Q&A: All about Organic Shampoo

Many of you may not know, but surprisingly one of the top read post here is on haircare. I guess everybody is looking to have great hair...like mine. Hehe. 

So along with reviewing some organic hair shampoo, I will be doing a Q&A to answer all the hair questions you have been asking and asking!!! Yea, this is really something different but I hope it is still enjoyable. :D

1. You tried different types of organic shampoos. This time you are trying out Chorus Supernatural. So what's the difference between them all?

I go for the smell of the shampoo. I like walking out of the bathroom smelling like a blooming flower. And when I flick my hair, I want the waft of my scent to linger in the room. I tried the Chorus Volumize Rosemary Mint and the Chorus Volumize Mandarin Ginger.

Chorus Supernatural by far is one of the best smelling organic shampoo. Between the 2, I prefer Rosemary Mint because I like my scalp to feel fresh if you know what I mean. :P

2. Is there anything that you didn't really like about Chorus Supernatural?

It just didn't foam. And that made me a little insecure. I kept adding water and pouring more shampoo. But yea, it is not a foaming shampoo. Personally I love mine with lots of bubbles. I just feel that without any lather, the head doesn't feel clean. Maybe that's why I like the Rosemary Mint better. 

But on the other hand, I really like the traveling pack sachets. It came with a zipper! Yes!!! How cool is that. No leakage and you don't have to use it all at once!

3. I would like to try using organic shampoo. Anything I should take note of?

Well, organic shampoo looks pretty much like normal shampoo. One thing you really need to note is that it strips off the silky effect cos it has no paraben. So, your hair may end up looking frizzy or dry. But that is really the true condition of your hair. (i.e. skin without make-up)

And because of this reason, many people stop using organic shampoo thinking that it is actually harming the hair. But you will soon realise that the use of organic shampoo prevents hair loss and maintains the overall state of your hair.

4. Help! Every single time I use an organic shampoo, regardless of the brand, my hair goes really dry like you warned. Why does yours look fine?

This is the number one question every one asks me and I think I have answered it many times through the various posts. And I honestly declare that I never use fully organic products at any one time. By that I mean, I mix the products. Organic Shampoo + Non-Organic Conditioner or Non-Organic Shampoo + Organic Conditioner. 

One thing to note you use organic shampoo, you cannot be lazy and avoid conditioning because your hair will grow frizzy. Mine did! And many people commented about it. Not everyday is a good hair day for me too. :(

5. Your curls are lasting annoyingly long. What are you doing to them?

Nothing. I just try to feed them hair oil. And condition them. Curls feed on oil. You already know the products I use and what I did to them. Here's how they look after 9 months! Maybe I am just lucky? 

We have come to the end of the Q&A and I hope you find this refreshing and informative. Feel free to ask me more questions if you have any on my hair and I will answer them if I know the answers :D I will do a skincare one next!

Art Tour: Artist and Empire Exhibition

And yea so the art fart in me went to 2 museums in a single day. I split up the posts because I didn't know how much you guys could take. We never really had so much sports and arts at ForFunk but I guess I changed, and hopefully you guys are enjoying the new change. There is really so much more depth isn't it?

The photo is taken by my brother at Chijmes when he was waiting for the BF and I. Pretty gorgeous place to visit if you are a tourist and to marry if you are a bride. Hehe. The art exhbition we went for is at its neighbouring building - National Art Gallery.

You guessed it right. We went for the Artist and Empire Exhibition. Visiting the museum for all locals but you technically have to pay if you are visiting the exhibition. But because the art blogger has written (yea right), it is now free entrance for all. It is already the last week so grab this opportunity to go and snap a few OOTDs.

Speaking of OOTDs, this place is gorgeous. The view at the top is awesome too. I don't think my photos do justice to it. But if there are brides taking their wedding shots there, it must be truly one hell of beautiful. Take it from them if not from me. 

