The Blonde Experience

I absolutely, totally love my new hair. I mean, this is my first time to change my appearance so drastically, sometimes when I catch a glance of a reflection of myself I sometimes think it's another person but I kinda like it. Problem is, it IS too eye-catching and now I know that there is really a certain stigma in being blonde (or it may be just me) because I've gotten some "dumb blonde" treatment, too. Also, there are traditional people who really can't accept radical stuff, because someone told me "Ugly eh, don't you think you look ugly meh?" and I was like wtf. Thanks for reminding me I'm ugly, I needed that. 

Sigh.

Anyway. I wish I can keep it forever but I can't... because, It really is hard to maintain the roots dammit. After only ONE week the roots were already showing, srsly. And with my natural hair being jet black, not even dark brown, it really looks hideous. Also, I have to admit that I really do have to keep a professional appearance in my line of work :( I feel like I'm indefinitely cosplaying with this hair, and who would take a cosplayer seriouslh in an office, righr? So yeah. I'm really sad that I can't have this hair colour forever so I guess I have to enjoy it while I can! 

New Hair at Komachi the Hair Cult

Okay so I did mention before that I did something drastic to my hair. Something really different that people almost cannot recognize me anymore. lol.

I've been having my hair done (and by having hair done it means once or twice a year, yes I am that lousy when it comes to hair I really should go for treatments more often) at Komachi since two years ago, because you see, I am very particular with how my hair is cut. My hair is naturally wavy/curly and if it's not Koreans or Japanese who cut my hair I end up looking silly. Im serious. Particularly my fringe, I can't really trust anyone else to cut my hair. So yes my hairstylist is Meiko, and she is japanese.:)

What I also like about them is that they really care for my hair. Like, Miko (Not Meiko now don't be confused! LOL Meiko is the hairstylist and Miko assists her and does the treatments!:)) would always remind me not to use hot water for my hair because apparently, that's bad.

You may or may not use this photo later to convice me that I look better in this hair. Also, last photo of me this year with these locks.

Okay maybe that was second to the last photo. Kekeke

So yeah. As I was saying. Miko really cares for my tresses. She also flat out discouraged me from doing this to my hair. Which is... bleaching it. Yep, I bleached my hair. She advised that it really damages the hair and the colour I wanted was very fleeting. But I was quite hard headed and insistent so she scared me with it's okay I guess, we can always cut your hair really short if it becomes too damaged, which almost successfully made me back out but I'm really quite the hard headed one. And so, we proceeded!

Bleaching once..

Bleaching twice.. I actually liked this colour, like platinum blonde. But I guess my hair won't be able to take that kind of bleaching.

Gaaaaa this was flat out scary!!

Starting to  turn into the colour I wanted!

It actually took me the whole day, my whole sunday was spent there just to colour it this way. Also, Miko sponsored a treatment for me so that my hair will be less damaged!

Meiko-san starting to iron and curl my hair^^ 

DONE!

It didn't appear too dry because of Miko's signature treatment! I loved it so much, because not only did it moisturize my hair, it was also very relaxing! Cause during the treatment it began to become quite itchy and uncomfortable because of the chemicals, but when she applied the scalp treatment it was immediate relief and very cooling on the head. It's a really great way to end the day after sitting on that chair for hours on end. This is Miko's signature treatment so do look for her when you want to go for this treatment too!:)

Hair and Scalp Treatment

Scalp Treatment

Main ingredient is green tea leaves to soothe and calm the scalp down after the chemical service, and also for sensitive scalps. It also balances back the scalp pH. It also has mint, which gives the very cooling and relaxing sensation and instantly removes any irritation on the scalp.

Hair Treatment with Argan Oil

This rejuvenates dry hair and makes it moisturized. Frizzy hair becomes more smooth! Seriously I was already expecting my hair to look like a broomstick when I walked out but thankfully this treatment made it manageable.

Miko on the left and Meiko-san on the right! Domo Arigatou Gozaimasu!

 Also, since I was there for a long time, they made sure I wasn't hungry, gave me biscuits, tea, Milo, etc. I felt quite pampered, which is actually the whole point of going to a salon, right? Thank you so much Miko and Meiko-san!:)

Later on that day! I am loving my new hair! It's very light ash brown by the way!

So I am writing this a few weeks later, almost a month jeez I'm sorry. As I've said before, I am very careless with my hair. I know I'm supposed to wash it every other day but I can't help but wash it every day, well, because the weather is so hot I cannot take it. I have to do another treatment again soon, because it has started to become dry again which is inevitable! And annoyingly enough my roots are starting to grow! ack! So here is a preview photo of my hair now.. even though the ashy-brown has faded and I am now a blonde (hopefully not bimbo), I still love it and I think I'm keeping this hair muhahahaha

I will be posting the rest of these photos after this post. Why not now? Because Im vain and I want a separate post for that. Hee. 

