When Sabrina and I were thinking of how to celebrate Mothers' Day this year for the company, we didn't want to do something typical where it's obviously a commercial gimmick where we ply you with marketing messages to buy a particular gift for your mother.

Being daughters, we recognise that there is a special bond that we have with our mothers and when we were younger, we were often compared to our mothers. Does the line, "Ooh...you're looking more and more like your mum!" sound familiar to you?

This year, let us be the judge of that join our fun Mother-Daughter Look Alike Contest! We'll let the public vote and then the pairs who get into the Top 10 will get a special photoshoot with my friend Ashley Low of Ashley Low Photography.

Moreover, the winners will get a makeover as well as a family portrait with Ashley. The runner-ups will still be pampered with an awesome Anti-oxidant facial with TOUCHE Elite!

Join us and be part of this fun contest while celebrating the women we love! To register, visit www.sauceink.com/mothersday2016. Do note that you will need to sign up as a member of SAUCEink to complete the registration but registration is completely free!

I first saw this image on Facebook where my friend shared it with the following comment:

"Not body shaming, but it is NOT ok to be fat. If you have medical issues and became big cuz (sic) of hormonal imbalance etc, then fine. But no, having a very plus sized woman walk the runway doesn't make it ok to be fat, it doesn't make her "real". Since when is keeping urself (sic) fit and trim "unreal"?? Nonsense."

My initial reaction was shock, anger and denial that the model above (Ashley Graham, who is a US size 16) shouldn't be on the runway. Although she's not stick thin like the typical model, I think she's beautiful! Moreover, the comment does seem to be body shaming.

Here the comments from her friends and some of our mutual ones:

I agree with all of them. What Graham has done by coming up with her own range of lingerie for plus sized women and to be the model herself is to show the world that you can be sexy and beautiful at ANY size.

True, we do need to keep ourselves healthy and fit but what the media portrays with stick thin models or only athlete's bodies isn't representative of the world's population. We're all of different sizes and at different stages of our lives.

The initial Facebook post by Explore Talent was based on this article, which you can read here. Interestingly, there's no mention about being 'real'. What Graham has done is to help women to regain confidence and self esteem about their bodies. I honestly do agree that even if you are obese, if you love yourself and your body, you'll start to be more self assured and take steps to be more healthy while not stressing over trying to conform to societal's view of 'sexy' and 'beautiful'.

Well, not everybody thinks that the model is beautiful as we can see from some other comments:

I do have to agree with 1 point, which is that since we're body shaming fat women, we should be body shaming skinny people to be fair too! Haha....just kidding. What I really mean is that there's no single body type that should be socially shamed. What is more important is general health which cannot be really seen from physical appearances although that's how we've been socially trained plus trained by evolution to accept.

As I've mentioned in a previous post, I've met super fit yoga instructors who still have curves/bulges but are able to out-crunch and out-bend you (one of them even instructs body pump so I think she may out-run you too). I've also met skinny people who look like they're the epitome of health but when it came to the annual Physical Training Test in school, they couldn't pull themselves up nor jump far enough to pass. During my stint at Outward Bound, 2 of our instructors couldn't be physically different as night and day. One was stick thin while the other was stocky and tall. But when it came to physical endurance and fitness, both were on par. They could outrun my male classmates who barely finished their National Service and could be considered to be in their prime of health.

To challenge my friend's comment about not "putting up ultra skinny models up on the runway cuz (sic) they bring across bad message to the little girls starving themselves"...if we can put skinny models on the runway, then why can't we put plus sized models? The world doesn't have a single size (I still don't get size 0 by the way...to be, 0 is the absence of a size), we're all made of different shapes and sizes. As someone who has struggled with my weight due to my endometriosis as well as my love for food plus genes that just love fats, I would love to see a runway that celebrates ALL women on the runway. No single size. Put them ALL on the runway. That's "real" because that's reality.

Was invited by TANGS to the Burberry Winter Glow 2014 Make-up Collection showcase. The event took place at Burberry's counter in TANGS, Orchard earlier this evening and it was meant to be a cocktail affair while Burberry's makeup artist showcased 2 looks using items from the latest Winter Collection. All attendees also received a $50 voucher (with minimum spending of $100) for use on that day itself.

