Life with a Dog

I love dogs, but I've never had a dog... until February this year, that is.

I had been experiencing anxiety problems for about a year since 2013, partly due to the low-frequency vibrations that had been bothering me at night. A lot of things were hanging in the balance for me - thesis, sleep, mental well-being - and I felt so tired of struggling with my problems. My dad, trying his best to find a solution for me, suggested getting me a dog. He figured that a dog would get my mind off my anxieties and give me a sense of purpose (apart from thesis).

He was mostly right. In February 2014, we went to an adoption drive and it was there that Holly first entered my life.

New year new stuff

Well, so this is officially my first proper post after the hiatus. It's strange writing again after so long because I don't quite know where to start, but I'll try. Okay new stuff that has happened:

1) Antelune

As some of you may have noticed, I have a new site: www.antelune.com! It's more of a place where I publish my creative endeavours - fiction, poetry, musings, visual art, music - because somehow it feels strange to post them up here between lifestyle and beauty posts. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but my life-goal is sort of to be an artist doing mixed media stuff. So basically visual art + performance art. Apart from that, I can write, sing, and play music so hopefully something will come of it. To be honest, I'm not even sure where my abilities will take me, but I'm putting some faith into realising my dreams. Whatever it is I do, I aim to inspire wonder and help others somehow. Not sure how I'm going to do that right now, but I'm believing that it will come to pass.

How to Fight the Haze: The 2013 Edition

The haze is a chronic problem that has been going on for ages, but the most recent high of 400 on the PSI a few days ago broke the previous 1997 record high of 226. This shows how serious things are getting. PSI 100 is already considered "unhealthy", and Singapore's PSI has been hovering around the 200-300 range for the past few days, only dipping to below 100 today.

Recently there have been posts filled with advice on how to fight the haze and stay healthy, so here's my two cents on the matter!

1. Know the haze

Before we can figure out how to stay (relatively) healthy and well during this period, we have to know what causes the haze and when it happens. The haze usually happens in the second half of the year in Sumatra, Indonesia during the dry season, and is caused by the illegal burning of forests to clear land for agriculture.

This year's haze is especially bad due to changing wind patterns and an especially dry climate. Since the start of this week, there has been no rain to help mitigate the thick cloud of haze shrouding Singapore, worsening the situation. Take a look this NASA satellite image of the haze cloud moving towards Malaysia and Singapore:

(Source)

It's pretty scary eh?

List of Interestingness: Volume I x 3

ART/PHOTOGRAPHY

List of Interestingness: Volume I x 2

ART/PHOTOGRAPHY

Are you a slave to the beauty industry?

Recently I've been thinking and talking a lot about beauty and what it means, in relation to the beauty/cosmetics industry. I've also come across many related articles/events/ideas, including Dove Real Beauty Sketches, local accounts of the increasing trend in plastic surgery, posts and comments written by others that challenge ideas of beauty circulating in society. It's a topic close to my heart as I'm participating in the beauty industry by writing about cosmetics and other beauty products. I've grown to become rather disillusioned about the way the industry works, and am questioning the direction that "beauty blogging" will take me and my blog. As such, I've decided to dole out some tough love to everyone who takes an interest in the beauty industry.

My Week on Instagram: 29 April - 5 May 2013

Hi everyone! I should be studying for my European Literature exam on Tuesday, but here I am getting distracted with blogging again. This time it's to introduce a My Week on Instagram segment, which will be published every Sunday night/Monday morning detailing, well, my week on Instagram! I have far too many Instagram photos to share, and if you don't follow me on Instagram, you probably wouldn't have seen them. Fear not, you'll miss them no longer ;)

Without further ado, here's my week on Instagram!

29 April 2013

Went to eat at Putien, a Chinese restaurant. Made an evil duck head lookalike with the fried clams, which are delicious, by the way!

"Paris Burning"

Paris Burning

I write words to speak to you;

I know not how or who else

I can tell this to:

of the fragments that make you

and undo your vision, too.

The shrapnel in my eyes,

ears, nose and hands -

The order I was shot

I forget, and yet,

reflecting,

it blazes before me again.

I decode them here;

I deconstruct

into abstractions

to get to the heart.

