Review: Laneige Basic & Water Bank Moisture Kit

Last month, I got a sample of this Laneige Basic & Water Bank Moisture Kit. In case you don't know, Laneige is a popular Korean beauty brand so I was pretty excited to try this kit. The kit comes with 5 items below which sounded pretty much like greek to me.

1) LANEIGE Power Essential Skin Refiner 

2) LANEIGE Balancing Emulsion

3) LANEIGE Water Bank Moisture Cream

4) LANEIGE Water Bank Essence

5) LANEIGE Water Bank Eye Gel Cream

I was told that there was a particular order to use the products for best effects. As you can tell, the names pretty much doesn't sound like the usual cleanser, toner & moisturizer terms I was used to so I paid full attention to the steps. The first step is actually to cleanse your face, and none of the 5 products above are cleansers. Surprise surprise. I am sure Laneige has some cleansers out there but this kit is pretty much what comes after cleansing. After cleansing, comes the toner a.k.a. Power Essential Skin Refiner. You pour this on a cotton pad and dab it around your face just like how we normally do it with a regular toner. The liquid doesn't quite feel like a toner, in a sense where it doesn't sting your skin. That's always a good sign! 

Once you're done with that, the next product to use is the Balancing Emulsion. Now, you gotta be careful with this product as it can be pretty heavy for skin types that are normal to oily. The entire Water Bank series is to hydrate your skin so if you don't have particularly dry skin, it is advised to use very minimal of this emulsion. This emulsion goes onto the same cotton pad you have used for the toner so it blends with the leftover toner to make the consistency less heavy. 

Next up, is the Water Bank Moisture Cream which is the equivalent of a moisturizer and following that is Water Bank Essence which is the equivalent of a serum. The last step is to use the Eye Gel Cream (I know right, is it a gel or cream?) around your eyes to finish off the routine. Then be prepared to wake up to dewy skin the next morning :) Personally, I  used this consistently for a week and saw significant difference to my skin. My skin tone did appear more even and there was a healthy sheen on my skin. However, one thing that happened was my forehead got oilier than usual. I decided to stop using the Balancing Emulsion everyday and used it every other day instead. My forehead didn't get as oily once I altered the routine a little so I would advise people with oily skin to skip or reduce usage of the Balancing Emulsion. To conclude, I would say this moisture kit does work, but for people who don't have particularly dry skin, I think that they can afford to skip this. 

Music Review: Top 5 songs from Taylor Swift's 1989

Since the release of 1989 end October, I have been dying to listen to the entire album because her 3 pre-released songs (Shake It Off, Out of the Woods and Welcome to New York) were so good! Everyday, I will practically check Spotify to see if her album is on it....until last week, when Taylor Swift announced she removed her entire catalogue from Spotify. Surprisingly, instead of feeling bummed I couldn't get free music, immediately I knew I JUST HAD TO get my hands on her album. There was no excuses now. That's the power Taylor Swift has on me...and probably the half the world's population. So after getting her album and listening to it twice in a night, I was right. Her entire album was pop perfection, with every song transitioning to the next seamlessly. I call it a musically cohesive album because you just want to listen to the next song and the next and it didn't disappoint all the way until the last track (Clean), an Imogen Heap infused song (you can't go wrong with Imogen Heap!). 

The album comes with a set of 13 Taylor Swift polaroids with hand-written lyrics.

Having said that, I do have my favourites from the album, which was tough to choose from. These five songs really hit me in a spot where I could really relate to. I love the level of specificity she displays in her lyrics. As brilliantly quoted by Buzzfeed, "Because the best place to find the universal is in specificity." 

This song was written by her as a joke on the image that the media portrays her as. It is such a brilliantly written song about a "crazy" ex-girlfriend that many thinks of her of. Well, aren't we all a little crazy when it comes to love? I fell in love with this song the minute I heard it. And this was before the video came out. I love it even more after watching the clever music video which comes with an interactive app that fans can download. On the app, you can be part of the music video and look for 41 trinkets around the mansion. Kinda like a treasure hunt. This is sheer marketing brilliance to pioneer such innovation. Fans are happy, she makes money. Win-win. Anyway, most memorable lyrics from this lyrical genius includes "Look at that face, you look like my next mistake", "I can make the bad guys good for a weekend" and "cause darling I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream":) 

Watch the Blank Space video here

Another one of my favourites is this song called Style, which is allegedly about Harry Styles. I mean, its even in the title, is that obvious enough? and lyrics like "you got that long hair, slicked back, white t-shirt" which is uh, Harry's signature look (case in point below).

I also love how she is more open on this album about her relationship and even her own mistakes "I said I've been there too a few times". One memorable lyric from this song is this... "takes me home, lights are off, he's taking off his coat". Saucy!  

Out of the Woods was one of the pre-released song from the album and when I heard it, I got so excited because it sounds TOTALLY different from anything she's ever done. Also, allegedly about Harry Styles. "Your necklace hanging from my neck"?, Harry always have his cross necklace around his neck (refer to earlier picture above). I have this theory, that out of the woods here could really mean "out of the closet". Harry has been associated with gay rumours for the longest time now and here's a conspiracy theory...could that be the real cause of their breakup?

Anyway, Harry Styles or not, her music is hers and I think people should cut her some slack. Artists write songs about their lives all the time, and that's what makes their music relatable. Nobody talks shit about Ed Sheeran or Bruno Mars when they write songs about their exes. So why when a female artist does it, she gets so much negativity from it? 

Most memorable lyric: "You took a polaroid of us, then discovered, the rest of the world is in black and white, but we were in screaming colour".

