Sweet Encounter w/ Prabal Gurung!

Today we girls meet together at NM so I can personally convey my admire to the designer, Prabal Gurung! ^^

Yu, the designer: Prabal Gurung and Me! ....grr, my hair....


I couldn't remember exactly what I had said to him, except for the answer (SHOPBOP) I gave him when he asked me where did I get that black sheer cut-out shirt.




The black sheer top is from the designer s/s 2010!
 

Love those crisscross heels.... 

You know, I laid my eyes on the deep V neck black n' white dress... it is actually leather paved pebble-looking patchwork on a mesh. 
Sexy and gorgeous~~  

As you see, the length of the skirt at current trend is getting longer and longer. I am glad that I did't wear a mini skirt in front of my beloved designer. ^^

Anne Fontaine sleeveless w/ leopard cuff-link white shirt , Silver embroidery crochet, Agnes' b full skirt w/ asymmetrical cut (longer and triangle shaped in the center), Lanvin happy leopard sac, gray sheer felt socks, Chanel two tone pumps, Barton perreira cat eye sunglasses. 

Count down our trip to London~~

Where do you celebrate your Thanks-giving?

Have fun, no matter what!

xoxo Rachel 

Could This Be The Answer To Voluminous Hair???

Because I have very fine hair, I'm always on the look out for products or appliances that can offer a helping hand to make my hair look full and lustrous.  I spotted an advert for the first time on TV today for the Babyliss Root Boost...it's an ingenious device that crimps your hair JUST at the roots to create all the volume of back-combing without the frizz or tangled hair!  How amazing does that sound!? I would never have thought of crimping my roots to create volume but it sounds like the perfect way to boost your hair in a quick and easy manner.  I'm not sure how long this product has been around for but I've certainly never seen it before.

Apparently the Root Boost has three heat settings depending on the thickness of your hair, it heats up to 200oC and has the all important auto shut off.  I think we have all experienced the panicky feeling when we head out..."did I switch off my hair straighteners????".  The Babyliss Root Boost is priced at around £29.99 which I think is a decent amount of money if it can live up to it's claims.

On checking reviews, it seems to have had a great write up with girls saying that you can straighten your hair to create super smoothness and shine, then use the Root Boost to create the volume you need to stop your hair falling flat...sounds pretty darn perfecto to me!

I am really tempted to go out and get me some va-va-volume but I thought I would check on here first to see if anyone had tried it out already? If so, gimme all the deets! I am dying to know if it works because it could be the answer to my hair prayers!

Miss Venezuela 2010: The Evening Gown Wrap-Up: Nick Verreos Picks the "Muy Bueno" and "Oh No!"

Venezuela's Queen of Beauty Is...

Vanessa Goncalves, "Miss Miranda". 5'9", 24 year old Vanessa was crowned last week in a four hour ceremony that for the first time was held in oil-rich Maracaibo, Venezuela. The Miss Venezuela Pageant is famous for being "The International Beauty Factory" since they have had so many Miss Universes (TWO back to back in 2008 and 2009 with Dayana Mendoza and Stefania Fernandez), Miss Worlds, Miss Internationals, and so on.

Pre-Blond: Brunette Vanessa Goncalves, the new Miss Venezuela 2010

I grew up in Caracas, Venezuela and my sister Rita,was a contestant in Miss Venezuela 1988 so I have been a fan of the pageant, well, since "back in the day"! I know all the in's and out's of the pageant (my sis gave me all the dish!) . But many people already know that the pageant is ruled with a firm hand by "Beauty Pageant Czar" Osmel Sousa.

Pre-tan: The new Miss Venezuela 2010, Vanessa Goncalves

He chooses the women to compete each year via castings and then "gives" them the State they will represent so most of the time, the girls do not even hail from the state/region they are representing (there are one or two state contests that then send their winner to the Miss Venezuela). They go through an intense one year training program; there's an in-house Plastic Surgeon, a Dentist, as well as runway and voice coaches. It's SERIOUS!!! It is widely rumored that Sousa also chooses months ahead--if not one year --who the winner will be. He also chooses the gowns that each of "his girls" will wear.

In Their Thrones: Miss Venezuela for Miss Universe 2011 (left) and Miss Venezuela for Miss World 2011 (right)

The Miss Venezuela Pageant has always been famous for its gowns--be it over-the-Haute Couture to over-the-top tacky. But no "Happy Medium", just over the top. And this year, there was no shortage of both. It's a safe bet that whichever girl is wearing the "best gown" will probably win; it's not an accident. I just feel bad for the girls that get the "Oh what the heck is that?" gowns! They MUST know that, well, this ain't their year darling...

