The Essence of La Mer

The other day I found out that one of my friends worked at La Mer- I got really excited and practically pounced on her with everything I ever wanted to know about beauty products. Like, what are the dress code/make-up codes for various brands? Do you get free samples? How is the quality of the hand cream treatment at La Mer?- I think she got slightly scared by my sudden over enthusiasm :P
But the thing that caught my attention and made my ears perk up and my eyes light up the most was the Essence of La Mer that she mentioned, sold only to their VIP and celebs. Personally I've never heard of this product before, but apparently its already been around for a few years. It is a very concentrated version of their cream and what it does is that it heels wrinkles and scars and minimizes pores within a 3 week treatment. I heard it works really well (anyone tried it?). And at over $2000USD, I should hope it does! And if you want to get onto their VIP and VVIP list to give this product a try, be prepared to dish out around $15000 annually at their counter.

Very intriguing. I'm amazed I didn't know about this until now. Though it kind of sounds like the Estee Lauder night treatment thing they came up with last year....come to think of it, La Mer is owned by Estee Lauder. Perhaps some of the Essence of La Mer secrets got passed along to their parent company and got transformed into this relatively cheaper brown bottle at the EL counter?

Drew these while watching TV one night. That's supposed to be Jewel on the top left, 2 versions of MSNBC'sNancy Grace on the bottom left, a guest on Nancy Grace's show on the far right, and some guitarist for some band top middle.

Dept Meeting

Sorry Saurav;)

MDavis

Mr.Goodson

A Fish Story

My Cubicle V1.0

to see more pics, go here

Buddy Hedz Mod

SS07 Beauty Trend: Clip The Front Back

Ever since watching the Olsen twins' last movie, New York Minute ages ago, I have started wearing my hair like the way Ashley did in this screenshot occasionally in the summer. (It feels much more like a summer-y hairstyle rather than winter-y doesn't it?) I've always thought of it as an easy, potentially sleek or cute hairstyle. Interestingly, it was the choice of hairstyle on the Versace SS07 runway.

If you have wavy hair or hair that is curled at the ends, then you can make this hairstyle look glamorous.

If you have straight hair (like I do,) then you can make this hairstyle look uber-sleek on you. One thing that I love about this hairstyle is that it seriously accentuates your features, especially your eyes. So if you're wearing this hairstyle for a night out, pile on the mascara and eyeliner, or make sure to highlight your cheekbones!

But I can think of a few types of people who probably shouldn't wear this hairstyle. If you a) have a long face or forehead; b) have lots of pimples on your forehead; c) are over a certain age, then this hairstyle would probably just accentuate those features.

This hairstyle is great for everyday life because it's so easy to do. All you have to do is brush back the front part of your hair and use two pins to pin them in place at the crown of your head. I know this hairstyle is portrayed as a glamorous and sexy hairstyle at Versace show, but I think it's actually nice and practical if you're going to work and just want your hair out of your face. Another reason I like it is that it prevents the hair at the front from getting oily from contact with my face, which inevitably gets oily as the day goes on (-isn't that so annoying?) Plus, it's just a fun alternative to leaving my hair down everyday. Have you been wearing your hair like that too?

Image credit: www.style.com

Mac and US

We often joke about how Masao went from a regular salary man to the CEO of a HUGE international company in less than six months!

Thanks to our friends at feedmecoolshit.com TM and Mac are on the same page! (This may well be the only time this happens so I am saving, documenting and keeping it away for a distant future 'good ol days' story about the time when Mac and us were like this ~crossed middle and index finger~)
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Office Fashion: Suits II

So you know how the last suit post was devoted to one button suit jackets? Well, the lack of variety was because I've felt a sort of negative feeling towards multiple button suits, on women anyway.
They just give me the image of being too old and formal, as in above from Brothers and Sisters with the suit the member of the senator's team (sorry I forgot her name) and Sally Field is wearing. They don't look bad on them, but just not what I'd want to look like yet. Maybe its the shoulder pads...
And lets face it, multiple button suits are just not presented very well either. Especially not the suit from Jones NY Collection (right) here. The Theory Rory suit (left) is better, but it still does not look very flattering on the model.
So I was ready to put the axe on multiple button suit jackets. But then, I found these very chic multiple buttoned suit jackets from Zac Posen (left) and Gucci (right). And I had to rethink my theory.
I mean, look how nice Rachel Griffiths and Patricia Wettig looked with their multiple buttoned suit jackets on Brother's and Sisters. After staring at these photos, I think the thing that bugged me most about the usual multiple buttoned suit jackets is the shoulder pads, more sparsely placed buttons and longer length. So if you get it sans shoulder pads and divide it, like Rachel has done here with the belt...
...Or got something shorter and more proportional and fitted like these two here from Laundry by Shelli Segal (left) and Semantiks (right), then it should look just as sexy and chic as the one button suit.
More options from the high street from J Crew (left) and Express (right).

