H&M with Cavalli

Roberto Cavalli is about to launch his H&M collection this November! But he's putting a spanner in the works by insisting that he -- and the models -- in the advertising shoot must be nude! It sounds like a very pointed undercurrent that says "You're buying nothing, Suckers!" hahahhaa...

More exciting is that Miuccia Prada is "in talks" with H&M for perhaps next year's collection. I so plan to be at a H&M the day that collection is released.

In more H&M news, it was revealed that Karl Lagerfeld's "one night stand" collection with H&M sold LESS than Stella McCartney's. But i don't think it signifies anything. It could be 1. H&M underproduced for KL's collection, and 2. SM's collection was in stores for longer. I remember there were tons of them hanging around in London days after the launch.

Beauty File - Amy Winehouse

This is more an exercise for me than it is to read :) I'm training my connective brain tissue to recognise links and store "foreknowledge". It's ok if you think i'm rambling again :) I just hope to be able to entertain you by dissecting how celebs and women use makeup to create their look.

Shoes, Bags, watches, jewellery have all each fought for the right to be the style "clincher" -- that is you can use it to create your own look. But really they all have a part to play and a stylish person uses all of them to express herself. Makeup is just one of those tools. But rather than subscribe to the BobbiBrown way of makeup -- which is to say, keep it neat, neutral and safe -- some women have really made makeup history. One of the is Amy Winehouse. I know absolutely nothing about her music (don't ask!) but I am totally enthralled by her. I can't tell which era, country, mindset or style house she comes from -- and I'm loving everything about her! She's everything -- 50s, 60s, 70s, housewife, punk rocker, jazz singer, cutie pie, bitchy, beautiful and ugly at the same time.



I wanted to start here: at Amy's lips. Other than her very Madonna-esque mole (which if you know chinese facereading, moles in that vicinity mean sensuality), Amy picks a matte chalk-like pink lipstick that really goes to show she understands the first rule of makeup: Eyes or Lips but never both. Still, it's rather attention grabbing because of her caramel skintone, it pops rather than blends.


Look at those eyes!! Amy has some really regular looking eyes -- though big, they aren't the sort you get mesmerised by. But she expertly draws them so that the first thing you see (and have a second look at) are her eyes. The one-inch eyeliner -- I've never seen one so thick, even at the fashion weeks -- is not easy to draw, much less pull off. If I'm not wrong, Amy uses a kohl pencil, then layers it with black eyeshadow powder. There's no way she uses a liquid liner, note the tapered off tip, it's something your liquid liner probably can't do.



Amy prefers the 50s Bouffant style - note the almost beehive-ness of the above! Either this girl has a lot a lot of hair or she counts on hair extensions. (more likely the latter). At times, her hair channels Marge Simpson, other times, it's the Stepford Wives. Dyed Jet black for sure, she leaves it quite unkempt but still gets a half-updo, half-downdo feel. Even when casual, see below, it feel so lush. Though I think her hair is rather dry and needs some treatment!

Her tatoos are impressive! They seem randomly placed -- as if she has one done under a whim... rather than plan for the bigger picture. And who else can make a singlet feel as if it's part of her ethos.

This is a rare shot of Amy, I feel. So calm, so serene and so... sweet! The dress and the shoes are such retro-flavoured pieces that you can't help but think Amy is one of those special people who can wear anything and make it looks "hers" -- you know, even galoshes and suspenders.

Lash Loss

I totally love eye lash extensions. They are a big blessing for us who aren't blessed with fluttery long lashes. Jos, a friend of mine and kick-ass Far East Plaza entrepreneur, has had hers for 4 months now and says it's absolutely no problem upkeeping them. Me on the other hand, on the one time that I actually had eye lash extensions, could only keep them on for ... oh about 3 days. By Day 4, i was scratching them out in the shower, loading my eyes with cleansing oils and pulling them off one by one. It was insufferable. And now I've just read about Beauty Snob's horrible 'lash' loss!!

