My Life Store is a newly set-up online business based in Singapore with a passion for wellness and a strong belief in the goodness of natural ingredients. It offers quality lifestyle products like 100% pure essential oils, natural skincare solutions and vegan nail lacquers. Some of the brands include Essence Vale, Naturelle d’Orient, SpaRitual, Sundari and VitaMan.

Two weeks ago, they asked me whether I’m interested to try out one of their popular products – the Argan Oil. And I said, “Sure, bring it on!”

Okay, to be honest, I don’t really know much about Argan Oil. So, I Googled it and this is what I’ve found:

Wikipedia describes it as oil produced from the kernels of the argan tree, endemic to Morocco, that is valued for its nutritive, cosmetic and numerous medicinal properties. It remains one of the rarest oils in the world due to the small and very specific growing areas.

Some websites describe it as “liquid gold” and the “ultimate cosmetic product”. It is rich in Omega 6, Omega 9 and Vitamin E, a powerful antioxidant. Argan Oil has fantastic anti-aging properties and it can also help to hydrate, nourish and protect almost every part of your body.

But good product usually doesn’t come cheap. Argan Oil is produced under tight control and restrictions, plus its rarity, thus leading to its high cost.

This is Naturelle d’Orient Argan Oil – it is 100% pure and organic certified. It is suitable to use on face, body, hair and nails. This is how we should use the product:

Face:

Apply few drops on a perfectly clean skin. Gently massage avoiding contact with the eye. For a better effect, a monthly treatment is advised every time it is needed.

Body:

Ideally after a scrub, “warm up” the oil in your hands and proceed with a massage with large movements. Ideal for giving a well-being sensation and for toning up, protecting and regenerating the skin. Use one to three times a week.

Hair:

To recover strength and shine to your hair, apply to the tips 30 minutes before shampooing. You can also apply it for an all night long treatment. Use once or twice a week.

Nails:

To strengthen your nails, give them a regular regenerating bath in a mix composed of equal parts of Argan Oil and lemon juice (soak for 15 minutes).

I started to experiment with the Argan Oil as soon as I received it. I have cracked heels due to my dry skin and frequent wearing of open backed shoes. So, I apply the oil on my heels and put on my socks before I go to bed. Amazingly, my feet feel so much smoother after a few treatments.

Sorry, I can’t post the before-and-after pictures because my cracked heels are too ugly. (I don’t want to affect your appetite after reading this post).

Next, I try it on my hair. I just had my hair colored last week, so I need to nourish it after the chemical process. I massage a few drops of Argan Oil onto my hair, focusing on the tips and I shampoo it half an hour later. My hair feels so soft after the treatment.

Initially, I was a little skeptical about applying the oil on my face. You see – I have oily skin and as much as possible, I avoid using skin care products that contain mineral oil. Nonetheless, I decided to give it a try.

I wash my face and dry it with a clean towel. Then, I put a few drops of Argan Oil on my palm and gently massage the oil onto my face avoiding my eye area for about two minutes. After that, I wash my face using my facial cleanser and Clarisonic.

My face did feel slightly smoother after the treatment. But I guess I have to use it regularly for long-term effect.

This is the product information:

• Naturelle d’Orient Argan Oil, 50ml for S$69.55.
• 100% pure Argan Oil for face, body and hair.
• Organic certified.

It may sound expensive for a small bottle like this, but it can last for at least 3 months. You only need to use a very small amount each time. This product is multi-purpose; I can skip my cracked heels cream, cuticle cream, hair treatment products and massage oil. That’s why I said it’s not expensive at all.

Here’s a good news for you. I have two bottles of Argan Oil to give away (kindly sponsored by My Life Store). All you have to do is to “Like” My Life Store Facebook Page and Our Little Smarties Facebook Page. Please leave a comment here with your Facebook Name and e-mail address so that I can contact you (if you win).

Two winners will be picked randomly. Contest ends on Sunday, 11 March 2012, 11.59 pm (SG Time). Open to all readers with a local Singapore address.

Lastly, there is an International Women’s Day Sale at My Life Store this week. You can get a bottle of Argan Oil for just $38!

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WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT! Congratulations to Florence and MinH, you’ve won a 50ml bottle of Naturelle d’Orient 100% Pure Argan Oil worth SGD69.55. THANK YOU to everyone who joined the giveaway!

Kumon Workbooks

I’ve started the Kumon workbooks with Little Edison for about two weeks now. So far, it has been positive and our boy enjoys doing the workbooks so much.

Here are my reviews about the workbooks:

Great Illustrations and straight to the point

Kumon really does an excellent job in making the illustrations and pages so clear, uncluttered and straight to the point. I’ve seen some other workbooks that have complicated instructions or colorful cartoon characters that makes children hard to concentrate. I’ve also seen some that are too dull and boring.

