Jill Stuart & Esprique – precious gems

Living in a bustling modern city like Hong Kong, where the next beauty and fashion finds are to be discovered as soon as it’s released in the market, it’s no wonder that glamorous ladies are seen everywhere. Not too mention the many successful and career oriented ladies that are dominating the job market, to fulfill such impulsive splurges.

While I’m not one of those top notch CEO or Director, though I wouldn’t mind the salary minus the stress, I surely do have my impulsive beauty shopping splurges once in a while. As a little treat for myself to celebrate the end of 2012, I purchased some cosmetics from Jill Stuart and Esprique, two brands that I’ve never tried before. My friend’s friend actually works in the cosmetics industry and was able to hook me up on these products at a cheaper price but the down fall is that they’re not the newest collection, which doesn’t bother me at all.

I’ve heard of the brands Jill Stuart and Esprique for a long time, and was always curious about their cosmetic products. So I took the opportunity and bought an eye shadow palette and lip gloss from Jill Stuart and another eye shadow palette from Esprique.

The packaging of the Jill Stuart products has always been quite girly and I admit that I do fall for this trap, I mean, who doesn’t??? The eye shadow colors are really shimmery and I am super excited to try them out. I absolutely love how its palette looks like a jewlery box as well (as shown in the second photo abo

I also got the custard lip pot, which is a lip gloss packaged into a cute pot. Although I normally don’t go for lip glosses that require using my finger for application, due to hygiene reasons, but I found it too cute to resist! I really like the small detailing of the red sparkly crystal like decoration on the lid, it just adds that bit of glamour to it.

The Japanese cosmetic brand, Esprique, which not everyone may be as familiar with, is another brand that has caught my attention a few years ago. My favorite Japanese pop singer, Namie Amuro, is the sponsor behind this brand, and being her fan for more than 10 years, I had to support and try out Esprique.

I really like how their eye shadow palettes have step by step guidelines using English alphabets along with an image, teaching you how to apply the eye shadow. The packaging of this eye shadow palette is less girly but I actually prefer the selection of colors over the Jill Staurt eye shadow palette. I’ve not tried any of these products so i am really looking forward to see what these beauty gems are all about.

For details on the products i purchased, please see below:

• Jill Stuart illuminance eyes, model # CC917A
• Jill Stuart Patisserie collection, custard lip pot, model #C4, chocolat custard
• Esprique Precious dress on shiny eyes, by Beaute de KOSE, model # C-3

What are your favorite cosmetic brands that you turn to?

The magic color: Red

There’s always been this thing about the color red for me.  It’s definitely one of those colors that defines all the characteristics of being  attractive, feminine, exotic, and vibrant. Whenever I’m in a rut and need to freshen up my look , i will go and try on something red.  It could be my red lip gloss when I’m out in town with my girls or just wearing a really glamorous red dress to feel good about myself.

I don’t have any lipsticks as unbelievable as it sounds but i love my recently purchased Maybelline (Very Cherry 635) red lip stick for those days that i don’t want the glossy lips look.  One of my fave lip kits are the Dior lip gloss (Ultra Gloss Pearl 654) and Kiehl’s lip balm (Hue No. 58B) with SPF 15 to protect my lips.

As for accessories, red is definitely a color to make any outfit look interesting if you ask me! I love my red accessories such as the red heart necklace and red gift box lookalike earring, which i got on my trip to New  York few years back. They make great choices when i am wearing something a bit more simple and want to funk up my look.

I got the red rose ring and red pearl necklace in some cheap market but they still work like a charm when i want to be a bit more playful with my outfit.  And lastly, with a spray of the Harajuku Lovers G Christmad edition perfume,  I’m all set  to go out and have a good time.

What about you? Do you have any favorite colors that inspires your way of styling?

Snapshots in a week…

I love it when i do spring cleaning and come across all sorts of gems that i have almost completely forgotten about. As i came to my senses and out of my laziness, i managed to do some spring cleaning this week with not too much of a success but i always say, every small effort counts!

To start off with, i was going through my make up kit and discovered that i had more than two lip balms and lip glosses and seriously, i keep telling myself i only have one mouth! I’m not sure what it but every time i buy a lip balm or lip gloss, i just seem to naturally take my money out without much hesitation and buy it. I suppose it’s one of those easy and affordable impulsive buys.  In fact, i only just bought a lip gloss last week!

Another thing that i buy on impulse is those glossy fashion magazines that just screams “buy me, buy me!!!” It was quite surprising when i found out that some magazines dated back to 2010. Honestly, how did 2 years go by already?!?!?

The thing is i always buy magazines and read bits and pieces thinking i’ll go back to it later. Of course, that mostly never happens. I think i may need to cool it down with the magazines but i do have a back up plan. I started buying the Cosmopolitan UK magazine online earlier in the year, which works out a lot cheaper as it’s in US dollars, hehe. I’ve only bought 3 issues so far and i think that is pretty good as we’re already entering the month of June. Self control is all i can say!

Lately i also believe that i have taken up on another obsessive  impulse buys on scarves. I never really bought scarves in the past as i always used my pink Burberry cashmere scarf and another cheap leopard print scarf that is totally worn out now.  However, I recently started to notice how easy it is to accessory an outfit with a scarf and so my shopping spree kicked in. I won’t say it’s too bad as i’ve only bought 4 scarves in the past 2 months and they are cheap as well. The most expensive scarf that i got was from H&M (the one to the far left) at HK$79.90. Not bad eh? I guess i’m a bargain hunter at heart and try to shop wisely.

