The T Factor

I wonder if anyone blogs anymore. If you do, let me know! It's nice to see friends blog.

I'm not too much of a twitter person. I may tweet once or twice a day, and I barely read my friends' tweets. I prefer reading good ol' blog posts.

I don't even know why I started blogging on my public blog (this one) on a regular basis again. I've been transferring old posts from my wordpress and xanga account into my private livejournal. I'm done with the latter and I'm almost done with the former. Should I transfer these onsugar posts over to LJ too, and just make that my main blog? I like LJ cos you can friends lock or privatize posts you don't want the world to read.

I wonder what I should do with the 800+ posts I have on blogger...

Took out my wisdom tooth just a few days ago. It was swollen for a while and I looked like I had a giant fishball in my right cheek, but the swelling's more or less gone and all that's left is a terrible looking bruise =( See for yourself:

I can imagine you cringing in pain and going ow/ew/yuck! Looks worse than it actually feels. My jaw still feels tender and achy, but nothing unbearable. I try not to take painkillers when possible.

I'm really conscious about it so I cover it up with concealer when I'm out with friends with some concealer and powder.

Anyways, I'm off to bed! Good morning!

Just for the record, I thought I'd announce that I just started a food blog called foodjunkie.onsugar.com!

It's going to be a place where I record some of the things I cook as well as any good food I come across. Hopefully I'll be able to maintain it!

Part of me regrets putting it on onsugar, sine onsugar is more of a beauty blog site. But since I already have a blog here I figured I might as well put it here too since it makes posting a little easier.

This blog will remain as my public personal blog and beauty blog.

Right now I'm trying to figure a way to download all my old blogger and wordpress blogs, so I can keep them in my computer and remove them from the internet - some of my old posts are downright embarrassing! I don't quite know how. Any ideas? =/ I have posts dating back to 2004! Gosh...

I figured I might as well put this down for memory's sake, and hopefully it'll help any future K-pop star wannabes!

My SBS Kpop Star Audition took place on September 18th 2011. I auditioned at the New York location, which turned out to be across the river from Manhattan and in New Jersey instead...

I travelled to NJ with D via train. It's quite pricey compared to the bus, but significantly faster by a couple of hours. I've taken the bus to and from Boston (to New York and Conneticut) several times, and I never really enjoyed it. The train was a good experience. If I can afford it, I'd definitely take Amtrak more often.

After arriving at one of the New York stations, we took a cab to NJ. It cost us at least USD50 cos it was considered an inter-state transit. Being unfamiliar, we decided to just go ahead with the cab.

We got to the Courtesy Inn and decided to order dinner, since we didn't see many eateries around the area. Courtesy Inn was really comfortable =) I'd definitely go back if I needed a place to stay.

The following day, we headed to the audition venue really early (at about 7am+ I think) By the time we got there, there were people already lining up outside the Bergen Performing Arts Centre. We waited for a while for the doors to open. After registering, we were given a number tag, had our picture taken and headed into the audiorium to wait for our audition.

We went backstage row-by-row (since we were more or less seated according to our numbers) to warm up. Then things got a little confusing. I was interviewed by one of the camera men, then I was directed to a separate warm up area and the rest were left behind. Then I was directed up to a room with some other auditionees. Interestingly, while their numbers were in consecutive order, my number was somewhat far behind. The subsequent auditionees numbers were all jumbled up.

We were brought up in pairs/threes to the holding area right outside the room we auditioned in.

In the audion room, I think there were about 2-3 judges in the panel, not including the camera men. I was told to start singing when I felt comfortable, and so I did. Thinking back, considering that it was my very first audition in my life, I think I did pretty good. But obviously not good enough. The producer gave some feedback in Korean which was translated to me by a lady - he basically said I have a pretty voice but it wasn't strong enough, and that I was "disqualified". Another participant told us she had been "disqualified" too, which left us bewildered. I guess most of us got that answer. I thanked them and left.

