Going Green

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

Here’s a novel way to go green.

If you are a regular black-white-beige bra-and-panty girl, it’s time to toss those out and dress yourself in these pretty prints.

Too pretty to hide.

Chitwan Jungle from Xixili is inspired by the magnificent jungles of Southern Nepal, infused in a plethora of flora and fauna. Make a statement with these pieces, stamped with an adventurous and wild green motif. Contrasting orange straps and edged ribbons add a touch of whimsy, exuding fun and freedom. And there are a wide variety of styles to choose from.

Demure yet making a statement.

This collection comes with a fashionable camisole, that’ll be perfect with your favourite jeans and boots. And green is this season's stellar colour!

Prices range from RM29.90 – RM83.90, available at Xixili Boutiques, Xilouette Boutique, and Department Store outlets.

Cellulite Buster

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

There is good news and bad news when it comes to cellulite.

The bad news is, it appears on all types of women’s bodies, regardless of age or body shape. The good news is, you can work - very hard - at reducing its appearance.

For those not clued in, cellulite is the unsightly orange-peel effect on your body, spotted usually on thighs, hips and buttocks. If your skin is slack and your finger feels as if it is pressing into a wet sponge, then the cellulite on your skin is the result of water retention.  And it is not adipose cellulite, which is harder to get rid off.

Obviously no cellulite here.

Poor blood circulation, lack of exercise, too much salt in the diet and hormonal imbalance cause water retention, which lead to bloating and discomfort, especially during your monthly cycles.

But help is here!

Biotherm’s new self-massage product will stimulate microcirculation and smoothen the surface of such unsightly skin. Massage, Drain, Peel (RM140) and Celluli Intense Peel (RM140) work in tandem to reshape the body and renew skin. Its Biopeeling complex stimulates cellular renewal while active draining ingredients improve microcirculation.

These products claim to improve your body’s skin texture and firmness in only 10 days. The range of products includes Celluli Intense Patch Night (RM140) and a Celluli Roller (RM99), a massage tool to ensure that products work even harder, and better.

A beach body.

So, if your beach break is only two weeks away, I’d say head to the nearest counter to find out more.

I’m on my way!  

Barrymore Bling

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

For fans of films and festive jewellery, here’s great news – Drew Barrymore will appear in Gucci’s new fine jewellery print campaign, set to sizzle in fashion magazines worldwide, come September/October this year.

She is the first actor to endorse this line of gorgeous, gorgeous jewellery pieces in launching this exquisite range, for the first time ever. Says Gucci’s Creative Director Frida Giannini. “Drew brought wonderful energy and excitement to this project. She is such a strong, confident woman - an icon of our culture.... but her humour and sensitivity made her completely disarming"

Set in a dusky, almost surreal ambience, the campaign pictures were shot in Paris by celebrated photographers Inez Van Lamsweered and Vinoodh Matadin, specifically picked for their ability to portray a classic image with an extremely modern treatment.

Personifying the strength of the modern woman, Drew Barrymore was chosen as she embodies a contemporary, confident, and sensual spirit as well as being a modern-day icon.

I want! I want!

Both she and the rings rock in this campaign.

And you heard it here – first!

Sex-on-heels

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Or something like that, breathe women who can’t resist their sky-high Jimmy Choo heels.

In reverent whispers, mind you.

Even style maven Sarah Jessica Parker, who made this brand famous in the TV series Sex and the City, recently couldn’t resist slipping into a pair.

SJP wears Bias in black, Pre-Fall Collection, Jimmy Choo.BIGPICTURESPHOTOS.COM

The good news is Jimmy Choo, the king (well… queen now) of absolutely sexy shoes has just opened its doors at Suria KLCC. Last Friday to be exact, and it is the brand’s 60th store, no less!

Another new designer store in our city to cater to fashionista shoe fetishes. And they’ve got great bags too!
 

Lash Love

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

In keeping with the imaginative trendsetting vision of catwalk make-up, Christian Dior introduced the Dior Backstage Make-Up line in 2005.

To play up the look of thickly coated, moody lashes this season, the new Dior Black Out (RM92.00) Mascara recreates a similar scenario with a single swipe of the wand.

for intensely flirty lashes

The reservoir-brush with widely spaced bristles, coats lashes in soft cream mascara that comes with an extravagant thickening power. From the roots to the tips of the lashes, you’ll get volume that’s instantly visible.

