Beauty | Fading & thoughts on living out of town

Living away from the city has been interesting, I’m adapting to new things, finding homely cafes and turning spare time into newly found hobbies such as surfing which is all I think about now. Life is different but good.

Being a city girl at heart, making the move wasn’t easy  though it was an inevitable thing to do with my significant other living away. There aren’t many cafes, or shops. The main stretch is pretty eerie on a Sunday morning with most shops closed. This takes your eyes  and mind away from the materialistic ways of living in an urban town. If you miss it too much the big city is only 2 hours away. You get the best of both worlds.

I’ve taken a quick snap from today. Had a pretty eventful weekend getting amongst it in the surf, making the most of the tail end of summer.

Michelle

 

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I’m wearing: Benefit Hello Flawless Foundation, MAC Bronze eyeshadow, Kate by Kanebo Eyeshadow Palette (in brown), Dolly Wink Eyebrow Pencil, La Rose De Versailles eyeliner, Benefit They’re Real Mascara with MAC’s Prep and Prime lash primer underneath, Karen Murrell Cordovan Lipstick

 

Beauty | Popping

I have been a wee bit quiet lately, I have been busy behind the scenes shooting weddings, getting amongst some awesome hair competitions which we are in the finals of (photos will be posted a little later).

Anyway, that’s all done and dusted for now.

I was given this popping bright lipstick recently. I love this gorgeous fushia pink. It has officially been my go to colour for a since I have had lighter hair. I am absolutely loving the pinks this summer, I have been wearing scarlet for a while over winter but I think it’s time to flick over to something a bit more daring and fun.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Karen Murrell lipsticks I have a full review of them here. In a nut shell, her lipsticks are all natural, great for the lips, nourishing and highly pigmented. I am hooked on to her lipsticks now and have hardly touched any others since.

Here’s a little look I did last week after going into see Brad at French Revolver Studio to get my new chocolate caramel colour which I adore.

Michelle

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Featuring: Karen Murrell Fushia Shock Lipstick

Review | INIKA Mineral Bronzer

Summer’s just right around the corner, we can smell and feel it in the air. I am loving this new INIKA Mineral Bronzer that I was given to review a few weeks ago. This bronzer delivers a sun-kissed glow that looks and feels natural. A little powder goes a long way.

I believe this product would be a perfect choice for those of you with sensitive or acne prone skin.

Best applied with INIKA’s Kabuki Brush which is 100% certified vegan and 100% certified cruelty free you can’t get better than that. The brush is perfect for blending in mineral powders. The brush head feels soft and silky.

The mineral bronzers come in 4 different shades to suit different skin tones.

Price Factor: 5/5

It’s about $49.99 for the bronzer which is about the same as what you would pay for a M.A.C one but way less than something made by say Dior or Chanel. There’s a substantial amount of powder in the pot. And to top that off no nasties which is what we like!

In a nut shell:

If you’re after a top up on your bronzer, I’d give INIKA’s Mineral Bronzer a go. It delivers a natural glow after application and most of all it’s easy and not messy to use.

Michelle 

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Beauty | Dreaming in Colour

Dreaming in Colour
Photography: Michelle Alisa Photography
MUA: Sam Hart
Model: Sophia Cronqvist

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Review | The Chanel Experience

Apologies for the lack of posts in the last few weeks. I have been super bogged down with numerous things. Don’t get me wrong there are great things happening down the pipeline that’s yet to be revealed to everyone.

Lucky I managed to squeeze in a Chanel pampering session to just relax and switch off my brain for about an hour.

I am always in line for these Chanel facials. I love their products , use them daily and these facials and make overs allow you to try products that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to try.

The process:

I was greeted by the bubbly and professional beauty therapist. We went through my previous purchases and the products I use daily, my main concerns and the types of products I would be interested in today. I believe the initial consultation is so important for any treatments because they really need to find out what you want so they can tailor the products and techniques used to your concerns. Even though it wasn’t my first time getting Chanel products or their facials, based on looking at my products that I bought a year ago wouldn’t give an accurate indication of what I would want today.

My main concern as a 23 year old woman would be first signs of aging. I am thankful that I have been blessed with good skin and have been taught from young to look after it.              I believe that prevention is key to healthy, glowing skin and preventing aging.

The facial started off with a light cleanse with their Lait Comfort which is a cleansing milk. Followed by application of the Lotion Doceur toner. This left my skin feeling soft and fresh.

She applied the Grommage Microperle Eclat which is their exfoliating scrub. The one thing that I probably don’t do enough of is exfoliating. I somehow don’t seem to remember to fit in these intermittent things such as exfoliation and masques. You are suppose to exfoliate about twice weekly even if your skin isn’t oily. Exfoliation helps to get rid of all the dead skin cells that accumulate on the surface which allows better penetration of the products. The grommage is a beautiful product, it consists of crushed pearls as the exfoliating agent. It’s gel cream texture allows smooth application. I will be doing a more thorough review on this product a little later on.

