Showing posts with label Advertorial. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Advertorial. Show all posts

Monday, April 1, 2013

Giveaway: Style Essence Grooming Workshop

It seems that there’s a *hidden* goal in every woman to find out more about her body type, how to look better, what’s the cheat tips to looking slim, and bottom line, how to simply look more beautiful!

I came to this conclusion whenever there’s a Grooming Workshop/Make-up Workshop/Beauty Workshop etc. Anything that has an Expert sharing the trade secrets… and recently, I was reminded that Mummies are women too! They also want to look beautiful, slim and good!

You see, the Singapore Mom Bloggers organised a workshop on grooming, as part of their one year anniversary celebrations. And the turn out was great, the mummies were all excited to learn and try hands on beautifying themselves! The session was conducted at Style Essence, professionals for skin care, make-up and style coaching. Our facilitator that day was the gorgeous, vivacious Florinda Tay.

First up was the basic introduction to various body shapes and the very important—What to wear and what to avoid!

Body Shapes

Then came colours that we should wear and how to match them, based on our colour tone. This was not something new, but as with all women, we all wanted to hear it again—what works and what doesn’t! It’s amazing, we women!

Colors you can wear

Now came the hands-on part! We were taught how to wash our faces! Haha!! Yes! Something so simple and so basic, but many of us did it wrong! Did you know that we should use only our third and fourth fingers from each hand to wash our faces? So that the pressure on our face is not too heavy to cause wrinkles, not too light to not clean it! Imagine, close to 10 grown women, all mummies, following instructions closely, which direction to move our fingers, where to clean first etc! It was hilarious but so so good!

Fresh face after mask

Then came the half-mask. We didn’t get to do a full face mask, because when it’s half-face, we get to do a direct comparison on how our faces look like before and after a mask! I didn’t get to take a picture of my post-mask, but trust me, there was a difference!

plainHalf Face facial 1

Before I go on, I have to say that Style Essence uses products from Mary Kay. From the skin care products to the make-up, Florinda patiently explained each item—how to use, when to use, who should use. I was very comfortable with her presentation as there was no hard-selling at all, no pressure at all to purchase the products. Every item was put on the table for easy access, we could focus on listening to the beauty regime and follow suit accordingly without worrying about sufficient cream or snatching for the best colour!

Array of skincare and makeup

Now after cleaning our faces, we did the super fun part—Make-up! Florinda gave instructions for the easy part—foundation and concealer. Thereafter, she did on live demonstration on ONE eye and cheeks for one of the mummies. The very beautiful Sandra was the chosen model cos of her BIG eyes and her lovely lashes!

Demonstration Eye

And that was it! It was now our turn to transform ourselves! And this is the final product!

SMB mummies

All the Glam mummies, and we did it ourselves!! Woah!! All these in a 3 hour workshop! It was time very well spent!

Postscript: Over the Easter weekend, I woke up a little earlier, spent a bit more time on doing my make-up the CORRECT way. I figured practice makes perfect! I did get a few compliments in church! Woohoo! Happy is a woman who gets compliments. Happier is a woman who gets compliments for her efforts!

Good news for all Mum’s the Word readers! Style Essence is giving away a Grooming Workshop pass worth $150! And there are three passes to be won! The contest will run for 2 weeks and results will be announced on 15 April 2013! It’s easy to enter! Just use the Rafflecopter form below! All the best!!

*Style Essence will be contacting all winners on the details of the workshop.*

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

In celebration with:

SingaporeMomBloggers

 

Disclaimer: We were invited to attend the workshop, and received no compensation. All opinions are 100% my own.

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Review: Thinkersbox—Learn to think, Think to learn

Remember Thinkersbox? This is the really revelational centre that showed me if your child was really lazy and inattentive. We sent Nicole for an assessment there and she’s now attending their 10 month programme. It was time for a review, and parents were invited to observe the class and find out what happens during the 2 hours of class.

First thing I noticed was two teachers going quietly from child to child to assist. The 9-12 kids were sitting quietly in their groups doing individual work. It was shocking! haha… imagine 12 kids in a classroom, all focused on doing work. And mind you, it’s not even the same work for all. Child A may be doing Page 4 while Child B is working on Page 19.

Thinkersbox quiet work

Then I realised each child has a tag next to his seat. It shows the task for the day. This was comforting as it assured me the trainers do plan their schedules and everything follows the plan. (I like plans. It shows seriousness in work done!)

Thinkersbox time table

The trainer then went through briefly what each station does and how it works. It would be challenging for me to list out the various activities and purposes. So I selected the top two that impressed me!

