SIN:ful Inspirations

Sheer Puff Sleeves Top

Leatherette Leggings

 

Semi Sheer Low Cut Cropped Blouse

Miss Glittery

Inspirations this time around is from SIN, an online shopping website. I have to especially love their SIN gothic collection! When I saw that collection, I felt like I had to get everything from it! But today, I have selected a my few favourites to show you. There is something sexy, edgy about the clothes; like the Leatherette Leggings. (Pair it with a sexy corset! Now, why didn’t I think of that?) Or the sweet, feminine Sheer Puff Sleeves Top and Semi Sheer Low Cut Cropped Blouse; which I can totally imagine wearing them both for work and casual outfits. Talk about versatility. Mhmm. But my favourite and (everyone else’s) would be Miss Glittery. Mesh is all the rage for this year and it seems that this dress in particular hit all the right note with a sequinned sweetheart bust line and a flare skirt. It’s the perfect babydoll dress for parties! One that would make head turns, and ballerinas jealous. Heh.

And here is my favourite look from Anastasia S.; a famous Lookbook-er.

Disclaimer: Pictures in this post do not belong to me.:)

Inspirations: White.

Disclaimer: Pictures in this post do not belong to me.:)

Blue Lagoon, Port Dickson.

Not as polluted as I believed it would be. :) Except the water is green, and the sand not as smooth as the offshore island in Pattaya. But, who am I to compare.

Food: Buffet at Restoran 180°C

Gone are the days where you’ll pay full price for meals, not when there are group buying websites around offering unbelievable deals. If you haven’t noticed, the trend these days are to purchase vouchers from these website and then, redeeming them at the restaurants. Recently, I purchased a deal for a mere RM 12 from Everyday.com.my. The deal is for a all-you-can-eat steamboat and charcoal BBQ buffet. It seems like a really good deal to be missed, so I bought five vouchers for the family as well.

This is mommy, redeeming our vouchers. :)

Small  (I assume to allow it to cook faster) chicken cutlets over the charcoal grill.

Of the many BBQ buffet that I have been to, this was my first time having charcoal instead of the typical hot stone plate. I have always been told that food cooked using the charcoal (much like the olden days) were tastier. I’ve got to admit that it was true, the meat did taste better compared to the normal BBQ ones. However, I felt that the meat were marinated a bit tad salty to my liking. I grew up eating rather bland food, so yea.

Here is a another picture of the grill, overloading with food.

The downside to cooking with charcoal was that it was a bit more slower than the usual BBQ ones. But it was worth the wait, and what is the hurry in getting the food cooked so fast. Steamboat and BBQ is all about slowly enjoying the meal after all. As for the steamboat, there are a few choices of soup; Tom Yam Soup, Curry Soup, Chicken Soup, Mushroom Soup and Tomato Soup. We were spoilt for choice, so we asked if we could sample the soups before deciding. Most restaurant wouldn’t have allowed it but they did, which was awesome because I’m sure as hell won’t be happy to be stuck with a soup that I hate.

These are some of the fresh food for BBQ.

Seafood for the steamboat!

The steamboat staples; fish balls! And others, of course.

Daddy with the grill.

Even the little brother could handle the charcoal grill!

Swatch: Nature’s Republic YL503

Merry Christmas and Happy Boxing Day! I hope you’re enjoying your last week of 2011; I’m not sure if I can say the same for myself. Somehow, these days, I feel like I lost interest in mostly everything, except reading of course. I’ve been reading, finishing at least one book a day. Now, I wished I hauled more books from the Big Bad Wolf Sale. So anyway, I have one more nail polish to swatch and I decided to do it today, seeing how I ran out of creative juices for nail art ideas.

Review: This polish from Nature Republic is a gold coloured one, and the thing about metallic colours, is that the streaks are pretty much obvious. The same goes for this polish, it was streaky and even the top coat didn’t manage to smoothen it out. So, you can say that I’m not all for this polish (as compared to the last two red polishes). But it is easy to apply; the formula wasn’t too thick. I have two coats of it, and you can put on an extra coat if you like a better coverage.

These days, even taking pictures of my nails is becoming a drag for me. I wondered where have my inspiration went to. I have to admit, I am going through a rather tough phase of my life. But in time, I’m sure my inspiration will be back. I hope you’ll find the pictures in today’s post okay. If you thought otherwise, do drop me a comment. I know I’ll really appreciate the feedback.

Nail Art: Keroppi, the Frog.

It has been some time since I did a nail art, but I was pretty inspired by CutePolish's Keroppi nails, (she made it seem pretty easy to do it), so ta-da, here is my nail art. I have to admit that this was the first time I used a brush and my dotting tool for a cartoon inspired nail art, so keep your expectations lower. ;)

At this point, if you don’t know who or what Keroppi looks like, you could be thinking that this is kind of cute. Also, you don’t understand why are there stripes of red on my white tipped nails.

“Keroppi Hasunoue (はすの上 けろっぴ Hasunoue Keroppi) is a Sanrio (the same Japanese creator of Hello Kitty) frog character with large eyes and a V-shaped mouth. Keroppi loves adventure, and his bubbly personality makes him popular around Donut Pond.” - Wikipedia

And now, you get to see a picture of Keroppi! Some of you might be thinking, “Whud, it doesn’t even look similar to the cartoon.” I have to agree, because I wrongly estimated the size of the white dot using my dotting tool. Essentially, it has all the colours but the eyes. T.T

So, honestly, what do you guys think of the nail art this time? :) And if you are interested in doing this nail art, I’ll show you the polishes that you would need.

