Beginner's Guide to Perfect Falsies

Who doesn't dream for a thick, long and beautiful lashes that can instantly gives you a feminine look? When it comes to apply a pair of false eye lashes, I consider my self a total amateur. In the past, I have to dash to the salon just to ask the beautician to apply my false lashes. In the events that quick dash to the salon is impossible, I would spend almost 30 minutes fiddling with my false lashes before giving up and just go without falsies.

credit: marielucie.com

Those quick dash to the salon for help with false lashes sure adds up quite a lot. So I made decision to 'train' myself on the quickest, most efficient ways to apply falsies. In my mind, my final goal is to be able to put on a pair of false lashes while driving being stuck in Jakarta's traffic. I purchased boxes of false lashes and started wearing false lashes wherever I go... even when the occasion doesn't call for a pair of false lashes. Just imagine HY and I, went on a quick breakfast at 9am with me dressed in shorts, tank-top, and worn out rubber flip flop, almost no make up except for my eyeliner and thick falsies. It wouldn't look out of place, if only I applied it evenly and straight. Duh! Well, I needed a lot of practice and being stared at for having a crooked eyes is just a small price to pay.

My learning curve has resulted in a short list of tips, which hopefully would help anyone who is learning to apply your own falsies.

Amp Up Your Skin Moisture with Healthy Dose of Oil

Having a mother and sister with dry skin is somewhat a blessing. My mother, being an extremely busy woman who is as a well known professional in law and financial industry, takes a good care of her skin as she believes that being smart and beautiful are powerful attributes to have in her line of work. While my younger sister is obsessed with discovering ways to moisturize every inch or her skin with natural products from the reasonably priced moisturizers to insanely priced elixirs that is probably too expensive for daily use.

They said that I am fortunate to have my father's oily skin as our skin tends to age slower than those with dry skin. But before I turned 30, I started to notice the result of years of neglect to my skin. My feet, knees, and elbows are rough and darker than the rest of my body. I can also see dry patches on my legs and arms that are enough to cause a panic! So, I called my sister and she came over with her arsenal of tried and tested body oils.

Blue Master Bedroom Decor

This is my first home decor post!
Considering that I've spent a significant portion of my free time and a huge chunk of our salary for finishing and decorating our new house (or what I always jokingly referred to as our love nest... with HY rolling his eyes whenever I said that) it is only fair to blog about our efforts for making our new house a real home for both of us. To justify our taste in design (or rather the lack of it), we have zero knowledge of design. HY works in Finance and I work in Technology... so most of decor decisions are made based on function and value for money, with a little bit of artistic touch based on some articles that we read somewhere in home decor magazines. *wink*

Despite our lack of artistic taste, I've had a fun time picking up the wall colors, wallpapers and the coordinating curtain color in our new house, even though I couldn't really go all out with my color selection since HY prefers a neutral color palettes while I love bold colored walls. But I've managed to convince him to put the tiniest bit of color on our master bedroom. At the beginning, the in-laws thought that having a blue bedroom is a joke since their idea of master bedroom is more traditional with beige walls and solid teak furniture. Well, for me colored coordinated room is a dream come true! I have lived surrounded with beige walls all my life and having sky blue walls in our bedroom was the first sign of rebellion on my part... haha...

So I let HY choose his favorite shade of blue and I started planning my decor. The wall color is from Dulux Pentalite, which is an interior paint known for its lasting color and durability.

Beautiful and Smooth Skin, Thanks to Oats Face Cleansing Routine

I tend to splurge on skincare products because I believe it's an investment. As long as it has really good reviews, I don't hesitate on spending a part of my paycheck on them... just as long as it actually works. So when a friend suggested oats as a face cleanser to help clear out red patches caused by a reaction of my sensitive skin, I was hesitant. I mean, slapping breakfast menu on to my face can't be better than my face wash, a concoction of a well known dermatologist right? Boy was I wrong...

I decided to give oats face wash a try since HY got bored of having rolled oats for breakfast. I hate to waste food and though I can always mix the rolled oats into my muffin batter, I thought using it for skincare test is better for my skin and for my waist circumference (no muffins to finish off).

What's the benefit of oats for skin? Well, it's natural with no added chemicals that can irritate sensitive skin and oats is known for calming inflamed skin. Its rough texture also acts as natural exfoliator for you skin that I believe is safe enough to use on a daily basis. You simply adjust the amount of water you add to adjust its texture. For coarser texture, use little water. While if you just want a gentle exfoliator, you can ground rolled oats or use oats flour. Alternatively, you can soak rolled oats in water for a couple of minutes until they soften before using it on your face.

Coral Nail with Acrylic Nail Art

I've loved coral and blue/turquoise combination for ages. I think it all started back when I worked in a Melbourne jewelery store, during my college years. The color combination reminds me of an exotic beach in Greek isle

So I chose a coral nail for my manicure, but opted for a white acrylic nail art to instead of a blue/turquoise accent, just to make the coral pops up and my finger nails look brighter. I added a bit of glitter to help cover my nail tips, just to make sure the manicure lasts for more than 2 days. I also find that applying glitter at you nail tips help to masks any nail polish chip that you might get from doing housework... or from typing (bashing) the keyboard 10-12 hours a day.

I quite like the end result. Next manicure I will definitely go for coral & turquoise combo.

Back to Blogging

After almost a 2 year hiatus, I decided to start blogging again. I've been so busy and sleep deprived over the past year or so that I've spent almost all of my free time catching up on sleep. What have I been doing in the past 2 years? Well, I can probably make a list...

• I've turned 30... Well, I heard 30 is the new 20... I feel order physically, but I feel more carefree about life.
• I went back to university and actually finished my my courses. I still have to start my thesis though.
• Stopped collecting make up until I can at least make a dent on at least a dozen of my blushes.
• We had our first attempt at IVF. The result was negative, but we'll definitely try again.
• We built our first house! This is our largest project ever. We've now moved in to our new house for about 2 months. We've been putting up little decor here and there during weekend, which I will share with you more in the next couple of weeks.
• I've grown a fondness for batik fabric, Indonesia's traditional material
• HY changed job... twice!
• I'm starting a business venture with my sister on something we both love. FASHION!

Now that our house is completed, I have a little bit of free time to start blogging again. However, since I've made a promise to only purchase make up that I need and not what I want, I will share about things which interest me from fashion, beauty, food, recipes, decor, and anything else that caught my attention. Hope it'll be interesting enough to share with you.