Ma Charm & Aye Mya

To be completely honest, I am not quite well-versed in Myanmar's art scene. I know a few artists who are great at realism, and that's about it.

When I saw Ma Charm's exhibition announcement on my social media feed, I knew I had to go there and see it in person after seeing the previews. It is not always that I see someone who draws in a style that is drastically different from others in the same field. It is also refreshing. 

As luck may have it, I had a chance to go and see Ma Charm's Aye Mya exhibition and also to interview her personally due to an assignment set by an online magazine I am writing for, which I cannot be happier about. 

Before I introduce you to Aye Mya, the main character of the entire exhibition, I think it will only be logical to explain about the girls from Myanmar's central region, or Upper Myanmar like how other Myanmar would call it. On a side note, yes the country and the people are both called Myanmar, not Myanmar and Myanmese. Even though I hate to admit it, there is a stereotype that girls from Upper Myanmar are more traditional, has tanned skin, adores tha-na-kha, enjoys wearing jewellery made out of gold, and are more inclined to adhere to traditional values of what, and how a woman should be. There is also a stereotype of Lower Myanmar girls too but that's for another day.

Aye Mya is modelled after the grandmother of the artist, Ma Charm. Aye Mya loves to wear traditional prints called cheik, which is considered a luxury since it's made with silk. She loves putting on tha-na-kha , which is a traditional cosmetic paste made out of the tree bark of the same name and water. Tha-na-kha has cooling and soothing properties, in cosmetology term, and also act as a physical sunscreen although the SPF is quite low. Nevertheless, it is the go-to beauty product for most of Myanmar in the country.

Fresh. Vibrant. Bold.

During my youth, Yangon was a difficult place to shop for your own personal style. People follow after one and just one trend as directed by the mainstream popular culture (imagine seeing a sea of the same clothes of different colours on various people of different sizes). There is nothing wrong with pop culture and following the trend, as long as you're comfortable with going after the trend. 

Then, there are those with their own individual colours. For them, they either had to make their own or source from abroad. It was a challenge because of the country's political scene and the status of being closed off entirely from the world. Only a handful had the access to the latest fashion and trends. 

Fast forward to 2010, Myanmar's change of the century. 

The country opened up to the latest trends, and there had been an influx of franchise businesses. Along with the trends, the same problem persists; individuality. Posed was another problem - the inflation of currency and the fluctuating exchange rate, a proven challenge for the businesses, which led to very limited choices of clothing brands in shopping centres. 

As someone who spent weekends on Oxford Street, Carnaby Street of London, and Bourke Street of Melbourne (the trinket shops there are amazing!) , I sorely missed the choices that the consumers were spoiled with whenever I'm in Yangon. There were clothing stores but difficulties like not being able to buy the right size (I confess. I still do not understand the Asia's concept of one size) , overpriced clothes for mediocre quality, like seams coming apart.

I also pined for the use of local models, and businesses coming up and trying out interesting concepts and adhering to a certain style for seasonal campaigns during the competition for market dominance. I have no problems seeing foreign models in the markets, however, I believe in promoting local talent to increase and promote diversity in the seemingly monotonous Yangon's fashion scene, where beauty standards seemed to lean towards one single ideal. 

When Win Min Than (or Yvonne, if you would prefer to call her that way) came to me and asked me to be one of the campaign models for her self-curated clothing line at UNT Studio, as well as one of the people behind the scene for the brand development, for her first collection that she curated, I was more than happy. Her mission of promoting diversity of various colours and sizes, using relatable people as campaign models, and offering the best values for money on all the items stuck a chord with me.

I wanted to be a part of it.


And I did.

The brand founder Win Min Than spent weeks and months planning and executing the vision that she had crafted in her mind. She travelled back and forth between Myanmar and foreign countries, utilising all the contacts she could gather, to source the materials for the brand. Warren P, the creative director and co-founder, poured out his talent for the shoot with and mood boards he compiled while putting the knowledge he gained from studying fashion intensively in higher education.

All of the models in the campaigns for this collection #1 were everyday women, the women you see on streets; florist, doctor, engineer-to-be, and aspiring model who is also studying for a degree. Truly hustlin' women.

Personally, I feel that it is a great way to inspire girls through fashion since majority of the women population pays a good deal of attention to fashion, no matter their ages. This is definitely a step forward to empower women to send a message that they can pursue anything they want without compromising anything. 

The shoot was tiring, yet extremely fun. All of us soldiered through the 6 hours shoot going through different outfit changes and poses. The most difficult person to work with was me, whose face was legitimately wired to twist in funny ways when the photographer pressed his camera button.

They all turned out great. I am one happy soul. 

I'm excited to see how this venture pans out. It will be interesting to see a friend duo attempting to change Yangon's fashion scene with a mission in mind.

