Holiday Time!

How have my dear beauties been? I've been in a little of a holiday mood, since my little one is on school holiday. The Belle has not been idle, however. I am in the midst of testing out products for my dear beauties.

In the upcoming posts, besides continuing with Series 2 of essential oils, the Belle will also be reviewing several new items, including a dupe of the infamous Tangle Teezer, as well as products for sensitive skin. DIY projects also work in progress!

I am going to be overseas for a few days getaway with my family, so do keep your fingers crossed for updates when I come back.

See you soon, my beauties!

Back After a Break & Preview

The Belle is finally back after a recharge of batteries. A lot is still going on, but the belle has gotten her engine oiled and is ready to go, so get ready!

Next up will be series 2 of essential oils, which I will be touching on fruit essential oils.

See you back soon,my beauties!

Back to Clear Skies!

I  feel blessed to come back to relatively clear skies.

Once again, I can breathe deeply without fear of choking on the haze.

I can sleep my windows open to the cool night air again. Beauty sleep in peace!

Musings aside, I am in the process of reviewing some lotions and masks, so see you back soon, my beauties!


The Belle is back!

Escape from the Haze!

The haze has been a topic of concern recently, and the Belle has been affected as well.

 I have been suffering from a sore throat and headache the past few days. Not fun at all. I have been using the normal surgical masks when I am out. Looks like I should seriously consider getting the N95 masks just in case, since the haze may continue for a further few weeks.

Luckily, we are escaping traveling overseas for another short trip to celebrate my boy's birthday, so hopefully, the the effects of the haze at our destination will not reach us there. (Or at least be greatly reduced)

Meanwhile, I am working on some reviews. Testing in progress so that I can give my final verdict. The Belle is committed to giving the products a fair chance to work before reviewing.

I know I haven't been exactly regular with updating. This will pass, I promise, when things get settled down for me. Meanwhile, keep the comments coming in!

Holiday-From Sunset to Sunrise

The gorgeous Malaysian scenery as I was travelling by train-pictures speak louder than words...

From going during sunset...

To coming back during sunrise...

 The road travelled during this holiday was not always smooth...

  But it was gorgeous, and worth it. Every minute. 

At first, I thought that there would be nothing much to see, since I had traveled this way to KL many times before as it was the cheapest and most economical way. But I was wrong this time.

I always thought traveling by train was torturous.  I could never sleep well but had to watch in envy as my fellow passengers snored on (and I woke up with every little noise on the train) This time round, I stayed fully awake during both ways back and forth, and was awestruck by the beautiful Malaysian scenery that I had never noticed it before the previous times I traveled by train.

Thus concludes by Malaysia trip. I shall not bore you with the details of what I ate (The Chinese stir fry, or 'tze char' , and the seafood, and the wanton noodles, and the desserts...... cheap and so good...) or the giant candy ball machine at Berjaya Times Square at which my boy squealed in delight. Or, the beautiful value for money hotel room we stayed in. Or...haha... I am rattling on, aren't I?

Time for me to hit the pillows and dream about my next trip. Take care, and see you back soon, my beauties!


(**I know you can see the reflection of my camera in some of the pictures. I left the photos intentionally unedited. Enjoy!)

The Belle is Back!

I am back from my trip, I trust everyone has been well?

Initially, to be honest, I was very reluctant to go for the trip. But, the smiles on the faces of my loved ones made the reluctance vanish into thin air--so very worth the trouble!

(Mostly) Unedited photos of the beautiful Malaysian scenery taken while I was on the train coming up next, so watch this space!

See you shortly!

Be back on the 7th!

The Belle will be leaving for a trip in a few hours time.

(I probably should be in bed. Well, I am.. with my laptop..hahaha...)

Will be back soon with photos and other goodies, so watch this space!

See you soon, my beauties!

Belle's Holiday Plans!

Hi! As you probably notice, my posting has been much slower than usual.

