All The Things I Can't Live Without...

I think I kinda fit along side Jones and Verlyn. As in we're the morphing hairstyle trio, ha ha ha! Seriously, I've seen them change their hairstyles so many times (never got sick of it, cos they always look good), and lately I've noticed myself doing so too.

I went for a hair cut finally, after 5 months of walking around with an assymmetrical mop atop my head. I went to find Shirleen at Marina Square's Chapter 2 this time, after seeing Ru's gorgeous haircut. It's also because my regular hair stylist, James at Century Square's Storm, retired! Oh my god, you should have seen my stunned face when I heard that.

Anyway, if you've seen my previous post on the Stila smudge pot, that's my hair before. And this is my hair after:

Yeah, granted it's still assymmetrical... But it's an assymmetrical BOB now! That's something different. I can't remember when was the last time I went so short or had a bob. Think it was at least 5 years ago.

The left side:

The right side:

And the back:

Gah, the first picture gives away the whole hairstyle! Shirleen was okay, she gave me some tips on how to work my (very fine and thin) hair. What I enjoyed most was the hair wash! Oh gosh. It was can-die shiok! The shampoo girl and I got into this deep converstion about education, so she kept scrubbing and massaging my head and, it was etherael! Plus the shampoo she used was minty, so my head was all cool and menthol and scrubbed, hah!

After the hair cut, I was kinda shocked at how airy and naked my neck felt, but I'm grateful now cos the weather is crapping hot! On the other hand, when it comes to winter in Montreal.... Brrrr! So not looking forward to it! Bring on the scarves, baby~

My dad likes the hair cut though. The first thing he blurted out when he saw me was "Wahhh, Cheryl! Why you so sexy?!" LOLOLOLOL.

Anyway, let's wrap up this post with 2 animal pictures. I caught Mocha sleeping on the printer in my room; she refused to look at the camera when I tried to camwhore with her.

Bluhh, whatever. Ha ha, thaks for reading though! :D

It was totally on impulse! Ha ha ha ha, I swear! I wasn't going to do anything to my hair until my trip to Canada, but after watching the korean girl band f(x)'s hot summer auburn hair, I immediately went to buy a box of DIY hair dye.

I used this...

... and 1 hour later, I emerged with red hair. *cue hair picture spam*

This was my matching red LOTD that I wore to work the next day, I was feeling the red dude!!!

Close-up of the eyes:

The shimmery taupe shade you see near the lash line is the new Bare Escentuals High Shine Eyecolor in "Glisten".

Also, I was sporting both the Lash Definition and Volumizing mascaras from the brand. The mascaras have been released quite a while back, but the High Shine Eyecolors and the Pretty Amazing Lipcolor are new items that arrived in our Sephora just last week.

On my lips, I was wearing the Pretty Amazing Lipcolor in "Courage". It's a really amazing fiery coral shade, so complementary with my skintone and my hair colour!

And a final goodbye pic from me, cos I simply loved how this turned out, heh. :)

My hair is getting quite long and it's almost time for me to get it cut! Thanks for reading~

...Or I think it is... I didn't keep the box, so I kinda forgot the name of the colour. But it's the 2nd box on the left in the pic below. :)

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Ha ha, like I would let my hair off with just a hair cut. Nope, if I'm gonna revamp my hair, it's gonna be the whole package! Anyways, just so you see, the ugly roots... D:

That is, like, nearly 3 months of growth. And it's icky!!!

So I got my almost-pro mom to touch up my roots with the dye; I swear she's so good at this after doing it twice. This time I didn't leave the dye on as long as I normally would (30 mins vs 45 - 60 mins), cos I didn't want my hair to lighten any further. I just wanted the roots to be covered and the brassiness in my hair to done away with.

Here's the result:

(btw, these pics are all taken under strong room lighting)

The back, ahh I love the colour~

And the top! Ma, look! No more roots~

Aaaannndd a few more feel-good camwhore shots. :)

I went out that day with my friend to have some pancake goodness at "Strictly Pancakes" -> food porn coming up.

Banana and rum sauce pancakes with vanilla ice cream, yumz~

Potato and leek pancakes with a side of mushrooms, double yumz~~

And here's the two of us together!

My eye makeup for that day was a simple smokey eye, a usual for me.

