Officially 23! | Circa May 2016

I can't believe another year flew by just like that and I am now another year older. Although I don't necessarily feel any wiser than I did a few days ago or the week before, probably won't be making any smarter decisions too.

Just the other day I was reminded by TimeHop about that time that I went ahead and did something completely bizarre near my birthday. It was quite a YOLO moment which made me wonder what had possessed me into being so brave that day.

Tattoo number 2 done at Borneo Ink in circa May 2015

I remember wanting a second tattoo for the longest time but have been too chicken to go do it on my own. Plus I was taking ten thousand years just trying to come up with the correct one to get and procrastinating every day. Anything to delay the process out of fear because I'm lame like that.

Though the weekend before my birthday, I just decided to be brave and just went for it. With the design that I wanted, I drove to Borneo Ink after my chiro appointment and Simon did my tattoo in no more than 10 minutes.

In the end, I super love the tattoo I got which was exactly what I've been wanting for the longest time. Everyday I look at it on my wrist and I don't regret it one bit.

--------------------------==========================-------------------------

Since I did something a little out there last year.... I thought why not make it a tradition to do that every year on my birthday. Even if there is no over-the-top birthday celebration, at least there's this.

In keeping with tradition, I decided to go a little crazy by dyeing my hair. I was super into the Harley Quinn (Suicide Squad ark) look which was what I wanted since I've never tried it before. Plus there's nothing to not love about the crazy and adorable DC character. Actually I had the thought to do this for quite a while but never had the guts to do it quite yet.

So I asked the best friend where she got her hair colour done & she recommended The Scissors Palace in Hartamas. If you've seen her hair then you'll know why I immediately disregarded other salons which I've enquired before and went there on Saturday without a second thought.

Trust me when I say that I was super excited (also quite scared cause what if I don't look good. then super FML cause I can't change it unless I chop all my hair off which is a big NO) for what was about to happen. I was going to get rid of my boring brown hair colour and turning myself into a 'Unicorn' as Davis Wong puts it.

And the first step to getting the hairstyle I wanted was to strip my current colour from my hair. This is JD, who was my designated stylist for the day, just layering the bleaching solution to my hair for the first time. There goes my hair's 'bleach virginity'.

Oh and say hello to Tortilla - the best friend's new hamster. She left him at the salon to keep me company when she went for lunch. This little ball of fluff is seriously quite crazy but super entertaining to watch whenever it caught my attention.

First it was gnawing at the cage doors, just the doors and not other bars because it knows that that is the way out. Wtf, super smart. Then it was climbing the walls and ceiling, becoming a spider-hamster just because and it's weird in a very entertaining way.

It was a long process to strip the previous colour I had on before. Please take my word for it and do not ever dye your hair red because it is the hardest colour to bleach out - not even black could compete with it.

Though, it is the strongest shade and will stay the longest out of every other possible colour you can dye your hair. But still not worth having it in hindsight because to transition from red to something else is damn tedious. Something I didn't know before and also, I mistakenly got the wrong shade

Feeling like a martian.

I honestly do not know what this infrared machine is supposed to do other than make you feel super hot. As in temperature, not looks cause that's virtually impossible. But I assume that it helps the bleach work faster or something like that?

Like I was complaining earlier about regretting dyeing my hair red. Well there's a big reason to that after hearing about the drawbacks of doing so from JD and also Davis. Since they are both exceptionally good hair stylists they do know their stuff which is why their advice is highly appreciated.

Even after bleaching my hair twice, it still isn't white like I thought. Instead it's a hella ugly copper/orange/yellow shade that makes me look like some anime-character-wannabe. And that's as far as they can go with bleaching without my hair breaking because it's brittle as hell from the long process.

Pink & Blue

And now it's time to layer on the colours which means I have to wait for another 30 - 45 minutes again. That's another thing that kind of bugs me about getting your hair done; its basically a big waiting game. All for the price of beauty.

Final product!

After ten thousand years just sitting in that chair - jokes, it only took me about three hours - I'm officially part of the unicorn family. All thanks to colour extraordinaire Davis Wong & The Scissors Palace!

Here's the thing, the end result didn't exactly turn out like I had initially pictured. I mean the pink was spot on to the Harley Quinn hairstyle that I wanted. But the blue didn't turn out as sharp as I was hoping for. No thanks to the ugly copper-yellow colour my bleached hair had become because of my previous dye-job. So this means when layering on the blue dye, it turned green instead with a minimal tinge of blue instead.

Honestly, I was just a tad bit disappointed. But after getting it curled nicely and stared at it longer in the huge mirror in front of me for a bit more; I definitely grew to love my hair more. Seriously this brings out a whole new vainer side of me.

Matching 'out to steal yo man' outfit.

In the end, I even took my hair out for the night because I see no reason not to, especially after having it styled so perfectly well for me. Well technically the best friend brought my lazy butt out for a night of partying to ring in my 23rd year in the only way she knew how - lots of champagne while we hid behind the DJ console. 

Thank you beb, for spending my birthday with me every year since you've been back in KL despite your busy schedule at times. Maximum love. Can't wait for our regular steamboat dates. :)

Got my Harley Quinn on, Bitches.

Actually, I can't be any happier with the end results even if the blue did not turn out as I had initially pictured. But Davis did an incredible job despite the setback and gave me a whole new look - will probably never go back to single shade hair colour anymore.

