New In: D&G Makup Haul

Fans of Dolce & Gabana in Hong Kong (and in the pacific rim regions), it's about time you should get excited about its launch of make up.

D&G and makeup, you might frown?  That was exactly my reaction when I learnt that D&G does makeup.  I first came across its advertisement of mascara on a magazine, I wondered about it but didn't take action to search for it..... Until I walk passed its counter inside Harvey Nichols (Pacific Place, Admiralty), Hong Kong in Oct 2013.  I revisited the counter twice since then, and it wasn't until recently when me and my sister (@forksandbrushes) made a purposeful trip there and we ended up both hands full of D&G makeup goodies!

Facts of D&G makeup:

D&G makeup line was first launched in 2009 in Italy where the brand originally comes from.  They are also available in the Big Apple in the past few years but it didn't make it to the Pacific Rim until around September 2013.  I've also been told that Hong Kong is the first place in the Asia Region that has D&G makeup line available.  

Forgive my ignorant and not keeping up with the market but it wasn't until I started writing this post I realised that Harrods, UK also has D&G makeup available! 

First up is the mascara I have been wanting to try and have remembered since my first encounter with D&G makeup - from the magazine advertisement.  My another excuse for adding another mascara to my current stash of mascaras is because many of my mascaras in my collection will soon be expired!

I picked up the PassionEye Mascara which claims to curl and volumise.  It comes with the most glamorous gold tube-like packaging.  The plastic bristle crescent-shaped  wand reminded me of my all time favourite Max Factor's Clump Defy Mascara.   But from the trial that I had at the counter, I was already impressed by it.  Without prior curling my lashes with an eyelash curler, my lashes were curled and volumised; and it didn't smudge on me either (after wearing it for 8+hours).  For £26, it is definitely one of the most expensive mascaras out there in the market.  I will continue to give it a good try and report back!

I was going to stop there and only picked up one thing at a time to try but the temptation came when the beauty consultant told us that if we spent HK$900 or over, we would get a free gift, which is this extremely attractive and elegant red jewel mirror case...... OMG - so between me and @forksandbrushes, we bought a few more things (including a present for our mom for mother's day! how organised are we!)

This red jewel mirror case came with a velvet pouch - lush!  The red jewel on the surface of the mirror case just made this item a very unique one, how could we resist this!  This will definitely become a centre piece on my dressing table from now on!

Because of the desire to get the lux mirror case each, I also picked up the Passion Duo Gloss Fusion Lipstick #220 (Devotion).  It is a pretty darker shade pink - my lips but better colour lipstick. This lipstick is a bit like a Chocolate Fondue, as it comes with a transparent jelly look-alike centre which contains coconut oil.  The idea is that it hydrates your lips whilst it gives colour to them.  I love anything that helps to keep my skin and lips hydrated!

Finally, as a welcome gift to the purchase of D&G makeup, we were each given a perfume miniature.  The key isn't about the perfume but what excited us was the burgundy velvet little box that holds the perfume.

D&G makeup feels extremely luxury and I really look forward to using all the things I bought!

Have you tried any makeup by D&G?

New Additions: Statement Necklaces

In the past year I have become a little obsessed with wearing statement necklaces, and I'm always on the hunt for new and special ones to add to my collection.  My love for statement necklaces can first be traced back here.


I like to pair statement necklaces with plain coloured tops/ clothing as they make my outfits pop.  They are great for lazy days when I don't know what clothes to wear, whilst they also make me stand out from the crowd, in a subtle way even though my statement necklaces help me to make a fashion statement.... ya know what I meant?

In Hong Kong, there are so many varied sizes of boutiques, chained or independent; local, western, J- or K- styles (Japanese/ Korean)..... the choices are endless....

Maple, or now has been rebranded as isai; I believe it's a local chained fashion stores in Hong Kong.  They sell everything from shoes, clothing to accessories like necklaces, earrings and handbags, etc.  I like to go in there every now and then to check out accessories as they are abundantly available.

I spotted this blue (also available in black) necklace and instantly fell in love with it.  I don't normally go for this string type of necklace but the materials felt really sturdy and I thought it would last so I gave it a try.  

The diamond shaped stones are also very eye-catching, each of them are surrounded by blue stones which made it very elegant.  The necklace isn't heavy either so there's no problem to wear it all day long. I like to team this up with blue colour tone tops but I think it would go with other plain coloured clothes, too.

Zara is my go-to shop for many of my outfits and necklaces.  I love this shop even more after I move to Hong Kong.  The prices are really reasonable, and I like how sophisticated the styles are; most pieces from Zara are timeless, too which made it even more of a bargain!

