Saima: Moving to WordPress - simplysaima.wordpress.com

Hi All,

Saima here ~

I have started a new blog on WordPress, where I will be posting more frequently.

Please follow me there:

SimplySaima

https://simplysaima.wordpress.com

I have copied my old posts from this blog to my new one to have everything in one place.

I will still post collaborations with Shanzy on this blog from time to time, but my own individual posts will be on my personal blog.

I would appreciate if you would click on the link above and follow my new blog as well as follow my new blog on Bloglovin too :)

Thank you.

Hope to see you all there :)

xoxo Saima

Saima: Happy New Year 2014

Hello Hello ~

Today is the first day of 2014  ~ last night I watched the countdown and fireworks from the window of my partner's flat ... when I was younger I only ever watched it on TV with my family and I think 2 years ago was the first time I ever saw the fireworks live when me and Shanzy decided to actually go and see it for real (terrible experience but the fireworks did look amazing).
Last year I celebrated the new year 7 hours earlier than usual as I was in Malaysia and although it was still fun I really missed London's fireworks ~ trust me guys ... London never fails to impress with the New Year fireworks display.

This year, I literally wanted to just stay indoors and enjoy the beautiful sparks lighting up the sky (no TV and no crazy drunk people lol) and luckily it was possible ... thanks to my lovely partner :) ~ 

Here's some pics of our view (unfortunately I wasn't able to capture the best parts... but these are still nice):

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As always, this time of year is when everyone makes their new year's resolutions ~ while I was looking at the fireworks I stood there in silence thinking about my previous resolutions and what I should do this year, then I realised that I never truly follow my long list of resolutions ... and if I ever have followed them, then probably only until mid January and tend to forget them for the rest of the year.

In roughly 8 months from now I will be hitting a quarter of a century ~ I'm sitting here thinking wow I've been here since 1989 and now it's 2014 .... I think it's about time I got my act together and set 10 realistic goals (not a crazy long list) and hopefully I can achieve some of those goals by the time I turn 25 at the end of August ~ then I will have 4 months to review those goals before 2015. 

MY GOALS:

1. Finish my University degree with either a 2:1 or a First 
2. Get a job and work hard
3. Save money and get my finances in check 
4. Buy a badminton racket and play badminton more often
5. Buy a detox tea such as 'YourTea TinyTeatox' and stick to it
6. Regularly participate in English-Korean language exchange
7. Plan a trip to either India, America, Canada, Dubai or South Korea (and go anytime before 2015)
8. De-clutter my room (or all the rooms in the house)
9. Record tutorials and reviews for the OhMaiSS Youtube Channel
10. Keep a daily journal to mark down the following: proactive/reactive, positive/negative, early/on time/ late, healthy/unhealthy, kind/hurtful etc 

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I'll be updating you guys on this later in the year ~^.^~

Please leave a comment below and tell me what goals you have set for 2014 :)

bye guyz ~

~Saima~

Saima's Review: Birchbox UK September-December 2013

Hey guys ~~

It's New Years Eve ... yaaaaay... well for some of you it's already 2014 (Happy New Year!!!) ... but here in London we still have a few hours of 2013 left.... 
So before I go off to see the fireworks I thought I would write my last post of the year ~^.^~

As the new year is about to start, I thought it would be a good idea to write about the Birchboxes that I received in 2013 (September, October, November and December).

For anyone who is wondering what Birchbox is, it is a monthly subscription box with 5+ samples (very decent sized samples and sometimes full size products) inside and only for £12.95 a month.

I subscribed to Birchbox in September 2013 for two reason, #1 awesome review and #2 the September box had Bioderma!!! (I have written a separate post on Bioderma and why I love it so much haha)  

So here's what I got in the September 2013 box:

• Aromatherapy Associates Revive Body Gel 40ml Sample (full size 200ml £31 on the Birchbox website)
• Bioderma Sensibio H2O 20ml Sample (250ml £10 - no longer available on the Birchbox website)
• Green & Blacks Mini White Chocolate (full 100g bar £2.29 on the Birchbox website)
• ModelCo Party Proof Lipstick in Kitty Sample (I don't know the price of the full size on its own but Birchbox is selling it with the two other shades in the naturals collection as a trio for £15.50 on their website)
• Molton Brown Ylang Ylang Nourishing Body Lotion 30ml Sample (full size 300ml £35 on the Birchbox website)

• Reverence de Bastien Nail Polish No.14 Grunge Red - Full Size (£16 on the Birchbox website)

