Armani & Diesel

Nothing is worse than losing your laptop to beer (thank you, Carlsberg and my own bloody klutziness), AND having your home fibre optic internet fail on you for no particular reason. So far I've been using data for emails, and replying messages on Line, Viber, and Whatsapp only...


But for a "modern" person like me to survive without WiFi for long is impossible. Probably close to anyone reviving a dinosaur. I desperately need to blog, Insta, etc, etc etc...


My Facebook got blocked or something recently. A friend told me he no longer saw me on Facebook, and I was like WTF?! Anyway, I got to campus today (for a class that was to start next week and not today), connected to i-Xcess, and found out that it was one of my life events (a break-up) that violated a community policy thing. It could be that I really did violate that policy without noticing it, but my major hunch is that someone reported it. Boh?


So now my Facebook is up again, but I'm disappointed by only 71 notifications in 3 days. =(


And seriously? I registered my semester 3 subjects almost as soon as the online registration was open, so... WHY IN THE BLAZES AM I REJECTED FOR BASIC JAPANESE?! I registered early, so there shouldn't be a problem. Sure, I registered a few days later than others, so maybe it was filled up by the time I signed up. But a friend of mine registered on the very first day! WTF?!


Too bad there's no Italian course. Signore Sonar, you have one obsessive fangirl here! =D But then again, I go all obsessive whenever I find, well, an obsession. Much like my obsession with taking up guitar lessons when I discovered Uruha! I'm what you would call a compulsive person, even when shopping: I'll take a quick scan, usually nothing interests me, but when it does, I'll pore over it for, boh? 2-3 days? With celebrities and people who make awesome music - much, much, MUCH longer!


As for the post title... I dunno, it's just random... Diesel has been a life-long obsession for me (Vin Diesel, my favorite jeans when I was 13 were from Diesel). And Armani... I seriously have no idea why... Even if it's Emporio or Giorgio, I have no idea, but it came to mind anyway...


End of filler post. Shall find more inspiration to blog again soon. Till then! Ciao!

My Top 10 Dresses

Inspired by a friend's blog post~


You could say I've only recently (in 2011) started to wear short dresses. All my previous dresses were at the most a couple of inches above the knee. Reason? Well, being called "the chubby girl" since I was a kid actually did impact me psychologically. I was paranoid that people would point at my thighs, and having wide hips just make your thighs look even more huge.


But ANYWAY, fashion isn't really a major interest for me, but being a girl, who could resist?

Source.

#10 Turtle-neck dresses

I like how clingy turtle-neck dresses are. Although they're definitely not suited to Malaysia weather, it would be an awesome fashion piece to wear to a cold place. I'd pair it with a statement pendant or a nice scarf, and a classy watch.

Source.

#9 A-line dresses

This dress, given that it has suitable length, would be perfect if you're a pear-shape like me, as the skirt of the dress helps disguise chunky thighs, as well as a belly, if it has the right cut. And more often than not, A-line dresses would be fitting at the waist, giving the illusion of a slimmer waist.

Source.

#8 Empire waist dresses 

Perfect for a bust-boost and hide a potential belly. And depending on the design, you can play it up or down with different shoes and accessories!

Source.

#7 Lace dresses

Nothing screams feminine more than lace, and lace dresses are the perfect way to say "I'm a feminine lady, but I'm also mysteriously sexy".

Le moi and Akihiko-kun at Comic Fiesta 2012. On left is a ladies' yukata; and if I'm not mistaken, he's wearing a kimono (or a make-shift one, at least).

#6 Yukata

A yukata is a summer kimono, with less layers than a traditional kimono, and made from cotton rather than silk or other expensive cloths. I don't know if this is considered a "dress", per se, but it's a nice Japanese piece to own - it's ladylike (you can't walk in larger strides), and conservative, but still has a sexy touch to it. Pair it with red lips, an up-do, and a flower in your hair, and voila! The perfect Japanese look!

Source.

