Thursday, January 31, 2008

Havaianas Flip Flop + Doormat


Way back in 1907, a factory that produced simple and cheap sandals called alpargatas opened in Brazil. These sandals were used by coffee collectors. Today, it became a fashion icon and turned into a worldwide craze with its new name, Havaianas.

Over the years, the brand has kept surprising the public by proposing trendy and cool flip flops. Though expensive, Havianas became one of the major global sales hit and one of the most recognized brand for flip-flops.

Their latest product is a limited edition doormat with a pair of exclusive Havaianas. It is a pair of Havaianas embedded into a colorful doormat. It simply suggest that you can just pop out from your house, sticking your flip-flops on when you pass by the door.



Source


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2008 Spring Fashion Guide

Kudos to Net-A-Porter.com! They created a spring fashion guide that's easy to follow and easy to remember. Truly, it's easy as A-B-C. I have seen numerous trend reports for the season but I think this is the best among the rest (in my opinion).

So girls, ready yourselves and learn how to make your Spring the most stylish ever...

a is for ART
b is for BOWS
c is for CHARITY
d is for DONNA KARAN & DKNY


e is for ESPADRILLES
f
is for FLORALS
g
is for GRECIAN

h
is for HALSTON



i is for IBIZA GIRL
j
is for JUMPSUITS

k
is for KALEIDOSCOPIC COLOR

l
is for LACING

m
is for MINI



m is for MINI
n
is for NEON

o
is for OMBRE

p
is for PARACHUTE

q
is for (AFRICAN) QUEEN


r is for RUFFLES AND RUCHING
s is for SUNGLASSES
t
is for TULLE

u
is for UNDERWEAR

v
is for VISTORIANA-LITE


w is for WINGS
x
is for XANADU

y
is for YELLOW

z
is for ZIGZAGS



*click the images to see the full details


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Lash Out: Falsies From Make Up For Ever


I was in Sephora yesterday and paused to admire Make Up For Ever's delightfully ostentatious false eyelashes. They're very Cabaret/ Paris Is Burning. Since I don't hang out in WWII-era Berlin speakeasies, and I don't Vogue, I don't really have where to wear them, yet still, I covet.




Natalia Vodianova Retires



I wonder, what's happening to the fashion world these days? Models got pregnant while designers retired.

While everyone was watching Valentino as he took his final bow last week, Natalia Vodianova, the seventh-highest paid supermodel in the world according to Forbes, will be locking up her modeling shoes in the closet for good. The popular Russian supermodel has decided to retire after taking part in Valentino’s final show last week in Paris and after walking on the runway for 10 years. Vodianova is said to be taking Valentino to Moscow for a week and then to Brazil for Carnivale as a celebration of their retirement.




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Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Frankie Morello's 2008 Spring/Summer Campaign: Amy-Winehouse Look



Checkout this Frankie Morello's Spring/Summer Campaign for 2008. The female model does have Amy Winehouse beehive hairstyle!

What a good news after
receiving the dubious title of one of the Villains of the Year at the NME Awards.

FYI: Amy's song, Rehab ranked first on the Village Voice Annual Pazz+Jop top songs of the year. Isn't it ironic? She's the Rehab singer who's currently in rehab.

Photo Source


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Beauty Buys That Blow!

Styledash has the 12 beauty products that basically suck, according to TotalBeauty.com.

The funny thing is, I actually use about four of them. Here's their take versus mine, which is obviously far superior, because it is.


Smashbox Lip-Enhancing Gloss
Their beef: "Color only lasts through a half-hour commute, and it's hard to ignore the plastic aroma and grainy texture while you're wearing it."
My take: I agree that it doesn't last long, but I have their True Color gloss in Protege, and it's a perfect non-megawatt simple neutral gloss for daywear. And I disagree about any funky texture or smell of yuk.


Revlon Tourmaline Ionic 1875 Watt Hairdryer
Their beef: "... don't let buzz words like 'ionic' and 'ceramic' seduce you into buying it. Bad design and bogus claims had me ready to go back to the louder, heavier Elchim 1800. Despite having multiple settings, this dryer's heat was too intense and its frizz-fighting 'Ion Select Dial' futile."
My take: I agree that there's not much super ionic or tourmalinic (???) about this dryer, but it absolutely fights frizzos (and I should know), and it gets lotsa points for its lack of jet-engine-blast volume. And hello -- it's $35. Perf.


Redken All Soft Gold Glimmer Perfecting Shine Treatment
Their beef:
"'Shine treatment' brings a serum texture to mind, but this was a thicker, gel-like goo infused with golden flecks. When sparingly applied from hair ends to mid-shaft, you can expect to get some separation and added texture -- which is odd because it's meant to soften and add shine to hair. (It didn't.)
My take: WTF? I absolutely adore this product. It's a frizz-fighting WEAPON OF FUCKING MASS DESTRUCTION! And it adds an overwhelming amount of shine with a minimal amount of gooey goopiness. The only thing I agree with here is yes, it does smell like a tropical isle. Which rules.


