Archives for April 2013

Dior Mono Eyeshadows : If you have ‘Logomania’ only wear 1 logo at a time

April 22, 2013 Paris B 42 Comments

Dior has been on a bit of a roll in recent times. This April sees them reformulating the Addict lipgloss, adding more Addict Extreme lipsticks and earlier this year, they quietly reformulated their mono eyeshadows. Now, stop for a moment and BREATHE! Settled?

Ok, the mono eyeshadows. I had some of the old Dior mono shadows. I don’t know if anyone remembers them. One of the earliest was in a trapezoid shape, slightly raised from the pan. It reminded me of chocolate. You know those little bars of chocolate wrapped in colourful paper that you get in Quality Street multimix packs? No? Ok, you need to get yourself a Quality Street bag of choccies after this ok? 😉

They changed the monos after that into an oval shape pan. I didn’t have any from that but it was also because I didn’t like it. I didn’t like the oval pan in a square case. Screwed with my geometrics 😛

The next incarnation came about as a rectangle pan with the cannage pattern embossed on it. I think I have one from then but it was too glittery so I never actually really used it.

Am I talking to myself here? Does anyone remember all these incarnations of the Dior mono eyeshadows? 😛 Well, nevermind if you don’t remember, because here is the newest design – a square pan with the Dior ‘logomania’ logo imprinted on it. This Dior logo is the one used on all the Dior canvas bags and whilst not as modern as I’d imagine it to be, is quintessentially Dior. Based on my observation there are 3 formula that can be used wet and dry, and I have here, 3 colours to show you, and to tell you what I think about them and also to show you how they look worn together. A bit of ground to cover so settle back 🙂

KENS Apothecary re-opens in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur – Where it all began!

April 21, 2013 Paris B 22 Comments

I rarely talk about shops opening here and there but I wanted to share this one, because I’d been waiting for this store to re-open in the city for so long.

Ken’s Apothecary opened in Bangsar, KL sometime back in 2000. Their store used to be along the row of shops facing where Bangsar Village 2 now stands and I remember then, reading about it in the newspaper.

Anyway, I was young and impressionable and for some reason, I was drawn to the article. It might have been the name – Ken’s Apothecary – because really, how many of us actually hear the word “apothecary” bandied about these days? It was old world and I liked that. Unlike apothecaries, which are essentially pharmacies, this one had a very narrow niche with a focus on niche and luxury fragrances and brands. I was introduced in the newspaper article to the likes of Annick Goutal, T. LeClerc and Laura Mercier, to name just a few brands that was carried in store. Brands whose names were alien to me at that point.

Someday, I told myself, I’d visit this store which I had built up in my head to be an Aladdin’s cave of wonders. I did, a couple of years later.

Scrumptious Saturday Vol. 26: Good Eats down in neighbouring Seremban town

April 20, 2013 Paris B 20 Comments

Welcome to another edition of Scrumptious Saturday inspired by a short trip out of town for work. Last week saw me headed out to the neighbouring town of Seremban, just about 45 minutes away by car. Once we were done with whatever that we had to do, naturally, the next thing on the agenda was to suss out some good eats! 😀

When in Seremban I like to go for their beef noodles. It is a local speciality that I can’t seem to find here in KL (of course if you know where to find good ones, please let me know!) I tried one locally that was passable but the prices were exorbitant so if I need a beef noodle fix these days, I head down to Seremban.

New! L’Occitane Immortelle Brightening Skincare : Skin brightening with the Gold of Corsica

April 19, 2013 Paris B 34 Comments

I learnt something very interesting when I attended a L’Occitane Immortelle Brightening workshop a little while ago. I learnt that the Immortelle flower, which is a little bright yellow flower that grows on the Mediterranean island of Corsica is used in cooking there. Cooking! I’m afraid culinary factoids stay in my head longer than any beauty facts I may come across 😛 Sorry.

But the flower is called Immortelle because it doesn’t fade even after being plucked, and the oils derived from it is found to increase skin elasticity and healing wounds and scrapes. If you are as enthralled with tv and movie productions about ancient times, you could just imagine someone hunting down this bright yellow flower to make a poultice for a wound, couldn’t you? No? Ok, just me then 😛 Yes, I have a wild imagination.

But poultices, wounds and cooking aside, the brand most famous for using the Immortelle flower oils in their skincare range is probably L’Occitane. I know that the L’Occitane Immortelle range (in the deep blue packaging) is very popular with many people who want something anti-aging, but I’m also told that it is more suitable for those with drier skin. I haven’t used their creams and potions but one of the earlier skincare product I’d used from L’Occitane was the Immortelle Foaming Cleanser. I really liked it!

Well if you didn’t already know, L’Occitane has an Immortelle Brightening skincare range which is targeted (you guessed it!) at helping you get more radiant skin. What can I say, its the 1st quarter of the year here in Asia and whitening/brightening products get top billing. 3 new items have been introduced to the range and I’ll run them down quickly for you.

Archives for April 2013

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