For someone who used to grouse about the lack of Lush stores in Singapore, I ironically write very little on the subject matter now that I live in a country teeming with it. I can explain.

Going to Lush for the first time is like going to your favorite buffet restaurant. You’re barely 10 ft away but already you are catching whiffs of toffee and pink rock star soap. When you’ve been to a restaurant a couple of times, you’re certain you know what you want but there is often that nagging feeling you get; the one that tells you maybe, just maybe, you should stop playing it safe and try something different today. It is our innate need for new experiences that makes the Lush store a very dangerous place. And I avoid it the same way I avoided carbs in a failed all-protein diet: Pretend it doesn’t exist.

Trouble is, I have to pass by a certain Lush store everyday on my way to school. I used to think this was the best thing ever, I could pop in anytime I wanted regardless of the time. Then, it happened. I keep my Lush paper bags piled neatly on the top shelf of my closet (you know, out of sight, out of mind lol). Sometime last year, I was late for dinner with friends so I was running around, getting dressed, sorta lost my balance and crashed. Into my closet. I opened it just to check if the doors were still working and like a broken dam, 12 black/yellow paper bags slid out, pelting me at my feet. And I was left with a very visual display of just why I was broke every month.

Just like this:

Not good, gais. So I’ve been anti-Lush the last 6 months. Pretty good record, considering every sidelong glance at the store’s woodsy interior gradually eats away my resistance. And my resistance finally gave away last week when I was feeling the hate from school so I went in to check out their new summer stuff!

I’m very fond of Lush’s bath bombs and bubble bars…when I still had a tub. Sex in The Shower is one of their new emotibombs, designed specifically for the bathtub-less! It smells strongly of roses and ylang ylang which I’d imagine to be a perfect combo for the ‘deed’ lol. Still, single ladies (and men) would probably appreciate an indulgent shower from time to time. The sad thing is, like an inexperienced lover, the emotibomb probably lasted just under 10 minutes in the shower? But I have to admit, it was a delightful 10 minute experience LOL I’M SO GETTING SUED FOR THIS. *cough* So yeah, if you’re feeling down and wouldn’t mind throwing $5 into the sewage pipes just so you can get high on rose-scented fumes, SEX IN THE SHOWER IS WHAT YOU WANT.

Demon in the Dark. The Godmother. Unlucky for Dirt. Vanilla in The Mist. Just rattling off some of my favourite Lush soaps, who comes up with these names and scents seriously? Just incredible. Yet, none of these soaps would ever top my favourite: Honey, I Washed The Kids (or in this entry, Honey for short). Now, the problem I have with Honey is that while the scent is exquisite, the soap formula is a little drying to the skin. But just for Valentine’s Day (Yeah, I am a lil slow huh?), Lush released a shower gel version of their no. 1 soap: It’s Raining Men.

Oh. My. God. It smells exactly like Honey except punchier (I think it’s the inclusion of bergamot and wild orange oil) and the fragrance just lingers on your skin forever. I’ve stopped using my perfume since I bought this from the store because I’d hate to have something mask its caramel-like nuance. I have no problems with the shower gel formulation too. Truly, truly sublime. Sadly, it’s limited edition so I’m tempted to get the largest bottle but it’s $30 ._. WHO SPENDS $30 ON SHOWER GEL MAN? (I’ll think about it.)

Anyway, how has everyone been? Anyone else inflicted by similar shopping problems? ;p School has been, I’ll be be blunt, so shit for me the past 2 weeks, I don’t know if I’m imagining things but my workload has increased two fold compared to last semester. I haven’t been sleeping well. And frankly, I don’t have time to take care of myself mentally + nutritionally. It’s been instant noodles, junk food etc. I’ve gained a bit of weight as well, which makes my diet entry last year completely obsolete LOL, it’s a shame, really and I hate it. When your parents’ money are banked on you to get good grades, you better deliver. I haven’t disappointed them yet but this semester has the potential to break my lucky streak, it’s terrifying! Gotta get my act together!

