A Bold Choice, I'm Told

It's a chain reaction. I woke up 10 minutes later than usual so I miss all my 73x's City Loop and that in turn I miss my 73x's Blackburn/Belgrave/Lilydale and that in turn makes me miss my 80x's to Doncaster.

The reason for being late? I couldn't make up my mind what eyeshadow to use. I ended up being very pleased with my choice. I chose pink from my Diorissime palette and the deeper green from my RMK palette. I highlighted with the light pink from the Diorissime palette.




The flash makes the pink look slightly purple-ish but it's really a very deep and cool pink.

Dior 'Golden Dior' Necklace.

Image from nordstrom.com

The pendant on this 'Golden Dior' necklace opens up to reveal "the 24-karat splendor of a creamy golden highlighter for eyes, lips, cheeks." While I am completely open to a product I can "dot anywhere for the perfect sun-kissed glow," I would never in a million years be caught dead wearing this piece of ugly around my neck, "dazzling champagne crystals" be damned. The 'Golden Dior' necklace is something I expect to see in a Barbie doll kit for little girls -- I can't imagine a grown woman wearing this with her cocktail dress to a party, so why is it a necklace in the first place?

Also, Dior copywriters, stones cut en cabochon do not have facets, so please correct the description of the "luxurious amber pendant" accordingly. You're making me twitch.

Being Frugal

As a Dior Club member, I was given a tiny little gift on my birthday. And, when I say tiny, I really do mean tiny.

As I stared at the tiny little tube in my hands, I thought wryly to myself, "Is Dior being funny or sarcastic about giving me an anti-ageing eye cream as I get a year older?"

Yep, on one hand I was glad that I got another 2ml of the Capture R60/80 eye cream. On the other, I couldn't help but think of how apt or how "thoughtful" they were being.

Well, 2ml of eye cream is really not a lot but considering how little we use each time, I think 2ml was more than sufficient. Until I got tired of squeezing every tiny drop out. My fingers would hurt and I would struggle to balance between squeezing the tube and popping a finger to 'receive' the cream out from the tube. As much as I loved the hygiene that's presented with a squeeze-tube, I hate that it's so hard to not to waste expensive products like that.

So, I rooted around for a small clean travel-sized container I seem to have a lot of. I found one and proceeded to chop my tube of eye cream into 3 pieces. The tip, the middle part and the flat bit at the end. When I purchased the full-sized Dior eye cream, I was given a spoon as well. For the same hygienic purpose, I would presume. Using that spoon, I scooped every bit out from the 3 bits of the tube. It was highly-satisfying to see that not a single drop of product was wasted.

I repeated the same thing this evening with my trusty Olay Total Effects serum. However, this time, it was much, much harder. This is where your other half came in handy! Once again, I rooted around for yet another clean travel-sized container. And, I saw that it was the last travel-sized container I have. Thankfully, nothing is running out yet. Armed with his trusty Swiss army knife, he chopped the Olay bottle into half and once again, I scooped everything out.

With the eye cream, I think there was enough of product to last me for a good couple of months! Imagine how much product there is left in the tube had I just tossed it away! With the serum, it was good for another extra week at most, but, it's still a lot of product left behind!

For a change, I wish manufacturers would come up with bottles and tubes that would allow us to use up every single drop. It's not just that I'm a miser (yes, I can be when it comes to beauty products) but it's also, I think, the responsible thing to do.

Now, if only there was a way for me to open up my Olay Total Effects moisturizer!

Dior Warehouse Sale

One word: Meh.

Held at the basement carpark (B1) of Menara Milenium, Jen and I caught glimpse of it the moment we entered the parking lot in search of a spot. It was tiny. And dingy. Sort of.

I was thankful that I came prepared. I knew events like these would not allow for handbags to be brought in so I stuffed cash, IDs, credit cards and my mobile phone into my pockets and walked in. I was right.

The guard eyed us warily in search of a handbag. There was a cashier on one end of the room and then tables were fashioned into a long 'L' shape following the length and width of the room. Products on sale were mostly the regular stuff. If you're after a limited edition palette you missed out, sorry to say you'd have your hopes completely dashed.

The first few tables were Dior body products which I skipped entirely. Then it was the Dior whitening range but I was not interested. Their Prestige range was on sale as well but I'd never be able to afford it so I moved on. Lip products were really cheap.

All lip products (glosses and lipsticks) were going for RM40 each or RM70 for 2. There was only one green and one pink shade of gloss from the Diorshow gloss range. There was a green Dior Kiss gloss but I was not interested. They had some of the older Dior Addict (not Dior Addict 2) range which was not too bad. Dior Rouge was there as well. This, I can vouch that it's very cheap. Your regular Dior Kiss gloss would be RM68, Dior Rouge would be above RM80 and Dior Addict would be close to RM80.

For eye makeup, the older single shadows were on sale for RM30 each. They had quintets from previous seasons as well. One of my favourites- Stylish Move (970) was on sale for RM70. There were a few other quintets but I cannot remember the names nor colour code. Grabbing a quintet would save you by more than 100 bucks because each one currently retails for RM178.

