Bare Essential

The hot and humid weather back home does not incentivise me to wear makeup. Or wear my hair down. Or wear covered toes shoes. (My beloved Prada pumps are still waiting for their maiden voyage onto the street!) Hell, I'm not even wearing a good mood most afternoon when the sun is beating right into my room. What's with this tropical weather? Has it always been this humid?

How does a glamour queen keep her cool in such Amazon-like weather? Wear the bare essential, I advise. Save the chunky bracelet that gathers vapour between itself and your skin. Change the Posh Spice pencil-skirt for an A-line flare skirt. But the one that works best for me, leave out the foundation on your skin.

I need every pores in my body to "breathe" to get the cool air into my system. I hate to think my facial pores are clogged with Lancôme, producing facial oil instead of generating coolness. Foundation plus heat waves equals shiny T-zone, in record-time. (No, I'm not talking about the summer bronzy look here!) Wearing minimal makeup is the only way that works in our all-year summer weather.

Two words: Bare. Essential.

These what I wear on a day's trip to town:

1) Concealer

A colleague of mine said it well: If there's only one thing she can bring to a stranded island, it would be Yves Saint Laurent Touche Éclat. This is a highlighter that captures the light, reflecting off the dark spots on the face. The result is a balanced, brightened skin tone. A must-buy, trust me.

2) Powder

Powder evens out the patchy tones on one's face like a foundation does, without the mask-wearing feeling the latter induces. I wear Chanel Poudre Universelle. It has smooth texture that glides easily on your face, producing sufficient coverage while allowing your skin to breathe! And the powder stays on the whole day! What I love about Chanel is that all the cases comes in a velvety black pouch. No more unsightly scratches on the pretty case when you throw it into your bag.

3) Blusher
Perhaps your face is already flushed from the heat. For the rest of us, wear some colours on your cheek for goodness sake. The last thing you need is a homogeneous-toned face, like those who are push out of the morgue. Blusher adds a healthy glow to our face instantly. MAC has blusher with good pigmentation. One quick sweep of the blusher is all you need.

For the sunkissed look, I use MAC Foolish Me. It adds a vibrant peachy hue to your cheeks. It looks very orange-y in its case, but turns out to be a nice peach coral colour when applied. The best thing is the shimmer tone in the blusher! It bounces the sunlight off your face during the day, and adds instant oomph for the night! Perfect!

I also bought MAC Pink Swoon recently. With the subtlest hue of pink in it, I easily control the radiance I desire. Barring the shimmer dust in it, it adds an Innocent girlish soft blush to your cheek. Very cute.

4) Eyeliner

A great eyeliner to use is the Bobbi Brown Gel Eyeliner. Easy to use and long-lasting, I draw the upper eyelids only for my day-look. Remember, only the bare essential is needed. So this is sufficient to "open" your eyes and make you look more awake. For a night out, I add in a line on the lower eyelids for a more defined look. I often blend the eyeliner out for a soft smokey look too. A note of advice, use the Espresso Ink (a dark brown shade). Black is too harsh for the day.

5) Lip Gloss

Luckily one can't gain weight with lip gloss. Because it is irresistible to not lick off Lancôme Juicy Tube! It took my sister some convincing but she recently took the plunge and bought a Juicy Tube in Toffee Pop. She couldn't stop raving about how yummy it is -- just like the real toffee! I tried it too and it's true! I'm using the colour Framboise now. Well, then again, I have five other colours too! Use it alone or over your lipstick (I say forget about the lipstick), it has little colour but lotsa fun and flavour! Add power to your pout!

Mascara? Save it. Bare essential, remember? Use if only for a night out. Keep your face fresh and minimal during the day. When yours truly is running for time, I even skip the eyeliner. Because it adds little to the face. The most important rule is to keep the look fresh from the makeup pile-up.

One last thing. Keep the facial blotter handy. I use the lovely Pink Grapefruit Oil Absorbing Sheets from Clean&Clear. Great smell, works wonder. Dab your face with the blotter when you feel greasy. Then touch up with a thin layer of powder. Instant fresh look again! Such is a case when you can say less is more! Stay cool, stay essentially bare!

Fashion Faux Paux

It's sale season everywhere *hallelujah!* and fashion name dropping is necessary, if not essential! But the only thing about fashion that hurts more than clear bra straps is bad fashion name pronunciation! Ok, and muffin-tops too. Eew!

Ladies and gentlemen, do not make the fashion faux pas (pronounce "foe pah", by the way) of mispronouncing designer labels. Yes, I understand these are difficult to pronounce names, and that most of us are not French/Italian native speakers. But there is a whole world of resources out there! Ask a fashionista friend, Google it, check on Vogue forum, there is no excuse to say you are wearing a "Loh-bo-tIN", and carrying a "Low-Wee".

Correct pronunciation, in and beyond fashion, is one of my pet peeve (next only to spelling). Unless I've already got it right, I never attempt to say it or pronounce the label. Lately while shopping with my girlfriends, I've been asked to help pronounce certain designer names. I'm glad my secret obsession with articulation finally comes in handy, and fashionably!

