So here's the official 'I'm Back!' post!

Technically I have been back for awhile, as you could probably tell from me getting some blog posts up again. I delayed making an official blog post about it because instead of just saying in text that I am back, I wanted to include some photos. And what better photos to include then ones from my graduation - since it was fitting.

Just to update or inform those wondering, I had just graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Graphic Design. I had posted a graduation post way back, and that was when I graduated with a Diploma in Graphic Design - not to confuse anyone as to why I am graduating so many times!

Here are some photos from the night.

Getting my certificate on stage! That's my lecturer and also the head of the Graphic Design Department.

Brother and I

The boyfriend and I! We are in the same course, classmates you could say, so we graduated together.

I didn't do anything special with my hair since we had to wear the scholar's hat mortar board (thanks Sophia!). Also, it's such a pity there were no full length shots of my dress because we wore the grad robes the entire time. Guess I didn't actually have to bother with my outfit that much!

This was the only shot I had of me when I did not have my robes on, group shot with the boyfriend and my brother.

The panels that are behind us are our exhibition panels - we designed and laid it out by ourselves. The panels explain our project and display the work (or deliverables, as we call it) that we had done for the project. The boyfriend's panel on the left, and mine on the right (see the green spots?). I shan't go into detail about the projects and all here because it isn't necessary.

❧

Now for something a little more related to my blog, I want to feature a pair of heels I got. I went shoe-hunting the day before the graduation and was glad I managed to find a pair I absolutely adored that matched my outfit. Again, it is a pity there isn't a full outfit shot, but oh well. The shoes are from Charles & Kieth, one of my favorite places to go when getting heels for a good price.

I believe I got it for S$89.90 and apparently this model is quite popular because I picked up the last black pair available (in size 36) at the ION branch. It comes in red and one other color, can't recall it now. The outer material is suede so it does not hurt the back-ankle area unlike most other shoes that do. Despite the heel height, it is comfortable to walk in due to the platform in the front, and it makes me much taller too!

❧

So that would be it for the graduation update, one more last bit before I end this entry.. I had recolored my hair again! It may not be obvious in the graduation shots because of the dim lighting but I colored my hair a color I used to have - Bright Auburn.

Here are some shots of it under natural indoor and outdoor lighting.

With natural sunlight but indoors.

With natural sunlight but outdoors this time so the sun is a lot brighter.
This was a candid shot my friend took at the botanical gardens. I went there with my parents, the boyfriend, his parents and my photographer friend. Since wearing the robes was a once-in-a-lifetime thing, we thought it would be fun to shoot around.

This hair color tends to look duller with dimmer light, but judging from the photos it seems to look the same so far - though I am sure the intensity would fade.

Previously when I colored my hair this shade, I had gotten a lot of questions about what I had used so this time around I took a photo of the product. And yes, this was a DIY-dye job. I used Revlon's Colorsilk range in the shade Bright Auburn.

This costs around S$7+ to S$10+ depending on where you purchase it from. That's a far cry from the 80-100 dollars I would have to splash out to get my hair colored at the salon.

❧

So that was my compilation of updates and the official I'm back signal! As I had said I have loads to post up and I wanted to spam post them all in a span of one to two days, but I just might be spreading it out a little more. Just so it isn't so suffocating to read so much at once, and at the same time so I can rest a little. Not gonna lie, I have been slacking and doing nothing but sleep the past few days, I feel as if I am hibernating!

Here I go rambling again, I totally miss blogging and I just feel like I'm blurting everything out as I type. I hope this entry wasn't too long and thank you all again so much for reading and sticking with me!

Entries will be going up as per normal (pre-hiatus) again! Yay to that (:

I have a Formspring account now!
I had mentioned this on twitter, but since twitter is on a feed basis and entries always get pushed down and all that stuff, I thought I'd do a blog post on it. Also I can explain more without spamming up the twitter feed.

So basically, Formspring is like twitter with the whole posting sort of idea? But it is not twitter - it's a totally different thing.
On Formspring you get to post questions (either logged in or anonymously) to a certain someone and they can choose to answer your question or not. If they answer it, it will show up on their 'feed', if they don't, it wouldn't. So at least in this way the questions are moderated.

