New Year’s Eve 2011!

Tags

buffet, celebration, Federation Square, fireworks, friends, hotpot, Melbourne, misspixielulu, New Years Eve, NYE, Rainbow Restaurant, resolutions, seafood, shabu shabu, steamboat

Between busy working, blogging and squeezing in last-minute videos, this (or should I say last) year’s New Year’s Eve really crept up on me.

Being a conscious avoider of big crowds, for the past 5+ years, I have always spent New Year’s Eve at a house party. But this year, my friends and I decided to be adventurous and celebrate the coming of the New Year in the city!

I didn’t actually wear the makeup and outfit in my Smokey Gold New Years Eve Makeup Tutorial as it was a bit too glitzy for restaurant we were going to. But I still wanted to look dressed up 🙂

I wore my pair of Diamond Pink circle lenses from Pinky Paradise and did my makeup similar to my Big Dolls Eyes makeup look. I also added a touch of sparkle (cos what is New Year’s Eve without glitter?!?) with some pink and silver cosmetic glitter under my bottom waterline. I then finished off the look with a pearly pink lipgloss.

I put my hair into my elegant high bun, but not without the help of my faux bun! I sometimes use it because my own hair is thin and I wouldn’t be able to achieve the same fullness, not to mention it makes achieving a perfect bun so quick and easy!

It’s basically a bun made out of synthetic hair with a drawstring attached. All you have to do is put your own hair into a bun and then pop this over it and put the drawstring tightly to secure it. I show you how to put it on in my Pretty Peach Makeup Tutorial. You can buy this easily off eBay.

For my outfit, I wore a cute pink jumpsuit from TEMT that came with the thin brown waist belt. I love this jumpsuit because it’s super comfy!

I then accessories with a pair of pink feather earrings, two white bangles, a white bow clutch and nude criss-cross heels (my most comfy heels!).

For our New Year’s dinner, we decide to have the seafood and hotpot buffet at Rainbow Restaurant in China Town. Most restaurants raise their prices on New Year’s Eve, but at $48 per person, it’s not bad at all considering how much food there was!

The buffet had a huge variety, with lots of seafood (chilled and hot) to pig out on as well as yummy delights like Peking duck wraps and steamed dim sims. You can even select your favourite Asian veggies and the chef will cook it for you on the spot!

We also chose to include the hotpot option (cos we’re food junkies). For those who are not familiar with hotpot (or shabu-shabu or steamboat), it’s when you cook raw seafood, meat, veggies (pretty much anything) in a big pot of broth (boiled over a stove-top) and eat it with a variety of dipping sauces once it’s cooked (eg: seasame, satay, chilli etc). It’s a well-loved form of eating for many Asian people and also one of my favourite things to eat with my friends 🙂

After dinner, we made our way to Federation Square to wait for the midnight fireworks. By that point there was already a mass of people on the street and already waiting at Federation Square. Because of the crowds, no trams were operating and it felt so weird walking on the tram tracks!

Eventually we found ourselves a nice little spot at Federation Square and waited for 12 o’clock to roll around. When it finally did, we all shouted “Happy New Year” and hugged one another at the same time the stunning fireworks went off in the sky.

2012 has officially arrived!!!

A new year, a new beginning, a new sense of optimism and excitement. I have a feeling that 2012 will be a fantastic year ahead, and I hope it will be the same for everyone else! ^___^

While my friends and I waited for midnight, we went around and told each other our New Year’s wish and New Year’s resolution. My wish was to go on a proper overseas holiday with my boyfriend this year and my resolutions were to save money (and therefore curb my shopping addiction) and to get into an exercise routine (which is non-existent right now). I feel really committed to sticking to these resolutions and to become a better version of myself over the course of the New Year.

How was your New Year’s Eve and what’s your New Year’s resolution?

– Miss Pixie Lulu

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Christmas Dinner and Kris Kringle

Tags

banquet, celebration, Chinese food, Chirstmas, dinner, Dragon Boat, friends, holidays, KK, Kris Kringle, nail polish, OPI, presents

Every year, my closest friends and I come together for a fun Christmas dinner and exchange our Kris Kringle presents. This year, we decided to have our dinner at Dragon Boat Chinese Restaurant.

For this year’s Christmas look, I decided to go for a gold and coral colour combination. I used shades of gold and apricot eyeshadow on my eyes and a pair of natural false eyelashes. I then applied some bronzer and a bold coral lipstick to finish off the look.

I had to rush to do my makeup because I had work till 5pm that day and I would have blended the colours much better if I had more time 😦

My hairstyle is the same as the one I showed in my plummy silver holiday makeup look except I used a gold hairpiece instead, also $1 from The Reject Shop.

For my outfit, I wore a coral maxi dress from FEMME Connection, which has gorgeous lace detail all down the back. I accessorised with an adorable necklace of little birds perched on a tree branch.

At Dragon Boat Chinese Restaurant, we decided to have the 9-course dinner banquet. For the entree, we had spring rolls, prawn toast, stir fried scallops, Peking duck wraps and sweet corn soup.

