beauty: soft soft lips

I have used almost all of the lipbalms under the sun. The Australian sun that is because sometimes companys don't like to ship their stuff to us which is very sad indeed. Anyway my point is: I pretty much cannot go without lipbalm.

But then, one day i ran out. (That's a lie, i lost my trusty nivea one and had only a grapefruit nivea one that unfortunately hads a red tinge. And that fine, but I also currently have pimples above my lips and the red really brings it out. Too much information? Sorry, I'm feeling sharing today. ) And then it struck me! I had remembered reading something about exfoliating your lips. I mean its true right? If you can exfoliate skin everywhere else why not your lips? Just be very gentle!

1. sink a glob of lipbalm onto your lips so they're nice and conditioned and then wait about five or so minutes to allow it to sink in.

2. grab a soft tooth brush or a childrens tooth brush and gentled rub it over your tips in a circular movement. be very very gentle here. really. Its far better to spend more time on it than having your lips scraped away. Think about it

3. Once you're done rub another glob of lipbalm over your lips again and leave it to set. Probs 5 minutes or so again and you're done.

Okay this is probably something you shouldn't be doing all that often (1 every two weeks perhaps?) but it allows for your lipbalm to better sink into your skin so it can do its job. It will also mean you won't have to use it nearly as often. Yay!

fashion: sretsis

Sretsis Southern Hemisphere A/W09

craft: masquerade pt2

I made it in time, haha at the night before the party. I got really worried about it actually because im terrible at mixing purple, let alone magenta. They all turn out to resemble something not dissimilar to shit brown. But its okay because I went out and bought some paint instead. Anywho, here is the finished product.


The paint on its own looked a bit plain so i decided to use glitter all over. Also, the rhinestones were a bit bigger than I thought so I only ended up using two, which was annoying because I bought two packets. Whatever.

materials used:
blue craft glitter
purple craft glitter
gold craft glitter
orange rhinestones
purple paint
blue paint
purple feathers

cost: just under $25
It was a bit more than I was willing to use really but, I suppose now I have heaps of pretty things to use for other projects, yay for me.

fashion: christopher kane

Light vs Dark.

Pretty, no?

food : chokolait

On a rather cold summer's night fox and i were roaming the streets of melbourne for a cozy hangout that supplied also chocolate, a vice we share. After discovering that the beloved and very pretty interiors of koko club were not open we knew not of what to do. But saviour behold! Chokolait was!

sort of, i think they were only open until we kicked outselves out. Nonetheless drinks were great and yummy! Fox had a classic: belgium hot chocolate

And i had a hot jaffa:

They were really great and yum and just what the doctor ordered! Between this place and Koko black , i think i liked the food here better but Koko Black's interior design is prettier. So i guess it just depends on how you're feeling right?

sound: wear sunscreen

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of '99...
Wear Sunscreen
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience…I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked….You're not as fat as you imagine.
Don't worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing everyday that scares you
Sing
Don't be reckless with other people's hearts, don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss
Don't waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind…the race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself.
Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch
Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds know still don't.
Get plenty of calcium.
Be kind to your knees, you'll miss them when they're gone.
Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't, maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't, maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your choices are half chance, so are everybody else's. Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don't be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it's the greatest instrument you'll ever own..
Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.
Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.
Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents, you never know when they'll be gone for good.
Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography in lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.
Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you'll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.
Don't mess too much with your hair, or by the time it's 40, it will look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen...

 

Baz Lurhmann – Everybody’s Free (to Wear Sunscreen)

life: eureka tower

at day
at dusk

at night

Melbourne is a glorious, glorious city. Pictures taken from the Eureka Tower.

craft: masquerade pt1

This is very late and is something i will never tell any prospective employers, but my friends very special 18th is this friday and I am still yet to come up with a mask. Oh dear. The thing is, i was going to buy one but purple is a very difficult colour to find in masks and yes, it must be purple for dress code reasons.

But I have two ideas I am considering so I did a rough sketch.

Here is option one. It seems a bit more blue than purple doesn't it? Maybe if I changed the feathers to purple then it will be better. The orange stuff around the eyes are meant to be rhinestones and I'll make the yellow bit in the middle more glittery perhaps.

And here is the second one. Its obviously more purply and whatnot but is it too boring? Bear in mind my crafting skills are rather limited. Anyway, its going to be all purple feathers with yellow glitter outlining and orange rhinestone adornments.

I don't know if neither of these work out, I guess I'll have to go and buy one. Let's hope it won't lead to that.

literature: growing up asian in australia

That's me. I grew up/ still growing up in Australia, so of course I felt the very necessity to read it. So I did.

Let me just say something about Asian Australian writers. They are very different from the traditonal Asian writers as their style is more relaxed, less "us against them", something I can relate to more. And I like it.

Growing Up Asian was great. The stories are hilarious, touching and memorable. From stories about family and the attaching generation gap, to ones of racism and acceptance, these are anecdotes from those who have been there done that.

My favourite moments include:

Papa Bear, Chin Shen

"After calling himself John for a year, my dad realised he needed a name that symbolised something more than the average white Australian male. Something strong and heoric- something that embodied the promise and hope of his newly adopted home. But instead of looking through the phone book or a book of names for potential monikers, he took a trip to the local shopping complex. That's where he laid eyes on the brightest, reddest sign he's ever seen:

TANDY ELECTRONICS"

Tourism, Benjamin Law

"...This seems to be an exercise in which Asians of all nationalities, ages and socio-economic backgrounds naturally excel: buying shit. Venture into my childhood home, and in amongst the epic piles of suburban debris, you'll still find a plush blue whale wearing a Seaworld cap, T-shirts emblazoned with Kenny and Belinda- the now defunct Dreamworld mascots- and a pox of hideous fridge magnets. Oh my god, the fridge magnets."

interview, Anh Do

"What did you want to be when you were growing up?"

"I wanted to be a martial arts champion, like many young Asian kids. I once signed up for a ninjitsu class. One day I bumped into the instructor on the street and he said, 'It's been seven weeks since I've seen you in camouflage class!' I said to him, 'That's because I'm getting really good.'"

Growing Up Asian in Australia is compiled and edited by Alice Pung, a Melbourne write and lawyer and is published by Black Inc. Books.