Asians have it good. Look at these Asian beauties we all know and admire for their beauty. Compared to their Western counterparts, they generally look younger and more youthful than someone of the same age in other parts of the world. Personally, I remember being asked if I was in my early 20s by some of the European girls when I was competing in the Miss Universe 2011 pageant. In actual fact, I was about 4 to 5 years older than a lot of them!

Environmental factors (sun exposure, weather, humidity, diet, different seasons etc) play a big role in determining our our skin condition. But genes are a big part of it too. So, what do Asian beauties like Li BingBing, Zhang Zilin, Gong Li, and ME (Wahahaha!), I mean Fan BingBing have in common other than their stellar beauty? Good genes of course (ahem!). But science can do a lot to help enhance those good genes!

Introducing the L’Oreal Youth Code Boosting Essence that works to boost your skincare effectiveness by TWO TIMES! You’ve probably already got your basic skin care routine which is great for keeping good skin. But how many of you have heard or experienced the phenomenon where you need to change your skin care routine after several months because your skin “gets used” to the products? Well, I used to be one of those that had to switch my skin care routine every few months, and now I have a whole cupboard full of half-used skin care products.

The problem lies not in the products you use, but really at the heart of our genes. Scientists have discovered the “recovery gene” in the our skin ages with time and in youthful skin, the recovery gene absorbs active ingredients and counter-responds to fatigue and stress up to five times faster than in mature skin. Ahhh.. Dont we all wish we could be forever young?

Looking back to my 2012 beauty resolutions, the L’Oreal Youth Code Boosting Essence fits right in with focusing on anti-aging. I’m definitely giving this a shot. Pump one drop from the glass bottle and you’ll find the liquid is clear and of a runny consistency. Applying it my face and neck, I found that it dries, within a short span of about 15 seconds, clear to a non-sticky finish. You can, then, instantly use your favourite moisturiser over the boosting essence. The best part is, believe it or not, this nondescript liquid increases the performance of ALL types of skincare, whether it’s anti-aging, whitening or hydrating.

I put the L’Oreal Youth Code Boosting Essence to the test by using it before my moisturiser and after a proper cleanse. It’s crucial to apply it before the last moisturising step as a booster is meant to help to prep skin to absorb the active ingredients in the following moisturiser or treatment cream. Since sleep is the best time for skin renewal, I slept in the L’Oreal Youth Code Boosting Essence wanting to see the efficacy of this essence. Well, the results are in. The next day, I woke up to more luminous and plumped up skin! Visible results instantly! YAY!

Compared to other essences from other major beauty brands, the L’Oreal Youth Code Boosting Essences comes at a steal of SGD $39.90 for a 30 ml bottle. One drop of the powerful essence gave me visible improvement in the softness and smoothness of my skin. I didnt even have to touch it to know it. I could see it.

If you’re going to get your bottle of L’Oreal Youth Code Boosting Essence this month, you’re in for a treat. For the month of February, L’Oreal Paris is running a special promotion! You’ll be able to get your L’Oreal Paris moisturizer (be it Anti-Ageing, Whitening or Hydrating) at only $9.90 (usual: $25.90 – $29.90) when you purchase Youth Code Boosting Essence. $9.90! That’s ridiculously cheap! It’s time to stock up on your moisturisers cause the promotion ends 28th Feb, at selected retailers only.

You can also go to the L’Oreal Paris Facebook page to find out more and stand a chance to win a SGD50 Robinsons voucher! Seriously, it’s not often you see with the naked eye an immediate change in skin surface texture upon using a product. But this immediate result with the boosting essence only gets better with long-term use in conjunction with a regular skin care routine. One week of using the L’Oreal Youth Code Boosting Essence visibly improves the texture of your skin while continuing to one month of helps regain the youthfulness and radiance in your skin. Who says you cant reverse the hands of the clock? I most certainly want to look like Gong Li when I’m her age!

