The Moonberry Blog

Bellabox

noreply@blogger.com (MOONBERRY) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000

One of the things which I love is receiving gifts in the mail and if they are a surprise, even better!
I know I'm not the only one who feels this way, which is probably one of the reasons why there is this beauty-products-in-a-box trend that's raging worldwide for beauty junkies everywhere. Basically the concept is that you subscribe and then each month you receive a box full of new samples, travel and/or full-size beauty products to try before you buy. I think of it as a personal beauty concierge that works behind the scene and make recommendations for you.

It is brilliant because as consumers, we naturally get overwhelmed by shelves and shelves of products available to us, and sometimes we don't know which ones to get. Product A's description sounds amazing, while Product B's packaging is beautiful, blablabla. But do we want to splurge and get them all at once? I think not.

So today I received a lovely package from Bellabox in the mail. Bella-what???

Bellabox connects Singaporean women with the latest prestige, boutique and cult beauty products from across the globe. Every month, Bellabox delivers three to five deluxe makeup, hair and skincare samples directly to your door. So instead of spending hours at the mall's beauty department or (if you're an online shopper like me) clicking thru endless product pages online, all you gotta do is sit back and wait for the lovely red Bellabox to arrive every month with surprise goodies in them. It's awesome that Bellabox has done all the legwork and sourced out different exciting products for us to discover.

Let's take a look together at what this box contains! *excitement-ness*

Essential Damage Care Nuance Airy Shampoo and Conditioner

Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment

CandyDoll Liquid Foundation and Powder Foundation.

Enavose Cellogist Youth Guard Cream

Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Gold Ultra Restorative Capsules

All the samples that came in the box. But that's not all. There is also a sale flyer, a discount voucher and a spree invitation. Every month's box contains a different set of items so as a subscriber, you can sample away to your heart's content.

I could get the hang of this… receiving a present in the mail every month and not knowing what's inside. What about you?

♥ℳ

I am a Finalist in the SBA2012 Best Beauty Blog and Best Lifestyle Blog. Vote for me daily, will ya? Dankz, wuv u! *xo*

Isabella Bag from Tocco Tenero

noreply@blogger.com (MOONBERRY) — Thu, 31 May 2012 07:11:00 +0000

The Tocco Tenero Isabella is a mini duffel bag with dual flat handles and a natural/grey-colored laminated suede body trimmed with aqua-coloured pebble grain cowhide. Top zip closure. Interior zip pocket. Includes both a faux fur and bamboo and a gold and enamel lock ornament embossed with Tocco Tenero logo. Long cowhide strap included to provide the additional options of shoulder or body sling.

This is a versatile and spacious bag, perfect for work and weekends as it can hold a lot of stuff. I happen to think that the turquoise-aqua color against the soft grey laminated suede is a very chic color combo. The faux fur with bamboo ornament is kinda cute, no? This bag inspired me to put together some style boards. Which look is your favorite?

Look 1: Office Annie

Oasis shirt dress, Enzo Angiolini platform pumps, Jane Norman fuschia jewelry, Amrita Singh 18k jewelry, Stella dot jewelry, Sete Di Jaipur scarve,BareMinerals lip gloss

Look 2: Date Night

Floral dress, Vince Camuto high heels, Marc by Marc Jacobs twist jewelry, Ted Rossi bracelet, AllSaints antique silver jewelry, Friis Company plastic ring, Matte lipstick, Philosophy lip gloss, Marc jacobs fragrance

Look 3: Weekend Art Gallery-Hopping

Jonathan Saunders color block shirt, Carven skirt, ASOS flat sandals, By Malene Birger plastic bangle, Friis Company resin ring, Hair accessory, Gee Beauty creme eyeliner, Butter london nail polish

Look 4: Privilege Club Airport Lounge

AllSaints oversized shirt,Biker jacket, 7 For All Mankind denim jeans, AX Paris suede platform shoes, Twist jewelry, Marc by Marc Jacobs heart jewelry,Leather jewelry, Ring, Miss Selfridge beaded bangle, Noel Stewart trilby hat

♥ℳ

I am a Finalist in the SBA2012 Best Beauty Blog and Best Lifestyle Blog. Vote for me daily, will ya? Dankz, wuv u! *xo*

Louis Vuitton x Yayoi Kusama Preview

noreply@blogger.com (MOONBERRY) — Tue, 29 May 2012 19:52:00 +0000

I personally get ultra excited when fashion and art collides. And I'm spasming all over as soon as my radar picked up on the collaboration of Louis Vuitton and Yayoi Kusama. Louis Vuitton has officially announced their latest major collaborator is Japanese avant garde artist Yayoi Kusama, who's known for putting brightly colored dots on everything from pumpkin sculptures to tree trunks to herself. Conveniently timed to coincide with Kusama's major retrospective at the Whitney Museum in New York, their collection will be unveiled on July 10. According to WWD, it'll include a huge range of dot-covered items like silk pajamas, dresses, trench coats, jewelry, bags, and shoes, all in vibrant primary colors. EXCITING-NESS or what!!?! *more spasms*

I first came across Yayoi Kusama's work at Art Stage Singapore 2011 where I spotted (Heh!) a couple of her paintings - one was a spotted gourd, the other a spotted pumpkin. Since then, I kept running into this amazing woman's work everywhere, even while I was overseas earlier this year at LACMA. Her signature polka dots are everywhere! One of the really interesting background stories about Kusama which resonated with me personally, is how she experienced hallucinations and severe obsessive thoughts since childhood, often of a suicidal nature. This psychological distress led her to record her hallucinations into her sketchbook, in the form of repetitive polka dots. “Obsessions, phallus obsessions, obsessions of fear are the main themes of my art. Accumulation is how stars and earth don’t exist alone,” she explained in one of her media interviews.

Yayoi Kusama said about her 1954 painting titled Flower (D.S.P.S):

One day I was looking at the red flower patterns of the tablecloth on a table, and when I looked up I saw the same pattern covering the ceiling, the windows and the walls, and finally all over the room, my body and the universe. I felt as if I had begun to self-obliterate, to revolve in the infinity of endless time and the absoluteness of space, and be reduced to nothingness. As I realized it was actually happening and not just in my imagination, I was frightened. I knew I had to run away lest I should be deprived of my life by the spell of the red flowers. I ran desperately up the stairs. The steps below me began to fall apart and I fell down the stairs straining my ankle.

Another quote of hers:

… a polka-dot has the form of the sun, which is a symbol of the energy of the whole world and our living life, and also the form of the moon, which is calm. Round, soft, colorful, senseless and unknowing. Polka-dots become movement... Polka dots are a way to infinity.

Kusama is often quoted as saying: "If it were not for art, I would have killed myself a long time ago."

I know first-hand how obsessive an artist can be and how easy it is to give in to the dark side and become manic depressive (ahem, coming from a true blue OCD and emo-nemo Pisces here). I honestly think that Yayoi Kusama is an extremely incredible woman who has persisted in her art form fearlessly. Kudos to facing her inner demons courageously via multimedia art expressions. Don't let me hear you say chit like, "Polka dots? So easy and simple, anyone could've come up with that!" and dismiss this artist. Uhm, yah, why don't you try to come up with different iterations of polka dots for forty years? I've said it before and I will say it again, this is why art totally rawks. It's genuinely and authentically a personal thing, and there is always a story behind every piece. I am humbled (and in awe) by Yayoi Kusama's tenacity towards the pursuit of her dream as an artist over the last forty years and she is showing no sign of slowing down or stopping.

Yayoi Kusama's designs of complex polka dot designs will bring a fun summer element to this limited edition “Infinitely Kusama” Louis Vuitton collection. Here's a sneak preview.

What do you think of the collection? Yay or nay? I like the big black bag with the yellow polka dot trims. The heels are kinda hawt too.

Ughhhhhh. I reeeeeeeally wanna go back to NYC this July for the Yayoi Kusama retrospective show. Can I? Should I?

Do you know what Yayoi Kusama:

got her big break after moving to New York?
is over eighty years old today but still sticks to her trademark style of polka dots?
lives in a mental institution and commutes daily to her art studio?

♥ℳ

I am a Finalist in the SBA2012 Best Beauty Blog and Best Lifestyle Blog. Vote for me daily, will ya? Dankz, wuv u! *xo*

Facial Scrubs 101

noreply@blogger.com (MOONBERRY) — Tue, 29 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

I hope that everyone includes the use of facial scrub to their weekly skincare routine and if you haven't, it's still not too late to start. There are tons of facial scrubs out there, where do you begin though? I'm here to share with you the basics of facial scrub as well as introduce two which I'm using at the moment. But first...

