Customer Review: US vs France

US vs France. No.. I am not talking about war or any political issues. I am talking about some women’s passion – Lipstick.

Last week, I have rewarded myself a MAC lipstick.

The story begins…

When I was a student, I do really admire this one cosmetic product, MAC. The color, the prestige, the brand, the packaging, economic… everything seems perfect! (For a guy, MAC is something similar like Ferrari). During that time, I couldn’t afford to get one.

When I went to France, I have been introduced to this one brand, Yves Rocher. It is a botanical product. What attract me the most is their lipstick. Very moisturizing, beautiful color, very affordable. But still, MAC product was something that is always in my dream to own one day.

The day has come. For about a year I have been happily using 3 Yves Rocher lipsticks, I finally ‘betrayed’ it once. I have bought a lipstick from MAC. I’ve got myself the most lovely sweet pink color – the color that I was dreaming about since many years ago.

New MAC store is opened in Alamanda Putrajaya. I was a bit nervous when entering the store. It is my dream to step in there – like kids entering the candy shop. I was entertained by a lovely salesgirl. She assists me to try the lipstick, powder, and blusher. Variety of colors. For blusher, to be frank, I love blusher from The Body Shop more! In the end, I just got myself the lipstick that cost me RM68 – not bad huh.

A normal procedure when you’re the first timer in using this product – fill in a form that I cant recall the exact name but something related to warranty –  a bit technical word.

I was happy! Again, I love the color. When I applied this lipstick on my lips, I don’t need any lip gloss. It is “wet”-looking enough.

After about a week that I have been using this product, I feel a bit disappointed. The promising moisturizer is not that moist. I need to apply an additional lip balm before applying the lipstick.

If using Yves Rocher lipstick, I don’t need any other lip balm to moist my lips. Now I realized that why should I get another brand that couldn’t take care of my lips?

Sorry MAC, you have disappointed me. I was happy when I went into your shop. I was happy when I went out from that shop. But I think, Yves Rocher suits a dehydrated-person like me, more.

Marie Claire Free Table Calendar 2013

If other people are so excited when they plan to go to Big Bang Wolf to get some books, I love to go to myNews.com located at Skypark Terminal Subang to get some magazines. Health and Beauty magazine was in my mind. But I couldn’t find one. Then I saw one magazine that’s wrapped by a plastic, Marie Claire. Of course there is a free gift inside – from KOSE.

I saw it is a table calendar 2013. Without further reading, I get myself this magazine… actually I pow-ed my brother to get me this.

Dan hasil pow-ed

…

…

…

(gambar ini telah di sensored)

aaaaaa.. ada kakak pakai baju renang… banyak page pulak tu.

Dan tiba-tiba hati ku berkata…

Hancur hati ku

mengenang dikau calendar

menjadi keping-keping

sebanyak keping baju renang

I just don’t get it. This is a magazine for perempuan. Why why WHY kene letak perempuan dengan pakaian renang yang sexy.

=.=”

Tinggallah diriku dengan hati yang lara. Tetapi! org kreatif tak stop di situ. I will tampal gambar2 tu dengan To-do list wall.

What if shin chan yang dapat this calendar???

12-12-12 12:12

Wahai anak cucu ku,

Mak/Nenek nak bagi tau yang nenek dulu penah hidup pada tarikh 12-12-2012, 12:12pm. Masa ni mak/nenek berumur 24 tahun.

Masa ni, mak/nenek baru habis mengajar subject System Administration di Universiti Tenaga Nasional. Harap2 uni ni masih wujud pada zaman korang nanti.

Sekian.

Indulging

Bismillah.

Berbahagianya hari ni. Off day from work sebab menghabiskan sisa2 cuti yang takleh nak carry forward.

Bangun sesuka hati kul berapa.. lazing around sampai pening sebab perut kosong… lunch order delivery je walaupun lambat sampai sejam… owh tak kesah la.

Lepas Zohor, terus kluar rumah menuju ke alamanda bersama2 dengan To-Buy-List yang dicatat dalam notebook lawa yang dihadiahkan oleh kak Naomi.

Walaupun kat jalan pening kepala dengan moron-drivers, my mood still tak terusik. It is my day-off. Around 3pm, sampai di Alamanda. Owh VIPnya dpt park depan entrance sebab semua org dah masuk office blk.

