Celebrate CNY with the January Bellabox...

Gee, January is just flying by isn’t it? It wasn’t long ago we were celebrating the New Year - now it’s already the 18th, and it won't be long before we’re celebrating Chinese New Year.

The January box for Bellabox is actually quite cute in this aspect – themed “Celebrate CNY with Bellabox”, they’ve included items this month that are meant to help you look good ahead of your CNY celebrations. Even the wrapping in the box this month reflects this, detracting from the usual Bellabox logo sticker and bright pink tissue paper.

First up is a b.liv Feel No Sluggish Mask that is meant to help prevent the signs of aging by invigorating the skin with fruity essences – it’s supposed to be apple-derived too, which I happen to like. :D

Next up is something I’ve heard interesting things about – Macadamia Natural Oil Healing Oil Infused Comb – a comb that is supposedly infused with the Healing Oil treatment so it gets distributed evenly on hair without leaving a residue on hands. Will let you know once I try it out! Below it is a small “to be hung on your handphone” size of Sleek High Shine Lip Gloss in a pretty (if not bright) pink shade – as if I needed any more lip products, but it’s cute nevertheless.

There was also a trial size set of Skin Food’s Gold Caviar Toner and Emulsion, both of which I’ve briefly tried before and been ok with. The interesting part is that the toner and emulsion are infused with tiny flakes of pure gold. Go check it out – you’ll see what I mean. ;) There was also a small tube of Natura Bisse NB Ceutical Tolerance Cleanser which I’m looking forward to trying out. Skin Food also threw in a few sachets of their eye cream as a bonus together with a card for a personal consultation and sampling at their stores.

To be honest, this month’s box was a little bit disappointing apart from the mask and comb, but it’s still not too bad since there were items I was looking forward to trying out. Does anyone else share the same sentiment?

Scrub a dub dub, DIY style!

Happy Friday! Keeping in line with the feel of the day (everyone’s ready to kick back and enjoy the weekend!), I thought I’d feature something fun you can do over the weekend if you like. :)

A few months back, I had visited a Petronille booth at one of the Bellabox events, and one of the activities they had prepared for us was making your own salt or sugar scrub. It was a simple but fun activity, but also a nice way to make your own scrubs if you want to know exactly what’s in it or want a custom blend for your personal use or to give as gifts.

For approximately 40g of scrub, you’ll need the following:

• Salt/ Sugar – 1 ½ cup
• Oil – 1 cup
• Honey, coconut or cocoa powder (optional) – 1 tsp
• Pure essential oil – 3-4 drops
• Glass jar
• Rubbing alcohol (to disinfect the jar)
• Mixing spoon

There were a variety of options available for mixing, but really, the combinations are almost limitless depending on your skin type and preference for scents:

• If you want a stronger scrub, try Himalayan salt. For those with more sensitive skin, you may want to opt for brown sugar.
• You can choose between any non-scented or mildly-scented oil for this – at the time, the option was sweet almond oil or olive oil so I picked sweet almond.
• In order to make the scrub more moisturising, you can opt to include a teaspoon of honey, coconut or cocoa powder although this is optional.
• You can use any pure essential oil to scent your scrub – lavender for relaxing, tea tree for anti-bacterial, ginger to boost circulation…the list goes on and on!

The steps to making your own scrub are easy enough…if a noob like me can make it, anyone can! :D

1. Disinfect the glass jar with alcohol (important, as this will minimise the chances of your scrub going mouldy - the ingredients are natural after all, with no added preservatives)

2. Measure and pour in your salt or sugar into the bottom, then pour in your choice of oil on top. Please don’t do it the other way around, as you’ll have a problem trying to stir the grains into the oil and you'll get salt/ sugar everywhere (trust me on this, we saw this happen) Stir well to mix.

3. Once you have a nice blend of salt/sugar and oil, add in your honey (optional) and mix well. You should end up with a nice paste at the bottom while still having a layer of oil on top.

4. Last but not least, add 4-5 drops of pure essential oil to your scrub, and you’re done! Easy peasy, right? Depending on the essential oil you use though, your scrub may be stronger or milder smelling - just add a few more or less drops depending on your preference.

