If you ever get into my car, you will hear me apologizing the minute you get in all the way till we reach the destination. That is because my choice of music genre is not everyone’s cup of tea. Well, not everyone’s cup of tea to be precise.  I was friends with Slyde of Poetic Ammo back then (he has since formed Dragon Red) since I was 14. I remember I asked him about rap music, as he’s a rapper who had won several music awards ICYMI. He told me about a genre called black rap. It’s a rap that swears from top to bottom lol. I find it amusing but I could never understand a word. Then I found the music genre that I like, and that is hip hop as well as R&B.

When Clozette approached me for my playlist. I panicked. How do I put out my playlist when there’s too many mention of F, P, D, C and so on? Lucky for me, I have another playlist which consists of songs I listen to when I run. Funny enough, I run with more mellow songs. Chill R&B as I called it. Some songs are not even R&B at all. They’re just songs I discovered on Spotify and I totally love it. I bet you wouldn’t have figure out that I like Frank Sinatra’s Witchcraft, eh?

Go on, find out what’s my playlist and read all about it at Clozette! It’s a rather different feature than beauty and fitness that you girls know me of

The post “Songs To Play When You’re Down and Out” – A Clozette Feature appeared first on Street Love. by Fiona

Here I am, feeling so much better from a week of viral fever and bronchitis, planning on doing nothing but just catch up with the news on the internet, go for a little bit of Boxing Day shopping as I have not been out of the house for days or even for coffee. I have not been writing for a few days and I kinda missed it. Since I have a bit of time to kill before I head out to deliver some #IWillBeOkay Beauty Bag, immediately I knew what I want to update you with. Update on my battle with depression.

Exactly a year ago, I came out with (quoting from my friend’s comment) a shocking confession that I have been secretly battling with clinical depression. It is something I did not know I had until pointed out by one friend who had it. Back then it was just a few months since I had it and I had it deep. I knew something was wrong but I have no idea it was depression.
Being someone who slipped into depression in an out for countless of times for the past one year, I cannot say this will be cure as it is a never ending battle. Once you had it, you will have it on an off. All I can do now is to deal with it. To go through it. Like it or not. The thing about depression is that it comes whenever it feels like it. The tricky part about slipping back into depression is finding the way to climb back out. Sometimes it took a few days, sometimes a week or two, sometimes months.

A Year Later: Taking The Bad Turning It For Good Use

Have things been better for me now that it has been a year? Yes it definitely does. I dare not say I am all 100% better but I am surely feeling better than I was back in 2015. Honestly I do not know where I would be or what I would possibly do if I did not come out with #IWillBeOkay ‘Fight Against Depression’ Awareness Campaign. I stopped asking why but instead I take this whole depression experience into helping others. Some do questions why I wanted to trouble myself, stress myself for something that does not benefit me. This #IWillBeOkay campaign helped me back in a way. It gets me through the depression. I wish I knew what is depression and that I am not alone. You see, many more others like me who are silently battling with depression and they did not know it. I was lucky because I am a writer and I express whatever’s bothering me on Facebook, and that got picked up by people who has or is going through it. It takes another person with depression to identity who is suffering from it. I am helping me.

What I Would Advice For People Who Suffers From Depression

I was often asked what would I advice to those who is suffering from depression. Everything that does not make sense to me back then, make sense now. What I am about to list out below is not just for people who had depression but also for the friends and families members.

