How Much is Too Much?

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Purple top, electric blue vest, more blue more blue, um let's pair with some jeans. Um not enough blue, I've some glittery wedges to add.

Excessive? Not really. In the world advocating 'less is more', we may be unconsciously feeling obsessed with the idea of the more the better.

Makeup too much
1/ Because you know, the Japanese manga female characters have HUGE eyes, and larger eyes = innocence and appeal, so we wear the biggest darkest contact lenses possible, and add false lashes with a thick eyeliner, so curly as if it can collect dust. In the end, I don't quite see ' big eyes', I only see lenses and lashes. But it doesn't matter, 'cause they are the same, right?

FOTD: Hidden Gems

I can't believe it. I am actually leaving to Germany from Hong Kong in a few days! I have a few concerns about my stay:

1/ Do I look like I speak German? No right. If truth be told, I only know a few dirty words, and that's all. I have enrolled in an intensive German course, and now I'm reading just looking through the pictures of German beauty blogs. 

Makeup Tutorial: Happy Blushing! Part 1

One day, I was in the train passing through a station. And a woman came in. She was in her forties, wearing lots of chunky jewelries with big hair. Something was wrong with her...but what? Olivia Palermo wears many statement jewelries too, what's the difference?

Summer Highlights/ Review: Dior Rose Diamond

Seriously, what do I want to highlight?  Highlight my flaws?

Highlighters are mysterious. A swipe can bring out the glow (if I have any) and hide the dullness of my face. But even as subtle and translucent as Dior Rose Diamond, it seems inevitable that highlighters do enlarge my pores when you look closely. But hey, this is life, more fun, more flaws. When you want to be perfect, you lose the point.


I have to admit that Rose Diamond is not my first choice (Why has Amber Diamond been discontinued in Hong Kong?) but it's very finely milled. It contains the finest powder, and I wouldn't call it shimmery. It's a truly translucent, pearly highlighter that brings glow, not glitter to my face. When swirled, I get a delicate sheer cool-toned pink glow on my light medium skin (NC 20-25), and one swipe can brightens up the whole face. Highlighters may  also be seen as discretionary in makeup, but I would definitely reach for it especially when I am using a matte blush that might look dull. And I am surprised that it lasts for a decent 6-7 hours!

It does enlarge my pores, but only when look closely. Well, maybe my pores are big to start with, so who am I blaming?
Texture:  5/5  A true highlighter that's not shimmery, but translucent. very finely milled.
Function:  4.5/5  one swipe can brighten up the face, but enlarge pores
Longevity:  4.5/5  lasts for a decent 6-7 hours
Packaging:  5/5  luxurious, comes with a velvet case
Price: 3/5  €36 for 10g, and you only get to apply it on certain parts of your face
Overall: 4.4/5

Can you see the subtle difference? I am wearing Chanel Joues Contraste blush (44 Narcisse) and Nars Laguna Bronzer. Both of the textures are sheen, and adding the Dior highlighter completes the look.

Any suggestions for warm-toned highlighters to wear for beach parties? (Ahhhh, I still cannot get over Amber Diamond!!!!)

The Queen of Drama

I have to clarify that there is a difference between a 'drama queen' and 'queen of drama'.

My boyfriend insists that I'm a drama queen.
'You're yelling even when the needle isn't even near you! Drama.'
'You're telling me your cat is sad because you said something. As if she understands. Drama.'
'One moment you're dizzy so you can't talk, until you see the Miu Miu shop. Drama!!!!!'

FOTD: Red Lips

I rarely wear red lips. I can talk about it days and nights, it looks gorgeous on almost everyone (maybe more gorgeous on some others, my recent fav being Diane Kruger), but I can't pull it off. The problem is, you have to completely conceal the redness around your lips to accentuate the bold lip colour, and so far I can't achieve that. Very unfortunately, my skin surrounding my lips is exceptionally fragile due to long term use of steroid, and redness, discoloration and itch are all around my lip area. I'm not quite sure how to define my lips under such circumstance. Seriously I am not happy when Ronald McDonald has more defined red lips than I do.

Emotional Attachment/ Review: Coco Chanel Rouge Shine Sourore

My boyfriend is watching listening to news every day and night - even when he is sleeping. I just don't get it. He treasures news so much, but for me, it's just news, and it will be something old tomorrow. And of course this is the grand reason for me to turn off the TV when someone, like me, also has to sleep.

