Cometh summer, cometh turquoise. I’m actually obsessed with turquoise all of the time anyway (see here for proof), yet as soon as the sun starts shining, my world turns totally aqua – so Deborah Lippmann’s Just Dance, part of her Holiday 2011 Dance Music mini trio set, seemed perfect for my turquoise turn!
A mixture of small round teal glitter and larger cyan blue glitter in a very sheer blue jelly base (I think there will be quite a lot of searching for synonyms for the word turquoise in this post!), for me, this is one of the less special Lippmann polishes. There’s no doubting the sheer dazzling intensity of this much teal set at sparkles o’ clock, but the fact that there isn’t much difference in colour between the glitters makes it less interesting than your typical Lippmann glitter (which often contract the base shade with the glitters, or use a mix of different glitter colours).
I found Just Dance quite glue-y and not great to work with… and of course, it’s hell to clean off (do I need to even point that out in glitter polish reviews any more?!).
The end result is a solid multi-faceted wall of teal glitter that sparkles, spangles and shimmers from every angle – like an old-school Hollywood sequin sheath dress, just on the nail. It’s a bright bedazzling blingy mermaid’s tail but, in the main scheme of Lippmann polishes, falls that little bit short for me. But it’s turquoise, and for that reason, I still find it kind of irresistible!
Looks good with: party dresses, cocktail dresses, summer dresses… all dresses really! Drying time: <1 min Coats required: 3 Chips: 2-3 days
Deborah Lippmann, Just Dance, Holiday 2011 Dance Music Mini Trio, Joyce Beauty
Yup, you’re getting two reviews for the price of one here! Now you know me… my usual philosophy is why write 100 words when 500 would do… but the reason behind this package deal is that NARS Koliary and Deborah Lippmann On The Beach are basically the same colour. Admittedly, a very gorgeous bright primary ocean blue, but the same colour nonetheless – and I imagine you’d enjoy reading two identical reviews as much as I’d enjoy writing them!
It’s a simple colour, but both brands execute it stunningly. Pure bright creamy mid-tone blue. No turquoise or green or purple hints hiding beneath the surface, no shimmer or glitter or special effects – just straight-up primary blue on a platter. It’s a delicious palate cleanser of a polish and one that always gets me compliments whenever I wear it.
There’s also very little to separate On The Beach and Koliary in terms of formula and wear either. They both boast beautiful buttery formulas that flow perfectly and make application as easy as an ocean breeze. They’re both wonderfully opaque, they both have gorgeously glossy finishes and they last for around a week without chipping. Aaaaah… If only all polishes could be this easy, huh?!
I genuinely can’t choose between them… but you definitely should, because polish collections don’t really need both. Although I find the Lippmann brush a tad easier to hold thanks to the smaller cap, I daresay the NARS had a formula that was just a smidgen better. In Hong Kong, they’re even priced the same. So you’ll have to make the decisions I’m afraid!
Either way, On The Beach or Koliary, this is an essential beautiful ocean blue. It’s summer in a bottle… but don’t mistake this for just a holiday fling – it brings a striking injection of summer any day of the year. I think I just blue myself!
Looks good with: summer, summer, summer! Drying time: <3 mins Coats required: 1-2 Chips: +5 days
Deborah Lippmann On The Beach nail polish, Spring 2012 Collection, $170, Joyce Beauty (I received this product for review on Sassy Hong Kong)
NARS Koliary nail polish, Summer 2012 Thakoon Collection, $170, Lane Crawford
So, in case you live under not just one rock but ten tonnes of them, Abercrombie & Fitch finally opened its first Hong Kong store in the iconic Pedder Building in Central.
At 11am, August 11, 2012, the doors finally opened (signature Fierce cologne filling the air). People queued overnight, lines of not just hundreds but thousands swarmed all the way around Pedder, an MTR exit was closed and police barricades were in effect. Don’t believe me? See the video above!
Living in Nottingham, all I knew of Abercrombie was the LFO song quoted in this blog’s title! Later, I visited the London store – and still didn’t ‘get it’. So dark you could barely see the stock, pumping music, suffocating smell, dancing staff, random half-naked man at the door… whatever. Next, outcry over those pesky Yanks strong-arming the quintessentially HK Shangtai Tang from the quintessentially HK Pedder Building by throwing insane amounts of money at the rent. Then… for ages… nothing. And then the hype machine started.
