Starting My #IDSTransformMe Journey IDS Skincare [Sponsored]

Growing up, I've never had the luck to enjoy a smooth, flawless complexion. And while I was feeling lucky enough to be only experiencing a few blemishes here and there during puberty while my peers battled with full-face acne problems; my luck soon ran out and I found myself battling a serious case of adult acne in my early twenties. Needless to say, that dark period left me scarred for life (LITERALLY) and the acne problem followed me well into my 30s in the form of period breakouts and now, the dreadful maskne (mask acne). 

So when Studio 155 offered to bring me on a 4-months #IDSTransformMe journey, I simply couldn't be any happier to take it! 

IDS (Innovative Dermatological Solutions) exist to deliver new innovative standards in skincare, and comprised of three entities: IDS Clinic, IDS Aesthetics and IDS Skincare. And my #IDSTransformMe journey naturally started off with IDS Clinic, at one of their branches located at the International Building. 

The clinic, located at the corner of level 2 of the building, was pretty easy to spot with its brightly lit and spacious layout. There was some technical issue when trying to submit my e-declaration form (for the current covid19 situation) and countless refreshes were required before I finally managed to fully load the page, but it might be just me (M1, why you like that?!) or also coupled with the fact that they're stuck right at the corner of the building, hence the sucky connection. 
Anyhow, apart from that minor hiccup, everything was smooth and I was quickly whisked away for my consultation with Dr. Ben Yim. 

Dr. Yim was quick, but thorough with his consultation and I reckon he could easily tell that I once had a very serious case of (adult) acne from the acne scarring I have on my cheeks. In no time (after a couple of questions and answers), he was dropping off a list of products from the IDS Skincare line to my consultant, Mary, who then led me back to the reception area to get me started on my brand new skincare regime.

This is probably the very first time in my life that I'm using more than 2 products (much less to say, the entire range) from the same skincare line. Dr. Yim also recommended that I take their A+, which will help with the appearance of my blemish marks and at the same time improve my skin tone and texture, with the added anti-inflammatory benefits, but it's currently OOS, hence I'm one-short. 

Anyway, my current daytime & nighttime routine is: C1-PF-C+-BC-OM (SC/FS).

Haha, sounds like a complicated mathematical equation, eh? 

Frankly speaking, this is the first time in my 30 over years that I've used more than 3 (4, if you include sunscreen) products on my face at the same time, much less to say that they're all from the same skincare line. Initially I was a little worried about the time needed to smear on all these products, especially for my daytime routine whereby I NEED to get ready in the shortest amount of time possible (I mean, who has time for elaborated skincare when you can get that extra 30 seconds of sleep, right?).

But I was pleasantly surprised to find that all these products gets absorbed into my skin in literally NO TIME! 

So first up, I'll start off by cleansing my face with the C1 Refreshing Cleanser (RTP $66.34).

With a gentle, pH-balanced formulation that maintains the skin's natural protective barrier, this cleanser is ideal for my oily/blemish-prone skin type, helping to deeply cleanse my skin without over-drying it. Love how it leaves my skin feeling soft and smooth (no dreadful squeaky feeling) after every wash! 

Then, I'll immediately put on the Pore Formula (RTP $80.25) on my cleansed skin, around my T-Zone, concentrating more on my nose (those pesky blackheads) and chin (those pesky whiteheads and sebaceous filaments).

The PF is formulated with IDS' proprietary EULASTIN transcutaneous delivery system, which allows the active ingredients to be effectively delivered and absorbed into the skin. This non-oily, watery serum is super light and spreadable, and gets absorbed into my skin almost immediately, helping to reduce my blackheads, whiteheads and blemishes. 

Just one thing to note, is that the PF leaves quite a significant stingy-prickly sensation on my skin for the first few seconds of application, that goes away once the product gets fully absorbed with a few quick taps of my fingers. 

After the PF gets absorbed into my skin, I'll layer on with C-Plus (RTP $160.50) over my entire face.