Do you have moments that you feel like you are so tired of everything new? I know it sounds awkward to get bored of having news things, but it happens.

It's like after having too much excitement and we have to return to something to keep us grounded. Or simply like, when you have too many dates and at one point you ask yourself : What am I doing? Maybe it feels better to grab a pizza and soak up the cheesy soap operas plots alone than to meet those hotties. Sometimes I youtube too much to explore some new beauty gurus for new insights, and after all experiments I just stick to my black eyeliner to wing out the perfect look. Nothing special, but it's just 'me'.

Having all glamourous colour blocking bags and neon nail colours, which results in high maintaining cost (count the time spent on removing and painting again and again, and will I remember the colour blocks next year? I doubt), I just wear a small vintage Chanel bag out leaving all the burden and 'un-necessities' at home. I like the fact that it is a vintage (I will come back to this later), and it's just so small, simple yet well-made. Nothing new can beat the emotional value of the old,  the memorable, the classic.

I'm the Catwoman!

Kids at heart, have you watched the new Batman? I have! As much as I love the plot and scenes, what captured my attention was the Catwoman.

Banyan Tree

Arrrrrahhhhhhhhhh!!! I had an amazing birthday getaway at Macau. In my humble opinion, Banyan Tree has been the best hotel I have ever stayed in.

I can spend the whole day in the hotel room. It's the basic grand suite, but just so luxurious and comfy. Not like those good-on-the-outside comfy, but they really pay attention to details. Did I mention the swimming pool in the room? I enjoy the panoramic view of Macau on the 23rd floor while bathing in the water! Then there's a wooden Jacuzzi near the bathroom, and a rain-forest shower. When the hotel was informed that it was my birthday, they gave me a lovely cake. Then my boyfriend took out the Moët & Chandon Champagne - Ahhhanhhahhhaha full of sensory experience. 

Review: NARS LAGUNA Bronzing Powder

NARS Laguna a brown-based shimmery bronzer, and I have to say it is the most natural bronzer I've used. It is non-orangey, light on my light-medium skin tone (NC 20-25) and easy to blend. I use this to contour my cheekbones so create a more sculpted face. You may wonder if the shimmer is too much, but I hardly notice any of it on my face. It gives a very sheen and healthy glow to my face, and never can I achieve this glow by a matte bronzer.

Birthday Makeup Tutorial: Peacock

Now Happy Birthday to Miss Kwong! We gradually lose the beauty that comes with youth, but since I'm turning closer and closer to 30 (not that close, ok!) I decide to celebrate with a bold and bright make-over. Vivid eyeshadows liven up my look and set no limit to various combinations, now sweep out the basic grey and brown I dare you to pack on some aqua and gold! Age-appropriate = mature and boring? I beg to age gracefully and boldly!

Review: Physical Suncreens

Hi kittens. I don't mean to scare you with this horrifying photo on this fashion and beauty blog, but chronic eczema is part of my life. It is like, ok, I have someone I really dislike coming over to visit me, and I can't kick her out, so I have to live with it. She messes up my furniture, steals all my favourite food (seafood in particular), hops up and down on my bed and slaps me on the face to insult me as if I am the ugliest creature. And she visits me every 2 weeks, sometimes disappears for some years, but basically has been regular on and off since I was 1. If I can't get rid of her, I might just gently politely pacify the uninvited guest so she can calm down.

Makeup Tutorial: Pink Feline Part 2 Eyes

Part 2, Part 2...we come to the eyes. To tone down the sweetness of the face makeup, the feline eyes have to be fierce and strong. Black gel/liquid eyeliner is more relevant than ever for strong eyes, and it's more preferable than eye pencil. Don't smudge it, wing out the line connecting to the end of the eyebrows. The shadows should also be applied to kick up at the corners, but don't over do it. Now I'm going to fool my cat again!

FOTD: Pink Feline Part 1: Face

Candy Pink can be sometimes too sweet for my age, so I go for a rather fierce feline eye makeup look. Soft pink is the best to bring out the porcelain feature, and therefore is much loved by Asians who embrace the whole 'white is beauty' concept. And if you haven't, I urge you to try out the Chanel Rouge Allure lipstick. It has been the best I've come across, and trust me I'm picky about lipsticks. It has a buttery texture but doesn't bleed, and I promise you'll love the rose scent. 