With each additional application, the look intensifies. Incorporating, for the first time, the colour of kohl in mascara this little beauty must-have. It is the perfect tool if you are a ‘smoky eyes’ fan. Experiment from rock ‘n roll chic to the mystical gothic persona, all and more that can prove to be flirtatiously fatal.

It’s a total black out they call it, as this mascara is infinitely resistant, will not run, lasts long hours, while keeping the charcoal-like finish on your lashes in tip-top condition.

some lash love

Just what this beauty queen needs, as you can never have enough mascara. Here’s power to the lashes!

Big-Bag Girl

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I can never understand how some women tote tiny little bags as they go about their day.

Those purses-on-strings as I call them can’t hold anything more than a minuscule wallet, mobile phone, two keys, and perhaps a sample-sized lipstick.

How can they last the day, from dawn to dusk, with just those items? I’d die of sheer fear!

For me, my wallet is big. I have three sets of keys: house, office, and car. A book to read during traffic jams and long queues. If it is in the beginning of the month, then I’ll have at least two fashion magazines. I'll also need my notebook, a small appointment diary, and a make-up kit (three shades of lipsticks, two lip glosses, compact powder, lip balm, nail clipper, nail polish, and aspirins). Not forgetting my cardholder, camera and thumb-drive.

So, this season I’m as pleased as can be with the return of the big bag. It’s perfect for all my needs, looks cool and is oh-so ‘in’. The fact that no matter how hard I try to organise it -  it takes me more than a few minutes to locate my phone when it rings - that is never really an issue.

Furthermore, this trend is set to continue into the next season, in a big way.
Just check out Furla’s Frida fall bags that’ll be in their KLCC store, July onwards. Roomy and reasonably priced and so luscious to lug around.  The only problem I foresee is which one to err... pick?

room for more? FURLA

when form meets functionality. FURLA

I don’t even bother with tiny clutches and diamante drops for evening events anymore. I’m a big-bag girl and proud out it. What about you?

80s Forever

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If the packed bodies gyrating away at Velvet's Mumbo Jumbo night every Wednesday are anything to go by, then the spirit of 80s still lives on in many hearts.

At least in music, worshipped by nubile young things who weren’t even born yet.

This season, only the watered-down versions of the padded shoulder and ubiquitious leggings have survived. With a modern twist to suit these times, naturally.

So when a pink e-invite, screaming 21 Again, dropped into my mailbox, I couldn’t resist. A friend’s husband was turning 40 and his wife wanted to  surprise him with birthday party, in memory of turning 21.

Held at the new twentyone kitchen + bar, the party had already begun by the time I got there. Though not everyone turned up in the required garb (including me), there were a couple of girls, very sportingly, who had sifted through their wardrobes and strutted in – reminiscent of the heydays of Madonna.

colour my night.

The youthful birthday boy wore a Pump Up The Jam T-shirt and downed martinis. Party favours littered the table and 21 Again badges were worn to commemorate the event.

As soon as the DJ arrived and the first tune captured the evening, the tiny dance floor filled up fast. All the guests danced and danced the evening away, in a salute to the days when music had lyrics and melodies were memorable.

It’s just the fashion that should not see the light of day. Ever again!

never minus the mini.

Gold Rush

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I adore the colour gold for its sexy sheen and glittery glamour.

And it’s the defining colour of this season. For those brave enough, of course!

Women, I’ve noticed, shy away from this shade for various reasons. Too bright. Too flashy. Too scary. Or too in-your-face. But it’s perfect for a touch of shimmer for eyes, lips, and nails.

You may also be surprised to know, this is one hue that suits every skin tone. If your skin is lighter, just dust on a slight shimmer of gold, and you’ll see a glow light up your face. If you are olive-toned or dark, go for depth in deep intensity, for a smouldering look.

For those who are a little wary, learn to gradually introduce this colour to your beauty routine.  You could begin with your nails. In tune with the fashion trend, O.P.I’s Night Brights offer a metallic combination of non-stop glamour, perfect for forays after the sunset.

go for gold. O.P.I

Choose from I Only Drink Champagne, a shimmery light gold that bubbles with excitement and Golden Rules!, a rich metallic gold that owns the night. Or so they say.

Both are available at Colour Culture (OPI Nail Bar) at only RM53 per bottle.

Let me know how it goes…

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!

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.