My Sweet Yellow Rose

My garden is putting out beautiful sweet smelling roses hopefully they would start to bloom in time for Christmas.

Signing off,

Sandi

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20th World Orchid Show Singapore

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This is the 2nd time that Singapore has hold the World Orchid Show and this is the no-hold-barrier for putting up such a  stunning reverie. I was lucky enough to get tickets for the 1st day of the Orchid show on the 13th Nov and the 20th Nov. The first day was to drool over all these beauties while they are fresh and beautiful from arrangement.

 

One of my Favourite Display

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And the last day was to go crazy over buying these babies back home.

 
--> I was glad my parents have persuaded me to attend as they know I am a flower nut and probably would have kill myself for missing it.

Signing off,
Sandi

Sky Juice Modified # 2: Blackberry & Orange Smoothie

Smoothies are easily the most refreshing drink one can make during a hot summer night. As long as you have a blender, no smoothie is impossible. Every time I walk past shops selling those diluted expensive drinks, I would just turn my nose up at those poor suckers who buy from them. Dun get me wrong, I used to be one of those poor suckers too. I bought it not because its delish, but because I am thirsty and lazy and couldn't be bother to look around for cheaper alternatives. Not till I made up my mind to buy a blender to make myself a refreshing thick yummilious full of nutrient smoothie, instead of those overpriced diluted slush.

I am going to share with you this yummy recipe to keep you refresh and energize for the day.

Blackberries and Orange smoothie

1 cup Frozen Blackberries

2-3 tbsp of orange concentrate from minute maid( you can sub with pure orange juice)

1/2 tsp of orange blossom water.

1/2 cup of warm water with 2tbsp honey.

* 2 tbsp of vodka (for the extra buzz)

Combine all the ingredients and give it a whirl, the end product is a thick slush of yummilious goodness.

The scent of Orange Blossom Water is essentially a warm floral note that can be cloying in concentration. Hence a light hand is needed. Its always good to use less than to use more of it.

Sky Juice Modified #1 Earl Grey Tea

I love my earl grey tea early in the morning. It brings me joy and wakes me up from slumber. Every time I inhale its strong citrus scent I feel that nothing is impossible this day for me. It’s my go to caffeine.

*Russian Earl Grey Tea*

A light smoky blend with a hint of citrus and strong lemongrass scent. 

Verdict:

I suppose this is an idea taken from ancient caravan-transported teas with the smoky flavor but I am rather put off by the slight oiliness scent that lemongrass is well known for. Not really my cuppa EGT.

*Twinning Earl Grey Tea*

They use to be so fragrant, a bouquet that is full body and strong. But this new batch that I bought is disappointing. It could be that they are on the shelves too long and also because I bought them on discount. Anyway with some variation I added ½ teaspoon of lavender to it to give it more of a kick. Beautiful. 

Verdict:

 Good cheap tea to play with and modify with different blend of herbs and spices.

*French Earl Grey Tea*

Light-girly-toss-of-nose kinda citrusy. Its very delicate and remember not to use too hot of a water as it will drown out the light fragrance in the tea. It makes me feel like a porcelain doll that can’t take too rough handling or I will be in need of a swoon on the chaise.

Verdict:

Good for girly Sunday Brunch but a bit too delicate for a wake me up.

*TWG American Earl Grey Tea*

The salesman assured me that it is the strongest flavor earl grey around TWG. I love the scent of it slightly tipping towards the strong yet gentle manner it produce. Just the right mix of citrus top note for scent and evolve to the taste of vanilla undertone. 

Verdict:

Love it. Good for those morning when one would need a man to cuddle.(Strong vanilla base could be the very reason)

Perfume Potion # 1 “Citrus Musk”

I am dedicating this perfume to my “Cookie Monster”. My clumsy first attempt to make a perfume for him was citrus musk. Back then I haphazardly mix a bunch of essential oil and some fragrance oil together, obviously it didn’t turn out good enough.

As I am quite the hoarder and did not want to waste the precious oils so I just let it sit around for a bit. The problem with this potion is that there is a huge distinction between the top and base note. Looking back I realize there was no middle note and the base note was just the fragrance musk. It needs a good dry down and middle note to round it up. Its like you can see the head and leg but not the body. 

“Cookie Monster” likes to nose around the bottles of failed experiments. He like the potion. Not being a “nose” he didn’t understand the concept of a good perfume from a lousy one. He just know what he likes and dislike. I believe the reason he enjoys it is because of the natural essential oil of grapefruit and bergamot, which uplift him every time he sprays it. That I find is the true beauty of natural perfume. It uplifts ones mood, as no other commercial synthetic perfume out there will. 