Now this is one interesting song which is allegedly about Katy Perry, her "frenemy". Ironically, the sound of this song does has some Katy Perry influences. It also have this "gangsta" vibe to it with a whole lotsa dubstep I totally love.

Most memorable lyrics: "Band-aids don't fix bullet holes" and "if you love like this, blood runs cold..."

Last but not least, is this haunting song called Wildest Dreams. Once again, its NOTHING like what she's done before and actually sounds like a Lana Del Ray song, which well, is pretty much dark and brooding. This is one of the slower songs on her album and is a fresh change from her usual chirpy sounds. The song from how I see it is about being in a love that has no future... most memorable lyrics "say you'll remember me, standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset" , "his hands are in my hair, his clothes are in my room" (saucy again!), "you'll see me in hindsight, tangled up with you all night, burning it down".....

Would love to hear your thoughts on 1989!

Review: J Spring Fashion Show @ Skybridge

Hello everyone! It's good to be back. Sorry for the lack of updates as I have been extremely busy with assignments, presentations, classes, events and well, managing some heart matters. But all is good now and it's time to update this blog with a review of my first FASHION SHOW :) 

*****

A couple weeks back, I got invited to the super exclusive J Spring Fashion Show which is the first ever fashion show to be held on Malaysia's famous Petronas Skybridge. It has also gone down in history to become the worlds highest fashion show! Now, am I lucky to be there or what?! I first knew about this show a few weeks prior to the event when I saw the interview of J Model Management's director, Jessica Minh Anh on 8TV Quickie. I was truly impressed by her passion and intelligence when she talked about the show and remembered thinking to myself how cool it would be to see the fashion show with my own eyes. And I did :) 

I'm only posting some of my favourite looks of the night and apologies for the bad quality photos as I had to use my Blackberry since my camera failed on me, leaving me camera-less for God knows how long! 

The spectacular venue that usually only allows 20 odd people on the bridge at one time.

The guests and the runway.

The DJ whom I sat next to the whole night.

Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Dr Lim Kok Wing and his daughter Tiffanee Marie Lim who was just 2 seats away! 

The opening dress by  Taiwanese designer Shiatzy Chen worn by none other than Jessica herself.

One of my favourites of the night, something I could actually wear out :)

Loving the shoes!

Of course,one of the highlights of the night was the swimwear collection by Gottex :) They made sure it was "covered up" enough for Malaysian standards. 

And last but not least, was the main highlight of the night, the FINALE - A cake made entirely with sugar! But before that, the models came out holding tiny cakes made by Just Heavenly who were one of the sponsors of the night.

I wonder how they maintain that expressionless look the whole time. 

The prelude to the finale dress....

Ta dah! A dress made from sugar by Just Heavenly. Interesting? *pic was stolen from Just Heavenly's site*

The networking session at the VIP lounge and a very busy Jessica entertaining reporters

Oh yes, guests of the night were allowed to go up to the highest floor of the Twin Towers for a magnificent view of KL! How cool is that? =)

That's me peering into the binoculars..

Last but not least, every one of us got one of the tiny cakes by Just Heavenly in our goodie bags. It was actually edible!

All in all, my first fashion show was a really good experience :) I wouldn't mind doing this again! Congrats to Jessica for putting up a great show. 

Till my next post.

xx

Review: S.T.A.M.P.S Watches

This post is a milestone in my blogging history because it is also my first product review! And it happened to be of one of the coolest watches I have ever seen - S.T.A.M.P.S Watches.

S.T.A.M.P.S., a fashion accessory company of interchangeable watches, was started in Germany in 1997 by the brand manager for Citizen watch along with the marketing manager and the inventor from Swatch watch, and is now sold in over 52 countries worldwide. 

Guess what? This trendy watch is now available in Malaysia! What makes the watch so unique is that it's you can customize it by choosing your favourite watch design and match it with your favourite strap :) 

The are also many ways of wearing the watches, if you don't want to wear it on your wrist, you can even stick it on your T-shirt. Brilliant isn't it?  I love the necklace watch the most (this is not stocked here yet, but hopefully soon?) :)

As for the watches, there over hundred of designs to choose from to suit your individual style.

I am sure there's a perfect watch for everyone out there. I know what's mine which I'll show you guys later!

Apart from watches, the straps are interchangeable too so you can pick a strap that suits your style to match with the watch you've chosen.

So, how do you go about putting on the watch? Easy peasy. Just look at the steps below. 

The sticker used at the back of the watch is a special sticker made by Scotch 3M so you can re-stick it many times!  

Okay, now comes the fun part. I was given the opportunity to test out the watches a couple days ago and this is my favourite design of all!!

S.T.A.M.P.S Cookie watch. Isn't it cute?!

Here's the size of the watches compared to my hand. 

I chose the classic leather strap to match with the cookie. 

It's like I'm wearing a cookie around my wrist. Definitely very unique :) 

All their straps are made with genuine leather. Also, the watches are invented by the same inventors of Swatch so you can be sure the quality is good. I have been wearing my Swatch watch for five years now and it's still in good condition. 

There are also double watches available (you can break them into two separate watches). Perfect for couples :p 

Here are some of my other favourites. L-R: New York, Seigfried, Red Stripes and Kiss Me watches. I think the Red Stripes and New York suits guys as well. 

Here's two other straps that I love. Classic Croco in Pink and Glitter Violet. 

All watches comes with 2 years warranty, user manual and an elegant crystal plastic packaging as well. 

Single watches - RM169
Double watches - RM289
Straps range from RM130 - RM189

For purchases or more info do visit their site *click here*