Review : Slouch me not with Jonlivia’s Phiro Back Support!

Growing up, I always remember how my mom would often nag at me to straighten up and not slouch. As annoying as I used to think it was, I realised why she’d do that now. It was because posture plays a very important role, whether in terms of appearance or from a health perspective, amongst other reasons. Thanks to my mother, I have a pretty good posture although it can be improved. I said this because I do realise now that I have a tendency to slouch especially when I’m tired, bored, annoyed, etc… you get what I mean and at that time, I just want to get into a confortable position. So I will just slouch.

Beauty : The Daisy Sky Travel/Trial Kit

Have you ever stopped and wonder about the different type of harsh chemicals that we put onto our precious face? That thought had actually crossed my mind multiple times but I struggle to find a product which is completely natural and free from these harsh chemicals. To make things worse, some of the products we used on a daily basis, could consist of ingredients which can cause cancer. :/

So, when I was introduced to Daisy Sky Malaysia, I was excited to learn that their products are a 100% natural, made from plants and floras (flowers, if you don’t know). In fact, because their products are all-natural, it is recommended to finish the Daisy Sky Malaysia products within 6-months (maximum) upon opening.

Review : Shopping online for authentic branded goods with massive discounts!

If you ask me, online shopping have always been my preferred method of shopping because of the convenience that comes along with it. Just a few clicks and you're done! Just like that, you have purchased your goodies which will be shipped directly to your house. The best part is not needing to walk out of the house especially since there is a so much hassle of finding parking in malls and not to mention the jammed roads. You can also pay via credit card or online banking as well, so you don’t have to worry about not bringing enough cash too!

Now, these are the plus points of online shopping but it also comes with its cons. One of the issues I have with shopping online would be the authenticity of the products I was purchasing. This is especially true when I purchase any BRANDED items. There are times that the prices for these BRANDED items are so cheap that it is almost unbelievable.

“Too cheap, it must be fake imitation goods.”

Yes, that would be the first thing to come to mind. But what if I told you that there is actually a legitimate online shopping site which sells AUTHENTIC BRANDED items at a huge discounts? Which website, you might ask. It’s none other than one of the fastest growing shopping website, LAZADA.com.my. If you have doubts over the prices, rest assured that the prices are so much cheaper than retail because Lazada deals directly with each of these brand principals. Hence, they are able to obtain these AUTHENTIC products at a discounted prices and these are reflected back on their selling prices on Lazada.

“Only real, authentic products are sold on LAZADA.com.my by the respective brands.” 

To shop by the brands, you can easily navigate by clicking on “SHOP BRANDS” on the LAZADA.com.my. That way, you know that you’re purchasing directly from the brands itself.

To be honest, I just found out recently that LAZADA.com.my carries so many brands now. This makes my shopping adventures so much easier! I was recently looking for some sneakers for training since I decided to start my fitness regime once again.

Thanks to Lazada and New Balance, I now have new training shoes from New Balance. This shoe can be purchased from the New Balance online store in Lazada, the link to the store is here >> http://www.lazada.com.my/new-balance-official-store/ . You can find a huge variety of other New Balance’s shoes there which are massively discounted. My shoes originally cost RM 299, but after discounts it was only RM 199! Such a steal, indeed!

Lazada’s Fashion Big Brand Sale from 5 September to 11 September!

If you’re looking to shop and maximise your hard earned money now, you’re in luck because Lazada is having their Fashion Big Brand Sale now till September 11. You have just a few days left to shop actually! I was just browsing their Fashion Big Brand Sale and I already have my eye on a few things like this Daniel Wellington Classic Oxford Lady Rose Gold watch. There is a 60% discount now! So so tempted. :x

So, what are you waiting for? Like I said earlier, the promotion ends on 11 September and that is this Sunday! You really don’t have much time to shop. Just live by the motto of “You’ll only regret the things you didn’t do.” ….. if you missed the chance to get that product you always wanted, which is on discount…. you may never get it again at that price. Haha! Trust me, I know it’s true.

Till next time,

xoxo

Review: FUNA, the family locator app.