I am going to start off with something more anticipated and it is the "Victorian" pieces. I guess it is every girl's dream to dress in puffy skirts and lust at men in suits exuding power and wealth (not that we are in colonial times). I am rather in love with an era we only read in books.

On a more queer note, I thought Sir Stamford Raffles actually looked pretty hot in his younger days. The BF didn't agree with me. :( There was a sculpture of his face, when he was older, which actually looked like he balding at the sides. Not mocking our founding father, but that piece was kinda of hilarious. Spot it if you can. 

There are other pieces that are really famous not it isn't as elaborated as we would imagine it to be. Those were the pieces in my humble layman term, "eye-catching" and wants you to probe and read more into it. They were mostly about war, exploration but it usually capture an essence of humanity that draws you closer to the picture. 

My personal favourites were the "Man on the Horse" and the "Man and the Kangaroo". The "Man on the Horse" just captured exasperation so well while the Kangaroo photo is just something the mind doesn't usually conceive. And of course the statement pieces are always too huge to be missed.

Maybe my brain is craving stimulation because I did notice myself being drawn to art of a more varied medium. My only grouse was that we couldn't touch the art. Yea, I am a real touchy person. I was so curious about them, I swear really wanted to have a feel and figure out what were the medium being used and did the artist do it...etc.

I probably can't replicate it but I take pleasure in knowing how the piece is created. Like always, I am still very in love sparkly and bright coloured objects even, art. And I did note that I like mystical pieces as well. The beauty about galleries is that I always find a new part of myself. :D

Once again, I surprised myself taking interest in the more "Asian" water art. Sometimes I think it is an age thing? I seem to be slowly gravitating to things I associate with "old" and "mature". I must be changing but I hope this is because my mind have been opened by the various arts I have been exposed to. 

I have always said that I lack a "classy appreciation" of the art. But I still stand by my point made earlier and during my younger days that the presence of art is really to evoke certain emotions and bring focus to certain issues in the society. Since it is free, i think it is great if you guys would go for a stroll and enjoy the aircon. 

Who says you need to be really good at art interpretation to enjoy art. There is after all the description at the side to get the "real message" of the artist. :D

And here's a sketch I drew to end of the post in a more light-hearted note!

Touring Intan Museum

I woke up at 9am to go to a museum. Unbelievable but so very true. I am sure many of have heard of the Peranakan Museum. But what about Intan (Meaning Rose-Cut Diamond)?

So Intan, in my opinion is an immersive museum, where the owner actually stays in the "museum" itself. All the displayed items are his collection. Comparatively to the museums we all know, there are no boards of information. Just ask the owner, Alvin anything!

Houses are not huge (bigger than Hong Kong but still smaller than our neighboring countries). You will be surprised how packed Intan is. There is something in every corner and a photo in everything. One thing I really like about the tour was it was very homey and relaxing. You could pose questions without feeling small or stupid.

Because the place isn't very big, each tour last about an hour or so. In case you are wondering, my photos are only of the first level. (And there's so much to explore already). The second floor is more of a treasure trove of beaded works. 

I would really suggest readers like you to give it a go. Imagine sitting in those exhibits and getting to touch them! It is so damn awesome. It is like truly walking into the 60s. Perhaps one thing would have made the whole a lot more interesting was if we had gotten a chance to try out the traditional costumes.

Another highlight of the tour...you get to taste handmade traditional kueh. Quite honestly, I preferred the Kuehs at Begawan Solo. Cos handmade Kueh are like the healthy version and my taste buds prefer things that are more diabetic. Goodness me!

Unfortunately as this is a sponsored tour, I am not sure of the price. I have linked the musuem so you can actually contact them yourself if you are interested. I am likely to bring my own group there next time. So you can favourite this site for updates in the meanwhile.

