If you’re a street-style-fashion-blog-phile, you might have noticed this one particular pair of shoes that’s been seen everywhere.

Susie/Style Bubble

Hanneli

Karla/Karla's Closet

Rumi/Fashion Toast

Rumi/Fashion Toast

From Facehunter

It’s the Acne Atacoma ankle wedge, and the blogosphere’s heavyweights have obviously given their stompin’ stamp of approval. I’m liking it a lot myself: the design is simple and effective, and the subtle skeletal outline at the heel is just brilliant. The best thing about this shoe? It goes with ANYTHING, as illustrated above.

It probably won’t be easy to get your hands on this beaut. Oak has it, but already the version with the mirrored bottom is sold out. Guess everyone has been busy clicking around for these. If I had a pair, I’d give them a shelf of their own. So awesome.

Pictures: Style Bubble, Facehunter, Karla’s Closet, Fashion Toast

With all the high tech synthetic stuff in skincare products today -all promising a ton of benefits & miraculous results it’s easy to get lost in the ingredient list. However, there is one underappreciated ingredient that’s been around for ages that can beat the crap out of all the current contenders for skincare supremacy with its hydrating and healing properties- Ladies and Gentlemen on the left corner: Shea Butter!

photo courtesy of nivea.com

Shea butter, an edible fat extracted from the fruit of the Shea tree which grows in several regions of Africa- provides non-greasyhealing hydration like no other ingredient out there. My love affair with Shea started with a frenzied search for the perfect lip balm. Having tried everything  from Burt’s Bee’s beeswax-based balm to petroleum jelly and even the ever reliable Kiehl’s Lip Balm # 1 only led me to suffer from luscious lip letdown. Skin salvation arrived when one day my mother handed me a tube of Nivea’s Repair & Protection Lip Balm which she bought on the checkout lane at the local grocer. Skeptical but desperate, I tried it and has   since never wanted another-like a loyal lip balm lover. Curious about how it stands out from the competition I compared its ingredients to products I’ve tried and narrowed down the difference to its high Shea butter content which heals broken skin and protects it from dryness and the elements. It provides matte moisture- so both guys & girls can use it.

photo courtesy of thebodyshop.com

Since then I have tried other products with Shea butter with the same brilliant results. The list includes the nourishing and non-greasy Body Shop Shea Body Butter which helps you do away with bothersome re-applications as it leaves your skin moisturized for up to 24 hours- even in dry air-conditioned environments.

Read on…

Drew Barrymore had such a good winning “streak” this year with her critically acclaimed performance in HBO’s Grey Gardens, her (then) flawless red carpet showings and directing a star-studded and an almost guaranteed box office success of a movie called “Whip It”. Then she decided her unique poufy, tattoo-like dress needs to go with a poufy, frizzy skunk/skank-like hairdo a la Christina Aguilera circa 2000- Love the Dress-Hate the “Josie Grossey” Hair. What do you think of this look Crazy Cool or Crash & Burn?

photo courtesy of celebrity-gossip.net

Me and my playlist are similar in that we are boring old farts. I blame it on getting old and not being in the party scene for almost 6 months. I just recently bought David Guetta’s new album &  fell in love with the now overplayed track “When Love Takes Over” with Beyonce’s back-up dancer Kelly Rowland. I also checked out the video of  the song and I fell in love with Miss Kelly’s funky 80’s inspired make-up. It’s not for everyone-  not for the office or for when you’re getting Kopitiam take-away but it’s definitely an interesting look that is copy-worthy. Unlike this look which should forever remain in the 80’s.

courtesy of PerezHilton.com

 Need an instruction manual? I’m one step ahead of you as I have attached a video tutorial instead- You’re Welcome! Kelly Rowland \”When Love Takes Over\” Makeup Tutorial <<<CLICK HERE

In a world where everyone is a beauty scientist who knows their paraffins from their parabens, people have become excessively cautious about fragrances in their skincare. The truth is that a  fragrant moisturizer can be good for your skin too, as long as the scent is part of an integral ingredient of the product or if it cam from a natural, non-allergenic source. Here are some scented sensations that are skin friendly too.

US$34 @ www.lalicious.com

The inspiration for this article was spiked by the SWEETest body scrub I have ever slathered onto my body. Introduced to be my a friend from Zurich who forgot where she got it, the La Licious Sugar Kiss Souffle Scrub, is a fluffy pink French pastry that you can use to exfoliate your body. It smells so good that it has a warning label on the jar forbidding users to eat it. Perfect as a pre-shave prep, it’s also for people (like me) who couldn’t be bothered to apply body lotion after every shower. Your skin is left soft and nourished by coconut and sweet almond oil. This scrub is guaranteed to make anyone a dish to be desired.

