Dini's Day Off

I was supposed to work today, which is a Sunday btw, but instead I got to go home early because basically things were kind of slow which was AWESOME because I was resigned to spending like 10 hours at work being bored out of my mind but instead I went to Subang Parade with my Mom and bought awesome stuff. We were supposed to go get my mother some Kanebo lipstick but she hated all of their lipsticks and everything else that was actually kind of expensive. Anyway I wanted to check out Bobbi Brown's new Treatment Lip Shine SPF 15 but they weren't in stock! I was kind of bothered but instead I just bought the following things:

1. My May copy of Instyle

First of all, ScarJo looks smokin' hot on the cover, I don't even care that I slightly hate her. Loved her in The Island, but that's about it. Also, it's Instyle's Best Beauty Buy issue which comes at the perfect time considering I'm just about losing my mind over my obsession with make-up and since I'm also compiling this crazy Beauty Want/Need list. Turns out one of their Best Buy for Inexpensive Lipstick was the one I just so happened to pick up...

2. L'oreal Colour Riche Lipstick in Pashmina

So I couldn't find a damn picture of the actual color I bought on the internet since they don't seem to make Pashmina for the US or the UK so I took this crappy picture of my lipstick. Anyway its good practice for my promised make-up reviews. Anyway a search for the perfect lipcolor, whether a lipstick or lipgloss, has been consuming me because I can't seem to find anything that's right. It's either too coral, too pink, too red or too brown. Most of the time I just prefer my lips with just Vaseline on in it because I think I have pretty colored lips. This lipstick is perfect because its basically my lip color but a little darker. Also its not too dark so I don't feel like it's too overwhelming or old woman. I still think a bronze/brown/red/pink lipcolor would look good on me but for now this will do.

3. I bought Glee: The Music, Volume 2

I already had Glee: The Music, Volume 1

It's pretty good, I definitely think that the First Volume is superior to the Second but hey, it's Glee! I have to support this show so I had to buy it. So far my favorite songs on it are Imagine That which is sung by the entire cast and Don't Rain of My Parade which is belted out by the incredible Lea Michele.

4. I bought my mum some lipliner from The Body Shop. So I guess that's going to be her present :)

4. Then my mom and I got smoothies from Boost Juice. They were very good

That's about it. I am working on my mega list of beauty wants but I have changes to make since reading Instyle's Best Beauty Buys and I also think that I should maybe not do too many about brushes since they're not all that exciting. I mean they're exciting but they're not shimmer eyeshadow exciting, you know what I mean?

Chickenpox Quarantine: Day 3 & 4

Yeah, so, blogging on Saturday didn't quite happen so I'm making it a joint update for the past two days. I actually accomplished some stuff I was supposed to do, I've made this huge list of things to do while I'm quarantined - so let's get started on what I got started on:

1. I read Lisa Jewell's The Truth About Melody Browne. My mum and dad bought it for me since I'm stuck at home. It was actually very good, very poignant and different from most chick lit. But then again most of Lisa Jewell's books are like that. I was reminded of why I like her books so much, except I don't think it's going to get reread as much as the Shopaholic books or like a pure fluff love story simply because it actually has more depth.

2. Did more typing of mum's quizzes and tests. Again, I'm just glad that I can be of help, you know?

3. Furiously websurfed through all my favorite beauty blogs, I think my fav of the moment is Make Up and Beauty Blog. The blogger, Karen, is truly a woman after my own heart in every way. Her humor, her writing style and of course the fact that she actually wears a variety of make-up - not just like nude lips and nude eyes.

4. Watched Max Payne last night on TV. It was quite entertaining, kind of ridiculous but hey, Mark Wahlberg looked good. Actually a little too good for a dude who's still pining his dead wife but... you know, whatever.

5. I read InStyle's April Color Issue this morning and it was Fabu! I completely take back what I said about Ariel Foxman because it is an awesome issue, on par with the fantastic last year's Color Issue with Salma Hayek on the cover. This issue has Gwen Stefani on the cover and she looks AMAZING, outside and in the mag as well.


6. I watched the Ugly Betty episodes of "Fire and Nice", "All the World's A Stage" and "Million Dollar Smile". I had forgotten how lovely and lighthearted the show is and also how much I like it. Justin kissed a boy which is awesome and about time! Plus Austin is a seriously cute kid. I'm also very glad that Betty's braces are off, I know that you know she's getting way too hot/isn't the point of the show that she's ugly? But you know what? I'm happy that she's finally getting made over because it's ABOUT TIME.

7. Majorly revamped my filing system for expenses, banking, job information, tax information, etc. etc. It looks fabu and I'm very proud of myself - that I actually had the patience to do it basically.

That's about it - I'm going to go to bed now and go see the doc tomorrow morning and see what she says about my pox situation. Wish me luck!

Is it just me or is my InStyle looking a little too skinny?

I have read InStyle since I discovered some old issues selling for really cheap at a charity sale at SFS. I was about 14 years old and basically had to wrestle Michelle, my friend - who was a serious jock, to get it. Anyway I won, or maybe she just wasn't trying so hard, and I bought the magazines. Ever since then I have been completely hooked to InStyle.

I'm not entirely sure what it is about the magazine that strikes a chord in me. The clothes and the style is very sort of old fashioned and kind of middle-aged, WASP-y, proper and put-together and Hamptons-esque. Which ironically is exactly what I aspire to eventually look like. Even though I'm 23 and not white and live in Malaysia. But you know, I want to be the kind of person who throws on a pair of casual but super overpriced trousers, a casual white button down and loops a lovely cashmere sweater on their shoulders while wearing the requisite Cartier tank watch and bling - but understated Tiffany ear studs. So yeah I guess the fashion does it for me, and the fact that there is no real gossip-gossip in the magazine. As in there's no mention of how crazy people are, how someone's sleeping with someone or that someone looks terrible. Also there's no tacky article about how to find your G-Spot or how to please your man. Sure there are celebrities but you're looking at them having a good time at a party or you're being invited to their home, learning about a cause that is close to their heart or reading about the latest project they're working on. It's like they're your friends and you're getting to know them a bit better. Which is pretty much why I love it.

Which brings me to why I'm so bothered by how thin the magazine is getting. I'm pretty sure it used to be around 300+ pages and now it's a measly 100+ something. And though I don't know much about the magazine industry I know that's bad. I know that's bad because firstly, in Ugly Betty, when MODE couldn't get enough ads they had to cut feature articles. If you cut content that's really bad. And since they've been cutting the Man of Style article every other issue, that must be bad. Secondly in this article about Ron Galotti he said that, “When I took over Vogue, Elle and Vogue were equal,” he says. “When I finished, Vogue had 500 more pages.” It basically means, the thicker the magazine, the better its doing. InStyle, is so freakin' thin its looking like a supermarket tabloid, which really scares me.

What's the problem? The economy? I'm sure that's a part of it simply because everyone has been pulling out money for ads. Or is it that under the direction of Ariel Foxman, InStyle has lost some readers and as a result advertizing sales have dropped? I don't really like the direction Foxman is taking the magazine - younger, hipper and basically aimed more toward generic women's magazines but I was willing to stick around to see if it would change. But seriously I just miss Charla Lawhon, the last editor who took InStyle to new heights and basically made it all that it could be. And I think that InStyle - a magazine that has a mostly female demographic, and not a young one at that, needs a woman at the helm and not someone out to make waves and shake things up. Because InStyle is about being classic and timeless.

I just wanted to throw this out there because there seem to be no other articles or even mention of this on the internet. Maybe the slimmer InStyle is just a temporary thing, maybe it's not.