EOTD: Clarins Colour Quartet For Eyes #40 Les Mordores - Forest

Well, as promised, the new eye look I had spotted yesterday, using the colors from Clarins Colour Quartet For Eyes #40 Les Mordores - Forest, a palette with forest-y greens to copper and golden light brown shades.

I know it's not morning anymore, but forgive me....it's not my fault......but the stupid IZZI net went into some kind of 'multiple organ failure syndrome' since the past 1 week........and this morning was no exception.

Basically this EOTD/FOTD used all Clarins cosmetics.

Let me start with the base and foundation. I mixed Base Comblante, Instant Light Complexion Perfector and True Radiance Foundation SPF 15 in 03 Soft Ivory together and applied the combo on my face, except the eye area. I was just being lazy. Of course, it would be better if I had applied the Base Comblante first, followed by the Complexion Perfector, then the foundation - coverage would be better. After that, I dusted on face powder from the face powder/blush duo from the Autumn Nude Inspiration Collection....the one with the paddy stalk design.



Then, it's time to put on the eye makeup. I decided to be different this time, as I was making up for 2 functions yesterday - in the afternoon, was the Kiehl's-YAWA launching of the Biodiversity Camp for children, while at night, a dinner reception.



I started with Instant Light Eye Perfecting Base (photo above), hoping to get a long-lasting smudgeless makeup that can last till dinner time. I chose the Clarins Colour Quartet For Eyes #40 Les Mordores - Forest, since I hardly use this kind of color for my eye makeup, and I wanted to have some kind of Oriental look.

Clarins Colour Quartet For Eyes #40 Les Mordores - Forest

#04 Lovely Rose and #10 Vanilla Beige monocolour eyeshadows as highlighter.
The former shade for highlighting the inner upper part of the lids, while the latter for highlighting the outer upper part of the lids.
I have been advised not to use too much pink tone/shade as eyeshadow and/or highlight as it would accentuate my puffy eyelids even more.

Eye Of The Day

- I started by applying the dark olive green shade from the Forest palette on the outer part of my eyelid to about halfway inward, then the copper shade (3rd shade from left) from the inner part outward to halfway meeting the dark olive green shade. Applied the golden light brown in the middle where the 2 colors met, then blend them.
-Highlighted the upper part of the lids with 2 colors: #10 Vanilla Beige on the outer part, and #04 Lovely Rose on the inner part.
-Curled the lashes before lining the eyes. Instead of lining on the upper lids, this time I lined on the waterline, and on the lower lids, also on the waterline only. Then I used the same dark olive green shade to soften the liner on the lower waterline.
-Applied mascara in brown color and used Eye Fix to prevent smudging.
-Then, defined the brow with the eyebrow pro kit.

Eye Of The Day



Face Of The Day

Cheeks: Blush #40 Coral
Lips: Joli Rouge Lipsticks #702 Rose Sorbet for the upper and lower lips and #712 Baby Rose for the middle part of the lower lip. (See swatches of the 2 lipsticks below)

Busy Tuesday

Life is indeed like a sinusoidal curve! And certainly is my mood. On Monday, I was all bored and moody...with snail pace IZZInet connection which was in critical condition and fibrillating all day, cloudy weather, raining cats and dogs which prevented me from going out and the whole Monday was just spent catching up on AOD dramas.

Anyways, Tuesday came and I woke up to the rays of the sun peeping through the thick curtains in my bedroom. A good sign, I supposed! Started my day, as usual, by preparing my little girl and sending her to my mom's. Then went to meet up with a friend and played with makeups till afternoon. Experimented with a new look, well, new for me at least, and please wait for my EOTD coming up next*.

Afternoon was spent at Kiehl's launching of "Save Our Rare Earth" Biodiversity Camp in collaboration with Yayasan Anak Warisan Alam(YAWA) in Bangsar Shopping Complex. *to be blogged*

And I spent the evening at a dinner serving lamb shawarma, kebab, hummus, baba ganush, falafel, loads of super sweet and yummy baklava and cakes........and many more yummylicious Arabic food!

