Oh, Graduation!

Graduation ceremony was about a month back,
but been too busy with Fide Fashion Weeks and work in general,
so here are the pics,
better late than never!

Ena's Graduation Ena's Graduation

On my way to the venue, at expo. Fringe all pinned up, prepped for the mortar board. Wearing Urban Decay’s makeup fix spray for the first time and it worked wonderfully well. Also sporting one of my current fave lip colour, Maybelline’s Coloursensational in Fuschia Flash. I got the lippy when I was in UK and I think they rebranded it as Bold and Matte series in Singapore. I had on a coat of nude colour as the base so that the colour will stand out better and last longer. 🙂
Ena's Graduation Ena's Graduation Ena's Graduation

First time in a mortarboard! Definitely a milestone in life.
Ena's Graduation

With cutie Shella.

Ena's Graduation

O hai.

Ena's Graduation

It’s me again!
Personally I feel that these western graduation gowns were made to fit the western physical frames better and generally just overwhelm the more petite asian frames. Thank God for heels so that I can bask in my Harry Potter moment, heh.Ena's Graduation Ena's Graduation

With Adeline, from Kizuna trip, who is blessed with long legs! See how it looks like the gown’s made for tall frames like hers? 😉Ena's Graduation Ena's Graduation

With Shi !Ena's Graduation Ena's Graduation

w Sifra and Ashley! Not quite sure why Sifra and I have a shocked expression, LOL.
Ena's Graduation Ena's Graduation

With Des, also from Kizuna trip, who was part of the duo who designed the collaterals and paraphernalia for Graduation! So proud of him!Ena's Graduation Ena's GraduationEna's Graduation Ena's Graduation

Ena's Graduation

With bestie, Bini! :*
We’ve been through 3 years of Lasalle together and
we always talk about how we want our future to be like and
so many dreams and ambitions we want to accomplish.
We’ll continue to hold each other accountable to our dreams and
become the capable women that we aspire to be! <3Ena's GraduationWith Christabelle who is always a ball of fun and never fails to bring the entire room laughter! 
Ena's Graduation

w Ade, Alex and Shao Jie, graduating Kizuna peeps!
It’s amazing how months ago we were all huddling in the cold of Japan and
in a blink of an eye, we’ve graduated!
Ena's Graduation Ena's GraduationA piece of gold paper slot in between each of the graduands’ booklet, folded to be released at the end of the ceremony.
It symbolizes how we’re now ready to take flight.

Ena's Graduation
Probably only in LASALLE where you get dance faculty graduands pirouetting on stage when collecting their certs
and a STOMP performance by juniors at the end of it.
Ena's Graduation
With PriyaEna's Graduation

Our sweet and super patient finance tutor Lawrence who says he never misses a graduation to see his students graduate,
which is his source of pride and joy.

Ena's Graduation

With tutors Lawrence, GIlles and Ginette!

Ena's Graduation

With our class girls and Circe!
Ena's Graduation

Our studio / business management tutor, Gilles!
Thanks for being ever patient with us and giving us unending advice and guidance.
Ena's Graduation
And Circe! <3
For HK trip which was definitely an eye opener for us,
for teaching us how to deal with drama in our lives with a good laugh,
for your generosity, your love for art and believe in feminine power whilst staying as a beautiful woman and wife,
thank you.:)Ena's Graduation

With Pris, who is a wonderful dear, despite dramas and the years in school, remains as sweet as ever.
Stay that way and never let anyone steal your spirit. <3
Ena's Graduation

With Shi again!
It’s always a joy to do grp work w her cause she’s super conscientious
and parties are always fun with her!
Her bf took this pic for us, might not be long before we attend someone’s banquet? 😛
Ena's Graduation

WIth Mum and Pop
Always grateful to them for being cool parents in supporting me to go Arts college and study Fashion
Even tho it’s pretty rad even for my generation.
Mostly for believing in me and giving me the right biblical values in life.
I thank God for my family everyday.
My sissys were at work so they missed my graduation, I still love you guys ya!
Thanks for doting on your youngest sis and I will be happy to be forever your younger/est sis. 🙂

Graduation day was definitely one of the happiest day of my life,
equal parts thankful and happy to have gone through a rigorous study
and emerged not only with a cert that’s accredited by Goldsmith uni
but also a stronger person in my mind and spirit
with a clearer vision of lives and life
and with many friendships which will surely stay with me in this lifetime

Most of all,
Thank you God.
<3

Matsuri Day Beauty Workshop featuring Majolica Majorca, Senka & Ma Cherie

Hello!