I've consolidated a list of popular designer labels with the correct pronunciation that will help with one's designer names struggle. This is the ultimate fashionista's list to avoid fashion faux paux when label-dropping in future!

A
Agnes B. : Ahn-nyaz-beh
Andrew Gn: Andrew Jen (rhymes with “ten”)
Anteprima: On-tay-pre-ma
Anya Hindmarch: Ahn-ya Heind-march

B
Badgley Mischka: Badge-lee Meesh-ka
Bebe: Bee-bee
Balenciaga: Bah-len-see-AH-gah
Bally: BAH-li
Balmain: Bal-mah
Bottega Veneta: Bo-tega Ven-e-ta
Bulgari: Bool-gah-ree
Burberry Prorsum: Bur-bur-ree Pror-some

C
Cacharel: Cash-er-el
Carolina Herrera: Caro-leena Hair-era
Cerruti: Cher-ru-tee
Chanel: Sha-Nel
Chopard: Sho PAR
Christian Louboutin: Kris-tian loo-boo-tahn (soft N)
Christian Lacroix: Kris-tian LAH-kwa
Christian Dior: Kris-tian Dee-yor
Commes des Garcons: Comb day Garse-on

D
Diane von Furstenberg: Diane Von Fur-sten-berg
Dolce & Gabbana: Dole-chay and Gah-Bah-na
Dries Van Noten: Dress Vahn NOH-tehn

E
Elie Saab: EH-li Zahb
Emanuel Ungaro: Ee-MAN-noo-el OON-Gah-ro
Emilio Pucci: Ehm-ee-lee-o Poo-chee
Emporio Armani: Em-POHR-yo AR-mah-ni
Ermenegildo Zegna: Ehr-MAN-ni-jil-do ZEYN-ya
Etro: EHT-tro

F
Fendi: Fend-ee
Furla: Foor-la

G
Giuseppe Zanotti: Gee-zepee Zanottee
Givenchy: Jee-von-shee
Gianfranco Ferre: Jawn-franco Fair-ay
Gucci: Goo-chee
Guy Laroche: Ghee Lah-Rosh

H
Helmut Lang: HEL-moot Lung
Hermès: Air-mehz
Hervé Léger: Air-vay Lay-jay

I
Issey Miyake: Eees-Ay Me-Yah-Kee

J
Jean Paul Gaultier: Jawn Paul Goat-ee-ay

L
Lanvin: Lon-VAN
Loewe: Low-ey-vay
Longchamp: Long-shum
Louis Vuitton: Loo-ee Voo-ee-ton

M
Manolo Blahnik: Ma-no-low Blah-nick
Missoni: Miss-own-ee
Miu Miu: Myu Myu
Moschino: Mo-ski-no

N
Narciso Rodriguez: Nar-siss-so Ro-dree-gez

P
Prada: Pra-Da
Pierre Cardin: Pee-air Car-dahn
Proenza Schouler: Pro-enza Skool-er

R
Ralph Lauren: Ralph Lauren (rhymes with "foreign")
Roberto Cavalli: Ro-BER-to KA-VA-lee
Rochas: Ro-Shahs

S
Sonia Rykiel: Sonia Ree-kee-eel

T
Thakoon: Ta-koon
Thierry Mugler: Tee-air-ree Moog-lay

V
Vacheron Constantin: Va-sha-Ron Con-ston-Tahn
Versace: Ver-sah-chee

Y
Yves Saint Laurent: Eve-sahn-Laur-ahnt

Z
Zac Posen: Poe-zen

Lately, all the major fashion houses are distinguishing themselves from the mainstream with haute coutour. This is some serious business -- and word -- one should investigate. Let's say it right once and for all.

Haute Coutour: /ot kutyʁ/ "Oat coot-Tour"

Here's also a link I found on YouTube that says it all, literally. From Hermès to Lacriox, hear it the way it oughtta be said! Au revoir, fashion faux paux!

Classy And Fabulous

Coco Chanel said "A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous."

You can be fabulous in your charming personality, your blessed good looks, your expensive makeup and shoes. But to be classy, this is the tricky one. If I can only offer one advice, read. Read extensively. Not just the heavy duty scientific encyclopedia or anthropological thesis, read everything and anything. Read the Financial Times, read Vogue, read an autobiography, read the history of the World Wars, read a Marian Keyes, read a Paolo Coelho, read the Bible, read the Atlas, read ColdFusion for Dummies, read modern poetry, read trivial facts.

Read. Extensively.

In that way, you'll be able to strike up a conversation with anyone. And that classy side of you will show through the subject knowledge, and the way you speak about them. You will be confident in your self-worth, you have your own opinion on aplenty topics, you are able to carry your thoughts across in a smart and stylish manner.

You don't have to dress like a million bucks to prove you are classy. You don't have to speak like a lady-in-waiting to be classy. You do need a good brain to work that elegant side of you.

Read, girlfriends. Read extensively.
And be Classy and Fabulous.