REVIEW: MAC x Lorde Pure Heroine Lipstick

HELLO everyone!

It’s time for my first proper lipstick review! I finally received my MAC parcel after 2 torturous weeks and I was so stoked 😀 I can’t wait to show you guys how Pure Heroine looks. I mean c’mon, it’s DEEP PLUM! You can never go wrong with that. I think it’s the most gorgeous shade of purple!

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Campaign poster for her two-piece make-up limited edition collection in collaboration with MAC – Pure Heroine lipstick and Rapidblack Penultimate Eye Liner.

I first saw the campaign picture above sometime in April (tweeted by GlamourUK) and I was immediately won over. I’ve been obsessed with darker-than-usual lipstick shades recently so this just resonated with me. I also like Lorde and her unique sense of style so I knew I had to get the lipstick!

Due to budget constraint and my preference towards using gel eyeliner, I gave Rapidblack Penultimate Eye Liner a miss.

Unfortunately the lipstick is only available online and selected stores in U.S. But thank god for freight forwarders, I managed to buy this at time of launch on 5 June (yup, was camping on MAC website the entire day!) and get it shipped over to Singapore. If anyone’s interested to know, I used Vpost 🙂

Singaporeans! Find out how to buy from maccosmetics.com here!

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I’m slightly disappointed with the packaging though. Since it’s a Lorde x MAC collaboration, I expected some differentiation in it, like how MAC did for their Viva Glam collection. Right now the lipstick looks like any other lipsticks in the MAC’s permanent line (Pure Heroine is limited edition).

Okay, now time for a swatch!

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It’s kinda like dark violet with an undertone of fuchsia (true to this colour)

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Named after Lorde’s debut studio album, Pure Heroine is a fusion of Heroine (bright purple) and Cyber (very deep purple). It has an amplified finish. Like other MAC lipsticks, it slides smoothly on my skin and lasts a long time.

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What it looks like on an NC35 Asian skin.

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One more 😀 On my eyes is “Classic” from the Too Faced Natural Eyes palette

My verdict: To my dismay, it doesn’t look like what it is on the campaign poster *sigh* so I’m pretty disappointed 😦  I’d say it’s 80% Heroine and 20% Cyber whereas the poster depicts the other way round (which is what made me want to get it 😦 ). This is definitely too bright purplish for my liking.

However if you like Flat Out Fabulous or funky shades of purple, this is definitely something you should get!

Pure Heroine and Rapidblack Penultimate Eye Liner retail for US$16 (S$20) and US$19.50 (S$25) respectively. Both items will be made available internationally on maccosmetics.com in July (exact date unknown).

I spent S$56.20 inclusive of shipping charges for 2 lipsticks (including Pure Heroine) not available in Singapore 🙂 So if you do the math, each lipstick is only approximately S$28 which is still cheaper than a regular-priced MAC lipstick here (S$29). But the wait is terrible lol unless you opt for express shipping.

Thanks for reading!

Do you own Pure Heroine as well? Share with me your thoughts about the product! 😀

Father’s Day Celebration @ Por Kee Eating House

Hey everyone!

It was Father’s Day last Sunday but knowing that every restaurant with a bustling crowd was going to inflate their prices, we chose to celebrate a day after. Moreover I reckon most decent eateries were fully occupied (I tend to dilly-dally a lot when it comes to making reservations lol) so we technically had nowhere nice to dine at.

Just a small rant though… Words cannot express how much I hate these “Hallmark holiday” like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, etc. Although I personally place little to no importance on such made up holiday, I still feel obliged to celebrate because my boyfriend and parents do, especially my Mom who is slightly more 爱面子 (sensitive to how other people perceive her – wow what a long definition for just 3 Chinese characters). Don’t get me wrong, I love my Mom and I don’t mind splurging on her and I always do – every year, without fail, on more significant days like her birthday. But she’s one who would feel overshadowed if her friend’s children threw a more extravagant celebration than her own. She doesn’t blatantly say it but y’know, I could tell from the way she narrates what she heard at the market :\ Green with envy.

And don’t get me started on Valentine’s Day and its annoying marketing tactics. I am attached (like I just planned for my boyfriend’s birthday yo??) so I can say this without sounding like a bitter loner: Valentine’s Day is for people who are dying to prove a silly point that there’s someone out there as silly as them, who would subject themselves to unreasonable price hikes at restaurants? That there are people who would spend $500 on a small bouquet of roses which will wither and die in no time (omg why you kill those poor plants?!)? Or $30 on a huge helium balloon and expect their partners to carry it wherever they go? Omg. I’d bury myself in embarrassment if that was me! There are 365 days a year, 362 days after excluding birthdays and Christmas (it’s not made up so yes), why oh why get all lovey-dovey only on 14 February?!?