The only subject I like this semester is Poetry. It’s challenging but I enjoy it immensely. I don’t aspire to be a poet, of course but I think it teaches something valuable: To look at the world and describe it in the most unusual way. I suppose that is the beauty of poetry and god, it’s therapeutic. Except for the last couple of days when I was forced to write a sonnet. Sorry, imma werq my free verse everyday. Urgh, Shakespeare. Why didn’t sonnets die with you? That said, I’d still like to have a hot man recite Sonnet 18 to me one day lol, I would just DIE. Happy weekend, everyone!

p.s I think it’s evident by now I don’t have time to read anything other than my school texts. I will catch up with everyone eventually but it’s a little hard, I hope you understand. It’s not you, it’s me (or rather, uni)! If you need to contact me, email me or find me on twitter! Thanks guys x

Sorry I’ve been MIA! How’s school you might ask? Well I haven’t cried yet so I guess that’s a sign things are alright? School has made me a hermit because my god it’s intense! The amount of reading I have to do builds up each week and the articles I’ve been given to read aren’t exactly easy breezy beautiful chick lit material because dude, the language used in the articles are so complex I feel like I’m deciphering Latin half the time.

Anyway, I thought I’d just share a couple of photos I took from my first week in Melbourne. Lol I’ve been here for a month and these are the only photos I’ve taken so far, god I lead such a sad life now. I don’t even have time to bring the camera out anywhere now sigh. Ok enough sob stories, on to the photos beech!

Barely half a day in the city and I have officially raped the Lush store in Melbourne. (Pardon the language, I’m high on fizzy lemonade and cherry cupcakes so due to my sugar induced drunken stupor, I’m not responsible for all the crazy disjointed sentences I’m about to type out) I spent an entire hour in the store, touching/groping/spritzing everything I could possibly touch/grope/spritz 8D

I bought a tub of Sweetie Pie shower jelly (purely because it’s got glitter in it LOL and I was itching to spend some money ~_~) It’s supposed to be used with a bath sponge and I didn’t have one at the time so you can imagine how much fun I had attempting to use the shower jelly as a soap in the shower. It’s slippery as hell and needless to say after 10 mins of fumbling around with the jelly, the tiles in my shower were much cleaner than I was ._. Lesson of the day: If the SA tells you to get a bath sponge, get the damn sponge girl.

One of the highlights of my first week in Melbourne was dinner at the Pancake Parlour! They serve arguably the best pancakes and vanilla ice cream in the city all day long *_* We shared a banana split which came with the most decadent hot fudge everrr.

Our pancakes! I had a double stack of pancakes with organic strawberry jam, strawberries and cream – I think I must be the only person in the world who avoids maple syrup when it comes to pancakes. I think maple syrup is cloyingly sweet and overpowers that slight hint of buttermilk you can typically find in good pancakes……I can’t believe I’m actually bitching about maple syrup here, WHAT KIND OF A BLOG DO I RUN LOL?

We were walking on some random street when I saw a store front with nothing but a lift. I peered closer and DIED. ZOMG DIOR! LANVIN! OTHER LABELS I DON’T REALLY CARE FOR BUT HEYYY! I can’t remember how I managed to convince my aunts to get in the lift with me…not that anyone cares but yeah. The store’s called ASSIN which I’m hoping stands for “assassin” and not er “ass in” >_>

I took photos mainly at the men’s section because the 1) photography wasn’t allowed 2) I wanted to make Aaron jealous because they had an amazing collection of Dior and Lanvin sneakers meheh. I love the whole industrial steel minimal look they were going for.

More hot clothes Aaron can’t afford.

AND SOME ACTUAL LANVIN OMG! Lanvin makes some really good suits and I swooned looking at this one, the feel of the fabric *_* I don’t care, my future husband betta start saving because I’m not going to marry him if he wears anything less than a Lanvin on our wedding day HAHAHAH I WISH.

Thank you so much for your comments on my diet entry! I’m happy all of you feel enlightened by it, let me know if you have any questions or w/e. Anyway I am SO sorry I haven’t been reading all your entries – in fact, I haven’t been reading ANYTHING the past 2 weeks. I’ll get down to it eventually when I have the time, school’s a bit chaotic right now with all the reading, cooking and laundry I have to do. I’ll have a beauty entry up next hopefully – meanwhile, take care guys!

Today two LUSH favourites battle it out to decide who stays in Ilyana’s bathroom cabinet and who gets dumped in the bin! It’s a fight to the death and the winner takes it all!

Angels on Bare Skin is Lush’s top selling cleanser, it’s made of ground almonds, kaolin, lavender oil – a cocktail licensed to inflict divine punishment onto misbehaving skin! YEOWWWCH! My skin was in a terrible state after my holiday in Melbourne, it’s been ravaged by the great winds and the sudden change of climate so I came back with spotty but parched skin. The only thing that saved it was the tub of Angels on Bare Skin (AOBS) I bought from the Lush store in Melbourne, it was an impulse purchase and thank fork for that.

