June Muses

Watching: The Exotic Marigold Hotel. How I love this poignant comedy about a bunch of old folks "out-sourcing" their retirement to India! This British comedy has all my favourite film veterans with Dame Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Bill Nighy. You're bound to have a good time giggling while drying your tears at times and it totally reminds me of my month-long trip to India some years back! I LOVE this movie! Two thumbs up!!

Listening to: The Dance of Shakti by Prem Joshua. I'm revisiting this old album from 2002 thanks to The Exotic Marigold Hotel. While reminiscing about India , I gotta listen to my favourite Indian tunes from the very talented Prem Joshua who fuses modern beats with the traditional sound of classical Indian sitar and tabla. The Dance of Shakti is my all time favourite from Prem Joshua and I practice Vinyasa yoga to the uplifting energizing tunes!

Wearing: ASOS Cupcake Dress with Peplum. Okay, I'm not wearing it yet cos it's on the way. I couldn't resist cos the cupcake print is just too cute and it's cut proper enough to wear to work with a cropped grey cardigan. I hope it fits! Fingers crossed or it'll be a total hassle to return!

Using: Ila Face Oil for Glowing Radiance. I've heard tons of raves about this Argan and Rosehip based face oil that's infused with Sandalwood and precious Rose Damascena. I just got hold of it a couple of days ago and I'm now using it in place of moisturizer. So far so good and I'll write more about it a little later.

I've also tried out the Body Shop Nutriganics Smoothing Mask cos I saw it going on offer and it's partially organic. I said partially cos I must point out that The Body Shop is somewhat unethical and deceptive to put the Eco Cert logo when only 42% of the ingredients is organic. To be qualified as organic products, a product has to contain at least 70% of organic ingredients. The Body Shop also sneakily puts a note that says 98% of the ingredients is natural and with the Eco Cert logo, I got tricked into thinking that 98% of the ingredients is ORGANIC. Well, after I bought it and carefully read the label, I felt a bit cheated cos only 42% of the ingredients is indeed organic. But well, I guess I should have been more careful reading labels. Anyway, the organic issue aside, I must say this mask is quite enjoyable as it's clay base wash off mask and it deep cleanses while refreshes and smooths out skin. I kinda like it! Just that I feel The Body Shop shouldn't have used the Eco Cert when all the products from their range is below 70% organic. Just saying...

Also using my light purple Balenciaga Giant City with silver hardware. I'm resting my black Balenciaga Work and the light purple is quite "in season" with the spring trend.

Drinking: Apple Cider Vinegar with honey. My previous attempt to drink half a lemon in warm water in the morning has failed cos it gave me a rather acidic stomach but ACV is really great and I'm back to drinking it daily with chilled honey. It's such a refreshing treat with all the health benefits.

Eating: Kinpira Gobo. I've been cooking Japanese food quite a lot and I'm really loving this classic Japanese bento stuffer of Japanese gobo and carrots. Japanese gobo is full of fiber and is known for its anti-carcinogenic properties. Super tasty when you cook it kinpira style. It's so simple to cook cos you just need to shred both gobo and carrots, soak the gobo in water for 10 minutes, then sauté them in a bit of sesame oil with some chilli before adding half a cup of water with two tablespoons of Japanese soya sauce, two tablespoons of mirin and two tablespoons of sugar. Simmer till all the liquid is soaked up and viola!

Loving: Anessa BB Sunscreen. This is possibly the best face sunscreen I've used. It's unfortunately not organic but its amazing texture and performance warrant its staying in my morning skincare routine. Its refreshing, light and non-sticky texture is such a great relief from the usual thick and greasy BB cream and my organic tinted moisturizer with SPF. Not only does it provide a very substantial protection of SPF 50 PA+++, it has a very decent coverage that really does even out the skin tone and yet not leave a heavy chalk-like film. It's really my favourite sunscreen now and I'm glad I bought an extra to stock up while I was in Japan!