OMG It's been 2 weeks since I last blogged, and now it's the second last day of 2011. How time flies.

First of all, I would like to wish you all a Merry (Belated) Christmas and a Happy New Year! I see that many people got some really amazing gifts over Christmas, I'm really envious. :P I got a few presents from under the Christmas tree too. Yes, we do put up a Christmas tree every December and exchange gifts, even though we're Buddhists. XD

Anyway, here are the presents I received.

Looks like a cake with a cherry on top! lol

First of all was the present from my parents. It wasn't exactly a surprise, since I got them from a warehouse sales about a month ago, but it's still a really sweet gift. :D A pair of purple TiAmo flats, with cute ribbon and pearl bow. I absolutely love the shimmery purple because the colour shift is just gorgeous.


The next gift is from my fairy godmother. She got me a Marks & Spencer Floral Collection bath cream set, which includes 6 cute little bottles of bath cream in different scents. Perfect for travelling! :)


Last but not least, is this super adorable little Tony Moly lip balm. FYI, Tony Moly is a popular skincare and cosmetics brand from Korea that has been endorsed by many of Korea's hottest celebrities. My cousin brought his whole family for a trip to Korea during the school holidays, and his wife bought this for me as a little present. So sweet~ ^^ The packaging is really cute and looks like a real cherry indeed, albeit a large one. (It reminds me of the Baviphat lip scrub!) Once opened, the cherry scent is strong but not overpowering. Lovely indeed.

So cute, right? :D

As for this BB cream from Etude House, it isn't Christmas or New Year related, but I just have to post it because it's such a good deal, especially for Etude House BB Cream lovers. From 28th - 31st December, customers can purchase BB Magic Cream/Compact/Balm @ RM 20 only! :) I heard they're discontinuing the range, so if you love it, better hurry and grab some to stock up! I realized mine was running out when I was in Singapore for AFA (Oh the horror!) and have been waiting for a promotion like this ever since. Thank goodness I haven't been using it a lot lately, so it's lasted me until now.

My old tube is almost flat >_<

So that wraps up my post for today. :) To all my new followers, thank you for joining, and do look out for more posts in the new year! ♥

I noticed that many of my readers, especially those from Malaysia and Singapore, are quite interested in Essence cosmetics, which was recently brought in by COCiCOCi. Not only are the prices super affordable, the quality is not bad either, and their nail polish range (review here) is honestly to die for! Anyway, on to the topic of today's post, the 2 items I'll be reviewing today are Essence Soft Touch Mousse and Essence Mattifying Compact Powder.


First of all is the Soft Touch Mousse. I purchased it in the shade 02 Matt Beige, a slightly dark beige which leans toward orange. First of all, I must mention that this particular shade is not a perfect match for my skin tone, as it is slightly too dark and orange-y. However, since I can't return it, I've found a way (sort of) to make it work. >_< I'll probably try and get it in the proper shade whenever I'm in Midvalley or Bukit Bintang, where there are  friendly sales assistants and more shades to choose from.


The mousse is packed inside a smaller-than-palm-sized glass pot with a plastic screw cap. Not the best or most innovative design, but it's pretty solid and the size is quite travel-friendly. The texture of the mousse itself is very strange, sort of soft and spongy like... well, chocolate mousse, lol. It is quite dense and very pigmented though, so a little bit goes a long way. Also, it has a faint scent (reminds me of hazelnut praline for some weird reason...) which might not be to everybody's liking. It fades away quickly though, after you blend it, so it doesn't bother me.

The amount of product on the back of my hand is more than enough to cover my whole hand. O_o


As you can see, it is darker than my skin tone (T_T) but it does manage to cover up the more visible veins on the back of my hand. When blending, it does show an orange tint but once it is properly blended out, it becomes less noticeable and gives my skin a healthy sun-kissed shade (I hope). Below are the "before and after" comparisons on my cheeks.


The product is a mousse-to-powder finish, so it is very easy to blend and gives my skin a matte finish. It also helps to even out my skin tone. The mousse is really lightweight and once it's blended, you won't even feel it's there. Nevertheless, if you're looking for a make-up primer or foundation with more coverage, this mousse probably isn't for you. ^^"

Notice that 3rd picture? I've patted on the Mattifying Compact Powder so that the matte finish will last longer, as well as to lighten the mousse's darker shade. :)


I decided to pick up this compact powder because both my Maybelline ones were almost used up. I totally love how the packaging is completely transparent so you can see the pretty swirly pattern. The only downside is that it doesn't include an applicator of any sort, so I just washed my old one and used it for this. :)


I was trying to decide between Translucent and Natural Beige, but in the end I chose Natural Beige because there are just some days I am too lazy to put on BB cream or whatever, so I just pat on some powder and go out. Translucent is good for all skin tones though, if you're not sure what shade to choose or just want to use it to set the rest of your makeup.