At this point, everyone was going “Does mine smell nice? Is it strong enough? Maybe I should add more essential oil…”

If you’re giving them away as gifts, don’t forget to tie a pretty ribbon around the jar (or in my case, strands of straw rope – since I’m kooky that way!), make a pretty tag and stick a small spoon for scooping out your scrub. These scrubs will last you a good 2-3 months, but I wouldn’t suggest keeping it beyond that…just in case!

Ta-daah! :D

I’m now wondering if I can attempt to do these with body oils and sea salt…since a lot of the body oils are already deliciously scented – I reckon it would be a good use for the oils that I found too rich or thick for my liking. Any ideas? :D

2012 - What. a. year!

It’s a bit late, but I figure it’s not too late to do a recap of 2012 since we’re still in January right? Right? I initially thought I hadn’t done all that much, but after looking through photos and matching events, hey, it’s still quite a list! (beauty or otherwise).

*takes a deep breath* and here we go!

January got off to a fabulous start spa-ing and doing a massive gift exchange with the evurl ladies – I think this was the only group shot we actually got all year! LOL…we’re terrible at taking photos like that :P Watched Ballet Revolucion.

Saw Freeze in Genting pre-CNY with the family. Had CNY dinner with the evurl ladies…for beauty bloggers, we sure focus a lot on food! :D Watched Swan Lake. Met the lovely ladies behind Bellabox, and have been a huge (okay, even bigger!) fan of theirs ever since.

Loved the i-Light 2012 show at MBS. Munched my way through classy food at Savour 2012, and still trying to recreate this 'ice cream crafted to look like a potato'. Re-discovered my love for blushes…especially the “it’s so pretty I can’t bear to use it!” ones.

Had even more classy food at World Gourmet Summit 2012 and been trying to recreate some of them at home with *some* success (will not subject poor souls to it until they've been perfected though). Bought my first ever Deborah Lippmann polish.

Descended on Tine and LeGeeque in Melbourne. Shopped till my wallet threatened to melt. Got my nails done by the awesomely talented Clara Hwang. Met Tinnipoo for the first time, and got a good workout from laughing too hard. Fell head over heels for my god-furkid, Coco (whose human mum will definitely protest she’s since become a total monster).

Tried rainbow eyeliner for the first time, inspired by Connie. Hit up Lady Gaga (paws up little monsters!) with Rinnah and Dom. Discovered how crazy Dom can be about food (or just in general).

Visited the Redken Rock the Runway show. Had a most fun and useful hair workshop with Jorge Joao in the lead up to the Redken show.

Took part in my first Standard Charted run ever (and survived!). Watched La Cage Aux Folles and laughed myself silly. Watched Comedy Masala and laughed even harder. Caught up with old friend and local comedian Kuah Jenhan and marvelled at how times have changed.

Headed to Cameron Highlands on my first fully-sponsored trip thanks to Strawberry Park Resort. Tried my first gelish manicure thanks to psawyerbeauty. Got engaged to a guy who makes me laugh till my sides hurt, and then some.

Hopped over to Batam for a day trip and ayam penyet. Moved apartments in Singapore, and fell in love with its rooftop pool. Did the whole fan thing and descended on the Harry Potter Exhibition at the Artscience Museum. Regressed even further back to my childhood visiting Universal Studios Singapore and loved every minute of it.

Made my first order of Stickygram magnets (won’t be my last!). Dicovered Mary Kay and some new loves. Watched Avenue Q for the third time (second in Singapore), and sang along. Got my feet tapping to Burn the Floor.

Bought my first Longchamp (at duty-free, no less!). Received my first Marc by Marc Jacobs item – an iPhone cover!! (larp you long time, you know who you are). Developed a love for Yankee Candles. Visited Batam once again (this time the posh side at Montigo Resorts!) on a company trip, and now want to go back there before the rates go up. Went to Bangkok on a belated birthday trip with the fiancé.

