"The Wanderer"

I love to write. I write when I'm happy, I write when I'm sad. I write whenever I have something to say, some feelings to express. I know I haven't been updating this space regarding my exchange and other reviews and such, but I'm having a tough week now, filled with work and some drama. Since I wrote this poem in a fit of catharsis, I'm going to post it here and let you have a glimpse into my writing. I have written many more poems but I have never published them here. Perhaps in time I will.

And now, for the poem.

The Wanderer

Now that I’m at Fancy’s door,

Myself, my oaths I did perjure

Now that I’m at Fancy’s hearth

I see that plaque of metal craft:

“All that glitters is not gold

Fare you well, your wish is cold”

Wish I had but wisdom more

To see the writing on the wall

As I lay, resigned to burn

There, inscribed upon my urn:

“All that is gold does not glitter

Not all those who wander are lost”

I rise, to find my ashes bitter

And to bear my golden cross

25.11.2012

Exchange in Switzerland Part 4

Time for the least serious part of my exchange posts thus far! ;)

How to be a Domestic Goddess (wannabe)

In Switzerland, I started learning how to cook and make my own meals every day. My most successful dishes to date: ABC Soup (first picture) and beef stew (second last picture). Those are my tried and tested favourites of all the recipes I've tried so far. I let my apartment mates try those two dishes, and they loved them too. Means a lot to an amateur like me! Look out for my future travel series posts - maybe one of them will be about food, where I'll teach you how to whip up some dishes like these; they're pretty easy!

Exchange in Switzerland Part 3

CERN

As I promised in Part II, here are pictures of CERN. CERN is the world famous nuclear research facility that houses the fastest particle accelerator, called the Large Hadron Collider. I was so chuffed when my PhD student ex-flatmate (he moved out, yeah) invited me to a tour by his church member, a nuclear scientist, who worked in CERN. It was actually part of a church activity, and the nuclear scientist gave a lecture (in Chinese) about the relation between particle physics and God. That was quite interesting.

After our little tour through an exhibition and the lecture that was given by the scientist, we headed to the dome at CERN, which held another exhibition.

Exchange in Switzerland Part 2

Continuing from where I left off in Part I of my exchange experiences (an ongoing series until January 2013, when I return to Singapore), more pictures and descriptions of my travels!

Apart from the beautiful sights I saw in Lausanne from the previous post, I also visited the part of Lake Geneva that is located near to where I live. It's such a beautiful and peaceful place.

Vevey was another lovely town in Switzerland that I visited. It's small, quaint, and has the absolutely loveliest sunset I've seen in a long while.

Exchange in Switzerland Part 1

Hello dear readers! Many of you have been asking why this blog hasn't been updated in the longest while and have told me that you've missed my presence in the blogsphere. That made me go "aww" quite a bit :) So I sincerely apologise for being absent for about a month or so without much explanation. Those who follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (@cherchezbeaute) would probably be aware of the fact that I'm currently in Switzerland on a student exchange that will last for about 4 months. Here's Part I of a lengthy and picture-heavy travelogue with pictures (all taken with Xanthe) of what happened from then 'til now...

My new favourite dish at Ministry of Food (MOF) My Izakaya

It's been a long time since I last featured food on my blog so thought I'd share some foodie exploits with everyone! About a month ago I headed to Ministry of Food (MOF) My Izakaya at Choa Chu Kang (CCK) Lot 1 Shopping Centre for lunch. I usually order something sashimi-related, but this time I decided to order a meal that consisted of white clams in broth and hot-stone salmon rice.

I was bowled over by the aroma of the clam broth, and it was definitely love at first sip.  The numerous small but succulent clams stewing in the fresh, piping hot and flavorful broth really refreshed the palate. The texture of broth was just right - neither too thick nor too light - capturing the essence of the clams excellently. The dish was garnished with a bit of spring onion, which complemented the light texture and intense flavour of the clam broth.

