Eco-fashion: Belle & Dean

I've been researching for some information for my ISM (Independent Study Module) on ethical fashion and sustainable consumption, so i have been trying to find shops in Singapore that produces/sells eco-fashion products when i came across this fantastic company!!

Bella & Dean

They sell baby, toddler and women's tees and clothing that are made of 100% organically grown cotton which is suitable for sensitive skin and babies, free of bleach, harsh dyes and chemicals, and is gentle to the earth. What's better, the prints on their clothing are silk-screen printed and made of environmentally friendly water-based dyes, and the prints are designed by the owners, and each one carries a special meaning with environmental messages such as the images of endangered animals. :)

For babies

Printed Tee $24, plain ones at $18.50

For Women

Vest top - $40

I will love to have this tank top, it looks snug and comfortable! And the colour is natural ecru, no coloring and organic cotton is much softer than conventional cotton.

Who wants to be wearing something drenched in pesticides and dyes and processing chemicals? I wouldn't want to if i can help it! Skin cancer is not entirely impossible if we expose ourselves to harsh chemicals all over.

Look! This toddler looks so comfy and happy in his tee. ;)

I think i will start to look into purchasing organic cotton clothing in future, hope there are more of these fashionable yet green-friendly apparels in Singapore!

PS: Bella & Jean offers free delivery in Singapore, just visit their online shop! It is also sold in Swirl (Stamford House) and The Nest (Holland V)

xoxo, principessa

Life is unfair for Astig-sufferers :(

One boring afternoon, i went into a female forum i frequent and saw some really interesting blogs.. belonging to rather pretty Singaporean girls.

I can't believe it! With some wide eye colored contacts that works like magic to widen their eyes ((x 1293242343!)) times, and some fake eyelashes, and some good eye makeup, people can look so dream-like! Dream like as in, not real, they don't even look Chinese anymore. Or Asian. They look very mixed.

Example: A popular SG blogger who has been photographed in shoots at a few local male magazines


The contact lenses they use, just look at the illustrations on it! I think some of them will look really fake on the eyes, and truthfully, although they look gorgeous they look kind of artificial. She is using CK-105.


I feel bad for taking her pictures without crediting her, so if you want to see more pictures at her lens blog you could click here. If you scroll near the end of the page at "trend lens", you'll see how some of the lenses look on a real person.

The bottom line? There is really no ugly women, just lazy ones. But life could be a bit unfair, because astig-sufferers can't use wide eye contacts, or color contacts, or such fancy ones. I asked many opticians about it, and one of them told me that although today's technology can make it, the market for such is too small to be profitable. :( Yea, i think what he says makes sense because even for normal monthly lenses, i pay $30 every month for it while the same amount of money can be used to buy 3 months worth of contact lenses! WHYYY!

Maybe.. i should try to use fake lashes more since anyone can use them and i have quite a few, but i don't like to use them because they are such a chore to put on, may fall off if you don't stick properly, and frequent, prolonged improper removal can cause your eyelids to sag.

xoxo, principessa

Deb in Singapore :)

I haven't update much about this yet but yes! Deb is in Singapore and we girls (plus their boys) have been going out a few times. It was a perfect girly outing on Friday with 'Bride Wars', a walk around Marina Barrage (which i promise is a worth-to-see place and it is!! Everyone loves it!), dinner at Food Republic vivo, some shopping with loots, and a brief tour of St James.

I will upload those pictures at a later time, Anna has most of it though! We did really fun and crazy things at the Barrage (can u believe Anna mistook it for 'Paddok' ? Hahahaha) , took lots of pictures and talking, all the time when i'm trying to keep my dress down because it's crazily flying around me with the wind, not an easy chore at all!!!

These pictures belongs to Deb and is of the "Dim Sum dinner and Clarke Quary drinks" outing.

Anna showed us a cheaper place to have dim sum at Jalan Besar, near Little India.
Xiao long baos are good and i actually am chewing on it as we were taking this picture, haha!


And drinks at Brewerkz
I had a fruit beer, and i can't say i like it too much.
Beers are not for me, they make me feel gassy and bubbly inside, i don't like the feeling at all!

And lastly, happy chinese new year! :)

xoxo, principessa

River flows in you

Music is powerful, we all know it. And this piece is spendidly beautiful..



It's a piano piece, remixed from the original version that was considered for being Bella's lullaby, it didn't get selected but many twilight fans prefer this to the other piece (see my previous blog entry). I have never heard this till today when celest told me about it, and yea, i am completely captivated by the beauty of this piece.

It makes me remember my desire to learn how to play piano - fingers moving fluidly flitting over the keys.. playing a beautiful melody that'll make the whole world stop, and stare, touched. That is how i have always dreamt about myself... composing music that swings with my mood.

