Review: Vanity Trove - Fall in Love September edition

I've just received my VT Fall in Love Sept edition!

Early this month, I paid $25 for the September edition as a gift for my upcoming bday in sept.
Took a long while to get my goodies though.

Anyway, the delivery man just came, and oops, I was too busy reading that I didnt know he was outside.
Turns out he called me twice, but I didnt pick up.
I'm so sorry!

Back to topic.
It was exciting receiving the box!
However, my excitement died down, because I didnt see any DNKY perfume.
Had my expectations up high because I saw some fb-ers talking about it! Grrrr, why so suay.

For your info, I am no beauty junkie.
I swear by minimal or NO makeup, although I sometimes put on blusher to make myself look less pale.
And, no, I do not put on any foundation or whatsoever before I put two slabs of blusher on my cheeks.
Haha, lazy girl. I just dont like the oily sticky feeling of makeup on my skin!
Hence, I'm going to uncover what's in my pack, and google out the price of the items.
Well, to see if my $25 is worth it.

this was pasted on the side of the pack. I dont know why, don't tell me this is my birthday goodie?
not very sincere huh.

opening it, face :). saw the goodies, face :(

At first look, these are the top 3 that made me felt my $25, COULD be worth it.

Here goes:

1. Essie nail polish - Essie Jazz E304

Essie Jazz E304: $10

Said to be retailing at $18, but on sale for $10.
I've never seen this brand before (told you I'm not a beauty junkie). The only nail polish brands I know are OPI, and those from korean shops like TFS, Etude House blah blah.
I still have two bottles of polishes from Seoul, that I bought a year ago.
The green and purple polish are drying up I guess (I hear you gasp, GREEN POLISH? Ya, I must be mad then)

2. Pure beauty Soothing BB Cream

30ml. From Watsons. RP $9.95

This is a retail size item, and it does make me feel a little happy.
However, I dont have much need for a BB cream.
Probably will pass it to my mum or give it to my friends :(

3. Princess Pinki Magic Pink Cream

A google search showed that this is the most expensive of all! $48.90?

Apparently, this product can be used on your cheeks, lips and.....behold

YOUR NIPPLE.

WHUT?

Why will you wanna apply that on your nipple?

Although this is the most expensive of the bunch, I dont fancy non-powder blusher.

Sigh, another wasted item for me.

4. Smooth 365 peptide serum

sample size. 

This is the most baffling product to me. 

What's a peptide serum? 

Another non-useable product for me!

5. Rimmel Quad Eyeshadow

Rimmel London Glam Eye Shadow Quads

Unfortunately, I couldn't find out the price of this retail sized item.

Anybody knows?

6. Fruit smoothie trial size: Raspberry and Mango; Hydrogel Eye therapy patch

"It promises to nourish, moisturise, brighten, cool/soothe and boost the elasticity of the skin around the eyes, as well as diminish eye wrinkles." Copied from its web.

 At least, two usable items for me!

The fruit smoothie mask is said to be "vegetarian" because no animals were used to test!

Apparently its a deep pore cleansing mask, so it'll put good use for me as I've quite some troublesome blackheads. 

Would it help? I'll try to know!

Next is the Leaders InSolution Hydrogel Eye Therapy Patch.

Since it retails at $16.90 for 5 packs, my 1 pack would cost around $3.38!

Either I'll try it, or I'll let my mum use it.

Conclusion:

Although my Sept package consists of around 7 items, there is none that impresses me.

I requested for a birthday goodie, but am not sure which "sincere" gift they gave.

Also, I took part in their promo, and qualified myself for a special gift.

Not sure what special gift I got either.

This wasn't a very satisfying trove that I've got.

Although the total amount of things I got may cost more than $25, I dont feel that its worth my cents.

This is such a disappointing experience.

I was excited about it because many bloggers were raving about it (of course, they were paid to do so), and even URBAN featured it.

