Halloween 06 Special: The Corpse Look

Happy Halloween people! I'm not one to dress up, but to join in the festives, I'm going to blog about the 'corpse look', which is interestingly also one of the FW06 beauty trend. What is the 'corpse look'? Basically, it's super pale skin, pale lips and light brown eye-shadow.

The 'corpse look' as seen on the FW06 runway:
Marni had the best corpse look. Tanya (first picture above) totally rocked this look.

Vera Wang had the more elegant (if that's possible) corpse look. The models have a bit of purple eye-shadow on instead of only brown. Oh, having that Eastern European/ Russian face really helps to achieve this look. But since we can't control that, you could just apply very pale powder onto your face, (but not too much or else you'll look caked!)

The corpse look is actually a variation of this season's popular brown eye-shadow look. This Bobbi Brown chocolate palette is perfect to achieve this look. Make sure whatever eye-shadow you use is matte (no shimmer.) Apply the eye-shadow on the eyelids, and a tiny bit along the lower lashes. To make your lips pale, apply a bit of foundation and nude or whitish-pink lip stick. Do not use lip gloss since well, the corpse look isn't meant to be glossy or cheerful.

This look is a very runway, couture-ish look, so what better time to play with it than Halloween? Besides, it's always nice to look elegant while endulging in childish fun.

So, what are you dressed up as today?

Dior Lip Gloss Locket

Every half a year, I expect and anticipate what new pretty that Dior manages to come up with -the new pretty, being the beauty accessories. Since our blog started, Dior has come up with the cosmetic rings from the Dior Summer Princess range and the Dior Gormette (cosmetic braclet). Anyways, so I thought I would do an update of Dior's cute but unpractical beauty accessories.

In spring/summer, there was Dior Mail, a palette consisting of a bronzer and lip gloss. Hm, ok, I suppose this is more of a packaging thing than an accessory. But I still don't think it's a useful beauty product for people to actually buy.
Moving on to now, Dior just launched a charm lip gloss locket. According to its description on Neimanmarcus.com, you can wear it as a braclet or attach it to your handbag. Considering lip gloss goes sort of yucky with heat, you probably shouldn't wear it as a braclet. The only thing I can say about makeup that is packaged in a cute way, is that they remind me of the disgusting makeup that kids play with, and the makeup inside just automatically feels cheap to me.

Christina Aguilera Hair Styles

Christina Aguilera Hair Styles

Christina changes her hair style frequently. Recently she can be seen in platinum blonde long curly hair. Follow link above to see her most recent style.

Creating this style on your own is easy and fast using great hair tools available today. Apply a curl-enhancing cream or gel throughout the hair and blow dry the hair using a diffuser attachment for your hair dryer.

Then use a medium barrel curling iron and add loose curls throughout the hair. Soft curls are in, so you don't need to leave the curling iron in your hair for a very long time.

Finish off the style with a blast of shine serum. Always make sure the curls are dry before touching or positioning them. Once they are cool, you can move them around and they will stay put.

Visit http://www.hrhairstyles.com/christina_aquilera.htm for more photos of Christina's hair styles

An American Haunting - 2006 - DVD

Thursday, October 26, 2006

New Review! Read it at Cinema Blend!


(Really, it's so awful--read the review.)

This Week HG Is Loving...

Last Saturday, my friend and I watched Chicago (the musical). Yes, it's the one Ashlee Simpson was performing in. And no, we didn't watch it only because Ashlee was in it, although it did make us want to watch it this month instead of later. Anyways, back to what I want to say. I've noticed that some fashionable women in the audience were wearing wrap dresses with leggings. I've also noticed a lot of people wearing this trend on Oxford Street walking about and shopping.

Admittedly, this trend is not exactly new -people have been wearing this trend since summer. The image that really stayed with me is this lady wearing a black, white & purple Pucci wrap-dress with ankle-leggings. It was so 'in' without being fashion faux sort of 'in'. Also, it was girly without being flowery. And this is a seriously versatile outfit -from the theatres to attending parties, to shopping and dining in both cheap and expensive shops and restaurants.

The good news is, we can still wear this outfit in winter -all we have to do is, duh, subsititute the ankle-leggings with stockings (as seen in the Emilio Pucci runway picture above.) Personally, I can't contemplate wearing an outfit like that to go shopping, but I would definitely wear it for a nice dinner out or even a Christmas event (is it too soon to be thinking of Christmas activities already? Doesn't matter.)

