rinnah's consumer views|a straight talking, tell-it-as-it-is consumer lifestyle blog

Just last week, I was out for dinner with Beetrice in Orchard Road and as fate would have it, we walked past an Aldo store with a sale sign. You know what happens when girls see sales signs, right?

So we walked in just to ‘look-see’ (or so we told ourselves). Haha. And you already know what’s coming next…

Say hello to the latest (and most expensive) addition to my shoe wardrobe, Aldo’s Doyscher in black leather.

With an almost 4 1/2in heel (yes, I measured!), the Doyscher is possibly the highest high heel I’ve owned to date and if I do say so myself, it makes my legs look longer. Naturally, it is not for traipsing around on the roadsides of Singapore nor is it meant for long shopping expeditions. So for now, I shall just prance around in my heels in the office ala The Devil Wears Prada. Hehe.

The recommended retail price for Aldo’s Doyscher heels is SGD 159.00.

I figure the Doyscher will make an excellent stand-in (possible dupe?) until the day I can get my hands on these gorgeous Christian Louboutin Declic heels below.

As my fellow beauty bloggers would know all too well, lately I’ve been struck by a new lemming for nail polish. But not just any nail polish. Oh no.

Like a moth to flame, I find myself inexplicably drawn to red nail polishes. The redder, the better.

It all started nearly two years ago when I was getting a manicure/pedicure done for Chinese New Year and I decided to go out of my comfort zone (pretty but safe light pinks and neutrals) and go red. The manicurist recommended to me the most sought after red in the salon : OPI’s best-selling I’m Not Really A Waitress.

Image credit for I’m Not Really A Waitress

It’s not so much a bright red, but a deep red with burgundy highlights that show up in brighter light conditions. I liked it so much that I bought a bottle to keep – my first red nail polish. I’m not good with doing my own manicures, so I’ve been using it on my toes where it still looks good from afar and mistakes are not so noticeable. Heheh.

Then I read Lyn’s post on her new Chanel Rouge Carat nail polish and was hankering after it so bad that Beetrice had to drag me into the Chanel boutique with orders to try it on just so I would shut up about it.

Image credit for Chanel Rouge Carat

This is a brighter red compared to I’m Not Really A Waitress and under the boutique lights where I swatched it, it appears to have gold flecks in the red. Absolutely gorgeous and the only reason why I didn’t walk out of the boutique with it was because it’s much cheaper in Malaysia (MYR 70.00) compared to Singapore (SGD 36.00). Come this weekend, I’m going home to Malaysia to get this limited edition baby.

Then came another siren’s call when I got intro’d to Singaporean blogger Joey Chong. What should I see scrolling down the first page of her blog but this post on Dior’s Les Rouges collection featuring not one, but three different types of red.

I’m eyeing Gruau (on the right) and Icone (on the left), but I’ll need to see it in real life before deciding which of the two I want. Tralfagar (in the center) is a bit too bright red for me. In case you’re wondering, yes, this is *also* a limited edition collection.

As if that wasn’t enough, while fruitlessly hunting for Dior’s Les Rouges (didn’t realize that it’s exclusive to Isetan Scotts), I glanced over at the neighboring Lancome counter and saw… another red in Kate Winslet’s Golden Hat holiday collection for Lancome. Oh yeah, need I mention also that this is another limited edition baby?

Unfortunately, the consultant told me that the polishes for the Golden Hat holiday collection were not being brought in to Singapore. Bummer!

Now tell me, have I been poisoned by red nail polish lemmings or what?

I discovered Daniel Yam Apparel earlier this year when I was searching high and low for a gown for a rather posh wedding dinner where Malaysian royalty would be present. Me being me with my decidedly classic sense of style (my mom calls it old-fashioned style ), I was determined that I wanted a gown that was simple, not fussy, yet chic and elegant. None of those beads and frills and ruffles for me, thankyewellymuch.

I had been in and out of numerous shops in both Malaysia and Singapore when I happened to walk into Daniel Yam’s boutique at Wisma Atria on Orchard Road with Beetrice. And lo and behold, there was my perfect dress in a shade of deep turquoise blue. So into the dressing room I went and it was a dream come true. A simple tube design in a satiny fabric with some folds draped down the front (good for concealing any belly bulges) that fit perfectly with no alterations needed. I was definitely set on the design but torn between my favorite color (the turquoise blue) and a chili red which decidedly made me look fairer but just screamed “look at me ma i’m wearing a red dress”.

The dress in chili red

I knew I wanted the dress but dithered over my color choice for about two weeks before I eventually made my way back to Daniel Yam, but this time I dropped by the boutique in Marina Square. And there, was the same dress in a lovely fuchsia pink that made me look equally as fair as the chili red and also stood out but didn’t scream for attention.