The thing I love most about Spring is all the amazing colours it brings. Bright, cheery colours that you can add to your palette, both in your make up and your wardrobe. After attending the P&G Beauty Debate with Sarah from facesbysarah, I’d say I was on the right track for my Spring 2012 colour palette during my New Year visiting!

Experts from the beauty panel predicts several colour trends for Spring 2012 including:
- Sand Dunes: Everything to do with luxurious naturals, nudes.
- Visible Aura: Glossy healthy sheen with lots of natural shine.
- Tango: Bold strong colours like black/daring pink. Lots of lace. Inspired by Latin America.
- Beauty Graffiti: To do with DIY and personalization. Colour splashes in an artful way.

These trends can be incorporated to both fashion and beauty so I decided to pull a little bit of the above 4 Spring 2012 colour trends during my Chinese New Year by getting this very beautiful teal Greecian Slant from The Velvet Dolls and coral Dipped Back Flare Dress from Jipaban! Going bold with colour splashes!

As for my hair and makeup, I decided to go for a more natural, healthy look in tune with the Visible Aura Spring 2012 trend. Light eye makeup and a healthy flush of colour on the cheeks and lips was in order to match my coral dress. Then I top all that off with highlighters on the cheeks and nose bridge for a truly visible aura!

Face of the day
Face
Inglot Under Makeup Base
Bobbi Brown Colour Corrector in Dark to Medium Bisque
Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer
Burberry Beauty Sheer Foundation Luminous Fluid Foundation
MAC Prep and Prime Transparent Finishing Powder
MAC Pinch-o-peach blush
Sephora Sculpting Disk

Eyes
Too Faced Smokey Eye Palette
MAC Superslick Liquid Eye Liner
Acuvue 1-Day Define Contact Lens in Vivid
Maybelline Define-a-Lash Volumizing Mascara

Lips
Rimmel London Full Colour Lip Liner Definer in Pure
Lancome L’Absolu Rouge in 380

The beauty and hair trend for Spring 2012 is all about hair being free to move with a glossy, healthy bounce. So to emulate the clean, freshly washed yet polished look, I ironed my hair out, worked some hair serum for a shiny finish and spritz a wee bit of hairspray just to hold it all down. Dont overdo the hairspray because hair needs to be light and made but not overdone!

Will you be incorporating any of the Spring 2012 Colour and Beauty Trends in your fashion and beauty routines this year? Which ones will you pick?

Then, everyone started talking about the Sally Hansen Salon Effects real nail polish strips while I stubbornly resisted them. I continued resisting them because I was happy being old school and painting my nails. But eventually, I succumbed. I decided I would try out the Cut It Out floral design for Spring 2012. Flowers on my nails couldnt be better for the New Year! Plus, Watsons was having a 20% off the nail strips, so I only paid about SGD15 from the original SGD17.50! Yipee for discounts!

In each pack, you’ll find 16 nail stickers for you to find the perfect fit, a nail stick, mini nail file/buffer and detailed instructions; everything you need to DIY a salon effect manicure. Application of the Sally Hansen Salon Effects real nail polish strip is easy enough that I managed to perfect the application by the 4th nail. It’s really a simple technique of stick-and-go.

Peeling the strip off its backing, you’ll realise the strips are really quite thin and flimsy and need to be handled with care. But if you make a mistake pasting the rounded part at the base of your nail, you can gently wean the nail polish strip off your nail and readjust it without any loss in stickiness. Oddly enough, as much as I thought these were just stickers, they smell exactly like nail polish, though not as strong. I guess that’s why they call them real nail polish strips.

Because the strips are so thin, instead of buffing them like the instructions recommend, you can actually tear them off at the edges. On the first few applications, I made the mistake of pulling the Sally Hansen Salon Effects real nail polish strips a wee bit too much thinking they’d adhere better. But all I really did was tear the strip a little bit. Lol. I eventually found out a gentle tug is all that’s needed to ensure smooth and bubble-free application.

