Hoozey’s Neighborhood

Remember I was babbling about my new heels here? well, the pics have finally been uploaded so here they are.

First up, what I refer to as my cute heels. They aren’t formal at all and not what I expect to see from heels. The brand is North Star which normally sells track/running shoes. Hence the casualness of these I guess.

Like I said in the last post, original price was RM89.90. Got them at a whopping 70% off. So after taking into consideration the FX rate, price for me was S$20/US$14.

Love the teal blue and white. Got a lovely teal long dress that would match pretty much perfectly *happy happy*

and look at the heels. Gotta make sure to practice a little before leaving the house. Haven’t really used heels this high since I’ve had kids and that’s… erm… 9 years ago?

On to something a little more ethnic. If you were to meet a Peranakan woman a couple decades ago, chances are high that she’d be wearing one of these

(pic from here)

Well, personally, I don’t like the old fashioned look of these and prefer to have an open toed pattern (to show of my pretty nails especially after a pedi… yes, I’m vain)

So this is my latest pair of beaded sandals (I’ve got two others. Pics on the way). Actually, I have no need to get these… I just wanted them. And they looked so pretty. So I picked my pattern and my color (you can choose both) and the nice lady made a pair of sandals for me.

See how pretty the little flowers look? And to think someone hand beaded them one by one. Oh the time taken… if I had to do it, my eyes would surely be totally crossed!

Finally, here’s my lovely cheap pair of ‘classy’ heels. They were a “quick! I have to get these” type of buy. One size too big but at S$10 they were seriously a steal. Love the stitching detailing, the buckle and the nice red inside. Had to buy two sets of insoles just to make them a little more wearable.

Haven’t worn any of these shoes yet.. been in a pretty casual mood lately. But they’re sitting pretty on my shoe shelf and I can’t wait to wear them. :)

I was out yesterday with my family. So after our trip to the Singapore Flyer.. I pleaded to head to the my favourite MAC counter.. Warm & Cozy was launched a few days ago.. So here are some random swatches from the collection..

Siss and Warm Me Up are lipsticks and in this photo, they've already sort of got smudge off. The shadesticks have definitely improved in formulation.. They glide on really smoothly and have really good pigmentation. However, they aren't great for me.. They tend to crease really quick on me. So if you've got fine lines, do re-consider your purchase.

Guess what! I came home empty handed after the visit to the counter. HAHAHA! Alto I'm really tempted to go back and get the By Candlelight MSF. *Sigh* We'll see.. Frond reminded me to make do with what I have. LOL! So wish me luck in trying to stick to that..

This is what I did for my NYE. Since I was heading to my parents and would be taking off the makeup really soon after, I didn't bother much with my look. You wouldn't guess that I was actually having the beginning of a really bad migraine.

I switched up for a different powder foundation.. So it would less ghostly. It doesn't give that flawless photofinish look that I like but it does okay for casual days.

I managed to surprise myself.. I've been stuck in a neutral rut for so long that I came to the point of hating all the neutral looks I do. BUT this one, I likey a lot! It's the right shade and tone of brown!

Things used to create this look..
- MAC paintpot in Painterly
- MAC e/s in All That Glitters
- Fyrinnae Arcane Magic e/s in Greenman's Forest 
- MAC e/s in Unbasic White
- MAC technakohl eyeliner in Graphblack

Like I said, it was a really simple look. I hope you enjoyed your New Year's eve and will continue to enjoy your New Year's day! It seemed like the whole of Singapore was busy partying yesterday night. LOL! Me.. I went to bed and enjoyed a pretty good night rest. My head is still threatening to split into two.. With painkillers (loads of them), its pretty manageable now.

Hopefully 2010 would be a better year for all of us! Best wishes to you all here in Vox!

Saying goodbye to 2009 has never been easier, this year has been a real rollercoaster ride for me. With the husband away for such a long period, I had trouble coping with a lot of things and some of them were emotional.. Now that 2010 is approaching, I hope that it would be a better year..

Personal resolutions aside (after all its personal!).. Let's talk about beauty/skincare resolutions.

One.. I hope to be kind to my skin by giving it a little more TLC which means, it's time to stock up on masks!

Two.. I hope to wear sunscreen regularly. Yes, I am still struggling with sunscreen. Being sensitive to sunscreen sucks.. However, Dr. Wu's sunscreen has been kind to me.. Hopefully it would remain so.

Three.. Buy LESS of EVERYTHING. Sounds almost impossible.. But as Frond keeps reminding me, SHOP MY STASH!

Four.. Blog more often! Or rather be much more consistent in blogging.. And for goodness sake, learn swatching! Hahaha!

Five.. Drink more water! I think this is pretty self explanatory.

That's all folks.. Hope you all have a great New Year's Eve. I'm off to spend it at my parents place.. And hopefully I would be feeling better soon.. I've got a killer headache from my neighbour's drilling and lack of sleep.

I was meaning to post this last week but I got lazy and partly also because the new bathroom isn´t completed. It would have been completed just in time for Christmas but something just had to go wrong. The tile shop gave us floor tiles from 2 different production batches so they weren´t the same thickness. The shop and all the other branches were sold out so they had to order more from Italy. We´ll get them next week hopefully but I´m slightly worried they won´t be the same thickness as the ones we have on our floor now. Daniel, the guy that did absolutely everything traveled back to his home country Poland for the holidays but will be back 1st week of Jan to finish the rest. That means he´ll be back 2nd week of Jan. He´s really good with his hands and did a terrific job with the bathroom so far but he sucks big time when it comes to punctuality. We were warned before we hired him so we were prepared and didn´t get upset. The quality of his work makes up for his tardiness.