I am not a gold-wearer but when I saw this necklace, I stopped and started touching and matching it on my neck-area, and thought this would be a classic piece to keep.

When I first grabbed it and held it on my hands, it felt rather heavy but when I wore it on my neck, I couldn't feel the weight (I could but it wasn't weighing me down). The gold platted chain style, tweeded with black leather as the main part of the necklace add a bit of a taste rock chic feel to my outfit but still keeping things sophisticated.

Then it was the Winter sale in Zara that made me to buy another gorgeous necklace!

Well, I have been eyeing on this for absolutely ages but it was slightly on the pricier side, with the sale (knocked $100 off from the original price so I purchased this at $299, approx. 23) there's no excuse to hold up!

This glass looking necklace is gorgeous I'm sure you would agree with me.  I like how plain the colour looks but the flower that connected the necklace made it so girly.  When I wore it on my neck, it actually sparkled and caught peoples' eye-sights.  It feels rather chunky on the hands but wearing it on the neck, it just felt like a piece of cloud!  I adore this so much!

Are you a fan of statement necklaces?  Or do you go for minimal jeweleries?

Nails nails, by Cyber Color

I took my time to explore the beauty world in Hong Kong because there are simply wayyyyy too many brands available, in every beauty shops.  I have been overwhelmed.

Finally, I felt like I've reached a break-through - I discovered a brand, Cyber Colors which I am growing some positively feelings about it!  The brand was created in 1998, however I can't quite find the exact information of where it was originally created in.  On their products they say Made In France, assuming they might have been started in France?  This brand is exclusively available in Sasa (the Sephora equivalent in the US).

I don't think I have tried any of its products before but their nail products are the first in their line that I tried, and absolutely fell in love with.

01 - ECO Glossy Gel Look If you are looking for a quick fix to a gel nail finish, this is THE ONE to get.   Not only does it give a gel nail look, it also prevents nails from chipping. One coat is enough to make them look like gel but if your nails to look even more shinier, go for 2 coats!  People say Sache Vite's quick dry top coat gives the best gel nail finish, to me, Cyber Colors glossy gel look top coat beats down by miles!  I have received quite a few compliments by strangers and friends!

02 - Quick Dry Coat Unlike other quick dry top coat that I used, this is an oil-based quick dry coat polish.  It does wonder to saving time when you have this on hand!

03 - ECO Oxygen Base Coat It's a pale peachy coloured milky base coat.  It prevents nails from discolouring, turning yellow or chipping.  Don't worry about the colour, once it's applied onto the nails, it dries clear.

The combination of the three will give you the perfect looking nails you are after!  What's more impressive is that Cyber Color's nail polishes are environmentally friendly, free from petroleum or any other chemical products.

Have you tried products by Cyber Color?  I'm definitely going to explore into other products by Cyber Color!

Product Review: Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge

Beauty sponge, love it or hate it?

I love a good sponge but I have to admit that before I gave it a try I was skeptical about it.  I did a full review on the original Beauty Blender which you can click here to have a little read.

Now that I know why a sponge can be such a great partner when you are looking for a flawless finish. When Real Techniques launched its Miracle Complexion Sponge a few months back, I was so excited to hunt this down and gave it a whirl, plus I am a loyal fan to RT's makeup brushes, too, so I wouldn't miss it!

First of all, the sponge comes in the usual sturdy packaging, just like other RT's makeup brushes.  The bright orange colour makes the sponge stands out from other beauty sponges on the rack.  Colour is a very personal thing, for me, I'm not an orange kind of girl; I would rather it be a purple/ lilac colour.  But, I should never judge a book by its cover and I'm glad I didn't because this sponge really is quite something!

As I took the sponge out of the packaging, the sponge felt very soft and, spongy.  If I was blind folded, I probably wouldn't be able to feel the difference between RT's sponge and the original Beauty Blender.   I was instantly very impressed by it, as I have experimented with other versions of sponge by other brands but was not satisfied with it, the other sponges were all too hard to squidge which made applying foundations onto my face very difficult.

 RT's miracle complexion sponge provides quite an innovative and cutting edge design to other Beauty Blender's dupe out there.  It has two sides to the sponge, a normal egg-shape with an oval surface, but towards the bottom half of the sponge comes with a slanted surface.

The slanted surface can be used the same way as the oval shape, but it is perfect if you want to target the application of concealer or foundation under the eyes and round the nose areas. 