She then followed on with a masque and a massage. The masque that was used was the Hydramax + Active Masque with the main purpose of hydrating the skin. While the masque was settling into the skin , the therapist did an exquisite hand massage. I have had many facials in the past, most therapists take a break and come back in 10 minutes when the masque is setting so I think taking the opportunity to do a hand massage just gives that extra touch.

After the cleansing the masque off, she reapplied the Lotion Doceur and used the Ultra Correction Line Repair Concentrate. I was looking to purchase a serum that had more age prevention properties. I personally didn’t think this is the right serum for me because it does have powerful anti-wrinkle and plumping properties more suited to mature skin and I’m at more the preventing wrinkle stage. I believe Chanel like many other skin care brands lack a complete First Signs of Aging line. It is understandable, there is a small market for these products, your target market would the 20s- 25s who have ample of brands to choose from and to create such products for a small group may not provide great return.

She then finally applied the Beaute Initiale Energizing Multi-Protection Eye Gel and the Hydra Beauty Creme as the moisturiser. Chanel facials often consists of a series of techniques such as pinching and tapping the skin to assist the penetration of products and improve blood flow.

Following from the facial they did a complete make over. It was your choice whether or not you wanted just a natural everyday look or something for the evening.

Overall, it was a wonderful experience as it always is. Chanel never fails to exceed my expectations. The facial cost ($70) was redeemable on product purchase. I decided to buy the Grommage to break my bad non exfoliating habit.

For some of my other Chanel Reviews see below:

• Mousse Doceur (Cleanser) 
• Beaute Initiale Nano Lotion (Toner)
• Hydra Beauty Serum
• Hydra Beauty Creme (Moisturiser)

Review on the Grommage coming soon.

Michelle

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Shoot for French Revolver | Q&A-Hair Modeling Work

A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to be invited back for another photoshoot with the French Revolver Studio. It is for a hair competition and we’re still waiting for the actual photos that were taken on the day. I have had a few queries about hair modeling from some readers so I’ll just answer them below.

I walked into the salon with an open mind and had no idea what they were going to do to my hair and also agreed to whatever they said they were going to do. What I think is that hairdressers know what they are doing, they would never make your hair look ugly or make it so that it doesn’t suit you (well especially in this case as it is a hair competition to show off the hairdresser’s style and technique). It’s like if you go see a medical doctor you wouldn’t argue with their diagnosis because they know more than you do.

I have been a hair model on and off for about 3 years now and it’s just awesome what opportunities that these jobs bring and the wonderful people you meet. If you ever get the opportunity to do something like this, take it. Yea it might be a bit scary to begin with if you are getting your long locks chopped to shoulder length, but hair grows back.

Perks of the job

Free cuts, colour, treatment (I even got the Keratin treatment done for nothing (review coming shortly)) and products.

Height issue: 

The other thing about hair modeling work is that it often suits those for fall short of the fashion model requirement. As often with photos they are only mid shots or face shots. At 163cm, I wouldn’t be booked for fashion jobs. As the hairdressers really want to showcase the hair, they will often overlook the height factor in some cases, I have done 2 relatively big named catwalk shows including one for KMS as part of the NZ fashion week and one for The Long Lunch for the opening of Ponsonby Central and I would have never dreamt of doing anything of the like.

I hope that answers most of the questions, feel free to comment or email me (fishingforfashion@live.com) if you want more information.

Michelle

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Review | Best online shops 2012

Having been back into reality for a week , it’s not unusual to feel a bit down. Getting straight back into the working life and wondering when and where my next trip will be. On the upside to keep myself occupied I have been browsing several online shops daily and have been shopping.

As promised, here is my compilation of my favourite online shops from last year. For all my international readers, you probably wonder about my fascination for online shopping and my lack of reviews for shops in NZ. New Zealand being far far away from the rest of the world, I constantly have to rely on internet shopping as many brands do not exist here. Not to mention the ridiculous retail prices here (which in my opinion cannot solely be justified by freight). One example is cosmetics , say a MAC lipstick is $16 USD but for us it’s about $40 NZD , which is about double the cost in the US and that is just the beginning.

Here is my list of my favourite online stores in 2012, I have bought items from all these sites and can assure you they are reliable.

Gilt.com – for work wear, designer items, shoes, lifestyle items. 

Gilt offers reasonable shipping and great quality items. Read my review on Gilt.com here

• Riverisland.com – casual wear
• Nastygal.com – casual wear, shoes – particularly Jeffrey Campbell
• ASOS.com – for everything
• Topshop.com – casual wear, shoes
• Urbanoutfitters.com – footwear, casual wear
• Beautybay.com – cosmetics, hair care
• Tobi.com – casual wear

I decided to give Tobi.com a go, they slash their prices daily with their 40% new items and plus 50% off first purchase code, it’s hard to give it a miss. I have been contemplating whether or not to get items from there for a while as I wasn’t 100% certain of the quality of the items, some of them look borderline ebay-like. But I was pleseantly surprised when I received my package. The only down side is their sizing is very limited from S – L , I am usually an XS (or size 6 NZ/ 4-6 UK ) so a few of the items are a bit big for my size. I wouldn’t purchase trousers from them as it’s likely they would be more of a size 7-8 fit.