Image Credit: Elle, Express, Nordstrom, J. Crew and Brothers and Sisters

Bobbi Brown Nail Polish SS07

Last weekend while the makeup lady at MAC was trying on loads of eye shadow colours on my sister, I wondered over to the Bobbi Brown counter and fell in love with the BB salesgirl's makeup. She had a 'light' (as in not as dramatic as most of MAC's salespeople's makeup,) smokey eye. She proceeded to try it on me but they were out of a certain shimmery, creamy eye shadow base so the eye shadow didn't look at all impressive on me, (or maybe it's just that the salesgirl was really pretty herself -that is so unfair!)

Next I noticed her nails and loved the colour. They were a lovely milky, white-ish, pinkish, champagne colour. They were exactly what I was looking for -something milky, but not plain white or pink. But I didn't realise Bobbi Brown made nail polishes at that point so I didn't ask her where she got her nail polish from. Later on, a friend told me Bobbi Brown did actually make nail polish so I decided to head to another Bobbi Brown counter in the hopes that the salesgirl's nail polish was from BB. After looking through the six shades, half of which were already out of stock, I guessed it was Tutu.

Since I have zero skills in painting nails, I got someone to do it for me while getting a facial. The results were... a bit more pink than I anticipated. Now that I've had time to accustome myself to painted nails, I suppose they don't look as pink as they first looked. Actually I think I may be starting to like the colour! (Haha sorry, this is my 28 hours of thoughts after getting my nails done.)

The one really big thing I must complain however is that BB nail polish seems to chip REALLY easily. Admittedly, I've got three layers on because I wanted the colour to completely cover up my nails so maybe the polish on my nails is really thick. But I've been pretty careful about using my fingers in the past day and it's not like I'm doing any nail-polish-chipping activities. (Although did you know msn-ing people is terrible for your nail polish? Too much constant typing!) BG justifies the chipping to me as "Bobbi Brown isn't exactly known for their nail polish". I know but still, I expected more from the brand and the price! Oh well.

Nail-painting is such an irritating and time-consuming activity, who know? No wonder I only ever experiment with nail polish during school holidays! Please let me know what other nail polish brands chip or scratch easily so we can all avoid them!

Image credit: www.bobbibrown.co.uk

Office Fashion: Suits I

Ah work clothes. I must say, I've always somewhat dreaded wearing it before- especially business formal. I always thought that it looked more like a uniform, and since my high school uniform, which resembled a prisoner's outfit, I never want to go back to wearing them again. But alas, the real world beckons. So lets take a look into office fashion and start with suit jackets.
Suits. The first thing that pops to mind is Giorgio Armani. As I always say when I write runway reviews about them, these are the things that makes me want to work hard. Don't they just look so sexy and stylish? (Left: Giorgio Armani, Right: Ralph Lauren)
But of course, in the real world, suits are not that sexy. For my first suit, I followed my best friend's lead, and went for the Theory, Hayward (left)(and no, I did not deliberately choose the same cutting, but I found that it fitted me best). Theory isn't Armani, but its pretty good. And the fit is quite good too. But still, for the first few times I wore it, I still felt very conscious of myself, uncomfortable and old. Like I was a poser, pretending to look professional when I'm not. But this summer, having worn it more often (almost like an uniform- changing the shirt of course- such a good investment!), I'm actually feeling much more comfortable in it (maybe I've aged too!). My friend once said that wearing a suit makes her feel sexy and I was confused- now I get it!
Just witness Calista Flockheart in Brothers and Sisters. Doesn't look like an uniform at all! She just looks very chic and put together.
I think the trick to looking good in suits is the fit. So try until you find the right one. Typically, I find one button suit jackets fit the best- for me anyway(note how this whole post is filled with one button suits). They also look slightly more casual, giving it a younger and chic look. (left: Elie Tahari, right: BCBG). My only problem is that my chest is small, so I have to be careful that I don't find an one button suit that is too loose in the chest- disaster! Some cheaper options, from Express (left) and J Crew (right). Who knew J Crew HAD suits? Turns out they have a pretty good selection, so go check it out.
Besides black, I also got one (very cheap from a local store in HK) with very thin stripes. Not quite as bold as these ones from Max Studio (left) and Express (right), but these are quite nice and sharp too. Next I'm looking to get a suit in grey (not sure dark or soft yet!) and beige/white (for summer)....wow, its like a whole new door of fashion has opened up- but all this will probably be when I actually get a real full time job.

Image Credit: Elle, BCBG, Express, Nordstrom, Max Studio and Brothers and Sisters

I'm hooked

No hoop, No life
As you can see I don't even have time to clean!! (Please don't look at our messy house!) I am eating, sleeping, breathing the hoop and I haven't even had my first class yet!



My inspiration...


I have been practicing furiously with a very dodgey, undersized exercise hoop. On Sunday I will meet up with the only trained hoop instructors in Tokyo. They are also the only ones that have hoops in Tokyo!! (aaaaaarrrrgghhh) I really want to make my own so if any of you EVER see black polyethylene 3/4" pipe in your Tokyo travels please, please email me (I am obsessed and driving Masao around the twist!!)