POSTED ON: Saturday, August 31, 2013 @ 12:25 PM | 0 comments
1. Water Marbling
Another shot at water marbling and I think I'm starting to get the hang of it.
First picture is my right hand in an awkward pose with alternating water marbled nails and gradient nails. Second picture is my left hand with alternating water marbled nails and plain solid coloured nails. Haven't done gradient nails in ages and I really need a lot more practice with it.
The two colors I used for this mani are ciate's Kiss Chase and OPI's My Vampire Is Buff.
Although not perfect and still much room for improvement, I'd like to share some things I learnt along the way with a my trial and errors.
Tip #1: Use brand new nail polishes for water marbling. And those that take a longer time to dry. I discovered that all those quick dry polishes don't work at all since they dry up the moment I plop them into the water and doesn't give me any time to add on more rings of colours or to do my patterns with the toothpick.
Tip #2: Change the water that you use to drop your polish in. This reduces the number of air bubbles and random residues that would get stuck on your mani.
Tip #3: Make sure the polish spreads out before adding the next colour to create a few rings of colours. It would be hard to add further drops of polish if they dont spread out well and hard to draw out the design with the toothpick. Even worse when you try to dip your nail in, it just appears on the nail as an ugly blob of polish all clumped up together.
Tip #4: Use water that is at room temperature. Tap water works well for me. Warm water or cold water didn't do the spreading of my polishes in the water any good.
To all my friends out there who tried water marbling once or twice and gave up after that, DON'T GIVE UP! Practice makes perfect! You'll also have to trial and error with many different polishes to find out which are the ones that are good for water marbling. I've wasted tons of nail polish trying out which one works and how to water marble and all. But finally being able to get something decent on my nail is worth all the hard work!! It's simply satisfying and makes me so happy~!
2. School
School work is piling up. This week is only the second week of school and I'm starting to get tired already. Thankful for the good food and good friends to get me by!
Some of the yummy stuff I had this week...
First one here is a dessert at Sakae Sushi's new outlet at Djitsun Mall. Can't remember the name of this dessert but it was filled with delicious creamy green tea ice cream.
The next two photos was when I had dinner with WanLin at Raffles City's Coffee Club.
I had Curry Seafood Pizza which was topped with prawns, squids, fish, mussels and a generous blob of cheese. Also a strawberry mocha to keep me awake during my night class.
Cupcakes from dessert.cup at Raffles City. Earl grey and strawberry vanilla. Yumz in my tums at 12midnight but still
nothing can beat LiTying's homemade cupcakes.
Last photo here is of cookiewiches! This was at PARK @ Holland Village last Friday with Joseph Thia. I had Earl Grey ice cream in between chocolate macaroons and he had strawberry ice cream in between shortbread. Their mains were pretty good too, with a wide variety of pastas, burgers, meat and even pancakes to choose from. Definitely going back there again someday.
3. Keeping Fit
This week I headed to the gym on Tuesday to do my usual weights and other random exercises. Friday morning was rather productive and I jogged 2+km at Bishan Park. Jogging in a park is really much better than running on a treadmill. Fresh air, luscious green plants, other fellow joggers (and their dogs) for company and even the workers trimming the plants and keeping the park nice and clean for all of us. (:
I just hope that I can keep this exercise regime up so that I can go back to my previous weight, back to when I was still in cheerleading. Hate being a fat blob now...
Back to burying myself in schoolwork. Have a good weekend everyone! (:
Love,
Lorraine
Nail Strengtheners
POSTED ON: Monday, August 26, 2013 @ 9:52 PM | 0 comments
Bought a new nail strengthener, which I also use as a base coat recently (about 3 weeks ago). Since I've used about 4 strengtheners in the past one year, I thought I'd share with you girls my take on these "staples".
I ordered this Original Nail Envy by OPI on NailDeck.com and it was delivered promptly within a week as always. Instructions for use was to apply one coat every day (or in my case I use it as a base coat for all my manis), and to be cleaned off after a week and start the regime all over again.
The second picture shows my nails with a single coat of OPI's Original Nail Envy. Looking strong, long and healthy there. Inevitable is the yellowish tips considering the amount of time my nails are spent hidden under coats of polish.
So within a year, I've used these 4 nail strengtheners listed below:
- OPI's Original Nail Envy
- OPI's Nail Envy (for sensitive and peeling nails)
- Sally Hansen's Green Tea Bamboo Strengthener
- Sally Hansen's Maximum Growth
Out of the four pictured here, my favourite has to be OPI's Nail Envy for sensitive and peeling nails. With the frequency of my manis, my nails were bound to be brittle and peeling and chipping off easily. But with OPI's Nail Envy, these problems were easily solved and OPI yet again proves itself to be a clear winner. The Original Nail Envy does it's job well too. Though the results are not as distinct as that of my favourite one, it is more easily available as compared to the one for sensitive and peeling nails so I guess I'll be sticking to this one for a while.
My least favourite was Sally Hansen's Maximum Growth. Not only does it not solve my problems of brittle nails, my nail layers came off in chunks together with the coat of strengthener. The other reviews that I read online didn't mention this problem although many of them stated that it didn't solve their nail problems either.