But I dont find my goodies worth it at all :(

What's more, they promised to add something for my birthday, but I cant figure out what they gave -___-

Verdict: 


I will never waste my $25 again, unless VT give me promising returns for my money.

Perhaps VT should deliver samples by first finding out what kind of items customers want.

Lethargic

I'm lacking energy, I'm worried about my future.
I'm graduating soon, but have no slightest idea what I am going to do.
To be frank, I know its not difficult for a degree(hons) to find a job, but, what's difficult is finding a job that I like and/or pays well.

1. I do not major in accounting, business nor finance - in which, working in bank seems like a lesser probability for me. Would I enjoy working in banks? I have no experiences working part-time there before. What I do know is, they pay well. However, the downside would be the amount of stress and overtime I have to work.
2. I do not have a high GPA. Grades, grades, grades. Somehow this is an important factor for recruitment! I do not come from a string of top schools! Neither do I have high academic results to boast. What should I do? I'm near a second-upper honors (3.9x), but with the number of modules I'm taking now, its really hard to jump up.
3. I am wondering, what can I offer to my future companies? I know I'm effectively bilingual. So, what? 

Can someone guide me to the light?

Visit to Microsoft Singapore

I had a chance to visit Microsoft through a school event.
Sadly, I didnt have an extremely pleasant time there.
Well, probably because I'd no friends with me, and the people there are mostly foreign students.
Managed to strike up a chat with an exchange student though.

Anyway, the Microsoft office was pretty cool.
Just, not as "WOW" as I imagined. True enough it was a cosy environment to work in, but I don't see much interactions among people.
Does the non-permanent sitting arrangement plan boost productivity, creativity and efficiency?
Microsoft could probably be a good case study to look at.
But I do admire its move to an open space office, where you can sit anywhere you want.
I mean, how many offices do that?
Too many companies have the conventional approach of fixed desks and tables, and the Gen Y-ers I've mixed with all expressed that they wished they could find a non-desk bound job.
"Sitting in a cubicle, surrounded by walls, very sian one leh"

We were only allowed access to two floors, not a wide scope of sight to see actually.
I was just fascinated by their free drinks corner, view of the MBS, and some of the gadgets such as this:

large screen touch panel where tweets, emails are shown. My thoughts are that, although this allows multiple hands to interact with the system, its not very easy to use. Even when I tried to move things towards me, I'd difficulties doing so.
And, I can't really envision how this could help in the future. Still needs improvement tbh.

Dell laptop with a tablet screen. Cool! Didnt try carrying it and see if it's light haha

We also had the chance to look at Microsoft Windows 8!

I did a search and found out that there's this pre-released version where we can download to try Windows 8 out.

Unfortunately, I dont want to take risk downloading it :P although I really really wanna try it out!

Doesnt it look nice?

With apps becoming central to our everyday lives, this is probably why Windows 8's design is heading that way.

The little boxes seems like an easy way to find your stuffs, and you could customize your page by dragging apps you want.

However, I doubt older people would enjoy learning this new operating system.

There're too many bright colors on the screen. Dont think my dad would like seeing such vibrant colors.

On the other hand, I would be excited to try it out (soon ?! if i've the money lol)

How I wish I could work there when I graduate :(

But, would they want me?

100 days

It was our 100th day yesterday.

I was seriously moody in the morning, because my dear boy told me he'll leave house at 3pm.

Like What?! 3pm is so late. And when he told me he's leaving house at like 3.30pm, I was already fuming.

Don't understand why this man is 80% of the time LATE!

But, I cant seem to get angry at him for long. When I saw his face, I cant help it but to smile.

Hehe, but I had my moody expression for quite some time until we reached ikea and he hugged me.

Okay, good redemption!

Anyway, our 100th day was spent on ikea shopping!

I needed a table for my room, and school is starting on monday!

What a joke, I'm in my final year in NTU now, and I've finally brought my very own table?!

Settled on the Vika Amon black brown table. Initially, I took the medium size one, but when I reached home, it looked kinda small.

Had to go back to ikea for an exchange again, luckily for us, it was a rather fast process.

