There is some controversy about using mineral oil on your skin though using mineral makeup is widely known to be beneficial to skin. Strange but true.

According to Shu Uemura, mineral oil is safe for the skin especially on the delicate areas around the eyes. In fact, it is the main ingredient in most baby oils and is known for its skin protective properties.

Some ladies are concerned that mineral oil equates industrial crude oil. The mineral oil used in cleansing oils are highly purified and cosmetic graded or cosmetic companies like Shu Uemura and Biore will be out of business long ago.

I went for the Majorlica Majorca Makeover and it was a hoot.

The makeup artist Pamela was very patient and friendly - she explained every step of what she is doing on my face, tips on application techniques and about their makeup products.

She also guessed that I was using Japanese skincare (Shiseido and Kose, if you are interested) because she asked me what my skin care regime was and I mentioned softening lotion. We had a very interesting conversation about the different brands. For example, ZA is to Shiseido what L’Oreal is to Lancome. Being brands under the same umbrella company, technology breakthroughs are ’shared’.

I am inclined to agree. Pricing is largely affected by market segmentation, branding and advertising. To be frank, ZA is one of my favourite brands in terms of performance and price. Chanel skincare on the other hand, is grotesquely overpriced and overrated.

So what do I think about MJ cosmetics?

I think they are performers in their own right. The price is between that of ZA and Ettusais (both Shiseido’s brands).

Pamela used their new product - Skin Lingerie OD Control (S$20.90) which is a makeup base to prep my skin before applying their 2 way cake.

The MJ Skin Remaker 2 way cake is comparable to that of Ettusais’ Zero Pore Pact (and at S$29.50 excluding compact, cheaper). She also used their newly launched Pressed Pore Cover (S$22.90 for powder only) after the application of 2 way cake. This is supposed to be better than the Fantasia 24hr pressed powder which they are phrasing out. It’s very lightweight, covered my pores quite nicely and supposedly good for touch ups. Since I don’t like to touch up with 2 way cake, I bought it.

Pressed Pore Cover

I didn’t get it in this compact though, as I preferred the gold one.

Compact at S$12.90

She used the newly launched Frame Plus mascara on my lower lashes. It’s a fibre mascara which comes in a duo comb brush. I tried it and the application is a dream. You use the straight side to deposit the mascara and the curved comb to spread and declump the lashes. The only downside is that it did smudge slightly after a few hours.

[for the price of S$25.90, I feel that Sasa's Super Dolly mascara (S$19.90) and Maybelline's new Volume Express Cat's Eye mascara (S$18.90) would be better buys as they are also good performers]

She also used the BR742 eye compact (S$25.90) and Jewelling black eyeliner BK999 (S$14.50) on my eyes to create the mossy green smoky look, a sultry look that I like and found easy to duplicate. (click here for video tutorial on the smoky eye look)

Honey Pump Gloss PK133

PK333 - it looks very bright in the compact but natural and light on the skin

To balance the intense eye look, I went with a very natural pink lip and slightly pink cheeks. Love the pouty lip effect it gave me! Who needs collagen injections? At S$9.90 a pop, of course I bought it.

Voila, the completed look.

PS - I wonder why the Singapore website is still not updated with the latest products. The Japanese one is up to date, but in kanji.

Not only does the touted to be better Korean lashes not much better than the ‘normal fake lashes’, most of the lashes fell out by Sunday and those remaining were detached from my eyelid and half hanging off my natural lashes!

I have been doing lash extension for almost two years now and I have never had an extension die on me after only four days. On the average, they last about three weeks - one month.

So I went back on Monday to get them to rectify the ‘damage’ and guess what? I was told that if I had ‘left the fake lashes half hanging off my natural lashes, they would have fixed it for free‘. As it is, because I refused to be seen in public looking like a demented Halloween eyelash disaster, and had removed the tragic survivors using cleansing oil, I had to pay another S$37 to fix something that was not done very well in the first place.

I am not very pleased about it but given that it is another person who is doing the touch up, I decided to give it another try. Well, I generally try to give people the benefit of the doubt as much as I can.

So, I will let you judge from the photos:

2nd ‘touch up job’ done at Milly’s.

Lash extension done by Baoshuang, the lady boss of Vain Beauty (also at Far East Plaza)

They charge S$60 and have a loyalty program where they reward customers with a free lash extension after every 5 times. And no, this is not a sponsored advertorial for them, and they don’t even know that I blog.

The ‘bedside manner’ also made a difference. I have sensitive skin and my eyelid will itch where they would apply the lash glue on the lashline. At my regular place, the girl will help to ease the itch by using a cotton bud to gently swab the eyelid, without me having to tell her to do so.

At Milly’s I had to repeatedly beg the girl to please swab my eyelid before I die of itching. The willingness to go the extra mile for the customer was definitely absent.

I was thinking of trying their hair braiding services earlier but after this experience, I would hesitate to do so.

Friendliness of staff: 6/10
Service level: 5/10
Workmanship: 3/10

*Edit on 7 March 09

I cannot imagine that I will be typing this but the 2nd touch up is another blotched job. The lashes started to peel away from my eyelids (again!) and I would have looked like a demented nutjob (again!) if I had not removed it again myself.

This time the lashes stayed on for a grand total of 7 days. No way am I going back to be sucker punched into paying another S$37 to fix their mistake.

To summarize, the first lash extension lasted 4 days (S$75) and the second lasted 7 days (S$37). A total of S$112 spent on lash extensions that lasted lesser than two weeks.

So yes, I am an extremely displeased and dissatisfied customer.

No thanks.. LOL.

Photos By Giovanni Giannoni

Would you like your skin to be fairer or to take on a glowy tan? I learned in a skincare session with Shiseido that self tanners are more popular in countries like Europe and America while whitening products are more popular in Asian markets. The reason is simple. Asians tend to value a fair and bright complexion much more than a healthy looking sun glow.

I suspect it also has to do with the preferences of Asian men.

DIY Recipe: Whitening and Exfoliating Body Pack

1. Use a towel soaked in hot water and apply over the body.
2. Make a mixture of 4 tablespoons of turmeric powder, 4 tablespoons of sandalwood powder and 6 tablespoons of coarsely ground rice flour.
3. Mix this together with some milk to make a paste.
4. Apply generously over the body and massage well.
5. Leave on for at least fifteen minutes, or alternatively till the pack has dried itself up.
6. Sprinkle some water on the pack and continue to make moderate to hard rotary movements on the pack.
7. Use a hot towel and wipe off the pack from the body.
8. While each of the powders used have properties that help care for the skin and help soothe it, the rice flour helps exfoliate dead cells and keep younger skin at the surface.

Sesame has a DIY recipe using nutmeg and honey to lightening acne scars.

Aishwarya Rai uses turmeric in her beauty routine.

Indian Bridal Glow Mask

1 cup of chickpea flour

3 tablespoons of turmeric powder

Almond Oil (enough to form paste)

1. Mix ingredients into a paste.
2. Apply to the face and body, and let set for a few minutes.
3. Remove by rubbing off mixture with your hands.
4. This motion will add to the exfoliation process and also help with the removal of fine facial hair.
5. Wash off the rest of the mixture and enjoy fabulous, baby soft skin!

Many Indian women use this mask before their wedding so that their skin can be purified yet moisturized.

As with any homemade remedy, you need a few treatments and consistency to see results. I have tried this to see if it can lighten an acne scar - the scar is barely visible now and my complexion looks more even.

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