The Sally Hansen Salon Effects real nail polish strips are slated to last for up to 10 days but I couldnt decide if it was because of my weak nails or my rough and tumble that the nail polish strips chipped off at the nail edges like regular nail polish does within three days. I resorted to applying a top coat and to my surprise, found that I really liked the effect of the shine on the nail polish strips. It gave the nail polish strips a better finish. Perhaps if I had applied a top coat earlier, it would have preserved the condition of my Salon Effect manicure for longer.

Removal of the Sally Hansen Salon Effects nail polish strips is identical to how you would remove real nail polish: you’ll have to remove them using a nail polish remover! My only gripe about the Sally Hansen Salon Effects nail polish strips is the fit of the strips on the nails. Sometimes they dont cover your entire nail breadth-wise.

Otherwise, I simply love the ease of application of the Sally Hansen Salon Effects and the no dry-time. On top of that, you get all sorts of intricate designs without having to sit through 2 hours in the nail parlour. I think I’m going to search for more of these nail polish strips.

Have you tried the Sally Hansen Salon Effects nail polish strips or any variation of these nail stickers? Would you give up your nail polish for them?

That’s when I like to turn to what I call my 5 minute make up. Technically, it doesnt actually take 5 minutes but it’s easy enough that it sure looks like it. The focus of this simple day make up look is a a fresh, clean face. You want to look like you got out of bed and look this naturally beautiful every single day. Dark eye rings are a big no-no, so concealer and colour corrector IS. A. MUST.

If anyone were to ask me how to get rid of dark undereye circles, I’d have to say colour corrector or corrective concealers is the secret to getting rid of dark eye circles. Concealer seems like a misnomer because concealer actually lightens instead of changing the colour of dark eye rings. It’s all about neutralizing with colours.

For instance, if you have redness on your face, you’d want to use a green make up base to help reduce this redness, while a purple make up base can help correct yellow-colored skin. So depending on your dark-eye rings (either blue or grey-blue), you’ll need to the get the corresponding neutralizing colour to really rid your makeup face of dark under eye circles. Hip hip hooray to not having two white patches under your eyes anymore!

Here’s a look at the products I used in this simple day makeup video:
Face
Bare Minerals Matte Powder Foundation *
Bobbi Brown Colour Corrector in Dark to Medium Bisque *
Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer *
Bobbi Brown Sheer Finish Loose Powder
Sephora Sculpting Disk

Eyes
Sonia Kashuk Eyeshadow Quad
MAC Superslick Liquid Eye Liner
Maybelline Define-a-Lash Lengthening Mascara

Lips
Bare Minerals Lip Gloss in Chiffon

* must-haves for getting rid of dark under-eye rings

Back to minerals
I have this thing with mineral makeup. Just as beauty and fashion trends come and go, my love affair with mineral makeup is seasonal. Mineral make up brands like bareMinerals and Everyday Minerals have been in my make up case for quite a while now. I used to swear by mineral foundation previously but found the loose powder format for mineral products a wee bit too messy, especially when it came to foundation or blushes.

Now in 2012, I’m going back to all that mineral goodness and I’m starting the year off with a brand new mineral foundation from bareMinerals! They never used to have bareMinerals in Singapore but the brand can now be found in Sephora Singapore! Yayyy! I havent seen a line of mineral lipglosses here yet (bareMinerals and Everyday Minerals have it at their online stores), but Watsons Singapore carries Rachel K Cosmetics mineral lip plumpers.

Taking better care of my skin
This sounds like a really general statement. And if it’s anything that I’ve learnt regarding making resolutions, is that it should never be a general one. Always make it specific. So what I really mean by the statement above is: just like how I go for regular facials to maintain my skin’s health, I’m going to take the effort to consult a skin doctor to keep my skin in tip top condition in 2012! I think anti-aging will be my focus this year. I want to look forever 21. Lol.

Better body care
We often spend so much time and effort taking care of the skin on our faces and neck, but hardly take the time to pamper the rest of our bodies. This year if I’m not in a spa, I’ll be using expert formulas from Britian’s spa professionals to give myself a good scrub every week or so! Boots Asia carries Champneys Spa Indulgence and these things smell so good I could eat them.