$285 @ SCCUBE The Apothecary

Another sweet smelling concoction is the Euoko R-40 Cellular Radiance, a moisturizer for both day and night. This light, quick absorbing face cream smells like a comforting cup of hot chocolate and nourishes skin with a potent cocktail of antioxidants that gives the skin an irresistible glow. Best for lazy people like me who usually forego the drudgery of night creams, now I could see it as a pre-snooze spa treat. Read on…

Slotting neatly in between the lifestyle brand adidas Originals and the sport-inspired luxury label Y-3, adidas SLVR is a collection of innovative pieces – pure, streamlined in form and stripped of excess. Even the SLVR logo echoes these key elements in a reduction to three clean and parallel bold strokes. So in love are we with SLVR’s clean shapes and fluid lines that we’ve partnered adidas to launch the very first SLVR pop-up store in Asia Pacific.

Located on Level3@ Front Row, the store-in-store reflects the brand’s contemporary design elements within the minimal functionality of the space, characterised with a balance of raw wood and polished steel.

The SLVR store-in-store launches with its A/W09-10 collection - a smart, pared down, subtle affair with poplin, organic cotton and water-resistant nylon in the brand’s signature shade, gun metal grey, and simple black with strong accents of dark bordeaux, cobalt blue and lime green.

Simple and unassuming, say ‘hello’ to a collection of everyday essentials that ask to be layered, combined and rearranged in infinite ways.

.
Here’s a gorgeous video of SLVR’s FW09/10 campaign to get you started.

The adidas SLVR pop-up store launches at Level3@ Front Row from 11 September 2009 | 5 ann siang road

www.adidas.com/slvr

SLVR offers creative solutions for the production process which also take the environment into consideration. The Zero Waste Tee is produced in only three steps and its interlocking pattern creates absolutely no waste.

With an eye to the environment, SLVR products reduce complexity. The Seven Piece shoe is made of only seven pieces (most sneakers use 25-30) that are stitched together instead of using environmentally aggressive glue.

FHM, August 2009- Yohji Yamamoto for Prototype Sunglasses, available at Front Row

CLEO, August 2009- Cut Out Top by Yovia Jogia //+9 available at Front Row

I-Weekly, August 2009- Christopher Lee wearing Short-Sleeved Shirt by Woods&Woods, available at Front Row

Elle, August 2009- (From Left to Right) Deconstructed Dress and Hooded Jacket with Zipper, both by Demisemiquaver //+9; available at Front Row

Catalog, August 2009-  Tshirt with Embroidered Pocket by A.P.C, available at Front Row

Catalog, August 2009- 50s Cardigan by A.P.C, available at Front Row

I have a fascination for taxidermy. I do… I think it’s absolutely beautiful. I once wandered into a taxidermy shop in North London and it was filled with the most amazing jungle of stuffed animals. Peacocks, beavers, bears, birds, fishes - I felt like Alice in the rabbit hole of morbid Wonderland. And before you judge me or go all Peta warfare on me, taxidermy can be done ethically. Some say it’s a new form of Memento Mori (latin for ‘remember you shall die‘, a genre of art that serves to remind people of their own mortality.) That excuse aside, artistic taxidermy doesn’t need to be cruel.

A case in point: Reid Peppard, a london-based designer uses taxidermy in her accessories line, RP/Encore, but only with creatures that were victims of roadkill, pest control, or those that died from natural death. Her only exceptions are ‘feeder rats’ (rats that are bred and killed for the sole purpose of feeding snakes).

“RP/ENCORE challenges our attitudes towards fur, leather and waste.  In a world where leather is worn with out question by most, and replaced by un-biodegradable plastics by the rest, it is ironic that the image of an animal preserved using taxidermy is still enough to cause widespread outrage and fist banging. It is for this reason I taxidermy the prolific, consequential vermin result of London’s excess.  A member of the UK’s Guild of Taxidermists, I use both traditional and alternative methods of taxidermy to preserve and embellish creatures that are widely thought disgusting and unnecessary. When they become sculptural headpieces, necklaces and cuff-links, the specimens cease to be waste and become objects to behold. RP/ENCORE makes use of the city’s leftovers.” (Source: Kingdomofstyle)

And btw, she’s a vegetarian.

RP/Encore is both abrasive and fascinating in equal measure. The Vermin collection features a Rat Bowtie - literally a leather bow tie with the corpse of a white mouse’s head protruding from the center (morbidly cute, actually). Large White Rat Wrist Chain is a good-sized taxidermized rat that dangles from your wrist (I can imagine twirling this to good screaming effects at the bus stop). Slightly grisly and a tad diabolical though is the Large White Rat Coin Purse - you put your change in the rat’s belly (lined with black velvet).

Read more of Reid Peppard’s motivations in her interview with DazeDigital.

Speaking of which, I had a sneak preview of the new MELISSA A/W10 shoes. It had a plastic-fied rat that lay across the straps as a design feature… It’s as quirky as it is ethically correct. Boss refuses to buy them for the store. Tsk tsk, what a waste. They are too cute. Running a petition to get this in.