The Ultimate Beauty Glam-A-thon

David Jones Sydney last night hosted Beauty beats, a night full of extended hours of beauty consultations and samples galore. We didn't anticipate the extent of the celebrations as we were really only there for Marie Claire's Burberry Beauty event, the launch of the new Burberry Beauty counter. Alex Noonan, beauty editor for Marie Claire was there to introduce the festivities and share on her thoughts on the latest Burberry makeup colours. I couldn't hear very much, so intent I was soaking in the richness of her Burberry Lip Velvet lipstick colour and how gorgeous that Burberry Rose Gold Trench coat was on the model.

Then they unleashed the crowds on the beauty counter. Being new, everything on display was in mint condition: the check patterns on the makeup pallettes all intact. We were so shy to test. Perhaps I haven't been testing colours on myself for a long time. I recall my teenage years lurking around the drugstore painstakingly swabing every colour and employing all the magazine beauty tricks to 'find my colours'. I haven't done that in a long while having found my basic palettes and having stuck to them for years. But Alex Noonan says, "Lipstick is back, gone are the days of lip gloss" And I agree whole-heartedly, I just wasn't brave enough to venture into the deep plum reds quite yet, the bold on-trend statement look of now.

So Mallhaciel and I milled around chatting, sipping bubbles and nibbling at pink macarons whilst Alex Noonan, like any gracious host keeps socialising and imparts even more gems like how she embraced a bold lip colour and the secrets behind her au naturel yet very sophisticated eye makeup.

The third time she comes around to attend to us, she hands forth a lip wand. 'Go play' she encourages with the gesture and with that I began. The Lip Mist is puzzling. It's gloss on a stick. It adds colour but is really sheer and and wet. I note herewith that I loved the Blueberry of this range. If I ever venture into deeper lips, I will revisit this one as my foot into the door.
This here is my haul for the night:

With purchase of 2 items and above from the Burberry collection, we received a gift consisting of a full sized concealer, Burberry Body mini, Burberry mirror, Burberry Master Class Gift voucher and the beauty pouch as pictured above.

This was all the goodies, purchased, gifted and samples all inclusive. Gawd I had forgotten how awesome counter shopping is meant to feel with the beauty consultants pampering you with more value than you pay for via free samples of the things you wanted but didn't need. It just isn't the same purchasing from online retailers, not having that personal touch.

These were my lip velvet colours. I decided on the Peony Rose but was generously given the Antique Pink sample too, a shade browner for a sophisticated night time look when I need it.

As you can see, not much of a difference in the two shades when you look at them but check out the swatches below. #unfiltered.





I also bought the Sepia lip liner that complemented the Peony Rose. Something old world and glamourous embalms the use of lip liners. It stays with you all day long after the lip has lost its sheen, but I was taught to try something different and layer the liner on top of the lip stick to seal it it. I shall road test it fully today and see what results it yields.





Another trick I was taught at the counter was how to underline my eye with a crayon eyeliner. A trick that is smudge proof for my asian eye. I shall practice and share back on how that goes too. Now, I should go get ready for today's outing, tomorrow's post, but I can tell you, it's with Mallhaciel again (can't get enough of hanging with her *wink*) and we were promised a lesson on the perfect Asian smokey eye.

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Drape Necklaces from Topshop

Drape Necklaces from Topshop by happy-e-after featuring a box chain necklace

ASOS dress / Box chain necklace / Necklace / Beaded jewelry / Antique gold jewelry

Overlaying a revealing dress, do you think the jewelry replaces the need for a bolero with a more dramatic flair?

Chanel Vitalumiere Éclat Comfort Radiance pressed powder

Chanel Vitalumiere Eclat Comfort Radiance Compact in Beige Rose Sable is my latest best friend. After five years of Dior Snow, I was ready for a new setting powder.

I am not really a makeup snob but I do feel a significant difference between using Rimmel, Cover girl and Body Shop foundation and setting powders the few times I have deviated from Dior. The texture and the finish is never as smooth or fine.

Who knew though that there was such a difference even between applying CD and Chanel!

