Marbled Madness

Doing my nails is another luxury I like to indulge in; having nicely manicured nails always makes me feel that tiny bit more dressed up than I already am. Here's a quick post on my favourite set of nails yet, and a sneak peek at a new addition to my bag family. 

After lusting over my favourite blogger Willabelle's nails for a very long time, I decided it was time to bite the bullet. It was in the christmas of 2013 that I paid my first visit to The Nail Artelier, a little shop house nestled in the heart of Singapore's Haji Lane. One of their nail artists set me up with this adorable set of christmas themed nails, and I was sold. I have since made it a point to visit them every time I return during the semester breaks, resulting in this set and this set. 

This marbled, geometric, iridescent masterpiece is the handiwork of Ying who is at their Kembangan branch. They are able to do any sort of nail art you want - portraits, anime characters, intricate lace designs, 3D nail art and textures - you name it, they do it. I leave you their Instagram page  for your perusal.  

I've visited my fair share of bad nail salons - those that roughly remove gel manicures, destroying your nails in the process, to those that charge an exorbitant $20 extra during Chinese New Year and don't tell you until after you're done. But The Nail Artelier is by far the best and most professional I have ever been to. Each time I visit them I am satisfied and impressed with their work; all their nail artists are skilled and meticulous. They always deliver exactly what you want and I can guarantee you will not leave disappointed. 

I'll give it to you that they are on the pricey side, but for this quality of work - in the words of Taylor Swift - "The high was worth the pain". 

UNICORN LOVE, 
- R 

Print in Pink

I can't believe how fast the first month of 2015 has passed. Where did that whole month go? But aha! While that means the depth of winter for those of you in New York (I heard about the blizzard, bundle up, everyone!), or the height of  the summer haze for those in the land down under, for me it means my favourite time of the year is almost upon us. Oh yes, I said it. I like February way more than I do Christmas. 

For those of you who haven't figured it out yet - February heralds the approaching of the Chinese New Year fesitivities. At this point I could write an essay about what goes on during the celebrations, but here's the tl;dr: We go on shopping sprees for a new wardrobe, because it's good luck to welcome the New Year with NEW ERRTHANG. We wear said new wardrobe to visit relatives and friends where we feast on traditional cookies, cakes, bak kwa, yusheng, hotpot and a truckload of other good food. Relatives give you red pockets with money in them. An all encompassing excuse to shop, pocket money, good food and good company. Who could want for more? 

In the spirit that you should wear a little colour during Chinese New Year, here's a post with a blush-toned palette at Melbourne's iconic Brighton Beach, to take a break from my favourite black and whites. I couldn't leave without doing a shoot here, of course. This gingham skirt sat in my ASOS 'saved items' page for a really, really  long time till one day the discount god bestowed a 70% blessing upon us for two days. What can I say - this skirt and the beach took to each other like they were always meant to be, and had this gorgeous baby of a shoot. 

The sun was abysmally bright, making it a pain in the tush to shoot anything at all, and I felt like I was being microwaved alive, but even I long for the burning heat and cool waters as I put my nose to the daily grind. 

 

SHOP MY CLOSET

ASOS Gingham Pink Midi | ZARA TRF crop top 

Lovisa necklace | Charles & Keith loafers similar here

Photography by Lily Chen 

UNICORN LOVE, 

- R 

Juxtaposition

For this post, I'm easing back into it with a trip back to my comfort zone - monochrome en masse. Well not really in comfort, because on the contrary apparently typing is all I need to do in this weather to work up a line of sweat beads along my hairline. I'm also going to be starting an internship soon, so let me revel one last time in the pleasure of cropped, midriff- baring tops, asymmetric hems, chunky boots and my hair all loose in the wind before I have to subject myself to the horrors of more conservative office wear. -shudder- 

I had planned for this skirt to be shot at a later date after I had gotten rid of that food baby (hahaha I'm heading back to Singapore, who am I kidding?), but seeing as I would be photographer-less in two weeks, there was no way around it. On the flipside, this serves as motivation for myself to get back in shape, and for the bulges of that food baby to grace the face of social media no longer than this one post.

