Little Goss On Jonsson VE Protein

As you guys know, I've been busy meeting up with people in the beauty and wellness industry due to Pásshen and through one of these meetings, I was sharing my experience at Jonsson VE and then that little bird told me that Jonsson belongs to the Euro Group!

If you do a simple search on them, you'll find out that some big brands such as Yun Nam, New York Skin Solutions, London Weight Management and Dorra Slimming belong to them. Thus, when I heard that Jonsson belongs to them...my immediate reaction was, "NO WONDER they hard-sell!" Oops...sorry brands-that-I've-listed, but you guys do have a reputation.

Apparently, my experience was not unique. My business counterpart had the exact same experience and she said that they were so relentless that she ended up buying shampoo just to stop them from bugging her further.

Photo credit: dailyvanity.sg

When I told her that I walked out of Jonsson with my hair wet until they asked me to go back to my seat, she was half-shocked and half-applauding me.

The industry HAS to change. Although not all spas and salons are the culprits, the usual way of selling packages and forcing it down people's throats is not going to work any longer. Moreover, it doesn't make any financial sense. Salons/spas will get an initially high revenue but as these clients will be buying a package that lasts a whole year, they're not going to be spending any more after that initial package. Chances of them renewing once their package is up is also quite slim. More and more gyms are recognising that and instead of making their clients pay the whole year's membership, many of them are collecting monthly or even bi-weekly fees!

Clients are speaking. Why aren't the salons listening?

SAVE THE DATES - 16 to 21 November for Pásshen's Beauty Week

I'll be busy planning a week of beauty and wellness workshops in November! Hope that after this week, you ladies will feel like goddesses both on the inside and out! ;) More details will be out soon but in the meanwhile, sign up as a member on www.passhen.com so that you'll get the priority invites!

Watching Singin' In The Rain Live

The bro asked whether we wanted to watch the latest musical in town "Singin' In The Rain" and I said yes. So...off it became a family affair where we hoped to be splashed with fun!

Cast for the evening

Couldn't take any photos/videos of the performance so you'll have to make do with the stage. I think it was quite a good use of the stage where the centre portion is where it 'rained' and then the parameter is the pavement.

I have not watched the 1952 film which starred Gene Kelly but I do know the famous songs "Good Morning" and "Singin' In The Rain" which came out from the musical so I was really excited to watch some good dancing and singing. However, I think I've been spoilt. By Phantom and Les Miserablé.

Although I do know that the film was a musical, it was essentially still a movie and so when transported onto stage, certain elements that were mostly like done in the film (close-ups, "swirls' to indicate imaginations etc) were kinda lost and as a result, most of us appreciated mainly the great acting, dancing in the rain and when the dancers were fooling around by splashing water at the front row audience members. All of us really laughed out loud at the hilarious and outstanding performance by the actor (I've been told that it's rude to call proper female actors "actresses") portraying Lamont.

What stuck out to me throughout the whole performance was how times have changed. I can imagine how this was considered good fun and a clean romantic movie in the 1950s and it was the start of the world's obsession with celebrities and fame. Another thing that made me feel ancient was that I was sitting next to a little girl who was probably about 6 and she was there with her brother who was probably about 9. It was her questions that made me feel particularly old. When the light bulbs on the old cameras were flashing on stage with the distinctive sound, she asked her brother what they were doing and what were those sounds. Oh dear. Gone are the days were we heard flashes from the camera ending with a somewhat loud 'bang' and the flashes themselves aren't as harsh as before. The sounds from our phones while we snap photos are somewhat silent too.

Which brings me to my next train of thoughts...was this musical less than appealing to me because it was hovering between modernity and imagined past (Phantom and Les Miserablé are the latter to me)? Or was it because of the flow of it? There were parts where I couldn't get what that scene had to do with the whole storyline and it felt like just an excuse to put in a song and dance routine. Moreover, the movie had ended with the leads kissing in front of a movie poster entitled "Singin' In The Rain" which was a cheeky way of telling the audience that they're watching a movie within a movie but in this live performance, it merely ended with them kissing.

Nonetheless, this gnawing slight dis-satisfaction makes me want to watch the original movie and perhaps understand truly how this musical gained its legendary status.