These days we have apps designed for each of our needs, from the simplest tasks to apps which can do incredible things just like the FUNA – Family Locator app! if you haven’t heard of this app before, what it does is actually helps to locate your family member without needing to check in on them, such as messaging or calling them.

How it works is basically you and your family members would both need to install the app; there’s an invitation to be sent out from one party to another. Only after accepting each other, will the location be shown. Sounds simple, isn't it? It really is that simple. After that, you can just let the app do its magic and it’ll tell you the whereabouts of one another.

In fact, the app can do more than just checking the whereabouts of your loved ones, because you are also able to send an SOS alert to your family members. I can imagine how especially useful it would be should your car breakdown, and you need help from them! The best part about the SOS alert is when your loved ones can see where you’re at and that way, they can come to you to your exact location.

Review: Personally, I have used the app for a period of a few weeks, getting my loved ones to join me on the app as it is only then would I be able to try and review the app. I found the app really useful for my parents especially given, the nature of my work which more often than not requires me to work till late. With this app, they were able to know of my whereabouts without needing to constantly check in with me. This helps a lot, since I rarely have time to check my phone during work. Besides work, on my weekends the app helps to inform my loved ones of where I’m at; if I’m watching movie, if I’m at the malls or etc. You can see it the real-life application of the app below.

In the experience shown below, I wanted to inform my parents just where I was at. With the FUNA app, my parents already knew where I was located at which was especially useful, cause whenever I’m out and about it is easy to get carried away and it’ll slipped my mind to inform my parents. Let me share with you another experience from using the FUNA app with my partner. He loves cycling, so he is often on the move cycling around. What happens when he does that is that he would cycle to a distance as far as 100km per session. As exciting as his passion sounds like, for me it’s a bit more worrying because I get so afraid if something would happen to him. But with the app, I would know when he reaches from Point A to Point B and vice versa. As he is on the move, he wouldn’t be able to text me of his whereabouts too.

My mom wrote a review on her experience of using the app, along with my sister’s experience as well. You can check out their postings here; http://followmetoeatla.blogspot.my/2016/04/funa-family-locator-free-app-for-android-and-ios.html & http://clarrishahong.blogspot.my/2016/05/daily-funa-family-locator-app-for.html . So, if you’re considering to give the app a try by downloading the FUNA – Family Locator app today for Android or iOS, which is available for both Android and iOS phones!

Till next time,

xoxo

Out & About: Maybank GO Ahead. Challenge 2015

Already in its fourth year running, the Maybank GO Ahead. Challenge 2015 is a multi-disciplinary talent recruitment competition, with participants coming from up to 14 different countries including Malaysia. This year saw more than 23,000 applications received from various participating countries. Campus level competitions were held at 27 Universities across the region, with over 1,700 Challengers in total! If I was still studying in my campus, I would have taken the opportunity to participate in this challenge. :)

Similarly in every year’s competition, there would be a final challenge to be completed. For this year’s edition, 60 finalists from all across the world battled it out in Bukit Bintang where they were tasked to sell ‘happiness’ to members of the public – with each team designing and creating their business strategy for success. The teams are judged on how much money they manage to raise, which will then be donated to a charity of their choice. Hence it was only apt that the final challenge was called the Seasons of Smiles.

For the final challenge, the teams each set up a booth around Bukit Bintang, and ‘sold’ various activities and products to members of the public, with the theme being ‘happiness’. With offerings ranging from makeover sessions to personalised magazine cover photoshoots, each team attempted to make their customers days a little happier while raising money for a good cause.

Here are some of the pictures I taken at the Seasons of Smiles campaign, where I managed to try out some of the activities held by each respective teams in the booths.

Of all the booths I visited, I really liked this one booth which got the theme supermarket for their case study and they came up with the game concept of shopping by estimating the groceries items be within a certain amount.

It was rather hilarious because  Fish and I spent quite some time trying to estimate how much each item was. The price range we were given was within RM49 to RM51. This experience gave us a glimpse of how we both would have been next time when we turn into aunties doing their grocery shopping. I'm amazed with the Challenger who had to put up with us both, it was hilarious!

