Lifestyle Archives - Page 24 of 28

Bag of Love : Where your monthly beauty surprises come not in a box but a bag

May 24, 2013 Paris B 26 Comments

Truth to tell, I never got into the whole beauty box subscription hype. Sure, I told you once what I might put in one if I were curating a beauty box, but for the most part, it doesn’t attract me. So, I can tell you that it takes a lot to impress, or to even make me take a second look at yet another beauty box subscription service.

And this is where Bag of Love comes in. A beauty box without the “box”? Count me intrigued! Bag of Love, the brainchild of former magazine beauty writer and self-confessed beauty buff Mi Mi Teh, delivers to your doorstep a little pouch (or bag, as you’d have it) of beauty goodies. The rest of the concept is the same as the beauty box subscription service i.e the element of surprise and samples for a fixed monthly fee. The difference lies in the contents and the delivery.

I was handed the March debut bag, to see what I thought of it, but I also subscribed for the April bag to see what it might contain, and to see just how unique it would be. You see, each month sees a different bag design arriving on your doorstep! That alone will pique most people’s interest I’m sure!

Travel Tales: 10 Things You Can Do In Prague, Czech Republic

May 19, 2013 Paris B 43 Comments

I can’t believe its already been 2 weeks since I returned from my vacation to the Czech Republic, a place I’ve always wanted to visit for the longest time ever. I fulfilled my dream to visit the beautiful “City of 100 spires” aka Praha or Prague as we know it and I thought I’d share some of the things you can do while you’re there, because quite a few of you had expressed interest to visit.

If your plan is to shop till you drop then Prague isn’t for you. Let’s just get that out of the way because I’ve met more than a few people in my time who, at the mention of Europe, start to get that Chanel sparkle in their eyes. There is good shopping to be had in Prague, but its not the best place for that. What its worth going for is the views, and architecture and to just soak up the atmosphere of an old city, relatively undamaged by the various wars and political upheavals they’ve undergone, and just live for a little while.

I was there towards the middle of Spring which I was told, is not exactly a wonderful time, because the weather can get a little wonky. They had a long cold winter and were just starting to thaw out by April so when I arrived, the weather was a warm (almost hot) 25°C and I was quite disappointed. 2 days later, the temperature plummeted to the low teens and down till about 4°C. Its apparently better in Autumn when the weather is more stable but in Spring, you’ll see the beautiful flowers in bloom everywhere so it has its attractions.

I thought I’d share 10 things you can do in Prague, in case you think of visiting, and it serves as a quick introduction to the city and what I did while I was there 🙂 So, strap yourselves in your chair, we’re going on an armchair holiday with quite a few pictures to go through! 😀

Life Tip: Clear your clutter to clear your mind and get back in control

May 14, 2013 Paris B 36 Comments

Its been a rough, really rough 2 weeks, emotionally. I’ve been riding an emotional roller coaster, hitting giddy highs and sinking into the lowest of the low. It was the worst for me last Friday when I really felt in despair of ever having a solution to my on-going problem with the people responsible for damaging my car. Blogging and work is helping keep me on an even keel as I strive to have some normalcy amongst the chaos.

But last week, after a long hot shower, I sat down, looked around my humble abode and decide that enough was enough. I didn’t want to keep dragging myself down and despairing over things. Yet, in the 2 weeks when I’d been stumbling around like a zombie, I realised that my home had become a big pile of mess. Well, its not just from last week but its been a growing mess that I keep looking at and looking away because I just don’t have the energy to deal with that on top of everything else.

I had my mail, bills, junk mail, bank statements… all littered over my dining table. We joke that I shouldn’t have a dining table because I don’t dine at it, I just use it as a horizontal dumping ground to dump everything on when I get home. I had stuff everywhere, laundry unfolded, mail unopened, press releases strewn all over. It was a tip.

I needed to get things under control and it would have to start with my home and by clearing clutter.

KENS Apothecary re-opens in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur – Where it all began!

April 21, 2013 Paris B 22 Comments

I rarely talk about shops opening here and there but I wanted to share this one, because I’d been waiting for this store to re-open in the city for so long.

Ken’s Apothecary opened in Bangsar, KL sometime back in 2000. Their store used to be along the row of shops facing where Bangsar Village 2 now stands and I remember then, reading about it in the newspaper.

Anyway, I was young and impressionable and for some reason, I was drawn to the article. It might have been the name – Ken’s Apothecary – because really, how many of us actually hear the word “apothecary” bandied about these days? It was old world and I liked that. Unlike apothecaries, which are essentially pharmacies, this one had a very narrow niche with a focus on niche and luxury fragrances and brands. I was introduced in the newspaper article to the likes of Annick Goutal, T. LeClerc and Laura Mercier, to name just a few brands that was carried in store. Brands whose names were alien to me at that point.

Someday, I told myself, I’d visit this store which I had built up in my head to be an Aladdin’s cave of wonders. I did, a couple of years later.