What is facial scrub?

It's a cleansing agent or facewash containing grainy beads, which is massaged into the skin to cleanse the pores and help get rid of dirt as well as sloughing off dead skin cells. This is called an exfoliation process.

How often should I use facial scrub?

If you have normal, dry or oily skin, it is recommended to exfoliate at least once a week. If your skin is sensitive though, it should be done less often so as not to irritate it. Either way, it is important to use a facial scrub at least once a week to keep skin clear of impurities that will cause acne.

What are the benefits of facial scrub?

Facial scrubs exfoliate unwanted dead cells and help remove surface impurities from the skin. This exfoliation leaves the skin feeling smooth and soft afterwards. When the grainy beads are being massaged on the face during cleansing, this gentle friction also improves circulation, giving skin a healthy and radiant glow.

I think guys need to use facial scrub often because I notice that most guys have enlarged pores or rough complexion. Using facial scrub can help reduce pore size and also smoothen your complexion. I know that most guys think skincare is a girl thang and prefer to rely on the caveman method of just splashing water and using bar soap, but please dudes, this is the 21st century now and there are skincare products specifically for men too. So do yourselves a favor and pick up a tube of facial scrub as soon as you can. If you are not sure which one to get, try using your girl friend's or wife's first and get the hang of this gentle scrubbing process on your face. It is not painful one bit.

There are many great facial scrubs out there for you. Just remember to pick the ones that is suitable for your skin type and always read the usage instructions on the packaging. As for me, I have been using the Clean & Clear Morning Burst Skin Brightening Facial Scrub, which has pretty much run out so in its place, I have begun using the new RoC Soft Smoothing Scrub also.

Clean &Clear Morning Burst Skin Brightening Facial Scrub

I love love love love this Morning Burst Skin Brightening Facial Scrub from Clean & Clear very much. I picked it up at CVS a couple months ago while I was in LA and I have been using it daily. The main reason why I am hooked to this product is because it smells so friggin' awesome. It smells like a fruit bowl filled with tropical fruits. Very uplifting to use this first thing in the morning while washing up. This skin brightening facial scrub exfoliates the skin with caffeine, lemon and papaya. My face appears brighter after I rinse it off and I just feel so happy, as if I am waking up while on vacation in a private island every morning. It definitely perks me up in the morning and I'm ready to face the world. Heh! I am definitely getting this again the next time I fly back home to the States. I am honestly devastated and heartbroken that it has run out, in fact I'm super tempted to order from Amazon.com and pay exorbitant shipping just to continue getting my morning fix. But in the meantime...

RoC Soft Smoothing Scrub

Also from J&J, I am using the Soft Smoothing Scrub from RoC. This one has finer microbeads compared to the Morning Burst, and it certainly doesn't smell the same. It smells more like a soft bouquet of spring flowers which is nice too, makes one feel all girly and feminine. This is a scrub that is suitable for all skin types, including sensitive skin, to be used 2-3 times a week. The micro exfoliating beads purify and cleanse skin gently without stripping the skin off its natural oils.

Here's showing the texture of both products. Top is RoC Soft Smoothing Scrub, which is a thicker cream with pink microbeads. Bottom is Clean & Clear Morning Burst Skin Brightening Facial Scrub, which is gel-like with green microbeads and if you look really closely, *GASPS* very very fine specks of gold glitter. You see that????? :) :) :)

Personally I find that the thicker cream texture is much easier to wash off, while the oozy-woozy gel gives me a filmy soapy slippery feel on the skin which I'm frankly not crazy about and I feel like I need to rinse a lot more to get rid of it. So I use less of the product, instead of lathering it on all over my face.

So there you have it, shown above are the two facial scrubs that I am currently using. I hope that you will include facial scrub into your regular skincare routine for a softer and brighter complexion. Most brands have a facial scrub in their product range one way or the other, so do look into it and grab a tube to bring home.

Good luck and happy exfoliating!

♥ℳ

I am a Finalist in the SBA2012 Best Beauty Blog and Best Lifestyle Blog. Vote for me daily, will ya? Dankz, wuv u! *xo*

6 Tips on How To Dazzle On Video Interviews

noreply@blogger.com (MOONBERRY) — Sun, 27 May 2012 19:04:00 +0000

One of the things that I personally didn't set out to do when it comes to blogging is having videos of myself taken for the blog. I thought that at its purest form, blogging is all about the written word and sure, the next logical embellishment to enhance the story-telling would be via images and photos of self, and I'm cool with that. But I soon realized that as part of the evolution in journaling, a third media in the form of video is inevitable - and that, in my opinion, is a completely different game altogether.

When it comes to self-expression, in the form of writing I usually try to stick as closely as possible to the way I normally speak in real life. Meaning, I try to write in my own 'voice', in the way I normally speak. All the "yo", "WTF", "dammit", "OMIGOD", "friggin", "fucken" and choice Moonberry-esque words like "exciting-ness", "Whee", "Jeebuz", etc. are all words that truly exist and utilized in my verbal vocabulary. In other words, I use profanities a lot in real life. :X I realize that using them in videos to express myself isn't a good idea because my daily speech is not PG-13 enough for general audience. Most likely the video will end up being heavily censored and having lots of bleeps (like an MTV reality tv show). ;P So I self-censored and toned myself down when being interviewed. Just so that one day I don't look back at old videos of me floating around on the internet and cringe at my colorful language. }:]

Some people are simply born to be on camera and they totally dazzle in videos. For the rest of us, however, we stutter, stumble over our words, look like deers caught in headlights, etc etc etc. The first time I had the microphone and a hugeass camera pointed at me, I was silently freaking out and panicking inside. Major nervousness. Unless you are an actor and used to this sort of thing, I'm sure you will feel the same way as I did. So I thought I'd compile a list of tips to help you present your best self in front of the camera - whether you are doing a vlog for yourself, or if you one day get interviewed randomly on the street.

1. BE NATURAL.
You are not an actor, so just be natural and be yourself. Why so serious? Smile, be genuine, be sincere. Whoever's watching the video can also usually tell if you are being fake. Like, suddenly putting on an accent that you normally don't have. Uhm, na-uh, not cool. *wags finger*

2. THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK.
I think it is okay to pause and think for a brief moment about what you want to communicate across. God forbid you spew out something that you will regret later on. Don't be afraid to ask the interviewer to repeat his/her question if it is not clear what he/she is asking. And compose the answer silently in your head before you open your mouth.

3. SPEAK SLOWLY AND CLEARLY.
I tend to speak really fast when I'm nervous because I just want to get it quickly done and over with. But I realize this is really dumb because then no one can catch or understand what the fuck I'm saying. So yeah, speaking slowly = better articulation. No need to get all high speed bullet train, but don't drawl either.

4. DON'T BLINK SO MUCH.
I know some people do this when they are nervous. Try not to do this because it is gawddayamn distracting!!! If you really can't control the twitching, just close your eyes completely for a quick second, relax your eyes and recompose yourself.

5. DON'T LET YOUR EYES WANDER.
Yo, watchu looking at?!? Okay, I am guilty of this. I do it because (i) I am inherently shy and avoid prolonged direct eye contact, and (ii) somehow looking straight at my subject prevents me from assembling thoughts in my head while I speak. I shall try to correct this. I think it's probably best to ask the interviewer beforehand where you should be looking at (at the camera? at the interviewer?).

6. BREATHE.
When people are nervous, their breathing patterns change and they often forget to breathe. But just relax, take deep and slow breaths to calm yourself down. Don't let the camera or microphone intimidate you and causing you to hyperventilate, they're just tools.

I had my fair share of interviews and video appearances in the last year, thanks to Omy.sg. I still do the "Holy chit, this is how I sound like in videos?! What the fuck is wrong with me, geez!" monologue when I view the videos. I'd like to think that I will be less nervous now in front of the camera than when I first started. I dunno… *shrug* I'm still learning as I go along.

SBA2011 Beauty Blog Interview

SBA2011 Tech Blog Interview

Adonis Greek Party Interview

SBA2011 Awards Interview

Riverside Feast Interview

Valentine's Day Charity Auction Interview

I hope my tips are helpful! Do you have any other tips that you wanna add to my list?

