BaByliss Style Pro 1000

 WOW!

So I've always been the type of girl who showered and ran out the door with wet hair. Now that I have a little more time to spend on grooming before I get out the door, I decided to purchase something to style my hair with. Being that my psychomotor skills are lacking to put it kindly, a brush and hair dryer was useless to me. It's a wonder I'm not bald yet.

It's time to invest in...

The BaByliss Style Pro 1000! It was on offer in Carrefour at Mall of Emirates, Dubai today so it was a steal at AED235 (USD64). Pretty cheap eh?! Doesn't break the bank.

There are 4 attachments included to dry, straighten, smooth and for volume. When I unboxed it I was a little daunted as it looked quite big and I was worried that I would not be able to manage using it. But it turned out to be quite easy. Note that I did use a normal hair dryer to get my hair to about 80% dry as instructed in the manual, and I applied some serum to protect my hair from the heat.

In the picture above, from left to right... #1 is the Paddle Brush is for drying and detangling. So you just comb through your hair with the brush. #2 from the left is the Rotating 50mm Soft Bristle Brush. #3 from the left is the 38mm Thermal Brush. Both #2 and #3 are for volume. Lastly #4, the right most one is the Straightening attachment.

So far I've tried the straightening attachment and the rotating brush (the big cylindrical one). I first straightened my hair then used the rotating brush to curl in the ends.

The rotating brush works pretty well. There are 2 buttons that rotate the brush in either direction. As I was looking at it I was thinking of all the ways I was going to get my hair tangled in this thing and end up having to cut my hair off. However, I'm glad to report that no hair was harmed in the trial of the BaByliss Style Pro 1000. 

[don't judge my face, it's late
 and I'm getting ready for bed &
I didn't take this picture with the intention of posting it here]

Result is that my hair feels really smooth and I curled the ends in the front in and it looks pretty nice. It didn't take a long time to do either, I think all in, plus drying was less than 10 minutes. I did not burn myself even though I think I was touching a lot of the brush while fussing with it. I would give it a 9/10. Only -1 as it was not cordless and a little too big for my liking. I think I would have managed it with greater ease if it was cordless and smaller. Although I do think that's just me being a newbie psychomotor moron. 

Absolutely recommend!

Davidoff Cool Water Deodorant

First things first... I'd like to state for the record that I do not have body odour. However for the sake of the general population, I use deodorant to ensure I smell nice all the time. The only times that I do not use deodorant is when I'm sleeping coz it's not necessary and when I exercise coz I don't want any  pores to be blocked and allow my body to detoxify.

I've been using Davidoff Cool Water Deodorant for more than 15 years now. In between I've also tried other smells like Polo Sport, Issey Miyake and Boss. Yes those are ALL men's deodorants. Not only do I use them because I like the fragrance, I am also unable to find any ladies deodorants that aren't antiperspirants. Ladies antiperspirants are also lighter and don't last as long.

There have been a lot of reports around about antiperspirants blocking the sweat ducts, therefore the body cannot purge the toxins and the toxins find their way to your lymph nodes and BOOM breast cancer. Now I don't know how true these reports are and I'm not really qualified to make any statements about that. For me, deodorant is it.

Davidoff Cool Water Deodorant smells fresh and for some strange reason does not smell quite the same as the Eau De Toilette. Smells a bit lighter and less sharp. I know the eau de toilette generally smells better on oilier people, somehow when it's mixed with their body oils it smells more woody and less sharp. 

It's been tried and put through the harshest tests - 15 hour work days, walking 10 hours in Malacca, hours of hardcore dancing (and back in the day, you could smoke in the clubs so there's all that smoke smell added into the mix), 12 hours of zoukout, flying more than 24 hours to get to the other side of the world... it's really been through almost everything, probably with the exception of farming. At the end of each test, not much remains intact, sometimes even my legs feel like they're about to crumble. But aha... the deodorant still smells good. In other words... no armpit smell! It's a total win if you ask me. I've never had to reapply through the day. NEVER.

One small problem is that it you can't find this in the stores, unless you go to the specialty stores that will order it in for you. One stick like this generally lasts about 9 to 12 months and costs only SGD $22.50 on Strawberrynet. If you're a frequent shopper on Strawberrynet, you get loyalty discounts on a progressive scale, once you're at your 20th order and up, you get a 10% discount. Orders above SGD$40 after discounts, which is easy and will also get Free Shipping (with certain exceptions when your order is on fragrances or home scent items). Your order normally gets to you within a week or maximum two weeks. Items are gift wrapped individually, I'm not sure of the reason for that and the box is filled with a lot of spongy stuff to ensure your purchase doesn't get damaged. I've been buying from them for years and it's not been damaged before. I highly recommend Davidoff Cool Water Deodorant and also Strawberrynet coz there's nothing worse than an online shopping spree gone wrong.