Now onto the Miss Venezuela 2010 Evening Gowns:

Blue Queen: One of the best gowns was worn was by The Winner (of course), Vanessa Goncalves, a baby blue silk Habotai multi-layered gown with coral sequin detail and high side slit (of course!) by Designer Gionni Straccia, who has designed the winning gowns for various Miss Venezuela's at the Miss Universe.

The jeweled detail is his "thing" and can also be seen on the gown Stefania Fernandez wore when she won Miss Universe 2009 as well as...

Miss Oklahoma USA 2010 Morgan Elizabeth Woolard, who was First Runner to Miss USA 2010 earlier this year, in this gown by Gionni Straccia.

1984 Overskirt: Miss Amazonas Ivian Sarcos was crowned Miss World Venezuela (First Runner Up) in this silver-gray strapless fitted gown with attached over-skirt by Rex Fabrics Miami (?). The base gown was fine by itself and didn't need that over-skirt but after all, it is the Miss Venezuela, and we must always take it, FIVE steps further. It's a little 1984 for me, but I still somehow liked it! (1984 was a good "Gown Year" I hear!).

It also reminded me of this fuchsia gown worn by Jacqueline Aguilera (from Venezuela of course!), when she was crowned Miss World 1995, which also featured this similar over-skirt silhouette. But again, this was 1995. That's FIFTEEN years ago!

Here's My Leg: My favorite of the entire night--gown and girl--was Miss Monagas--the exotically beautiful Angela Ruiz. She is SO Mestiza Filipina GORGEOUS!!! Pageant fans on the world-wide web argued that maybe she was "too exotic" to win the Miss Venezuela title.

Her blue-green one shoulder gown by Rafael Cennamo was Red Carpet Ready--I could totally see an A-List actress wear this at the Academy Awards--and I could still see her wear it at Miss Universe. Alas, she isn't going. She did make it to the Top 5 at least. How she didn't win is beyond me. Another favorite (gown) of mine was...

Miss Nueva Esparta Melanie Reza Feliz (who was a semi-finalist of course: Hello, pretty gown=Finalist!) in this bubblegum pink column gown with silver details. I'm a sucker for Bubblegum Pink...but NOT this Bubblegum Pink:

Now the Not-So-Bueno: Oh Dear! Miss Sucre Ariana Kuper Osorio sauntered onto the Miss Venezuela 2010 stage in this dress and it was just all about a mess! Needless to say, poor thang didn't even make the Semi-Finals. This silk gazar gown features a lot of Couture-worthy draping, folding and pleating...but maybe TOO MUCH! It was overwhelming and yes, she should have known when she got this dress that possibly she wasn't going to "make the cut".

Red Carpet Not: Another beauty who was "Gown-ill-advised" was Miss Cojedes Eliana Calicchia Arcila. Although in this photo, it doesn't look so bad but trust me kids, it wasn't good! She could barely walk in it (not a good sign) and looked like Big Bird after she got caught in a wind storm. In case you're wondering, yeah, she didn't make the top ten. I bet she doesn't even get to keep the gown (why would you want it?). But there was worse:

It's a Jumpsuit...No, It's A Gown: Miss Dependencias Federales Axel Lopez Aldana takes the "Miss Drag Queen Venezuela Gown Prize", for this concoction that I'm sure every Gay in the room was SCREAMING for (and not in a good way!). I give the designer and her "Nick V. Points" for being SO Camp--and the audacity of her to actually wear it--but seriously: What was she thinking? This is Miss Venezuela for the Miss Universe, not Miss Hot Stripper in Vegas.

See, this is why I LOVE the Miss Venezuela and the gowns! Until next year!

Places to dine at London!!!

1).Traditional English food: "The Rules"  ( Oldest restaurant in London) : traditional english food.... like kidney pies and such :) reservations needed!

http://www.rules.co.uk/

2). Breakfast at LONDON, check out "Le Pain Quotidien". One at Kings Road and Kensington High Street.

3).French ( Great for a snazzy lunch) : "La Petit Maison" in Mayfair ....... reservation is needed.

http://www.lpmlondon.co.uk/

4).Best Fish and Chips ( Good for lunch): "The Rock & Sole Plaice" in Covent Garden ..... u might have to wait if you go during lunch rush hour, best to go early or a little after lunch hour... coz it's popular...

http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/rock-and-sole-plaice-london

5a). Another good place to have lunch in Harrods is "Mo's Diner" - American style diner.  It is not a typical American diner, but rather very refined and has a nice salad menu.


5b). Koya in Frith Street does really good handmade udon noodles!