Kumon workbooks have the right balance. They aren’t too dull or distracting. In addition, the workbooks are thick and they have very good paper quality. Each page of the workbook has a lot of white spaces so the child has plenty of room to show his/her work.

The philosophy of gradually increasing the challenge

The biggest distinction that I observe in Kumon workbooks is that they use a philosophy to start the child simple from the beginning of the book, and then gradually increasing the challenge.

When you initially pick up the book, you may find that it is not advanced enough. However, the child is able to start out with confidence to work on the seemingly simple questions, and then gradually progresses to the more challenging questions.

When a good foundation is developed from the beginning of the book, the child is less to get frustrated. It then becomes almost seamless to progress to the next level of questions.

Sample Pages of Easy Telling Time Workbook

Little Edison really enjoy working on the Easy Telling Time workbook. He finds that learning about time is so much fun. He’s learning to draw the short and long hands of the clock. He’s pretty good with digital clocks and now, I’ve been encouraging him to learn how to read the time on a real clock using this workbook.

Sample Pages of My Book of Numbers 1 to 20

He also enjoys My Book of Numbers 1 to 120. He can write the numbers very well now, and he’s also good in numbers recognition. So, he progressed very quickly to the next levels of writing the missing numbers from 50 and above.

Overall, I find that these workbooks are really fantastic. The price is quite reasonable too. And I think both parents and children will enjoy these books because they combine learning with fun.

For more information about the books, you can visit Kumon’s website and it has an extensive catalog of their workbooks and sample pages.

Online shopping is becoming popular for women with every passing day. In fact, in the life of a busy mother like us, online stores hold a very special place that has given us the license to shop without making physical journeys. To me, it’s also a combination of convenience, comfort and better bargain.

Foxysales, an online shopping club based in Singapore, contacted me recently. I was given a special opportunity to test out their service and to select a few products to review. In the process, I’ll share my shopping experience with you.

Foxysales offers its members with exclusive sales on local and international brands at huge discounts (up to 80%!). Membership is free, and Foxysales also maintains a blog to provide more information on the brands and sales alert to all its members.

In addition, they also send daily newsletters for information on sales, promotions, contests and events to their members through e-mail and on their Facebook Page. It’s really a wonderful effort to keep all their members updated on their sales and activities.

In Foxysales, you can find a great selection of products from women’s apparels, kidswear, sportswear, accessories and bags to children’s products like toys, feeding utensils and diapers, as well as household products too.

So how does Foxysales work? It works on an event-to-event basis where they will feature a certain brand for about 7 days for members only. You have to sign-up as a member to receive e-mail notifications on events and sales.

I was looking at their past events and I saw some of my favorite brands here – Pediped, Baby Einstein, Poney and KROOOM, just to name a few.

And here’s a preview of their upcoming sales! Twisterz (Play, Craft and Learn) and SgBum breathable and eco-friendly cloth diapers. Do register your membership if you are interested.

My order was processed and shipped within a week after I submitted it online. Their website is easy to navigate, with many payment options and free delivery for orders above SG$100. A delivery fee of $5.90 will be imposed for orders below SG$100.

These are two items from my order that I really like –

1. Convertible Length Cargo Pants in Beige. Little Edison loves it too, but unfortunately Size 5 is still too big for him. I should have chosen Size 4. Anyway, he should be able to wear it in another half a year or so.

2. Think Baby BPA Free Baby Bottle 260ml (Twin Pack). The silicon is extra soft and its anti-colic nipple helps reduce incidence of gas and spit up. I love it simply because it is free of Bisphenol-A (BPA), phthalates, nitrosamines, lead, PVC, PET, Tritan and biologically harmful chemicals to our children.

Last but not least, my order also comes with a nice-looking Foxysales carrier and a pack of Angry Bird red packets (Chinese New Year promotion, that is!).

Here are the links to Foxysales website and Facebook Page.

• http://www.foxysales.com/
• http://www.facebook.com/foxysales

Happy browsing and shopping! Hope you’ll find something that you like here!

Buying a gift for our children is easy. There are so many options to choose from – clothing, toys, bags, stationeries, bicycle etc. But if we’re looking for a unique and personalized gift that reflects much more thought and consideration for our loved ones, that is the real challenge.

Recently, I was introduced to a new online store that does just that! Tolalu.com is a new e-commerce online store whose business is all about personalized gifts for children. Every product features our children’s name on it. The store has over 350 products with different themes and designs to choose from.