I next tried the hot-stone salmon rice. This part of the meal was equally as impressive. The sizzling bits of raw salmon in the hot-stone bowl were gradually cooked along with the rice, which was probably marinated with dark/soya sauce and garnished with spring onion. I loved the slightly crumbly texture of salmon alongside the slightly sticky texture of the rice, and felt that the saltiness of the rice was kept under control by the un-marinated salmon.

Between spoonfuls of salmon and rice, I had spoonfuls of the piping hot clam broth. It was such a perfect combination of appetiser and main course combined into one meal. As a bonus, this meal is rather healthy: clams are rich in iron, which is good for the blood and salmon is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which boost cognitive function, lower the risk of cancer and maintain eye, cardiovascular, skin and hair health.

Not only was the meal delicious, healthy and worth the S$13.80 I paid (without GST), it was also one of the better dishes I've tried at MOF and worthy of mention. After that wonderful meal, I had my usual matcha (green tea) fix with the matcha drink (no pictures though - I attacked it too fast). I love MOF matcha drinks and desserts, and this drink was a perfect cap to the meal.

Have you tried either the white clam broth/salmon rice meal or matcha drinks/desserts at MOF? Do share your opinions!

Korres It's a Wild Wild World with Wild Rose Party (27 July 2012)

A few weeks ago I attended Korres It's a Wild Wild World with Wild Rose Party to celebrate the launch of three new additions to the extremely popular Korres Wild Rose range.

I was really excited because I'd heard such good things about Korres but haven't had to chance to try their products. Read on to find out what happened, what's so great about these new products, and a piece of fantastic news for Korres fans!

Rachel K Radiance Illuminator Collagen + Lotus Stem Cell Hydrogel Mask Review and Pictures

[EDITED 25/4/2013]

Based on what I've read recently, topical and edible collagen do not really work on the skin. This mask is good for its moisturising properties, but collagen doesn't help the skin via collagen products, as the collagen molecules are far too big to penetrate the skin. Read this article for more information on the collagen beauty myth.

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I always try to look my best, especially for special events in my life where I'd be meeting people and taking many photos. That's why in preparation for my 21st birthday celebration, I decided to try out the Rachel K Radiance Illuminator Collagen + Lotus Stem Cell Hydrogel Mask, which I kindly received from Rachel K Cosmetics. Since Rachel K and Rachel T only differ by a letter, so I figured I'd trust my almost-namesake and hope for radiant skin on my birthday after using this face mask!

Glitter Gal DuoChrome Hell-Bent Blue Swatches and Review

Recently, Glitter Gal released a collection of six duochromes that have a metallic chrome-like finish. They sound similar to the Glitter Gal Shade Shifters collection, which can be worn over black or alone, but the DuoChromes are meant to be worn over black to bring out the duochrome better.

Today I'll be reviewing one of the duochromes from Glitter Gal's new range of six duochromes that was sent to me for review by Mei Mei's Signatures. This one is named Hell-Bent Blue - let's find out if it's really hell-bent on staying blue - or not!

Cherchez Beauté celebrates Singapore's National Day 2012 with nail art!

For all my international readers, 9 August (today!) is Singapore's National Day. In honour of my country's 47th birthday, I decided to do National Day nail art with our local icons. I painted my nails freehand and only used nail polish (not acrylic paint) in this manicure. It was quite time consuming as nail polish dries fast, but I tried my best to work quickly and accurately. Read on for more pictures and some background on these icons!

OOTD and random self-shots

Here's last Saturday's outfit of the day with some amusing self-shots done in the "modelling" style. I'm attempting to be ironic in this post so DON'T JUDGE.

Exhibit A - an example in point.

I didn't edit the photos at all, not even to adjust brightness/sharpness like I usually do. I guess this shows how good my Fujifilm FinePix X10 is under low light conditions. Love the way the pictures turned out. The entire series of pictures after the jump!