Amazon Kindle Touch

The Amazon Kindle Touch is one of the most amazing gadgets I've ever had so far. I got it in the hopes that I would start reading more. 

Reading is to the mind what
Exercise is to the body

A week spent with my Kindle and so far I have read every night, even if it's just a few pages before I go to bed. That's probably a success in my books. I bought the Kindle and not the Paperwhite or Voyage for a few reasons. Due to the problems of purchasing outside of USA, I didn't want to spend over US$100 and end up not being able to get it or buy books on it. So I went for the simplest model I could find just in case. One of the big differences between the Kindle and the Paperwhite/ Voyage is that the Kindle doesn't have a light. In other words, you cannot read in the dark. Now I thought about that point and thought, it's probably not good for my eyes if I read in the dark. That said, the technology used is supposed to allow you to read without eyestrain even in the dark. Moving on, the Kindle is wifi enabled, Paperwhite/ Voyage have wifi and 3G (3G only works with AT&T so if you're not in USA then it's pretty pointless). Main things you would require the connection for is to download books or to look words up in the dictionary. Considering all these differences, I got the Kindle. Most basic unit, figuring that if I did want, I could upgrade to a better one later.

One of the strongest points about the Kindle is its Glare-Free Screen. The 6" screen actually looks just like a page in a book. It's amazing how they're managed to accomplish this but they have. The battery lasts for up to 4 weeks for this model (half a day of reading with wireless off). It is also extremely light and easy to hold. You can look up words, stuff about characters or the book and even translater. It's really quite fantastic. You can adjust the font size or darkness to suit. The device has 4G of storage, that's essentially thousands of books. What's not to love?! 

At first I was quite confused about the advertisements when the screen was on standby, then I realised that if you held the button for a few seconds, you can turn the screen off and it will be just white with no advertisement.

One of the obstacles faced is that the Kindle is only available in USA. You cannot buy it online even, unless you're in USA. Now that's just great isn't it? I had to do a lot of research on how to go about this and get what I need. I've summarised the steps here for your convenience should you decide you want to get your hands on one.

1. Create an Amazon account. For all purposes, you need to choose USA as the location.
2. Amazon will not ship the Kindle to any other countries so you require a shipping service. I like to use Borderlinx as they have proven to be reliable and charge reasonable rates. Once you sign up with Borderlinx, they will give you a USA and UK address. You will use this USA address as the address in your Amazon account. Borderlinx will not require you to choose USA as your location, you can put your actual details in there so that your item can be delivered to your home/office/other desired location.
3. Once your Amazon account is set up with the USA address provided by Borderlinx, you should now purchase an Amazon Gift Card. You can select the value you require to purchase your Kindle. Kindle is US$79, Kindle Paperwhite is US$119 and the new Kindle Voyage is US$199. (prices based on regular prices when this post was written, not the sale prices advertised.)
4. Once you get the email with your gift card redemption code, you can log into your Amazon account and redeem your gift card, the value will be loaded into your account. Purchase your Kindle through the Gift Card, not through your non-USA credit card. 
5. They will ship it to your shipping service provider (Borderlinx in my case) and Borderlinx will dispatch it to you.

This sounds like a hassle and it was at first because I had no idea what I was doing. But on hindsight, it wasn't actually that bad. Once you have received your kindle, you have to purchase books through the Gift Card as well. I've read that once Amazon detects that you're purchasing through a non-USA credit card, it will block you from purchasing anything. So to be safe, just go through the gift card. You can reload your balance through the website. Here's the tricky part though. After reloading your gift card, you need to remove the credit card details from your Amazon account records. This will then make all purchases through your gift card balance and not your credit card. 

Alternatively, if you can find pdfs of the books you want, then you can just load them into your Kindle from your computer through the USB cable that is provided with the Kindle, that's free. 

All that considered, I still think it's a fantastic gadget and I especially like that it is not a tablet. Tablets have so many other functions (web browsers, games, etc) that it really distracts me from reading. I want to focus on reading and obviously have trouble. This gadget helps me get away from all the distractions and get down to the books. You can read more about what the Kindle can do on Amazon.

Bose SoundTrue In-ear Headphones

With Christmas just round the corner, there are gifts going around everywhere. At home, at work, amongst friends, within communities... There are good gifts and there are GOOD gifts. This is a GOOD to the power of infinity gift! It came as a complete surprise and I wasn't expecting it at all.

