Swatch: Sinful Colors - Beautiful Girl & Vacation Time

Sinful Colors! I've heard so many great reviews about their nail polishes and such, so I was really excited when Nic sent these two beautiful nail polishes to me! She knows me so well and picked two colors that are very wearable and I love. Please check below for the swatches and short reviews from me:

Sinful Colors - Beautiful Girl 

(2 coats)

I'd describe this one as a creamy bubblegum pink, a really beautiful shade indeed. It goes on smoothly and not streaky at all. I could get away with just one coat but applied two coats instead for a more even and smooth finish. I was really surprised by it's lasting power, it lasted 4 to 5 days without any chippings, totally love this nail polish!

Sinful Colors - Vacation Time

(2 coats)

It's a beautiful brownish-pink shade with a creamy finish. Unlike Beautiful Girl, it's a little bit streaky and took me quite a while to achieve a even and smooth finish. Nevertheless, I really like how it looks on my nails. It's very work-appropriate, yet without being dull. Just like the other nail polish, its lasting power is fantastic, it lasts days without chippings! I'm in love with Sinful Colors nail polishes :D

Till next time! :)

Chocolate Brownie!

Hellooo...! Wow, it's been more than 4 months since my last blogpost, time really flies. First off, I want to say that I'm really sorry for the unannounced hiatus, it was a sudden decision. A lot has been going on in my life and some of them made me decide to step out from the blogosphere as I had no desire to do any posts or take any pictures for my blog. I close my blog for a while as I don't like the idea that people visiting my blog without seeing any updates and I hate spammers too XD. But sometimes I do really miss blogging and all of you (hence I'm writing this blogpost) and I decide to reopen my blog. I still can't promise that I'll be blogging as frequently as I did long long time ago but I'll try to stay around and maybe do a random post once in a while. Also, I want to thank to those of you who've been so kind to ask about me when I wasn't around, thank you!

Now, about the post title, my sister and I had been craving for brownie and we thought why not to make one ourselves. We googled and finally found a recipe that's fairly easy to make! If you're interested, here is the recipe: Brownie Recipe. 

The first time we tried, we used a baking dish that wasn't wide enough and it made the brownie became too thick that it wouldn't bake properly. Here's the mess:

The next day we tried it again still using the same baking dish but we halved the recipe and voila!

It didn't look that good but it was edible XD! Me and my sister were so proud with our brownies and we were thinking to make one for our brother when he's back for holidays, watch out bro!

P.S.: I've just noticed the updated Blogger interface and it looks weird to me, does anyone like it?

A Piece of Me... in May 2011 & Who's the lucky one???

A game hosted by Shirley of *We Love Toothfairy*

This month....

I like: celebrating Mother's day and my mum's birthday at the same time! They're only one day apart so we decide to just celebrate them together :D

I don't like: to feel like running out of time. So many things to do yet so little time.

I want you to know: that I've picked out the winner(s) of my mini giveaway! Please scroll down to see who've won :)

I've planned: with my sister to get something for my mum, we still don't know what to get yet but we're excited!

I want to say to someone special: I love you but I can't stand you.

Mini Giveaway Winner(s)

I decided to have two winners instead of one so that you'll have a bigger chance to win, yay!

Thank you to everyone who's entered! There are 33 valid entries, I used List Randomizer to pick the top 2 on the list:

Congrats to Jennifer and Shop N' Chomp!

Please send me an email with your mailing address so I can send the MBD X Hello Kitty masks to you! :)

Till next time!

Review: My Beauty Diary X Hello Kitty Masks

Sheet masks have been always on my list of must-buy things whenever I visit Taiwan but on my last Taiwan trip, these two boxes of MBD X Hello Kitty masks were on the top of the list since I first heard about them and I was really lucky to be able to get them as they are limited edition and hardly available anywhere else besides Taiwan.

To be honest, I'm not really into reviewing sheet masks as I feel they basically are the same. Having said that, I'm gonna at least try to do a short reviews for both of the MBD X Hello Kitty masks and hope you'll enjoy it! :)

Who can resist the cute packaging??

