Food Explorer: Red Onion @ Jalan Telawi, Bangsar

Hi and peace be upon you,

Today's not so much on the beauty front. I just got back from a family lunch with the brothers and mother at a Middle Eastern restaurant in Bangsar and thought I should go ahead and post a review while the opinions are still fresh and the tastes still lingered.

Introducing Red Onion, a fusion restaurant serving Arabic, European and Favourite Pakistani cuisines. I for one, love Middle Eastern dishes. There's something about the wafting aroma of spices mix with grilled or barbecued beef, tender stewed lambs that gets me excited!

Picture of restaurant's front taken from Groupon Malaysia

As always, I bought vouchers. This ain't so much a fine dining experience (no elegantly dressed waiter / waitress, no live instrumental playing) but it's a nice change from the usual spontaneous cooking we always do at home. We reserved a table for 4 at 3.30pm. I knew there wouldn't be a lot of people eating today so making a reservation really is such a hassle but I did it anyway because it was the redemption process.

We were greeted with an empty restaurant. It's okay though. I don't even like crowded places to start with but this emptiness was definitely something else. Check out what we ordered.

There were some other additional orders as well as such.. a plate of rice which is RM8 a plate, by the way (outrageous!) but it was sort of justified after a while because you can tell that they used those really high quality rice (basmathi, probably) seasoned with a tinge of butter and salt. And a plate of Egg Fried Rice (RM11).

I especially enjoyed the Green Chicken and the Lamb Dopiaza. Both dishes were served deliciously hot in an earthenware pot and brimming with juicy morsel. Accompanied with the crispy and light naan, these dishes are surefire winners in my book!

Roghni Naan is actually Naan sprinkled with delightful sesame seeds, cooked to crispy perfection whereas the garlic, as you can tell from its regular name, is sprinkled with garlic. But the Naan here is really delicious, I kid you not.

Now to the 'Not So Good' part of the visit. First is the beverage offerings. We ordered 2 mango shakes (RM11 each - small portion for its price, in my humble opinion) and an Orange Juice (RM9), Iced Lemon Tea (believe me, just those measly cheapo Lipton tea in a can that you can buy at any store. It was RM5) and Mineral Water (another cheapo, sold at RM5 here). I actually asked for regular iced water but the polite waiter (good thing he's polite, huh~) said they don't serve regular iced water (like seriously? Plain water is essential to any establishments and it is next to free! How could you not serve regular plain water?). I call this a customer rip-off.

Despite the superb dishes, the service were astonishingly slow considering we were the only people around. We waited approx. 20 minutes for the appetizer to arrive and another 10 or so for my brother's Chicken Tikka order. Specifically asked for them to prepare his meal first because he's a kid and would throw a tantrum. The service time is not satisfactory at all as there weren't anybody else to serve.

The other bad point was that, they forgot my mother's order which was the Grilled Fish. They haphazardly prepared the forgotten dish in around 10 minutes or so (strangely, they COULD come out with the meals this fast) but it looked and tasted like a rushed meal. They fish weren't properly grilled to perfection and it hardly looked anything like in the menu picture. Very disappointing.

Did I mention that it was pretty hot in there? They could have at least turned the aircond a bit colder now that there are customers around but they didn't. Pssh. I knew it wasn't their usual bustling hour but seriously?

All in all, I'll give them a 6.5 out of 10. The restaurant isn't entirely bad. The food was good and the ambience was clean and comfortable. They really need to improve on the service time, provide plain drinking water and do something with the aircond though.

Verdict: 6.5 / 10

Never Underestimate The Underdog - A Visit To Shins

Hi and peace be upon you,

What do I do whenever I'm bored and just want to pass time? Other than reading books, I love checking out drugstores and beauty supplies stores! It's a hard habit to kick. Even when I'm not planning on getting anything, my feet would voluntarily drift off to either Guardian, Watsons, Sasa or Sephora!

Please make a mental note that if i were ever to go missing in the future, please look for me at every beauty supplies stores in the country after checking out the bookstores. ALWAYS the bookstores first.

Shins is another one of those beauty stores but I never navigate there much. Maybe it's the store entrance? I find that spacious / huge entrance entices customers better in terms of whether they will come inside and look around or not. Look at Sephora Paradigm Mall for example:

Picture taken from Chickyfind's blog

I probably was extra bored that day so I checked out Shins at Midvalley just for the heck of it. Note: I'm quite a natural at smiling and telling the SAs that I was just looking around now and give them a polite stare (to leave me alone). No more odd lipbalms purchases hahaha.