I'm now using nRelate instead of LinkWithin

Just a quick update post to let you know that I'm using nRelate instead of LinkWithin for my "related posts" widget now. I read on a few tech sites that LinkWithin is a parasitic widget that leeches internal link juice from the site owner by redirecting posts through LinkWithin before redirecting to the site. Apparently LinkWithin is changing this, but I had my doubts because I was monitoring my referrals and LinkWithin kept appearing. To check, I clicked on a LinkWithin recommended post on my blog, and it did redirect to LinkWithin before directing back to my site. After this lesson I decided to go with nRelate to avoid that sort of thing and boost my SEO. Glad I found out about this - the sooner the better!

Anyway, nRelate's been great and customisable so far, but there's this issue that bugs me. If you take a look at my posts with jumpbreaks (that's the "Read more >>" part that truncates the posts), you'll notice that now the "related posts" widget is above the jumpbreak. You have to click "Read more >>" below the "related posts" widget to get to the rest of the post. It's a tad inconvenient, I know, but nRelate is still fixing this issue at the moment.

I will be back soon with more posts, including my final verdict on the Hitachi HadaCRiE Cool. You should also check out my video demonstration on how to use the Hitachi HadaCRiE Cool if you haven't already. It's my very first video, more to come! \o/

Ta-ta for now!

Confession: Make up is my beauty crutch

Guess what? The semester has almost ended! There are more essays to do but there's always time for my blog ;) I was freed from a particularly hellish week last Wednesday, and have been relaxing and doing some work for most of the weekend. Looks like I won't be able to catch up on my post backlog until the summer hols start in May though.

Anyway, yesterday I was working on my video review for the Hitachi HadaCRiE Cool -  it's the second instalment in my reviews of this awesome facial skincare device. I know I promised a video by week 2 of using the HadaCRiE, but I wasn't entirely pleased with how it turned out. I'll be filming it again tomorrow - crossing my fingers that things will go right!

Today's post is a contemplative one on a topic close to my heart. Inspired by the recent "confessional" type posts I've read (think Thought Catalog), I decided to divulge a little more about myself and perhaps reach out to others who're feeling the same way.

Here's a confession I have to make to everyone (including myself):

Make up is my beauty crutch.

You may be wondering what exactly I mean, or perhaps you're facing this same issue and are nodding your head in agreement. What I'm saying is that make up is not just a means of enhancing my looks or attracting others' attention. It has become a crutch that supports my self-esteem with regards to my looks.

Beauty Blogger Tag: 32 Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About Me!

I'm been so swamped with essay-writing (it's that time of the semester) that it's been virtually impossible to do much over here, dear readers. Got a really delayed post on Jindie Nails Swoon and Zomboy that I haven't posted up because I haven't got the perfect swatches yet. Here's a sneak peek I posted a few days ago:

I hope to post the full review post soon! Sigh so many posts lined up but no time right now.

Anyway, I was recently tagged by the lovely Miss Rusty to do this little meme. I figured it wouldn't take up too much time and would be a welcome break from writing long, tedious essays, so here goes!

After Switzerland: I'm still alive!

HELLO! *waves* I know I've been absent for the longest time, and it's been painful to see my blog un-updated, but I'll have you know that I've been so busy with school after I came back from my student exchange to Switzerland! Since I came back, I've only been updating Twitter and Instagram, and if you follow me there, you'll see that I just went for Big Night Out 2013 last night! It was such a fantastic experience, I tell ya. Vampire Weekend gave such a rockin' performance and made me dance dance dance 'til I was dead (yes I snuck in a sly Yeah Yeah Yeahs reference). But that being said, YYY were pretty good and Band of Horses was so great too! More on their performances in another post, perhaps.

Anyway, I'm resolving to clear my backlog of reviews/posts soon, and have plans to set up store (yes! I'll be selling things e.g. nail polish soon). I'm slowly getting things done in addition to dealing with school work (a few novels a week to read) so please bear with me for this period of time.

It's not all bad though - I have a post for you tonight!

^ That's my "ARE YOU SERIOUS??" face for those who have no idea of what I'm holding. I shall enlighten you... tonight ;)

"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...

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?

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!