Conclusion: I am pretty much in love with the products from Essence, as they work really well and the price is very affordable indeed. The only disadvantage is that they are pretty hard to come by, as not all shopping malls or Watsons carry the range. If you're a beginner in makeup, or just want to try out some new products without hurting your wallet too much, this brand will pretty much meet your needs. ^^

As a gentle reminder, as these 2 products have matte finishes, it is advisable to properly moisturize your face before applying them, especially if you have dry skin. :)


Essence Soft Touch Mousse retails at RM 18.90 (16g) and Essence Mattifying Compact Powder retails at RM 14.90 (12g). Available at COCiCOCi stands (Midvalley and Jalan Bukit Bintang) and Watsons (Sunway Pyramid, Sg. Wang, Berjaya Times Square and Pavillion).

It's been a slow week. Slow in the sense that nothing really exciting or memorable happened, unless you count the lunar eclipse last night, which I didn't have the mood to observe.

(Picture taken from The Star Online)

At least I finally managed to find a pair of over-the-knee socks after months of searching. Thank you, Topshop 1Utama! ♥ And also thank you to the really cute and helpful sales assistant. :D There were only cream and orange on the rack, so I asked him if there were any other colours and he went to the back room to search. He came out with several pairs of black ones, and I was like "These are perfect!" +___+ Inside I was "My search is over!" *internal tears of joy*

Rib Over Knee Socks

No, I'm not crazy. I just dislike hate tights/leggings to the point that I would rather wear socks than be stuck in something that is not, and will never be, a replacement for proper trousers. Somebody accused me of being a Wapanese. So sue me. At least I'm Asian and do look sort of Japanese (sometimes). :P

If only...

It's not often that I blog about nail polish, or even done a NOTD post. The only other post I've done about nail polish is Polishing Up The Collection, where I finally decided to organize and re-arrange all my nail polish and nail art stuff because they were all over the place.

Which is actually kind of ironic, because as much as I love eyeliners and eyeshadows and other facial cosmetic stuff, my biggest obsession is with - you guessed it - nail polish!

Anyway, I just had to share this particular nail polish with you all because it's just so, so pretty - and it's not even pink! Coming from me, that is quite amazing, because you can be sure that most of my stash is made up of pinks and reds.

China Glaze "For Audrey"

This particular nail polish by China Glaze is named "For Audrey" in honour of Audrey Hepburn and her famous role in Breakfast at Tiffany's, hence the Tiffany blue colour. It's not a dead-on match to the famous Tiffany & Co. colour (because it's trademarked), but it's said to be the closest you can get, and you seriously have to see it on your nails to believe how pretty it is.

Seche Vite fast dry top coat and China Glaze "For Audrey"

China Glaze isn't available in Malaysia, so I had to order it from a nail polish spree. I've used her service a couple of times now, so I can tell you that she's a really good and reliable seller. The pre-orders do take a while to arrive though, so you gotta be patient. :)

Under direct sunlight

In the pictures above, I applied a base coat (The Face Shop), 2 coats of "For Audrey" and a coat of Seche Vite. The formula seemed okay when picked up using the brush, but it applied really thickly so I had to add some nail polish thinner to make it more manageable. As you can see, the colour varies from different angles and in different lights. On my nails, I see it tends to lean towards blue, but in pictures it shows up more green. The last picture has the greatest resemblance to the colour on the bottle.

It's quite a bright pastel shade, so it might not be to everybody's preference, although to be honest, how often do you get to have Tiffany-esque nails, right? :P It's no wonder this particular nail polish is such a cult favourite. Just search for it on Google Images, and you'll get a ton of results.

These two are my absolute favourites from the blogosphere:

Milan & Vanaily's blog

Dorolimited's flickr

I've been wanting to try the Garnier Brightening Eye Roll-On ever since I realized my dark eye circles were becoming darker and darker, but never bought it 'coz I wasn't sure how well it would work. Then miraculously, Garnier came out with another version of their Eye Roll-On, the BB (cream) version, which basically does what the original Brightening Eye Roll-On does, except that it has added concealing abilities. I hesitated from buying it (for various reasons) until lately, when I finally decided it was high time I did something to fight those darn panda eyes, lol.