Another interesting booth was this booth which had an automatic hot-dog vending machine. Since I have mad love for sausages, I decided to give this a try. It was an interesting experience, although I suspect there was someone behind the machine dispensing the hot dogs.

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Just as previous years, the Maybank GO Ahead. Challenge 2015 ended with the Global Finals Gala Dinner held in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel where the finalists were celebrated and the winners of the Maybank GO Ahead. Challenge 2015 were crowned. 

Compiling all the scores in the end, Team Star Wars  won the USD40,000 Grand Prize! Followed by Team Terminator, the first runner up which won USD 20,000 and the third runner up was Team X-Men which took back USD 10,000. Team X-Men also won the People's Favourite Team award.

As for the Ultimate Go Ahead Challenger #UGAC2015, the first place went to Ricky Low Yin Lee who won an internship in the Maybank office in New York, USA. The second places went to Phyllis Ng Hui Li & Chris Watkins who won an internship in the Maybank’s London and Hong Kong office.

To find out more about the Maybank GO Ahead. Challenge 2015, the Global Maybank Apprentice Programme, and this year’s Challengers, visit www.goaheadchallenge.com. Alternatively, you can check out this Facebook page for more information as well ; http://www.facebook.com/RoaringCareers.

Till next time,

xoxo

Review: Mon Amour Snail Hydrate Moisturizer

Hola, gorgeous! It’s the weekday after Valentine's Day weekend and I hope you had a good day yesterday. I would love to share with you what I did if it was interesting at all, but all I really did was just work, for 12 hours straight and I had to cancel my plans yesterday. So, nope I won’t be whining talking about that, instead let me share with you a new beauty product that I have been using for about a month plus.

Thanks to the awesome team at HiShop for sending the Mon Amour Snail Hydrate Moisturizer over for me to try. :) Whenever I try on new beauty products, I’m really selective with the products that I use. This is mainly because (I mentioned this before), I have a very strict beauty regime with a whole set of products which works on my skin and I stick to them. But this time around, I decided to give this a try, because it uses snail mucin. I have previously used products which contained snail mucin, and from my experiences, those product with that works really well on my skin.

Mon Amour Snail Hydrate Moisturizer , 50ml | RM150

As the name of the product suggest, the  Mon Amour Snail Hydrate Moisturizer  is a daily moisturizer which hydrates and provides antioxidant protection while improving skin texture and tone, leaving it smooth and radiant. The packaging of the moisturizer is rather simple, with a jar-like concept. Open the top and you get to your moisturizer. No frills and straight to the point. The product comes in 50ml which is rather huge, and would most definitely, last me for a couple of months plus.

Mon Amour Snail Hydrate Moisturizer , 50ml | RM150

Once I opened the top of the product, I didn’t expect to see another cover over it. I’m quite surprised that they had a second lid, which I suppose is to prevent the product from getting contaminated since it is made from 100% natural ingredients. What I found about the product, based on the first impression was that it has a rather thick jelly-like consistency.

Mon Amour Snail Hydrate Moisturizer , 50ml | RM150

From the picture above you can see, just how thick and rich the product is. The thing about moisturizer which I am afraid of is usually the sticky, oily ones which is why my daily moisturizer is a water gel based one. When I first applied the product, I found it to be thick and putting too much made my skin shine, like it appears oily.  That is when I decided to read the how-to instructions and found this;

“Apply moisturizer to face using gentle upward strokes, making sure moisturizer absorbs into skin. If you think there is an excessive amount of moisturizer on the skin, blot with tissue.”

Ahh. So, that explains why. So, please always do remember to read the instructions before using any products at all. After I realised that I was having too much on my face, I used lesser product on my face upon application. When I did that, I realised that my skin absorbed the product faster and it didn’t leave my skin oily, which was pretty amazing since I’m pretty particular about that.

Like any other moisturizer, application of this is just the same. I used my third finger to apply this to my skin, in upward motion with gentle strokes. I would continue doing this slowly, to ensure that the products is absorbed by my skin.