Today I’ll be blogging about my experience at Matsuri Day Beauty Workshop about 2 weeks ago. 🙂

Matsuri means Festival in Japanese. I am not quite sure which festival we were meant to be celebrating, but I think it should be the Mid-Autumn Festival or Lantern Festival which was just recently passed!

Once again, I’ll let the photos do the talking. 🙂

Matsuri Beauty Workshop Shiseido
The workshop was held at Shiseido’s office and conference hall.
Matsuri Beauty Workshop Hummingbird Palette
The little hummingbook III and a set of nail polish looking bottles which are actually blush tints! >_<

So I took these photos before the workshop started proper, and I thought those bottles were nail polish. When the time came for us to test and apply the products, I used them on my finger, only to realize they don’t dry up but rather they become a powder-like layer over my names! The girls on the same table and I have a good  laugh over it. 😛

Matsuri Beauty Workshop Hummingbird Palette 2
This is how the little Hummingbird III Palette look on the inside. It has a 3 light eyeshadow pots and 1 lip gloss pot.

The light pink is the eyeshadow base followed by two eyeshadow colours in gold and pink which you can decide to use them individually or together. I don’t like that the eyeshadow and lip gloss pots were placed together as the eyeshadow powder will contaminate the lip gloss pot. I also don’t like the lip gloss colour as it didn’t seem to go with the other colours. But what I do love, is the pretty and unique packaging…

Matsuri Beauty Workshop Hummingbird Palette 3
The palette with musical score which I believe to be accurate. Would be interesting to play it out on the piano!
Matsuri Beauty Workshop Senka
Senka Product Table

The workshop started first with Senka product introduction followed by testing/application. According to the trainer whose name is Louis, Senka means expert or specialist in Japanese and essentially the brand is known to be focus on R&D to produce the best skincare products for Asian skin. Hence they have good quality products without much fan-fare on the packaging.

I won’t go much into details about the products except for the Senka Perfect Watery Oil, which is known to be a makeup remover that also helps to remove and minimize blackheads!

Perfect Watery Oil Senka

Louis was raving about how effective it was and that he used it and it works. So I even asked him if it is non-comodegenic (non acne causing) and he said it is! Out of all the products, it’s one that I’d like to try and thankfully they handed us a sample bottle to try! So I’ll likely try and put up a review after I’ve used it. ^^ Meanwhile, you can check out QiuQiu’s sponsored review on their makeup removers here.

Matsuri Beauty Workshop Majolica Makeup 2013

After the Senka introduction portion, we had our hands on session with Majolica Majorca makeup! I tweeted after the session how I love this brand for its fantasy concept… It’s so beautiful lah! *^^* They remind me of Anna Sui, except with a stronger concept with more story telling. 🙂 Check out their website and watch the video on the site! You can follow their FB page here. This season’s story is reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland with a strong baroque styling. Not exactly the most original concept, but still interesting and captivating!

Matsuri Beauty Workshop Majolica Makeup

My favourite items out of the tray of testers/samples will definitely be the Skin Lingerie Pore Cream with its BB cream like effect and it acts much like a lightweight primer and the golden brown eyeliner, which I also have one at home. I bought it at Watsons sometime last year when I was hunting for a brown liquid liner and the lady recommended me it. It doesn’t have the best of mechanism as it requires one to shake and dispense on a brush tip, but when I mastered it, the effect and colour is most lovely. 🙂 Matsuri Beauty Workshop Majolica Tints

Saying Hi again to the deceptive blush tints, nail polish wanna-bes! 😛

Matsuri Beauty Workshop Ma Cherie

The last segment of the workshop was Ma Cherie, it means my dear in french. Looking at the branding and design it looks just like a French pastry store logo doesn’t it? I guess Ma Cherie wishes its customers to feel sweet and happy when using their products!

Matsuri Beauty Workshop Hair Demo

Louis the skincare and hair trainer showing how to work a Ma Cherie product. I think this was a hair curl setting spray.

Matsuri Beauty Workshop Ena and Friends

Taking a photo for memories with the ladies on our table! Wei ling, Huihong, Winnie & Huili! 🙂

My review! 