If you follow me on Instagram, you'll know that I spent the last two weeks in Australia staying with Lily in her house in the suburbs. She was very kind to put me up as I waited for graduation. I can safely say that two weeks later I officially developed suburbititis. It was a sight to behold, for suburbia certainly becomes me. While I did work out occasionally, there wasn't much to do except go to Coles. Days were spent lounging in my pajamas, watching reruns of an old korean drama and treating my mouth like a black hole. The difference being that we don't know where things go when they disappear into black holes - that packet of lemon crisps, however, I can definitely see where that went. 

 

SHOP MY CLOSET

Striped asymmetrical skirt similar here | H&M mesh crop top | Cut out boots similar here

Minimalist triangle necklace | Wet n' Wild nail polish Haze of Love | New Look cross body bag

Photography by Lily Chen

UNICORN LOVE, 

- R 

Into The Unknown

As the new year celebrations sweep the different time zones, I've been doing some celebrating and reflecting of my own on the past year. So here's the first blogpost of the year with my two cents worth and some photos from my graduation!

Much of 2014 was spent as a recluse, furiously scribbling away on a notepad and typing out essays and reports for my final year in uni, emerging only for the promise of food that never fails to lure me out of my little self-created hellhole.

But that aside, 2014 has been pretty pivotal. Despite me still not being able to curb my ASOS tendencies, I've survived the fashion and beauty year, having successfully conquered my fear of pants and midi skirts, found my godsend hair curler, won over a thousand dollars of YSL products, started worshipping the aeropress, stopped having my coffee with milk, become an Aesop convert and gone down the slippery slope of being a blush junkie in the making. All that and I've emerged with a degree in procrastination to boot. My family and friends have all played an irreplaceable part in my journey, and I would I am today without you. Thank you, a thousand times over.

And this blogpost to round up the year would not be complete without a paragraph as tribute to Lily, my friend, without whom this blog would just be sad. This little 4'11 package of wonderful has been the most patient photographer, putting up with my nonsense like asking her to take the same photo 20 times, or me bugging her to go on shoots. But more than that, she's literally my spiritual twin - we correctly guess each other's gifts without opening the wrapping and pick out the same items from a store without knowing it. I also don't think I'll find another person who will dress up to the nines in 20's gear for a swing dance party with me, or understand the importance of setting a leaving time - so we can get ready an hour in advance. As we bid adieu to 2014, I also bid a 6-month long goodbye to her as she ventures into the city that never sleeps for exchange (in which I hope my blog will not be as barren as I fear) - please return with 10 servings of Chipotle for me.

Blogging wise - I've always thought the hardest part about maintaining a blog is trying to start posts. Getting my writing engine going is an excruciating hour long affair of staring at a blank screen, typing a sentence, deleting it, and rewriting it. This one was certainly no exception. And in the end, Surprisingly enough, I almost always go back to the sentence with which I first began.

This year was pretty much like writing a blogpost. New Year's Eve saw me lying in bed in my slob clothes and hair in a topknot as I looked on everyone prepping for their parties on Instagram. I came to the small realization that this is me coming full circle. Not sure if it's inspirational or sad that I think lying in bed on New Year's Eve is coming full circle, but I realized that these new year traditions like making resolutions exist only because we put them in place. So here's my resolution for 2015: It doesn't need to be New Year's Day for me to make a resolution. Each day is 24 hours, just like the last, equally fresh and new. So don't wait for the new year. Carpe diem - seize the day, the minute, the second, for every little division of time, no matter how infinitely small, is a chance for me to become a better version of myself.

Happy New Year, everyone, I wish you love and light in 2015.

Photography by Lily Chen. 

UNICORN LOVE, 
- R