Already starting to feel full from the numerous entree dishes, the mains followed with special fried rice, garlic prawns, black pepper beef and lemon chicken. The black pepper in the beef tasted too strong for our liking but everything else was delicious!

We finished off our huge meal with mango pudding topped with vanilla ice-cream. The pudding wasn’t great as the texture was too soft.

A few photos of my friends and I at the restaurant, including Daniel from DanTayTV!

After dinner, my friends and I gathered outside the restaurant to exchange our Kris Kringle presents. A few months earlier, we drew the name of our Kris Kringle and we have been bursting to find out who everyone got!

My Kris Kringle present was beautifully wrapped in silver wrapping and bow. When I opened it, it revealed to be Justin Bieber The One Less Lonely Girl nail polish collection from Nicole by O.P.I! It contains four mini nail polishes in two purple shades, one silver shade and one purple glitter. I immediately knew it was from my friend Allan because we often joke about Justin Bieber 😛

I also received a surprise pressie from Daniel, which turned out to be a personalised can of Coke from the ‘Share a Coke with’ campaign! Woohoo thank you!

Overall, I had a wonderful night celebrating with my group of best friends and I really felt the joy of Christmas 🙂

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas with the ones you love and that Santa gave you all that you wished for!

– Miss Pixie Lulu

George and Dani’s Engagement

Tags

Arabic, celebration, engagement, Laila Reception, Lebanese, makeup, misspixielulu, party, reception, traditional

A couple of weeks ago, I attended my good friend George and his beautiful fiance Dani’s engagement.

It was a traditional Lebanese engagement party, so there was lots of Arabic music, joyous dancing (including belly-dancing) and of course, an abundance of food!

For the event, I opted for a smokey gold makeup look, using shades of shimmery gold, bronze and black from my Coastal Scents 88 Warm Palette and Metal Mania Palette. I think this eye makeup complimented my hazel circle lenses very well!

I then swept bronzer on my cheeks and finished off with a peach lipstick.

For the outfit, I wore an off-the-shoulder white dress with drapes going all the way around the back, it has a very Spanish feel to it. I got the dress from the GASP eBay clearance store for only $30!

I accessorised with a big ring and white and gold bangle, a pair of black patent peep-toes and a black quilted bag.

I actually did the makeup for Dani that night. We trialed the makeup a few weeks before the actual day so I knew exactly what look to do.

Dani wanted a tanned complexion so I applied a foundation that was quite a few shades darker than her natural skin tone and set it with the medium Nude by Nature mineral foundation. Her face does look visibly darker than her neck and shoulders but she applied bronzer later on to even the colour out 🙂

As Dani is Lebanese, she wanted an Arabic style makeup look. I used shimmery silver, grey and black eyeshadow to create smokey eyes and then used black gel liner to finish off the dramatic Arabic eyes. I also applied a pair of full false eyelashes to make her eyes stand out even more.

I finished off the look with bronzer to contour her cheeks and a pinky nude lipstick.

The engagement party was held at Laila Reception in Brunswick and the venue was just stunning – I felt like I was at a wedding reception!

The tables were all beautifully decorated with lit up branches and candles.

When we first sat down, the tables were set with all sorts of dips and salads and pita bread served as entree.

After several rounds of speeches and dancing, there was a long buffet table set out with huge platters of traditional Lebanese cuisine. Presented with so much good food, I got greedy and loaded up my plate with salads, prawns, kebabs, rice and pastries. Needless to say I was so full afterwards and had no room for dessert!

Every detail of the night was thought-out and prepared in so much detail and there was a classy black and white theme for the event.  The 4-tiered engagement cake was topped off with a huge ‘engagement ring’ and all the guest’s gift boxes and chocolates were intricately hand-decorated.

And finally, a few shots of the happy couple – both looking stunning! I am so happy for George and Dani and so privileged to witness their engagement. It was my first time at a traditional Lebanese event and I had so much fun!

Bring on the wedding! 😀

– Miss Pixie Lulu

Melbourne Cup Day 2011

Tags

Carnival, China Red, Cup Day, fascinators, Fashion, Flemington, GASP, horse racing, Melbourne, Melbourne Cup, Monga Dessert Lounge, picnic, Racecourse, Spring Racing

Every October and November is an exciting time for us Melbournians, as girls rock out their frocks and guys suit up for the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival.

There are many different race events, such as the Caufield Cup, Derby Day, Oaks Day, Stakes Day etc. But the most important and well-known event is Melbourne Cup Day, which is held on the first Tuesday of November (it’s so famous that it is an official public holiday in Melbourne!) at Flemington Racecourse. On this day at 3pm, the Melbourne Cup race takes place (aka ‘The Race that Stops a Nation’). In fact, there’s a recent movie made about this particular race in 2002 called ‘The Cup’.

Although I don’t have much interest in horse-racing or gambling, I still love going to the races every year. The atmosphere, excitement and field fashion makes a great day out with friends.

In past years, I’ve attended both Stakes Day and Derby Day. So this year, my friends and I decided to attend Cup Day itself 🙂 The ticket cost $74AUD, which is quite expensive considering it was only general admission (no seats).

Because I needed my makeup to last all day in outdoor conditions, I opted for my HG foundation – L’Oreal Infallible 18 hour foundation (with SPF 20).

