Did you know that just by having certain food in your diet will assist in providing you with that radiant and glowing skin that every girl craves?It’s all within our power, people!

Water is essential in generating gorgeous skin. So, whilst it is not a food, drink tons of it and it will keep you hydrated and flush out all nasty toxins from your face, leaving it glowing with health, freshness and best of all, blemish-free.

Europeans swear by the magic of olive oil and so should you. Have you noticed the beautiful and smooth complexions of Greeks and Italians? Olive Oil is packed with the best hormones that aids in skin nourishment.

Eat tons and tons of fruits! Loaded with vitamins and many essential nutrients including super antioxidant qualities, it will help you achieve top-class radiance in no time.

Did you know that tomatoes, dried apricots and eggs contain betacarotene, lycopene and lupein which provides a natural SPF 3 which certainly can help your skin with natural sun blocking properties. Don’t ditch your sunscreen regime though!

Everyone knows of the benefits of eating salmon. Diets that include salmon as a staple on a daily basis leaves you with smooth, supple and luminous skin. Though I myself can’t stand salmon, it is excellent for the skin and health as it contains Vitamin E and Omega 3 fats which is even proven to extend your life too. Wonder if tuna has the same benefits? I sure hope so coz I’d rather tuna than salmon any day.

Avocadoes can also improve skin tone and quality as it is loaded with Vitamins A, D and E.

I find this hard to believe myself, but apparently eating organic peanut butter regularly can help you towards attaining the dream of radiant and smooth skin. It contain coenzyme Q10 which is a wonder drug for the skin. Next time I spread peanut butter on my sandwich for breakfast, remind me not to feel any guilt!

The best antioxidant dosage in the world. Drink this daily and reap the benefits of protection from damaging radicals, which causes skin damage, ageing and wrinkles.

I wouldn’t ever have imagined that onions had benefits for the skin. But, apparently, along with citrusy fruits and black tea, it contains quercitine, which is a vitamin like substance that helps in improving the skin texture and its quality as well as have good beneficial effects on sensitive, problematic and allergenic skin conditions such as eczema.

So there you go! Eat or drink your way to radiant skin. Who would have thought that radiant skin would come so inexpensively? No need for La Mer, girls!

Sometimes I think my locks are a complete lost case. Other times, I don’t.

As much as I hate my frizzy hair, I try not to lose faith in them simply because I know that there are remedies and saviours (some even natural based, thus requiring less or no cost to it at all). Instead of having my hair permanently straightened this time around, I am trying hard to instil faith into my locks and keep them lusciously curly instead.

Unfortunately, that luscious bit I’m finding very, very hard to come by.

I’ve spent tons of money on hair care and hair treatments and crossed fingers that they will work. Though some have helped, I have yet to achieve the super soft locks that I so crave. Whilst surfing the Net and reading away through my Google Reader, I found a few tips which may help myself and anyone else with damaged or fried hair problems like me. Just thought I’d share as no matter the hair problem, there will almost always be a solution.

Damaged hair is most often due to heat, UV rays, mechanical devices, chemicals or poor diet. But we all know that already don’t we? What we really want to know, or rather, what I really want to know is the best ways to prevent damage and better yet, repair the state of my locks.

Tips to Prevent Damaged / Fried Hair

1) Use a Thermal Protector when using heat

2) Do not blow dry the hair completely. Leave a little moisture in. Blow dry on the cool setting.

3) Use a conditioner with built in UV protectors

4) Never brush wet or damp hair. Always us e a wide toothed comb. This is something I never did! Always brush my hair straight after showering…no wonder!

5) Clarify your hair after swimming

6) Eat protein rich foods

7) Avoid hot showers – the water will dry your hair out of moisture. Try lukewarm instead. (I know this helps)

Wash hair less often to avoid stripping away unnecessary moisture. Try shampooing less often. What I do is rinse with water then condition daily and only shampoo my hair every two-three days. Hair seems more bouncy this way.

9) Once a week, apply a deep conditioning serum at night that will saturate your hair and replenish moisture as well as repair the damages. I try to do my hair treatment every weekend at least, sometimes, if I feel like it, I’ll even do a treatment twice a week. As I have different hair treatments that I’ve purchased on different occasions, I’ve found that this does intensively help my hair and boost its hydration and moisture levels, thus making it look more bearable.