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The very next day, I went out for a school project meeting and I took some pics of my hair in the glaring sunlight from my bedroom window.

Yep, that's how it looks under natural (but bright) sunlight. And my LOTD, which was my even-more-usual winged eyeliner:

Ha ha ha, pic spam much??? But thanks for viewing this post, take care people~

Ha ha ha, I changed my hairstyle again (after 6 months of having Taemin's mushroom head)! Don't know if you guys noticed in the Sakura-themed LOTD, that my hair is shorter. :)

Anyway, let's cut to the chase! I'm gonna show you the before pics, when my hair was long, shapeless and unkempt.

(Eeee, this pic is kinda creepy; looks like there's two of me glaring at each other. @__@)

I kinda got more and more irritated with the shapelessness of my hair and my fringe which keeps poking into my eyes (ARGH!), so I decided to go pay my hair stylist a visit~ And here's the pic spam of the results.

The left side of my head:

And the right side of my head:

Ha ha, funky sei!!

The back:

And how I look from the front:

My hair is asymmetrical, and it was my crazy idea brought to life (and in a nice way too) by my stylist. I went on ranting to him how boring my hair was and how I wanted one side to be longer, and the other side shorter. And he literally gave that to me, lol! I was quite taken aback at first by the blunt cut on my right, but after looking at it for a few days, it's not too bad! It's so funky, ha ha!

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Anyway, my LOTD that lasted through the shampooing (water splashing around my face and eyes):

Thanks for reading this post, I've still a quite a few posts on backlog, gonna try clearing them this weekend! Cheers, everyone~

I initially wasn't gonna publish this post as the dye job was done 1.5 months back and there wasn't any drastic changes in my hair colour. My previous hair colour was already quite bright (amazing results from the Rodica Hristu colouring workshop) so this dye job was done just to refresh the colour and lighten my roots.

Before pictures:

Omg at my fuggly roots! :O

But thanks to my mom's powerful DIY hair dyeing skills and this:

[Credits to shop-pladge.blogspot.com for the pic!]

I covered up my roots nicely and got this:

Be prepared to be blinded by my shiny bright hair, ho ho ho!

Ha ha ha, very bright right?

But it's not that bad in normal room lighting...

..and under the sunlight.

(Gawd how I love root-less coloured hair QAQ)

The Hoyu Beauteen hair dyes are still the DIY dye of choice I'll turn too, because it works beautifully and it's really cheap (S$8.90 at Watsons). But for people with more sensitive scalp, you might wanna be more cautious and do a patch test before hand, cos most of the dyes contains bleach inside, so it can be a bit harsh. Personally, all I felt was a slight stinging as the bleach worked on my hair, and that's because I tend to go for the very light colours (thus higher % of bleach).

That's just my 2-cents worth of hair dye experience. And I love blinding you guys with my flashing hair halo~ Ha ha, love you all, tootles!!!

I was planning to do the Natsu Matsuri (Japanese Summer Festival) entry but I got too excited with my haircut today, so I decided to skip that and show you guys my new (cool) hairstyle instead! The Natsu Matsuri post will be the next one, promise! You'll get to see girls in kimonos~

So this is how I look like right now...

A BIG difference from how I looked like previously.

The sides...

... and the back.

And now a few feel-good, act-cool camwhoring pics~

(act cool = punching myself in the lip...? I don't think so.. >__>)

Seducto mode, on!!! *licks*

All while in my mother's bathroom, ah ha ha ha!!!

I went to Century Square's STORM salon and got the director, James, to cut my hair. We had a long talk about treatments and whatsnot, and after that I whipped out a pageful of Taemin's smexy hair pictures and then we discussed what we're going to do. I must say, he is a VERY meticulous, almost bordering OCD, kind of guy. He made sure every layer looked right, no matter how much time it took. I was tad irresponsible for not making an appointment (cos today, I realized how busy he is) but he still attended to me despite letting another of his customers (who had made an appointment) wait. Impressed, I think I will go back for my future haircut... with an appointment!

In the end, I followed his recommendation and bought the Keratase Leave-In Night Treatment. He threw in a complimentary sachet of the Leave-In Day Treatment (got heat protective properties, yay!) for me to try.

So what do you guys think of the hairstyle..? Miss my long hair??? Ngah ha ha, I don't think so~ Maybe I will later, but for now, i'm enjoying acting cool with my spunky new hair~ Cheers and thanks for viewing!

