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

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

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

Kate Moss Top Shop AW07 and Christmas Collection

Remember back when the Vogue preview of the Kate Moss Top Shop SS07 collection came out and I was really excited about it? Well, since then I have seen the collection in real life, applauded Photoshop's ability to beautify cheap material and lowered my expectations for the clothes. While I really don't like the idea of Top Shop basically recreating some of Kate's designer wonders from her wardrobe, I can't deny I'm really excited about some of the designs I see.

With this line, you really need to see the clothes in real life before buying anything. The quality is really so-so and the photos you see are really photoshopped (or taken under clever lighting.) For example, this dress in real life? I felt it in real life last week and was surprised by how bad the quality was. The material was coarse and felt cheap.

Another thing I don't completely get about the clothes -some of the tops and dresses are very sheer. Yes I realise you simply have to wear a camisole underneath, but it's hard to find the perfect v-neck camisole to go underneath, preferably made of silk.

When you look through the collections, you would notice that there are sequined T-shirts are an essential part of the collection. The tops aren't bad, but I'm not sure they're worth paying 35pounds (tank on the right) for.

OK, so onto the AW07 and Christmas collection:
When the AW07 collection came out in Aug/Sept, I was disappointed. What's with these preppy clothes? The school girl look is cool up to a point, and pink is certainly past that point.

The one thing I've been eyeing has been this Zig Zag dress. Thankfully I've been too indecisive to buy it, and it just went on sale on topshop.com. Obviously I've bought it now. I love the side where the dress is short and the tie around the neck -gives the dress a unique, stylish twist.

After the disappointing AW07 collection, the new Christmas collection is about to be released. From the photos I've seen so far from topshop.com, Gracia magazine and ID, the Christmas collection looks way more fabulous. There are some really cool, edgy little dresses -perfect for the coming Christmas and New Year parties!

I LOVE this dress, especially the patterned beads that look like a belt! It looks so stylish and pretty in the image. I'm trying not to get too excited though, because the dress could possibly be of bad quality in real life.

This ID image got me excited about this Deco style dress. It's fun, edgy and trendy. I love how the sequined top has a solid fit, and the bottom chiffon skirt bit is soft and flowy.

Here's the Deco dress again on the right. On the left is a dress that looked decent in Gracia magazine but looks kind of cheap on the topshop webstie. I'm still hoping to try it on in real life though. Who knows?

And then there's this pleated mini dress. When topshop describes it as mini, it really does looks supremely mini. it doesn't even go down to Kate's legs in the ID image! But hopefully it won't be that short on me since I'm short anyways. It looks demure on the top, but short and young at the bottom.

The Christmas collection is supposed to hit stores on 25th Oct -that's this Thursday. I can't wait! I only hope Top Shop stocks enough of my size for once. Clothes-shopping-wise, there's nothing more annoying than finding a design you like and the shop doesn't have your size left.

Image credit: www.topshop.com, ID magazine images

The Hills Season 3

Season 3 of The Hills is rumoured to be its last season, (because supposedly, Lauren doesn't want cameras to follow her everywhere anymore.) I don't know how many of you watch the Hills or read enough paprazzi to know drama between the characters, but I'm not going to get into it here. Yes, I know the so-called 'reality' isn't quite reality, but sometimes it's just funny watching how dumb and annoying people can get. Plus even more importantly, their clothes look too fantastic not to watch! It's sort of like watching a 'reality', Lalaland-version of Sex and the City mixed with Gossip Girl.

The first thing that I noticed about Season 3 is that the clothes have become more fabulous than before! In episode 1, Audrina looked amazing in this silver dress, (which is by Alice + Olivia). It's perfect for this summer (short, super short,) and a good choice for a date + clubbing.

Throughout the season, there has been scenes of Lauren and Whitney at the Teen Vogue office. Strangely (uh huh,) they didn't actually do much other than compliment on each other's clothes and reviewing Lauren's feelings about things that had just happened to herself. It's always nice to see the clean, pretty interior of the office of Teen Vogue.

And there are scenes of Heidi and Spencer being annoying together. I swear Heidi's decisions never really make sense to me. And Spencer should really shave everyday.

In Season 3, Heidi has felt the need to flash her new assets every oppurtunity possible. Those dresses are seriously low-cut!

Somehow I feel like I've got a similar personality as Lauren, so I really like watching Lauren's funny expressions and reactions to situations.

We're going to miss Lauren's headbands!

One thing I really liked about the show was the group hanging out at cool hot spots. Everything just looks so chic.