Whatever it is, I hope you girls find a nail strengthener that is suited to your needs and may they give you fantastic results just like I experienced with my OPI Nail Envy. Just a disclaimer, I was not paid to do this review and the above are entirely from my personal experience.
A little teaser here, I would be trying out water marbling again within the next two days so keep a lookout for my next mani right here!
No school on Mondays = no Monday blues for me. Have a good week ahead everyone! (:
Love,
Lorraine
The Weekend Roundup
POSTED ON: Sunday, August 25, 2013 @ 2:03 PM | 0 comments
1. #NOTW
Nails of the week: OPI's A Definite Moust Have from the Couture De Minnie collection, with little pink and purple studs on the second and fourth nail.
This week is my first week of school after a 3.5month break. Very busy with settling down and everything so I apologise for the lack of nail posts and pretty designs. ):
Please still continue to support my blog and I promise to blog at least once a week!
2. Purple Sage Mooncakes
[WARNING: Tonnes of photos ahead.]
Being a very loyal intern at Purple Sage, please support my efforts and purchase a box of mooncakes from me! I'll give you a good discount yeah?! (:
So introducing Purple Sage's delicately crafted mooncakes.
To some, the Mid-Autumn festival is just an occasion where the family dining table is laden with oriental pastries. To others, it is a period full of gifts from your loved and respected ones. So join us in celebrating this season and get a box of these delicious Mid-Autumn treats for your clients and loved ones. Our 11 years experience in the catering industry allows us to select the best and most exquisite of flavors to please all palates. We have handpicked four beautiful pastry flavors that pleases the eyes and taste buds.
And here they are:
Pure Lotus Double Yolk
Pure Lotus, one of the most luxurious of traditional mooncake paste nourishes the kidneys and restores vitality. Brought together with two lustrous salted yolks flawlessly, the wholesome treat is complemented by an elegant edge of crunchy melon kernel seeds.
Imperial Ivory
The milk and butter pastry skin was inspired by freshly baked cakes on a cool summer morning. A gentle touch ofwinter melon is added to alkalize and balance your body, and gives off a charming scent to the pastry. Accompanied with tasteful dried longans, melon kernel seeds, and a touch of macadamia bits, the flavours are rounded up perfectly with a single yolk.
Grand Ruby
A piece to be adored like precious rubies, the center of this mooncake is bountiful with red yeast dried olives, harmonizing the lotus paste and lily bulb (bai he) filling with a sweet savoury touch. While the lily bulbs heal the lungs, the red yeast helps maintain a healthy cholesterol level making this a wonderfully nutritious selection.
Green Tea Custard Azuki
Although it is called Japanese Green Tea or “Nihoncha”, the first green tea was actually brewed and enjoyed in 2737 B.C. during the reign of Emperor Chen Nung in China. The oriental mooncake brings a nostalgic memory of mountain tops during winter in Shizuoka, Japan. Smooth custard and tender azuki (Japanese red beans) finishes off this anti-oxidant packed treat.
A food blogger, Daniel from DanielFoodDiary.com featured us on his Instagram too! Check out his video in the link below!
The four photos below shows the four mooncakes encased in our pretty box.
Our box has a glossy finish and lined with purple velvet on the inside. Really pretty, elegant and classy as gifts for your friends, loved ones and clients!
Is your mouth watering yet? Do you already have people in mind that you would like to purchase our mooncakes as lovely gifts for? Contact me now at lorraine@purplesage.com.sg to order your mooncakes! Our mooncakes are priced at $52 for a box of 4, but I can give you a good good discount! Do feel free to email me if you require further details, I would be more than glad to assist you.
So help me out alright? And spread the word too! (:
3. Apple's Family Day
Yesterday was spent at East Coast Park, working for PS at Apple's Family Day.
(Photo repost from Eunice and Tida)
Look at all the colourful tents! There were so many booths I didn't manage to visit all of them. Food stalls, game stalls, activity stalls etc. PS had a few booths too, serving up yummy snacks such as fries, burgers, potato wedges, apple strudels and drinks to all the hungry Apple employees.
And here's my booth! With my lovely chirpy colleague Blossom!
"Would you like a hotdog?" (:
The heat, the crowd, working from 9am till 6plus in the evening, here's a photo of a very tired me and Eunice fooling around with big shiny bow ties. #ilovemyjob
4. Mum's Birthday
Thursday was my Mum's birthday and I got her a mango mousse cake from Bakerzin. Bakerzin's mango mousse cake showcases a light mango mousse embedded with pieces of mango and sandwiched between light sponge cakes and is lightly dusted with icing sugar on top. Their cakes are really yummy, light and fresh I should have bought a larger one instead!
Have a good weekend everyone! (:
Love,
Lorraine
THE WEEKEND ROUNDUP
POSTED ON: Sunday, August 18, 2013 @ 12:48 PM | 0 comments
The weekends are here again and it's time for THE WEEKEND ROUNDUP!
1. #PolishTogether
Today's #PolishTogether theme for the Birthstone Series is PERIDOT (yellowish-green/lime). Thank you @perpetualfunk for hosting this Birthstone Series and for giving us a heads up as well. I am eagerly looking forward to each theme every month!