Macallan Launches First Batch of Rare Cask

I was really excited to go for my second Macallan event on Saturday and this time round, it's to celebrate the launch of their first batch of Rare Cask whisky. Why is it called Rare Cask? It is because it is a celebration of their Oak Barrels and the head whisky maker selected 1% of their usual barrels to produce this series which has 16 distinct notes.

For Macallan, it's all about the oak barrels. Their Oaks are a mix of American and Spanish oaks, and the barrels made with them are first 'cured' with sherry before whisky is aged in these barrels. The organisers invited Tio Pepe down to give us a taste of the said sherry, which is in the glass that you see above.

I loved how each glass of sherry was poured with such flair and if you've got a camera in front of him, he'll be so obliging in making his movements even MORE exaggerated! But back to the sherry. I was really surprised that although the nose of it was really strong, it was a super easy wine to drink. It was a bit dry but wasn't too overpowering so you can pair it with all sorts of seafoods, especially those that come with cream sauces.

What Macallan event would it be without welcome drinks? The above is the Macallan Macarena, a special cocktail made specially for this event. As you can tell from the menu below, it contains the Macallan 12 yrs, Amarena, egg white (for the froth) and orange bitter.

I joked with the bartender that this cocktail is so healthy since it as protein from the egg white and fibre from the cherry served with it plus carbs from the whisky. All contributing to our 1 of 5 servings in a day. LOL. Honestly though, the taste wasn't that great. The previous welcome cocktail for Toast The Macallan was a lot tastier but I liked that the Macarena was prepared fresh for us on the spot, unlike the last event in January.

It was soon our turn to go into the 'warehouse' where the organisers turned the place to resemble the cellars/warehouses in Europe where the Macallan sits and ages for a minimum of 7 years. It is supposed to be cool and damp.

The actual oak barrels were also there for us to take a sniff at - smell the glorious sherry residue.

But the day's event was all about the Rare Cask, which was why we were there in the first place. To taste this first bottling.

On first whiff, it smelt a little creamy and my friend Joe said that he could smell mainly chocolate. On first taste, it was quite spicy and when it went to the back of the throat, the subtle flavours of the vanilla and citrus started to come out. It was the opposite for Joe who only felt the spice as an aftertaste.

There are less than 3,000 bottles brought into Singapore for sale and it retails for about S$550/bottle. An expert that we spoke to that day recommended that we buy a bottle as an investment as it was going for sale at S$475 at the event and they had already opened 1,000 bottles for this event. Thus, it would triple in value within 10 years. Especially since this is the first bottling. The second bottling may be able to replicate the hue and the smell but it will still be different because it'll be made from different batches of whiskies aged in different barrels of oak. Oh well. I don't think I'll be storing them properly. I still have lots of my D'Arenberg Dead Arm Shiraz 2005 to sell (please contact me if you'd like to buy...even if its just 1 bottle).

Overall, I enjoyed myself at the event and I'm looking forward to the next one! Great marketing Macallan! You've just upped the ante for the other whisky brands ;)

Summer's Eve's Best Product Ever

Thank you #summerseve for picking me as your Week 4 winner of the awesome goodie bag! #freebies #contests

A photo posted by melfann (@melfann) on Jul 11, 2015 at 8:40pm PDT

I was really lucky to be chosen as one of the winners of the Summer's Eve contest where I won this hamper full of feminine products and Triumph Bra vouchers. I've used Summer's Eve feminine wash before and I never really thought much of it but in this hamper, I found this:

It is a feminine deodorant spray!! I don't know about you but some of us have issues with the smell down there after a long day, which is why some of us like to wear panty liners but I always felt that those were a bit of a waste of money plus it's not very good for people with sensitive skin.

This spray has been tested by Gynaes and it's hypoallergenic so I decided to give it a shot. Besides spraying on yourself, it works better if you also sprayed it on your panty. Smells quite floral and pleasant.

After 1 whole day, I must say that I'm a convert. This is THE best product that they've ever come up with. I didn't have any embarrassing stains on my underwear and no smells!! I haven't gone to the stores to check it out but I reckon that this will be easily available at major shops such as Watsons and Guardian. Go get a bottle if you have the same issues as me!