10) Trim your hair regularly – at least every 6 to 8 weeks. This is another tip I don’t follow myself as I just don’t feel like spending all that much on trimming my hair, but perhaps I should. The other reason is because I am trying to keep my hair extremely long (I’ve already got it halfway down my back now). Just trying to see how I’ll look like with extremely long hair, hence, the race at trying to keep it healthy and lustrous. After all, what’s the point of having long, fried, yucky hair, right?

11) Drink enough water in a day. It helps not only your health but also your locks’ health.

12) Finally, apparently olive oil helps in replenishing the moisture in the hair and it’ll help you achieve soft and super lustrous locks. I tried it this morning and it seems to have made my hair much softer after I’ve showered and cleansed off the oil in the evening. I’m gonna stick to this regime and see what happens. Will update on the after effects soon enough.

That’s what I’ve gathered on this issue and my own two cents on how I’ve fared with these tips. The olive oil tip I’m gonna see through and see if it really works. Will keep you all posted!

If you’re interested in ordering Skinfood from their Singapore based website, feel free to click on the above promotional picture and order away! They deliver worldwide!

When Tine did a post on what’s in her makeup bag recently, I thought that this would definitely be an interesting post for me to do as well and it has also inspired me to declutter my handbag and get myself more organized.

You see, at that time, I was basically chucking around all of my stuff everywhere around the bag and little did I know that I actually was carrying tons of stuff around with me, without even realizing it. Hence, instead of doing a What’s In My Makeup Bag post, I’ve decided to do a What’s In My Handbag post instead.

Tine’s post also inspired me to go around looking for a makeup bag. After knowing in much astonishment and amazement at the kind of stuff I bring around with me everyday in the most disorganized fashion ever, I found myself a makeup bag that I got for free with one of my makeup or skincare purchases. So now, like Tine, I am carrying around a whole makeup bag full of stuff, like a brick in my bag. The weight of it doesn’t really matter to me, coz at least I know I have it there if I need it, and I bring them anyway previously, just without the bag, so it’s still same ol’ same ol’.

Anyway, here’s a peek at what’s in my bag.

From left to right:

• LG Viewty U990 Mobile Phone in a Leather Case
• Work Pass
• Free L’oreal Makeup Bag with tons of stuff in it
• Sportsgirl Wallet
• Salvatore Ferragamo Sunnies
• Pen
• Eclipse Mints
• Verbatim 1GB USB Drive
• Ventolin Puffer
• Zyrtec Antihistamines
• Business Card Holder

I also carry an umbrella with me in my handbag on weekends. On weekdays, when I go to work, I usually bring my Rootote with me and that’s where my umbrella goes.

Here’s what’s in my L’oreal Makeup Bag.

So what exactly is in there?

Here’s a more detailed peek.

From left to right:

• Sanitary pads
• Panty Liners
• Wet Ones Fresh Towelettes
• Vaseline Hand Cream
• Purell Hand Sanitizer
• Compact Mirror & Hairbrush
• Travel Size Estee Lauder’s Pure White Linen Breeze EDP
• Softlips Lip Balm in Fresh Vanilla
• Bobbi Brown Lipgloss in Pink Popsicle
• JLynne Lip Color in Rita
• Bobbi Brown Lipstick in Bare
• Lipstick Holder
• Vicks
• De-potted Biotherm White Detox Moisturizer
• Pocket Tissues

So, there you go! That’s what’s in mine. Now, what’s in yours? If you haven’t done this already, let’s all share a sneak peek into our handbags or makeup bags, shall we?

For those of you wondering on the disappearance of Blue Silk Creme, one of my readers, Dio, has advised that it’s back!

I had a quick check at the site and yay, it’s true! So, if you’re interested, a jar is priced at USD 38 each.

Tine wanted to know what’s in and out for me at present. I’ve been thinking about this for a while now (and got distracted re-doing my blog instead over the weekend) and have finally come up with my two cents worth on this topic.

What’s Hot?

One – Benefit Cosmetics

I absolutely love Benefit! Most, if not all, their products are absolute gorgeous-ness and cute-sies. I even speak the Benefit language. Haha. Bottomline is, I truly believe in their products as they’re not only cool and cute in terms of packaging, but they’re really good in serving their functionality as well. One of my fave brands for sure, and is thus, top on my What’s Hot list.

Two – Neutral shades

I’m generally not a very experimental person, and on my honey toned skin, it seems that neutrals and bronzy shades seems to work best. So neutrals are just something I’ll forever be in love with.