Out of all the workshops/events I’ve attended thus far, this has got to be one of the most light-hearted and enjoyable event, much credit due to Louis’ good humour and entertaining demonstrations! It was also really nice meeting new friends who are also makeup lovers! Thus the time during the session just flew past. 😀

It’s surprising to me that Shiseido would invite 30 female guests down for a free workshop and offer so many of its products for free testing. But I reckon it works out for them if after the session 1/2 of us or more would actually buy their products after testing and potentially become loyal users. This is especially so if there are also existing and similar Japanese brands such as Hada Labo skincare and Liese haircare in the market who are stiff competitors. Also, I got a chance to attend the workshop by taking part in Majolica Majorca’s Facebook contest and was 1 of the 10 winners. So it’s also a strategy of giving back to the fans, thereby reinforcing brand loyalty. 🙂

I don’t love every single item that I tried on that day, there were definitely some hits and misses. But for what it’s worth, it made me fall in love with the Majolica Majorca Skin Lingerie Pore Cream and want to try the Senka Perfect Watery Oil! That’s a pretty good desired effect from a participant, I reckon!

Oh, as a note to self,  it might also be a good idea to bring a small set of usual makeup so in case there aren’t some holy grail makeup items to achieve my desire effect, such as my eye makeup, at least I would have backup… I didn’t that day and took the longest time using Majolica Majorca’s makeup (which are not close substitute to my usual ones) to draw my eye makeup. >-<

So with a face full of makeup (which is rare for me, since I usually don’t put full on foundation) I decided I’d snap more photos!

Ena reviews Majolica Majorca Makeup

After the Nth time to get a good angle.

Ena reviews Majolica Majorca Makeup2

Still a bit dark.

Ena reviews Majolica Majorca Makeup3

Changed a spot to get the light on my face. 🙂

Ena reviews Majolica Majorca Makeup4

Anotther one. Panda eyes, Duck smile!

Ena reviews Majolica Majorca Makeup5

Retarded smile! 😛 Angles are so important for face selfies, really!

Ena reviews Majolica Majorca Makeup6

Gotta love my tiny eyes and funny faces! ^^

And yes, I’ve probably worn the exact outfit and necklace combination more than thrice. What do it, it’s nice like that right? 😛

xx

Ena

Blogging for a Living by Grace Tan Book & Workshop Review

 

I first found out about Grace Tan’s new book Blogging for a Living when my aunt shared with me her Facebook post about it, along with an exclusive offer for a free 2 hour blogging workshop for the first 20 that purchased the book from her.

After reading the Facebook post, I promptly paid (Ibank) her for the book and signed up for the course mainly because it is one of my dream to be a book author (along with many of my other life ambitions, heh!) and as a fellow Singaporean blogger, I wanted to support her and also read what she has to say about Blogging. The workshop was simply a bonus and I am really glad I signed up, turned up and met her in person (see her post hereb.). More about that later, I will review the book first followed by the workshop! 🙂

Image
Blogging for a Living by award winning Singaporean blogger Grace Tan

I will not divulge all the tips and tricks that Grace shares in the book, so that you will pay a small cost of ~$22 (slightly more with gst) at major book stores (see below for listings) and support our local author! 🙂

But I will share some parts from the book which I found to be very interesting for me, and hopefully also interest you to get the book. 🙂

Grace Tan’s Tips for blogging success (Summary):

1. Discover your passion. Blog about what you are passionate about so that it does not feel like ‘work’ and will be sustainable in the long run.

Ena: I can’t agree more with her, the reason why I am able to sustain this blog is because I love what I do here. Whether it’s a beauty product review, fashion apparel outfit of the day or restaurant/food places recommendation, I blog about them simply because I enjoy doing so and sharing about them on my blog to my friends and readers!

2. Do something different. Focus on your strengths and who you really are and convey that through your blog. Grace is famous for interviewing entrepreneurs, celebrities and millionaires for her blog. So find a way to make yourself and your blog memorable.

Ena: This is a point that I am still working on, I don’t think I have a very strong unique selling point (USP) that distinguishes me from other Singaporean lifestyle blogger. But I do think right now that my blog name – Ena Teo – is quite unique. I hope in time, people can begin to remember my name, face, blog name and for writing articulate, in-depth and honest reviews about fashion,  beauty and more. 😉

3. Emulate your way to success. In short, what you want to know about blogging, you can figure out from studying other, more established blogs.