Kudos to the A&F Marketing Team, for masterminding what will probably be the greatest marketing campaign the HK retail scene ever sees. After months and months of no-one even knowing when Abercrombie would even open, the date was announced alongside the news that they would be flying in 100 #HotGuys (yes, it got its own Twitter hashtag!) from Abercrombie stores all over the world.
I was still blasé about the whole thing. I’m too old for Abercrombie, too old to be affected by topless guys… right? The guys arrived in HK (staying in the W hotel, lucky things), along with dozens of extremely well-made salivating teaser videos and buzz-building media visits, bearing gifts in the form of super toned abs and the 18+ A&F Quarterly. The first official photo-call with the #HotGuys was total carnage, people spilling into the roads, screaming, nearly in tears.
They got their own tour bus, waving, pointing, whooping and partying to the general public. They scattered themselves around HK (Tsim Sha Tsui, Causeway Bay, Elements, even Disneyland) and spread chaos wherever they went (they were eventually banned from Times Square). Twitter became one long Abercrombie-Watch and everywhere I went, conversations always came back to Abercrombie. Meanwhile, I rolled my eyes.
As the Editor of Sassy Hong Kong, I was lucky enough to be invited to the store’s media preview. I’ll be honest, I didn’t even really want to go. But I did – and I am now a total convert. The store is standard Abercrombie – dark, suffocating (but sexy) smell, dancing staff and all – but it’s the whole Abercrombie ethos that I now, finally, understand.
Having a huge four-floor store to share with only 20 other journos was an unreal experience. Intense, overwhelming and kind of awesome. We got to saunter past the masses still snapping pics of the #HotGuys on Pedder’s steps and entered the hallowed doors. First sight – four topless men on the stairs, dancing, smiling and shouting ‘Hey! How’s it going!’
The sense of fun, youth and exuberance is infectious… because the staff ARE all genuinely fun, young and exuberant (as exemplified by their masterly piece of viral marketing, the Call Me Maybe video below). Scouted on the streets, underground, unis and bars for having the Abercrombie look, they wave and smile and dance and are lovely sunny people all day long, and they don’t make it seem like hard work but like the best job in the world. Talking to the mostly teenage A&F Hot Guys, flown over from around the world, in Hong Kong for the first time, being treated like celebs and loving it, it probably is.
As for the clothes… Abercrombie is and always will be preppy classics, popped collars, all American casual-cool. There’s a little too much logo-ing for my liking, but dammit, their jeans are ridonkulously soft and flattering (why didn’t I snap up a pair there and then?!) and the clothes are classic, easy, accessible and unmistakable. Price points are reasonable enough (around $340 for tees, $640 jumpers, $840 jeans and dresses), especially when compared with Jack Wills here, and the jumper I picked up (soft, slouchy, so me) teamed with denim shorts is certain to become my autumn uniform (I put it on in this blazing hot summer just for you for the photo below!).
There were still teething troubles (staff were unable to explain sizing, no-one knew where a jumper I wanted on a mannequin was, so A&F’s PR from America had to find it!) but I’m now fully signed up to the Abercrombie cause. Although the 100 #HotGuys are gone (*sob*), A&F will still be flying in international topless guys for the photo opps in-store – because the brand is these beautiful clean-cut unthreatening but super-hot buff beachy boys and let’s face it, the HK equivalent isn’t quite the same. This PR campaign was utter genius and it is fantastic that a company as big as Abercrombie has finally treated HK with the respect it deserves and rolled out some mega-watt star treatment.
The teaser videos made teenage heartbeats flutter worldwide. Flying 100 #HotGuys into HK has made worldwide news (at least amongst the A&F demographic) – and the best bit about sending in 100? There’s one for everyone! So whilst the brash Americans trying to grab my hand and dance with me down the stairs didn’t really do it for me, the lovely Sam above certainly did. Boasting my much-missed English accent and the cutest smile ever (argh! Tiny gap in teeth! Charlie from Busted memories arise…), he was just so genuinely lovely and charming and personable to talk to that he made me feel special… and that is clearly what all the teenage girls professing love to them on Twitter, writing cards and letters to them, making their photo with them their profile pic, baking cakes to take to their hotel rooms (yes really!) and already mourning their departure feel too.