Just got back home after fetching my little girl from my mom's....need to remove my makeup, etc etc.....will try to put up my EOTD later....or the latest by tomorrow morning.

Review: Kiehl's Sunflower Color Preserving Hair Care

I am always game to try out new products and especially if the products have one of my favorite fruity scents......of peaches and apricots! So when I was given the chance to try out the new haircare range from Kiehl's which has my favorite scent, I jumped at it.

The Kiehl's Sunflower Color Preserving Haircare range has 3 products: the Sunflower Color Preserving Shampoo, Sunflower Color Preserving Conditioner and Sunflower Color preserving Deep Recovery Pak.

OK, I have tried out all 3 of them. Scent-wise.....thumbs-up! *And the good thing is the products are formulated without sulfates, silicone or parabens. Key ingredients in this range are Sunflower Seed Oil; Apricot Kernel Oil; and Vitamins B3, B5 and B6*. (*Info obtained from Kiehl's)




Product Review: Kiehl's Sunflower Color Preserving Shampoo

This shampoo has the scent of the ripe peaches...yummy! But that's about what I like of the shampoo from this range. The texture and consistency is quite light but it doesn't lather up very much during washing. Due to the small amount of lather, I got this 'tugging' feel on my hair while washing and this led to quite a lot of hair fall. After rinsing off the lather, my hair felt dry as though it had been stripped off all the moisture and the natural lipid that was protecting my hair shafts.

However, the Conditioner and the Deep Recovery Pak came to save the day.

Read on...


Product Review: Kiehl's Sunflower Color Preserving Conditioner

After shampooing, I used the conditioner. The conditioner really helped in solving the problem I faced wth the shampoo. It softened my hair and immediately I felt the moisture has been replenished to my hair. I let my hair air-dry after rinsing off the conditioner and thank God, my hair was really soft and smooth despite the initial dryness caused by the shampoo and smell really great!

I had used the shampoo and conditioner combo for a week. And I am loving the feel and smell of my hair daily.

In addition to that, I have used the Deep Recovery Pak 2 times during the course of the 1 week of using the shampoo and conditioner.


Product Review: Kiehl's Sunflower Color Preserving Deep Recovery Pak

The texture of the Deep Recovery Pak is creamy and much thicker than the Conditioner, but not heavy nor greasy.
After shampooing and conditioning, I applied the Deep Recovery Pak to my hair and left it on for the duration of my shower. The scent of peaches just filled up my whole bathroom, even my little girl came into the bathroom after my shower just to get more sniffs of the scent. :D

The Deep Recovery Pak works to complement the effect of the conditioner, moisturizing my hair further and makes it even softer. And after my hair dries, it leaves a glossy sheen to my hair. My hair also does not feel oily.


This Sunflower Haircare range will be available in Kiehl's outlets in a few days' time, scheduled to be launched in October 2009.

Sunflower Color Preserving Shampoo 250ml, price: RM75
Sunflower Color Preserving Conditioner 200ml, price: RM70
Sunflower Color Preserving Deep Recovery Pak 250ml, price: RM95


As usual, samples will be available. So, do visit your nearest Kiehl's outlet soon to try them out.

Clarins Power To Try Workshop Is Back.......

.....Exclusively for loyal readers and blog followers of Plusizekitten!

After the successful full-house workshop in August, Miu is back again to organize yet another Clarins Power To Try Workshop, this time with "Clarins Magic" as well. And what's "Clarins Magic"?? Read on.....

Here are some details........(taken from Miu's blog):

Clarins Power To Try Workshop

Venue: Clarins training Centre, Amoda Building, KL.
(opposite Berjaya Times Square, behind Lowyat)

Date: 31st Oct, 09 (Saturday)

Sessions:
Morning: 10.30am - 1.30pm 15 pax
AfterNoon: 2.00pm - 5.00pm 15 pax

Workshop Fee: FOC & only by invitation to Plusizekitten followers
F & B : not included

Doorgifts: Yes + Complimentary makeover/Eyebrow Trimming + 50% discount on 1st Time Trial Facial Treament (only at KLCC Isetan Clarins).