Moving along would be face products: blush and foundation (liquid and powder). They had the regular rectangular pan blush which I was not really interested. Dandelion has served me fine and it shall continue to do so until I decide it's too young for me. Diorshow blush is one of the cutest things I've ever seen and I've really liked it from afar for a long time. Retailing for RM132, it goes for only RM60 at the sale. Unfortunately, there was only ONE colour on sale and the colour would turn my cheeks bright orange.

Diorskin Flash was going cheap as well at RM60 a pen. I can't remember the current retail price.

I do like Dior foundations because they are completely lightweight. But there were not enough of colour selections and I wouldn't dream of buying foundation in that kind of lighting, no matter how cheap it is. One good thing about this event was that there were no sales assistants hovering over you. No one was trying to push products. They would give suggestions or help when asked but other times, they just stand around and wait for you to make the first move. At the foundation counter, one of the girls tried to sell her foundation on me. She picked around for what she thinks is the correct colour (I would think it is the correct colour too) and tried it on my hand. I politely declined citing of my complete sloth-like attitude when it comes to foundations.

Curiosity got the better of her, "So, do you use anything? Compact powder? Loose powder? Compact foundation?"

Errr.... nothing. Only sunscreen, actually.

She took a careful glance at my skin and conceded to keeping away the testers,"Oh. Yeah, you're right. Lucky you, then. You've got good skin."

I replied my thanks with a beaming smile. I mean, who wouldn't be pleased at hearing that?

THIS is the kind of attitude that Malaysian sales assistants need to learn! To know when to back off and to know when to try and prod a sale along! Last lot of makeup products were brushes. A complete brush set goes for RM280 with a casing but I've already got a pretty good brush set so I gave that a pass. They've also got the concealer brush going for RM40. I can vouch for the brush set that it's a good investment. I've played with them at the regular counters and I love how soft they were. And, they are not usually for sale. I've seen that it's on sale at either Jusco or Metro at MidValley but that's about it. So, if brushes are what you need, I would say, go for it.

Following tables were filled with fragrances. The usual Dior Addict 2, Dior Addict Shine, Dior Addict 2 Peonies were there. Then, their older Poison and Pure Poison sets were available as well. Jen was rather taken in by the Dior Homme fragrance. When I first gave him a sample, he exclaimed loudly,"UNCLE SCENT!" However, having tried that a couple of times more, he found that he quite liked it. It was going for RM90 for a 30ml bottle. I gave him a Baldeserrini last Christmas and it's not even half-used, so I suggested he should give this a miss. He was a bit upset that he didn't manage to get anything but, really, at the rate he uses fragrances, I should be getting him 10ml bottles next!

By the time we were about to leave, the crowd had started to come in. Office workers who had finished work by 5-ish started to stream in and I was right: Events like these are vicious! I was still at the lipstick table with Jen when these 2 women with their backpacks pushed their way in. I was in a relatively good mood or I would've elbowed them. Jen left to make way for me as I continued browsing.

Quite a number of men were there as well. One of them wanted a Diorisime but was told that they don't have it. Like I'd said, it was pretty small and products on sale were from their regular range. I could see only the Dior Addict 2 Peonies to be from the limited edition range. Another man was walking up and down all the while describing each product to his other half, I would presume. It was kinda hilarious. So, Boss, don't be afraid of going there without HY, yeah?

I guess my only peeve were the LABELS. Dear Lord, the labels! Sales assistants had merely torn off lids of cardboard boxes and scrawled names of products and prices, then propping them up. Imagine seeing luxury makeup products being labelled with a cardboard box! My instant reaction, "Aiyoh!!!" It's like wearing a vintage Chanel gown and pairing that with RM3 flip-flops from pasar malam.

It was an eye-opening experience, I would say. Because they had quite little products, the crowd was thin, which was something that I like. If other warehouse sales were this simple and straightforward, I think I would attend more.

Wedding beauty.

Long story short - our lovely g33kchic got married to her sweetheart of 7 years on 25 August 2007. I went over to her house early in the morning to watch her get her makeup done. Many brides from our hometown go the whole hog on their special day - renting 3, 4 outfits for the day and hiring makeup artists to transform them into unrecognizable glamourpusses. Consequently, they look amazing in studio photos, but pictures taken by their guests inevitably reveal the caked on foundation that is 3 shades too light for their complexions.

g33kchic's attitude, which I share, is that the bride should look like herself on her wedding day, but look her absolute best. She thus opted for a neutral palette of shimmery nudes and browns carefully selected to include her favourites and 'holy grails' from her makeup collection.

All that a bride needs - I'm referring to the coffee, of course. ;)


Makeup checklist - brides usually tuck blotters, gloss into a small pouch the bridesmaid carries. Our g33kchic brought this bag, which was the size of a small football!


Eyeshadow - Dior 5 shadow palette in Frosted Earth(limited edition)

Bride's holy grail blush - Benefit's dandelion

Nail lacquer - Chanel's Pink Satin. I thought this would be prettier than a picture of the bottle itself.

