White + Rose

Happy Chinese New Year! After the new Gregorian year, I spent a little over two weeks in Taiwan to visit family and celebrate my grandmother's birthday. Too bad I wasn't able to stay for the new Chinese year. I thought I'd share a little slice of what I saw there: Taiwan is a beautiful island to visit, and generally speaking, the night markets are where it's at. Street food at a low cost. Lots of tasty morsels. Whilst you can do your shopping there, I reckon there are other places in Asia that'd fare better when it comes to the full experience. Nevertheless, it's not bad at all and I enjoyed looking around for skincare and cosmetics. When in Taiwan, look for Taiwanese sheet masks. My Beauty Diary is renowned internationally but I wanted to have a go at other local brands: Dr Morita, Dr Jou, L'herboflore and My Scheming were the ones I ended up with. You get better promotions with local brands too -- a lot of 2 for 1 deals. As for other skincare, ...

Throughout the year, I've been watching Twin Peaks in my spare time. I've recently completed the series, hoping that I can catch the revival. I was introduced to this show when I was playing Life is Strange, where there were many references to Twin Peaks. I got so into it that I made cherry pie and had it with black coffee one morning -- actually a couple of mornings because I baked an entire pie for myself. Nevertheless, the women of Twin Peaks has style and I thought I'd do a compilation here. Audrey Horne She's my favourite, she's everyone's favourite as far as I know. There's something about that 40s/50s influence in her style that I adore, mixed with the 90s. She's got that classic look, but the Old Hollywood kind of classic. It borders between demure and sexy. Her palette is generally white, black and red -- sounds like my teenaged wardrobe and I still love that combination. I loved this costume on her too -- the one from One-eyed ...

As an Australian, I never had a chance to partake in Black Friday until about two years ago when I learned that online retailers began offering Black Friday deals. This'll be a quick post, and as far as I know, these deals are still up. Here's what I got, if you're curious.  1. Unique Vintage With their 'Catch of the Day', I thought I'd give it a go and purchased the bottoms for USD$10 and their pagoda umbrella at 25% off (with BEST25). It's a bit of a lucky dip but I'm hoping it's just some plain pants. I can do a flared skirt too.  2. Paula's Choice Paula's Choice Australia is offering 20% off with free shipping. I had some credit on my account, so I ended up getting the 2% BHA Body Treatment without any charges. If you're interested in purchasing from Paula's Choice (and you're in Australia), feel free to use my link ( https://goo.gl/HDeHpw ) for $15 off your first order if you spend over $30. Note: this is ...

I thought I'd do a bit of an update about what I had been up to. In the first weekend of September, I made a trip to Melbourne for a weekend with my sister and my friend. Whilst my sister attended the Madman Fest, I went around the CBD with my friend and explored the laneways, arcades and the Queen Victoria market. It takes more than a weekend to fully explore what Melbourne has to offer but I was quite content with what I was able to do during that weekend. This was more of a luxury trip, in which we indulged on food and stayed at a hotel. My friend and I stopped by Hardware Societe for breakfast, which came highly recommended by one of my nursing school friends, and we had the fairy floss hot chocolate at the Hash Specialty. I window-shopped most of the time and caved into a purchase of a box of macarons from La Belle Miette to bring back home. My family dug into them before I had the chance to take photos. Late October to mid-November, I had a placement in Tweed Hea...

I've never mentioned once in my blog thus far that I'm a stress shopper, and I can be a little disinhibited at times. I never thought I'd buy a gold ring on impulse. The Mejuri Evil Eye ring wasn't something that appealed to me upon first glance. I've seen it on the likes of Amelia Liana and Estee Lalonde on YouTube but it was never a "must have" item. I've always preferred one-of-a-kind vintage pieces. Yet, during these crazy few months, I saw the appeal. It was chic and the design is simplistic enough to go with many outfits. I justified it as an early birthday gift to myself and a reward for completing the academic year. It was still a lot of money to spend on myself -- for just a ring. I guess it's mostly because I don't believe I deserve it. However, I chose to keep it because I don't like backing out of my decisions. I was certain I made the right choice of design for myself when I saw a fellow student wear a dainty silver evil ey...

I first came across Calia through Holistichabits/Sarah Nagel on YouTube. It's been on my wishlist for a while until I finally got around to making a purchase. I may no longer be on the whole 'natural' kick but I still enjoy using haircare that is derived from natural ingredients. I've had this regimen for about two months. I think they are very similar to the Al'chemy shampoos I used before. Calia uses unrefined ingredients and Al'chemy uses coconut-derived chemicals but I don't notice much difference. If Calia finds a way to ship items cheaper internationally (other than US and Canada), I might pick their products up again. For now, Australia offers many natural brands and Al'chemy is pretty close. Nevertheless, I recommend Calia to anyone who lives in North America and can take advantage of free shipping when you reach CAD$69. For anyone wanting to try Calia, I recommend the hydrating line. It smells divine with the geranium oil and is gentle on...

With the upcoming spring season, many stores have brought out a variation of the classic floral prints. It's more realistic -- like botanical illustrations. When I shop, I typically gravitate towards patterns and I have an affinity for these kinds of florals. Left - H&M; Middle - Sheike; Right - H&M Hopefully, I'll be able to snag myself one of these when the weather is warmer.