Soap & Glory: Body Butters!

I am a huge, HUGE fan of Soap & Glory. Their products are amazing, as they deliver what they promised - soft, lovely, healthy skin.

I'll be comparing two types of body butters from the line today - first up is the "Butter Up" Deluxe Body Smoothing Cream.

Butter Up Deluxe Body Smoothing Cream

Even though the package claims that it's a cream, the texture is very much like a body butter and is rather thick. The texture for both products in this post are so similar that I thought one picture should suffice (see below)

Smooth and thick - very moisturising :)

 This product is extremely moisturizing, which is why it's great during the winter time. I have very dry skin, so I use it before bed a lot of the time. The only thing which is a serious turn-off is the smell! :( Usually, almost all products from Soap & Glory smell AMAZING. But for some reason, this one smells different, and I can't quite describe it, but it's pungent - and not in a good way. I put it on and my sister actually said "Yuck, that cream doesn't smell good at all" T___T

So I found the perfect remedy - using this on my feet instead! It works perfectly fine, softening the skin on my feet (which are seriously dry), whilst being far enough from my nose that I'm not bothered by it :)

Next up is my favorite of all body butters I've tried - ever! It's my Holy Grail Body butter called  "The Righteous Butter" <3
First awesomeness - It's pink!!! Plus, it smells DIVINE...

The Righteous Butter

  I wouldn't recommend it for use during the summer in the day time, but then again it depends on your skin type. I smooth this on before bed and wake up to super soft skin. I even touch my arms in the morning for fun because they're so soft after the product sinks into the skin (as wrong as that may sound lol) >__< If you smooth it on right after a shower while your skin is still moist, your skin will absorb more of it and faster, thus it will be more effective.

Just can't get enough of this: My HG Body Butter!

They're a bit pricey compared to other brands in Thailand, and you can only get them from Boots, but there are constant sales like Buy 1 Get 1 Free or Buy one get the other for 50% off (which is when I stock up on these), so overall, I think you're getting more than your money's worth.

Overall score: "Butter Up" Deluxe Body Smoothing Cream = 8.5/10
                      "The Righteous Butter" = 10/10 (++ HG Product & Must-have)

NYX Round Lipgloss

I've had these three glosses for a long time now and have always procrastinated (as usual) writing a blog post about them :P But I'm finally getting around to blogging more, now that I've finished work and am in the process of preparing and packing for Australia!

Sorry for the fuzziness - my hand was shaking while taking photos from my iPhone lol

Here they are :)

The three glosses that I have from the Round Lip Gloss range are: Ballerina Pink, Peach and Whipped.

The colors shown in the picture above in the tubes are pretty true to color in real life, actually.

Here are the swatches:

Ballerina Pink (Right) is a medium pink with a pearly sheen/small shimmers
Peach (Middle) is a coral color with a red undertone with lots of glitter
Whipped is a nude pink beige color with a pearly sheen/small shimmers

The color pay-off is actually quite nice! 2 layers were swatched on my wrist. The glosses felt pretty sticky when first applied on my lips, but after using my fingertip to just blend the color out a bit and leaving it to set for about 30 seconds, I was a happy camper ^__^

The only downside - which I really don't like, is the smell. It literally smells like "Lemon Sunlight" - the dish-washing detergent. Yuck :(  It gets better after a while - or alternatively I just got used to it a bit more, so it was bearable. Still off-putting overall though.

Overall Score: 7/10

Stunning Headpieces by Jenny Packham

Photo courtesy of www.projectwedding.com & www.jennypackham.com

These headpieces are absolutely stunning - especially the one on the right! Packham wows once again - swoon!! <3

Eat of the Day - well, last weekend: Coco ichiban Curry house!