#5 Strapless floor-length evening gowns

Elegant, classy, and somewhat majestic. I love how floor-length gowns are so flowy, and evening gowns are always glamorous. The reason why I would prefer them strapless is because it adds to the sex appeal factor - I find defined collar bones on women a real turn-on.

I apologize for the dirty mirror...

#4 Tube dresses

Whether the cut it poufy, skin-tight, or peplum (which is all the rage right now), a tube-dress would be my go-to fashion piece - wear it as it is, or tone it down with a blazer or jacket! AND they can be worn with heels and sandals.

Source.

#3 String maxis

I absolutely love, love, LOVE maxi dresses! It's the perfect piece when you're just too lazy to coordinate your look from scratch, and ESPECIALLY if the weather is hot outside! String because I find it really sexy when the strings just lay on the collar bones (highlighting them even more!), and usually string maxis have a plunging neckline and/or a bareback.

Source.

#2 Backless dresses

Think Michelle Pfeiffer's shimmering black backless dress in Batman Returns. I fell in love with backless dresses the moment I laid eyes on it (and on Michelle Pfeiffer) - it exudes elegance, grace, and a touch of sexiness by exposing just the back.

Source.

#1 Asymmetrical dresses

If I was bored enough, I'd drape my bath towel over my torso in an asymmetric style. And when I saw Rosie's shimmering blue asymmetric dress in Transformers 3... I was breathless. The revealing of just one side of the body is just too much for words. While the long sleeve slims and elongates the arm, the cut-out part reveals the collar bone, the shoulders, and the arm, which is really sexy!

***

Dresses are something that a girl must have (at least one?), including a few basic pieces, such as a little black dress that can be used for different occasions via different accessories, layers, shoes, and make-up.

So there you go: my top 10 dresses. It took me more than a week to just decide which dresses I actually like (Rosie's dress being the first to come to mind). What about you? Which are your top 10 dresses?

Two-face Make-up

Refer to this post for some background information. And by the way, no bashing on guys using make-up. I mean, c'mon, basically every male celebrity has some make-up on them. So please - I don't comment on how cynical your logic is, you don't bash my friend for doing what he likes. =)


So now that Kah Yeng and Ken Min has their make-up, it's time for some practical work. Sure, you could explain a million things to anyone, but if you don't really do it (especially that make-up has to adapt to different features), you won't learn.


After a nice lunch at Padi House (bland cappucino ice, and the usual pesto fondue grilled chicken), and a stop at Chatime for some drinks, we went back to my place. Pulled out the low table in the TV room, and I started moving every piece of make-up I had up to that table (too bad I didn't get a picture...).


I think it would be safe to say that my entire vanity is more than both of their make-up combined. But no worries, when one gets the hang of make-up (of course, along with the interest in the art), they'll start getting temptations to raid every single cosmetics store everywhere. I still get pangs of them when I pass by M.A.C, shu uemura, even just the cosmetics rack at Daiso...


I think we spent a good 4 hours - just experimenting, sharing opinions, and basically anything you could do with make-up (except Jigglypuff-esque face paint). This is what I came up with:

Look quite similar because of the wing...

Something more like a random demo-ish thingy that happened, but on my right eye I did a basic brown smokey eye, with lightly arched brows, spot-concealed under-eye circles, and sheer red lips. On the left is more like a Korean liner look, with straight and thick brows, along with full coverage foundation, and nude lip gloss.

Left: smokey; right: Korean-style.

For the smokey look:

1. Apply base, then a wash all over the lid with a champagne shadow with a pink undertone.
2. Neutral brown over the lids, then gradually build up the color to the desired intensity. Move from medium to darker browns (black, if using).
3. Key to this look with the blending, so take some time to go over the harsh lines and soften them for a smouldering effect.
4. Line eyes with eyeliner of your choice (waterlines as well!)
5. Curl them lashes and hold their perk with mascara.
6. I took one band of a false lash, cut it in half, and applied it to the outer corner as demi-lashes. Remember to blend the real and false lashes together!!!
7. Trace over the spine of the false lashes to blend, winging out if desired.
8. Fill in brows with a slightly stronger hand, arching the brow a little more for that sexy, questioning eyebrow. =D
9. I just used some foundation on the under-eye circles (hence the red splotches).
10. Contour the nose, temples, cheeks, and jawline.
11. I used a shimmery translucent powder to highlight the C-zone (slightly above the brows, down to the cheekbone, and very lightly under the eye), and bridge of the nose.
12. Finish off the look with either a nice nude color, or make it more dramatic with an eye-catching color (I used red, but a burgundy would give a more gothic feel).