Other items used - Laura Mercier primer, false eyelashes, Bobbi Brown Stonewashed Nudes shadow palette, which was used for contouring!

By the time she donned her veil and gown before leaving for the church, she was truly a vision in white.

Smokey Eye: The Lazy Way

Tools:
2 eyes, or 1 if you're inclined that way
Clean fingers
Eyeliner
Small eyeshadow brush
Dark grey or black eyeshadow
Light-coloured eyeshadow in shimmery beige, gold or white
Black mascara

Method:
Prime and prep the entire eye area as you normally would. I usually dust on a thin layer of powder foundation and a thin layer of white eyeshadow. Powder foundation from Shu Uemura and eyeshadow from Muji.

The black eyeshadow I chose today was Dior Mono Colour in Smoking Black. I simply apply a layer from lash to crease; increasing the intensity depending on the occasion. It's hardly noticable with my eyes open because of my inherited Chinese swollen lids. Using the small eyeshadow brush, clean up the area of any loose shadows and to make a clean line of the shadow. This will make blending much, much easier.

I used Dior Mono Colour in Ready-to-Beige as a highlighter. First, it was the brow area. Then, I used the highlighter to highlight the inner corners of my eyes and blending it into the black shadow. It creates a shimmery darker grey which contrasts nicely with the black.

Finally, using the liner, do a thin line along the base of the lashes. I went over the line with another thin dusting of the black eyeshadow to blend the line into the shadow.

A couple of coats of mascara to further open up the eyes and I'm all set.

It makes my eyes look more deep-set and adds a quirky twist to the normal sheer pales that I don on.

Dior Blackout

An outing with Shryh is not only educational, it's hugely fun! Filled with coffees, delicious healthy lunches, latest office scandals, latest news on puppies and wedding and most importantly, makeup testing!

At KLCC today, there was a huge space set aside for the launching of the latest black, black, black, black SUPER BLACK Dior mascara. Now, for those who know, my past experiences with Dior mascaras, particularly the hugely-raved upon Diorshow have left me completely wary of their products.

Don't get me wrong. I love their glosses. I love their eyeshadows. I think their perfumes are excellent but I simply cannot say the same about their mascaras. This is another mascara I would thumb my nose at and go,"Water proof, my arse!"

We decided to check out the Dior launching while the crowd hasn't yet turn KLCC a madhouse.

We were immediately greeted by a throng of sales folks all clad in black and waving scent strips of Miss Dior Cherie. I was quite stunned that they are pushing this pretty old scent. Making a beeline to the mascara display, Shryh promptly unscrewed the tube and we both went,

"Fat brush! Interesting!"

First criteria for any mascara to go onto our lashes would be waterproof. The salesgirl insisted that it was smudgeproof and it would absolutely NOT budge unless we rub our eyes.

Shryh was more polite because I rolled my eyes in my head thinking,"I don't buhlerdee rub my eyes because I wear contact lenses." Besides that I could not help but retaliate,

"Oh, trust us, smudgeproof would still smudge on us. We've tried enough of mascaras!"

Nevertheless, I allowed her to comb my lashes through a few times. The results were nothing short of astonishing.

True to its name, the mascara was jet black. However, I really wished she was more conscientious about applying the mascara like we would normally. Blot the wand, apply, blot and another comb through.

It most definitely did give the volumnizing effect. However, I absolutely hated the clumped effects. Maybe the spiky-lash look is in. But I'm not one who follows after trends blindly. I just need one which lengthens, volumnizes and thickens.

Blackout does all of the above. And more.

So, 30 minutes after the application of Blackout, I started to get the tiniest hints of smudges. Another 30 minutes, I was officially a spokesperson for Panda Org.

Not only did I have to remove every single trace of the smudge, my undereye concealer had to be removed as well.

By the time I had gotten home, I peered like a maniac into the mirror and found not only more smudges (which proves one more thing: this damn thing smudges even without undereye concealer, so, Shryh, this is not just our concealer at fault. This is a whole tube of crapola!), I found tiny black FLAKES!

Smudges is one thing. But, FLAKES?! Flakes is a whole new different thing altogether! Flakes is most definitely a no-no.

So, this little tube of crapola not only smudges, it flakes! And, it costs about 5 times more than a tube of Maybelline Great Lash. You do the math, you do the logic and you tell us.

I think what irked Shryh and I more is not so much that this tube is such a piece of crap. It's more of how the salesfolks decided to push this out to us. Her insistence that it's smudgeproof on everyone was indeed laughable.

And, she ought to have taken our word for it when we said we'd tested enough of mascaras to show our skeptism at the word of "smudgeproof". That's simply the reason why Dior of Parkson lost a customer to Dior of Isetan. At least the girl at Isetan was polite, friendly and most definitely honest.

Conclusion: This newly-launched tube costs RM90-ish and is most definitely not worth your money. I'm a huge Dior fan but I'm also a very practical girl. Give this a miss and your life would be a whole lot better. Unless, of course, you've got a position with Panda Org!