1. It is NOT a taboo subject. You are not alone. Many people suffers from depression silently. They just don’t come out fearing the public perception on them. That is bullsh*t. It is okay to feel not okay.
2. Get busy! I know this is a cliché thing to say but it is true. People always tells me to get busy. And I always wonder, I am already busy, how more busy can I get? GET BUSIER. The busier the better. When you are occupied with something, your mind stopped overthinking. Overthinking is one of the reason why a person could get into depression.
3. Cut off negative people. In this one year, I slash off so many people out from my life. Negative people. People who never stop blaming you for having depression, people who keep comparing their issue with yours, people who talks negatively. Just cut them off. Your life would be so much better.
4. Don’t listen to comparison. The WORSE advice someone could give you while you are in depression is comparing their issues with yours. This action does not make you feel better but instead it will make you feel belittled and you will feel that your world is once again closing on you. Stop listening. You have to remember everyone goes through life differently. What is worse for you may not be for them and vice versa.
5. Hang out with people who makes you feel comfortable. A great friend or companion is someone who is there for you. It can be a chill day talking about the moon and the sun, a coffee outing, shopping, baking and so on, without the need to talk about depression 24/7. Just being there.
6. Do the things you once loved! I said “once love” because I know how it is to lost interest in everything you love to do. Reconnect with the things you loved. For me it was my love for beauty. Writing is also another way to cope with everything that is circulating inside you. It is a great way and medium to let it all out.

What I’m Grateful For

Lots of good friends who understand and that are always by my side. Friends who do not judge on what I am going through. Friends who makes me laugh like crazy. I go to more events now because of these girls. We love being the noisy bunch whenever we get together

The highlight of 2016 was that I was able to launch not one but two #IWillBeOkay campaign this year. I never knew how far this will go. I thought the first T-shirt campaign would be that’s it. I was also not sure that campaign number 2 that is #IWillBeOkay Beauty Bag would pull through. Miraculously my dream to launch a beauty bag went through and I was able to launch it 3 weeks before Christmas and now it is all sold out. A subscriber emailed me saying she was glad someone use cosmetics to raise funds and awareness, and that I am able to do this using my media influence. Now that I think back, it is so true. Bloggers have the access and contacts to make a difference in other people’s life. I do not become a blogger to go more events, get more products or get more famous than this and that girl. For me it is about changing other people’s life, it is about inspiring others and empowering them in a way. #IWillBeOkay Beauty Bag was a success because of people and brands who believe in me, compassionate good people who are passionate to help others and they do not mind doing it through me, what I believe and also the type of awareness I am promoting. Sadly there are numerous brands who told me they do not do charity or they only support certain people. Well, I see clearly now who I should support in the future and who I should not. So all the no are a blessing in disguise actually.

What Will 2017 Be For Me?

I can see more #IWillBeOkay campaign roll-out. I have already started planning for the 3rd campaign, which will take off in March 2017. I hope to not only use the fund I collected to raise more funds but also putting these funds into good use such as events. It will not be a large scale events as I am only running this campaign alone so everything will be kept at a manageable size for me. So be sure to keep an eye on future campaign. It is getting more and more excited and interesting.

2016 has been a tough year for sure but it has been a good year for me and I ended it with a bang. I almost would know that I will not make it through 2016. Somehow, the stars shines towards my direction and stars can’t shine without darkness.

I hope you had an amazing 2016 and even more amazing 2017 to come.

xoxo, Fiona

The post A Year Ago appeared first on Street Love. by Fiona

I know what you are thinking. You must be thinking…the same park again Fiona? That’s right! #IWillBeOkay Beauty Bag went for some sun bathing yesterday afternoon at the same park I run. I love the sun. Don’t you?

After months and months of preparing, I had a bitter sweet moment when I finally had #IWillBeOkay Beauty Bag ready. It was supposed to be launched in August, then dragged to September, to October and November. Many have told me to just give up and that no sponsors will be supporting this but I proved them wrong. Despite the bad economy and how bad the retail economy has gone, there are still a handful of wonderful, caring, supportive, absolutely are warm-hearted about charity and generous people out there. #IWillBeOkay Beauty Bag are made possible thanks to these amazing proud sponsors – Murad Malaysia, Physicians Formula Malaysia, TNS Skin Lab, Breena Beauty, Mini Mini Cafe, Clinivita, Parkson, Batiste Malaysia, and Watsons Malaysia.

