A little tip for stuffy noses…

About a month back, I caught a cold. It was *sniff sniff sniff* all day long. The worse part about it was that I had to give two workshops over two Saturdays.. both about 2 hours each. I was not a happy camper at all!

Being a mother, I really didn’t want to talk one of those anti-histamines that dry up your nose but put you to sleep. Who would take care of the kids while I was in dreamland? Plus the pills always leave me with a very muzzy, groggy head. Not fun.

So I went on a hunt to find an essential oil that would help alleviate my symptoms. I was thinking of getting something like Eucalyptus which I have used before with good results.

Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus Gobulus)
Clear sinus; expels mucus; relief sensitive nose related problems; ease pain and improves circulation.

Was at Novena square so decided to drop by Salo to see what they had to offer. The sales lady asked me what I was looking for. She showed me the stock of essential oils and recommended a few. Then she noticed my sniffing, immediately she reached into a shelf and pulled out…

Flu Away (a blend of eucalyptus, tea tree and peppermint)
Helps for sinus, clear blocked nose, good for flu and throat irritation, asthmatic

I swear, one sniff of this and I could feel my sinus’ clearing. I’ve never had that happen before with any other essential oil. Guess their oils are especially pure or something.

The lady was nice enough to give me a tissue with a couple of drops of this on it. Gratefully, I spent the rest of the day acting like a glue sniffer, sniffing at my tissue.

That night, and many nights to follow, I put a couple of drops on my pillow case and went to sleep peacefully for the first time in a while.

The bottle now has a permanent place on my toiletry shelf and I know what I’ll be reaching for when my sinuses start acting up again!

For those of you who get runny noses or blocked noses on a regular basis, you might want to get a bottle of this lovely essential oil blend. Its about S$20+ but well worth it for the relief it gives. If you’re not sure it’d work for you, drop by the shop and ask for a tissue with a couple of drops on it. Go shopping and try it out. I think you’d be back for a bottle. :P

Salo is at

177 River Valley Road #B1-25 Liang Court Shopping Centre Singapore 179030
Tel: 6339 9809 Fax: 6339 9809

Email: sales@salo.com.sg
10 Sinaran Drive #03-48 Square 2 Singapore 307506
Tel: 6397 6367

(Disclaimer : I am not affliated with nor get commission for promoting this store. I’m just a regular consumer who has had a positive experience here.)

WLC #7

Heya, if you’re looking for makeup entries… they’re coming.. I promise… all lined up in my phone (the pics that is)… and in my head. Just haven’t had the time to sit down, get the pics downloaded and blog about it.

My schedule this year is really so full of things that need to be done and kids that need to be taken care of. Really learning that a mother’s life is not one of tea breaks and computer time but of rushing from point a to b to c to a and dealing with whines/demands/complaints/squabbles at the same time. All fun stuff!

Don’t get me wrong, I am so proud of my kids and I love them to bits. Just wish they’d give me a break a little more often.

Here goes my youngest with his “I wan mummy” plaint… and off I go again…

WLC #6

I was going to do a video for this week but its been so horrendously busy… this will have to do.

I knew going into this week that I was gonna be faced with massive amounts of yummilicious food… seriously… I mean what is Chinese New Year without bak kua (bbq pork slices), pineapple tarts, love letters, cashew nut cookies, peanut cookies… the list is endless. Then you have my lovely darling mother who believes in feeding everyone chocolate… different kinds.. different sizes… different combinations… Its a diet disaster waiting to happen!

So I went into the season giving myself 4 days to eat anything I wanted. Of course, I did practice moderation and stopped many times before I wanted to… even left the table once to continue the chatting elsewhere cos I was snacking way too much.

The result… well, I’m still the same weight. No more, no less. Seems like this is the weight my body wants to be at the moment. Did take a 4 day ‘holiday’ from exercising but have started again beginning Wednesday. I either have to ramp up my ‘move my body’ program or I have to seriously watch what I’m eating… am way too reluctant to do either… sigh…

Cat’s challenge this week was to share what we’ve learnt over the last 6 weeks. For me, I think its patience and perseverance. I just have to keep plugging away at getting more physically active and I do believe over time, my body will show the results I’m looking for. Its taken years to get to this point… it might take a while to persuade ‘settled’ fats to move on out. :P

Its also been fabulous to have a group of gals who are doing the same thing. Having them at the back of my mind helps me to control what I eat and also what I do in terms of exercise. While I haven’t lost any weight, I have become 200% more active than I was before. In my books, that’s a very good thing.

Til next week… keep those bodies moving and keep that smile on your face :D

3 ELF studio brushes

I got these quite a while ago. They are the Elf Studio fan brush, complexion brush and small angled brush. They are all USD3 each.