Sorry baby for driving me here and there XD

I'm so loving my table and my room now!! :D

The Vika Amon black brown table top cost $49 

The legs costs 5 sgd per piece.

Total damage - S$69.

Cheap right?! I think it's cheap la haha

 First time assembling an ikea table! Yay to my boyfriend hahaha 

Spent around an hour in my room doing the table and my chalkboard board.

Very fail.

Cut a portion of leftover cardboard, and pasted the chalkboard sticker! 

The board is now hanging on my window.

Wanted to decorate my walls with the chalkboard stickers, but I've not guts. LOL

Don't wanna spoil my wall!

We then headed for supper and Gardens By the Bay.

Although it was just a simple date, I feel happy!

My boyfriend did a lot for me, from chaffering me to ikea, being my free labour, to buy stuffs for me, and! printing photo collages for us <3

Love you pug! 

Hate it when you ignore what I said.
Hate it when you dont reply even when you're online.
Hate it when you gave short replies like you dont care.

The Noob's Guide to Cooking - Chicken Porridge

Hello, I've just finished cooking my own chicken porridge.
Bear in mind that I'm a lazy, 21 years old, who seldom cooks (because my mum helms the kitchen).
The only time I could cook properly (without mummy's intervention) was when I was in Shanghai for 6 months, and when she's not at home!
\O/ yoohoo.
This is my virgin attempt in cooking chicken porridge.
My mum has NEVER cooked it before, because my dad HATES chicken -.-
Just now, he was telling me how smelly the chicken was when I was shredding it lol
Anyway, the idea of chicken porridge came about because I was totally sick of my mum's FISH PORRDIGE.
grrr, I needed new food, and thought of chicken!
So using my handy-dandy YouTube, I did a search on chicken porridge.
Tadahhhhh, I'm ready to go.

Here's what you need:
Ingredients - Chicken (bought from NTUC Fairprice), Red dates (optional), Ginger (optional), Salt, Pepper, Sesame Oil, Mushrooms (optional), Rice (amount depends on how many are eating. Gauge it yourself ^^)

1. First, marinate the chicken with sesame oil, salt and pepper. You can leave it overnight in the fridge like I did, or for 1/2-1 hour before cooking.

2. Prepare water in your pot. Fill the pot 1/2 full with water, if you want watery porridge.  

 

3. Chop the mushrooms and ginger (optional) & prepare the dates by removing the centre seed

4. Boil the water. Once boiled, add in your marinated chicken.

Here's some tips: I added 1/3 cups of water first and boiled it. I believe it is faster to boil 1/3 of water, than 1/2 full. You can add more water after Step 5.

5.  Add in your mushroom, red dates and ginger (along with more water). Cover the lid for about 10 minutes.

6. Take out the cooked chicken and let it cool. Add in the rice into the chicken soup.  

7. After it cools, shred it with your hands! (This is when my dad said, "Wah, smelly!") 

8.  Finally, add in your shredded chicken into the pot! Cover the lid and cook it for a while. The longer you cook, the softer the rice!

And there it is! My virgin attempt of Chicken porridge.

The ultimate recipe for zhai nvs and zhai nans, lazy girls and lazy boys.

Disclaimer: It is at your own risk to try out my recipe. If you lao sai, hold yourself accountable for your dirty hands!

Heartache

I cry easily, and sometimes I feel that I'm just a silly girl, tearing over minor things.
I get very easily affected by what people says, and if there's a bit of displeasure or negativity thrown towards me, I will cry.
And being egoistic, I dont cry in front of others. I dont like people to see me cry, not because I dont want their care but because I dont wanna be seen as a weakling.
At home, I cry mainly due to what my mum says. It's been like this for the past 21 years.
I've always felt like a second fiddle to my brothers.
Why is it that I've to do this and that, but he can sit there and do nothing?
Why is it that my mum talks to me in an accusing and angry tone, but so sweetly to his precious son?
Why does my mum call me useless and not her precious son?!
I once joked to a friend, in front of my parents, that my parents dote on me because I'm their only daughter.
I just wanted to make myself feel good in front of my friend.
Later on, my mum shoot back to me, "女儿又怎样？是宝啊？什么都不会做。你以为你很厉害!”
That was when I was having my dinner. As I sat there hearing what she said, I pretended I was concentrating on eating, and ignored what she said.

