My Diana Mini I’ve ignored for far too long and one of my favourite buys of the year: a vintage brass ring Aaron thinks must have come straight out of the Lord of The Rings. Everyone else keeps mistaking it for a YSL. Either way, I’m not complaining.
Left: One of the small boutiques along the street sells French soaps and bubble baths. Honestly, I could care less about the fancy soap; I just want the beautiful bottles they come in. Right: The unnamed Deli (or is it just ‘Deli’? hmm..) whose lattes I have a fondness for.
Technically, this bakery isn’t on Brunswick St but on Gertrude St which is pretty close. It’s called Fatto a Mano and they sell some of the best (and cheap) organic bread. They’re famous for their sourdough and potato & olive pizza slices which always run out by mid-day :/ I LOVE their jam doughnuts as well. Unlike conventional doughnuts, their version is a simple ball of light yeasty bread. It’s sliced in half with raspberry jam slathered on one side and a heaping of cream in the other. Mmm. Creammmm.
Fatta a Mano’s pizzas I was talking about. Left: Sundried tomatoes and basil. Right: Potato and Olive. Yep I bought a slice ;p
Perseverance Hotel: love the old architecture and the turrets but would I ever consider staying there for a night? Never.
The many tiny roads leading out to Gertrude St/Brunswick St have some great graffiti. On that subject, I do consider graffiti a form of art but only when it’s on the streets and not on a property I own. Fork yeah, double standards!
And as always, I’m suckered in by any species of pretty plant/flower.
Some photos I took while meeting a friend for coffee at Brunswick St, the ‘hipster spot’ of Melbourne. It’s essentially a ten minute walk from my place and it’s one of the few things I’m going to miss about living in this crap hole apartment. It’s also where you can find my fave fish & chips shop, Hooked (which I wrote about here).
I’m trying to write shorter entries for this blog so nobody has to wait a month for another one of my super long entries. I’m not good with multitasking: when I have school work, I have finish it first which is why I can no longer read my favourite blogs as often as I’d like (forgive me, friends! 
) and any thought of updating my own blog has always been ignored and pushed to the back of my to-do list. And frankly, I also can’t afford to get an Asian F on my transcript or my parents might threaten to cut me off LOL. So here’s to a more regular posting schedule on tea noir! ;D
Fatto a Mano Organic Bakery
228 Gertrude Street
Fitzroy VIC 3065
OH OH OH OH OH OH OH OH OH OH OH OHHHH *FLICKS HIJAB*
I try to make it a point to buy something special whenever I’ve accomplished something academically. This Yves Saint Laurent Arty Ring in Lapis is payback for my daily grind of red bulls, readings and slathering pimple cream on my face for the past 1.5 years. I know there has been a huge influx of fashion bloggers who own the Arty Ring (some even call this “THE blogger ring”) but I don’t care for the alleged negative connotations behind owning it. I have been waiting to purchase this beauty for an entire year now – 6 months to decide that this ring was everything I wanted (at that time anyway) and another 6 months to wait for the ring to be restocked in my size. There is not a single YSL boutique in Melbourne, can you believe it? Scandalous. I bought this the day I arrived in Singapore while meeting my cousins for dinner and I think I must have made them shell shocked when I handed over my credit card to the SA at YSL, they probably thought I was joking LOL SRY GIRLS! x
Also, some drama: If you discount the takoyaki party I held for my close friends when I turned 21, my birthdays are usually simple affairs. This year’s, however, was a little unconventional. At the stroke of midnight on the 27th of June, my cousins and I were singing “GO SHORTY IT’S YO BIRTHDAY, WE’RE GONNA PARTY LIKE IT’S YO BIRTHDAY” and IT’S A BEAUTIFUL NIGHT, WE’RE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING DUMB TO DOOOOO” as loud as our chocolate chip cookie-filled mouths could manage before falling asleep without actually marrying anyone (confused? click on the link lol).
Two hours later, my roommate (read: she’s also my cousin) woke me up, red-faced and breathing heavily while telling me that she was having trouble breathing due to her asthma. The worst bit of all: she had just run out of medication. I think my mind must have went on hyperdrive then. All of us sprang out of bed; my other cousin ran to my roommate’s room and grabbed all her important documents while I called for an ambulance. I’m actually pretty darn amazed I remembered which number to call in my frazzled state because the emergency numbers in Australia and Singapore are completely different. My other cousin ran down to wait for the ambulance and I stayed with my roommate, pretending that I had everything under control but in actuality, I was so close to breaking down in tears myself.