Jonsson Protein - Sometimes, Persistence Is Not Key (No Hard Sell For Me)

It's the 3rd or 4th time that I've received a call from Jonsson to redeem a free trial hair care session and the 'excuse' this time round was SG50. See...I told you that more people were jumping onto the SG50 bandwagon.

Pardon the horrible photo above. Don't know why it didn't turn up as landscape. Anyway, I finally caved in for this session at Jonsson for 2 reasons: I wanted to do a comparison between as many hair loss treatment centres in Singapore and the telemarketer assured me that there wouldn't be any hard selling. She also told me that it would take only 1.5 hrs to 2 hrs.

I arrived at 11.15 am and it started off well enough with the usual procedure where they take your profile and ask you tons of questions regarding your hair history:

• Have you sought other treatments? Yes, I've gone to Trichokare, Yun Nam, Bee Choo and am using Phyto shampoo and cold laser.
• When did you start noticing your hair loss?
• Do you like spicy and oily/fried foods?

Yadayadayada...anyway, onto the scan!
  

Compare the above to the one that I took at Trichokare:

Me wonders whether the sales consultant at Jonsson zoomed in onto the thinning portion on purpose. After the scan, I heard the usual spiel about how my scalp is oily and that I need to control the oil before hair regrowth could be tackled. So far so good.

I then listened for the next 45 min (yes, I looked at my phone's clock) about how hair follicles work and how Jonsson uses a special protein named VE protein to target hair regrowth. Apparently, the VE protein molecules are so small that the hair follicles will absorb them upon application. Cue the eye roll because as we all know, protein can only be 'absorbed' by being broken down into amino acids and then your body decides where the amino acids are going to and what sort of proteins it'll build. If the protein in this serum is really 'absorbed' by the hair follicles, I reckon its more like nutrients rather than protein.

So...in that 45 min "consultation" period, there was a bit of naysay-ing against Bee Choo by the sales woman (Bee Choo might be quite irritated to know that said sales consultant said that Bee Choo uses henna) before I was marketed a package of 10 sessions for the grand price of $1.5k or so. I gave my usual line of "it's too expensive" and they countered by asking me to get 5 sessions instead. To which, I replied that I don't like make up my mind even before the trial treatment is finished! A little more back and forth before she relented the hard selling (I was starting to get a bit pissed off) and brought me to the treatment room at about noon.
 

Oh look! I've got my own private room! I later learnt from the assistant consultant that they have a couple of private rooms for Muslim females who do not want to reveal their hair to the public/men and it's also useful for those who just want to sleep while their heads are getting massaged and steamed. I found this really thoughtful! This is something that I have yet to see at the other places that I've been to.

This consultant gave me a really awesome shoulder and head massage *thumbs up*, which helped me really start to relax after the slightly distasteful hard selling by her senior. This was their special shampoo to cleanse the oil from the scalp.

After the shampoo was washed off, a serum of sorts was applied onto my scalp with a brush before I went under the steamer.

I was quite amused by the boxy steamer which has a cloth 'wrap' and again, the design made sense because this eliminated dripping along my face.

For refreshments, I was served a glass of their protein drink and the nice consultant naively told me that the protein in this drink goes immediately to the hair. If you have a stunned face before breaking into laughter, that was me (minus the laughter) and I went on to explain to her the basics of digestion of protein to amino acids etc. Despite my scientific explanation, she didn't believe me. I wonder what they've been teaching their consultants and then to their clients...what a sharp contrast to what Trichokare's senior consultant, Alysha Ng, said during WellnessYogi RESET on Saturday.

Everything was really fine until they took this moment of my head being steamed to try and hard sell me once more! The sales woman tried to sell me the package again and said things like "I know that money is an issue so I've spoken to my manager and we can get you a smaller package where each session is only $56." Dodgy, no? How are you able to suddenly drop your session from $150 to $56 if there's no special promotion?

With my look of disbelief, Ms. Hardsell shoved me a book of all of their testimonials and the typical before/after photos. I honestly do believe that their treatments are probably effective for most of their customers and getting testimonials from them is a piece of cake. However, she forgot that she's trying to market to a marketer, which is something that I had blatantly told her right from the start when she asked me what my occupation was (Marketing Manager).