Been using them for a while.. and think its time I made some comments.

Complexion Brush

This new anti bacterial, synthetic haired Taklon brush is softer and more absorbent and can be used with wet or dry products. Be a professional makeup artist and create a flawless look with this e.l.f. studio brush!
-Creates an even and natural finish
-Expertly sweeps all types of powders across the entire face and sculpts features beautifully
-Use with pressed, loose, or translucent powders, blush or bronzer
*Vegan Friendly

My thoughts : I’ve been using EDM’s long handled kabuki brush for both my powders and foundations. I found this doesn’t really work the way I’d like a powder/foundation brush to work. BUT its okay if you want a light dusting of powder to finish or to use with a pigmented blush… its super soft and flexible (ie it doesn’t have a firm feel like a kabuki)

Small Angled Brush

This new anti bacterial, synthetic haired Taklon brush is softer and more absorbent and can be used with wet or dry products. Be a professional makeup artist and create a flawless look with this e.l.f. studio brush!
-Creates precise color application
-Creates even, thin and straight lines every time
-Use to apply lip color, eyebrow color, or to line eyes
*Vegan Friendly

My thoughts : I absolutely love this brush. As in love love love. Its an ideal tool to use to apply eyeshadows as eyeliners. Will definitely get another one or two as backups. Can’t see myself doing without them.

One technique that I’ve tried and tried to achieve is to use eye shadow to line my lower eye lashes… well, with this brush, its super easy and it works beautifully. Here’s a recent eotd I did using it.

Fan Brush

This new anti bacterial, synthetic haired Taklon brush is softer and more absorbent and can be used with wet or dry products. Be a professional makeup artist and create a flawless look with this e.l.f. studio brush!
-Unique fan shape blends away makeup mistakes
-Dusts, wipes, and contours powders
-Use to create a soft wash of color over the cheeks, to apply a touch of loose powder to cover shine, or as a blending aid.
*Vegan Friendly

My thoughts : This is one brush that though has had rave reviews elsewhere… I just don’t know how to make it work for me. Strange but true… have tried it as a blush brush… too much work; to dust off fall out… just made it worse; to add a touch of highlighter… well, I rarely do this step so…

It is very soft and feels lovely on the face. If you know how to use a fan brush, I think its a nice one.

Using glows and blush as eye shadow

 

For the 2nd day of Chinese New Year, I wanted a simply defined eye. Nothing too drama.

There’s been quite a few video tutorials on defined neutral eyes so with the tips I picked up… here’s my version.

Monistat – base
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Yoghurt – all over lid; smudged up to crease
SilkNaturals Perfecting Glow in Splendid – patted all over eye area up to brow bone
SilkNaturals Cocoaberry blush (discontinued) – crease
TSS The Doll House (LE grab bag) – brow highlight; inner 1/2 lower lash line
NYX Jumbo Eye pencil in Blackbean – upper lash line
TSS Bit by Glitz (LE Something Twinkling ‘08) – patted on top of blackbean); outer 1/2 lower lashline

    

finally got eyeshadow to look nice on my lower lash line… and its all thanks to my lovely new ELF small angled brush… look out for my review coming up :)

A Prosperous Start to the New Year

Gong Xi! Gong Xi! To my chinese readers… may the year be filled with good fortune and lots to eat! and above all “shen ti jian kang”! (gee I hope I get that hypy right… :P)

The first day was a looooooong tiring day of visiting, dealing with sugar high kids and a homebody hubby who just wanted to go home. We covered a total of 9 homes… starting out from home at 7.30 and finishing at about 4. Headed back to my mom’s place for some r&r before two more aunties and assorted cousins visited in the evening. By staying those extra hours at my mom’s, I ‘escaped’ having to visit two more houses. *grin*

Finally reached our home at 9.30. Super tired… my kids just washed up and it was “lights out”. Even my hubby slept pretty early.

By 10.30, when I was finished sorting and clearing stuff, all I could hear was the collective chorus of snores. Rather heart warming… but then maybe I’m just strange.

So here’s my look for the first day… tried out a new pair of half falsies – Ardell Accents Lashes 301. Used them with the DUO lash glue. They got glued on at 6.45am.

Impressions : easier to use than full lashes and I didn’t run about the whole day feeling like I had spiders on my lids. On the whole, very happy with them. They added length at the ends where it mattered. Only thing I’d do different the next time would be to put mascara on and curl my lashes before putting these babies on.