Three – Trench Coats

Trench coats are the best! They’re forever in season and they look oh-so-chic! Another one my loved item and definitely deserving a spot on the what’s hot list.

Four – Rhodes and Beckett

This is a definite on my what’s hot list. I love the crispness and the fine quality of every Rhodes and Beckett shirt. They’re pretty pricey at $149 to $189 a piece, but definitely well worth the price. I’ve only ever got two of these shirts, even that I purchased during their 40% off sales. Looks good for work, very impressionable quality!

Five – Nine West

I have tons of their handbags which I’ve been slowly collecting ever since I first came to Melbourne. They’re so Fifth Avenue. I have yet to collect their shoes which are absolutely beautiful. Only thing is, they’re quite pricey. So I’m just happy with handbags at the moment.

What’s Not Hot?

One – Red Lipstick

I can never wear red lipstick! Sure, they look sexy on most people, but I’m definitely not one of those lucky ones.

Two – Smoky Eye Look

This look is always in and always looks good on everyone else, but, unfortunately, again, not me. Somehow, I always end up with a punched eye look when I attempt to do this. Maybe its my insufficient makeup skills, but maybe the look just isn’t me.

Three – TomKat

Sigh…need I say more? I used to love Tom Cruise as a kid, only because I thought he was oh-so-dashingly-handsome, but seriously, the publicity on Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes and the kind of crap that goes into tabloids and magazines on them are just so not cool.

Four – Brangelina

Another over-rated celebrity couple splashed across every magazine, tabloid and newspaper out there. Let them live in peace!

Five – Dame Edna for MAC

I never liked Dame Edna. Thus, it is no surprise that I didn’t particularly like MAC’s Dame Edna collection. The colors are just oh-so-garish particularly the lipglosses and lipsticks!

I don’t know who else to tag, but for those interested, please feel free to nick this post and do a write-up of your own. I’d love to read what’s hot and what’s not for you.

I tried using GoDaddy’s hosting plan, put myself on the month-to-month basic hosting plan just to see what’s up with that and I have completely gone bonkers with it. So by this afternoon, I have had enough of my blog already.

So I cancelled off everything, imported my blog from Blogger to Wordpress and transferred the domain name across to Wordpress instead as well. That seems easy enough.

Hopefully, the posts will all go through well and I won’t lose any traffic or readers because of this.

Anyhow, the website address is still at Indulgent Reviews. But, just in case, it doesn’t work for some, thought I’d supply it here.

I’m hoping to tidy up the page by tonight, but bear with me while I play around with the blog. Not even sure if the feeds will work properly yet.

So, yeah, that’s my new update for the day. Wordpress theme for Indulgent Reviews.

Thanks for bearing with me throughout the changeover period, girls!

Indulgent Reviews turns one next week. As such, I have changed the blog structure yet again. I’m trying out Squarespace to see if it works well. It seems to look prettier than Blogger, which I’m already bored of, so I’m hoping to give this one a fair shot. If it does work well within the next few free trial days, I’ll definitely convert over and upgrade my hosting service.

In the meantime, do let me know if any of the links don’t work or if there is any problems at all.

The website address is still the same at Indulgent Reviews.

However, please bear with me while I make the changes and please, please, let me know if anything fails.

Times are hard.

Spending money on beauty products and non life threatening / non key for survival items seems a bit naughty. Having an obsession and addiction to indulge in beauty products and read tons of beauty magazines and daily browsing of online beauty blogs certainly has not helped the situation. Despite that, even I am weary of the need to shake and change my beauty and fashion spending habits.

In turbulent times such as this, I’m trying hard to promise myself and make a vow to myself not to overspend, or better yet, not to spend at all on unnecessary stuff. After all, how many times have I come home with just another lip gloss just because it’s slightly more pink, more mauve or more shimmery than the others I’ve got or how many times have I ended up with another top when I’ve got plenty in my ever expanding and soon to burst wardrobe space?

Yet, stopping and restraining these shopping habits is definitely not easy and has in fact proven to be quite an arduous task indeed.

So what have I done in my attempt to keep myself happy and sated on my beauty and fashion cravings yet keep my credit card, my purse and not to mention my husband, happy?

Window shop only. Since the whole doom and gloom drama unfolded, I’ve been trying very hard to limit myself to window shopping only whenever I’m at the malls. I try not to enter too many stores, particularly my favourite ones, and basically turn a blind eye to everything I see so as to prevent temptation from streaming in and ripping my determination away.

