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
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!
Posted in Beauty
Tagged Benefit, Benefit Creaseless Creams, Benefit eye shadows, Benefit Most Glamorous Nudes kit, Benefit Most Glamorous Nudes palette, Benefit World Famous Neutrals Kit, best eye palettes, Birthday Suit, Call My Buff, cream eye shadows, eye palette, Gilt-y Pleasure, It's Complicated, Kiss Me I'm Tipsy, Most Glamorous Nudes, neutral, neutral eye palettes, nude, nude eye palettes, palette, powder eye shadows, review, swatches, Two Cents, World Famous Neutrals
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.
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!
Posted in Culture, Hong Kong, Theatre
Tagged BabyJohn, Beating The Classroom Hong Kong, comedy, dance, Detention HK, Detention Hong Kong, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong shows, Lai Yuk Ching, Lin Ying Shi, Mayson Tong, original Hong Kong productions, percussion, review, Shouson Theatre, Tang Shu-Wing, Tang Shu-Wing Theatre Studio, theatre, Winwei Tsai
*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.
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
“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.
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
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!
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
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.
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
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.
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Through The Looking Glass 