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 And here's what I got in the October 2013 box:

• Dr Brandt Microdermabrasion Skin Exfoliant 7.5g Sample (full size 60g £67 on the Birchbox website)
• Dr. Lipp Original Nipple Balm for Lips 3ml Sample (full size 15ml £11.50 on the Birchbox website)
• Egyptian Magic All Purpose Skin Cream 3x3ml Sample Sachets (full size 118ml £29 on the Birchbox website)
• KMS California Curl Up Wave Foam 75ml Sample (full size 200ml £15 - no longer available on the Birchbox website)
• Laura Mercier Foundation Primer 14.7ml Sample (full size 50ml £28 on the Birchbox website)
• theBalm Cosmetics Stainiac in Beauty Queen 1.2ml Sample (full size 8.5ml £10 - no longer available on the Birchbox website)
• UltraDex Wire Free Interdental Brushes sample (full size = travel case = £5.49 on the Birchbox website)

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And the November 2013 box:

• Birchbox Pencil Sharpener (£3 on the Birchbox website)
• Chella Latte Highlighter Pencil -full size (£15.95 on the Birchbox website)
• English Laundry Signature for Her EDP sample (50ml £47 on the Birchbox website)
• Laura Mercier Fresh Fig Body Butter Sample (full size = £26 on the Birchbox website)
• Lila'lli Line Define Fill in the shade Detour - full size (£10 on the Birchbox website)
• Pukka Herbs Elderberry & Echinacea Tea 1 teabag (I don't know the price of the full size as it is no longer available on the Birchbox website)
• Pukka Herbs Gorgeous Earl Grey Tea 1 teabag (I don't know the price of the full size as it is no longer available on the Birchbox website)
• Pukka Herbs Three Cinnamon Tea 1 teabag (I don't know the price of the full size as it is no longer available on the Birchbox website)
• Weleda Oat Replenishing Shampoo 18ml Sample (full size 190ml £8.95 on the Birchbox website)

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And finally, here's what I got in the December 2013 box:

• Alima Pure Luminous Shimmer Eyeshadow in Chai - full size (£12.50 on the Birchbox website)
• Lamilou Orange Blossom Flower Smooth Exfoliating Liquid 30ml Sample (full size 250ml £22 on the Birchbox website)
• Nail Rock Nail Velvet in Black - full size (£6.99 on the Birchbox website)
• Number 4 Jour d'Automne Non Aerosol Hair Spray 40ml Sample (full size 200ml - don't no the price as it is not on the Birchbox website)
• Sin-Care Party Girl Booster Serum Sample (full size 50ml £46.50 on the Birchbox Website)
• Twistband Hair Tie x1 in the colour Blue (Birchbox are selling a pack of 6 for £10)

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As you can see the samples are all decent sizes and fantastic value for money .... imagine buying all of this in full size :/ quite expensive.... but thanks to Birchbox I have these samples and a few full sizes for just £12.95 a box.

I am soooooo happy that I subscribed to Birchbox and have never had a problem with them (unlike Glossybox - See my previous post on my Glossybox experience). ~ I can't wait to see what Birchbox have in store for 2014 .... I bet it will be as awesome as 2013 if not more ~^.^~

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Ok guys.... after writing all of this, it is now 11.40pm... so I gotta rush to be on time for the countdown and fireworks ~^.^~

Please comment below and tell me what you think of Birchbox ... and also what you did to celebrate the New Year ~^.^~

Toodles ~~~
~ Saima ~

 

Saima Loves Bioderma !

Hey guys ~

Me again (Saima),

I'm going to try to keep this post shorter than usual as I really must go to sleep haha but I thought I would just write about my new found love for the Bioderma Sensibio H2O ~

  
First of all, so sorry for the poor lighting... it's dark out and I don't want to switch the main light on because it is super late at night XD

Anyways, I have been using this for a few months now whenever my skin is too sensitive for other cleansers like when I have major breakouts, and also just to remove my makeup.

This product is an ultra mild, Micellar water cleanser/ makeup remover that doesn't need to be washed off after using it on the skin, which is so ideal especially just before bed. As it is ultra mild, it is perfect for sensitive skin and leaves a cool soothing feel on the skin.


