If unicorns were real, this place is probably where they would live.

This cafe serves foods like no other. I went here this evening and felt like I just need to make a blog post about it. So here it is! My first cafe review.


Owl Espresso is located in Subang Jaya and is very famous for their wide variety selection of desserts, especially their Bingsoos, which are basically Korean shaved ice desserts. I came here only to try out the cute Cotton Candy Bingsoo. Yep, get ready for extreme cuteness!


Bubu the pink cotton candy with watermelon bingsu. I chose the regular size (RM28) which is enough for 2-3 people. The large one is selling for RM50. (price is slightly different for each type of bingsoos) You can tear the cotton candy or just lift it up to get the bingsoo. Give it to me of course I'll tear it lah hahahahaha.


There are so many choices but another two that are famous is Panda cotton candy and Crystal Bingsu. You have to check out their instagram for the pictures. The Crystal Bingsu is stunning. No shame, I must admit that the only reason I picked Bubu is because my current instagram theme is pink HAHA. No regret though because he is super fluffy and adorable, plus watermelon is my favourite fruit!


This cafe displays relaxing environment with black walls and dim lights. They also provide outdoor seating area for smokers and vapers, so just bring along your friends!



They also serves other desserts like waffles, cakes, toasts and heavy meals like Pastas, Kimchi Fried Rice and Cordon Bleu Chicken. I can't comment much about the foods as we only got to try the Bubu Bingsu, but judging from that alone, it is definitely worth it. Would love to come back!

Do you have skincare products that doesn't do you any good and you just don't know what to do with them? Don't throw them away just yet! Read on to know what other stuffs you can do with it to not waste your money :)

1. Cleansers


Often times when I have cleanser that doesn't work for me, I just use them to wash my makeup brushes. They work wonders, especially foam cleansers! Don't worry, if it is gentle enough for your skin, it should be gentle enough for your makeup bristles. Other than foaming cleansers, you can also use micellar water if you have one that you don't really like.

2. Toner



Toner is great to remove excess makeup and dirt, right? If you have one that you don't like, dries your skin or breaks you out, use it to wipe your lips, back of neck and the back of your ears. Those areas need some loves too. You will be amazed to see the dirt that is collected on your cotton pad, yikes! hahaha.

If you have watery toners that contain alcohol, you can even use it to clean surfaces like your phone screen and wrist watch.

3. Exfoliator


Sometimes we accidentally buy scrubs that are too rough for our sensitive skin, and they end up breaking us out. You can definitely use them to prep your skin before shaving or waxing your body. Exfoliating is an important step before you wax to ensure cleaner and easier waxing because you're basically removing the dead skin cells layering on your skin. Therefore you'll have closer shave and waxing. Yeah, that St. Ives Apricot Scrub that everyone warns you about? Just use it to scrub areas like your underarms, arms and legs before hair removal!

4. Moisturizer



If you're like me and a lot of moisturizers seem to break you out, use it as a hand or body lotion instead. So don't waste your money on another hand lotion! Just export your moisturizer into a squeeze travel bottle and pop it in your handbag. It is a plus if that moisturizer contains SPF.

Apart from that, you can also use any creams, be it hand cream or face cream that doesn't work for you or expired as leather conditioner. Yep, just slather them on your leather handbags or sofas using cotton cloth, and they will look as good as new!

5. Oil Serum


Not everyone can get the benefits of using oils as part of our skincare routine, especially in this hot and humid weather in Malaysia. Argan oil, coconut oil, olive oil, you name it. Despite all the great things that I heard about them, they just break me out. So instead of using it for the face, I used the remaining oils to hydrates my nail cuticles and hair ends. Use it every night before bed, and you will realize changes in less than a month of how healthier they look.

6. Lip Balm


I'm sure you don't own just one single lip balm, right? Well, at least most of us have multiples, but we only use the ones that we love. And the less loved one is just left unused and untouched lol. Don't worry tho! You can actually make use of it to avoid blisters. A lot of lip balms contain beeswax in it, and you can just slather some into your shoes on the areas that always gives you blisters like the heels. It will help to lessen the friction between your feet and the shoes. Just reapply as needed.

When all else fails, you can always sell them at Carousell! Just make sure that your products are not expired and the amount is legit to be resold as preloved item lol. And always make sure to sanitize everything before you ship them out. I do sell some of my skincare and makeup items that are unused or preloved, you can check them out here : https://my.carousell.com/imanridzuan



Disclaimer : Pictures are used for illustration purpose only, they are not products that don't actually work for me. In fact, I love each and every one of them dearly as my beauty routine!

My skin concern now is all about dullness because I have to walk under the scorching hot sun every day to class, so I am currently just trying out few brightening products. I came across this one online one day and it intrigued me. I got mine from, you guessed it. Althea :) It costed me RM52. They changed the packaging though, it is a lot simpler now. I actually prefer this old packaging a lot better.


With the help of Hyaluronic Acid and Niacinamide, this product helps to hydrate and brighten the skin respectively. Hyaluronic Acid is not a foreign product when it comes to moisturizing skincare, I am pretty sure that most of us here have heard of it. It became so popular since Hada Labo starts promoting it, as far as I can remember. Niacinamide on the other hand, has gotten popular around the last 2 years in this beauty community. If you're familiar with the brand The Ordinary, their Niacinamide serum is so popular that it has become the bestselling product for that brand. So when I found out that this essence have 5% of niacinamide, I wasn't hesitate to try it at all. I knew it will be a good stuff lol.

