How to stop the burning from chopping chilli

So, I experienced the most horrifying burning sensation yesterday for several hours after helping my mum to chop up some red chilli padi. It was worse than being scalded by boiling water (which happened to me two weeks ago).

When I got scalded by boiling water, all I did was to rinse the skin under tap water for a minute and then apply aloe vera gel. It almost immediately stopped the burning sensation. This chilli burn, it freaking lasted for hours!

I tried soaking my hands in milk and ice water. I tried washing my hands with hand soap. I tried washing with olive oil. I tried apply aloe vera gel. Nothing worked.

My fingers were literally red and throbbing. It lasted for three hours before I came across this website after googling.

If you are lazy to click, it basically says Oil, dish soap, alcohol, milk, bleach and baking soda paste.

Washing my hands with dish soap then applying a thick layer of prickly heat powder worked for me. Thank you, Mama Dishwashing Liquid and Snake Brand Prickly Heat Powder. You guys are a lifesaver.

Anyways, next time I’ll remember to use a glove before chopping these little guys up.

So feisty, I can’t believe how long the burn lasted. =_=

Pure Radiance Crackling Café by Yankee Candle

Candle review of Crackling Café from Pure Radiance by Yankee Candle.

Had to dig through my photo album for this old photo of the candle before it was used.

Bought the large jar. It has a wooden wick and cost about S$10 more than the usual large jars. This candle is supposed to crackle like a fireplace when burning and so I bought it for the novelty (it was my first wooden wick candle) and also for the cappuccino scent that I picked up on cold sniff.

I’ve to say, it’s a complete waste of money. The first few times I burnt it, the damn candle didn’t crackle. I thought I had a dud, but a kind soul on Instagram commented and told me that it would only crackle after the third or fourth burn. In case you don’t know, by the third or fourth burn, that’s about 4 to 6 hours into the candle because each wax pool takes about an hour (or more).

Dafug?! I got about a quarter into the candle before it started crackling and it was dismal. The crackling sound was so subtle, I can’t imagine anyone can hear it unless the candle is placed beside them.

The scent is different when burning. The rich creamy coffee cocoa smell is gone. It smells like cheap coffee and the scent is very faint. It disgusts me. You have no idea how sad it was to fork out more for something so much less. This is bloody robbery.

FYI, I’ve low expectations for candles. I generally don’t mind candle with a weak throw (unless I can’t smell anything then it’s another matter) and I’m in no way a candle expert. But this is not how a coffee candle should be. I do not recommend this to anyone, and because of this candle, I’ll definitely be thinking twice before purchasing anything from the Pure Radiance line.

If you guys have any recommendation of a good coffee candle, let me know in the comment. I want something that smells of grounded coffee and warmth.

P.s. I’ve burnt about a third of the candle and it’s just not me to exchange something I’ve used so much of. The anticipation of the stupid crackling made me burn so much of it. Argh.. I just haven’t had the best of luck with candles lately, even a few of my Bath and Body Works candles were duds. It’s annoying.

Original Source Lemon and Tea Tree Shower Gel

Today I’m going to review the Lemon and Tea Tree Shower Gel from Original Source.

Here’s a picture of mine. I just finished it a few days ago, so it’s empty.

I am pretty sure I took a photo before using it, but I can’t find it anywhere so you’ll have to make do with my description that the colour of the shower gel is a vibrant yellow.

Anyways, I own several Original Source shower gels and their packaging is lovely. I love how they dispense from the base so that nearing the end of the tube, I don’t have to squeeze like a maniac to get to the shower gels. It’s brilliant.

I also love how they write little quirky things at the back. I always read them.

This is what it says:
Lemon and Tea Tree Packed with 100% Essential Oils.
We’ve wrestled 10 real lemons into this skin-refreshing shower gel and wedged it into our fully recyclable bottle! This one sure packs a zesty punch in the shower!

The shower gel itself smells like freshly cut lemon. I know how the smell of lemon can be subjective so you’ve to take my word for it. I don’t know if it helps, but I’ll have you know that I cut a slice of lemon for my honey drink everyday so to me, the smell is exactly the same. For those who dislike tea tree scent, don’t worry, I wouldn’t have known that they added tea tree if they didn’t write it down in the label.

However, I’ve had a problem with the shower gel. It’s not a zesty punch, it bites. I cannot use it a week in a row without it biting my skin and causing itchiness. I suspect the acidic level of this shower gel is too high (cause they used real lemons) so it’ll clean very well but I wouldn’t recommend using it everyday.

It is also recyclable and vegan but I don’t care about the environment so it doesn’t really bother me if they’re recyclable and vegan or not. For those who care though, not all Original Source shower gels are vegan so you’ve to read the labels carefully before buying.

As for this shower gel, I wouldn’t recommend it simply because it’s not gentle on the skin. The scent is refreshing and I love the authentic lemon scent but if you’re not a fan of lemons and simply want a refreshing shower gel, Original Source has a mint flavoured shower gel that’ll knock your socks off. But then that’s another review for another post.

Bloons TD 5

I’m currently obsessed with Bloons TD 5.

It’s addictive, fun and worth every bit of money that I paid for. I play it on my iPhone so I’d to pay for the app, but if you play it on a computer, it’s free.

It’s a tower defence game. The player plants different types of monkeys to shoot down balloons. It sounds weird, I know. Why monkeys? Why balloons? All I can say is that it’s fun and I highly recommend it.

The phone app lags when I’ve too much monkeys on the screen though (usually happens after level 100 and over) so I recommend playing it on a computer if you can. But I like playing with it when I’m on the bus or waiting for a train so I got the phone version, which can be downloaded on the iPad too.

