goodies from the mailbox

I'm taking a break this weekend which I need badly, especially since the next one will be quite hectic as we're flying to Sydney for Raymund's niece's baptism. So now I'm spending this day blogging and catching up on Criminal Minds Season 6 (this is the 3rd week we're having this CM marathon, started with Season 4). I also plan to watch the new episode of Pretty Little Liars, can't wait!

The past weeks had been pretty exhausting too for various reasons:

1. Went to my first 'Aussie' BBQ on Saturday. I made profiteroles (or cream puffs) for this while my colleagues brought salads, meat, desserts and nibbles. It was also a farewell get-together for my boss (now ex-boss) whose last day was on Thursday. Before going to the BBQ I also got bitten by an insect on my eye while I was driving, which was a challenge since I was driving alone at the time with a teary and swelling eye, and no one to hand me a tissue.

Gave this Ferrero Mud Cake to my boss on Thursday. We reckon he looks a bit like this Dracula topper. :p I also gave him Avene Thermal Spring Water as a farewell gift among other things. :)

2. I overcompensated for the pitiful exercise I had the other week which meant I went to gym classes 4 days in a row (combination of spin and body pump). By Wednesday, I was so pooped to do kickboxing that I excused myself, sat in a corner in my work dress and tried to read a book, while Raymund did one-on-one kickboxing with Daniel (my ex-boss). I made up for it by spinning again yesterday.

3. For some reason, I haven't slept well until Thursday night. Melatonin and other sleep supplements apparently didn't work.

4. We finally lodged our tax return, which is a good thing. It's that time of the year when you sort of get a bonus, which was really just your money that was taken from you as tax. Now I have spending money for a new laptop and then some!

5. We also went to a friend's Halloween birthday party which was fun though short for us because I swear I was about to collapse from lack of sleep. I think I was successful at looking scary with my eye makeup being a mess. :p This experience made me realise not to scrimp on eye makeup. And to practice using an eyeliner because it makes a big difference!

From top clockwise: Birthday celebrant Heidi as Nicki Minaj, profiteroles from moi with Halloween toppers, and the yummy hummingbird cake made by Heidi!

On the other hand, we (mostly I) also received some new stuff on the mail this week, like:

1. Laptop battery - my laptop's pretty old so we're thinking of getting a new one. We don't really use laptops that often anymore because of our phones, Nexus tablet and iPad mini. We thought before we get a new laptop, we'll just fix my old one by replacing the battery and cleaning up disk space.

2. Raymund's exemption certificate that we needed for lodging our tax return. This is the most frustrating because it took 2 months for him to get his while I got mine in about a month. 5 to 6 weeks for processing and 3 weeks of failed mail with several follow up calls. We could've gone to our accountant earlier to do our tax return.

And now for the most exciting stuff:

3. My latest online shopping purchase!

Lanolips! From left: Rose, Dark Honey, Rhubarb and Apple. 

I already have one in Apple colour, but I really wanted Rhubarb which was not in stock then. As soon as I saw it available, I bought it together with the other colours that I meant to give to my 3 college friends as Christmas gifts. Rose for Vanessa, while I'll let Anne and Cathy choose which one they like between Dark Honey & Apple. I've read good reviews before I bought one, and I like that it's different because the main ingredient is lanolin or wool wax from sheep! I for one enjoy using this lip ointment. ;)

And because I always take advantage of free delivery (like for purchases worth at least $100), I bought items that I intend to buy anyway (even if I don't need them that soon). So I bought the Tweezerman Classic Eyelash Curler (comes with 3 rubber pads in a vial) and Skinstitut Enzymatic Micro Peel. 

I'm not too impressed with the Tweezerman eyelash curler - I chose this because I read good reviews but I'm not sure - for now I'll just blame my non-existent skills at using any eye beauty tool. I hope I get the hang of it. :-s If not, I will just buy a heated eyelash curler next time. My eyelashes, though quite long, are all pointing down and stubborn when being curled. 

The micro peel I bought as a cheaper exfoliant in place of my Dermalogica Gentle Cream Exfoliant which I'm about to run out of. Now I've had bad skin (which has improved this year), and I realised that exfoliating is a key to preventing pimples. Through numerous visits to my dermatologist and my Dermalogica skin therapist, I've learned the difference between a blackhead, a whitehead and a pimple. Exfoliating is important in removing dead skin cells that can block your pores, hence preventing the onset of those 3. I don't think I'm that close to having super clear skin (as I've mentioned before, it is also largely influenced by your genes and hormones), but I can definitely be religious about stuff I can do on the outside, like exfoliating once a week. I think the Dermalogica Gentle Cream Exfoliant has helped my skin a LOT. I like it because it's not the abrasive type of exfoliant that can sometimes harm your skin especially when you have pimples (the microbeads may spread the bacteria if you don't avoid the breakouts when exfoliating). The Skinstitut one has the same concept and I hope it works just as well. I'll let you know how it goes.

I'm thinking of writing next about samples that come with online purchases. I tend to forget about them but I've used the Kiehl's Super Multi-Corrective Cream sample a bit. I'm pretty impressed with it but I'm not too sure how effective it is because I change moisturisers (sometimes Dermalogica, sometimes Swisse) depending on what I feel like putting on my face. :D I'll try to do a better job at observing things though. :)

That's all for now. :) Hope you're having a relaxing weekend too!