C+ is IDS' popular age-defense serum, formulated with a potent form of Vitamin C and coupled with Nobel Prize 'Fullerenes' and Tcopheryl to exhibit a superior antioxidant action and strong collagen stimulation. Meaning, this watery, lightweight serum not only serves to lighten my old acne marks, but also adds on some potent anti-aging, anti-(new) acne and skin brightening benefits! 

There's almost no waiting time required (as the C+ literally just sinks into my skin upon application) before I put on the Blemish Clear (RTP $73.83), also over my full face. 

IDS' completely new formulation, the BC is an extremely effective gel-cream that helps with the rapid clearance of active and inflamed pimples. This is like the best 3-in-1 product for all you blemish-prone friends out there; effectively treating currently-acting acne, lightens old acne marks, and prevents new breakouts from occurring by regulating sebum production. 

Although the BC is easily the best product meant for my skin issue, it's still my least favourite of the lot, for the gel-cream product has a consistency that kind of sits on the skin surface (although it's not exactly oily/sticky/heavy), rather than getting absorbed fully by the skin like the rest of the products. 

And finally, I'll end my routine (on good days) with the Oil-Free Moisturizer (RTP $95.23), which is a lightweight and non-greasy moisturizer that's packed with ingredients specially selected to regulate sebum, control acne, minimize shine and lighten blemish marks. Not only that, the OM is also enriched with Vitamin C, E and A derivative to help clear up my complexion. 

I love how just a single full pump of seemingly very little product can easily spread over my full face, leaving my skin feeling hydrated and supple. I'm not sure if I'm making any sense here, but somehow I feel that the OM also helps to push (?!) the BC (which I've previously mentioned that it tends to give this sitting-on-your-skin-surface feeling) into your skin, hence helping to end your skincare routine with a fresh face, without any sticky/heavy feeling on the skin. 

And as I've said, I'll usually end with OM on good days, which sadly are hard to come by these days. So after the OM, I'll usually apply the Spot Control (RTP $30.50), which is of a watery gel-cream consistency, on those active blemishes around my chin and jaw area (die, maskne, DIE!). With a powerful, fast-acting anti-bacterial formula, the SC helps to rapidly minimise the appearance of breakouts while reducing inflammation to soothe and heal the skin. It also helps to regulate sebum production, which will be helpful in preventing new acne from developing. 

And finally, the very last product in my current skincare regime will be the Facial Scrub (RTP $66.34), which contains ultra-fine crystals that effectively exfoliate dead skin cells and help speed up the skin turnover. By helping to clear out impurities and absorbing excess oil, the FS not only regulates our sebum production, but also inhibits growth of p-acne (the bacterium that causes acne) and reduces local inflammation. 

I like that even though the exfoliating crystals are supposedly ultra-fine, you can still feel the gentle, light scrubbing feeling of the crystals on your face and my face feels so ridiculously smooth after every use. It's supposedly so mild that you can actually use it daily, too! 

One thing that I really appreciate about IDS skincare range is that apart from the clean and sleek design packaging that's very pleasing to my eyes, it all comes in easy-to-handle and hygienic pump head dispenser, and all the products (be it PF, or OM) needs only a single full pump to dispense sufficient product means for 1 full-face application. This makes it so convenient for usage, especially when I'm typically half-awake (pre-coffee) during my daytime routine. HEH! 

And now, for the moment of truth....

Before starting the IDS skincare products.

After just ONE WEEK of using the IDS skincare products. 

Taken under the exact same spot and same lighting, you can definitely see that my old acne marks around my jawline (and that huge one on my cheek) has visibly lighten. 

Not only that, the condition of my disgusting whiteheads and sebaceous filaments (mine grows out in just overnight, no joke. If sebaceous filaments is worth any money, I'll be rich!) that's nearly covering my entire chin (sorry, but my Huawei P30 can't capture it) has also improved considerably. I'm definitely hyped up on seeing how my skin will eventually turn out after completing the entire course of the skincare products! 