Mentholatum Lip Pure Honey Lemon Lip Gel and Fragrance Free Lip Balm Review and Pictures

About a month ago I posted a review of Burt's Bees Honey Lip Balm which contained a list of "Myths About Lip Balm and Lip Balm Addiction", based on research that I did regarding the topic and my own experiences as a former lip balm addict. (Sounds bizarre, but there is actually such an addiction!)

By chance or irony, I was recently contacted to review Mentholatum Lip Pure Honey Lemon Lip Gel and Lip Pure Fragrance Free Lip Balm.

It was a tough decision, because I had already denounced the frequent use of lip balm in my previous post, and I don't want to be a hypocrite or a sucker for free products. However, I decided to review these products because one of them is fragrance-free (Burt's Bees Honey isn't fragrance-free, but the scent is of beeswax) and one is a lip gel with food-grade ingredients despite not being fragrance-free.

Stella Double Flex Brighten Up Eyelashes (AS8941) Review and Pictures

In my previous post I reviewed Solone Gel Like Smoody Pencil (05 Brown). Today I'm going to review Stella Double Flex Brighten Up Eyelashes (AS8941), the other half of Loothavn's generously sponsored goodie package.

This pair of nylon eyelashes are dramatic and double-layered, designed with a cross sectional pointed eyelash over the top layer to brighten up and enhance the eyes.

The first thing I noticed about these false eyelashes is how dense and long the lash fibres are! The individual eyelashes are of different lengths, creating that "doe-eyed" effect. Wondering how it would look like on my eyes? Read on!

Solone Gel Like Smoody Pencil (05 Brown) Review and Pictures

If you follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, you'd probably know that I recently received some goodies from Loothavn and Glow to review.

What an adorable hand-made envelope! I loved it the minute I set eyes upon it. This is what I found inside:

To find out more about these products and read about my experiences with them, continue after the jump!

Featured: 10 Most Common Makeup Mistakes

Hello everyone, today I have a guest post from the lovely people at Videojug, a video content website dedicated to delivering high-quality "how-to" content from a range of topics for users' needs and enjoyment.

So, what are the 10 Most Common Makeup Mistakes according to Videojug? Read on to find out!

Swatches of my 600 FB Followers Giveaway Bloop and Elianto nail polishes

Like any of these nail polishes and want a chance to win them? You're in luck. These are part of the prizes for my 600 FB Followers Giveaway, which if you haven't joined, you should join now because there's less than a week left until it ends! I have great prizes to give to one lucky winner - they include 5 nail polishes (I've swatched them in this post) and 2 nail art accessory wheels, shown below.

Swatches and a short review of the polishes I'm using in this giveaway after the jump!

Disney • Pixar’s BRAVE Gala Premiere at the Cathay (22 July 2012) and BRAVE film review

Remember my feature post on Disney • Pixar’s BRAVE? Last Sunday, I attended Disney • Pixar’s BRAVE Gala Premiere at the Cathay, courtesy of Nuffnang Singapore. It was a fun-filled event with many activities going on at the exhibition on the ground floor, near the entrance of the Cathay. Read on for more pictures and a short review of BRAVE, the movie!

Scotch Naturals Soy Polish Remover Review and Pictures

NEWSFLASH!

Scotch Naturals Singapore is having 25% off Scotch Naturals and Hopscotch Kids nail polish, top coat and base coat! Get them at S$17.20 now instead of S$22.90!

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In my last post, I reviewed Scotch Naturals On the Rocks Top Coat and Base Coat, which are water-based alternatives to the usual top coat and base coat formulations. While a tad expensive, they did live up to their promises of extended wear time of Scotch Naturals water-based nail polish, such as Scotch Naturals Seaboard.

Today I'll be reviewing Scotch Naturals Soy Polish Remover, a very unique nail polish remover that does not contain acetone. Read on to find out more about this moisturising nail polish remover that gives you healthy nails!