Ena: This is a point that I’ve applied many a times on my own blog. Whenever I am in doubt, I’d reference other blogs and essentially, my blog is a result of my version of the best features that I liked on a few of my favourite blogs. 🙂

Another excerpt from the book, from an interview she had with Silver Ang:
“Also don’t start a blog because you think it will earn you good money. It is a lot of hard work if you don’t enjoy blogging. You want good money? Go into the banking and financing industry. And don’t think that that’s going to be easy either.”

Ena: As a part-time blogger, I can assure you that blogging is not an easy feat. Don’t expect money to drop your way just by writing and posting photos on your blog, that is if you even do that consistently. Just like any other task in life, you reap what you sow. A blogger has to be consistent and diligent in creating good content in order to reap rewards, whether in kind such as products, services or even cash. At this moment, I don’t make a single cent off my blog and in fact I’ve put in some money into this blog, to pay for my own domain. But I’ve reaped rewards in sponsored products sent for reviews, invitation to events and most rewardingly, a community of WordPress bloggers and friends I’ve made through this blog. 🙂

One last excerpt from chapter 9 “Different ways to monetize your blog in Singapore”:

Write a book. If you have the expertise, you can also write a book and get it published, or sell it online as an e-book; it is a great way to earn passive income off your work!

Ena: As an aspiring book author, I have some ideas on what I’d like to write about, mainly about topics such as fashion and beauty which are of keen interest to me. But it’s been simply a “dream” I’ve yet to put any action to. So meeting Grace in person is an inspiration, to know that someone has done it before me and as Singapore entreprener Adam Khoo would say, “If I can do it, so can you!” Although in this case, it would be, “If Grace can do it, so can you!”. This is a principle I’ve always adopted in life – if I want to achieve something, I’d look to someone who has done it before, and be convinced that if someone has done it before me, surely I can as well! 🙂

Overall book review: 5/5

I’d give this book a 5/5 for it’s content, delivery and layout. For what it’s worth ($22), Grace has shared so many helpful tips in the book that even with many years of blogging, I still found more than 50% of the content to be new and inspiring. It definitely helped that she has interviewed 7 other Singaporean bloggers (Patrick Liew, Celestine Chew, Silver Ang, Alvin Lin, Renee Lorentzen, Daniel Ang & Melissa Koh) who generously shared their experiences about blogging. I love Grace’s writing in the sense that it reads pretty much like how she’d speak to you in person, like a friend. No boring corporate speech but very friendly and engaging. Lastly, the layout was very easy on the eye and there would be lightbulb graphics to emphasize on certain topics of issue of note. If I were a complete newbie to blogging, I might even add a star * to 5/5 because she even has screenshots to detail step by step how to create a blog. That’s a lot of effort for your convenience. Overall, this book is definitely value for money, although I think if there was a special discount for students, it would be even better. As $22 isn’t a lot for me as a working adult but it would be for a student. 😛

Do go by her blog to check out a Book Hunt giveaway with total $1000 worth of SK-II products. 7 winners will be chosen with at least $100 product each! >>http://workingwithgrace.wordpress.com/2013/08/16/book-hunt-for-s1000-sk-ii-products/ Contest ends 12 October, so gotta hurry! For list of places to buy her book, see below. 🙂

Now onto the 2 hour free workshop I attend along with 5 other bloggers!

 Grace Tan Blogging Workshop Review 22nd Sept 2013

From left to right: Joanna, Nasri, Carol, Leesa, Grace, Myself and Steven.

Overall workshop review: 4/5

I’ve got to say, my favourite part of attending the session was definitely meeting Grace in person. She is simply one of the most down to earth and honest person I know. She simply speaks her mind, gives excellent advice based on her real life experiences.

To be more specific, her advice for getting more traffic to one’s blog is to make opportunities to appear in mainstream media, such as Television (although, who still watches that? :P), newspapers and radio stations. This will greatly increase a blogger’s credibility and awareness. Perhaps it’s not simply about appearing in the media, but to also own the bragging rights to have appeared on the media, as a badge on your blog and book. 😉

Another practical tip she gave on how to be a better blogger is to commit to blogging consistently at least once a week. This is something I have a lot of problems with because I have no obligation to blog, and thus it makes it difficult for me to make a commitment:P However I do see the potential that my blog has, to grow to be a platform known for good recommendations and in-depth reviews for readers and thus I am definitely inspired from the workshop to take my blogging more seriously! Grace is very driven to make a proper/full time income/living off her blog. She sees how every effort she makes towards her blog as a business strategy and opportunity for income and that, is something that is really not easy for many.

