Rock the Black Blazer

I love love love blazers. My very first staple outerwear was a black blazer. Although I now realise it was a bit too big on me, my love for blazers never died. I now own other blazers, like a washed-out yellow one and a purple velvet one. But the one I really want is THE perfect black blazer, so I'm on a hunt.

Meanwhile, I thought I would share my recent favourite way to wear it. Actually, it was the only outfit I wore during my last Christmas holidays: Skinny/straight leg jeans, a flowy long top with a blazer. It's simple yet looks so cool (love Sienna's outfit here). The blazer adds structure to the not-so-structured flowy top. And if you only wear black, grey and white, then you achieve a rock chick look like Lindsay here.

Blazers are also great for casual outfits, (for some reasons, people seem to be stuck with the idea that blazers are formal,) which is why I love it when Ashley wears it. Here are a few styling ideas from Ashley's outfits: you can try rolling up the sleeves and adding a colourful scarf to make the outfit look more casual (and warm). Blue jeans will of course, get you the more casual look, but black jeans feel cooler and edgier.

OK, I should stop blabbering about how much I love blazers and spend more time looking for my perfect black one, (or ideally many many ones).

Junk Food

The following tattoos are in a new category of bad tattoos: Good Execution, Bad Idea. These tattoos are all done well (some of them amazingly well), and they are such terrible, horrible, awful ideas that they come around full-circle and are possibly the coolest tattoos ever. Only the truly brave and awesome can pull off having a greasy junk food item tattooed on their body for the rest of their life.
This entry is dedicated to BCO. Pizza Forever!

Pizza! (sorry for the bad quality photo):


Pizza and Monkeys and Pot Bellies, oh my!


Flaming Burger:


Summer Vacation Burger:


Monster Burger (done by my favorite tattoo artist, Myles Karr):


And finally, related but not as awesome- McDonald's Boy:

Wizards

Please let me state that I have a huge soft spot for wizard tattoos. They are pretty much always terrible (let me know if you have seen a good wizard tattoo), but charming, in a weird kind of way. I don't really know why I like bad wizard tattoos so much, because I certainly don't find bad fairy tattoos charming (or even good fairy tattoos). Anyway, here is a bevy of awesomely awful wizard tattoos:

Hairy Red-Eyed Floating Head Wizard:


Meek Purple Wizard:


Yin-Yang "POUNDER" Wizard (the bats are really cool though):


Death Wizard:


Space Wizard (I love love love this dude):


Blasty Wizard:


Wizard-That-Doesn't-Look-Like-A-Wizard 1 (the website I found it on clearly stated that it was a wizard):


Wizard-That-Doesn't-Look-Like-A-Wizard 2:


And, for the grand finale, Not Safe For Work Wizard (thanks Jen):
click here to see NSFWW

Bad Portraits

One of the most unfortunate tattoos that you can have is a badly done portrait, and sadly there are a lot of them out there.
Here is the first of what I am sure will be many installments of Bad Portraits:

The details are what makes this tattoo truly awful. The tattoo of her chest tattoo. The hands (which aren't even in the photo). The cheekbones. The teeth.


This is my favorite bad portrait. It's shark-zombie-bride. I feel so sorry for the guy who got this. Again, note the teeth.


This poor guy has a zombie child on his arm. She doesn't have shark teeth- she seems to be suffering from the opposite problem: gummy mouth.



Okay, this one isn't executed so terribly (I'm sure when it healed it looked pretty decent) but it's creepy as hell!


From the same place that brought you creepy thumbs-up dude, we have creepy-cutter-angel (complete with tattoos-of-tattoos):

Star Wars

I bring you three wonky Darth Vaders, one zombie Leia, and an amazing back piece:

Monsters

Today's theme is monsters! I have some gems for you. I actually have a huge soft spot for terrible 80's metal looking tattoos. There's something about the wonkiness that makes them awesome, but only if they are of really brutal monsters. Or maybe wizards.

I think this is a vampire dark elf zombie monster, but I am not really sure. Also, what is spearing the left eye? A tail of something even more sinister?


