My Home-made Korean Bibimbap!!

Bibimbap is a relatively simple Korean dish to make at home; my mum taught me how to make this as she would prepare this for us every now and then at home. So I decided to make this for myself and the bf! He loved it too. ♥

What I used:
Chopped White Onions
Sliced Mushrooms
Cucumber
Spinach
Fried Egg
White Rice

Sesame Oil
Bibimbap Sauce
Soy Sauce

I fried white onions and the mushrooms on butter to caramelise them. I loove caramelised onions!

Close up of Caramelised Onions

Cook the rice; Slice the cucumber; boil the spinach for a bit; fry an egg; add the sauce, and voila! You're done!

The 3 sauces are added to taste:
Sesame oil = makes it less dry, and has that sesame flavour
Bibimbap sauce = made of hot pepper; adds spice to the food as well as sweetens a bit
Soy Sauce = instead of adding salt to make it a bit more salty

Soy Sauce, Korean Bibimbap Sauce, Sesame Oil
I can't read Korean so I can't tell you what the sauce reads.. but if you can, help me out! :)

Yummy bibimbap!!

Livia's Surprise Pizza

I asked my bf what to call the pizza, and that's what he said it should be called. Well, just incase you're wondering what I'm talking about, yesterday, my bf treated me to the best tasting pizza I have ever tasted from Pizza Hut! It was a custom made one with 5 toppings, and I wanted to document which toppings we used on this blog just incase I would like to try it again later on.

We had a cheesy bites pizza with:

Caramelised Onions - yum yum
Goat's Cheese - yum yum yum!
Jalapenos
Mixed Peppers
Mushrooms

... It might seem like an odd combination of ingredients, but I LOVE IT! They go really well together according to my taste buds... bf loved it too. I would love to have that pizza again haha. I'm so unhealthy :P

The photos in the collage aren't mine, I've taken them from pics on the worldwide web. :)

Rimmel Lycra Pro Urban Princess Nail Polish Review

I was browsing around Boots today, and I found this:



I was intrigued by it's "New MAXI BRUSH" with which this nail polish line claims a 'Mistake free application'. I'm not really a 'nail-polish person' mainly because my university course doesn't really permit it, or rather, its best not to wear it in the hospital setting, you know? But I would wear nail polish if I was able to, or if I have the time to put it on, like now in the summer!

So why not, I picked a colour: Urban Princess, and I bought it. But when I got home and removed my old nailpolish, fixed my nails a bit and tried this on, I was really surprised. The Maxi brush really IS a MAXI BRUSH! Its probably about 2x the width of your usual nail polish brush... but it's a good thing. It fits my whole nail, and since the polish is soooo pigmented, I just needed one stroke to get these results:


So can you imagine how little time it took for me to put this on? About 30s for both hands! This product has changed my life in terms of wearing nail polish. I just can't believe it. It really is fool-proof.

Along with this ease in application, it dries quickly. It also claims to be long-wearing (~10days) and chip-resistant. I have not worn it long enough to see if that's true, but so far I really am happy with this.

I think I'm going to get a few more colours. For the price this costs, its well worth it! ♥

SUSHI NIGHT!!

close up of salmon sushi

My bf and I made sushi a few days before but didn't finish all the ingredients, so this time, we wanted to finish using up the ingredients before they go off! It was really fun making the sushi; I just wanted to share with you all the fruits of our efforts! :)


Salmon Platter

Veggie Platter (my bf's vegetarian)

close-up of veggie sushi

All the sushi we made that night!

So we made 50+ in total, took a lot of work, but it was soo good! We made so much that I didn't have to make food for the next day. :)

LOOK: Chestnut and Expensive Pink

I wore this to watch Wicked with my bf. I wanted this look to match my outfit!

I used:

All products by MAC unless stated otherwise ^_^

FACE:
MSFN in Medium
Refined Golden bronzer all over + contour
Sweetness beauty powder blush on apples

EYES:
Soft Ochre paint pot
Chestnut e/s - cranberry coloured from Spiced Chocolate Quad on crease
Expensive Pink e/s - orange-pink duochrome on lid
Femme-Fi e/s - browbone
Blacktrack fluidline
Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Zero
Max Factor False Lash Effect Mascara
Body Shop Brow & Lash Gel

LIPS:
Bombshell lipstick



Myself with the BF:

Wicked, the Musical, is Wicked!!