Learning: Skincare + Easy Make Up Touch Up "Clarin's Magic".

Invitation List
*priority- open to those who missed the previous workshop


Head over to Miu's blog now for details on how to secure yourself a place. ONLY for followers of PSK blog!

Hurry up, as places are limited!

RMK Autumn Mystique Overview And EOTDs

The RMK Autumn/Winter collection, Autumn Mystique, has been out for some time. And I managed to play with the collection, got the swatches of the 2 eye palettes - gray and green ones, did EOTDs with the 2 palettes together with the Ingenious gel eyeliners.

Some words on this collection......

There are 4 eye palettes, each consisting of 5 shades, from a solid color(quite matte with some shimmer) to its lighter shades(shimmery shades) and a glitter/highlighter. The glitters are very fine. Palette 01 is of brown-pink shades, 02 - dark brown-golden shades, 03 - gray-bluish, 04 - greens. I did swatches of the gray(03) and green(04) palettes. However, when swatched, the color pay-off is very light and not so pigmented (as you can see in the photo below). In order to make the colors show on my eyes, the MUA had to blend in some corresponding shades from the gel eyeliners. The texture of the shadows is not very smooth as I had expected it to be, but it varies on different shades in the same palette. The 3rd and 4th shades in the palettes, with some shimmer, swatched quite smoothly as compared to the rest.

Top: Gray palette swatches
Bottom: Green palette swatches
But under that lighting, it's a bit to distinguish the 2 colors.

As much as I am a sucker for palettes, I was actually more excited over the colored eyeliners in this collection - the gel form and the pencils. The eyeliners come in 7 colors each.

01, 02 and 03 of the gel eyeliners are the conventional colors of black, dark blue and dark brown, respectively. But of course, what attracted me was not the conventional colors, but the shiny colored ones! EX01 is Shiny Pink, EX02 - Shiny Gold, EX03 - Shiny Green, EX04 - Shiny Purple. Wow!
And the good thing is every small tiny jar of this gel liner comes with a dual-ended retractable brush, one end is a sponge tipped applicator and the other end is the eyeliner brush. The texture is smooth and applies easily on the lids. The colors are very pretty.



The pencil eyeliners come mostly in the conventional colors of black, gray, deep blue, browns but there is a white and purple. Haha!! Bet you can guess what caught my eyes.....the purple liner, of course! But it's not a purple, actually it's more of a lilac color. The pencil liner deserves a mention as it comes with a detachable end which is actually a sharpener for the liner.

Left to right: 01 Black, 02 Deep Gray, 03 Depp Blue, 04 Deep Brown,
05 Golden Brown, 06 Purple, 07 White
Lower right pix: The pencil liner with the other end which is the sharpener

The mascaras in this collection come in 3 shades of Black, Brown and Blue. It's dual-ended, one side with a mascara primer, the other the mascara which is supposed to be lengthening, and it did its job quite well. See my EOTD below.

There are 2 cheek palettes: 1 is more pink to match the darker gray and green palettes, while the other is more towards brown to match the brown tone eye palettes.



There are 3 lip glosses in the collection as well.



There are also nail polish in this collection, but I am not so much a nail polish person.


So time for some EOTDs......

Eye Of The Day

Yes, your eyes aren't playing a trick on you....
I spotted gray on my right eye and green on my left, and I was walking around the mall with that, and mind you, no one actually noticed!!
Haha!!
Right eye: Grays with EX01 Shiny Pink gel eyeliner on the inner corners of the eye and lower lash line.
Left eye: Greens with EX03 Shiny Green gel eyeliner on the inner corners of the eye and lower lash line.
Both eyes: Mascara in 01 Black, and gel eyeliner in 01 Black.

Lip Of The Day

Gloss lips in #38 Shiny Clear Pink

I have heard that the display/testers for the products from this collection have finally reached us here in KL.....how slow is that! So, the next time, I go to KLCC, I will drop by the RMK counter to have a look.