The product claims to have 10 instant visible effects, which claim to make the under-eye area:

1. Fairer
2. More radiant
3. More even-toned
4. With less dark circles
5. With less dark spots
6. Fresher
7. Smoother
8. Less tired
9. More hydrated 
10. Less visible lines/tightened

The BB Eye Roll-On is roughly pen-shaped, with a rounded top. Only the shade "Natural" is available locally, although I believe they have 2 shades available in other countries.



Just roll it on under and around the eye area. The amount dispensed is quite little so you might need to roll it around a few times to get the desired amount in order to cover the whole eye area.


They aren't kidding when they say "light" BB on the packaging. The BB cream (more like a liquid, actually...) is slightly more watery than the usual BB creams we are used to applying on the face, but I like it because that makes it easier to pat and blend into the eye area. However, this also means that it does not provide full coverage for medium to heavy dark eye circles. Sometimes I have to use this together with my Etude House stick concealer so that my panda eyes will be fully covered. =X

In all, I find this Garnier Light BB Roll-On quite useful, as it does make my eye contour area look smoother and fairer, with less visible dark circles and lines. It also does a good job to even out the skin tone around my eye. Overall a good product, and I love its texture which is easy to pat and blend without pulling or tugging at the delicate skin around the eyes.

Retails at RM 24.90 and is available at all major drugstores and pharmacies.

✓ Pros: Comes in a travel-friendly packaging, affordable price, easy to pat and blend, does what it claims (mostly).
✗ Cons: Product sometimes does not come out so you have to shake the tube and roll it on your hand; texture is watery; does not provide full coverage for heavy dark circles.

Listening to this song makes me feel like an Assassin, wtf. Completely unrelated to this post, but I just had to mention it.


Well then, on to the post. On Saturday, I went down to KL with my bro to pick up his laptop. After that, I wanted to go check out the branded fashion clearance in Fahrenheit88, so we walked the few blocks there. I didn't expect to have to queue up to enter the event hall because it was already the 2nd day, but luckily the line wasn't very long.

I had read Jess' post on the sale and was interested in getting myself some accessories from Diva. :D There were racks and racks of clothes on clearance there, all from popular brands such as Topshop, Topman, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge and a few others, but they weren't really my style so I just browsed around. Picked up a pair of really cute skorts, but it was too expensive even after the discount. T_T

It was pretty crazy at the Diva corner, as many people were squeezed there, choosing from the huge mound of accessories in the clearance tables. It was basically sweep/dig, pick up something, throw away if you don't like it or stash it in your plastic bag if it looks like a possible buy. Rinse and repeat.

My Diva accessories haul

About 40 minutes later, I came out with 5 accessories and RM50 lighter, lol. All the accessories were RM10 each.

Big bow bangle (Usual price RM 36)

Seriously, this one was like a dream come true! Okay maybe not that dramatic, but close. I'm crazy about accessories with bows and ribbons, and I fell in love with this bangle when I was browsing in Diva a couple of weeks back. I saw the price tag and was like "Y U SO EXPENSIVE! T_T" and put it back in disappointment. Super happy that I managed to dig this one up. It totally goes with my long necklace and ribbon bow ring. ♥

Long cream cord necklace with clear beads (Usual price RM 15)

Price stated was RM15, but I think that was its in-store sales price as the original price tag was covered by a sticker. This one was another good find. All the items were neatly packaged in plastic, so I picked this one up because I thought it looked nice. (I went to a corner later to open check all the items I'd chosen, lol.) The clear beads are very shiny and go well with the accent pewter-coloured flat beads. This piece will look nice with all my plain coloured blouses. :)

Off white satin headband (Usual price RM 29)

I love Diva headbands. I have one polka dot one (you can see it on my previous post) which I wear most often, because it's cute and really comfortable. There were several designs there at the clearance, but most of them didn't really appeal to me except this one.

Layered bead necklace with matching earrings (Usual price AUD 14.99)

Not sure how much this one was in MYR, because there was no price tag in Ringgit. I normally wouldn't really reach for something like this, but the red colour really caught my eye. I love the simple design with a bold yet understated kind of red, which would be suitable for most occasions, casual or formal. Plus, it comes with matching earrings!

Pearly chunky bangle (Usual price RM 53)

This is probably the most expensive and extravagant piece of the lot. It's very big and heavy, with a design that practically screams "Look at me! Look at me!". Not for the faint of heart or thin of wrist, this is definitely a statement piece for any outfit. The underlying chains and huge metal bangle give it an edgy feel, while the pearls soften the effect with its girly vibe. I love this, but I really wonder when I'll be wearing this out. =/

That's all for today. If you went to the fashion clearance at Fahrenheit88 too, what did you manage to get? Do share with me! :)

Enjoy 2nd order of pork ribs at 50% off, and Classic Mojito at RM3!

