Aritzia's Spring 2012 Preview

Hey every, hectic schedule for me once again, and thus explains my absence from blog for more than a week now. However, I am DETERMINED to keep that New Year's Resolution of mine, and therefore I made sure that I had time to make this blog post! =D

So the preview for Aritzia's 2012 collection came out, and I briefly took a look and found some pieces that I really liked:

Wilfred Tal I Blazer in Linen

Wilfred Tigris Sleveless Blouse

Wilfred Nava Shorts

What I like the most about this set is definitely the blouse and the blazer. I'm really getting into the more flowy pieces especially for the summer, because I think they're casual but yet also really classy which falls EXACTLY in my comfort zone! I also like the shorts very much, however because I personally have a very curvy figure, I know the shorts wouldn't work quite as well on my body. These kind of shorts need to fall straight below the waist to look really flattering, but with my wider hips, they would look more stretched and lose the effects seen here. But nevertheless it's a gorgeous look that they've put together here! (PLUS, the model's hair and makeup style is almost exactly similar to my daily looks!! ^^)

T. Babaton Frazer Blazer

T. Babaton Silk Tank

T. Babaton Elliot Pants

It's quite obvious now that I really really adore my silke/chiffon pieces?? (:p) So, in this outfit, I'm no doubt going to say that I really really really like the silk tank! I'm always looking for more simple yet classic pieces of tanks to go under either cardigans, blazers or just to layer other other tanks! This looks like one of those items that would go with just about anything. I'm not really a big fan of round/scoop necks, but recently, I've discovered that if round/scoop necks are low enough, they're actually quite feminine, and provide a really sophisticated and soft touch to the whole look, so I'm really looking foward to maybe giving this a try! The other item that I really like is the Elliot Pants! I have been, for the past while, looking for a pair of nice skinny black pants for business casual wear. Since this is more like a capris than full length black pants, I think it can really nicely balance out the heavier top portions of my hips and thighs and look relatively relaxing on me!

Talula Debutante Dress

I love the lace patterning of the dress. But. I hate the shape of the dress. I, personally, because of my figure would never choose a cut like this, since it would emphasize all the heavier portions of the my body instead of trying to balance them. BUT I couldn't resist putting this dress on here because IT'S SO PRETTY!!! URGH! and I hate the fact that I can't really "wear" the dress (it's more like the dress is wearing me, which is NEVER something that you want with clothing.) But I also decided to put this on here, because I know that Sam would LOVE this dress! =) 

TNA Shuswap Dress in Sunfaded Tribal

Compared to the last dress' structured cut, this is MUCH more me! It's a more relaxing flowy dress similar to an empire waistline. To girls that are pear shaped out there, if you'd like to create a more slimming look to your body this would definitely be something that you'd want to try out! Put this under something like a thin light cardigan in the summer and top it off with something like a straw hat and a really big tote and you're ready to go! 

I don't know if anyone else has noticed this before, but there are certain brands under Aritzia that I always go back to. Brands like: Talula, T. Babaton, Wilfred...are all stables in my favourites list!

Anyway, check out the Spring Preview on the Aritzia site, and let me know what you think!!

Hope you all have a good weekend!

Love,

Helen

p.s. All pictures are taken from the Aritzia website.

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OOTD AND FOTD! Special occasion edition.

So in the past semester, I was enrolled in 2 lab courses in my school. We had an awesome time in these classes, so after the semester has ended my biochemistry laboratory decided to have a get together to celebrate and to also thank our TA for his awesome guidance in the course! =D

This was a big thing for us, so I decided to take my time and do my hair and makeup today.

Tank: Aritzia

Jeans: American Eagle

Boots: Aldo

Blazer: Aritzia

Jacket: Aritzia

Since the place that we went to today was a pub I decided to go semi dressy, but still casual. I was originally going to wear tights instead but I figured that would make it a little too dressy so I went with jeans! =)

As for my makeup, I decided to go for a natural look and putting the focus on creating healthy and glowing skin!

This is what I used:

Primer: The Body Shop Moisturize It Primer + Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer

Concealer: MAC Select Cover-up NC20

BB Cream: Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream 21 & 23

Powder: MAC Studio Fix Powder C2

Setting Spray: MAC Fix+ Lavender

Bronzer: Tarte Matte Waterproof Bronzer

Blush: MAC Beauty Powder "Shell Pearl"

Highlighter: Bare Minerals Illuminating Mineral Veil

Eye Shadow: Clinique Eyeshadow Duo "Like Mink" + Miss Helen 

Eyeliner: Physician's Formula 2-in-1 Lash Serum and Eyeliner

Mascara: Tarte MultiplEYE Primer and Lash Enhancing Mascara

Eyebrows: Smashbox Eyeliner and Brow Kit

The whole look was super easy and fast to do, and last all day thanks to Fix+. It was a natural enough look for day time but also not too light for night time wear!