This is my second tub of AOBS actually, I bought my first tub in Hong Kong about a year ago, loved it but somehow forgot about it :/ You’re supposed to take a small amount, mash it up in your palm with a teensy bit of water and smooth it gently all over your face. I think it’s smells very comforting, like catching a whiff of a field of lavender in the wind.

When you wash the cleanser off, it leaves this thin moisturizing layer of “I don’t know what the heck that is” (it could possibly be the essential oils?) but it doesn’t make my skin feel/look greasy and my skin feels really smooth so I have no complaints ;D

AOBS repaired my skin to its normal state within two weeks of using it as my night time cleanser and has since restored my faith in mankind. Amen.

My BFF, Nicholas aka the cream cheese to my bagel and the Louis Vuitton to my Prada, bought me this from his last holiday in Hong Kong (yeah we both love HK, it’s an amazing place!). Dark Angels is somewhat new, I think it got released from the magical formulating heavens of Lush HQ just last year? I actually wrote a short review about Dark Angels in a previous entry but now that I’ve had it for a couple of months now, I thought I’d write a longer one comparing it to its pale sibling.

Anyway, this is some serious hardcore stuff. You can’t find lil’ ground almonds, soothing lavender and all that lovely fluff in this blackened pit of oil-faced doom. Instead, you get straight up Rhassoul Mud (which just sounds so fricking badass btw), powdered charcoal (like the mud ain’t black enough already) and sandalwood oil.

If you have sensitive skin, I suggest you stay away from Dark Angels because it can get really abrasive if you’re not careful. Dark Angels is definitely targeted to people with very oily skin and even if you do have very oily skin, I won’t recommend using this as a daily cleanser because it might just kill your skin.

I don’t love Dark Angels as much as AOBS simply because I don’t need it. I have combination skin and just AOBS alone in the evenings takes care of my skin. I’ve used Dark Angels mostly as a weekly scrub and well, I don’t really like it that much. It leaves a thin layer of “I don’t know what the heck that is” on my skin but this time, this thin layer actually feels icky on my skin so that’s not good :/ I think it’s a decent scrub though but I definitely won’t repurchase.

Verdict: AOBS is, without a doubt, the winner! It’s great for all types of skin but if you have *very* sensitive skin, use this as a weekly scrub! I love this cleanser so much <3

Urgh I am so behind entries! I am absolutely swamped in facial masks and packages I haven't gotten the chance to take photos of including my Secret Santa package from Mel! I hate how every single time I want to take photos of all the stuff I’ve received/bought in the past couple of weeks, it starts raining or something else just comes up x_x I guess that’s life for you, completely unpredictable.

My New Year’s Resolutions:

1) Appreciate my family and friends 100000x more.

I am so blessed to have a very supporting family and 2-3 really close friends that I can trust. This year, I just want to appreciate and be grateful for what I have because things change but your family’s love for you will never waver.

2) Study til my brain cells hurt.

Finally after a 1 1/2 year break from school, I’m quitting the workforce and re-immersing myself into the world of Hogwarts…except without the magic, cute owls and the lightning scar drama. It’s going to be a huge change for me because I’ll be moving to Australia for the next 3-4 years of my life (maybe even more!), thousands of miles away from my family and friends – it’s scary but hell yeah I’m excited-nervous-excited!!

3) Lose weight.

I was incredibly overweight in 2008 but I lost about 20 odd kilos over the past 2 years and I’m very happy with my current weight but I’m just a couple of kilos away from my goal weight. I’m going to take my time because hell, there isn’t any real urgency for me to get to my goal weight so I am going to eat my cake, my ice cream and my sushi without any remorse.

4) Blog more…like, a LOT more.

There was a point in time when I updated Tea Noir only once a fortnight LOL. I wasn’t really into it and felt very uninspired. Things have changed and I try to write an entry at least 3x a week which is no mean feat especially for me. I hope this continues in 2010 and hopefully I get more readers who comment. I’ve been getting a lot more followers lately and I am really thankful for that but please do leave a comment if you’ve enjoyed reading because I would love to know who you are and get to know you better ;D

5) Get to know more beauty bloggers!