Lastly, I am most inspired about how clear she is about living, that she desires to do the things in life that makes her happy and not to waste any moment of it. If there was only one thing I could take away from the workshop, it would definitely be that I want to be able to make decisions that will guide me to a happy living – whether physically, emotionally or spiritually. The reason why I didn’t give the workshop a perfect score is because the session was a tad too long, would be great if it could have been 1.5 hours instead of 2. 🙂

Here’s my review of the workshop, also seen on Grace’s blog:

Jia En, Digital Marketer and Blogger: “I like that I learnt how to be consistent in blogging by making a commitment – like blogging every Sunday. Thank you Grace, I really appreciate your time and sharing”..

It’s actually longer than that, but I guess you have the full version above already! 🙂

Do check out and like Grace’s Facebook page.

xx

Ena

You can purchase the Blogging for a Living book at these places here:

1) MPH

Raffles City: 6336 4232

PARCO Millenia: 6336 4232

Robinson Road: 6222 6423

2) Kinokuniya [website]

Singapore Main Store (Ngee Ann City)
Tel: +65 6737 5021

Liang Court Store
Tel: +65 6337 1300

Bugis Junction Store
Tel: +65 6339 1790

Jurong Store
Tel: +65 6430 0868

3) Times [website]

JCube: 66844150

Jelita: 6466 5702

Tampines 1: 6782 7017

Centrepoint: 6734 9022

Marina Square: 6334 4650

Paragon: 6836 6182

Plaza Singapura: 63368861

4) Popular Bookstores -> Full list of contact numbers HERE

 

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Ena Recommends Nam Nam Vietnamese Noodle Bar! :)

So on the same night that my friend and I went down for the Sephora Beauty Night out, we had a late dinner after the event at Nam Nam Vietnamese Noodle Bar @ Raffles City Shopping Centre!

Here’s a quick review of our dinner!

Nam Nam Vietnamese Noodle Bar @ Raffles City Shopping Centre
This is the view of the store from where we were seated. I tried my bestest to capture the Nam Nam sign board but the light box made it impossible for my IPhone camera, hahaha.
Nam Nam Vietnamese Noodle Bar @ Raffles City Shopping Centre
I like how quaint the entire decor and vibe of the noodle bar was. Although right smack in the CBD area of Raffles City Shopping mall, one still feels as though she could be right next to the vietnamese road side. And of course, here’s the old school tiny cup that came with the coke can!
Nam Nam Vietnamese Noodle Bar @ Raffles City Shopping Centre
This was my dinner of the night, beef pho and typing this at midnight is making me saliva very badly. I LOVE IT. I am not quite sure if it’s because I was hungry or it was delicious, I believe it is more the later. What I loved about it was definitely the delicious fish sauce flavour and the lime in the soup. The meat was tender and the noodles were cooked perfectly.

I did not manage to take a shot of my friend’s dish which was a stir fry beehoon and I tried a bite and it was DELICIOUS. I did not expect it to be so delicious. So I am going to go back to eat that dish the next time.

Now time for my review!

Taste: 5/5 

As I mentioned, I loved my pho as well as my friend’s stir fry beehoon. The ingredients like meat and noodles were cooked just right and I love the authentic flavours in the dishes!

Price: 3/5

I think at SGD$9/10 per dish it is definitely on the pricey side, for a basement venue at that. But for the taste, I think it is still worth it. For young working adults like myself, we probably will head there once in a while.

Service: 3/5

 I think the service was fast, considering it was 9pm and still packed. But they could do better with more friendly staff as some of them seemed quite shy and not articulate in english. I think language barrier is not that big an issue but rather the friendliness was lacking. Maybe they are worn out from the day.

Decor & Ambience: 3/5 

I love the decor, but the ambience was not great because of the tiny space, guests are seating right next to each other so we could hear the conversations on our side and vice versa. Definitely not the place for meetings or catch ups but if you want to grab a good quick dinner with old friends, yes.