Where I am going with this is that, it's very similar to a FAQ/Q&A sort of thing, like I did way back (in a video version). Because I still do get some FAQs but if I were to constantly do videos about FAQs, it's not very appropriate. Thus I feel Formspring is quite an awesome way to answer some FAQs or just any questions you guys want to know.

It can be anything from personal to makeup and hair! Of course nothing too personal. If I feel that it is too personal, I would not be answering it.

I don't know if I'll be answering every single question I get because I am anticipating some questions of similar nature but phrase differently. In that case I'll just answer one of those and hope it pertains to all the related ones.

So that's enough of me blabbering, I suggest you go on over
and check out my page and ask me questions if you have any!

I would not be checking my Formspring 24/7 like I do twitter. Probably dropping by once in awhile but to let you guys know I've answered more questions I could post a little notification on my twitter feed. Or... I'm actually thinking if I should sync my formspring with my twitter. That way you will know when I answer questions but I do worry about spamming my feed if I go on a question answering marathon? I don't know, I'll decide later..

A bit of a random post about a new little site I've just joined (:
Don't worry I am not being paid or requested to talk about Formspring at all,
I just thought it was a nifty little thing.

Some of you might have seen a couple of recounts of this already, but here's mine anyway. For those unsure of the on-goings, the lovely Diana had organized a beauty blogger gathering/party on the 26th of December. I want to give her props for doing this and being so active throughout the whole gathering! Also Sarah for organizing the games and providing us with a gift voucher for her makeup services (which are fab btw, but I'm sure half of you all already know that!). Thank you both very much (:

It was an amazing evening, meeting up with everyone, hanging out and just having fun. Not to mention the multiple photo taking sessions we had. I swear we were paparazzi-ing each other and I'm positive we all have candid shots of one another. haha! Also the shopping was amazing. Truthfully I have never shopped about for makeup products with like-minded people, so for once this was an interesting and might I add GREAT experience. Most of those I have gone with would rush me to get it over done with, or just seem bored out of their wits; No offense to those who went through the torture of makeup shopping with me, at least I noticed it was partial hell for you lot.

Anyway back to the gathering.
The group of us that had attended was pretty big, I believe we stood at 22 or something at the start of the event? It was hard to get to speak to everyone present but I did manage to speak to a few people - most of which I have never met in person before.

Kas was just so fun and hyper to talk to, same with Diana. Roseanne is so sweet and gorgeous in person (not that she isn't in videos - you know what I mean!). Clara was just a total doll with her cute animated speech. Lin, oh gosh, that girl can totally be mistaken for a model I tell you! Chantana, the quiet and shy girl, but she's so adorable in that sense. Maddy who was really easy to talk to and also very adorable. And Wirda who was really friendly and my partner in the games. I could go on and on with a list of everybody, but that would just take too long. In all, it was simply awesome to get to meet everybody. I am repeating myself again, but it truly was.

The night seemed to pass super fast. It feels like we had just met up and exchanged our hellos and before you know it, it was already 9 plus (pm). As mentioned by Sophia, the highlight for the day would have to be the swaps, where we each had a major 'red-carpet' moment and faced an onset of camera flashes when we went to redeem out potluck gifts.
I'm sure there are enough words for now so here are some pictures a bits of captioning.

Group shot outside of The Body Shop

We had fun and shopped around for a little bit before settling down and kicking off the party.

And I just have to post the following picture because it's just too cute.

Diana and the heap load of cameras! Talk about major photo-op in front of Body Shop.

And here are just some random photos of us hanging out at the amphitheatre where we played games and performed our potluck swap.

Our swaps, all lined up!

After the event and all the fun, we headed to Starbucks to sit around and chill.

I didn't get many shots from that day since I was, again, too lazy to whip my camera out, but here are some shots I had snagged from others. I don't take credit for taking the following pictures.

Dianaaaaa~ (:

Us having our little 'picnic' dinner.

