Kate Moss for Topshop

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Supermodel Kate Moss has teamed up with UK high street fashion store Top Shop to launch a special collection inspired and designed by her – Kate Moss for TopShop.

This follows in the footsteps of other celebrities – Madonna and Stella McCartney to name two. It promises lots of attention and sales for Topshop and probably marks a comeback of sorts for Kate Moss who we last heard had been dropped for many advertising campaigns due to substance abuse.

This collection premiered yesterday May 1 2007 amid much hype in London. I took a browse of the stuff over on Topshop’s website. Now remember, Topshop in the UK is pretty much a high street brand, unlike in Malaysia where its considered semi-high end due to its outrageous pricing.

In England, the prices are considered pretty normal high street which translated to Malaysia would mean Padini or Giordano. The only difference is that we won’t get Kate Moss for Padini, that’s for sure!

These are a few things that caught my eye from her collection and their prices:

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Don’t mind the mumsy flower dress. I don’t know why I seem attracted to those sort of dressses lately. The other items in her collection aren’t anything great I felt. The tops were mostly Tees and the bottoms mostly hotpants or skinny jeans. All of which would fit Kate Moss to a T but may not fit the average size 12-14 woman.

I rather like the clutch though. I’ve been shopping for one so this caught my eye immediately. I can’t imagine that it will be coming to our shores so I won’t hold my breath waiting.

Topshop has limited purchases of each item to 5 per person only. This is to prevent resales via ebay and other portals. As this is limited edition I guess the prices might soar above retail if there is enough hype generated around the world for the items. Now, please excuse me while I scour ebay for that clutch.

Ikea Detolf glass display cabinet

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This is what I purchased over the weekend from Ikea.

I’d been looking for a display cabinet for the longest while. Since last year in fact, when I first moved house.

When we browsed the Ikea catalogue, my Mom immediately zeroed in on this cabinet and told me to get it. 2 trips to Ikea resulted in her asking me to get it.

However, it was expensive then, at about RM259 or RM299 per cabinet or something along those lines. Yes, I understand its all glass and glass is expensive, but my budget did not permit me. Also, I was afraid that as my condo unit does have strong winds blowing through sometimes, it’d fall over and I’d have nothing but shattered glass on my hands.

When I got the new Ikea Catalog for 2006-2007, I was pleasently surprised to see that the price had dropped to RM199 per cabinet! The prices will remain till 31 August 2007 so when I had a little bit of savings tucked away, I went out and finally decided to get this. Its also because I couldn’t find any other nice looking display cabinets having lots of glass for under RM1,000!

Oh and it now comes in 2 new colours – white and black-brown in addition to the regular beech shade. I opted for black-brown because it fits in with the rest of my furniture. So I’m quite glad I waited to get this – lower price and better colours!

First of all, if you are planning to get this cabinet, make sure you go with at least 2 guy friends. You’ll need them to help you lift the flat pack onto the trolley because it weighs 42kg per piece! You’ll also need to lay your car seats down because it cannot fit into any car boot that I know of. Its about 5’5″ in length. They say this fits even in a Kancil. Well to be honest, I don’t know if it does, but I’d think it would be quite a tight fit!

Second, the spotlights will cost you RM55 for 2. I bought 2 cabinets so its just nice for me. But its a bit sneaky pricing the lights so high when they know full well people will likely buy the lights anyway. Â

I managed to get it into our sedan car by lowering the back of the passenger seat so it lay flat. Also, there were 2 helpful Ikea Trolley help at the loading bay who helped mom and I get it into the car. Else I don’t know how we could have done it! Getting it up the condo was another toughie, but Dad was around to help so we eventually got it into my unit.

Its now lying on the floor because I’m waiting for the 2 day public holiday before I set it up. It needs 2 people to set it up, so I’ll definitely have to enlist some help. I get nervous working with too much glass.

I’ll update once I get it up and my display items in!

Have you washed your brushes today?

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If you use makeup brushes on a daily basis, this is something that’s easy to forget to do.