Had my first French degustation experience at Le Normandie at the Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok (yes, the irony of having French food in Bangkok…it was awesomely impressive though!). Gave the Thai economy a huge boost thanks to all my shopping there. Loved Fresh Sugar lipbalms so much, I ended up with a Fresh Sugar Christmas tree when Sephora launched their seasonal sets. Started doing up my apartment back in KL…I love my quirky lamp and blow-up reindeer! :D

And there you have it – when I was going through it, I realised I actually watched quite a number of shows in 2012…averaging out to about one a month! I love that they’re so accessible here (and it doesn't help that I just booked another THREE for January and May in 2013). :P

Here’s hoping your 2012 was as good for you as mine was for me. 2013 is going to be a huge year for me as well - bring it on!! :D

Updates, updates, updates…

Yep, I’m still here! I know it’s been over a month (bad Beetrice! *smacks self*) but so much has happened in that time and I guess it’s all still sinking in. I’m going to try and provide about 5 weeks’ worth of updates in one post, so it’s going to get a bit pic-heavy…here goes!

First and foremost, the main announcement which happened just a few days after my last post!

I'm engaged!! :D The bf (okay, now fiancé) popped the question when he came to Singapore for a long weekend. To say I was stunned for a moment would probably be quite accurate! Nothing fancy or over the top, and I love my ring – the smart fellow picked out a classic cut which suits me to a ‘T’. Here’s hoping I don’t turn into Bridezilla! *fingers crossed*

That same weekend, we ended up hopping on a ferry to take a day trip to Batam – it’s just an hour’s journey, but you get access to a whole host of yummy Indonesian goodies, local fare and cheap massages!

We also managed to squeeze in time to check out the Harry Potter Exhibition at the Artscience Museum at MBS – no photos were allowed inside, so all I managed to take was the flying Ford Anglia car at the entrance! :D

The Artscience Museum also had this whole water feature full of yellow and purple water lilies in bloom just outside the entrance, and many of them had little bees/ wasps busy at work – made for some awesome photos.

And August was definitely a month for excitement, because I not only got to go to the Harry Potter Exhibition, but…

Finally managed to make it to Universal Studios Singapore (USS)!! :D :D :D The good part was that we went on a Friday, so the crowd wasn’t as bad as we’d initially feared.

Funnily enough, we’ve always had pretty awesome luck when we’re together, and this time wasn’t any different. We got approached by a sales lady at the entrance pushing the RWS Invites card, which came with 2 free tickets PLUS express entrance to 5 key rides. Signing up for the card cost S$158, which after calculating, was still cheaper than buying the tickets from the counter.

The bonus? After we entered the park, another lady offered us two free express passes to any ride each for filling in a quick survey. Score! :D Having all those passes meant we were first in line to literally every popular ride we went on. Even the rain in the morning was a godsend since it took people a lot longer to enter the park, by which time we’d already covered most of the main attractions without having to queue!

Say hello to the Kingdom of Far Far Away, and wave to Elmo!!

This had to be the most adorable cookie store I’ve ever seen, and I finally got my photo with Cookie Monster! *omnomnomnom*

I’d watched the Waterworld show before at the Universal Studios in Los Angeles, but the show in Singapore didn’t disappoint either – the pre-show banter and antics of some of the actors kept the crowd from getting restless while waiting. On the right is a most unfortunate fellow who got caught in one of the trees at the Madagascar section – just hanging around, I guess! :P

Could not resist getting a potion from Fairy Godmother’s ‘factory’, and it must’ve worked cos the rest of the day was perfect! :D

Mel’s Dinettes were awesome, as were the super cute “I like to move it move it” Madagascar penguins!

Another major activity in September that took up a lot of my time – moving house! I spent the better part of 2 weeks packing up stuff into boxes, and now two weeks later…a lot of the things are still in boxes since I haven’t had time to unpack! *oops*

I love my new place though…from a single room, I’ve now got a small apartment on the East side. The rooftop pool is lovely, even if I haven’t had the chance to use it yet (will be remedying that this weekend!) and with bay windows that will make a nice corner for photo-taking (finally!)