D and I went to starbucks to get some snacks, and then headed to New York where we walked around like lost tourists. We ate at a Ajisen Ramen (Singapore's one is better!), shopped, then went to some food court-ish place, ate some more and fell asleep like a couple of homeless people =P then we caught our train and went home!

After this audition experience, I felt confident enough to take on the Alpha one that I posted about yesterday. But I must say the Alpha one was more nerve wrecking. Oh well. My last shot is the JYP Alpha one in January. And then I guess it's more or less over for me. There's the SM Global one in February. But come on, who am I kidding?

Alright, hope this was of some help to all of you!

Happy new year everyone! And Happy Birthday mama! (Jan 2nd 2011)

I thought I'd blog about my Alpha Entertainment Audition experience since I have the time.

I came back from Boston early just to catch the Alpha Entertainment audition, which I thought was on the 21st-22nd December 2011. It turned out the audition was pushed back to a later date - 27th-28th December 2011! I was a little pissed, but it was my own fault for not checking it up earlier. I could've completed my finals on a regular schedule instead of rushing to complete everything early and even taking an Incomplete for one of my courses. This push-back was a blessing in disguise though, because I fell sick the moment I left Boston all the way till around Christmas time. By the time the audition date came around, I was almost back to my usual self.

27th Dec was the audition for people who had attended the Miss A showcase a few months earlier - something I didn't attend because I was back in Boston (probably rushing out some project). It started at 10am at Pearl's Hill Terrace.

28th Dec was the audition for Alpha members. It started at 8.30am at MDIS Queenstown auditorium. I had signed up a few months before hand for a one year membership that costs $20 (a very good way to earn some quick cash I must say!) You have to be a member in order to audition. My guess is that over 900 people came for the audition on the 27th, because our tag numbers started from about 950/960+ onwards. I think there must have been around 300+ people on this day, maybe more. A friend of mine that auditioned had a tag number of 124X, so my guess is that roughly 300+ people turned up on the 28th.

We were let into the auditorium a little after 8.30am. Majority of the auditionees came at this time, but there were people constantly trickling into the hall as the day went by. I even saw a celebrity-model-blogger (Celestina) whose blog I follow on a regular basis. Wanted to say hi but chickened out! =P

Anyway we were seated down in the auditorium and divided into two huge groups - those who had registered for the audition and those who hadn't. Then we were told to get our tag numbers row-by-row, starting with those who had registered. After that we were further divided into groups of 10 which entered the VIP Holding Room in the auditorium (it's essentially the audition room). While one group of 10 performed for the judges, another group of 10 would be sitting down and waiting for their turn, and another group of 10 would be outside waiting to go in. I was in the third or fourth group of ten, and the first among my group to perform.

I felt the nerves hit when I was waiting outside to enter the room. It didn't get any better when we entered the room. And when I was asked to sing, I blew it. This definitely wasn't my best performance, and I had expected a lot more from myself, but due to nerves I didn't sing as well as I usually do. My legs felt shaky and my voice wasn't stable.

The audition panel consisted of three people - two males and a female. According to the Alpha Entertainment facebook, they're all formerly from SM:
1) Manager of TVXQ, SNSD, Kangta
2) Casting Director - most of the artistes from SM
3) Head of Training - scouted Zhou Min and Victoria. Trained SNSD, SJ, SJ M, F(X), 3 members from SHINee

The lady (I believe she was the Head of Training) was behind the video camera and she communicated to use in Mandarin. She addressed us by our numbers and told us when to sing/dance.

After we sang/dance/did our thing, we left. That was it!

I'm pretty sure I screwed this one up. Hopefully I'll do better in the JYP Alpha audition on 14th-15th January 2012 (that's less than two weeks away! Wow!)

I wish we had a chance to essentially "sell" ourselves to them - why they should sign us, what are our talents/hobbies/etc - something that would define us from the rest. Putting a bunch of terrified kids/teens/young adults in a room isn't going to yield fantastic results.