♥ℳ

I am a Finalist in the SBA2012 Best Beauty Blog and Best Lifestyle Blog. Vote for me daily, will ya? Dankz, wuv u! *xo*

Beauty Journey :: Mary Chia (Chapter 1)

noreply@blogger.com (MOONBERRY) — Fri, 25 May 2012 14:30:00 +0000

Happy, happy news!!! I have been shortlisted as a finalist in the Singapore Blog Awards 2012 for MARY CHIA BEST BEAUTY BLOG! *woot woot* This is mucho exciting-ness because through the blog awards last year, I met so many wonderful people and gained many memorable experiences, so I am thrilled to be selected as a finalist again this year (in two categories too, nonetheless —Best Beauty Blog and Best Lifestyle Blog). Wheeeee~

Mary Chia is one of Asia's leading beauty and slimming specialists, with famed Chinese actress Vicky Zhao as brand ambassador. I have seen the adverts around but not familiar with the brand so I'm eager to find out more and try out their signature services. Naturally, I can't wait to share these experiences with all my readers as well. The next few weeks will definitely be fun-filled so come back to check on the blog often and stay close, okay? :) Bookmark The Moonberry Blog NOWWWWWW.

I went for a preliminary meet-and-greet session at Mary Chia spa earlier this week and was delighted to find out that some of the bloggers who were in last year's finals made it to this year's as well. It's nice to see familiar faces, yet delightful to meet the new ones too. I was pleasantly surprised when some of the other finalists came over to introduce themselves to me, letting me know that they read The Moonberry Blog. Waaahhhhhhhh!!!! *Ultra flattered* :") Thank you so very much.

In between our girly chats, we all got our body fat and BMI analysis taken since Mary Chia is a slimming specialist center after all. Below is the result for my body fat and BMI analysis.

*DRUMRRRRROOOOLLLLSSSSSS*

As you can see clearly from the numbers above, my BMI, fat percentage and fat mass are all lower than the pre-calculated ideal range. I think in pounds so first thing I did was convert kilograms to pounds. 44 kg = 97 lb. FYI, the heaviest I've ever been in my life was 53kg (117 lbs) and that was around 2007-2008. But don't hate me just yet...

If you've been following me on Twitter and/or Instagram, you'd know that in the last ten months or so, I lost a lot of weight drastically. I was yoyo-ing around 42kg for several months and physically felt hollow most of the time. Everyone who haven't seen in in a while are still gasping at how much I've shrunk. It's no longer "Hey, wassup" but they point-blank go straight to "Wow, you have lost of a lot of weight!". I guess weight loss is generally a desirable thing but I lost weight due to extreme (and unwanted) emotional stress, so it wasn't much of a joyful or confidence-boosting thing for me. That hollow feeling was really the crappiest. Sucks ass. Literally. Ugh.

With that said, even though I am currently a lightweight and can't benefit from slimming spa services, I am still keen on other body refinement services that Mary Chia offers. Maybe the Body Detoxification Treatment, or Mineral Wrap, or Stretch Mark Lightening Treatment. Hur hur hur, yes skinny people have stretch marks too! Especially if there's been a sudden weight gain then rapid weight loss. Eeps.

Aside from going for select Mary Chia services, the other exciting thing which I'm planning to do is throw a beauty party. During the party, my invited guests can experience mini pampering services like an Eye Revival Therapy, Tummy/Arms/Thighs Contouring Therapy, Express Gelish Manicure or a 30-minute Tension Relief Back Massage. Whoohooo!!! I love parties, especially girly parties. This is gonna be a lot a lot of fun. *cartwheels* Who wants an invitation? Leave me a comment below. ^^

The pretty girl you see above is gonna be my Mary Chia buddy and she will help me with party logistics on the Mary Chia side to ensure that the spa party runs smoothly. Heh! Ged the pun? :P

Me being interviewed by the crew from Omy.sg. Omy.sg organizes the annual Singapore Blog Awards and I was asked to share some of my thoughts on being a finalist again this year. The video is being edited as we speak but we shall put the theory of "the camera adds 10 lbs" to the test when it is available online. Kekeke!

Incidentally, the Omy.sg cameraman had seen me in other events in the past and upon seeing me again at this meet-and-greet session, guess what was the first thing he said to me? ……. "Wow, you've lost a lot of weight!"

(._.)"

Here are all the finalists with the Mary Chia management team who has so kindly opened their doors for us to better understand the Mary Chia brand as well as given us the opportunity to experience the signature body, skincare and spa services.

In a few weeks hopefully we all will attain a svelte body that exudes confidence like Mary Chia's brand ambassador, Vicky Zhao. But frankly if you ask me, it shouldn't really matter how much you weigh. The key thing, imo, is CONFIDENCE. When you have confidence and feel good about yourself, you can totally rawk whatever outfit you put on (or take off if you prefer). Harharhar!

Anyway, please meet the rest of the finalists in the Best Beauty Blog category on my Facebook page → http://www.facebook.com/MBxMB.

Stay tuned for more!

♥ℳ

Find out more about Mary Chia BODY • FACE • SPA Website | Facebook Page

I am a Finalist in the SBA2012 Best Beauty Blog and Best Lifestyle Blog. Vote for me daily, will ya? Dankz, wuv u! *xo*

Toast Printers and Stamps

noreply@blogger.com (MOONBERRY) — Thu, 24 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

There's something kinda cute about toasts and toasters, no? Back in the days, the iconic Flying Toasters screensaver featured 1940s-style chrome toasters sporting bird-like wings, flying across the screen with pieces of toast. A slider enabled users to adjust the toast's darkness! And does anyone still remember the $28,000 10-year-old grilled cheese sandwich with Virgin Mary's face on it? (List your own Virgin Mary toasts on eBay using this toaster, lolz.)

I guess we really love our toasts and if the toast is too blank to you, let's print some words and images to make them more unique! Below is a roundup of toast printers and stamps to decorate our breakfast with.

Zuse Toast Printer,
Made of plastic and aluminum, mimics the dot matrix printer – it burns 12 x 12 pixel images onto your bread and can be programmed to random patterns, or even those of your own design. Comes with a memory card for image storage.

Scan Toaster for Electrolux Design Lab 2008 Competition
A toaster that can burn pretty much anything onto your morning slice, including the news. The Scan Toaster connects to a PC over USB and downloads everything from local weather conditions and the current time to the morning’s news headlines.

Totenkopf Skull Toaster
The rage in all of Europe a few years back, unavailable now.

Pop Art Toaster
This lets you choose from an array of six plates for branding the toast, including a smiley face, a flower, hearts, or "LUV U."

The Star WarsToaster
Uhm, the Dark Lord eats bread for breakfast?!? Why, this is the toaster to use if you want to live a little on the dark side. Hur, hue, hur.

CNC Toaster / 2D Thermal Printer
Literally a printer for toasts.

Toast Messenger
This toaster by Sasha Tseng incorporates a little message board where one can write quick notes. The handwritten message then gets toasted into the toast itself. Fun fun!

Some toast stamps whichI thought are adorable too…

Fred and Friends French Toast

Love Hearts Toast Stamps

Tic Tac Toe Toast Bread Stamper

Dang. Writing this post makes me wanna fly out to buy bread and eat toasts now. :P

Delicious Anti-aging Beauty Jelly Snack

noreply@blogger.com (MOONBERRY) — Wed, 23 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Toss unpalatable supplements out of the window. For the first time, Skin Inc launches a beauty snack that will have you (and your skin) craving for more. My Daily Dose “Skin Loves It” Jelly feeds skin with a concoction of anti-ageing, brightening and hydrating ingredients that is effective, chic, fuss-free and so delicious you won’t ever miss a dose.

Perfect for women who don’t want an apothecary of pills, potions and elixirs, here’s your do-it-all fix with 30,000mg of nourishing ingredients such as fish collagen, vitamin C, placenta, citric acid, hyaluronic acid
and apple vinegar.

The clincher: This beauty treat won’t bust your waistline. Low-calorie and natural sweeteners double up as antioxidants, dietary fibres flush out toxins and lower blood cholesterols, and apple vinegar helps break down
fat. It’s your guilt-free beauty essential in a mango-flavoured slurp-able jelly. Just look at that jelly texture.

I tried my first sachet today and it was de-de-delicious! Seriously, just one sachet a day??? I could totally eat half a pack continuously in one sitting because this is a snack that's really fun to eat and super yummy - especially after it's been refrigerated. This is something that is good for your skin and tastes equally good.