I’ve been reading quite a lot of beauty blogs recently and some of them are linked in that sidebar to your right ;D I hope to get to know each of them better this year, they’re gorgeous and I think they’ve got some great beauty reading material. I’ve gotten to know Catherine of Strawberry Mochi.com and she’s so bubbly and cute! It’s been awesome talking to you, hun! I love her blog too, go check it out!

All the best in 2010, everyone! ♥

Ok I’m back from my self-imposed Christmas holiday break! XD A couple of minutes after I uploaded my previous foodie entry, I realized I’ve blogged about the sights and the food in Melbourne but totally missed out on what I bought from there lol oops. Here we go:

OMG I was a nut in LUSH. I got lost trying to find the store, walking up and down the street for a good 20 mins before I caught the scent of bath bombs 10 metres away. Seriously if you know roughly where LUSH is but can’t find exactly where the store is, rely on your nose. The store gives off a very distinct yummy “LUSH” scent which is kinda overpowering but in a good way ;P

So I bought the Christmas limited edition shower gel Snow Fairy which smells really gross and plasticky in the bottle but when you try it in the shower, you get this nice powdery candy scent which lingers on your skin forever.

Two toners too, Breath of Fresh Air & Tea Tree Water (Thank you Naomi!) – I love Lush toners, you can just spray it on your skin straight from the bottle. It’s very light and even if it gets into your eyes, it doesn’t sting.

Two solid shampoo bars: Karma Komba and Ultimate Shine which are the two top selling shampoos in LUSH (in Australia at the very least lol) I think it’s a cool concept, there are no bottles (+1 for mother earth) and despite common misconceptions, the bars actually lather pretty well. You get a free tin to store them in if you purchase two bars too!

American Dream is a vanilla infused conditioner made with no silicone. I’ve read that conditioners with silicone (which is what 99% of hair conditioners in the market have in their ingredients) actually weigh your hair down so I’ve been wanting to try out a non-silicone conditioner. American Dream seems like the perfect candidate for that. C’mon it’s made from honey water, vanilla pods, fresh oranges and fresh strawberries – I am so there.

I also got the fresh face Crash Course in Skincare mask which has smells like lemony cupcake batter and spreads on the skin like a dream!

Even my dad caught on the LUSH bug (I was in the store for half an hour and he got annoyed waiting for me so he went in to see what was all the fuss about HAHA) and bought the infamous Honey I Washed the Kids soap I talked about in my previous LUSH entry.

My ROCK CHICK gift set I bought for myself! It’s got a small bar of Rockstar soap and a Creamy Candy bubble bar which I used in the bathtub at the hotel we stayed in. It was amaaaazing! The whole room was bathed in this fluffy vanilla candied scent, the bubbles were aplenty and the water was tinted a pale pink. I stayed in the tub for a long, long time and only got out when my toes were all wrinkly.

Handmade soaps!! From left to right: Orange & rose, bubblegum blueberry (my fave!) and African pumice scrub soap. I actually have a lot more but they’ve been given away to friends and family.

Mor Cosmetics is an Australian brand I got introduced to in Melbourne. Their packaging is to die for and beneath all that jazz, their products are very well-made. They sell all kinds of stuff from body butters to bath salts. Check out their website and be stunned by their beautiful packaging.

I bought their Moroccan Mint body butter from their Emporium range – MOROCCAN MINT BODY BUTTER! That’s something you don’t see everyday!

BLACK & GOLD /o/ /o/ /o/so so pretty!

L’Occitane Foot Cream I got from Duty Free! This is my HG foot cream! I get dry feet easily and this is the only foot cream that works for me. It’s creamy but sinks into the skin fast and who doesn’t love the signature L’Occitane lavender scent?

And last but not least, I bought another tube of YSL Rouge Volupté ;P It’s really cheap in duty-free, SGD$37 when it costs USD$34 in the states which works out to be about SGD$50. That’s a good discount y/y? I bought it in shade 26, Tender Peach – I’ll swatch it soon!

I apologize in advance if this entry is riddled with grammar errors, I’m so tired D: I’ll catch you guys soon!

Ramadan (a month of abstinence from food and drink at dawn til dusk for muslims) has come and gone, this can only mean that Hari Raya Aidil Fitri (also known as Ramadan Eid, Eid ul-Fitr in other parts of the world) is here once again.

A time of celebration and a terrible time for dieters alike because of the sumptuous feasts we are all subjected to when visiting our relatives. I lost 4.5kg during the past month and with my mother cooking 5 dishes (oven-grilled chicken being one of them!) just for tomorrow….I fear for my calorie intake lol.

