Monday, August 23, 2010

After My Birthday!!

So this is what I spent on $3000 as my birthday gift! ^^ I had to choose between Chanel and Hermes, so I decided that I'd go for a classic Hermes belt.


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Hermes croc belt  and olive tinged w/ brown buckle! 
(No intension to be a pundit of Hermes. :P ) 


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The buckle is more olive instead of brown in real life... GREEN/OLIVE is another fave. color of mine! 

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This is what was happening yesterday for my birthday party.... like a small kindergarten! lol

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COOKING IN THE KITCHEN!!
....
Yu and I can be nominated as the best house wife of the year!! haha... .
Ah, why there is no one came up something like this for us housewives!!! ^O^


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They are my newly-added birthday cards collections.... the warmest wishes from my friends!!


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Those are the left-over cocktails.....hum, no one did tequila shots yesterday. 
Ah, I know, because next day is MONDAY~
 
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 Those can't go In the dishwasher and had to be washed by hands. 
Now I have to make an appointment for Pedicure!! ^^


My gals are so sweet that each of them give me so special gifts from earrings, necklace, fur scarf, jacket, leg warmer, and sequined tank..... etc. I probably can put on all those things and be ready to go out. haha~~ My birthday is not yet officially arrived, but thanks to friends who take time to celebrate w/ me in advance. 

I think I am going to show you guys how'd I incorporate my friends' gifts into my daily ensemble. Best of all, may I enable you to buy something new, try something fun and dress up PRETTIER everyday! ^^


# DH picks Max Mara black Clog for this look. 
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The gunmetal Paige black label jacket is gifted from Cathy! 


DH loves the jacket and he even wants one for himself...too bad he can't wear it as there has gathered waist details at the back. 

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This is a purple faux fur hat from Betsy Johnson from past season... dyed fur is so fun in A/W 2010. 

# Abby insists me on wearing Nicolas Kirkwood suede peep-toe heels instead. Honestly, I like this pair goes w/ my outfit better! Good job, Abby!! 

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My ODJ. 


You have seem them all..... except
Hermes Croc belt, Paige black label jacket and dyed rabbit fur scarf!


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This (rabbit) fur scarf is gifted from Yu.
I love this purple navy and fun pom pom scarf... should I wear that faux fur hat w/ this pom pom scarf altogether?!!!  Go figure~~




Have a good evening. 
xoxo Rachel



Gucci Guilty

In September Gucci are launching a new fragrance - Gucci Guilty.
Gucci has put together a fantastic Hollywood team, including Evan Rachel Wood, who sizzles in the ad campaign, and Sin City director Frank Miller to create a special promotional clip for the launch.


This film will be shown at the MTV VMAs and Gucci are giving you a chance to get involved by giving you the chance to win VIP tickets to the awards!! This fabulous prize includes business class tickets to LA, a luxury shopping experience at the Gucci boutique on Rodeo Drive and a limousine ride to the VMAs where your VIP tickets will give you the opportunity to meet Evan Rachel Wood!

To enter just got to www.facebook.com/Gucci, but hurry as the competition ends on the 27th of August.

Honeymoon Pics Part 1: Kuala Lumpur

I won't bore you guys with every single pic we took on honeymoon (there WERE alot!) but I will post a selection of the best ones and talk a bit about what we did (not THAT kind of stuff! You lot have dirty minds!).

