Throwing a Tantrum

Chelsea snores like a drunk cow. I don't know if cows snore but boy, if they did they must be taking some serious lessons from Chelsea, drunk.

So here I am, still up at 6 a.m here in Malaysia and throwing a tantrum to anyone who cares to listen. I have to be up in 5 hours to take Chelsea to her friend's birthday party. Her friend has bought two tickets for Amanda and I to watch a movie with the group and paid for us to eat at the restaurant with them. Now, I'm not too cool to watch a movie with a bunch of 12 year old girls or eat at a restaurant with them but I am too cool to have someone almost a decade younger than me pay for my movie and dinner!

There are so many things wrong with this.

Number one, we're not going out.
Number two, she's female (That's not how I roll).
Number three, she's underaged (That's not how I roll either).
Number four and probably most importantly, I don't even know her name.

So I'm sorry, I must either decline politely and offer to pay my own way or fork out a whole lot of money for a present that someone is going to find very suspicious.

The movie we're watching is Enchanted which is rated a stunning 8.2/10 at IMDB. It's going to be good!

I hate geckos and lizards. I absolutely hate, HATE them. This goes back a long time ago when I was about 3 and a FAT house gecko ran over my foot. I ran around the house screaming at the top of my voice and causing everyone to come running to me. Well, ever since then I've been traumatised. Yesterday, I stepped on one. I didn't see it but I felt it wriggle underneath my foot. Have you ever seen a lizard wriggle? It is the single most devastating thing that can happen to your mind. I assure you, I'm like a doctor or something.

Anyway, I jumped like I'd stepped on acid or a lizard made of acid and ran around the house screaming at the top of my voice. Only this time, no one responded to my tearful cries. Because I'm not 3 years old anymore, they said. Does anyone else feel the ageism? There ought to be some kind of law for this.

Well, I'm officially not sleeping tonight so goodnight everyone, I'm off to amuse myself with the television.

P.S Number five, I have a boyfriend.

Dragon's Beard Candy

This is my youngest sister's favourite sweet. Dragon's Beard Candy is a form of spun sugar and is said to have been invented for the emperor 2000 years ago in China. The candy is made of very fine strands of sugar wrapped around a filling of crushed peanuts and toasted sesame seeds.

The trick to making the fine strands of sugar is shown in this video. You might want to turn down the sound though. I still can't get it out of my head.

It looks like fun and the candy is worth the hassle, or at least, I think it is :D



If you're ever down in Chinatown, I encourage you to try this sweet! Unless of course you don't like peanuts or are allergic to them, in which case, don't eat it! Make the candy and eat that instead! Still yummy.



We also bought some, umm, I have no idea what it's called. The girl at the shop called it mochi but I'm quite sure it isn't mochi.



This is mochi. Japanese rice cakes with fillings such as red bean (azuki). Sometimes they fill it with ice-cream then they call it daifuku. Another must-try!



That's my beautiful sister, Amanda, on the left who has fallen in love with the aspirin mask.

See ya!

Strawberry and Yoghurt Mask

Let me first warn you that this mask is incredibly sticky, messy and NOT for sensitive skin. On the bright side, it smells sweet, is a lovely pastel pink and according to Chelsea, tastes yummy.

I found out that Chelsea has incredibly sensitive skin. She complained that the mask stung which is understandable considering it's an astringent. So, I made what was supposed to be a soothing cleanser containing fine oatmeal, honey and milk with some aloe vera gel. Yet, she still complained that it hurt. I shot her an incredulous look. "Really?", I asked. So, I cleansed her face with a little bit of honey water and dabbed just a tiny bit of jojoba oil on her face as moisturiser which she admitted felt better.

The key to cleansing ultra sensitive skin is to keep things simple and it's probably wise to dilute everything with distilled or spring water. Acidic ingredients like citrus fruits are best kept at bay. Another very important thing you have to remember if your skin falls into this category is to always, always do a patch test on the inside of your elbow.

Rub a little of the product you are testing on the inside of your elbow and cover with a band aid. Remove after 24 hours. However if it any time at all your skin starts itching unbearably (sometimes a mild tingling action is normal), remove the band aid immediately and wash with lots of cool water. To be safe, assume you are allergic to it. After 24 hours, if you experience any redness, wash the area and discontinue use immediately. If the reaction is strong or severe, meaning the skin is raised and thickened with large blisters and intense redness, I would advise you to see a doctor about the allergy. It might be worthwhile.