Makeup Tutorial: Wear Me (Brown Eye shadows)

We have to admit that we're living in reality - we do not have parties to attend every night and or shooting to do for magazines. Or even if you do, we have moments like seeing your new boyfriend's parents, meeting clients and just look decent enough to not be embarrassed when you bump into your ex-crush. We want to add a bit of definition to our eyes, and simplicity is the key.

Makeup Tutorial: Midnight Dreams

Silvery lilac eyes never fail to radiate a kind of mysterious femininity, it is almost like looking up the sky seeing those distant twinkling stars and you wonder what is intriguing you. Every once in a while, I revisit purple eye shadow. Well, you know, loving oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance, and I spoil myself by having treats like MAC refill eye colours and romanticize myself!

Review: MAC Casual Colour Keep It Loose

On a good skin day, which occurs to the Eczema-striken me once in a bluemoon, I love swiping just a hint of light colour on my cheeks and nothing does better than creamy blushes. So when MAC Casual Colours hit stores I checked them out at once. When applied on my face the colour 'Keep It Loose' offers a dewy warm peachy sheen. It looks like a glow you can achieve after a workout, but it tends to wear off very quickly after 2-3 hours as well. I use a Duo fibre brush to apply and it takes a few more swirls to get the colour seen on the apple of my cheeks. Oddly, when I trialed it on my lips, it dries out quickly and sucked into the lines of my lips. It emphasizes the flakes of my already very dry lips and so I would not recommend it as a lip colour.

Fab and Flashy

scarf and jeans Zara, top Enigma, sandals Belle and bag Givenchy

My tabby turned away and jumped off my bed once I tossed this scarf in the air. Looked like someone got skeered. The pattern is quite a fierce statement to her, obviously.

Now you can see my blog has turned to cater my very own diversified interests, say gossiping, eating, forcing my kitty to understand my prep talk fashion, makeup and skincare. It's always interesting to see how people interpret these from different angles.

Makeup tutorial: Lemon Green Eye Makeup Look

I was playing with my makeup and suddenly a lemon green makeup idea popped up. Some might say makeup is to hide one's tiredness and brighten up one's face, but to us it means much more than that. It is a fun hobby, or even art to indulge in. I love drawing, equally on a piece of painting paper or a moisturized face.

Review: MAC 188 Small Duo Fibre Face brush

Made by natural hair (black) and synthetic fibres (white), MAC 188 is suitable for applying emoillent, creamy and powdery products. It's the smaller sister of the loved MAC 187, with a flat top you can use with circular motions. Swirling it with creamy/powder blushes onto the apples of the cheeks provide light weight application, and so it is great for pigmented blushes like NARS Gilda and MAC Fleur Power. However, beware that since it softens up all colours, applying nude blushes may take up extra time. I suggest sticking to the typical blush brush MAC 116 or any other brushes of your choice if you wish more colour to show up. The bristles are soft, but this brush does shed a bit, but nothing too annoying.

A stippling brush is always perfect for creating soft layers and this is the brush for your apple or hollow of your cheeks. If you use it for building up your foundation, it takes up too much time and effort, yet using it to blend concealers is amazing as it can get into the nooks and crannies, and it gives a lighter coverage than MAC 130 which is denser.

Momentary Flight of Fancy

top from a local mall, shorts H&M, sandals Belle, bag Kate Spade

Summer dress code is associated with a pair of shorts, which freshens up my mood and is a must-try complement of a pair of sandals. After 2 hours of not-so-tough hiking on Mount Parker, I put on my sandals to head straight to Kate Spade and it was the on-sale cosmetic cases that stuck in my mind. My brushes collection just fits in perfectly into the roomy interior of the pouch, brightening up my day when I pull it out from my tote for lunch break touch-ups!

Badminton badminton badminton on Monday x

Review: MAC 187 & 130 Duo Fiber Brush

MAC 187 is a stippling brush, and I stipple it with both creamy and powder foundation onto my face and blend it in small circular motions. It makes a huge difference when compared to using a traditional brush or a sponge - more airbrushed, even, smooth without streaks, with very good coverage but still looking satin and sheer (I really don't know how it does that!) 187 is expensive, it costs me about €39 Euro but it's worth the price considering how versatile and soft it is.