Strawberry Milk Mask

Each box contains 10 sheet masks that come in 3 different designs:

Effects: Whitening, Smoothening.

Ingredients:

My Thoughts:

The scent of this mask is exactly like strawberry milk and I really like it! It also contains a lot of essence which I love because I could use the excess essence on my neck and arms. The mask itself fits my face pretty well which is really rare for MBD masks, as most of the MBD masks don't fit my face well. I used the mask for about 30 minutes and after removing the mask my skin felt slightly sticky. But I massaged the essence in for a few secs and my skin felt really smooth and hydrated afterwards. I didn't notice any whitening effect on my skin though but I like that it left my skin smooth even on the next morning too.

Honey Strawberry Mask

Each box contains 10 masks that come in 3 different designs:

Effects: Brightening, Moisturizing.

Ingredients:

My Thoughts:

If the other mask smells exactly like strawberry milk, this one smells like honey! Just like the strawberry milk mask, this honey strawberry mask also has a lot of essence and fits my face really well. And it did left a slightly sticky film on my skin as well but the sticky feeling disappeared after I massaged it in. I noticed a brightening effect from this mask but it's only temporary which most of the sheet masks are. This mask is more hydrating than the strawberry milk mask and i think it's because of the honey extract property in this mask. It also left my skin smooth and hydrated for quite a while.

Overall, I really like both of the masks but honey strawberry mask gets more points for me as I feel it's more hydrating and it really has brightening effect even though it's only temporary. Too bad they're limited edition and I'm sure I won't be able to get them anymore in the future.

Mini Giveaway
*CLOSED*

I know most of you want to try these masks and it's not easy to get them, thus I'm going to giveaway a pair of this MBD X Hello Kitty masks (one of each Strawberry Milk Mask and Honey Strawberry Mask, packaging designs will be randomly chosen) and also some other masks that I acquired from my last Taiwan trip. All you have to do:

1. Must be a public follower of this blog. (I will check)

2. Leave a comment below saying: 'I love Hello Kitty'. (I won't count your entry if you don't do this)

3. Only one entry per person.

It's open internationally and will end on May 3rd, 2011 at 8pm (GMT+7).
Winner will be randomly chosen and announced shortly after.
Good luck!

Disclaimer: The products were purchased by me. I am not affiliated with the companies I mentioned above. This is my honest opinion, product that works on me doesn't mean it works on you and vice versa.

Taipei, I'm in Love

Yes, I visited Taiwan yet again! I think I visit there almost every year cause I'm already in love with Taipei :D. It's a really a great place, esp for shopping and eating!

Speaking of food, I stumbled on this really awesome blog that introduces places to eat in Taipei a couple years ago and it's been a really great help for me to find places to eat whenever I'm visiting Taipei, here's the blog: HungryinTaipei, be prepared for massive droolage!

In this post, I'm going to share places (most of them are found from HungryinTaipei) that I went and will go over and over again!

*Pic Heavy*

Ay-Chung Flour-Rice Noodle 阿宗麵線
Ximending Headquarter: No.8-1, Emei St., Wanhua District, Taipei City
Shihlin Night Market: 1F., No.24, Lane 101, Wenlin Rd., Shilin District, Taipei City
Xinyi Branch: No.2, Lane 17, Sec. 4, Zhongxiao E. Rd., Xinyi District, Taipei City

This is a place that I'll visit more than once whenever I visit Taipei, esp when I'm staying in Ximending area. I just can't get enough of it :D! You might not like it if you dislike intestine though. Nonetheless, it's highly recommended!

Adding some garlic sauce, chili sauce and vinegar.

Yummmm~~

It was raining the second day we went there but it's still fully crowded!

Yo Froyo

 Shida Night Market: No.9, Lane 59, Shida Rd., Jhongjeng District, Taipei City

DunNan Branch: No. 39, Lane 187, Dunhua S. Rd. Sec. 1, DaAn District, Taipei City

Ximending Branch: Eslite 116 - No. 116 Level 1, HanChung St., Wanhua District, Taipei City

We happened to pass by this stall in Ximending and remembered that HungryinTaipei posted about it before. So we decided to try it and I'm really glad we did because it's by far the best frozen yogurt I've ever tried! Super delish and lots of flavors to choose from!