Scotch Naturals On the Rocks Top Coat and Base Coat Review and Pictures

In today's post, I'll be sharing about my experiences with Scotch Naturals Top Coat and Base Coat. I did some tests to check whether the top coat and base coat extended wear time on the water-based nail polish, Scotch Naturals Seaboard. To find out whether they fared well against my stringent criteria for great, healthy and efficient beauty products, read on after the jump!

Disney • Pixar’s BRAVE film & Musings about Mom

Disney • Pixar’s new animated film, BRAVE, takes on the classic trope of the unconventional and brave heroine who defies custom, brews chaos but ultimately emerges independent and successful at the end of her trials. Merida (voice of Kelly Macdonald), the protagonist and heroine of BRAVE, is a skilled archer and impetuous daughter of King Fergus  (voice of Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (voice of Emma Thompson) of Scotland. Defying tradition through her actions, she angers the lords of the land: Lord MacGuffin (voice of Kevin McKidd), Lord Macintosh (voice of Craig Ferguson) and Lord Dingwall (voice of Robbie Coltrane), causing chaos to erupt. Merida has to contend with bad decisions, troublemakers and difficult obstacles to her attempt to undo a beastly curse that she inadvertently brings upon the land through an ill-fated wish granted by the eccentric old Wise Woman (voice of Julie Walters).

Merida's bravery brings to mind a heroine in my own life: my mother. While her story is not as exciting as Merida's, she is in her own way a heroine worthy of respect. She survived the ravages of WWII due to the goodwill of her neighbours, set up a family in Singapore, and once her children were born, bravely quit her job to take care of them. She has been unemployed for 20 years and counting, but this is false. Where are the records to show for her full-time job as a mother?

Cherchez Beaute's 600 FB Followers Giveaway 1

Hello everyone, it's time for an epic series of giveaways to thank all of you for your constant support and love! Here's the first giveaway and it goes out specially to all my nail buddies, because the nail polish community was the first community I was inducted into in the blogosphere.

Bloggers excursion at JCube - Casio G-Factory and The Amazing Spiderman at Shaw IMAX

Last Friday, I had the opportunity to attend a bloggers event organised by omy.sg, Casio Timepiece Singapore and Shaw cinemas. It was held at JCube, and we were heading there to learn more about the newly opened Casio G-Factory outlet and watch The Amazing Spiderman at the new Shaw IMAX theatre in JCube.

Lex Cosmetics (for Mei Mei's Signatures) Love Me More Swatches and Review

Recently, Mei Mei kindly sent me Lex Cosmetics Love Me More, a hot pink polish with fucshia microshimmer for review. This is the signature polish of Mei Mei's Signatures (her e-store), and was specially created for her by Lex Cosmetics, so I was pretty excited about receiving and reviewing it. Read on to see more pictures and find out my thoughts about this sizzling hot summer shade!

The Gush Chase 2012: Subscribe to cherchezbeaute now on Gushcloud!

Hi all, apologies for the long absence. I've been very busy with Gush and other personal matters, but I'm working on my posts! Tomorrow you'll see a nail polish one. Hot pink/Barbie fan girls should watch this space as you'll definitely like tomorrow's post. A Scotch Naturals soy-based remover and base and top coat review is also in order soon.

Gush 2012, the Gush Chase and Gushcloud

And now for a mini (or big, actually) update about Gush 2012, the Gush Chase and Gushcloud. Last week I posted a few photos of my Gushcloud profile on FB and have also requested you kind souls to subscribe to me on Gushcloud to help me win the Gush Chase 2012. If any of you were wondering what this new-fangled "Gush 2012" and "Gushcloud" was all about, let me explain in this post.

A Photo A Day Collage for June + Updates

Hi everyone! Apologies for my long absence. Since coming back from my short holiday, I've been really tied up with things.