And how i have thought about how i wish so much to be like a ballerina, dancing lightly and moving across the room so gracefully, using the dance, not my words, to express how i really feel.

I wi'll learn them some day when the time is right.

Darker feelings

Yes, I can feel myself (and you) rolling my (your) eyes at another scene from Twilight. But it is really not easy to get over it, especially after reading the books. The movie isn't so good compared to the book because it is squeezed into 2 hours, hence the choppiness and random scenes that outsiders may not understand. But the book? It is splendid.

I know i have to get over this craze, but it's like discovering Harry Potter for the first time, something like that. It is really addictive and a beautiful, timeless story... and i can't get enough of Edward Cullen's face and his pale ghostly beauty.

I was looking through the photos my friends took in Grand Canyon, and here are two which represents a part of my feelings about the place i've lived in for 2 months... how beautiful the sunset is! And the quiet woods with its own charms. I like to walk around these places, and just stop and stare, and think. When the world looks this beautiful, all your troubles seem to fade away so peacefully.

I almost feel like a vampire like Edward will appear here.

And this, how peaceful as you walk and you know, sometimes i see elks and i see deers (maybe not) accompanying me... it kind of reminds me of how the Cullens will hunt.

SIGH, there i go again..

xoxo, principessa

Twilight withdrawal symptoms

I've finished reading all the Twilight books in 4 days. Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. This is one of the most exciting read in so many years, the longest series of books revolving around the same characters.

But as soon as i've finished, i feel the withdrawal symptoms almost immediately. So much of me in the past 4 days have revolved around the story, so much. I feel sad to leave them like that, sigh.

And i also realised something, that all the heros in romance novels/dramas that i like have similar qualities. It is so out of this world now, it is almost like no one real will exist like that for me. I am not even taking about the supernatural here, but just qualities of very desirable men. It seems like women all over the world falls for that, is that why romance novels usually have heros of similar character?

And the part that no one like that will exist is probably very true. No one is that selfless and that much in love to be so committed, so protective, so romantic right? And women are never that understanding, that happy all the time..

I sounds almost impossible for reality, so do we wait or do we settle for second best? Flaws and all.

I wish i live in a perfect world, that of dreams.

xoxo, principessa

Twilight

After watching the movie(twice) and reading the book, of this one thing i am absolutely positive:

I am irrevocably in love with Edward, completely.


Listen to this song, i think it is a theme song of the movie. It is simply....beautiful. except that the audio is not very good



And this is a piece of music that he composed for Bella



I like this too from the soundtrack. Eyes on Fire - Blue Foundation. It is very chill, great for an almost impossibly, loner mood.



And this, the Black Ghosts - Full Moon



xoxo, principessa with a twilight fever.

A magazine flipping day?

Recently, I have this idea that maybe i should gather some female friends who likes fashion, who like me - likes to pore over magazines, engage in random idle chats about dressing and beauty and hair and anything (boys, food, dates?!), coming together for a random girly get-together!

The scene i imagine could be something like that, not exactly a pj sleepover party, but imagine them in casual clothing hanging out at someone's place... laughing, talking, exchanging clothes and advice and just having fun!


I have always longed for friends like that who shares my interest in observing fashion and beauty trends, and not think it's purely superficial and time-wasting, but something fun! Fashion is fun, dressing up is fun, to me. :) Of cos, with our poor student's budget it is hard to sustain that kind of lifestyle portrayed in idealistic and material driven magazines (i mean that's why they sell, and why people advertise)... we could be paupers but that won't stop us from admiring or critiquing right?

It is all in the nature of good fun! And something i suspect is very common with teenage girls in the US, and many girls in Singapore too.

BUT WHY DON'T I HAVE FRIENDS LIKE THAT! :(

I like fashion and trends because it is frivolous. I may not be frivolous (or maybe yes) but it is some sort of escape from this too serious world. Maybe if we have encouraging girlfriends who are adventurous like that and find if fun too, our world will be more exciting! Visually.

SO, a female fashion/beauty interest group is needed. A la fashion nation, the popular singaporean fashion blog where the girls meet every friday to discuss the latest issue of Urban, or Style, or any magazine and come dressed in the coolest shoes or outfit or accessory!

Talking about it, i've acquired a mass/MESS of magazines from 2008, from CLEO to HERWORLD to FEMALE (to not Vivi because i keep all my Vivi) and there's no space for it, so if you want any issue or many issues, let me know!!! It's free and it'll be good to recycle them to other friends for good fun too.

Or maybe there could a magazine flipping day or a lazy sunday... with some like-minded girlfriends.


To consume the magazines in the most efficient and environmentally way? Share them with your friends, exchange or give! They are all good stuff, the stories and general tips are still useful even if they are dated 2008 or 2007.

Let me know if any of you want some magazines! ;)

xoxo, principessa

Happiness in the air!