The whole night was amazing thanks to all my friends from the lab! I hope y'all liked the outfit and the makeup! Let me know if you'd like a tutorial on the look...

Hope everyone all had a wonderful Friday night!

Love,

Helen.

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Inspirations and Update

No blog post tonight..=( gotta wash allll my makeup brushes since they've been just sitting with bacteria loading on them for the past 2 months...=S I know. Disgusting!

But I just wanted to share a little...actually a HUGE inspiration that I found:

Nic and Sam from Pixiwoo are probably the biggest inspirations that I have on Youtube and the beauty community online!

I find that their style of makeup is so simple and elegant. It's delicate yet still still very high fashion! I really like the way that they're so careful with the application process, and they such a wonderful job of explaining everything!

The video that I'm sharing is a look that Nic did as inspired by Amber Heard's makeup for Chanel promotion. The reason why I loveee this look so much is the use of a pink/coral/orange tint over the eyelid. I have to say, this COMPLETELY changed my mindset on warmer coloured eyeshadow!! I absolute hate to work with them. I think they make you look swollen, and it's just not very flattering. However, the way that the makeup was done, I made her look so fresh faced and the makeup looks very light! It's overall very young and lively looking and I just love the whole colour combination and ESPECIALLY the faded wing of the eyeliner -- I thought that was just BRILLIANT!

I know they used a lot of Chanel products in the video, but the theory behind it still holds very true.

I hope you all will like the look, and be sure to check out their other videos too; I'm sure you'll fall in love with it the same way I did!

Have a good night everyone!

Love,
Helen.

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Everyday Makeup Routine

Since I am now working in the cosmetic industry, I'm required to wear a certain amount of makeup every day at work. As I've been working full time for the past 3 weeks, it's been quite tiring to have to put on makeup every morning at 6:30 and make it to work on time! It's also not the best feeling to have layers of makeup piled on your face and having it sit there for usually 8-12 hours a day!

I've then developed what I call a FULL-PROOF makeup routine that's bound to make me look polished and yet takes NO time at all! Plus, it's also light and airy, so there's less stress on the skin!

The concept behind this makeup routine is that I don't want to make anything dramatic; the whole purpose is to work with my features and emphasize their shape and play around with light and shadow to make them "pop" on my face...=D

This is pretty much what I use all the time:

Foundation:

Clinique Moisture Surge Tinted Moisturizer SPF15

MAC Studio Fix Powder N2 or N3

Eyes:

The Body Shop Lightening Touch Illuminator 03

Clinique ColourSurge Eye Shadow Duo - Like Mink

Miss Helen (this is an eyeshadow duo that Sam brought me back from Paris with my name on it! ♥ ~)

Physician's Formula Eye Booster 2-in-1 Eyeliner - Brown

Majolic Majorca Lash Expander Frame Plus

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I will usually moisturize first and then put on the tinted moisturizer. I'll use the illuminator under my eyes and then finish off by powdering my whole face with the Studio Fix Powder. The tinted moisturizer gives a light coverage, and will act like a base and grab onto the powder. The powder provides further coverage, but you don't need as much of it to achieve the same result because of the tinted moisturizer. All in all, less powder to suffocate the skin, and the moisture surge is actually a very good hydrator! 

Then I will first use a light colour all over my lid, and then use a darker brown colour and blend it from my lash line up evenly across my eye, until just a little above the crease. This way, you don't really see the colour in the lid space (as I have Asian eyes...) but then you see that shadow created by the colour and so it makes the eyes look deeper and more emphasized on the face. I'll then line AND tight-line my top lash line with the liquid liner and slightly pull it out as a wing. I'll apply mascara and then finish off with some blush. My daily blush colours would be different depending on what I'm wearing that day; the one that I have been carrying around and have been reaching for very frequently is NARS's Deep Throat. Deep Throat is basically a peachy coral colour with some light golden sparkles to give a little radiance. It's SIMILAR to NARS's Orgasm, but more pink (less orangy,) and much subtler in terms of the glitter. 

Here are some pictures of how it all turns out!

It's basically a very natural look that gives definition to the face, and makes me look awake and put together, but will not over do it with too much makeup on the face. The whole thing takes about 15 min in total, and requires barely any effort!

This is what the makeup looks like after 12 hours, and 1 touch up --- pretty good and long lasting! =)

Hope everyone's having an awesome New Year's Eve ♥ !! 

Love,

Helen.

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I got a HAIRCUT!!!

I was SOO annoyed with my hair because it was getting SO damaged, tangled and thick!!! There are no layers left and no shape to my head what so ever, so I needed a trim!!!