 

For more information on IDS Group, visit their website HERE

Till then,

Mia Foo

Mia Bakes: Cinnamon-Coffee Crumb Cake

 A while back, I've tried making a coffee loaf cake following this Korean youtuber HojuGyver's mocha-ppang recipe, but it turned out so dry, dense and lacking in coffee flavour overall, it was quite a huge disappointment. 
But as y'all know, other than chocolate, my one other true love is actually coffee and there's no way I'm gonna give up on getting a recipe that yields me a good coffee cake....
Well, I'm referring to the UK's version (literally a coffee-flavoured cake) and not the American version (any flavoured cake, but usually NOT coffee, that you typically eat while having a cuppa coffee).

And so, I found Claire Saffitz X Dessert Person and her recipe for a coffee coffee cake.
Yay! <3

So let's get over with the ingredients to get started! 

For 1 standard loaf cake, you'll need: 

Cake:
230g all purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
90g plain yogurt
75g unsalted butter
25g vegetable oil
60ml strong coffee **see note below
50g castor sugar
30g brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Crumb Topping:
80g all purpose flour
50g brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
55g unsalted butter (soften at room temperature)
1/2 pack 3-in-1 coffee mix sachet

Ribbon:
1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 pack 3-in-1 coffee mix sachet

recipe adapted from Claire Saffitz x Dessert Person's Coffee Coffee Cake

**for my coffee, I've added 60ml hot water to a sachet of Gold Kili Traditional Kopi-O and another sachet of SUPER 3-in-1 Reduced Sugar.
This is already a GREATLY reduced-sugar recipe, so do not try to reduce anymore sugar from your cake batter. In fact, you can do with a little more sugar in your cake batter for better flavour (Eg, using normal or rich 3-in-1 coffee mix sachet instead of reduced sugar).

First up, the streusel crumb toppings. In a small bowl, add in all the crumb topping ingredients and work it with your fingers until all the butter has been rubbed into the dry ingredients and the mixture resembles wet muddy sand. You would want to keep the chunks on the smaller side (although I know it's tempting to have big chunks of streusels) such that they won't crumble off the cake easily as you cut into them later on. Then, set the bowl aside in the fridge (to firm up) as you move on to the ribbon mixture. 

In another small bowl, add in the brown sugar, ground cinnamon and the remaining 1/2 sachet of the coffee mix and give it a quick toss to combine. Then, set it aside. 

Now, in a large bowl, add in the soften butter and sugars and whisk until the butter turns pale and fluffy. Then, crack in the eggs, 1 by 1 and mixing until fully incorporated with each addition, before adding in the oil, yogurt and vanilla extract. Mix well. Then, add in the cooled coffee and mix well. You may find some "curds" of yogurt floating around in the mixture at this point, but don't worry. It'll all be fine. 
Finally, sift in all your dry ingredients (flour, salt and leavening agents) and fold with a spatula or wooden spoon until just combined. 

Then, fill your prepared loaf pan (greased and lined with parchment paper) with half of the cake batter and level it out as best as possible before sprinkling the sugar-cinnamon-coffee dry mixture all over the surface. Then, top the loaf pan up with the remaining half of the cake batter and level the surface off before topping it up with the chilled streusel crumb toppings. Give the loaf pan a few solid taps on the counter to get rid of any air bubbles in the middle before baking it in the oven preheated to 175 degree Celsius for about 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. 

When the baking time went beyond the 30 minute mark, I was starting to get paranoid that my crumb toppings are gonna burn, but they obviously didn't. 

But as all ovens behave differently, you may want to keep a close eye on yours and cover the top with a piece of aluminium foil to prevent the streusel crumbs from over-browning/burning. 

And I obviously didn't do a good job levelling out the surface of my cake batter before I sprinkle in my ribbon. HEH! 

So while the cake is on the denser side like a solid pound cake, it's still relatively moist due to addition of the yogurt (or you may use sour cream too) and packed full of coffee and cinnamon flavour, an epic combination. (I personally love adding cinnamon to my coffee, YUMS!). 

Do give this recipe a try if you're also a coffee fan like me!