Yokoso! Shiyuki

Well, I don't speak Japanese, but according to one of the SAs in the Japanese beauty mart which I visited a while ago, "Yokoso" means 'welcome', and "Shiyuki" is the name of the shop. I tried using Google translator but it translated as the same words in English. Anyone can help?

Anyways, a friend of mine had discovered this little Japanese beauty and novelty mart in One Utama Shopping Center and she was so excited about it because they had certain brands of cosmetics which were actually quite new in Malaysia. And they offered a wide variety of products, ranging from cosmetics, skincare, face and eye masks, aromatherapy Dead Sea bath salts, train cases and cosmetic pouches in varying sizes, plastic toiletry sets for travel, mini brush sets, cute bedroom slippers, and many more cute and novelty stuffs! And prices for the items sold in this beauty mart ranges from a few Ringgit for a little facial sponge and small plastic jars for creams/lotions to over a hundred Ringgit for cosmetic train cases and makep sets.



The front of the store had a replica of a Japanese girl in kimono and some sort of Japanese-style entrance. Even some of the shelves displaying their products are made from wood, instead of those standard metal shelves we usually see in shops.

My purpose of checking out this beauty mart was for the 2 brands of cosmetic available here. One of the brands is called Yanyaxi, which according to one of the SAs, is from Japan, but the products are made in Taiwan. They have a whole range of products from brushes to face powders to eyeshadows to blushes and lip products, etc. Prices for products from this brand range from RM19.90 for a pan of eyeshadow to RM20++ and RM30++. They also have a makeup set which is selling for RM149.90(see photo below). Right now, this shop is having a sale till end of October 2009, where everything has a 20% discount, including a facial sponge which costs RM2.00 is entitled to the 20% discount.



Whenever I check out a cosmetic brand, the 1st product that I 'attack' would be, of course, the eyeshadows! And Yanyaxi brand has a lot of eyeshadows, though the colors are more on the light and pastel shades with some varying degree of shimmer. I swatched a few colors, and I was quite surprised by its strong color pay-off (though the degree of it varies for different colors). Well, for RM19.90 a pan, they are definitely quite a value for money.

I didn't check out the other cosmetics from this brand as my little girl was with me and between watching over her, who was running around exploring the little shop by herself, swatching the colors and looking at different stuff, I didn't take too many photos and after coming home while uploading the photos, I realized I didn't snap a photo of the other brand's display.

Anyways, the other cosmetic brand available here is called Rosewood from Paris. Apparently this is a well-known French makeup brand (I saw this brand in the October 2009 issue of Female magazine where they are running a contest). This range of cosmetics is slightly more expensive than Yanyaxi, but it definitely will not burn a hole in your pocket. As usual, I was interested in their eyeshadows which cost RM22.90 for a pan of 3gram, as compared to Yanyaxi's RM19.90 for an eyeshadow pan of 1.8 gram. Hence, if you compare the price for the amount of product you get, Rosewood eyeshadows are surely a steal. But......some of the colors are not so pigmented. Again, but......if you are also into the packaging of the product, Rosewood eyeshadows will win for sure. Read till the end to see my haul from this shop..............................

Another highlight in this shop would be its variety of Aromatherapy Dead Sea Bath Salts. Too bad I don't have a bath tub......sigh. They come in huge glass jars of 1000g gram product for RM30 only!! And each jar of bath salt even has a wooden spatula "a la Laura Mercier" (quoting my friend). They have Milk bath salts for whitening, Lavender for calming, slimming bath salts, Ginger Flower for moisturising and many more.



There are also many different types of face and eye masks for sale. And the have special offer on their eye masks.




And for those of you who are looking for train cases to store your vast collection of beauty products (I remember Janice was asking me some time back), you can find different types of train cases in different patterns and designs, with clasps only, with number code lock (don't remember what's the term for it), etc, here. Price ranges from RM40++ for a small one to ~RM150++ for a large one. They also sell really cute and colorful cosmetic pouches. See the collection of photos below.






Some photos of my haul..................

