I’m so glad that I was able to spend the Christmas holidays with my loved ones. Even though I’ve been stuffed to the core with food and would need to hit the gym HARD and completely detox when I’m back in Melbourne, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

So here’s wishing you a very blessed Christmas and happy holidays to all. Stay safe, and have a wonderful time with yours too 🙂

Greetings from Malaysia! If you’ve wondered where the heck it was that I had disappeared to, well, there’s your answer. I’m back in the land of good food, incredibly humid weather and, might I say, pretty awesome shopping (considering the exchange rate of Australian dollars to Ringgit :P)

Here’s an update of what I’ve been up to of late:
– Attended my dear friend’s wedding at E&O Hotel in Penang. Great wedding, and the bride was stunning. The wedding gown she wore was absolutely gorgeous (she brought it back with her from the US)!

– Ate a lot and sweated buckets. I swear to God, my Dove anti-perspirant is completely useless here. It’s embarrassing how I keep my arms akimbo most of the time just to make sure I do not end up with pit stains on my clothes. It’s times like these that I (almost) wish I had Botox on my pits just to stop the sweat from coming out for my trips to South East Asia.

– Met up with old friends.

– Was treated to a spa session by my girlfriend. The three of us had what I would call the most vigorous back massage I’ve ever had in my life. Apparently it was a detox programme, and the salon people used a hard-bristled brush to attack the skin. I now have massive bruises (a foot wide) which spreads from the bottom of my neck to the lower back. I kid you not. Amazingly enough, they don’t hurt at all.

– Had a fantastic day out with my Mum. She treated me to a facial at Kanebo, which I haven’t had in a year. I rarely go for facials in Melbourne, so this really is a treat.

– Went to the dentist and had my first teeth-cleaning in, er, years. Thankfully, I had no cavities or problems; all I needed was a good cleaning. I wonder if I was the first patient the dentist had who had the earphones and iPod on the entire dental session, just to drown out the godawful metal-grating sounds?

– Karaoked my lungs out. Had such a great time with my friends singing songs our parents would normally choose. Really, new songs these days are incredibly difficult to sing to!

– Surprisingly enough, I really controlled my shopping this time. I only bought the essentials which I wrote down in my shopping list. There weren’t any impulse purchases. In fact, the ONLY piece of makeup I bought for myself was Maybelline’s Angelfit blush (which is good, by the way. Will do a review on it soon). I’ve decided that since I’ve got too much makeup already anyway, this time, I would save that money and spent it on good skincare items. And spent it I did.

– Spent a bomb on SKII products. And all I bought was the Facial Treatment Essence and face masks (to share with Geekchic). Figured the biggest bottle I could get on the essence was cheaper per ml. My mum gave me a small bottle to try out a few days prior to purchase. I actually felt my skin getting softer from that smelly, SMELLY water. Yeah go figure 😛

That’s it for now. The reason I’m holding out on the shopping is because I’ll be heading to Bangkok with Beetrice in a couple of days. BANGKOK BABY! The two of us went to Bangkok three years ago, and we had such a blast. There’s just one rule to the trip – absolutely NO sightseeing, shopping only. You can imagine how we really went to town with that 😉

So excited!

From my previous post, I had a few comments from readers asking me where I bought the makeup brush roll from.

It’s a Manicare Artiste makeup brush roll which I purchased from Priceline. I’m afraid I can’t recall how much it cost, but I reckon it’s somewhere between AU$15-AU$25. I’ll update when I can confirm the price. It costs AU$14.95.

The brush roll is a makeup brush case which I use for traveling (it does not come with brushes). It has a leatherette cover with an elastic band to hook onto a metal button. Most of the brushes below are from the Manicare Artiste range, and are the ones I’ll be bringing with me on my trip.

Manicare Artiste concealer brush #1
Manicare Artiste small shadow brush #30
NYX eyeshadow brush
Manicare Artiste sponge tip shadow #37 (great for using a dark shadow as an eyeliner)
Manicare Artiste stippling brush #17
The Face Shop lip brush
Bloom eyeliner brush
MAC blending brush #217

I did not have high expectations for their makeup brushes when I purchased them, but so far, I’ve been quite impressed with the ones I have. The brushes are affordable; most of them are less than AU$20.