Fast. Fun. Fashionable. Welcome to 21st century beauty. :)

My Daily Dose “Skin Loves It” Jelly retails at SG$58 for a pack of 14 sachets at all Skin Inc Concept and Specialty Stores. I'm *SO* stocking up. :9 ***HIGHLY RECOMMENDED***

French Toast with Caramel Sea Salt Bananas

noreply@blogger.com (MOONBERRY) — Tue, 22 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

It's the weekend so it's perfect time for brunch! I decided to stay in and make French Toast with Caramel Sea Salt Bananas, because I've been somewhat obsessed with anything that is sea salt caramel. I think I'm just obsessed with salts in general, as I have half a dozen different kinds in my pantry and I've been itching to use them in my cooking/baking.

Anyhoo, I wanted to try making sea salt caramel at home and I stumbled upon a recipe for French Toast with it, so I fired up my pan, poured some sugar in there, stirred until it changed color, added some heavy cream and voila! I had me a lovely golden caramel that is soooooo fragrant. I can't believe it was so easy to make simple caramel, without the use of candy thermometer or any other complicated gadgets. :D *HAPPY* Of course, the finishing touch was to toss some sea salt crystals into the caramel and it was done.

As the French Toast recipe called for bananas, I added the chopped bananas into the caramel before adding the sea salt caramel.

Assembling the French Toast next...

French Toast with Caramel Sea Salt Bananas
Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients

2 cups Granulated Sugar
2 cups Heavy Cream
4 whole Bananas
2 dashes Salt
4 whole Eggs
½ cups Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Sea Salt Crystals
1 loaf Brioche or white bread (thick slices)

Method

1. Prepare the caramel sauce.
Put granulated sugar in a heavy pot or skillet (I use a non-stick skillet for easy cleanup later). On high heat, begin stirring sugar. Stir until sugar is melted and has a nice caramel color. Be careful not to let it get too dark and burn. Turn off heat. While stirring constantly (using a whisk really helps at this stage), add one cup of heavy cream. When it is incorporated, add second cup of heavy cream and stir to thicken. You may have to return it to heat to get it smooth and creamy, and if so, use medium heat. Add salt a little at a time to suit you. Stir in bananas to incorporate them into the caramel.

2. Make the french toast.
Prep electric griddle or pan to 300 degrees. In bowl, mix together your milk, eggs, spice and vanilla. Set aside. Slice bread, if needed, into 1 inch thick slices. Slice bananas into 1/4 inch thick pieces. Dunk bread slices, one at a time, and place on hot pan or griddle. Cook until golden on one side, then flip and finish cooking. Add a pat of butter if you wish and then ladle caramel and bananas over toast.

This recipe serves 6. Enjoy!

My partner was too eager in plating our food so that we could dive right into it, and my French Toast ended up looking like a plate of steak because it photographed poorly. -__-" Seen here served with a side of strawberries, sausages, alfalfa sprouts and cherry tomatoes. Sorry for the terrible pic, I would've plated it differently but I was busy in the kitchen doing dishes.

Nonetheless, this was really delicious!!! I'll definitely make it again. There's also leftover sea salt caramel sauce, which will go really well drizzled over the remaining strawberries, over ice cream, spread over toast or just to dip your fingers in. :P

If you are a foodie like me, please join me in standing up for real food!

Food Revolution Day on 19 May is a chance for people who love food to come together to share information, talents and resources; to pass on their knowledge and highlight the world’s food issues. All around the globe, people will work together to make a difference. Food Revolution Day is about connecting with your community through events at schools, restaurants, local businesses, dinner parties and farmers' markets. We want to inspire change in people’s food habits and to promote the mission for better food and education for everyone.

HungryBBQ

noreply@blogger.com (MOONBERRY) — Mon, 21 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

You know, bbqs used to be a very serious business for me. In fact, I have a mini reputation for throwing the best bbq ever (well, according to my friend Don who never forgets to remind me of this whenever we meet, even though said bbq was thrown back a decade ago). I used to stress out the week before hosting a bbq as I needed to come up with a fancy menu to feed a crowd of 30-40 people at my backyard. No two Moonberry-hosted bbqs were ever a repeat or exactly the same; there was the kalbi bbq, the crayfish bbq (all 37 lbs of them shipped from Louisiana), the turkey-and-brie handmade burger bbq, the Hawaiian luau bbq… you get the idea.

Now that I'm in Singapore though, I realized that bbqs here are much less of a gourmet affair but more of a casual affair, which is fine by me. What I am very delighted to find out is, there is no reason to stress out anymore when it comes to pre-party planning and meat-marinating-up-to-your-elbows. Best of all, people even have the option not to man the grill themselves!

Introducing HungryBBQ, a one-stop catering company for anything bbq-related. There's a variety of party packs (with enough food to feed 10-35 people), or you can order pre-marinated food ala carte and if you want to get all fancy, you can request a bbq butler to do all the grilling at your party while you entertain your guests!!! Awesomeness. No grill? No problem, because HungryBBQ will supply this too and everything, including the food, arrives neatly in a box on the day of your bbq party. Very, very professional, I say.

How about the flavors, you ask? I had the good fortune to try out some of their menu items a while back and they tasted great. I was impressed that all the food were prepared using exclusive blends of spices from recipes that have been tried, tested and continually improved to suit everyone's preferred palates.

Let's dive together into these boxes of HungryBBQ yumminess, shall we?

Here's the bbq butler / grill operator / whatever you want to call him. He makes sure all the food is cooked to perfection. No more burnt food or undercooked meat! :)

Just look at the size of these jumbo prawns. :0

My fave item from the menu turned out to be the Sambal Sotong (translated into English: Calamari in spicy sauce).

Some of the other yummy grilled food from the HungryBBQ menu. Wait, do I need to clarify that you order these raw and marinated, they are delivered in that state, and then you grill the food yourself? Hiring a bbq butler is completely optional, btw, for those who prefer to DIY.

With fellow food lovers, Melicacy and AiMakan.

HungryBBQ owners, Zac and his wife.

Now… back to my legendary bbq story. Even though I am extremely flattered that my friend Don insists it's the bestest bbq ever, I personally think that particular bbq is memorable on everyone's minds and definitely qualifies as seriously one of the awesomest parties I've ever hosted. And it's not because of the food, but because of the crazy amount of fun that everyone had that night. Don't believe me? I dug this out of my dusty journal (I'm so happy I blogged about it) to share with you just how insane it all got. Yeah, that's how we used to roll in my hood back in the days. ;P

It was a party that totally rocked and I still chuckle secretly to myself whenever I recall some of the madness and oddities that took place that night. (30 patties and only 20 burger buns?! How the heck did that work out? Meanwhile, for those who are curious, the panties mystery remains unsolved till this day.) It's definitely something that went down in history when friends still gush about this legendary bbq ten years later. Ah, happy memories. Good times, good times. :")

Patisserie Sadaharu Aoki Paris

noreply@blogger.com (MOONBERRY) — Sun, 20 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

It's official. I am in love with Paris. And the thing with Paris is that I must have my French pastries while I'm there (amongst other food actually, but pastries are definitely on the list). Before I went to Paris, I was treated to a lovely box of La Durée macarons flown in fresh from Paris by my BFF wwny. Then I went to Paris in person and my good friend, native Parisian, Suzanna (hi, sweetie!) brought me to Pierre Hermé's newly opened La Patiserrie des Reves. Major foodgasm right there (a different blog entry for next time)! Then I went to Paris again, and Suzanna brought me to Patisserie Sadaharu Aoki where I could've died on the spot. That spot happened to be at Lafayette Gourmet, the basement of Galleries Lafayette. Forget the clothes and bags shopping for a minute, I could hang out at this basement every day of my trip because it's loaded with deli counters of delicious cheeses, caviars, freshly-baked breads, the finest foie gras and of course, pastries.

I have to say, the ones at Patisserie Sadaharu Aoki were so darn beautiful to look at. They looked absolutely gorgeous and there were so many interesting flavors to choose from, I had no idea which ones to buy.