Overall verdict: 3.5 /5

Yes, if you’re a fan of Vietnamese food like me, go for it! But don’t expect the world. Though the taste is great, I would think it’s on the pricey side and expect service and ambience to be like that of the roadside stalls but interestingly situated in a mall basement. 😉

If you want to visit them, here are  the details:

NamNam Noodle Bar
Website: http://namnamnoodlebar.com.sg/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/namnamnoodlebar?fref=ts

Raffles City
Address: 252 North Bridge Road, #B1-46/47, Raffles City Shopping Centre, Singapore 179103
Contact: +65 63360550
Opening Hours: 8am – 9.30pm (last order)

Wheelock Place
Address: 501 Orchard Road #B2-02, Wheelock Place, Singapore 238880
Contact: +65 67351488
Opening Hours: 8am – 9.30pm (last order)

xx

Ena

Sephora Opens in Suntec City Mall

This is a pretty late entry (I will try to blog more promptly in future), but back in early Sep, 5th of September to be exact, I accompanied a friend with Sephora’s White Card (VIP member card) and went down for Sephora’s new store launch at Suntec City Mall. 🙂

I’ll let the photos do the talking and end off with a review of Sephora’s Suntec City Mall outlet launch event, also named “Beauty Night Out”. If you’ve read a post I wrote previously on “My Business Ideas“, in it I wrote that I’d love to have a beauty (makeup and skincare line) some day, so attending these events are not only great for my current job networking but also research for the future, heh. 🙂

Sephora Suntec City Mall Opening 1
Pardon the blurriness, not easy taking a clear shot with one hand. That was a goodie bag (box to be exact) tag for guests to claim at the end of the event. I forgot to take a snap of the box, but I will review a part of the box, to be explained later.
Sephora Suntec City Mall Opening 2 Lancome
Several makeover booths by various brands stocked at Sephora. Each with obvious branding, this being Lancome. Surprisingly, there were not many queuing, I guess most came with made up faces!
Sephora Suntec City Mall Opening 3 Lady Jayne
I have no idea what brand Lady Jayne is. I will google and share with you my findings. I am proud to say that I am proud of my google skills. Haha. #random

Ahh.. It is a hair accessories and styling brand from Australia. For more about them, check out their website http://www.ladyjayne.com.au/. They have a SG Facebook page here.

Sephora Suntec City Mall Opening Benefit Clinique
Makeup booths at a glance, Benefit, Makeupforever and Clinique. And ostensibly bigger crowd here, but what you can’t see from this angle are the Ciate nail booths before the makeup booths.
Sephora Suntec City Mall Opening Ciate Bar
I think these were my favourite part of the entire pampering offers! Ciate is an exquisite nail polish brand with quirky nail ideas like Caviar manicure and chalkboard polishes, for example. As a beauty user, I tend to trust and buy a brand after testing, so this in my opinion is great for guests. However, I was not in the mood that day to actually test them, as I didn’t want to squeeze with the crowd. :/

Because I think you’d appreciate me sharing with you images of Ciate Caviar Manicure and chalkboard polishes, in case you have not seen them before!:

ciate_caviar_manicure_pink
Don’t ask me why they needed to put the tiny balls on the lips when it’s only meant for the nails.
caviar-manicure-11
So pretty isn’t it? 🙂

You can buy it on Amazon here at USD$25. (You’re most welcome.)

ciate-caviar-manicure-set

You can get the white one here and black one here, on Amazon.

Those cute little black ribbons just kills it doesn’t it? Makes these cute little bottles so charming!  I am a sucker for ribbons, totally.

Sephora Suntec City Mall Opening Ciate Nails
Nope, those obviously weren’t my hands. But proof that the booth though well equipped with sample / tester bottles, had too little space than demand required.
Sephora Suntec City Mall Opening Fragrance Bar
A nifty frangrance bar offering engraving services for guests who purchase fragrances on that day. I think that’s a pretty neat service and will KIV this thoughtful service for a gift idea someday.
Sephora Suntec City Mall Opening Ice Cream Bar
My second favourite part of the event, ICE CREAM. I die. The ice cream wasn’t perfect, I had mango flavour which was so-so, but any event that has free ice cream immediately scores high on my books. I won’t deny that I have a sweet tooth.
Sephora Suntec City Mall Opening Nail Bar
Ok, I will admit, I did not quite get this. It says “Get Nailed” but it’s a legit alcohol serving bar! So I was expecting it to be a real nails pampering bar, but I think they meant more like get nailed/drunk. Sorry I am not fancy enough to get it the first time (if that’s what they meant). Haha! Wasn’t in the mood for wine that day (next day Friday still have to get to work) so too bad!
Sephora Suntec City Mall Opening 11
Sephora invited several local TV and theatre celebs down as well as a what seems like tertiary cheerleading group down for a performance followed by rah-rah entry to the store’s grand launch.
Sephora Suntec City Mall Opening 12
Sorry again for this being blur, as a result of me being highly amused and equally shy to be walking down the red carpet while flanked by cheerleaders cheering and smiling on like we were runners onwards the last lap towards the finishing line!
Sephora Suntec City Mall Opening 13
And a finally clear shot of the store front. The huge Sephora eye palette like wall/stand is where they stored all the goodie boxes for guest to redeem before leaving.

