Tapis rouge....pour bouche glamour

Exit le nude, welcome à la couleur!! Cet hiver la bouche sera glamour et sexy...alors ..il ne va pas falloir être timide!! Seul mot d'ordre, osez l'audace de la couleur, mais avec sophistication, sans outrance, d'avantage star hollywoodienne que Barbarella. Un vrai rouge, pur et franc, qui nous transformera en star, avec un teint et des yeux lumineux et une bouche si sexy et glamour...

Le B.A.-ba d'une bouche sublime et impéccable : un contour net et propre au crayon, ton sur ton ou transparent, ensuite application de son rouge, au pinceau de préfèrence Voilà il ne vous reste plus qu'à sourire...

Illustration en photos ( Défilé Valentino Hiver 2007/2008)

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion

Before, I didn't really see the need for eyeshadow primers. You see, I bought the Smashbox eyeshadow/lip primer before and it did nothing, absolutely nothing, for me- except maybe reduced the redness of my eyes so then the color appears better. But I can achieve that with a little application of my YSL Touche Elcat. Nevertheless, being the beauty addict that I am, the other day I got the Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion after hearing so many rave reviews about it- and now I am a convert.
At first I wasn't sure if I was just having a good eyeshadow day or it was the potion, but after having had 3 good eyeshadow days I am pretty confident that it was the potion. And by "good eyeshadow day" I mean going a whole day (morning till night) with no crease, no smudging and sharp color! Its really quite incredible. I didn't think it was possible. Oh and another point is that it literally glides on and really creates a nice smooth surface for eyeshadow application that really sticks. And no, I did not just copied that from the blurb on Sephora. And since I'm about the most oblivious person around when it comes to the whether a beauty product works game, this product really DOES make a difference! So if you haven't already- I highly recommend it!

Ps. Happy Halloween!

Image Source: Sephora

OVERSIZE qui "MAILLE"

Cet Hiver consacre la vague du XXL. Je ne vous apprends rien, la "grosse" laine est la nouvelle star de nos dressing, douce et enveloppante, on en veut toutes !!
Mais OVERSIZE OK, si la silhouette ne part pas en grosse cacahuètes grungy !! Eh oui, on est des filles, alors "supersizez"-vous avec goût, en sachant faire les bonnes associations.

1ère règle : Par pitié n'allez pas piocher dans le dressing de vos chéris, pour lui piquer son pull, sous peine d'endosser une pièce difforme, qui vous rendra encore plus difforme!! Les créateurs ont travaillé pour nous en nous taillant du XXL, mais du XXL sur mesure, sachant allier oversize et sexy attitude

2ème règle : A éviter le total look Oversize. Pull XXL, ok, mais avec slim ou jupe hyper féminine à coupe droite.

3ème règle : L'oversize est oversize, donc inutile d'en rajouter avec une couleur flashy. L'oversize se veut excessif par sa taille, mais discret dans son coloris.


Ma sélection :

Daisy, the Marc by Marc Jacobs Perfume

I'm not a big perfume lover. I spray perfume maybe 10 times a year, usually for nights out. But like most girls, I can't resist browsing at the ever-interesting perfume bottles and sniff all the new scents. There are so many scents that I like, but because of this, I can't possibly buy all the scents I 'like'. Out of all the scents, there's one scent that has grown on me and I have fond memories of, the Marc Jacobs Eau de Parfum. And I've been meaning to buy a bottle for awhile, but I've been slightly hesistant becaues I wasn't sure if the flowery smell was too strong for me to wear for too long of a time so I never got around to buying it.

I was excited when I saw the new ads of Daisy, the Marc by Marc Jacobs scent, in Teen Vogue. It's got that sweet, non-chalent The first time I smelt it, it smelled like any other perfume out there in the market. But at the encouragement of the Marc salesgirls (who told me not to buy the Marc Jacobs perfume but try Daisy instead,) I sprayed both scents onto perfume paper and brought them home to smell for a day. (The salesgirls also told me that their first shipment at the Hong Kong store soldout in 3 days!)