Tolalu Website

When you first land at Tolalu website, you’ll be greeted with a text box where you need to enter your child’s name. Simply type his or her name, click on the pink “Go” button and you’ll see all the products with your kid’s name engraved on them. It is awesome!

First, I created a name sticker for Little Edison. He loves zoo animals, so I’m pretty sure he will love these stickers too. I can paste these stickers on his water bottle, school workbooks etc. The size of the stickers is 7cm.

The stickers are printed with his full name. For security purpose, I replace them with stars in this picture.

Name sticker measures 7cm – best to be used on books!

Next, I created a placemat for him. This placemat is in A3 size, and it can be used as a table protector when dining or colouring. It is laminated, so it can be easily washed. It fits just nice on Little Edison’s study table.

Placemat in A3 size – thick, laminated and beautiful!

Besides name stickers and placemats, Totalu also has personalized learning materials like numbers, colouring and activity books. You can also find growth charts, story books, note books, puzzles, book marks, wall stickers, calendars and greeting cards here.

There are various themes to choose from – animals, fairies, robots, automotives, ice-cream, melody etc. Great for children of all ages and mommies too!

Pictures courtesy of Tolalu.com

For your information, Tolalu delivers in Singapore within 3 to 5 days upon order placement and a delivery fee of $7.00 will be waived for orders above $60.00. The delivery is via courier, so you don’t have to worry about items being damaged or crumpled in your mailbox.

If you’re looking for a beautifully designed gift that is made with love and special attention to details, please head over to Tolalu.com and try it yourself. There are a lot of sweet gifts here, so I hope you’ll find something that you like.

Have you ever experienced this situation before? You open the doors of a wardrobe bursting with clothes but you cannot find anything that you like to wear. It could be the clothes are too out-dated, your own tastes have changed or you just need a new piece to freshen up.

It happens to me quite frequently. As I don’t have a lot of time to shop for clothes in stores, online boutiques become increasingly attractive to me. But then, there are also impulse buys that looked good on the website but not once worn when they were brought home.

The garments may be too long, too short or of poor quality. Sending them for alterations is also another hassle. Most of these online boutiques do not accept refund. At the end, the garments are chucked aside, unworn and unloved.

Recently, I found a solution to the above. I’d love to introduce you all to my favorite online fashion store, MDS Collections. The prices are really affordable at this store – most dresses, tops, shorts and pants are priced between SG$26 – $50. The most exciting thing about MDS is that they have new arrivals everyday at 10am. Yay!

To be honest, I wouldn’t say that the quality of the clothing is exceptional. But again, it’s satisfactory for its price so I keep coming back to them. These are some of the dresses I bought from MDS recently, and I love them to bits. They are simple and lovely – all under SG$36!

And lately, I’ve had a fondness for wearing thin belts and I bought many of them from MDS to complement my outfits. MDS has a gorgeous collection of accessories too and their belts usually sold out very fast. Tips: You have to order quickly if you see something that you like.

Why I like MDS Collections?

1. As mentioned above, their prices are really affordable and I like their daily new arrivals.

2. Product information is readily available on the website – from the sizes, materials and description to styling tips on how to match the attire with accessories and shoes. Always check the sizes, and you can’t go wrong.

Tips: I’m 158cm tall and I choose dresses with shoulder to hem length of 34” and above. Otherwise, I find them too short for office.

Photo Credit: MDS Collections

3. You can return your orders for a refund if you’re not satisfied with your purchase. They will issue an exchange voucher of equivalent value once they receive the items. This is an interesting feature that most online stores do not have. This really solves the problem of unworn clothes that are chucked aside.

MDS Collections has two outlets located at Wisma Atria and Plaza Singapura. You can also visit their stores to try out their collections. Click HERE for their store locations.

Recently, I got two gift certificates worth SG$38 and SG$27, and I’d like to share them with you. You can use the gift certificate when you shop online at MDS Collections and you’re entitled to a discount from your total purchase. No minimum purchase required.

How to win?

1. “Like” my Facebook Fan Page if you haven’t.

2. Leave a comment “Liked” on this blog post.

3. Closing date: 15 September 2011, 12pm (GMT +8)

Two winners will be selected randomly. First winner will receive the SG$38 gift certificate and the second winner will get the SG$27. The gift certificate is in the form of discount code and it will be sent to the winners via e-mail. So, please ensure that you enter the correct e-mail address.

This contest is opened to all readers.

Good Luck and Happy Shopping!

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WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT! Congrats to Huey Ling (First Winner) and Celine Tan (Second Winner), you’ve won a gift certificate to shop at MDS Online Fashion Store. I’ll be contacting you shortly with details on how to use the gift certificate. And a big THANK YOU to everyone who joined the contest!