1 Yanyaxi eyeshadow in 04(Pink) - RM19.90
1 Rosewood eyeshadow in E150(shimmery brown) - RM22.90
2 facial sponges (pink for me, and my little girl insisted that I buy her the one in blue for her "to wash my face"......How she knows??? *shrug my shoulders* - RM2.00 each
A plastic container set for toiletries (again my little girl insisted on a green-colored set) - RM10.00
And a smiley face bun??? Well, it feels and even smells like a real bun! You guess? For my little girl, of course! - RM8.90

And everything has 20% off!

They even give you a membership with a gross purchase of RM50 and above, meaning if your total purchase before discount is RM50 (after 20% discount would be RM40), you are still entitled to their membership (in this outlet in One Utama).
Membership benefits include *10% off your purchase during non-sale period (*I am not quite sure about this, need to be verified).



**I will post description to my hauls later...getting late...**

MY HAUL!!!

This shop is located on the Ground Floor of One Utama (Old Wing), a few shops away from Jusco and Sasa. They have another outlet in Sungei Wang Plaza (2nd floor) and in Queensbay Mall, Penang. The SA told me that they'll be opening an outlet soon in Midvalley Megamall but had no idea when.

Benefit Velvet Eyeshadows Are Here

I have seen the new Benefit Velvet Eyeshadows in their Early Fall 2009 catalog here a few months back and of course, the eyeshadows have been out in the US since early summer or earlier. And to think that we only got them here like in early September if I'm not mistaken.

The new Benefit Velvet eyeshadows as shown in their Early Fall 2009 catalog (pix top & above)

Anyways, I have spotted these eyeshadows when I was at One Utama with one of my friends some time last week at their new standalone store on the 1st floor of New Wing. Well, it's not really a standalone store as they are still under Parkson department store. So when you purchase from this Benefit 'store' during the Parkson members' day or whatever promotion they are running, you are still entitled to collect the vouchers and Bonuslink points, etc. whichever is applicable.

Needless to say, the excited me quickly took the chance to swatch all the 10 shades available, including the limited edition shade I Cannes & I Will, though I wouldn't say I like its texture as it feels a bit gritty due to the glitters but the shade is definitely my kind of color.

The new Benefit Velvet eyeshadows as shown in their Beauty Book & Holiday Gift Guidel 2009 catalog

Swatches of all the 10 shades
Sorry, the photo* and labels are a bit small.

*Click on the pix to enlarge.

My favorites???
Like What You Sea?, Bikini Line, I Cannes & I Will and 'Gimme Some' Plum!!

A little review:
Except for I Cannes & I Will, the rest of the shadows have a soft and buttery smooth texture and some even felt like it's 'creamy' to my fingers. But it's definitely not cream shadow. The shadows are mostly shimmery but color pay-off is mostly moderate, I would say.

And the lighter, more neutral shades are actually quite sheer - look at the 1st 3 colors on the left, a bit difficult to distinguish between Fawn Over Me and Leggy. I would say these 2 colors will work great for highlighting. Bikini Line can also work as a highlighter but if you layer it on, it can be a lid color as well. It also works to give your eyes the more awakened look when you apply it to the inner corners of your eyes.

In my opinion, 'Gimme Some' Plum is like the powder eyeshadow version of the Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liner in Gossip(a silvery plum). I might get this to go with the Gossip.

Where There's Smoke(smoky pewter) is quite a versatile color which can be used for contouring and/or to create a smoky eye look. It does look a little similar (but definitely not the same) to MAC Smoke & Diamonds, and even Bobbi Brown's Heather Mauve. And I have both the latter. Guess will pass this on. Since this shade is in the permanent line, I could always get it another time.

Btw, the price of this eyeshadow is RM73 each for 3.00gram of product in a square plastic pan with white cover and it's transparent plastic in the middle of the cover with prints of doves in pairs.
Quite reasonable I'd say for a Benefit eyeshadow.

Do check out the new eyeshadows and grab yourself a copy of the latest Beauty Book & Holiday Gift Guide 2009. The gift sets from Benefit for this coming holiday season are gorgeous with lots of their new products and the best thing is their prices are slightly cheaper than last year's!
Though they are not in the counters yet...

