Ask Naomi #1 How To Know If You Are In Love

If you don't already know, I've set up a new email where you guys could send me your problems and questions to ASKNAOMINEO@GMAIL.COM. Basically I will select one or more questions to reply anonymously on Thursdays.

Disclaimer - Not trying to say that I know it all or that I guarantee to give the best advices, but these opinions are just based on my personal experiences. And I sincerely hope I could help most of you by doing this.

Hence, please do not be offended if I were to say something that you don't feel the same towards. Everything I say here comes with no ill intentions. (I mean c'mon, I don't even know majority of these people who emailed me, personally.)

Without further ado, here's one question I chose to answer today.

Thank you so much for the support. It really melts my heart to know that there's actually someone out there who believes in me and supports me in the things I do.

Here's what I have to say with regard to your situation,

Firstly, I guess it was a good thing that the both of you weren't romantically involved in each other's lives, knowing that he was attached back then, cos it would've made things a lot messier.

Moving on, "I have this event and since his crew. was involved I texted him asking if he would be present. Instead of giving me an answer, he told me he just broke up with his girlfriend." From his rather "irrelevant" reply, I feel that he was definitely trying to hit on you. (Please note that this doesn't mean that he's serious about you.) I mean unless you guys have been conversing on a regular basis, that shouldn't be an "opening message" to someone. Informing you about his break up was a clear sign that he wanted you to know that he's single.

"Then we texted for a few days. Flirtatiously. I know this sounds...... 'cheap', he invited me to his home." Well, I wouldn't say you're cheap. After all, being young and inexperienced (as described from the earlier part of your email) it's inevitable to wanna explore and try things you haven't before. I guess by reciprocating to his request, it does seem that you show some interest in this guy as well.

"We only made out...... I don't know why but I felt really affected by this, I constantly this about him." Thinking of someone most of the time could just mean that they gave you something memorable to ponder on. Girls being girls, it's even more normal to be perpetually thinking, especially about a guy who made an impression in our lives. In your case, by giving you your first kiss.

"He hardly replies my text, this happens even before we made out..... He never starts the conversation and such." These two reasons alone are sufficient to prove that this guy is probably not that into you. With affection comes effort, if he doesn't feel the need to text you first (not even once).... Then as crude as this may sound, he doesn't need you in his life either.

All in all, it's human nature to feel attracted to the people we can't get or show us the least attention in most instances. The little sparks and butterflies in your tummy would sometimes get the better of you, leading you to think that you're in love when you're actually not. In other words, how you feel towards him now could possibly just be a moment of infatuation. Sometimes, we get carried away and our emotions get swayed by simple, yet temporary things. It's just like how we have crushes, but they may not necessarily be permanent. Today you're mesmerised by his charm, tomorrow you might fall head over heels for someone who's even better.

Often times, we conclude things way too fast before we could even settle down, compose ourselves and figure out how we really feel deep down.

I can't decide on your behalf whether or not you're "in love" with this guy, but I know such fuzzy feelings are hard to ignore. It's like an irresistible temptation that keeps you wanting more. My advice to you is that you should just cut him off entirely (don't even bother being friends, cause trust me, it's gonna confuse you further) Don't even bother wasting your time. Leave, and if he comes back you know he's true. However, don't ever wait in hope that he will come back for you. After all, as the old saying goes, expectations lead to disappointments.

The problem with most people is that they "give it a try" too many times before they finally realise it's not working out and by then; with more memories, attachment and feelings, it's gonna be a lot harder to leave. So leave while you could.

Since it's your first time, just take it easy! It's fine to "not have an ex" If your friends judge you for that, be like...

And don't ever find a guy who uses you as a substitute for his loss, if he could go right to you after his break up, you can't assure he won't do the same to you! 

Anyway, all these are just how I feel and what I would do if I were you. You'd have to make the final call whether to stay on or not. After all, I don't know who he is and how he is like and I may be wrong.

Whatever it is,

But yeap! I hope you'd get to see this and I'd be glad if it helps. :)

Best of luck!