And here's my mani for this month's theme! Water marbling with two colours: Essence's Love It Or Leave It and China Glaze's For Audrey. Inconsistent with the toothpick in the water, hence the inconsistent patterns on my nails. Must remember to be more consistent with the designs in the water next time.
Over the weekends, I bought an amazing HOKEY manual juicer for only $38 (worth $114.90)!
Here's a picture of the juicer!
And here's a picture of all it's individual parts. Really easy to dismantle, really easy to wash and really easy to put everything back together again!
I tell you this juicer is awesome! Unlike the normal high speed juicers that runs on electricity, this manual juicer does not need any electricity, and gives your 100% pure fruit juice with all the nutrients still inside. It separates the pulp from the juice (the pulp comes out from the little white nozzle at the end there). And everyone who has bought juice from the fruit stalls, I'm sure you notice that your fruit juice separates into two columns after you leave it standing for awhile. That's because the conventional electric juicers use some high speed centrifugal force to separate the juice from the flesh of the fruit. It also has a metal blade that oxidizes the nutrients and generates heat which could denature the enzymes of our fruits/vegetables. Oh and did I mention this is very quiet? (I could still hear my carrot rolling off the table while juicing!)
Check out my bowl of fruits and vegetables!
If you ever use grapefruits in your juice like I did, please remember to remove the white parts in between the fruit and the skin. They're pretty sour and bitter...
My apple+carrot+grapefruit juice. Here's to a healthier me! ^^
3. Time for a change?
I feel like changing this blog's layout. To one that's easier for everyone to glance through at one look, meaning no more tabs at the top and everything will just be either on the left or right column. What do you girls think?
School starts again on Tuesday! SMU is always the last to start the new term sighhs. And I'll leave you guys with a quote I saw sometime this week... "Great things end, so that greater things can happen."
Enjoy your weekend everyone! (:
Love,
Lorraine
Essence Swatches
POSTED ON: Thursday, August 15, 2013 @ 9:15 PM | 0 comments
As promised, swatches of the two new Essence polishes I got from Watson's the other day.
The first one here 128 Let's Get Lost is a gorgeous teal creme. Two coats without a topcoat, look at the shine! I really love the flat brush with a rounded tip. It makes painting around my cuticles a whole lot easier and neater (considering I am never ever hardworking enough to do cleanup).
The next one is 02 Love It Or Leave It from the newest Hugs & Kisses collection. Lime green or yellow-green, whatever you'd like to call that colour. The brush is different from the other one here. Just a normal brush you find with other polishes (I don't really know how to describe these normal brushes?). A little less glossy than the teal one above, but pretty nonetheless.
Will definitely purchase more Essence polish. I really love the wide flat brush with the rounded tip. And they're really cheap too! Only $2.90 per bottle! As compared to my other favourite brand OPI which, the cheapest I can find is about $10 per bottle.
Hope you girls find these two colours as interesting as I did! Next post will be during the weekends which means it will be the weekly WEEKEND ROUNDUP.
Happy Thursday everyone! (:
Love,
Lorraine
Butter London: Trout Pout
POSTED ON: Wednesday, August 14, 2013 @ 9:29 PM | 0 comments
My very first Butter London polish!! (sorry I'm really slow with all these...)
From the Spring/Summer 2012 collection, I have TROUT POUT! Gorgeous cantaloupe/ pinkish coral creme. The brush pales in comparison to OPI's but the application was pretty much acceptable. Streaky with the first coat, but a second coat and a good quick drying top coat got my nails covered pretty well. Absolutely love love love this colour I can't stop staring at my fingers.
I love the classy, beautifully designed packaging too. Would be great if someone could make me a phone cover that looks exactly like this little bottle of Butter London's Trout Pout!
A little pricey for me these Butter London polishes, which is also why it took me so long to decide to get one. The polish also chips after a day, even with a good base coat (I used OPI's Nail Envy Original) and a good top coat (I used Seche Vite's). And for a similar quality, I might be kinder on my wallet and go for a cheaper alternative. Well, unless some other pretty colour from Butter London catches my eye again, or when someone's selling them at a great discounted price.
Passed by Watson's today and I couldn't resist taking a peak at their Essence counter. So two more polishes to my collection! The one on the left is 128 Let's Get Lost and the one on the right is 02 Love It Or Leave It from their newest edition of Hugs & Kisses. Will swatch them both soon!
Can't wait for school to start so I won't be so bored and lonely and rolling around on my bed all day. Till next time! (:
Love,
Lorraine
Striping Tape Mani
POSTED ON: Monday, August 12, 2013 @ 10:30 AM | 0 comments
Third red and white mani within a week, this time experimenting with my striping tape again.
Here are the colours used for this mani:
OPI's My Vampire Is Buff
Rainbow's Colour 23
L.A. Girl's Grape 156
Oh and if you girls have any red+white mani, makeup or ootds to share on Instagram, do hashtag your photos with #luxola9th. They're having an Instagram contest and you could stand a chance to win yourself a $48 Luxola gift voucher! Contest ends today (12th August) so hurry! I've already tagged my three of my recent red and white manis on my Instagram hehehe ^^
Do check out the other awesome red and white manis by other talented ladies too! I love the one stroke flower by @perpetualfunk!
