book review: One Man's View of the World by Lee Kuan Yew

He is the founding father and architect of modern Singapore. All Singaporeans (real home grown, local bred Singaporeans) will respect this man because if not for his foresight, aggressiveness and perseverance, we will not become what we are today.

Imagine we are just a tiny dot on this world map with no natural resources of our own, who gives a shit about us? So the value and the position that we have built for ourselves today is all but the hard work of LKY and his team.

He is getting so old now. Perhaps the worst yet inevitable scenario would come soon in the near future. I think all Singaporeans (real home grown, local bred Singaporeans) will mourn should this day come. But his legacy will live on and he will always be known as the best leader that SIngapore history has ever had.

It was written in clear simple English which made it very easy to understand. Surprisingly, it wasn't a boring book, but some of his views were nothing new. This book is highly recommended for anyone who wishes to understands more about the world in a very simple concise summarized manner. His insights are good to have, but I find myself more interested in his critical and rational thinking skills, how straightforward his train of thoughts are, and his "PR" skills. A truly inspiring leader to learn from.

eyeshadow: neutral tones of brown/yellow/gold in metallic

Neutral tones, suitable for the work day, yet "bling" enough for the Friday night party.

We can intensify the look with liquid eyeliner and add-on coats of mascara for the night.

music: Miley Cyrus - We Can't Stop

As the title says, I (we) can't stop listening to this song.

After her "stunning" performance at VMA this year, many veteran artistes started to publicize their negative thoughts about her.

I really like this girl, and I like her even more after she ditched her girly-girly image and went into this bad-girl punky funky style and look. Not everyone can carry that off so well. She has so much character with her new look!

As an artiste, I think she has really given her best to entertain the audience. Come on, only the young and sexy can pull off that VMA performance. Do we want to see an older singer doing those moves? It would be quite a turn-off, no?

So I say, please give this lady a break!

Miley, ganbatte!

book review: Inferno by Dan Brown **spoiler alert**

I took a very long time to finish this book, not because this book is no good. I was held back by too much stuff going-on. I can only say that I was too ambitious. I am so glad that I have finally finished this book and I made a mental note that I should not over commit on other activities such that I have no time to read <(_ _)>.

 
The twists and turns were quite engaging. But I find the cause of the plot and the ending a little sad. This book highlighted the dilemmas of life and how we should choose. The greatest problem of mankind is indeed denial. If this is really happening in the real world, I feel that the viral vector should allow at least every couple to have 1 child instead of taking the chance away from 1/3 of the population. It will prolong the period for population control to be achieved but I think it is a more "balanced" decision.

magic brushes... (part 1 - basic brushes for daily makeup)

A friend asked me the other day about make up brushes.

Honestly, I was stumped. I thought very hard about how I should present this. I even tried to make a video a tutorial which in the end I decided not to use because it totally didn't work up to the effect I wanted. It is difficult to explain everything in 1 post so it will have to come in steps.

So today is step 1.

Firstly, my rules for buying brushes:

1. Expensive brushes need not necessarily be good brushes. Do not splurge on expensive brushes, especially when one is new to makeup. My first brushes were from Body Shop and I am still using them now.

2. Do some research online first, then be physically there at the counter/shop to try out the brushes. Things to look out for:
~ how the brushes feel on our skin (no "rough" feeling)
~ how well the brushes pick up color/pigment
~ the size of the brush (pick a size that is just right for our face/eyes)

3. Natural hair brushes or synthetic brushes??
Natural hair brushes are usually used with powder products. Non-powder products such as   liquid foundation, gel eyeliner, cream blusher, usually works better with synthetic brushes.
(Recently I heard from a makeup artist that natural hair blusher brush works well with cream blusher. I have yet to try it out.
Also, prevention of cruelty to animals activists will swear by using synthetic brushes. So sometimes it is really a personal preference more than anything.)

4. Invest in full size brushes, instead of travel size.
I know travel size brushes are convenient, but being smaller (flatter) and having shorter handles mean they are harder to control. Likewise for those small little brushes that come with the eyeshadow/blusher palettes, they are very difficult to control. I never use them.