Send in your questions today to ASKNAOMINEO@GMAIL.COM.

Lipcolor balms are my new favourite!

As promised from my last review on drugstore products, here are some of my favourite lip balms I got from Silkygirl lately!

If there's one drugstore makeup I've been using for the longest time, it has gotta be Silkygirl. My best friend used to rave about their products which was how I got introduced to these bunch of cheap and good stuff. Tried their blushers, eyeliner, eyebrow pencils, mascara previously and I've been particularly loving their eyeliners and eyebrow pencils as you can see from most of my makeup stash. Hence, I couldn't resist trying out their new Moisture boost lipcolor balms the moment I gotta know about them too!

Once in awhile, I get cracked-lips from the oral isotretinoin I consume for my skin and it takes up an unnecessary amount of time to exfoliate my lips and put on some vaseline right before I apply lipstick most of the time. These two extra steps can be quite a hassle on days where I'm in a rush. Also, lipsticks can be a little too overwhelming sometimes, especially on those days where I have slightly heavier eye makeup on.

Which is why I decided to share with you my new favourite - Lipcolor balms!!!

With its sophisticated, sleek and retractable packaging, the Silkygirl's Moisture Boost Lipcolor Balms definitely captivated my attention from afar.

Pacing back and fro, I had a really hard time deciding which colour to go for, among the variety of choices. After a couple of minutes, Rose, Ruby and Poppy were the ones I selected. Definitely a range of fun colours suitable for everyday-wear.

Here are the swatches of the three colours I picked.

With the benefits of a lip balm, not only does it contain Vitamins A, C and E and moisturises my lips, it has excellent colour payoff and doesn't wear off easily.

With sufficient amount of the lipcolour, you'd probably only have to touch up once throughout the day. Another reason to love these crayon-like lip balms is because of how precise they are. Not to mention, since it's rather sheer and creamy, I can easily glide it over my lips without a mirror unlike how it's a must to check out the reflection when I apply lipsticks, due to how prominent the colours are.

Most lip balms give off a waxy, sticky texture after application, which to a certain extent, feels uncomfortable to me. However, when it comes to the Silkygirl's Moisture Boost Lipcolor Balm that feeling would dissipate after a few seconds as it melts into my lips.

Twist to use, like how it works for any usual lipstick! In other words, no sharpening required.

My favourite colour has gotta be Rose since it goes really well with my current hair colour, and it's definitely something I'd wear in the day. I'd also pop Ruby into my bag if I decide to switch it up a little when it comes to night time.

Last but not least, they comes with a 4-No formula: No fragrance, No paraben, No carmine, No animal testing unlike many other lip products. Yet another few reasons to have this.

I would say it's something I'd have as part of my makeup routine, even on days when I'm lazy to put on much makeup, this would come in handy just to give my face a pop of colour.

It's retailing at Pharmacuetical outlets such as Watsons, Guardian and departmental stores at the price of $11.90 only!

Makes me happy when I get such a great bargain :p Feel free to comment and share with me your thoughts on the Silkygirl's Moisture Boost Lipcolor Balm if you've tried them too! :)

You may also participate in the #boostofcolor contest and stand a chance to win a SilkyGirl hamper worth $100! All you have to do is to post a picture of your lips on Instagram and hashtag #boostofcolor! Contest ends on the 7th Sept and the 3 winners will be announced via @Gushcloud_SGInstagram. All the best!

How to get smaller pores with drugstore products!

Besides eye makeup (excluding eyeshadow) and lipsticks, I hardly touch any face makeup (foundation, powder etc) from our local drugstores such as Watsons or Guardian.

Not because I've too much money in hand to spend a few hundred bucks on high-end brands all the time, (cause I don't) but it's just that I've really sensitive skin and as much as possible I'll avoid buying things that I feel skeptical about.

I have no idea why or when I started to have such thoughts drilled into my head, but I always had a bad impression of makeup that are lower in price. I guess just like many other people, we have this misconception that expensive stuff are always better than cheap stuff. And cheap stuff are only cheap for a reason - Which is that they aren't good.