Misi menjejaki barang2 yang on sale pun bermula. Parkson, Japanese Home Deco, Yves Rocher, Watsons… those are places that I went to.

Jalan-jalan cari barang… ada promo yang menarik perhatian from YR. Shower gel & cream perfume. 3 items for RM38.

This product range sangat wangi and menarik perhatian. Well, there is another item yang betul2 tengah sale… their Vanilla perfume set. less 60%. tinggal RM86 kot. Hampir-hampir la nak terbeli. I keep on borrowing mantra from Confession of A Shopaholic movie, “Do I need this?”. Hahaha sounds so drama… but it works! Lagi pun, I have just bought a perfume in Oct, so jangan membazir wahai shakiranova!

Jalan punya jalan, kering pulak tekak ni. Well, one of my plan g alamanda is to redeem my starbucks drink. Complementary grande from starbucks sebab dah cukup 10 kali beli guna their card. aaaaa saya suka saya suka (nada suara meimei upin ipin)! Thank you!

Balik je rumah, update stock shower foam.

I will spend more time masa mandi to decide nak pakai which shower foam.

Somehow, today I have figured out that shopping is my therapy. I had a couple of hectic weeks before, and today, I feel very happy… although it decreased some money, but yet, nothing is free kan.

Alhamdulillah.

Baru ku tahu jenis-jenis kasut perempuan

Usually most common types of shoes yg kita selalu dengar are;

Sandal/flip flop

Platform

Stilettos

Crocs

But do we know exactly which type of shoes is our favorite?

Thanks to Female Magazine for sharing this Visual Shoe Dictionary.

source: Female Magazine

Out of these types of shoes, I have own seven of them.

1. Slingbacks

from Vincci. Slingbacks from Vincci are the best!

2. Mocassin

From SANTA. The most comfortable flat shoes I have ever had.

3. Converse

From Adidas. I wore this in France during winter, and the condition is still good until now. Very worth to get it.

4. Cone Heel

From Alain Delon

5. Wedge

From LeSandee. Affordable brand, yet very high quality of wedge. Worth to own at least one!

6. Open Toe

   

from Carlo Rino Exclusive. Tapak dia lawa. Sangat sayang nak pakai ke luar office.

7. Chunky Heel

from Charles and Keith. Very bold and high, yet comfortable.

And of course, most favorite is the lucky 7! Chunky heel from Charles and Keith.

Which one that you’ve own? Which one is your favorite? Leave you comment! :D

The Body Shop - Week 7 Spend and Win Contest Winners

I am one of the 80 selected lucky customers!

I am totally lupa pasal contest ni. I have entered it suka suka lepas pegi ke website The Body Shop untuk observe harga barang2.

Pagi tadi tiba-tiba dapat email. Mula-mula macam bugged jugak ingatkan email spam. Actually memang betul… email tu adalah notification of me, adalah winner untuk pusingan Week 7 Spend and Win Contest.

Alhamdulillah.

Dia bagi 2 options untuk hadiah;

*2 tiket ke Aquaria KLCC

*Limited Edition Bakula Body Butter

Aquaria dah penah pegi, so I have decided untuk collect hadiah body butter.

Here is the announcement made by The Body Shop Malaysia.

AAAAA

Seronoknye sayer.

*dancing*

--------------------------------------------------------------

Want to join it and be one of the winner?

Follow these three steps;

Step 1: Purchase any amount

Step 2: SMS to 33213

TBS<space>Name<space>MyCardNumber<space>EmailAddress<space>BillNumber

Example: TBS Alice Ali 540201010102 aliceali@gmail.com

Source and for more information:

http://www.thebodyshop.com.my/promotions

or

https://www.facebook.com/notes/the-body-shop-malaysia/spend-win-contest/10151715962214119

Tak rugi jadi loyal customer for this kind of world wide brand.

The contest period is between 24 August until 16 November 2012.

Good luck!

Saturday Evening with Yves Rocher

Hello! How’s your weekend? This weekend I’ve chose to pamper myself. Other than sleep… I and my friend, Salmi, went for make over.

Kebetulan Yves Rocher Alamanda ada promotion untuk produk terbaru, Hydra Vegetal.