I went for a pretty Spring makeup look this year to match my outfit, using shimmery lilac, pink and gold shades from my Coastal Scents 88 Ultra Shimmer Palette.

I used a soft pink blush on my cheeks, as well as some highlight, to give my face a flushed, radiant glow. I finished off the look with a rosy pink lipstick and clear gloss.

For my hair, I twisted it into a loose side bun and held it in place with lots and lots of bobby pins. I was surprised that it held up for the whole day!

Fascinators (a headpiece often adorned with feathers, flowers and lace) are an iconic part of race day fashion, although some girls choose to wear hats, flowers or headbands instead. Around the racing period every year, every department store and accessory/jewellery/clothing store would sell all kinds of fascinators, with many being very overpriced (over $100).

This year, I bought this 3-tiered fascniator from Equip. I signed up to their online mailing list, which allowed me 50% off my purchase, so I got this for $25 instead of $50. It actually didn’t come with the pink feather flower, I bought that separately (for $30 also at Equip) and added it on myself to give it a personal touch.

Also, the fascinator originally came on a headband, which I didn’t like because it would give me a headache if I wore it for the whole day. So I snipped off the headband and hot glue-gunned a plastic hair comb to the back.

Fashion is one of the most important aspects of the races and there is no such thing as being ‘over-dressed’ (there are girls in full-length ball gowns!).

This year, I choose to wear a feminine and frilly cocktail dress with different shades of purple and specks of gold throughout. The dress is from GASP and if you came across my past blogpost regarding the recent GASP scandal, you’d know exactly how I feel about them. And once again, I did not buy this at their retail store, but on their eBay clearance store for $30AUD with free shipping (the price tag says $199). I think it definitely is quite a bargain because the material is gorgeous and the dress is very intricately made.

I paired the outfit with a thin white blazer from Valleygirl (the weather was a little chilly that day) and a white bow clutch from Forever New. I also wore a pair of cream heels with cute bow detail from Eastlayne Shoes, they were so comfy that I didn’t even have to change into my emergency flats!

For jewellery, I wore a pair of pearl earrings, a pink flower ring from Equip and a white bangle given to me by 78 (7 Days, 8 Styles) for a sponsored video.

Taking the train is the most popular method of getting to and from the races, as parking would be hard to find. Also many people enjoy a drink or two (or 10) there, which would make driving a very bad idea.

Every year, we bring along rugs and mats and lots of food for a picnic at the racecourse. In past years, we always over-estimated and would bring too much food, most of which we ended up carrying home again! 😛

So this year, we were more sensible and had just the right amount! I made ham and cheese and creamy egg and avocado sandwiches and my friends brought coleslaw, crackers, dips, kabana, cheese, chips and fresh fruit. YUM!!!

Our picnic spot was close to the area where they paraded the race horses and had performances and presentations – lucky! 😀

The official flower for Melbourne Cup Day is the yellow rose and they bloomed beautifully everywhere.

After watching the agonisingly close Melbourne Cup race and the two races after (where my friends were lucky enough to win several bets), we left at about 5pm and went for an early dinner at China Red in China Town. It’s quite a unique restaurant because every table has a interactive touch-screen where you enter your orders. It’s very convenient as you can decide at your leisure and add dishes anytime instead of constantly trying to get the waiters’ attention. The service is also very fast and efficient.

We were surprisingly hungry and ordered quite a few dishes to share between six of us. We had xiao long bao (soup dumplings), wontons in spicy sauce, salty fish and chicken fried rice, pumpkin with salted egg yolk, Mongolian beef and Shanghai stir-fried noodles. My favourites were the wontons, the fried rice and the pumpkin 🙂

The restaurant is very affordable if you go with a group of people and share the dishes, as we only ended up paying about $15 each for all the food!

After dinner, we had the random idea of revisiting our teenybopper days and taking sticker photos together LOL! The lighting inside the sticker photo machine was amazing!

We finished off the night with desserts at Monga Dessert Lounge. I ordered the grass jelly, sago, palm seed and popping boba with coconut milk – it’s one of those things you have to eat quickly before it turns into a bowl of watery mush 😛

From left to right: Derby Day 2008, Stakes Day 2009, Derby Day 2010

And just finishing off the post with some pics of my past race day looks. Wow I actually look every different in all of them! I really enjoyed wearing a hat last year – very classy and elegant.

Have you been to the races before? Did you enjoy it?

– Miss Pixie Lulu

My Parent’s 25th Silver Wedding Anniversary

Tags

25th wedding anniversary, anniversary, celebration, milestone, parents, silver anniversary, Tao's Restaurant, wedding

At the start of this month, my parents celebrated their 25th ‘Silver’ Wedding Anniversary! We had a big lunch with all our family and close friends to celebrate the special day 🙂

For my makeup, I decided to go for a similar look to my Classic Red Lips Makeup Tutorial. The key to this look is keeping the eye makeup simple, so that all the focus is on the perfect red lips. So I just used liquid liner and a pair of curly lashes for my eyes and a berry-red lipstick for my lips.