Next up, I have my A Photo A Day collage for the month of June 2012! I've been posting a photo a day, taken with my Fujifilm FinePix X10 (christened Xanthe), on my Facebook page and Tumblr, and here are the results for the month of June:

I started mid-June, which is why you only see 14 photos here. Things will pick up and I'll have a collage of 30 photos by the end of July, I'm sure of it. Do "like" my Facebook page or follow me on Tumblr to check out my daily photos.

Regular updates about beauty related things will resume by the end of this week. I'll be continuing my haul posts from Malaysia, of which I've already posted my Suria KLCC haul and my Jusco haul. I will also be continuing My Beauty and Skincare Travel Essentials series, of which I've posted two parts, one on my HG sunscreen, La Roche-Posay Anthelios XL SPF 50+ Fluide Extreme, and one on my HG lip balm, Burt's Bees Honey Lip Balm (check it out for tips on fighting lip balm addiction and myths about lip balm). Look out for all these exciting updates and more!

P.S. I'll be participating in Gush 2012 as a social influencer. Help me win if you want me to represent Singapore to cover the Gush 2012 music concerts in San Francisco :) Details soon!

Burt's Bees Honey Lip Balm Review and Pictures

We've come to the second part of the My Beauty and Skincare Travel Essentials series. My first post was on the La Roche-Posay Anthelios XL SPF 50+ Fluide Extreme, which is my HG sunscreen. Today's post will be on the Burt's Bees Honey Lip Balm, my HG lip balm and go-to travel essential to prevent chapped lips!

My Beauty and Skincare Travel Essentials Series

Part II: Lip balm - Burt's Bees Honey Lip Balm

Watsons (Taman Maluri Jusco) Haul

And today, I proudly present my haul from F.O.S. (at Viva) and Watsons and Daiso (at the Taman Maluri Jusco)! Just like yesterday's haul, I have no idea why today's haul isn't that fantastic - I just didn't like most of the things I saw. Am hoping that tomorrow will be different. I still have to hit Times Square and Sungei Wang before I head back to Singapore, so I'm crossing my fingers on being able to get better hauls in the next few days. Full haul post and more pictures after the jump!

Watsons (Suria KLCC) Haul

Just a quick haul post to show you what I bought from Watsons at Suria KLCC today. Pardon the grainy quality and bad lighting of the photos; it was really late at night. Full haul post and more pictures after the jump!

La Roche-Posay Anthelios XL SPF 50+ Fluide Extreme Review and Pictures

As some of you may know, I'm currently overseas on a short summer holiday. Having a good WiFi connection here is a godsend, and I'll be able to continue blogging daily. Since I'm travelling, I decided to do a series of travel related posts about my beauty and skincare travel essentials which I've brought on this trip. In every post of this series, I will feature one travel essential that is currently in my bag, with some general tips on how to use it well and some things to avoid. At the end of the series, I will do a summary post with pictures of the entire line-up and links to all the individual review posts - remember to check back often for updates!

My Beauty and Skincare Travel Essentials Series

Part I: Sunscreen - La Roche-Posay Anthelios XL SPF 50+ Fluide Extreme

Before moving on to the review, just a word on sunscreen first*:

Ever thought that the higher the SPF (sun protection factor), the better the sun protection offered? Think again. It's a myth that has been capitalised on by many sunscreen brands that advertise sky-high SPFs to tempt the consumer who doesn't know any better. Find out why after the jump!

Naruko Narcissus Total Defense Make-up Removing Mousse Review and Pictures

In my review post of the Naruko Narcissus Defense BB Sunscreen SPF50★★★★, I was wearing some make up, which included the BB Sunscreen, concealer, eyeliner, eyebrow pencil and lip gloss. This is my basic make up, less the eyeshadow, blusher, highlighter etc.

Today, let's see how effective the Naruko Narcissus Total Defense Make-up Removing Mousse is at removing my make up! I've also tested it two other times on a more heavily made up face and had the same results. To find out how effective this make up removing mousse is, read on after the jump!