Esprique Precious Fall '09

Another Japanese pop star, Mai Kuraki, has become the new face of Esprique Precious, replacing British supermodel Karen Elson. The new TV CM featuring Kuraki promoting the Dramatical Veil Pact (Moisture) foundation SPF20 PA++. Made with Pure Cover Powder and Clear Smooth Powder for a soft focus "marshmallow veil" effect and good coverage, the foundation also has skin moisturising benefits as the foundation powder particles are coated with a micro emulsion. There is also a liquid version available.


A longer promotion movie clip.


Check out the updated Esprique Precious website here.
Incidentally, Esprique Precious has also just debuted in Takashimaya department store in Singapore this week but I haven't had the time to go check it out. The price points are around that of Coffret D'Or, with the eyeshadow palettes going for S$54.

Visee x Ayumi

Japanese pop star Ayumi Hamasaki is the new Asian face of Rimmel cosmetics, which is distributed in Japan by Kose. When Ayumi appeared in Visee (also owned by Kose) ads, she was phenomenally successful with Visee's mascara going from No. 4 to No. 1 within two months and a new lip gloss sold 500,000 units in its first two days on the shelves. Rimmel, which was launched in Japan in September 2006, carries a different assortment of products from the UK/US that are developed for the Japanese market.


Here's the list of Rimmel products used on Ayumi in the ad:
Eyes: Color Rush Sparkling Gradation Eyes #3, Great Curl Mascara #1, Exaggerate Automatic Eyeliner #1



Lips: Infinite Color Lights #400

Face: Blend Color Blush #4, Blend Color Highlighter #10


Some of Ayumi's old commercials for Visee and Aube!

Paul & Joe Breathless Collection

I dropped by the Paul & Joe counter at Isetan Scotts last Thursday to check out the new Breathless fall makeup collection. The SA informed me that it was also the last day that they were doing makeovers with hairstyling and a photo shot if you purchase a $60 voucher (fully redeemable), plus they would give you an extra Nail Color #40 Sorbet Chatagigne and Pearl Powder #1.

I really liked the new GWP, a purple and pink floral print pouch plus 3 skincare samples with purchase of $100 so I ended up getting two of the new lipsticks (S$39) and one eyeshadow duo (S$37). Here's what I came back with.



Color Powder CS #63 Breathless contains a pinkish beige paired with a bordeaux. Both have a soft pearl glimmer and good color payoff. The other two Color Powders were a tad boring for my liking.


Of the two lipsticks, I thought I would like #65 Cruising ("juicy sexy pink plum") more but it felt less creamy than #63 Reckless, probably due to the sparkle micro-particles in #65. #63 Reckless is a creamy, velvety red that adds a lovely pop of color and brightens up my face. (IUnfortunately, I'm one of those people who gets asked if I'm ill if I'm not wearing any makeup as my bare face looks very pale and washed out.) Paul & Joe is actually one of my favourite brands for lipsticks as I like the creamy semi-matte shades that are non-drying and come in gorgeous classic shades. They do have some lipsticks that are more glossy and sheer or with a more obvious glimmer but my favourite ones tend to be the creamy mattes.


Nail Color #40 Sorbet Chatagigne is a metallic beige, not really my kind of color.


Pearl Powder #1 is a shimmery basic beige that I can see myself using mainly as a highlighter on the browbone area.


The GWP pouch is one of my favourites from Paul & Joe so far. It feels very cushy with plenty of room inside. Plus it goes nicely with the zip pouch that I got from Voce magazine but of course the former is of much better quality.




This was the special promotional area where they were doing the makeovers and photos.








To be honest, I was puzzled why P&J made these eyeshadows so much larger than their usual Collection Sparkles Face Colors. I would have preferred the usual size, as I find the new ones to be clunky and too bulky for my liking even though the included sponge applicator does make it slightly more convenient.


My makeover photo :-) This was the first time I had my picture taken at a makeup counter so I felt quite stiff and awkward! It was fun getting my hair curled though, which was another first for me!

Caveat Emptor

Would you use a lipgloss that is two years old? Yesterday, I bought a pair of lipglosses from a company that is famous for their lip balm. When I was about to try one of them today, I discovered to my horror a sticker on one that stated that the manufacturing date was "Sep 2007". The other lipgloss was made sometime in 2008. I promptly returned to the department store and asked if they had any newer stock that I could exchange for. But when the SA pulled out a bagful of the lipglosses in the shade that I bought, she found that they were all made in 2007. She explained that the standard shelf life of the company's lipglosses was three years. I was simply aghast and told her bluntly that I did not want a lipgloss that was two years old and that I thought it was terrible that the company was selling lip products that were that old. Fortunately, she was able to give me store credit in exchange, and promised to pass the feedback on to the management.

