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?
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
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.
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
“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.
Posted in Beauty
Tagged Beauty, best cream eyeshadows, best stick eyeshadows, Blue Bay, Chanel, Chanel Stylo Eyeshadows, cosmetics, cream eyeshadows, EOTD, FOTD, Jade Shore, L'Ete Papillon de Chanel, look, make-up, review, stick eyeshadows, Stylo Eyeshadow 24/7 Pencil comparison, Stylo Eyeshadow Caviar Stick comparison, Stylo Eyeshadow Chubby Stick comparison, Stylo Eyeshadow vs Caviar Stick, Stylo Eyeshadows, Summer 2013, swatches
I just wanted to write a short post about one of my favourite places in Hong Kong – Teakha.
Tucked away on oh-so-trendy Tai Ping Shan Street in Sheung Wan, Teakha is the very definition of small but perfectly formed. It’s one of those places where you can just step in and feel the love – the cosy neighbourhood vibe, the jars of homemade scones perched on the counter, the pot of tea brewing on a stove and most importantly, the feeling of genuine heart and passion that has been poured into the place from start to finish.
Even better for non-coffee drinkers like me, there’s not one dreaded cocoa bean to be found inside! Teakha is all about the tea! Well… and some totally scrummy desserts too.
I’ve gone dotty!
Well, the ‘gone’ bit might be questionable (some might argue it’s more a case of ‘always has been’) but I’m totally seeing spots at the moment – and of course, it’s all because of nail polish! Hot on the heels of the blue strawberry slushie that was pa AA162, I finally managed to get my mitts on Deborah Lippmann’s Rockin’ Robin to continue my dotty delirium.
Posted in Beauty
Tagged aqua, Beauty, cosmetics, Deborah Lippmann, glitter, make-up, nail lacquer, nail polish, nail varnish, pastel, photos, review, Rockin' Robin, Staccato Collection, swatch, swatches, turquoise
Forget about the current nail polish trend for texture (you say texture… I say bed-sheet marks from your polish not drying properly), I’m all about the current craze for dots, spots and all things speckly! Both Illamasqua and Deborah Lippmann have come out with glorious collections of pastel crème polishes speckled with black glitter spots – and so to satisfy my dotty urges before I could get my mitts on either of those, I picked up pa AA62.
I know, catchy name, innit?! pa is a Japanese cosmetics brand currently wreaking havoc with my MS Word spellcheck as it’s written all in lower-case, and their polishes come in tiny Borrower sized bottles. Which is a shame, as AA62 is definitely a polish that you will want a whole lot more of!
Posted in Beauty
Tagged Beauty, best glitter nail polishes, cosmetics, Dear Laura, Japanese nail polish, jelly, make-up, nail lacquer, nail polish, nail varnish, pa, pa nail polish, review, swatches, turquoise
Despite being dragged along to see Chicago, Grease and even High School Musical Live with me, my boyfriend point blank refused to come watch Dirty Dancing. ‘I just don’t think it will be very good,’ he said… and it pains me to say that he might just be right.
Does Dirty Dancing really require any introduction? The film, telling the coming-of-age romance between Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman and dance teacher Johnny Castle, is nothing short of a cult – and now, with its stage adaptation flying high after a successful run in the West End, the cult has come to the Hong Kong’s Cultural Centre.
Next stop on Mirander & Rach’s cute café tour of Hong Kong – Café Corridor in Causeway Bay.
Tucked away down a… surprise, surprise… corridor opposite Times Square, Café Corridor is a homely little independent joint that’s become surprisingly well-known and loved despite its positively diminutive size. Its owner, Felix Wong, knows his way around a coffee bean (he also founded two other companies, Coffee Assembly and Barista Academy, to promote HK’s coffee culture) and Café Corridor’s reputation quickly grew, meaning the space is always packed with people looking for a quality caffeine fix.
However, if you’re looking for a coffee review, I’m afraid you’ll have to go elsewhere. I don’t drink the stuff (other than in highly diluted, sweetened, milkified and no longer bearing any resemblance to actual coffee, dung ga fe form) so can’t give you my opinion on that… but I’m happy to tell you about everything else!
Tagged afternoon tea, best cafes in Hong Kong, best dessert hong kong, café, Cafe Corridor, cafes in Causeway Bay, cafes in Hong Kong, Causeway Bay, coffee shops in Hong Kong, CWB, dessert, dessert hong kong, eating out, Food, independent cafes Hong Kong, independent coffee shops Hong Kong, restaurant, review
The English language has much to thank Tyra Banks for – popularisation of the word ‘fierce’, creation of the phrase ‘booty tooch’, invention of the infamous portmanteau (and excuse for me to use the word portmanteau at least once in my life!) ‘smize’. However, nail polish fans should also be particularly grateful for her coinage of the phrase ‘ugly-pretty’ – simply because it’s the perfect description for so many polishes that have hit the scene over the last few years!
Gone are the times where the only acceptable nail polish colours were pinks, nudes and reds; nowadays, weird shades of greige, decaying purples, mouldy greens, wincing neons and eye-boggling glitter combos rule the roost! Which brings me neatly onto my new favourite nail polish and definite contender for an ugly-pretty award (unless Tyra’s already patented those), Butter London’s Two Fingered Salute.
Posted in Beauty
Tagged Beauty, best green nail polishes, Butter London, green, make-up, nail lacuqer, nail polish, nail varnish, photo, review, shimmer, swatch, Two Fingered Salute, ugly-pretty, unique nail polishes
I’ve seen the future… and it’s chubby.
Hot on the heels of Clinique’s amazing successful Chubby Stick and Chubby Stick Intense Moisturising Lip Balms, come Clinique’s Chubby Stick Shadow Tints for Eyes! If you’re onto something good, milk it for all it’s worth – and when it’s as outrageously awesome as this, who’s complaining?!
Chubby Stick Shadow Tints for Eyes are basically a riff on eye shadow pencils – think MAC Shadesticks, Laura Mercier Caviar Sticks, Bobbi Brown Cream Shadow Sticks, Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Shadow Pencils or NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils and you’re halfway there. The difference? Clinique’s Chubby Sticks are bigger, fatter and well… just plain chubbier! Whereas most of the above products are either slim-line refined sticks of shadow or supersized eyeliner pencils, Chubby Sticks are chunky crayons of colour, just the right size to grab hold of and glide across the eyelid in one swoop.
Posted in Beauty
Tagged Beauty, Big Blue, Chubby Stick for Eye comparisons, Chubby Stick for Eyes, Clinique, Clinique Chubby Stick Shadow Tints for Eyes, Clinique Chubby Sticks, Clinique Chubby Sticks for Eyes, Clinique Eye Chubby Sticks, cosmetics, EOTD, FOTD, Fuller Fudge, look, LOTD, make-up, photos, Pink & Plenty, review, swatch, swatches
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 