For my outfit, I wore my favourite jumpsuit from Femme Connection, which is the only store where their maxi dresses and jumpsuits actually fit me perfectly (usually they’re way too long!). I really like the decorated collar 🙂

I added a brown belt at the waist and kept the accessories simple with just a black lace bangle. For my shoes, I chose a pair of wine-red netted heels I bought on an Australian online shoe store called Eastlayne Shoes. They have fashionable (often designer-inspired) shoes at very affordable prices! I saw the exact same design of these shoes at Miu Miu for 10X the price!

For the celebration lunch, we once again went to Tao’s Restaurant where we also celebrated my dad’s 49th birthday a couple of months ago.

This time we didn’t dine in the private room as there were way too many guests, so we had to sit in the main restaurant area. That’s why the lighting is not as good and I had to brighten the photos.

We started off with Tao’s assorted seasonal platter, which consisted of mayo tuna in a lettuce leaf, lightly seared scallop and bacon-wrapped asparagus. I really enjoyed the scallop because it was only very slightly cooked and still sweet and tender on the inside.

For my entree, I chose the Kai-seki style sashimi. I love the presentation of this dish, with the salmon and mackerel perched on a glass of ice, the scallop and sea urchin roe (uni) sashimi placed in their shells and the pickled ginger (gari) resting on a pebble. All the sashimi were very fresh, although I didn’t eat the mackerel – it was WAY too fishy.

For my soup, I chose the cream of mushroom soup. This was so creamy and delicious because it contained little bits of blended mushroom.

For my main, I had the hot stone sizzling steak, which was accompanied by the rice of the day (fried rice with dried shrimp). The steak was placed on a banana leaf on top of a hot stone to keep it hot. It came with a pepper sauce (too peppery!) and a side of vegetables.

This was the only let-down of the whole meal, because I asked for my steak to be cooked medium and the steak that was placed infront of me was definitely rare! I had to ask the waitress to take the steak back and the chef recooked it for me, which made it well-done in the end. *Sigh*! Oh well, I guess it’s my fault for ordering steak at an Asian-style restaurant lol!

Finally for my dessert, I chose good ol’ cream brulee. It was a bit too ‘eggy’ for my liking but it was a good way to end the meal.

Here I am with my lovely parents 🙂 They look better after 25 years of marriage than when they first wed!

And just finishing off this post with the ADORABLE (and huge) anniversary cake chosen by my aunty. They cute drawing look just like my parents (although the cartoon man was meant to have glasses like my dad haha!). My mum saved the piece of the cake with the drawing of them and she’s put it in the freezer as a keepsake – so funny >__<!

Congratulations to my dear parents on the amazing milestone! I hope I will have an equally loving and lasting marriage in the future 🙂

– Miss Pixie Lulu

Weekend in Sydney – IMATS

Tags

aleesang, alllldolledup, Ben Nye, Convention, Exhibition, Harbour Bridge, IMATS, KatiieKhaos, lilcammo93, makeup, Makeupforever, meejmuse, Napoelon Perdis, Opera House, pearlbeauty1020, Pursebuzz, RJAD07, Roayl & Langnickel, Sydney

As many of you guys know, I flew up to Sydney last weekend for the long-awaited IMATS (International Make-Up Artist Trade Show)!

I will actually blog separately about my IMATS haul, so this post is just to take you through all the fun things I got up to for the weekend (which other than IMATS, was mainly eating LOL!).

Beautiful view of the famous Bondi Beach from the plane. The weather was gorgeous when my boyfriend and I arrived on Friday!

We stayed at Four Points By Sheraton on Darling Harbour. The location was nice and convenient and only about a 10 minute walk away from the Convention Centre where IMATS is held.

Even before we got to the hotel, I already had a bagful of shopping! We passed by Ice Accessories while walking to our hotel and they were having a closing-down sale where everything in the store was $3 and under! I just HAD to go in and grab a few things.

I ended up getting a pair of leopard-print stockings, bows and flowers, rings and a pair of funky safety-pin earrings. These 7 items only cos me $8, can you believe it?!?

After we settled into the hotel, we decided to go for lunch at ‘Wagamama’ on King Street Wharf. We sat in the outdoor area with a lovely view of Darling Harbour.

I ordered the Thai style stir-fried noodles, which was rather unimpressive and overpriced. Essentially it’s a Pad Thai, but the flavours were not right, the noodles were chewy and the chicken was dry. Oh well, at least we had a nice view!

For dinner, we went to Din Tai Fung, which is my favourite ‘noodle and dumpling’ restaurant. However, this time we decided to try the new DTF ‘Dumpling Bar’ in Westfield Shopping Centre, which is an express food-court version of the restaurant.

I ordered the braised beef noodle soup, I’ve had this in both the DTF in World Square Shopping Centre and in The Gardens Mall in KL, and the quality of this was not up to par. The dish looked like it was quickly thrown together, the portion was smaller and the beef had alot of chewy tendons.

We also ordered some steamed goodies on the side. Xiao long baos are a must-have as it is one of DFT’s signature dishes (and one of my favourite things to eat!). XLBs are tiny little buns with paper-thin skin filled with meat and a whole lotta soup (hence they are sometimes known as ‘soup dumplings’).

