TC2014 [Life: Challenge]

Everyone loves challenges, as long as it doesn't bite right back at you often. For me, challenges come in many different shapes and sizes. Some may pounce, while others merely knock politely to be acknowledged.

I face many challenges in life, just like any other ordinary human being out there. Sometimes, challenge finds me. On other times, I seek the challenge out myself.

In this post, I will share what are the challenges that I seek to accomplish in life this year 2014. They are an assortment of challenges ranging from cosmetics, craft and even food! Can you relate to any of them? :)

In Beauty

[Challenge 1] Creating the prefect pair of "peacock style"

I utterly adore the blend of colors in this outlook! It may be a wee bit too dramatic for everyday use, but would be great to master for any upcoming formal dinners or extravagant ones :D

[Challenge 2] Master the art of "smokey eyes" in various shades of colors!

This is a difficult challenge that I am still struggling to accomplish. Somehow my smokey-eyes attempt all ended up being panda-eyes instead. This year I'm determined to get this right! And to add colorful sprinkles to the challenge, I'll attempt different shades of rainbow colors to the effect instead of the typical black/white or earthy colors! :D

[Challenge 3] Dramatic eyes!

Not exactly superbly hard, but requires some finesse in ensuring that one will not look like a giant eyeball or hairy monster! Eyelashes and eyeliner, that's tricky! Perhaps this will help me on my cosplay makeup ventures? Hmmm.....

Note: I may or may not apply these beauty challenge on a friend; it depends on one's availability and willingness to be my beauty assistant :)

In Craft and DIY

[Challenge 1] Magnet Cosmetic Board

I'll admit that I have far more cosmetics than I usually use, so why not an alternative method to store my cosmetics away? With this I can at least see what I have and will use it, rather than to leave it in my drawers to collect dust bunnies! :P

Click here for the tutorial

[Challenge 2] Dip Dye Shoes

Who says we can't create new looks for old shoes? :P I rarely wear canvas shoes, but this project is a definite must!

Click here for the tutorial

[Challenge 3] Nail Polish Jewelry

Nail polish and glass cabochons. Who knew? :P I'd love to make these customized beauties for my friends one day! Hahaha

Click here for the tutorial

In Food

[Challenge 1] Chocolate Covered Frozen Banana & Peanut Butter Bites

I love looking for no-bake recipes! They're relatively easy to make, and are often the perfect finger food or dessert for parties! I'm definitely keeping my eye on this recipe and perhaps modify a couple of ingredients to my liking too!

[Challenge 2] Lembas Bread

Super duper perfect if I'm called to attend a TLOTR event or party! Perfect for TLOTR fans too :D I'd love to do it only because I'm a book geek who loves to attempt replicating stuff from novels that I had read hahahaha

Click here for the tutorial

[Challenge 3] Scalloped Hasselback Potatoes

Now I've been staring at this recipe for years. Perhaps it is time for me to challenge myself and get a start on making this one day, yes? Cheese, butter, and of course, potato. Yums!

Click here for the tutorial

In Health and Fitness

[Challenge 1] The Excuse-Proof Workout

I really should print this out.

Full explanation here

[Challenge 2] Finger and Wrist Stretch Exercise

This needs to be practiced often as I am frequently in front of the laptop with a mouse and keyboard

Full explanation here

[Challenge 3] Lazy Girl's Workout

Perfect for working out while watching TV! Hahahaha

*****

So there you have it. 12 Challenges; 4 Categories. I hope to achieve these by the end of year 2014, or if possible, by mid-2014. Who knows what else I may end up adding up on my challenge list :P

Have you any challenges you wish to face and conquer in the year of 2014?