The coarse scrub of the Oriental Opulence Body Glow does wonders for your skin. I love the coarse texture of the scrub because it removes dead skin effectively to leave behind soft baby skin. And the body cream! Rich luxury in a tub. Mmm… Delicious. Did I already mention how the products leaves you smelling as though you walked through a daisy field? Now if only I could get someone to do all that for me at home just like a real spa. Hmmm….

Pay more attention the expiry dates on beauty products
Through all these years, products come and sometimes they dont go. When we use a product and decide we dont like it, what do you do with them? I’m guilty of sometimes leaving them there past their beauty expiry dates without bothering to throw them out. I’m glad I dont use them past their expiry dates, but I’m going to be more diligent about throwing things out if they’re expired. It’s time to clear the clutter!

These 4 beauty resolutions dont seem all that difficult to adhere to. And now that I’ve got them down in writing it’ll be easier for you guys to police me! I’m going to make a real effort!

What are your beauty resolutions for 2012?

Now, this Fall/Winter 2011, they’ve brought in the Burberry Beauty line to Singapore. Yes, you heard that right, Burberry makeup. On top of being decked out in their iconic trench coats, fans of Burberry can now match their outfits with a Burberry Festive Look makeup.

Of the new items in the Burberry Beauty makeup collection, I thought the Burberry Lip Glow (SGD $39) was something unique. Isnt the iconic Burberry print on the lipstick itself so chic! To the naked eye, the Lip Glow looks like a lipstick and you’d be forgiven for thinking it was one.

But upon swatching the three new trench colour inspired colours – (L-R) Bright Plum, Ruby and Nude Gold, you’ll realise the Lip Glow’s texture is slightly sheerer and clearer than your regular lipstick. Light oils in the Burberry Lip Glow give it fluidity and a smoother and slicker application compared to the usual lipstick. It also reflects light to create the illusion of fuller lips, at the same time leaving lips supple and shimmering with natural highlights.

What really strikes me about the Burberry Beauty make up collection is the very stylish packaging of all their products. Everything, from their eyeshadows, lip products and even foundation, is encased in a metallic grey casing with the signature Burberry checkered print. Definitely make up products you’d want to be seen with if you’re a fashionista clad in your favourite Burberry.

They even make the effort to stamp the print onto their eyeshadows and lipsticks. I’m put in a spot now because I dont want to ruin the gorgeous print on the Burberry Sheer Eyeshadow (SGD $46) but love the fidelity of the colour and soft satin texture.

I used the Burberry Beauty Sheer Foundation Luminous Fluid Foundation yesterday at a house party and thought the mid to heavy coverage of the foundation was a pleasant surprise considering how the foundation was fairly light on the skin. The texture is a lot more like mousse when pumped from the bottle even though it’s named “Fluid” foundation, but blends easily into a smooth and even finish and on top of that, gives a nice luminous look.

How many of you are Burberry fans? Will any of you be trying out this Burberry Beauty collection?

Burberry Beauty makeup can be found exclusively at TANGS Orchard Singapore.

Short of going under the knife, contouring does have a profound effect on making your nose bridge look higher. But when it comes to making your nose smaller, I decided to try something new just so I could have a pointy nose tip that maybe I’ll one day use while turning my nose up at someone I dont fancy. Haha.

So my method of making my nose look smaller by using this “Nose Up” clip which I got at a steal for $2. I previously saw this contraption at other beauty shops, but refused to pay $6.90 (or anything more than $2 really) for something most people call a clothes peg with pads on it. It seems to be pretty big with the Japanese and Taiwanese who are all about changing their faces with massages and/or a mind-boggling array of gadgets.

The idea is to keep the peg on your nose, applying pressure on the parts where you want to make smaller. Of course you dont entirely clip your nose shut because that would make you keel over from the lack of oxygen and fall flat on your nose, defeating the purpose completely.

I’ve been putting it just above the nose tip where it applies pressure on part of the nose cartilage. There is no discomfort although I do suspect that it reduces the amount of oxygen I inhale so I cant wear the clip on for more than 5 minutes each time. It seems to have shown some results because my nose looks so cute and pointy from the side in this photo! YAY!

