2018

So I've been to J's Salon a few times before on my own, but sharing is caring right! This time the team kindly let me bring along dear Laveena for some girly spa time (cause goodness knows we hardly see each other in the day, hahaha).

Got our hair treated and pampered at the highest level of luxury one could ever hope for, and I have been so thoroughly spoilt to the point where I get kinda snobby when I go to other spas cause nowhere has as much attention to detail as J's!


Their Deluxe Garden Suite is E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. I will never, ever tire of how peaceful and tranquil it is with it's plush chairs, soothing sounds of the fountain trickling in the background, and the delicious smell of Kerastase products... all whilst overlooking the Singapore River!


But first! We got our scalp and hair condition diagnosed so that our treatment could be specially tailored to our needs. Was very honored to have salon director herself, June, who is also a certified trichologist, to take an in-depth look into both our hair and scalp condition.

For me, I have a sensitive scalp, so I was given the Kerastase Specifique anti-pelluclaire treatment and their Aura Botanica range for my damaged hair (it's organic!) to nourish and tame the frizz.

Now that the house is almost done, it's nice to finally have a little breather to start traveling again, and travel we did! Can't believe it's already been a month since we went to Bali... and as if travel isn't wonderful on it's own already, I was gifted my very first TUMI luggage just in time for the trip - their newest, lightest and most durable yet: Latitude.



I've used Samsonite luggages since young, and ever since moving out of my family home, I've needed to get a luggage of my own (things you don't think about until you become an adult and realise that you need to stop using the family suitcases).

Getting a TUMI seemed like a natural upgrade, especially since Samsonite bought TUMI so they're basically the same family, except TUMI is basically your super cool, classy aunt who travels the world often and doesn't look a day past 30.


Timmy the Tumi (yes I named him, if you don't follow my Instagram) weighs just 2.8kg and is TUMI's lightest most flexible luggage yet, without compromising on the durability. This is due to their special SRRP Ballistic material in which layers upon layers of 100% polypropelene are pressed together to form the Latitude's outer casing. Fun fact: this material is also used for sporting equipment and in the automobile industry!

While Timmy is an International Carry-On size and thus, didn't have to go through the horrors of check-in, he did have his fair share of hits falling face first off a ledge when the wind blew him (as if I don't need a better example to show how light he is, ha!) But he got away clean without a single scratch on his body: a testament to the durability of the design.

 Other than the airport, I did bring Timmy the Tumi out of the villa when we went for our day trips. Rolling him around was a dream because of how smooth and sturdy the wheel system is, and it was pretty funny because my friends would ask every day, "is Timmy coming along?" as if he were the 9th member of our 8 person group!


I think one of my favourite things about my new luggage is that they also provide monogramming services on your luggage - for life! They had a 4 letter limit, so I just put my initials ML (for lack of creativity, ok, and I figured I can always go back!) They even had other options and colours such as gold and silver for the font, but I personally preferred the blind embossing.

Another thing is that every TUMI luggage comes with a tracer number which can be registered online. While they can't actually locate the bag (it's not GPS guys), if it is ever found and returned to a TUMI store, they are able to use the 20-digit serial number at the back of the luggage to contact the owner!

It's been a while since I've blogged about anything just for fun, but here is an evening not too long ago in which we found ourselves all the way at the new Timezone in Vivocity. If you feel all nostalgic about the 90s, then this is definitely the place to be.

They have all the popular games from bishy bashy to para para, usual arcade classics like basketball and car racing, but also massive, modern flashy machines that look like they could only be from the future (guess we reached it), hell, they even have the old school ticket printing machines! (Which, ahem, are lots of fun but also a bit of a waste on the environment as we realised at the end that they just get shredded up after the machine count them - won't be doing this again whoops).

The place was crowded with families but not overwhelmingly so. They have birthday packages for kids and prize redemptions with OK prizes (as expected), but there was, an iPad up for grabs, though sheer amount of tickets needed may actually mean it would be more worth it to just walk out and buy one yourself, hahaha.

Anyway if you are heading down, it's worth noting that there's 1-For-1 at Timezone on the Entertainer! After a hard couple of hours of throwing balls at clowns and smacking plastic buttons till our hands were sore, we, like any self-respecting adults who were still awake late in the night, decided to find the nearest open hotpot place - which in this case was Hai Di Lao (and also conveniently located in Vivo) and rolled off to it. Not bad for a night's work!