Maybe even more importantly, the girls just talking with themselves. It's so nice to hear sort of normal conversations on TV. It's sort of like watching yourself talk with your friends, except they live together (-so jealous!) And any show that has such a strong friendship element in it is definitely my thing!

And of course I'm going to miss the drama. Real or not, it's just so entertaining!

Thankfully, (unfortunately if you hate them,) the cast will probably still be attending events and be photographed for another while. I can't wait to see them in new, fun party dresses. Here, the girls are at the The Hills' Season 3 premiere party. The FCUK dress Lo's wearing is still available at FCUK stores in a few colours. It's actually affordable so I really have to get myself to a store to try it on!

This is one of my favourite Lauren outfits. LOVE the Alexander Wang dress on her. It's prettier and chicer than most of her plain dresses, but still simple enough to be 'her'.

I read that they're still filming. When is Season 3 going to end? I hope not anytime soon because it's one of the things where I get LA style inspirations from. Anyways, the Hills is still on air so don't forget to tune in!

Image Credits: www.mtv.com, http://fadedyouthblog.com

Cole Haan Shoes

To be honest, I've never felt much for Cole Haan shoes. They were just one of those classic American brands that I keep getting confused with Kenneth Cole. But walking into the store the other day, drawn by the sales sign, I was quite impressed with their shoe collection this season, especially the ones with their Nike Air cushioning feature. This has probably been around for forever, but I just found out recently. So excuse my babbling....Ever since my summer experience, I've wanted a pair of quality black pumps as I've finally realized the tremendous importance of it in professional wear. Ideally it would be comfortable and the made just right. A pair of perfect Prada black pump jumps to mind. But alas, they are quite out of my reach at the moment. And to be fair, I probably wouldn't want to wear it daily anyway. Hence, when I saw these Fiona's at the Cole Haan store, I fell in love. They shape is made just right. The height is great. The quality is good. It is cheaper than a pair of Pradas (at around $300, though I'll probably wait until it goes on sale to make the final kill). And to top all that, it has Nike Air cushioning embedded in the front for comfort. Now I don't know if this is a new thing or not, but what a genius idea! I tried it on. It really makes all the difference. At 3 1/2", it is very very very comfortable. And I'd give much to be comfortable and chic. Oh and these also come in plain leather, but I thought the patent leather version gives it a bit more of a oomph. Anyway, some more beauties from this comfortable and chic collection. The Carma. For a pair of peep toes, I think these are quite nice as it peeps just enough. And I have a thing for platforms heels. These also come in patent leather and plain leather and all the classic colors, but I just thought I'd show this one just to spice it up a little. At 4", these Dalya are just the thing to wear for a casual day out and into the night. With sturdy chunky heels (which are so cool), platforms AND the cushioning thing, you won't have to rest. Plus, I love the patent leather and suede combo here. And this wine red color is just great if one wants a pair of red shoes, but don't want to it to be too flashy i.e. ME! Then, they have boots. I love the folding thing here. It adds simple detail without being too much. Though I'm not too sure about the squarish looking heel here....though at 4" I guess you need it for extra support. I like the slimmer heels here better. Though of course these two are going after completely different looks. One is simple and classic and the other has more details and is more feminine.

So yes, after seeing this collection and falling love with the Fiona, I don't think I'm going to confuse Cole Haan with Kenneth Cole anymore!

Image Source: Cole Haan

Happy Birthday Barneys Girl!

The big 21 -BG is finally legal worldwide! Here are your virtual presents:

To kick off your birthday celebration, the purple Rebecca Taylor dress (left) would be perfect for a fancy dinner and the pink Mint Jodi Arnold dress (right) would be so fab and cute for cocktails! These dresses are short enough to be cute and young, yet not too revealing. Gosh, I want them too!

Sexy, basic knee-high boots for winter (by Versace)! They might be a bit too high for school, but they're good for all the other occassions where you don't have to walk too much.

And more winterwear. You've been craving for a black, basic coat for ages. This Burberry coat is perfect for all occasions, from work to shopping, to fancy dinners and meeting up at Starbucks.

You totally needs extra stock of her new basic makeup -YSL Radiant Touch Concealer. Such an easy-to-use and good quality concealer to cover up those dark circles from late nights.

Even though you've got more than enough eye shadow palettes, you still hasn't gotten around to buying a Chanel Quadra eyeshadow palette.

Tickets to the musical you've been wanting to watch for so long- the Legally Blonde Musical! Has anyone watched it? We both want to know how it translates from the movie to a musical.