2 weeks back, when Miwitch kindly asked me if I would like to be a hair model for an upcoming hair coloring workshop her friend was holding at KPSS Pte Ltd (company that manages Goldwell hair products), I got super excited and agreed! Previously in May, I wanted to go for a session too but I was too busy working, so this time I quickly snapped up the opportunity. Plus, I heard that Chantana was going for the workshop too, so there'll be new "familiar" faces I can meet, woots!

Just a shout out, a big THANK YOU to miwitch (I did it in pink for you >3<)! Thanks, dear, for inviting me and giving me the opportunity to experience something so exciting! And also, hello Chantana~ Nice meeting you, even if it was for such a brief period of time. Here's her account of what went on that day.

The workshop was held yesterday, to train several hair stylists in the application of natural/cool brown and blond dyes and it was instructed by the very chic Rodica Hristu, a Canadian colorist. I was the first one to arrive at the workshop (though I thought I was going to be late) and it was super awkward for me, cos the room was so empty and there wasn't anyone I knew. Rodica was there however with her male friend, and after seeing me twitch nervously for 5 minutes in my chair, she walked over and began examining my hair.

*nervous glances at Rodica*

*grunt of approval*

Phew! I thought she was gonna condemn my hair or something (no thanks to my colleague who burnt my hair!). Soon, the other models and stylists started arriving and we officially began the workshop at 2 pm. I was attended by a female stylist and her assistant who were from SuperCuts at Seng Kang's Compass Point.

Point to be taken, this coloring workshop was a free-of-charge dye job for us and I know I don't have the right to complain..but I just wanna say, I didn't like that lady stylist of mine. She handled my hair quite roughly, was impatient and had a couldn't-be-bothered attitude. Her assistant, on the other hand, was so much nicer and more attentive! Anyway, that lady stylist left 1 hour before the workshop ended (cannot even wait to stay till the end huh?) and I was blissfully left in her assistant's capable hands.

Thankfully Rodica was patrolling around during the whole session and came by often to guide my lady stylist - when my stylist got my existing base colour wrong, she corrected her and tutored her on what colour dyes to use; my stylist wanted to bleach my hair to get an ash brown colour but Rodica advised against this and introduced another, more hair-friendly method. That, plus Rodica mentioned that they had a very good hair model so it should be an easy job for them! *beams with pride*

Sadly, I didn't bring my camera to the workshop, so no workshop pics. Besides, I was tied down to my chair by a heavy plastic bag-full of dyed hair (miwitch has the unglam shots, I should ask her for them) so there was no way I could walked around to take pictures. Interestingly, I observed a very young and attractive male stylist who was working single-handedly on his model beside me - his capability was praised by Rodica and she didn't need to offer him much advice, plus his looks really didn't hurt at all to look at, ha ha! Unfortunately, I think he's gay. Sad. Ahh well.

For this workshop, all the hair products used were Goldwell and oh my gosh, my hair turned out so soft and smooth! Even after highlighting and a full-head dye. Plus, the dye didn't sting my scalp and it smelt really good, not stinky at all! After my hair was all done up, Rodica kept coming over and asking the assistant and I, if we were happy with the dye job. She definitely looked satisfied with her tutoring; she kept running her fingers through my newly-dyed hair and going "So pretty, so shiny". (Plus, that good-looking guy/gay hair stylist kept eyeing the assistant and me, lol!)

Alright, pics which I took after I got back home! The workshop ended at 5.45 pm for me (later than Chantana) so the whole thing took 4 hours.

But now, I've got a headful of pretty, cool brown hair with subtle highlights!

It appears a lot more coppery above, but the colour is actually truer in the below pic. It's got a little bit of green tinge to it.

Close-up of the top, sorry for the blurry pic. You can probably see the shine and the green tinge here more evidently.

And here was my OOTD, sans the black boots that I was wearing~

Long post, whew, glad I'm done with my storytelling! Thanks for bothering to read it, hope you "enjoyed" it! Cheers~

Item: Garnier Fructis Style Wonder Waves [Flexible]

(What a mouthful for a product name @__@)

Product on the left

Product-on-hair shots

Back view

Side view

Price: US$4.30

- This product cannot be found in SG and can only be imported in via Drugstore.com. I got this at BOGO price, together with the other Garnier product on the right, and the total cost for each bottle came up to about SG$7 I think. Can't really remember the exact price in SGD, it was quite a while back.