Till then,

Mia Foo

Mia Bakes: Easy 2-Ingredients Sweet Potato Cake

 Recently, my grandma went on a sweet potato buying spree and got us 3 bags of them: Japanese, red and purple. And it just so happens that we (namely my brother and I) dislike the purple sweet potatoes. We both love eating steamed sweet potatoes though (as snacks!), as long as it's not purple, due to its unpleasant earthy flavour and tendency to have tough stringy fibres. 
So it wasn't long before we wiped out the Japanese and Red sweet potatoes, and was left with one full bag of the purples and then we started declaring, "we're out of sweet potatoes!" much to the chagrin of our mother, who would point to the full bag of purple sweet potatoes and say, "NEH!"

So I guess, it's entirely up to me to embark on this very important mission. The mission to finish up all that pesky purple sweet potatoes before we can get anymore Japanese ones. HAH!

But I REALLY dislike eating them, so I reckon the only way out is to.... bake something out of them? They did fairly well in the nian gao mochi balls but it's not the season for us to have ready made nian gao lying around in the house, yet. So, when is a better time than now to try out this super easy recipe from Cook Kafemaru?

And it's none other than the super quick and easy, 2 ingredient sweet potato cake! 

For roughly 6 small slices, you'll need:

300g sweet potatoes

Vanilla Ice Cream 

(amount greatly depend on moisture content of your sweet potatoes)

Optional:

egg yolk + water (for egg wash, omit if using purple SP)

black sesame/pumpkin seeds as toppings.

Recipe from Cook Kafemaru

First, rinse your sweet potatoes clean. Peel the skin off and cut into thin slices or small cubes. Cook till soft by either steaming them in a steamer or using a microwave. I'll suggest you don't boil them, as it'll introduce a lot of unnecessary moisture into your sweet potato, and you'll end up being unable to add sufficient ice cream to the puree for a good flavour. As such, microwaving (or baking/roasting, if you have time to waste spend a good 30 to 40 minutes oven-baking your sweet potatoes) will probably give you the most flavourful cakes, as you'll be able to add in a lot more ice cream to your sweet potato as they'll be considerably dried out by the microwave. 

So once your sweet potatoes are thoroughly cooked through (and soft), mash them up while they're still hot (as they'll be softer and easier to mash). Do spend a little bit more time mashing (or use a food processor like I did) if you're using the purple SP like me, as they tend to be a lot more fibrous. Mashing the Indonesian Honey SP will be a breeze, I'd tell you. 

Anyway, once you're happy with how thoroughly mashed up your SP is, add in your vanilla ice cream and mix. As your SP should still be warm, it shouldn't be an issue if your ice cream is quite frozen (or you may wanna set your ice cream on the counter for a while for it to soften first). But make sure it's a GOOD QUALITY vanilla ice cream (or your favourite one) as this is THE ingredient that will make or break your SP cakes. 

Add the ice cream in small amount, or you may start off with about 50g first and see how dry the batter turned out before adding more, spoon by spoon. Ultimately you should get a ball of dough that is like playdough, pliable and able to hold its shape and doesn't really get all mushy in your hands. 

And then, it's time to start shaping them! You can either roll them up into small pingpong sized balls, or shape them into cute little cubes and top them with some sesame seeds or pumpkin seeds.

But I'm lazy, so I just press everything into a loaf pan and bake them off at 180 degree Celsius for about 25 minutes. 

Do note that if you're baking them as bite sized balls or cubes, your baking time will be significantly shorter; otherwise you can follow Cook Kafemaru and bake them in a toaster oven for 7 - 8 minutes. 

Tadaa~

I guess I could have still baked mine for another 5 minutes or so, as they turned out very fudgy/creamy. I do not really appreciate fudgy stuff unless they're brownies/chocolate. But it's still way better than having to eat steamed purple potatoes, that's for sure! 

Till then,

Mia Foo

Samundar Indian Fusion Cuisine & Bar [Food Tasting]

Established in 2006, Samundar Indian Fusion Cuisine & Bar was first opened in Sentosa's Palawan Beach, serving authentic Northern Indian cuisine to tourists and local beachgoers. Its reputation gradually grew, garnering high approval rating among Indian visitors to Singapore, who were impressed with the quality and authenticity of their food. 

