These Came from Bangalore

ee-yup! All the way from India. Reviews coming up soon!





Spotted : Envirosax @ Gurney Plaza, Penang

Some nifty designed bag hanging on a rack caught me eyes not long ago. Waddayaknow! Environsax has finally made it to this lil' island. 


 

Envirosax is one of the many brands of reusable, environmental friendly bags. Instead of using the regular non-biodegradable plastic shopping bags which snaps or breaks easily (and generating tons of waste, suffocating Mother Earth), why not opt for reusable, sturdy, fashionable bag to hold your groceries, shopping haul, etc.

I've started to minimize the use of plastic bags with this eco bags. Got meself 1 of this, plus 2 other from RuMe some time ago from TinyTapir, which I will review when time permits. 

If you're local, and itchin' to get this snazzy designed bag, you find it at the ladies floor (new wing), near the escalation of Parkson in Gurney Plaza. It retails at RM24.90.

If not, check 'em out at TinyTapir with their discounted price (for Envirosax) if you happen to pop by KL *wink*. They do charge for domestic shipping though.

Weekend Get-Away

So I was in the capital state over the weekend for a dear old friend's wedding, I took the opportunity to check out some brands that I can only find there (even food that we can only find it in KL). It was pretty much of a shop-window shop-eat trip. So many things to check out, so little time! tehehehe...

We checked into the Boulevard Hotel on Friday noon, and straight out to Mid Valley mall. Just as soon as I walked into the North Court, there was theBalm Roadshow, together with a special session to meet Jennifer Sullivan, theBalm's "Celebrity Make-up Artist" from USA. Dang meself, I forgot to snap a few pictures of the roadshow (Jen Sullivan was giving out makeup tips at that time), that would have liven this post up a little bit.


Pamphlet courtesy of Sasa

TheBalm has a few star products of their own, ie, Hot Mama (shadow & blush), Shady Lady (shadow/liner palette) coupled with their unique, vintage styled packaging, it was not to be ignored. It whole product line was quite interesting, until some Metrojaya salesgirls suddenly just appeared in front of me and fidgeted with the products, giggling away with their questions to the other ang moh make up artist (a hunky good looking guy, of course). I left them at their wits, and promised to check out theBalm more when I head home. Oh yes, theBalm's available in all SaSa Outlets.

Of course, there was more walking, window shopping with some purchases (there's much sales going on, wrong weekend *boohoo*) and eating frenzy, of which I will find time to post up.




Oh yes, not to be forgotten, Smashbox! So when I caught wind (actually from MyWomenStuff) that Smashbox is now available locally, I made sure to include Pavilion into my "places to go" list, but scrap it later (I hate the mad traffic in the city). But waddaya know! A friend actually had to drop by Pavilion, I was still able to check it out! Coincidentally, M-IFW ongoing (what luck!), but it started raining storm-crazy, and I had rush off to prepare for the evening's wedding reception (the thought of heading back to Midvalley and back to the city center within 2 hours in the torrential rain and KL traffic, I shudder at the thoughts of it... bbbrrrr) I so wanted to try out the Photo Finish primer that beauty bloggers were raving about (yes, quite need a primer, my makeup always disappears 3-4 hours later, urggh!), it retails for about RM136 or RM139, I can't remember. So I picked up at the trial kit instead @ RM169 (pricey actually, as it retails for USD29 from the website) but I needed to test it out if it works for me, just in time for me to test it out for the evening's wedding reception. Reviews out soon!





T'was a weekend well spent, so now am back home with a sore feet, and nursing a nasty cold & sore throat. I must have over indulged myself with the food. *gulp*


What's in the package?

I got hooked on StrawberryNet for a good few weeks. What can I say? They have good range of products - skincare, makeup & fragrance. Throw in free shipping anywhere in the world (most importantly, to Malaysia tehehe), special loyalty discount, free item for new customer, and coincidentally they were giving out free Stila makeup (for winning some Bizrate online customer survey), I was instantly sold! Yes, I am a sucker for discounts and free items, who's not! 

So I made my purchase (this happened back some time mid-Aug) checked out my shopping basket, and I got the order confirmation email within a few hours. My order was dispatched on the very same day (I chose the "Free Shipping by Registered Post" option). The website mentioned :

4-6 postal working days for capital cities.
7-10 postal working days for other destinations.
10-14 postal working days for more inaccessible destinations. 

I wasn't sure if my address was listed as "capital cities" or "other destinations", but I'd give a buffer of between 4 to 10 days. I was eagerly waiting for my package to arrive, each day passed with the excitement building up.

So 4 days went by, when I got home, I found the package on my desk. *wheeee*
The items were carefully packed, let the pictures below do justice.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to name my purchase. Items I picked out:
The other 2 items from Stila are free with my purchase (1 for new customer, 1 for Bizrate customer survey).
Pic 1 : Still in their wraps/boxes


Pic 2 : Unboxed *wheeee*



Pic 3 : Stila Items 
(look at 'em details on the case, pretty, isn't it?)