I have been using this for applying both foundations and concealers, both of which work like a loving married couple with the sponge.  It saves me time from using a concealing brush, so that's a plus point, too!

I don't use any brushes to apply base products but I like to sponge my face when I reach for my all time favourite hourglass veil fluid foundation if I want to look my best; the two combinations work like a dream and always made me a very happy girl!

Application of hourglass veil fluid foundation with RT's miracle complexion sponge

For £5.99, the RT's miracle complexion sponge is miraculously reasonably priced.  I recommend this wholeheartedly, hands on heart 100%.  I think I can safely say that I prefer this to the original Beauty Blender.  

Have you tried any sponge applications before?  Have you tried the original Beauty Blender or are you a fan of the RT's miracle complexion sponge like me?

Nail Collection Episode 7: Barry M Nail Paint

From left to right
313 Dusky Mauve, 12 Greenberry, 341 Cappuccino, 338 Silver Multi Glitter
All priced at £2.99 apart from Greenbury at £3.90

I'm sure a lot of you have tried Barry M nail polishes one way or the other.  There hasn't been one single bad thing I have heard about Barry M nail polishes.  I first came across Barry M nails at least a good 4-5 years ago I think.  I remember they started off having a counter in the middle of ground floor in Topshop, Oxford Street.  I was mesmerised by the range of colour Barry M does, as well as the price - I think it cost under £2.99 back in those days.  With inflation and economic crisis all those complicated business - prices haven't changed that much.  The formula and the colour ranges have gone stronger and better which I remain impressed and it's definitely my favourite nail polishes all time!

These are not my only nail polishes from Barry M but over the years I've used up so many bottles and these are what's left now - time to stock up on more colour perhaps?

The one which stands out the most undoubtedly would be the bright mint green colour (Greenberry) and it is from the Gelly Hi Shine line.  It comes in 13 different colours.  I think between me and my sister we own about half of the colours in this line.  It looks extremely bright on my nails so when I don't feel I want to make a statement, I would use it for my toenails!

The other three colours look so natural on my nails, even though 313 Dusky Mauve and 341 Cappuccino are more of a darker shade.  The give a more sophisticated look.  I particularly like Dusky Mauve, whilst it's a Taupe/Dark Brown shade there is a metallic purple/silver colour running through it making this a very special colour.  I get compliment every time when I wear it and no one believes it is from Barry M and it is an inexpensive product, too.  338 Silver Multi Glitter is a fantastic multi-purpose nail polish for wearing it on its own, on top of another nail colour or wearing it on your ring fingers whilst the rest of the nails wear a different colour.

Have you tried any Barry M nail paint?  What's your favourite?  

My dressing table beauty essentials

My dream is to have a white, princess like dressing table where I can display lots of beautiful perfume bottles and other of my pretty makeup collections.

For the time being, with the limited living space available at home, I'm already grateful for what I have - functional and I try to improve the layout of it regularly.

On my dressing table, there are '3 sections' that it seems to have divided up into.

1) My sunglasses collection

2) My daily essentials

3) My watches crystal bowl

There are the items I reach for almost on a daily basis, they are the things I need everyday, now and quickly.

1) My sunglasses collection:  Inside the green/ pale blue paper box (my Kate Spade box which previously contained a pair of earrings that came with it) it houses my 4 pairs of sunglasses.  I wear sunglasses on most days in the Summer, if the sun shines, I still reach for them in Winter months; or.... just wear them on my head rather than on my face where it should be.....  This purple pair is my favourite of all.  I got them from a little boutique in Notting Hill Gate a few years back.  I love everything about it: light, purple, big frame, and most important of all which attracted me to buy this was the two white roses at the two outer side of the frame.  They only cost me 10 and it's lasted for quite a while and are still going strong!

Next up in the middle part of the line is 2) My daily essentials.  I placed a Muji tray to hold all these varied sizes bottles and to keep them tidy and in place.  I have my Savlon antiseptic cream as my skin often plays up and have some kind of allergic reactions to various materials so I need to keep one of these bottles easy to reach.  A tube of hand cream is a must for me on a dressing table as my hands get so dry.  My sister (@forksandbrushes) got me Hand Food by Soap & Glory to save my hands and my homesick for London.  It's easily one of the best hand creams on the market - not only does it smell gloriously (marshmallow! so it's quite sweet) it hydrates well but it's not greasy either.  It's a complete joy to wear this on my hands.  