You know, silence, is a girl's loudest cry.

I put on a brave stubborn front, and stood up to get water, before going to the toilet, and cried inside.
I dont know how many times I've done this. Even today.
Just a tiny bit of displeasure towards me, and bias towards my brother made me angry, jealous and hurt.

I tear sometimes, when I get cold replies.
I tear sometimes, when I seem like I'm not important.
I tear, when I'm being ignored.

You know she's hurt, when she starts to ignore you.

And when I feel hurt, I ignore others. Ironic isn't it?
I know I want attention, from my loved ones.
Is this wrong?
I know I may get overly-sensitive at times, but I can't help it.
I hide my emotions too. People just need genuine concerns.
And, I just wish for my daily love and attention.

Story

I'm currently busy writing my story, on MS Word.
Took me a long while to write, probably an hour plus?
It was so difficult writing in a third person POV, but hopefully it would put a smile on his face.

Anyway, I wont be going JB today.
Had a bad day yesterday, and am not feeling well.
Especially emotions-wise.
So, it was better to miss it, else I would feel even more unwell!
------------------------
Edit:

I just subscribed for the September issue of Vanity Trove. (Yay?)
Just wanted to treat myself an early birthday gift.
I hope I won't be disappointed!
There are just too many sponsored reviews that give clearly biased talks, I dont buy that.
I'm going to check it for myself before I give any verdicts.
Also saw a blog comparing between BellaBox and Vanity Trove.

I initially wanted to go for Bellabox, because of the lower price (stated $15), Vanity Trove is $25.
However, when I reached its site, I found out that the price became $19.95! -_-
The increase was due to delivery charges (what?)
Not much point to settle on Bellabox since Vanity Trove seems like a better bargain.
$19.95 vs $25, a difference of $5.05.
From the pictures, it seems like the packaging of Vanity Trove, samples (more atas, and expensive stuffs) given and number of reviews, beat Bellabox hands down!
Think I'd rather bet a chance on Vanity instead. Already paid for it anyway, cannot regret liao!
Do you agree?
请不要让我觉得我浪费钱hor!

3 months plus a new blog to start

Hungy hungry!
Am pigging out on ORIGINAL FAIRPRICE potato chips while blogging *munch munch*
(my dad thinks its economical for the 4 packs chips lol and he kept stocking up the same brand T.T)
Started blogging again, because I'm just too bored.
Have been idling at home for the past weeks and decided I should do something "productive".
Haven't been blogging for super long; the last time was in 2008/9? During my JC periods.
Ah, time flies. I'm already 22 :(

However, I've been consistently posting quotes or random thoughts on my tumblr!
Felt that my quotes and designs are getting boring though.
Will put up quotes when I've inspirations.
I think I've more inspirations when I liked him, than now haha
sigh, the joy of the flirtatious period. tsk!
Anyway, am proud to say my tumblr has 6,859 followers!
Although I highly suspect many are inactive accounts now, and there's hardly any followers who look at my tumblr daily.
Oops.

Heading to JB with my og mates tomorrow!
YAY! Although I've been worrying about the safety there, but I guess things should go fine, since there's 5 of us.
And my dear friend said City Square is very safe, since its near customs.
We shall see!

Anyway, happy 3rd month pug!
Although you sometimes irritate me, make my heart ache, or make me angry, I still love you.
You're the one (of a fewwwww) that can make me sincerely happy :D
Stupid pug sent me a video on dropbox and I had a hearty laugh!
♥♥♥3 hearts for you! NAH!

Meeting you was fate, becoming your friend was a choice, but loving you, was something I'd no control over.