The most amazing thing about this product is that even though it is mild, it still completely removes all traces of makeup if used properly... even heavy foundation and eye makeup including waterproof mascara ... and it doesn't irritate the skin or cause breakouts ~^.^~ 

If you check out my Christmas 2013 post, you will see that my eye makeup was quite heavy... and now honestly just by using this on its own, there is no trace of makeup, as if I wasn't wearing any in the first place haha sooooo awesome!

I got this particular bottle in Singapore when I was on holiday... I was lucky enough to find it there as at the time I thought I could only buy it online or in France... When I came back from Singapore I found out that a few pharmacies in London sell it at quite a reasonable price (around £10 for a much bigger bottle), so I plan to continue to repurchase this product here in the UK (but the biggest size) ~^.^~

Have any of you tried this product before?
What do you think of it?
Please leave a comment below ~

Ok this time I am really going to sleep ~ Goodnight Goodnight ~

~ Saima ~ 

*Disclaimer: I purchased this product for my own personal use. Everything written above is my own personal opinion of the product. I am not affiliated with any company and have not been paid to write reviews.

Saima's Christmas 2013

Merry Christmas my lovely snowflake angels ~^.^~

Today was an awesome day :) *starts singing* "well I wish it could be Christmas everydayyyyy, when the bells start ringing and the bands begin to playyyyyy...." <3

I'm so excited to share with you guys how my day went ~

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First of all, I received a super super awesome Christmas gift from a special someone:

 

A Nintendo 3DS XL with Super Mario 3D Land pre-installed ~^.^~ I am going to be sooooo addicted to this... especially once I get the latest Pokemon game <3

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Secondly, I had the most delicious Christmas lunch and dinner with my family ~ There is nothing better than enjoying a table full of food while reminiscing on childhood times and laughing/ being merry with family  <3

Seriously, my dad should always cook for us haha ~ extremely tasty salmon pate on bruchetta, potato wedges, Yorkshire puddings, pasta, slices of lamb, roast chicken, two types of salad and roast vegetables <3 

For dinner my mum literally mixed up all the left overs, added some potatoes and we were good to go:

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I also made a cake few days back for my boyfriend's family as I didn't spend Christmas with them this year.... There's a funny story about this cake that I want to share with you guys... I had been working through the night trying to decorate the cake perfectly but I was wayyyyyy to tired to notice if I had made a mistake .... my family and boyfriend's family also didn't see the mistake until I uploaded a picture of it today on Instagram and Facebook ... two of my friends noticed a spelling mistake on the cake :/ ... one of my friends even commented on the picture saying "Very Critmassy xD" and it still took me a while to notice what he was on about lol... here's the picture (I edited in the missing letter... haha... so terrible):

Anyway, mistakes aside... this is a two layer Vanilla Chocolate Chip Cake with Vanilla Buttercream and Raspberry Jam filling and Vanilla Buttercream Icing ~ <3 ~ I love baking cakes ... although my decorating skills are lacking haha XD

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Now for my Christmas look, here's a picture of my nail colour/ nail art:

And my OOTD (well part of it lol):

The dress is from Khols ... my sister got it when she went to New Jersey and I loveeeee it... especially the studded collar ~^.^~

And for my Make-up I used Maybelline EyeStudio Color Tattoo 24Hr Eyeshadow in the shade Audacious Asphalt, Loreal Superliner Gel Intenza in the shade Pure Black, Collection Cosmetics Glam Crystals Dazzling Gel Liner in the shade Hustle, Etude House Lash Perm 3 Step Volumecara, Benefit Hello Flawless Foundation in the shade Honey, Jelly Pong Pong Blush in the shade Hepburn & Tracy, and the discontinued Rimmel Lip Volume Boost Lipstick in the shade Candy Girl (trying to use this sparingly so I mixed it with a little bit of the Jelly Pong Pong Blush) :

I wanted to go for a look with bold eyes and subtle lips/cheeks as I was at home the whole day so didn't see the point in going all out with my makeup lol XD

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And now to end my Christmas post, here's a pic of me with my sister and cousin (faces covered sorryyyy XD):

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So guys, tell me, how was your Christmas this year? 

I would love to know what you all did to celebrate ~^.^~ 

Please leave a comment below :)

Hope you enjoyed my post ~

It's now 3am in the morning (boxing day) haha time to sleep... zzzZZZzzz ~~~

~ Saima ~

The Liebster Award

Hello Hello *Sings Hello by SHINee* ~^.^~

~Saima here ~

2 days left until Christmas guys... who's excited? ~ 

As it is now the Christmas Holidays here in UK (3 weeks off), I finally have the time to post about an AWESOME award that we received from fellow blogger Misha Lulu ~ (her blog is sooooo adorable ... make sure to click on the link and check it out guys) ~

On 28th November 2013 she nominated us for The Liebster Award ...  (Thank youuuuuu sooo sooo much <3) 

For anyone who is wondering what the Liebster Award is .... I shall explain :) ....