And I was right! It definitely helps to fade my scars completely. I do not have old scars to begin with, but it brightens my new scar and make them completely disappear after a good month of use. You may think a month is actually a long period, but a gentle skincare like this for sure will take longer time than the ones with harsh chemicals. So a month to me is really good actually. It helps a little bit to brighten my overall complexion, but not to the point where it change my skin tone or anything.

Have you heard? The gossip is out! Althea Korea came out with their own new skincare line! YES, THAT ALTHEA! My favorite online website to purchase korean beauty products, oh my god, I am so proud of you guys! /hugs/ They have a few releases of makeup products, but this is the first skincare release, and I am so excited for more.

Anyway, the new skincare brand is called Bare Essentials. Some of you might have probably heard of it, since it was released early April. I have had mine for a little over 2 weeks, but I want to make sure that I really put it to the test before I give my verdicts out. So here's what I thought about them!

This skincare line consists of 3 products. I know right? Despite all of the 8 to 11 steps that other korean brands are focusing at, Althea decided to release the main 3 steps that are the most important and essential for your skin. So how does it compare to the other brands? They're using the concept of 'Less is More' and minimalism when it comes to skincare. They're dropping all of the other non essential ones and only focus on the fundamental steps.

Each Bare Essentials products focuses on three main ingredients that are gentle yet powerful for their skin. Most importantly, they're hypoallergenic, so they're very suitable for all skin type, even the sensitive ones.

1. Contour Cleanser, RM23

2. Primer Water, RM43



This product acts as a hydrating toner and a primer to prep your skin for the next skincare products. It contains patented dewdrop technology that gently fill in gaps between our pores to allow deeper hydration penetration. This technology is called as Macro Fluidic Dispersion. Cool, right? It also contains Snow Lotus extract, which helps to enhance skin's natural glow, so your makeup will look really good on top.


The texture is more like an essence than water since it is a tad thicker, but it is not sticky at all! It absorbs really fast into the skin, definitely one of my favorite few toners, and I have used a lot. It does not make my skin oily throughout the day, because I have used several ones from other brands that have similar texture, but makes me really oily after about 3 to 4 hours. But with this one, my skin just feels nicely hydrated. I use about 3 to 5 drops each time, day and night after cleansing.

3. Fixer Cream, RM50




Moisturizer, it is really difficult to impress my skin when it comes to moisturizer. My skin has a mind on its own lol. This moisturizer contains Trehalose, and ingredient from the cactus plant that will help to prevent moisture loss. I guess it kinda acts like Hyaluronic Acid that is used in a lot of other skincare brands. Another main ingredient used is green tea seed oil which is packed with antioxidant properties. The Baobab Tree extract helps to promote collagen regeneration which is what I really need since I am turning 23 this May. Oh my god..aging is what we us girls afraid of the most, right? So, prevention is key!




This moisturizer absorbs very fast into the skin, usually I will spend some time to massage any moisturizer into my skin, but this one cuts the time which I love. However, despite the claim for being  a non oily moisturizer, I do find that it makes my T-zone area a little shiny after about 5 hours. So I only like to use it during the night. I don't think people who lives in colder climate would have the same problem though, Malaysia is so hot and humid all year round. Having a combination skin type, my skin only prefers water based gel moisturizers to be used during the day. But nonetheless, it doesn't break me out or clog my pores which is a huge plus! Recommended for people with dry to normal skin, and for people who lives in colder climate since the moisturizing power is so good. I do wish it came with a spatula though :/.


Congratulations to Althea for this amazing release! I totally enjoyed every single one of them, and will continously use everything, especially the primer water. That one is my favorite. Cleanse, tone and moisturize. The three basic skincare step and Althea definitely nailed all three.I am in love with the minimal packaging too. Get yours now on Althea website! Thank god they are affordable too. You can get the full set for only RM116. Visit their website here http://www.althea.kr/

Hello beauties! I thought about this idea to do a new series on my blog where I'll compare two brands of similar products a while back, and I finally have something to compare, lol. I am pretty sure that most of you guys here are already aware of the beauty benefits of aloe vera gel, right? They're a miracle product that really cures everything from burns to acne. But do all aloe vera gels in the market work similarly?




The two aloe vera gels that I will be comparing are the infamous Nature Republic one and from The Face Shop. Nature Republic is like the OG of all aloe vera gels in the market, and they've been raved for years for how well it performs. But, The Face Shop contains 99% of aloe content, which sounds a lot better.

As for me, I totally prefer the Nature Republic (NR) over The Face Shop (TFS). Here are my reasons.

Firstly, the 99% of aloe content in TFS explains the viscosity of the product. It is a lot stickier and takes more time to absorb into my skin compared to NR. I usually pat my moisturizers into the skin for better absorption, but for TFS it seems like I'm tapping my skin forever until the aloe finally absorbs whereas NR takes less than 30 seconds.

You see, the NR have a higher content of alcohol in the ingredient list. The alcohol in this product acts as a thinner, hence the gel can be easily absorbed at a faster rate but that could be a drawback for people with dry skin as alcohol can dry your skin more. However, the ingredient list for NR is shorter and simpler than TFS that contains quite a number of irritants so people with sensitive skin may want to avoid.



Are they equally effective? I would say yes. I do notice that my sunburn and acne scars fade faster with either products. The only downside of TFS to my skin is that it gives me little pimples if I use it as a moisturizer. I guess it clogged my pores. So I just use it as a 15 minutes mask or as a body moisturizer. I have no complain with the NR. It is my HG moisturizer for the time being. I notice that my pores are now smaller ever since I used the NR aloe vera gel as my daily and nightly moisturizer.

Both products are great, but it all comes down to your skin type in the end. I would recommend TFS for people with dry to normal skin and NR for people with combination to oily skin. Good luck!