Feel free to comment if you have any questions regarding my treatment, or anything else!

Also, you can contact them, or find them here:

KOMACHI THE HAIR CULT

360 Orchard Road
#02-03/04 International Building(next to ANZ Bank)

Tel:+65 63399432 +65 68363391 

Email:hello@komachihair.com

http://komachihair.com

Casual Weekend

I'm back!

Was supposed to blog so much since 2 weeks ago, and I was even so excited to do a post about "How I spent My Birthday" but ah, shit happens and last week I had the shittiest birthday of my entire life. So yeah I disappeared off the face of the earth for a while (I wish I could mean that literally). Anyway! I don't want to affect you guys with my negative energy, so here, something cheerful! Yellow, flowers and a casual outfit for some previous weekend!

Unfortunately I gained some weight :( which can be seen from photos below!:(

Eyepiece: Stradivarius

Top: Stradivarius

Pants: JRunway

This is also the last post of me for this year with this hair. Recently did a very drastic change to it lol. Some people like it, and some don't, but I'll be updating soon with what I look like now!^^

Majolica Majorca Chapter 39 x Macherie Winter Fragrance

A couple of weeks ago we were invited to Majolica Majorca launch of Chapter 39 Pure Play, which consists of bold and rich toned colour to accentuate the feminine eyes and lip features  and makeup to create a pure and natural finishing; alongside its release of its limited edition Winter Floral Hair Fragrance. Glad to have been able to join despite rushing from work that day thanks to gwenyummy and paperkitties!

But first, my OOTN. lol

Was already wearing the Poisonous Apple lip gloss on the above photos as applied by the makeup artist!

The products being discussed to us by Tan Yi Feng, Brand Executive of Majolica Majolica and Ma Cherie.

Happy to see beautiful familiar faces!

I remember when I was a kid, there was a shampoo called Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific (I'm serious, and my hair really smelled so nice for the whole day) and since then I haven't really found anything to compare. MaCherie's line are pretty close though! Especially if you try their hair fragrance, your hair's bound to smell terrific even until evening (Yep Ive been using it, and it's really effective cuz my dad used to say my head never smelled any good. Now it's not so bad! lol)

Absolutely love their packaging.

And some more photos from the event:

Alene and I browsing around~

Happy to be with these girls!

Lovely ladies beside meeeeee

Tried some games. I'm no good of course. lol

Took home these goodies!!!

Limited Edition MaCherie Winter Floral Hair Fragrance 

$16.90

I haven't been using this yet because I'm still using their original hair fragrance! 

Rouge Majex

RD412 Pure Apple

RD311 Poisonous Apple

$17.50

I preferred the poisonous apple to the pure apple and I'm glad that's what I got!

Lash Expander Edge Meister 17

$25.90

It comes with two types of brushes: one side with smaller ones for those hard to reach lashes especially the lower lashes! Pretty useful.:)

The Little Humming Book IV

$25.90

I wasn't able to take this home but I would have loved to because I really liked the highlighter. I'm gonna get me some at Watson's soon ;)

K so this is how the mascara looks like when applied (below photo), do you see the blue specks on my mascara? I never thought it would be that visible. Also, it does make my lashes really long. Although when they say waterproof it is REALLY waterproof because I almost cannot remove it afterwards. LOL.

For the lips (above photo) it's actually redder than in photos. LIKE! My lips look really moisturized and I love how it applies smoothly and wholly (if you know what I mean, some lip gloss just spreads the colour all over your lips).

So... this is how it looks as a whole haha sorry for the lame headband! Was trying to match! lol

aiko says I look old here and I must agree. Anyways.

Thank you so much to DSPG Creative Media and Shiseido Singapore for the invitation!

Majolica Majorca Chapter 39 and Macherie Limited edition products can be bought at all Watson's stores (Winter Floral Hair Fragrance will be available from December 5th!). You'll love it, I sure did!:)

BIODERMA Crealine AR BB Cream Review

I have drafted this out for quite some time but after last week's events (re: my previous posts) I postponed posting for a while.