These days as I have shorter hair so I tend to need to blow dry them to style, it gets quite dry at the ends so I definitely need to take care of them better than before.  Every time before I inject heat to them, I spray some of these Straightener spray with Argan oil by Tresemme to my ends.  I found that it helps to keep my hair straighter and more moisturised, definitely a star hair product!  Of course I wouldn't not have a bottle of Caudalie Beauty Elixir somewhere on my dressing table, I'm simply obsessed with this stuff!

On a more random note, I would keep a random bottle of nail polish on my dressing table for no reasons really.  On the day I took this picture, I had my Deborah Lipman nail polish from the Mermaid range.

I also have some spot treatments essentials, I found that since I moved to Hong Kong, I have more breakouts than before, especially in the forehead area.  My La Roche Posay Effclar A.I. Targeted Breakout Corrector and Simple Spotless Skin Rapid Action Spot Zapper.  I have done a more detailed review of these products, which you can refer to here.

Recently I've completely transformed my perfume collection and have gone all adventurous.  I have been wearing the same 3 perfumes in the past 10 years or so and I thought I would never live without them - Stella McCartney, Sarah Jessica Parker's Lovely and Marc Jacob's Daisy, of these 3 perfumes I think Stella's perfume will always have a special place in my heart and is definitely a perfume that I would re-purchase again and again.

Ever since I finished the last spray of Stella McCartney's perfume, I went perfume-less for a few months.  Until my sister bought me three new ones to replace the gap!

Escentric Molecule,  'Molecule 01 consists of one single ingredient, which is known as Iso E Super in the fragrance industry. On its own it is less of an aroma than an effect. This perfume lends an indefinable radiance to the water – its effect is almost pheromonic.' I'm yet to explore how the scent develops on my body as I have worn this for a few times only, the scent is very soft and it tends to disappear quite quickly, or actually it might be that I can't smell it myself but others can?  I'll report on this as I wear it more. 

I also have two miniature bottles of Jo Malone Cologne in the scent of Blueberry & Bay, Peony & Blush Suede.  Both of them are quite different scents to what I would normally wear which I actually rather like.  I can't describe scents well but they are a bit of a combo of citrusy, woody and a bit florally.   All in all, I just enjoy wearing these scents interchangeably.

In my crystal bowl I place my watches.  Watches are very important to me as I do like to keep to a schedule and be punctual on things.  I love my pink roses strap watch the most, I used to only wear it on special occasions but now I wear it more on a regularly basis.  It's also a great piece of accessory to make my plain outfit pop! 

What's on your dressing table?  What can't you not use on a daily basis?

Hand Creams Junkies - Handbag and Office Essentials

I cannot live without handcreams.  It's a fact.  My skin is dry, and not only they are dry on the face, my hands are also dry, sometimes chapped.

I wasn't sure if I needed to reach for handcreams as much as I did after moving to Hong Kong.  Seriously, Hong Kong is one of the most humid places in the world; the floors and walls can be so damp  during the non-winter months (N.B. Winter/ Colder months in Hong Kong are very short - may be 3 months max!).

However, I realised my hands were getting rather dry since October, and especially since I started working again in an office environment.  I feel like I'm practically eating my hand creams as they are emptying at such a fast pace!

In my office, I always keep a handcream and I tried out Hand Veil Hand Cream by Metholatum.  It claims to moisturise both the hands and nails, I think it really does the job rather well.  I have very dry cuticles, too so this hand cream is perfect for those nasty flaky skin round the cuticles.  I like it as it is just slightly greasy when applied on my hands, but the greasiness is absorbed rather quickly so it isn't a problem to me.  So, watch out for this if you aren't someone who like a greasy-after-care of a hand cream.

L'occitance Rose Hand Cream is very makeup bag friendly.  I had the smaller size so I can bring it with me when I'm on-the-go.  It's the rose scent that sold me to this hand cream.  Well, it is hydrating, too but I think the lasting power is slightly weaker than the Hand Veil Hand Cream by Metholatum.  This is probably a better hand cream in the not-so-dry months. 

I have never heard of the brand MISS CAROL Hand Cream until I saw them in Sasa one day, when I was shopping for a hand cream for my handbag.  When I first saw it, the packaging reminded me of L'Occitance hand cream.  That is clever as it made me think Miss Carol's is as good as L'Occitance!

I wasn't disappointed at all!  I liked how hydrating this hand cream was but it's not greasy at all.  The lavender scent also made the hand cream very therapeutic to apply.  For HK$24 (around UK£2), it really cannot go wrong; and possibly a dupe for L'Occitance hand cream if you cannot afford it.

Have you tried any of these hand creams before?  What are your favourite hand products?  How do you keep your hands moisturised and hydrated?