DTF takes their XLBs very seriously – they show the chefs meticulously making them behind glass windows and they even have an instructions sheet on how to correctly eat XLBs 😛

After dinner, we visited the bustling Opera Bar for a few drinks and admired the breath-taking night-time views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, two of Australia’s most iconic landmarks.

The next day was IMATS!! I went for a sweet and simple makeup look, similar to my Pretty Peach Makeup Tutorial. I wore a pair of hazel colour circle lenses (my fav!) and used some soft beige and brown eyeshadow on my eyes with a pair of flirty false eyelashes. I swept some peachy blush on my cheeks, added some highlight and finally finished off with a peach lipstick and gloss.

For my outfit, I wore a black and white dress from ‘Valleygirl’ with a black cropped blazer (which I bought from Paddy’s Markets when I was in Sydney last year). Because there was a cool change in the weather, I added a pair of black patterned stockings with my brown chunky booties (which was not the best idea considering I did alot of walking around). I opted for a cute brown handbag to finish off the look.

I got to the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre around 10am and there were already quite alot of people there. Luckily I bumped into Pearl (pearlbeauty1020) in the line and we went in together. Inside the hall, there were booths upon booths of makeup, makeup and more makeup – total heaven for a makeup junkie like me! 😀

There were many brands that I was familiar with (such as Napoleon Perdis, Inglot, M.A.C., Ben Nye) but just as many brands that I’ve never heard of (such as Gorgeous Cosmetics, Illamasqua, Hakuhodo, Royal & Langnickel). There was every type of makeup product and tools imaginable; from everyday makeup to crazy, special-effects makeup.

There were also lots of amazing makeup demonstrations from The Academy of Makeup, Napoleon Perdis and a Student Competition.

There was a male model (above) who stood there for HOURS while the Napoleon Perdis makeup artists transformed him into a golden gladiator – admirable!!

But of course, the highlight of the event was meeting all my lovely fellow Aussie beauty gurus! YAY!!!!

I met Cassie (lilcammo93), Pearl (pearlbeauty1020), Jen (meejmuse), Rosie (RJAD07), Kate (KatiieKhaos), Alee (Aleesang) and Sarah (alllldolledup). Most of us have corresponded one way or another via Youtube, Facebook and Twitter, and it’s so amazing to actually meet everyone in person! I can honestly say that each and every one of the girls are as bubbly and genuine as they come across in their videos. We all had a great time browsing, shopping and lunching together and I’m grateful to have spent my day in such good company ^___^

I also got to meet the lovely Elessa aka Pursebuzz, whose videos I have been watching since forever! She is just as sweet in person and it totally made my day when she told me that she knows who I am because she’s watched my videos 😀 I also bumped into her after the show when I was walking back to my hotel and found out that she was staying at the same hotel as me! What a coincidence!

And to top it off, I even got to meet Napoleon Perdis! He happily chit-chatted and took photos with everyone before his presentation.

On the following day (our last day in Sydney), the weather was cold and miserable. As it was not ideal weather for sight-seeing, the only sensible, next-best-thing to do is go on a food marathon!

We kicked off with ‘Mamak’, a Malaysian restaurant in China Town. There were chefs busy making roti in the window, and you know when something is publicly on display means that it’s good!

We ordered half a dozen chicken satays, which came with the traditional onion and cucumber pieces on the side and a huge bowl of satay sauce. It was yummy but not mind-blowing.

We also ordered two types of roti – roti canai (plain) and roti telur bawang (egg and onions). The roti canai was the most authentic I’ve had outside of Malaysia, it was thin and crispy on the outside but fluffy on the inside. The roti telur bawang was not as nice, there was so much onion to the point that it was overpowering.

Next stop was Sydney Fish Market, which is a market as well as a renowned eating spot. Above you can see me with the resident Fish Market pelican (he was also there when I visited last year), he is obviously unimpressed by my attempt to kiss him -____-

Inside the Fish Market, you can choose from an array of fresh seafood, served hot or cold – we decided to go for both. We ended up getting oyster kilpatrick, grilled scallops, king prawns and fresh oysters.

The last stop on our food journey was ‘Hurricane’s Grill’ on Darling Harbour. I’ve heard alot about their ribs, so we ordered half a rack of pork ribs and chips to share.

We even got paper bibs because things were about to get real messy! The ribs were very tasty and tender, although some bits were too burnt. I felt like the biggest carnivore afterwards!

Overall, I had an absolutely fantastic and fun weekend in Sydney 😀 Although I would have liked to gone for both days of IMATS, I’m also glad that I didn’t because I definitely would have spurlged more! I would love to go again next year!

– Miss Pixie Lulu

New Haircut and Haul

Tags

Bronzing Powder, CleanSensitive, false eyelashes, garnier, haircut, haul, Price Attack, Sportsgirl, The Beauty Case, TheFaceShop

Today I went to get a haircut at D&J Hair Studio, they’re a Korean hair salon near my house. I’ve been bored of my long (and rather shapeless) hair, and since I’ going to Sydney for IMATS this weekend, it’s definitely time for a change!

