Through The Looking Glass

Benefit World Famous Neutrals, Most Glamorous Nudes eye palette review

Posted on September 9, 2013 | 3 comments

Having sufficiently scratched my cultural itch (for now anyway!), it’s time to bring my blog back to basics – beauty basics, that is! And as every girl knows, one of the key building blocks to any well-stocked make-up drawer is an arsenal of neutral make-up!

Now I know… neutral and nude generally equals beige and boring, right? WRONG. Not when Benefit are involved anyway! Benefit has been one of my favourite beauty brands ever since I first started getting into make-up, thanks to their cute and quirky (but never cringe or kitsch) packaging – and of course, you can trust them to bring a fun take on neutral make-up… Enter Benefit’s World Famous Neutrals Kits!

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Posted in Beauty

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Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour by Cirque du Soleil at AsiaWorld-Expo review

Posted on September 1, 2013 | 2 comments

Everyone loves a bit of Michael Jackson, right? The question is – do you love him quite enough to sit through two hours of Cirque du Soleil flinging themselves around to his records?

Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour rolled into Hong Kong’s AsiaWorld-Expo last week – and the overriding feeling was of watching a concert where the star performer had gone AWOL. Talented backing singers, a bombastic live band, acrobatic teams of dancers and spectacular production values… Cirque du Soleil brought it all (save an actual narrative – no surprise there then), yet none of it could disguise the gaping charisma vacuum at the centre of the show.

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Posted in Culture, Music, Theatre

Tagged Cirque du Soleil, dance, Michael Jackson Cirque du Soleil show, Michael Jackson: Immortal, Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour, review, theatre

Detention @ Hong Kong Arts Centre review

Posted on August 7, 2013 | Leave a comment

One of the things that has fallen by the wayside since my move to Hong Kong are my trips to the theatre. Back in the UK, I would probably go see a show at least once a month – now I’m lucky if it’s more than once a year! Joining a list that includes Magnums, fish and chips and grass, it probably is one of the things I miss the most about my life in England; for me, there’s no beating that magical feel of live theatre done right and sharing that experience with a captive audience.

I’ll save the debate over Hong Kong’s perceived lack of culture for some other time (however, if Annie does come here again, I will cry) but often, I’ll read about what sounds like a really interesting production… only to then see the words ‘In Cantonese’. Boo. So when I read about Detention, a homegrown original production enjoying its fourth run in Hong Kong (which had also done a successful stint at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival), and saw the magical words ‘non-verbal’, I was in there like a flash!

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Freeing HK review – free is the magic number!

Posted on August 5, 2013 | 9 comments

*NOTE: I’ve since been to LOST Hong Kong and it is loads better – I’d definitely recommend it over Freeing!*

“Can anybody see the crystal?”

Hands up if your formative years involved lots of screaming at the telly while watching The Crystal Maze? Well, if it did, perhaps like me, one of your lifelong ambitions might have been to be a contestant on The Crystal Maze (when Richard O’ Brien was hosting, obviously, not that funny Ed bloke that came after), get locked in rooms and use your smarts to figure out how to get out.

Sadly, The Crystal Maze ended almost 20 years ago (God, I’m old!) so there’s zero chance of me actually achieving that dream. However, I may have just found the next best thing to help me live out my 90s gameshow fantasies – Freeing HK.

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9 Comments

Posted in Hong Kong, Random

Tagged Around The World, Causeway Bay, escape the room games, Freeing HK, fun, fun things to do in Hong Kong, HK, HK Escape, Hong Kong, locked room games, Lost HK, Mong Kok, personal, quirky stuff, real-life room escape games, review, stuff to do in Causeway Bay, stuff to do in Hong Kong, stuff to do in Mong Kok, stuff to do in Tsim Sha Tsui, Tsim Sha Tsui

The Nail Library review – nailing it in Hong Kong!

Posted on July 31, 2013 | 11 comments

“We love nails… and we know you love nails too!”

Well, as far as emails go, that’s definitely one to grab my attention!

Guys, I have found my nail soulmate in Hong Kong – and amazingly enough for me, she just happens to have started her very own nail salon too!

The sender of my email from the nail gods was in fact, the very lovely Ping Lam – owner and founder of The Nail Library, the first and only premium nail spa in Hong Kong. Forget ghetto mani places down dodgy back alleys or anonymous chain joints in bland commercial buildings, The Nail Library is a little piece of nail heaven hidden in the oh-so-hip Poho area of Sheung Wan.

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11 Comments

Posted in Beauty, Hong Kong, Pretty Things

Tagged best manicures in Hong Kong, best manis in Hong Kong, best pedicures in Hong Kong, best pedis in Hong Kong, Butter London, manicure, nail art, nail lacquer, nail polish, nail salon, nail treatments Hong Kong, nail varnish, pedicure, Poho, review, sheung wan, The Nail Library HK, The Nail Library Hong Kong, where to get a mani Hong Kong, where to get a pedi Hong Kong

Chanel Bel Argus nail polish review

Posted on July 12, 2013 | 6 comments

Nail polishes often make me feel like I have butterflies in my tummy (hint: they usually involve either turquoise or glitter!)… but here’s one that takes things to a more literal level!