Rest & Relax: Timeless Truth Face Mask

About a month ago, I was selected to review the lovely facial masks courtesy of Timeless Truth Mask and Plus Size Kitten. Boy, was I ever excited! I utterly love using face masks to de-stress at home, but most of the time I'm either too busy or I kept forgetting to put my face masks into the fridge! (Yes I love chilling my face masks for that cooling effect hahaha)

Timeless Truth Mask, also known as TT Mask, caters for all skin types (like most facial masks do!) and each facial mask has a series of specific benefits tied to it. To find out what masks would suit my skin needs the best, a simple survey was set. Based on this, I was given three Instantaneous Brightening & Cooling masks to review.

*****

The official letter and the goodies! I was so excited when I had finally gotten this package! :D

The Instanteneous Moisturising & Brightening mask helps moisturise, whiten, and gives the skin a smoother look and feel. Oh, and it also refreshes and cools your skin! How cool is that? :D

 A closer look to the product description! True enough it did fit nicely on my face contours :D

At the back of the mask, you'll find the usual - Ingredients, caution, directions, manufacturing date, etc.

*****

And now it is time to apply the mask on my face! Mwahahahaha

 Behold my sleepy and after-work stressed face! Well, with the mask applied that is hahaha

I couldn't resist snapping a photo of this! I suppose it is just for the heck of it, after I had applied the mask on my face hahaha :P This is the plastic sheet that backs the actual mask itself :)

******

Now that the photo session is over, now it is time for my verdict.

The first thing that came to my mind was it was indeed cooling to the skin, as the product had promised! Remember I had mentioned before how I used to stick my facial mask packets into the fridge beforehand for that cooling effect? Well, for this mask, there is no need to do that! I love the cool tingly feel that the cooling essence had on my skin x3

The scent was not too strong, which was good. It had a mild pleasant smell that was easy to the nostrils! I had forgotten all about trying to figure out what the scent is like because I was too distracted by the awesome cooling effect on my skin! Hahahahaha oh well

Although this was not part of the benefits, I'd say that this mask is superb if you would like to curl up and relax for the next 20 minutes. Seriously, I felt my entire body relaxing and I actually slept with my mask on! No, it is not a good example to set so please don't follow my lead here.

When I had removed the mask, I noticed that my skin became smoother and more supple. Also, I looked less haggard (but that's probably cause I slept and the mask was like an awesome relaxing pill for my face!) and cheerful somehow hahaha. No pictures cause silly me had forgotten to snap photos of that :(

Overall Verdict
Price: 4/5
Effectiveness: 5/5
Value for Money: 5/5

So, would I purchase them in future? You bet I will! Maybe I should throw an all-girls sleepover face mask party one day with TT Mask products! :D


For more information, do head over to TT Mask's Facebook page or their website if you'd like to purchase some of these terrific masks for yourself.

Prepping up and ready to go!

Recently, I've been getting several queries on the skin and cosmetic products that I use on a daily basis. So I'm going to be rather thick-skinned here and just tell everyone what are the products that I use to cleanse my skin as well as cosmetics I use for daily wear :)

Saves time explaining them again and again anyway hahaha

Also, do note that the face products that I use are meant for my large pores & an annoying case of blackheads

Cleanse
P/S: I found this gem when I first stepped foot in Sephora a couple of months back. Never regretted it one bit :)

Soap 'n Glory - Scrub Your Nose In It

Why I love it: It is a scrub that doubles up as a face mask to absorb excess oil off my face. Plus, it leaves a tingly cool feeling on my skin after use! Best part? I can use this daily with no worries of my skin peeling off lol

When I use it: Facial scrub would be twice a day (morning and night). Face mask would be slapped on usually twice a week, depending on how icky my skin would feel like by the end of the day


Tone

Cellnique B.Liv Got Oil Relief

Why I love it: This toner is in a spray bottle, and while I was afraid initially to spray it directly to my face, I found out that the toner's really light and absorbs really well to my skin pretty fast!