The sales assistant at Shins that I visited were very helpful though! Eventhough I dislike the fact that she was hovering over my every movements like a shadow but her helpfulness made up for it. I'm happy with what I picked up and changed my mind about Shins!

Look what I got! No biggie though. Just some essentials (that I've never seen anywhere else)

Short review on the stuff that I picked up:

Freestyle Condition & Lift Comb
1) I badly needed a comb that won't tug on my hair after a shower and this one looks promising. You should read the label at the back. From all the bombastic description, I couldn't believe this was only RM10! Check this description out:

'Nano-Silver technology provides antibacterial protection and ionic conditioning to your comb helping to keep hair healthy and clean.'

Australia brand, mind you. It's quite big as well. The comb is very very close to my face in this picture.

Mik@vonk shadow
2) Saw a nice matte chocolate brown eyeshadow. I picked it up because chocolate brown is so versatile in creating a smoldering eye look and I wanted a matte one to contour and use on my friend for her engagement (I'm doing her makeup, YAY~!) Pleasantly impressed with the quality as well. The price is justified at RM20 per pop. But being the editor that I am, I find the spelling of the brand very odd. This eyeshadow is made in Korea.

3) Eye blending brush - Another surprise. I saw it and instantly knew I had to have it because it's the exact shape and size that I've been looking for! But I put it back on the shelf because it was RM20. However as I kept pacing back and forth, fighting the urge to buy it, the sales assistant cheerily came over and said that the whole brand (Ms. Makeup) was selling at 50% off this month. So yeah, SOLD~! xD

This is a comparison between ELF blending brush, a random Coastal Scent brush and Ms. Makeup brush.

Need to wash it first before using though so I can't do a full review yet. A bit worried about the material of the brush as I dimly remembered what the SA mentioned. I think she said synthetic and natural bristles but not sure either one. Checked on their website HERE that the company distributing this brand is going green and eco-friendly so these brushes are definitely made from 100% taklon bristles! *phew* Oh yeah, I'm not sure where this brand originated from they are distributed in the UK, Australia & New Zealand so it shouldn't be that bad. :)

Did I mentioned how cute the brush is?

I've had a huge change of heart for Shins. They carry pretty great brands as well like Lakme, Ecotools and more! Go check out the store if you're interested in any of the stuff above. And do check from time to time too because they have different promotions every month!

That pretty much sums up this post. I hope you enjoy reading or oggling at the photos. ^_^

Love,
Aisyah

[Review] MAC Archie's Girls Collection: Flatter Me Pearlmatte Face Powder

Hi & peace be upon you,

MAC Cosmetics recently launched their Archie's collection in Malaysia with a huge display and an event with press and all. Even before the collection reached our shore, I've seen a bunch of reviews, swatches and pictures of it from bloggers in the United States that got me excited enough to go sniffing into the local MAC store for the first time ever!

I don't know about you but I've always found that the people at MAC are kind of snobbish. They'll only smile and talk to you after you get your wallet out and starts sprinkling money all over the floor (okay, that's an exaggeration but you get me, right?) It's rather funny really how one's eyes lit up when a customer say, 'Hey, I'm here to buy something, not window-shopping, okay?' and starts flocking over for the commission.

Anyway, I successfully came out of the store with a product that I wanted! It's from the Betty side of the collection: Pearlmatte Face Powder in 'Flatter Me'.

A little about Archie: The collection is inspired by the popular comics & cartoon series in the early 60s, Archie. I didn't grew up with Archie's cartoons or comics but I picked some up to read and fell pretty much into the story and plot. However, I still can't fathom why Betty is all over Archie when he's quite clearly more into Veronica :\ That's pretty sad and one-sided.

Enough chit-chat, check out 'Flatter Me'~! *whistles*

Plastic packaging is sleek white with the image stamped on it permanently rather than plastered on like a lot of MAC's products. I tried scratching the name off and it didn't fade or damaged. The hinge of the compact is also very sturdy so it didn't flop weakly when you hold it. Pretty impressed about that.

Here is where all the squealing happens! Look at all the adorable hearts embossed into the powder! Very pretty! Reminds me a bit of Physician's Formula Happy Blush.

I own one other MAC's face powder but it's the normal kind. This Pearlmatte face powder version is pretty cool and I actually like it a lot better than the normal one that I have. It gave a pretty sheer luminous effect to your skin without the disco ball effect. The colour is also very subtle for darker skin, making it perfect to be layered on top of any peachy / pink blushes.

Swatches

Wet wipes swatches! My bad, you can't really see the sheen like this.

 

On the cheeks, by itself. Rather sheer on my skin.