First stop on the honeymoon merry-go-round was Kuala Lumpur.  We were both really tired after the 12 hour flight but we were so excited to land and have a look around.  We stayed in the Shangri La in the city centre, it was very opulent and the staff were so friendly! It took a while to get used to being treated like a V.I.P and I kept feeling guilty about everyone running around after me.  We quickly realised that everything is pretty cheap in Malaysia so we went to town on romantic meals and treating ourselves to some shopping! Here's a quick look at our hotel...
Before we did anything, we both had a full body massage to try and sort out our swollen legs and ankles after the long flight.  It was heaven! Then one of the first things we saw was the KLCC Shopping Mall which had just about every shop you could wish for...Chanel, Jimmy Choo, Burberry, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, etc!
I was in makeup shopping heaven...
Next up was the famous Petronas Towers...
We popped along to the Chinese market and Chris was brave enough to try a 'fish pedicure'.  Basically it's a tank full of small fish that eat the dead skin from your feet...gross! They were waiting in anticipation for Chris to put his feet in, opening and closing their mouths...that was enough to put me off! Chris was wriggling around and said it tickled at first but then it became really relaxing...I'll take his word for it!
We also had a look around a bird park and met some new friends...
All the birds seemed pretty intelligent and were chattering away. The Hornbill on our laps was so funny, he was really chilled out and acted like a dog - he was quite happy being shown lots of attention.  I was a bit nervous of the big grey parrot on my shoulder though...I'm sure he was eyeing up my ear for lunch!
Here's the view of the Petronas Towers from our hotel room at night...
On our last day, we headed out of the city to see the Batu Caves, which is a Hindu temple and place of worship.  That day was a scorcher!...
It was a bit of a slog to get to the top in the baking heat...
I couldn't believe the amount of monkeys hanging around the place and they were so used to humans.  Often they would try and take food from your hands so I was keeping my ice cream close by!  Nothing was coming between me and my strawberry Cornetto!!!
All the walking around that day was a bit too much for Chris though...
We did loads of stuff in Kuala Lumpur but we'd be here day if I posted all of our photographs! We also went to a beautiful butterfly park, went up the KL tower, visited the palace and went to Chinatown. We really enjoyed our time there and I really felt like I learnt alot about the culture and history.  The thing I was most impressed about was the fact that there are so many different races and religions there but the people live in harmony with one another.  Everyone mixes together in everyday life and there doesn't seem to be any animosity.  There's not many places in the world that can say that. 

Friday September 10th Los Angeles Celebrates Fashion's Night Out: Nick Verreos Films a PSA and "Unveils" T-Shirt!


City of Angels Fashion's Night Out: Shopping, Fashion Shows and Much More...

Fashion's Night Out L.A. Winning T-shirt Designer, FIDM Graphic Design student Marc Blaskovits, and Nick Verreos

As many of you fashionistas know, last year was the first installment of Fashion's Night Out, a shop-till-you-drop Retail EXTRAVAGANZA created by Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour. But it was ONLY in NYC. Well, it was a big success and the Fashion's Night Out "bug" caught on and now will be held all over the world and in other major US cities: On Friday, September 10Th, Los Angeles will also have it's very own Fashion's Night Out...

Posing Divas: Marc Blaskovits, Nick Verreos and Cynthia Ruiz

The AMAZING Cynthia Ruiz, City of Los Angeles Board of Public Works Commissioner and President, is the brain-trust of LA's Fashion's Night Out 2010 and she has been working her fitted sheath dress-wearing-self OVERTIME to make sure L.A. BRINGS IT ON!!

T-Shirt Happy: Nick Verreos and FIDM Graphic Design Student Marc Blaskovits pose with the Fashion's Night Out L.A. T-shirt

The "Home Base" will be at the Beverly Center, and at 5PM, will hold it's Opening Ceremony to all the shopping festivities as well as a fashion show featuring the designs from L.A.'s top designers including myself and my line NIKOLAKI. Over 300 stores will be open late--and shuttles will be able to take you from the Beverly Center to all the nearby shopping meccas like Robertson Blvd., Melrose Avenue and West 3rd Street. A Fashion's Night Out L.A. T-shirt Design Contest was also commissioned and the winning designer was Marc Blaskovits, a Graphic Design Student from FIDM.

T-shirt Couture: Nick Verreos--at his Nikolaki Studio--wearing the winning Fashion's Night Out L.A. t-shirt designed by FIDM student Marc Blaskovits

Last week, Cynthia asked me to film a Public Service Announcement for Fashion's Night Out City of LA, and of course I said SI! We filmed it at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising/FIDM (which was perfect since the Winning T-shirt designer is from FIDM-and I'm also an Instructor there). After the filming, I procured an EXCLUSIVE Interview with Marc on what inspired his winning design. I'll put up the PSA I filmed when it's done and edited but for now...

