Make up my mind

I was a late bloomer in terms of makeup. Though I did put on some lip gloss from time to time when I was still in University, it was only when I was about 22 and I started to work that I put on some face powder and a little eye shadow. I was 25 when I finally embraced the full ensemble - foundation, blush, mascara, eye color and liner, and made it part of my day to day routine. 
But I've always made my makeup simple. I tried to make it as "thin" and "natural" as much as possible because I just want to put on makeup to enhance my looks but not to alter it. 
Also, I do not want to be dependent on makeup. I still would like to be confident 
in my own makeup-less face. My idea is this: if makeup production suddenly stopped or if I got transported to a world without makeup it should not be a problem for me because I would still look "normal" without it, hehehe. You know what I mean ;)

Recently though, I did not put on make up one time and a friend said I looked pale, not knowing that I just did not put on my usual makeup. So that made me think twice about not putting on make up. There are also times when I try not to put on makeup when going out to do an errand like grocery shopping but I sometimes feel insecure so I wish that I won't bump into anybody I know. Hmmm, so I guess I have turned into what I was avoiding not to turn into :/

So right now I am trying to "go back to natural". I am trying to get used to not putting on makeup so often and try to look nice naturally. And I have a very good motivation to do this: my baby girl. I try not to put on makeup when I'm with her so I could cuddle and play with her 
without getting worried that I'll contaminate her face and hands (she loves to touch and play with my face) with chemicals. Also, I try to use makeup made of natural ingredients like that of Body shop's...

Alright, let's see how this new me goes ;)

My dry hair was appreciated! :D

I received an email today from Locks of Love containing a Certificate of Appreciation for my donation. :D

Just a couple of hours earlier, I got a call from my last job telling me that they were giving me almost a month's salary bonus as an appreciation of the contribution I've done for the company during my 11 months placement with them.

Guess which of the two made me really happy?

I'm going to grow my hair long again ;)

Lady Gaya-Gaya***

Inspired by my little sis, I did it too! :D

I got my hair cut and donated it to Locks of Love . I just hope they won't mind my dry hair, hehehe.

Before

Now

The memory of the dry hair :P

***Gaya-gaya - Filipino word meaning "copy cat".

The little black dress

I think there's this little black dress which every woman should have. The one which makes her feel sexy and confident about her look. And I found mine (although it's not so little really) :) Then I also found the perfect belt to match it with and voila! I got the perfect outfit! I wore it to work today and a number of my lady colleagues gave me compliments, they loved my belt most especially. I love it too!

And the great thing about it is that I even got the dress for a good price, quite half the usual price for a dress here.

Dress: Tom & Stephanie department store at West Mall in Bukit Batok, Singapore (S$30)
Belt: Reds boutique at West Mall in Bukit Batok, Singapore (S$49)

(Yeah, the belt is even more expensive than the dress! Haha :P )

Since the belt was already sparkling with glass, the accessories/jewelries shoud not be sparkly too so I just wore pearl stud earrings, I didn't wear any necklace and bracelet.

For the shoes, plain black high heeled sandals were the best match. ;)

My first MAC :)

And I'm not talking about the computer of course. :P

It's the MAC make up. As I was inspired by two of my girl friends (hi Mhe! :) whom I have personally seen how good they looked wearing MAC eye make up, I bought my first MAC eye shadow at Changi airport two weeks ago on my way to Ho Chi Minh. It costs 29 something SGD, which is about 10% cheaper than if you buy from the stores in Singapore.

I actually wanted the type where the colors were already mixed, however, they did not have it at the store in the airport so I settled for this two tone pink and bronze colors. Anyhow, I wore it yesterday and I am happy because it was subtle enough for day time and just nice for evening. And with a better brush, it would even look nicer for sure. Perhaps I should get myself a MAC brush next? Hmmm... ;)

to-a-tee

After watching the funny movie, The House Bunny last night, I and a girl friend went around The Cathay mall and discovered to-a-tee, a nice store that sells very nice clothes, from cute tshirts to dainty day/night/beach dresses .

I got the privilege to meet the director of the store who was personally attending to the customers with another nice lady (I think it could be his aunt or a close relative). Anyways, they were very accomodating and nice and they gave us a 20% discount plus a S$20 voucher. I told them that I really love their collection. I learned that their collection are from the United States . The owner, Luke Elijah, is a designer and he goes around the world to select the clothes and stuff they sell. What a great job! I could see that this business of his was more than just a source of income, it was a passion. I wish I could do this, you know, pursue a passion and do something not for the money but just because you love doing it.

Anyhoo, so I got myself two nice dresses which are a little bit on the formal. I'm quite excited to wear them and experiment with the hair and make up style that would go with them and of course the shoes. But the only question is when and where? I guess I need to find the right ocassion to do so...

Anyone out there who wants to take me out on a formal dinner date or something? :-P

~~ to-a-tee is located in The Cathay mall in Handy Road, Singapore.

I guess I wanted something new in my life

A new key to fit a new door
To wake and see a different view in my life
The one i've been waiting for
Dreams like everyone i've had a few in my life
Who knew that this one would come true in my life
I knew the moment when you touched me, you touched me
You're like a sudden breeze that blew in my life
A new face, a new smile, a new song
And now i know i wanted you in my life all along
I guess i must have saved an empty place in my heart
For you to come and fill that space in my heart
That long before i said i loved you, i love you
Whatever happens this is true in my life
When all those springs have come and go
Whatever doubts i've made or do in my life
Whatever else that i may do in my life
You'll always be something, girl, in my life
From now on I know there always will be you in my life
From now on

--lyrics of Stephen Bishop's song "Something New in my Life"

***********

Haha, ok, the song doesn't really have much significance to this post. Just that I suddenly remembered this song because of the first line because I wanted to write some new things that have caught my fancy recently:

Transparent shoe boxes from mujibox - saw these along a stall at Raffles MRT and may I say that this is ingenious! I bought 10 pieces (it's S$3.99 each but it's buy 5 take 5 so it's like just S$2 actually) and it has inspired me to clean the foyer and arrange my shoes neatly. I'm quite amused, really, just looking at my shoe collection. And it just coincides with my seem to be evolving shoe fetish. I've just gotten my DMK privilege card and it means I've actually bought about 5 pairs of shoes for the past 3 months! hihihi :P

Nokia 6600 fold - my new baby (awwww). I have finally decided that I needed to upgrade and catch up with technology. I have no more idea what's the latest about cellphones and so since what I only know is that the latest would be phones that are 3G (and now even 4G), I wanted to get a phone that is a clam shell type, 3G phone. Although, to be honest I don't even know what is 3G! hehehe. But thanks to Ate Prime, we now know that 3G means Third Generation and that there is actually no 2G! ahahaha. :P Anyways, it was also just in time since my old clam phone was already at the verge of saying goodbye to the world.

Painting the town red with Sally Hansen - well, actually just my toe nails only, hehe :P I just saw that I have a red nail polish, which was a gift from last Christmas, and so I thought I'd try it. So this is the first time I'm wearing a red nail polish and boy, it is screaming red. After I finished applying them and I looked at my feet, I said to myself it wasn't me but it does not look bad at all, so I think I just need some getting used to it. ;)

Alrighty, there goes some vanity! ;)