Everyone who reads this blog on a regular basis (whoever you are, thank you so much for reading and people who actually take their time to drop a comment, you get extra love and a cookie from me!) probably has seen too much of my garden so here are some shots of my home that I took this morning (AT LONG LAST!). My family has been cleaning, polishing, mopping the house since last week to make sure everything looks *sparkling*

I WENT SHOPPING! HURRAH! I’m going to quickly run through some of my new favourite products of the week and give you guys a quick review on the both of them!

I went to my local Bobbi Brown counter for the first time and got myself a new concealer! Well it’s not really a concealer – it’s a corrector actually, which neutralizes your undereye circles..sort of like a base for your actual concealer. The Bobbi Brown Corrector has gotten some fantastic reviews online so I got one in the shade Peach which is a yellow toned color!

It has a very creamy consistency which I love and applies more fluid than my other favourite – MAC Studio Finish SPF 35 concealer. I know you’re supposed to layer the corrector with another concealer but I think just the corrector alone set with some loose powder under your foundation provides enough coverage.

And before I forget, I am in LOVE with Sephora’s concealer brush! I originally intended to get Bobbi’s concealer brush but there weren’t any stock left so I went to Sephora and got their brush instead. It’s made out of synthetic hair, is pretty soft (yay for the delicate eye area!) but is stiff enough to apply cream concealer/eyeshadows smoothly onto the skin. AND IT’S A LOT CHEAPER, +1 to Sephora.

My BFF went to Hong Kong for a vacation with his family just last week and with all my incessant demands “OMG YOU HAVE GOT TO BUY ME THIS H&M DRESS”, “YOU NEED TO GET ME THIS DVD FROM HMV HK MY LIFE DEPENDS ON IT BB” and “OKAY PLEASE TELL ME YOU’RE GOING TO LUSH”, he certainly did not disappoint and bought me presents including this huge tub of LUSH’s new facial scrub, Dark Angels.

If you’re familiar with LUSH, you would probably have heard of their popular cleanser, Angels on Bare Skin. It’s pretty gentle for the skin, I would even call it heavenly if you like lol.

Dark Angels is the spitting black, demonic ash fallen angel sister to Angels on Bare Skin and it is not to be messed with.

You only need a teeny tiny amount and please make sure you’re not wearing anything expensive because if it gets on your clothes, this bitch is going to stainnn.

This is perfect for people with oily/combination skin. It’s got the good oil combating properties of charcoal, avocado oil and Rhasshoul mud. The scent of the scrub is woodsy, almost earthly and I would really recommend this if you need a scrub with extra oomph (it’s not harsh but it isn’t very delicate either so people with sensitive skin, please stay away!)

That’s all I have for you guys today. I’ll be going on a short hiatus due to the festive season (all that visiting, eating!) but don’t worry I won’t disappear for long. Please follow me on twitter for instant tea noir updates or just follow me because hella I think I’m amusing enough!

I would like to wish all my muslim readers a Happy Eid, have a joyous time with your family and try not to eat too much! A shout-out to my bb girl, Nadz, I LOVE YOU BBCAKES! I hope to see you tomorrow!

Till next time!

Two of my friends, Jacq and Naomi went to Hong Kong as part of their world sushi eating tour also known as their “YES WE’RE FINALLY OUT OF SCHOOL” trip so I demanded that they buy me soaps from Lush. Soaps from Lush are such a treat, they’re made of natural, organic ingredients and are handmade!

Jacq bought me the Sunny Hunny soap stack!

From Left to Right: Happy, Karma and Honey, I washed the kids.

I love how they print out the names of each LUSH staff responsible for making these soaps, such a personal touch. My soaps were made in Japan and I have no idea who “Haru”, “Hide” and “Osupee” are but I’m sure they must be hot >D

Happy: A special edition soap bar based on the best selling LUSH shower gel “Happy Hippy” has grapefruit and bergamot oil and smells absolutely DIVINE.

Karma: This soap is so popular, its scent has been incorporated into many LUSH products e.g. perfume, shower gel, bubble bar – even shampoo! It’s got orange, lemongrass, pine and a hint of lavender, very oriental.

Honey, I washed the kids: This is the one soap EVERYONE has to try. This is the soap LUSH is famous for with real honeycomb in it to moisturise the skin. Its scent reminds me of warm honey and waffles and it will always be my favourite LUSH soap. After showering, the scent just lingers and dries down to a faint delicious caramel – positively yummy.