Now, I had 2 work crises happening at the same time at the very same moment although I was on leave. Moreover, I had promised to meet my biz partner at 1.30pm. It was already 1.15pm when they started bombarding me. Stressed me kept emphasising that I needed to leave and meet someone at 1.30pm and guess what was her reaction?

"That's why I'm here discussing with you while you're having your treatment. Just pass me your credit card and I'll process it for you. All you need to do is to sign and then once we're done you can just leave."

*Jaw drops*

Again, I told her that I didn't want to buy ANY package and that I prefer to pay each time I visit the store. I also mentioned that I was very stressed and therefore, was not in the right frame of mind to make any decisions when it came to this. Goodness knows how many times we both repeated our usual lines. What really took me off the edge was when she told me that I needed to "give myself a chance". My response? Yeah...I'm giving myself a chance, which is why I'm here in the first place? Moreover, I'm giving myself LOTS of hair regrowth chances by all the various products that I purchase. Oh...so she changed tactics and said that I needed to give Jonsson a chance. Uh huh...isn't the fact that I'm there trying out their treatment equaling the fact that I'm giving them a chance to prove their treatment's awesomeness to me? (-_-)

So...with my super black face on, she realised that there was NO way that I was going to buy a package from her so Ms. Hardsell decided to be really cute and tried selling me their hair tonic and shampoo. For the very lovely price of $190-something. Seriously?

She repeated her whole "give me your credit card..." line. I kept quiet. I thought my resting bitch face would be enough clue to her that I'm not buying that stuff. If you can't convince, then confuse - that was her final strategy. She went, "So ok? Just pass me your credit card and I'll pack this up for you." I was angry but I controlled myself as my hair was being blown dry by the young consultant. When I remarked that I really didn't like being forced to buy something, her reply was one of slight shock before going, "Not forcing!! Forcing is like putting a knife to you and making you buy!" Tell me...what's the difference with her hard selling/ guilt-tripping sales strategy and resorting to selling me tonics? Isn't it obvious that her bottom line was that she MUST make a sale then and there, whatever the tactic was? Aiyoh...how much is her comms? Maybe I should've told her, "I'll just pay you the comms to shut you up, ok?"

I had to make a phone call in the midst of her hard selling and the hair blowing to try and resolve one of the work crises. They finally left the room to give me some privacy. This made me also think whether that is why they put me in a private room - to try to sell me something and if I throw any tantrums, none of their regulars will be affected. Hmm.

Anyway, as it was already 1.35pm, I couldn't be bothered with my half-blown hair and proceeded to walk out of the room. To their shock, they asked me to go back to the room as they hadn't applied the tonic. I thought that she'd relent and stop with the hard selling but she persisted and still asked me to give myself a chance. *Groan* I've gotta give it to her for persistence though.

Honestly, this is pretty similar to a lot of spa salons and other treatment centres and the industry really needs to change their sales strategy! This is also another HUGE factor as to why I started Passhen. I want this hard sell culture to end. I want consumers to feel safe and free of hassle when they want to try quality services/products from merchants.

Needless to say, I'm not going back to Jonsson's anytime soon.

Jonsson Protein's website: http://www.jonssonprotein.com.sg/

Treats From Trichokare!

Specially for my readers, Passhen users as well as those on WellnessYogi's mailing list! Don't say that I don't share good deals! Head onto www.tk-hair.com/wellnessyogi to enjoy the super good deal!

Some Distinctions Around Buy vs. Sell

"People don't buy what others want to sell; They buy what others want to buy."

This is one of the fundamental principles of the Campaign Driven Enterprise Masterclass.

Secure your seat »  

In Paris, there’s a department store called Galeries Lafayette; it’s is one of the world’s most famous stores for fashion. Inside is an exclusive area that stocks Chanel handbags. You can’t enter the area just by walking in. You line up, an attendant comes by and asks you what you’ll be looking at in the store.

The wait isn’t normally too long, only 10 minutes or so and the security staff are quite pleasant. After a short line up, you’re in the store and you’re pleased to be able to finally browse a very limited range of designer handbags. 

You might look around, and spot something you like. Aren’t you lucky to be able to hold it finally! You don’t take too long, people are lining up behind you and they can’t come into the store until you’ve finished. You make your selection and you snap up one of the bags (at a price that could buy a full set of luggage and the airfare as well). They thank you and you leave the store proudly as you bask in the adoration of the people who await the same opportunity. 

