mascara wands 'n' synthetic snake venom

Krikey, 'what an odd blog title' I hear you saying...

The Skinfactory synthetic snake venom was actually part of my November Bellabox...

It's certainly a bit of an odd one. I've read on a couple of blogs that this product is great in the fridge overnight before use. Rather slimy and the thought of the snake venom (synthetic or not) makes me feel a bit queasy.  But, I decided to give it a try, relax and enjoy the result. The under eye patches are very cooling and soothing and, although the results were not 'extreme eye-lift', I did see a bit of a difference and think it is worth smiling about :-)

Next up, mascara wands...well, I decided I needed a new mascara as my travel size clinique makes my eyes itch, Sephora very black waterproof is my favourite for night and my regular Sephora is on it's last dregs.  Test a few testers...I decided I would :-)  Quite embarrassed I was though, when a brand, colour tube and colour mascara looked great and I took the tester wand to my eye...oops! almost 'had mi eye out'!  I read the label carefully and saw that the mascara, or more specifically the wand had been designed for 'the Asian eye'.  Well, a new beauty fact to me...I had no idea that different eyes had different shaped lashes and would therefore require a different shaped eyelash wand - seems obvious when you think about it really :-)

I decided on this one...
product and packaging making me smile :-)

kisses 'n' smiles from me xx ;-)

Christmas camera, touristy bus 'n' Night Safari...

Le Pére Noel delivered my beautiful Nikon coolpix S9100 and I am in love 'n' am being positively snap happy :-)

These little pics were taken during our very touristy afternoon on the Hippo open top bus. We got one day tickets (which are valid for 24 hours) during their validity you can take any or all three of the bus tours. For those wanting to explore the sights a little deeper...you can hop off and on at any of the many stops. Two things struck me on the tour...one, traffic is pretty busy and we did spend a lot of the time in jams or at red lights...second, there is an enormous amount of construction work around and about - will Singapore ever be completed? :-)

While we have visitors we are trying to fit in some of the other great tourist attractions from around this beautiful island. Last night we took the option of Night Safari. Fantastic as it always is, we were surprised by how crowded it was. I've done the safari a number of times including weekends and have never seen it quite so busy. The queue for trams was silly and way too crowded so we took the option of walking trails with the intention of catching the tram tour further down the route. This option would have worked fine if only the park staff had not took 'a last minute decision' to stop folks getting on and off the tram other than at entrance plaza! Luckily my Mr Man put on his authoritative voice explaining we had 2 kids and 3 o.a.p's with us ;-) Yes, a tram came by to collect us all very soon after.

If you've not yet tried the Night Safari then do...it is a fantastic experience for all ages. If you intend to eat at the park then restaurants open at 6pm and I recommend the Indian Stall the chicken biryani Set is yummy...

I'll finish now and leave you with an almost impossible pic...my new camera taking a pic of itself...

smiling, smiling, smiling...
my fab new camera :-)

Kisses 'n' smiles from me xx ;-)

airport, happy tears 'n' Christmas movies....

I've said before that I'm a 'proper girly-girl' 'n' I love a romantic comedy :-) one of my faves is 'love actually'...I love the beginning with the airport scene...hugs, tears, kisses 'n' smiles. Well this last week I've been there acting out those airport scene.

My parents arrived...I was anxiously looking out for them and managed a few tears even before I saw them :'-) well, needless to say, on actually seeing them I was very emotional...a 'proper' good happy cry makes me smile :-)
Next to arrive from Manchester were my parents-in-law and brother-in-law...my Mr Man being soooo busy at work couldn't make the airport collection so I was sending SMS updates and getting anxious 'n' emotional on his behalf. 

So now we are all family together here in Singapore 'n' preparing 'n' getting excited for Christmas in this beautiful city...

We'll be having some good family times together...games, days out and some proper Christmas movies.  A few from our viewing list are 'polar express', 'the snowman' and 'jingle all the way'. 

So, what will you be watching this Christmas hols?  No UK television for us so we are a little bit disappointed to be missing the Dr Who Christmas Special :-(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qN9X9tyHkw

I'm off now to paint snowflakes on my nails, mix some margarita 'n' listen Cliff @ Christmas ;-)

kisses 'n' smiles from me xx ;-)

chaos that works in Vietnam...

Yes, I'm still smiling in Vietnam and I've discovered there is order to this crazy chaos! Actually, the easiest way to cross the road is 'just walk' the motor bikes, rickshaws, taxis, cars and buses will dodge as they 'do' anticipate you will walk out!  Here's a video took from the terrace of a very nice restaurant...