I use my fingers for eye shadow, but I use a powder brush or kabuki brush for applying loose powder. I also use a blush brush for my blushes and an eyeliner brush for applying gel eyeliners.

Once a week or once a fortnight, I’ll gather up all my brushes and give them a good wash. There are some brush cleaners in the market if you look under companies like MAC and Shu Uemura. However, I use Johnson’s Baby Shampoo. Yep! The kind you use on your baby. Its formulated to be mild so babies can use it. And if its good enough for baby, its good enough for your brushes. Its also cheap.

  • Wet your brushes. Then soap up your hands with the baby shampoo and gently swirl your brush in your palm. I usually twirl it in a circular motion or in an up and down motion. Do this until your brush head is saturated with the soap.
  • Rinse by swirling in running water until water runs clear.
  • Pat dry on a towel. Do not squeeze the bristles and shape the bristles back into the shape of the brush.
  • Dry flat, not standing up. Its better for your brushes to lie flat as they dry so they don’t go out of shape.
  • Do not dry in direct sunlight for this will shorten the life of your brushes.

As I use mostly powder products, I can afford to wash my brushes less regularly. If you use a foundation brush or lip brush, make sure that you wash them often. At least 2-3 days for you don’t want the cream or liquid products to breed bacteria.

Cleaning your brushes will make your makeup go on easier and better. You won’t have old colours messing up the colour you are applying. Its also good for your skin, for you don’t get a buildup of old oils and bacteria on your brushes.

So, have you washed your brushes today?

Review: Makeup: Kanebo T’estimo Frame Impact eyeshadow palette

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I am a huge fan of Kanebo T’estimo makeup line. Its a counter brand here in Malaysia, which means that the prices are quite high. But in Japan, its a drugstore brand. Go figure! Anyway, I love the eyeshadows as the texture is very soft and smooth and they are shimmery.

This review is on T’estimo’s Spring collection eyeshadow palette – Frame Impact. There are 4 colours in this collection but I only got 04 as I did not want to be overdoing things, and I was looking for something neutral. Isn’t it pretty?

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This eyeshadow palette comes with a shimmery white/cream highlighter, a shimmery gold colour and a shimmery dark brown shade. The liner is cream in a dark brown colour. It comes with 2 double ended applicators that are of very good quality so I have no qualms about using them. However, I tend to use my fingers for most eyeshadow applications.

This palette is a huge improvement for T’estimo, in my opinion. Their eyeshadows in this palette are super pigmented, which is great. Their previous palettes tended to be on the sheer side. I used this palette for a neutral look for work and realised that if you used more of the darker shade on your eyes it could equally morph into a decent smokey look for the night. Absolutely gorgeous!

The other palettes are a purple toned, blue toned and green toned palette. In the past I would have grabbed colour. However, I’m lately more into neutrals so I skipped the colourful ones. They are just as good, in my view. The palette itself is also very pretty with a mirrored cover and pretty strips of flowers around the sides.

Beware though, that it is shimmery. If you don’t like shimmer, I’m afraid I’ll have to recommend that you don’t get this. However, I don’t find their shimmer over the top. Its shimmery but not frosty which is very nice. It opens up the eye area for me.

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Here’s the other reason I like T’estimo palettes. It comes with instructions!

 At the back of the plastic box it comes in is a little diagram and instructions in Japanese on how you should apply the colours for maximum result. If you can’t read Japanese (like me) then just follow the picture instructions. Its all pretty self-explanatory.

If you follow the instructions you’ll find yourself looking almost like all the Japanese models you see in pictures. Pretty shimmery peepers with gradational colours. Keep the darker colour closer to the lashline and lighter colour on top towards the brow bone. I find my eyes open up more with this method than with the conventional western method of keeping darker colours in the eye crease.

This palette retails for RM120 at the Kanebo counter. I’d say its absolutely worth it!

Pros: Soft shimmery colour, pigmented, comes with directions

Cons: Pricey

The fun and previews happen on Instagram @parisbmws