When I use it: Right after my scrub :D

Blackhead Removal

Cellnique B.Liv Off With Those Heads

Why I love it: Instead of constantly pinching my nose to squeeze out the nasty blackheads, all I need to do is to apply this gel directly on the affected area (a.k.a. my nose and below my lips) and continue massaging until the gel is absorbed into the skin. That's it. No need to rinse, no need to squeeze. The effect is amazing after 14 days! My nose isn't as bumpy as before now, so my foundation glides onto my skin smoother now XD

When I use it: Right after Toner

Moisturise (For me it's this Serum!)

Cellnique B.Liv Shrink and Tighten

Why I love it: This potion is meant for those with oily skin, which I do have (especially towards evening!). Now before this I rarely apply moisturiser to my face on a daily basis, mainly because I hated the icky oily feeling I'd get after smearing the lotion on my skin. That feeling stays somehow, so it made me uncomfortable. This serum not only absorbs well into the skin layer, it also helps to curb extra oil secretions somehow (for me anyway hahaha). So that means, less oily skin during the day yay! :D

When I use it: Right after the Blackhead Removal bit ^_^

Sunblock + Foundation

Cellnique B.Liv Got Me Covered

Why I love it: A combination of sunblock and foundation (reminds me of BB Cream somehow) that is light on my skin and pretty much covers my minor imperfections nicely :)

When I use it: After Moisturising!


::Applying my makeup::

Powder

Sephora Mineral Foundation - loose powder

Why I love it: It doesn't clog my pores!! :D Well, that and the powder actually doesn't cake on my face after awhile. So that's good too lol.

How I use it: After applying Got Me Covered, I wait for several minutes (usually about 5 minutes) before applying the powder on my face with a face brush.

Eyeliner

Heavy Rotation Perfect Liquid Eyeliner

Why I love it: Glides easily on my eyes, and the tapered tip helps to create better patterns/shapes/etc on my lids :D A great plus is that the liner dries pretty fast too!

Mascara

Megaholic Rubber Extension Mascara

Why I love it: I've always had a headache over getting the perfect mascara for myself, mainly because most waterproof mascaras that I have tried often 'bleed' which would give me a 'panda-eyed look' by the end of the day! This mascara DOES NOT do that and it does lengthen my eyelashes nicely :D

Eyebrows

Benefit Brow Zing

Why I love it: Easy to use, and long lasting on my eyebrows (^^,)



So that's it from me! Hope you enjoyed this (probably weird) post on my beauty regime lol. I skipped eyeshadow here mainly because I tend NOT to wear them, but I do have several eyeshadow palettes at home, including a 100-eyeshadow palette (got this from a night market, but the pigmentation is good and no side effects on my skin so far), Urban Decay Naked 2 palette, Smashbox Heartbreaker Collection - Kiss n Tell palette, and several loose eyeshadows that I have had gotten over the past few months.

Just a note too that when I do wear eyeshadows and I'm aware that I need to be out for almost the entire day, I would apply Urban Decay's Eye Primer all over my eyelids as well for that long lasting look :)

My Monster High Makeover...sort of failed

I've been seeing Your Shopping Kaki post about Monster High several times over the past few months, and curiosity got me to click on the homepage of Monster High. Suffice to say one thing lead to another, and I fell in love with the adorable jointed dolls almost immediately!

Couple of weeks later, YSK posted out a makeover challenge - create a makeover style based on your Monster High muse. I was excited, and even though I was extremely late (sorry guys!) at submitting my entry, I did it all the same!

After much deliberation, I finally opted to choose Cleo de Nile as my muse. Personality-wise, she's that babe whom you don't want to mess with if you want to be popular. But at the same time, her occassional soft-heartedness can be really appealing as well.

Her fave color is gold, which complements her black-brown 'do perfectly!

So while I've been chatting with the peeps from YSK, I also promised them that I'll submit my own makeover entry when I have time. Which took me forever to complete the challenge (again, sorry guys!).