I will be the first to admit that I almost always avoid chocolate when faced with pastries. The only exception is Pan Au Chocolat (aka Chocolate Croissant) which I never turn down, but with an array of all these wonderful flavors to choose from, I am generally always turned on by citron (lemon), marron (chestnut) and of course caramel salé (salted caramel). Sorry, framboise (berries) doesn't get registered on my radar as I don't like them very much. But of course, there were so many interesting unexpected flavors offered at Patisserie Sadaharu Aoki, I absolutely had to try those (and not waste my stomach capacity on chocolate!). Come, let me take you on a sneak preview of what was offered behind the counter which I thought were unique.

Here's the Duomo Azuki Matcha. According to Suzanna, these domes are Sadaharu Aoki's signature creations.

These chocolate bonbons are also signature Aoki creations and don't they look ultra chic? They make really good hostess gifts, imo.

During this gourmet pastries expedition, I was already happy and full from an earlier moules frites lunch (I am always happy and full when in Paris), so I only bought one Sesame Eclair, one Bamboo "biscuit" and one Wasabi Macaron, one Yuzu Macaron, one Caramel Salé Macaron. That was it (!?) and I inhaled them so quickly all I could remember was the sheer pure bliss of dessert coma. So outta-this-world delicious. Everything! All of them! The Wasabi Macaron was EXCELENT. An unexpected flavor, yes, but it had the very nice flavor and fragrance of freshly-grated wasabi and the whole thing wasn't overly sweet. Perfect, just perfect. I should've bought an entire box. Also, some more Caramel Salé Macaron (which, imo, was way better than Pierre Hermé's version). And the Citron Tart too while I'm at it. Also the Sesame Sugar Zen. Oh, darn it. I want all of them.

How the hell do French women stay so svélte in this environment!!?!?!?!?!!?!? I can't wait to go back to Paris again soon. Thanks to having a love towards French eats, I've actually learned how to read French menu items a little bit here and there. I get the easy words like fish, duck, beef, mushroom, mussels, lemon, cheese, baguette (hahaha) because they are my faves. :P I am not particularly inclined at this time to get formal lessons, but maybe I should one day so that I know how to order my food with ease instead of pointing and butchering the words with my anglicized pronunciation.

For the full visual tour and to see more of what was available at Patisserie Sadaharu Aoki in Paris, check out the album on my Facebook page → http://www.facebook.com/MBxMB. You really gotta check them out, I promise you won't regret it. Warning: Do not view with an empty stomach though!

Blue Nails

noreply@blogger.com (MOONBERRY) — Sat, 19 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

I have finally ~~gotten bored of~~ graduated from jet black nail polishes and currently digging my deep blue manicure very much. This color is kinda like jeans, there are so many shades and variations (shimmer, sheen) out there to choose from. Just like my denim though, I like mine deep, rich and dark.

Top row: Jacob Skinny Jeans Nail Polish, Butter London 3 Free Nail Lacquer - Royal Navy, Essie Aruba Blue

Bottom row: Essie Midnight Cami, Nars Night Flight, Dior Blue Label, OPI Yoga-ta Get this Blue!

Fancl Limited Edition Beauty Facial Treatment Mask

noreply@blogger.com (MOONBERRY) — Fri, 18 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

SERUM IN A MASK GIVES LIFE TO YOUR SKIN
FANCL Limited Edition Beauty Facial Treatment Mask (Vitalizing) bestows dull-looking skin with velvety radiance, it is a serum in a mask that gives life to your skin - especially tired skin after a long week at work. This treatment mask transforms frazzled skin into a velvet smooth complexion with minimal effort.

Ingredients:
Vitamin E Capsule is a key ingredient that gives skin a radiant glow by reducing yellow skin pigmentations. It also targets dullness, lackluster complexion and encourages skin turnover. Fresh Royal Jelly Essence enhances skin metabolism, packing new skin cells together to give soft and supple skin. This vital ingredient also prevents further accumulation of dead skin cells, leaving skin looking youthful. The limited edition rinse- off facial mask also contains European Pear Extract that softens and sloughs away dead skin cells, revitalizing skin’s clarity and radiance.

A fuss-free procedure with these easy steps:
◊ Pat face dry after facial wash.
◊ Squeeze the entire content of the tube onto a clean palm.
◊ Spread content evenly on entire face, gently massaging all your features including the delicate eye and mouth area for a minute as shown in the diagrams below.
◊ Leave mask on for three minutes.
◊ Rinse thoroughly with lukewarm water.
◊ Use once or twice a week as needed.

This is a very rich and creamy formula, which is perfect for massaging the face with. Even though one tube is to be used entirely in one application, I find that for my face one third of a tube is more than adequate. Each individual tube really contains a very generous amount of the product. After rinsing, I find that this mask leaves my face refreshed and rehydrated. I complete this mini facial by putting on a thin layer of moisturizer afterwards to seal in the benefits of this limited edition beauty treatment mask.

As you can see from the Before and After photo above, after just one application of this treatment mask, my face looks less dull and lackluster. I think this is a lovely luxurious product to use after a weekend of ~~hard drinking and partying~~ staying up till very late.

FANCL’s limited edition Beauty Facial Treatment Mask (Vitalizing) retails at $58 for a box of 6 tubes and is available at all FANCL stores in Singapore.

Christie's Asian 20th Century and Contemporary Asian Art Preview

noreply@blogger.com (MOONBERRY) — Thu, 17 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

I went to the Christie's Asian 20th Century and Contemporary Asian Art Preview the other night and thought I'll share with you some highlights from the show. The paintings in this auction are by Asian artists from Indonesia, Phillipines, Singapore as well as what I interpret as foreign artists who had spent time in Asia and actually created/produced their pieces while living in Asia. Below are some highlights and a few paintings which stood out for me personally.

I was very drawn to this piece titled Zookeeper by Ronald Ventura, an artist from Phillipines. It is a rather fashionable painting, predominantly monochromatic with line drawings of wild animals and flourishes super-imposed over the main figure. This painting is estimated to be auctioned at USD$89,700 to $128,200.

There were three oil paintings by Belgian artist who lived in Bali, named Adrian Jean Le Mayeur de Merpres which I liked. They are painted in the 1950s, depicting village life in Bali and these came in original hand-carved Balinese frames which I thought really lend an authentic Indonesian feel. The paintings are estimated to be auctioned off at somewhere between US$359,000 to $512,800. A closer look at the details below.

If I have the moolah, I would most likely get these paintings because I have a really, really good feeling that these will definitely appreciate. *Tingly spider senses* ;)

This painting titled She Bangs The Gong, by Indonesian artists IndieGurillas, is estimated at US$20,500 to $30,800.

An acrylic on canvas piece by yet another Indonesian artist, Christine Ay Tjoe, titled Sekutu Fanatic, is estimated at US$15,400 to $20,500.

Now. Even though I went to look at the paintings, the main highlight of this preview for me turned out to be in the jewelry department. I spied this ultra gorgeous 60ct plus diamond necklace that was absolutely brilliant and flawless. In a word: PERFECTION. I managed to get up close and personal with it, and even wanted to take a pic of it draped on my neck, but unfortunately wasn't allowed to. Bleah! :| Goshdangit, it looked so fucking good on my neck, hur hur hur. Anyhoo, pictures won't do it much justice; this necklace is some serious major ice. Gotta view it in person in order to fully appreciate it and take in its brilliance, trust me. It's expected to auction somewhere between US$1.5M to $2M. Hawt dayamn! Lot 3679, if anyone's interested in winning the bid for me. My neck will thank you very much. }:P Puwahahaha.

See my bare neck? It could definitely use a shiny adornment, hur hur hur. But I know you're probably distracted by the yellow tigress on the left. :X And wassup with the auntie in the brown t-shirt? She is making it very traumatizing for me to wear my FitFlops and you know how I can't go everywhere without them. *Ugh*

This Christie's auction will take place in Hong Kong on May 26 -30.

Speaking of art and auction, I realize that there are tons of emerging Chinese artists lately with really awesome work and they are fetching high prices. I find this infographic below somewhat interesting.

More stats from Statista. Browse more Entertainment infographics.

Skinceuticals AOX Eye Gel

noreply@blogger.com (MOONBERRY) — Wed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

I've been a tad concerned with what I've been referring to as my "designer eyebags" lately because these eye bags cost nothing to acquire but expensive to get rid of. :p I can only blame myself for keeping late nights and not getting proper rest on a daily basis, which results in puffiness and also a fatigued look all around the periorbital area. From very early on, one of the best advice my mom ever told me about skincare is to always be gentle when applying eye makeup and not tug or pull during makeup removal, because the skin around the eyes will lose elasticity. And the thing with skin under the eyes is it's a lot thinner compared to other parts of the face, so it's one of the very first places on our faces that's prone to fine lines. Eeeekkksss!!!