Click BELOW for my Exclusive Interview with the Winner of the Fashion's Night Out LA T-shirt Design Contest:


*The T-shirt is FOR SALE at the FIDM Store at the FIDM Campus, 919 South Grand Avenue, L.A. 90015

*For more on Fashion's Night Out L.A. Events, click HERE

My Wedding Day Makeup

I did alot of research into wedding makeup on the run up to the wedding because I really wanted to find someone who was very skilled and someone who would listen to what I wanted .  After alot of consideration, I decided on Eyecandy - a makeup team run by Lynne Mills (who trained privately with top celebrity makeup artist, Elaine Jones) in Edinburgh, Lothians, Fife, Perthshire and Glasgow areas.  Lynne Mills is also a Beauty Expert who is often called upon by brands such as Lancome, Chanel & L'Oreal to review their products.  Eyecandy makeup artists only use top quality brands like Mac, Benefit, Bobbi Brown but to name a few.  Lynne assigned a wonderful makeup artist, Suzanne, to do my makeup for my big day...
I really couldn't have hoped for a more lovely, warm and friendly person to take care of my makeup for the day.  Not only is Suzanne a lovely person, but she is also a fantastic makeup artist.  As you guys already know, I had decided in advance to do my own base for the wedding makeup i.e. my primer, foundation and concealer.  This is not to say that I didn't trust Suzanne to do a good job, I'm just a perfectionist so I am slightly OCD about my skin.  I wanted to give you guys an overview of exactly what was used on the day to create the overall look (these pics are just low-quality scans of the wedding proofs as we don't have the electronic copies yet so please excuse the grainy look of them):
Primer: Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Base
Foundation: Estee Lauder Double Wear in Fresco
Concealer: Estee Lauder Maximum Cover in Medium

Here's Suzanne's take on what she used:
"Eyelure's Individual lashes. The application takes practice but once the technique is mastered these take ten minutes to put on and create fuller, natural looking lashes which last up to a few weeks".  You can get these from Boots for around £5.  The great thing about the combination pack is that it gives you the option of short, medium or long lashes.  They lasted for the 4 weeks as promised so I had them for my honeymoon too.  The photographer commented on how natural these looked too.
"After the eyelashes were all applied I used Benefit's eyebrow kit, 'Brow Zings' to shade and set the eyebrows. This helps create the perfect frame for the eye".
"I then started the eyes by applying Urban Decay's Eyeshadow Primer Potion to ensure the eyeshadow and liner last all day and to avoid 'creasing'".

"I kept your eyes neutral and natural by using a 5 Couleurs Dior Palette in 705 'Beige Massai'. Using MAC brush 239 Eye Shader, I swept the lightest cream shade over the lid to keep your eyes looking wide, and using MAC brush 217 Blending Brush I lightly worked the tan eyeshadow into the socket line to add depth and make your blue eyes pop".
 "I then added a little of Urban Decay's eyeshadow "Sellout" to illuminte just the inside corners of your eyes. The shimmery touch was perfect with the champagne in your dress".
"Once the eyeshadow was finished, I used Estee Lauder Double Wear Eyeliner to add a touch of hollywood glamour and ensure your eyes were well defined for the wedding photographs. It promises 15 hours of staying power so is perfect to last the whole day".
"The individual lashes are usually enough on their own without mascara, but because your lashes are fair I wiggled some waterproof Dior mascara in Diorshow Iconic Extreme into the roots to ensure the lashes blended together and to add a little lift to the roots".
"With the eyes finished, I then applied a little Bourjois Delice de Poudre Bronzing Powder underneath your cheekbones - extending it just an inch or two down from your ears to add contouring to your face".
"I used MAC's 116 Blusher Blush to add Dior's peach blush from their Flight Palette in 001 Peachy Adventure to the apples of your cheeks".

"I illuminated the areas you'd like the light to hit with Benefit High Beam - the top of the cheekbones to emphasise them and under the brow arch. This creates a dewy look, which prevents a long-wear powder from making you look too matte".
"Finally, I swept MAC's Blot Powder over your face. The Blot Powder works to absorb any oils, reduce shine and set the foundation, keeping it fresh for the day".
Suzanne finished off by using a peachy pink coloured lipstick topped off with Korres Pomegranate Lip Butter which added a lovely hint of colour to stop the makeup looking too washed out.
My makeup lasted all day and I was so thrilled at how it turned out in the photographs.  It was the perfect mix of natural and glamourous.  Suzanne also did the makeup for all my bridesmaids and also for my mum.  She is the type of person who makes you feel instantly at ease and you end up feeling like you've known her for ages.  The Eyecandy beauticians, Evey and Brenda who provided the pampering for the night before the wedding were fantastic as well and made sure we had pretty hands and feet and eased away any nerves with amazing massages.

Lynne Mills, the owner of Eyecandy has been a pleasure to deal with from the outset and if you are looking for a highly professional and super friendly team to make you look beautiful on your wedding day or for any other special occasion, then I can't recommend Eyecandy highly enough.  They played a big part in making my wedding day amazing.
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