I don't know, but lately i've been feeling very cheerful except for that bit of worry for my ISM. I'm beginning to really like school and somehow i feel really excited about my modules, and learning new things! :) This semester, all my modules are very likable and meaningful to me.

What's on for me this semester:

• Geog level 4 - Catchment Processes and Management
• Geog level 4 - Eco-development in SE Asia
• Singapore Studies/ Geog - Changing Landscapes of Singapore
• Elementary French
  
• Independent Research Project on Eco-Fashion and sustainable consumption

I can seriously squeal in delight if you want me to! I love the modules and the lecturers! ;) I can forsee a barrage of work heading my way especially with eco-development (many assignments) and french (many oral, written, listening tests) but i am happy i listened to my heart and learn things that i want to, irregardless of how difficult it may be.

Well, and i can say after 1 week of getting used to my new hair color, i am very happy with it! Anything new is fun, and so is a change of hair color.

And i just bought 3 dresses from a local e-tailer and i love them to bits! Except that one is quite tight because of the rubberized band, but it really looks very slimming and stunning. I have decided to cut the band to loosen it (destroys the dress) and hide it with a belt instead. WHICH WORKS! *Not going to put pictures here delibrately*

I like new looks, and new clothes. How sustainable is that? It is not! I must think of a way to recycle my clothes, like wear a few times, get sick of the look and sell it before buying another. Maybe that could be a solution...at least it is used by someone.

Some pictures from the UBIN trip
(for more, check facebook although i didn't upload all of them there)


The suspects

The scenary from the boat

Quiet, rustic Ubin-scapes!

Upon reaching and doing the 'touristy' thing

Near Chek Jawa, we saw this tree top shaped outlook tower

Climbed up, and took pictures. At first sedantary...

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To something 'higher'?

At chek jawa broadwalk admiring the low tide view

During high tide, this whole tidal flat is submerged, notice the life saving float?

Cycling back to town

For a scrumptious, super fresh seafood dinner!
Bamboo clams, i never tried them before and they are so tasty and delicious! *craving* But at $7 per piece.

Sail away home..

xoxo, principessa

Ubin Trip, Chek Jawa and DIY home brow bleaching!

It is a truly exciting day. I dreaded to go to Ubin at first because it has all the elements that i hate combined - mosquito + sun + sweat + tan + feeling grimy cos there's no proper clean potable water .

HOWEVER, i am so glad i went!!! It was so fun, with Debbie, Jamie, Daniel, Anna, Nopp and I. ;D 6 makes a pretty party too for cycling, seafood dinner and trips like this.

I will upload the photos soon and i have to say, though Ubin has those elements that i dread combined, it has a special rustic charm of its own. Fresh air and an almost serene environment, and it was so fun cycling around..and once u get natural surroundings, the air is cool and humid and rather comfy on wheels! The trees shade us when we're going around so no sunburn for me (lots of sunblock and mozzie repellant helps too).

I am really really glad i came and i'll recommend people to go too! ;)

Another thing i did today was do my $12.90 DIY Home eyebrow bleaching. I've colored my hair mahogany red this time, so its reddish brown and i keep complaining to myself how dark my brows look in comparison! This cannot be, and is a major faux pas to have dark brows and light hair after a hair coloring session. So what i did with a $12.90 facial creme bleach.......from Jolen



Fixes it all! It lightened my brows successfully and can be used on facial hair or arms or legs to hide unwanted hair too. :) The trick is not to follow instructions, they say leave it for 10minutes, i say its wiser to it with higher frequency instead. So i took it off every 1 minute or half a minute and reapplied, and take it off again until i get the color i want.

Now my brows are lighter, a dark brown instead of blackish brown. And matches my hair color now! :D

A cheap alternative to Browhaus eyebrow tinting that can easily cost over $30 or $35!

xoxo, principessa

I am moving

I can't stand the Singapore heat anymore, i am going to move!

It is too hot, i can't make good decisions, prevented from going out because i shun direct sunlight (they wreck havoc on my skin, more moles more freckles uneven skintone), dread to go out.

No matter how attractive the city is, it is too hot to be true! Hopefully i can get out of this place soon. :( I don't mean forever because this is still my home.

EDIT: I just read the papers today and it confirms my complains, the average temperature in Singapore in 2008 is 0.6 degree celsius higher than the long term average of Singapore! Making it the hottest year so far. Indeed, the scorching sun and unbearable heat i've felt feels higher than usual and i have always been complaining to everyone who wants to listen how i think the weather is hotter nowadays. My worst fears have been confirmed. But whether average temperatures will increase in the long run is uncertain but i have an inkling feeling that this is proof of global warming and it will not get better.

whhhhhhhy! Please move me to a nice cool place with mild weather.. :)