Anyway, as I may have mentioned before, my skin has been problematic recently and my acne is very horrible. Been trying to cover up with BB Cream since foundation is a no-no (I tried putting it on one day for better coverage and the following day there were 3, yes 3, additional nodules (those that are bumps and inflamed under the skin) on my face wtf. Last time it wasn't like this as I can use foundation without causing any harm to my skin, but I'll save that story for another post. Which is why I've been trying to look for a BB cream that won't further aggravate my pimples. I also used mineral makeup last time and it was good but now it just cannot cover my blemishes.

Been trying to look for those made for sensitive skin, initially I used Dr. Wu ACNECUR BB cream, it was okay in that it didn't add more pimples than it should and my skin wasn't irritated, but it was so shiny at the end of the day so I didn't like it. I searched and saw that Bioderma has its line of BB Cream and I decided to buy.

Price. I bought it at S$47.90 (Yes, it is expensive but I thought it would be worth it).
Texture. Texture is creamy and less oily than other BB creams, colour is also thicker to provide more coverage. Overall it does blend well and doesn't look shiny--which is what you are trying to avoid if you have oily skin--although once you apply you do feel that you have a layer of makeup sitting on your face.

Fragrance. It doesn't have any strong smell and it doesn't smell bad either; it only has a very mild soapy fragrance. This is a plus point for me because anything that smells too good almost always causes disaster on my skin.
Colour. This is the major problem why I never got to use it-- its colour is on the darker shade. The thing is (and I know this is quite stupid of me) I'm not sure if it comes in different shades because it was only available in this colour when I bought it. For reference, when I need to use foundation I buy the lightest color available. (I currently can't refer to it as NC(insert no here) because honestly I don't use mac foundation. It also causes me pimples too.) Anyway for those who do not like looking too pale which is also the problem with other BB creams, this may be the BB cream for you.

Unfortunately after trying it on my face for only one time because of the colour difference, it's hard to say that it does what it's supposed to do: fight redness (redness cause by skin sensitivity) provide sun protection (SPF30) and give hydration to the skin. I can guess though, from using the BIODERMA Solution Micellaire which has been raved about by many makeup artists, that the BB cream won't be as fantastic, at least for me. Although the Micellaire, a makeup remover/cleanser does remove all makeup and my skin really feels so clean afterwards, it also doesn't seem to leave any residue or oily film as compared to other cleansers/makeup removers, my breakouts worsened and the redness didn't go away. So I'm hypothesizing that the BB cream will be the same, but that may be because right now my skin is overreacting to almost everything I put on it.

Meanwhile, I'm still searching for a better BB cream and will be posting up once I do!

*Update* found a BB Cream which is more suitable for my oily, acne prone skin. Read about it here.

Why Filipinos Should Learn How to Complain

After the recent turn of events brought about by Typhoon Yolanda, Filipinos around the world turned to their social media sites to gather news, share information and express their sorrow. 5 days after the disaster though, it wasn't only grief that they felt, but anger and dissatisfaction with the government as well.

2 days short of a week, the Philippine government still didn't seem to have any clear plans regarding the awful situation. CNN Journalist reported this dilemma--that the situation was "very very bad" and "miserable" since no actions were being taken. A local female news anchor, Korina Sanchez, apparently reacted to this and said that Cooper "didn't know" what he was saying.

It also doesn't help watching President  Aquino's interview with CNN's news anchor, Christiane Amanpour. I could do nothing but *facepalm*. I was waiting for him to respond with concrete amd immediate actions as to how he plans to solve the situation but disappointingly enough all he did was bluff his way through the interview and insist that the people in other places are reassured and that only the badly hit areas were difficult to reach because of the failure of the Local Government Units at that area. Why hello, he himself acknowledged that they themselves were victims, how were they supposed to "respond"?

Everyone understands that the situation was overwhelming. Even the rest of the planet extended their help because they saw how outrageously difficult it was. What angered me is that help is already there, amd yet no one was moving to facilitate and organize the rescue missions!

I've said before that this is not the time to blame, it's not. Blaming would be me saying, "Hey, Mr. President, this is all your fault. You're the reason why these people are suffering." NO. It's done, there's nothing we can do about what has passed , but a lot that could be done in the present, the current situation.

What annoys me is that some people shrugs of those  who criticize with "Why don't you be the president if you're so good at talking?", and that the President, together with the rest of the government officials, are only human. He has emotions, he has feelings and he gets hurt too. Please don't be mean to him and give him his break. I'm sorry to say that these are not viable excuses. The president is seated in his position because he was voted there, because the people need a leader who will guide them through the storm, who will stand strong amidst the rubble and destruction, someone who will inspire them, give them hope, that despite the tragedies, they know that someone will guide them back to the right direction--not someone who will criticize with them, despair with them, nor walk out at the sign of pressure.