I really love music, especially those with fantastic bass. It's like I almost don't hear the rest of the song, just the bass. Needless to say, my eyes totally lit up when I saw what was in the bag. It was the Bose SoundTrue In-ear Headphones and they're just for me!

I free it from the clutches of the packaging and hurriedly plugged it into my phone and oh... my... good... gracious... me... was it music to my ears or what. Every sound was crystal clear, the bass was picked up perfectly and I was in music heaven. 

The structure of the StayHear earpiece attachment is a little strange at first, but it is made in this shape, preventing the earphones from falling off. It is made from soft silicone and is very comfortable, you almost don't know it's there. The package also included a small and large set of ear piece attachments and a carry case for the earphones. 

This would be the second set of headphones I've ever received as a gift. The first one was many years ago. It was a Bang & Olufsen. The sound quality was very clear too and it did provide many hours of listening pleasure. However, there are a few ways in which the Bang & Olufsen earphones fall short to the Bose earphones. The structure of the earphones, although ensured they didn't fall off, also meant it was quite cumbersome to wear. I have 3 earrings on each ear and long hair and wear glasses, all these things do not make it easy for you to wear the Bang & Olufsen earphones. Next, the earpiece that actually sits in your ear for some strange reason do not sit very comfortably and always ends up sitting in my ear quite painfully after a period of time. Lastly, the Bang & Olufsen doesn't project the bass quite as well as the Bose does. All that said, I still use the Bang & Olufsen one, I just have it in a different bag so I use it when I use that bag and still do enjoy it.

The Bose is clearly a winner and I really can't believe my good luck!

Misfit Shine Activity Tracker

My colleague came to work last week with a new toy.  The Fitbit Flex.  I'm embarrassed to admit that I have never heard of this.  I've heard of pedometers sure, but not something like this.  She was showing me how it shows her activity on an iPhone app.  It didn't have a display but you can double tap it to show progress for the day.  If 2 out of the 4 led lights came on, means you've fulfilled 50% of your daily 10,000 steps.

Why 10,000 steps a day you ask?  It's scientifically proven that walking has a direct correlation to improved health and walking 10,000 steps a day (approximately 6km/ brisk walking speed of about 1 hour) can reduce risks of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes type 2, obesity, etc.  It's not a lot to walk but I think most of our daily routines are pretty sedentary.  At best we clock in about 2,500 steps a day?  Probably going to lunch at that.

I thought about buying the Fitbit Flex for SGD$129.  I even went to the store and looked at it and put it back.  My friends told me that I would only wear it for a month then chuck it aside.  That didn't satisfy my urge to buy it.  I did more research about the different activity trackers there are in the market, their price, what they could do.... finally I decided on the Misfit Shine.

After work I headed straight to Epicentre at Wheelock Place and got one... it was priced at SGD$169. But since I was a member, I paid SGD$161.  Although it cost more than the Fitbit Flex, I felt that the SGD$8 I saved was such a bargain haha.  A tad disappointed that they only carry the silver colour one here, I had my eye on the black one.  I ripped it open in the car and put it on straight away.

Let me tell you why I chose this above the others.  The Misfit Shine tracks other activities like swimming, cycling, tennis, basketball and soccer.  It is also waterproof up to 50 meters, not just water resistant.  The battery doesn't need charging, only needs to be replaced every 4 months thereabouts.  It can be worn anywhere or put in your pocket, it comes with a sports strap and a clasp so you can wear it on your wrist or clip it onto your clothes, shoe, bra, belt, etc.  There are no cables required, syncing with your phone is easy via bluetooth, you just have to tap the Shine on the phone.  The Shine also doubles up as a watch so you don't have to wear a watch.  Best of all, it's actually quite stylish so you don't have to worry about it spoiling the look of your evening gown. 

I must say that after my first day of wearing the Shine, I'm pretty happy about it.  Totally money well spent because today, I clocked more than 15,000 steps.  It's ideal for people who need a bit of motivation to get moving.  Just a reminder, staring at it and telling yourself that you shouldn't waste the good money you paid for it and get moving haha!

 

The Misfit Shine even tracks your sleep.  It shows you how much you slept and the report shows a breakdown of deep sleep and light sleep.  There's even an alarm that you can set to wake you up during the light phase of sleep.  Waking up during the light phase actually ensures that you wake up feeling rested.  I'm going to try that tonight.  At the moment I'm still excited about it so I keep checking how many steps I do like every half hour.  The app also shows you how many calories you've burnt and distance you've covered.  There's a weight tracker where you manually enter your weight and the graph shows your progress.