So it's really important to use the right skincare product for eyes, and I've always been leaning towards the creamier, heavier ones but they always leave this shiny oily film which I am not hot on. This is a continuous trial and error process for me, some worked better than others and then for some reason, they lose efficacy after some time (or maybe it's just my ~~aging~~ changing skin?!?). I'm trying out a couple of new eye creams at the moment but this one in particular I love, Skinceuticals AOX Eye Gel, because it's a serum-in-a-gel. It contains a synergistic antioxidant combination to help protect the delicate eye area from oxidative stress, while targeted actives revive under-eye skin and reduce the appearance of puffiness.

Skinceuticals AOX Eye Gel prevents signs of aging while correcting existing photodamage. When used daily, this preventive and corrective treatment combats signs of fatigue to restore a fresh, vibrant appearance around the eyes.

Ingredients
Phloretin, L-Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Ferulic Acid, Ruscus Aculeatus and Caffeine.

Benefits
◊ Prevents signs of aging
◊ Corrects signs of photodamage
◊ Helps reduce the appearance of puffiness and under-eye bags
◊ Combats signs of fatigue to restore a fresh, vibrant appearance

How to use
Once in the morning, apply 1/2 pump per eye area. Apply on the area below the eyes, on the outer corners, and on the brow bone. Maintain a distance of 3 millimeters from the mucous membranes surrounding the eyes. Do not apply product to the inner corners near the nasolacrimal duct (tear duct), below the brow bone, or on the upper lid.

My tip on how to use this product is by sweeping a thin layer of the gel outwards from the inner corners of the eyes, using your finger. Do this with both hands in a smooth motion, without applying any pressure, about two to three times. (Kinda like massaging away your eyebags.) Finish by pressing really gently under the eyes to make sure that all the gel has been absorbed nicely by the skin.

I like this eye gel very much because it goes on sooo silky and gets absorbed really fast without any greasy feeling. I do find that this product makes the skin around my eyes appear less stressed and tired. Dark circles and puffiness become less noticeable. Yay.

It is to be used in the morning only, so a bottle goes a very long way and I get the use a different eye cream bearing other benefits during bedtime. If you have been combatting puffy eyes, dark circles or the occasional annoying eyebags like me, do give this product a try because I believe it works well. A 15ml bottle is available at The Aesthetic Studio at the retail price of SGD139.

Top 5 Fave Recipes from Cook Snap Eat Love

noreply@blogger.com (MOONBERRY) — Tue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

With Food Revolution Day Singapore around the corner, this blog is honored to have Jacob Leong from Cook Snap Eat Love write a guest post and share with my wonderful readers his top 5 favorite recipes. Jacob and I were in the Food Revolution Day Singapore video together and he is such a wonderful cook that I just had to invite him to share some of his wonderful kitchen creations here. Enjoy reading. -MB

Hi everyone! I am Jacob from Cook Snap Eat Love, and I am really happy for the opportunity to do a guest post on The Moonberry Blog! I'm going to share 5 of my favorite recipes today, I hope you'll like them, and maybe try making them on your own!

1. Hanjuku Tamago a.k.a Ramen Eggs

I really love these eggs with my Ramen, but sadly there are many crappy ramen joints out there serving up hard boiled eggs in their place. Surprisingly, these little beauties aren't difficult to make at all!

2. Lobster Bisque

I love lobster bisque for its luxurious and velvety feel, a beautiful crustacean aroma fills the kitchen when you cook it. This is a rather traditional recipe, and might have quite a number of steps to it, but it's every bit worth it.

3. Ratatouille a la Remy

This isn't a traditional ratatouille, but a dish specially created by Chef Thomas Keller for the movie Ratatouille. Zucchinis and Eggplants are my favorite vegetables, and I enjoy the dish pretty presentation or not.

4. The Ispahan

Pierre Herme's Ispahan is a culinary masterpiece, I do hope my feeble attempt at this recipe is close. This beautiful dessert exudes elegance, the flavours of rose, lychee and raspberries married beautifully into one pastry masterpiece.

5. Red Ruby, Tim Tab Grob

Red ruby, is a popular Thai dessert sold locally, they aren't too difficult to make at home either, great especially when you are hosting a Thai styled dinner party at home!

Well that's all about for my 5 favorite recipes, try them out sometime and let me know what you think!
Jacob Leong is the camera and knife behind www.cooksnapeatlove.com. A passionate amateur photographer and home chef, always on the lookout for good food and recipes. I would love to know what you think about my recipes or restaurant experiences, or even if it was for a good chat, drop by my Facebook page or look me up on Twitter!

Breakfast Potatoes

noreply@blogger.com (MOONBERRY) — Mon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

On some mornings when I manage to wake up early to prepare breakfast, I like to make Breakfast Potatoes (aka Home Fries). It reminds me of those diner breakfasts and I am so happy to report it can't get any easier to whip up together at home. It is very flavorful and perfect served as a side to eggs and toast for a complete breakfast. I usually like to make these potatoes fancier than normal, with the addition of caramelized balsamic onions, fresh rosemary from my herb garden and bacon.

Recipe

1 lb Yukon Gold Potatoes, cubed
1 large Vidalia Onion, julienned
1 tablespoon of Balsamic Vinegar
2 tablespoons Butter
2 slices Bacon, fried and crumbled
Sprig of Fresh Rosemary
Pinch of salt and pepper
Pinch of Paprika (optional)

Method

1. Melt butter in a skillet and sautee the onion slices until they caramelize.
2. Add balsamic vinegar to onions, mix well and set aside.
3. In the same pan, fry the cubed potatoes over medium-low heat. Do not disturb the potatoes too much, just turn them occasionally and allow them to brown. The end result we are trying to attain here is crispy sides.
4. Season with salt, pepper, rosemary and paprika.
5. Once potatoes are cooked, toss with caramelized onions and crumbled bacon.
6. Serve as a side to eggs and toast.

Other variations may include chopped bell-pepper, or the addition of sour cream as topping.

The key to making this dish is patience. In order for the potatoes to be crispy and nicely browned, you need medium-low heat and allow them to brown slowly as potatoes take a while to dry in the skillet. The first couple times I tried making this resulted in gooey soggy potatoes because I rushed it. The browning process is something that can't be rushed. If the heat is too high, you will get potatoes that are burnt on the outside and still raw/crunchy inside. I prefer these to be chunky because it gives me a bigger surface for crispiness but if you are absolutely short on time, feel free to cut the potatoes down into smaller cubes (like 0.5" sized).

Mmmm, a hearty breakfast, don't you think? :) If you have time on a weekend morning, please try making this at home and have your own stay-in brunch, complete with fixings such as sausage links, baked beans and oven-roasted tomatoes. Yummy!

PS: Caramelized balsamic onions is an excellent condiment that goes beyond breakfast. It is awesome as a burger topping, or over oven-roasted fish, roast chicken or sautéed with haricot verts.

Leaders Clinic Sulfur Clinic Blackhead Suction Nose Pack

noreply@blogger.com (MOONBERRY) — Sun, 13 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

I think we all have this morbid fascination about the seeing the gunk that gets removed from our faces, for example, squeezing that nasty throbbing angry zit and having the satisfaction of all that pus squirt out onto tissue paper. The same goes for the stubborn blackheads and excess sebum that seem to love clinging onto our noses.

Today I am sharing with you the Leaders Clinic Sulfur Clinic Blackhead Suction Nose Pack that as the product name suggests, contains sulfur and charcoal. These two ingredients are excellent for exfoliating, refining pores and to yank the blackheads and whiteheads outta their cozy plugs (ie. our noses).

The first step is to wet your nose and the area around it. Don't use too much water because this will end up dissolving the ingredients onto your skin and not only will you have to wait for a very long time for the nose strip to dry, you may also end up with a messy sticky black nose.

Because the product contains charcoal, the nose strip is black. One of the earliest nose strips that we're all familiar with are white, but I think black is a really great idea because it's easier to spot the dirty result afterwards.

My blackheads/whiteheads usually like to congregate around the sides of the nose, in the folds. So it is important to pay extra attention to this area and press the nose strip in so that it hugs the valleys in this area.

Give it about ten to fifteen minutes for the nose strip to dry.

