is absolutely no security around to prevent anything that could happen! It’s like an accident waiting to happen..

3. Drunk people on Friday night
4. Drunk people on Saturday night
5. People performing sexual acts in the stair well

One of the residents here walked into a couple having sex in the stair well. It’s happened more than once.

6. Babies screaming and children kicking walls

In my opinion, this is worse than listening to Claire de Lune.

7. Annoying guests

Some European guy banged on my door and actually stormed into my apartment when I opened it asking for a cork screw. This is why I never EVER open the door to strangers. EVER.

8. Being mistaken as a Quest staff

In the elevator some Russian dudes asked about room service and other amities. Besides that little tiff, they seemed nice.

9. Getting stuck the lift with 4 rowdy (fat) bogans (they even admitted to it)

The lift kept getting stuck in basement level. Scariest 10 minutes of my life. They kept trying to force the door open too. This is why the lifts look so dilapidated and old — because Quest visitors keep battering up the lifts which need CONSTANT repair (money that probably comes out of the body corporate fees). THANKS AGAIN QUEST FOR YOUR LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY !

10.  Guests smoking when it is clearly not allowed

The lifts smell like smoke from time to time and people leave their cigarette buds near and around the entrance. Disgusting. Yes, these are the kinds of people that stay here.

11. Guests making racist remarks at us

Again associated with drunk people. Racism shouldn’t be tolerated in any situation.

12. Listening to guests making inappropriate conversation

Some high teenagers were celebrating one of their friend’s 18th and having a party on level 5 or 6. I hate small talking with people who add “f—” or “s—” or “c—” to every sentence.

13. Shouting and screaming from the next door

.. amongst other inappropriate sounds.

Seriously, the list could go ON and ON. And that’s why the residents have officially submitted a complaint document to the Body Corporate so they can stop this illegal practice. If you saw you you’d be BEWILDERED by its shocking R-rated content. Conclusion: They disgust me. And I’m not going to shy away about it (that’s what they’d want me to do).

Unfortunately all I can do now is hope is that karma bites them in the butt (hard).

Over the past few months I’ve had REALLY bad acne. And the funny thing is, it never used to be a problem — not even in high school aka the ‘raging hormones’ period. I know some would be appalled by the fact that I used to only wash my face and put a bit of Olay (my dad’s “Holy Grail” product) moisturiser on it but I confess, that was my two-step skincare routine from about ages 15 to 19. I don’t think I even washed my face before age 15 ! It was only after I turned 20 that I actually started to use more products than moisturiser. Makeup too. I never used to touch any of that stuff except for special occasions like formals. Not for fear of my face becoming a dried prune one day (all those icky chemicals !), but more like due to laziness and probably ignorance too. I mean, I never had any pressure at school or anything to “pretty up”. There were no boys to impress and I didn’t really want to impress anyone. Still don’t.

But now I have succumb to this other realm (have you noticed how many skincare/beauty blogs there ARE out there ?!) and have started taking proper care of my skin.  After some heafty research about what I’m ’supposed’ to be doing and carrying out trial & error with different products to use , I’ve actually got myself my own skincare routine because trust me, everyone who has excellent skin out there is using SOMETHING other than water. I only wish I had had more guidance from the start. So if you’re a newbie to it all, I hope this helps ! Here’s detailing my “5 step skincare regime“:

1. Double Cleanse = Makeup Remover + cleansing oil

So if you DO wear any kind of makeup, you should know how important it is to take off that grit and grime before you sleep (my sister doesn’t @_@). So before I get some zeds, I’ll take it off using a wipe followed by a cleansing oil to get rid of the stuff the wipe has missed. I’ve been using the Shu Uemura one for some time now and find it pretty damn good at getting make up off. Not to mention it’s quite a convenient method of taking off the grit and grime instead of using towelettes which just reminds me of camp when we didn’t get to take a shower for a week .. !   Anyhow, cleansing oils have been around for quite awhile now and people like them because it does a more thorough job than make up removers alone (especially things like waterproof mascara etc)

2. Mask

Masks make you look stupid. I thought so when sister, mum & I had a girls night out like we do once a year and just do all this girly stuff. One was trying on her SK-II masks.  Looking back on those pictures you’ll never see, they were waaaay too huge for our faces and it put me off wearing masks for a very long time. However, they are very very good for your skin as long as you don’t over use them since they will most likely dry out your skin. Once or twice a week is recommended. I alternate between Malin + Goetz detox face mask & My Beauty Diary Black Pearl masks which come in sachets. I prefer the former but they both leave my face feeling fresh after use.