Cuaca sekarang kan sangat panas masa tengah hari. Walaupun dah minum air more than 1.5L sehari, kulit tetap rasa kering. Seharian keje dalam sejuk air-cond pun boleh mengeringkan kulit. So we do really need a product to hydrate our skin from the outside too.

We starts our session by analyzing our skin.

Miss Nina’s my assistant through out the day and every time I went there. She’s very friendly, and helpful. She helps me to check my skin’s hydration. The result’s not so good… 33%. It indicates I have a dry skin. Well, I already know that since I keep on feel thirsty all the time.

I’ve gone through the following steps;

I love the feeling. Very cool. Not as cool as mint but I feel like I‘m applying wet tissue on my face every single minute. Very refreshing!! I even feel like to apply it to all over my body!

When we have finished, here’s the result…

58%. Any result is good as long as it is above 50%.

Thanks nina!

Lets move to make over…

Impressive. SO many equipment!

Well, there are two makeup artists. Mine wasn’t really friendly boooooo

She feels unease when I keep on asking what product/item that she applied to my face. Of course I want to know every single thing that you’ve applied to my face… at least it can increase the potential for me to buy Yves Rocher’s makeup products. Don’t you get it miss?

What I can recall during the session’s;

She starts with eye’s area – eyelid’s sticker (makes your eyes bigger), foundation, eye based, light pink eyeshadow (based), brown eyeshadow (shading), eyeliner.

Then baru masuk bahagian seluruh muka.

Foundation – loose powder – pink blusher – eyebrow shadow (chocolate) – mascara – bulu mata palsu (optional).

Alahhhh, very basic lah. Bukan macam artis nak naik pentas.

And here’s the result.

Mari kita pergi ke sesi photoshoot…

One of the shoots. Pandai cik salmi kita berposing.

I meet these school kids… teenagers pun pakai this product. Well, it is botanical product.

-------

Actually October is my birthday month. So apa yang menariknya bila menjadi ahli Yves Rocher? Buy one FREE one item!!!

I have decided to get their perfume. FYI Yves Rocher adalah perfume number 1 di France. Spray sikit je dah cukup.

Untuk product Hydra Vegetal, I’ve got their Gel Crème (RM59.00), FREE toner, and LUCKY DRAW Gel Crème too! And the remaining two down there are coconut bath cube, and bath net… FREE GIFT!

Alright… I hope ramai yang akan jadi penggguna Yves Rocher sekarang ni. Worth it for money.

And this is the picture from the photoshoot.

Black and white polkadot – Classic

A few tips to share here are – for this kind of promotion;

• We have to control ourselves
• Know our nawaitu (intention) to go there
• Know the types of promotion – requires to buy with a minimum purchase or not
• What are the activities included in that package
• Try to avoid additional charges; Fake eyelashes (RM15), whole softcopy picture; 1cd (RM100), Laminate (RM10) --- these are ridiculous things that you should minimize your expenditure – you don’t even need it. Usually these are done by the ‘outsource’… not by the brand itself – Rational!

Sembilan Sembilan Sembilan

I am now watching 999 di tv3. Rancangan terbitan primeworks ni kadang-kadang bagus, dan kadang2 menyakitkan hati.

Pada awal episod, mereka menceritakan tentang seorang pemandu teksi yang ditemui mati di kawanan tanah perkuburan dipercayai dirompak – perompak pun, rompak orang awam bukannya banyak korg leh ambil compare to nyawa orang yang korang rompak tu.. NYAWA!

Then, masuk citer pasal immigresen buat serbuan ke gerai-gerai makan yang diusahakan oleh pendatang asing. Kalau kita tengok, memang ramai pengusaha gerai/warung makanan kat tepi jalan ni diusahakan oleh orang asing… atau pengusaha tempatan mengambil pekerja asing sebagai pembantu – tanpa permit. Biasalah, serbuan dibuat. Itu kerja dorg. Apa yang menarik perhatian adalah cara tindakan dorg.

Buat rush terhadap kedai yang diusahakan oleh warga asing – ada customer warga asing jugak – customer tengah tunggu makanan -customer kene tahan sekali – dipaksa duduk mencangkung sambil pegang kerusi yg dia duduk tadi.