I went to Chin-Generation at Pacific Mall which is the place that I usually go to. Out of every hair salon I went to I think this one offers me the most in terms the quality of their cut and customer service!! I also love the fact that most of their stylist can give me a hair cut according to what I want, and create a style that suits my face shape, my features and everything else. It’s simple enough that you can just tell them what you want, and they are very understanding will offer you something very close to what you were looking for.

I’ve had a side part for the LONGEST time, and this time, I felt like I wanted to try a center part for a change.

It was a risky choice because it’s very hard to work a center part, because you have to be very symmetrical to look flattering with it. It is also a HECK LOAD of maintenance involved EVERYDAY…

My stylist was Perry Pak and he did a GREAT job on my hair layering it and keeping the length that I want..and giving me the EXACT look that I wanted!!! ^^ *so happy!!*

 

 

It’s a VERY romantic look!! All I did was taking a curling iron and curled my bangs BACKWARDS on the top of my head…and when it falls, it will fall away from your face in a very lose and voluminous way!!

 

I LOOOVED how sleek my hair looked but it took FOREVER for him to blow-dry it straight!! >< I certainly don’t have the skills to do it myself…and I don’t think that a flat iron would make it look as SMOOTH it is!!! That’s one thing that I hate coming back from the hair salon~~ you can never make it look as nice as the way that they made it for you!! TT^TT

 

That’s about it! Hope you guys enjoyed it!

 

Thanks for reading!

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WOOOOT!!! MY 100TH POST!!!! GOT MA NAILS DONE!!!!

 

So this really nice nail place just open at the plaza across the street from me. I was always tempted to go check it out, but either didn’t have the time, or just had some other reason that prevented me from going in.

Lots of things happened in the past couple days, I’ve got myself a job that I think I’m really going to enjoy starting, and also got accepted into the physiology specialist program at the university which I’m REALLY excited about, SO I decided that it was time to celebrate by getting my nails done PROPERLY this time. There was NOTHING that was stopping me this time.

I walked into the salon today after volunteering at around 1. The place was VERY clean, and fresh looking. There were a couple people doing there nails there, it was a very pleasant little shop.

I didn’t want to do anything major like gel nails for anything, just needed a proper colouring and a good hand to fix my UNBEARABLE cuticles…

 

 

 

The girl that did them for me was GREAT!! She was really friendly (which is really important in terms of customer service!) and she did excellent on shaping my nails…and did I mention she did a GREAT job on fixing my DARN CUTICLES!!! @.@

 

 

 

 

honestly…I don’t quite know how she dealt with all that ugly dead skin around my nails…but she did…and she did A WONDERFUL job….I’m very happy with it! I’d never be able to do it myself…but never the less it looks GOOD!

 

 

 

 

 

The colour that I chose was a GORGEOUS nude rose colour by OPI called Rose Petals!

The soft pink nude colour is really good for the weather that we have now! It’s really hot outside, and this shade has just the right amount of warmness to reflect that! It’s a very delicate and gentle colour that I think can be paired with any outfit! IT’S SO VERSITILLE!!

 

 

 

 

I was overall very happy about this experience. I think they were very meticulous about what they’d done. The work space was clean and neat, and the customer service was very enjoyable!

 

 

 

 

 

The store is located just a little off the south-east corner of Leslie and Cummer. So if you are from Toronto and are in the area…it’s definitely a good place to drop by and do a quick nail treatment!!

 

 

 

 

 

They accept either walk-ins or appointments, and they will take cash, debit or Visa! (If you pay cash though, they cover the taxes for you!!) They have a VARIETY of different programs…and for good prices too!! polish changes for $7 and French Manicure for $16!!!! (They also have Shellac available for the same price as a French Manicure!!!)

 

 

 

I’ve definitely had a good experience with them!! I think I will most definitely go back and re-visit very often =)

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Oh My Lady Gaga!!

Haha, has anyone heard of that expression before? I know it’s really popular in the Chinese online communities, but I’ve never really heard anyone outside of that say it.

Anyhow, I’ve just gone through a couple of Gaga’s music videos, and I just couldn’t get over the fact of how PRETTY exactly she can be……regardless of how she usually looks, some of her looks are absolutely breath taking!

I am speaking with reference her Bad Romance video here, does anyone remember that extremely CLEAN and SIMPLE look she had on??? The first time when I saw the video I honestly gasped out loud!

And THIS is what I’m talking about….isn’t this stunning~?!? It makes her face look so angelic and pure….O.O (somehow those words being connected to Lady Gaga just doesn’t sound right…)

There’s also her on the other end of the spectrum in her Poker Face video, where she looks completely innocent and so damn adorable!

She actually looks somewhat really sweet in these pictures! =D

This is all making me want to maybe do a FOTD and see if I can copy these looks…which will be kind of difficult considering I dislike my Asian eyes….=( 

Hopefully I’ll be able to upload something real soon. =)

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