My partner in the games, Wirda!

The adorable Maddy and I.

Enough picture spam about the event, I think. Diana did film a mini-video about the event, so head on over here to check it out!
(p.s. for those who don't know there were 2 Sara(h)s at the event. Sarah Chaudhry and Sara, me) Confusing much? haha.

Here's what I had gotten from the swap. I think this little package was from Fatin, though I can't be sure.
When it was my turn and I received this package the owner had already left a little earlier, but the girls said it was from Fatin. So I think? Correct me if I am wrong alright (:

Also, Diana had a little grand prize draw thing, which was a sweet little extra touch she had added. We all had to draw a piece of paper from a bag and the piece of paper with the word 'Congrats' would get the sole prize. My luck is usually never good at these grand prize things so I wasn't expecting anything. Strange enough, I unscrolled my piece of paper to reveal the words congrats written on it, I was definitely shocked. Thank you very much Diana for having this extra segment (: Here's the prize package:

Another personal highlight would be when Sophia had handed me a little present. It was something I LOVED the minute I set eyes on it, in this entry of hers. Pity I wasn't able to go down and pick it up, so for Sophia to get it for me, it was just incredibly thoughtful and sweet. I am still overjoyed when I think about the fact that I actually own this right now.

(it photographs a little purple-ish, but the colors on Sophia's blog are a little more true to life)

Last but not least, Eka had also given us all a little token, so that was really sweet of her.

So that was the Beauty Blogger Gathering. All in all it was majorly fun and though I had filmed a vlog video when I got back home, I eventually deleted it. I was way too tired and sounded really random so I figured an entry on it would be sufficient.
Like I said, it so incredibly hard to get to speak to everyone so hopefully we'll have another outing in future and get to hang out more. Time truly seems to pass by really quick in these events!

Thank you all for reading! (:

Just an official "I'm Back" entry consisting of a quick update and feature on my school project.
I know not everyone fancies reading update entries so I try not to post these too often. I mainly spam these during end of terms and the start of my hols etc, since that is when my lifestyle might affect the frequency this space gets updated.

Update entries aren't the most interesting so I'll keep this portion as short and simple as my rambly self would allow.

Relating to the title, I have got quite a number of entries lined up to blog about and I am unsure of where to start.
First off, a couple of packages came in the mail during the past week, which I must say were awesome highlights to a crazy finals week. Then, I do have some LOTDs in which I had taken just prior to my finals and did not have the time to re-size and upload. Aside from that I am also posting the entries that I had mentioned in my earlier update entry. I also intend to get my hair extensions done within either this week or the next, so I should be able to share my experiences on those soon!

Youtube video uploads have been sparse as I didn't manage to record as many as I would like, but I'm getting back into it now!
Last but not least, a thank you to everyone for bearing with my little absence. I know I am repeating myself but I do thank everyone for all your understanding and also kind words! I do appreciate the thought and it does make my day (:

Now, I believe that should be all in terms of updates.
Moving on, the second part of this entry is a little feature on my school project.
If anyone isn't interested to see it, you can stop reading here. I totally understand as it's not makeup related at all and might prove to be a little lengthy since this project that I had done has a rather hefty rationale.

Read about my school project!

Squeezing time for a quick update on here just to let you all know I'm not dead yet!
Sadly there isn't anything really makeup related on here and when I say quick, I do mean quick.

My projects are all due on Wednesday and though I still have some client stuff to sort through after, I'm more or less FREE.
Can't wait for that, but till then I still have some loose ends to tie. I am also thinking of doing a general "I'm back" sort of an entry featuring a little about my projects and what has kept me out of this makeup reahlm for the past 2 or so weeks. Of course I ahd been working on it for a little more then 2 weeks, but it's always nearing the end that you find out how little time you actually have! And that's when you would be the most productive, I think at least.

But as I was saying, for the last two weeks I've had minimal contact with makeup or much beauty stuff at all.
I even jotted down some things to do the minute I am done with my project submissions.

• SLEEP. OH HELLZ, I need tons of this.