Hopefully this helps increase my daily activity.  Despite doing HIIT exercises, I think increasing activity over the course of the day is very important and beneficial.  Don't forget to drink enough water.  How much water is enough? A good guide is your weight in kg, multiplied by 0.033.  You will get the number of litres you should drink each day.  Let's get healthy everyone!

EcoTools Brushes: 6 piece starter set

In the past, some Watson's branches in Singapore did carry EcoTools brushes. But I think they overpriced it or it just wasn't popular so they don't have it any more. Naturally I only decide that I want it once it's nowhere to be found.

Lucky for me, I did manage to find it when I went to Target in the USA. I was delighted to say the least. It was US$12.99 for the 6 piece starter set.

The set includes:

• Blush brush
• Concealer brush
• Eye Shading brush
• Angled Eyeliner brush
• Lash and Brow Groomer
• Hemp Cotton Carry Case

I found it a tad strange that the bag is considered 1 piece in the 6... coz really it's JUST a bag right?! Never mind... moving along...

The handles of the brushes are made from bamboo and the soft bristles are cruelty-free. I was initially just looking for a lash and brow groomer, but when I saw this I thought this is my chance, I had to get it. Turns out, it was worth it.

The brushes are all soft enough and doesn't irritate my skin nor does it feel like it's poking my face. The brow groomer is stiff enough to get the excess powder and stuff off my eyebrows. And that case that I was bitching about earlier? Well it turns out it is very handy coz now all the brushes I need can live in one place, together... not getting lost in a safe place. (I say that these are all the brushes I need because I use the blush brush for my powder as well. Yes I know it's for blush but... just think of it as blushing... all over your whole face... except with face powder... ) 

Since you can't get EcoTools in Singapore, you might have to pay a bit more to get it online and have it shipped here. It won't cost you an arm an a leg, especially if you compare it to Bobbi Brown or MAC brushes. Make sure you buy from trusted sites so that you don't buy fakes. I read that the fake brushes look so alike but the bristles come off easily, so don't waste your time or money buying cheap copies.

Right way and the other way

In relation to my previous post about the absolutely wonderful bar shampoo and conditioner that I bought from Lush, the verdict after using it for a week is that it makes my hair feel clean and light without drying it out and my hair smells SO good. I've had numerous compliments strangely enough, I never imagined that it would make a noticeable difference. I've been told that my hair looks like it's had a lift and that it looks really good. I have had no trouble with the bar conditioner Jungle Conditioner, I just have to make sure my hair and the bar is wet, then I rub it on my hair. I use the conditioner quite liberally (because it feels nice, smells nice and frankly... Just because I can!). However, it turns out there is a right way to use the bar shampoo and then there's the other way (my way! haha). 

The WRONG way

When I jumped in the shower to use the bar shampoo Godiva for the first time, I rubbed the bar directly onto my hair. Causing my hair to get really dried out and tangled. I was SO disappointed, they told me that it was the most moisturizing bar shampoo they had. On my second visit to Lush (which was the very next day), I asked for some advice...

The RIGHT way

The correct way to use these bar shampoos is to lather it between your hands and then massage the suds into your hair. That way it's not too harsh and gets the job done pretty well. It lathers really easily so a sufficient amount shouldn't take too many rubs.

So there you go! I hope this has helped some other enthusiastic shower addicts in their quest for the perfect wash.

Phone Emergency! Red Alert! Red Alert!

So... I spent all of today at an extremely dry lesson. To my horror, my phone was at 20% battery life at 12pm! I had charged it the night before as usual, but somedays it just doesn't want to work properly. The battery life goes down 1% per minute or something. Needless to say I start panicking. Once we hit 1pm for lunch break, I raced frantically out the doors... into the great abyss of Raffles Place. Now I know it's not some super unknown place, but I have never worked there before or spent much time in that area. I descend into the underground maze of the MRT and run around looking for a phone battery pack. I need to say (just for the record) that I am not a phone addict and have never needed to carry an extra battery around. Today was exceptional. I run circles around Raffles Place, and somehow landed up at Marina Bay Link Mall at 1.37pm. I saw Nubox and I heaved a sigh of relief, I knew that my worries were over *wipes perspiration off my forehead*.

MiPow Power Tube

Oh I forgot to mention, the very nice sales staff at Nubox offered to charge my phone for me the moment I entered the shop and said my phone is flat! I then had a look around and there weren't many models with the cables to attach to the phone. Many models require you to use your own cable to connect to the charger. So I settled on the MiPow Power Tube 4000 at S$69, it has 2 full charges plus a bit. I rip it out of the box immediately and connect it to my phone.

In less than 2 hours, my phone went from flat to 100%. The day is saved and I had just missed my lunch hour, I obviously have my priorities in order :)