If you feel offended, you should. Because I’m talking about you -_-

Okay end of rant.

Back to Monday with ma familia with slightly more special treatment for my Dad. Once again Boyfriend the bigger glutton recommended me a restaurant called Por Kee Eating House 1996. My first impression.. very good, sounds like some zi char place cos my Dad only likes food cooked the zi char way. Typical uncle, you’d say. Hahaha.

Procrastinated again and only reserved a table in the early afternoon that day and phew, I managed to get an indoor (air-conditioned) table. The weather nowadays is killing me!

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Por Kee serves mostly seafood and the prices aren’t very cheap. I almost ordered a Seabass dish without confirming the price but thank God I did eventually coz it’s at least $50 each!! OMG. Quickly changed the fish to a more pocket-friendly one, which was Red Tilapia as it also came in smaller sizes (less expensive).

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Steamed Red Tilapia Hong Kong Style (S$28)

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Hong Kong Kai-lan (S$10)

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I love the Hong Kong Kai-lan! It’s something you wouldn’t expect to hear from someone who avoids veggie at all cost haha.

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Champagne Short Ribs (S$18)

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What exceeded my expectation was the Champagne Short Ribs. I was quite apprehensive about it at first because of the “Champagne” but it doesn’t taste like it at all! In fact it’s quite sweet 🙂 My only complaint is that meat was quite tough, hard to chew :\

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Crispy Butter Prawns (S$22)

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Love the buttery taste on the prawns! If only there were more crumbs 😀

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Crispy Half Roasted Chicken (S$16)

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Roasted chicken came with a salty dip. Without it the meat tasted bland! And yes, we targeted those crackers first hahaha.

My total damage (shared among 3 people) was S$107. Very expensive for 5 mundane dishes but I guess that’s the norm for a classier zi char restaurant especially when they accept major credit cards 😛 It didn’t quite live up to my expectations though because I have definitely tasted something better elsewhere. I’ll probably come back again to try their Beef Horfun, which is highly raved on food blogs!

Thanks for reading 🙂 ❤

Por Kee Eating House
69 Seng Poh Lane
#01-02
Singapore 160069
Tel: 6221 0582

Boyfriend’s Birthday Dinner @ SKIRT (W Hotel)

Hey everyone! My tutee’s mom cancelled my only tuition assignment today so I shall use this time to blog about the birthday celebration I planned for boyfriend. And if time permits, I’ll also write about Father’s Day later.

To be honest, the plan was only thought up on the night before on my bed, before I fell into a deep slumber. I didn’t tell boyfriend this haha. But everything went pretty well with the exception of the last segment where I stupidly bought movie tickets for a show that boyfriend had already watched (Edge of Tomorrow – hilarious movie!).

The highlight of the celebration was dinner at SKIRT, a restaurant in W Hotel located at the prestigious Sentosa Cove. Boyfriend (and myself) had been longing to try Beef Wellington ever since watching 3 seasons of MasterChef. There are only a few places here in Singapore that serve that dish so it wasn’t difficult to decide on the place to dine at. (The other highly-recommended restaurant is Wooloomooloo Steakhouse which I will definitely try if the opportunity arises). I chose SKIRT mainly because of its mid-range pricing but having said that, their food and service are first class.

I made my reservation here in the morning and received a confirmation call about 2 hours before our dining time. At the same time, I was also reminded of the dress code which was smart casual (no shorts, bermudas, open shoes and slippers). I took a quick glance at boyfriend’s (who had no idea where I was gonna bring him to) attire and was relieved that he dressed appropriately haha.

The cab fare from Suntec City to Sentosa Cove was a whopping $22+ lol thanks to peak hour surcharge, ERP and Sentosa’s entrance fee ($2). 😦

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The restaurant was adorned with vintage-looking furniture and enthralling pieces of chandelier which turned into a really gorgeous sight when night fell. We found ourselves the only diners when we arrived. But more patrons started streaming in as we were enjoying our complimentary homemade bread which I later realised was free flow! We didn’t manage to finish our first serving though as our stomachs were partially filled by the cakes at Lady M earlier on. Came with it was a bottle of chorizo lard oil and some dip we couldn’t make out what that was. According to other online reviews it’s supposed to be seaweed dip but it didn’t taste like seaweed at all :\

Flower-shaped bread topped with 2 unusual dips

Flower-shaped bread topped with 2 unusual dips (S$free)

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A glass bottle of distilled water (Acqua Panna 750ml) costs S$12

Duofie with the birthday boy <3

Duofie with the birthday boy ❤

Some pictures of the menu for your reference:

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We waited for quite awhile before our mains and sides were served and were starting to grow a little impatient as we had a movie to catch. But we kept quiet because we didn’t want to be served rushed food. Hahaha so understanding right!?

