FAQ

Q: What is your Nationality and Ethnicity?
A: I am Singaporean, born and raised here! As for ethnicity, to summarize it my identification says Chinese - elaboration in the Q&A videos below.


Q: How tall are you?
A: I am 5'3 - 161cm. I wish I was taller but oh well.

Q: Are you studying or working?
A: As of now I am working full time as a Jr. Creative Director, dabbling in design matters and direction but also helping in the arena of marketing and working with clients.

Q: What is your occupation?
A: I am a graphic designer and I do have experience / knowledge in online social marketing and campaign / community management as well.


Q: Are you married, do you have a kid?
A: While I do not like to bring personal affairs on here, aside from the brief mentions of what's going on, I have gotten a lot of queries so to put a big full stop to it all: Yes I am married and have a lovely little daughter, I couldn't be happier. There! :) And no I would not be blogging or sharing about my wedding because that is personal. I may post pictures on my personal platforms but that is it.

-- Blog Related --

Q: What is your skintone / foundation shade?
A: This is not a fixed guide as it depends on the product and brand (plus my skin getting fairer or darker) but these are the shades that work for me, as of now:
• Revlon Colorstay - Sand Beige
• MAC - NC25
• Lancôme - O-03
• Shu Uemura - Medium Light Beige
• Dior - 002

Q: Why is your username 'icyabstract'? What does it mean?
A: Basically, back in the day I used the term 'icy' as a staple in my gaming usernames. I happened to be going through the phase of pairing it with the word 'abstract' when I created my current youtube page. If I knew what this would have spun out to, I would have chosen a different username!


Q: How did you start youtube-ing (and then leading to beauty blogging)?
A: Initially I started making videos to take part in other youtube guru's contests and along the way found that I really enjoyed it. With that I started making more videos, kick started a beauty blog and the rest is history!

Q: Were you trained in makeup or self-taught?
A: I am completely self taught, I have never attended a makeup school program. The only makeup tutorial platform I am exposed to would be youtube! Though I don't claim to be professional in makeup at all, I just play around with it and learn along the way.

Q: What did you use to film your videos?
A: I don't film videos anymore but back in the day I used my macbook pro's built-in webcam and it worked good enough for videos during that time (pre-HD era).

Q: What do you use for photos on your blog?
A: For the most part I snap pictures with my long-time companion, the SONY A350 which is currently not available in the market. Though every now and then I do use my trustee but not perfect mobile camera (Samsung SIII) too. I usually state if I do.


Q: Have you appeared / been mentioned in media outlets?
A: Some outlets, yes. Such as an interview about beauty blogging with RazorTV, a Straits Times feature on beauty blogging a long while back and several photoshoots (Elizabeth Arden, Skin79) amongst other brief online mentions though I have since stepped out of the buzz of things and just enjoy my blog for what it is. If features come along yay but I don't have the spare time to draw out occasions for shoots / interviews.

-- Hair Journey / the DIYs & the Pros --

Q: What color is your hair?
A: I used to be able to answer that straight out but after all the changes my hair has been through (nothing drastic though) I decided to chronicle the happenings / colors I had undertaken since I started documenting it.

In order of earliest (top) to most recent (bottom):
- Bright Auburn (salon done / DIY)
- Revlon Colorsilk in Strawberry Blonde
- Dark Brown with Blonde Highlights
- Added blonde hair extensions
- Liese Bubble Hair Color in Ash Brown (not mentioned in entry but that's the color)
- Palty Creamy Cherry Blossoms
- Revlon Colorsilk in Medium Blonde
- Palty Jewelry Ash
- Palty Golden Blonde (disastor!)
- Revlon Colorsilk Luminista in Red
- Dark mousey brown and new hairstyle (@ Komachi)
- Snipped short with a dark ash coat (@ Headlines Hairdressing)

Q: Where do you color your hair?
A: It honestly depends, I have done it professionally at salons and I have DIY-ed numerous times as well. In my opinion I would definitely recommend leaving highlights to the experts and while basic hair-colors are DIY-able, I do notice that a professional's touch does equate to shinier looking hair and color.

Q: Which salon do you go to get your hair done (cut/color)?
A: In earlier posts (2012 and earlier), my hair was generally snipped and layered at a home salon (email me for details if you liked my then-hair!), unless otherwise stated. Though as of now (2013 on) I am currently in a sponsorship agreement with Headlines Hairdressing and leave my tresses in their hands.

Last edited April 2013 by Sara.

If your question is not listed above or you would simply like to find out more, check out the FAQ Answer videos I have done. In total it's a six-parter (three parts for each category) but it answers a wide range of questions from personal, to beauty-related.

But do note that this video was filmed way back so some answers may have changed over time!

Makeup, Hair and Skincare Questions
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Personal & Misc Questions
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Are your questions not featured above?
I do have a Formspring account whereby you can ask me questions at - or read my answers to previous questions. If you are unsure of how Formspring works, read here.