Korang dapat gambarkan tak apa yg berlaku? Orang yang tengah lapar, nak makan, tengok2 kene tahan sekali. Dah la tak dpt makan. Mungkin tu la time yang baru dia sempat nak makan untuk hari tu. Tugas adalah tugas, tapi budi bicara, orang nak makan… nak makan weh! Tahan la lepas dorg makan. Untuk lelain, shopping ke, rehat ke… tahan la dorg. Tapi hal makan minum, biar la dorg makan dulu. Sedih sangat tengok.

Isu yang pembantu warga asing pulak.. I understand government nak control dari segi penyakit dan kebersihan. Tetapi, mereka berniaga di gerai – uol sendiri tau kan gerai mcm mana. Tak semua bersih, sumber air yang tak menentu. But yet, yang tu la pilihan ramai pekerja2 gov. and swasta. Lagi satu, bukan senang nak cari pekerja tempatan untuk kerja di warung. Sangat susah. Walaupun banyak yang jobless, they prefer to be jobless rather than working in warung tepi jalan. Sebab kerja gerai makan ni letih. Warga asing ni la yang nak bekerja teruk and committed untuk dtg kerja hari-hari tanpa alasan demam la, makcik kawin nak cuti la.

Dear Government, please bantu provide tenaga kerja tempatan untuk peniaga-peniaga warung/kedai makan tempatan. Bukan peniaga tak nak apply permit utk pekerja warga asing, tetapi sangat mahal. Beribu-ribu untuk sorang pekerja. They hired illegal workers sebab susah nak dapat pekerja asing. Will you?

Tips Memilih Insurance Terbaik

Insurance agent – sometimes can be the most irritating person – hate that.

Ok.. ketepikan insurance agent.

I want to focus on insurance itself.

Insurance is important to be used pasa masa-masa yang tertentu/genting yang berkaitan dengan kesihatan; hospitality, disease. Nak harapkan duit simpanan, boleh. But cukup ke untuk rawatan susulan? bil-bil hospital? rawatan pakar? this is the purpose untuk subscribe insurance. TO help us masa sakit.

Due to that, we should save some portions from our income to pay our insurance policy. What types of policies are available out there? Which types of policy you’ve subscribed? Until when?

Life/Death? Medical/hospitality? Critical disease? Personal Accident?

Less we pay, less coverage. We have to find something in the middle and we can afford!

That is the key. The monthly contribution should be not too much until we cannot afford to eat, and not too less until we cannot claim anything except death – sad!

I have made some readings and observations regarding insurance. The concept is really clear. To help the person when they are in trouble (based on the coverage).

Most of Malays did not trust an insurance company. Why? Because they saw many people (friends/family) dah jadi mangsa insurance agent – look the word here, AGENT.

Here are some tips before you subscribe for an insurance policy:

1. Make sure you are dealing with an authorized agent from a well established insurance company (not subagent).
2. Make sure the coverage (note the amount) are as follows; death, 36 critical disease, medical (very important), saving investment (return), maximum age.
3. Jangan pilih agent yang sangat2 mendesak. Pilih ikut gerak hati korang - selesa.

Coverage

This is the most sad part. I have meet a few of my friends. Some of them declared themselves as an insurance subscriber.

Case 1: “I just pay RM56 per month” – X. When I take a look at the policy, coverage: death and permanent disability only. To further more, if something happen to X except death, and lost ability (pair), he CANNOT claim anything at all.

Case 2: “I have 2 policies; medical and saving” – Y. What will happen to his medical policy’s contribution? You give me the answer.

Boleh nampak tak? Banyak customer di playing around by these irresponsible insurance agents.

Sebab tu you have to ensure the coverage before you subscribe an insurance policy.

Bukan salah pengguna kalau tak tahu apa2 mengenai insurance sebab they haven’t been explained well/clearly by their agent.

Honestly I feel very sad tengok banyak orang Melayu kene twist dengan orang Melayu sendiri.

As an agent, you patut TOLONG orang. Bukan just nak close the deal and get your commission.

I read, I saw, banyak yang sangat2 tamak.

You chose to be an insurance agent. You really want that job because of the job environment and responsibility, or you just want that job because of the commission? It is fine for you to get the commission if you’ve done your job very well. Tapi kalau you explain tak clear, you keep on saying “boleh boleh boleh” for everything termasuk yg tak boleh, you rasa dah wat keje yg betul?

