Unlike my DH, who conducts some online banking and online auto insurance most of the time, I like to do my shopping online. I have heard that Vpost can help me save in shipping charges when I order stuff from US merchants so after much consideration, I decided to give it a go. After following the instructions of submitting the merchant’s invoices to Vpost, I am still getting emails that they can’t match my packages with the invoice. Worse still, they are quite slow in processing the packages. I had timed it initially to receive all my packages when I returned to Singapore during Chinese on New Year but unfortunately, there was too much delay. Worse still, the shipping charges turned out to be more than expected.

Well, after many emails to vpost customer service and a week of waiting, I still haven’t got round to paying for my shipping charges which means, no delivery to be expected in the next one week. I seriously don’t know if I would consider using vpost again especially when the package shipping is charged based on volumetric weight and not the package contents weight. This means if your package comes in a big box, you may end up paying more. In other words, you may not even save much on shipping.

If anyone has any experience with vpost, I would love to hear it so please feel free to share it here.

Thankfully, there is a cool site now that does all the work to gather all the product reviews around the web and present them in just one score. For instance, if you are looking for electrolux vacuum cleaners, Wize will show you all the models available in the web plus the reviews – positive or negative – and a review summary of the electrolux vacuum cleaner itself. What’s nice is that you can even know where the user reviews are from, check out product details and prices of the electrolux vacuum cleaners while deciding what’s best for you. Personally, the information is so useful and helpful as you no longer need to spend hours on the web searching for all these details. So before you make another buying decision, get some wisdom from Wize!

I have returning four times in the week and have finally finished browsing through those shops that interest me. You can find luxury and high fashion shops like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Chanel, Prada, Celine, Hermes and more with a mix of other mid-range and local fashion stores like Gap, Guess, Crazy Shirts, Tori Richard, Hilo Hattie and two other departmental stores, Macy and Sears. Nordstrom will be opening in March 2008 and 35 more stores will be added by then.

I enjoyed spending time in Sephora… you can find everything you need to satisfy your vanity and beauty fantasies from labels like Bare Escentuals, Nars, Laura Mercier, a whole range of popular labels like Clinique, Clarins, plus a widespread of beauty accessories. The crowd is always seen in Sephora… you can guess it when it is a store that targets only women! I bought a few items from Bare Escentuals since I have been a mineral convert since the last few months.

It is good that we have our laptop with us this trip and I don’t have to worry about computer rental and hopping into internet cafes. I can even book our tours and find out additional travel info whenever I need it… how convenient.

We will be leaving for the islands on the Pride of America today… let’s see what’s like in the islands in the next one week!

I’m still in the search for the perfect shade for my light tan skin tone. Thanks to Monave mineral makeup, my samples arrived the other day just in time! To date, I have tried a few shades from various mineral makeup stores but this is one shade I must give a special mention.

To those who does not have fair skin, but some pink tones and you may be a Latin, Indian, African American, and Southeast Asian woman, you need to give Canela loose mineral foundation a try. I was surprised on how quick the mineral foundation settled on my face with no tiny blotches, which could be common on humid days. With just a little application, Canela sat nicely and evely on my face and most importantly, it blended well with the skin tone on my neck. It was light and did not make my face appear ‘white’ like some other powders. You can choose to try out the sample at $2.5 or get just the full size at $25, and if a refill pot is needed, it’s $35.

If you are having trouble with finding the right shade for your skin tone, consider choosing a couple of shades (one light and one darker) and mix it to match your skin tone. I’ll be reviewing more products from Monave in the next few days…look out!

It looks like one of favourite bodycare, Burts Bees, has a new look on its website. Nice! This new look is clean, refreshing and complements the theme of the products – earth-friendly and natural. I like the flash animation on the home page with colourful photos of the products.

I have been using Burts Bees Beeswax and Banana Creme hand moisturizer in the last couple of weeks and am impressed with this simple jar of creme. It’s 100% natural with sweet almond oil, beeswax and aloe vera juice as the base to create this super rich hand cream. Great for chapped and dry hands and the smell of banana is nourishing and sweet. The presence of Vitamin E helps to moisturize dry skin and beeswax to help seal and protect your hands from the elements.  It is effective in softening those tired hands, especially when I need to do all the washing in this house! So, to tell you the truth, I need a good hand creme that works and this is one of them. I like it for the price, the natural goodness and its rich texture.

Here’s a little additional information of beeswax from Burts Bees:

Beeswax: A natural wax made by bees in the cell walls of honeycombs, this substance is a natural emulsifier used in cosmetics. It adds a wonderful natural smell and color to products and helps to seal and protect the skin when used in moisturizing formulas.