Good luck everyone!
Love,
Lorraine
Weekend Roundup
POSTED ON: Saturday, August 10, 2013 @ 12:46 AM | 0 comments
I'm not entirely sure if only nail enthusiasts read my blog and I thought I might have people I know personally or other non-nailfanatics who read my blog too. I'd like to share little bits and pieces of my daily life with all you lovely people out there (but nail posts will still be the main focus!).
First up, a nail photo to start the post.
These are the base colours for my second National Day mani. OPI's My Vampire Is Buff and Colour 23 from Rainbow. As mentioned in the previous post, red and white are the colours of our Singapore flag, hence my national day manis are all based on these two colours. Stripes done with a striping tape and the black ribbon drawn freehand with a paintbrush (I still haven't got my hands on proper nail art brushes!). The red polish bleeds a little to the white but I still love the final look (:
So... there will be a new type of posts dedicated to such random musings of mine every week. Introducing the WEEKEND ROUNDUP!
1. New media icons.
Under my PROFILE tab on this blog, I have new icons for links to all my other social media pages. These free icons are from the talented Olivia at myfavouritethingsblog.com. I took the bright blue ones and photoshopped them to pink, just to suit the shades of my blog. Olivia has many other icons on her etsy store too, and other cute stuff on her blog as well (e.g. handmade cards, knits, jewelry, crafts). I am so in love with these cute little icons and I hope you love them too! Do pop by and say hi on my other social media platforms too! (:
2. Happy 48th Birthday Singapore!
It was Singapore's 48th birthday on Friday (9th Aug) and Hari Raya Puasa the day before so we had a long long weekend. My mother and I took my grandma to Gardens By The Bay and as a huge fan of flowers, my grandma enjoyed herself very much and was very happy that day. (:
(Me in a bright red dress to show my love for Singapore this National Day!)
The photo below is Singapore's skyline and fireworks in the background to celebrate National Day.
Happy 48th Birthday Singapore!
3. Li Tying's bake sale
Li Tying had her last bake sale of 2013 before she flew off to Europe for her exchange program. Me being a sucker for desserts was naturally a fan of hers (and her cupcakes) so I had to drop by to pick up a cupcake or two for myself.
The first photo shows the two cupcakes I brought back from the bake sale. Dark chocolate raspberry and Iced Lemon Tea. Both were really delicious. The flowers were from Uncle Kelvin on my last day of internship. Two of my favourite things on the table, I was a very happy girl that day!
Hope you all enjoyed reading my WEEKEND ROUNDUP with 3 other random things that I would like to share with everyone this week.
Have a lovely long weekend everyone! (:
Love,
Lorraine
Happy Birthday Singapore!
POSTED ON: Tuesday, August 6, 2013 @ 2:45 PM | 0 comments
@subtleshimmer is inviting fellow Singaporeans to join her in painting our nails red and white to mark Singapore's 48th year of independence. 9th August is the actual day but we can start posting anyway since the celebrations have started! @subtleshimmer is asking all you ladies out there to tag your manis with #nationalday and #nationaldaymani on Instagram. Mine will of course be on my Instagram too! ^^
In case you're wondering why red and white, they're actually the colours of our Singapore flag! Red on top, white below, and a white crescent moon with a pentagon of 5 white stars. The national flag of Singapore was first adopted in 1959, the year we became self-governing within the British empire. And if you're wondering what the colours and shapes represent:
Red: Universal brotherhood and equality of men
White: Pervading and everlasting purity and virtue
Crescent moon: A young nation on the rise
5 stars: Democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality
Here's my mani for Singapore's birthday this year!
Red, white, a little accent of black and little polka dots!
I did consider drawing the crescent moon and the 5 stars, but I was a little lazy to start on the stars. So I guess polka dots would do!
The photo below are the three colours I used (from L to R):
- My Vampire Is Buff
- Innie Minnie Mightie Bow (from the Couture De Minnie collection)
- Lincoln Park After Dark
And of course my trusty Seche Vite topcoat to seal in my design.
My Vampire Is Buff isn't really white, it's more like a off-white/cream coloured polish. But it looks whitish anyway. I love this colour combination and all the colours just pops out so perfectly. (:
Although the more I look at it, the more they remind me of Minnie Mouse. Oh well... Another simple mani. Hope you girls like it!
And since there's Hari Raya Puasa on Thursday, National Day on Friday, followed by Saturday and Sunday, WE HAVE A LONG LONG WEEKEND! What will you be doing over this long weekend?
Nevertheless, I would like to wish all my Muslim friends a Happy Hari Raya Puasa and wishing Singapore a Happy 48th Birthday!
Layout: The grey bunny hops away ★ Ever since: 2011
I have a fetish for unicorns and whales, I live in Narnia. Do not fret, dear friends, for I have candy for all of you. Okay, you get the point. About you, wish list, your gallery, Tagboard here.
Do not remove credit, for I have a dragon that can eat you up. Thank you!
POSTED ON: Saturday, August 31, 2013 @ 12:25 PM | 0 comments
1. Water Marbling
Another shot at water marbling and I think I'm starting to get the hang of it.