After smelling both scents at least once an hour, I've decided that on the surface, Daisy smelt only like a light, fruity, flowery scent. But later on, the scent smelt musky and most importantly, of Gardenia, the signature scent of the Marc Jacobs perfume. (Yes, I know I think too much before buying things.) According to the Daisy site, Daisy's notes include strawberry, ruby red grapefruit, violet leaves, gardenia, violet leaves, jasmine petals, musk, vanilla and white woods. Not exactly what I smelt, but close enough. And surprisingly, since I've bought it two weeks ago, I've already used it 4 times. Perhaps the reason I haven't been using much perfume before was that I haven't found my right one yet?

What do you think of Daisy? Isn't the bottle simply adorable? Has anyone smelt it or bought it yet?

Image credit: www.sephora.com

Bold Nail Varnish

Having been a devotee of the pale pink/whitish nail varnish for most of my nail varnish wearing life (seriously, I have about 5 bottles of pale pink varnish in slightly different shades), recently I've finally jumped onto the bandwagon of bold (darker) colored nail varnish. I am not exactly sure what go me into it....perhaps its because everyone on TV has it and since I watch so much TV it has subconsciously filtered into me and displaced my initial notion that bold nail colors look old and trashy. About time too! I think the trick is to keep nails short and rounded. Long and sharp...now that is trashy.

My first bold color obsession: red. Bright red. Mine is a similar color to this, An Affair in Red Square, from OPI, except mine is called Fishnet Stockings from Essi. I just couldn't find the Essi website. But yes, I randomly bought the bottle and tried it on and I LOVED it. Its just so SHARP and cool! I actually spent a few minutes in the mirror checking out my new nail color afterwards! :)
The next color I wanted to try was Purple. But not electric purple. And not reddish purple. Cause then it'll just look too purple. It was a tough choice, but in the end I settled on this Russian Navy, from OPI, which has a bluish, purplish tinge. This one actually took me a while to get used to (I think I'm still trying to get used to it), but I think once winter comes on full force, it'll fit my wardrobe perfectly.

Incidentally the whole new OPI Russian Collection fits my recent fall/winter mood perfectly. Dark, rich colors of blue, purple and red. Its fabulous. Although I'm not sure about the texture. Maybe its just me, but I find them not to go on as smoothly as my Essi ones.

And lastly, HOW does everyone apply their dark nail varnishes? I am phenomenally bad at application. So I try not to mess up by just applying one layer (no, I'm seriously bad) and for these bold colors, its not too bad since its already so strong. But I can't help that I accidentally apply over the edges and then it just looks like a little kid coloring and going outside the lines. Also, a lot of times, I get streaks. HOW am I suppose to DO this properly??? Please help!

Image Source: OPI

Guilty Pleasures

Having had a stressful few weeks, I decided to treat myself to a day of guilty pleasures.

1. My top guilty pleasure is sleep. And by that I don't mean the usual 8 hours. I mean sleeping for however long and whenever I want. See, I'm not a morning person. Hence I never feel like waking up in the morning. So this morning (afternoon), I woke up late. And then I went for guilty pleasure number 2......
2. Romance novels. I find the newer novels these days to be much too formulaic and tedious to go through to find a good one. Hence I love reading the old ones that I know are good. The classics never get boring. They are all the same anyway, its just the quality of the writing that differs. Besides, all I'm looking for is a happy ending to escape from the real world. One of my all time favourites is Jill Mansell's, Miranda's Big Mistake. Its super sweet. Mansell is generally pretty good, though I can't say much for her newer books......And while I was reading by the window next to the warm sunlight, I indulged myself some more and rest my eyes whenever I need to.
3. Next on my list is endless hours of mindless TV shows. These days I watch just about anything, Greys Anatomy, Samantha Who, Gossip Girl (love it), ANTM etc. But my ultimate favourite is still the chic lives of the girls on Sex and the City. I can never get bored of them. They are classic!
4. And we must not forget nourishment. Guilty pleasure number four: eating ice cream out of the carton. Then you can really eat as much as you want. And the ultimate pleasure of all? Sleep after you eat. I know that it is highly not recommend it. But succumbing to food coma is just the best thing I can imagine. Even if you cannot sleep for the rest of the night after....
5. But thats ok, because then you can indulge in guilty pleasure number 5: talking on the phone with an old friend and going down memory lane- for hours. 4 hrs and 5 minutes to be exact. There is no path better than memory lane. Now I really want to read all those Christopher Pike books I loved to read when I was 13...... especially Starlight Crystal. Its about this girl who falls in love with this guy but a few days later she had to go on a spaceship that is designed to be a time capsule that observes human evolution over time. And then something goes wrong and there is this huge time warp and....I just remember it being more cool than it sounds now.
6. Staring into space and letting your mind wander...and closing your eyes for a few minutes whenever you like. Especially nice if you have a nice view or a clear sky to stare at.
7. And the last of my guilty pleasures? List making. I love list making. I make lists about everything (observe this blog). And diary writing. It really keeps track of your thoughts and clears your head up. Besides- its awfully entertaining to read a year later....especially if you make interesting lists, like new years resolutions and checklists... I highly recommend it.