5. Do have a brush roll to store the brushes properly. This will greatly extend their "brush life". Packing them for travel is also made easier with a brush roll, which means we do not need travel size brushes (See point 3 above). Amazon has lots of affordable and good quality brush roll offerings. I bought mine there.

I want to introduce some basic brushes. The first 4 brushes are essentials for daily makeup, while the remaining 2 brushes are optional.

(1) Flat foundation brush - (I use it for liquid foundation and concealer)

I absolutely swear by this now: Using the flat foundation brush to apply liquid foundation will give the perfect flawless finish on my skin. Always blend in the same direction with the foundation brush to get the perfect finish.

I also double it up as a concealer brush, instead of using the small concealer brush. I have big areas of leftover acne marks, and some small spots to conceal. This brush can handle both. The large surface area of the brush allows me to finish blending everything out nicely before the concealer dries up. Also, since it has some leftover foundation on it, the concealer gets mixed into the foundation pigment, and so resulting in seamless finish.


(2) Eyebrow/lash brush

I only use the brow brush. There are many standalone brow brushes in the market. Mine happens to have both.

It is important to blend out the hard lines of the brow pencil/gel/powder, to have natural looking eyebrows.

Choose one that goes easy on your skin. I have ever encountered one which has bristles that were so rough, I think it tore my skin. ~(>_<~)

(3) Blusher brush

Pick the right size for better control. I chose a smaller one because I like to control the intensity slowly on specific areas. The small size is also useful for blending, especially when I also double it up as a contour brush.

(4) Eyeshadow brush (large) 

I call it my all-purpose eyeshadow brush because I use it to apply and blend. For general 2 color eye makeup, this is good enough to handle everything.

The above 4 brushes are really the essentials. Next two brushes are quite optional.

(5) Eyeshadow brush (small) ---- optional

For targeted small area on the eyelid, the above eye line, and the under eye line. In summary, this brush covers the small narrow areas on our eyes.

(6) Angled eyeliner brush ------- optional

If one prefers to use cream or gel eyeliner (instead of pen liquid eyeliners), then I highly suggest getting the angled eyeliner brush instead of the flat eyeliner brush. The angled brush is much easier to control, which is much needed for drawing the eyeliner.

It will take a while to get used to the brushes so make sure we use them often. Pick up some simple technics with them and be adventurous. Practice makes perfect! ヽ(^。^)丿

product review: NYX HD Eye Shadow Base

I read raving reviews so decide to give it a try.

Pros (⌒▽⌒)☆:

~ With primer on, eye shadow color stands out better and lasts longer.

~ The creamy texture of the primer makes it easy to apply and blend on my eyelid. Its application wand, similar to a lip gloss wand, helps to make application a breeze too.

~ It is slighted tinted (very light beige) so it can be worn on its own for a natural look.

Cons ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ:

~ With the primer on, I find it harder to blend out the eyeshadow color on my eyelid. Blending is possible, but really need more effort.

~ It is slightly tinted (very light beige), which means it might not be suitable for ladies with darker skin tone.

Overall, for a drugstore brand (and thus the affordable price), I would say its a keeper.

back to normal + casual french braid

I think I was being overly ambitious. The recent swarm of activities and the participation of blogtember had taken its toll on me. I gave up on the last 2 entries and took a retreat. 

It was G.R.E.A.T!

To be away from the computer, away from the daily madness of trying to meet the deadline of submitting my post. I was also a little disappointed with the host, who on some occasions did not follow the prompt she had given out, while the rest of us tried to stick to it as best as we could.

So it may be my first and last, to participate in such an event.

Moving forward, I am going to steer my blog towards the direction that I intended for it. It is ok that I do not have followers or large audience. This blog was intended to be my little escape haven.

Yesterday, I did up a little hairdo. The casual french braid with hidden ends. It was totally random and a very simple hairdo. The weather was getting too hot and it was getting too boring to simply tie my messy hair up in a ponytail. I recalled seeing this hairdo somewhere before so I decide to give it a try.

I think it is perfect for the weekend brunch or coffee date. It keeps the hair away, while we still look chic and pretty.