My bf and I watched the Musical, Wicked, last night at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, since we were able to find £20.00 tickets at ticketmaster.co.uk website.

I've already seen a few musicals before - Phantom of the Opera about 3x, Cats, The Producers, Lion King, STOMP (though not a musical), Les Miserables, Lord of the Rings, and Lea Salonga's Cinderella in the Philippines, so I had high expectations of this due to all the hype around it, too - proclaimed as one of the best musicals in London theatres. And I'm happy to say, I wasn't disappointed.

If you haven't seen this before and if you watch it, you'll find out the story's pretty surprising. Touching. Heart-warming. Although the props and effects aren't as good as Phantom of the Opera's or Lion King's, I believe that the storyline and the powerful beautiful voices of the actors and actresses are the best strengths of this musical.


Wicked is a story about Friendship and Love. About beauty within; that it is not what is on the outside but that in the inside that counts. It is also about trust and betrayal. There is a good amount of humour in the story, which will also keep you entertained most of the way. Wicked is a fantastic musical to watch with your family and loved ones.

I highly recommend people to watch Wicked the Musical; Even I wouldn't mind watching it again!

...and I can't keep that magical song out of my head! "...Its time to try defying gravity...."

You can purchase cheap tickets from www.ticketmaster.co.uk.

Early Birthday Gift!

My birthday's not until the end of July, but my friends and I decided to celebrate it last Saturday since I never get to celebrate my birthday with them as I'm always away in the summer! So my friends and I had my birthday dinner at Josephine's Filipino restaurant, most of them haven't eaten Filipino food before so that went well. Bf also got me a fruity chocolate cake - with Kiwis, Strawberries and Peaches. Yum yum. They really surprised me with this cake; they all tried to hide it from me! :P

Bf wanted to give me his gift early.. and here's what he got me!!


OMg OmG oMG! I've been wanting this perfume for aages. And now I finally have it. And I still can't believe it. Thanks so much hon :)

Cumulative Haul in the Last Week

I bought a few stuff in the last week.


Playful (eBay), Humid, Freshwater, Refined Golden bronzer

Playful eyeshadow - this is from the Barbie collection back in 2008 (I think), and hence the Barbie head embossed into the powder. I wasn't into MAC then yet so I missed it out. However, I found this at eBay for a pretty good deal so I decided to get it!

Humid eyeshadow - I've been wanting to do a smokey green eye for ages! Now I can. Its a frost finish so it goes on pretty vibrant, and well.. frosty! :)

Freshwater eyeshadow - Perfect blue for summer. Great for smokey blue eyes too. Amazing veluxe pearl texture! I used this to line my eyes in a recent look.

Refined Golden bronzer - I've heard good things about this stuff. I never took notice before.. but when I swatched it, the colour is gorgeous. Tanned brown with flecks of gold - but not shimmery. The powder is also really soft and easy to blend. I'm so happy I picked this one up in pretty packaging too!

So there's me justifying what I bought lol. All the colours are really vibrant, and in my opinion, it was well worth it. Have you bought any beauty related things recently?

The Body Shop Brow & Lash Gel Review

This is the newest addition to my makeup collection - Body Shop's Brow & Lash Gel. I'm a bit fussy about my eyebrows, sorry if that sounds funny, but I just think that they're a bit.. well far from perfect, and a bit unruly at times, which is why I bought this Brow Gel. And I'm quite happy with it.

I've been using it for a few days already and I like this formula. Its a clear gel, non-sticky and so far, I haven't had any break outs from it. It keeps my brows in place so they look more tidy.

Body Shop's Brow & Lash gel normally costs about £8.80, but I got it for less at the sale. So it is a bit pricey, but it does the job.

You could also use this instead of mascara for a natural look, but I love putting on black mascara so I would probably only use this gel for my brows.

Here's another photo of it showing the wand:



I hope this review helps! =)

Do you tidy your eyebrows? What do you use?

Do you have this product? If you do, what did you think of it?