The award is basically a title given to you by other bloggers (not a physical award). It is usually for bloggers who have under 200 followers and is an awesome way for them to connect with other bloggers. Once a person has been nominated, all they have to do is accept the award and then pass it on to others ~^.^~

Here's a cute image from Misha Lulu's blog explaining the rules of the award:

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Note: As you may know, OhMaiSS is run by two people... myself (Saima) and my best friend (Shanzy) ~ I will be answering the questions from my point of view so that it doesn't get complicated... and if any of you would like to know Shanzy's answers to the questions then please let us know and we will post them for you to see ~^.^~   
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 Misha Lulu's Questions + My Answers

1. What is your favorite makeup brand?

I don't actually have a favourite brand as there are so many awesome ones out there... but the brand's that I tend to use most often at the moment are Benefit Cosmetics, Sleek MakeUP, Urban Decay, NYX, MAC and Etude House ~

 

2. How often do you were makeup?

I wear makeup almost every day but change the look from subtle to bold depending on the occasion and how I am feeling.

 

3. What are your beauty and skincare must-haves?

Bioderma Sensibio H2O!!!! The most amazing product to gently yet thoroughly cleanse your skin and remove makeup (even waterproof mascara) .... seriously can not live without this! ~^.^~

I also love love love Sheet Masks... especially from the brand My Beauty Diary ~ hhhmmm what else .... my Clarisonic Mia 2 (a complete god send) ~ (the list could go on forever so I will stop here haha )  

4. What is your favorite fashion item for this Fall/Winter season?

Burgundy/ Maroon coloured over sized Jumpers (perfect for the freezing London weather)

5. What is your favourite color? Do you often use this color on your nails?

I have more than one favourite colour haha... Red... Mint Green and Pastel Pink  (I especially adore the combination of Pastel Pink and Gold.... so elegant and pretty)  ~ And yes I do use these colours on my nails (as well as others) ~^.^~

6. What country are you from?

I was born and brought up in London UK <3

 

7. Do you have a favorite clothing store?

 hhmm this is a tricky question .... I don't think I have a favourite clothing store .... A lot of the clothes I own are from TopShop, Primark, River Island, H&M, and then things from random shops in different countries and from online (YesStyle) ~

 

8. Which makeup product would you like to try out?

At the moment I really want to get my hands on the Naked3 Palette by Urban Decay ~ the colours look so gorgeous and I can't wait to try them ~^.^~ 

 

9. Lipstick or lip-stain?

Lipstick 

 

10. Are you into K-Pop? If so, what are your bias groups and who is your ultimate bias? 

YES!!! ~ this will be an extremely long list so I'm just going to pick a few to mention here: Bigbang ~ Mblaq ~ B2ST ~ 2ne1 ~ SNSD ~ 4Minute ~   (Rain and Jay Park...although they are solo artists and not groups lol) 

My ultimate bias group has to be Bigbang... VIP for life <3 ~ & my bias from Bigbang is Taeyang <3

11. If you could travel anywhere (fictional and non-fictional) where would you go?

Non-fictional = South Korea

Fictional =  The Johto Region (Pokemon) ~ The Hidden Leaf Village (Naruto) ~ Hogwarts (Harry Potter) ~ Totoro's Forest (My Neighbour Totoro)

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My Nominations 

Yan Chu

http://chustyleblog.wordpress.com/ 

Mizu Chan

http://marvelikalife.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Mei-Keng Lim

http://carazy-habits.livejournal.com/ 

Rachel

http://heylinni.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Sun Hye Mi

http://sunhyemi.com/ 

Andrea

http://blog.shimmerjjang.com 

Liz Chewy

http://www.lizchewy.com/ 

Ashley Yeen

http://www.ashley-yeen.com/ 

Fenny Hwang

www.fennyhwang.com 

Jolyn Kang

http://shopkeeperjoe.blogspot.sg/ 

Cookie

http://cookiesbeautyblog.com 

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My Questions

1. What is your opinion on makeup?

2. If you had a £500 cosmetics voucher to use on any brand, what would you buy? 

3. What is your favourite Eyeshadow Palette?  

4. If you had to choose between Eyeliner and Lipstick, what would you choose? 

5. What are the worst makeup and skincare products you have ever bought?

 6. Do you prefer straight, curly or wavey hair?

 7. What country are you from?

8. What are your Top 5 travel destinations?

9. What is your worst travel experience?

 10. What is your favourite food?

11. Do you watch Korean Dramas? If yes, What is your all time favourite K-Drama?  

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I hope all my nominees accept the award and enjoy answering the questions :) ~ please be sure to follow us on Google+, Bloglovin' and Facebook ~ and and we will definitely follow you back ~ 