3. Tone

Thanks to a best bud, MR, who got me on ProActiv, my acne is slowly starting to disappear ~ although for those who don’t want to spend $70 or so on the products (it comes with a scrub and lotion), tea tree oil may work for you though this has never worked for me ;-/ Anyway, for those who have combination (dry/oily) to oily skin — toners are REALLY good. It helps with the blemishes, unclogging of pores yadda yadda. You can read up on it if you’re super interested (my sister wouldn’t be).

4. Essence / Serum

Now a heap of people just skip this step in the Occidental/Western world but in the Asian world, this has just always been a part of the bigger picture (especially Japanese and Koreans ~ notice how they seem to always have perfect skin ? Generally speaking that is.. !). Essenses or serums will help the moisturiser absorb more effectively into the skin so will help with hydration for people will dry skin.

5. Moisturise

This one’s pretty much a given. Everyone does it. Even my dad. So you can too. :-D I used to have pretty dry skin around the cheeks and nose but after using a more hydrating moisturiser, it hasn’t been a problem since ! I suppose you really have to choose the product based on your skin type & income. Haha ! Nicole said once she can afford it, she’s going to start buying La Mer products — the one that J.Lo uses. Apparently it’s good. Anyhow they have a million different ingredients in their products which are quite rare so I suppose in that sense, you’re getting what you pay for. Anyway, I use Darphin products for the job. I can’t help it. They smell so good and they work very well. In summer when my skin gets more sweaty, I use the Hydraskin Light and in winter when my face tends to get a little drier, I’ll use the Hydraskin Rich. I admit, they’re kind of luxury items but they last FOREVER (like two jars per year ?) especially when using in conjunction with a serum. A tiny bit will just slide on.

*PHEW* Okay, that’s enough vanity for now. Makeup talk next post or the post after the next.

I wish I could take longer showers. I really wish I could. Don’t you find your mind is much clearer when you’re just standing there letting the water drip all over your naked body ? Don’t have a dirty mind ! I mean it ! And all my best thinking is done in the shower. Pity that water is so scarce.

14. Participate in Project 365 ; 1 photo a day for 365 days (60/365)

September 12th 2009

My dad & I getting Grill’d. He looks so old these days. We’re all getting old. It’s depressing. But enough with the depressing thoughts. We had GRILL’D and it was awesome. I know it’s cheesy saying it but I love my dad. He’s always taken care of Bindi & I. It’s an odd family dynamic actually. But in any case, I couldn’t ask for a better father. Cause’ I mean, even if you did — you wouldn’t get one. :-P

September 15th 2009

Made salmon risotto with capsicum with the new risotto rice I bought from The Essential IngredientColes. After all, it is imported from Spain. I’m definitely sticking to this one whenever I make risotto. The texture is just beautiful and doesn’t turn out too soggy and mushy like the other brands do. Or maybe it’s just me and my lack of Italian/Spanish blood but I think this was a success :-) If anyone’s interested I can put up the recipe & the name of the risotto brand ! awhile back ~ if you can recall my adventures in Prahran. I could REALLY tell the difference in the quality of the rice compared to the usual kind I buy from

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14. Participate in Project 365 ; 1 photo a day for 365 days (58/365)

September 9th 2009

My sister’s totally douchy photo from school that I stuck up on her bedroom door. *Evil cackle* Speaking of photos, was going thru really old ones the other day on our ancient computers back in the ‘burbs with Bindi and found some classically fugly ones of us awhile back in the early 2000’s. Might put em’ up here if ever I can be bothered. I think one should laugh at oneself from time to time. It’s only healthy.