The signature Burberry Trench Coat made its appearance as we were introduced to the day look with the subtle dewy look that's highlighted with subtle shimmer. The constant fact that was continually mentioned was that the Winter Glow collection is in a limited edition gold packaging. Ok, noted with thanks. I do like the gold packaging but the constant plugging of it was a little OTT. Although, she did mention that those who purchased any make-up items could get it engraved on that day, get an express manicure AND get their names written in calligraphy as a bookmark.

Anyway, the look above is known as "Fresh Glow" and the make-up artist was selling the base, which apparently can be used on top of foundation to refresh one's make-up! Now, that's interesting. It's also nice to see a natural glow as 'the look' for the season, which is contrasted with bright red nails. I guess it's about featuring one's features. Another make-up item that was talked about was the mascara that is apparently, very suitable for Asians because the tip is thin but still has a lot of hairs and this helps to coat every small lash and thus, making your eyes appear brighter. As it's waterproof and has a new formula, it will prevent our lashes from drooping in our humid weather.

Another thing from the Winter Glow collection is the fragrance "My Burberry" and I can only describe it as slightly floral and powdery without being overpowering. It's not too sweet so it's still refreshing but it is definitely more of a floral perk up rather than fruity. I don't mind getting this as my next scent.

The other door gift was 'The Book Of Gifts' which is really a catalogue of all the Burberry products. Definitely a source of Burberry lust after flipping through the pages. If you want to purchase this, you can do so from my Carousell page carousell.co/melfann.

With regards to the event, I felt that the venue was not the most conducive for the size of the crowd. All of us were huddled at one part and those at the 2nd or 3rd 'row' definitely wouldn't be able to see the make-up showcase properly. Also, as this was another 'come-see-then-buy' event, I felt that there should be a more Burberry staff to service all of us. I was quite interested in the base and the fragrance but simply due to the lack of service, I couldn't be bothered. In addition, the catering staff was almost non-existent. It seemed rather magical that some people had champagne flutes and I spied my keen eye on only 2 trays of canapes that were snapped up within 1 minute. Not very good when the event started at 7.30pm and all of us women were hungry. Yet one more reason for me to walk off with my door gift and hunt for a proper dinner.

Nonetheless, I am looking forward to going back to Burberry to look and see the make-up without the crowd. Too bad I wouldn't have the $50 discount :(

I was lucky to win a pair of tickets from Style magazine to Guess' launch party of their Fall Collection 2014 of bags and shoes last Saturday and I brought my mum along to it.

As part of the door gift, each of us were given a $100 gift card for us to spend on any bag/shoes. Wee~~

There were a few canapes but the most adorable were these pastries with Guess logos made of icing sugar! The caterer for the event was One Paradise, the catering arm of Paradise Group. Thanks to my occupational hazard, my guess is that the catered food cost an approximate $25/pax (they were giving out bottles of Fiji water) and excludes the wait staff (approx $80/server). Was it worth it? Mmm...I'll stick to Creative Eateries/ Marmalade Pantry.

I really liked this pair of shoes but they looked really uncomfortable and it didn't help that the model was teetering on them while walking up and down the short runway. Oops.

I also liked this hobo bag that the model is carrying but as the speaker, Keith, advised, hobo slouchy bags aren't good for short and plump people like me who have hourglass figures. It'll just emphasise the roundness of me. ):

That's mum and I enjoying the show just after we had our make up touched up by Make Up Forever.

With my gift card, I ended up buying this pair of denim wedges with lace heels. It's super super pretty and I love it loads!! It's part of their latest collection which was inspired by the Wild West, hence the denim. I wanted to wear it to work but I fell down on Monday (which is another story) so alas...it'll have to wait.

We even had a goodie bag on our way out! The goodie bag itself is a usable Guess mesh and PVC tote and it contained a Style magazine, a complimentary month subscription to the digital edition of Style and samples of Make Up For Ever's Eye makeup cleanser and Microfinish Powder (excellent for absorbing oil). I must say that it was a fruitful afternoon and I love my haul. Thank you Guess, Style and Make Up For Ever!

Was on facebook and I found this Koumi Koumi site that sells clothes online. Love the photography!! It looks semi-pro and the idea of taking fashion shots in your HDB playground is excellent!! Reminds me of the photoshoot that Harper's Bazaar Singapore did last year (August?) where they featured haute couture in local neighbourhoods (a.k.a. the heartlands). Love it. More artistic shots please!!