~ Saima ~ 

Saima's Glossybox UK Experience: Not Impressed

Hello Hello my lovelies :)

Saima here again ~ 

Today I would like to share my experience with Glossybox UK, which unfortunately was not a very good one. It is strange because if you have read Shanzy's latest post on her December 2013 beauty boxes you would have seen that she hasn't had any problems with Glossybox. Maybe I am just the unlucky one :(

I had read countless positive reviews about Glossybox and heard/saw how awesome the products in the boxes are from my friends. Expecting to receive the same, I excitedly signed up to Glossybox in September 2013 and this is what happened:

Problem #1:  I had been waiting for a very long time and did not receive my September box so I decided to check the tracking number, only to see that the courier service  had entered "left on porch" as the delivery status. I must add that my porch door is always locked so if they did leave it somewhere it was probably outside in an area that is not secure.  I called the Glossybox customer service team and they assured me that they will look in to it and see if they can get another one sent to me.

Problem #2: I finally received the replacement box but when I opened it I was shocked at what I found. 

At first glance everything seemed normal, but when I looked closely I noticed that the cap of the Tony and Guy Hair Serum was not on properly. I tried to snap it back into place but something was blocking it so I took it out and found a small black cap inside it. I soon realised that the black cap was supposed to be on the product sample from Dr Lipp. Surely this can not be an accident, and definitely not something that can happen during delivery as I am pretty sure a cap can't magically unscrew itself, place itself into a much bigger cap and then have that bigger cap placed neatly by it's product... NO .... just NO! *sigh* 

To make things worse, when I opened the HD Brows Bronzer, it was completely cracked :( ... Luckily I know how to fix cracked powder based makeup... but I shouldn't have to do that. 

I emailed pictures to the customer service team for them to look in to it as this is what the website states should be done if a customer receives damaged products, But I didn't receive a reply. 

I thought I will just leave it and that maybe it was just an unlucky month for me or something, considering that my friends didn't seem to have any problem with them. 

Problem #3: I  received my second box (October 2013 Glossybox), which was worse.... much worse.

BROKEN GLASS!!!! ok fair enough this one might be because of the courier service but still,  damaged products 2 boxes in a row is not good.... especially if it involves broken glass. 

I immediately took pictures and sent another email to the Glossybox customer service team and manager asking them to cancel my subscription and give me a refund... and guess what? ... I got a very quick reply and a very quick refund (but only for this box because of the broken glass.... they still completely ignored the previous one).

Please note, I am not saying that people should never subscribe to Glossybox ... Shanzy is still subscribed to them and has never had a problem... lucky girl .... but for me personally Glossybox is a no no... and I have decided to stick to my trusted Birchbox  ~^.^~

For those of you who are wondering... 
The products I received in the September 2013 Glossybox are: 

• Tony & Guy Classic Shine & Gloss Serum (tampered)
•  Dr Lipp Original Nipple Balm for Lips (tampered)
• HD Brows Bronzer (damaged)
• Be a Bombshell Cosmetics Onyx Eye Liner
• Eylure False Lashes
• A mini Green & Black's Organic Dark Chocolate

And the products I received in the October 2013 Glossybox are:

• Katy Perry Killer Queen Fragrance Sample (damaged)
• MeMeMe Cherubs Blush Cheek & Lip Tint
• imPRESS Press-On Manicure
• Monu Illuminating Primer SPF15
• Premae Harmony Multi-Vit Serum

(Both boxes had awesome product samples even though some where damaged/ tampered with). 


I would love to know if any of you are subscribed or have been subscribed to Glossybox and what your experiences have been with them. Also if there are any other beauty boxes that you know of and can recommend to me that would be awesome ~^.^~ Please leave a comment below ~

And make sure to stay tuned for my post on all the wonderful products I received in my September, October, November and December 2013 Birchboxes <3 

~ Saima ~