AHA! The moment of satisfaction upon seeing the dirt and sebum plugs on the nose strip. Uhm, it doesn't look like I have a lot this time (this pathetic 'harvest' is rather disappointing, hahaha), but nonetheless I did spot a few teeny tiny ones.

Don't forget to use the Pore Stamping Serum afterwards, as this helps to tighten the pores. I think if your nose is very oily, you can use this 2-3 times a week. Otherwise once a week of this should be adequate.

Clinique Almost Lipstick

noreply@blogger.com (MOONBERRY) — Sat, 12 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Introducing Clinique Almost Lipstick — a custom-fit lip color for every woman.

It’s not quite a lip gloss, it’s Almost Lipstick. An ultra-sheer lip colour that is undeniably flattering on all women.

Have you ever wanted to buy a certain shade of lipstick but hesitated to because you weren’t sure, despite trying it? You can now push those doubts aside. Clinique introduces new, ultra-flattering sheer shades of Almost Lipstick with hues ranging from natural nudes to pretty pinks to deep violets and reds. Transparent pigment merges with the unique, natural tone of your lips to create something wonderful and yours alone. Sheer, glossy. Emollient-rich and very lightweight.

This spring season, the almost made-up look has blossomed on the runways once again – natural, dewy glow, flushed cheeks, flirty lashes and a pretty pout. There’s no better way to perk up your lips than with this soft formula that delivers a hint of colour with sheer payoff. From application to suiting your skin tone, it’s fool-proof. Inspired by the success of Almost Lipstick in Black Honey’s iconic status in the US, all shades are completely wearable and provide a sheer colour payoff. So go ahead and wear red, pink, violet or nude. Now it’s possible with Almost Lipstick. The sheer, smooth formula of Almost Lipstick allows the natural lip colour to come through, creating a custom-fit shade that is unique to each woman. A colour thumbprint, per se.

Clinique Almost Lipstick is available in 7 shades at Clinique counters in Singapore for SG$33.00. Get your perfect pout now. :)

Dior Universe Launches at Isetan Scotts

noreply@blogger.com (MOONBERRY) — Fri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Dior Cosmetic's new generation counter concept has arrived at Isetan Scotts Department Store, bringing a breath of fresh air to the brand and propelling it into the future of luxury and sophistication. For a truly special customer experience, many new luxurious, elegant and modern initiatives have been introduced, including a new fragrance consultation journey (available Aug '12), fresh interpretations of make-up consultation, as well a focus on premium offerings at the skincare consultation area. I was delighted to attend last week's event that marked this launch of the new Dior counter space at Isetan Scotts. I got to experience first-hand the wonderful offerings that the new counter has.

First up, is a makeover from the haute-couture inspired makeup counters where there's a dedicated face makeup service, with slick tables and plush chairs.

Next, Dior's Fragrance Specialists are now on stand-by for a personalized fragrance consultation and will present three fragrances that best correspond to customer's profile. The fragrance I experienced that day was the Miss Dior Au Fresh, which has three main components (namely, Bergamot, Gardenia and Patchouli). I think this perfume is feminine, flowery and elegant.

On display during the event was an oversized digital book containing highlights of Dior's unique heritage. It is an interactive display that was both beautiful and fun.

During the event, we were treated to a mini fashion show showcasing the beautiful (and dramatic) makeup artistry created by Dior's professional makeup artists.

Similar to the Dior event I attended last time, there was also a manicure station so this time I managed to try out the exclusive manicure printing machine that was a lot of fun. I picked a checkerboard design to complement my dark blue nails. :)

There's a photo booth at this event too, which of course I would not miss! :)

Here's the awesome X-wen from FashEccentric. Purely coincidental, but look! We were both sporting oversized bows on our outfits. :P

With Mag from Makeup Stash, Annie and X-wen.

I shall end this post with a photo of my makeover result and the checkerboard pattern from the manicure station. I love love love the wingtips that Dior makeup artist Liu Wei did for me.

I took a bazillion photos from this event and you're all invited to head on over to my Facebook page → http://www.facebook.com/MBxMB to check out the complete album. Don't forget to "LIKE" me too while you're there!

Toodles,
-MB.

Homemade Pesto

noreply@blogger.com (MOONBERRY) — Thu, 10 May 2012 03:00:00 +0000

Thought I'll share with you my guest appearance in one of the videos that's been produced for Food Revolution Day Singapore. A bunch of us made good eats together in the kitchen and filmed it. Check out the video below, in which I helped to prepare homemade pesto.

I have no idea when Episode 2 will be available, so why don't I share first the recipes of what we assembled that day? Food was prepared courtesy of Jacob from Cook Snap Eat Love.

Pesto Spaghetti or Spaghetti al Pesto

Ingredients: serves 4
- Pasta - 600g
- Pesto - 4 tablespoons or to taste
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Hot water
- Grated parmesan to garnish
- Pine nuts to garnish

Mise-En-Place:
- Boil Pasta, following the instructions on the box

Assembly:
- Mix Pesto with Pasta, adding hot water or olive oil to moisten
- Garnish with grated parmesan and pine nuts
- Serve!

Salad Caprese or Insalata Caprese

Ingredients: Serves 2
- Vine Ripened Tomatoes - 2 Nos
- Fresh Mozzarella - 1 Nos
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Basil Leaves for Garnish
- Salt and Pepper to Taste

Mise-En-Place:
- Cut Tomatoes and Mozzarella into wedges
- Lighten Pesto with Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Assembly:
- Put Together Tomatoes and Mozzarella
- Drizzle with Pesto
- Drizzle with a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Season with Salt and Pepper
- Garnish with Basil Leaves
- Serve!

To stay in the loop, visit Food Revolution Singapore Facebook Page and follow @FoodRevSG on Twitter. And of course, save the date - May 19th! Join me and other food lovers that day at the free event. :D

A lot of Singapore-based food bloggers have also posted about this event on their blogs and I'd like to share the blog love by urging all my readers to pay them a visit. Check out what they've written in support of the upcoming Food Revolution Day in Singapore:

Cook Snap Eat Love
Lobster Paints
SG Food On Foot
AiMakan
Miss Tam Chiak
Melicacy

If I have missed anyone, please forgive and leave me a comment with your blog url. Thanks!

Salt Tapas and Bar by Luke Mangan

noreply@blogger.com (MOONBERRY) — Tue, 08 May 2012 23:30:00 +0000

TGIF! Last week Daniel, Claire and I met up to have dinner at Salt Tapas & Bar by Luke Mangan. Salt Tapas & Bar is an extension on the existing image of the ‘Salt’ brand. The 120-seat restaurant exudes an updated Spanish vibe, melded with a laid-back ambience. Offering a high standard of food, wine and service, Salt Tapas & Bar, brings an Australian twist to the modern tapas bar. Situated at the part-alfresco locality of Raffles City (facing Raffles Hotel), patrons experience a unique combination of delicious unpretentious cuisine, at affordable prices. In addition, the bar-restaurant carries a grand selection of wines and cheeses from all over the world. Luke has created his own take on a Sangria recipe and serves a number of other unique cocktails, including his own signature - The Australian. The fun vibrant furnishings and industrial chic décor takes precedence and radiates a welcoming dining atmosphere. The premise features an exciting showcase of stunning designed glass, raw brick walls, and authentic Spanish tiles.

Before we drool together over the food, let me introduce you to my dining companions that evening.

The pretty Claire, who has the most interesting genealogical ancestry ever. She is part Asian, part German… bet you can't tell unless she tells ya.

And here's Daniel, whom I regard as a walking food directory whenever I am craving for something local, something Singaporean. Be sure to pop by his food blog for his review of this place. I'm trying to get him to guest post on my blog, let's hope he agrees to do that soon. ;)

I ordered the red wine Sangria to accompany my food and this turned out to be VERY good. I haven't had good and/or memorable sangrias in Singapore, but this one tastes just like the sangrias that I'm used to having at the Spanish tapas joints back home in NYC. I think sangria is so awesome in the summer because it's refreshing and fruity. Yummy! I can easily have an entire jug of this for myself… ;P Looks like it's time to start making this at home in large quantities now that the humidity has descended upon us.

Oysters served natural with Smoked Tomato Salsa.
Oysters were a bit on the small side (I usually like 'em plump and definitely have had them much better elsewhere) but the smoked tomato salsa topping really went quite well with the briny taste.