There is a new post on another museum coming real soon. So stay tune if you are more into the traditional museums. :D

First "Xylvester Girl in Asia"

For a person with only one head, I have a lot of pairs of shades. #Shady. But in my defense, I share my shades with my family and the BF. This also mean I have all the rights to have 5 pairs of sunnies. I gave a few away and so now I can present you Shade No. 5 (For all you know I call all of them Shade No. 5 like a Chanel No. 5 hehe)

This pair is a little different from the usual I own because the design is just so uncommon. The sides of my sunnies are made of wood. Yeap, you saw me right. Made of wood. If you think this is not fancy enough, you can check Xylvester out, it is a sunnies buffet (but not at a fixed price).

I like everything about Xylvester except it came in a sleek pouch which made me sweat a bit. Cos I really didn't want to receive it broken in the mail. It was wrapped in layers of bubble wrap. I am guessing this pair of sunnies is one hell of durable. But I still changed it to a fat case because you should always treasure what you love right?

My pair of shades is called the Fabiole (just in case you wanna trend with me). This shade is polarised with 100% uv protection (Don't go for anything that is not because it will damage your eyes) and has an anti-scratch coating. That is particularly important for me because I do wear specs and only swap them for photos. So my shades and galsses are always prone to damages. So the anti-scratch would definitely help to increase its lifespan.

You will definitely be seeing this shade with a lot of other looks. (But I didn't want to flood you guys) It can even fit a guy if the width of his face isn't too wide. (Like my Bro) But yea this is how I paired it when I went with my family to Gardens by the Bay. Even bumped into my BFF and her Mum there who caught me acting like a vainpot on a cloudy day. Oops there goes my image.

If you are looking for a nice pair of sunnies that is not too common in Asia/ Singapore yet, you may want to consider Xylvester. They are a Spanish Independent Eyewear Brand. They have different styles from retro to innovative chic deigned glasses. And they are of really good quality. :D

And because I am the first "Xylvester Girl in Asia" (I coined this marketing term myself), here's a discount code "XChaa" for a whooping 20% off. And psst, free shipping for Singapore, Australia and New Zealand too. Huat liao people. If you are not from any of these countries, please let me know and I will see what I can do as the first "Xylvester Girl in Asia" (making myself sound like a superhero now) :P

Running Hero: Beyond Limits

Remember one month ago, I spoke about my 8Km race. My medals are finally here so I thought it is about high time I pen my post on my experience. So I was a Running Hero for 42 Race in one of my previous posts. You can read more about them here.

To set your image of me right, I am quite a running novice. I only became more active this year. I became a hero because I wanted to challenge myself. But one thing I did so damn wrong was I started on a marathon - Road & Trail 2017 that was made for the experienced runners and I lack the practice. 

I am not going to lie, the convention was particularly difficult for me. Firstly, I was very self-conscious. I keep having this nagging feeling that I was being judged (even if no one was even judging me.) I couldn't do most of the exercises and there were many times I wondered...so what am I doing here...

This was dragged over 2 days so it gave me time...to actually contemplate to give up. When I was considering the options I had, there were more reasons for me to not turned up. Imagine 3 hours of pure humiliation/pain/sweat etc. versus 3 hours of quality time spent with the BF for pre-V-Day celebration. In fact, I was dreading it so much I was 15 minutes late for the race. 

The first 2 rounds were definitely the hardest. There were so much negative inner voices and my ego took huge blows every time the road ICs indicated a round number greater than mine and I had to correct them. :( I felt a lot like a loser and did plotted to drop out somewhere.

But...on my 3rd lap, a kind mid-tier runner paced me and I felt a lot better when he told me "You don't have to be fastest cos there will be always be someone faster. The point is to complete the race." And so complete the race I did, and I even bring the favour forward, I paced someone slower than me because I knew how it felt when you know you may be last...alone. 

I completed the race despite my friends' disbelief and the medic trying to stop me at the first round. This is one of my proudest achievement in my life even though the timing is mediocre and one of my most humbling learning experience. I always don't always give 2 hoots about what most people think. But now I realise that is because I know I am good at it and has a relative good chance of making people eat their words back.

The truth is if you don't give up and keep pushing yourself forward, you will go beyond the limits you set yourself (even for things you suck at). I hope me sharing my experience with you will let you know the inertia to keeping fit you have is not exclusive to you, yourself. You may have to build yourself around more supportive people and try to persist. Remember, you are not alone. Good luck!