My First Guest Writer: The Intrepid Beauty Speaks On Customer Service

One of my readers, or silent reader should I say, has decided to contribute some of her opinions and ideas to my blog, after having followed my blog for a while. A beauty enthusiast and addict like many of us are, she is especially passionate about my 'fight' for consumer rights and good customer service. Hence, her first appearance as my guest writer would be to voice out her two-cents worth on what GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE entails. And she hopes that after reading this post, customers will be encouraged to stand up to the many horrible SAs instead of going off empty handed. The Intrepid Beauty says, "I really dislike people being pushed around or given the wild goose chase (by these horrible SAs) especially when we are the ones who will be parting with our hard earned money or savings". Well said!

Please note that this is a very very lengthy post, but in order to create more awareness among consumers, NO ONE could have written any better than The Intrepid Beauty. That's why I have decided to publish as IT IS WRITTEN, without editing. I hope retailers out there, managers and everyone who are directly or indirectly working in the sales industry would find something useful in their quest to improve customer service, boost the sales and also in training their frontliners, esp their counter managers and SAs!

So, let me present my first guest writer, The Intepid Beauty (as she prefers to be known), with her inaugural guest post in the form of a letter to me.

****************************************

Hi Von,

I have been an avid reader of your blog for some months now and have enjoyed reading every one of your posts. I sense that you are a strong advocate of consumer rights which is an issue I am also very passionate and concerned about. I would like to offer my take on customer service in relation to the cosmetic counters based on my customer service experiences (both positive & negative) over the past few years. These experiences can be categorised as follows:-


(1) Greeting

First impressions are very important in any industry particularly the sales industry as a customer will be more inclined to linger at a shop/counter if they feel welcomed. A customer who is not greeted within the first 5 seconds may walk on especially if the customer had no intentions of purchasing anything but only went in to check out a display. The longer the customer lingers, the higher are the chances of the SA making a sale. I have experienced SAs who barely looked up as I approached the counter and continued with their makeup at the mirror as if I did not exist. A SA who stops whatever she is doing and greets the customer as soon as she enters the shop/approaches the counter is one who places the customer first. However, if the SA happens to be serving another customer at the time, she could inform the customer who just came in that she will be with her shortly.


(2) Following the customer

It seems to be the norm rather than the exception for SAs to follow the customer around the shop. I would rather be left to browse on my own unless I have questions to ask the SA. Following a customer around the shop will not guarantee a sale, in many cases it may backfire and the customer will leave without purchasing. Recently, I was at a Korean cosmetics/skincare shop and the SA kept sniffling while she followed me around. It made me feel uncomfortable since I certainly did not want to catch her cold. Informing the customer that they can call them over should the customer require any assistance would be a better option than trailing the customer everywhere.


(3) Product/Promotion Knowledge

It is the responsibility of the shop/counter manager to ensure that their staff are aware of an ongoing promotion and that they are able to inform the customer of the prices of the products. There have been occasions when I have had to wait while the SA has to call her Head Office to confirm the details of the ongoing promotion. If the promotion has been published in the magazine/newspaper, the customer should not be confronted with a SA who declares that she has no knowledge of such. There are also SAs who have to keep checking the price of each product. New staff should have already memorised the prices of the products before they are sent to the shops/counters. Such delays only frustrate the customer especially a customer in a hurry.


(4) Full vs. part timer SA

Some companies, when informed of poor service from the SA, offer the excuse that the SA concerned was a part-timer. It matters not to the customer whether the SA was a full or part timer. As far as any customer is concerned, the SA represents the company and following from that, there should be no difference in the level of service expected from a full/part timer. If the company has seen it fit to place the person behind the counter, then we should expect the same level of service.