I have been busy with plans for a family holiday, so please pardon me! I will be away until 07/06, so I ask for your patience till then, as updates in between will not be as frequent, and I may take longer than usual to answer to comments/emails. I will try to take some nice pictures while I am holidaying so that I can share them with you. (Erm, in case you are interested?*awkward silence*)

I am in the process of making some tweaks to the website so as to make it more user friendly, so please bear with me! Please do follow me on Twitter @cclearbelle (button on the right:D) for the latest updates.

Meanwhile, please do keep the suggestions and comments coming in, because they really mean a lot to me. If you have any requests for reviews of particular products, do let me know. I will try my best to oblige.

The Belle will be  back soon, my beauties!

Happy Vesak Day!

The year,so far has seen many countries plunged in political, economic, and social turmoil. But I have hope that things will become better.

My wish this holiday: To hear more happy news, and fewer complaints, for we are more blessed than we realize. To feel gladness, and peace. true happiness!

Take some time to appreciate those by your side. Stay positive!

Happy Vesak Day, my beauties!

Happy Labour Day!

Happy Labour Day everyone!

How are you spending this one day holiday? 

The Belle is going on a "rest and recuperate' outing with the family today, and will be back soon!

Meanwhile, stay beautiful, my pretties!

Superiority Complex

Just something that happened during my holiday, which I thought that I would share.

We were taking the night rail back to Singapore, and my son was being a little noisy(which I do regret if he was being a little of a nuisance. But the passengers in the same cabin were mostly charmed by him. Mostly.)

 There was a caucasian lady occupying the bed near to us, and I assume, was irritated by the noise.  She pulled aside her curtains, and, not very politely, said : "Could you PLEASE try to get your son to sleep? I am trying to rest here."

My husband was a little upset that someone was speaking so harshly in reaction to our boy, (who was behaving,like, well, a five year old.) but replied, very politely : "Well, I'm not sure whether we could, but we will try." And thus ended the episode. Or so I thought.

The next day, when we got off upon reaching our destination, I heard the lady in question say : "Thank goodness the journey is over. These Singaporeans have no class at all. Stupid, and uncouth. They can't speak English, and can't even speak their mother tongue well.They use what they call Singlish, which is an insult to the language. Luckily we're not like that. "  She did not notice we were behind her.

Now, friends that know me will probably testify that I will have episodes when I am tired, and start speaking with an American accent. I was exhausted that day, and probably not in a good mood from lack of sleep. I said to my boy with perfect American accent, loudly enough for her to hear.  "Sweetpea, lets move faster. In case we offend someone who is of a different class from us." and then to hubby, "I'm hungry la. let's go for breakfast leh."  She stopped in her tracks to stare at me. We left.

Okay, that was a little childish, I admit. But I feel obliged to speak up when visitors to our fair country look upon us with disdain. Sigh. Our world has modernized, but, have we truly progressed beyond the notion of the White Man's Burden? The superiority complex? hmmm.....

Please don't get me wrong. I do have good friends who are also Caucasian, and they are lovely people. Instances like this are one off events. But still, they do not feel good.

Sorry for ranting. Next up, continuation of the anti-aging series!

 (Pardon me, I know the series on anti-aging is taking awhile!)

Back in Action Again!

I am back home, finally.

Updates will be up as soon as I get my much needed beauty sleep since I haven't slept much the last 24 hours.

Thank you for your patience, and I will see you soon!

Almost Back!

I will be back in two days or so, thank you so much  for your patience!

Meanwhile, please do keep the comments coming. If you have any requests for any topics that I have not covered before, please do let me know, and I will see what I can do.

Meanwhile, take care, and stay beautiful, everyone!

Break for Holiday

I will be going on a one week holiday in a couple of days. (Yay! School holidays so finally the family is able to go on a trip.)

Thee series on anti-aging will be continued when I am back.

Meanwhile, I will still try to post updates during my holidays, but they may not be regular, so please bear with me!

Thank you for your patience, and please do keep watching this space!