Rainbow in The Gloomy Sky

Jul 16, 2014

Jenny Lewis, Colbie Caillat & TFIOS Soundtrack (#TT145)

Hello lovelies!

If you think you're having a boring week so far, watch this music video by Jenny Lewis and I promise that it will give you a smile! You may see some familiar faces in awesomely unexpected costumes :)

Another great video of a great song comes from Colbie Caillat. This song has such beautiful lyrics which conveys an important message and every girl/woman NEEDS to listen to this.

Ahhh!

How many of you are fan-girling right now? :D

I just watched the TFIOS movie last week (I know, I know) and I just LOVE the soundtrack. I would also like to make a confession..

I didn't shed a tear watching this :O which was really surprising!!! I almost teared at one part though, ALMOST. I purposely watched online at home so that I could be the worst crybaby ever without anyone judging, but at the end of the movie I didn't use a single tissue lol.

I'm not sure whether it was because of the slightly poor audio or the fact that I paused the movie several times to do other things, or my overall sensitivity has decreased haha. Anyways, it was a good movie and it was slightly different than what I had expected, in a good way :)

The full soundtrack list:

1. Ed Sheeran -- "All Of The Stars"

2. Jake Bugg -- "Simple As This"

3. Grouplove -- "Let Me In"

4. Birdy -- "Tee Shirt"

5. Kodaline -- "All I Want"

6. Tom Odell -- "Long Way Down"

7. Charli XCX -- "Boom Clap"

8. STRFKR -- "While I'm Alive"

9. Indians -- "Oblivion"

10. The Radio Dept. -- "Strange Things Will Happen"

11. Afasi & Filthy -- "Bomfallarella"

12. Ray LaMontagne -- "Without Words"

13. Birdy -- "Not About Angels"

14. Lykke Li -- "No One Ever Loved"

15. M83 -- "Wait"

16. Birdy ft. Jaymes Young -- "Best Shot" (bonus track)

My favorites are "Boom Clap" by Charli XCX and "Bomfallarella" by Afasi & Filthy, which are also the only two upbeat songs in the entire list.

She has been mistaken a lot by people as Lorde. Well, that was my first impression as well, thanks to the thick wild black wavy hair, but she definitely has a different style. Love this song!

Next is a hip-hop Swedish duo whom I think are pretty darn rad. (Thank you John Green!) One of them kind of sounds like Eminem. When I first listened to this song, I was hooked immediately. When I listened for the second time, I thought this was the same song as the song Julia Stiles danced to on a table being drunk in the movie "10 Things I Hate About You" (one of the best movies ever btw), but later I found out it was "Hypnotize" by Notorious B.I.G. They both share similar beats!

That's all for this week. Till next time!

xo, Jo

Jul 13, 2014

Benefit They’re Real Push-Up Liner & Remover Review

I went to Benefit They’re Real! Push-Up Liner launch in Sephora Singapore a few weeks back, just because they had appealing promotion. At the end I got my hands on their sunscreen “Dream Screen” as well. I might do a separate review on that.

The promotion was that if we bought 2 They’re Real! products, they would give a free They’re Real Mascara in mini size and a cosmetic pouch. I got the pouch (and really liking it), but not the mascara because it was out of stock when I arrived there as it was limited =( the staff only told me that it was out of stock AFTER I paid the products, in which I got a liner and a remover – because I thought I would get the mascara so I thought I’d just get the remover. Quite disappointed as I really want to try the mascara and I’m not even a mascara person. Heard good reviews about it, so perhaps next time!

Opening up the liner.. Upon opening the cap, you will see this tiny orange plastic protector at the AccuFlex tip. Just take it off and twist the base for the gel to come out. I was really excited to try this liner, as it’s quite a breakthrough for a gel liner.

For the first time, you may need several twists to get the product squeezed out, but after the first use, you only need one twist and it allows you to draw up to 5 thick strokes.

This liner is designed for those who like their eyeliner thick, as it’s quite tricky to work it for thin look. Consistency wise is pretty smooth and very black, but it may get flaky when you do layering. I don’t know whether it’s because my eyelashes are rather long, but when I blink, I can see flakes from the product fallen on my upper cheeks and the roots of my eyelashes clump together.

Natural look vs winged look

They’re Real! remover is described as gel remover, however it’s more like a lotion-based to me. I personally like the packaging because it’s very slim and sleek. I guess it would not last very long if I use it everyday since you need a pretty significant amount of product to saturate the cotton pad to completely remove the They’re Real! eyeliner. It still does the job though.

Verdict:

They’re Real! push-up liner:

+ Handy, no brush needed
+ Good for thick and winged eye look
+ Waterproof
+ Dries quickly

- Flaky
- Can be a little messy
- A little tricky for thin natural look
- Not very smudge-proof

Will I repurchase – probably not, I still prefer the conventional gel liner in a pot with a brush. I just find it easier to control, has better consistency and more smudge-proof. But if you’re curious to try and you’re a thick eyeliner person, I think it’s worth the try. Price wise I think it’s still reasonable, around SGD38.