Pro:

1) Lightweight liquid hairspray. It actually dries a little crispy on the hair so it's kinda like a very light gel hairspray.

2) Works okay, if you already have curls in your hair or you have the time to wind sections of hair into ringlets and pin them up to dry.

3) Cheap

Con:

1) For people with poker straight hair like me, it doesn't really work. Even with some residual curls left from my previous perm job, it didn't enhance them as I hoped it would. The pictures of my hair above is when I had the time to wind my hair into small ringlets, pin them all up and blowdry. That gave me very subtle waves. Without the ringlet method, I did't get any waves at all. Maybe a small kink here and there only.

2) However, the ringlet method gave me quite a bit of frizz also, especially when I loosen my hair after blowdrying. I'm the sort who will never have frizz in my hair unless I do something drastic to it, so this kinda shocked me. The frizz died down after a while, but so did the curls.

3)  I can't sleep with it! It made my scalp all scratchy that night, after I styled it in the evening after bath. Maybe it's my habit of not putting any styling product in my hair, but I can't help feeling all prickly. Maybe it's because the product dried a little crispy on the hair.

4) The smell may be appealing at first but after a few sprays to wind the ringlets up, it begins to smell very sourish and vinegar-like. Which, trust me, isn't appealing at all in the long run.

Rating: 2.3 / 5.0

Would I buy it again? Nah, I don't think so. So far, I'm not impressed by it and I was really hoping this product would bring out the waves in my hair.  I mean, so many people rave about it, but it doesn't really do much for me. Maybe it will work for people with natural curls or with thicker hair, I'm not sure.

This review was requested by heavenlygorgeous. Hope it helped, Mya! Cheers~

BTW, this blog has gotten 50 followers! I'm so happy, feeling like a proud momma! Ha ha, I would like to thank every single one of you, sweeties, for bothering to read my entries. Thanks guys! En, and I'll continue writing up on my  hauls, LOTD, NOTD and reviews. Take care everyone!

A few weeks back, an acquaintance of mine flew to U.S and so I troubled her to get some stuff that I've been lemming for from their local drugstore. In the end, she only managed to get me 2 items from my list but I'm definitely not complaining cos it beats joining a spree and waiting. Here are the 2 items she got me!

1) Neutrogena Triple Moisture Hair Mask

I've been hearing so many raves on this product from our US counterparts, that it really works and it makes your hair silky smooth and tangle-free and that it's one of the best hair masks around. Sadly, it's only sold in the US and perhaps in Aussie (many Neutrogena products are only available there, SG is rather sad not to bring them in) so I knew this was my chance to get my friend to buy it.

I've tried it once so far, and I'd say it works. Of course, I'll continue to use it and monitor its effectivity but for that one time, it's pretty impressive. My hair did feel much smoother and tangle-free. It also felt more hydrated, the ends didn't seem that rough anymore. But the smell! Oh. My. Gawd. It is AMAZING! It smells all coconut-ty and honey-ey and musky and... *rambles on*

Yeah, the smell is a definite plus point. Probably because it states in the description that the mask contains meadowfoam seed and sweet almond extracts...and of course, fragrance.

2) Revlon Matte Lipstick in Nude Attitude

Hey hey hey~ This was in my drugstore wish list that I came up with a while back and I finally got it! I just don't understand why SG doesn't bring in this colour.

Lip swatches!

Both swatches are with indoor settings. Looks perfectly matte here and as you can probably see, the lipstick does settle into the crevices of my lips. I'm sure most matte lipsticks actually do that.

These 2 are taken facing strong sunlight, that's why you see a slight shimmer. One thing I noticed is that there's actually a bit of a mauve-pinkish sheen to the lipstick if you at it look closely under strong sunlight. I think it's more obvious in the 1st swatch under sunlight, at the edges of my lips. It seems weird for a matte lipstick, but from afar you can't see this at all.

A full-faced pic~

Sorry for the dead-fish eyes and the sallow complexion. I didn't bother putting on any makeup for this shot; if it could be helped, I would rather not put up a full-faced picture because I look positively haggard right now. School was vicious last week - I had a presentation, then lab reports to submit and group meetings to attend. School hours stretched up to 10 hours a day and sleep only came up to 5 hours a night. Plus, last night I didn't get enough sleep, my body was too pumped up on the adrenaline and stress I've been facing.

