Wednesday 1 October 2008

Shopping haul

It's the Hari Raya holiday today in Singapore, which means no work! After a leisurely drive and stroll around Changi Beach, I ended up at Vivocity and did a good bit of shopping :-) Hey, it's the national pastime in Singapore!

I have a weak spot for candles and am always on the lookout for new brands to try. Hence, I was super elated to discover The Wellness Store & Spa stocked Red Flower and Pacifica candles. I have some vague memory of Pacifica candles being highly raved about on Makeupalley while Red Flower was a brand that I had often seen in American magazines. But until today, I had no idea that they were actually sold in Singapore. Now, if only someone can let me know if Archipelago Botanicals is also available locally, my candle fantasies would be complete.



I got the Red Flower Italian Blood Orange candle (S$27) and the Pacifica Soy Candle in Thai Lemongrass ($36). The special feature of Red Flower candles is that they come topped with real flower petals that you can use to scent your drawers or use as potpourri. The Italian Blood Orange is a yummy, refreshing citrus smell that reminds me of the orange-scented scratch'n'sniff stickers that were popular in my childhood. I purchased the larger size which has a burn time of 45 to 50 hours.

The strange thing is that according to the Red Flower website, the larger size retails for US$34 which is almost twice the price that I paid at Wellness. I'm not sure if it's a pricing error by Wellness but that makes me want to go back and seriously stock up! Wellness also carries the smaller size with a burn time of 10 hours, which retails for S$15. Again, that is a steal as the US retail price is US$12. Hmm, what's going on here?! Wellness also has the Moroccan Rose, French Lavender, Himalayan Larch, Japanese Peony, African Lily, Icelandic Moonflower, Spanish Gardenia candles plus a couple of others.



On the other hand, I totally overpaid for the Pacific candle (5.5oz, burn time of up to 50 hours), which retails for only US$11.95 in the US, about half of what I paid. Ugh... guess you can't win them all! But it had such a zesty, almost lemon-ish aroma that I just couldn't resist. The Wellness Store & Spa is located on the third level of Vivocity, tucked away in a quiet spot.

I was also surprised to find that there was a sale going on at River Island which is one of my favourite British high street brands. I picked up this incredibly soft cotton top for S$60 (original price $111) and yellow knee-high socks with ribbons for only $10 (down from $21). Then at Mango, I got this grey wool vest for $65. Love the cutting and the button details on the vest! There was also a matching pair of shorts which I skipped. Mango is currently having a 20% off for purchases of 3 items and above, but only for Mango VIP cardholders. You need to spend S$300 in one receipt to get the VIP card.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Wow, your Red Flower candle definitely sounds like a steal! I remember your love for Archipelago Botanicals ;) I am really boring; despite trying various candles, I always end up going back to either Diptyque or Tocca AND always the same scents *hide* Very cute top and socks from River Island!