They’re Real! remover:

+ Does a decent job
+ Light consistency
+ Nice packaging
+ Not drying

- Tube hole is too small
- Require a generous amount of product to completely remove eye makeup

Will I repurchase – maaaaybe. It’s an okay remover, but I still prefer water or oil based type of remover though, since you don’t need a lot of product to completely remove the makeup. I’d feel cleaner as well.

Have you tried Benefit They’re Real! products yet?

xo, Jo

Jul 9, 2014

Summer Jams (#TT144)

Happiness and Music Rebecca Bains Thinking in the sunshine gazing out to sea , warmth on my bones, lungs of fresh air :)

Hello lovelies!

It’s been a while! Weekly post has become monthly post now haha. I guess that’s what you get if you have a busy life..

Anyways! I present to you my top 10 favorite songs at the moment. I spent quite a while narrowing down my favorites to top 10, so I hope you enjoy it! (Click the song title to listen on YouTube)

10. Mr. Probz – Waves (Robin Schulz Remix)

9. Disclosure ft. Sam Smith – Latch

8. Route 94 ft. Jess Glynne – My Love

7. Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynne – Rather Be

6. Klingande – Jubel (Original Mix)

5. Chromeo – Jealous (I Ain’t With It)

4. AJR – I’m Ready

3. Becky G – Shower

And the TOP 2….

2. MKTO – Classic

Always puts me in a good mood!

1. Gallant - Manhattan

I LOVE THIS SONG SO MUCH.

You may see a new trend in my music picks here.. More than half of them is techno/DJ-mix type of music. I’m surprised as well!! I guess I like those that are not too loud? In terms of beats and basses. The pure party music just gives me a headache after 5 minutes lol.

Can’t wait for 26th July!!! I’ll be with my friends in Jakarta celebrating… many things. Haha it will be a fun crazy night ;)

Have a splendid summer!

xo, Jo

Jun 4, 2014

Love finds you (#TT143)

Hello lovelies!

Can we just stop doing everything and listen to this song for a while? It gives hope for the broken hearted.

I know people make promises all the time

Then they turn right around and break them

When someone cuts your heart open with a knife, now you're bleeding

But I could be that guy to heal it over time

And I won't stop until you believe it

'Cause baby you're worth it

[Chorus:]

So don't act like it's a bad thing to fall in love with me

'Cause you might look around and find your dreams come true, with me

Spent all your time and your money just to find out that my love was free

So don't act like it's a bad thing to fall in love with me, me

It's not a bad thing to fall in love with me, me

"Yes baby, I'm bleeding. Please heal me."

That was my first official response to this song. The lyrics are simply HOPE.

Then I went to watch the video on YouTube, and I really didn't expect to watch a love documentary. Watching this gave me that warm fuzzy feeling inside, until a part came when a couple said "love finds you". I don't know why, but it just hit me and I swear I almost teared.

Probably because my underground mission now is to find love. These three words simply tell you (well, me) not to rush because without you knowing, love is on its way to find you. There will be a time when it finally finds you and all the wait becomes so worth it.

I have to admit that I create stories a lot in my head on a regular basis of a possible happy ending. My happy ending. Every time when I start to think "this part of storyline is impossible to happen", I told myself "well, that's the point. Since it's not gonna happen, you can just let it exist in your daydream." I know, I know, I mind-talk to myself a lot. Lol

Anyways, I think this song will be my theme song for the next.. Well, until love really finds me.

I've discovered one strange thing. While I'm getting prone to be emotional these days (screw hormonal imbalance, I might need to check with a doctor), I find that my resistance of pain is somehow getting stronger. Probably I'm like a shattered glass, it's already broken, so how more broken can it get, right?

In fact, I'm more drawn to things that may possibly hurt me. In this case, what Gotye says can really be applied "you can get addicted to certain kind of sadness." It's oddly true.

So that's it for this week. Just one song. Well, I do listen to a lot of songs these days, thanks to Spotify (found my love for Ariana Grande and Chinese songs lol), but I dedicate this post to this one song only.

If you're interested, you can find me on Spotify under "limjoanna"

Thanks for reading and caring.

xo, Jo

May 26, 2014

Kunshan/Shanghai Trip - Chinese Wedding

One of my closest friends in Uni has finally tied the knot! The wedding took place on May 18th at her hometown, Kunshan, China. I got to be one of the bridesmaids with other 2 girls, whom one of them is my Uni mate as well, so we flew to Shanghai over the weekend. There were lots of food, drinks, driving, and zero beauty sleep. Let the photos do the talking!

Trying out which dishes to be served on the actual wedding day