(5) Reluctance to give samples

Having read many blogs, I can see the difficulty some people have in collecting skincare samples even when they go to the shops/counters with the requisite voucher/coupon. This is a result of SAs interpreting the voucher/coupon according to their own whim and fancy which runs contrary to what is stated in the voucher/coupon. I have been denied samples on more occasions than I care to mention and the excuses vary from the typical "It's common sense to bring the advertisement" (even though said ad merely stated "come to any XYZ counter for a miniature sample" and not "Present this ad to the counter to collect a sample") to the downright silly "We note from our records that you have already redeemed this sample 2 months ago" (don't they understand that it was a different promotion which was redeemed through a postcard sent by their company?). Note to cosmetic companies: please instruct your marketing departments to be unambiguous when putting an ad in the papers, if you wish the customer to cut out the ad and bring it to the counter, say so. There are those who seem to think that customers who request for samples are just out to cheat them of samples. Then there is the "We have run out of samples" excuse even though the giveaway only started the day before or the even more ludicrous "I will only give you when you buy something from me". The list of excuses goes on and on. I always stand my ground when these excuses are given and unless I am given the "run-out-of-samples" excuse, I insist that they call their Head Office to confirm even when they maintain that the samples are exclusively for Parkson Elite members when the ad presented to them says no such thing, for example. Any SA who refuses to give you a sample especially when you are entitled to it (e.g. because they have unilaterally interpreted the ad) should be reprimanded. I find that the best and most effective way is to take down their names and call the person in charge of Communications/Complaints at Head Office. You may not have come home with the sample but at least you will feel much better by informing their management about the treatment you received at the shop/counter and if the management personnel are worth their salary, they will make good on the promise of the sample reneged by the SA.


(6) Giving the customer more than they expected

I have experienced some wonderful service from SAs who give you more than what you expect. You may have approached the shop/counter just to have a closer look at a lipstick/eyeshadow and the SA offers to give you a mini makeover. This is a good tactic because the customer may purchase the product after having the product applied on her lips/eyes and realised what a flattering shade it is on her. I like the SAs who are patient and don't mind you testing just about every shade of lipstick/eyeshadow. I am happy to say that I consider some of these SAs my friends and I can even chat with them about anything if I happen to be at their shop/counter. They may even throw in a sample or two with your purchase which is a good way of making you return to the counter when you find that the sample given agrees with you.


Conclusion

I am sure your readers have also experienced both good and bad customer service. In this competitive environment, companies must realise that it is no longer just important to come up with a fantastic product. At the end of the day, it all comes down to this: nobody is going to return to a shop/counter where they have been treated unfairly or discourteously. Bad customer service can tarnish the image of the entire company. SAs represent the company and it is they whom the customer first comes into contact with so it is paramount for them to give consistently excellent service. Although companies generally welcome customers' feedback, by the time the company's management learns about an unpleasant encounter the customer had with a SA, it may be (if I may take the liberty of borrowing the lyrics of the OneRepublic song) "too late to apologize".

To finish, I leave you with this quote from Mahatma Gandhi "A customer is the most important visitor on our premises, he is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him.......We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so".

The Intrepid Beauty

Wishing all my Muslim readers and blog followers

Selamat Hari Raya
Aidil Fitri
and
Eid Mubarak!


Best wishes,
Vonvon

Some Palettes Craze!

In this post, I want to share with you some very pretty makeup palettes which I have seen lately.

3 palettes extraordinaire from Laura Mercier, T.LeClerc and Bloom

Laura Mercier Signature Toolbox
T.LeClerc Moon Palette
Bloom Eyeshadow Trio Palette

What do you think of these 3 palettes?
I think the Laura Mercier and T.LeClerc palettes are just simply awesome and gorgeous! And the Bloom (an Australian brand) palette is very cute and the greens make my interest in green shades of eyeshadow grow even more.


More detailed photos on each palette now......


LAURA MERCIER SIGNATURE TOOLBOX

This is a 2-tier palette where the lip palette compartment is on the upper tier, while the eye palette compartment on the lower. Thus preventing any flyaway powder from the shadows landing on the lippies. It comes with a Mini Kohl Eye Pencil in Black Gold, a double ended all over color and corner eye color brush and a lip brush.
The casing is a reflecting dark brown plastic but with a classy feel and with the word "laura mercier" printed in the middle. But be warned that it has an affinity for fingerprints but not as high an affinity as the T.LeClerc Moon Palette.