Spent a really chill weekend at the Park Regis, which is part of Staywell Holdings and located really centrally in Clarke Quay. The hotel has all the usual facilities but my favourite was the swimming pool, right next to a fully equipped gym, in which we took a dip after a 745am morning trek at Fort Canning (which is just a 10 minute walk from the hotel).


Said trek - it was a miracle we woke up, but there's always a first for everything, right? Considering I've lived in Singapore my whole life, I've actually never done anything like this in my whole life. It was actually really pleasant and not too strenuous!


The rooms themselves were really, really cozy. So cozy we slept most of the day away after taking a nice hot shower post swim in their open plan bathroom! Also really loved their bay windows which we chilled on at night after an amazing dinner at Jin Shan Restaurant, which is in the Park Regis itself. The restaurant used to be located in Marina Bay Sands but has since moved here - I've included my entire stay in an IG Story highlight on my Instagram page for this month because I think the videos share the dinner way better than any of the photos I took.

Their Stay Well Package includes all the things I did during my 24 hours stay including their mind boggling Butterfly Pea Welcome Drink (it changes colour right in front of you!), the guided trek around Fort Canning, complimentary use of their bicycles and e-scooters (which we missed as it rained, oops), as well as their buffet breakfast and late check-out at 2pm - all for just S$198++! This is valid for the next 3 months (till August 2018).

So treat yourself guys!

Hey guys, so amongst a whole host of chronic skin problems like Eczema, I was recently diagnosed back in December with having a sensitive scalp, all of which relate back to stress because December was a bit of a disaster. Thankfully, Kérastase Singapore has been taking care of my hair for the past year and decided to start me on a programme to treat my scalp condition!

What is the difference between Sensitive Scalp and having Dandruff? 
Though the symptoms appear the same (itchy scalp, dead hair cells), having a sensitive scalp is triggered by stress whereas dandruff is caused by having and oily scalp which causes excess skin to build up and then fall off. So if you THINK you just have dandruff and feel embarrassed that people think you don't wash your hair or something, fear not - you may just have sensitive scalp (but you still have the grossness of it, haha, sorry).

How can Sensitive Scalp be Treated?
Kérastase is a brand very dedicated to treating your hair, or specifically your scalp since that is where everything starts. They linked me up with Picasso Hair Studio to do a proper diagnosis upon which we started the 3-month treatment programme back in December to use a combination of Kérastase's in salon treatment (which was an awesome once a month treat to me) as well as their at home care products which I used religiously.


The sessions took about 2-3 hours once a month at their Haji Lane branch, and I was always lovingly served by dear Fernnel from Picasso. This is defiitely not your off the shelf treatment at normal hair salons where they slap on some product for a while and wash it off. Instead, Fernnel would apply several rounds of the product on to my hair, rinse it off, and repeat. It always ended with a steam to open up my hair follicles, head massages, neck massages... It's like an all-in-one session getting pampered and treated!



Do you have to use Special Products for Sensitive Scalp?
I was switched to using the Kérastase Specifique Range daily, which is specifically for people with sensitive scalp. My favourites are the Specifique Bain Riche Dermo-Calm daily as my shampoo (the blue bottle), and their hair mask - the Specifique Masque Hydra-Apaisant - which I use once a week and still swear by till now!



Can Sensitive Scalp Come Back?
Sadly, yes. It's like any other sensitive skin issue which you'll have to deal with for the rest of your life. I was recommended to continue using the Specifique Shampoo and mask, even after my main treatment ended to prevent it from coming back. And of course, manage my stress (but I was born stressed, oops).



Results
Picasso has a special device to see your scalp up close to see it's condition, so yes, those pictures above are mine (I promise you, everyone's scalp looks gross this near alright). On the left is my before in December, and on the right in March after 3 months of treatment.  It wouldn't be accurate to say it can be "completely cured" after 3 months because a lot of it depends on your personal upkeep at home as well as continuous external factors like stress, pollution etc. So yes, still a little redness but definitely much, much better than before.

I also made a video with Kerastase and Picasso profiling my journey which you guys can watch here!