6). An Italian restaurant called "Signor Sassi".  Wonderful and rich Italian food!  Natalia Vodianova called it her favorite London restaurant in one of the editions of Russian Vogue. Reservation is a must, especially on weekends.  You can have a nice walk in Hyde Park right after your meal, very convenient.

7). Indian: ( Great for dinner) : "Chor Bizzare" in Mayfair ( in Bond Street area, high style branded shops :)) reservation is recommended as this place is popular.

http://www.chorbizarrerestaurant.com/

8).  "Wolseley" restaurant. (located 5 minute walk away from the Green Park station).   They serve breakfast, brunch and dinner.   Love their eggs benedicte!  Reservation is a must, even during the week. 

9). "Morelli's Gelato". For a sweet treat of Ice Cream...under 55 degree F in London??... haha... Let's see if we can take it any cooler when we are in London!

10). "Laduree" - best macaroons in the world!  They have 2 branches:  a tiny store inside the Burlington Arcade (at Green Park), and a wonderful Laduree tea room inside Harrods.  If you have time, check out the stores in Burlington Arcade, very traditional and very British, lots of beautiful and expensive vintage jewelry.

11). "Rasa Sayang" ( Singaporean restaurant) in Chinatown. 

12). Last but not the least..... to comfort our home-sick craving of Chinese food : best roast duck in town!! "FOUR SEASONS" , they have a few locations..

http://www.fs-restaurants.co.uk/ or "Gold MINE" according to another one of my fellow reader! (Thank you!) 

Thanks to my friend Alice Hadiwibowo and Mona P. who gave me those 
invaluable information of restaurants in London  that 
now I have a great solution for my whole family...... 
feed them so I can SHOP TIL' I DROP!! lol. 

So you can see that most of places need a reservation. I have to keep that in mind then!


Now I only need to find restaurants for our ITALY trip.... hum..should be easy.. pasta and pizza all the way~~

See you later. 

xoxo Rachel 

Anna Dello Russo

Dior Lip Products For A Natural Defined Look

There's something about Dior lip products that gets me all excited, especially the Diorific High Fashion Lipsticks.  I mean, this could have something to do with the super luxe, glamourous packaging...

But mostly, it's to do with the great formula that feels so comfortable on my lips.  Alot of lipsticks can be drying, which can be exacerbated by the cold weather of these winter months.  Believe me, my By Terry Rose De Baume and Korres Guava Lip Butter have been my best friends of late to ensure my mouth doesn't become parched and flaky...not a good look!  I have been slathering these on like there's no tomorrow!

The Diorific High Fashion Lipstick in Soft Rap Tan is a slightly darker nude than the ones I normally wear such as Estee Lauder's Pure Color Lipstick in Vanilla Truffle.  However, sometimes I feel like wearing a slightly darker nude as it works better with eyeshadow shades that would normally wash you out if worn with a pale lip.

The Diorific High Fashion Lipstick shades have some amazing vivid, bold colours like Roulette Red or Dolce Vita Red that would be gorgeous used as part of the Pin Up look in my previous post.  This lipstick is very long lasting too, it was a good 6 hours before I had to re-apply, which is a good performance in my opinion.

I have owned a couple of Dior Addict glosses in my time and they have to be up there with the best lip glosses I have ever tried.  First off, the packaging is gorgeous AND practical with a high quality brush applicator that doesn't splay out over time.  The formulation of this Dior Addict Ultra Gloss is just divine and has been created with "the Spotlight Shine complex, a blend of glass microbeads coated in a crystalline elixir".  This lipgloss is apparently designed to be ultra shiny and impart a volumising effect to lips.  The shade shown above, Satin Peach, is just gorgeous and right up my street...a soft peachy pink with shimmer so tiny, it's not visible on the lips.  I love these kind of glosses for the daytime because you don't want chunky glitter or anything too 'holographic' when you're trying to look effortlessly natural!  You can see from the example pic below that there isn't even a hint of glitter...

This gloss feels like heaven once applied because there's no grittiness, no sticky feeling and no residue that lies in the area where your lips meet.  No one wants that scum build up on their lips! The formulation is also really light so you don't even feel like you're wearing a gloss, it feels more like a liquid balm.  It didn't dry out my lips and I only have good things to say about it!

Have you tried these lip products? Which is your favourite lipstick/gloss of the moment?

And just for fun, here's a pic of my mum and dad's two Golden Retrievers, Hamish & Findlay.  I just got back from a few days at home and although they stay at my parent's place, I still think of them as my dogs as well, since I lived with them as they were growing up.  They are both so well behaved but they can both be lunatics sometimes!

They are brothers so they are happiest when they're together and they often sleep like this! So cute!  I can't imagine a life without dogs...I can't wait until me and Chris can get a couple of dogs of our own!