If you love pork, then you're definitely gonna love Chicago Rib House, which recently opened in 1 Utama. Dad saw the advertisement in the paper about their opening promotion, and we were in 1 Utama on Friday, so he decided we should have dinner there and try out their pork ribs. :)

"Pork till you drop"! Spot it? :P

This is their menu, where you can see the variety of food you can order. It looks like a real newspaper (albeit using thicker glossy paper), and opens up like one too! :D And to assure you that everything here is crazily related to pork...

100% satisfaction!

From where I was seated, I could see their kitchen area, which was bustling with at least 6 cooks at any given time. They sure were busy this weekend, what with the new opening and attractive food promotion.

Eat, pray, love? Nah...

At the back of the restaurant is their Mojito Bar, where all the alcoholic drinks are prepared. They also have an al fresco dining area behind the bar (because indoors is strictly no-smoking).


Dad placed our orders and it wasn't long before our drinks arrived. We'd ordered Classic Mojitos for all 5 of us, since it was RM3 each (limited to 1 per customer; usual price RM 25.90). It tasted okay; soda mixed with lime and tasted minty from the mint leaves. Instead of rimming the glass with sugar, the mojito was served with a stick of yellow sugarcane. It did help in making the drink sweeter, although it felt kinda weird to be biting/sucking on the sugarcane in public. LOL

Classic Mojito

On to the appetizer! We ordered the Trio Sampler because it was a good way to try their appetizers. The Trio Sampler includes 4 pieces of baked potato skin (pork bacon), 4 buffalo wings and a bowl of chilli con carne with nachos. The buffalo wings were slightly sourer than what we were used to, the potato skins were not bad, but the star of the sampler was definitely the chilli con carne!

Trio Sampler

The pork ribs were served right after we'd finished the appetizer. Dad had ordered a full rack of pork ribs in Flaming Kansas City sauce and the 2nd rack was Original sauce.

Basically, the Flaming Kansas City sauce was a shot of whiskey poured all over the ribs, and then set alight. Didn't manage to take a photo of our server pouring the shot and lighting it up because everybody was busy moving away the plates and stuff, but at least I managed to capture the "flames", haha!

Now you know why it's called "Flaming" Kansas City sauce.

The flames died down in about a minute, so no, you won't get any shots of fire-eating pork rib-lovers here. :P

Original Pork Ribs

Each serving of pork ribs was served with 2 side dishes, so we chose mashed potatoes, (stir fried) fresh vegetables, baked potato and coleslaw.

Mashed potato with bacon bits.

Mum loved the Flaming Kansas City ribs, while my brothers and I preferred the original one, mainly because the taste of whiskey was very very very strong on the former. I saw some 'sauce' on the plate and dipped the ribs into it without thinking, and nearly gagged when I put it into my mouth while realizing at that moment that it was pure (umm... flamed? roasted? burnt?) whiskey. STUPID ME.

Anyhow, both rack of pork ribs was cooked to perfection, with the meat literally falling off the bones, they were so tender and succulent! It would have been awesome if they'd also offered different sauces for the ribs like in Tony Roma's, but I'm not complaining. The ribs here are the best we've tried so far. (Haven't tried the one in Pavilion though. Someday, someday!)

After finishing the main course, bro wanted to have some dessert, so we ordered a chocolate brownie and a slice of cheesecake. I suddenly realized that the soup ordered earlier was not served yet, so we had to ask one of the waiters to check. O_o It came to our table shortly after that, so it wasn't a problem. :)

Baked potato soup (with bacon bits).

Yes, I know there are a lot of pork, bacon and potato in this post. It's because pork and potato are like, best friends in the food industry! :P Okay, lame moment.

Last but not least, our desserts!

They tasted not bad, especially the chocolate brownie, because it was hot brownie + cold ice cream. Nothing spectacular, but still nice.

Overall, it was a really great dining experience. The service was good, the food was great and we had a wonderful family dinner that night.

To end this post, I shall show you a really awesome photo of myself....

Caution: Porking In Progress ಠ_ಠ

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I KNOW RIGHT! I mean, porking (eating pork ribs) is such a srs bsns ಠ_ಠ

Ok, I know you all are drooling by now. Go have some pork, and "May the PORK be with you"! XD

P/S: Credits to my bro for most of the photographs! :)