a confession

Posted by: fashion fiend Post(s) by this blogger

My name is Beauty Queen and I have a passion – for beauty products.

An obsession really, which means I try just about any product that lands on the beauty counters. Naturally, they have to suit my skin type and tone, but I derive the greatest pleasure from experimenting!  With colours, textures and scents and when the products work – I look and feel better - then I’ll be wafting on cloud beauty. And that’s even before the results show!

Since 1951

Posted by: fashion fiend Post(s) by this blogger

So, with all that is already on offer, and the amount of time I spend hanging around these counters, trawling the internet and memorising every ‘must-have’ published, is it possible to get excited about another new beauty brand?

If it’s Kiehl’s, then the answer is a resounding yes!

It all began for me when on a trip to New York; I spotted Kiehl’s and immediately stepped into the store to thoroughly inspect this haven, which I have heard so much about. The very helpful assistant patiently explained each and every product I showed interest in, until I left the store an hour later with a lip balm and tons of samples. I was a happy girl that afternoon in my hotel room!

Founded 156 years ago, this September Kiehl’s is finally set to debut in Pavilion, when KL’s newest shopping mall is scheduled to open. Yes, finally, lovers of this brand can heave a sigh of relief.  A trip to Bukit Bintang is all it’s going to take!

The founder John Kiehl first set up a small, neighbourhood apothecary in Manhattan where common and exotic compounds were whipped up for everyday ailments, which included virility creams, baldness cures and even a product called Money Drawing Oil.

Before World War I, a young man from a Russian immigrant family, Irving Morse, began his apprenticeship at the shop. He served in the war, earned a pharmacology degree after, and eventually bought over the shop. He turned it into a pharmacy, adding homeopathic roots and herbal remedies from the old country.

Staying true to it’s humble beginnings, three generations later, today Kiehl’s (owned by cosmetic giant L’Oreal) still strives to ensure the natural quality of the products. The brand, built on free samples and customer education, has always been a conscientious, never testing on animals and only using the finest natural ingredients.

In Malaysia, this celebrity-favoured brand, will offer a range of products for face, body, hair and babies, for starters. (There is even a pet range in some of the more established stores abroad.)

what a treat!

In 1983 Aaron Morse, the son of Irving, told Women's Wear Daily, "Beauty, quality, health and education are what Kiehl's is about."

It’s time to start saving up your sens ladies, as the products don’t come cheap. Just be warned, that you may become addicted to it.

Fashion is Fickle. Not.

Posted by: fashion fiend Post(s) by this blogger

Fashion fascinates me.

I wish my mother had the foresight to name me Coco.

Or she could have married a Frenchman, then I would have been born and brought up in the greatest city of fashion

Maybe I’ll just have to call myself Paris!

Anyway, the fab thing about fashion is that it excites the eye with ever-evolving colour, cut and silhouette. Each season fashion designers around the world titillate the senses as global fashionistas swoon. And in little ‘ole KL, I do a triple somersault.

Retro with a modern twist. Pale summer palette. In metallic mode. With fashion, it is inevitable that certain looks will return, and at times over and over again.

This spring summer season metallic is huge, creating ripples of fascination everywhere they appear. In large doses or in tiny barely-there accents. And the accessories: shoes and bags in these shades simply sizzle!

These two metal hues suit every skin tone, only varying in degree of shine without ever slipping overboard to trashy. The perfect shades to add glamour to any occasion, even if the dress is as simple as can be.

And they come back season after season, year after year.

Dressed in front-row feminine bubble dresses Fann Wong (second from left) in white and Camelia (right) in luminescent gold metal watch the Loewe Spring Summer 2006 in Singapore, late November the year before.      

in pretty bubble dresses - VIDA!WIRE

At a shoot in New York, way back in April 2004, quirky American designers Nico & Adrian show off their gold sequinned hot pants on a model.

shiny gold hot pants - VIDA!WIRE

Fashion they say is fickle, but the permutations of metal will never go away. Shine on… you say?

Or just call me Coco!