Maybelline New York Define-A-Lash Washable Lengthening Mascara
Their beef:
"A mascara that promises "zero clumps" with "stunning length" and "clean definition" at this price sounds too good to be true -- and it is. The reason it doesn't clump? The formula is so thin, you'll need at least two coats to get decent lash definition. Then it starts clumping."
My take: Um, did we use the same product? Yes, this is a VERY thin mascara -- I'll give them that. And you need to use about four coats, not two. BUT, it's an indispensable tool for lengthening, lifting and separating. It's the Wonderbra of mascaras, if you will. I use it as a base and then add a thicker mascara on top of it for maximum effectage. Next to Maybelline's sub par, super-overhyped Great Lash mascara, this thing Speaking of thickening mascara -- I used to use Benefit's Bad Gal mascara, which nearly gives you Tammy Faye Baker eyes, in an awesome way, until my sister and I both concluded -- it ends up migrating from your eyelashes to your undereyes by COB, no matter what. Boo. So now I'm kind of back on the market as far as thickening mascaras go.


Anyway, tell us which beauty products you love/hate/feel indifference/ blind rage toward.

Runway Recap: Chanel Ready-to-Wear Spring 2008

Schizophrenia! Rizzo! Stars and stripes! Bondage! Boredom! Prostitution! Grey Gardens! Granny knits! Coogi! White people in racist country clubs (I don't think there was ONE non-pale-skinned model in that show! Wait. There was like one Asian or something. But COME ON!) The movie Overboard! No, it's not a shortlist of Britney's faults and favorite things. These are what look to be the much-too-many inspirations behind the Chanel's dizzingly unfocused 2008 RTW collection.

Check out the denim pieces; instead of making you go to the trouble of tracking down some blinding acid, pouring it into a bucket and dunking your head in, they've done that for you. Thanks, Uncle Karl! Enjoy the parade of atrocities!


Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Victoria Beckham Strips Off For Marc Jacobs' Skin Cancer T-Shirt Campaign


Victoria Beckham is putting up some spice to Marc Jacobs' skin cancer awareness campaigns that aims to warn people of the dangers of excessive sun exposure. Posh has signed up to pose nude for the said project.

Last year the project raised £30,000 for charity, with Naomi Campbell and Julianne Moore fronting the campaign.

The shirts, which have been signed by the star, will be on sale from next week. Here's a photo of David Beckham wearing the shirt last Tuesday in Brazil.



Photo Source


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Absurdly Cute Wood-Print Zipper Pouches That I Am Kvelling Over


LOOK at what immensely talented artist, blogger and Etsyer The Black Apple just stitched up in time for Palentine's Day: absurdly cute l'il pouches made from woodgrain-print fabric. To make matters even more eye-meltingly cute cutilly cuters, she done went and added teensy squirrely friends in love, sharing amorous convo in French over a heart-shaped acorn. I mean COME ON. It barely gets cuter than that. (Except, of course, for my awesome cat Rory, but just barely at this point, because he scratched me the other day, so he's temporarily on my shit list.)

Anyway, they're not posted in her Etsy shop yet, but I pray she does so with a quickness!

Dear Boyfriend,

These.



Yayoi Inada earrings, $125.

What Are You Wearing? Me: Anna Sui



No, this isn't a phone-sex-related post. Instead, I was inspired by a post by Fashionista entitled "Do You Smell Your Age?" Not as "can you smell how old you are?" but as in "is your fragrance age-appropriate?" An important question.

Today I'm kickin' it fruity and floral in Anna Sui's Sui Love -- I'm a big fan of Anna's fragrances, and this was my most recent and third purchase (I succumbed to my love of packaging and got Dolly Girl a few months back for its sweet little French-looking pink lady head bottle, and I've worn her signature "Anna Sui" fragrance for nigh on a decade now.)

Anna's peeps refer to Sui Love as a fragrance that:

"evokes a melodic symphony of one heart to another. Bergamot and passion fruit with jasmine and white rose unfold the rapture of vanilla and ambrette seed to awaken the sensual and spellbinding climax of love's fragrance."

Um, well, I guess agree, yet I'm sorry to report that I didn't immediately erupt into a perfume-induced orgasm after a mere spritz. But the passion fruit and citrus are sweet yet surprisingly light (waaaaaay lighter than the musky "Anna Sui.") despite its moderate spice factor. And I know, it's sort of counterintuitive to wear a summery fragrance in the dead of winter, but that's kinda the point.

Oh yeah, and since we here at the 'Binge like to "keep our costs down," if you will (and I seriously will), I'm pleased to report that the largest size is under $50.00

Oh, but so speaking of age, the wise women of Makeupalley.com (I CANNOT recommend this site enough, by the way, both for the breadth of its reviews and because you can SWAP products, which is exactly how I got this fragrance and Dolly Girl. You know -- because I ain't rich, kay?) collectively pretty much agree that this is a teen-to-early twenties fragrance! Me, I'm in my late twenties. (VERY late twenties, specifically). Which means... i just got an average of, like seven years younger!

Anyway, I pose three questions:

1.) What fragrance are you wearing today?

2.) Approximately how old do you "smell"? (Hee!)

3.) Disregarding the first and more obvious answer of "Who cares?"... Do you think it's ok to wear "younger" fragrances, or is it shitty?


DISCUSS!

Zhang Jing Chu 张静初


Name: Zhang Jing Chu 张静初
Date of birth: February 2, 1980
Horoscope: Aquarius
Place of birth: Fujian, China
Height: 165cm
Education: Central Academy of Drama, China
Language spoken: Mandarin and English
Profession: Actress
Hobbies: Swimming, literature and movies