It's been quite a while hasn't it. My absence from the blogging scene is a result of me being suffocated by uni work, co-ordinating a wedding and also discovering penpalling. I discovered a website which you can find a penpal from (at your own discretion) and have been busy exploring the art of letter writing again. I even went out and bought a paper and envelope set. A classy watermarked set, not those cute Korean stationary shop ones. Although I may be tempted one day to see if my penpals will freak out and abandon me. 

I have quite a few new things to share as of late but I have fallen out of style with the beauty world. Products are popping up left and right but I will try to update as soon as possible. Some of these are less known products in the West and I'm not sure if some of them are even accessible in Northern America. 

See you all again very soon.

Standing Egg [music post]

This is a music post for those of you who like to explore some new music. Indie band Standing Egg are one of my favorite artists out there. Their style is lighthearted romantic cafe style songs. The music soothes my soul every time I listen to it and calms me when I'm irritated. I don't think there is too much to say as music is really subjective and everyone has different styles.

This is their latest song, featuring Christina Lee - We are not a couple. Enjoy.

Glasshouse Fragrances Candles

Hello dear friends!! I am sorry for my long long absence. I lost interest in updating and felt like it was a pressure to update rather than a desire to update so I decided to stop a while and let my mind explore and create a bit of happiness.

 A little update: I've been learning two languages lately, Chinese (Mandarin) and Japanese. It has been quite a challenge on my brain to process two different languages as the tones and mouth movements are so different. I do find it exciting though, that I can now read some Japanese characters and may be able to figure out what they are saying. The satisfaction really makes up for the hours of memorising.The same goes for Chinese although it is not as exciting because I already have quite a good basic knowledge, although I hope to be able to hold a casual conversation one day in mandarin.I congratulate those of you who have mastered a language that is not your own original tongue as it is a daily learning process.

On other news, I recently bought my first Glasshouse candle. Now if you live in Australia and are a woman between 18 and 45, you will most likely have heard this name come up in your high tea conversations and general chitchats with your girl friends. It is a popular brand name of candles and other luxury goods mostly known for their large candle range and deeeelicious smelling things.

Shiseido Anessa Sunscreen Review

Protecting the skin from the sun is one of, if not THE most important part of skincare for a lot of people, especially those who live in all year round sunny hot climates and it is no exception for me.

My story begins with years of playing in the backyard pool and having my mother force me into a t-shirt and putting sunscreen on me each and every time I would go out to the pool. I loved summer and I still do. It is my favorite season of the year as the flowers blossom, fruits hang prettily and kids play happily. My years of playing in the sun made me realize one thing. I did not like the texture or smell of sunscreen. It made my skin feel sticky and gross, hence when I grew out of playing in the pool, I stopped putting on sunscreen.

This my friends, is the moment I made one of the mistakes I would regret later in life. I now reap the *benefits* of not putting on this miracle solution as I face premature skin problems and generally wrinklier skin. Hence I am saying to you now. Please, please please do yourself a favor now and slap on that sunscreen.

Read on to see more about my favorite sunscreen.

Lunasol Eyeshadow Palettes 10/11

The Lunasol brand is a sub-brand of Kanebo, a Japanese cosmetics brand. Kanebo has long been a beauty secret of the Japanese. Once fervently loved by the Hong Kong community, it is now a staple beauty brand for many Hong Kong women as proven by the Kanebo counters in its department stores. The brand is not widely available in the America's or Australia. I'm not sure about Europe though. It is however available thanks to the internet and online shops.

Kanebo has several sub-brands, some of which you may be familiar with. Off the top of my head, there is Kate, Lunasol, Allie and Coffret D'or. Today I am focusing on Lunasol as it is their top quality eyeshadows that have attracted the likes of Youtube beauty gurus such as fuzkittie and SumMei0529. I first found this brand while browsing the counters in Hong Kong and have since purchased 2 of their palettes. They are an expensive palette (at around $50 usd each) as with most high end Japanese eyeshadows, however the quality of the product makes up for it in excess. The smoothness of application, the subtle but beautiful glitter and the color range is definitely different to Western brands of make up. If you like the natural but slightly made up glowy look, you definitely have to check out the eyeshadows.

Being MIA from the Internet

Hello everyone! Sorry I have been MIA the past week or so. My internet was down for a few days and I actually took the time to finish a few books and do some more out-doorsy activities. It's was nice to rejuvenate for a while but now I am back and have planned a whole lot of posts.

Coming up soon will be swatches and looks on Japanese brand LUNASOL eyeshadows, my Lusthaveit box for December and also a detailed post on a sunscreen that I now consider my holy grail. Check back in a few days for the post guys. Hope you're having a wonderful start of the week.

5 things I plan to do this year

I'm going to keep this list nice and simple as I tend to stray after a while.

1. Think and speak more positively about every person I come across. In this day and age, it is easy to judge someone on their negative qualities a lot more quickly as it comes as human nature to protect ourselves from being hurt, whether it may be your family or friends or a stranger in the store, everyone has individually redeeming qualities and over the years I've come to realize that I've become a lot more negative. So it is my major goal of this year. If I succeed even for a while, I will be a happier person so I am aiming for this one if at least I fail all my other goals.

2. Spot Clean my brushes every time I use them. It is such a bad habit to leave dirty brushes and I'm sure a lot of us have the same habit. So I'm going to try really hard to remember to spot clean them every time after use.

3. Do volunteer work in my local area and also at the end of year go to another country to do volunteer work for 2-3 weeks or maybe more. In my degree, while it is not compulsory to do volunteer work/missions, it is highly regarded as it shows that you are engaging. It also helps you to develop as a person and is an eye opener for most. Two of my friends have gone this year to India and Spain to do volunteer work for 2-3 months. I am so jealous and proud of them. I also think of it as giving something back to the community as I want to be a person who will contribute not only to my country but to the world in my lifetime. Deep I know but it is something of a life long goal for me.

4. Write creatively. This was inspired by an email I received from my best friend after I whatsapped him the night before crying into my phone about several issues. After cheering me up it would have been 2.30am and he had a train to catch at 6am (he is overseas). On his train journey the next day, he wrote me an email in the form of a story about a boy (him) and it was so endearing. I for one, haven't written a story since the day I graduated from year 6 which is a long (long) time ago.

5. Walk the dog more. This really coincides with exercising more. A typical goal for new years but I am shaping it into a different form. Gigi (my dog) is also getting chubby after having her surgery to get her desexed and she has been acting a little weird; like sitting up crazy pant-y smiling at me in the middle of the night and smiling all day. She never used to do this so its a little weird but a little funny at the same time. I plan to get us both into tip top shape and utilize the gigantic park near where I live.

Wow, that sounded incredibly long in writing but in reality it isn't that much. 2011 is over, all the bad, sad, angry things should be left behind as we move onto a new year. If 2012 is really the last year the earth has, I want to do all that I aspired to do and I would be a happy camper even if the world did really end. I know this is meant to be a beauty based blog but it will sometimes consist of ramblings from me, thanks for reading if you are up to this last bit. Have a beautiful meaningful day.