A couple of weeks ago, when I was at the Chanel counter at Myer checking out the Tweed blush collection, I was invited to sign up for a skincare and makeup workshop. Apparently Chanel does not do many of these workshops, so I jumped at the chance. I had to pay $50 as a booking fee, which is redeemable upon purchase of any Chanel products after the session.

‘Twas too bad Geekchic couldn’t join me, because I found it a lot of fun. I was the youngest person amongst the ten of us. As typical workshops go, they were promoting their skincare and makeup products, but what made it a lot more interesting was the one-to-one attention we got after the demonstration was over. I had a makeup artist sitting right next to me, attending to my questions and all.

Oh, and did I mention a free flow of champagne, sandwiches, cupcakes and chocolates? 😛

Every seat was equipped with a mirror, papers and pen for notes, disposable Chanel makeup brush and spatula

The workshop ran for about 2 hours, and each of us was given a door gift of a Chanel cosmetics bag (and a large one at that too) with some samples in them. True to Chanel’s style of luxury, even the samples came with notes and a box.

Ultra Correction Line Repair Anti-Wrinkle Eye Cream, Night Cream and Intensive Concentrate

During the workshop, the Chanel ladies unveiled their latest collection, Spring 2009 Collection Bohemian Fantasy, to us. It was only going to be launched next week, but we had a sneak peek, and was able to purchase any of the items in the collection before it was officially launched. The makeup artist demonstrated the use of the Mystic Eyes quad eyeshadow on one of the ladies. When my makeup artist (the one sitting next to me), Elena/Alana (don’t know the spelling; she wasn’t wearing a name tag like the rest) tried it on me, I was sold.

Thus, my damage of the day.

Les 4 Ombres 14 Mystic Eyes and Ombre D’eau Fluid Iridescent Eyeshadow 90 Delta

The colours were beautifully baked and pigmented and the effect was absolutely gorgeous. I’ve never had any eye makeup from Chanel before, but I think, no, I KNOW this is not going to be my last. I originally wanted to get the Tweed blush in Tweed Rose, but it was still sold out.

Makeup artist, Elena/Alana, who did my FOTD

She was really nice, and commented that I had great skin. I told her I was worried about the fine lines below my eyes, and immediately she said, “What lines?!” She told me I didn’t even need the eye cream, but I could still give it a try if I wanted just to prevent lines from forming. What a different attitude from the skincare and makeup sales assistants in Malaysia, where they’ll insult you point blank, and tell you how bad your skin is, just so they can introduce their skincare line to you which could, miraculously, make those skin problems disappear. Tsk tsk tsk.

All in all, I had a great time at the workshop. I’ll definitely sign up for more of these in the near future. And this time, I’m dragging Geekchic with me.

I was watching Today Tonight on telly yesterday, and one of the issues they highlighted really caught my attention. And it’s something I’d like your input on as well.

Image Credit: destitute_films

There’s been a lot of talk about retail assistants at clothes shops wearing floor stock whilst working, and shops selling those already-worn clothes as new clothes on the racks. Today Tonight went undercover and discovered popular clothes shops like Kookai, Alannah Hill, high-end brand Scanlan and Theodore, etc had sales assistants taking their pick of outfit from the retail shelves and rack to wear for their workday. The girls would come in to work in their own clothes, but they were caught on camera when they took off their clothes, rummaged the retail shelves for a piece they like, and then put them on. The sales assistants at Alannah Hill and Scanlan and Theodore were caught wearing $400 and $600 dresses meant for sale.

The people behind these brands replied to Today Tonight that they give very good staff discounts, but there were some accounts where the retail girls were given the green light to wear the latest arrivals of clothes.

There were also complaints from customers that the so-called new clothes they purchased came with sweat stains. Now these could, of course, be from sweaty customers, but you can see where I’m going.

The “new” clothes that you just bought, might not be brand-new after all, but a second-hand piece.

I have never heard of such a thing, and I was mortified when I learned that this practice has been around for quite some time and is widely spreading. I didn’t realise that the clothes I paid for might actually be second-hand. Sales assistants wearing clothes from the store to be used as a selling tool is fine with me, as long as they do not sell it back on the racks. At the very least, dry-clean them before selling them. I’m definitely not keen on forking out good money for something someone else has worn for 8 hours without wash.

You can read more about this in the Vogue forum, which was quite a hot topic.

What do you think? Are you as grossed out about this as I am? If there are any of you out there who works in retail shops, what’s your take on this? Do the shops wash the clothes the retail assistants wear before putting them on the rack again? If you could give us your side of the story, that would be great.

My hate for jelly PVC sandals (Crocs, Crocs-like sandals, Crocs-like ballet slippers, Crocs-like anything) has gone up a notch. This time, it’s jelly PVC heels.

Images: Melissa Australia

No. No. No. No. No.  And a million times more, NO.

I know it’s supposed to be comfortable and everything, but really, give me sexy patent leather heels so high I can fall off the sidewalk anytime.

Image: Triclo Crisscross d’Orsay by Christian Louboutin (Neiman Marcus)

Now that, I can live with.