September 10th 2009

Getting some coffee with Yan Yan, fellow monash student. I spot a girl in the back who I recognise from a tutorial not being subtle with the staring at me.. ! (No I am not taking a picture of you). Does anyone know who Mo Bear is ?

September 11th 2009

Lunch with MR & Caitland. They are king. Honestly ! Taken at the jazzed up cafe in campus centre. It’s OK.

14. Participate in Project 365 ; 1 photo a day for 365 days (55/365)

September 6th 2009

Alice’s 21st. Look at the tower of cream-filled profiteroles her talented sister Beatrice made ! Love thru food — it’s awesome :-D Check out her delicious blog. She’s a seriously gifted, what we call in the foodie world, “caker”.

September 7th 2009

Nicole & I all team worky for our french presentation. Man we stayed up till 3am doing it ! Talk about fanatic dedication.

My bed. It’s so neat in both senses. Great for jumping on.

I’ve been doing a lot of what I’d call “proper” blogging lately aka actually writing about what’s going on in my mind and such instead of letting the photographs do the talking. I find that I write a lot better when I’m feeling ‘emotional’ rather than the desensitised, detached-self I usually am. It is contradictory to the statement to admit it ?

I also want to experiment with my blog’s content too. As in content less focused on my 101/1001. For that reason, I’ve been contemplating getting a typepad next year — a paid blog that allows me to have my own domain, more customisation (freedom !), with the same awesome blogging tools WordPress provides. Since there’s a trial period, it’s the only service I’ve really been seriously thinking about, though if any of you know of any others that you’d recommend, please share !

Another thing I was thinking about is Facebook. Does ever a day go by that we don’t think about it ? (Except for Amy !) For your average, socially-ept young adolescent, I doubt it ! Even if we’re sick or traveling, we’d try and find a few minutes of our day to log in and see if anyone’s written on our walls or poked us (lame). Well, I’ve been trying to ween myself off it, except to play Plock, and deleted over 200 “friends”. It’s kind of amusing when you get re-adds and in that case, I do re-add them cause’ I mean, they at least give a damn.

My rule of thumb is, if you wouldn’t go up to the person and say hi, then it’s unlikely you’re going to be  suddenly interested in their lives. Unless you’re a stalker. If you are, I have just three words for you that doesn’t have the word ‘love’ in it: FIND ANOTHER HOBBY. I did. (That’s a joke folks.) I know some people just add everyone they know (of) and that’s fine, but today as a 21 year old me, I realise there’s only so much time to cultivate good relationships. I don’t want to find the time for others unless you’re the author of a stunningly awesome blog haha ! So I think I have a morbid fascination of people who do that. Why do you do that thing you do ? Seriously. People are fascinating. Though, not always to me.

I had one of those all too real dreams last night where there is little distinction between reality and dream. It freaks me out because I never always know which is which.  Even now looking back, sometimes I’m not entirely sure which memories were real and which weren’t.  One of those particular ‘memories’ involved a horse at our school sneezing all over this poor girl. It was gross but funny. I think that’s another underlying reason why taking photographs is so important for me.

It’s especially  scary when I’ve had a dream about a loved one dying and I’m literally blubbering with tears. It happens a least thrice a year ! I don’t know why they’re so vivid. Even my sister says she dreams in full sound, colour, smell etc though she does tend to dream about mundane things such as eating an apple !

Well, I had a dream last night that ‘Mookxi‘ and ‘Melissa‘ (my catholic name) were split personalities and that Melissa was slowly fading away into non-existence.  Why does one split personality succumb to another ? I imagine it’s because the other is weak, and too innocent for this “harsh” world. Mookxi on the other hand is the strong, impermeable one. The one who never lets her guard down and doesn’t recognise anything or anyone from her past. Like the slates been wiped clean. Completely. This brings me back to the poem #5. I better not wish too hard.

On a less freaky topic, I bought my lovely limited edition (Hello Kitty roflmao !) Fuji polaroid, finally, along with 300 films to take on my trip ! I can’t wait till it arrives. And as soon as it does, I’ll be putting up a metaphorical tonne of pictures of the picture-taking device. They’ll be no stopping me !