I guess it's a matter of what type of eyes you have -- if you've got small 'uns like mine which start out already itchy, better stay away. In any case, the best eyelash extensionist I've used is Amy of Far East Plaza, Level 4. Tell her I sent you! She's very gooooooot!

The New Pedicure

I hope this catches on -- instead of your usual pedicure nail art, Katherine McPhee was spotted with some delish henna on her feet. And in Louboutins, they really are quite lovely. Let's see who wears it next. Read more about it at PopSugar.

I'm too rexy for my shirt

New buzzword: Kate Moss calls herself and rocker ex-boyfriend Pete Doherty "Rexy" -- meaning skinny yet sexy.

Hmmm... more disturbing, I read that Pete has never had anything less than an "A" grade for any of his studies, from PSLE-equivalent to A Levels. He's a Mensa genius... pity about the brain damage now though.

Don't pick on the little girl

Argh! Martha Stewart just called Abigail Breslin (The Cutie From Little Miss Sunshine) "Pleasantly Plump" and asked if she had too many "Cheeseburgers on the road."

A step forward for marginalised (unusual) beauty, thanks to Abigail, and two steps backwards -- all yours Martha!

It's just tooooo cute

The Simpsons... out next weekend!
I saw it first on Fashion Is Spinach and then on Surrealist Love Scene. I just had to put it up here. Tooo cute!

*these were taken from the current issue of BAZAAR (US) .

omg. omg. is that alber elbaz at the back? i think of all the fashion designers, i relate to him the most. everytime i see him, i think of the song "Mr Cellophane". Oh he's such a tortured cutie.


Marge in feather and tulle! It's toooooo much cute! And Karl Lagerfeld pursing his lips like the underbite Homer. Toooo Cute!

I feel like asking Harper's BAZAAR Singapore to publish these pics -- they have a larger format than the US version that will just... ahhhh, I wanna tear them out and frame them!

My My Miss Eskimo Pie

I don't remember the packaging this way, but I certainly do remember eating one of these pies when I was younger (albeit mine came without the almonds and the ice cream stick). It was in a silvery foil with one-colour printing of the cutest eskimo. I loved those ice cream bars. Now I get my fix from a really good bar of Magnum (with almonds!). Yummmm...

Please never surgery ok?

I was once offered a complimentary liposuction on my tummy. Yup, for free. Zilch. Nada.

But I turned it down. Despite all the advances in the cosmetic/plastic surgery field, there really is nothing to guarantee that you're going to come out of it satisfied with your final look. Hey, the thing is, look at Tara Reid, she's a star with access to money, the best hospitals and the world's best plastic surgeons in LA, NY and probably anywhere else in the world. Yet, look at this really icky picture of her tummy, post surgery (which i think was about 1 to 2 years ago).

When the surgical knife goes wrong, there's very little you can do but go for more and more surgeries until ... you look like that. Leave your body alone, please. You're beautiful, don't you know?

This Week In Beauty

I'm about to start a regular column! (I love signposts as I call it and use it all the time editorially!)
It's called This Week In Beauty and it's going to be an unconscious stream of information that I've garnered just by being awake!

Oooh. Catherine Zeta Jones uses $1200 worth of caviar every 4 weeks to maintain the shiny jetblack sheen of her hair.

Ahhh. The "Butt Pincher" is a bikini bottom that from the back, disappears into your butt crack. Nice. Love it when cute little posteriors show their bottom lines. Just as long as it's not mine.

Wooo. Happiness can come in a bottle, especially when it comes hand delivered to your home! I'm speaking of Smiley, the only fragrance said to actually make you happy. Full review in a while!

Yumm. Chanel is launching 3 new products (toner/lotion, eye cream, and serum) to complement last year's Sublimage. They're all just as expensive.

Hmmm. I really *love* the MakeUp Forever blusher in neon neon pink. It looks like it's made for dolls but put it on and it's the natural-est flush ever. Bought it at the loof sale so even better!