Given the chance, I'd tell them about my passion for music, about how I write and produce my own songs, how I love piano, singing and playing guitar, and that I'm willing to drop everything (including dropping out of music college) for a chance to train and work at my passion and dream.

Hope this blog entry helped some of you K-pop stars wanna-bes!

Note to self: I should blog about the SBS Kpop star audition since I'm at it.

I'll keep this short. This might not be my most eloquent piece of writing but I felt I really had do to get this out of my system.

All cancer patients (or any patient diagnosed with any illness) deserve to know what they're up against. As a doctor, it's your duty to inform them. Yes it may be painful news, but not laying it out for them in simple, understandable terms, or not emphasizing the severity of the issue at hand, is simply not right.

Most of the patients are probably "laymen" (as my mum likes to say) - just like any Tom, Dick or Harry. We've no idea what the cancer is, what the consequences are if it has spread, what the treatment involves (chemotherapy, radiation, radioactive iodine etc...), or the short or long term side effects (e.g. secondary cancer)- We're clueless.

The patient has the right to decide what he/she wants to do. It's his/her life. So don't keep the patient and their family in the dark, please.

I can't believe I didn't blog about this earlier!

About two weeks ago I started my job as a Tour Guide at school (Berklee College of Music). My supervisor/boss J said something about a title change at work - we're called Admission Student Recruitment-something-ish... I can't remember exactly what the term was, but prospective students and parents would still address us as tour guides. I work at the Admissions Office too as a front desk receptionist - taking phone calls, answering questions, voicemails and all that.

I doubt many people who come here are interested in Berklee since this is a mostly beauty-related blog, but still, in case anybody googles Berklee and ends up at my page for some reason... If you guys have any questions at all (be it applying to Berklee, life at Berklee - anything at all!) - don't hesitate to drop me a PM/message on my cbox on the right --->

Sorry for the lack of pictures, I got lazyyy~

I recently bought Sephora's Bestsellers set which comes with the following products:
- 0.5 oz Philosophy Hope In A Jar
- 0.05 oz Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Sin (light shimmering champagne)
- 0.13 oz Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Original (sheer nude)
- 0.5 oz Smashbox Photo Finish Primer
- 0.14 oz Sephora Collection Lipstick in The Red 04 (classic bright red)
- 1 oz Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer SPF 20 in Nude (light beige/ for fair to light skin tones)
- 1.1 oz Nars Illuminator in Orgasm (peachy pink with shimmer)
- 0.37 oz Buxom Lash Mascara in Blackest Black
- 0.01 oz Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner in black
- 0.24 oz Marc Jacobs Daisy Rollerball

This is probably going to end up as some product reviews, I was thinking I might as review some of these since I'm blogging about it!

Philosophy Hope In A Jar - not used yet

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Sin (light shimmering champagne) - I love this color - as the product says, it's a light shimmery champagne color. I think it's suitable as a base/highlight. I like to keep things simple by just giving a wash of this color over my lids - nothing else.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Original (sheer nude) - I've used a full size of this primer potion before. I don't always wear primers, but if I had to choose one I'd swear by, it would be this one. I recently bought a Too Faced Shadow Insurance in Candlelight after I finished my UD primer potion - I must say I prefer UD. It goes on smoothly and feels really nice when applying eyeshadow, whereas TF seems thicker in texture and dries quicker, hence I find it harder to apply eye shadows on smoothly. Plus, I don't like feeling like I have something on my eyelids - which is exactly what TF does.
(Random: I got a cyst in my eye shortly after using this product - I wasn't sure if it was due to my contacts or due to this new TF shadow insurance I got...)

Smashbox Photo Finish Primer - not used yet

Sephora Collection Lipstick in The Red 04 (classic bright red) - not used yet. I'm not a red lip/pin-up look girl so I'll probably give this to my mum.. or someone else.

Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer SPF 20 in Nude (light beige/ for fair to light skin tones) - First thing I took out of the box to try - and I'm loving it.
For the longest time I've been looking for a foundation of the right color. I'm not someone who wears much make up, so I don't really know my exact shade. Hell, I don't even know whether I was cool or warm (I think I'm neutral).
This will be my staple from now on. I have pretty decent skin, and I like having the no-make-up look, so I didn't want something too heavy that made me look like I was wearing make up. This did exactly it - it enhanced the looks of my skin, and didn't irritate my skin (the oil-free TM tends to make me itch/flake), and it was the perfect shade! I would say this TM is on the dry side - but this can be resolved if I wear a my Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion underneath it. I have to see if it breaks me out though.
The oil-free TM in porcelain is a little too light for me - I had really pale skin some time back, and I liked the extremely-fair look, so it probably suited me then. But people said I look sickly and too pale so I decided to go for a healthier look.
I read a useful review on sephora.com and thought I'd share it - the full size 1.5oz TM is $42, while the to-go 1.0z TM is $19.50! the to-go one is definitely more worth it - the only drawback is that it comes in two shades only.

Nars Illuminator in Orgasm (peachy pink with shimmer) - Honestly I'd use a Nars blush over this illuminator. I barely see any difference on my skin (other than some shimmery effect). Nars products seem to give me tiny/minor break outs, this was no exception.

Buxom Lash Mascara in Blackest Black - Impressed! I have sensitive eyes - Covergirl lashblast mascara makes me itch. This one didn't! And my lashes definitely looked longer and defined within one/two strokes. I followed someone's advice in the Sephora comments and didn't wiggle the wand - rather I rolled/stroked it from lashline to tip of the lashes and that worked well. Didn't smudge or run the entire day, and definitely didn't give me panda eyes even though I took a nap for an hour and a half. Only problem is that this mascara doesn't hold curl. I have short, straight lashes which don't curl easily. I applied this mascara after I use my eyelash curler - but my lashes still drooped.

Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner in black - I also got this with the Stila Dream in Full Color Palette. It's not my favorite eyeliner but it is decent. I'm more of a liquid/gel liner person - this has a pencil+gel feel. I don't wear eyeliner a lot, but I find that there's just too little product to make it worth while. It took me a while to figure out how to twist the pen until more of the product came out. Since I have two of these I'll probably end up using them pretty often. We'll see how it performs over time.

Marc Jacobs Daisy Rollerball - I can't really describe scents, but I like this one! I've been wearing it everyday since. I think it's going to be my go-to perfume from now on.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend this set. I hope this review helped some of you decide whether or not to get this set. I seldom buy these kind of combination sets but I couldn't resist this one - Sephora's bestsellers all in one set for you to try! Definitely worth the $75.

30ml/1.06fl.oz, Made in Korea

This was kind of an impulse buy from Sasa in Malaysia. I've been seeing it in Sasa stores for a while in Singapore, but never really got around to buying it. But since I was on a (shopping) roll in Malaysia, I decided to just get it.

On the back, it says,

"Light Pink

Use: Shake well before uses. Apply a small amount to the face and neck after your day cream/milky lotion and before putting on your make up."

This is the first make up base I've ever used. I use this product mainly as a sunscreen. Unfortunately, I don't think it moisturizes my skin much. It seems slightly tinted, but I'm not sure if this color shows up on my skin. It doesn't really matter to me though, because I usually wear a tinted moisturizer over it anyway. I place this on my skin after putting on Estee Lauder Idealist Even Skin Tone.

Will I repurchase? Maybe not. I like it as a sunscreen, but for the same price (don't really remember what it is t I can get a bottle of sunscreen more than 30ml.

Most of my make up had faded/run off by the time I took this picture =P But here's the break down anyway!

Products Used:
Face

Eyes

Lips