Outside only three streets away is a store full to the brim with handbags, belts, shoes and jewellery. A man stands outside shouting into the street, partly in French and partly in English. He’s shouting that his stock is on sale, it’s cheap, it’s half-priced. People try to ignore him, they make an arc around the store pretending not to notice him in his desperation. They glance inside and they notice the store is mostly empty other than a few older tourists who are hopefully too deaf to be put off by the shouting. 

The handbags in both these stores aren’t that different. Clearly the genuine Chanel bags would cost a little bit more to make and would last a little bit longer but if aliens landed on Earth and had to figure out which one was better they might struggle with the challenge. 

There is of course a big difference though; the prices. The brand name bags in the exclusive store cost 50x more than the street store bags. Isn’t it odd that a bag that costs 50x more is the one people queue up for and the one that’s barely selling for its production costs isn’t getting anyone engaged! 

The reason is because people don’t buy what others want to sell, they buy what other people want to buy.

My question for you today is..

“What are you doing that makes you and your business exclusive, special, desirable and valued?”

We have a goal to help more businesses to become more highly valued and highly paid. We want these businesses to be in demand, which is what the upcoming "Campaign Driven Enterprise" masterclass with Daniel Priestley is about.

For more information and to secure your seats: click here.

A Woman's Never Ending Search For Even Skin Tone (Part 2)

As you've read in my previous post, I reviewed the Palmer's Dark Spot Corrector and so, I'm going to review the 2nd product - Palmer's CBB cream. I'm a huge fan of BB cream so I was really thrilled when I got this!

Yes, I'm super fair so this tone was perfect for me. As mentioned in the other post, I liked that Palmer's CBB cream comes with SPF 15 as lazy me can now skip a step after applying moisturiser. Texture is very much like a moisturiser and it does not smell like chocolate nor did it have a very make up smell...if you know what I mean.

My skin is often quite red after a wash so I do need a CC cream to even out the tone and with my enlarged pores, I do use BB creams to cover those up too. Not that you can probably tell from the photos as I *ahem* try to use good lighting and foundation to cover it all up.

Before applying Palmer's CBB cream for the 1st time

After applying Palmer's CBB cream for the 1st time

Pardon the bored face. I was really tired and I was rushing from my shower to snap these shots before rushing off to an appointment. I was a little disappointed actually. I didn't see any difference although I do notice that thanks to the mineral pigments inside the cream, it gave my skin that popular Korean luminous tone. This would be perfect if you're trying to achieve a natural look.

One week later and I'm breaking out! Thus, perfect for a 2nd attempt at showing the true 'abilities' of Palmer's CBB cream.

Before applying Palmer's CBB cream for the 2nd time

After applying Palmer's CBB cream for the 2nd time

Hmm...what do you guys think? To a certain extent, it did help even out the redness in my face and covered up some of the scars happening around my chin. It didn't really cover up my pores as well as my regular BB cream though. I still needed to put on concealer to cover up the spots and the redder areas.

Face 10 hours later

However, I must applaud the lasting effects of this product! I wore Palmer's CBB cream for 10 hours, perspiring under the horrible weather that we've been having these few days and the CBB cream is still on my face! No streaks and no sudden patches of uneven skin colour due to me wiping my face! Quite amazed at that.

What's more amazing is the affordability of it! It's only S$22.90 for a 30ml tube! Smells a lot nicer than most CC or BB creams that I've used in the past for sure. A lot nicer on the wallet too. Moreover, you can easily get it (and other products under the Palmer's White & Even range) at Watsons, Guardian, BHG, Robinsons, John Little, Essentials Pharmacy, Nishino Pharmacy, all leading pharmacies, departmental and cosmetics stores.

A Woman's Never Ending Search For Even Skin Tone (Part 1)

If you've seen this ad on YouTube, especially if you're Singaporean, you might immediately be interested in this product as we get a lot of sun (ie. super prone to dark spots) and we don't really like patches on our skin. My mum definitely falls into that category! She's been complaining about brown spots the older she gets and these spots are also often called 'age spots' as they only show up years after the UV has done it's job on your skin.