Here are pics of the bathroom before the remodeling. I´m quite embarrassed to show these pictures but even more shocked now after the transformation that I actually lived with it for 3 years. I mean, it was pink. And floral. How this style could actually be "in" in the ´70s is beyond me.

This was where all the MU application took place. Just a single light at the top of the mirror, not the best I know. Nor was there much natural light. 
A doorknob came loose, we super-glued it back on but it came off again. We just never bothered with it anymore.

Ahh...the shower cabinet that was a royal PITA when it came to cleaning. It shall NOT be missed. I didn´t dare show what was behind the doors. Chest of drawers was crap from Ikea. Broke apart like it was made of cardboard. Ok, I may have shoved one towel too many in the drawer but still! Middle drawer was broken so we only made use of top and bottom drawers. Was close to replacing it many times but we came to our senses and waited until we got new matching furniture for the whole bathroom.

Our old potty! Daniel took it apart and left it outside by our front door. So for a while we had a toilet outside our door, lol. Even our neighbour commented on our new décor. Well a lot of trash accumulated so we hired a container and got rid of all the crap and made our front yard look a bit more presentable. When we first moved in, I bought the bright pink rug with matching toilet brush (behind the trashcan) to brighten up the bathroom without clashing with the pink walls ;P .
In the middle photo, the brown spot you see under the window was a burn mark. Don´t know how it got there but it was there when we moved in. Same goes for the curtain. I searched and searched but was unable to find a suitable replacement. I know the easiest would be to buy cloth and sew my own curtains but I´m too lazy :/ The curtain is actually see-through, we have white wooden blinds behind. Third pic is a close up of the dreadful, awful, horrendous, ugly, hideous and not forgetting, cold floor. Boy I´m so glad I don´t have to step on it any longer.

And so began the transformation...

Daniel took apart everything including the old walls as they were not aligned and he put up new walls.

                     The corner where the toilet will be                                                    The vanity area

    



Next, he covered each wall with waterproof latex paddings, laid down my favourite part of the whole bathroom - heating cables "MMmmmMMMmm" and installed the toilet cistern.

Daniel did a terrific job with the tiles. The white tiles on the walls are actually subtly patterned with lines. Gives it a textured look.                       
    

voila. . . 

Lights on both sides of the mirror give much better light for MU application. Downside is I see all the faults meaning I take a longer time getting ready trying to fix and cover every damn spot.
We are going to install another light in the ceiling. A high cabinet in the same style and colour as the vanity will be mounted on the wall in the corner where the silver vase is. It´s not mounted on yet because the cabinet will jut out and cover part of the window. Daniel suggested we change to a smaller window and get more wall space. It´s more work of course but I think it will look much better, we were intending to replace the window anyways since the current one is punctured. Also we´re thinking of a frosted window so we don´t have to think about curtains :P

                New potty minus some tiles.

I love the shower. It´s a bit high for me but I can get used to it, close my eyes and imagine rain is falling on my head. What´s missing are more tiles on the floor and the glass doors. Those will be mounted on after the floor tiles are completed.



Almost complete yet still a lot of patching up here and there and of course window to be changed. Changing to a smaller window means changing of wooden boards on outer wall too. I´m wondering how Daniel is going to do that when there is about 2 feet of snow outside, not to mention we´re expecting very very cold days ahead of us. I won´t be surprised if we have to wait till spring to get the window done.

to be continued . . .

I finally gotten around trying my Fyrinnae eyeshadows.. They've been lying around for a really long time (think: a month at the very least). I've been telling Frond that I really need to get my Fyrinnae samples swatched but I'm a real procrastinator.

I can't begin to describe how in love I am with the eyeshadows.. So vibrant! So pigmented! It's really LOVE at first application. The photo is taken roughly 6 hours after application..

Items used to create this look..
- MAC paintpot in Painterly
- Fryinnae Arcane Magic e/s in Avian Shapeshifter
- Fryinnae Arcane Magic e/s in Feline Familiars
- MAC e/s in All that Glitters
- MAC e/s in Unbasic White
- MAC technakohl liner in Graphblack

My mum's friend complimented my look.. She said it was better than one of my other looks. I'm looking forward to create more looks with my small teeny haul. I highly recommend those who are crazy about pigments to try this! There's really no turning back..

p.s. And yes, I've not tried the Pixie Epoxy (which was the main item in my small haul). LOL!

Once again, its the time of the year to do a blog spring cleaning.. I'll be deleting most of my posts and photos. Hopefully I would be blogging much more frequently in 2010.. So till I'm done with spring cleaning! Tata for now! =)

Didn’t feel very colorful today… so here’s what I came up with…

No base 
NYX JEP in Yoghurt – all over lid 
TSS Beyond Skin Deep – patted on lid and blended upwards all the way to the brow. 
MM’s liquid eyeliner in 995 (I think… its the greyish/silverish black) – tried for a slightly winged look 
MM’s gorgeous lash mascara 
Maybelline’s Volum’ Express Turbo Boost mascara in black 
Inuovi’s brow pencil in I dunno what color. *lol*

I had forgotten how totally goregous Beyond Skin Deep is. It gives a lovely subtle glow to my eyes that is really so pretty. Am pretty sure I’ve got a spare sample baggie of this color cos I love love love it. Now to rummage through my stash again. For asians, I can’t emphasize how much I love this color! Sadly it was an LE… so I doubt its available any more. Still no harm checking with Heather from TheSheSpace:P

These pics were taken at 11.37pm and the m/u was applied at 4pm so… eyes are slightly oily. Apologies. Forgot to take pics as I was rushing out the door.

End of Year Sale.  Everything 20% off (all prices have already been reduced).  Will be relisting them until they are all gone.

Enjoy. :)

I know I've been quiet... with school holidays here... life is just so full. Not just 3 kids at home but 4... more personalities to juggle and defintiely more housework!