I actually kind of love this one. I can't figure it out! I think it has three heads, a bunch of bulging muscles, some horns, some hands doing the claw (my favorite), and the weirdest lower body I have ever seen.


This is the best hellhound-in-a-graveyard EVER, but only because he has a really wicked goatee. I think it is from Big Dogz Ink. The skull looking woefully upwards is a great bonus.

Chloe Shades SS07

Ever since I saw the latest Chloe shades at Nordstrom back in March, I've been in LOVE with them. They are flattering, girly, fun and most of all different from all the other shades on the streets. And it seems that the stars think so too, as many of them have been spotted wearing them.Ex-OC stars, Mischa Barton and Rachel Bilson wearing the Myrte. Ooo and I LOVE Mischa's jacket.
Lindsay Lohan and Cameron Diaz also sporting the Myrte.
And I must say, I agree with most of the stars here and prefer the second rounder one better, the design combined with the shape which is just so much more flattering, makes it perfect.The one Rachel has on is different, but definitely not as flattering. The aviator style sloping down thing makes it look more masculine and a bit sad- should shades have personalities that is.
For the longest time I was lusting after these hexagonal ones. Because I thought, well, I already have squarish ones, why not have a hexagon one? And these look great. And I also liked the off-white color too. But alas, after trying them on several times, I had to finally admit that they are not for me. Maybe I've become so accustomed to large frames now that I just can't accept smaller frames anymore...
Then at the store I tried on these ones (the lower rounder ones) in purple and it looked awesome. This shape is flattering and yet still different with its large round metal frame, half silver, half purple. Now THIS is fashion. But alas after MUCH debating, I finally decided that I'd like to wear them for more than one season and with that half silver and half purple rim thing, it was too trendy for me

In the end, I bought a similarly styled paired sans the dual colored rims, from Marc Jacobs in brown (I know, it doesn't quite look brown here, but it is. I considered the purple ones and they're much pinker than this). While the metal frames and round shape style is still the same, this design is much simpler, more feminine and much more classic. The only downside is that this design is not very condusive to sticking it on my head like a hairband cause the nose thing gets in the way. But I'll live ;)

Photo Credits: Chloe, Mischa Style, CoutureCandy and Life & Style.

Eye Lash Perming

Yesterday evening, BG and I went to do something really girly together -we got our eye lashes permed. For those of you who have never heard people getting their lashes, it's basically getting your eye lashes curled permenantly. Well, permenant for maybe a bit more than one month, but really, that's permenant enough since it's likely your lashes will fall off naturally around that time.

The procedure takes around forty-five minutes to an hour. Now I can't describe the whole, exact procedure because my eyes were closed the whole time but from what I understand, the facialist curled and glued the lashes around a small, round piece of plastic thing. The facialist also applied some perming chemicals onto the lashes. After 20 minutes, the facialist applied more chemicals. After another 20 minutes, the facialist used oil to remove the checials and glue and that plastic strip thing. Voila -you've got curled lashes.

OK, so the newly permed lashes look a bit clumped together (because not all the glue could be removed without the facialist scrubbing too hard,) but give it a few days and you'll look like you've got naturally curled lashes. This wasn't my first lash perm, but it was BG's. BG forgot to keep her eyes completely shut during the procedure so the chemicals stung her lashes a bit. So if you're planning to get your lashes permed, remember to keep your eyes shut tight!

Perming our lashes only cost us around HK$80 each, that's around US$10 each. It's totally worth it because curled lashes make one's eyes look so much more awake. Plus, now I don't have to curl my lashes or apply mascara on for my normal days. If anyone is trying to decide whether to get their lashes permed -do it! Anyone else had their lashes permed before?

Skull tattoos

I love skull tattoos so very, very much. I have nine of them myself. But these ones? Not so much to love about them.

Is this a welder skull? He looks like he is melting!


Does this skull have a cigarette coming out of his head? And what is the big log behind him?


I couldn't figure the other two out, but I really can't figure this one out. What is this? Alien angel quarterback skull?


** update! Apparently Skull #2 is a skull bong. That pretty much makes it more awesome/awful all at once.

Fantasy Failures

Fantasy gems from Big Dogz Ink:

Unicorn tattoos are awesome! Tribal tattoos are not. Wonky unicorns floating astride a tribal piece? Totally awful.