BG's Paris Diary Week 4

Its been a peaceful week in Paris. I spent most of the time mulling over a particularly painful paper. Anyway, some of the highlights:
We got dressed up and went to see L'Elisir d'amore the Opera Bastille. It was a very interesting experience, sort of like a musical except the actors/actresses sung in Italian and there were subtitles in french which I barely understood. But it sounded nice and with a little debriefing at the beginning managed to follow the story through. Opera fashion-wise, there were a wide array of it, from jeans and tee to dresses, depending on how you feel.

Although I was slightly disappointed at the modern austere decor of the Opera Bastille(left)- I'd always imagined the opera to be richly decorated and regale. Maybe I should've went to the Opera Royal. Afterwards, we walked around the streets of Bastille(right), and I must say, its quite a lively area at night with lots of bars and restuarants.
Also went to see a movie (The Queen- which surprisingly was quite a good movie) at the Odeon. Again, a very crowded and youthful area with lots of restuarants. I must go back some time in the day to wander around!

Then today, we went to Versaille. It was slightly disappointing though as they've already covered all the statues in the gardens for the winter, there were huge constructions in the middle of the castle and garden, some of the gardens were closed- October is not a good time to visit Versaille. We ended up rowing a boat (left) in the gardens of Versaille, which was quite cool. Did you know that the oarsman is supposed to row backwards? It took us a while to figure it out as this little kid completely ousted us as we struggled to get in the right direction. Then we had a tour inside, which was quite glamorous and it all just makes me want to go see Marie Antoinette all the more!

Glam it out in Red!

Glam up your FW06 wardrobe and go all out RED! Here are some inspirations from the catwalk!

I LOVE these two jackets even though they are so different. One is ladylike and put together (left: Christian Lacroix) and one if a red hot rocker chic leather jacket (right: D Squared).

For the office and cocktail hour, glam it up with ladylike red button down dresses and simple red dresses. I especially adore this silk one from Matthew Williamson (left), (right: D Squared).

To go all out, take inspiration from these two very GLAM red carpet ready looks from Gucci(left) and Givenchy(right). That Givenchy dress is just d-i-v-i-n-e!

Now for some more attainable pieces, here are jackets from Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie for you to just throw on and spice up your FW06 palette.

For something more fun and casual, we have this pinafore dress and this button down dress both from Urban Outfitters.

Moving onto more formal occasions, we have these two dresses that are ready for both work and party. The wide sleeves dress from Marc by Marc Jacobs looks soo cute and you can never go wrong with the classic Diane von Furstenburg wrap dress!

Then there are these two hot dresses from Paul & Joe and Anthropologie. I love how there are subtle designs on both to make it look more interesting.
So dare to be red everyone and have fun!

What IS Cashmere?

Ever since my mom brought me to this crazy cashmere sale last year, I've had an obsession for cashmere everything. They're just soooo soft to the touch and so warm. As a result I've acquired cashmere sweaters (esp the RL ones-they are just divine), scarves, hats, cardigans-all for the freezing cold winter of Chicago of course. Then the other day, my friend asked me, "What IS cashmere?" and that put me on the spot. How can I be truly cashmere crazy without knowing what makes cashmere different from say. . wool?

So I googled it up and this is what you need to know:

The name cashmere was derived from Kashmir, the state of India, where the cashmere (kashmir) goat was initially found. Cashmere is the fine, downy wool that grows beneath the coarse outer layer of hair, called the guard hair, of the cashmere goat. These wool are naturally white, grey or brown.

The luxuriously soft wool provides light weight insulation- enough to originally keep the goat warm in the cold mountain temperatures-without bulk, which is another reason why we love it so much-it keeps us stylish and warm. It is also appropriate for all climates, because the high moisture content of it allows the insulation properties to change with the humidity in the air.

But what makes it so precious is limited supply. Out of the annual clipping of 15000-20000 tons of cashmere, only 6500 tons turn into pure cashmere after the natural animal grease (ew), dirt and coarse hair are removed from it. Due to the conflict at Kashmir, very little actually comes from there. Nowadays, cashmere comes from the other high plateaus of Asia, such as northwestern China, Mongolia, Iran and Afghanistan.

There. Don't you feel much better equipped to truly appreciate the beauty of cashmere, now that you know all there is to know about it?

Shivers - 1975 - Film

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

This screening of Shivers was on 35mm, "the only 35mm copy in North America," --that's what the curator of the film program told me. Cronenberg's film is playing as part of the U of C Doc series, "Revisiting the 'American Nightmare': Horror in the 1970s".