Acai Berry Froyo!

With extra topping on it :D

ZhangJi Guo Tie (Fried Dumpling) Niu Rou Mian (Beef Noodles)
Lane 101, Yang Ping S Road
Open everyday EXCEPT Saturday
11am-2pm & 4pm-7.30pm

Another great place that I knew from HungryinTaipei, see her post here. Since we were staying in Ximending area, we decided to find this place and it's pretty hard to find. But when we finally managed to find this place using a map, it was closed! We're still not discouraged though and went there again on the second day and we're happy to see that it's open BUT they're already sold out! OMG, we're so devastated at that point. When we told them we visited the other day and it was closed, they told us that they're closed on Saturday. So DO NOT go there on Saturday, lesson learned. They also told us what time they're open and the next day we went there as early as we could and we're actually one of the first in there LOL. Yes, we actually had to go there three times to be finally able to try their food and it's really worth it! The foods are really good, we esp love the 'guo tie' (fried dumpling). It's best to go there early cause by the time we're almost finished, the place is already packed and they're almost sold out.

The menu in Mandarin

Guo tie 锅贴 (Fried dumpling)

Super yummy! I'm still drooling when I look at this XD

Shui jiao 水饺 (Boiled dumpling)

Not as good as the fried ones but still yummy :)

Suan la tang 酸辣汤 (Hot and sour soup)

We heard many people ordered this so we ordered one too and it's pretty good!

Ding Wang Ma La Guo (Tripod King Spicy Hotpot)
No. 89, Guangfu North Rd (MRT: SYS Memorial Hall)
Tel: (02) 2742-2116
11am-3am

Yet another one that I saw from HungryinTaipei, read her post here. It's the second time I visited this spicy hotpot restaurant. I had my first experience with spicy hotpot two years ago in this very restaurant and it was a really pleasant one! I'd never tried duck's blood before and always tried to avoid one but after I tried it from this restaurant, I'm hooked! It was actually really good :D. And just like the first time we went there, we had to wait a couple of hours to be seated as it's always packed esp on the weekend. We're not complaining though cause it's worth the wait :). Price wise, it was around TWD700 (about USD25) for the two of us and we're really full and couldn't even finish the hotpot so it's pretty affordable.

We're served with this refreshing rose tea while we're waiting to be seated, how nice!

The yummy spicy hotpot with tofus and duck's bloods

Youtiao (Fried bread stick)
Learned from HungryinTaipei to soak these in the spicy hotpot, uber delish!

Handmade meatballs

Not recommended, they're just okay.




Hello Kitty Sweets
No. 90, Da An Road, Sec. 1 (MRT: Zhongxiao Fuxing)
Tel: 02-2711-1132
11.30am-10pm

I've finally visited the Hello Kitty cafe! I've been wanting to visit here ever since I first knew about it. I'm sure you've seen tons of Hello Kitty Sweets' pictures online so I don't need to post them here anymore, I'll only do the highlights :). It's a really cute place to visit esp for the Hello Kitty fans out there. I couldn't stop taking pictures because there'll always have Hello Kitty on every single corner! *squeal*

But to be honest, I probably will only visit here once as IMO the foods are just okay and I've already taken more than enough pictures there XD.

Hello Kitty breads and soup

All the carrots inside the baked rice are in Hello Kitty shape! How cute~

Hello Kitty pudding, it's quite delicious!

On another Hello Kitty note, we spotted this Hello Kitty nursery room in Terminal 2 of Taoyuan International Airport. Everything is Hello Kitty in there, really cute!

Not forgetting about the drinks that I love from Taiwan, here are the two drinks that I have to have whenever I'm visiting there:

Watermelon Milkshake

Super good and very refreshing!

Pearl Milk Tea
A really must-have! I think I had more than 3 pearl milk teas on my 5 days visit :D

Yes, I did haul on this visit, esp masks! I think they're always having promotion on masks so it's really a steal to get masks from Taiwan.

Here are the masks that I got before I un-boxed them, they will last me for quite a while :D


That's it for this post. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy:)
Till next time!