First picture is my right hand in an awkward pose with alternating water marbled nails and gradient nails. Second picture is my left hand with alternating water marbled nails and plain solid coloured nails. Haven't done gradient nails in ages and I really need a lot more practice with it.
The two colors I used for this mani are ciate's Kiss Chase and OPI's My Vampire Is Buff.
Although not perfect and still much room for improvement, I'd like to share some things I learnt along the way with a my trial and errors.
Tip #1: Use brand new nail polishes for water marbling. And those that take a longer time to dry. I discovered that all those quick dry polishes don't work at all since they dry up the moment I plop them into the water and doesn't give me any time to add on more rings of colours or to do my patterns with the toothpick.
Tip #2: Change the water that you use to drop your polish in. This reduces the number of air bubbles and random residues that would get stuck on your mani.
Tip #3: Make sure the polish spreads out before adding the next colour to create a few rings of colours. It would be hard to add further drops of polish if they dont spread out well and hard to draw out the design with the toothpick. Even worse when you try to dip your nail in, it just appears on the nail as an ugly blob of polish all clumped up together.
Tip #4: Use water that is at room temperature. Tap water works well for me. Warm water or cold water didn't do the spreading of my polishes in the water any good.
To all my friends out there who tried water marbling once or twice and gave up after that, DON'T GIVE UP! Practice makes perfect! You'll also have to trial and error with many different polishes to find out which are the ones that are good for water marbling. I've wasted tons of nail polish trying out which one works and how to water marble and all. But finally being able to get something decent on my nail is worth all the hard work!! It's simply satisfying and makes me so happy~!
2. School
School work is piling up. This week is only the second week of school and I'm starting to get tired already. Thankful for the good food and good friends to get me by!
Some of the yummy stuff I had this week...
First one here is a dessert at Sakae Sushi's new outlet at Djitsun Mall. Can't remember the name of this dessert but it was filled with delicious creamy green tea ice cream.
The next two photos was when I had dinner with WanLin at Raffles City's Coffee Club.
I had Curry Seafood Pizza which was topped with prawns, squids, fish, mussels and a generous blob of cheese. Also a strawberry mocha to keep me awake during my night class.
Cupcakes from dessert.cup at Raffles City. Earl grey and strawberry vanilla. Yumz in my tums at 12midnight but still
nothing can beat LiTying's homemade cupcakes.
Last photo here is of cookiewiches! This was at PARK @ Holland Village last Friday with Joseph Thia. I had Earl Grey ice cream in between chocolate macaroons and he had strawberry ice cream in between shortbread. Their mains were pretty good too, with a wide variety of pastas, burgers, meat and even pancakes to choose from. Definitely going back there again someday.
3. Keeping Fit
This week I headed to the gym on Tuesday to do my usual weights and other random exercises. Friday morning was rather productive and I jogged 2+km at Bishan Park. Jogging in a park is really much better than running on a treadmill. Fresh air, luscious green plants, other fellow joggers (and their dogs) for company and even the workers trimming the plants and keeping the park nice and clean for all of us. (:
I just hope that I can keep this exercise regime up so that I can go back to my previous weight, back to when I was still in cheerleading. Hate being a fat blob now...
Back to burying myself in schoolwork. Have a good weekend everyone! (:
Love,
Lorraine
Nail Strengtheners
POSTED ON: Monday, August 26, 2013 @ 9:52 PM | 0 comments
Bought a new nail strengthener, which I also use as a base coat recently (about 3 weeks ago). Since I've used about 4 strengtheners in the past one year, I thought I'd share with you girls my take on these "staples".
I ordered this Original Nail Envy by OPI on NailDeck.com and it was delivered promptly within a week as always. Instructions for use was to apply one coat every day (or in my case I use it as a base coat for all my manis), and to be cleaned off after a week and start the regime all over again.
The second picture shows my nails with a single coat of OPI's Original Nail Envy. Looking strong, long and healthy there. Inevitable is the yellowish tips considering the amount of time my nails are spent hidden under coats of polish.
So within a year, I've used these 4 nail strengtheners listed below:
- OPI's Original Nail Envy
- OPI's Nail Envy (for sensitive and peeling nails)
- Sally Hansen's Green Tea Bamboo Strengthener
- Sally Hansen's Maximum Growth
Out of the four pictured here, my favourite has to be OPI's Nail Envy for sensitive and peeling nails. With the frequency of my manis, my nails were bound to be brittle and peeling and chipping off easily. But with OPI's Nail Envy, these problems were easily solved and OPI yet again proves itself to be a clear winner. The Original Nail Envy does it's job well too. Though the results are not as distinct as that of my favourite one, it is more easily available as compared to the one for sensitive and peeling nails so I guess I'll be sticking to this one for a while.
My least favourite was Sally Hansen's Maximum Growth. Not only does it not solve my problems of brittle nails, my nail layers came off in chunks together with the coat of strengthener. The other reviews that I read online didn't mention this problem although many of them stated that it didn't solve their nail problems either.