With your HP laptop dying, here's a gorgeous and seriously useful MacBook Pro.

Although on the 26th Oct, Mac's going to come with the new OS, Leopard.

Finally, in the spirit of our favourite new show, Gossip Girl, get some young, hip party dresses. Remember this Catherine Maladrino dress? Serena just wore in the latest episode to a date -it's so pretty and trendy. Loves it!

Have a fabulous time at Ruth Chris and cocktails darling! Muah!

Image credits: www.shopbop.com, www.burberry.com, www.saksfifthavenue.com, www.apple.com, www.legallyblondethemusical.com

Halloween on the Streets

For more inspiration, I turned to the streets. More specifically, celebs and current pop culture icons.
First off are Lindsay Lohan's outfits for Halloween 2006. Her aerobics outfit is not bad. And as for the other one...well I guess it IS Halloween and looking slutty is a prerogative. After all, didn't they say in Mean Girls that Halloween was an excuse for girls to look let their slutty side out?
More inspiring and less slutty, I love Hilary Duff's gypsy idea. And I think if one is to go for the aerobics look, Haylie Duff knows how to do it. The colors and accessories match perfectly, everything just looks so cute! Also, she doesn't look like she forgot to put pants on i.e. Lohan above.
One of the sources of inspiration for Halloween I believe are movies. Last year it was probably Marie Antoinette and Memoirs of a Geisha. So I tried to think of all the thematic movies out this year.... there weren't that many:Harry Potter, Spider Man- too cliche. Finally, I settled on the Pirates of the Caribbean and Hairspray. For Pirates, you can either go for Kiera's whole Chinese pirate look (not that I think Chinese pirates dress that way) or go for a more simple Pirate look i.e. loose white short, black skinny pants, captain hat, compass and sword. And for Hairspray- 60's fashion and BIG HAIR.
And last but not least, we can all take inspiration from Marc last year and try the Ugly Betty look. I bet you they probably sell that poncho somewhere by now. And for something highly imitable with a trip to Walgreens, there is Betty's Halloween costume last year.

And these are all my more "creative" ideas so far. Betty Boop, cowgirl, Greek Goddess (actually not bad), playboy bunny, Barbie, Elle Woods, goth, Edie Segwick, pinup girl, Dita von Teese, cheerleader, preppy, American flag, zombie, hobo also comes to mind. But they didn't strike me as very easily achievable or creative. Any more smart and creative ideas to share?

Flared Jeans

For the past year, I've been imagining myself in a pair of plain, black, flared jeans and a simple top. For one thing, flared jeans, in my mind, form part of the going-to-college image. Another thing is, even though I've been favouring the long top and straight/ skinny jeans look in the last year or two, I've got short tops that just don't go well with skinny jeans.

But apparently, finding a pair of such simple jeans was a lot harder than I thought. I visited Barney's, Saks and Neiman Marcus near Rodeo Drive and hardly found any bootcut jeans available -All they had were skinny or high waisted, wide-legged jeans.

So I lowered my expectations and decided that I would even settle for a pair of washed, boot-cut jeans (like the Citizens of Humanity ones above.) In San Francisco, even though the new Bloomingdale's offered a wider selection of jeans, I still couldn't find my dream pair. Luckily, one of you readers suggested I go to the Blues Jean Bar -I loved it there! (Thanks for suggesting I go there btw.) You tell the saleslady what you're looking for and the size and they just pull out a few choices from their shelves. Normally I would hate a store that doesn't organise its clothes by brand names, but this is one exception.

One of the saleslady's recommendation was the new J Brand's Lovestory jeans, (technically, low-rise bell-bottom jeans.) The saleslady wasn't sure about them since they looked more like pants than jeans, but I tried them on and love them! The material is really elastic and they're tight on top and flares out at the knees, so they're comfortable, fits well and look good. If you haven't worn a pair of flared jeans in a while, go try a pair on! It's such a refreshing feeling, (and perhaps slightly odd since it's been awhile.) (I found out later that Kate Moss supposedly wore them in blue recently.)

The truth is, finding jeans that match what you want isn't actually that difficult -just go onto www.shopbop.com. But I'm one of those careful people and I wouldn't buy jeans unless I've tried them on, meaning that I'm limited to the choices sold in shops. Anyways, anyone else been trying on flared jeans again recently? And I don't mean bootcut, I mean flared!

Image credit: www.eluxury.com, http://www.shopbop.com/