It's true that there are several factors why mobilization was difficult, we are geographically challenged, and we are a third world country and don't have enough technology for all these. What irked most people is that  the government didn't seem to have any plan of action, things were getting desperate, and there have been reports that immigration was even giving foreign aid a hard time, asking for permits and letting them wait for hours.

Filipinos can't take criticism. We just can't. It ruffles our feathers. Say something bad as a foreigner about the Philippines amd expect to be banned. Must be a natural reaction, I guess. But criticisms help us to grow, to move and to take action. If no one complained, no one reacted, would the government move faster? I think not. As an example,-- and this is quite a sensitive topic but I would just like to mention it--Singaporeans are known to complain a lot. But I've seen where these complaints lead to: the government responds and takes immediate actions to silence the people's unhappiness. Some say it's a bad trait, but at least they get results and you can see that from how organized their country is. We are not them, but we can learn from them.

It doesn't stop with complaining only, though. We ourselves, must take action as well. We shouldn't just sit in front of the computer screens and type away our emotions. Donate, volunteer, raise awareness, and if possible, come up with ways on how to prevent tragedies like this from happening. Love our environment, learn to respect nature, and perhaps prevent climate change. Learn to be disciplined.

For all that's happened, this is a lesson not only to our president, nor government officials, not even only to the Philippines, but to the rest of the world as well.

But in spite of all these, a BIG thank you to all the nations who helped, and thank you to all our heroes who sacrificed a lot to help our countrymen in this dark time.

Yolanda

Last week I was so dispirited. I was looking at my face in the mirror and scattered everywhere where pimples, huge, hard-to-get-rid-of cystic acne. I felt utterly depressed wtf like there was no light at the end of the tunnel. A few months ago they weren't there, and now, they just won't budge.

Nope, the title is not wrong: Friday evening, finally, I watched the news. Shame on me! What a sheltered, spoiled brat again I was to have worried over shallow facial problems, when people from Leyte and other parts of the country suffered unedurably, horribly, from the devastating Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda. I knew they said it was the worst storm to ever hit but I guess no one dared to imagine how horrifying things would turn out...

I must admit, things like this have happened several times in the PH, I was horrified, yes, it was heartbreaking to see others suffer so much, but before, I was detached from it, it happened to other people, not me. Till I saw on facebook that a good college friend had moved to Tacloban months before and didn't survive the vicious storm. I was stunned. Totally stunned. I couldn't believe it, that it could happen to someone I know. She was a wonderful woman, I looked up to her in school, and I remember how I would go to her design class and chat for hours; apart from that, she was someone who believed in me and inspired me to do my best. Just last week I was chatting with her on fb, it was her birthday and then now, she's gone... Suddenly I was struck with fear, what if that happened to my mom and dad? Together with this was an overwhelming sense of gratitude that they weren't, it was a confusing convolution of feelings altogether. Until now I couldn't stop thinking about all the lives that were affected...

On top of these, came across a forum shared on fb:

You can also see comments like these on Yahoo! (though I think Yahoo moderates them). I know, I know I shouldn't even be posting this here. I don't want to spark a debate, I don't want everyone to fight! When I first read the above I was dumbfounded, how can anyone be so mean? No matter what evil, what incompetence anyone has ever done to you, nothing, NOTHING warrants this kind of reaction... it is purely inhuman and vile. How can you say that people deserve that kind of misery? You mean to say that my friend, who was kind and loving and was one of the most wonderful person I've known, deserved to die in such a way?

I myself have chastised Filipinos for our wrong attitudes and irresponsible ways, but I don't think now is the right time to point that out.

The best thing to do, however, is to NOT REPLY and just IGNORE all these nasty comments. I don't want to share the link to the forum. It won't do any good to answer back, as their minds are already closed to their own opinions, in part I also know why they have borne such hatred, but I repeat--there's not enough reason to say such comments. Besides, every nationality has their own "cockroaches"--accdg to their terms, that much I admit--as these few are to their own country. Yes, "few". I know majority are nice and truly kindhearted, it is just unfortunate that the above are more free to post such things. There are still a lot of good in humanity and I choose to believe in them instead, and I urge everyone to feel the same. I am posting the above image so we may learn from it: do not be like them.