A bit of a random insertion here, but this is the pool at the Capella Hotel at Sentosa, when I went there for an event. Not sure why I’m suddenly so taken by lovely pools, but well, there you go. :D

Just had to include this into the list of updates – for some reason, a couple of our dogs were in a very obliging photo-taking mood last weekend when I was back. Usually they don’t particularly like cameras (I swear, they grin like monkeys until the moment I bring out my phone) unless there are treats and tennis balls involved, but this time they were all smiles - not bad for a couple of 12-yr olds eh?

Now what would this update be without having at least some beauty-related updates, right? :D

Earlier this month, Watsons hosted a Beauty Day Out for bloggers to try and experience some of their key brands and products. I’ll be going into that in a separate post, but one of the items I was super excited about is this…

The latest addition to my Youth Code collection –the Rejuvenating Eye Essence! I’m already a huge fan of the Youth Code Pre-Essence (and got featured as a guest blogger on Bellabox for it here!), and picked up the Youth Code Lumiere when I was in Melbourne back in May. You’ll be hearing more about the Eye Essence next month once I’ve given it a good run.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…I really have to stop reading My Women Stuff, simply because PB makes me want to buy all the items there! This time, it was the Chanel Soft Touch Eyeshadow in Taupe Grise…it’s a good thing I got a ‘We Miss You’ discount from Strawberrynet (or was that a bad thing, since it made me buy stuff?)

Remember how I mentioned I have a problem with digging into pretty makeup? Well, I finally bit the bullet and dug into the Jill Stuart blush that Rinnah got for me from Hong Kong! :D The swirl of colours is oh-so-pretty and goes on like a dream, I’m kicking myself for not getting around to it earlier.

Was sending the bf off at his bus station in Novena when I came across that pretty sign we all love in the Yankee Candle shop – S.A.L.E…they were having 20% off their monthly fragrance picks, and I ended up with these…the Macintosh has my room smelling like apples now!

There were also Astalift and Dior purchases over the last month – I picked up the Astalift Jelly Aquarysta after reading Peach’s review on it, and as for the Dior, well…*looks pointedly at PB again*

I also attended a Bellabox TGIF party (the day before I moved house, no less!), and while I’ll go into the details of the event in a separate post, the most significant update for me would be that we now get three variants of Bioderma in Singapore! :) I’d only tried the pink one previously after nicking some of Tine’s stash, but have got my eye on the blue variant.

While I was out with Rinnah during one of our Orchard jaunts, we passed by the new YSL store in ION Orchard (dunno if they’ll eventually rebrand it to SLP per the news that’s been going around?) and just decided to have a look around.

The quick lowdown – mainly focused on cosmetics, although they carry some skincare and a pretty decent selection of their fragrances. Most of the people that were in the store were all crowded around the cosmetic counter though.

As if there wasn’t enough going on already, I had to renew my passport since it had just over 6 months left. The part that was stressing me out was how to get it done in one day (Sat), seeing as how I was only going back to KL for the weekend and needed the passport to get back into Singapore the next day. After seeing a couple of friends’ posts on renewing Malaysian passports online, I decided to give it a try. Lo and behold, I applied for the passport on Friday morning online, printed out the receipt and brought it to the Kelana Jaya office on Saturday morning.

After getting my fingerprints done and waiting for the passport to be printed, I was on my merry way with my new passport in hand – total time taken at the office: 45 minutes. AWESOME! :D Btw, this is probably the first passport photo that I actually like (taken a few months back)…what a difference 5 years makes!

On another quick note, my Fabulous Finds September box also arrived on time this month! :D I must say, I’m pretty impressed with the contents – there are 3 full-sized items this time, including the Ceramide Gold Ultra Restorative Capsules & Gold Ultra Lift and Strengthening Eye Capsules from Elizabeth Arden.

Last but definitely not least…an awesome friend brought this back for me all the way from Japan. I’d gotten the Laduree rose petal blush previously but couldn’t get the egg case to store it as it was sold out. This time around, she managed to grab a couple for me…and now my rose petals have a super pretty home!

And there you have it – a very packed month squeezed into a rather loooonnng post. Am really hoping things will settle down soon at work so I can actually get some proper posts done (it’s the end of the quarter, which means plenty of budget recons and plans for the next quarter!) but for quick updates on the go, do follow me on Instagram (beetrice). Have a happy weekend, folks!