Help the hawkers, beautify yourself, add more plants to your home: The coolest new online shops
Support local with BySGForSG for hawker deliveries
A community-based initiative, set up by Jack Ong, an event company owner, is a new food delivery platform that has been designed to help out local hawkers and smaller food businesses. BySGForSG is a not-for-profit online food ordering and delivery platform; it launched with Pasir Panjang Food Centre as well as over 20 other standalone food and beverage vendors who were otherwise unable to use other delivery outlets.
BySGForSG doesn’t have any administration fees, and only charges vendors a low 5% commission fee based on the total of the food bill - and all of that percentage is donated to YMCA’s Wok The Talk (WTT) initiative that supports vulnerable seniors, migrant workers and people with special needs with hot meals and grocery packs. The hot meals are also bought from the original vendors, creating an income circle for everyone.
This is a fantastic way to not only eat delicious food, support local hawkers, and also those in need. Go to www.bysgforsg.sg to order. For more information about YMCA’s Wok The Talk charity initiative, go to www.wokthetalk.ymca.org.sg.
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Fabulous exotic plants from Terrascapes
Terrascapes is a landscape design firm that has taken up the selling of exotic and rare plants via Facebook during the lockdown. Starting with a love of plants, Sandy Soh went from helping friends and family with their landscaping issues, to launching her own business.
During the lockdown Soh moved to selling her plants via the brand’s Facebook page, although landscaping is still the core of her business. Shop fabulous plants like carnivorous plants, begonias, orchids, tillandsia (airplants) and other ornamental plants at www.facebook.com/TerrascapesLLP.
New Singapore fashion brand Vetyver
Launched in May 2019, Vetyver is a relatively new addition to the round-up of Singapore designed fashion brands. Founded by designer Firdaus Aris, better known as Pit, the label offers both womenswear and menswear in a monochrome palette of black and white with a distinctive cut that echoes some of Singapore’s more creative fashion brands like alldressedup and In Good Company where he trained.
The Vetyver style is based on original uniform materials and styles, and has a sustainable and ethical focus. Vetyver is available online at www.studiovetyver.com. There are two collections available for men and women - one is currently available, the second is available for pre-order (another great way to reduce waste).
Top Asian beauty brands from SocietyA Beauty
Known for its dedicated focus on Asian fashion, SocietyA has just launched its own beauty section, with some of the best Asian beauty brands from Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Korea.
Originally set to launch in October, it was brought forward due to the circuit breaker, the platform has started with seven hot Singaporean skincare and beauty brands: Nodspark for decorative nail wraps; Oo La Lab fragrances; vegan lipsticks from Solos Cosmetics; cruelty-free clean skincare from Want Skincare and Sigi Skin; Nenä’s essential oil-based lifestyle remedies; and Re:Erth skincare with nature-derived ingredients and science-backed technology.
An additional 20 more Asian beauty brands will be gradually added to the site. Prices for the products range from S$10 to S$116; go to www.society-a.com/beauty to shop.
They say a mother's love is the purest love. I never understood it until I met you ❤️
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Fair Trade jewellery brand Atelier Agape
Atelier Agape by Vera Mao is a fair trade jewellery brand. All the pieces are handcrafted in an ethical manner by marginalised artisans in Jaipur. All the artisans are paid a fair wage and given training in enterprise building skills in conjunction with SETU, a fair trade organisation based in Jaipur. “During the pandemic, SETU has also used a part of its profits from jewellery production to prepare and distribute meals for the poor and destitute,” says Mao.
All of the Atelier Agape jewellery pieces are handcrafted from 925 sterling silver, gilded with white rhodium or 14K gold vermeil and do not contain any lead, cadmium or nickel, making it hypoallergenic and safe for sensitive skin. Atelier Agape jewelry is available exclusively on www.atelieragape.com. All orders from first-time customers receive 10% off.
New jobs portal for the fashion, beauty and lifestyle retail industry
iDA’SG is launching a dedicated online platform for Singapore’s fashion retail workers called MyBrands Singapore on July 3, 2020. The idea is to support both the businesses looking for employees and for people looking for jobs in the industry.
Employers create a profile on www.mybrands.sg which is then matched via an algorithm for the right candidate based on the details of the job listings and skillsets needed.
Tasty Sri Lankan food to your home
New restaurant Kotuwa by Cloudstreet is now available for home delivery. Top Singaporean foodies are raving about the deliciousness of the curries, pickles, beef rolls, and particularly their Chocolate Biscuit Pudding made of Marie biscuits, Valrhona chocolate parfait with candied orange. You can order via Chope, or Oddle.