And after multiple relocations within the Sentosa due to the island's redevelopment plans over the years, came 2020 with one of the worst challenges the F&B industry had to face, brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. And Samundar, having suffered more acutely due to its heavily tourists-reliant location, recognised the need to reestablish itself on the mainland. 

And now, they've found a new location at Purvis Street and the refreshed Samundar now offers fusion-style Indian cuisine to cater to a modern, well-travelled market while still dedicated to the true essence of North Indian Cuisine, offering lunch, teatime treats, dinner and happy hour drinks. 

And before moving on to their food, can I first take a few seconds words to say, I LOVE THEIR CHAIRS TO BITS? 

Grand Thali Set (Non-Vegetarian) - $45

For just $45, you'll get a plethora of food served to your table, so much so that I reckon it's so much easier for me to show you a snapshot of the set menu instead. 

This set is definitely good for sharing, unless you have an exceptionally hearty appetite. 

And even though I personally love Chicken Tikka, I decided to try the Tandoori Scallops instead, as suggested by their staff, because Butter Chicken & Chicken Tikka might end up as a chicken overkill. 

First up, the starters consist of Pani Puri, Tandoori Paneer Tika, Kueh Pie Tie (with tandoori chicken) and Masala Papadum. 

It was my very first taste of Pani Puri and I LOVE IT! A little hard to eat though, as you gotta stuff the entire shell into your mouth quickly after pouring/drenching your shell with the pani water. But love the ultimate crunch of the shell (along with whatever deep fried goodness stuffed inside), complemented by the lovely sourness of the pani water. YUMS. 

The menu state that the set is served with Jeera rice, but mine came with Briyani rice instead. Not that I'm complaining though, this is definitely a more-than-pleasant upgrade. HAHA!

First up, the soup was so good! Dal Shorba, which is a healthy and light soup made from yellow moong dal and flavoured with ginger and pepper powder. Super flavourful with a slightly spicy kick. Both the HB and I enjoyed it. Well, other than the Raita (yogurt with herbs and vegetables... meh, not a fan, sorry!), I've enjoyed every single morsel of food served on this platter (well, not including the raw onion, lime and green chili of course!) because everything is just so flavourful! I even polished off the entire serving of the Bhindi Marsala even though I'm an okra-hater. 

The two pieces of tandoori scallops, although seemingly rather underwhelming, was also well flavoured and remains succulent and juicy on the inside. 

My other teeny weeny complaint (if I must, other than the Raita) is that I'll very much prefer the Dal Darka (yellow lentils served in the lunch set) over the Dal Makhani (black lentils), as the flavour of the latter was a lot stronger and more pungent in comparison. 

There's a total of 4 different desserts to choose from, and I randomly picked the Gulab Jamun, which is flour dumpling drenched in a sweet syrup, served alongside some fruits and ice cream. 

Ehh, too sweet. Wayyyyyyy too sweet. 

But having worked in the construction industry for almost 10 years, and constantly being gifted various Indian sweets by my Indian colleagues when they return to work after their long leaves, I jolly well know that any Indian dessert is gonna be darn sweet and I was fully prepared for it. HAHA!

Oh, and I got to say that I love the marsala tea too! HB is not a fan (of having marsala in his tea), but this is right up my alley. It was a delicate balance of the sweetness of cinnamon, subtle spiciness of the marsala and a barely there bitterness of the strong tea that makes you just wanna keep sipping at it. But I was quite shock when the staff suddenly came to my table with a couple sachets of sugar, saying that there's no sugar added in the tea. 

Was it solely due to the cinnamon? Without any added sugar, the tea tasted just like a standard sweetened tea! I can't imagine anybody adding anymore sugar to it! 

Lunch Thali Set  - $17.90

available only on weekdays (excluding PHs), 11:30am - 2:30pm 

Well, if you're dropping by for lunch, alone, on a weekday, this Lunch Thali set will be a perfect downsized alternative for you. And as mentioned above, I'll very much prefer the Dal Darka served in this set, compared to the Dal Makhani served in the Grand Thali set. I basically covered every inch of my naan bites with it and wiped the bowl clean. HAHA! 