It has always been a dream of mine to come out with a beauty box. Initially the burst #2 campaign for #IWillBeOkay Fight Against Depression Awareness Campaign was supposed to be another T-shirt line. Then I thought to myself, why do I keep coming out with T-shirt? I am a beauty blogger and I want to come out with something I am absolutely passionate about. That is where the idea of beauty box came. I had in my mind exactly what brands and products I want for my campaign.

Each bag is selling for RM99 only (flat shipping fee of RM15 will be charged separately). For RM99 you get a bag of products worth RM611 in total. 100% of the profit will go to #IWillBeOkay Fund, which will be used to help those in need i.e. future campaigns, events, donations, and many more. I do not take any of the profits at all. It goes to a fund first because the amount is too little to be donated out. As and when I see fits, I will use the fund for good use. It can be non-related to mental illness such as feeding the strays, feeding the homeless and so on. However as I mentioned above, I do want to take the campaign further. Events is definitely in my mind. I want to make those who are battling with depression feel good about themselves and that they are not alone in this. Maybe a yoga session, running clinic, Metafit HIIT with my coach, pampering session, shopping treat with our sponsors or even beauty workshop etc? Since I am running the awareness campaign myself, collabs and suggestions are more than welcome. The tricky part about organizing an event is to identify those who are really battling from depression and to get them to go to the event.

So what is in the bag? In no particular order, here are the list of products that you will be getting in your #IWillBeOkay Beauty Bag

Limited Edition #IWillBeOkay Jute Bag

I knew what design I want on the bag. I decided to go with a bag instead of a box because box to me is just not environmental-friendly and it has no other usage thereafter. A bag is different. I wanted something that you can re-use. I wanted something personal that is me, something limited edition that you cannot buy outside. I knew I wanted beauty products doodles on my bag. My vision and idea came alive on the bag.

The bag is called jute bag. It is stiffer than normal cotton or canvas bag so it stands. Hallelujah it stands! Okay. I am being dramatic here. Personally I like my bag to sit up properly and not droppy. It measures at 32cm Width, 25cm Height and with 12.5cm Diameter base. It fits a lot. Perfect for a quick grocery run, lunch, shopping, anything really!

This is how the bag looks on me.

Murad Intensive Age-Diffusing Serum 5ml and Essential-C Day Moisture 21ml, both worth RM215. And a 50% OFF facial treatment voucher

Murad was the first to say yes to the campaign with a blink of an eye. The items included in the bag are the best clinical skincare products from Murad. If you have tried Murad before, you will know that both of the products included in this bag are really good. I cannot even pick my favourite! Murad products are not cheap but they works because they are good. Besides the products, Murad is also known for their facial treatment. That explains why we put in a 50% OFF facial treatment voucher. It is really handy if you want to try out Murad facial for the first time. After that you can ask for more vouchers from me LOL. Did you know that Murad products are Made in USA? Now you know.

Linden Leaves Aromatherapy Synergy Body Oil 60ml, worth RM94.35

TNS Skin Lab has been very supportive to Street Love and myself since a few years ago. I went to them quite late and they agreed in one breath. I was able to launch the bag sooner than expected thanks to TNS Skin Lab. You have no idea how happy they have made me. I was specifically looking for body care and they gave me one of the best product from Linden Leaves. Linden Leaves is a natural skincare brand from New Zealnd. The full size Aromatherpy Synergy Body Oil that is included in the bag are hand-made; the flowers are hand stuffed into the bottle and the body oil are hand-poured in. Natural products tend to smell earthy and not many people including me like that kind of scent. So a hint of floral scent from the stalk of flower inside the body oil itself actually gives the skin a faint smell. Quite soothing actually. This body oil works to minimize wrinkles, scars and scretch marks. It is enriched with organic rosehip oil and avocado oil too.