This wizard is almost awesome. He's grizzled and has a cool staff, but his hand is melting, his beard and his cloak meld into each other, and the whole tattoo looks scratched.



And from Headlight Tattoo (not all their stuff is terrible, so it's not as fun as Big Dogz, but there are some gems in the galleries if you search)


Okay, so the color choices in this fairy aren't that bad, but the proportions? The smooshed face? The hair? The floppy left hand? (the right hand claw is kinda sweet though.) The weird shading in the dress?

SS07 Trend: Printed Shorts

I've never been much of a shorts fan growing up, but I'm currently LOVING my white shiny short shorts from Express. While it is easy to wear and looks awesome though, sometimes I do feel the urge to spice it up a bit. And therein comes the printed shorts!

My two favourite printed shorts look from Luella and Biba. These printed shorts adds just the perfect touch to the otherwise very standard tops.

Some more prints from Alice + Olivia (left), DVF (top right) and Forever 21 (bottom right). And the trick to making them not look like those printed beach surf shorts? Make sure they are of a structured cut and that you wear it with something of a simple style in a solid color that compliments the print of the short. Yes I know, its a very challenging thing to wear.

Something slightly more easier would be plaid prints, as on the Max Sports(left) and Luella (right)(well, its kind of plaid) runway. It makes an outfit instantly preppy and cute. Pair with slim sneakers for a more down to earth look.

Here are some selections from Abercrombie (top left), American Eagle (bottom left) and Juicy Couture (right). I daresay, you've probably seens a LOT of these about in the stores lately. One of my friends was also considering getting the ones from A&F, but alas it was $50 back then and didn't seem really worth it. Now its a very thin line between wearing these shorts and wearing your boyfriend's shrunken plaid boxers. Remember to wear something very clean cut and solid on top. You can even style it up with a pair of heels.For something a little more subtle (which I prefer more), try more subtly printed plaids, like this one from Abercrombie (left). But I am especially loving this one from Forever 21 (right) with its plaid cuffs.

Then there are the more or less classic striped shorts. The stripes from the D Squared (left) and Derek Lam (right) runway are more boldly and sharply contrasted than we are used to. Again match it with something simple and solid (like a white top). And for some extra oomph, throw on something of the same color as the colored stripes of your shorts. i.e. red striped shorts with the red bag (left).

To achieve the same casual look there are these striped shorts from Mulberry (left). And a bit less sharp, striped shorts from Abercrombie (right). Have fun with printed shorts!

Photo Credits: Elle.com, Net-a-Porter, Abercrombie, Forever 21 and American Eagle.

The Natural Look

I've always been into the natural look, you know, that made-up-natural-look that has been the trend in recent years (-or at least as long as I've paid attention to fashion and beauty anyways.) And I've always been excellent at applying this look, mainly because I always under-apply the makeup and think that I've applied too much, and also because it's actually quite hard to over-apply natural-coloured products. Just yesterday, my colleagues asked whether I actually had makeup on. So either I looked really worn out, or I am indeed an expert at the natural makeup look. I'll assume I'm the latter, naturally.

First I apply the oil free tinted moisturiser by Laura Mercier. It's excellent at making one's skin tone look even and it's seriously easy to apply -just use a tiny bit and use your fingers to spread a very thin layer on your face.

Then I apply blush. I usually use MAC's Pinch'O'Peach, which is a pale, orangey, mocha colour. But last Sunday, I just bought a blush named Well Dressed, which is pale pink. It really gives me the natural, prettily-blushed look.

Then I curl my lashes with my underused Shu Uemura eyelash curler. (But I'm way too lazy to apply mascara, or rather, to remove the mascara at the end of the night. Plus mascara makes my whole look feel made-up.)

Lastly, if I'm in a very good mood and have time left before leaving, I apply a teeny tiny bit of this brownish brown eye pencil (MAC's Bountiful Brown) on the outer eyelines (upper and lower eyelines).

All this takes me around 5 mintues. What is your daily makeup?

Photo credit: www.maccosmetics.com, www.shuuermura.com, www.lauramercier.com