Ever since I was in primary school, I loved doing my nails. Yes, even though we're not allowed to have our nails painted in primary school, I would still paint them, in dark red, because that's my mum's favourite nail colour when I was a kid, during the weekends. I even remember an occasion where I had to run to my friend's house in the morning for nail polish remover because I completely forgot to remove them and I was already in school! *LOL*
(cr: Avone Beauty Salon)
When I grew older, this obsession definitely got more serious. I was rarely, if not, never, seen with bare nails. If you follow my Youtube channel since I started it, you might notice how often I buy nail polishes and how often I mention them in my favourites videos! That said, that was mostly 4 to 5 years ago when I was still working part-time or studying. Now that I'm a full-time working adult who is also trying to juggle a Youtube and Blogging career, and a healthy lifestyle, doing my nails is just... Impossible.
(cr: Avone Beauty Salon)
Therefore, since I've started earning money, I started visiting nail salons and I must say that it makes doing my nails so much more convenient, especially because they have all the right equipment and tools! One of the first nail salons I visited was Avone Beauty Secrets because this is where I got my eyebrow embroidery done. I did a nude x glitter set and I was completely in love with it! This probably happened in December 2017, so that's quite a long time ago, but if you follow me on Instagram, you might saw me rave about my nails then.
(cr: Avone Beauty Salon)
After my first nail session with them, they very kindly offered me a package of 6 sessions, and I can't express how delighted I was because I can now have pretty nails for half a year! So in today's blog, I will be sharing with you all the designs they've done for me during the past 6 months. All sessions, except the last one, were done by Crystal, their beautician from their JEM outlet and she's honestly the most attentive nail specialist I've ever met. Each session, I will prepare a photo of a set of nails I find either on Instagram, or Pinterest, or Google, and she always manage to recreate them for me.
Going back to the first session with Crystal in February, I've secretly always wanted to have Sailor moon-themed nails. I just find them super cute and 'extra' and so that was what I decided to go for. Avone Beauty Secrets has a huge range of nail decors, unfortunately they don't have the Sailor moon gems. But Crystal still tried her best to re-create those gems by using a mixture of what they have in store which I think is very impressive!
After a month of having extra-looking nails, I decided to go back to having nude, muted nails for March. I found this set of nail art from a Korean nail shop's Instagram and I like that even though it still has gems on it and various decor, it still look mature and classy due to the nude base and pearls. Again, Avone Beauty Secrets did not have the exact gems in stores, but Crystal actually drew on the missing gems with gold glitter nail polish! I think the highlight of this set is the pink marble design as well as the bits of seashells.
For April, I wanted a change of style again, so I decided to go with something more colourful and cute. I found this effin' cute nail art from another Korean nail shop but I'm not that fond of the colour green on my nails, so I requested Crystal to switch the colours for me. I chose the 3 shades myself and I'm pretty impressed with myself because it goes so well together! I think this was definitely one of my favourite because it's so simple and cute you can never go bored looking at it.
Ever since I started doing my nails with Avone Beauty Secrets, I've been following numerous nail shops on Instagram. One shop that caught my eye is a shop called ROLIE from Taiwan. I stumbled upon this gorgeous abstract looking nail set from them and it looked so complicated I was afraid Crystal would not be able to re-create it for me, but she did such a great job considering how this nail art seriously required so many layers of different colours! It's not a complete replica, but I think she got the overall vibe right and I was so pleased with the outcome.
In June, I knew I will be jetting off to Phuket and so I searched high and low for a summer, beach nail art on Pinterest. It felt like I took forever to decide because if you haven't realised, I love having nudes or pinks on my nails and I just know which colours suit my skin tone and which don't, and finally... I found this adorable pastel set from Pinterest and I believe it's from a Japanese nail shop! I love pastel colours on my nails so I think this is perfect and will suit all my beachwear for Phuket! Those flamingos and leaves require so many layers of different colours and not to mention, precision! I don't think I'm able to even re-create the flamingo on a piece of paper, moreover on a nail. I'd say this is also one of my favourite nail art!
Sadly, I have just done my last session of nail appointment with Avone Beauty Secrets and this time round, I wanted to go for another cute and simple nail art since I noticed that that is what I generally prefer. As you all know, I'm a BTS fan, so I wanted to go with a BT21 themed nail art. Once again, I went on a search mission for a BT21 nail set on Pinterest, Google and Instagram, but none of the designs suited my taste because I specifically wanted a BT21 TATA nail art. So ultimately, I decided to customize my own! The original colours of TATA is a bright red, yellow, and royal blue. I figured out that my main concern was that I wasn't sure if my skin tone would suit royal blue and bright red, so I decided to stick to what I'm comfortable with, pinks, and pastels. This nail set was done by another one of their therapists and I like that she constantly checks the design with me. Initially, I wanted all the pink nails to have TATA on them, but she also recommended to keep 2 out of the 3 blank so it will look less complicated.