Left to right: Seche Vite; Topcoat, Etude House; WH706  , The Face Shop; WH002 , Sally Hansen; Green with Envy, Nature's Republic; RD502, Etude House; PK011 , The Face Shop; Nail Strengthener (used as base coat).

Here are the tools I used! I have yet to buy nail art brushes (although I have found the perfect one, I was stupid enough not to buy it at that point of time), so I made my own nail brush. The brush you see here is from an old topcoat bottle, I trimmed it till it was really thin. And the wooden sticks, is obviously my dotting tool.

Swatch: Nature’s Republic RD502

Confession: I am absolutely in love with red. Not that it would come as a surprise, seeing how my last post was also a swatch of a red polish. Heh.

Review: Compared with the last post, this polish is of a brighter shade. Despite that, the polish didn’t come across as cheaply looking when applied. (This is the reason why I never liked buying red polishes, that they would appear.) Consistent with the RD501, the polish was rich and only requires two coats for a even coverage. Again, I am impressed with the polish.

This is how it looks like under direct sunlight. Are you in love yet? :)

And here is one last picture! Of my bright red lips and my nails. Heh. But I dared not touch my lips, for fear it’ll smudge my lipstick. I wouldn’t have worn these bright reds if it wasn’t for a funky party that I was attending. I went there dressed almost like a guy, with lipstick. Haha,

Trends: Paper Eyelashes by Paperself!

Oh, yes. You’ve read that right, we have moved from the typical eyelashes to intricate paper artwork for eyelashes. Frankly speaking, I don’t wear falsies erm, because I just don’t. Haha, actually I am afraid those false eyelashes would be too heavy for my eye lids. But I would definitely give these beauties a try, if given the opportunity. 

The top one is a regular eyelash, and the bottom one is a smaller, individual eyelash.

Little facts about them: These were inspired by the art of Chinese paper-cutting. You can use them over and over again if you take proper care of them. Available for sale on Paperself with prices ranging from £12.50 to £14.00. You can also get them from Luxola, a Singaporean shopping website.

Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored. Credits to; Dezeen, TiC.

Back to December.

It's December once again, so cliché to say that time flies so fast but really, it's true. The first of January, 2011 feels like yesterday. There are just so much going through my mind that I do not know where to begin. This year itself, have been a whirlwind of emotions. Even as I am recalling now, I'm feeling a rush of emotions. But, life goes on and I have to move on. Yes, I am doing just that. But sometimes, the pain just comes back uninvited.

“Carmen, you can do this shit.”

For the past few days, I find myself staring blankly at the empty space, and I wonder how long would this carry on. I would really love to pull myself together, and just for once, stop giving a damn. What is done was done. There is really no use to think about it, it’ll only make the pain worse. So, yes. This is the ‘depression’ state, that I have been expecting. Haha, I just never thought how painful it would all be. But I have been told that it gets better with time. And with due time, I will get over it. Now, I just wish for a time machine.

I’m sorry for the emotional status updates, please bear with me. I promise, I will get better. And thank you, to those who check in with me, if I’m doing fine. <3

Swatch: Nature’s Republic RD501

I have always wanted a red polish, seeing how I absolutely love the colour. But I have never been able to find one in the right shade; some of them were just too bright and … just doesn’t suit me. That was till I tried on Nature Republic’s one, I fell in love right away! :) You’ll find that the colour is not too bright, but then, the colour varies when it is indoor and under the sunlight. Actually, the colour is almost similar to crimson.

Review: To be honest, I have got nothing much to say about the polish except that the colour is fantastic. Also, one coat of the polish was sufficient (it is very pigmented) but in the pictures, I have two coats on. When you remove this polish, you will find that it will leave your nails in a bit of pink.

Project: Walk in The Park

For more pictures, http://itscarmenhong.wordpress.com/.

Hello in Goodbye.

I want to thank those who have been there for me, without each and everyone of you, I really don’t know how I could hold myself together. I love each and everyone of you. <3

This is a pictures from my Walk in The Park series. Click here for more pictures.

New chapter; everyday is a new chapter.

Yesterday marks the end of a chapter of my life. It wasn’t easy to do it, but needless to say, it was something that I should have done eons ago. But for what it was worth, I held on till yesterday. Looking back, there are memories that I know I would cherish forever and of course, moments that I wish I never had to relived. And then, there are wishful thinking. I wish I had not given in so easy or I could have fought for what was my worth. But what is done is done. I am just glad, it is over. It is time to move on.

“The first one is the worst one, when it comes to a broken heart.” Boys Like Girls

Manicure: Funky Nails

I have always wanted to paint my nails in different colours, but somehow the combinations doesn’t really work that well. I finally got the colours right time. They look really cute and you cannot believe how easy this manicure was.

From left; Etude House’s PK011 , Sally Hansen's Green with Envy, Etude House’s YL802, The Face Shop’s BL602

So, if you’re going to try out this simple manicure, do share it with me!

itscarmenhong@hotmail.com :)

Dose of humor.

Me: I have removed and reapplied the same nail polish for the third time. Please get me to calm down and focus on reading my notes. :(

A: If you start reading your notes quietly, candy and teddy bears will rain down from the skies. I swear it! And Santa will bring you presents too.

* * * * * * 

It's not Christmas yet. And I don't like candies, but this made me laugh. :)