Keep away from enablers. I’m sure all of us know at least one well meaning enablers. I for one know of a few friends of mine whom I do my lunchtime browsing / shopping with who always agrees and supports whatever it is I’m holding / pining at at that time. I haven’t kept away from them, but I’ve certainly limited my window shopping trips with them and turned mall lunches into actual lunches at the office pantry or a cafe or even at my desk.

Pay only with cash. Ever since my wedding, I’ve been trying hard to keep my credit card expenses at bay and trying to repay whatever debt I’ve got on the plastic as soon as possible before the accumulated interest on it becomes mountain high. Thus, if I do have to spend, I’ve been using cash so that I can actually physically see, and thus, feel, my money moving away from me. Definitely works in keeping my expenditures at bay.

Keep a budget. I’ve taken to keeping a strict budget of not more than $100 a month for anything beauty or fashion related. That budget includes my magazines, skincare, haircare, makeup and fashion items. In the past few months, other than whilst I was in Malaysia (which was forgivable), I’ve actually pretty much kept to the under $100 rule. So I’m happy. (Hmm…maybe I should reward myself?);)

Don’t get fazed with sales and gifts with purchase. Pass these by. Forget them. I’m trying hard to not spend unnecessarily and these are all almost always unnecessary items.

When I need something, zoom in only for that one and nothing else. Recently, I went to Biotherm to get myself a new moisturizer. I was so so tempted to get myself the serum as well and in fact, even after I’ve strong willed myself into getting only what I need which is the moisturizer, I spent many many days (in fact weeks) mulling over weather I should get the serum as well or not. Its difficult to control yourself although you know you don’t necessarily need it. Anyhow, coax yourself out of it. I sure did. Though it was hard not to be tempted.

Home care. For years, I’ve basically been purchasing everything I need to create a home spa for myself. Body scrubs, body massage oils, facial scrubs, facial peels, you name it, I’ve got it. Though this may seem wasteful to some, in some ways, I think I’ve actually benefited because by having all these products at home, I actually do not spend much money on facials, manicures, pedicures, body treatments or hair treatments. In fact, I pretty much indulge myself with all this only once in a blue moon, and that’s mostly when I’m having my holiday back home.

That’s pretty much my two cents worth on being indulgent whilst the economy is dwindling away in recession. I can honestly say that my spending habits have changed quite significantly since all this started and I am trying hard not to over indulge myself though I do still want to keep myself sane and happy and contented by indulging myself every once in a while. After all, a girl needs to be happy and contented with the way she looks and feels right?

What about you? How has your beauty or fashion spending changed since the recession hit? Have you stopped purchasing entirely, limit your purchases or are you still doing the same things you did before? Share, share!

Description: A light textured cream to wear as an undercoat to eye makeup. Primes the lids. Smooths textures, neutralizes lid color. Use under eye shadow, pigments, paints and concealers.

After months of scouting around for an eye primer, one that is both effective and budget friendly, I’ve finally settled on the MAC Prep + Prime Eye. It was an impulsive decision that I made whilst accompanying my sister in law makeup shopping at the MAC store back home in KL.

That impulsive action turned out to be right after all. I am absolutely in love with this product. It’s texture is creamy, similar to a concealer’s texture. The product glides on smoothly and matches my skin tone very well.

The one I got is the one in Medium tone. Perfect for my skin tone, something I’ve often found very difficult to achieve with MAC products. However, my trust in MAC product is beginning to increase since using this one. I’ve long stayed away and refrained from buying MAC as I’ve always had a lack of tones and hues that matches my skin tone well. Plus, the salespeople at MAC that I’ve unfortunately had the opportunity to encounter have always been those with God-complexes who are neither helpful nor friendly.

Anyhow, back to the product. It keeps my eyeshadows from creasing and makes the color lasts longer as well. Plus, the look with a primer on is absolutely magical. I’ve never thought much of having a primer on both on the face as well as on the eye. But, I’m now a convert and truly believe that having a primer on as a base does help you achieve a better made up look.

I purchased this for about RM60 or RM70 (can’t really remember) but it retails for AUD 33 here.

Overall, a fantastic product which I’m happy with thus far. Keep in mind though that I have yet to try other eye primers and this is my first time ever using one, so my raving comment on it may or may not change depending on the quality of other eye primers out there, which I shall endeavor to try one of these days.