A Little Fluffy Frivolity Goes a Long Way!

Aileen always tells me I write too seriously. I bore the hell out of her sometimes.
True.
Wordy, verbose...lengthy are words synonymous with “Ivy’s Blog”.

Truth be told, sometimes, we need a little no-brainer read. Minimal processing power needed. Even sages need their off days.
The weekend provides temporary reprieve to our sucky hectic lives.

So, go on, and loosen up. Celebrate and little. Jiggle a little. And take some happy shots.

Interesting Thoughts of Edward Monkton

I have a crush.
I saw him at the bookshop one day.
It was love at first sight.
He had it all.
He was everything I ever wanted.
Funny, intelligent and hail from an exotic Kingdom.
I wanted to take him home.
But he was just too expensive.
;-)

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Oh well, pardon the crappy poem I penned above. But it is true. I saw something I shouldn’t have and lusted for it.
Edward Monkton’s products from United Kingdom. His drawings and ‘wise words’ front greeting cards, little pouches, pencil cases, organizers, lined notebooks and passport holders.
Reading them gave me a giggling fit.
I think most of them are pretty insightful. Rather sarcastic sometimes but still highly amusing.
I wanted to get a little coin pouch but the fun and interesting stuff comes with a hefty price tag. I decided to keep these as mementos instead.

The design on the coin pouch I wanted to buy:

This is SO 'me':

This one's for Jenn:

Pretty much sums up our existence, don't cha think?

Yep, I think you're pretty looney if I like you loads:

For bag ladies:

Applies to all our treasured collection of pretty things, right?

Truth or Dare:

The key to contentment lies in comparing oneself to a snail:


Money does make the world go round:

To Heck with Grown-Ups:

For chocolate lovers:

Justification for consuming chocolates:

Life sucks:

When things get us down, we ponder:

I like this one:

Reminds me of office politics too:

The process does matter:

Confusing noises in our heads:

Psyche of Virgina Tech killer--Survivor Edition:

How true:

My absolute favourite:

Ivy In Summary

Xinyi (Pantene Girl) had this on her blog.
It’s mighty interesting so I decided to do mine up too.
Looks like in summary, I am a sophisticated person (ok, it’s a euphemism for having expensive taste), am an adventurous person who gets bored pretty easily; I treasure my possessions, like cleanliness and am a romantic (really???).

So here it is: My Visual DNA.
Each line accompanying every picture is written by me personally.
Do up yours too and lemme take a peek!

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

To Scale Greater Heights

I need to climb another mountain again.
And I mean, yes, you’ve heard it right—literally. Physically.

Sometimes, when you are frustrated with yourself, you have to learn to stretch yourself to the limits. And how better to do it than to climb a mountain? To date, I have conquered 2 mountains in my life. They are "Frenchman’s Peak" in Perth and "Cradle Mountain" in Tasmania. On both occasions, during my ascent I asked myself “Whatever possessed me to inflict this torture onto myself?”
I swore with much conviction that I will never ever put myself in so much danger and physical torment again.

But right now, I need to climb another mountain. I need to face danger, tackle difficult terrain, endure harsh weather elements and feel alive. When I descend from the formidable mountain, I will know that because I had performed a personally Herculean feat, there’s nothing I cannot overcome in my life. Come hail or high water, I am ready to take the bull by its horns.

Seasoned mountaineer I am not. But now I know why they say climbing mountains can be addictive.

**Read about my previous experience scaling Cradle Mountain here: Cradle Mountain in Tasmania.

Homing in on the Men's Market

Takeshi Kaneshiro is the face of Biotherm Homme for the Asian market. This is the first time the French skincare brand has appointed a spokesman for its men’s products.
It’s about time. The average man on the streets is moving away from his basic ‘soap and water’ regime and including sunscreen, eye care and a hardworking moisturizer to his skincare routine.
Is spending some time slathering on a face cream too gay for men? No way.
Your skin is the biggest organ of your body. Man or woman, you have to feed it well.

Here are some great picks for you guys:
1. Biotherm High Recharge—Latest product to take away signs of fatigue. Good for night owls.

2. Hydra Detox Yeux ($62 SGD, 15 ml)
Eye gel with oxygen booster to detoxify the skin and get rid of dark circles and puffiness.

3. UV Defense High Protection Fluid ($64 SGD, 30 ml)
Non-greasy formula. Even guys need sun protection.

4. T Pur—Anti-shine Moisturising Fluid ($57 SGD, 50 ml)
Absorbs and regulates excess shine while keeping skin moisturized.

5. Abdosculpt—Body Firming Gel ($69 SGD, 200 ml)

This one’s good for keeping your body in great shape guys!
Body treatment designed to work on localized fatty deposits of targeted areas of the body: the stomach and love-handles. A concentrate of active natural plant ingredients for better results to promote the elimination of fat and the reduction of dimpled skin.A non-sticky, menthol scent fluid gel which is instantly absorbed. After one month's treatment, skin is visibly better toned and firmer.

Takeshi for Biotherm Homme. What say you?
I say eye candy for female Biotherm fans but…seriously, it’s pretty impossible for his male counterparts to watch him without feeling a tinge of envious jealousy. After all, only a handful can look this good, even with some skincare help. ;-P

Have your 'Kate' and wear it too

Nothing in particular to write about for today. When I say nothing in particular, it means nothing of much consequence. True, I do have some unpublished entries stored in my computer but I always wait for a good time before posting them up.