Rings and Bands with Pantheon Silver

Ring talk :D Recently, I got a very nice though slightly small ring that I would like to share with you. Sorry, I missed the V-Day cos in retrospect, this would have made a very good gift from the guys to the ladies.

Pantheon Silver has quite a selection of accessories which is affordable and comes in a gift box. Personally I felt that the style of their collection leans towards being more classy. So the ladies can actually wear it even when they are older. 

Generally, I like all the the different accessories. But I picked a ring cos I thought I would wearing it more often. The rings are free-sized. But I didn't expect them to be so dainty. And so, it can't really be used as a promise ring but it makes a very pretty present for a child too. Initially, that was pretty disappointing. I chose not not to extend it but wore it on my pinky and is now liking this new style :D

I didn't realise it until now but I was sent the wrong ring. Ooops. Hahaha. What I am wearing is the Regal Sapphire Ring. The ones that caught my eyes were the Coroana Blue Sapphire Ring and the Asta Corona Ring. Don't really have much of an eye for detail, LOL, see is Sapphire and I was like :D

*Jiang Jiang* Actually I have tubby fingers so thin rings don't usually look nice on me. But if placed on the pinky, it is quite stylish too. I think if you want to accessorise more, you can also put on another silver ring on the middle finger (For me I might wear my midnight iridescent ring). I have been wearing the ring a while, washing my hands with soap, doing manual activities etc.

And I am pleased to say that none of the tiny stones has fallen off and the silver hasn't tarnish yet. I am not sure why but my fashion accessories always tarnish really fast after a wear. But of course, they are also a fraction the price of Pantheon Silver . I guess what you pay is what you get...

With my silvery nails, I think it looks awesome. But let me know if you think otherwise or if you think the other rings suit me better. It is kinda of too late to make the exchange right..

Tea Time with Newby Teas

I sort of procrastinated for V-Day this year because I really had no clue of what to get for the BF. Feeling kinda of lucky cos I won the Zodiac Mini Caddies from Newby Teas. Yeah! Before you guys go wow, I only won 2 out of the 12 caddies (BF and my Zodiac), not the whole collection la. 

I am more of a tea drinker than a coffee sipper, but lately I am taking coffee as my choiced caffeine cos I need to perk up in a shorter period of time. I have tried Newby Teas before and I don't think they are a familiar brand to many of you guys because they are a trade brand, supplying to hotels, restaurants and cafes. You just might have tasted them before.

The Marketing Manager, Serene was very nice and gave us some samples to try out. I am pretty excited about it because there is no better way to know a tea than to taste it out for yourself. This morning I tried the first one Ginseng Oolong. From the name, it was possibly my least favourite flavor from the samples she gave.

I think Oolong is alright but I have little love for Ginseng. The good news was it tasted pretty good leh. At the first cup, it was not overpowering. It is a light scented tea and had consistency till its second cup. And my cup is not a tea cup. So I am having pretty good vibes about it. If the worse is alright, the rest should be yummy. :) Will update if otherwise. 

And for many of you who are curious about the caddies, oh my goodness it is so pretty. With the midnight blue tins, the Swarovski crystals shine like stars. I am not sure for you, but it makes me wanna drink tea every day. And the caddies, I am sure everyone is going to end up keeping it as mementoes.

When I was looking at it for the first time, I thought it made very good corporate gifts too for clients who are really into alcohol. Each caddie comes in a very sleek packaging and is relatively affordable. Any tea lover would be sure to be quite intrigued to receive this. The BF seems happy with his present too :D *Bright approving smile*

Here's a photo of me attempting to be a tea model. Eyes closed cos I am barely awake savoring the tea. :P Because Newby Teas is an e-boutique, I thought I should be nice and pass you guys the Marketing Manager's contact details if you would like to contact her direct.

Serene Su

Email:serene@newbyteas.sg