Anyway, he was reminding me a few days back to make him more of the “good stuff” but alas with no good bookkeeping I couldn’t find the recipe again. SO I guess I will have to do a tabula rasa.

A fresh start is good except that I am rather impatient and inexperience, not forgetting I have not have the foundation of knowing my materials yet. Some of the materials are so expensive to test it out with.

I just try to recreate from scratch. But this time round, I think I will include ylang ylang to add body to the perfume so that there is no gap between the top and base note. I find that ylang ylang is an expansive note and it fills out the gaps pretty nicely. The only problem is that it can be too expansive if too much is added. It needs a delicate touch. I would also like to make it slightly spicier with an addition of black pepper to the top note. As of now it is stewing in a dark corner of the room waiting to be evaluate in about 1 month time.

I intend to add in more citrus notes to extend the life of the top notes longer. Maybe a little bit of glycerin should do the trick to hold it down. The synthetic musk is sorta good as a fixative to add longevity to the perfume on the skin. But the end result will be different from the first one as in, the current perfume volume will smell like a big fat ball unlike it’s hourglass predecessor.

Of course this is not the end of the Citrus Musk Journey, as I am still unhappy with it but it will satisfy my “cookie monster” for a while.

Till then signing off,

Sandi

Adoration # 2 Montezuma’s Dark Chocolate Orange & Geranium

I am currently in a phase where I like to consider my food combine with essential oils and this is one of the interesting blends of orange and geranium. I found the dark chocolate with 73% milk solid, slightly bitter, nutty with flavors of orange and a very light blend of geranium that melts in with a creamy aftertaste and texture. Very interesting combination and I love it. Best of all its organic.

To really enjoy dark chocolate, it should not be freeze in the fridge but in room temperature, as chocolate with low content of butter will keep solid. A square piece of dark sinfulness should be allowed to rest on your tongue and melt with the heat of your mouth, then glide down the tongue in that seductive caressing way a lover does. With this chocolate, you will taste so many different flavors.

And you should seriously consider trying out any sort of chilli dark chocolate. It is addictive. I love the subtle kick that comes with it. On this note, I am not someone who love chilli but a hint of it do bring about an excitement of the naughty kind. 


(I got these from Sommerset 313's cold storage at the basement. Love, Love, Love.)

Give me some Lippie Love

I have never thought I would come to love lip balm so much till my lips started cracking in humid Singapore. To me healthy lips are important as they are used for smooching and also for vanity sake.

There are a few factors to painful crack lips and mine is due to dry air conditioning in the office. I found a few interesting ways to relive painful lip cracks by applying various items like lipgloss or glossy lipstick, aloe vera gel, cucumber slice and Vit E other than lip balm. You can get more information on the link below:

http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Painful-Cracked-Lips

On the other hand, I have been experimenting with my own version of Mango Lip Butter and it seems to be a success. I have made a few batches of it and have been busy passing it around to friends and family. Have not had a negative remark yet. All of them seem to think that these are better than the ones that are selling in the retail shops. I’ll take that as a compliment thank you. Although they could have said it out of obligations but I personally have been using them to my own satisfaction.

One of the ingredients that I included in my lip butter is the COCOA BUTTER.
It is an edible vegetable fat from cocoa beans, extracted from the cocoa beans during the process of making chocolate and cocoa powder. The best part about using Cocoa butter in the recipe is that it has a mild chocolate flavor and aroma. According to reports, cocoa butter is one of the most stable fats known, containing natural antioxidants that prevent rancidity and give it a storage life of 2 to 5 years. It is used for its smooth texture in foods (including chocolate) and in cosmetics and soaps.

I have also add glycerin, beewax, mango flavor oil, jojoba oil and bee propolis extract. But basic lip balm would only require a bit of wax and oil to prevent moisture from evaporating from your lips.

Ok so a little bit of economics 101, part of the reason people turn to DIY homemade recipe is to save cost. The project may seem cheaper in bulk but trust me a stick of lip balm is gonna last you a long time unless you are using it every so often. So to me homemade lip balms may not be so economical unless you are making a lot of it and giving it away or sharing the cost with someone else for the lip balm. Its a sweet let's make something together with girlfriends. I have post the basic Lip Balm Recipe below for Mango Lip Butter. Have fun with it.

Mango Lip Butter (Make 1 Tube = 6ml)


· 40 small pellets of beewax (about 1 round tsp)

· 13g of coco butter

· 15dp(small dropper) mango flavor oil*

· 1ml of jojoba oil

· 1dp of hyalauronic acid*

· 5dp of bee propolis*

*optional


Melt them down and pour them into the tube. Wahla thats it.

Signing Off,
Sandi