I'm scaring you, aren't I? Don't be, patch tests are the only way to determine if your skin is allergic to something. Then, all you have to do is avoid it!

• 1 very ripe strawberry
• 1 teaspoon of yoghurt
• 1 teaspoon of honey
• 1 teaspoon of cornstarch
• oatmeal

Mash the strawberry until it's pulpy. Add the yoghurt and honey and stir to combine. Add the cornstarch and thicken the mask with the oatmeal. You may want to lay your head on a pillow covered with a towel after applying the mask. Wait 10-15 minutes, then rinse off with warm water.



Strawberries are wonderful for softening skin and contain AHAs. It's great for oily and acne prone skin. The mild enzymes and acids in yoghurt is another skin softening agent. But oats and honey again you cry? I'm sorry I can't seem to stay away from them :( They're my staple in natural skincare.

Smells too edible?!

Aren't they pretty? They're bath bombs from Lush. A going away present from Dan, he knows I sometimes obsess over Lush but never get anything for myself because I refuse to be blinded to the fact that they chargecrazy prices.

However I'm so happy with these fizzies! They smell terrific. My favourite as you can tell is the christmas pudding lookalike one. It smells faintly edible because of the benzoin (smells like vanilla) and clove. The purple glittery one smells the best which I put down to the tangerine and ylang ylang oil. The green fizzy smells very citrusy and I'm not a huge fan of citrusy smells.

Oh, want to hear something funny? I made bath jelly and scented it with strawberry and vanilla then shoved it in the fridge. Everybody commented it smelled like strawberry ice cream, it was absolutely divine! Anyway, my grandmother spotted some left over in the bowl I was using and decided she would eat it while my back was turned. All of us started yelling and screaming "Don't eat that, it's soap!". So for most of the whole afternoon, she berated me for making my soaps smell "too edible". I don't think she appreciated the fact that I burst out laughing every time she mentioned it.

Oh, I made the papaya scrub but unfortunately I don't have any pictures :(. I'm not very camera savvy but that wasn't the problem this time.

Remember the 7 kids I mentioned that were over last night in my last post? Well, one of them ate it. Yes, he ate it. I blame Chelsea as I saw her sneaking a couple of spoonfuls into her mouth. It's a good thing that this time the scrub is edible! My scrubs are usually not and to think I was planning on adding the Polysorbate 20. Chelsea just said,"I knew it! You're trying to kill us!"

Sometime ago, a friend of mine tried to eat a cocoa butter bath melt when they were drying in the moulds. He kept insisting I was lying to him when I told him it wasn't chocolate. Then, he found the cupcakes and it all went downhill from there.I should start scenting my creations with airplane fuel to stop them from getting eaten!

I didn't forget about the strawberry and peaches! It's coming right up although I'm pretty sure it's going to get eaten as well. I'm also making castile soap in a couple of days if I can just get my hands on some lye.

Scent for the soap? Oatmeal, milk and honey. ;)

Have Your Say!

Please feel free to ask me anything you like at all. Is there a certain homemade skin care product that you would like a recipe of? Are there tips you want on something like combating dark undereye circles? What is it you would like to see me blog about? I'm open to anything at all! I'll do the research :)

Have your say! I will try to help in anyway possible.

I adore strawberries and peaches so I will be posting recipes containing this ingredients for an astringent cleanser and a moisturising mask in my next post complete with pictures and a guinea pig model (my 12 year old sister, Chelsea).

There are 7 children sleeping over tonight, thanks to my brother and sister's impromptu slumber party. This is what I miss about my home in Malaysia. It's always alive with the sound of people's voices. No one is ever home alone because there are so many of us.

In Australia, it's just Dan and I and it does get lonely sometimes. Probably because being around a lot of people is what I'm used to.

I made a cookies and cream cheesecake for Amanda yesterday. Everyone liked it! I couldn't even get a picture, I left it in the fridge thinking I'd come back and decorate it then take a picture. However when I came back there was only a quarter left.

Is anyone interested in the recipe? I'm curious to find out if it's really that good or my family is just being nice to me cause I'm home :)