Archives for January 2014

Happy Chinese New Year! Gong Xi Fa Cai!

January 30, 2014 Paris B 43 Comments

Hi everyone!

Today is the eve of the Lunar New Year aka Chinese New Year (even if not only the Chinese celebrate it, but perhaps because the Chinese celebrate it in the biggest possible way!) and it’s a big deal because today is the day when family gathers for the Reunion Dinner.

The Year of the Horse gallops in from tomorrow and it promises to be quite a wild ride if the pundits are to be believed so we’ll have to saddle up and cling on for what it’s worth! 😀

As is traditional at this time of year, I and MWS take a short break to allow me to go home and spend the festivities with my family. We’ll be back in about a week (CNY runs for 15 days! 😀 But no, work doesn’t stop for 15 days LOL) so if you celebrate the Lunar New Year, I wish you all the health, love and prosperity a new year and a new Spring has to offer. If you don’t and are local, I hope you enjoy the holidays and the feasting 😀

I thought I’d also share with you some of the stuff I got up to in preparation for the Chinese New Year 🙂

Alpha-H Liquid Gold with Glycolic Acid is liquid gold for my skin

January 29, 2014 Paris B 42 Comments

Cult products have a reason for being cult products. They are either very hard to find, produced in limited quantities with limited distribution or they work so damn well there’s a cult following. The Alpha-H Liquid Gold is one such cult product.

I first came across this wonder product about 2 years ago (Damn! Has it been that long?!) At the time I read about how so many people be they bloggers or makeup artists or just people in beauty, raving and raving about how this Liquid Gold transformed their skin. Well, just tattoo my forehead with an S and call me a Sucker because the moment I found an online store selling it, I was off like a shot with my credit card.

The original incarnation of the packaging of Alpha H products was an austere black and white. It was just very simple, no frills, rather like something you’d pick up from a doctor’s office. I picked up a trial set and set out to try it. Well, I wasn’t impressed with anything from it. The famed Liquid Gold didn’t move the earth for me so I set it aside.

Half a year later, while clearing out my stuff, I came across the set again and decided to once again use it, more to use up the product and prevent wastage than anything. And this time, something happened…. which resulted in my picking up the full sized bottle. Ahhh… suckerrrrrr… 😀

Your Say: What was your “Makeup Lightbulb Moment” that made you say Hallelujah? Here’s mine!

January 28, 2014 Paris B 54 Comments

When I was down in Melbourne visiting Tine last year, we spent most of the cool afternoons at home, chatting about various topics from blogging to makeup and we got to reminiscing about the good ol’ days. Thing is, I’ve known Tine quite a while from early blogging and beauty days so we had a lot to reminisce about.

And one of the things we talked about was that “Makeup Lightbulb Moment”. You know that moment when you put on a makeup item and suddenly it was HALLELUJAH! Angels sing, you are amazed at how much better your skin and you look and you go “So this is what makeup can do! I look like me but better!” 😀

You know that moment? 😀

Well I had my lightbulb moment a little late in the day. I’d been wearing just powder or powder foundation for a while with a touch of blush. I was a very simple low maintenance gal… well back then anyway 😉 But one day, I came across an item I’d never thought to use and that lightbulb came on. So, THIS is what makeup can do!

What was it? Ah… take a guess… It’s something I obsess about till today 😉 In fact, it was such an interesting discussion that Tine and I have done a little collaborative post to tell you what our makeup lightbulb moments were.

YSL welcomes the Lunar New Year with the limited edition Beauty Blossom Collector Blush Palette

January 27, 2014 Paris B 28 Comments

In early January 2014 I spotted a very exclusive, limited edition blush palette from YSL Beaute pop up on Makeupstash (always an excellent resource for latest news and reviews) and despite the fact I have been feeling blah about Spring 2014 releases and despite not being a sucker for packaging, I fell hook line and sinker for this one.

What it is, is a specially packaged YSL Bush Radiance No. 6 in a golden compact decorated with Chinese plum blossoms which brings us to the name – Beauty Blossom Collector Blush Palette.

The Chinese character reads ‘chun’ – Spring (It’s one of the very few characters I recognise 😛 )

This beautiful compact is also released in time for the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations which fall on 31 January this year and I don’t think it could have been any more apt in design and execution. The Chinese New Year is a celebration of red and gold and the YSL Beauty Blossom Collector palette sits well amongst all this gaudiness.

Lest you wonder if YSL Beaute has quietly sneaked back into the country, the answer is no. As of now, YSL Beaute isn’t available in Malaysia yet although it might quite possibly change in the near future. Who knows. I got this through Mag of Makeupstash who very quickly helped me snag one of the only 100 pieces available in Singapore and even gifted me a Gloss Volupte Extreme Shine in #207 which is a festive season worthy red. Yes, I have swatched the palette and yes you will get the swatches and low down on it 🙂

Archives for January 2014

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