Chanel’s Bel Argus nail polish is from their Summer 2013 L’Ete De Papillon De Chanel Collection – and like Le Vernis Azure before it, it’s named after a type of butterfly. Unlike Azure, Chanel has actually got the colour right this time though!

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6 Comments

Posted in Beauty

Tagged Beauty, Bel Argus, blue, Chanel, Chanel Bel Argus Le Vernis, cosmetics, duochrome, L'Ete Papillon de Chanel, make-up, metallic, nail lacquer, nail polish, nail varnish, photos, review, Summer 2013, swatches

Chanel Azure nail polish review

Posted on July 8, 2013 | 3 comments

I already wrote about Chanel’s Stylo Eyeshadows from their L’Ete Papillon de Chanel Summer 2013 Collection – but c’mon, do you really think the range could have passed me by without picking up a polish or two?!

First on my nail polish hit list – obviously, it’s turquoise – was Chanel Azure.

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3 Comments

Posted in Beauty

Tagged Azure, Beauty, Chanel, Chanel Azure Le Vernis, cosmetics, duochrome, L'Ete Papillon de Chanel, make-up, metallic, nail lacquer, nail polish, nail varnish, photos, review, Summer 2013, swatch, turquoise

Dessert of the day: do Ladurée macarons hit my sweet spot?

Posted on June 17, 2013 | 3 comments

What with Ladurée and Pierre Hermé opening here in swift succession, Hong Kong has gone totally macaron mental. And whilst my sweet tooth knows no bounds, I do draw the line at queuing hours for what is essentially a little puff of sugary air!

So… six months after opening and with everyone flocking to Pierre Hermé in ifc instead… I finally hit up the Ladurée’s Hong Kong store in Harbour City. Better late than never right?

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3 Comments

Posted in Food, Hong Kong, Pretty Things

Tagged best dessert hong kong, best macarons in hk, best macarons in Hong Kong, best macaroons in Hong Kong, dessert, dessert hong kong, Laduree, Laduree Hong Kong, Laduree locations Hong Kong, Laduree macarons, Laduree stores Hong Kong, Laduree stores in Hong Kong, macarons, macarons hk, macarons hong kong, macaroons, review, where to buy Laduree in Hong Kong, where to buy Laduree macarons Hong Kong

Penhaligon’s Fragrance Profiling – a truly scent-sational experience!

Posted on June 10, 2013 | 3 comments

For me, scent is the most evocative of all our senses. It’s amazing how one smell can instantly make certain memories flood back, remind you of a certain something or someone, or make you feel a certain way with just one waft of a fragrance.

For that reason, perfume fascinates me. How do you bottle an emotion? How do you create that intoxicating mix of ingredients that somehow manages to speak to so many different people? And is there a perfect perfume match out there for everyone?

Don’t worry, I’m not going to throw it all in and become a perfumer just yet! But for those reasons, I was incredibly excited to be invited for a Fragrance Profiling Experience at Penhaligon’s Hong Kong.

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3 Comments

Posted in Beauty, Hong Kong, Pretty Things

Tagged artisanal perfume Hong Kong, Beauty, best perfumes Hong Kong, cosmetics, fragrance dos and don't, Fragrance Profiling, fragrances, Harbour City, IFC mall, luxury perfume Hong Kong, make-up, packaging, Penhaligon's, Penhaligon's Artemisia, Penhaligon's Eau Sans Pareil, Penhaligon's Fragrance Profiling, Penhaligon's Gardenia, Penhaligon's HK, Penhaligon's Hong Kong, Penhaligon's stores Hong Kong, perfume dos and don't, perfume explained, perfume tips, perfumes, pop-up shop, pop-up store, Pretty Things, review, scents, where to apply fragrance, where to apply perfume, where to buy Penhaligon's Hong Kong, where to buy perfume Hong Kong

Chanel Stylo Eyeshadows in Jade Shore & Blue Bay review

Posted on May 27, 2013 | Leave a comment

“Summer summer summer summertiiime…”

Come on, you’re singing along already aren’t you?!

Apart from ice cream, Wimbledon and Pimms o’ clock, summer marks the season where colour comes out to play – and even the most traditional make-up companies are happy to join in the fun! Forget boring beiges or sleep-inducing smoky eyes, it’s all about COLOUR, and Chanel’s L’Ete Papillon de Chanel is definitely one of my fave collections for Summer 2013.

As you may have gathered from my love of Clinique’s Chubby Sticks and Urban Decay’s 24/7 Eye Pencils, I am all about make-up in stick form. It’s just so EASY. And I am really really lazy. So the items calling my name loudest from L’Ete Papillon de Chanel were their limited edition Stylo Eyeshadows, a brand new product for Chanel that features sticks of creamy eyeshadow conveniently located in a sleek black twist-up pen applicator.

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