Little Updates

- A few days ago I started to eat normal food so you'll be seeing a lot more photos of my meals. It's a great feeling not dreading each meal and I'm so sick of soup ! Currently I can eat anything that can be cut up into small pieces and placed at the back of my teeth and since my molars don't fully touch it feels like I'm eating with dentures...well what I imagine it to be. Rice poses as a huge challenge as I learned from today's unagi don, more grains were getting stuck in my braces than actually going down my throat. I'm a little disheartened because I adore sushi and it's going to be a hassle to eat for a while.

- After work today, my boyfriend and I rushed to Melbourne Central to be the first 200 to sign up for a treasure hunt which is part of their shopping festival, kind of like VIP night. It was a little amusing to be notified of such event by my boyfriend, out of all people, he is a male and most male's do not enjoy shopping. Anyway, it ended up being freebies galore, I received gifts from Lush, Sass & Bide/Kiehls, Maybelline and Jurlique to name a few. Personally I don't enjoy going crazy for freebies, queues annoy me and there were mad shoppers left right and center.

The sales were actually disappointing, although it may have been partially because I ventured around after work and all the quality pieces were sold already. However I did find an adorable faux fur vest that's not too long or oversized, will do a post tomorrow on this !

- My small Supre parcel arrived today, just little purchases as I was looking for a dress to wear this weekend. I know a few people may be judgmental about this brand because it's tacky, cheap and bad quality. Yes I will agree some items are quite terrible, but definitely not all. I have always bought my clubbing dresses there because I wear it once or twice and donate it to the Salvation Army. I really dislike wearing clubwear more than three or four times, and it's not like I can wear it out as a casual outfit (most of the time). Another thing is that the sizing is spot on and fits my body shape. Something about me that no one would assume is...I buy my clothes from all stores and don't limit myself to more expensive brands. I don't believe in spending hundreds for a plain tshirt or a pair of cotton leggings. My outfits are a combination of branded and non branded items to look expensive and stylish, a little deceiving but now you all know my secret !

When I look for celebrity fashion inspirations, I tend to choose celebs who have similar body shapes as me. At 5'3 I am classified as 'petite' and contrary to the general rule ,'thin people can wear anything' I think it's completely false. Certain pieces look comical on me, like maxi skirts and dresses (I feel swamped and uncoordinated), high waisted jeans and heels that cover my ankle.

One of my favourite actresses (and also fashion inspiration) is Nina Dobrev who plays Elena in The Vampire Diaries. I find her to be extremely beautiful, she has perfect features, bambi-like eyelashes and long hair to die for. Oh, and to top it off, she's dating the gorgeous Ian Somerhalder.

Currently Loving

A selection of winter warmers from Bardot.

At the moment I'm the owner of a black faux fur coat, a hand-me-down from my mother but in reality we go through each others wardrobe. I adore fur vests even though I'm not sure what to pair it with, it's going to be on my shopping list for this season.

Weekend Stylin'

Lust Have It Box - May

I received this month's Lust Have It box at least a week ago but didn't get around to doing a blog post. While 'unboxing' I could already smell a strong floral scent which turned out to be the Lush 'Lust' soap. Since I don't use bar soaps I gave it to my boyfriend, maybe I should get him to write a review on it? I was delighted to find eight products and I was not expecting so many samples so that put me in a very good mood. 

ModelCo Lipgloss in Sugar Plum
I rarely use lipgloss these days. Melbourne's wind tunnels in the CBD make it impossible for gloss to stay on my lips since my hair always manages to get glued to my lips and it's disgusting. I went through a lipgloss phase in my early highschool years but since then I preferred wearing lip balm and lipstick. What I do like about this ModelCo product is that there is a tiny mirror on the packaging which is really innovative.

Evo The Therapist Calming Shampoo & Conditioner 
I've never heard of this brand of haircare products but looking forward to trying it out, 'gently cleanses, repairs and hydrates damaged or dry hair' it sounds enticing already !  

Bioderma Crealine H20 Makeup Remover 
A lovely anon actually told me about this product on formspring but I couldn't find any stockists in Melbourne so what a pleasant surprise to find this sample in my LHI box.

Calvin Klein Sheer Beauty Perfume 
I'm a big fan of CK perfumes, I own Euphoria, One and a very old Eternity Moment. This one lives up to it's high quality and I adore the peach blossom fragrance.

(Not Shown) Lush Lust Soap All my boyfriend could say was it's 'overpowering'.

Caron Laboratories Bump eRaiser Medi Paste
'A practical essential for everyone's bathroom. Prevents and eliminates ingrown hairs and bumps with tea tree oil'. Lucky for me I've never suffered from ingrown hairs so this product is a little useless.

Nicole by OPI lacquer
The cutest little bottle of nail varnish I have ever seen ! A little disappointed with the colour because I don't like purple AND glitter.

