5 ways to have your cake and eat it too!

Spoil yourself with a slice - just follow these tips to avoid piling on excess kilos.

1) Stay away from cakes with cream fillings. The fat content of these really bumps up the kilojoules.

2) Choose Madeira cake. It is sweet yet contains less fat than fancy iced varieties.

3) Do not kid yourself that carrot cake counts as one of your vegetable servings for the day. Even without normal cake icing, this variety is very high in kilojoules and fat.

4) Fruitcake without icing is lower in kilojoules than iced ones, plus it has a relatively low glycemic index(GI), so it will keep you feeling full for longer.

5) Believe it or not, a slice of plain chocolate cake can actually be lower in fat and energy than a chocolate brownie.

Santa's Little Saver - Have a Merry debt-free Christmas!

Every year, many people spend when they simple could not afford it. And it all seems to happen in the last few weeks before Christmas. Suddenly, we remember that present we forgot, we give in to kids' demands for an iPod, we buy new clothes to wear on Christmas Day.. and that little plastic devil - the credit card - let us delay the worrying "until next year". However with credit card interest rates at such high levels, the debt for some people only gets worse. What can you do?

Know how much you can afford to spend on shopping to avoid a financial drama.

Prevention is the best cure

Here are a few rules you should cut out and keep in your wallet over the next few weeks.

- Arm yourself with a list to avoid a stressful and expensive holiday shopping season. You will be able to avoid hours of aimless browsing for gifts and would not be tempted to overspend.

- Say no to the kids if you are unable to afford the gift there and then. Educate the kids. Stay firm. Explain why they could not have all the latest gadgets.

- Pay for item with cash only. Before you make a purchase, try to bargain for a better deal, particularly when you have cash. Saving a few dollars helps the bottom line.

- Use a debit card rather than a credit card.

- Take your credit card out of your wallet before shopping, to stop the impulse purchase. If you need to use your credit card, make sure you can afford to pay the balance in full before the due date. Use the best card. 

- Set a budget for the gifts.

- Start planning for next year by saving with each pay packet over the whole year. 

- There is nothing nicer than receiving a quality Christmas card. The only problem is they can be expensive. Buy them in the post-Christmas sales and put them away for the next year.

How to beat the winter blues?

The weather is getting chilly and holiday cheer is in the air, but some of us are not excited that winter is rolling in. Here are some tips on how to stay upbeat.

1) Nothing brightens the mood quite like a few rays of light. Sunlight not only helps with mood, it helps with vitamin D production too.

2) Whenever possible, surround yourself with positive people. Chances are you will get their positive vibes.

3) Pamper yourself. Whether it is going to the spa or just taking a warm bath with a good book, try to find things that uplift your mood and ease your stress. A manicure and pedicure can go a long way.

4) Exercise is one of the best ways to fight the winter blues. It does not have to be vigorous. A short walk or a friendly match of Wii tennis will do. Just fifteen minutes a day is all you need.

5) Alcoholic beverages may make you feel good momentarily, but they actually add to depression and anxiety. You get a boost and then you pay a huge price afterward. Therefore, avoid falling for the temporary fix.

6) Laughter is one of the best nonprescription medications that you can get. I helps everything: It helps your immune system, it helps get rid of stress, it directs your energy to a different place. So, reach for your favorite comedy now.

Go for Shine and Sheen this holiday season!

For Gleaming lids like Rihanna:

Keep sparkle close to the lash line or inner corner of the eyes to brighten and dazzle.

For Lustrous lips like Paris Hilton:

Shimmer, frost and sparkle textures make lips appear fuller.

For Shimmering skin like Katherine Heigl:

Dust shimmer beneath your brow and along the top of your cheekbones for a candlelit glow.

For Glittering fingertips:

Lighten up dark holiday nail shades by layering on an iridescent or sparkly top coat. 

Other tips to take note:

- Team your sparkle with matte textures to keep a mod, sophisticated look.

- Shy away from products that look like chunky craft glitter.

- Do not add sparkle to more than two features at once and play down the rest of your makeup.

- If sparkle is too much for you, try shimmer or metallic shades instead. 

Windows to your soul

Using liquid eyeliner can be daunting, but it is such a gorgeous, glamorous look. Practice using these tips and you will soon be applying eyeliner like a pro:

1) Apply the liner with your eyes open and use it on the upper lid only.

2) Tilt your head back about 30 degrees and look at the mirror. You might want to rest your elbow on a table to stabilize your arm. Pull your lid away from your eye very gently using one or two fingers, then apply eyeliner from the inner corner to the outer, getting as close to the lash line as possible.

3) Try using short, feathery strokes if one solid line is too hard to start. You can always go back and fill in the dots.

Using pencil:

Start from the outside and draw towards the inner corner, as you tend to apply more pressure from the start and the outer corner should have a thicker line.

Using gel:

1) As gel liners dry fast, you must act fast.

2) Use a slanted brush or flat-tip brush. 

3) After dipping into the eyeliner, dab off the excess.

4) When applying eyeliner, avoid excess dragging to get a clean line.

To note: Keep plenty of cotton buds and eye make-up remover on hand to correct mistakes.

There are many ways to make your eyes look bigger. Lining the inner rims with a white pencil is a tried and true method of really making them appear wider and brighter. Lashes are the next stop - they are a great eye opener. Before applying mascara, make sure you give them a good curl from the base to the tip. It is also better to keep eye-shadow light and sheer. Avoid dark shades as they will cause your eyes to recede and appear smaller. Highlight the brow bone and add a soft wash of color to the lid.

You have Oily Skin ?

Are you using the right facial cleanser ?

More often than not, facial cleanser are mostly the essential part to our body wellness or rather our image.


Too much oil will put us in these following situations

- use plenty of blotter ( the so-call oil remover )
- washing our face 5-6 times a day with facial cleanser ( just to remove the oil )
- put on thicker make-up and always touch up with plenty of loose powder

Above solutions mentioned are HARMFUL and would create more oil on our face.

If you find that your face is getting more oily,
NEVER do the steps as mentioned above
Because these would worsen the situation

Our face actually has the thinnest layers of skin among all areas, especially our eyes.


These are the symptoms you should look out for if you have excessive oily face.
- oil bubbles around eyes area
- face is over shiny

Due to the humidity / weather in Southeast Asia, i would recommend the following solutions to oily face:
- Wash your face with cleanser NOT MORE THAN twice / thrice a day !
- USE ONLY normal tissue to dap your face instead of blotter !
- DO NOT use moisturising cream excessively.
( For Southeast asia weather, use only at night, before you sleep )

- Dap your face with tissue to remove oil before touching-up with loose powder.

Here are the reasons,

The more loose powder you use to cover your oily face would make your skin breath harder for more oxygen. The oil on your face is actually to protect your skin, if your face finds that the oil is being removed too fast, they would create more oil the next time.

So imagine you remove oil very fast once your face starts to oil and protect themselves, they would then be signaled to give out more oil. I have a cousin that actually washes her face 6 times everyday and use the blotter excessively to blot her face from oil every 1 hour. And the oil layer on her face grew fast enough to fry an egg every 1-2 hours !

So i advise her that she should wash the oil off with water or just gently clean or dap them with tissue paper instead. The faster you remove the oil, the Oiler it gets !


Knowing how our body functions is very important. Before you know you're doing them good, they actually are malfunctioning by the way you handle them ! Also drink plenty of water to moisturize your skin instead of letting your skin to generate more oil to moisturize themselves.