I swear I’m not obsessed with them… OK, OK, maybe I am… but I am loving these cute postcards from British fragrance brand, Penhaligon’s!
Their Guides to Gentlemanly Behaviour and British Tea Drinking Etiquette are quirky, witty and fun; I’m a sucker for anything done in this vintage-style, which totally fits the heritage of their brand (over 100 years and counting, baby!).
Ever since joining Instagram, a whole new world of pretty things has been opened up before me – and one of my favourite discoveries has been the work of Miss Magpie Fashion Spy, aka UK fashion illustrator Niki Groom.
This type of drawing is everything that is totally up my street – my trademark favourite watercolour-esque sketchy style (see here… and here!), cute girls, gorgeous dresses and beautiful details peeking out of every corner.
Posted in Pretty Things
Tagged art, artwork, design, drawings, fashion artists, fashion drawings, fashion illustration, illustration, Miss Magpie Fashion Spy, Niki Groome, Pretty Things, sketches
Remember when I went all coral cray-cray with my review of MAC’s Coral Bliss Lipstick and Stay By Me Blush (basically a distillation of the fact I’m actually coral cray-cray for life!)?
Well, I decided it was time to give some love to the other shades on the blush spectrum and step out of my coral comfort zone, in the form of a pretty-in-pink look using MAC’s Sunny Seoul Cremesheen Lipstick and their Stay Pretty Pro Longwear Blush! Ta-da!
Posted in Beauty
Tagged Beauty, best pink blushers, best pink blushes, best pink lipsticks, blush, blusher, cosmetics, Cremesheen & Pearl Collection, Cremesheen Lipstick, FOTD, lipstick, look, Mac, MAC cosmetics, Office Hours Collection, photo, pink, Pro Longwear Blush, review, Stay Pretty blush, Sunny Seoul lipstick, swatch, where to buy MAC Cosmetics in Hong Kong
I love reading lists. I especially love reading end-of-year lists. But wait… a thought just struck me… instead of just reading everyone else’s best of lists, I could actually make my own!
So here are the Top 11 Posts of 2013 on Through The Looking Glass – according to the stats, like. (And the stats don’t lie, Shakira Shakira).
1. Barbie – still the Best
2. Don’t wake me up… Nostalgia, 90s TV show reunions and feeling old
3. Hong Kong Murders: The Braemar Hill murders
4. Clinique Chubby Sticks in Two Ton Tomato, Mighty Mimosa & Pudgy Peony review
5. SK-II Facial Treatment Essence review
6. Lancome Blanc Expert Ultimate Whitening Hydrating Cream moisturiser review
7. Cake That! (A stranger! From the outside! Oooh!)
8. Essie Mint Candy Apple nail polish review
9. Make-Up Miracles: Atorrege AD+ Medicated Acne Spots Treatment review
10. The Beauty of Lilian Bassman
11. Tan-tastic Pixar posters this way…
So… more beauty reviews, more pretty things and more reminiscing over the 90s has been duly noted. Thanks for reading folks, and see you in 2014!
This is one review I never thought I’d get round to writing.
I have long had to make peace with the fact I’ll never manage to blog about every single piece of make-up I want to; however, after trying the Innisfree Hand Cream Collection, I was so pleasantly surprised that I felt the need to share the good news with you all!
Innisfree is a Korean beauty brand that opened its first stores in Hong Kong (in Causeway Bay and Mong Kok) earlier this year. Unlike other Korean cosmetics brands like Etude House and Tony Moly that concentrate on the cutesier side of beauty, Innisfree has a much fresher, cleaner feel – they’re all about natural pure ingredients found on the Korean volcanic island of Jeju (a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site, doncha’know). Forget hand creams shaped like penguins or make-up ranges themed around princesses – Innisfree’s packaging is simple, chic and eco-friendly; both the store and its products give me a Body Shop vibe but with an Asian twist.
Posted in Beauty
Tagged Beauty, Canola Honey Hand Butter, cosmetics, Green Tea Pure Gel Hand Cream, hand butter, hand cream, hand cream set, hand lotion, Innisfree, Innisfree Hong Kong, Innisfree stores in Hong Kong, Korean beauty brands, Korean beauty brands in Hong Kong, Korean cosmetic brands in Hong Kong, Korean cosmetics brands, Korean make-up, make-up, review, skincare, swatches, Tangerine Blossom Perfumed Hand Lotion, where to buy Innisfree in Hong Kong
As part of my day job as Editor for a lifestyle website, I often get the opportunity to interview people – however, I’m not quite Ryan Seacrest yet so half the time, I don’t even know who half these people are! However, when the email came asking if I wanted to interview Charlotte Knight, the founder of Ciaté who was in town for Lane Crawford’s Vogue Fashion’s Night Out, I jumped at the chance!