New in - Seduce cardigan

I purchased this gorgeous cardi over the weekend and it was an absolute steal at 40% off. As you can see I couldn't get a good photo of it, the hem is fairly long and it has batwing sleeves that can either be pulled up to 3/4 sleeves as well. I was on hunt to find a open cardigan style coat within my budget but nothing caught my eye. Seems like military and duffel coats are all the rage this season too bad I'm not a fan of either of those styles.

Do I look different? The problem with taking a photo with my teeth showing is that my clear braces aren't noticeable enough to look like braces. Hello to smiling with my mouth closed for the next twelve months.

Product Review - John Frieda Precision Foam Hair Colour

"Precision Foam Colour is the first ever premium permanent home hair colour that uses foam technology to deliver salon-quality results at home. With 20 flattering shades to choose from, achieving flawless, natural-looking results at home has never been quicker or easier.
Simply massage the foam into your hair to achieve flawless coverage you thought you could only get at a salon. No drips, no stains – just gorgeous-looking hair from every angle."

As mentioned in my previous post, I was looking to dye my hair black since my last dye job has faded into a boring dark brown. This is my first time using John Frieda hair dye and previously I have used L'oreal Sublime Mousse in black and Clairol Nice 'n Easy in blue black.

I purchased this box in Priceline for $16 and it was on sale. Compared to other box dyes this is fairly 'high end' so I was expecting positive results. I purchased the shade "Luminous Natural Black".

Here are the contents: Black gloves Developer Colourant Foam dispenser Conditioner Instruction booklet

What really caught my attention was the sleek design of the packaging, it's sophisticated and professional. Instead of pushing a pump to dispense the foam, with this product you actually squeeze the developer bottle. I guess it is a little more efficient since the dye makes the pump quite slippery. Same as other foam dyes, it's a breezy application and in about 15 minutes my hair was covered and I also dyed my clip in hair extensions. I left it on for 35 minutes, a little longer than recommended because I want the colour to really soak in and my hair is notoriously immune to hair dye in patches. When I washed the dye out, my hair was tangled and felt coarse. Immediately my heart sank a little since my experiences with other brands did not turn out like this. I did enjoy using the conditioner, it had a delicious fruity fragrance and managed to turn the tangles into smooth, mosturised locks. All seemed to go well until I stepped out of the shower and observed my hair under the heat lamp.

My hair was a dark brown. I could only imagine what colour it would be once dried because wet hair is 'darker' than it is when dried.

Upon closer inspection after I dried it with a pump of argan oil, my hair IS a dark brown, darker than what it used to be before dying but not a 'black' as printed on the box. So to be honest I'm very disappointed, somewhat angry and feeling cheated. On a positive note, my hair is extremely shiny, soft to touch and voluminous, just not the colour I was expecting it to be. I would NOT be re-purchasing this product and will definitely stick with L'oreal or Clairol in the future.

Today I got my blood test results and I'm relieved to say I don't have lymphoma ! I have a habit of 'self diagnosing' when I get little symptoms here and there but seriously, being able to feel enlarged lymph nodes on the nape of your neck is a little concerning. To celebrate the good news I watched The Avengers with my sweetheart who has been dying to see it since it came out. I personally have no interest in those superheroes but it ended up being a great action movie, too bad my viewing experience was disturbed by the need to use the bathroom, all I had to 'snack' on was a smoothie.

My purchases today include John Frieda's new foam hair dye and Maybelline's FIT concealer. I already have the concealer in shade 15 but after my tanning spree in Thailand I can't seem to return to my natural colour and unfortunately, the shade is too light for my current skin tone. With the hairdye, I was intrigued by the ads on TV and the packaging is as enticing. My previous experiences with foam hairdye were very pleasant and I'm expecting good results with this one. The last time I dyed my hair was in March and it's unbelievable how fast black dye fades. What's more amusing is that I hated black/asian hair when I was younger and begged my mother to let me get brown highlights. That was back in year 5 and after 10 years later I've finally come to my senses. I find that so many asian girls have the same brown hair colour, long hair and a side fringe, they could pass as clones looking from behind.

I'm happy to say I am feeling more comfortable with braces even though I can't eat most foods but the pain is almost gone and I can feel my bite opening each day. I feel like after this 'forced dieting' ends I can really handle anything life throws at me. But what really saved me from sulking day after day was hearing that my mum bought my Louis Vuitton bag in Paris and I can't wait until end of this month where I'll finally get my hands on it. I've been lusting after the Eva clutch for a while now and can't believe how much cheaper it is to purchase Louis Vuitton in Europe.

On another note, I'm really excited to be writing and blogging on this platform. Tumblr was good while it lasted but with most things in my life, I like changes every now and then. I never really felt comfortable writing a lot on tumblr because it's really all about photos and no one gives a fuck if you write a paragraph there. I'll still keep my blog because I really do adore those beautiful instagram photos of shoes, jewellery and clothing.

Sharing my favourite pilates vidoes !