When I makeup my subjects, I’d use false lashes to make eyes pop if I have to and I’ll pick the type that suits them and the look I’m creating. But when the look doesn’t call for falsies, I’ll need a good mascara. One that volumizes, lengthens and keeps curl well.

We all know that there are many good ones out there.  Well, lemme introduce the latest good one that has just been launched recently.  From Maybelline New York, the brand that has produced sooo many famous and very sought-after mascaras at affordable prices, comes The Falsies Volum’ Express mascara, waterproof formula.  (waterproof mascara is another thing I like, especially in humid climates like here cuz the humidity straightens curled lashes sooner than you’d like.  Tip: waterproof mascara keeps lashes curled for a much much longer time than regular ones.)

So if you haven’t tried it, go for it!

Nutriganics™ Drops of Youth uses the power of plant stem cells harvested from criste-marine, an edible wild plant found along the rocky Britanny coastline.  This plant extract also reconstitutes the composition of skin lipids, renewing and protecting the skin.  It is able to thrive in the harshest of environment conditons and sustain itself by absorbing nutrients from the air around it.

And being an extract of beech bud, with rich concentration of minerals, trace elements, enzymes and vitamins, it is a botanical powerhouse!

As with the rest of the Nutriganics™ range, 99% of the ingredients in it are from natural origins.  Sans silicon and paraben.  And 25% of ingredients organic.

The texture is superb!  It looks thick and heavy when you drop it from the dropper onto your skin, but it spreads oh-so-easily and speedily absorbs into the skin and feels like you haven’t applied anything at all (except that you can feel a nice light tingling sensation…).  Especially good for people who don’t like the sticky or heavy feeling of skin care products.  The boyfriends will love it!

The price?  A steal at SGD58.90 for a 30ml.

The first whiff you get will be light kinda citrusy note with a bit of amber and fruity nuances.  Heliotrope, Patchouli and Leather notes surface up towards the base notes.

Some of the notes present in it are Citrus, Black Pepper, Amber, Prune Jungle Essence, Electric Aldehydes, Heliotrope, Patchouli and Leather.

Sex Pistols the fragrance is now available at Oblique at Hide & Seek.

Chanel’s Spring Harmony collection is all about radiance and glow with either peachy warmth or rosiness.  The star product, Blush Horizon de Chanel, gives you rosy cheeks or peachy radiance all in one compact.  Fans of Rouge Coco Shine will also be happy to get their hands on the new Rouge Coco Baume.  A silky smooth lip balm made with cane sugar known for its restorative properties.

Dior’s Garden Party collection is, like the name suggests, about a blooming garden in Spring.  Hues of pinks and violets to represent the flora in bloom and greens for the greenery all around.  The 5 Couleurs palette is oh so pretty with the with flower motif embossed eye shadows.  And exciting nail colours make it fun and cheerful!

Meanwhile, another garden is in full bloom at Shu Uemura.  Celestial Garden is the house’s 134th Mode Makeup collection and it is a very colourful one.  With shades of green, blue, yellow, pink etc. it’s gonna make you spoilt for choice.  I especially like the Creamy Dome Cheek for it’s easy-to-use and natural finish.  Just run the dome effortlessly on the cheeks and circle around with your fingertips and voila!  And to make your eyes prettier without overdoing it, you can put on these limited edition falsies.  Angel Wink is a set of not so long falsies for you to add accent to your upper lashes for a fairy like wink.  But if you want more drama, you can wear them on the lower lash line to widen those eyes…

Have fun exploring these Spring sensations!

I must thank the team at Female mag for often having me do makeup for their covers.  I’ve been working regularly with them for the past years and it’s been a good working relationship.  So here’s their January 2012 cover starring Dasha from Russia.