Whatever it is, I hope you girls find a nail strengthener that is suited to your needs and may they give you fantastic results just like I experienced with my OPI Nail Envy. Just a disclaimer, I was not paid to do this review and the above are entirely from my personal experience.
A little teaser here, I would be trying out water marbling again within the next two days so keep a lookout for my next mani right here!
No school on Mondays = no Monday blues for me. Have a good week ahead everyone! (:
Love,
Lorraine
The Weekend Roundup
POSTED ON: Sunday, August 25, 2013 @ 2:03 PM | 0 comments
1. #NOTW
Nails of the week: OPI's A Definite Moust Have from the Couture De Minnie collection, with little pink and purple studs on the second and fourth nail.
This week is my first week of school after a 3.5month break. Very busy with settling down and everything so I apologise for the lack of nail posts and pretty designs. ):
Please still continue to support my blog and I promise to blog at least once a week!
2. Purple Sage Mooncakes
[WARNING: Tonnes of photos ahead.]
Being a very loyal intern at Purple Sage, please support my efforts and purchase a box of mooncakes from me! I'll give you a good discount yeah?! (:
So introducing Purple Sage's delicately crafted mooncakes.
To some, the Mid-Autumn festival is just an occasion where the family dining table is laden with oriental pastries. To others, it is a period full of gifts from your loved and respected ones. So join us in celebrating this season and get a box of these delicious Mid-Autumn treats for your clients and loved ones. Our 11 years experience in the catering industry allows us to select the best and most exquisite of flavors to please all palates. We have handpicked four beautiful pastry flavors that pleases the eyes and taste buds.
And here they are:
Pure Lotus Double Yolk
Pure Lotus, one of the most luxurious of traditional mooncake paste nourishes the kidneys and restores vitality. Brought together with two lustrous salted yolks flawlessly, the wholesome treat is complemented by an elegant edge of crunchy melon kernel seeds.
Imperial Ivory
The milk and butter pastry skin was inspired by freshly baked cakes on a cool summer morning. A gentle touch ofwinter melon is added to alkalize and balance your body, and gives off a charming scent to the pastry. Accompanied with tasteful dried longans, melon kernel seeds, and a touch of macadamia bits, the flavours are rounded up perfectly with a single yolk.
Grand Ruby
A piece to be adored like precious rubies, the center of this mooncake is bountiful with red yeast dried olives, harmonizing the lotus paste and lily bulb (bai he) filling with a sweet savoury touch. While the lily bulbs heal the lungs, the red yeast helps maintain a healthy cholesterol level making this a wonderfully nutritious selection.
Green Tea Custard Azuki
Although it is called Japanese Green Tea or “Nihoncha”, the first green tea was actually brewed and enjoyed in 2737 B.C. during the reign of Emperor Chen Nung in China. The oriental mooncake brings a nostalgic memory of mountain tops during winter in Shizuoka, Japan. Smooth custard and tender azuki (Japanese red beans) finishes off this anti-oxidant packed treat.
A food blogger, Daniel from DanielFoodDiary.com featured us on his Instagram too! Check out his video in the link below!
The four photos below shows the four mooncakes encased in our pretty box.
Our box has a glossy finish and lined with purple velvet on the inside. Really pretty, elegant and classy as gifts for your friends, loved ones and clients!
Is your mouth watering yet? Do you already have people in mind that you would like to purchase our mooncakes as lovely gifts for? Contact me now at lorraine@purplesage.com.sg to order your mooncakes! Our mooncakes are priced at $52 for a box of 4, but I can give you a good good discount! Do feel free to email me if you require further details, I would be more than glad to assist you.
So help me out alright? And spread the word too! (:
3. Apple's Family Day
Yesterday was spent at East Coast Park, working for PS at Apple's Family Day.
(Photo repost from Eunice and Tida)
Look at all the colourful tents! There were so many booths I didn't manage to visit all of them. Food stalls, game stalls, activity stalls etc. PS had a few booths too, serving up yummy snacks such as fries, burgers, potato wedges, apple strudels and drinks to all the hungry Apple employees.
And here's my booth! With my lovely chirpy colleague Blossom!
"Would you like a hotdog?" (:
The heat, the crowd, working from 9am till 6plus in the evening, here's a photo of a very tired me and Eunice fooling around with big shiny bow ties. #ilovemyjob
4. Mum's Birthday
Thursday was my Mum's birthday and I got her a mango mousse cake from Bakerzin. Bakerzin's mango mousse cake showcases a light mango mousse embedded with pieces of mango and sandwiched between light sponge cakes and is lightly dusted with icing sugar on top. Their cakes are really yummy, light and fresh I should have bought a larger one instead!
Have a good weekend everyone! (:
Love,
Lorraine
THE WEEKEND ROUNDUP
POSTED ON: Sunday, August 18, 2013 @ 12:48 PM | 0 comments
The weekends are here again and it's time for THE WEEKEND ROUNDUP!
1. #PolishTogether
Today's #PolishTogether theme for the Birthstone Series is PERIDOT (yellowish-green/lime). Thank you @perpetualfunk for hosting this Birthstone Series and for giving us a heads up as well. I am eagerly looking forward to each theme every month!