For the Korean look:

• Apply base, then a wash all over the lid with a vanilla color (this will help even out the color of your eyelids).
• Use gel or liquid liner, start tracing out your line. Make it thick, and pull it straight out (no wing).
• Slowly thicken and darken the line, and connect the top and bottom: from the end of your eyeline extension, draw a tapering line toward the middle of the lower lashline. Fill it in.
• Set with a black powder, and smoke out the harsh line if you wish (which I did).
• Curl and mascara!
• Straighten and thicken your brows. I noticed Korean pop stars usually don't match their brows with their hair color, so use a dark brown or gray (no blacks). If you have an arch, try darkening the area below the arch to bring it down slightly.
• Foundation all over for that flawless-looking skin.
• Contour the nose, temples, cheeks, and jawline.
• Highlight at the bridge of the nose, an inverted triangle at the apple of your cheek, and lightly on the C-zone. This will give that glowing look.
• Finish off with a pale pink or nude lip color.

While the smokey eye look pretty much just plays with the color and blending to create a sultry effect, the Korean-style eyeliner actually stretches the eye horizontally, lengthening it, and thus giving the illusion of a slightly smaller, but mesmerizing gaze.

Even with my fringe down, it's quite obvious how the different styles of make-up produces different effects.

To be honest, I prefer the Korean liner look over the smokey look. Maybe it's because I've always liked more dramatic looks, and I've done the smokey eye in so many colors that it's become a TEENY bit boring (but it's still the classic go-to look, and the easiest to create).


And the style of the make-up... The typical smokey eye focuses on pulling the corner of the eye upwards, lifting it visually with the blurred shadow. The Korean eyeliner style pulls the eye outwards horizontally.

After I did mine, I did Ken Min's eyeliner. First was pencil, because he only had pencil liner (I find that it's the best to start with, compared to liquid and gel). Basically just tightlined his upper lashes, then a little bit on the lower waterline. Especially that his eye crease is higher (more eye space visible), just that subtle darkening at the roots of the lashes made his eyes look even more animated. Then he wanted to try liquid eyeliner...

Bad lighting and editing, but you can see the subtle lines (I extended the liquid eyeliner by about 1-2mm). And here he is enjoying some homemade black sesame ice cream.

I tried doing a smokey eye for Kah Yeng with black shadow, but it turned out... a little lacking in SOMETHING. And since I used black, her fine lashes were not really visible. MORE PRACTICE!!! And until then, ciao! A fashion post coming up soon, as soon as I organize everything!!!

A day of books

14th MARCH 2013

The day started off dreary - my sister and I weren't used to waking up anytime before 12pm, and yet we were ready and out of the house by 10.30am.


I took the familiar route to campus, and I definitely need to go out more: I almost literally melted under the morning sun.


Our first destination was the library, where I found a couple of books about Italian food. Yes, when I fangirl, I go all out! I'm the stalker-type fangirl, but I've gotten lazy: when I first found Gackt, I Googled him and went through over 50 pages of image search results, and saved over 600 photos.

Takes a look at the various food productions in the different regions of Italy (I realize Piedmont is always the first on the list).

Anyway, most of the Italian food books at the library were big, thick, and heavy (most of them hard-covered books). One about the food of each region with a few recipes, the other one of ICE CREAM. Like I need any more of that.

A book of recipes for gelatos, sorbetto, granita, and semifreddi.

