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In January 2009, Lolyco.com is giving away a free Ang Pow with every order, to mark the Chinese New Year of the Ox. Chinese New Years (CNY) are based on a lunar calendar and the northern solstice, so the festival falls usually in late January or early February. The Chinese animal zodiac consists of twelve animal signs in a cycle. Most of 2008 was the Year of the Rat, CNY in 2009 marks the start of the Year of the Ox.

Ox Year People

People born in an Ox year are said to be patient, tireless and gain prosperity through hard work. Born leaders, they are quiet, systematic thinkers who benefit from a peaceful environment in which to consider their options and make plans. Ox people are truthful and honest, and have many friends.

Ang Pow

Ang Pow, meaning ‘red envelope’, is a gift of money given to mark a special occasion. The red of the envelope is for good luck, while the money inside is usually in certain auspicious amounts. At Chinese New Year, it is traditional for married people to give Ang Pow to their unmarried relatives, and for adults to give Ang Pow to children. The amount of cash in Lolyco.com’s free Angpow won’t make you rich, but like a seed grows into a beautiful flower, maybe it will be the start of a prosperous New Year of the Ox for you.

恭喜發財 Gōngxǐ fācái / Gong hei fat choi / Kung hei fat choi

The traditional greeting for Chinese New Year can be pronounced many different ways, depending on what Chinese dialect is used. Mandarin (official Chinese) is spelt in pinyin (A-Z with pronunciation marks) Gōngxǐ fācái. The other two ways I’ve shown here are similar to Hakka (my ancestors!) and Cantonese (Hong Kong area) pronunciation. In Malaysia, you’ll see all kinds of wonderful spellings around CNY!

I was watching some YouTube videos about Barack Obama’s election success (congratulations, by the way!) and realised I’ve been saying his name completely wrong. I’ve been saying ‘Barack’ like the place that soldiers live in - like ‘barracks’. Maybe it was the time I spent in the UK. If you’re aware of the difference between the UK pronunciation of ‘garage’ and the USA pronunciation of ‘garage’, well, the A sounds in Barack are very similar to the USA pronunciation of ‘garage’.

Listen to the way Oprah Winfrey and this journalist say his name:

If you want to hear their pronunciation separately, here is Oprah:

And here’s the journalist:

I hope that helps! Maybe I should spend more time watching the news on TV instead of reading it online!

After years of research and development, the Bio Essence skincare series is becoming more and more popular. A unique and effective skincare that will make your skin more radiant and give you a clearer complexion.

Bio essence test at 1 Utama

Bio-essence have even held several huge events where they demonstrated their products’ effects. The event in the picture was at 1 Utama, a famous shopping complex in Malaysia.

Beauty Biotech has an article about Bio Essence company background, made of herbal chinese traditional and etc.

Follow these steps for a Basic Skin care program:

1. Exfoliate - Deep Exfoliating Gel
2. Remove - Deep Cleansing Milk (If you use make-up)
3. Cleanse - Deep Cleanser
4. Tone - Deep Nourishing Toner
5. Skin Nourisher - Cell Re-growth Essence
6. Moisturize - Deep White Lotion
7. Protect - Sunscreen Moisturizing Lotion SPF15 or Sunscreen Moisturizing Cream SPF56

So easy! Effective too.

You can buy products from the Bio Essence range at my shop: Lolyco.com, I stock almost the entire range. Let me know if there’s a product you want, but I don’t have in stock, I’ll see what I can do! You can leave a comment below, or use the contact page at Lolyco.com.

One of the fashions that struck me most about Jean Paul Gaultier (hear how to pronounce his name)  fashion designer was the ‘Cone Bra’ outfit, which was designed for Madonna for her Blonde Ambition tour in 1990. After that, there was a Hong Kong Comedy Movie, starring Maggie Chung who wore that Cone Bra for her funny role as well.

You can see the Jean Paul Gaultier Haute Couture Summer 2008 for his collection in here. This time a mermaid is wearing the cone bra.

I was wandering if I was wearing the Cone Bra on the street, will people stare at me?  I don’t mind if I would be able to wear it on a fashion show but not in the high street!

Hello magazine has a great Jean Paul Gaultier profile. He was so obsessed with fashion design in the early days. I would say if somebody is obsessed and persistent in their goal, usually they will be successful, don’t you think so?

Jean Paul Gaultier said that beauty can be universal. The model’s name is “Velvet” from New York, USA. Some bloggers say Jean Paul Gaultier did this as a reaction, to make a mockery of the ban on super-skinny models. Many have commented that if he really wanted to show beauty is universal, he should have used some average sized women.