And here's my mani for this month's theme! Water marbling with two colours: Essence's Love It Or Leave It and China Glaze's For Audrey. Inconsistent with the toothpick in the water, hence the inconsistent patterns on my nails. Must remember to be more consistent with the designs in the water next time.
Over the weekends, I bought an amazing HOKEY manual juicer for only $38 (worth $114.90)!
Here's a picture of the juicer!
And here's a picture of all it's individual parts. Really easy to dismantle, really easy to wash and really easy to put everything back together again!
I tell you this juicer is awesome! Unlike the normal high speed juicers that runs on electricity, this manual juicer does not need any electricity, and gives your 100% pure fruit juice with all the nutrients still inside. It separates the pulp from the juice (the pulp comes out from the little white nozzle at the end there). And everyone who has bought juice from the fruit stalls, I'm sure you notice that your fruit juice separates into two columns after you leave it standing for awhile. That's because the conventional electric juicers use some high speed centrifugal force to separate the juice from the flesh of the fruit. It also has a metal blade that oxidizes the nutrients and generates heat which could denature the enzymes of our fruits/vegetables. Oh and did I mention this is very quiet? (I could still hear my carrot rolling off the table while juicing!)
Check out my bowl of fruits and vegetables!
If you ever use grapefruits in your juice like I did, please remember to remove the white parts in between the fruit and the skin. They're pretty sour and bitter...
My apple+carrot+grapefruit juice. Here's to a healthier me! ^^
3. Time for a change?
I feel like changing this blog's layout. To one that's easier for everyone to glance through at one look, meaning no more tabs at the top and everything will just be either on the left or right column. What do you girls think?
School starts again on Tuesday! SMU is always the last to start the new term sighhs. And I'll leave you guys with a quote I saw sometime this week... "Great things end, so that greater things can happen."
Enjoy your weekend everyone! (:
Love,
Lorraine
Essence Swatches
POSTED ON: Thursday, August 15, 2013 @ 9:15 PM | 0 comments
As promised, swatches of the two new Essence polishes I got from Watson's the other day.
The first one here 128 Let's Get Lost is a gorgeous teal creme. Two coats without a topcoat, look at the shine! I really love the flat brush with a rounded tip. It makes painting around my cuticles a whole lot easier and neater (considering I am never ever hardworking enough to do cleanup).
The next one is 02 Love It Or Leave It from the newest Hugs & Kisses collection. Lime green or yellow-green, whatever you'd like to call that colour. The brush is different from the other one here. Just a normal brush you find with other polishes (I don't really know how to describe these normal brushes?). A little less glossy than the teal one above, but pretty nonetheless.
Will definitely purchase more Essence polish. I really love the wide flat brush with the rounded tip. And they're really cheap too! Only $2.90 per bottle! As compared to my other favourite brand OPI which, the cheapest I can find is about $10 per bottle.
Hope you girls find these two colours as interesting as I did! Next post will be during the weekends which means it will be the weekly WEEKEND ROUNDUP.
Happy Thursday everyone! (:
Love,
Lorraine
Butter London: Trout Pout
POSTED ON: Wednesday, August 14, 2013 @ 9:29 PM | 0 comments
My very first Butter London polish!! (sorry I'm really slow with all these...)
From the Spring/Summer 2012 collection, I have TROUT POUT! Gorgeous cantaloupe/ pinkish coral creme. The brush pales in comparison to OPI's but the application was pretty much acceptable. Streaky with the first coat, but a second coat and a good quick drying top coat got my nails covered pretty well. Absolutely love love love this colour I can't stop staring at my fingers.
I love the classy, beautifully designed packaging too. Would be great if someone could make me a phone cover that looks exactly like this little bottle of Butter London's Trout Pout!
A little pricey for me these Butter London polishes, which is also why it took me so long to decide to get one. The polish also chips after a day, even with a good base coat (I used OPI's Nail Envy Original) and a good top coat (I used Seche Vite's). And for a similar quality, I might be kinder on my wallet and go for a cheaper alternative. Well, unless some other pretty colour from Butter London catches my eye again, or when someone's selling them at a great discounted price.
Passed by Watson's today and I couldn't resist taking a peak at their Essence counter. So two more polishes to my collection! The one on the left is 128 Let's Get Lost and the one on the right is 02 Love It Or Leave It from their newest edition of Hugs & Kisses. Will swatch them both soon!
Can't wait for school to start so I won't be so bored and lonely and rolling around on my bed all day. Till next time! (:
Love,
Lorraine
Striping Tape Mani
POSTED ON: Monday, August 12, 2013 @ 10:30 AM | 0 comments
Third red and white mani within a week, this time experimenting with my striping tape again.
Here are the colours used for this mani:
OPI's My Vampire Is Buff
Rainbow's Colour 23
L.A. Girl's Grape 156
Oh and if you girls have any red+white mani, makeup or ootds to share on Instagram, do hashtag your photos with #luxola9th. They're having an Instagram contest and you could stand a chance to win yourself a $48 Luxola gift voucher! Contest ends today (12th August) so hurry! I've already tagged my three of my recent red and white manis on my Instagram hehehe ^^
Do check out the other awesome red and white manis by other talented ladies too! I love the one stroke flower by @perpetualfunk!