Today was mothers day and to me, this is a special day where i show all my love and appreciation for my mom.  As i mentioned in my previous post, she is my best friend and she has always been there for me for good times or bad times and vice versa.

To celebrate such a special occasion, i decided to take her and dad to high tea at “the parlour”. My dad has actually never been to high tea in his life so he was really excited about it! Lets just say my dad normally hangs in his local town and eats his local Chinese food all the time. He actually likes western food a lot so i was looking forward to bring him along in case he felt left out, lol.

The weather was on our side and it did not rain, nor was it too hot or humid so it was perfect! As we arrived to “the parlour”, we were asked if we wanted to be seated inside or outside. Knowing my mom very well, i knew she would say outside and so we did. We ordered one high tea set and we especially ordered the Hullet House smoked salmon club sandwich with fries for my dad as he likes his “man food”. My dad ordered a cup of cappuccino along with his man food and he said it was alright.

It was a real relaxing day and it was just nice to be out with my parents and experience with them something that is very normal in my life style. We sat there for almost 2 hours where we were just talking and eating away, and there were many times that i noticed my dad was really enjoying his food! It just bought a smile to my face.

I suggested my dad to try the coffee as i know how much he likes his coffee and he ordered a cappuccino.  As soon as the cappuccino arrived, he just seemed really happy and he told me he felt like it was the good old days when he worked in Denmark and had his morning coffees.  Yes, that is how easy it is to please my dad, hehe.

After our much satisfied meal, we walked for a bit before we decided to call it a day and went home. Once we go home, i told her that i had to go down to buy something. Little did she know that i was actually going to the local flower shop to collect a bouquet of red roses that i had ordered the day before. My mom liked the surprise but being the typical mom that she is, she was saying that i wasted money, which is fine because i could tell she was happy and that’s what counts. There’s also a delicious mixed fruit cake waiting in our fridge right now but i’ve decided to save that for tomorrow because i am just too stuffed now.

Time for smoky cat eyes



Photo Source

So it seems that it’s time to try out that smoky cat eyes effect again, my girls!!!! It has been seen on celebrities such as Rachel Bilson, Jessica Szohr , and model Kate Moss, and even on the runway for Lanvin F/W 2011. Now I know it’s kinda a “been there done that” thing but it never fails to make me look fabulous, seriously! In fact, i do the smoky cat eyes whenever i can’t be asked to put make up on, lol. Some say it’s hard to master but for me it’s really easy to do with this eye shadow kit i bought from Kate (subsidiary brand of Kanebo).  Since it’s so easy, i thought it would be a great idea to show you what make up products i use for my smoky eyes look. 

First is the Kate eye shadow kit. They’ve got great varieties of colors to choose from and they are pretty cheap too! I think its roughly around US$17, not bad eh. You’ll see on the photo below that one of the palette is labelled A,B,C,D, and E, and this is for reference only so it’ll be easier to explain how i do my make up. So far, I’ve bought the blue and green palette.  I tend to use the first 3 colors only (A,B, and C), where i mix the light (C) and medium shimmery (B) shades as the base and then apply the darker (A) shade over it. Sometimes i’ll  add the silver shimmer (E) to give my eyes more shine and glitz.

Photo Source

Next i use the Majolica Majorca (subsidiary brand of Shiseido) mascara to give my lashes that volumized look for a more dramatic effect. It seriously does some volumizing!!! Majolica Majorca has come out with many versions already, where there is the lash volumizer, lash extender, glitter top coat, and lash base. For more review on these products, you can check out the blog Musings of a Muse, where the blogger provides  lovely and descriptive details on all the products. Unfortunately, the bad news is that MJ is only available in Asia, including Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Thailand.

Photo Source

Then we go further down and work on the lippies!!!  I use the Fresh Sugar lip balm that i just recently bought as a base for my dry lips. It has a really rich moisture to it, where it’s sweet and blackcurrent oil is enough to make my lips sing!  Afterwards, i just apply a touch of my magical Becca  “Champagne” lip gloss. I love this color and i just found out from their website that it’s out of stock! Good seller indeed:)

Finally, i leave you here with my style inspiration to get that smoky cat eyes look when you are feeling it. Meowwwwwww…..;)

1. Givenchy Black Lamb Leather Motorcycle Jacket, $2,755, farfetch.com 
2. Yuki Rust Diamonte Pocket Shirt, $105, bunnyhug.co.uk
3. Acne Kex low-rise skinny jeans, $230, net-a-porter.com
4. Burberry Prorsum Aviator shearling platform boot, $1,100, brownsfashion.com
5. Burberry Studded leather Knight bag, $2,195, net-a-porter.com
6. Stila eye shadow trio,$20, stilacosmetics.com
7. YSL Rouge Pure Shine Sheer Lipstick, $28, prontostyle.com  
8. Bobbi Brown Kohl Eye Liner – Black, $20, barneys.com
9. Ulta Eye Liner Pencil Indigo, $7,  ulta.com
10. Gucci – Guilty, $75, macys.com 

Luscious lips…

I came across these two  fabulous make up artists who makes lips look absolutely sooooooo sexy and fashionable:) Please check out Julie Begin and Charlotte Willer for their great lippy make up art work!!!! The photos below are taken from their websites. Mwahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh you all for now!!!! 😉

 

Photo Source: Julie Begin

Photo Source: Charlotte Willer