You can check out more awesome Youtube review from xSparkage. I was totally sold on this face powder after watching her video!

 

Hope you enjoy the short review (but long ranting..lol). I'll be back with more reviews, hopefully, soon. Thanks for reading!

Love,
Aisyah

Full Body Massages = No Modesty Left: A Spa Experience

Hi and Salam everyone,

My mom and I love going for beauty treatments! If you've been looking for a nice place to unwind for massages and facials, you should definitely check out Jemari Spa in Setapak and Samporna Sari Spa in The Strand Kota Damansara!

Read about my short review on Jemari Spa HERE.

I went to Samporna Sari Spa with my mom yesterday, utilizing vouchers I bought from Streetdeal.my. The treatment consists of:

If you've never tried Full Body Massages before, let me break it down for you:

1) You have to strip down to your panties
2) Massage area includes everywhere except your private areas (front and back) and also chest area.

I've only tried facial treatment and a few innocent back and shoulder massages so I certainly didn't know what I was getting myself into. Just an idea: horrific.

First, I stripped down and wore this cloth they gave me. And then I was instructed to lie on my stomach on the treatment bed. Everything was fine until the masseuse tug on the cloth to remove it. My GOD. 0__0 I told her I wasn't expecting this much intrusion of my privacy (not exactly the exact phrase) but she told me this was a FULL BODY MASSAGE. What else was I expecting anyway. While I was on the verge of dashing out of the room with all my clothes, she said, "This is much better than FULL BODY SCRUB. For scrub, we usually stripped you down to the most bare essentials." I don't know what made me stay anyway. Oh yeah, probably the fact that my mom was on the next bed.

I was never entirely naked because they cover me with a towel but still, I was holding on to the towel like my life depends on it. It was THAT awkward. The whole time I was wishing that somebody would just punch me in the face till I'm unconscious so that I won't have to go through with this. The being almost naked and vulnerable part, of course. The massage service, however, was brilliant.

We were massaged using essential oil (add on, RM10 each). Mine was Mint oil while my mom used Lemongrass oil. I didn't detect any minty smell or sensation though. Lemongrass oil is supposed to heal gaseous problems. Guess it worked because the masseuse was burping wind a few times (which indicates the wind is on its way out through the masseuse. Don't ask me, I've never understood the science behind this).

When I was instructed to lie on my back, they put the eye pillow thing on my eyes. Not exactly relaxing. I have the suspicion that this was to actually cover your eyes while they massage your front. I mean, if it wasn't for the pillow thing, you would probably have to avert your eyes awkwardly somewhere. For the front, they massage your legs (thighs included, yikes!), feet, shoulder, neck and also scalp. I refused to have my tummy touched because all my nerves system are there (the most sensitive part). Would probably passed out from too much tickling, I kid you not.

Lastly, we were served fragrant ginger tea that I was tempted to ask the brand of. It was a good session. :)

Did I mention that we came 15 - 30 minutes late? Good thing Samporna Sari didn't cut our one hour slot by half since we were the last customers of the day. Very grateful for that.

Conclusion: Not sure whether I will go for another full body massage. It's too nerve-wrecking for me. The constant realization that somebody else was looking at your body's imperfections and wondering what they think of it. :S But I still love beauty deals and would totally try out more spas!

Baby Baby Noo~

Out of all the things that I would be ashamed to admit, liking Justin Bieber would possibly be in one of the top spots. It's quite self-explanatory really. Bieber is such a phenomenon that there is only two sides to take. It's either you really like him or you hate his guts. Of course in any situation, there'll always be somebody in between and that's where people like me comes in. We like him - we don't necessarily listen to every releases and follow his twitter feed but we do enjoy his music. We hate him - for example, 'swag'. Need I say more?

In every other cases, it's hard to distinguish the 'in-betweeners' because when people make fun of Bieber on the internet, we don't really care to come to his defence. Sometimes, we even make fun of him ourselves. At least, I do.

Anyway, the reason I wrote this post is because people always assume that whenever someone listens to Justin Bieber, that person is automatically a 'Belieber' and loses a few brownie points in the cool department. Another reason is because I kept replaying a few of his songs today and this is my way of making me feel better about my music choices (wtf?)

The said song:

Hey, this one isn't terrible actually. It has this old-school Michael jackson sound back when he was in the Jackson 5.

This one is quite a favourite as well. A duet with Carly Rae Jepsen.

There, I said it. I like his songs. But at the same time, I'm annoyed that Niall Horan from One Direction likes him so much.