Physicians Formula Happy Booster in Translucent, worth RM59.25

Physicians Formula is my favourite makeup brand from the US. To get your favourite makeup brand for the bag is a dream come true. To get a full size Happy Booster is another level of dream come true lol. Before this I think you already knew that I have been buying Physicians Formula from oversea. Yeap. I love it even before they are here. Happy Booster was brought in slightly later after the brand was launched in Malaysia. For this campaign, they included Happy Booster in Translucent, which is a finishing powder. The Product Manager told me that everything regarding Happy Booster from the name, the formula to the cute love prints of the powder suits the campaign. I could not agree more.

Breena Beauty Eye Makeup Brush, worth RM25

The auntie brain in me had so many things in the mind and people who I wanted to talk to regarding the campaign that I had forgotten to approach Sabrina Tajudin for her kind sponsorship consideration. I sort of approached Breena Beauty during the Black Friday sale because that was when I remembered. Bad timing I know. Despite busy coping with Black Friday orders, Sabrina responded to her emails almost immediately and a few days later, she said yes! The brushes complete the whole bag. I bet you agreed with me 200%. Breena Beauty is the brainchild of Sabrina. These brushes are cruelty-free, made from synthetic material and suitable for our Muslim friends as well. You know it’s good when it’s a brand from a beauty blogger.

There are 2 different type of eye makeup brushes – B212 Basic Eyeshadow and B216 Brow Definer, which will be given randomly.

Mini Mini Cafe RM50 Cash Voucher (no min purchase)

Mini Mini Cafe at Mid Valley is a place I like to hang out, dine and ocassionally dropped by for some quiet time and a sip of coffee. Their coffee is so good! My parents and I like to have our lunch at least once a week at Mini Mini Cafe. The staff there takes good care of their customers. For example there are a few occassions which I had my meetings at the cafe. The staff always bring me and my guests huge cup of warm water even without me requesting, with no additional charges, as if they knew we are thristy and we ran out of drinks. That is what I called taking care of their customers. The food is good, value meals are good, ambience good and everything there from the decor to the food are all Instagram-worthy . In this bag you will get 5X RM10 cash voucher. That is like meal for 5 person . These vouchers can be used against the food you order. Any food. Even on their RM9.90, RM12.90 and RM13.90 All Day Long Promotion value set.

Clinivita Marine Placenta Concentrate 15ml, worth RM158

I am a huge fan of Clinivita Marine Placenta Day Serum. Initially the idea was to include the serum as it will suits all skin type but due to the hike of demand in the market, I was not able to secure the product. But instead I was able to get Clinivita’s latest product – Marine Placenta Concentrate targeted to reduce the appearance of scars such as surgery, injury and even acne scars as well as redness. Do not look down at scars. A small acne scar alone is able to bring one person’s confidence down. I have been living with acne scars for so many years so I know how crucial it is to find the right product to reduce it. So I thought, everyone should have a bottle of this Marine Placenta Concentrate at home for emergency.

Super Early Bird Special!

Thanks to my good friend at Parkson, I have 14 bottles of full size perfume consisting of Scent Maker and Max Gordon for the early birds. I love the early birds as I am one myself so what is better than rewarding them? 

First 14 Super Early Bird Special buyers will get a full size fragrance either Scent Maker or Max Gordon worth more than RM200 a bottle. Perfume will be given randomly. Each bottle is worth more than RM200. Limited to one per person only.

Early Bird Special!

The bird just keeps flocking, isn’t it?

I have been pleading Batiste to give me their dry shampoo because I told them I am a Batiste hoarder and a Batiste fan like me would really want to share what she love with everyone. Okay so next 10 Early Bird Special buyers will get a full size Batiste Blush Dry Shampoo worth RM31.70 a bottle. Also limited to one per person only. Blush is their best-seller scent. I know it is because I currently have 3 bottles of Blush at home besides Cherry, Original and XXL Volume. Told ya I am a hoarder / fan / fanatic

Surprise Gift!

