Archives for November 2008

Kate Spade in Malaysia!!

Paris B 10 Comments

Kate Spade Malaysia

I walked past the Kate Spade store at The Gardens MidValley one day and had to double back to make sure I saw correctly. Yes, I did and yes, Kate Spade has finally opened a store here in Malaysia.

Kate Spade was famous for her colourful nylon bags which was all the rage during the 90’s, especially for the Kate Spade diaper bags. Till today, I associate Kate Spade with diaper bags and expensive ones at that! Being really into bags, I used to look at them online and in Singapore. The nylon ones don’t attract me much I have to say. Be it Kate Spade or Prada nylon bags don’t feel longlasting to me and so I steer clear of them. Besides, I always feel that paying over a thousand Ringgit for nylon or hundreds of dollars for nylon is mind boggling.

However, I rather like the leather bags from Kate Spade. The leather feels nice and the bags aren’t super heavy. I bought a Kate Spade leather bag from Singapore a couple of years ago.

Kate Spade

It was at a heavy discount so I’d say it was a decent mid 3 digit price (RM) and it looked classic which is what matters to me. I liked how the inside of the bag had these surprisingly cheery polka dot fabric and the rope strap really called my name.  I still carry it from time to time. :)

Here are some other bag designs from Kate Spade.

That green is signature Kate Spade green and I really like it! However, prices in store are upwards of RM1000 a leather bag so my wallet will thank me NOT to look for now. In Malaysia, Kate Spade is presently at The Gardens at MidValley.

Bobbi Brown Limited Edition Brush Sets

Paris B 13 Comments

At the requests of MisSmall, Akiki and Synical, I popped by Bobbi Brown yesterday to view their limited edition brush sets.

Bobbi Brown brush sets

The RM300 set is a Short Handle brush set that comes in a faux leather case. Packaging wise, I feel they beat Shu Uemura Mika brush sets to kingdom come! Brushes are a serious matter, make no mistake about it so a nice sleek black pouch is nice. Imagine whipping it out – how professional you will look! :)

In terms of number of brushes they again trump Shu Uemura because in the Bobbi Brown set you get 6 brushes instead of 4. That said, the brushes are tiny. I did a quick comparison because the sales assistant was busy with another (paying) customer and I found that the brushes were smaller than the full sized. Handles are short which again is nice but on an overall basis, I found the brushes were a little small. The brushes in the Bobbi Brown Short Handle brush set are – Eye Shader, Face Blender (perfect for applying Shimmer Brick or blush lightly), Eye Shadow, Concealer, Eye Brow, and Ultra Fine Eyeliner (for precise application of Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner). The Bobbi Brown site says a foundation brush is included but I did not see it in the one here – they may have replaced it with a powder brush but I can’t remember exactly sorry!
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MAC Cosmetics Hello Kitty Collection

Paris B 22 Comments

I picked this piece of information about the upcoming MAC Cosmetics Hello Kitty collection from Temptalia.

Mac Cosmetics Hello Kitty collection

So, MAC and Hello Kitty fans in the USA might want to bookmark 10 and 12 February 2009 for the launch of this limited edition collection in the USA and MAC and Hello Kitty fans elsewhere in the world will have to wait till March 2009 to see this.

I thought the Mac Barbie collection was quite surreal then, and when I first heard about the proposed collaboration between MAC Cosmetics and Hello Kitty I admit I thought it was a joke. It appears however, that it is NOT a joke and this collection is imminent. I can just hear the squeals of delight from Hello Kitty collectors. One more for the collection!

There is even a Hello Kitty-MAC plush doll that will retail for US$42 *faints*

While I’m curious about it, I can’t help feeling that all this is a little… surreal… wake me up someone…

UPDATE: Here’s another picture of the collection

Mac Hello Kitty collection

You can read full details at Temptalia then come back here and take my little poll :)

[poll id=”10″]

MAC Adoring Carmine Brush Sets and Shu Mika Brush Sets

Paris B 30 Comments

I decided to take a walk around some of the more popular brands yesterday to see how the Christmas collections were faring. Most brands’ holiday collections are already available, but I felt a pull in my gut to check out brush sets for some reason. I knew that 2 brands were doing brush sets for the Holidays this year – MAC and Shu Uemura. MAC’s collection is an annual affair but if I’m not mistaken, this is the first time I’ve seen Shu Uemura come out with a brush set for the holiday season.

MAC Cosmetics Adoring Carmine Brush Sets

First off, I dropped by MAC Cosmetics at MidValley Megamall. I am usually quite loathe to step into the store having had bad experiences before, but I got a surprise this time because the sales assistant who came over was not only polite and helpful, she did not have scary fantasy makeup on! I was very impressed and if I had service like this before, I might even be a MAC convert now :P

I was so stunned I failed to ask if I could take a picture of the Adoring Carmine brush sets so you have to make do with stock photos LOL…

MAC Adoring Carmine Brush Set

There are 3 brush sets available this year that come packaged in a barrel shaped pouch. I thought the pouch was nice and practical because you can throw in some eyeshadow or lipsticks and you are good to go. This is unlike previous years where it was clearly just a pouch for brushes.

The Adoring Carmine brush sets come with a gorgeous red handle and red ferrule. I love the shade of red used – Carmine I believe. Very eye catching. The 3 brush sets available are the Eye Brush Set, Basic Brush Set and Face Brush Set.

The Eye brush set contains 5 brushes for eye makeup. The Face Brush Set has 4 brushes for foundation and powder and the Basic brush set has brushes for eyes, face and lip.

Each set retails for RM220 which I thought was a bit of a bargain considering one brush usually costs about RM180 and up. That said, it must be borne in mind that the brushes in the limited edition brush sets are not quite up to the quality of the individual brushes.

When the sales assistant opened up brand new sets to show me the brushes, I noticed that one or two were already shedding. Also, I felt that the bristles of the limited edition brushes were not as soft. This might however, be remedied after washing the brushes, I can’t quite tell. Thanks to the helpful sales assistant, I found out that the brushes in the set are full sized versions – we did side by side comparisons with the individual ones. The shorter handles are useful for traveling and for daily usage. I always like the short handled brushes – it makes it easier to use.
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