On another note, HAAAAIII~! Long time no see! My giveaway is closing tomorrow so go join if you haven't. :)

Love,

Aisyah

CLOSED - WINNER CONTACTED

Assalamualaikum & peace be upon you,

It's me again, the girl who is fond of performing dissapearing acts on her blog. I've been meaning to do this so called giveaway for quite some time now. The last one was back when I was still in university and ever since then, I vowed to do another one once I got my first job. Well, that didn't happen obviously so here I am fulfilling my own promise approximately a year (plus) later.

I'm thankful for every visits and every clicks on this site. It may not provide me with the means of living (Wallahi, I made nothing out of this) but this blog did become my haven when I need a place to escape and oggle at others sparkly and colourful collections and unique lives.

If you want to win some basic makeup stuff, check this post out!

Followers Appreciation Gift

This is the perfect starter kit if you're just starting with makeup! Got nothing to brush you up for the next job interview or so? Worry not, I got your ass covered!

To the products: I've heard plenty of good reviews on CoverGirl Lash Blast and it still is a favourite of many! The ELF HD Blush is absolutely gorgeous, creamy and pigmented so a tube of those will last you AGES! I have one in Superstar and I personally think it beats a bunch of other high end blushes. I picked up the IN2IT Liquid Lipstick in a recent drugstore raid because it reminds me too much of the NYX cream lipstick that I've been wanting to try forever but never actually got one. Mine is in Rust if I'm not mistaken and it is by far the best lip product I've discovered on my own so far.

Soooo, if you're interested to be in the running to win these goodies, make sure to comment below with a 'Count me in!' and any random stuff that would make a stranger smile. Make me laugh too, if you can. Might have a bigger chance at winning if you do, no pressure there. :p

Terms & Condition
- Closes on the 28th February 2013
- Valid for Malaysian & Brunei readers
- Be a follower (Click on the GFC on the right side of my blog)
- Leave a comment below
- PLEASE DON'T BELONG TO A BLOG THAT ONLY EXIST TO ENTER GIVEAWAYS. I'D LOVE TO INTERACT WITH A REAL PERSON, THANK YOU.

That's about it. Good luck & stay beautiful.

W'salam.

My Sleek Orders from Luxola Arrived!

Hi and peace be upon you,

I recently found this Luxola (beauty online store) through a deal they had with LivingSocial. What stir my interest with this website is that, they are head-quartered in our neighbouring country (Singapore) and ships to most East Asian countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and Thailand! To top it off, the brands offered are pretty impressive as well, ranging from high quality 'high street' (how drugstore brands are called in the UK) brand like Sleek Cosmetics and high-end brands like DuWop, Korres, Edward Bess, Mario Badescu and so many others.

I've been wanting to get something from Sleek Cosmetics since forever so I bought their cash voucher deal (RM50 for RM120 worth of products!) right away. Customer service is good. I faced a little difficulty checking out with the voucher code and the staff helped me order the stuff that I wanted. Delivery was surprisingly fast as well! It reached me in less than a week via DHL. Products are packed securely in the parcel.

I ordered a Sunset I-Divine Eyeshadow palette and two powder blushes in Life's A Peach and Flushed. My only regret is not waiting a bit more because the palette that I wanted came back in stock a couple of days after my order was finalized. :( Would have loved a more neutral eyeshadow palette but oh well, I was once interested in this Sunset palette so all is not lost.

Swatches are abundant on the internet but sharing mine for you people! :)

Life's A Peach is definitely sheerer than what it looks in the pan so it is very workable. Flushed is a very pigmented red colour with a tiny hint of shimmer so be light with it.

Both are very lovely formula and I love them!

Sunset palette

Sunset I-Divine is perfect for those who love bronze-gold-orange colour palette to their look. I personally love gold on my lids so this might get a whole lot of use in the future.

Shadow texture is truly divine. They're creamy and highly pigmented, with a shiny-metallic finish (except for the dark grey colour which is matte.

I absolutely understand now why Sleek Cosmetics are widely loved all over the world. They really step up to the plate when compared to higher end cosmetics in terms of quality.

I'm glad I checked out Luxola promotion. A definite bargain! All three of these products for RM50 + FREE Shipping! You can't beat that.

On the other hand, don't forget to donate and help people especially in the recent Gaza attacks. There are plenty of non-profit organizations that are working day-and-night to make sure your donations went straight to our brothers and sisters. Check out some of these organizations (I trust all four and have heard great feedbacks about them):

Viva Palestina Facebook page

Haluan Malaysia Facebook page

Aqsa Syarif Facebook page

Aman Palestin Malaysia Facebook page

It's an ongoing struggle in the land of Palestine so these funds will continue for as long as they need it.

Thank you.