(cr: Avone Beauty Salon)
Overall, I had a really pleasant experience at Avone Beauty Secrets as I love that they are able to re-create all my desired nail designs, and even tweak them slightly to suit my taste. Recently, they also brought in new nail polish shades which all looked so pretty and unique (especially the pastel shades!)! I think if you're the type who loves changing up the colours of your nails, heading to a nail salon is definitely more worth it compared to buying a bunch of nail polishes. I have a lot of nail polishes at home but I've never actually finished up any, and most of them just dry up overtime. Moreover, I find that most stores sell the same type of mainstream nail colours, especially for gel nail polishes which are so rare in the market. So if you're looking for something different like a periwinkle blue, or banana yellow, etc, a nail salon is more likely to have them available. At Avone Beauty Secrets, all their staff are very friendly and approachable, you can even swatch the colours on your nails before finalizing your choice if you're unsure about the end results.
If you're interested to find out more on their nail services, packages and prices, feel free to give them a call!
Review: EGGIE's Back To School Collection 2018 - Selma Top and Sunny Days Jumper
Thursday, 23 August 2018 at August 23, 2018
After going through a bad experience with Jenn Im's clothing line, EGGIE, I uploaded a blog post and video explaining what I went through during my first order with them and surprisingly both blog post and video has gotten quite a number of attention and love! After the views started increasing steadily, EGGIE actually contacted me and gifted me a $150 gift card, a few weeks after their Summer drop where I bought the Amalie top. I really wanted to get a few more tops from the Summer collection like the Helena Top and Bella Blouse, but both were out of stock for my size and sadly, they never went back in stock. :(
I decided to keep the gift card until her next drop so finally, she launched her Back To School collection! Frankly speaking, there weren't a lot of pieces I like in this new collection as compared to her previous collections, mainly because most of the styles are kinda boyish and sporty, while I'm definitely more of a girly type of gal. I also felt like most of the pieces will be more suitable for her younger audiences and not so much for working adults like myself, hence, back to school. It also doesn't help that we don't have fall here in Singapore.
Furthermore, I find that most of the pieces are very overpriced as I only had $150 which, seems like a lot, but I could only get a maximum of approximately 3 pieces with $150. I was considering getting the Pax Hoodie as I love wearing hoodies and it looked really cosy and comfy, but it's a whopping US$42! I'd rather get this BT21 TATA hoodie that BTS Taehyung wore... There's honestly not much to contemplate since there were only a few pieces that I like, so ultimately, I settled on two tops from the new collection and one pair of bottoms from the previous collection. The total added up to $152 including the $10 fixed shipping rate, so I did top up the additional US$2.
The tops I decided to go with are the Selma Top, which immediately caught my eye because I've been digging the square neckline trend, and the Sunny Days jumper which, also caught my attention almost immediately because I love yellow clothes! I actually had second thoughts about the sweater after I placed my order, so I e-mailed them immediately (few hours after I submitted my order) to cancel it. They replied me a day later (due to time differences) and unfortunately they couldn't make any changes to my order as it was already processed (which I believe means "shipped"). On one hand, I think it's fantastic that my order was being processed so quickly, but on the other, I think it's quite inconvenient that we have to be 100% sure about our order before we submit it. I actually placed an order on Romwe a few days before, and a few hours after I placed that order, I noticed that I've mistakenly ordered two of the same top! I e-mailed Romwe and they were able to remove that item from my order and refund me which was a lifesaver! Of course I wouldn't blame them on my mistake, but I just felt like it would be better to allow changes to be made for fickle-minded people like myself.
Shipping was really quick this time round as I placed my order on Friday and it arrived on the following Monday! As usual, it came with an EGGIE pouch with a "THANKS BABY" card in it. Previously, I stated how I felt like the pouch is redundant, but I noticed that the pouch is bigger this time round which I think is not too bad since you'll now be able to fit in a decent amount of toiletries or some makeup products in it.
Alrighty, so without further ado, let's talk about the pieces I got. Starting with the Selma Top, like I mentioned, this one caught my attention immediately because of the square neckline, and since I'm more of a girly girl, the ruffles and little bow at the front really appealed to my style! I thought this top is extremely overpriced because it looks very basic, similar to the Bella Blouse from the previous collection. But the Bella Blouse costs $32 while this one is $42!
What I like about this top is that the material feels quite thick, unlike those basic tops I get from Ezbuy, Romwe, or Shein. I live for high-waisted bottoms, so I love that this top has a good length! It's not too crop so you can pair it with high-waisted things without tucking it in but at the same time, you won't be flashing any skin which makes this perfect for work environments or family gatherings. Overall I think this is a super cute top that can be worn for any occasion, and since it's very basic, you'll be able to easily pair it with any bottoms.
