Reviews and Other Stuff

All The Light We Cannot See, Book Review

October 6, 2016 / OTHER STUFF / 0 comments

Let me tell about a book I’ve read last year that still pains me whenever I remember it. It’s not exactly the saddest book I’ve read, but for me, it’s quite a tearjerker. It’s hard for me to forget about this book because the story focuses during one of the hard times of our history. The story is about a blind French girl and a German boy with the plot set in occupied France during the World War II. The book’s title is “All The Light We Cannot See” by the American author, Anthony Doerr.

The book has won numerous awards, the biggest being the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and has spent several weeks in the New York Times Best Seller.

The book is written in the third person, classic style that really describes the hardship of the people living during the World War II. It’s sad to read about it, and it’s even more sad when a blind French girl named Marie-Laure LeBlanc had to flee Paris to seek refuge in a coastal town where her great-uncle lives. What would happen to her? Meanwhile, in Germany, an 8 year old orphan Werner Pfennig dreams of a much better life. But at what price he has to pay? Two kids from two different countries, from two different standpoints, they don’t know each other, but soon, their paths will cross.

I really like the story, it’s heartwarming yet sad, it’s melodramatic but somehow all’s well that ends well, but not so much because the characters have been through a lot and they’re never going be the same again. It’s quite a tough book to read, not only for its sad story, but also the first half of the book can be quite detailed that you might lose interest. I suggest that you stick with it because the book is an experience in itself. Also, if you listen to its audiobook via Amazon’s Audible, the experience is like complete immersion.

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr indeed deserves all the awards it can get. Have read this? Did you like it?

You can buy the book HERE, or listen to its audiobook HERE.

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Chanel Le Gel Coat Longwear Top Coat Review

October 5, 2016 / FASHION & BEAUTY / 0 comments

What’s up coconuts? For a long long time I’ve never really bought the Chanel Top Coats because I thought they’ll never be like my favorite holy grail top coat (clue: 2 words, starts with letter S and V). Well tahday, that belief proved me wrong. I think I’ve found my new HG top coat, at least for my gel nail polishes, specially for the new Chanel Le Vernis which was reformulated in gel form not a long time ago. It’s the newest Chanel Le Gel Coat Longwear Top Coat. It’s created to enhance and extend the life of the new Chanel Le Vernis, and is meant to create a glossy and strong nail polish that will last for 7 days. Now that’s what I want!

The moment I applied this, I knew it’s going to be a keeper. The top coat itself has a slight strong odor but it fades away immediately. It has a nice wide brush which was surprising for me because the brushes found in the Chanel Le Vernis are usually thin and rounded, which makes them kinda tricky to apply. But this Chanel Le Gel Coat is so easy to apply and the formula spreads evenly around the nail polish. Best thing about it, is that it dries immediately upon application. I highly recommend this.

When I was thinking whether I should purchase the old Chanel Top Coat or this new Chanel Le Gel Coat, the S.A. at the Chanel beauty counter said without hesitation that the Le Gel is the better choice to buy, and yes, she’s definitely right.

So, I really really recommend this Chanel Le Gel Top Coat. I get a real 7 days of wear on this with minimal chipping and tip wear, while my nails stayed glossy and rock hard. I suggest using this with your favorite New Chanel Le Vernis Longwear Nail Colour (reviewed HERE) or any gel nail polishes. Not sure whether this top coat will work with the non-gel polish, haven’t really tried. But to be safe, just use it with your favorite gel nail polish. For the non-gel ones, I still like to use Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat, which is also loved by a lot of beauty junkies.

To purchase this top coat, click HERE. For my review of the new Chanel Le Vernis, click HERE, and to purchase the new Chanel Le Vernis, please click HERE as well.

Happy Nail Painting!

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Chanel Rouge Allure Ink Matte Liquid Lip Colour Review

October 5, 2016 / FASHION & BEAUTY / 0 comments

I have too many matte liquid lipsticks! – said No One. 🙂 Well, that is so true, indeed. Matte liquid lipsticks are everywhere! Seems like every brands are making their very own version of matte liquid lipsticks. Hmm, what do you know, Chanel didn’t wanna get left behind, so, enter my current matte liquid lipstick favorite, the Chanel Rouge Allure Ink Matte Liquid Lip Colour. I’m so excited to review this because I’m so curious to find out whether a high end matte liquid lipstick would outshine the current and popular mid-brands of matte liquid lipsticks, or not.

Much to my surprise, when I was picking up the shades, I was having a bit of a hard time because most of the shades don’t seem to match well with my skin tone. I have an NC3-35 skin tone and a Beige 30 in most Chanel foundations for the record. Most of the shades in this Rouge Allure Ink Matte Liquid Lip Colours are on the bright reds, which I’m not really a fan of because my skin tends to complement with the vampy or dark muted hues.

Eventually, I settled with these two colors, the Chanel Rouge Allure Ink Matte in 150 Luxuriant and 154 Experimente. These are almost the darkest shades of all the Rouge Allure Ink Matte Lip Colour. With respect to their formulations, they’re definitely matte in texture and they dry fast like most matte liquid lipsticks. They almost don’t have any discerning scent and they are extremely pigmented. I get about a good 5 to 6 hours of wear on these, and they also leave a slight stain on my outer lips thereafter. The brush applicator feels strong and robust, though the overall packaging is quite small compared to most matte liquid lipsticks. I like that it’s made of thick hard glass, but not heavy. Overall, the packaging is nice, simple yet luxurious.

150 Luxuriant: A slightly bright and deep fuchsia with bluish undertone. It’s extremely pigmented and super creamy. The formula takes about a full minute to dry and is very staining, but can be easily cleaned.

154 Experimente: The darkest of all the Chanel Rouge Allure Ink Matte shades, and my most favorite as well. It’s a dark vampy red which dries immediately upon application and is also crazily pigmented and has a creamy texture. It tends to get clumpy if you apply too much, so go easy on this. It’s a beautiful shade for medium to dark skin tones.

As you can see in the photo above, the Chanel Rouge Allure Ink Matte Liquid Lip Colour’s packaging is quite tiny. For its price, I wish it came with a bigger tube which means more product. However, these lippies would fit very well in your purse, and they look really luxurious. Compared to most matte liquid lipsticks that are so popular out there, I think these ones are a good contender. They are true to what they are supposed to be, a matte liquid lipstick, but they’re not drying like most matte liquid lipsticks, and at the same time, they’re well pigmented and long lasting.

If you’re interested with these lippies, you can buy it HERE.

Thanks for your time guys, until next time…

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Ciao!