I’m going to keep trying and see if the results will last because it seems now that I’ve given my nose a rest for a couple of days, it’s gone back to being less pointy.

Do you think this nose clip works? How do you make your nose smaller?

For eyes to stand out in photos, black smokey eyes was the make up style I adopted because unlike Western facial features, Asian eyes are slightly smaller and less deep set. Using dark eyeshdaow colours makes eyes look more piercing and definitely draws attention to sexy eyes!

So I finally make a make up tutorial video on how to create a black smokey eyeshadow!

Here’s the product list breakdown:
Face
gloMinerals gloProtective Liquid Foundation
MAC Prep + Prime Pro Series Transparent Finishing Powder
gloMinerals makeup Bellini blush

Eyes
NARS Pandora Eyeshadow Duo
Cosmoprof Eye Palette
tokidoki Perfetto Eyeliner
Maybelline Define-a-Lash Volume Mascara
MAC Eye Kohl Liner in Smoulder

Because your eyes are the focus of attention, always balance the entire look out with a light blush and clear lip gloss. Definitely one of my favourite and go-to looks always. What do you guys think?

The spirit of giving and sharing has aways been an important element in my life. Whether I share beauty tips, makeup tutorials on my blog or just parts of my life with each and every one of you here or on Twitter, it’s all part and parcel of gving back.

This Christmas, I want thank everyone, and yes that means you reading this, for being part of my life and blog.

Christmas is about celebrating what has been given to us and remembering the people who matter. In making me Singapore Beauty Blog dweam.com and Miss Universe Singapore 2011, that is every single person who has lent their support in one way or another. I thank you from the bottom of my heart and wish you all a blessed Christmas.

Have a Merry Kiss-mas!

With love,
Valerie

The Elizabeth Arden Red Door perfume, first introduced in 1989, is their classic, elegant signature fragrance. The Red Door is iconic of the first few “Elizabeth Arden Red Door Salons“ originally found in New York. Symbolically the red door represents the boundary where a woman can be transported and transformed from her “everyday self” to her “best self”, especially when she walked through the door way of the spas. Till today, at least 100 over years later, the famous Red Doors of Elizabeth Arden’s Spas can be seen along Fifth Avenue, in New York.

This change in packaging for their signature scent captures boldly the iconic Red Door. The Elizabeth Arden Red Door perfume bottle has today been modernized using a bold red glass design to reflect what else… but the famous Red Door. I’m totally in love with the striking red glass bottle accentuated by the gold plate emblazoned with “Elizabeth Arden”.

The bold glass design naturally holds a bold, assertive floral fragrance that evokes glamour and confidence. It’s a strong scent for the woman who wants to take over the world. If you’re already a fan of Elizabeth Arden’s Red Door perfume, you wont need any introduction to this scent. It’s the same delicious fragrance you know in a striking new bottle.

But if you’re new, the Red Door perfume opens with Lily of the Valley in the top notes, alongside vibrant freesia and Wild Violets. The stunning mid notes are of Red Roses, Moroccan Orange Flower, Jasmine and Ylang Ylang to create the impression of sophistication. If you’re used to softer floral scents, this is a different scent you might consider adding to your perfume stash.

So add to your perfume stash and transform yourself you can because here’s a giveaway for a 50ml Elizabeth Arden Red Door eau de toilette worth $84!

Follow these steps to qualify:
1) Go to Elizabeth Arden’s Facebook page and click “Like”
2) Post on the wall the answer to this question in this format:

The Elizabeth Arden Red Door perfume, first introduced in _ _ _ _, has now been repackaged in the shape of a _ _ _ _ _ _ _. [dweam.com]

3) Your answer must be in the exact format above and include dweam.com at the end.

All answers can easily be found in the blog post so read carefully. Contest ends 23rd December 2011 at 2200 hours, just in time for Christmas! Head on over to the Elizabeth Arden’s Facebook page now and good luck!