Can't say I'm entirely happy with the final results, and while I have already submitted my entry, I might end up redoing this if I have the time before the closing entry date (December 6, 2012)

How I created my eye makeup (false lashes are from Daiso if I'm not mistaken)

Eyeshadow: Shimmer bright gold, Shimmer antique gold, Shimmer bronze, white, neutral brown

Eyeliner: Revlon gel liner, Silkygirl Gel liner, Stage white liner

Lips: Essence lip liner, OCC lip tar

I admit that my chosen eye color was not at all like Cleo's preferred purple hues. Then again I created this look spontaneously without properly checking on her initial cosmetic look lol. I merely used her bio as my reference, which is that Cleo's favoured colour is gold :)

I'm going to attempt their Convertible Dress Challenge next if I have the time!

But meanwhile, why don't you join in the Monster High fun and have your own makeovers too? Winner gets that adorable doll (and if you don't want them, give them to me as a Christmas gift! Hehehehe)

Here are some of my selected picks from the Monster High students list:

Which of the students are your faves? You can check out their website for more cool info :D

>>MONSTER HIGH<<

My Attempt on Hair Chalk

So I got really curious and finally, I saw a blogshop selling Mungyo Chalk Pastels (funny story: Us BJD owners use these for our dolls' aesthetics and body blushing!) and my friend got me intrigued by it all over again!

The trend of hair chalking wasn't that new, though I haven't paid full attention to it when I first saw the tutorials on Pinterest many months ago.

So.

One video whet my curiosity and lo and behold, got me really excited to try it out for myself!

The video that started it all:

I attempted my own chalky-riffic ombre hair later on, and while I was pleasantly surprised with the results, I'm rather sad that the chalk is rubbing off a wee bit too much for my liking against my skin and top :(

Colors used: Pink-red, Sky Blue, Green.
The streaks of brown and blonde are from my previous permanent hair dye hahaha

I admit getting this done was fun, but I don't think I'll play around too much over this cause the chalk caused my hair to feel really dry. Then again, it IS chalk ahahahahaa ^^;

Story of my Life

I'm horribly at maintaining my blog. I know I keep on telling myself to constantly update it, but sadly I'm just too darned lazy hahaha. Well here's a squished mash-up update of my life from my last post on this blog using photo collages, just cause I'm just that lazy =P

Entered a giveaway on Traclyn's Facebook, and managed to win myself a box full of goodies from Fabulous Finds. Tried everything but Elizabeth Arden's skincare so far (It's like, so precious till I don't wanna use it yet! LOL)

Celebrated my sister's surprise birthday party at a quaint cafe that I really like myself at Kota Kemuning. The art-concept shop is called Dotz Cafe, and you really should try their brownies and alcoholic tiramisu! A must-try place that I so gotta head back there to snap more awesome photos :D

Became rather crafty and decided to make some earrings and a necklace for sale (?) though now I'm wondering about how to sell them da hur hur hur

I'm also prepping up for the next Supplies Surprise! Bazaar 8 which will be on November 3rd! I haven't taken any photos of my craft supplies yet but I sure hope to take them soon! I'm running out of time D:

I went to Singapore for a short vacation and visited relatives and went to Universal Studios Singapore (click here for more photos from me!) for the very first time! It was awesome, and I really cannot wait to head back there again with friends! =D
P/S: For you Sesame Street fans, there's going to be a Sesame Street corner end of 2012! I cannot wait to see what's unveiled ^____^

As most of you (I think) know, I'm into Ball-Jointed Dolls. So no surprise there that I had organized a dollmeet with local doll owners recently. I was pleasantly surprised that there were even a few Singaporeans who took the time to journey up to KL and attend this meet as well! Many thanks for making this gathering a success everyone!
In the photo posted above, there were a few dolls that are not in the photo, mainly because some of the owners had to leave early =( but overall, there are about 5-20 doll owners whose dolls are in this photo!


In summary, I had tons of fun! Some good, some not so good. But overall great =D It's such a pity I'm starting work next week hahaha. Ah well, a new chapter of my life is about to blossom before me =]