Came shortly after the bread. The one on the left is BBQ sauce for the steak and on the right is apple bourbon juice, to cleanse your palette. Only served if you order meat.

Came shortly after the bread. The one on the left is BBQ sauce for the steak and on the right is apple bourbon juice, to cleanse your palette. Only served if you order meat.

I’m not an alcohol fanatic but the apple bourbon juice was really appetizing. I think it only has 1% alcohol content.

Dusk was falling. Henceforth, the quality of my pictures worsens as I have lost the natural lighting. My phone is terrible at taking photos in the dark. I should have brought my camera along 😦

Hand-Cut Garlic Fries

Hand-Cut Garlic Fries (S$10 but on the house for us)

We actually ordered Sautéed Portobello Mushroom (S$16; forgot to take picture of it -_-) for our sides but was given this instead (we were contemplating between the two and the one taking the orders probably didn’t catch our final decision hehe). Informed the assistant manager about it but instead of returning the fries to the kitchen, he left it there for us to enjoy while he got our right order out.

We rejected the gesture at first because we foresaw that we would be too full for 2 sides but he insisted that we had it.

“Please have it. I apologise for the error. It’s (the fries) on me.”

Exemplary service!

I’ll give a verbal review on the mushrooms since I forgot to snap pictures 😦 I thought I did though. If I remember correctly, it was a few pieces of portobello mushroom coated with unique black sauce with a sprinkle of green garnish, served in a small plate. They are rather huge! And meaty. I’m not really a mushroom person (unless you’re talking about mushroom soup – different story) so I’ll quote my boyfriend: “omg super savory and yummy”. *thumbs up*

Hereford Grass Fed, John Stone Longford, Republic of Ireland. Tenderloin 250g

My main: Hereford Grass Fed, John Stone Longford, Republic of Ireland. Tenderloin 250g. (S$62) The small thingy on the right is just garlic.

Very, very tender and chewy. Unfortunately I had my eyes set on boyfriend’s main. *salivates*

Beef Wellington

Boyfriend’s: Beef Wellington (S$62)

*angelic sound effect*

Medium rare

Medium-rare

Pastry, according to boyfriend, was a little thin and flaky so it kinda fell apart when we cut it. But it was still good for me. Other than that, the beef… oh my god. WE WERE IN HEAVEN!! I was so sad that I didn’t order the beef wellington (coz we wanted more variety to try) so boyfriend gave me one of his. In return I gave him 3/4 of my steak. Hahaha. We’re still craving for it up to now.

Boyfriend briefly mentioned about his birthday to the one bringing us the bill and we were told to stay put for 10 minutes..

..So that they could give him a cake! Or rather, a chocolate mousse cake. Whoa, so nice and generous of them! Thank you, SKIRT staff!

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Super chocolatey and sinful. (S$free for birthday boys and girls)

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Birthday boy and his glamorous cake.

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Inside the mousse cake is CARAMEL!! My fave. Boyfriend doesn’t like caramel so he gave me the cake but I couldn’t finish it 😛 Eh whose birthday was it again?

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The trainee staff offered to help us take a picture. SURE WHY NOT? Hahaha. But this is a little blur.

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Second take, much better. Boyfriend must had felt really exhausted to give that kind of face.. He definitely needs lessons on how to pose in front of the camera.

Left the restaurant in haste as we were already VERY late for our movie. Boyfriend complained that travelling to so many places in a day made him very tired. But… we went to these places by taxi -_-

Total damage by the way for the dinner was S$178.90. Ouch to the wallet definitely but the great service and food coupled with the birthday boy’s satisfaction made the splurge worthwhile. This restaurant is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

He also got his first Manchester United jersey from me on his birthday! Hope he didn’t outgrow the shirt after all the sumptuous meals. 😛

That’s all for this post and thanks for reading!

SKIRT at W Hotel
21 Ocean Way
Singapore 098374
Website: http://www.wsingaporesentosacove.com/en/skirt
Make reservation here or call +65 6808 7278