Lifestyle Archives - Page 18 of 28

What, Why, How: Tips for bringing a packed lunch with #PBPacksLunch

March 27, 2015 Paris B 34 Comments

This year, due to various circumstances, which includes the lack of good food near work, and the rising prices of food, especially at the hawkers, I decided to make it a point to bring my lunches to work. I used to a while ago, but as with a lot of things, it didn’t last as long as it should.

But I’m going strong now, and I attribute it to Instagram, where I slot in pictures of my packed lunches in between my beauty updates, and I tag them #PBPacksLunch and you know what makes it fun? The interaction I get! 😀

And what makes it even more fun is that some people have told me that it’s inspired them to pack their own lunches, and that spawned a new hashtag #PBMadeMePackLunch. No, I don’t make packed lunches for people, but I try to inspire people to join me 😀

But what I’ve also been asked, is about the “equipment” I use to carry my lunches to work, especially hot lunches, because I enjoy eating hot food better than cold; and my process. So I promised I’d write a post on why packed lunches are a good thing and what you can use and here it is! 🙂

Naturally, if you too pack lunch to work, I’d love to hear your ideas! If you want to start, I hope this helps!

Feeling Down? Dress Up and Make Up and things will look up!

February 11, 2015 Paris B 43 Comments

If there’s one thing I’ve noticed, it’s that sometimes, we women are our own worst enemies. Those of us who take a little bit of trouble to dress up are given the once over with a questioning look of “Where does she think she’s going?” and those who take a little bit more interest in makeup or fashion are quickly labelled superficial and shallow. Hey, beauty bloggers get it all the time so I’m pretty immune, because I know I’m not 😀 I’m a woman so I’m qualified to make this statement and I dare anyone to tell me otherwise! 😉

Yet, what I’ve found is that taking a bit of trouble with your appearance can do wonders for your confidence and self-esteem, and even your mood. When your mood lifts, everything else starts to improve. It’s the law of the universe. Besides, it isn’t shallow if you take that trouble for yourself, not merely to impress friends or colleagues or the general public. You aren’t shallow if you’re trying to better yourself.

I speak from experience, mainly because when I was languishing at the bottom of a deep ravine of self-doubt and emotional turmoil, I took no interest in my dressing and even in my makeup. Heck, even my skincare routine suffered. I’d slob along to work in a sloppy cardigan top hanging over pants that barely fit me anymore, or in an ill-fitting dress that did not fit 5 years ago and still doesn’t fit now.

My makeup was rudimentary. I’d apply the most basic of makeup, not caring if the colours matched or clashed, or if they made me look tired or old 😛 This carried on for over a month and from day to day, it seemed that my mood of despair kept spiralling further and further down the abyss. It seemed that there was no end in sight.

Until one day, I stared out over the twinkling lights of the city landscape from my balcony, and realised what a bum I’d become. Fittingly, I’d stopped blogging at that time or you could say that I was a failed beauty blogger, not practising what I preached and just being a right slob. So I picked myself up by the figurative lapels and decided to turn things around.

Save & Splurge: Daiso Dupes for the Brush Egg and Sigma Brush Glove

October 13, 2014 Paris B 62 Comments

Confession – I had no idea what I was going to blog for today. I’ve got a crap-load of stuff to get through but I didn’t feel like really talking about makeup which regulars might notice is how I usually kick off the week. We all need something pretty to start the week with right? 🙂 But I’m wallowing in a rut so I was going to take the day off, when the weekend brought a fortuitous blog post idea – Brush Cleaning Tools!

Huh? I can almost hear some of you think. Do you need tools for cleaning your makeup brushes? Isn’t it just soap and water? Well, the trend sort of started out with Sigma who came up with their Spa Brush Glove – basically a silicone glove with raised dots, that was supposed to help you speed up the cleaning process of your brushes. It also cost US$35 (RM115) *choke*

I wasn’t going to spend that sort of money on what was basically a non-slip silicone oven glove (which you can get from any kitchen shop at less than Sigma’s price if you really want a glove for washing your brushes) but I was curious as to how it worked. So one day while at that paradise of all things cheap, cute and tacky i.e. Daiso I picked up something I thought would do the trick.

When I posted about it on Instagram, @Jeninec commented that I could find a dupe of the Brush Egg (another popular brush cleaning tool, it seems!) at Daiso too! So off I went again to Daiso to pick it up and here we are! Let’s talk brush cleaning tools, how it works and why you can easily save on them rather than splurging 😀

Sleep Aids: Striving for a Quiet Night with The Body Shop Dreamy Pillow & Body Mist

October 2, 2014 Paris B 26 Comments

If you’re one of those people who literally fall asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow, well, I don’t like you very much right now. I have my good and bad sleeping days, and at one time, the good outnumbered the bad. So, I’d be able to just relax, read a book and fall asleep pretty soundly till the alarm goes off in the morning.

But recently, insomnia hit me hard. Eye bags and shadows have taken permanent residence under my eyes and they aren’t even bags anymore, I always say they’re now LV trunks. I’d go to bed but wake up sporadically in the middle of the night and fail to fall asleep thereafter. So I decided to try some sleep aids.

A friend had gifted me a sample kit of a Deep Sleep Pillow Spray by This Works but that finished quite quickly, before I had a chance to evaluate if it was working. So, I’ve ordered a full sized bottle and will be putting it through its paces once it arrives.

However, in the interim, and in desperate need for sleep intervention, I decided to try a pillow spray from The Body Shop after seeing it appear on Instagram (I love IG but it makes me want so many things! 😛 ) So, once I read that it helped, I popped out to the closest Body Shop store to pick up the Quiet Night Dreamy Pillow & Body Mist. Incidentally, I have noticed that overseas, this is known as Deep Sleep Dreamy Pillow & Body Mist. Same thing, different name. Not sure why.