In a land of the ‘Welcome to ZARA’ ‘Welcome to SAAASAAA’ bot, where staff routinely ignore you, offer only the most cursory help and practically laugh you out the store if you don’t adhere to Asian sizing, then long may Abercrombie’s all American hospitality and warm welcome continue to rule the roost. I wish them every success.
The tagline for the launch was ‘The Hottest A&F Guys Make History In Hong Kong’ – and make history they did. Can you think of any other store that could generate this level of hype, orchestrate a campaign of such scale… and execute it so successfully and effortlessly? I feel a little sad it’s all over and that we’re unlikely to see anything of its like again… but I can also say I was here for THE most exciting marketing campaign to hit HK, probably ever. Pretty cool, eh?
Abercrombie & Fitch, Pedder Building, 12 Pedder Street, Central, Hong Kong
Catch up on all the Abercrombie HK madness on their Facebook Page (and make sure you check the ‘Posts By Others’ to see all the fans’ pictures), see all their HK teaser videos here and also, read my favourite blog about the HK opening from my friend JJ, The Wanderlister.
You already know from my previous blog that my must-wear make-up is eyeliner. However, I know that for plenty of people, the thing they just can’t leave the house without is mascara… so here’s Clinique’s new Lash Power Lengthening Mascara to tempt you!
I will be honest – I very rarely wear mascara as it… or rather the removal of it… tends to wreak havoc with my sensitive teary eyes (a lifetime spent crying at Disney movies and rom-coms? who knows!). Nevertheless, on the rare occasions that I do, the two brands I trust most with my lashes are Becca and Clinique… so bring on the Lash Power Lengthening Mascara!
Specially designed for Asian lashes to give them that extra oomph, this boasts a unique dual-ended wand and a smooth clump-resistant formula. You use the flat short-bristled side of the brush to deposit the mascara, then the fuller longer-bristled side to comb through the lashes. As a mascara amateur, I found this pretty easy to master, and both the bristles and the fluid formula of the mascara itself make light work of separating and lengthening each lash without any of them sticking or clumping together.
It definitely gave my eyes a more wide-awake look and enhanced my lashes in a natural pretty looking way. It’s not doing anything on the curling front though (nor does it claim to!), so I would still give them a hearty press with my trusty Shu Uemura lash curler if I’m feeling fancy, but the Lash Power Lengthening Mascara would easily be a great no-brainer everyday option.
Before vs After
I also really liked the simple, sleek, chic design of the mascara tube; a departure from Clinique’s previous packaging (duller darker brushed metal or coloured plastic), the shiny silver casing with ruler markings down the side appeals to my inner mathematician (yes, I did A-Level Maths… hollaaaa).
As with all mascaras these days, the Lash Power Lengthening Mascara claims to be resistant to sweat, tears, rain, pool water and humidity, with zero flaking, clumping or smudging. The latter three are definitely true, but I’m afraid sitting in a nice air-conned room won out over me testing out the former for you, sorry. As ever with Clinique, this is great for sensitive skin (fragrance-free and allergy, dermatologist and ophthalmologist tested) and I was delighted to find out that, just like my favourite Becca mascara, it can easily be removed with warm water, light pressure and a cotton wool pad.
For those of you whose lives are incomplete without mascara, this is definitely one to consider adding to your arsenal. Meanwhile whilst I’m still unlikely to be plastering on the mascara every day, Clinique’s Lash Power Lengthening Mascara has definitely wormed its way into my make-up bag for those days where I do feel like making that extra bit of effort without much actual… you know… effort.
Clinique Lash Power Lengthening Mascara in Black Onyx, $200; see all Clinique stores and counters in Hong Kong here.
Note: The product in this post was provided to me for review.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material (including photos) without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.
Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Rach Read and Through The Looking Glass with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Not gonna lie, bloody loved Now You See Me! Like a longer episode of Hustle with a big budget & better actors… Crossed with Jem & Holograms! 5 days ago