LOOK: Glowy Beach Look

This is a glowy look I did the other day. At first I decided to try curling my hair with the Flat Iron my bf got me for Vday (for the first time since I'm really a noob when it comes to my hair...), and then I thought, why not add bronzy makeup for that boho beach look? I was quite happy with the results and wanted to share them with you! Let me know what you think :)

I used...

All products by MAC unless stated otherwise ^_^

FACE:
Olay moisturiser
Mineralized Skin Finish Natural in Medium - buffed on face
Refined Golden Bronzer - lightly dusted all over face + darker for contour
Fun n Games beauty powder blush - on cheek apples

EYES:
Max Factor False Lash Effect Mascara - I defo like this a lot more than the Bourjois! This is probably my favourite mascara to date.

LIPS:
Pink Cabana lipstick - LE, like a darker version of Lollipop Loving. :)




As you can tell from the list, I didn't use many products to achieve this look! And its quick and simple to apply to do. This is probably my fav look for the summer, as you don't wanna look and feel cakey melting with the summer heat. This was also an experiment using the bronzer all over my face, and since its a success, I no longer lem for a darker MSFN for the summer! Yay! (Saves money :D)

- So if you've tanned and you feel like your previous foundation is too light for you, before going to the shops to get darker shade of foundation, try lightly dusting a not-too-shimmery bronzer all over your face and see if that works instead! It saves money PLUS it also gives you that glowy effect.

Did you like this look? Any comments? What do you think? ♥

Filipino Cuisine: Josephine's Restaurant

photo source: www.ourawesomeplanet.com

Its the first time I've been to a Filipino restaurant in London. Although there are several in Earl's Court - near where I live at the moment, I have been told that they aren't that great so I decided to wait till Cathy and Lani took me out to restaurant they thought Filipino food was cooked best! And they brought me to Josephine's Restaurant.

Josephine's Restaurant is a lovely restaurant situated near Tottenham Court Road. As I entered the restaurant, I immediately felt like I was back home. The interior design reminded me of those back home, especially with a huge painting of the Nipa Huts and the goldfish fish tank!

I have been craving Sinigang and Lechon for some time now. Sinigang is a sour soup with meat and vegetables, and Lechon is roast pork with crispy skin. So we ordered Sinigang and something similar to lechon - Crispy Pata to share. We also had Vegetable Kare Kare - dish in peanut sauce. Delicious!


The restaurant was amazing, food tasted like they were from home. Prices weren't too bad either - like your usual Central London restaurant. Now that I know where it is, I can't wait to take my uni friends there! :)

Be sure to check this out when you're in London! ♥


Lani, Cathy and Me

Gifts from Cathy: Wild Cherry Body Butter + The Aquilon Ensemble CD

I mentioned in our day out post that my friend Cathy got me a few stuff, and I just wanted to share my thoughts on them with you. :)



Here's the Body Shop's Wild Cherry body butter. I've been wanting to get this for ages! I was just waiting till the next sale or until I run out before I grab it. However, Cathy and I dropped by the Body Shop in our day out, and she decided to get 2 mini ones: one for herself and one for me!

I just looooove this scent. It's so yummy and sweet! The bf didn't really like it though, he said that it smelled as though I bathed in candy - but that's why I like it lol. If you haven't had a look or a sniff of this stuff yet, you better! It's really soo yummy!


Here's the second gift she gave me: A CD of her friends' music concert, violinist-pianist duo of Eulalie Charland and Maiko Mori - The Aquilon Ensemble. I love listening to classical music, and these songs, I have never heard the songs before. The pieces were beautifully played and I enjoy listening to the playlist.

Here's the list of songs you could check out!