So here, my take on the Kate Moss collection for TopShop.

I think it’s mighty fine. Somewhat it’s very modern and chic. But luckily, there's no Ed Hardy edginess included. The vest featured in the picture above--it's the 'IT' item of the moment. Get one now. It'll last for many many fashion cycles. Take it from me.
I like the good mix of masculine elements in the form of vests and smart shirts and the collection of feminine pieces very much.
One thing though. Kate Moss is seriously too ‘waif-ish’ for my liking.

Alright, give her some credit.

~While the world's hung up on boobs, this dame stuck to her roots.~

Ice-cream and Donuts

I wanted to eat ice-cream for lunch today. When I saw Ben & Jerry's "CLOSED", I was rather surprised. Hm, what happened???

Then I saw a horrendously long queue of humans snaking from an area outside Carrefour's checkout counters all the way to some faraway escalator.

Oh! Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day! WOW! But, I don't like queuing. I like a free ice-cream but NO WAY I am going to stand in line for that long. So, I walked away thinking of packing a box of donuts.

That's when I ended up at "The Marketplace" in Basement 1 of Raffles City, looking for the donut store infamous for drawing in the crowds.

To my delight, there's a Ben & Jerry's Ice-cream giveaway there too!!! The queue looks manageable and I decided to go for a cone. Took only 3 minutes max for me to get to the counter and choose the flavour I wanted.

I chose Chocolate Fudge Brownie. It's such a rich concoction and the chewy brownie bits are generous in size.

And you know what? The DONUT queue is longer than Ben and Jerry's freebie queue. And it has school children sitting on the floor while waiting for their turn to make purchase.

What a CRAZY world.

Since I don't like queuing for too long, I decided to give the donuts a miss. Well, another day then. I really really DISLIKE hanging around to buy stuff, no matter HOW GOOD they are. Nothing's worth waiting that long for. Unless of course, you're waiting for me. ;-)

Back to Basics

I mentioned in a previous entry about being an experimental dresser. Yep, sometimes I do don on a freaking weird ensemble. On good days, I can go from Gwen Stefani’s cool, Nicole Kidman’s chic, Sarah Jessica Parker’s whimsical, Avril Lavigne’s punk, Jennifer Aniston’s casual to Jessica Alba’s sexy.

Of course, the ability to capture celebrity styles is a simple case of monkey mirroring. At the end of the day however, my personal style is a deeply entrenched classic lady look. That means sweet dresses that keep the skin under wraps. Yes, when I was 20, it does seem a little too early to be looking like a Stepford wife. But now, the time is ripe for me to return to what ‘Ivy’ truly looks like. Well, at least, for my sane days. ;-P

Audrey Hepburn is my style inspiration

I love girly frocks like these!!!

Rainie Yang's strawberry dress screams cute and lady! I want to add it to my collection!

Able to Take the Heat (both figuratively and literally)

I am going off to bed real soon. Just a lil’ something about myself: I am the only member in my family who does not sleep in an air-conditioned bedroom. My air-conditioner is the most underused in the house because I simply cannot take temperatures less than 28 degrees. I tend to wake up in the middle of the night shivering uncontrollably when I switch on the air-con.

Am I a freak of nature? How am I able to do it????!!!
Ah, the key to taking the heat well is the combination of possessing inactive sweat glands and keeping my cool.
Ok, perhaps I am one of the rare Singaporeans who really enjoy the punishing heat here. I love my tropical little sunny island. My optimum living temperature? 30 degrees Celsius.

Marc Jacobs Autumn Splash

This year, Marc Jacobs introduced the Autumn Splash trio that “captures the essence of fall” - Violet, Ivy, and Amber (the same concept was applied to the summer trio - Cotton, Rain, and Grass).

Oh well, fall is definitely sometime away, but with the erratic climatic changes, who knows?

I reviewed the Summer Trio last year and bought both ‘Rain’ and ‘Grass’. I like both very much although, since they are splashes, the fragrance do not last that long. They are supposed to be applied liberally onto the body to refresh oneself.

It was with much anticipation that I headed down to Tangs to sample the Autumn series. And with a bottle that carries my name (IVY), I am already half sold.

In contrast to rather mediocre and characterless summer trio, Violet, Ivy, and Amber are full-bodied and memorable.

The splashes:
Violet - bergamot, peony, orchid, labdanum, orris, cashmere accord, violet, cedar, vanilla, musk, gingerbread. Violet starts out with anything but violet - a predominantly gourmand, cashmere-like floral on a soft woody base. A fascinating take on violet as it’s often combined with either rose or cedarwood.

Ivy - nutmeg, cardamom, mandarin, candy cane accord, orris, suede, tonka bean, vetiver, sandalwood. It’s a rather sharp, citrusy-green scent that drifts toward the masculine side of things. It reminds me of Calvin Klein’s Eternity for Men.
It’s the most lasting of the 3 splashes. But for the price, I would rather buy CK’s product. Oh well…

Amber - crystallised ginger, star anise, amber, lily, cassia bark, cashmere wood, benzoin. In no way does this Amber evoke anything autumn-like. Not in my world, anyway.

Let’s just say, Marc Jacobs does not have his Midas touch everytime.
The summer trio is way better than this autumn series.

Product Information

Price: $110
Quantity: 300 ml
Exclusive to Tangs Departmental Store