SIS beauty awards 2011.

Like any year, 2011 has been eventful and happening in both the fashion industry and the beauty industry. Heightened technology and scientific research has promised revolutionary products. Everything in the fashion & beauty industry seems to be accelerating; seasons are flying in and out the door with "Cruise" and "Pre-Fall" intervals, and cosmetic brands are featuring celebrity collaborations at an unstoppable rate. With limited edition products that are gone before you know it (my favourite Buxom lipgloss stopped selling in Singapore, Mom and I were devastated!), and high demand resulting in everything being whisked off the shelves in record time, it's easy to hunt around and find a beauty essential that works for you, but it can be tough to hold onto it. 

This is a lineup of my all-time favourite beauty essentials that haven't (yet) pulled a disappearing act on me, so I guess you could say they're kind of "classics" that are here to stay. 

Best Foundation

Best Deodorant

Best Hair Product

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Best Fragrance

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Best Moisturizer

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Best Mascara 

Best Shower Gel

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Best Eyeliner & Honorable Mention

What are your all-time favourite beauty products?

10QQ and a giveaway!

After spending a while turning over some new blogging concepts in my mind, I decided that a regular type of feature on my blog would be a good way to maintain consistency, as well as ensure a variety of content is available on Seven Inch Stilettos. I'm definitely one for listening to the opinions of others, so every few months from now on I'll do an extra-long post and include a "10 Quick Questions" interview with a different blogger each time. These questions will usually be snappy and straightforward so you guys can get an insight into the life of another blogger through a viewpoint other than exclusively fashion. 
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Today, I'm speaking to Gracie Molan of Moda De La Mode Blog and Magazine, who is currently situated in London.
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1) Favourite Designer: Katrina Ferrari. Her designs are elegant and use a variety of fabrics to create ethereal garments that verge on the gothic side of fashion.
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2) Two things on your bedside table right now: I've always got a notebook on my bedside table so I can jot down any thoughts I have before bed. I also have a dish where I put any jewelry I've been wearing.
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3) One makeup item you can't live without: Lip balm, I take it everywhere.
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4) One word to describe your personal style: Elegant.
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5) Something that's always in your fridge: Chocolate; it's the perfect treat after a long week of work!
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6) A band/artist you can't stand: The Wanted. "Manufactured Boy Band" sums them up perfectly, although I know many people like them.
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7) Top of your wish list right now: Photography/Technology lessons so I can become a blogging pro!
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8) Something you think is totally overrated: Apple Macs; give me a PC any day.
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9) Three things that are always in your bag: Phone, Keys, Money- All of life's essentials!
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10) Celebrity crush: ...That would be telling!

(from left to right): Fluff Passport Holder, Freedom by Topshop Gold Leaf Earrings, Formula 10.06 Mud Mask, Topshop Nail Polish in "Cloak and Dagger," Topshop woolly winter socks, Fluff Stiletto Luggage Tag
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Want to stand a chance to win these six items (collectively worth over US$50) from Seven Inch Stilettos' first giveaway, in honour of 400+ followers and 40,000+ pageviews?


All you've got to do to enter is:

• Follow us on Bloglovin'
• Follow us on Twitter
• "Like" our page on Facebook
• And leave a comment saying you did all three, along with your Twitter/Facebook usernames AND your email!

For extra entries (which EACH require a different comment):

• Tweet about Seven Inch Stilettos and this giveaway (@VeenaMcCoole)
• "Share" Seven Inch Stilettos on Facebook/promote our page on your blog page

The giveaway is open internationally, the deadline is January 20th, and the winner will be selected via an online random number generator and will be notified through email! Remember to read all instructions carefully and include all necessary information in your comment, and good luck to everyone!

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harper's bazaar fashion film festival.

Although the term "festival" doesn't exactly describe the four-day movie marathon held by Harper's Bazaar Singapore, it was certainly a very enjoyable experience. From October 26-30, a total of 10 fashion films were showcased around theatres in Singapore. Now we're not talking about anything mainstream, so forget "The Devil Wears Prada" and "The September Issue." All the films were shown only once or twice, making this experience even more special and exclusive. Unfortunately, I was only able to attend one of these movie-screenings; a homegrown, privately produced set of footage called "Signe Chanel." 


Signe Chanel is only one of writer/director Loic Prigent's many achievements. In fact, most of the other films in the Festival were created and produced by him, such as "The Day Before" series, which provide a compact insight into the dynamic world and artistic process of a designer and his brand; one day before a big fashion show. Loic Prigent's work is so artisanal and poignant, and the innocence of a small camera crew and simple graphics adds such charm to his short films. He has an extraordinary talent for capturing the lives of designers at work through his lens, as well as subtly hinting the brutal honesty of what really goes on underneath the glamour and sterility of the catwalk. Some of Prigent's other films include "The Day Before" of Donatella Versace, Alexander Wang, Jean Paul Gaultier and Proenza Schouler, as well as a seperate documentary about Marc Jacobs, the first American director at Louis Vuitton.

Signe Chanel was the most interesting, enthralling movie. There was no storyline; it was so beautifully unstructured that it almost seemed to wander around and loiter here and there, moseying through the intricate world of a Haute Couture House. It illustrated Chanel's perfect preservation of their heritage and of their age-old traditions with such stunning simplicity, and I can't tell you how much my heart melted to see the plump french seamstresses singing and busying themselves in their attic workshop in France, the place they've called home for decades. It was thoroughly refreshing to see the world's most exclusive, beautiful clothing coming to life in the caring hands of talented individuals, as opposed to being replicated thousands of times by machines, packed up and shipped to all corners of the world. 


As much as the movie touched me with it's primitive nature and abundance of creativity, it also demonstrated the stark contrast between the limited, rural production of the clothing, and the fast-paced, glittering craziness of the fashion industry. I found it very hard to believe that the Karl Lagerfeld who sat down in the workshops and advised the seamstresses is the same person who frequently flocks back to his front row perch at every fashion show you can possibly name. Although he is by all means a creative genius, he's much too reserved and secretive for my liking, much like Anna Wintour. Well, you know what they say about the true artists of our world: they're all tortured souls.


Much love, pumpkins.

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