Background: I have been using the BRTC Gold Caviar BB cream with SPF 50 for a long time now. That product is oily and thick and the high SPF makes me look pale. So I have had to rely on a powder to matte the finish and darken the tone so that I look more natural. I stopped using sponge application about a year ago now, finding that the powder gets cakey and takes off the BB cream if I hadn't let it settle.

With the Chanel powder, it says that brush application gives a translucent finish where else the sponge application provides a natural coverage. It provides you with both!







It glided on with the brush with a silky touch. It was like it almost wasn't there. But you can see the light matte finish and it applies very evenly. Not gathering in your laugh lines or anything so the finish is very very natural.

I touched it a few times throughout the day just to make sure it was still there. And it was velvety to touch. Incredibly comfortable to wear for the whole day ( I never reapply anyways)

I don't know very much about the radiant glow it is meant to emanate, but I know that I look more youthful because it looks like I have hardly any makeup on. And it was still like that when I got home last night at 7.30pm after work. That's about 12 hours coverage.

I am very impressed with the sheer yet complex powder. Other bonuses includes it has floral notes to it as it contains Jasmine and lavender wax to preserve moisture in your skin. And another extra SPF10, cause you can't have too much SPF in Australia (Broken Ozone layer and all).

It ticks so many of my boxes that I am very happy to add it to my repertoire. Strawberrynet sells refills for $65 and get this, when I purchased this from Malaysia, the entire compact was $65 too, definitely works out cheaper than buying from counters here unless it is an emergency buy. Sorry I can't help but keep comparing it to CD (it's the only thing I've known for 5 years!) This compact costs the same as the Dior Snow compact when I was in Malaysia but it gives you an extra brush and has a far superior finish. I don't think I am looking back ever again.

Priceline beauty discount

Who says beauty is only skin deep? It is as deep as your pockets I'd say. And if they aren't quite that deep then well, you'll just have to take advantage of these offers such as store wide 20% off all cosmetics and skincare products at Priceline today and tomorrow. You can shop online too!

I shopped and saved on the following essentials that needed replacements for my bathroom:

 

And although there wasn't a discount for the nail polish remover, with my Priceline Club quarterly discount voucher of $4.56 I still ended up saving more than $17 in this haul. Glee!

Those aren't the only things I need replacing by the way.

I have hit the pan on my Dior compact, which is truly the end of an era. Because since staying true to their makeup for about over 5 years now, they have relentlessly discontinued or repackaged (so that i can't get refills) my favourite products no matter how many times I have found a close substitute within their range.








So with that, I bid Dior adieu and look forward to trialing a new house of makeup. Hopefully my next five years will be better served.




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Pashli frenzy in the office

I think I have coveted, no obsessed with this bag for a really long time. Ever since catching this pic on Instagram by Moda operandi 68 days ago according to my Twitter records, I have wanted one for my very own.

That was a long time ago. Then, Shopbop only carried the mulberry, gold and fuschia. Many things pointed me towards getting it, such as seeing it in real life at the VFNO and also getting a 20% discount code at the Shopbop pop up store.
But I was trying to pace myself. It was the month I wanted to purchase the iPhone 5, but I had the money set aside for that anyhow. I wanted a black classic one, and cleverly found one on Shopbop even though it was labelled under jade and long after I saw the mulberry one sell out cause I wasn't convinced that colour was gonna last me forever. So all things pointed to me buying it and it wasn't until the family and friends sale occur last week when everyone on Twitterverse began Shopbop mass shopping. The sale didn't extend to 3.1Phillip Lim but I had that discount still from VFNO, and the bag was flashing as low in inventory, so I ordered it last Wednesday and today it is here!
Did you know that all Designer boutique items come gift wrapped? This gorgeous box:

Housed this gorgeous parcel:

And voila,

A happy camper at work during lunchtime:

Even my colleagues got excited and started taking pics and examining the bag:

Here it is sitting on my desk:

Bigger than imagined (which I like) but too heavy to put too much in. I might get away with putting an iPad in but a laptop *shudder* the weight will kill my forearms. Oh and it doesn't fit under the shoulder at all and looks awkward being carried by its shoulder strap.

The girls loved it anyhow. They all thought it a Power bag. A 'Dont mess with me I mean business' bag. I like that.

Will be flouting this bag for a little while and sure it is coming to London with me.