I am not getting emotional here. But I am very sick with some of the agents yang macam buaya. Cari mangsa untuk close the deal and left them lepas dapat commission. Because of these kind of people lah yang buat banyak orang benci agent insurance.

Ada banyak pilihan; insurance issued from bank, Prudential BSN, Etiqa, Great Eastern, ING, MNI… banyak lah!

For me personally and based on my experience, I prefer and already subscribed to Great Eastern Takaful. I chose it because of the product, and the agent.

To all readers, buat la pilihan yang terbaik untuk insurance. Subscribe seawal mungkin sebab mana2 insurance tak akan cover untuk penyakit sedia ada.

Thermos Mug for Me and My Brother

I don’t know why I become a Starbucks-maniac recently. Their coffee does really works on me – hyperactive.

Back to the topic – thermos.

Last month I did get myself a thermos mug from Parkson. Alaaa tak nak la mahal2 yang sampai beratus2 and dalam kaca. Yang tu memang la panas. Hot drinks macam green tea and coffee are my favorites. Lepas 3 minggu pakai thermos tu… cap (penutup) plastik tu dah bengkok. – frustrated! 3 weeks! masak la nak beli for every month kan.

Masuk je gaji, I have decided to get a starbucks’ thermos for myself, and the other one for my brother – dia pernah cakap he wants thermos from Starbucks – tak nak from parkson. “demand!” – I replied.

Do you know that Starbucks ada card… macam touch n go card?

• Bila register – dpt one complementary drink.
• Bila beli thermos ni (melalui starbucks’ card – topup with minimum RM50) -  1 free drink for one thermos.
• Discount RM2.00 for a drink if you bring your own starbucks cup/mug/thermos.

A lot more offers when you’ve registered your starbucks’ card.

KawKaw Burger Bakar

Lokasi : Lokas Makana, Puchong

Waktu mula operasi: 6.45pm

Last week adalah minggu makan sedunia. Selalu asek tengok org lain posting pasal beger bakar. Psycho jugak la sebab wondering sedap sgt ke sampai sanggup org queue panjang utk order… baru order je k. Belum dapat lg beger tu.

Semalam… hari keramat utk cuba beger bakar ni. Sebelum nekad untuk beli, we (me and my brother) did observed the place, tukang masak, pekerja… bersih ke x. Jawapannya jeng3… Bersih!

Queuing time: half an hour

Waiting time for our meal to be done: half an hour

Tired enough.

We’ve got ourselves beef-triple-cheese beger; ada tiga keping patty yg besau besau. The price is RM19.50. Worth it!

okay.. sounds so tamak. we share this burger. I only took a patty without cheese (owh kononnnya tak la rasa bersalah sangat)

Rasanya… memang sedap.

Ok… sedap is general. I’ve tried to analyze the taste. I can taste beef (of coz), sweet from onion, black pepper, ginger, and herbs. The meat tastes really juicy sweet.

Quarter pounder is my benchmark. Quarter pounder is purely meat. but this burger has additional taste – as mentioned earlier.

Berbaloi ke nak tunggu queue lama2? Sangat berbaloi.

OK.

Time to naik treadmill.

cau cin cau

My personal walk in "wardrobe"

Impian hati untuk memiliki build in wardrobe sebenarnya. Belum sampai rezeki lagi untuk ke tahap tu. End up I chose to get this very affordable hanger from IKEA.

Our (with my brother) first trial adalah sangat mengecewakan. Penyidai yang diidamkan sold out! 

A month later, we try our luck again. Lucky us, they have just restocked it! We've got ourselves 6 hangers (without even thinking how to carry it). The feeling is like nampak makanan atas tray masa buffet Ramadhan. 

*Roar* 

All for me... ALL!

The concept of shopping in IKEA is cash and carry (except for furniture). This hanger requires just a little of time spent to join each of components/parts. Even a lady can do it!

Some important info if you want to go to IKEA. Their business hour!!!!

Tips Hilangkan Bau Hanyir Makanan Laut (Seafood)

Hye akak2, abg2, adik2 yang nak cari tips cara hilangkan bau hanyir apabila masak makanan laut. Tips ni di inherit daripada my mum. 