In terms of shipping, it is free if you spend over 150 USD. I didn’t buy quite that much, I think my order totaled to about $130 USD. I could have picked a few other things to make it up to free shipping but I am always unsure as to whether or not I’d get charged customs tax if I go over $150 so I didn’t risk it. Shipping is only 9.95 USD if you spend under 150 anyway so I didn’t have much to lose. It took around 3 weeks to arrive (including packing time and also bare in mind it’s the Christmas season).

I also got several items from River Island, they had a free delivery offer in November. The parcel didn’t come for ages as it was the Christmas season so I’m just glad I got it in the end.

Bought a lot of beauty items this month as well, so I have more reviews to come!

Michelle

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Tobi.com & Riverisland.com buys and other boxing day shopping

Make up goodies bought in Jan, reviews to come

Editorial | Come out to play

I’ve been doing a few shoots this week as I have had half the week off. Have been trying to get more practice to step up my game a bit. I have been so lazy the past year in doing shoots, it often takes a lot of planning and time to gather everyone who wants to be involved. But what I’ve realised is that spontaneous shoots also work out well too.

More shoots to come this week! Shooting one and being in another, how exciting! Busy week here we come!

Michelle

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Photography: Michelle Chan
Makeup/Hair: Hairball Alley
Styling: Rilee Nepia-Owens
Model: Samantha Amelia

Make up | YSL Barbie look

I have recently done a few shoots and shows. Have snapped up a few pictures here and there of the make up close up. I tried to pay close attention to the range of products the make up artists used on set but it’s really the technique that creates the look and finish rather than just the product.

It’s common knowledge that Asian faces are harder to draw on, our features are different and often requires different contouring. As a result of that you often see Asian people with lighter make up as they don’t know or don’t think they can pull off darker looks.

This is not necessarily true and I have had this barbie look for a show that I did and although it’s not everyone’s cup of tea for everyday make up it is definitely a do-able look on Asian skin.

Eyes:

• Using the lighter colour on the lid and darker colour on the crease to define the crease. Asian eye lids are naturally quite shallow so by making it darker it accentuates it a bit more. Make sure you make the outer corners of the eyelid darker this accentuates the eye.
• Add a colour that is slightly lighter in the inner corners of the eyes to open up the eye.
• Highlight the eyebrow by using a lighter colour just on the ridge of the eyebrow. This gives the face a more 3D look as Asians often have slightly flatter bone features.

Face:

(I personally do very limited contouring on the face, so here is a very dummy version of what I would do.)

• Using a contouring kit or bronzer, darken areas that you want to hide to bring out other features. What I mean by that is for example if you darken just underneath the cheekbones , you will accentuate your actual cheekbones. You can also do a bit of contouring around the nose to make it appear slightly more narrow.

Lips:

Use lip liner underneath to boost colour and stay. Lip liner is essential when you want to use bright lip colour. It’s so easy to put on bright lipstick with a trace of where you are going to put the colour. Applying lipliner underneath the lipstick will help the lipstick to stay on  a lot better.

Products used for this look:

Eyes:5 Colour Harmony For Eyes (Riveriera), Pure Chromatics (#3), Eyeliner Noir

Lips: Rouge Pur Couture (Rouge Eros) , Lipliner (Wine)

 

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Dolled up

This week has been really busy, I don’t think I’ve had a free week since forever. I probably start with this line for every post I do on here! Sorry!
Had an amazing hair shoot for the French Revolver studio for a hair competition. My hair remained more or less the same except they put in these cool toned silvery grey layer just underneath my top layer of hair so it shines through in the light.
Make up was cool, with heavily lined eyes and brows, contouring and bright orange lips.
Can’t wait to show you guys the final picture that they chose to submit.

I haven’t been buying much lately, I have been drowned in all this extra stuff that I am doing. But I am waiting for a package to come from River Island. I had to make use of the free shipping that they offered during thanksgiving. I was tempted to buy stuff of Nasty Gal with their 25% off everything sale, but I resisted. I am now on a hunt for more work attire, my wardrobe completely lacks clothes that are suitable for work.

I am super stoked that I have been offered a full time job as well. It hasn’t been a joy ride to say the least for newly graduated pharmacists to find work in Auckland. The most annoying thing is that you have to work for 5 years and even after that finding a job is pretty difficult. I just can’t comprehend that. I have been worrying for months about the prospect of trying to look for work and dreading the vast amount of free time I’ll be having and how to fill it in. But all things worked out in the end.

I will be continuing reviews soon I promise, have several things in my bathroom shelf that I am dying to review.

What I am wearing: Forever New dress, Jeffrey Campbell Litas.