Beauty Adventures at Prestige Eyelash and Brows (Part 1)

It was an exciting moment when I was invited to try the services at 

The Prestige Eyebrow and Lash Specialist

Pacific Plaza #03-08

9 Scotts Road, Singapore 228210
Phone - 6733 3369 / 6733 3379
Website - www.PrestigeEyebrow.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PrestigeEyebrowSpecialist

They offer a wide range of beauty services for both ladies and gentlemen and I was excited at the prospect of getting my lashes done. I checked out their website and was pleasantly surprised to see great reviews. It made me feel a little more secure that I was putting my face in the hands of the experts. Having done eyelash extension once many years before, I had a preconceived notion of what to expect. My prior experience wasn't what I'd call magical as my lashes kept hitting the lenses of my glasses whenever I batted my eyelids. It was not very comfortable to say the least and a handful to manage. So I allowed the strands of fibre extensions to meet their timely demise.

The shop itself was in an royal Roman theme of gold and red finishes. I love the roman-esque touches on their chairs and counter and their uniform even comes with a cloak. I mean, how cool is that right? How many people get to work in attire like that? As a customer, it's almost like walking into a theme park.

I had the opportunity to meet Irene, founder and fengshui eyebrow design specialist.

The very professional and assuring Jacqueline attended to me. She was very patient and easy to talk to. First she did a quick analysis of my lashes, followed by an explanation of the types of eyelashes they have.

As you can see in the picture below, 4 different types are available with varying thicknesses and lengths. The thicker ones are fibre lashes while the finest is Mink, followed by the Silk type. They also come in Long, Medium and Short to suit our preferences.

I decided to go for a natural look with the Silk lashes in medium and short lengths. I'm really impressed as they are able to customize my look. They offered options of Dolly look with longer strands in the middle of the eyes to create a wide-eyed effect. The other option was a fan-like Glamour look reminiscent of pin-up girls, with longer strands at the outer tips of the eyes.

THE PROCESS

So, for reference's sake, I'm posting these untouched pictures of me without eyeliner and mascara to show my original lashes which seem to sprout sporadically and randomly. (It is recommended that you arrive with minimum makeup for the treatment.)

Jacqueline carefully brushed out my lashes before putting a base under them. She then painstakingly glued strand by strand to each individual lash. In the first picture below, only my left eye is complete. Notice how much fuller and longer the lashes are.

I also love how they curl upwards. WHEEeeeeee...time saved on eyelash curler, mascara and on occasion, fake eyelashes as well!

Anyway, what's a review without before/after photos. Here is a recent picture a few nights before I went to enhance my lashes. 

And here are some post-enhancement photos. I look visibly happier!

POST-CARE

The lashes are easy to care for. The experts recommend using a lash brush to tidy up the kinks and messiness on a daily basis. 

DO NOT use a cotton pad to remove eye makeup unless you enjoy a sticky situation, literally.  I use a gel-based eye makeup remover that rinses off, followed by a cotton bud along the lash line to remove eyeliner. 

Do not rub your eyes as this may tug at the extensions and result in loss of lashes. In case you do need to dry your face after washing, just dab with a towel gently.

I wouldn't recommend swimming or wetting your face as water gets trapped between the lashes and makes opening the eyes difficult. I have however, perspired profusely during hot yoga and the lashes were unaffected. 

 As a natural process, a few strands may drop over the process of a few weeks. To maintain the full look, a touch-up may be needed in 4-6 weeks' time.

So, in summary, this beauty enhancement saves quite some time on mascara and I can look great even without makeup. Even though it's only eyelashes, it does make a visible difference - less eye shadow is needed and you can even skip the liner if you are in a hurry. A touch of eyeliner at the tips to is all you need lengthen the eyes for a everyday look. For added effect, I dab on some mascara at the lower lashes and use a fine gel liner.

The Silk lashes are really lighter than the fibre ones I used to have before and they are so comfortable I forget I have any on. The effect is totally natural and they blend in with my natural lashes.I would recommend Prestige Eyebrow and Lash Specialists to anyone seeking immaculate care and shortcuts to their makeup routine.

For more information about their services or prices, visit their website

 www.PrestigeEyebrow.com

You can also want to watch this video to find out more about them

Do make advance appointment as they can be fully booked weeks in advance.