We had some pretty bad lunch at U&I, and I got some access to some juicy gossip. Strange, because I seldom see guys gossiping. At least I don't remember seeing any guys gossiping. Anyway after lunch and gossiping, we (the odd trio) picked up our RM250 BB1M book vouchers.

Talk about cover design originality. Spotted at Borders, The Gardens.

Spotted at Borders, The Gardens. Since when has Spiderman and Metallica philosophy been related to religion? Unless my ignorance is depriving me of some knowledge.

Found these treasures at Borders, The Gardens. Why are English comics so expensive?!

We took a drive to Mid Valley, and checked out the book stores there (Sunway Pyramid and Paradigm Mall only have Popular Book Store, or do they?) for books that we can use our vouchers for.

Fully illustrated and full color book of tattoos. RM39.90 at MPH, Mid Valley. There were only 3 tattoo books (under ONE shelf of beauty books, where I also found the Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual for RM76.90 [paperback]) - this one; one about dragon designs for tattoos; and the last one was thick, small, and tattered.

A lot of people will be mad with my choice of spending... but I bought a book on tattoos... My mother would be pissed off, and so would everyone else hoping I would give up on the sheer thought of getting another tattoo. But it's an interesting book: it explains some of the popular designs, with fully illustrated photos, and write-ups about some tattoo artists who specialize in specific designs of tattoos.


So, basically I came home with 3 books, and one ebikko mayo onigiri from Aeon (Jusco). And then went out again for nyonya dinner again. A bit filling, though, especially after the onigiri (better than the one I tried MAIU).

This time we ordered an otak-otak. In Malay it means "brain", but actually it's a spicy minced fish cake, either smooth, or with chunks of fish or shrimp in it. This isn't the typical "moist" one with lots of juices, but it was delicious enough without being too spicy.

House Food's Black Sesame Pudding Mix

I think I don't have to introduce everyone to an international 100 yen chain store called Daiso? Basically, it's an almost all-in-one store, with everything at a flat price of 100 yen (the price may vary by location and exchange rates: in Malaysia it's RM5; in Singapore it's S$2). Food, stationary, cosmetics, you name it.


Daiso would be my first stop to look for almost anything: make-up? Check. Snacks? Check. Assorted accessories? Check. And I really love to make food with prepared mixes - you buy the product (usually a powder), process it a little, and voila!: you have some nice, intricate, home-made food.


I used to get the mug cake mix (awesome, by the way), but since I'm on a black sesame craze, I bought the black sesame pudding. I've been eyeing these pudding mixes for a while, and I've tried one of them! (There's also green tea, and custard pudding, I think.)

Image from my Instagram.

The product comes in a cute little box, printed on every side with Japanese characters. The instructions are pretty easy to understand if you have a Chinese language background. The product doesn't use eggs, but relies on gelatine to give it that "sexy bouncy" texture.

No molds? Use any small bowls or cups. And strain them before allowing them to set, so there won't be any unsightly bubbles like mine.

Inside the box is the sachet of mix (17.5g) sufficient to make 4x100ml servings. So basically, these are the instructions:

1. Mix 1 sachet of the pudding mix with 400ml whole milk (whole for better texture, according to the instructions), then heat on medium heat. Once it boils, reduce heat to low, and cook for approx. 1 minute.
2. Transfer the mixture into molds, and let stand for 10 minutes at room temperature before chilling in the fridge for 1 hour or more.

It's actually really simple, but I almost overboiled the milk mixture, and I had no proper molds (not even ramekins), so I had to settle to using my mother's teacups. To unmold them, I just wet a small knife with warm water, then ran it along the sides of the pudding (took more than a few shakes to get it out, though...).

The finished product. It's supposed to have a dark "inverted top", so that it kind of looks like a black sesame custard pudding, no? =D

While quite aesthetically appealing (who can resist a wobbly, bouncy pudding?), the taste to me, and my sisters, was pretty much disappointing: there wasn't much of the aromatic black sesame flavor I had expected, and it just left a strange after-taste in the mouth. However, taste is a personal thing, so try it out - you might find a new favorite. =)