Most of my face make up cost an average of $50, and they can range to as high as $90. Hence, I feel a lot poorer each time I walk out of Sephora.

I tested out a decent amount of brands to know how my skin works and what I look best in by now... And since my skin condition got a lot better recently (thanks to IDS) I thought it was time I gave drugstore products a try; and that's when I went on a hunt at Watsons and Sasa the other day.

 My great monthly expenses on high-end products, as mentioned earlier on, is yet another reason to give drugstore-products a try. I mean besides it being a very "Singaporean" thing to get cheap stuff, we are all looking for alternatives to spend lesser whenever possible. If $50 could get you 10 bottles of foundation, I'm guessing there's no reason why one would rather spend that $50 on one bottle instead, if both products work pretty much the same way.

Just because it's expensive and "branded," they may not necessarily work for you nor your pocket.

Moving on...

First, I restocked some of my fav products from Silkygirl; such as their eyeliner in brown and black, eyebrow pencils, and their new moisture lip balm as well, which I will talk about in my next post. Moving on, I also got some super lustrous lipsticks from Revlon, that I love love love! Last but not least, the only face product at Watsons that caught my attention was the new Olay Total Effects Pore Minimizing CC cream stacked neatly on the front shelves of the store.

As you can see, I've extremely visible pores and that's probably my biggest worry when it comes to skincare problems. After all, pores unfortunately become more visible with age. And based on some information I've garnered online - once enlarged, pores can never return to their original size. *Screams*

I honestly would go without any foundation or BB/CC cream if my pores weren't that obvious, but they are this bad probably because my skin's  rather oily and I didn't conscientiously take time and effort to take care of my face in the past = Sebum = Wide pores.

That being said, besides looking for skincare products to help reduce my pores, I've always been in search of makeup that could do the job.

The Olay Total Effects Pore Minimizing CC cream, combining 7 benefits in 1, claims to

1. Evens skin tone appearance
2. Minimizes the look of pores
3. Enhances brightness
4. Visibly smoothes fine lines and wrinkles
5. Reduces the look of spots
6. Hydrates for a firm look
7. Replenishes moisture

In case you aren't certain of what CC Creams are; They combine anti-aging (AA) benefits and beauty balm (BB) to create an all-in-one beauty solution. Olay CC Cream also offer longer-term correction benefits, to reveal the 7 signs of youthful skin. - See more (here)

I'm pretty darn amazed! I'd love to say that I'm right about how cheaper products don't work, but I have to admit that I'm wrong about this for sure.

Retailing at SGD32.50, I think I've yet to come across anything cheaper than this with better benefits. I tried out many other pore minimising products before and they usually either don't work for me or have a really thick consistency. In the end, it just looks really obvious that I've layers of makeup on. 

Olay Total Effects Pore Minimizing CC Cream however, with its many perks and airbrushed finish, are the reasons why it's the highlight of today's post.

I've been using it for a week now, and if there's one thing I'm not really fond of, is that it doesn't really last me through the day (given how I spend at least 8 hours outside on a daily basis) due to its light texture. I guess I can't exactly put the blame on the product after running a full day of errands. Nonetheless, I do like it for how it evens out my skin tone, moisturises my skin and gives me a flawless finish with its pore minimising effect. Not to mention, it doesn't grease up halfway through the day unlike many other products - When you have just the right amount of sebum, it helps protect your skin. But if your skin has too much of it, you'd end up battling acne, and if it has too little sebum, you could end up with dry, cracked skin. Therefore, since the Olay Total Effects Pore Minimizing CC Cream moisturises and it's non greasy, it'll work just right.

Something I'd recommend if you're looking for something close to a tinted moisturiser, with definitely more benefits. Good for everyday use and since it's just 50g, you can pop it into your bag and easily touch up along the way without it caking up. Pretty light in coverage though, so it's something you'd have to consider if you're looking for something that's able to cover up spots and blemishes.

Comment and let me know if you have other ways on how to get smaller-looking pores! :)