Selalu kita basuh/bersihkan dengan garam dan asam keping. Those are very common lah kan utk bersihkan ikan. Before this I have been using asam keping + garam + daun serai untuk hilangkan hanyir makanan laut. But still, kadang2 tak ada serai kat rumah ni.

Another alternative way to bersihkan makanan laut dan hilangkan hanyir adalah dengan 

garam + asam keping + gula

Jadi lepas ni boleh la eh sediakan makanan laut yang sedap tanpa bau hanyir.

Selamat memasak!

Flat Shoes from SANTA

This is an ‘alien’ thing for me. I don’t really like flat shoes… or even sandals. Most of them melecetkan kaki and not that comfortable bila berjalan.

I love high-heels so much (no doubt) until one point where I realized… dah tak ada nafsu nak beli high heels. So I was thinking about flats. Flat sandal is totally out since before this I used to get myself a flat sandal but baru pakai 2 weeks dah putus sebab; selalu kene air and bila berjalan selalu terkepak kat tengah2 tu <—or bila pakai flat memang kene jalan seret2??? :/ Another reason that i dislike flats sebab… kalau hujan, kaki akan basah. If pakai platform high heels, you can walk just like not raining.

Ok… done with my bad perception about high heels.

The perceptions are still remain the same until one day, I hang out with my brother. We went to Sunway Pyramid. On that very sunny day, I told him I want to find a flat shoes. No more high heels for this time. We go round and round. Then I have found this one shop.. near to the escalator, SANTA. I was just looking around. Then I saw this one flat shoes. The design is unique. The color is pretty (black, brown, peach). I asked for the largest size (usually not that large for me). The sales girl came with the size 40.

At the moment when I tried, I can feel the good chemistry between me n this flats. The platform (tapak depan – I dont know what to call it) is quite thick and soft. Which is good. Because I prevents me daripada rasa direct contact between tulang kaki and lantai. When I walk, I can feel the shoe’s walking together with me. This is incredible!

Then I starts looking into the quality – stitch, glue, and material. Everything was nicely done! The one that attracts me some more is the ‘girly’ details at the shoe soles (I have just google translated “tapak kasut) . I’ve never seen something like this.

 

Now, I have been using this shoe for about 3 months. The condition is still good, very well, and value for money. And it didnt kills my legs.

For the flat shoes lover, you should try to get one from this shop. For the flat haters, you can now reduce your hate by using this flat shoes.

Some how, there is one thing that flat shoes cannot beat high-heels… help us to increase our height.

Jamuan Raya COIT 2012

Selamat hari raya aidilfitri to all Muslims. My bad lama sangat dah tak update blog. I am still adjusting my routine and time untuk berblog sejak keje ni. How’s your raya? Kejap je rasa sebulan syawal ni. Now dah masuk bulan Zulkaedah. Open houses? This year tak banyak sangat for me since I am still new here. But ada la a few. Most of my weekend hanya untuk rehat. Plus my universiti baru habis final exam last week. Phew. Later on I will share the story pasal my first course untuk semester ni.

Here is my picture together with my colleagues (a part of it) and the dean.

This is my 3rd time kot celebrate raya with COIT (as staff). Previous years lebih meriah sebab majority boleh datang. For this time,not many of us managed to attend the event due to outstation + final exam invigilation is on going. All in our head was marking marking and marking the answer scripts.

I left my camera at home! (Credit all pictures untuk my college) So I didnt managed to capture what do we have on that makan-makan day. Never mind, I will list out:

1. Nasi tomato ayam merah
2. bihun/mee sup (i took the sambal kicap and kacang a lot!)
3. Mee kari seafood (yummieh… I love this one)
4. Lemang with rendang (dah tak larat nak makan masa tu. Now sgt3 teringin!)
5. Koktail mixed fruit (tak sempat rasa. But I am pretty sure its yummy since out of stock cepat!)
6. Cakes… I love cakes! My favorita red velvet and choc cheese if im not mistaken.

Isnt the strawberry looks yummy?

We are not doing the gangnam style. We are just exercising our hands yang bertungkus lumus untuk preparation for the majlis. *denial*

Here here Here. Can you see the decoration at the back? It’s made by Mr. TJ, our taiko (grey baju melayu in the previous picture). I love it.