Here comes 2 of Palmer's latest products from their White & Even series. The one on the left is a CBB cream, meaning that it is a combination of a CC and a BB cream. I like that it has SPF15 so when I wear it, I can skip my usual sunblock after putting on my moisturiser.

Let's review the Dark Spot Corrector first and I'll review the CBB cream in a separate post. The formula is supposed to contain concentrated amounts of advanced pigment-perfecting ingredients, with the key ingredient being Japanese Songyi Mushroom Extract. Great thing about this is that it's meant for all skin types and doesn't contain any parabens or sulphates so if you have sensitive skin like me, you can use this without woes.

The formula comes out like a gel-serum like texture that is light and doesn't smell like either it's signature cocoa nor like mushroom, although it still contains cocoa butter. It's surprisingly fruity...to a certain extent. I passed this to my mum to try as her age spots are a lot more obvious than mine.

Before Palmer's Dark Spot Corrector

As you can see, my mum has quite a lot of freckles and age spots on her cheek. These are not moles ok...they're spots caused by UV after sun exposure over the years. Nonetheless, there are people who also get such spots due to change in hormones or acne scarring.

1 week after using Palmer's Dark Spot Corrector

After using it everyday for 1 week, the above is my mum's cheek. The age spots are still rather visible but I reckon that 1 week is really too early to tell. However, I do notice that her skin looks a bit more moisturised and her crow's feet are a little less visible. Thus, the short term benefit is that it does help fight signs of aging pretty fast but you'll probably need to use it a little more regularly before you can see the full effects.

Well, it's so typical of everything when it comes to our bodies. Quick to be damaged but a long time to be repaired. At least there's a solution! I'm using it too...as I've seen through ClearSK's scan that a few years down the road, I will see them age spots popping up...so if I want to lighten them, I must start now!

The Palmer's Dark Spot Corrector is really affordable at S$29.90 for a 30ml bottle and you can find it at your nearest Watsons, Guardian, BHG, Robinsons, John Little, Essentials Pharmacy, Nishino Pharmacy, all leading pharmacies, departmental and cosmetics stores.

However, when I posted this on my Instagram 2 weeks ago, 1 of my followers was unable to find it at her nearest Guardian. Hopefully it's all stocked up now!

What Is Pásshen and Why Did I Set It Up?

That's my new company's logo and it's pronounced like 'passion'. Not pass-hen. Interesting feedback on the name though. 5 people (the parents included) mispronounced it while 1 friend was even more appalled than I was at people mispronouncing it!

Anyway, back to the story behind Pásshen. As you've probably guessed, it is a play on the word 'passion' and 'pash' is a short form as well as a slang for passion too.

Be The Best Of You

If you head onto www.passhen.com, you'll realise that it's an e-booking system for all your spa, beauty and wellness needs. That tagline represents what I hope to achieve and that's my real passion. After going through my 1 month no-pay leave and making serious changes in my life, I realise that I  want to give women who are tired, stressed and feeling plain ole crappy, an avenue to easily find ways to unwind and just relax.

Which is the same principle as to why my friend and I started WellnessYogi RESET. It was not easy when we first started this project but now that the schedule has fallen into place, I must say that I'm heckulluva proud of ourselves! I wanted the programme to be holistic. Not only focusing on yoga, although it was key, but also reaching out to people who need a day to themselves. So...the schedule is now like this:

8am        Sunrise Yoga
9.30am   Chill out with juice
10am      Learn how Yoga can be used to treat illnesses
12 noon  Picnic lunch with non-dairy ice cream
2pm        Make up workshop
2.45pm   Hair wellness workshop
5.30pm   Taiji intro workshop
8pm        Kalari Yoga

Some people need to feel good on the outside before it shows on the inside while others need to feel good on the inside before it shows on the outside. Therefore, our programme is for everyone!! Haha...

Anyway, because I feel so strongly about this, I've got GREAT news for all of you. If you sign up as a member of Pásshen (it's FREE btw), you'll get 20% off WellnessYogi RESET!

How does this work?

1. Go to www.passhen.com and sign up as a member
2. Book an 'appointment' for WellnessYogi RESET
3. An email with the discount code with the discount link will be sent to you

So...I'll see all of you on Sat, 11 Jul at the Marina Bay Waterfront Promenade!!