I like this palette, well....because I am simply just a sucker for palettes!!!! OK, that's not the only reason but I like the 2-tier deisgn of the palette with each tier could be individually snapped shut and the snap shut mechanism feels very sturdy and secure.

But of course, I love the colors featured in the palettes.

Top tier, lip colors, from L to R: Passion Fruit, Caramel, Fresh Brown, Audrey, Dry Rose


Bottom tier, eye colors, from L to R: Buttercream, Shale, Putty, Cognac, Pewter
The eye colors are rather extraordinary, haven't really seen any similar colors like these before especially Putty, Cognac and Pewter.



T.LeClerc MOON PALETTE

This is the first time I have seen a T.LeClerc palette and it's quite a huge palette and even feels quite heavy. The casing is like a mirror itself except it's dark brown in color and loves fingerprints!
However, this palette comes only in 1 tier where the eye colors(top 3 and powder form) are put together with the lip colors(bottom 3 and cream form). It also has a dual ended brush - 1 for the eye, and the other for lips.



Loving the 3 eye colors especially. Again, I find these 3 colors quite unusual, especially Nuit. I couldn't capture it well with my camera but it's a shade which is a bit of black with a bit of deep dark green, at times, appears to be a dark grey shade and even dark blue(depending on the angle you view it and also the lighting).



BLOOM EYE SHADOW TRIO PALETTE

This cute little palette from Bloom can actually be bought in Shins stores in certain shopping malls in KL and PJ (that's what I have been told by my friend who got it at Shins Subang Parade and on a discount too!) The price tag shows RM95, but the offer came with a cream blush and a mini lip gloss and cost my friend only RM58.20! Woot!!!


So, what do you think of these palettes?

OK, before you go like....." damn you, Von, how come you have so many nice palettes...bla bla bla..", these palettes are courtesy of my dear friend who had 'loaned' them to me for a few days for me to drool over...*slurp* and admire. So sorry, girls, I won't be able to do any swatch or EOTD/FOTD with these, unless I am able to track them down here. I think I might be able to get the Laura Mercier one, while the T.LeClerc....well, it has pulled out of Malaysia and my friend got it during their recent sale for a fraction of its original retail price. And as for the cute Bloom, I guess I need to check out some of the Shins outlets around town.


Thank you my dear friend. Just admiring these palettes, taking photos of them really cheers me up and makes me lem so much for them...:P

Chanel Good Enough To Eat?? And Pressies From A Friend

I had wanted to post this in the morning, but since it's still Ramadhan and my Muslim readers are fasting, I decided to wait till evening to post this.

And this time, what do you think Vonvon is going to write about? On Chanel and Eating??

My little girl had gone to bed quite early today but it's the stupid IZZI net that's always so slow!!

So....something from Chanel that is good enough to eat??? Well, I have heard of skincare or bath/body care which is good enough to eat, for example, my yummy body scrubs and shower gels from the Boots Mediterranean and Amazon Forest ranges. Wondering if Chanel has any product which is pretty enough to be edible??

OK, let's have a look.......

A gift box from Chanel?

Want to know what is inside?
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Have you ever seen anything like that?
Errmmm....a Chanel eyeshadow quad?

Let's take a close-up shot....

So what do you think this really is?

Well, this is a gift from a good friend of mine who had received it from the Chanel Studio during a recent promotion. I have been really stressed up lately and after meeting up with her and had our girl talk, she presented me with this Chanel eyeshadow palette cookie, yes, it's a cookie!! Cookie, as in those yummy edible cookie with chocolate as the 'palette', and colored icings as the 'eyeshadows' and comes complete with 2 'sponge-tipped applicators'!!

Awww....THANK YOU so much, my dear friend!

It does look good enough to eat....of course!
But the question is will I ever have the heart to sink my teeth into this???

Besides the cookie, she also presented me with lots of other gifts - some L'oreal skincare and 2 mini manicure sets from L'oreal as well.

Gifts from a good friend.

The L'oreal manicure set which comes free with the purchase of a L'oreal skincare product.
(I forgot to take pix of the skincare product. Next time.)

The L'oreal manicure set


Thank you so much again, my dear friend. You really made my day!