I found Charlotte really likeable, fun and down-to-earth – and I loved how heavily involved in Ciaté she still is. I could really tell how passionate she is about nails, which as a customer, is something I really value in a brand. Since I put myself through the hell of listening to my voice over and over again to transcribe our 30-minute chat, I thought I might as well stick up the whole interview on here for all you fellow polishaholics! Enjoy!
Tagged Beauty, Caviar Manicure, celebrity interview, Chalkboard Nail Kit, Charlotte Knight, Ciaté, Ciaté Hong Kong, Ciaté nail polish Hong Kong, Corrupted Neon Manicure, cosmetics, Feather Manicure, founder of Ciaté, interview, make-up, nail lacquer, nail polish, nail varnish, profile, where to buy Ciaté in Hong Kong, WOW kits
Are there any problems in life that aren’t solved by afternoon tea?!
Well, that’s a question I frequently put to the test with my cake partner-in-crime, Mirander! Our afternoon tea sessions usually consist of long periods of chatting, sighing, ranting and crying – mostly on my side, whilst Mirander says, “There, there,” and orders us some more cake.
Having drank a lot of tea and eaten a lot of cake in our time, the likes of Starbucks and Pacific Coffee just don’t cut it anymore. We love uncovering cute little cafés in Hong Kong where we can vent to our heart’s content in delightful surroundings – and our latest discovery is Hit The Road.
Posted in Food, Hong Kong, Pretty Things
Tagged afternoon tea, afternoon tea hong kong, best cafes in Causeway Bay, best cafes in Hong Kong, best dessert hong kong, café, Causeway Bay, coffee shops in Hong Kong, CWB, dessert, dessert hong kong, eating out, Hit The Road, Hit The Road cafe, Hit The Road Hong Kong, independent cafes Hong Kong, independent coffee shops Hong Kong, review, upstairs cafés, upstairs cafés Hong Kong, where to eat Causeway Bay
Sick of pedestrian productions ruling the roost in Hong Kong? Well, how about a musical where the entire 30-strong cast spends the whole duration of the show on roller skates?
Yes, Starlight Express has sped its way into the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts – and if you’ve never seen Andrew Lloyd Webber’s most innovative musical before, you’re in for one hell of a ride.
Posted in Culture, Hong Kong, Theatre
Tagged Andrew Lloyd-Webber, Arlene Phillips, HKAPA, Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, Julian Cannonier, Kris Harding, Kristofer Harding, Leanne Garetty, Lunchbox Productions, musical, review, Ruthie Stephens, Starlight Express, Starlight Express Asia, Starlight Express Hong Kong, Starlight Express Singapore, Starlight Express touring production, theatre
I was once told by a commenter online that Asian girls shouldn’t wear red lips – and my reply, being the spiteful so-and-so I am, was that people telling me I shouldn’t wear it only made me wear it even more! So let me practice what I preach by showing you Shu Uemura’s Baby Flame Rouge Unlimited Lipstick, from their new Sweet Red Collection.
Left to right: Shu Uemura Rouge Unlimited lipsticks in Dolly Red, Laquer Red, Mon Shu Red, Baby Flame
The Sweet Red Collection comprises six varying shades of… yes, how did you guess… red lippie! Red lipstick should be a weapon in every woman’s make-up arsenal, but the nice thing about Shu’s shades here are that they’re good entry level reds – they all have a sweet translucent shine to them rather than a strong matte look, and amongst the six, there should be a shade for everyone.
It seems my love of desserts is starting to spill over into my love of nail polish… nearly every polish I wear these days reminds me of something deliciously edible! So after the blue strawberry slushie of pa AA162, the choc mint milkshake of Deborah Lippmann’s Rockin’ Robin and the cupcake-inspired Nail’s Inc Sprinkles Collection, it’s time for a set of polishes inspired by ice-creams – Etude House’s Sweet Recipe Collection.
Etude House is a Korean cosmetics brand famous for cutesy girlie designs and playful fun packaging – and their adorable ice-cream cone nail polish bottles have got to be some of their best work yet! The first one I have to show you is probably my favourite of the bunch, Mint Choco Chip… and yes, how did you guess, it involves yet another variant on all things turquoise!
Posted in Beauty, Pretty Things
Tagged cosmetics, Etude House, Etude House ice cream nail polish, glitter, ice-cream nail polish, Korean cosmetics, Korean make-up, make-up, Mint Choco Chip, nail lacquer, nail polish, nail varnish, photo, Pretty Things, review, swatch, Sweet Recipe Collection, turquoise, where to buy Etude House in Hong Kong
I'm Rachel Read, a Hong Kong-based freelance writer and editor, make-up addict and general layabout. I'm powered by bacon, cupcakes, nail polish and the needs of two cute Yorkies.
All products/meals were paid for by me, unless otherwise stated.
Contact me at
rachelmread+ttlg@gmail.com
Photo by Sabrina Sikora Photography
© Rachel Mary Read and Through The Looking Glass, 2010-20.
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.
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Through The Looking Glass by Rachel Read is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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