20 lucky subscribers will receive one of this Pure Beauty CC Cream worth RM49.90 thanks to Watsons Malaysia. I said lucky because (1) I personally hand carried this hugeeeeee and heavy box from Mid Valley North Court taxi stand to South Court taxi stand and I had sore arms for the next 2 days. It has my sweat and blood on it . (2) It will be randomly given away. Since I cannot have any more bird flying around, I decided to close both eyes and insert the CC Cream into 20 bags randomly! Consider this a surprise gift. It really is . This means Super Early Bird and Early Bird may get this in their bag as well!

Subscription Link

Subscription is super duper easy. Go to bit.ly/iwbok, fill in the form and I will email you the confirmation email together with my bank details. There is no limitation to how many bags you can purchase. Shipping fee will be kept at a flat rate of RM15 regardless how many bags you purchased. Klang Valley buyers may just see me personally dropping off these parcels

Hurry as I have 50 bags only!

Thank you for supporting and being a part of #IWillBeOkay Fight Against Depression Awareness Campaign. I believe it is important to educate and create awareness on mental illness as well as to encourage those who are suffering from depression to seek the help they need.

Once again, #IWillBeOkay Beauty Bag are made possible thanks to all the proud sponsors – Murad Malaysia, Physicians Formula Malaysia, TNS Skin Lab, Breena Beauty, Mini Mini Cafe, Clinivita, Parkson, Batiste Malaysia, and Watsons Malaysia.

The post #IWillBeOkay ‘Fight Against Depression’ Awareness Campaign Beauty Bag: Now Open For Subscription appeared first on Street Love. by Fiona

Today let’s talk about something non-beauty. Avid Instagram followers of mine will know by now that I am into running. It is something that I have not talk about here in Street Love because this is afterall a beauty blog. But I thought I would tell you about this lifestyle of mine . When I started posting more and more running selfies, I get questions like “are you one of those blogger turning the blog into another direction?”. The answer is NO. I get it. I do. I have seen beauty blogger turning into mummy blogger after they had a kid, lifestyle blogger turning into food blogger or beauty blogger turning into sports blogger when they adopted running. So I get what you mean. My main passion (still is!) is anything and everything beauty. Running is just a part of my lifestyle. I do not foresee Street Love turning into a sports blog at all . I have Modern Mavens for that remember? I am proud of Street Love and proud to introduce myself as a beauty enthusiast

Why I started running?

Oh God. Let me think. It all started last year 2015. I got fed up with my weak right knee one day that I thought of running to strengthen it. I fell and broke my right ankle many years ago. People say once you hurt your leg, it will keep coming back. True enough, I always sprained / dislocated my knee. It was like the nerve system of my right leg was messed up. I am constantly immobile and limping all year round. Then last year everything gotten better for some reason. So I thought of running. I was assuming that running could somehow make my muscles stronger. That is the main reason why I started running. After that only I realized my knee was fine. It was my heart condition. I had totally forgotten that I had a heart issue no thanks to Hyperthyroidism. My priority shifted from the knee to the heart. That is how everything got more and more technical and I gotten deeper and deeper into the whole running thingamajig lol.

The love and hate relationship with running

After running for a year now, I can tell you that I absolutely hate running. I started running with no proper guidance. I do what everyone said – JUST RUN. And run I did. I kept getting injuries here and there, shin splints the most throughout the first 6 months of my run. But the pain does not stop me from running. I still run every morning. Sometimes alternative days due to the sharp pain in the bone of my shins. When my depression got worse, I stopped running. I could not get out of the bed in the morning like how I used to. One day break turns to one week, before turning into one month, two months and so on. I got back to running 2 months before Nike We Run KL 2016. I registered myself and got back into training. Training at 6.30am in the morning was easy for me. But because I have this heart condition, I could not run long or long distance without stopping. I do not compare myself with those professional runners but deep down inside me I was comparing. I wanted to be able to run non-stop like them. Doctor warned me not to push myself too much. In fact I should not be running. I could collapse. My doctor said “collapse” and not the word “die” so I figure I am still alright LOL. My mom stays nearby when I run in the morning. She keep track of me and if she did not see me hamster looping back in a few minutes, she will go out to look for me just in case I fainted. I can be pushy at myself sometimes. I want to see how much further I can push myself before I faint . I know that is not advisable to do but I am one stubborn girl. When I run, I shout at myself asking why I torture myself like this. After my run, I felt so much happier and I wanted to run more. So yes, that is my love and hate relationship with running.