On to the EOTD (as usual, click thru for bigger pics) :

• Monistat – base
• NYX jumbo eye pencil in baby blue
• smudged all over lid and up into the crease
• to take off some of the ‘redness’ aka warmth from the shades I was using next
• TSS The Doll House (LE Grab Bag)
• patted all over lid
• used under the brows as a highlight
• TSS Goodness and Grace (LE Ho Ho ‘08)
• 1/3 out lid and up to the crease and blended to the brow bone
• TSS One Stuck Sleigh (LE Ho Ho ‘08)
• outer v and blended
• Majolica Majorca Neo liquid liner in black (999)
• upper lash line
• Maybelline’s Volum’ Express Turbo Boost mascara in black
• Inuovi’s brow pencil in Cocoa

 

Face :

• Biore’s Radiant Sunscreen lotion
• SilkNatural’s foundation and perfecting powder blend

Cheeks :

• Canmake blush in 05
• SilkNaturals’ blush in Climax and Babydoll (mixed)

Lips :

• SilkNaturals organic lipgloss in Rare Berry

And here’s what my eotd looked like at 9.45pm…  the lashes stayed put (even though I’d brought both glue and liner just in case)… minimal creasing near the tear duct. Hardly any fading I could see.

Really, for me, NYX jumbo eye pencils combined with TSS e/s are my HG for long wearing looks that last through heat, humidity and super long days.

random rambling thoughts

Been kinda quiet cos have lost my mojo on the m/u front… sad huh?

Plus have been super busy getting things ready for Chinese New Year. The usual spring cleaning and sorting out of rubbish for 5 people takes time and energy.

I still am doing my 20 floors a day plus cycling. But there’s no difference on the weight front… still holding steady. Whether that stays the same after yesterday and the next 3 days of eating… is anyone’s guess.

Cat’s WLC challenge this week is to expain what I’m getting from doing this. Well, for me, like I’ve said in a previous video… the focus has moved off from weight loss to getting my butt moving. And given that new focus, I’m achieving that goal. Definitely getting more exercise and on a daily basis than I was before Cat’s idea.

On the beauty front, so far I’ve gotten these items ticked off

- refilled my powder pot (my usual mix of SilkNatural’s perfecting powder, date bait, silica); refilled my foundation pot (SilkNatural’s ebony/buttery gold/ivory foundation, zinc, silica). I’m good for another 2-3 months :P

- did a pumpkin masque plus honey oat masque for my face. Its clean and soft now.

– did a hair masque using my favourite silk protein and shampoo… held it all in with a shower cap while…

- sitting in a nice long relaxing bath using dead sea salts, lavender/rose geranium eo and silk protein. Scrubbed and scrubbed using exfoliating gloves. I’m squeaky clean and soft now.

- painted my fingernails with Skin Food’s Jojoba pure nail in BE003. Its kinda an antique gold shade

- painted my toenails with Misa’s “come and get it”. That’s a base color of pink with a holographic blue/purple tinge on top.

- did the same for my girl… except opposite. What I had on my fingers, she got on her toes.

I do need to decide what I’m gonna use for m/u tomorrow. That’s completely up in the air. Should I go with plums or with golds… decisions, decisions.

now back to finishing my to do list… ang pows are next…

GONG XI FA CAI everyone!

My life story … kinda… *grin*

This post was kinda inspired by one of the other WLC gals. It was a fun ‘break’ from my currently pressurized regular life to go through my old pics looking for suitable images to show my ‘progress’ over time.

Since young, I’ve always been on the lower end of the ‘average’ weight zone. Almost underweight but not. It was a case of I could eat as much as I wanted and nothing would get converted to ‘fat’. Lucky me huh?

This pic was taken in 1998. I was in my late teens. (yes, WLC gals.. I’m sooo much older than most, if not all, of you!!) At this point, I was about 55kg.

You’ve already seen a pic of me when I was on my honeymoon so here’s the next step in my ‘weight gain’ process.

I got PREGNANT! It was amazing how much weight I managed to put on… by the end of my first pregnancy, I’d added close to 20kg. It is to date, really my highest weight point – 78kg.

This pic was taken on my birthday… my first child arrived 9 days later. :P Anyone wanna say… moonface?? LOL!

And this is my after, complete with baby :D Can you tell I’m hiding my bulk? LOL! Weight point soon after this pic was about 70kg.

I’ve had two other kids since then and each time, I put on weight but managed to come back to the 70kg mark.. and I’m still there… even after almost a month of exercising.

Alright, so there’s no video this week. I’m just over my head with stuff… but… Cat’s challenge this week was to introduce a healthy dish.

Frankly speaking, I don’t cook. My husband does. I just eat… *big grin*

So here’s kinda what I’ve been eating for breakfast. Would that count as a dish Cat?

Cut up one fuji apple – I like them in thin slices
Cut up half a mango into cubes…
mix on a plate, sit in front of the computer and clear emails while snacking.

Til next week… :D