Thinkersbox Bean sorting

A bowl of beans are given to the kids—Red beans and Soya beans. The kids have to separate the two. That simple! But oh no! The trainers expect the kids to remained focused at the task, no looking around, NOT EVEN LOOKING UP from the bowl! So during the task, the trainers may randomly shout out your name, and you can’t look up, just keep working on the beans! Woah! Isn’t that a tremendous activity to train your concentration!

Thinkersbox Concentration

Try this next one! From that mass of letters, find five or more letters in sequence such as “ABCDE”. After that, find five or more letters in reverse such as “EDCBA”. I really liked this task! It taught the kids following instructions and checking for details! I think these are VITAL skills in life!

There are other tasks such as computer games which focused on linking themes, or games which emphasised quick math etc. (I was a little nervous the trainers would want to test me. I could identify the areas that needed training for myself!!)

One interesting fact is not every child does these worksheets or activities. Based on the assessment they did, the customised workbook would have the relevant planned task for your child. So after these few weeks of lessons, did Nicole show any improvement?

Yes! And we got a glimpse of that in Legoland! haha! You can read about it here. We were building a part of the longest Lego snake and Nicole was able to count the number of rows we had made without pointing at it! She had definitely improved her EYE co-ordination.

Lego snake

I’m very happy with this 2 hour investment weekly. She enjoys the classes, and doesn’t see it as work! Ain’t that the best? The kids enjoying work without knowing it’s work!

To find out more about Thinkersbox, please call 6773 4886, or visit their website here.

Disclaimer: We were invited to attend the programme, but the opinions are 100% my own.

 

 

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Review-i Theatre and The Little Red Hen

We went to watch The Little Red Hen over the weekend. And it was fantastic!

The songs were catchy, the moral of the story was approved by all parents, and there were really some funny jokes! Ok. To be honest, some jokes were quite lame, but look at the kids’ reaction! PRICELESS! The entire performance was about 55 min, which was just about right for the kids.

Little Red Hen haha

Little Red Hen Me!

And they were all naturally excited to see the cast…(actually, all three wanted to eat the bread that the Little Red Hen baked!!!)

Cast little red hen

The tickets are selling out fast. So quickly go down to your nearest SISTIC outlet to get the tickets!

Little Red Hen

Monday, March 4, 2013

Review: Porcelain, The Face Spa

I’m not a facial person. That is, my face has only felt the regular cleanser/toner/moisturiser with the occasional mask and scrub. It is totally unfamiliar with exfoliation, steaming, face peel, extraction, etc. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve nothing against facial. I just am not a fan.

So when Porcelain, The Face Spa offered a Restorative Facial, I figured I’ve nothing to lose. The last time I had a facial was so so eons ago, it’s a good thing to go for one now! And what’s best, it’s a Restorative Facial, specially designed for mothers! How cool is that??

Porcelain Face Spa

I googled a bit and realised Porcelain is not a small time spa. It has been featured in numerous lifestyle magazines, and won beauty awards. Right now, it’s in the running for a World Luxury Spa award! And true enough, when I stepped in the shop, spa, unit, I was in a different world.

It wasn’t a la-di-la new age moment. It was just very quiet and serene. Very very light music at the back, and very faint essential oil scent around the room. It was automatic. You just have to turn your phone to silent mode…you won’t want to be responsible for breaking the ambience.

First, I had a warm foot bath to calm myself. Look around and soak in music, the scent, and simply relax.

Now the facial. This is a new treatment—The Restorative Facial ($195/session). 

The Restorative Facial is a six-step bespoke program that helps reduce overall skin sensitivity and water retention, while improving skin tone, hydration and elasticity. The treatment lasts about 60 minutes and combines the traditional style of Shiatsu Facial Massage with hi-tech Hyperbaric oxygen infusion of custom-blended tonics.

Like I mentioned, I don’t do facial often. The therapist was very gentle, and I expected harsh statements about my face condition, or hard-sell tactics on what I should use and products I should get. But nothing. She spoke only when spoken to, and before every step, she gave a brief intro to what will happen next.

The entire experience was very refreshing…and certainly restorative! (Did I mention that this facial is targeted for busy working mummies?) When I left, it was late afternoon. It was a cloudy day, nice and breezy. Well, I felt so restored and rejuvenated, I walked home! Yes, with my workbag on my shoulder, tee-shirt and jeans, and wearing Fit Flops, I walked 6.25 km (3.88 miles) home.

How’s that for a restorative facial?

Give Porcelain, The Face Spa a call to make your appointment for that much needed Restorative Facial today. Trust me, there’s no hard sell of packages or products. I thoroughly enjoyed the treatment!

Porcelain, The Face Spa

Address:
15 Cantonment Road
Singapore 089739

Telephone:
(65) 6227 9692