Happy New Year!

Strapless dress - Big Girls, Brunei
Waistcoat - Electric Gypsy, Exeter, UK
Shoes = ASOS

The dress is one of the dresses I hauled from a shop here in Brunei called Big Girls. I bought a couple of others in the same style, it was so difficult to choose just three dresses that I loved, will have to take pictures of them sometime soon. I don't really get to go out much, thanks to work, but I try to dress up when I can :-)

How are you?


xoxo
irmiana

I met up with an old friend today, and explored a new shopping centre after breakfast. Found a shop called Big Girls, which is owned by a Thai woman who has been living in Brunei for over 20 years. She brings in clothes from Thailand, and the ones I've tried out (and I tried out lots!) were quite good quality - nice, lightweight material :-)

It stocks sizes from L to XXXXL, or 1 to 4, I believe. I can fit into a size 1 or 2, so it says something about how it would satisfy a demographic that has been neglected for so long!

Maimunah, the owner, is uber friendly and helpful - she suggested different items to try on, and has a notebook in her shop where she gets her customers to write down their phone numbers so she can text them when new stock comes in! How bloody amazing is that? :-D

So... I bought a few things - two tops and two bottoms. I bought one grey cardigan, which is quite heavy, so it'll serve me well at work where the airconditioning is set to quite a low temperature. I also bought one pair of black 3/4 pants to wear around the house, and a pair of beautiful grey jersey harem pants - my first pair! I'm still figuring out how to wear it without resulting in something quite ungraceful :-p

Though, I have tried on an outfit with the harem pants - an emerald green t-shirt underneath an unbuttoned white Oxford shirt, and the grey wedges I wore for my graduation :-)

The second top was one that Maimunah recommended. A chocolate cap sleeve shirt with bronze and rusted silver embellishment around the collar - it's a bit big, though it looks good that way :-)

Maimunah says that there will be new stock sometime next week - I'm looking forward to her text! :-)

Pictures, hopefully in the next post :-))


xoxo
irmiana

Just a quick blog this morning - I'm sneaking this in at work, and I'm typing as fast as I can in case the doctors come into my office, meep.

This article was brought to my attention this morning via MSN.com - Overweight Couples On Television: Do Fat Characters Offend TV Viewers?

I felt the writer was being quite rude (but we'll just leave my oversensitivity for another day, shall we? :-) ), and neglected to acknowledge that obesity isn't just a mind over body thing. There are different components to it - two that come to mind, are the emotional and psychological.

There are people, including myself, who society calls fat, or meaner names. For as long as I can remember, I've been bigger than the girls I've known - I was always taller, and I've had a tummy since I don't know, forever? I did one diet in the past, and dropped about 10 pounds in less than a week. However, it did mean that it was much, much easier to put the 10 pounds back on, and then some. The time I spent in the UK for my studies was probably the healthiest time of my life - I ate a vegetarian diet due to religious and personal preferences, and increased my physical activity.

Being back in my home country, I've struggled not having that physical outlet, and of course, the food. (oh, the food...) I've gained back a whole bunch of weight, and most of the reason why I stopped blogging for most of the time since I've been back is because I fell back into the role of the insecure 15 year old I was when I left to study in the UK. It took me ages and ages to get some form of self esteem back, with the help of an awesome trip to the UK to see my boyfriend after about 11 months apart.

Medically, I am termed morbidly obese. At this point in time, I feel good with my body. I feel emotionally well, apart from the fact that the man I love is about 8 time zones away. Psychologically, I'm as well as I can be with the strains I have.

My mental health is my priority, because if I don't have that, I don't have much.

I apologise, as I've completely digressed from my initial thoughts as to what this post was to be about.

What do you think about the article?

Hi! I'm still alive, just currently slightly buried under some paperwork.. As always, meep!

Just wanted to post a few photos to show the slightly varied way I do my makeup.. here goes!













I might venture into fun looks, like a friend of mine does.. her work is pretty amazing! Watch this space :-)

What is your favourite look for yourself for everyday or going out? Are you a bare chic chick, or a full coverage diva?

xoxo
irmiana

My Sephora haul is here, and so are my Jeffrey Campbell 99s from Solestruck! :-D

Unfortunately, my 99s are a bit snug (I have wide feet, boo.) so I'm wearing them around the house to break them in.. they feel better than the first time, fo' sho'!

Have you made any recent hauls? :-)


xoxo
irmiana

To continue on my previous post, the second mascara is the waterproof Lancôme Hypnôse. Not sure about the pricing, as I got it without the box.



The curvy tube is a patent black, with blue accents and gold lettering. I don't know if it's just me, but the way the tube was shaped made it easier for me to hold it for a cleaner application.



This was the result of one coat - it lengthened my lashes, and lifted them up! Being Asian, my lashes usually point downwards, though I've had times when my lashes would curl inwards towards my eyeball, ouch!


I do love a thin formula, especially a thin waterproof formula. Surprisingly, this didn't leave my lashes feeling stiff, and the curl held for longer than the heavy Diorshow formula = win! I'm tempted to buy a tube for myself, but I think I much prefer my Maybelline Curling Extension mascara ;-)


Grade = B+


xoxo
irmiana

My colleague lent me a couple of mascaras to review - she's very into her luxury brands, while I'm not really into anything more pricey than say, MAC makeup. Nothing against luxury brands; I know why people go for them, but I'm more of a bargain hunter ;-) My HG mascara was a Rimmel mascara for a while, and I just bought a nifty collection of sample mascaras from Sephora in the search of another HG mascara :-) Anyway, the two she lent to me were the waterproof Lancôme Hypnôse and the Dior Dioshow Blackout - see what I mean? :-)


The first mascara is the Dior Diorshow Blackout in 099 Kohl Black. It's priced $45 here in Brunei, which translates to about US$30 or £22.50.




The packaging is elegant - a black tube with silver lettering, housed in a silver box with black lettering. Nothing less is expected of Dior ;-)


The brush is quite big, was a bit scared that I'd poke myself in the eye! The formula is quite thick, as was the brush. I don't really like thick formulae, because my lashes are so thin.


Managed to put on a couple of coats, and it resulted in spidery lashes with a bit of clumping. It also stiffened up after a few minutes, which is surprising, because it's not a waterproof mascara.

Overall, I do feel disappointed by it - I expected it to result in a better outcome. It didn't do much lengthening, though it did thicken my lashes just a wee bit. The brush felt a bit big with my tiny eyes, resulting in a messy application, wholly my fault, tbh! It dried quickly, which is a plus for me - I need a mascara that'll dry quickly so I can rush out the door in the morning.


Grade = B


xoxo
irmiana