Pic 4 : Benefit's Valley of the Stars kit



Pic 5: Benefit's Powder Pop! Palette




Both the Benefit items were on 50% discount at the time of purchase. If memory serves me right, the Valley of the Stars kit was retailing at USD28 (I got it at RM50 after discount) , and the Powder Pop! at USD 30 (I got it at RM53.50 after discount). I can't confirm the RPP from Benefit's website anymore, I reckon they've been discontinued, no where indicated that they were limited edition though.   

Such great bargain!!! Trust me, If you even find this over the counter, it ain't cheap, Benefit cosmetics usually retails way about RM100-ish.
 

Excellent service from StrawberryNet too! When I checked the custom slip on the package, it actually arrived at my district post office just 2 days the package left Hong Kong. How about that! No hassle, no complaints. Now, that is just my experience, I've read some unsatisfactory reviews on the services, but it isn't so bad.  

Will I continue to purchase from StrawberryNet? Absolutely. But of course, I won't make purchases on whim, what I'll usually do is if I have an eye on a particular product, I'd just pop by the counter and test the products out first. Sign up for for their mail updates, they have great sales & savings every other month. With the year-end and Christmas creeping up, am sure you'll stumble on few good bargains *wink*

P/S : After re-reading this post, it sounded like I am paid for the write-up, but NO. This is solely base on my experience and my satisfaction :)


I am a beautyholic.

...Not literally... yet. But let me tell you how I got hooked.

Back some months ago, my moisturizer ran out, but I didn't want to restock the same one. I got bored of the skincare brand that I was on, so I thought maybe I'd just get a "temporary" replacement for the moisturizer first, before I switch brand. I usually get the whole range from 1 brand, from the cleanser, toner, down to the eye cream. But this time, I am going for variety.

I constantly find myself wandering into local drug stores and departmental stores. Either nothing tickles my fancy, or I'd get myself spoilt for choices, and then, I just couldn't decide what to purchase and step out empty handed. So anyway, I decided on Olay Total Effects 7 in 1 Anti Aging Cream, grabbed a 20g bottle on a whim (it comes in 50g as well) and paid for my purchase. Slather it for the next few days, my skin seem to fair well, no breakouts, and most importantly, it did not leave any oily feeling on my skin.

Cut the long story short, I turned to the web, looking up information on Total Effects and how people rate it, I stumble on more & more beauty blogs and reviews, and been reading and updating myself ever since. Beauty blogs, has become my staple read on daily basis. Then there is StrawberryNet. and made my 1st online purchase. I never knew purchasing beauty products online was so gratifying! tehehe! (I don't purchase shoes or clothes online, I can't visualize them on me without physically trying them out first)

What's in the package? I'll save that for the next post *wink*.






Finding Time

I've been meaning to find time for myself. Time for self-indulgence. "Me" time. I was looking through my old write-ups, old diaries and blogs some time ago. Boy, time really did pass with a blink of an eye. I reflected on my past, I barely remember some of the entries I wrote, but I guess, that was what they were meant to be, keepsakes. The documented memories was what was keeping me on my toes. Sanity check. Sometimes in life, you just need to slow down and turn back the pages, evaluate, and move forward. I'd be better doing that, than just move forward too fast and looking back with "what have I accomplished?" thoughts.



Ok, so this will eventually be, my sanctuary for my thoughts, comments and experiences - literally, about everything that I come across - on life, relationship, food, entertainment to skincare/makeup, travel, right down to the to the spec of dust that agitates my sinus, some of which, may serve as tip or even information sharing. Everything and anything under the sun.


I've been spending quite some time figuring out the right theme, the right layout, the right header for this blog. But every time I stumble on a new find, I find myself in limbo, and I procrastinate my urge to write. There's just about a gazillion thoughts that I wanted so much to scribble out, 99% of time I just end up tweaking the blog.


So for now, I guess, I need to kick start the engine, and let the ride flow. I'll eventually find the time to make things right. Opps, I meant, make this blog look the way I like it, personalize it, and let my thoughts flow. Yeah.  




Fancy A Tickle?

I do not know where to begin. Let alone where to pick up where I left off 4 years ago. The last post I had on this blog was dated back some time in May'05. I've removed those entries, they're all nicely sittin' in my Draft folder, remain unpublished until I figure a way out to archive them out for my personal safekeeping. Afterall, they're part of my memories.


Ah, of course, the reason I revive this blog, I've been itching' to write again. Not that I've not been writing much (if you consider composing and replying work related emails as part of writing), but writing has always been my sanctuary, channeling my inner thoughts out, keeping a tab on my sanity.


Let's take 1 step at a time. There's so many things I wanted to document out, perhaps, I should make a scrapbook instead? Hrmm...