And this is my list of guilty pleasures I like to indulge in on my "me" time. What are your guilty pleasures?

Image Source: Amazon.com

Chapeautons-nous!!

Chapeau extravagant, béret, bonnet, toque, comment se chapeauter tendance cet hiver???
Petit tour de tête, via les défilés hiver 2007-2008...

Pro du CHAPEAU EXTRAVAGANT : à ne réserver que pour les grandes occasions : Dior, Comme des Garçons, Jean Paul Gaultier.
Pro du BERET : on n'aime sa "class touch" Over size chez Vuitton, plus discret chez Versace, Ralph Lauren Collection, DKNY.
Pro du BONNET : à manier avec précaution, aussi bien le bonnet est le petit plus du look, aussi bien il peut vite devenir le gros moins...Chanel, Rick Owens, Prada, Ralph Lauren , Marc by Marc Jacobs.
Pro de la CASQUETTE : Tout semble permis, Cuir et paillettes pour Hermés, over-size chez Sonia Rykiel, mais aussi on le retrouve chez Céline, Anna Molinari et Yohji Yamamoto.
Pro de la TOQUE : plus rare, mais présent :Isabel Marrant , Anna Sui, Osacar de la Renta.

Pas de véritable tendance flagrante, tous les couvre -chefs ont été exploité par nos créateurs chéris. Seule véritable tendance cependant, sortez couverte!!

Ma sélection....

Curl Your Lashes

Last year, my routine was just tinted moisturiser and blush (on the days I actually wake up on time). This year, I have officially added eyelash curling as the final step.

If you have read any top beauty secret lists in magazines, then you would remember that curling your lashes is always one of them. Curled lashes are supposed to make your eyes look bigger, make you look more awake -basically, brighten up your whole look. I always took this advice very lightly because it seemed that whenever I curled my lashes and applied mascara, my lashes just became straight after 5 minutes, so what's the point? However recently, I've started curling my lashes at the end of my makeup routine. Surprisingly when I get home after school, my lashes are still curled, and sometimes, people even ask me if I have mascara on.

The point I'm trying to make is, try curling your lashes everyday before leaving the house. It takes less than a minute to do and really livens up your eyes! And at the end of the day, you don't even have to wash it off. Convenient huh? Makes me think we should listen to conventional wisdom more often!

Image credit: www.sephora.com

Oh belles jambes pimpantes!!

Pimpantes, gaies, flashy, nos jambes gambaderont de toutes les couleurs cet hiver.
Retour en arrière oblige..ah....année 80 quand tu nous tient!!
Certains créateurs ont osé ( Balenciaga, Pucci, Rykiel ... ) mais des podiums à la rue...un grand pas (coloré, ça va de soit) doit être franchi, encore que ce pas doit éviter d'être un "faux "pas....
Voici quelques règles afin d'éviter de tomber dans la faute de goût, car il n'y a qu'un "pas" pour y plonger direct!!

1ère règle....soyons franche et directe, la couleur est réservée strictement et sans aucune réserve, aux gambettes finettes, sous peine de ce faire flasher direct, avec retrait de permis de gambader pour tout l'hiver!!
2ème règle...si flashy (et non fluo, svp) vous craquez, par pitié, évitez le total look sous peine d'être de suite cataloguée de Manga girl !!
3ème régle ...à oser, si vous l'osez...l'on peut rester sobre et laisser à nos seules jambes le soin de réveiller la grisaille hivernale ou bien, on peut adopter un look totalement coloré....
A présent, passons de la théorie à la pratique...

Rien n'est trop beau pour vos yeux....