The paramedics arrived and took her to the hospital where she was rushed to the emergency ward for treatment. We slept in the waiting room in the weirdest positions – you gotta hand it to us for finding ways to sleep on those uncomfortable plastic chairs lol. At 5am, the doctors finally called us in to see my roomie and thankfully, there was nothing critically wrong with her body. My roomie got discharged in the evening that same day too, thank god. This was not how I imagined my 23rd birthday would be like but all that drama aside, I helped to save someone’s life which is probably going to score me some super karma points. Plus, I get to tick “Get a ride in an ambulance with a hot paramedic reminiscent of a young Prince William” off my bucket list too XD OH YES I DID LULZ
I’m heading to Malaysia over the weekend to meet Aaron again and do a little shopping, can you believe it’s been half a year since our first meeting? Our sense of time is so warped sometimes. GIVEAWAY ENTRY COMING UP NEXT and it is much more exciting in terms of prizes than my last one, you don’t want to miss it! See you guys soon x
The MAC All Ages, All Races, All Sexes Collection is finally out in Singapore! I’ve been waiting for this collection for a month now and I was so scared they were only going to release it here after I move to Melbourne but thankfully someone up there in the MAC offices RECOGNIZED they would be losing a major customer i.e me soon so they finally had the displays set up for me to make my last purchases before I say sayonara.
The collection wasn’t really much of a big deal to me but OMG the lipstuff are must-haves imo! I originally intended to get only the MAC lustre lipstick in Myself from the collection but ended up buying the Glamour For All lipglass as well because it was surprisingly so pretty in the tube >_>
I think Myself is going to be an instant sell-out. I’m not fond of the lustre lipsticks (I think they lack pigmentation) but this is such a great mauve-pink nude color so I was willing to ignore the lacklustre formula lol *_*
I think Glamour For All and Myself should be bought in a set because they look so good on your lips together! One reason why I bought Glamour For All was so that I could counteract Myself’s icky formulation with a nicely pigmented nude lipglass. The gloss itself is a very milky light pink with beige undertones ;D
Lip swatch! Erk honestly I think lip swatches are scary because like whoa where did the rest of my face go lol? Anyway, this is Myself and Glamour for All worn together on the lips. I think they make an amazing nude lip combo!
Non-MAC but still awesome purchase: the MUFE HD Powder!! WITHOUT A DOUBT, MY FAVE PURCHASE OF THE MONTH! Omg this is such an amazing loose powder, it makes your skin feel like silk and sets your make-up perfectly! I actually wanted to get the MAC Prep + Prime powder because it was $20 cheaper but I compared both textures side by side on my hand and i’m sry2say MUFE wins. The Prep + Prime powder feels like any loose powder but the MUFE is like godly, epic and all that. I’ll do an in-depth review once I’ve actually used this for a longer period of time but omg love love love loveeee.
So packing’s been kinda slowwwww, I took out all my shoes from their secret hiding space yesterday and FMLLLLLLLLL I HAVE SO MANY LOL. Ok not really but WTF, this is crazy – I can’t possibly bring them all. Urghhh my heart is in shambles now as I try to decide what pairs to bring and what pairs to go back into hiding ;__;
Omg my fave pair of heels. They’re from MANGO and I got them on sale for $80? They are so fricking cute, I like the very Moschino bow. They’ve got a pale wooden 4.5″ heel to match the white and they’re really really comfortable, I swear on Carine Roitfeld. SO bringing this.
My pretend Louboutins! Christian Louboutin sells a pair of heels exactly like this one but I think it was phased out a couple of seasons ago. Whatever. Classics don’t ever die. These are from GUESS and again, they were on sale for $40 I think? They’re about half a size too big tho but I don’t really care lol. 4″ heel, patent black finishing, classic cut = MUST BUY OR LIVE A LIFE FILLED WITH ENDLESS REGRET.
Lol oh the days when Melissas were all the rage~ I’m not too fond of this pair, I only bought it because it was $15 (they used to cost maybe $70? can’t remember) but I do like how they designed the arch, it’s kinda sexy.
ZARA pumps! I actually forgot I even had these LOL. I love the woodsy color and the round toe. There’s nothing sexier than a round toe!
EEK MY NINE WEST WEDGES <3 <3 <3 They're a blatant rip-off the Yves Saint Laurent ones I talked about and omg they’re the highest pair of shoes I’ve ever bought with the treated cork wedge heel coming in at just under 5″.
I LOVEEEEE the whole unfinished distressed marker look, this is ART people!
My spaceman heels! My pretend Nicholas Kirkwoods lol minus the funky sloping platform heel! Again, they’re from MANGO with a heel height of 4.75″ – I think MANGO makes the BEST heels ever, they’re so comfy! /o/ Unfortunately last season’s shoes were horrendous so I didn’t get a pair during their recent sale.
It may look bulky at the front but the crazy pointy heel makes it really streamlined actually.
The prettiest shoes I’ve ever bought…..sad to say tho they hurt like a bitch! They look so fricking beautiful on and I feel like I own the world for a good half hour before I turn mortal again and start wincing in pain. This pair’s from Zara, a Givenchy knock-off from 3-4 seasons ago. I suspect I’m only going to wear this out when a) I’m doing an event with virtually no walking around involved and all I have to do is sit and look pretty b) I get a boyfriend with a car.