Franz Schubert Sonata g minor:
1. Allegro giusto
2. Andante
3. Menuetto
4. Allegro moderato

Clara Schumann Two Romances
5. Andante molto
6. Liedenschaftlich schnell

Maurice Ravel Sonata for violin and piano
7. Allegreto
8. Blues
9. Perpetuum mobile

Many thanks to my sweet friend Cathy for these gifts! :D

LOOK: A Springtime Skipper in the Summer

I wore this look to my date with Ate Cathy yesterday. It was just amazing! And she is too sweet. I can't wait to hang out with her again :)

I used:

All products by MAC unless stated otherwise ^_^

EYES:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Silverthorn eyeshadow - crease
Springtime Skipper eyeshadow - lid
Vanilla eyeshadow - brow highlight
Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in on upper + lower lash lines
Bourjois 2 in 1 Coup de Theatre Mascara

CHEEKS:
Refined Golden bronzer to contour
Dainty Mineralized Blush on apples
Mineralized Skin Finish Natural in Medium

LIPS:
Brave New Bronze lipstick
Love Nectar lustreglass




Looking back at these pictures, I kinda wish I used a darker shade of grey instead of Silverthorn. mm.. what do you think? :o

Date with Cathy!

I went out with my friend, Cathy, today. I haven't seen her in ages! So it was good catching up. We walked around Leicester Square-Covent Garden-Tottenham Court road area. .. A way to enjoy London without spending too much money - we hardly spent any at all!


So we first met up at Leicester Square about 6ish since she had just come back from a trip to see her friend's piano/violin concert. I couldn't attend the concert since it was out of London and I felt that if I went, I'd get lost by myself Lol. Apparently she has other concerts too so I'll watch some other time. Cathy got me a CD copy of the songs though, and I'm listening to the songs right now. Its lovely, really amazing music!

Sorry I got side-tracked lol, but anyway, so we met up at Leicester Square to first get some ice-cream! We went to Ben & Jerry's and Cathy recommended I try her favourite ice-cream: Chunky Monkey - its a banana-flavoured ice cream with fudge chunks & walnuts - Delicious!! I also got another scoop of ice cream - Cherry Garcia, I've found my new love for cherry ice cream from my day out with Laura :P

Eating our ice creams in cones, we walked to Covent Garden to watch a music show by volunteers - it was amazing. This group had 4 violinists, 1 double bass player and 1 flutist. They played several pieces including Canon by Pachelbel and the Can Can song! It was just lovely listening to the beautiful music live - I'm actually thinking of going to Covent Garden just to listen. Apparently volunteers play there every afternoon of every day!

After that, we walked around some more and got to the LUSH shop. I was thinking of getting one of the face masks they had, but they need refrigerating and my fridge is shared so I didn't get any. Maybe next time?

She showed me her favourite shops, and we also stopped by the Body Shop. Both of us were eyeing the Wild Cherry Body Butter that I introduced to her, but I already decided to wait until the sale or until I run out of mine before I get it. However, I was really surprised when she went to the till with 2 mini-sized ones - she bought one for me too! I really wanted to pay her back but she said it was a gift. She's so lovely.


We walked a bit more, and I started to become a bit tired and hungry - dinner was soon. We met up with Lani who had just come from work in the hospital, and decided to eat at Josephine's Restaurant in Tottenham Court road. It's a quaint restaurant specialising in Filipino cuisine. Yum! Probably the best Filipino restaurant in London! I'll write more about that in another post. :)

So that was my day, I had so much fun. Can't wait till we go out again, I love hanging out with friends. ♥

LOOK: Cherries on Freshwater

I did this pretty simple look for the Road Trip with my friends on the 10th of June, and I wanted my makeup colours to match my top! I was pretty happy with this one. What do you think? :)

All products by MAC unless stated otherwise ^_^

EYES:
Soft Ochre Paint Pot
Freshwater eyeshadow - winged out! ;)
Cork eyeshadow - crease
Loud Lash Mascara in Noisy Black

CHEEKS:
Refined Golden bronzer to contour
Don't Be Shy blush on apples

LIPS:
Possum Nose Pink lipglass

(lips were Gold Rebel just for this photo)




There you go guys! Hope you enjoyed this look. :)

LOOK: Sweets Alert!

(please excuse the messy hair!)
This is the look I did for my date with one of my best friends, Laura. We went out the day before she left to go back to Singapore (Monday the 8th of June). It's been ages since we saw each other, so we wanted to eat one of our favourite foods: IcE CrEaM!! So we ate at Haagen Daz in Leicester Square. Yum yum!! Well anyway, before I get side-tracked, read on to see more pictures and what I used!

