Today it finally struck me that I’ll be returning home in a little less than two weeks. Has it really been a year? Well, honestly it’s only been 9 months but it’s the longest I’ve been away from everything. First time I’ve been without the family, first time I’ve had to change a light bulb in my life and the first time I’ve had an old Turkish man ask me out for coffee.

It happened during winter: my friends and I decided to brave the cold and meet for a movie date in the mall. En route to the mall, I get stopped by a man in his 50s and he starts talking excitedly about my hijab.

“You wear the hijab! Are you muslim too?” I relax. I do a quick scan of his appearance.

1. He doesn’t have a beard.

2. He looks clean enough.

Ok, he seems harmless. I let him continue talking as I nod politely. He mentions being a Turkish businessman with 3 offices around the city and asks me if I want a part-time job. I decline, quickly making up excuses until I am satisfied he gets the picture. He sighs and holds his hand for a handshake. Thinking it is a sign for a friendly goodbye, I shake his hand. WRONG.

I try to pull my hand away but he doesn’t let go. This is the point where I want to kick him in the balls. But the good, peace-loving muslim in me doesn’t. He tells me “I like that you’re wearing the hijab. My wife used to wear it too…until she died a few years ago. Coffee?”

I. DON’T. EVEN.

Now whenever I’m within 50m of the mall, I silently pray I don’t run into Old Turkish Geezer again. No sir, I’m not sorry I gave you the wrong number. Besides, you should count your blessings – my shopping would give you a mountain of debt.

Back to tea noir-related business, I have a short review of the CoverGirl Aqua CG Smoothers for you guys today. I’m not going to lie to you and say “Oh I’ve been looking for a tinted moisturizer for agessss.” Thing is, like most of the stuff I have in my make-up bag and wardrobe, this was an impulse buy. Walking into an Australian pharmacy is like stumbling upon a wonderland of cosmetics and skincare not found in Singapore, with little signs spewing “Buy 2 Free 1″ deals. It is not good for me. The pharmacy and I have a nasty, surreptitious affair going on – one that is most likely to last the three years I will be here. Resistance is futile.

Before I continue, I’d like to apologise for the shit lighting in all my photos this entry. I was going to take all of them outdoors in natural light like I usually do but spring has brought with it unpredictable bouts of torrential rain. I could either a) take my photographs in my apartment or b) pretend this entry was never going to exist. And it’s better to have an entry than to have none at all, oui? I tried to fix the colours in Photoshop but this was the best I could do. If I pushed the color levels any further, my photos would’ve looked like something out of a b-grade 70s flick. For real.

Let’s ignore yellow old me for a sec – The CoverGirl Aqua CG Smoothers is a tinted moisturiser with SPF 15. It’s gives sheer coverage to the skin which is buildable, I suppose but it won’t cover pimples. It will, however, minimize any redness that you may have. It applies smoothly too – I like that I can just smear this on my face with my fingers without having to use my MAC 187 stippling brush. And as with most tinted moisturisers, you get this nice dewy glow instead of the matte flatness one would have with normal foundation. It doesn’t feel like I’m wearing anything at all too.

The downside is that after a couple of hours, my skin gets a bit oily and the dewy glow transforms into an oily muck. But nothing can’t fixed with a little powder. Some people who have reviewed this on MUA have named this an affordable (and maybe even better?) version of Laura Mercier‘s tinted moisturiser but since I haven’t tried the Laura Mercier version, I can’t really comment – interesting comparison though.

Swatch! I use the Light to Medium shade.

Lipstick courtesy of Chanel. Rouge Coco in Mademoiselle. Blush: NARS Sin, Eyes: MAC Mineralize eyeshadow duo in Bright Side Gallery Gal, Maybelline Gel Liner & MAC Copperized pigment to line the lower lashes. Nails: Essie in Love, Beverley Hills xx with 24k Gold (LOVE LOVE LOVE OMFG, perfect red – thanks Cat!)

I know, I know. I have a terrible addiction. In my defense, the blue ring was gift from Yumi. Doesn’t it look absolutely stellar? Like a tiny galaxy trapped in stone. The other ring’s made of glass, beautiful piece that one. It reminds me of a Monet painting and god, I love my Monet.

Did a little thrift-shopping some time ago and found this vintage brooch for $10. The pin at the back’s getting blunt with every use so I wear it sparingly.

And I do smile sometimes lol. I have a gap in between my two front teeth. Yes, exactly like Lara Stone except my gap isn’t as huge…and I don’t bare my breasts on every Vogue cover I get.

Also, before I end this entry:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SIGNIFICANT OTHER: NADZIRAH! And it’s been a yearly tradition for me to share some of Nadz’s embarrassing moments on my blog so:

#1 Nadz’s blogging tips

#2 Nadz’s secret ambition

OH SNAAAAAAAPPPP I’M SUCH A BAD-ASS LOL.

I love you bbcakes, I look forward to cooking with chu in my kitch’ and dancing to Shakira in the mornings when I fly back.

And because this is probably the sweetest thing I’ve typed on Twitter:

DAYUM GIRL I sound just like your boyfriend…except he would never be able come up with this even if he tried (OH YEAH I SAID IT)

Last night I was got back home a little later than usual due to a hold-up at work, I was really tired – I had the flu, my nose was leaking like crazy (you have no idea how close I was to stuffing a tampon up my nose….not that you needed to know that but hey I’m trying to keep it real and funny here ya know?) and all I wanted to do was pop a couple of pills and sleep.