Whatever the truth is, there are plenty of opinions! So what do you think? Was Gaultier telling women “you’re all beautiful, no matter what size”? Or was he saying “I can’t use skinny models? Well, cop this!”.

I’d love to know what you think!

Another designer’s name that catches me out sometimes! Jean Paul Gaultier is pronounced like “ZHON POL GOL-tee-yay”. The “Paul” and the “Gaul” sound the same. The ‘ZH’ sound is like the ’s’ in ‘vision’.

Here’s an audio clip of “Jean Paul Gaultier”:

From this Jean Paul Gaultier ‘Classique’ video:

The music is “Nessun Dorma” from the opera “Turandot” by Puccini

This is another audio clip of someone saying “Jean Paul Gaultier”:

From this ‘le male’ (the man) video:

The music is “Casta Diva” from Bellini’s “Norma”. While I was researching on YouTube, I found this amazing video of the famous opera diva Maria Callas singing Casta Diva. What a voice - I had to include it!

Nutox Oxyfusion is suitable for all skin types, especially for those who wish to have a wrinkle-free and radiant complexion. A while ago, somebody asked me how to use the whole range of Nutox Oxyfusion, here are the steps to use:-

• Step 1: Remove make-up ( use Softening Pre-cleanser to remove make-up )
• Step 2: Exfoliate ( use Skin Reborn Exfoliator )
• Step 3: Cleanse ( use Purifying Cleansing Gel or Wrinkle Away Cleanser )
• Step 4: Toner ( use Skin Refining Astringent )
• Step 5: Revitalize ( use Advanced Serum Concentrate )
• Step 6: Lighten ( use Spot Away to lighten and reduce the black spots )
• Step 7: Moisture ( use Moisture Emulsion SPF25 PA++ / Solar Block SPF45 PA++ for day and Supernatural Night Repair for night & Eye Refiner for eye area )

Others: Deep Absorbing Detox Mask or Restorative Hydrating Mask.

You can get the Nutox Oxyfusion products from Lolyco.com online shop.

When somebody see you, of course the eyes will be the first contact. Protect and take good care of your eyes is important for everybody. Women will do anything to slow down aging but nowadays guys want to do that too!

The skin under your eyes is fragile and thinner than your other facial skin, about 3 to 5 times thinner! Some of the causes of eye bags, dark circles, wrinkles, crow’s feet, and dullness are: high stress, hectic lifestyle, late nights, UV rays, lack of sleep, poor dietary habits, natural aging to name a few.

How to treat your problems? There are a few moisturising eye creams that you can choose from lolyco.com. Besides good products, technique applying the eye cream is also important. The videos below will show you how to use your ring finger on your eyes. Some people just rub with their hands, which is wrong, it can damage the delicate skin around your eyes.

The first video shows the basics of how to apply eye cream, just use a pea-sized amount to apply to both eyes - don’t use too much cream, it won’t penetrate.

The second video shows the method in detail. See the way she taps gently underneath the eyes. You can use this techniques to apply concealer to cover your dark circles as well.

On top of that, I would recommend that some good deep sleep (hours before midnight are best!), drinking plenty of fluids, reducing your alcohol and fat intake, light outdoor exercise in the fresh air will improve your facial skin and help you get rid of puffy eyes.

I’ve done some research on beauty, what do you think of photoshop or surgery? Now photos can generate nice picture if you are not satisfied with yourself, at least you will be happy in your fantasy world, hehe.

Here’s what we have to compete with. Why can’t we beat it? It’s not real!

I like this video, wow! fabulous…if I can get that makeover for a party, that will be nice….haha…. the point is Dove’s Campaign For Real Beauty, support in any way you can!

The surgery part, I think everybody can get a similar effect with more exercise, take care of your skin and control your diet. Although No.3 looks sexy now but hopefully it won’t have side effect in future…..

What do you think of these videos, interesting or what?

Everybody has a theory on this. I spent too long researching this one on YouTube!

Here’s a sound file with someone saying “Saint Laurent” from 1962.

I got this from a black and white video about one of his early collections:

And here’s a more recent pronunciation of “Yves Saint Laurent” from an ad for ‘Cinema’ perfume:

You have to watch this ad - just beautiful!

Let me know if there are any other brand names you need the pronunciation for!

The isolated tribe in Brazil reported by the BBC this week seems to be not so isolated any more. A more recent photograph taken later the same day shows that the outside world is already subtly affecting life around the thatched huts.

Unless you’re a sharp-sighted anthropologist, you may need to click on the image for a larger version to see the clues. The picture is from flickr, prompted by a post on slashdot.