Gold Coast Day 2

With time on my hands and no plans, I had searched the Australian Groupon to get ideas and this is what came up.

Gumnuts Half Day Farm Stay

http://www.gumnutsfarm.com.au/

Gumnuts Farm Resort
400 Biddaddaba Creek Road,
Canungra, Queensland
AUSTRALIA 4275
Tel: +61 7 5543 0191 Fax: +61 7 5543 0668

Staying at Surfers Paradise meant I had to make a 45min journey to reach the farm. It was a great drive and my trusty iPhone5 did a great job directing me to my destination. The route is pretty straightforward and there are great views too! The only drawback was the gravel dirt track for the last 15min of my journey. My 1.3L Mazda clearly wasn't cut out for the road and I was crawling at a snail-ish 15km/h.

Tip for drivers: Do get a car charger. The iMaps app sucks up quite a bit of battery. Sometimes, reception in these rural areas is 'iffy' so the 4G may let you down. Best to get some general directions before venturing off. 

Gumnuts is a huge place with a vast expanse of land. They have about 30 horses, several goats, some cows and a cute free-loading wild possum who stays in the roof of their shack. He comes out for food and eats from our hands. Apparently, he is partial to their Australian breads. After he has his fair share, he will retire to his corner on the beam of the roof and wait for dinner time.

When I reached, I was brought to visit the goats and cows first. Theses goats have a knack for escaping so they chain up some of them to prevent them sneaking through the holes in the fences. They were like dogs and looked rather happy.

Feeding time! When you step in with a bowl, suddenly you're one popular guy. The goats throng around you in anticipation of tasty morsels. That said, they are one choosy herd. They were picky about which part of the cabbage they got to eat and they specially liked fruits! 

I like the speckled one who behaves like a dog. Maybe being pregnant makes her a little twitchy. I found out from the farm hand that a goat can be bought for AUD40. 

This is Daisy the cow who has a head-butting habit. Her horns are shaved down because she doesn't like the workers on the farm and likes to rib them from behind. She has really pretty eyes and lives on the farm with her son. I tried to milk her with some success. So the technique is to really squeeze the teats from the top to the tip, applying moderate pressure starting with your index finger. I felt slightly weird having to handle her udders. It was warm and the teats were coarse and dark, but aha! some milk did come out after a few attempts.

This is her son who wasn't very friendly. He was in the enclosure with another two cows. One of them had a calf who died and since then, she hasn't been able to produce milk. Many people see cows as just meat; but when we hear stories like this, we see that they have personalities, thoughts and emotions too. And death and sadness affects them adversely just like humans. Maybe it's time to really cut out steak from my diet. It's really hard to eat that piece of meat and interact with them. Makes me feel like a bit of a hypocrite. 

Part of the package includes traditional whip cracking and boomerang sessions. I definitely have little talent in these departments. Whip cracking involves quite a bit of triceps strength I discovered. Speed is needed to land the leather whip hard upon the grass before a satisfying crack can be heard.  When done properly, the crack resounds and echoes throughout the area. It is used to call the horses back to their stables in the evening. After having to dodge my own boomerang and whipping my own back and arms several times, I decided to call it a day.

Now we get to my favorite part - HORSE RIDING! 

As you can see, I have specially brought a light long-sleeved top for the ride. The sun was really a killer and even though I had almost doused myself in sunblock, I still got a tan. Do bring along protective gear against the Aussie sun! As we had Japanese tourists in the group, we were accompanied by former Japanese workers of the farm who would visit to ride the horses. 

Much of the boring reluctant ride was up the hills into a sparse forest. The horses didn't seem to enjoy it and mine kept stalling. Much nudging and kicking was needed to coerce him to move on. Only at the end of the ride were we brought into an open field to do a bit of trotting. In total it lasted about an hour, but for AUD39 for the whole day, it really is a steal! Thank you Groupon! heh heh!

Incidentally, my horse has a quaint habit of wearing shoes. We're talking about shoes that covers his hooves. I was told that without those, he refuses to move! 

The whole trip was really worth it. If you are like me and enjoy nature and animals, do take time out of your Gold Coast trip to visit a farm. I had such fun on this trip and am totally falling in love with Gold Coast. Where else do you get the sea, the sun, the mountains, the animals and yet retreat to the safety of a city at night?