Last weekend (the weekend before Christmas), I went to Central Chaengwattana in BKK with my sister and a childhood friend of mine, and we decided to eat at the Coco Ichibanya Curry House :) It's been so long - probably a little over a year, since I've eaten here. So you can imagine my excitement hehe

It's a curry house where you can design what you want to eat, usually based on curry and rice. The cool thing is you can choose the amount of rice, the spiciness of the curry, and the toppings that go on top. For some dishes though - such as the ones with Omu (creamy fluffy omelette) - you can't change the amnts of rice or spiciness of the curry sauce. Which I don't really understand why. [if you can do it for everything else, why not these one? I get it if it's Hayashi rice or stew. But aren't you still using the same curry base as the regular dishes?]

Here's what I ordered: Chicken Karage (deep fried chicken chunks in a batter - think Chicken Popcorn, but bigger chunks) Curry with Omu!

Yummyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!! Loved it. For the first 20 mins. Then, as it cooled down, it just tasted bland, so you'd need helpers, such as Japanese pickles. They add a bit of crunch and help re-freshen your palate. I forgot to take pics of the pickles, as well as the extra cheese topping my sister had ordered. The first bite was divine. Other than that, the portion was HUGE, so there was no way I could have finished it :( Such a waste. If only they had a small or a lady-size plate and the regular plate, I would be very happy!

Overall 8.5/10

Goong - Korean Franchise Restaurant

So the other week my family and I happened to stop by the mall and seen before - not necessarily that it has recently opened lol. We knew it wasn't going to be the authentic Korean meal like in K-village or at other stores owned by Koreans. We were basically just curious. (Sometimes, curiosity leads to a pleasant surprise - try it some time - especially when it comes to experimenting with food!)

We ordered numerous dishes, but the Doekbokki with Chicken and topped with melted cheese was what was most satisfying for me.

Chicken Doekbokki with Cheese

It was served on a hot plate, which was rather nice, because I believe it to be best when it's hot. I actually liked the cheese on top, since it helped to cool down the spiciness from the red Gochujang sauce that was liberally coating everything else on there - Chicken pieces, Dok (cylindrical rice cakes), tomatoes and carrots.

Again, for quickly satisfying a craving, this does well. But if I'm looking for something more authentic, I'd try some place else. [Or make it at home - I used to make this when my bf and I were in Canada, and it was definitely yummy, especially in the winter when you need the warmth!]

Overall - 7/10

Mickey & Minnie New Year's Presents :)

As part of the Christmas celebration, we had to do lucky draws for presents! I was lucky enough to get this cute pair of neck pillows - one Mickey and the other being Minnie <3 They have ears sticking out, and the Minnie one has a red and white polka dot ribbon too! So cute  >__< My colleague - the one who had purchased the gifts - told me that every time she buys presents, they're always for couples. And, such types of presents have given their recipients luck in love in previous years <3 Hopefully, this pair of neck pillows will also bring good luck and happiness to mine and my boyfriend's relationship too!! :)

                               Can't wait to bring them with me when I travel to Japan to see him hehe <3

- Hearty Chicken Tomato Sauce Bake -

It was near Christmas time, and outside the snow and cold winds were raging. In such times, what you want for dinner is comfort food. Now usually, my comfort food would be something along the lines of chicken soup with rice - Asian style. But I wanted to do something different this time, just for the heck of it, and so I came up with this dish :) It's something easy, yet hearty and satisfying. If I remember correctly, I think both my bf and I thoroughly enjoyed this!

~ Hearty Chicken Tomato Sauce Bake ~

I took some pictures of the steps as well, although I don't have any recipe. In fact, unless I'm baking (in which case exact measurements are crucial to the end result), I don't usually use recipes. I just look around in my kitchen, think in my head what kinds of flavours I want to achieve, add a bit of this and that - taste it - and VOILÀ! 

Step 1 - Marinade/Prep Chicken

Step 2 - Pan Sear

Step 3 - Make the sauce

Step 4 - Smother sauce over chicken and bake in oven.
Add cheese to broil a few mins before serving.

~ Yatta! ~