Moving on to the Sunny Days jumper, what I love about this jumper is the high neckline, bell-sleeves and bright yellow. I had second thoughts about this jumper because I started thinking about the ultra-long sleeves and I wasn't sure if I'm that fond of it. Previously, I also bought the Spot Top which also has ultra-long sleeves and it gets annoying at times because they always get in the way. But since I couldn't cancel this order, I just had to go along with it.
To my surprise, this jumper is actually quite thick (for Singapore) and heavy. It looked very flowy in the photos so I assumed it was going to be a lightweight breezy jumper. Thankfully, it's cropped and non-fitted, so you'll still be able to get some air ventilation going. One thing I noticed is that the ends of the sleeves are different from the photos on Eggie's website! As you can see, mine is folded and sewn in place while the sleeves on the promotion photos are not. I prefer mine as I think it gives it a more casual and neater look. I will most definitely wear this often when I'm editing at Starbucks or to work (my work dress code is casual, so wearing crop tops x high waisted pants is okay!) where I'm always cold!
Overall, I'm rather disappointed with this collection and I think it's because I felt like the previous two collections has been amazing and so I was probably expecting more. The pieces were very unique and innovative with all the detachable bits, but unfortunately it just doesn't appeal to my style. Like mentioned, I also got a pair of bottoms from the previous collection and I've included all 3 pieces in a lookbook (including some other pieces I got recently from elsewhere), so if you're keen to watch my lookbook, make sure you're subscribed to my Youtube channel!
Review: SOME BY MI Makeup (Cushion + Eyeshadow + Lipstick)
Saturday, 11 August 2018 at August 11, 2018
Weeks back, I received some skincare and makeup products from SOME BY MI which is a relatively popular non-mainstream Korean beauty brand. I have since uploaded my review of their skincare products, so today, I will be reviewing their makeup products and on top of that, I will also show you how I create a simple Korean inspired look that is easy to follow, even for beginners!
Before we dive into the individual products, we have to take a moment to appreciate the sweet packaging of their makeup line. When I received these products, I posted them on my Instagram story and I got so many DMs telling me how adorable and pretty they look, and all I can say is, I know right?! The medium bubblegum pink goes so well with the gold accents so unless you have a strong dislike for the colour pink, I think it's almost impossible to not love the packaging of these products.
Now starting with the very first makeup product, we have the Fruit Juice Set. Retailing at only 39,800 won (about S$45), this set comprises of 1 x Cushion Foundation, 2 x Single Eyeshadows and 1 x Lipstick. SOME BY MI offers a couple of cushion foundations, but the one included in this set is their Something Maxi Glam Cover Cushion.
As usual, having medium skintone, I went ahead and got the darkest shade which is C23. This cushion comes with SPF 50+ and has a medium coverage that is sufficient to even out any skin discoloration, light spots and acne scars. If you have darker scars, I believe you will be able to build up the coverage by adding a second layer, but I personally prefer spot-concealing with a concealer.
This foundation has a semi-matte finish and it also has hints of pink undertones which I love as it was able to effectively tone up my skin.
Moving on to the single eyeshadows included in the set, we have a pearl shimmer shade as well as a medium brown shimmer which are two must-have shades in your eyeshadow collection! I especially love the pearl shimmer shade as it has a pink undertone, making it very feminine and soft. It's also not a glitter shade so you can also use it as a highlight if you'd like.
Continuing with eyeshadows, I have the Some Pick eyeshadow palette which comprises of 4 gorgeous and essential shades. The first shade is a champagne shimmer which can be used as our inner eye, brow bone, and aegyo-sal highlight. The second shade is my favourite and current go-to eyeshadow and that is a rose gold shimmer. The third shade is probably my second favourite and it is this cool, matte brown shade which is perfect for shading and contour purposes. Finally, the last shade is a dark brown shimmer which can be used to line and define our eyes. I love how compact this eyeshadow palette is, as I was able to fit this into my makeup pouch without any difficulties.
I am overall pleasantly surprised and impressed with the quality of their eyeshadows because despite being so affordable, their eyeshadows are so incredible soft, easy to blend, pigmented and buttery!
The last product is the Something Moisture Lip Rouge lipstick in Grapefruit and I am obsessed with this! I've been loving orange lipsticks, and you guys know I love my pinks and corals, so this pinky-orangey lipstick is literally the perfect shade for me at the moment!
It has a moisturizing and buttery texture which I love as it makes my lips look so plump and supple. As it has moisturizing properties, the pigmentation is not as intense as a matte liquid lipstick, so I love that it creates a very natural and soft look which is suitable for everyday use.
As mentioned, I have used these products to create a simple Korean inspired makeup look and I even spoke in Korean for my voiceover! I am obsessed with this look, I've been wearing it over the past 3 weeks and I think that says a lot! The only difference is that sometimes I add in an eyeliner but other than that, this has been the look I've been wearing. If you're keen to try this makeup look, please check out SOME BY MI's makeup products as I believe you will love them!
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