• Fix my nails! The state they are in now is ridiculous. I need to trim them before I constantly scratch people and also redo my polish.

• Get my tie-in extensions. I haven't gotten time to do these yet, but I soon will!

• Fix my skin. My skin has shown signs or rebellion because of the little sleep hours I am getting, I've definitely got to get back to pampering it a little.

So that's the top of my priorities once I am done with this school term, and of course, posting on here more regularly and getting more videos done!
Now it's back to work and I will see you all again in about 2 days?

Alternatively, you can always follow me on twitter if you haven't already. (:
That's the one site I can't seem to stay away from.

Didn't proof-read this, sorry for mistakes if any!

I do realize the title is a little weird when read, but since my 'finals' are spanning over a course of two weeks, oh well.

(phone-cam! Excuse the quality)

A quick entry about my little 'hiatus' from onsugar for the next and following week.
I will still update on twitter, but not spam as often as I used to. My youtube would still be rather 'normal' since I will be posting up some pre-recorded videos I had done, in the event that I would not be able to record frequently.

The reason for this little hiatus is that my school term is coming to an end, and the project deadlines are drawing closer and closer! (21-23 December)
I know it sounds like it's rather far off but for the amount of work I need to get done, it really is extremely little time. I don't have final exams, but we are graded on our project submissions and projects in college are NUTS I tell you.

But anyway, here is a list of entries I would be posting once the madness - that is my school term -
is over:

• Facial Remodeling workshop - photos and experience
• THIS tag from everbluec
• Canmake Lip Concealer Review
• L'ancome Fatale Mascara Review
• Mandom Makeup Remover Review

Not forgetting some LOTDs that I have taken the photos of but haven't had time to transfer to my computer, re-size and all that jazz.
Also a couple of hauls, since I seem to do a little more damage during End of Semesters. Nothing too massive though, I've learnt to exercise my will power. (:

I hate writing lists of upcoming stuff since I can be quite spontaneous when it comes to that. I would either take something out at the last minute, post it later and post something first etc. So this just a rough guide, to let you guys know what I have in stored! It can also act as an assurance that I'm not abandoning this place!

But enough said, that's all I wanted to update about. I don't want this turning too long again! I feel I can be such a nag sometimes.

Thank you for reading and I'm sorry for pulling a brief hiatus.
Thank you all for understanding! It would be greatly appreciated. (:

p.s. We all know that it is almost impossible to stay well away from here. So though I might not be posting, you might see me commenting.

Just a quick entry about the FTC Guidelines that had taken effect on the 1st of December.
Now, I don't know the full story of the situation either and am rather confused about it myself, but I managed to find some pretty good sites (through recommendation) that could help clear up the FTC madness a little.

For those who don't know what the FTC Guidelines is, it's basically a 'rule' that was implemented on youtubers/beauty bloggers/any bloggers at all who are exposed to and endorse products from companies. The main idea of this guideline is to help the public gain a better perspective on reviews by knowing if certain products were sent by companies etc, as some youtubers/beauty bloggers can be rather surreptitious about disclosing such information. For one, I don't think that any of us here have an issue with disclosing whether we are sent stuff or bought stuff, but the main 'worry' behind this is the hassle of having to disclose in everything you do. Not just reviews, even tutorials, favorites, as long as you mention a product that was sent, you have to disclose. Even on your twitter! That is what I know from my understanding.

One of the reasons why there was madness going on about it is that, it was reported the FTC is able to fine you if they find that you are not complying with their guidelines. The fine was estimated at 11,000USD, ALTHOUGH from some newer sources it is stated the FTC does not have the power to fine you. So for this fact, I really am not sure.

Some of you might be wondering, well we live outside the USA, does this apply to us?
Apparently it applies to anyone who's content is viewable in the USA. Again I am not sure how true this is as I know Singapore is implementing their own set of 'FTC Guidelines' in due time (taken from a newspaper article, didn't fabricate that) so maybe starting a little early with the disclosing and all isn't so bad.

