Happy month of the spooks! 🎃

We don’t celebrate Halloween that much here in Singapore except for a Halloween Horror Nights event that’s usually held in Universal Studios, but because of the pandemic this year, that’s obviously cancelled (or turned into an online event, I’m not too clear about what’s happening), so October is generally a ‘normal’ month for me.

I live vicariously through social media posts from all my friends in the UK because Halloween is a big thing over there, and the season starts to change to my ultimate favourite one.. autumn! It’s summer in October here and it bums me out a lot.

I’m really enjoying reading autumn-related blog posts and imagining that I’m still in the UK which is so sad but honest. I’ve been doing that for about 4 years now since I left, everyday.

Enough of the soppy talk. Now, let’s get on to what I’ve loved this month! ❤️️

I got this amazing windbreaker online for just $22 in the size S and I’m sooooo happy with it – this is my dream jacket come true! I’ve wanted an 80’s/90’s Fresh-Prince-Of-Bel-Air styled windbreaker for months and I could not find it and the ones I could find were real vintage and cost about $100. The moment I saw this, I snapped it up right away and I don’t regret it. Since Singapore is so humid, a windbreaker makes perfect sense as it doesn’t trap heat and isn’t thick.

If I could wear this every day of my life, I would. It’s so pretty!

I’m trying to add more colour into my wardrobe at the moment. I used to have a lot of dark dull outfits but I’m putting in rainbows and brighter colours which I’m really enjoying, and I also feel it’s very ‘me’.

Since being on Accutane 3 months ago, I found that my skin lacked a lot of moisture especially in the evenings. I’m sure by now a lot of people have heard of the Japanese skincare brand, Hada Labo.

I’ve seen this product mentioned a lot on Asian skincare YouTube channels and how moisturising this product was. It’s called the Hada Labo Super Hyaluronic Acid Premium Hydrating Lotion (what a mouthful!) and it was on sale in a local Watson’s and I decided to give it a try. It is basically like a moisturiser and I use it right after my toner, followed by the rest of my skincare – which means I technically don’t use it as a moisturiser as moisturiser is meant to be the final step in any skincare routine.

It has a gel like consistency and I loooove it because it is SO hydrating and it has one of my favourite ingredients ever in it which is Hyaluronic Acid – amazing for people with acne or blemished skin. It hasn’t broken me out once, not does it leave my skin irritated or red.

With a new small business comes a lot of excitement, and that’s what I’m feeling with my new soap business at Snuggly Duckling Crafts! It is a lot of fun and I’m really enjoying what I’m doing despite not getting a lot of sales which is expected for such a tiny startup like myself.

I’ve released some really adorable Christmas soaps that I’m very happy about and currently taking pre-orders locally. I’ve got gingerbread men, snowflakes, Christmas trees and santa faces, they’re all so cute and I’m very happy with how all of them turned out. I’ve already got a couple of pre-orders which makes me so happy and I hope my clientele can increase over Christmas if people give them out as gifts. Fingers crossed!

I’m also learning more and more about soap making everyday and how it’s not actually as easy as it looks on YouTube tutorials! A lot of people make fun of melt and pour soap as a ‘child’s activity’ but man, you wouldn’t believe the amount of times I’ve had a failed batch and had to discard it because it was unusable! Either way, it is my little passion project and even if I lose a bit of money in it, I’m having a lot of fun and satisfaction from making stuff that I like.

Sadly, I haven’t sorted international shipping yet, which makes me sad because I’ve had a lot of UK friends enquire about my soaps. Recently, Singpost, which is Singapore’s main postal company, has revised their shipping rates and I don’t think they work in my favour anymore. A package with tracking weighing from 501g to 1kg would cost me $35.10 (an equivalent of £19.80) just to ship and I cannot justify that to any customer! Imagine paying more for shipping than the products you’re buying, I couldn’t have that. I have no idea how people ship from Singapore to the UK, and no idea how customers would be happy to pay £19.80!

I really hope I can work out international shipping soon as I really want my sales to go abroad. A friend has volunteered to buy some Christmas soaps so that we can ‘gage’ the shipping with the weight of the stuff I’m going to send, so hopefully that’ll give me a better eye for what to charge international customers in the future.

I have also recently created a Facebook page for my small business, please do give me a like!

Netflix has released Unsolved Mysteries Volume 2 and I am enjoying it so much!

I really loved the first volume, it was full of great stories and volume 2 is fantastic as well! A Death In Oslo and Lady In The Lake are probably my favourite episodes and I highly recommend it.

If anyone would like to leave recommendations on shows to watch on Netflix that are similar to Unsolved Mysteries or if they have a serial killer storyline, please leave them in the comments as I’m always looking for that kind of thing to watch. I’m a huge lover of true crime, especially if it is based on real-life events. It just makes it that much more immersive.

Wooow, the month of October really flew by. I hope everyone has had a good month and I look forward to November and honestly, to the end of 2020 – it’s been a hell of a year, but we are pulling through.

Let me know what you guys have enjoyed this month in the comments down below! 

If you haven’t enjoyed anything new, tell me about what you’re doing for Halloween. Better yet, send me pictures of your socially distanced Halloween OR costumes! I’d love to see them! 

Stay safe, stay healthy and take care.