So do be careful when purchasing makeup products and always look for the manufacturing/expiry date if possible.

Voce Sep '09

The September issues of Voce, Biteki and Maquia are all out now at Kinokuniya. I picked up Voce (S$14), mainly for the Paul & Joe zip pouch in the new fall print. The mag also comes with sample sachets of the Paul & Joe Moisturising Foundation Primer #1 and #3 (0.3ml each) and Light Cream Foundation S #30 (2 x 0.3ml). As you can probably guess, the main theme in this issue is fall/winter base makeup with the spotlight on the newest foundations and primers.


The pouch is sadly, yet another thin and flimsy polyester pouch with absolutely no padding which makes it unsuitable for fragile items. It is definitely not as well made as the cushy pouch that is the current GWP at Paul & Joe counters in Singapore.


The mag also included 2 sachets of Est Cream Makeup Active Aura Moist in Ochre 03 and Ochre 05 and 2 sachets of Cleansing Essence Enriched (4.5g each). The latter is a makeup remover with a jelly-like texture and made up of over 58% moisturising ingredients.

Non-no x Gelato Pique

I don't usually buy Non-no magazine (S$15.20) but couldn't resist picking up the latest issue for the Gelato Pique hair band and drawstring pouch.


The pouch is made of flimsy thin polyester but the hair band is much nicer and more useful.


The next issue, due out on 5 September in Japan, will have an even more impressive "freebie": a Tsumori Chisato shoulder bag measuring 35cm long with a cute star print.


The Gelato Pique feature.


Jill by Jill Stuart


Article on Anna Sui makeup.




Ad for Fancl Mild Cleansing Oil in a mermaid design bottle, which is of course limited edition with only 157,000 units produced.


Perfect Cleansing Trial Set (1000yen).

Lush Times

I made my first Lush haul back in April in New Delhi when I was visiting my boyfriend. On our second trip to the store in Gurgao, the store manager offered to take our picture and put it in the next issue of Lush Times (India). And now it has actually appeared in the latest issue!


The store manager was kind enough to send my boyfriend three copies. That's us in the top left corner of the "Happy Customers" page with me grinning and clutching my bag of new Lush goodies :-)

Moving house

I'm moving house tomorrow... again. It is one of my least favourite activities in the world, yet somehow I've ended up moving house virtually every one to two years for the past decade and more. Packing up all the random bits of my life into boxes and discarding other assorted bits always puts me in a wistful mood. Thinking of the various events that have happened in my life while I lived in a particular space, from the mundane everyday stuff to life-changing events like new relationships, friendships, breakups etc.

When I look at an empty home cleaned of all my stuff, it's like seeing the imprints of your life vanishing, and that space becomes a blank slate once again where once upon a time, it was where you cried your heart out, stared for hours at the ceiling in despair, spent countless nights wondering if any of your dreams would ever come true. All these spaces hold different memories from different parts of my life, that are often also associated with different people that have come and gone out of my life. And then the memories become all that you have.

Here's a brief recap of all the times I've moved:
1. 1996 - from Singapore to UK to start university
2. 1997 - moved dorm
3. 1998 - moved dorm
4. 1999 - from Singapore back to UK after graduation and then to California for graduate school
5. 2000 - from US back to Singapore to start work
6. 2003 - moved to Tokyo, Japan
7. 2004 - moved to another apartment while my apartment was being renovated
8. 2005 - moved back to my apartment
9. 2007 - moved back to Singapore, then to New York briefly, then back again to Singapore
10. 2008 - my apartment was sold so moved to a rental flat while my new place is being built
11. 2009 - moving into my new apartment

Nevertheless, I am looking forward to my new home which is in a much more peaceful neighbourhood than my current one. Just hope that it will be quite some time until my next move.

Robinsons GWPs

Robinsons is offering the following list of GWPs from 19-23 August with additional gifts for Robinsons cardmembers. The first 200 cardmembers to spend $200 (in a single receipt on a single brand) each day will also receive a $20 Beauty voucher. There is also 20% discount on toiletries and health supplements with additional discounts of up to 20%. Elsewhere in the store, you can receive a $30 voucher for spending $300 or $15 voucher for spending $200.