Then I noticed the box.

OMG MY SWAP PACKAGE FROM CATHERINE IS FINALLY HEREEEEEEEEEEE! I did a lil’ SQUEEE! and danced around the living room, totally forgetting that my parents were there and giving me weird looks. Uh, right. Sorry mom I know my 20 second ~IMMA BE JLO~ dance routine last night was painful to watch but despite the odds, I’m still your daughter k. Promise.

What’s weird is the box Catherine sent me only had our names and no addresses! I guess technology has become so advanced that you no longer have to write addresses on mail anymore…or maybe my Photoshop skills are so kick-ass and hot like fire that I managed to get rid of our addresses to prevent scary stalkers XD

A little back story on how the swap came about: Cat reviewed the MAC 5 Haute High Jinks Warm Pigment/Glitter Set and I commented on the post asking if she’s tried MAC’s pigment in Blonde’s Gold (gorgeous light yellow-gold color btw) because it’s one of my favourites. Turns out she hadn’t so I offered to send her a sample and cut to the chase, that somehow turned into a full blown international swap lol.

I was telling Cat how I had all these annoying bumps on my t-zone from time to time and I had absolutely no idea how to get rid of them. I think they’re a lot worse than pimples because although pimples are icky, they go away after a few days but these bumps just STAY THERE. What is the point srsly? They’re not even paying rent so they gotta go go go.

Cat recommended using a concoction of jojoba oil + squalane as a moisturizer to help declog the pores so she got me a bottle each plus a small vial of lavender oil to add into mixture. She’s also written a couple of blog entries pertaining to the wonders of jojoba oil and how they can help with acne, read about them here.

I also asked her to get me Weleda’s Skin Food because this multipurpose tube of moisturizer has been getting raves on Makeupalley, everyone’s proclaiming it to be the next best thing since Lady GaGa. It supposedly addresses many concerns like dryness, redness etc and you can use it on your face + body so I thought it would come in handy during winter in Melbourne.

NAIL POLISHES! L to R: China Glaze Stella, OPI Smitten with Mittens, OPI Merry Midnight. I asked Cat to get me some OPI, particularly Smitten with Mittens which was part of their 2009 holiday collection. She also talked me into getting another polish from the same collection – Merry Midnight and HOLY CRAP it’s an amazing shade of purple! She was kind enough to include so many extras for me including THREE other nail polishes, one of them being China Glaze’s Stella which an outer worldly shade of warm purple, gorgeousss.

Dude. I completely flipped out when I saw that Cat got me the infamous Essie Mint Candy Apple which is a great dupe of Chanel’s “Jade” nail polish. I love it so much omg, thank you, thank you! The funny thing is she also included a bottle of Essie’s Love, Beverly Hills xx, which is another color I’ve been curious about (it’s got 24k gold in it!) How the heck did you read my mind girl??

See the beautiful shimmery pool of gold in the red base? Can’t wait to try this one out!

Stella is a very unique purple, I think it should have been renamed Stellar lol because it’s just so alien-pretty…if that makes any sense (sorry it’s 11pm, I’m sick and I’m sleepy)

Smitten with Mittens is a classic red with gold glitter! You might think it’s similar to Love, Beverly Hills xx but that’s got more of a metallic finish compared to Smitten with Mittens.

I cannot get over how AWESOME Merry Midnight is! It’s a very deep purple with lots of blue-red glitter and flakes! If witches celebrated Christmas, this would be their nail polish of choice lmao. Oh and I’ve got Essie’s Mint Candy Apple on my nails in this photo ;D

I wanted a replacement for my MAC paintpots before they completely dry up on me so I now have the L’Oreal HIP cream shadow paint in 807 Secretive which is a very light neutral color that can be used alone or as a base for eyeshadow. I love how it comes with its own brush too!

Sweet Sienna’s a MAC LE pigment that came out 2 years ago and it is what I would classify as “The one that got away”. I can’t remember why I didn’t buy it but I’ve always regretted not getting the pigment. It’s a dirty brown with silver/grey pearl, I think there’s nothing like it. Cat actually received a large sample of Sweet Sienna in a separate swap and she kindly gave me a portion for me to try <3 <3 <3

LOL I’M NOT DONE YET. She also included another MAC pigment sample, Sunnydaze which is a stunning almost brown taupe shade! You’re so right Cat, I don’t have this at all lol! My pigment collection’s mostly golds and greens ;D

Thank you so much Cat!!! I love everything you sent, you’re my first official cosmetics swap ever and I had such a great time emailing/chatting with you on msn! I think we got to know each other a lot better since the swap so cheers to a blossoming friendship <3333 If you're curious to see what I sent Cat from my end, you can read about it here!

This post is seriously lacking in swatches, I know and I apologise. I couldn’t stay out in the sun for a long period of time today because this flu is just killin’ my fun and I had to take a day’s off from work :/ My voice is so hoarse and raspy now, I almost sound like Steven Tyler from Aerosmith. I hear he’s quit the band so guys, if you’re still looking for a replacement I’m willing to take the job but I should probably let you all know in advance that the only Aerosmith song I know is “Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing” from that Armageddon movie LOL