The hairdresser gave me a trim at the back, more volume on the side and a side-fringe. I like it! It’s a cute, fresh look for Spring, although it does make me look even younger than I already do 😛

I also went for a bit of shopping before my haircut. I bought two pairs of false eyelashes from TheFaceShop – they’re my favourite brand of false eyelashes because they have a really nice shape and the glue sticks very well (not to mention they only cost $5 a pair!). The half-lashes are so natural you can wear them everyday!

I also bought a funky pair of ‘The Beauty Case’ feather lashes from Price Attack. The Beauty Case has all sorts of fancy false eyelashes similar to Shu Uemura false eyelashes, but for only a fraction of the price. The price of the lashes vary from style to style, this pair is one of the more expensive ones and cost me $12.95.

I also bought this ‘Bronze Me’ Bronzing Powder from Sportsgirl for $14.95. Yesterday I was the makeup artist for a catalogue photoshoot (will blog about it in another post) and one of the models had this with her. This can be used all over the body for a natural tanned look without appearing orange – I just HAD to get it!

Lastly, I bought three packs of Garnier CleanSensitive makeup removal wipes from Priceline. I love Priceline because they always have specials – at the moment they a 3 for 2 offer for Garnier products. So I only paid $16 for the three packs, yay!

These are my all-time favourite makeup removal wipes, as mentioned in ‘My Daily Skincare Routine’ video (note: the packaging has changed from white to blue). These wipes are luxuriously frothy and takes away every bit of makeup on the face without leaving it feeling dry. It contains no perfume, alcohol or colourings and is suitable for dry and sensitive skin.

– Miss Pixie Lulu

Girls Weekend Away – Melbourne Spring Fashion Week

Tags

Allegro, bakery, cupcake, Fashion, Festival, food, girls, hotel, interContinental, makeup, Melbourne, MSFF, MSFW, Rialto, RMIT, runway, Spring, steak, student, weekend, Westin

Last weekend, my best girlfriends and I had a fun-filled weekend getaway in the city. We like to plan this every few months as a way to catch-up and de-stress, and we always have the best time 🙂

This time, we decided to stay at InterContinental Melbourne The Rialto. It’s a heritage hotel and has a very interesting design, the interior looks like a cross between a train station and a prison lol 😛 The hotel staff were all very friendly but unfortunately the valet parking was the biggest ripoff – it cost $50 for just one day!

Lucky for us, there was a Cupcake Bakery right next door to the hotel! They sell the cutest (but expensive) little cupcakes ^___^ We bought one each to fill our tummies before getting ready for the fashion show, since dinner was going to be late. I got the red velvet cupcake (the one with the heart) and it was delish! Needless to say, we went back for more the next morning haha!

For my makeup of the night, I first used my Coastal Scents Metal Mania Eyeshadow Palette for my eyes, using mainly shades of gold and dark green, and added a pair of long and flirty false eyelashes. I also wore hazel circle lenses, they’re my favourite pair and really complimented the eye makeup. I used a beige blush to contour my cheeks, and finished off with a nude lipstick and gloss.

I usually can’t ever be bothered curling my hair, because I have very stubborn straight hair and the curls never stay put for long. But I thought curly hair would definitely look better with the turban. I bought my Turban from Lovisa and have been dying to wear it since!

For my outfit, I went for a ‘modern gypsy’ look. I wore a flowy green (my fav colour!) shirt dress with a black collar and black ribbons (very 60’s!). Because it was a tiny bit big for me, I added a thick brown belt at the waist. I then paired it with black peeptoe bootie heels and a black quilted bag (it matched my turban!).

My girlfriends and I were photowhoring at the hotel before the show and somehow ended up taking photos at the hotel pool. A nice stranger took the above photo for us, but he must have thought were pretty weird haha -____-

At 7pm, we made our way to the Melbourne Town Hall for the RMIT Student Runway Show. This show is part of the Melbourne Spring Fashion Week and it showcases collections from the top 4th year fashion design students in RMIT University.

I’ll just show you guys below what I thought were the most interesting (and at times strange) collections from the night.

Designer: Amelia Agosta
This collection had very futuristic, black and white designs. The models looked like high-fashion space aliens.

Designer: Elyse Barker
This collection was loud, bright and flowery! The models reminds me of the talking flowers from ‘Alice in Wonderland’ 😛

Designer: Laura Huishan Li
This collection evidently had Asian influences, perhaps because the designer herself is of Chinese origins (judging from her name). A few of the gowns had a cheongsam cut (a traditional Chinese dress made popular in the 1920’s by the upper-class women of Shnaghi) and the last two gowns with the head-masks were fierce!

Designer: Franca Sabatini
This was the most adorable collection and I love the idea of using the French Renaissance masks (some may call it creepy). The dresses were based on different shapes and the long white gown (above) was stunning!

Designer: Stephanie McPherson
This collection was one my favourites – very feminine and graceful. I would actually wear some of these outfits (not that I could ever afford it haha)!

Designer: Candice Majoos
I couldn’t quite figure out the theme/influence of this collection, but it did have a few unique designs. I especially liked the red net dress (above) and how it held its shape.