Last but not beauty related, check out SoonLee, the bestest shop on Haji Lane. Sharon does have style, you have to give her that!

The Big Lug succombs

Whenever I lapse into my regular "gosh, i wish i had that skin" talk, the big lug tends to go all glossy-eyed. Afterall, which man wants to hear more whinging about things we can't really change? Then last saturday, as we came out of the new Harry Potter flick, the big lug turned to a mate of his, a handsome and testosterone-driven male friend, and has this conversation, quite to my surprise!

The Big Lug: "Did you see Hermione's skin? I can't believe how perfect it was!"

The Mate: "YAH! Even close up i couldn't see any pores -- she was like beautiful!"

Two men talking about alabaster skin and pores -- I thought I'd never see the day!!

If there's smoke...

The Health Promotion Board finally does something right! In efforts to reduce female smokers, they've hit the nail right on the head! And I'm just loving the idea!
A new software, April, can now predict how "beautiful" you'll look in 10 to 30 years time -- and then compare it to projections of how you'll look like if you continue to smoke!
I don't smoke except for the occassional stress drag -- but where do I sign up?!


ps. heard there's a public event this weekend at Wisma Atria (starts at around 2pm!) I hope there isn't a queue.

overdrive

after weeks of not blogging ... i am in overdrive. and I think you can tell!

I don't think soooo!

Keira Knightley is the new face of Chanel cosmetics. Like seriously seriously. They dumped Kate Moss (good choice) for her (bad bad choice). Dominique Moncourtis must be planning some major touchup work for Knightley...

More than meets the eye

When the movie was released a few weeks ago, almost half my MSN contacts had something "transformer"-eee on their nick. "More than meets the Eye" said a PR friend. "Freedom is the right of sentient beings" said a lensman. And mine of course was "bee-otch!" Oh I do like Bumblebee.

Anyway, i blog about the transformers because I spotted a great beauty tidbit in the show. When the Australian programmer, Maggie Madsen (played by Rachael Taylor) sneaks out of the defense ministry with that SD Card, she puts it in a compact! Guess which compact it is!

it's a ---- taaaa daaaah -- Clinique compact!

Couldn't tell if it was an eye palette or what! but that mirror shine is unmistakeable.

The L'Oreal touch

I was at Guardian the other day looking for a hair solution (I've carpeted my entire apartment with fallen strands of hair! Yelch!). And remembered Neril, the product my mom would buy me when i was younger. Hated the smell but knew it was the stuff that could help heads like mine. So i went a-searching and discovered they've been bought out by Garnier! Yes, the LingZhi, Zhang Zi Yi, L'Oreal peeps. Neril now has 4 different versions -- Guard and Shield in Regular and Cool and Fresh combinations. Yes, Guard and Shield mean the same thing. As does Cool and Fresh. So imagine how difficult it was to choose between the four variations (and at $16+ each, you want to make you sure get the right one). Better yet, the copywriting on the boxes of all four are frighteningly similar! All give you "healthy, strong, and beautiful hair" and "prevent and protect from dandruff and scalp impurities". How to choose like that?

post note:apparently it's L'Oreal's marketing strategy to "fill up all the shelves" even if you really only have one product. You do so by creating variations. In the case of Garnier Neril, i think it's really doing the product injustice.

The fast and easy glow

The Daily Mail, (Again, they're soooo informative) just ran a report on why people have sex. You can read it here. My favourites are "getting back at an ex-lover" (soooo useful) and "I wanted to sleep with more people" (Very important when St Peter does his tally, you know!) But then they forgot one very very very good reason why women have sex -- the glow! During sex, blood vessels dilate, causing skin to activate. There're whisperings of celebrities who get a little something something before the red carpet. I can't verify but hell, anything for rosy cheeks and translucent radiance, without any Mulberry ingredients. Yeee ha!