Here’s how I looked that night for the wedding dinner :

I loved my ensemble that night and got quite a number of compliments too, so I’ll definitely be heading back to Daniel Yam for more dresses when the occasion calls for it.

Evening gown : Daniel Yam Apparel
Shawl : Shop in Sungai Wang Plaza
Shoes : Fiore from Pay Less Shoes
Earrings : Sinma

I am so in love with this bag. If ever I were to get myself a LV bag, this would be it.

It’s the perfect size for work (even weekends) and I absolutely love the epi leather finish. It looks even more wonderful in ivory, but I’d be worried of getting it dirty so black would be more practical for me.

The only thing that’s stopping me? Le price.

Recommended retail price : USD 1,330.00

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It’s the perfect jewelry organizer that I could ever dream of. A full-length dressing mirror that opens up to reveal a jewelry cabinet inside.

But…

It’s out of my reach! Gah!

It’s I wanted this for my room back in Malaysia so badly that I actually checked to see if Ross-Simons did international delivery. They do, but you’ll have to add USD 40.00 to your total bill. Even then, I still wouldn’t be able to get this for my room because items that weigh more than 5 pounds cannot be shipped internationally.

Guess I’ll have to console myself with putting this in the Style File for future reference and keeping a look-out for a similar type of mirror cum jewelry cabinet in Malaysia.

In case you were wondering, this nifty jewelry storage case idea retails for USD 299.95 on the Ross-Simons website.

I love this concept!

No makeup makeup is all about using barely there, minimal makeup to achieve a polished, no makeup look that is like the natural and original you, but better. I’m not a fan of bold, bright and colorful makeup although I do admit that on some women, it looks fabulous and perfectly suited to them. Some other women though, are sadly misguided in the school of thought that more is better and usually end up with too much makeup that you can spot them a block away. I’m pretty sure all of us have seen at least one or two perfect examples of this in real life, no?

As for me, I usually eschew any form of makeup on all days, except those rare occasions when I have an event to go to. That’s when I break out my makeup stuff. But watching Lisa Eldridge’s No Makeup Makeup tutorial below has really inspired me to want to start doing this even on workdays! Just watch the video below – how can anyone not like what they see?

Video credit to Lisa Eldridge

I blame my sudden obsession with Elie Saab’s wedding gowns on Paris B. After she mentioned the hot Lebanese designer here, I started Googling for wedding gowns and whaddaya know? The man has an entire collection of 19 dresses for his 2011 wedding collection. And they are simply gorgeous!

Here are my favorites from the 2011 wedding collection (i.e. the ones I dream of getting married in) :

Erato

Auriga

Casandra

If I could, I would choose Erato for my wedding photography album in a garden setting, Auriga for the church wedding and Casandra for the wedding dinner.

A girl can dream, right?

I’ve never been one to really hanker after Longchamp bags. What with the current fad of every Jane or Ah Lian carrying one of those Le Pliage totes around (whether it is real, an A-grade replica or even your flea market variety knock-off) I vowed I would not be suckered into liking the Le Pliage.

Well, this baby below from the Veau Foulonne line proved me wrong.

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It’s your usual Le Pliage design, but crafted in a beautiful brown leather that I assure you, looks better in real life than this photo I took from the Longchamp website. It’s very classic and different from all those multi-colored Le Pliages that are a dime a dozen on the streets right now.

In a nutshell, I wants!

Retails at USD 355.00 online at the Longchamp website or HKD 2,880 at the Hong Kong International Airport (which is where I saw and handled the real thing).

Now, is it time for me to own a Longchamp?

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I was browsing through the Internet for my weekly fix of entertainment gossip when I came across this photo of Cameron Diaz from a photoshoot for Cosmopolitan magazine.

Cameron has always been slim and leggy, but I say wow, she’s super fit and beautifully toned and I think she’s so much hotter now compared to her younger days. I think she’s also a lot more confident with her own body now and it comes across in the photo.

I’m posting this to the Style File as an inspiration to myself to work hard at aging as well as Cameron. *wink*

I’m not really one to follow fashion trends or latest collections but this preppy look from Mango’s Sheer Minimalist (February 2011) collection caught my eye immediately.

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This look is so close to my own personal style that I can very well imagine myself living in an ensemble like this on the weekends. In fact, I have a V-neck sweater vest in the same shade as the one on the model above!

And since I’m in the middle of slowly revamping my wardrobe (no thanks to continued weight-loss over the past year) I’ll be keeping an eye out for styles that I favor and suit my personality to be showcased here in the category labeled Style File.