I have a couple more pairs of heels not shown in this entry because a) I’ve already featured them here b) when I saw my other shoes…I died a little inside, WHAT WAS I THINKING WHEN I BOUGHT THEM O.M.G?!
Btw Alia, if you’re reading this – do you want that pair of red wedges I showed you a couple of months back? They don’t fit me anymore and since I’m the best cousin you’ll ever have™ (Nadz doesn’t count because she doesn’t have an epic shoe collection like I do), you get first dibs.
Ok gotta get back to packing, catch you all soon!
first img credit: mac cosmetics
YES I AM BACK from my self-imposed hiatus of laziness and work drama. I’ve just been really tired lately and the only free time I have to write entries are usually only on weekends but most of the time, my weekends are spent with my family (there’s nothing like some family love!).
I do feel guilty for not blogging here but please understand I take a lot of pride in this website, I am very particular (simply put, I am ANAL as hell!) with the content I put up – I shoot all my images (unless they’re from a fashion magazine, of course) and make sure they look pretty awesome before publishing each entry. It takes a lot of work so honestly, I would rather take my time to write a really good entry rather than create some slapstick entry in ten minutes with crappy images stolen from google etc.
OK that’s enough WHY-DOES-ILYANA-TAKE-SO-FRICKIN’-LONG-TO-BLOG? for today’s entry. Let’s talk about a slightly fiercer topic close to my heart: SHOES.
Their shoes, duh – like it wasn’t that obvious already.
Both of them are wearing the Yves Saint Laurent Tribute Two pumps; MK’s wearing the black leather version while lil’ Ashley’s going for a more subdued look with her grey suede ones. Either way I’m JEALOUS. I have been obsessed with these shoes ever since I saw Becki Newton aka Amanda on Ugly Betty wearing them on the show.
It’s just the combination of the thin, splindly 5 inch heel which is made possible to walk in due the platform at the front and the round toe that’s making me go absolutely ballistic for these shoes! Of course like all designer shoes, the YSL tribute two pumps don’t come cheap – they’re about a thousand bucks+++ a pair *whistles*
Now if you’ve got that kind of money or perhaps have a really fashion-conscious socialite for a mother who’s willing to dress you in the latest designer togs, good for you girlfriend BUT FOR US POOR MORTAL SOULS WHO CAN ONLY DREAM OF OWNING A PAIR OF SUCH BEAUTIFUL SHOES, THERE’S ONLY ONE THING WE CAN DO MY FELLOW SISTERS IN HARDSHIP: We wait for the high street labels to create shoe knock-offs.
In this case, the shoe gods have answered our prayers in form of these Miss Selfridge Eleanor pumps which is blatantly a YSL tribute two rip-off but with a $60 price tag hey who’s complaining! The shoes actually cost $99 but lucky me here got them on sale and in the last pair in my size too. Aah, the shoe gods must be smiling upon me.
I know, I know. I have this totally weird habit of shooting things in my garden lol and it’s not as if my garden isn’t pretty! I think it makes a nice natural backdrop against er, everything else haha.
The Eleanor pump only comes in one color: a lovely deep eggplant shade and my god, won’t it look hot when paired with some dark skinny jeans?
photo credit for the twinkly twins: Here.
I guess one has the perks of an amazing minimalist New York home and an equally lust-worthy shoe closet (do I spy the YSL tribute blue booties at the bottom? *_*) when one is the daughter of Vogue Paris’ editor in chief, Carine Roitfeld whom I’ve written about some time ago pertaining to the CNN special she filmed that lets you take a look inside her world as an editor (good stuff, you can read about it here.)
So I see that the younger Ms Roitfeld has a fondness for Crealine by Bioderma, the liquid facial cleanser/make-up remover found mostly in French pharmacies that all models (Gemma Ward, Lily Donaldson, Coco Rocha and the whole chain gang) seem to swear by. Local girls in Singapore, don’t fret – you can find Crealine in most Guardian pharmacies here but be warned – they’re about $30+ a bottle, not cheap if you’re on a school girl allowance but hey if the models love it, you gotta have it. Has anyone here used Crealine before? Is it really worth all that buzz? Tell me in the comments!
Img credit: the selby.
I first spotted Dita wearing these Yves Saint Laurent beauties a year ago and they have never been out of my mind ever since so imagine my surprise when I come across Nine West selling an inspired version while I was out having a Japanese dinner. I just have such a fetish for really tall cork wedges and that mean black almost graffiti-like gradient flowing down from the black leather to the base of the wedges was just too much too handle for the shoe whore in me. I HAD to get them so now I’m broke, having purchased two pairs of shoes in a span of two days. I bought the other pair of shoes from Zara, pictures soon.
img credit: justjared.