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So, now that I have talked all about the product – in terms of the packaging and the application of it. I’ll move on now to how the product is after using it for approximately one month. To be honest, one month is a rather short period and it could take longer time to see the results of the usage of the product. The product is said to improves skin radiance and gently exfoliates, revealing smoother, healthier looking skin and texture.

The past month have been one hectic month and to be honest, I haven’t had time to take care of my skin. I have pretty much neglected it and only stuck on to my basic daily regime. I also had really late nights and my eye bags have been increasingly prominent, with more pimples popping all over. But despite this all, I would say that my condition of my skin was really good. There are still the occasional pimples which could be due to hormones + late nights, but otherwise my skin had been rather smooth and clear. I noticed that I don’t look as haggard as I should be with the lack of sleep.

All this changes were things that I could notice and it wasn’t that difficult to notice these changes. As I look into mirror daily, I could see these changes and although it wasn’t a drastic one but it shows that the product is working for my skin. That is pretty much amazing, I would say.

Here’s a picture I have of myself after using the product without any make up on at all. This is pretty much my “I just woke up and showered” face, you can see the tiny pimples on my face too but aside from that I would say that my skin is pretty clear and smooth.

Once again, thanks to HiShop for sending this amazing product over which have effectively replaced my previous moisturizer! I do like it that much. :D And here’s an even better news, if you do want to get this Mon Amour Snail Hydrate Moisturizer , HiShop have ever so graciously offered a 15% off with the usage of this coupon code : CARMENHONG. Just enter that code upon checking out and you’ll receive your discounts!

 

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Review: number76’s Ultrasonic Iron Treatment

I don’t think I’ll need to introduce what Number76 is, it is definitely something you would have heard of if you have ever considered getting your hair done. I first stumbled upon it years ago, and I was there to try out their tansan treatment when it was first introduced. And now, I’m back there again to try their signature treatment, the Ultrasonic Iron Treatment.

I have only ever heard so many amazing reviews about the Ultrasonic Iron Treatment, especially on how much smoother and manageable the hair is after the treatment. When I heard of these reviews, I was thinking whether it’ll work on my hair because here’s the thing; my hair is frizzy, curly with a rather rough texture. Once, my best friend joked that he could use my hair to scrub his floor. *ouch*

I decided that it’ll be nice to give the treatment a try, and see if it would work on my hair. I made an appointment at Number76, the Northpoint branch and I was assigned Director Yamamoto as my stylist. My last visit to the salon was sometime back, and when I returned there again, I realised they revamped the interior of the salon.

 

It looks more industrial, spacious and fresh, which is very different from most salons. I like how much natural light fills the whole place up, because then you can see your hair color under the natural light, which is important especially after coloring your hair.

A day before I went to the saloon, I actually had an impromptu hair cut; I had the stylist chopped my hair till shoulders’ length and the stylist then styled a messy hair do for me, which explains why my hair is so messy. That is how I look like with short curly hair, and with black roots obviously showing already. This is why then, that I decided I would colour my hair here in Number76. I wanted an ashy brown colour, but I didn’t want to bleach my hair. As it turns out, I didn’t need to bleach my hair, and I can still get ashy tones.

Here’s another picture after I’m all prepped up at the seat. Because I was also doing hair colouring which is a chemical hair service, I had two towels wrapped around my neck, then the large plastic coat, and another towel on my shoulders. They also had my bag placed into a black protective bag too! Anyways, let me get back to the Ultrasonic Iron Hair Treatment,  that is the main review that I am posting about.

For the Ultrasonic Iron Hair Treatment, what happens is you’ll have a hair treatment done and after rinsing the treatment off, then with your hair in a semi wet condition, the stylist would then iron the hair with the special Ultrasonic Iron. Unlike other normal iron, this one doesn’t heat up like normal iron and hence, it is not damaging to your hair.

What the Ultrasonic Iron actually does is that it vibrates at 37,000 beats per second, separating particle of protein, water and oil in the hair treatment earlier to ensure that it penetrates deep inside your hair structure. So, when that happens, it will leave your hair feeling soft, silky and smooth! What more is that you can see the immediate results of it. I recorded a short video to show you how the Ultrasonic Iron works, with the vibrations and the no-heating element too! The video is not edited, and is as recorded so excuse the noob recording skills.