It was fantastic. I'm a big Cronenberg fan and Shivers is now the earliest of his films I've seen. Prior to this it was Rabid (1977), another exploration of the physical form that gets destructed, then rebuilt by foreign elements. Cronenberg approaches horror from a clinical perspective; he dismembers his characters with a surgical knife, exposes them to a monster-like mutation, then we observe their behavior change. The body undergoes a metaplastic transformation wherein the destructive force of the "monster" (here it is a worm-like phallus that uses the body as its host) changes the dynamic of bodily function so that the abnormal is now considered normal. Likewise, fewer and fewer characters are able to escape the wrath of the parasitic phallus, and by story's end everyone is infected; the status quo is altered.

The distinction to make between Cronenberg's Horror is that it is always of a tangible nature: his deviants are not supernatural, they don't haunt characters like a ghost, they physically infect them--and quite graphically. The images are horrific and grotesque by the nature of their realism. The alternate title of Shivers is They Came From Within, an apt title that states the most frightening, most provocative horrors are the ones we can't see; the ones under our own skin.

Flags of Our Fathers - 2006 - Film

Monday, October 23, 2006

My review of Flags of Our Fathers will be posted in the coming weeks with the release of my Top 10 of 2006 list.

Aniston wins praise on Broadway

Jennifer Aniston was one of the many celebs participating in last night's 24 Hour Plays on Broadway benefit in New York. The project featured six 10-minute plays, all written, rehearsed and performed within a 24-hour period. Aniston co-starred with Rosie Perez, who said, "We had a real boost from Jennifer Aniston. She was a sweet as pie. I really appreciated her coming because she raised the profile of tonight's event and that is going to help so much. She didn't have to do this. She didn't have to take time out of her schedule... She said, 'I'll do all the press. I'll do whatever you want.' She's got chops. She said she had performed off-Broadway. She's really, really good." Other celebs who performed last night included Anna Paquin, Julianna Margulies, Sam Rockwell and Liev Schreiber.

source

Aniston wins praise on Broadway

Jennifer Aniston was one of the many celebs participating in last night's 24 Hour Plays on Broadway benefit in New York. The project featured six 10-minute plays, all written, rehearsed and performed within a 24-hour period. Aniston co-starred with Rosie Perez, who said, "We had a real boost from Jennifer Aniston. She was a sweet as pie. I really appreciated her coming because she raised the profile of tonight's event and that is going to help so much. She didn't have to do this. She didn't have to take time out of her schedule... She said, 'I'll do all the press. I'll do whatever you want.' She's got chops. She said she had performed off-Broadway. She's really, really good." Other celebs who performed last night included Anna Paquin, Julianna Margulies, Sam Rockwell and Liev Schreiber.

source

Paris pimps herself out again

A few desperate celebs are pimping themselves out for cash on New Year's Eve. Rumors are flying that Paris Hilton and Carmen Electra are hoping to score gigs hosting New Year's celebrations in Miami, NYC or LA. Hilton is reportedly asking $100,000 plus expenses and transportation via private jet, and Electra's bill is a mere $50,000 plus expenses.

source

Paris pimps herself out again

A few desperate celebs are pimping themselves out for cash on New Year's Eve. Rumors are flying that Paris Hilton and Carmen Electra are hoping to score gigs hosting New Year's celebrations in Miami, NYC or LA. Hilton is reportedly asking $100,000 plus expenses and transportation via private jet, and Electra's bill is a mere $50,000 plus expenses.

source

Small picture post

(click on thumbnails for larger images)

At the Hollywood Awards gala:
Lindsay Lohan, Ben Affleck, Maria Bello, Sandra Bullock


Heather Graham, Ashton Kutcher with Demi Moore, Penelope Cruz, Jennifer Garner

***

Sienna Miller leaving a West Hollywood restaurant


Drew Barrymore and Courteney Cox at the LA premiere of Borat


Lindsay Lohan in Hollywood

source 1, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5

Small picture post

(click on thumbnails for larger images)

At the Hollywood Awards gala:
Lindsay Lohan, Ben Affleck, Maria Bello, Sandra Bullock


Heather Graham, Ashton Kutcher with Demi Moore, Penelope Cruz, Jennifer Garner

***

Sienna Miller leaving a West Hollywood restaurant


Drew Barrymore and Courteney Cox at the LA premiere of Borat


Lindsay Lohan in Hollywood

source 1, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5