If you’re not sure what to get your younger siblings/cousins/kid without spending a bomb, this is the app to gift. They’ll have fun for hours with this game and cost less than $5 for the iPhone version, $5 + for the iPad HD version.

That’s it for this post. I’m going to queue for McDonalds now they’re releasing the One Piece toys and ship today at 11am so my sister and I are going there early to queue up for the ship. They’re limited to 100 pieces for each branch. I still can’t believe I’m spending my birthday queuing for toys but I hope I get one.

Fluffy Towels Yankee Candle

A review of Fluffy Towels from Yankee Candle.

Photo of my large jar of Fluffy Towels.

Fluffy Towels smells exactly like a clothes softener. It’s a pile of clean laundry stuffed in a jar of candle.

Not everybody would love it but nobody would hate this scent, not unless they’ve never washed their clothes before. Therefore, I think this candle is perfect as a gift. You simply cannot go wrong with it.

I’m already on my second jar of Fluffy Towels. It does not have a very strong throw (area of coverage) so don’t expect it to scent the whole house. At most, it can cover a medium-sized living room. In fact, most of my Yankee Candle candles don’t throw very well and I kind of like how subtle they’re when I want to leave them burning for hours. A Bath and Body Works candle would be too much too fast.

In Singapore, Yankee Candle stores don’t carry the medium size jars, only the medium tumblers and I don’t really like their tumblers so I always buy the large jars. Their small jars last only 25 to 40 hours and cost $19.90 while the burn time for large jars is 110 hours to 150 hours and cost S$39.90 without discount. That’s why I always buy the large jars. I just wish that they would lower the price of their medium tumblers and small jars because they are so cute, the perfect size as gifts.

Safe to say, this is one of my favourite candle from Yankee Candle and I highly recommend it as a gift, be it to yourself or for someone else.

How I spot clean my makeup brushes

As I start getting into wearing eyeshadows more frequently, I realised that the same few makeup brushes for the eyes are used and I didn’t want to clean them after applying a new eyeshadow colour. Initially, I went to Watsons and Guardian to find makeup brush cleaner but the people there told me that they no longer carry any makeup brush cleaner at their stores. Say what?! I didn’t want to go all the way to Sephora just to pick up a bottle of brush cleaner.

One day, I blinked just right after applying mascara and it transferred to my lower lids, and as I put a bit of Bioderma on a cotton bud to clean them off, it occurred to me that I could use it as a brush cleanser. It has no oil and soap, so there is no need to rinse the brush off. Plus, there is also no alcohol in Bioderma so both the skin around the eyes and brush bristles are not going to dry out.

All you need is a bottle of Bioderma and a spray bottle. My spray bottle is from Daiso.

I simply add a bit of my Bioderma Créaline into the spray bottle and used it to spray my used brushes, then swirl them on a piece of clean tissue. It has worked well for me so far and with the spray bottle, I find myself using less of the Bioderma as compared to pouring it which dispenses a lot.

I’m sure I’m not the first person to think of this, but I just wanted to share it here with more people on how I spot clean my eye makeup brushes and hopefully it’ll make spot cleaning brushes be more convenient for everyone too. ^_^

Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette

A few days ago, I instagrammed a photo of my new Urban Decay Naked 3 eyeshadow palette and since that day, I’ve used the palette quite a few times, enough times to do a short review here before Christmas. I’ll probably write more about it when I have time to be adventurous with the colours.

I’m sure any girl who is into makeup will be ecstatic to receive a Naked 3 as a gift. In fact, my Naked 3 is a birthday gift from my friends and I love it.

Here’s a photo of mine though googling will definitely lead you to larger, clearer photos of the palette.

There is a great mixture of lighter shades for everyday look and darker shades for the sultry smokey eye look. Even for someone like me that seldom put on eyeshadow, I still find the light shades very wearable.

Some of the colours I normally use would be: Strange for a base colour. Nooner or Factory for crease colour and Dust or Trick for the middle of the lids.

I have yet to try Darkside or Blackheart, the two darkest colour. Any suggestions on how to use them? I’m not a fan of the smokey eye.

This is perfect for a gift, but I’m not sure I’ll repurchase as I’m sure that there are many other palettes out there to try and this one will probably last me for a long time. It cost $83 at Sephora Singapore.

Etude House Don’t Worry Hand Cream

This is my new hand lotion from Etude House. It’s a Don’t Worry Hand Cream in the scent “Floral Fruity Woody Fragrance”.

Isn’t it adorable? I love the inspirational “Good Luck You Are The Best” written on the tube. And I especially love the legs which makes opening the tube easier (plus the shoes are removable!!) AND it smells like freshly laundered clothes!! Love love love the scent!!

A tad expensive at $9.90 per tube, but I love it so much, I’ll probably repurchase. ^_^

Furby Boom 2013 & Party Rocker

A short post before I go back to playing with May Boo.

I bought a Furby Boom and a Furby Party Rocker.

With my own money.

So when I’m done with them, you can be sure that my review is going to be honest.

Going on a tangent here: It gets on my nerves when I try to google a product’s review before a purchase and all the results shown on the first few pages are sponsored reviews.

Ehem. Laneige. Ehem.

Anyways, my Furby’s name is May Boo and I’ve been so preoccupied with playing with it that I haven’t had the time to start playing Plants vs Zombies 2. σ(^_^;) And I had been so excited about it too. =p

New nail polishes from Essence and Revlon

A mini haul from Watsons.

Most excited to try the nail polishes from Essence and also those colour changing nail polishes from Revlon.

I haven’t been posting much here since I do get carried away when I start reading new novels. The last entry posted and this entry as well, was written yesterday when I’d finally finished a novel.

^_^ That’s all for today. Many reviews that I feel like writing and hopefully will get around to doing that before getting distracted again.