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May 2018

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Diner En Blanc 2018

Posted on Tuesday, May 29, 2018



I've always had a low-key dream to one day attend Diner En Blanc, and I guess dreams do come true because I got to follow dear Hilary and Cee - honestly, the best people to go for it because I don't know which other crazy girls in the world would stand their ground while everyone was running for shelter from the downpour to get the perfect pictures of our table setting and outfits before the light disappeared, bahaha (and yes, it was raining in these photos, can you tell?)


For those of you who don't know, Diner En Blanc is a worldwide pop-up picnic held once yearly in which the location is a secret and not revealed till the actual day itself. Everyone is required to dressed to the nines in H-to-T white and bring their own tables, linens, and everything you need to have the fancy chi-chi all white picnic of your dreams... with a 1000 other people. It really is quite a scene to see a sea of white meandering towards the very mysterious secret location, which turned out to be behind the F1 Pit Building this year with the backdrop of the Gardens by the Bay and Marina Bay Sands around us.

Fortunately for us we already had tables, linens and cutlery part set up, so we just had to bring our own food! We got so many compliments for our platter, courtesy of Wynona from Lush Platters, who did up a custom one just for us to suit the theme of Diner En Blanc.


I'm a huge lover of cured meats and cheese and Wynona did not hold back, giving us everything truffle cheese (gouda and saverin loaded with fresh honeycomb), a huge pot of hummus, prosciutto, salami, fruits, crackers... you name it, we had it. And superbly presented, at that. Even the bread was fantastic and artisan - any foodie would give this a thumbs up. I only wish I had stomach space to have eaten more, but trust me, we were stuffed by the end of the night.


Our flowers were also done by the most generous Toki, 
who absolutely nailed the look we were going for our table setting!


We drank champagne non-stop, chit-chatted enjoyed the performances and had our fill of good food under the night sky. While the event itself is fun, I also fondly remember the fun all the way up to the day itself planning with the girls what we would wear, what food to get and working together on table decor so that we would have the picnic of our dreams. I suppose you could say it's another one off the checklist, but I'm secretly looking forward to next year's one already!

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A Sensitive Topic

Posted on Thursday, May 17, 2018

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!

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Back to Bali

Posted on Wednesday, May 9, 2018



It felt like I had just barely finished blogging about last year's Bali trip and before I knew it, we'd already booked another one for this coming July! This time with Justin, doing the whole getting-a-villa-with-a-big-group-of-friends shebang. I'm always low-key in summer mood (I mean, I was born in August and have lived in Singapore my whole life), but something about the so called "summer months" always puts my wardrobe and imagination into overdrive, so a trip to the beach is apt and much needed.

I also recently got my Ultimate Ears "Wonderboom" speakers and it was so funny how after I posted it up on Instagram, and everyone who was going to Bali simultaneously messaged me and said "bring it along!!!" Because it is the perfect holiday speaker - waterproof (it floats), portable, and just the right shade of millenial Avocado (though it comes in so many other colours)! And yes, it connects to my phone via bluetooth, so I wouldn't need to even put down my Pina Colada and paddle over to change the music - I can just do it on my phone.

For such a small speaker it truly has a lot of sound. The high and mid notes are really crisp, and it makes for great summer time listening. If you want it as a party speaker, I would say look elsewhere because the bass doesn't quite resonate as deeply as one would hope - but chilling in our Bali villa? Hells yeah.