My thoughts:

The Good

It’s always nice to start off with what was good, or great. I thought the free makeovers and nail booths were very generous indeed. I liked that the venue was spacious while still feeling cosy and the handful of local celebs and another handful of famous/semi-famous (depends on how you look at it, if you know them they’re famous but if you don’t then they are not) bloggers like LadyIronChef and Melody Yap and many more makes one feel good to hobb nobb with an exclusive crowd. I also had my star moment, meeting Oon Shu Ann of Tried and Tested on Clicknetwork.tv and I wanted to take a picture with her but also shy and afraid I’d disturb her. (So unlike me, I know.) I liked the free flow of sweet bites and drinks. And the atmosphere of the event was very appropriate for an opening, understandably very enthusiastic with a host and video crew to engage the crowd’s interest throughout the night’s event. The goodie box, without a comparison, was not bad with several tester size products. I took an Urban Decay pouch and passed my colleagues the rest. I will try to review the tester products! 🙂 The photo-booth was really cute, if not for the fact that I wasn’t dressed for the occasion (I woke up that morning and forgot I had to attend the event) I would most certainly have posed gamely for it.

The Not so sure

I can’t say that I enjoyed the rousing cheer leading performance and the lead into the new store. It felt like it was a civilized version of a Lion Dance that got me very amused. I am not sure what stores usually do for openings, but I do think a local band performance with cute male and female models/talents flanking the grand opening entry will be more palatable for me.

For those of you who don’t know what a Lion Dance is, you may check and watch the above video to acquaint yourself with something quintessentially Asian, and perhaps soon to be dying traditional and cultural form of dance.

The Bad

As a VIP card holder’s invited guest, my friend (the card holder) and I were disappointed that we were given a goodie box, without a bag to bring home while we saw the media folks bring home what seemed like a very generous bag 4 times the size of what we had. As a marketer by day, it is a lesson I will learn for any brand/s I may manage now or in the future. I think VIP guests (and their friends who are likely to convert to VIP guests as well) are a big deal to any brand and they should not have to feel slighted at any event. Perhaps the organizer should take note to separate the guests and media event, so the former won’t have to feel slighted by the latter. Also, please, provide a bag for your guests so they won’t have to go to another store and be offered by the store with their bag. Which is what happened, my friend went to Royce to get chocolates and the nice store lady offered us their paper bags.

Additional Thoughts

I generally like Sephora’s clean and sleek image with a black and white colour theme so that all the pretty beauty and skincare products will stand out against their simple scheme. However at times, it can be intimidating when the space is empty (i.e. no one is around) and I will tend to want to exit as fast as I can as I don’t feel comfortable just browsing casually. I also understand that it’s Sephora’s branding policy to keep their brand element consistent, but I can’t help but feel, am I the only one that gets bored of brands that look the same every where? I much prefer H&M’s concept, to jazz things up a little with each venue, so no two shops look identical. What do you think? 🙂

Visit them at Sephora’s Suntec City Mall Address

3 Temasek Boulevard
#01-314/315/316 Suntec City Mall S038983
Opening Hours Daily: 10:00 – 22:00

You may like to visit Sephora website, FB page and their Tweets.

More about Sephora, from Insing:
With more than 750 stores worldwide, Sephora is a chain beauty product store that carries over 250 brands of items including makeup, fragrance, hair products, skin products and more. They also carry their own private label lines that feature beauty tools, travel kits, bath products, make up and much more.

This is not a Sponsored Review.

If you’re from Sephora or a beauty brand and would like to invite me to your upcoming beauty event, simply drop me your invite at enabalista@gmail.com. I look forward to your invite! 🙂

xx Ena