On ne le dit pas assez...mais il est primordial de protéger ses yeux du soleil....
Monsieur Karl (encore lui!!!) est un homme "extraordinaire" car en sus d'être un créateur "visionnaire"...il est un créateur bienveillant, soucieux de la santé de nos chers et tendres petits iris. Conscient de l'importance du problème, pour des modasses aux yeux meurtris et en quête de strass...il s'est donc penché consciencieusement sur la question...et voilà début Janvier 2008, la réponse au problème sera donnée, avec le lancement de sa nouvelle collection de lunettes de soleil "bijoux".
Nos yeux n'auront plus peur d'affronter rayons UV ou flashs intempestifs, habillés de plumes d'organza par la maison Lemarié, greffés de perles ou encore parés de broderies Lesage, ils ont auront chic et fière allure !!

Clothes That Look for You

Sometime it might be shocked that we've been taught to look for new clothes all the time, and that the contemporary clothes wear off so soon. However, if you wear your favourite clothes every day, you only need one outfit, and this is actually imply to me that when it is your favorite clothes, is the clothes that find you and not the other way round! Do you agree?

Vivienne Tam Dresses

I am constantly amazed at my mom's ability to be so up to date with the latest going ons in fashion. Her latest discovery are the trendy dresses at Vivienne Tam. Surprising isn't it? I've always related her style as western with oriental influence and wouldn't exactly call it trendy. So when my mom told me she'd bought me a dress from there, I was like, what?
Luckily for me, the dresses over at Vivienne Tam seems to have gone through a revival and are much trendier than I'd imagined. The dress my mom got me was this one, except mine is black and made of a woolish material. Now to be honest, when I first saw the dress (and identified it as this one in the catalog), I didn't like it very much. It was past my knees and it has the most awkwardly positioned tie thing in the middle. That is not exactly the most flattering cut. But after playing around with it, I've tied it at the waist, such that a little puffy effect is created and is shorter, which is kind of cute with ankle boots!
This of course got me looking into the rest of the catalog and now I am lusting for more Vivienne Tam dresses! They have more simple casual (kind of shift) dresses. I especially love the grey one in the middle. The color is also so nice and wintery without being too black.

And check out those silver Mary Janes! I WANT a pair. They look so perfect in the winter with all these cute short dresses!
For something more sophisticated, there are these more polished creations. The dress on the right is my favourite! The bottom frills gives it just the right touch of girliness to the otherwise sophisticated and simple design.
Something a little more fun, there are these printed dresses. The rich silver brocade dress is so adorable! And as a side note, I really like that look on the far right (sorry about the bad scanning). Its so simple to achieve too. All I need is to go out and get myself a cute printed mini!

Who would've thought that these creations were Vivienne Tam?

Et la lumière fut....

Mes lumières diffuses sont magiques et poètiques....
Mes formes sont un mélange de pureté et de baroque...
Le nom de mon créateur est imprononçable....
Enfin, je suis un objet tendance, original et beau....
Et donc forcément....cher et chéri....

Qui suis je???

Je suis des luminaires en plexiglas crés par des Hollandais de chez Buro Vormkrijgers. Marie-Louise, Josephine et Therese, trois modèles de lampes qui sauront vous éblouir et vous charmer. Composés d'un assemblage de lamelles identiques découpées dans le Plexiglas et rehaussé de motifs gravés sur leur surface. Les lamelles sont ensuite montées en hélice autour d'un tube neo bas voltage (14 watts), pour donner à l'ensemble du volume et de l'espace.
Je vous offre l'arc en ciel en lumière et encore d'avantage : à votre bon vouloir...ambre, jaune, violet, bleu, rose, rouge et vert.

Mon prix varie entre 1.000 $ (700 €) et 2.300 $ (1.600 €) mais une telle lumière n'a pas de prix.

So nice....

Katherine Kwei??
Ce nom vous est-il familier? Sans doute pas encore, et pourtant il y a fort à parier, que les créations de cette jeune "Honkhongaise" de 34 ans, envahissent notre continent. Véritables petits objets d'art, ses merveilleux sacs forgés dans des peaux nobles, allient brillamment modernité et tradition chinoise.
Cette créatrice "artiste" a commencé sa carrière dans les relations publiques pour Louis Vuitton chine, puis trés récemment , en 2007, elle a lancé sa propre collection. Les prix de ces petits bijoux oscillent entre 645 et 1.825 $...un peu chers, mais en contemplant ses modèles, on s'accorde à proclamer qu'un tel luxe n'a pas de prix !

www.katherinekwei.com