Speaking of good in humanity, I am truly grateful for the rest of the world who have aided the Philippines in this time of need. These are the countries that have helped so far, thank you so so very much~ and I hope all these will be utilized and allocated to effectively help those who were affected:

AUSTRALIA - US$10 million package
BELGIUM - medical and search and rescue personnel
CANADA - C$5 million
DENMARK - KR 10 million
EUROPEAN UNION - EUR 3 million
GERMANY - 23 tons of relief goods
HUNGARY - search and rescue personnel and rapid response team
INDONESIA - in-kind donations
ISRAEL- team of medical, trauma and relief professionals
JAPAN - emergency relief medical team
MALAYSIA - medical and search and rescue teams
THE NETHERLANDS - undisclosed financial aid
NEW ZEALAND - NZ $2.15 million
NORWAY - KR 20 million
RUSSIA - rapid response team
SAUDI ARABIA through Prince Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud - US$100,000 + reliefs goods
SINGAPORE - $200,000
South Korea government - 5 million USD, Samsung - 1 million USD, Korea NGOOCD - 1 million USD
SPAIN - in-kind donations
SWEDEN- emergency communications equipment
TAIWAN - $200,000
VATICAN CITY - $150,000
TURKEY - medics, rapid response team, search and rescue personnel
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - Dhs 36 million
UNITED KINGDOM - £6 million and $9.6 million worth of emergency support package
UNITED NATIONS Children's Fund - $1.3 million worth of supplies
UNITED STATES - initial $100,000 for water and sanitation; Troops, emergency respondents, transportation and equipment

(Note: These information were taken online and are updated as of 13 November 2013. Please feel free to correct any inaccuracy.)

Individually, we all can help as well. General advice is that now, Cash is better than in kind, because logistics can prove to be a problem; however, please make sure that you are donating to the right charities and organizations. You can also still donate used items but please ensure that they can be used, such as blankets, tents, clothes like sweaters (and not ballgowns, stilettos  and the like), easily opened canned goods, biscuits. Noodles are also not advised because of the difficulty of heating water given the current situation. Bottled water are also appreciated.

For those residing in Singapore, you can help through Red Cross:

To donate
Please visit the Red Cross House at 15 Penang Lane Singapore 238486, from 9am to
7pm (Mon-Fri) 9am to Noon (Sat-Sun), or post your cheque to ‘Singapore Red Cross Society’ at the above address. 

Please indicate ‘Red Cross Haiyan Relief’ on the back of the cheque, along with your name, contact no. and address.

Note: In-kind donations (food, clothes, etc) are not accepted due to logistical considerations. Tax deduction is not applicable for overseas giving.

To volunteer
The Singapore Red Cross welcomes volunteers to man its hotlines and fund collection booths. Please register with the volunteer team at 6664 0500.


For a more comprehensive list of ways to help, visit:
http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/issues/disasters/43300-reliefph-victims-typhoon-yolanda-help#overseasonline

Photos grabbed from CNN, New York Times, Reuters &The Australian.

Some facts regarding Super Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan and its devastating effects in the Philippines:

• It made its first landfall in the Philippines on the morning of Nov. 8, 2013.
• It made a total of five landfalls: first in Guiuan, Eastern Samar, then Bantayan Island, Daanbantayan, Panay, and Busuanga Island.
• It is one of the strongest cyclone ever recorded; 3.5 times more ferocious than Hurricane Katrina and enough to span from Spain to Sweden.
• Before the storm, 700,000 were evacuated to Red Cross Shelters. The shelters themselves didn't survive the storm and people died there as well.
• The winds reached as strong as 235 mph but it was the 5-meter tall wall of Ocean water that killed and swept away homes and lives together.
• The storm lasted for a day and when it reached Vietnam on Nov. 9, 2013, wind gusts quieted down to up to 115 mph.

There have been a lot of finger-pointing and criticisms, saying that the Philippines never prepared despite being forewarned of this monstrous storm. It may be right in that more comprehensive preventive measures could have been implemented. But then again, I guess the storm really was too strong; as it destroyed even the shelters where the people were evacuated. The storm surge was unexpected and this is what killed thousands. It is also hard to move every single person off the island as the Philippines is divided into small islands and travel is very difficult for such a population. There have been suggestions to be build more storm-resistant shelters such as underground ones (but could this prevent people from drowning?).

Bottom line is, this is not the time to blame anyone and talk a lot about could haves and should haves. It's done. It's over. People died. People suffered. They still are. What we should do is not only help, but LEARN. Learn from this tragedy. Seriously, this happens almost every year. How many thousands of people have to die before we device ways to minimize (completely eliminate is impossible) the fatalities?

After a while, we will all go back to our mundane lives, I would probably go back to thinking of ways to clear my breakouts, and everyone will continue posting their selfies and live on. That's how life is. But let's not forget. Please, let us all learn from this tragedy so that in the future, less lives will be lost.