After having read through a couple of articles that I will be attaching at the end of this entry, I have sort of understood the FTC guidlines a lot more and they don't seem so bad now. Initially I thought we had to disclose EVERY SINGLE ITEM we used, be it if we bought it or not. Can you imagine how our blog entry/youtube side bar would look! Apparantly though, it's been said you mainly have to disclose items you were sent (or paid to review). If you bought something with your own money, it's not necessary to disclose. Not sure how that works because I am guessing some people might still be shady about it, so we might have to start keeping receipts and invoices incase FTC investigates?

I am all for the positive aspects of the FTC but the change is something we have to adapt to. When reviewing a product I do disclose if I am sent something or not so it's not that big of a deal. It just seems that having the FTC involved in this makes it all feel so 'business-like'? I mean this youtube/blogging thing is a hobby and majority of us aren't shady about it, but having to worry about a governmental fact butting in on stuff kind of takes from the fun. Even if you're not in the wrong, being investigated for no reason just sounds really daunting. This is just my take on it though, can't wait till Singapore imposes their 'FTC Guidelines' *sarcasm*, the internet would start feeling very corporate.

So that's that, I just thought to blog a little discussing the FTC Guidelines incase anyone is curious/does not know about it.
This isn't quite an informative entry about the FTC, just a little intro and ultra summarized version of it.
Here are some links I found of the FTC Guidelines that helped me understand it a little better:

FTC Endorsement Guides (video by FTC) - link

FTC How-To Guides (by socialmissive, temptalia's blogging admin site I think) - link

Simplified Guide to FTC - link

There are a ton more links and there are links within the links I have provided, so you should manage to browse around a couple sites to get a rough idea about the FTC. It isn't a huge change for some of us who already disclose if we were sent stuff (or paid) by companies, we simply have to start disclaiming in every single entry/video we talk about the products. It sounds like a hassle, but I think over time we will all get used to the system.

Another wordy entry, I'm sorry!
Trying to be as clear as I am about the FTC from what I know.

I realise that my beauty blog has been very stagnent of late. I seem to update once every 4-5 days now? And even
with this update, it's not even considered a full beauty post. I know, I'm so bad at this, I'm sorry about it.

The situation is that school's really busy, as mentioned in my previous update entry. It's still the same and will be the
same till about mid-December where my hols would kick in. However the joy is short-lived as school would start in
January and the cycle begins again, probably a lot more hectic then.
I have contemplated taking a hiatus, not because I want to, but because I don't want to make people think that not
updating regularly is a habit of mine. I swear it isn't and I try to update as often as I can, but circumstances just don't
permit right now.
It's like a choice between a hobby and the career, and while I love them both equally as much, we have to stick to what
is practical.

This entry is probably really boring, so I'll just get to the point.
I am trying my best not to initiate the hiatus because I don't think I can bear to completely leave the makeup realm.
And for those wondering, why is school that hectic. Well I am in my last year of school and I am sitting for a Bachelors  
Degree in Graphic Design, which I will attain (if all goes well) in June 2010. Since my course is an accelerated course,
it compiles what most people learn in about 3 years of university into a year. Talk about madness! But it is fun, though
extremely time-consuming and it does take a toll on you, but I refuse to let it get me jaded.

Now on to more makeup related things. Hauls.
I've done minimal hauling these days compared to the past, and though I have touched on this before, I just want to repeat a little again. Not exactly the same way, so I am not entirely perserverating. I know hauls are an exciting thing to read/watch because it just is. With my recent lack of hauling, I do feel my blog getting a little more boring? Though I try not to let that thought be etched in my mind. I mean, I don't want to have the mentality that I need to haul to make my blog interesting. Of course making my readers happy to read my blog is a great thing, but I guess there are probably other ways to make the blog interesting aside from just hauling? I don't know, I hope I manage to do that! I will still pick things up every now and then of course since I can't entirely curb my need to spend. I guess I could say that I have reached an agreement with my conscious and my bank about my makeup addiction. Plus I was browsing my collection the other day and found that some items I owned are still completely unused. *gulp* Not good.