And after we're done with our meals, we were served with a shot of lemonade and a bottle of "soft" (as told by their Indian server) as our breath freshener. 

A google search of "indian cuisine+breath freshener" told me that these are actually called Mukhwas, a colourful after-meal snack or digestive aid used as a mouth freshener after meals. I was told that most restaurants made theirs with just 3 types of nuts/herbs/seeds, but Samundar concocted theirs with 5. 

Once again, the HB is not a fan, but these tasted nearly just like mints to me, which was rather pleasant. 

Disclaimer: This was a food tasting invite from Samundar, but the food review is my honest opinions. I was not paid to write this blog post review, nor in any way obliged to. 

Samundar Indian Fusion Cuisine & Bar is now located at 7 Purvis Street.

For more information & table reservations, visit their website HERE

Mia Bakes: Stout Brownies

Fellow beer lovers, fall in!
Oh well, actually it's not really beer, but stout. Believe it or not, despite me being a huge beer/cider lover, I've never ever tried stout before, as everyone around me told me that it's a lot more bitter than beer. So when's a better time to make use of this bitterness, other than to couple it with a decadent, rich chocolate and get some brownies, right? 

So let's get over with the ingredients, so we can get started!

For 9 - 16 squares (9' x 9' square tin):

1 can (323 ml) of Extra Stout 

(I used ABC, but you can always use Guinness)

100g unsalted butter

75g plain yogurt (greek yogurt or strained)

150g finely chopped dark chocolate (I used 60% cacao)

120g castor sugar 

100g plain flour

50g unsweetened cocoa powder

2 eggs

1/4 tsp salt

45 - 50g walnuts, lightly crushed

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1/4 tsp chocolate essence optional

a handful of crushed oreo biscuits as topping, optional

recipe adapted from The MeatMen

First up, empty the entire can of extra stout into a pot and allow the foam to dissipate. Then, place the pot over medium heat and allow it to boil for 10 to 15 minutes until you're left with roughly 250ml of the dark liquid. Then, pour the reduced stout into a bowl and allow to cool. 

Into the same pot, add in your butter and let it melt fully before adding in the chopped dark chocolate. Stir constantly to allow the chocolate to melt and fully combine, and also to prevent burning. You can also do this in a microwave or over a bain marie. Once the chocolate has fully melted, remove the pot from the heat and add in the sugar, mixing until the sugar has fully incorporated. Add in the greek yogurt/strained yogurt (click HERE to find out how to strain your normal plain yogurt!) and give it a good mix to bring down the temperature of the mixture. 

Allow the mixure to cool to a point where it will not cook your eggs, before cracking them in, one by one, making sure to whisk until the mixture is fully incorporated before adding in the second egg. Then, pour in your cooled, reduced stout and mix until well combined. 

Sift in the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and baking soda) and fold with a spatula until almost combined (just a few streaks of flour here and there), before adding in the crushed walnuts and folding until just combined.

Pour the batter into your prepared tin (lined with parchment paper and sprayed with non-stick cooking spray), give the tin a few light taps to allow any air bubbles to come up, before sprinkling a handful of crushed oreo biscuits over the top. Then, bake in your oven that's pre-heated to 170 degrees Celsius for about 23 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle come out relatively clean with just a few moist crumbs. 

Leave it to cool completely before cutting into squares!

There you have it! 

Moist, fudgy, rich and chocolatey brownie with a slight hint of the stout flavour to give the brownie a "dark chocolate" flavour. Replacing part of the butter with yogurt not only helped to reduce the calories, but also added on to the fudginess and made the brownie more moist. I'll say you do not try to reduce the sugar anymore, because this is already a less-sweet recipe. Instead, if you'll prefer a sweeter brownie, go ahead to add more sugar, or throw in a couple handfuls of chocolate chips to oomph up the sweetness. If you're a chocolate/brownie fan, do give this a try, even if you're not a fan of stout!

Till then,

Mia Foo