How far have I gone with running?

Not distance wise but health wise. It has been fantastic. This is probably the only reason why I continue to run despite injuries. I like how running toned my body. I do not lose weight from running but everything looked more toned. I look healthy, not skinny. My heart condition also improved a lot. I can now run a few KMs without stopping to catch a breath. I still do not compare pace and timing with the rest of the runners because I am not doing it professionally so personally, I do not bother. I measure today’s run with yesterday and so on. I am my own enemy.

What kind of injuries I get from running?

I am probably the only runner I know that had gotten so many running injuries lol. For a beginner, I ran too much too soon. New runners should increase their mileage 10% a week and I increased mine 100% each run. For example yesterday I ran 2km and today I make it 4km haha. This is a part of the reason why I have running injuries. I have been doing a lot of research on shin splints. It happened for various reasons such as running shoe, running condition, running posture, breathing method and so on. I have corrected everything single thing and yet I still get shin splints. The only explanation for that is my body is still not used to the drastic change and impact. It gets better as I run more. As of today as I am writing this, I no longer have shin splints . That enables me to run longer distance non-stop. Right before Nike We Run KL 2016 21km, I had a hamstring pull. I took a week of rest from training before the half marathon run. Sadly I had the pull again quarter through the run. It was my first half marathon and a painful one. It was painful when I walk but not when I run. Two months after the run, I still get the pull at the back of my knee when I train. So I started doing research on that. It turns out it was not hamstring pull anymore but something called “runner’s knee”. Oh boy. It does not cure anyhow until recently. I did some stretches on the bed every morning and I am all better now. Weird. As long as it works, hey I do not mind where I stretch lol.

The fun side of running

What I love about running is how I spice up my run with fun sports attire and running selfies after cooling down. Now, that is the fun side of running for me. Running can be boring. One just have to find something fun to do to keep themselves entertained.

I probably have too much of sports wear for a beginner runner, probably more than any other runner I know. I just love shopping for sports attire. I still buy a lot. My mother may disown me one day for buying too much sports attire. For some reason I never have enough of running top or running shorts. A FedEx box containing sports wear excites me more than a package containing makeup LOL. Let’s not even get into running shoes. I own about 5-6 pairs of Skechers and Nike in total? I cannot even remember myself.

The highlight for each of my run is definitely running selfies. I usually take all the selfies after my run and after cooling down. This way it does not interrupt my training. It takes a lot of thoughts and effort to take a running selfie. It is not easy. But it is definitely fun. Running up and down just to get a clear, good shot might ended up with me running a few KMs in total. Sometimes . This is why The Malay Mail named me as a selfie expert lol.

What running means to me

In one of the Grey’s Anatomy episode, one of the doctor spoke about how when he is in surgery mode, everything else around him disappears. That is how I am when I run. When I run, everything else around me disappears. I could only hear my own breathing. 2 steps inhale, 1 step exhale. When I run I concentrate on a few things – I make sure my shoulder are relax, I do not grip my hand but instead keeping them relax as if I’m holding an egg, I make sure my feet are level so that I land midfoot, I make sure I take a shorter strike, body leaning forward and so on. And of course all that happened with Beyonce shouting at the top of her lungs into my ears as I run

Hope you enjoyed reading a little glimpse of my love for running and why I adopted running into my lifestyle. I may start to post a bit of sports related reviews for Lifestyle Sunday. What do you think? Would you be interested to read? Rest assured. It is only for Lifestyle Sunday segment which only happens on Sunday . I am still a beauty blogger inside out, left right, center, up and down

The post The Non-Beauty Side of Me: My Love for Running appeared first on Street Love. by Fiona