Designer: Chris Ran Li
This was the one of the two male collections in the show. This collection was very blue, orange and yellow and featured a few interesting knit pieces. I admit I giggled when the male model with the knitted hood jumper (above) walked down the runway cos it looked like he couldn’t see where he was going! 😛

Designer: Simone Agius
This collection was the quirkiest out of the lot. It had everything from a box dress to a dress made out of locks to a big hairy sack dress. There was also a giant watch dress which I didn’t manage to get a good photo of 😦

Designer: Rose Brinkley
This was the very last collection of the night and was a great way to close the show! This collection boasted sky-high platform boots which made the models look ‘out-of-this-world’ tall and had the added attraction of the funny little guy who was covered from head-to-toe in the collection’s featured patterned material. He came out to help each model take their first few steps before doing some crazy flips and jumps (captured above).

Overall, it was a wonderfully entertaining and highly professional runway show – well worth the ticket price of $30!

After the show, we went to Allegro Restaurant in the Westin Hotel for dinner. We ordered the truffle forest mushroom pesto and parmesan reggiano flatbread as our entree and nommed it all up cos we were all starving!

For our mains, all four of us ordered the 200g Cape Grim grass-fed beef tenderloin with cauliflower puree, foie gras butter, popovers and red wine jus. I had mine cooked medium and it was so tender and juicy and perfectly complimented by the creamy foie gras butter (first time trying foie gras!). And I couldn’t get enough of the popovers – they’re like a cross between a tart and a bread roll!

We also ordered a big bowl of beer battered chips and steamed fresh garden vegetables with roasted almonds as sides.

Even though we were all quite full by this point, there’s ALWAYS room for desserts ^___^ So we ordered Allegro’s grand dessert plate for two and it was more than enough for us four girls! The platter consisted of a chocolate tart, apricot crumble and apple pie with vanilla ice-cream…yum!

After dinner, we went to a bar for a few drinks before retiring to our hotel for lots of girly chat and very little sleep. Overall, we had an absolutely fantastic weekend together filled with the 3 F’s – fun, fashion and food!

Cheers to friendship and lots more girls weekends! ♥♥♥

– Lucy xoxo

Melbourne Beauty Gurus Meet-up

Tags

AddictiontoShopping, aleesang, allaboutdaniel, beauty, brenner, gurus, karlacosmetica, max, meetup, Melbourne, meshiya, roseannetangrs, youtube

Last night I met up with 5 fellow Melbournian Youtube beauty gurus – AddictionToShopping (Angela), aleesang (Alee), allaboutdaniel (Daniel), karlacosmetica (Karla) and roseannetangrs (Roseanne)!

I decided to go for a neutral makeup look, with soft smokey brown eyes using my trusty Coastal Scents Warm Palette. I used ‘Thin Lizzy’ to contour my cheeks (they call it a professional powder but it’s pretty much a bronzer) and Revlon’s Colorburst Lipstick in ‘Soft Nude’ for the lips, finishing it off with a coat of Bloom’s Lipgloss in ‘Gypsy’.

Please don’t mind my unruly hair in the photo -____-

For the outfit, I wore a black tank top with a beige blazer from Forever New (a total bargain from DFO!). I paired my GASP jeans with my funky Tony Bianco leopard print wedge boots. Check out my mini mirror necklace from ‘Lovisa’, isn’t it the cutest thing ever? ^___^

I’m very into casual blazers at the moment – I think they instantly add sophistication to any outfit 🙂

For the meetup, we first had dinner at ‘Meshiya’ (200 Lonsdale St
Melbourne), which is an authentic little Japanese restaurant near QV. It’s very cosy inside, and our booth was decorated with empty sake bottles – pretty cool!

Daniel also brought his boyfriend, Gaetano, so there were 7 of us in total. Even though it was the first time meeting each other, we all just clicked, the conversation flowed and there was zero level of awkwardness.

Alee described it as “catching up with old friends whom you haven’t seen for a long time”, and I agree! We’ve all watched each other on Youtube, and it is not surprising to find that in real-life, everyone is as bubbly and friendly as they are on camera 🙂

For dinner, I ordered the Chef’s Special Bento, which came with chawanmushi and miso soup. For those who aren’t familiar with Japanese cuisine, chawanmushi is a savoury egg custard, customarily steamed in a tea cup. I love it for the silky smooth texture and the little bits of goodies (shrimps, unagi, enoki mushrooms etc) in the egg.

My bento box included some assorted sashimi, tempura prawns, yakitori (chicken skewers) and teriyaki beef, with a big bowl of rice on the side. The sashimi was very fresh and the beef was juicy and tender. I like bento boxes cos you get a little bit of everything and it still ends up being really filling!

After chatting for several hours (mostly about Youtuber and makeup lol), we migrated to the nearby Max Brenner for coffee and desserts. I had a latte and also shared a yummy chocolate brownie sundae with Roseanne. The sundae came with a small plate of crunchy chocolate balls (everyone agreed it looked like rabbit droppings!) and a bowl of melted chocolate. Just heavenly!