Roasted Pumpkin with Dukkah, Spanish Blue Cheese, Caramelized Pear and Walnuts.
This salad is light and had mild flavors. It was very beautiful to look at, it tasted not bad, but for me, it could use a bit more oomph! Don't get me wrong, I love blue cheese, I love caramelized pear, I love pumpkin, but this salad could use just a tad more kick somehow.

Sumac-spiced Veal and Pork Meatballs over Fontina Mash.
These are not Ikea meatballs, okay. These are very tasty and soft. I honestly don't give a hoot about how Ikea SG had recently changed/improved its meatball recipe or whatever, because imo they are still a mass produced item and they are meant to be served as fast food. THESE meatballs, however, tasted like something you would make at home. Not a lot of breadcrumbs or fillers, and the ground meat is very smooth in texture. The Fontina mash is quite delicious too, although I'm not sure about the soft on soft approach in terms of texture juxtaposition. Nonetheless, this was clearly the winning dish on the table for all three of us that evening.

Crispy Soft Shell Prawns with Chili and Garlic Aioli.
Actually, when it comes to prawns, whether soft shell or not, once they are deep-fried you can pop the entire thing into your mouth without de-shelling. Good, now that we are on the same page about that, this dish is bold. And reminiscent of Cantonese-style Pepper-and-Spice [insert fave seafood here] — otherwise known as 椒鹽XX. With that said, I like this dish and I think it went very well with my Sangria. :) Creamy garlic aoili is always a good condiment to tone down the fire from hot peppers and spices, so I appreciate that it came in a small jar for dipping. This dish wasn't spicy though, it was salty so the garlic aioli helped to blunt the saltiness for me.

Gooey Hot Chocolate Tart, Caramelized Banana, Salted Caramel Ice Cream.
Mmmmm, there's always room for dessert, isn't there? This tart was really nice and deliciously chocolate-y. The caramelized banana and salted caramel ice cream made delightful companions to the chocolate tart. Warm + gooey + chocolate. That's a winning combination right there, if you ask me.

My verdict: Salt Tapas and Bar is probably more suited as a place to go for pre-dinner munchies or a late night drinking destination that also offers some food on the side. Why I say this is because the food is somewhat overpriced, imo. I understand that this is tapas ie. small plates, but a plate of five meatballs for $22?! That's kinda like main entree price point. For a group of three or four people, I'd normally order 6 to 8 different tapas dishes to feel adequately full; throw in some drinks too and going by that formula, a meal here can easily set you back $250-$400 total. That's kinda steep for most people who just want a simple night out in town for a regular meal, don't you think?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the food, I did. But the company was better and I'd have been cool hanging out with these pals elsewhere (with more cash to spare at the end of the evening). Thank goodness I generally don't eat much, so I was a-okay at the end of the meal. But other people with normal appetite probably will leave still feeling hungry. Or feel the burn in their pockets. Just sayin'. ;P

Salt Tapas & Bar
#01-22A, Raffles City Shopping Centre
No 252, North Bridge Road,
Singapore 179103
Tel: +65 6837 0995

Check out more photos of my dinner at Salt Tapas and Bar (Claire loves to take pix ^^ … I don't blame her because she is such a pretty girl and the camera loves her!) on my Facebook page → http://www.facebook.com/MBxMB.

Mary Katrantzou for Longchamp

noreply@blogger.com (MOONBERRY) — Tue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Following up on the Longchamp S/S 2012 collection which I blogged about earlier, I am very excited to share that the Longchamp boutiques in Singapore are officially getting these gorgeous Mary Katrantzou bags on Tuesday May 8th. I love these bags very much because the prints are so colorful and pretty. Mary Katrantzou's inspiration for these prints comes from the concept of East meets West. There is a profusion of orchids, lanterns, dragons juxtaposed against architecture - in particular Asian temples against a sculptural Western staircase and also the grandeur of Carnegie Hall.

FYI, the collection is sold out at Colette in Paris. It is also sold out in many countries in the world. Only very limited pieces are available in Singapore. The pieces in the collection include two placed print totes (Aquarium and Lantern) and 5 all-over print pieces in Le Pliage shapes and sizes. The collection is priced from SGD $129 - $813. These bags are done so beautifully in vibrant cheerful colors, I am totally in love with them. These bags make a very bold statement! I totally want to get me one. :)

Longchamp boutiques in Singapore are located here:

THE SHOPPES AT MARINA BAY SANDS
2 BAYFRONT AVE. #B1-146
018972 SINGAPORE

PARAGON
290 ORCHARD ROAD #02-02/03
238859 SINGAPORE

ION ORCHARD
2 ORCHARD TURN #03-21
238801 SINGAPORE

I went to the store to fondle the bags and took some pictures to share here with y'all.

Very colorful bags, eh? :)

Philosophy

noreply@blogger.com (MOONBERRY) — Sun, 06 May 2012 23:30:00 +0000

We Americans are no stranger when it comes to the lovely skincare brand known as Philosophy. I'm excited to share with all my Singaporean readers that this brand is now finally available in Singapore too and can be picked up at Sephora Singapore starting April 2012.

Philosophy is a brand that approaches personal care from a skin care point of view, while celebrating the beauty of the human spirit. Philosophy promises to bring its customers products that inspire them to live a better life by being better to themselves. Their products are based on a rich, scientific heritage, coupled with inspirational messaging to create a fresh, approachable attitude toward beauty.

What I personally love about Philosophy is that, aside from having great products that I genuinely enjoy using, they have really fun and inspirational product names too. I found this blurb on their website: "We use children's pictures and lowercase writing to remind us of the genuine curiosity, wisdom and joy that exists within our the childhood consciousness in us all." I have always associated the brand with purity, simplicity and the clean minimal typography on its packaging, together with the beautiful words inspire better days. I find it very uplifting and soothing. :)

I attended a Philosophy workshop the other day and wanna make my personal recommendations here as to which products should be high on your list, especially if this is the first time you come across the brand. First and foremost, the brand is made up of four product lines: Skin Care, Fragrance, Bath & Body, Gifts. In this blog post, I will primarily be discussing skin care products. Actually I like all the products, but I'm going to touch upon just a couple of them here to get you acquainted.

The Microdelivery
In-home Vitamin C Peptide peel

This is one of the star products. Clinical results show that after just one microdelivery peel, 82% of respondents agreed their skin appeared to be resurfaced, and 80% said their skin felt smoother and more refined. I love how the resurfacing crystals (step 1 below) has a beautiful orange fragrance. It feels really good and very spa-like when you use this.

How to Apply
Step 1 - Vitamin C⁄Peptide Resurfacing Crystals
Apply a teaspoon amount to clean, dry skin. Once applied, crystals should appear almost like a mask. Gently massage in a circular motion over entire face for up to 60 seconds, avoiding eye area. Do not scrub. (Use less pressure for sensitive skin.)

Step 2 - Lactic⁄Salicylic Acid Activating Gel
Place a generous teaspoon amount in the palm of your hand. massage gel onto fingertips, and apply on top of crystals. As activator is applied, a warming sensation will occur. White foam will appear, indicating activation. leave foam on 2-3 minutes to infuse vitamin c and peptides into the skin. (You can massage foam for extra exfoliating benefits or let it sit for sensitive skin.) Rinse thoroughly. (You can use a washcloth for removal, to avoid getting the peel in your hair).

Hope In a Jar
Lightweight moisturizer for all skin types.

This is Philosophy's award-winning, lightweight daily moisturizer which hydrates and provides antioxidant protection, while improving skin texture and tone, leaving it smooth and radiant. Oprah Winfrey swears by this moisturizer and it comes in three different versions (Normal to Dry skin, Normal to Combination skin and Normal to Oily skin). All Hope In a Jar moisturizers bear a unique soufflé texture that leaves a matte finish to create a healthy-looking glow.

How to Apply
Apply morning and evening after cleanser and treatment.

With Robin White, Philosophy's skin care expert.

Connect with the Philosophy Singapore Facebook page. I kid you not, they were recently giving away $500 skincare vouchers daily to their lucky Facebook fans!

Last but not least, check out more photos I've taken during the Philosophy workshop on my Facebook page → http://www.facebook.com/MBxMB.

John Tibbott Illustrations

noreply@blogger.com (MOONBERRY) — Sun, 06 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Cute series by John Tibbott. I can totally see this in my baby nephew's nursery, hung in a cluster. That'll look really sweet.

The Last Dolphin

The Last Panda

The Last Polar Bear

The Last Sea Monster

The Last Bat