Many years ago, my bestie and I had a discussion regarding the bare minimum amount of money we need each month. She told me she can survive on a couple of hundreds while I said I need at least 1k. So we broke down the figures and she literally rolled her eyes at me when she realized that most of the money I needed was for beauty. Ha! That’s the good old me, when beauty was a priority. In our local speak, “die die also must beautify!” I was also working full-time then and so had no qualms about splurging money on my hair, face and body. However, now that my priorities have changed, so has my budget for beauty.

Hello VivaBellas! It’s already November and the year is closing soon. I was reading about blog anniversaries elsewhere and just realized that Viva Woman has been around for five years already and next year is the sixth! Geez…I started this blog when my son was nearly four years old and he’s now coming to nine! Although I’ve actually started blogging earlier, but I’m quite amazed that I’ve been keeping this blog alive for so long. Seriously, I wouldn’t have gone this far without all of your support; I really appreciate that many of you have become a regular in this space. *BIG WAVE*

Imagine this scenario: a lady who is not in the habit of putting on makeup has been going for over 10 job interviews without success. Now, these are jobs that she is well qualified to take on but somehow she never hears from the company again after the interviews. A close friend suggested that she applies some makeup before turning up for the next interview. In desperation, she heeded the advice and voila, she got the job this round! Sound ludicrous? Okay, it probably is because I made this story up just to get your attention to a study that suggest that women who wear makeup are seen to be more likeable, competent, and trustworthy – and more likely to move up the corporate ladder.

Whenever I check out a new range of products, I have a tendency to check out the star product or the best seller. Yes, such marketing works for me! I can even tell you that at times when I’m hit by some shopping impulse but don’t know what to buy, I’ll head over to Makeupalley, randomly select a category and then zoom right into the item with the highest rating!