All products by MAC unless stated otherwise ^_^


EYES:
Soft Ochre paint pot
Dear Cupcake e/s on crease
Goldmine e/s on lid
Cork e/s on outer V
Femme-Fi e/s
Blacktrack fluidline
Bourjois 2 in 1 Mascara

CHEEKS:
Dainty Mineralized Blush

LIPS:
Rose Romance lipstick

Laura and I

Fruit Journey!! So delicious.
It has: Raspberry Sorbet, Strawberries & Cream, Mango Sorbet and Cherries & Cream - L to R ;)

Myself with the Fruit Journey

I met up with my honey after that, and we had fun with the camera haha :D



Well, hope you liked my FOTD. Any comments? Feel free to post em!x

My New Read: Cosmo's Sexiest Beauty Secrets

I've been looking for this book for ages. It has been available in America since last year, but only arrived here in the UK probably February or March, and even then it was sold for about £15 at Amazon.co.uk. However, when I checked last week, it was £5 cheaper, with free delivery too so I decided to grab it!

However, I'm a bit sad to say that I was a bit disappointed with its content. Most of the 'secrets' they shared I kind-of knew. The makeup videos on Cosmo's site seem to be more useful too. I'll keep reading it though to find more info, just incase I missed out stuff the first time I've read it and I might change my mind. But as of now, I'm a bit disappointed in it. :(

Do any of you guys have this book? What did you think about it?x

REVIEW: Bourjois Coup de Theatre! 2 in 1 Mascara!!

I came across Bourjois' latest mascara, Coup de Theatre! 2 in 1, while I was at Boots looking for the Jemma Kidd brushes - which I now suspect aren't available at Boots anymore :(. Back to the main topic, I bought this mascara mainly for 3 reasons:

1. I was intrigued (especially by the packaging!).

2. It was discounted (£3 off!!).

3. It seems like its time to change my mascara again.

The mascara comes in a very sleek and sexy container with black and white stripes on the cap. It claims to give a False Lash Effect by combining both a lash primer and a mascara into 1 formula, thus its also less of a hassle putting mascara on compared to the 2 parts, and it saves time too.

The wand's a skinny wand, which makes it easier to use on the inner lashes and the smaller ones too. Here's a pic comparing the wands of Coup de Theatre! 2 in 1 vs my Max Factor False Lash Effect mascara:



I've tried this mascara - I'll post a picture of it on my lashes a bit later, and I can say that it does seem to give a lot of length. However, as for volume - not much compared to my False Lash Effect mascara. The formula is good though, doesn't flake or smudge, and keeps a curl. It also feels rather light on the lashes so your lids wont feel too heavy with this.

This mascara is good if you have short and full lashes that you just need some lengthening. But if you want thick looking lashes, I don't think this would be the mascara for you.

Hope this review helps! :)

Glamour Magazine: FREE Benefit BADGAL Mascara!

Every girl in the UK should be looking for this magazine this month, as it only costs £2, but comes with a free half-size sample of Benefit's famous BadGAL Mascara! At full price and full size, this mascara costs about £14.50, so its obviously a steal-er, a deal- to get it free with a magazine! I'm so happy I found this copy, though it was the only one left when I looked at my nearest Borders shop.

Thank you to BUBBLEGARM for the heads up! :)

LOOK: I'm a STYLE WARRIOR!!

Here's my first FOTD in aages! Inspired by the Style Warriors collection, using a few of the products too. :D Also used my Bronze Eye and Cheek MAC Trip palette too. I just love the products in that one - all the colours are so pigmented. I have swatches of that palette here. I really suggest you check it out in person if you can, and I recommend you buy the palette too! :)

Keep reading to see what products I used!! ;)

All products by MAC unless stated otherwise ^_^

For eyes, I used:
Soft Ochre paint pot
Elite e/s - from the palette
Magic Dust e/s lid - also from palette
Cork e/s - outer V
Femme Fi e/s on browbone
Blacktrack fluidline
Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Zero
Max Factor False Lash Effect Mascara

On cheeks I used:
Eversun bpb to contour
Fun n Games blush on apples (Hello Kitty)

On lips:
Oak lip pencil - line and fill
Brave New Bronze l/s
Gold Rebel lipglass

More pics!!:






I'd love to know what you think; And if you like this look, feel free to leave me a comment! xx