BUT! The reason I took this pic was to show you guys the full look with the lipstick on. It goes on pretty natural with my skin tone as it has got a pinker undertone, unlike NYX's Circe which has such strong yellow undertones and it virtually wipes my lips out and makes me look like one of the walking dead. I always had to put on a coloured lipgloss with Circe, but for Nude Attitude, I can wear it alone. So if Circe makes you look too dead, do try this lipstick out.

As for how moisturizing and long-lasting it is, it feels pretty ok to me. Not as moisturizing and creamy as most people reported it to be, but it wouldn't  dry your lips out like most matte lipsticks would. When I wore it in my school's air-conditioned library, it did feel a bit dry and powdery, but I've realized that my lips chapped less. The lasting power is very good though, as for most matte lipsticks. I guess the powdery finish actually helps the lipstick to stay on for up to 6 hours without fading (even when I snacked a little when wearing it).

Yep, that's my (very long) 2 cents worth. I got the lipstick for around S$7.30 and the hair mask for S$12.50. All in all, a very worth-it purchase. Thanks for reading!

Wasn't there a saying, that everything has it's own time and place?

Well, as corny as it sounds, it appears so for my Batiste Dry Shampoo. I was told not to wash my hair for 2 days after getting my highlights, to allow the dye to settle in, which means I'm gonna have to live with limp, greasy hair on the 2nd day. That's when I put the dry shampoo to good use.

Before 'washing': Limp, sleek-with-oil fringe *cringe*

So... You hold the can at a 30 cm length, and spray...

And rummage up your hair!

And voila!

Product: Batiste Original Dry Shampoo. They have it in other scents e.g. Tropical (smells like pineapple, I heard .__.) and Diva, but I haven't seen them in SG yet.

Size: 150 mL

Price: $8.00 (if I remembered correctly) in Guardian Pharmacies. I got it at $6.80 at my neighbourhood beauty shop in Pasir Ris.

The Good:

1) This products works pretty well. You can already judge from the pictures right? It does absorb most of the grease and once you brush your hair to comb the powder out, your hair actually feels quite fluffy.

2) You do get a little bit of added volume to your hair, if you scrunch it up and apply some holding mousse/hair spray.

3) Smells quite nice. Beats putting baby powder on your head and smelling like an infant for the rest of the day. o___o

4) Relatively cheap, if you know where to get it.    >__0

5) Lots, I mean LOTS of raves from our american counterparts, whom have used it. Batiste is also constantly featured in a UK hair magazine called "hair". Yeah, ah ha ha ha! Can borrow the magazine from our National Library. ^^

The Bad:

1) It may feel heavy if you spray on too much or you didn't brush it off enough.

2) Since it's a white powder, spraying too much also leaves an ugly white residue. Moderation is key, always.

3) Simply can't beat the feeling of freshly-laundered hair, so this is only a temporary solution to greasy hair. Please wash your hair!

4) I read some where that constant usage, or using too much can clog our hair follicles, which is bad. Also, because it's powder, it may dry out already dry and brittle hair. Use accordingly to your hair condition.

Ratings: 4/5

Where to buy it: Some Guardian Pharmacies, I know Bugis MRT station Guardian and Novena Square Guardian carries them. For cheaper deals, do check your neighbourhood beauty shops. They may carry it too.

Recommended: Yes, for those who need of a quick revival of limp, greasy hair. Also, more for those with normal, oily hair combinations. People with dry hair, hmm, better to not use it. Again, it's a temporary solution, please don't go on for 3 months without washing your tresses.

Would I get it again? : Yeah, why not? Especially after highlighting my hair, it's important not to wash my hair too much. It washes out the colour and our natural oils, which keep out hair soft and moisturized. Normally, I wash my hair twice every 3 days - not too drying, but not too dirty. This product will probably allow me to wash every alternate day.

Hair tip: For those with coloured hair, it's best to use tepid water to wash your hair if you wanna keep your colour. Too high a temperature opens the cuticles and washes the dye off very quickly. For shiny hair, rinse your hair with cold water before you step our of the shower.

This review was requested by heavenlygorgeous, hope it helped! Cheers everyone~