 

And this is how my hair looks like immediately after the Ultrasonic Iron Hair Treatment, before styling it of course. My hair is still slightly damp from the treatment but you can see obviously how much softer my curls are and hair looks more manageable than before. After the treatment, then scalp tonic and hair serum will be applied on the hair. The stylist would then proceed to ask you how you’ll like to have your hair styled. Since I usually have curly hair, Director Yamamoto suggested I opt for a straight hair styling instead.

And straight hair styling, it was! For this, they had to blow dry my hair which made my hair fluffy cause the curls go all over the place. Then, they flat ironed my hair as you can see in the picture above. I honestly never seen my hair straight but yet voluminous. I did have straight hair before, but it was rebond-ed hair and my hair was so boringly flat.

And ta-da! This is the end product from the treatment and the styling too. :) So so amazing work done by Director Yamamoto and Frankie! I have never seen my hair like this and it was just amazing how lovely I look like in this silky, straight hair. I loved the fact that it look so natural too. Like man, I can rock this straight asymmetrical hair. I was so so mad in love with my hair, you have no idea. So much so that I was considering keeping this hair permanent. It’s actually a really nice feeling to be able to run through my hair.

I couldn’t resist getting one more selfie with Director Yamamoto,  who looks like so adorably cute here. He’s based in Number76’s Northpoint branch, so do drop them a call to book an appointment with him. If you can request for Frankie as your stylist assistant, you should too! He’s quite the friendly person, and it was nice to have him to assist the stylist. :) The treatment lasts for approximately one month and is priced at RM250, together with after treatment products. 

There are four tubes of hair treatments for you to apply on a weekly basis which will help to maintain the effect from the Ultrasonic Iron Treatment. These tubes are also sold separately if you would like to purchase additional ones at RM25/pack. It has been two weeks or so since I last did my treatment and my hair is back to curly, but I can tell that my curls are so much defined and it is definitely softer and less frizzy compared as to before I did the treatment. Below are the information of the saloon for the MidValley Branch, do drop them a visit soon if you’re interested!

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// Number76 (MidValley Branch) //
A-G-2, Ground Floor, North Point, Mid Valley City
Open daily from 10AM – 10PM

+603 – 2287 0661/0662
contact@number76.com
Facebook: Number76Twitter: @number_76
Instagram: @number_76
Website: http://number76.com 

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Here’s one last picture of my hair after the treatment, I’m actually missing this straight hair. Which look do you think is better for me? The curly ones with all that drama, or an elegant straight cut for me?

 

Till next time,

xoxo

Out & About: The Party of The Century at Empire City

Ever since I watched The Great Gatsby, I fell so madly in love with the parties that Mr. Gatsby held at his mansion. With all the ladies dressed to the nines, the guys looking all dapper with drinks and food, and oh, entertainment too. Ah, that high life. I thought it would just be something in the movies, but I was invited to the Party of The Century, (I posted about it here earlier) and it was slated to be just like Gatsby’s.

For the week leading to the big night, there was so much hype about what everyone else is wearing and the type of looks which would fit the theme of 1920’s. The 1920’s dresses were about sparkle, beads, and floating chiffon paired with feathers and headbands too! I was headed to the party from work, so I opted a knee-length white drape dress which actually was too simple for the theme. To play up the overall look, I did a smokey eyes make up with Mary Kay's Mineral Eye Color Quad in Black Ice. I had my hair down, embracing my curls. I never loved my hair more than now.

| With the gorgeous, Elvina Chua. Almost didn’t recognise her! |

The Party of The Century was held in Empire City which served as a preview to the place. It actually wasn’t too difficult to locate the place, it is nearby One Utama, just a little further down the highway. It’s located on the opposite of the road, as compared to One Utama. And my, was the place super spacious and done up very grand for the event.