So, yes I'm still alive after crossing many streets in Ho Chi Minh City :-) here are a few pics of my adventures...

complimentary fruit in a little boat

Old Colonial Majestic Hotel 'n' new modern Financial Centre

ice delivery - no ice trucks here!

the ice delivery guy

Communist Party Headquarters

Notre Dame

Mostly, I've been drinking and occasionally eating... I did ask my Mr Man what Vietnamese food was...he told me 'dog' and someone else told me 'snake'! Therefore I found it best to stick to a liquid diet ;-)  lime margaritas, ginger 'n' lemongrass martini, white wine 'n' a little drop of champagne, nice ;-)

We did treat ourselves to a lovely, lovely brunch at the Intercontinental Hotel... Seafood 'n' desserts to die for, never ending Veuve Clicquot Champagne :-) I don't need to eat again until Wednesday ;-)

oysters 'n' vodka shots ;-)

Off now to catch the plane back to Singapore...

kisses 'n' smiles from me xx ;-)

December Bellabox 'n' Vietnam chaos...

Wow, I'm smiling at my December BellaBox :-)  Absolutely thrilled with it...

I honestly don't know where to start with the review...I love it all and everything made me smile :-)  Actually, the nicest, cutest, surprise were the strawberry cheesecake jellybeans...

December BellaBox goodies ; -)

Sothys brightening fluid and brightening mask and a Sothys S$50 gift voucher

Fausts Potion

OPI nail enamel from the Katy Perry collection

Savoir Faire lipstick 'Miss You'

Eylure eyelashes - 'Sex and the City' Samantha xx :-)

I've never ever actually tried false eyelashes but I cannot wait to give these a 'flutter'...luckily my Mum is in town and she can help apply them.  I promise an eyelash pic of me very soon...

The lipstick is fab all silver 'n' shiny...and that is just the packaging :-)  The actual lipstick colour is great too, very neutral - just right for me...definitely smiling lips with this beauty goodie!

I've not tried the nail varnish yet but love the look of the colour in the bottle and am sure it will look super fab over the Christmas holidays...again, I promise a nail colour 'n' me pic very soon....

The two Sothys brightening products and the Fausts Potion hangover cure will come in very useful after a couple of champagne filled evenings celebrating this holiday season :-) I will let you know if these help me feel and look as bright as a button.

I'm in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam right now, tagging along again on my husband's business trip.  First reaction is 'absolute chaos' (!)  I'll check in later to tell you if their is actually any order to this city's chaos and put some pics of my adventures.

The only major problem with the city is the blocked Facebook site :-(
krikey, sad as it is I'm pretty lost without my Facebook world!

So, I'm off now to discover Ho Chi Minh City a little more and will try find my way to the hotel pool.

kisses 'n' smiles from me xx ;-)

glitter 'n' Christmas in the tropics...

"It's beginning to look at lot like Christmas"...but really it does not feel like Christmas time.  I'm sat here blogging away and wearing shorts, the weather in Singapore today is around 32 degrees :-)  Yes, it is the usual December weather for Singaporeans.  A Brit's idea of December weather though is a time for a new hat 'n' scarf, some thick socks 'n' gloves! 

I think childhood memories mould us into how we picture Christmas for life?  Here's some very different Christmas time weather....which one says "Christmas Time" to you?

The memories I have which says "Christmas Time" to me are of getting up on a frosty and often snowy morning at 4.00am (yes, very excited I was :-) to see if 'the man in the big red suit' had been ;-)I'd sit there opening goodies with the Christmas lights twinkling.  After getting all wrapped up in hat, scarf, gloves 'n' boots I would go, along with my parents, to visit my Aunt and Uncle.  I would time it just right to sit with my cousin and 'help' him open his goodies too...usually around 7am :-)  Ah...special 'n' perfect Christmas times spent with my family in Barnsley :-)

Barnsley Town Hall @ Christmas

What always makes me smile are Christmas decorations in all their twinkling glory :-)  They can be the "OTT brightest on the street" version or the "charming 'n' tasteful" version.  This year though, I've gone for a mixture of the two...  OK, a real tree in Singapore is available yes, but if I want to put it indoors at the beginning of December what would it look like by Christmas Eve?  So, I've gone for the tactastic, plastic 'n' very 'glitter covered' version with a blue and orange theme ;-)

Here too, there is a huge mix of 'OTT 'n' tasteful decorations -  here are a few pics from this amazing tropical island as we all prepare for the magic that is Christmas...

Orchard Road

Paragon

Ferrero Rocher, Orchard Road

Marina Bay and Singapore Flyer

I'm off now to wrap some presents and pour myself a tiny Christmas Sherry ;-)

kisses 'n' smiles from me xx ;-)