Photo: Ng K Hon

Styling: Jonathan Chia

Hair: Edward Chong of Evolve Salon

Makeup: me

Sept 17.  Du Juan, among many other celebrities, was in Singapore for the official opening of the 1st Louis Vuitton Maison Store in Southeast Asia and I think the first Island Maison in the world.  And Style had the honour of photographing her for their cover and fashion spread the next day.

It was my first time doing meeting her and doing her face for the opening and she was so soft spoken and unpretentious.  We discussed how the makeup should be and she was really a pro.  She’s been there, done that and she knows she can carry off almost any style of makeup so she just wanted to look natural and kinda left it to me.

After makeup was done, she went to get ready for the soirée and the next time I saw her was at the party itself.

The following day at the shoot.  She just oozed elegance from every pore of hers.  Must be the 9 years of ballet training she had that she had such grace and poise.  FYI, she became too tall for ballet and had to quit and ended up modelling.

So here are the pictures.  Hope you like them…

Photos: Wee Khim

Styling: Sharon T

Hair: Edward Chong of Evolve Salon

Makeup: me

A few days ago, I was shocked to receive news of the departure of the great perfumer Mona di Orio due to surgery complications.

Her wonderful collection of perfumes has been available in my store, Oblique, just a few months ago.  It is such a pity for someone with such great talent to leave this world at such a young age of 42.

May she rest in peace and the Mona di Orio legacy shall live on…

In the latest collection of makeup from their ESPRIQUE line, they have cleverly created eye shadow compacts that let you apply your eye shadows almost idiot proof.

According to research in the Japan market, the average times for women to put on their makeup on weekdays and weekends are 17.73 and 21.68 minutes respectively.  So to cut that time in order for you to catch up on other things and to ease your woe of not being able to blend your eye shadows painlessly, they have created the One Stroke Beauty concept.

How does it work?  You simply run your applicator or your own fave brush along the three shades in the compact and sweep it across your eye lids for a nice blend of colours.  Of course, you mustn’t expect professional looking contouring with this but you can be sure your eye makeup would never look patchy or messy.

In this new line of makeup, there’s also cheerful shades of cream blush sticks, mascara, liquid eyebrow, pencil & liquid eye liner, sheer & creamy lip sticks and hydrating lip glosses to add shine and moisture to your lips.

Go try it for yourself and see if you like the idea of saving a few more minutes each day while not messing up your eye makeup. 

Little do they know, that if your lashes are beautifully curled and coated with mascara, your eyes will look a whole lot better than with just eye shadow alone.  Of course, with the combination of a good set or brows and perhaps eyeliner to enhance the shape of the eyes, you won’t even need to open your mouth.  Your eyes will do the talking…

Well, ZA has just launched the right stuff for you to make your eyes more beautiful.  Their already very popular eyebrow pencils and mascaras have just been upgraded for even better performance.

Virtually all of them Vitamin E infused, 4 new eyebrow pencils, 3 waterproof mascaras, 2 eyeliners, a liquid eyeliner, a mascara base (which is very important for keeping the lashes curled for hours and making them look fuller and longer)  and last but not least, an Eye & Lip Makeup Remover (for you to wipe off your long stay lip pencil and lipstick with ease too).

Note:  The reason why lashes fall off when removing eye makeup is because the wearer just simply rubs the cotton pad over the eyes right away without waiting for the solution to soften the mascara and eyeliner.  If they had pressed it on for a few moments before gently wiping the makeup off, it’ll be much easier and instead of tucking and being rough to your delicate eyelids and lashes.

Specials!!! (now til 19th Oct 2011)

1)  Purchase the Mascara Volume and receive the Eye & Lip Makeup Remover 30ml as a gift.

2)  Take snapshots of yourselves and your girlfriends with Impact Lash Mascaras on and stand to win ZA products, Agneselle dresses, Panasonic digicams or be invited to champagne parties.

3)  $3 off ZA Dramatic Eye Color and Eye Vibrante

25% off cleansers

25% off True White and True White Plus skincare range

Details here or just go to your nearest Watsons store now!