Interesting fact – I’m allergic to chocolate but I was naughty and still ate the dessert. But I’m ok as long as I don’t binge 😛

We took the opportunity to photowhore some more and also came up with the idea of a possible 6-way makeup collab on Youtube (crazy right?!). Many fantastic ideas were thrown around and I’m really excited to see how everything’s gonna develop. Let me just say that it’s going to be BIG, and hopefully in time for Halloween 🙂

And just finishing off with 2 group photos 😀 I love the funny faces one, but spot the odd one out!

At dinner, we toasted to ‘the first of many more outings’ and I’m sure there will be many more. I had such a great time with everyone and I’m really looking forward to our exciting future collab together! Stay tuned 😉

– Miss Pixie Lulu

Dad’s 49th Birthday Celebration

Tags

birthday, dad, food, look, lunch, makeup, outfit, restaurant, tao's

Yesterday was my dad’s 49th birthday 🙂

“Men must celebrate turning 49, but not 50”, according to my mum and her often unfounded Chinese superstitions (no such superstitions exist, according to Google). But since it was believed to be an important milestone, my whole family (and extended family) went out for a special lunch celebration.

For my makeup, I opted for a soft grey smokey eye using my Coastal Scents Warm Palette and some long falsies to open up my eyes. This is a great eye makeup to wear for outings during the day, because it gives you the smokiness without looking over-done. I used Revlon’s Powder Blush in ‘Tawny Peach’ for my cheeks and Inglot’s Highlighting Powder for the highlight. I finished off the look with Maybelline’s Moisture Extreme lipstick in ‘Nude Blush’.

It turned out to be a beautiful sunny day, which was a pleasant surprise considering the recent gloomy and wet Melbourne weather. Not having to bury myself in layers and layers of clothing, I went for a casual chic look with a black singlet and white lace overlay, a white shirt blazer (it has a cute bow at the back, but I forgot to take a pic!), jeggings and a pair of nude pumps. Accessories included a silver pendant necklace (very Aztec inspired) and a black quilted bag.

For lunch, we went to Tao’s Restaurant. The exterior might not look too flash, but it’s actually quite a fancy restaurant. We were seated inside a private dining room called the ‘Japanese Room’, with a grand Hinoki Cypress table as the centerpiece and a red wall where you can leave a message (I didn’t get to, BOO!). The restaurant offers a multi-course selective set menu (sounds rather oxymoronic!), with a mix of Eastern and Western cuisine and traditional and contemporary flavours. Very interesting!

The appetizer was ‘Tao’s Assorted Seasonal Platter’, which was the same selection for everyone. It consisted of a tiny bowl of what tasted like sweet chilli mayo (as a dip for the sesame biscuit stick), shucked oyster with a tangy dressing (the pink stuff underneath it is coloured sea-salt!) and bacon wrapped with spring onion. The oyster was amazing – the tangy dressing balanced the sweetness of the raw oyster and the finely chopped cucumbers added a wonderful crunchy texture.

For the entree, I picked ‘Tao’s Drunken Chicken’, a traditionally Chinese dish which my mum sometimes make at home (it rocks!). I think the presentation is so fun, with the tiny wineglass of the Shaoxing wine dressing perched over the thinly sliced chicken. They even included a small block of the dressing in a jelly form! The taste was a little on the bland side, I definitely could have done with more of that dressing!

Next was the soup and I chose the ‘Beef Consommé’. It’s a clear but very flavourful beef broth with soft beef brisket and sliced daikon. Even though I was the only person to pick this soup, I thoroughly enjoyed it! The small shot glass of the orange liquid is a refreshment to cleanse your palate after the soup. We debated on what the strange flavour was; my cousin said it was hawthorn (a Chinese fruit), my other cousin said it was chocolate (didn’t taste that at all!) and I thought it tasted like preserved plums. Anyway, the general consensus was that it didn’t taste very nice!

I was indecisive with the main, and ended up choosing ‘Tao’s Style Stewed Pork Belly’. Once again, I was the only person who chose this dish and everyone laughed at me because it looked so fatty (tasted fatty too haha!). I have to say, the presentation was the least impressive of all the mains, but I guess there’s only so much you can do with stewed pork belly! The pork belly itself was oh-so-soft and jam-packed with Chinese herbs and spices and it was served with an edamame bean, mushroom and carrot salad. I have to admit I struggled to finish the third piece, I was already full from the previous dishes! The mains were also accompanied with a small bowl of ‘Rice of the Day’, the fried rice had a distinct taste because of the mini dried shrimps. How cute is the crockery for the rice? In fact, the crockery and cutlery of each course is unique, and check out the adorable embracing salt and pepper shakers!

Finally, it’s time for dessert and I went with the ‘Coffee Cheese Cake’. The cake was very rich and the addition of the caramel popcorn was a cute touch. And did I mention I love the cutlery? Haha 😛

Overall, we had an immensely enjoyable dining experience at Tao’s Restaurant, the food was not only tasty, but also innovative, and the service was very friendly and attentive (the waiters constantly filled up our tea cups one by one).

And just to finish off with a lovely family photo ^__^ Happy birthday dad! I hope to look as young as you when I’m 49!

– Miss Pixie Lulu