Also, I promised a blog sale, and I will carry through with that. I do have a couple of items stashed aside to photograph
and all. However, as of now I don't think I will be able to launch a blogsale since I would not have time to check back
with my mail, payment and to post out items. Especially since I don't want people to have to wait super long through the process of notifying me they are interested in something and knowing that I have posted it etc. So I'll hold out on blog sales for now, but I am not striking off a blog sale, fret not.

Alright, this entry is trailing on for too long. I just word-vomited right here everything that I had been wanting to discuss for awhile now. I know, word vomit sounds sick, but that's what it is! Lol.
If you managed to sit through my ramble, kudos to you!
I will still be around and still post videos on youtube. I might just not blog in between as often as I used to (for now)

I'll be back in full swing soon, and till then, much loves!
In the mean time, follow me on twitter if you haven't already. I update on tons more regularly then any other internet site I have an account at.
Twitter-obsessed? Most probably.

So this is a quick update and a bit of a filler entry as right now I am in the midst of sorting through photos and getting stuff from the Hong Kong trip straightened out. The plan is to start a little blog to talk about the whole trip in full detail. I will let you guys know more about this in due time. Since I was in Hong Kong for 5 days, blogging about everything that had happened in 5 days might take awhile, plus sifting through 1,000+ photos doesn't help either.

Nonetheless, I just wanted to make a quick entry clarifying that I am indeed back in Singapore. School starts next week, so that isn't something I am overly excited about, but life's life, isn't it? I also have some tutorials planned as I haven't done those in awhile.

With all that being said, keep a look out for my Hong Kong vlog/haul entries coming up soon! In the mean time, I am trying to get a "What's in My Bag/Purse" video up to compensate for the super long absence on youtube. If only my internet would stop crapping out on me every 10 minutes.
Seriously though, the MIO internet plan sucks.

Finally!
After grueling and spilling our guts out for weeks, it's finally the holidays. Sadly I don't get that long a holiday at my college, but it's alright. It's definitely better then not having holidays at all!

For this term, I'll be having a 2 week break, and then it's back to school.
Normally the 2 week break would be pretty uneventful and consist of me making up for the loss of sleep during the school term.
However, during this term break, I am actually going on a holiday! It's probably not new news (ha, no pun intended) if you follow me on twitter and read all my tweets religiously. Well, maybe not religiously. But if you read my recent tweets enough you would notice that they all seem pointed about traveling, vacation and I did mention something about Hong Kong too.

So a summary of the paragraph that you had read above would be, I will be going to Hong Kong for vacation!
I'll be gone for about 5-6 days, starting end of this week.
That would explain why I will not be blogging, tweeting or posting for the most of next week. My final tweets, blog posts and youtube video would probably be a reminder about my trip, as I have started getting some rather.... how would you say, pushy requests? But yes, point-being, I'll emphasize on my trip again when it gets closer. Till then, I've got navigating and packing to do!

Fret not, shopping will be done in Hong Kong ;) I think I don't shop very much on vacation so I will not be lugging a separate luggage back or anything - I think. I do have a couple of items I want to check out and probably pick up but we'll see how all that turns out.


Now, on to something on a totally different spectrum, and that is my school work.
I am not going to be showing everything that I had done, just because... Well, just cause. However, here is the finished version of the poker cards that I had talked about on my dailybooth account.

And also the box that it is to be stored in!

Super random feature of my school work.
(All of it done on illustrator CS 3, for those who are wondering)
I am not going to feature my school work often because it's not very related to what I typically talk about on here.

So the reason why I had been tweeting about Lady Gaga for a bit (or have I been? I don't remember) is because I was doing a school project about her. It was one of those choose a random topic and get creative kind of a project. I decided to do advertising and promotional materials for a Lady Gaga Meet & Greet Event. This was just one of the items. But yes, I'm rambling so I shall stop.

Now that was a really lengthy update. For those who have managed to read thus far, kudos to you!
If anyone has any information about Hong Kong (preferrably recent) be it food, travel, where to shop, weather, please do let me know!
It's not my first time there, but it's a first time for something (I'll talk about it when I get back) and I'm excited for it.