Good luck everyone!
Love,
Lorraine
Weekend Roundup
POSTED ON: Saturday, August 10, 2013 @ 12:46 AM | 0 comments
I'm not entirely sure if only nail enthusiasts read my blog and I thought I might have people I know personally or other non-nailfanatics who read my blog too. I'd like to share little bits and pieces of my daily life with all you lovely people out there (but nail posts will still be the main focus!).
First up, a nail photo to start the post.
These are the base colours for my second National Day mani. OPI's My Vampire Is Buff and Colour 23 from Rainbow. As mentioned in the previous post, red and white are the colours of our Singapore flag, hence my national day manis are all based on these two colours. Stripes done with a striping tape and the black ribbon drawn freehand with a paintbrush (I still haven't got my hands on proper nail art brushes!). The red polish bleeds a little to the white but I still love the final look (:
So... there will be a new type of posts dedicated to such random musings of mine every week. Introducing the WEEKEND ROUNDUP!
1. New media icons.
Under my PROFILE tab on this blog, I have new icons for links to all my other social media pages. These free icons are from the talented Olivia at myfavouritethingsblog.com. I took the bright blue ones and photoshopped them to pink, just to suit the shades of my blog. Olivia has many other icons on her etsy store too, and other cute stuff on her blog as well (e.g. handmade cards, knits, jewelry, crafts). I am so in love with these cute little icons and I hope you love them too! Do pop by and say hi on my other social media platforms too! (:
2. Happy 48th Birthday Singapore!
It was Singapore's 48th birthday on Friday (9th Aug) and Hari Raya Puasa the day before so we had a long long weekend. My mother and I took my grandma to Gardens By The Bay and as a huge fan of flowers, my grandma enjoyed herself very much and was very happy that day. (:
(Me in a bright red dress to show my love for Singapore this National Day!)
The photo below is Singapore's skyline and fireworks in the background to celebrate National Day.
Happy 48th Birthday Singapore!
3. Li Tying's bake sale
Li Tying had her last bake sale of 2013 before she flew off to Europe for her exchange program. Me being a sucker for desserts was naturally a fan of hers (and her cupcakes) so I had to drop by to pick up a cupcake or two for myself.
The first photo shows the two cupcakes I brought back from the bake sale. Dark chocolate raspberry and Iced Lemon Tea. Both were really delicious. The flowers were from Uncle Kelvin on my last day of internship. Two of my favourite things on the table, I was a very happy girl that day!
Hope you all enjoyed reading my WEEKEND ROUNDUP with 3 other random things that I would like to share with everyone this week.
Have a lovely long weekend everyone! (:
Love,
Lorraine
Happy Birthday Singapore!
POSTED ON: Tuesday, August 6, 2013 @ 2:45 PM | 0 comments
@subtleshimmer is inviting fellow Singaporeans to join her in painting our nails red and white to mark Singapore's 48th year of independence. 9th August is the actual day but we can start posting anyway since the celebrations have started! @subtleshimmer is asking all you ladies out there to tag your manis with #nationalday and #nationaldaymani on Instagram. Mine will of course be on my Instagram too! ^^
In case you're wondering why red and white, they're actually the colours of our Singapore flag! Red on top, white below, and a white crescent moon with a pentagon of 5 white stars. The national flag of Singapore was first adopted in 1959, the year we became self-governing within the British empire. And if you're wondering what the colours and shapes represent:
Red: Universal brotherhood and equality of men
White: Pervading and everlasting purity and virtue
Crescent moon: A young nation on the rise
5 stars: Democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality
Here's my mani for Singapore's birthday this year!
Red, white, a little accent of black and little polka dots!
I did consider drawing the crescent moon and the 5 stars, but I was a little lazy to start on the stars. So I guess polka dots would do!
The photo below are the three colours I used (from L to R):
- My Vampire Is Buff
- Innie Minnie Mightie Bow (from the Couture De Minnie collection)
- Lincoln Park After Dark
And of course my trusty Seche Vite topcoat to seal in my design.
My Vampire Is Buff isn't really white, it's more like a off-white/cream coloured polish. But it looks whitish anyway. I love this colour combination and all the colours just pops out so perfectly. (:
Although the more I look at it, the more they remind me of Minnie Mouse. Oh well... Another simple mani. Hope you girls like it!
And since there's Hari Raya Puasa on Thursday, National Day on Friday, followed by Saturday and Sunday, WE HAVE A LONG LONG WEEKEND! What will you be doing over this long weekend?
Nevertheless, I would like to wish all my Muslim friends a Happy Hari Raya Puasa and wishing Singapore a Happy 48th Birthday!
The second picture shows my nails with a single coat of OPI's Original Nail Envy. Looking strong, long and healthy there. Inevitable is the yellowish tips considering the amount of time my nails are spent hidden under coats of polish.
My least favourite was Sally Hansen's Maximum Growth. Not only does it not solve my problems of brittle nails, my nail layers came off in chunks together with the coat of strengthener. The other reviews that I read online didn't mention this problem although many of them stated that it didn't solve their nail problems either.
And of course my trusty Seche Vite topcoat to seal in my design. 