See you next time, puddings! (;

         

Packing List! || Travel Series by Stickerrific

I don't know about everyone else, but I have a list of things that I just absolutely detest. Not gonna lie, it is not a very short one ranging from the smallest possible thing to something bigger.

Then there's something that I'm sure a few of us are absolutely against and that is packing for a holiday. PACKING YOUR LUGGAGE. Whether it is just for several days or longer, it's the worst kind of anxiety to be feeling just before you leave the house.

Every time before and after packing I just have this feeling like I am missing out something. But for some weird reason I can never for the life of me figure out what is is. Even though I often times over-pack because I am a firm believer in over-packing than under-packing, I'd still feel as if I have left something of importance.

By the time I actually remember what I left behind, I'm already out of the house and on the way towards my holiday destination. It's obviously too late to get my missing item at that point so I'll have to learn to make do. -.-

That's super irritating and there really isn't anything that I can do to overcome this problem. At least not until recently I discovered something that makes my packing time a whole lot easier.

Website.

Thanks to Stickerrific! I heard about this store from Beatrice, the same one that told me about the Calligraphy & Watercolour class.

It should come as no surprise that someone like her would be the one to introduce me to this store since she loves arts & crafts, something which this store offers a lot of things for. On top of that, it's location is rather near to her university so she can drop by whenever she has the time to.

I can't exactly remember why she introduced me to Stickerrific - but if I'm not wrong, it has something to do with the owner's cute kitty which Bea took pictures of one day. So that's how I found out about them and have been following their Instagram feed for the pretty things which is posted every now and then.

Since I've still yet to visit the actual store just yet, I mostly just browse through their items via their website. Sometimes I can spend hours on there just window shopping and dreaming of when I start being more artistic on paper. Plus everything is so pretty that it's rather therapeutic just looking at all the things that are for sale.

All the art tools you need.

These are some of the things you can find on their website. There are also workshops & classes offered too if you're interested in picking up a new skill. :)

Also I really like how the entire page is simply designed without any frills or over the top decorations. AND! Every item is categorized so that it's easier for the shopper to find what they need without sifting through a lot of pages with things that they aren't looking for.

As always, I was just scrolling through the latest product section - since I really wasn't looking to buy anything in particular. That's when I saw something that instantly caught my attention and immediately I knew that this would be something I definitely need in my life.

Even if I am not an avid traveler. Yet.

Picture credit: Stickerrific website

A FULL FREAKING PACKING LIST. All written down beautifully for you without missing out anything, including the things you would like to have in your hand luggage as well. WTF!

This way it would be almost impossible to miss out anything anymore since I have a complete checklist. Not only is the entire thing super pretty, the list is really detailed as well.

Description.

Thank you Artsunami for making this list to help nervous packers like myself to not leave anything behind. ;_;

I got this just in time before I leave for another trip - which I realized a day before I have to depart that it is quite a nightmare having to pack. In the end, I got another pad for my best friend since she travels way more than I do and has almost the same hatred against packing as I do.

What was really amazing about Stickerrific's swift delivery was when the goods finally arrived. Unfortunately I was too excited at work and just ripped my package open before taking proper pictures of it.

After waiting a few days, my order finally arrived! So just imagine a pretty candy-cane coloured string prettily wrapped around the packing list ohkay - that's how it initially looked like. Only I really have no idea how to tie it the way it originally was.

It was sweet of Sze Too to add in a few extra little treats for me. The flowers were mini stickers which I presume is for me to create a travel scrapbook or do something artistic with them. I have yet to find a use for these pretties at the moment but hopefully that will change and until then, they'll stay in my notebook.

Thank you note from Sze Too.

Also, I have probably mentioned this somewhere before but I enjoy receiving little thank you notes with my purchase. Call this a #foreveralone thing but I haven't received them in a very long time and I remember a dear friend Ashlyn writing me several back in college. That made me super happy. :3

And to see that the founder of Stickerrific took time to write a simple note put a big smile on my face. Somehow that makes me feel slightly special. So this, I have to give her lots of points just for that.

Thank you Sze Too! I loved the packing list, helped me so much! 

It is so detailed. There's even a small column for important items that you would want to bring with you in your hand-luggage.

Now I no longer have to spend the journey to my holiday destination worrying about leaving anything important behind. All thanks to this check-list.

I love having lists, even more when I don't have to write them out myself.

Stickerrific instagram feed. 

Also, don't forget to follow them on Instagram to check up on what's their latest product. Or just to see some pretty art and perhaps Sze Too's pet kitties who are adorably named Luke & Leia. They are so cute because sometimes she ties pretty scarfs around their necks and takes gorgeous pictures of them.

Hopefully soon I will have saved up enough to attend the watercolour class that is offered at their store. Which also gives me an excuse to drop by their shop at Jaya One to survey all the pretty artsy things that are offered. :3

Do visit them at: 

Stickerrific,

No. 83-1-2, First Floor,

The Square, Jaya One,

No. 72A, Jalan Universiti,

46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor

​OPENING HOURS
Tues - Sun: 12pm - 7pm

TELEPHONE

+603 7495 5963

Also! For more updates, do follow my blog with Bloglovin.

And that's all folks! See you in my next post which I hope will be about the Sydney trip with ze best friend or something else before if I get too lazy to edit all the pictures until then. :3