I had friends asking me after the event how it was and this is what I told them. Imagine the concourse area of a mall being transformed into a grand ballroom and all levels in the mall overlooks the concourse, with the decoration of those grand ballroom. Everywhere you turn it just feels like I’m in a grand mansion with food and drinks everywhere, and I’m just surrounded with all the guests which are dressed to the nines.

| I’m really loving Sycookies’s outfit for the night, so 1920’s! |

Being one of the #Team50MY bloggers, we got to party VVIP style with access to all sections of the party. In the VVIP section, we got to rub shoulders with all the celebrities who attended the party. There were pretty much all over the VVIP section, just chilling and enjoying the party. :) At the section where I was, I saw Peter Pan (潘裕文), Taiwanese singer and Elanne Kong, a TVB actress.

What I heard from my friends who attended the event was that they were able to find other TVB actresses and actors, along with all the other celebrities which attended the party, and even got pictures taken with them. It’s a pity I didn’t bump into any other celebrities, but that was probably because I was down at the stage area for the performance. I wanted oh-so-very-much to attend this was just so I could see Paris Hilton in person.

 So, it was really amazing that I managed to see her right at the very front of the stage. She started her set with her own songs first, trying her hands at being a DJ. After her performance, Taboo from Black Eyed Peas performed and man, did he bring down the house with BEP’s songs. So much love for Black Eyed Peas. The highlight of his performance was when he ended it with singing, “Where Is The Love”  and he shouted Black Eyed Peas come back! I hope that means they are making a come back soon, cause I have been waiting forever for that to happen.

And that pretty much sums up the highlight of the party, mannnnn did I have the time of life. Looking back as I’m posting about it now, I wished I took more pictures with all the lovely friends I met that night for memories keepsake. Instead I was too pre-occupied with enjoying myself, that I didn’t take that many pictures. So, I’ll tell you what.. you should look out for the pictures from other bloggers of #Team50MY, just use the hash tag on all social media, and you should be able to find them. You can also use these hash tags, #POTCMY and #PartyofTheCenturyMY. 

| A shot of the place, after it ended. Just to show you how it looks like. |

Till next time,

xoxo

Out & About: The Party Of The Century, coming soon!

About a few weeks ago, I first heard that Paris Hilton will be in town for an all exclusive party, who will be sharing the stage with the Korean pop boy band 2AM. And I was pretty excited to be at this party, because hey, it isn’t everyday that you get Paris Hilton here in Kuala Lumpur. Growing up, I remember how popular Paris Hilton is amongst my friends. So, this party is called The Party of The Century and it was only by invite only. I was keeping my fingers crossed on when the details of the event would be released to the public.

Then, just last week I received an invitation from Party Of The Century and when I saw the invitation, I realised that it’ll be a theme party which just adds to the fun of it especially when everyone dresses up according to the theme. 

The theme is Glamorous 1920s, which is the same era in the movie “The Great Gatsby”. The parties in the movie were so fabulous, and I have a feeling that this Party of the Century would be just like that with all the ladies dressed to the nines and the guys in tuxedos. YUMS.

An aerial view of Empire City. Picture from here.

This party is actually held in conjunction of the preview of the Empire City, which is a 30 acre development area in Damansara Perdana. The Empire City consists 2.5 million square feet of net lettable retail area, eight corporate towers and office suites, international five star hotels and a cinema themed hotel. It sounds like one of those places I’d imagine to see when I visit another country. It would be cool to see how this concept will work out, and really nothing is better than having a mega huge party there first!

It won’t be just any normal party because they have quite an impressive line-up.. all the way from Korea – the boys from 2AM and then Paris Hilton and Taboo from Black Eyed Peas from United States and Mark Vincent from Australia. And I have inside news that, there will be other celebrities gracing the event too and they come all the way from Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan and Indonesia.

For more information, do visit the following links for updates on the event and if you’re looking for passes to attend the event, here’s a hint. Stalk the Facebook pages, because there are plenty of giveaways going on at the moment. Do enter the contest to get your passes, and say hi to me if you’re there! ;)

// http://www.partyofthecentury.my/ //

// https://www.facebook.com/partyofthecenturymy //

| Instagram: @PartyOfTheCenturyMY |