Before I sign out, here's a photograph of me living my dream of being in a Japanese high school-centric coming of age anime, completed with structured pleated skirt. Truly living the childhood dream, even if brief. Also, here's a visionary quote from the photographer Warren P, tapping into the minds of millennial's sentiment towards memes as inspired by the group photo below.

'Derps are fine. They give character to a photograph' - Warren P

Ah, derp memes, why must you exist? This is going to live with me my entire life.







Love Love Love, 

Rosie

Note: If you would like to see more of Yvonne's UNT Studio's collection, please click here.

taking care of sunburnt skin

I was born and raised in a country where it's sunny (hot & humid!) all year round. Being someone who possesses sensitive skin, it means sun burns are no stranger to me. I don't tan. I burn, severely. 

Athena, my best friend, who is also the one who encouraged me to start this blog, now has sun burn on her skin. So, why don't I compile tips I follow when I suffer from sun burns. 

1) Do not exfoliate your reddened skin. 
It was general knowledge for me until I found out someone tried to do exactly that. Don't. It will aggravate your skin worse. Let your skin heal first before scraping off that dead layer of skin cell. 

2) Tender Loving Care
Use everything that says 'gentle' and 'mild'. After suffering photon-damage, it takes a while for the skin to heal so be very, very gentle with your skin even if you're washing your face. Do not rub, tug, swipe harshly. Use tapping motions whenever you apply your skincare. 

3) Face Masks! 
I love face masks. It gives me a legitimate reason to kick up my legs and relax (not really, it's just an excuse to binge watch series) So, here I share my tips with you on the face masks I like to use after sun damage. 

Sheet masks that are soaked with extracts of Aloe Vera, Milk, Bamboo, Cucumber are all great for sun burnt skin since their effects are so soothing. Aloe vera, especially, is great for sunburnt and that comes from personal experience. 

If you can get fresh aloe vera from your garden, lucky you, here's how you can make your own fresh aloe vera mask. 

Peel the skin of the aloe vera. Once the skin is off, soak the gel block in the water. This is to remove the sap from the skin. Do not let the sap touch your face because it clogs the pore and makes everything worse. Soak the gel block in water for about 15 minutes and then rinse it thoroughly with water. Mash it in a clean glass bowl with clean fork/masher (clean is the key word here) and then spread it onto your skin, avoiding the eye and lip. Leave it on for 15 minutes and rinse it off. Pat your skin dry. 

Another mask I like for soothing effect is yogurt and honey mask, to be precise, greek yogurt and honey mask. Get a clean tablespoon and a bowl. Two spoonfuls of greek yogurt (must be natural and preferably organic) and then one, slightly less, spoonful of honey. Mix mix mix! And then put in on your skin, thickly. Leave it on for 15 minutes before rinsing it off. Enjoy your baby soft skin. You're welcome.

There is also another, and one final option, to make your skin relieve from sunburn. It's milk. Get a bottle of milk, preferably organic though regular milk worked fine for me, heat up about 4 tablespoon in a clean saucepan over the stove. Let it cool. Soak the milk on cotton pads (or those mask capsules if you have) Leave it on for 15 minutes and then rinse off. It helps with soothing the red, irritated skin.

Of course, all the above masks should undergo through a patch test for allergic reaction to see whether it suits your skin or not.

I hope these tips helped.

See you soon!

Love Love Love,
Rosie

P.S. I was going to find pictures but I'm currently down with high fever so maybe later. What important is the essential content! 

#MLBB

Em-El-Be-Be 

The first time I heard the name, I was extremely confused. What is MLBB? I kept asking myself. What is it? What does it stand for? Is it some sort of codeword? I was actually going to ask someone about it and then my brain convinced me, I studied advanced mathematics, I can decipher and decrypt this. 

Pfffft. 

I was just kidding. I asked Google. 

My Lips But Better 

Thanks, Google. You're the best. 

To be very honest, I do not know where and how the #MLBB trend started. All the it-girls wear it. The infamous girls from Instagram wear it. The trend trickled down and gets copied copiously. Before I knew it, almost everyone around me was obsessed with it. 

Of course, I had to get on this board. I needed to experience this trend so I hopped on. Little did I know that it's one heck of a difficult colour to nail down to feel better. 

Like almost every colour on earth, this is not a 'one-size fits all' phenomenon. What looks great on your best friend will most likely not look as great as that on you and vice versa. Some people suit the taupe colour. Some people looks great in the dusty dark pink colour. Some look really stunning with muted burnt orange colour. There is one for everyone. You just need to keep looking for the one - just like how dating articles will tell you. 

My favourite #MLBB colour of the moment is BBIA's Last Lipstick in #4, as you can see on the selfie I shamelessly put on this post. I also realised that my skintone cannot handle the beige undertone like some. I need coral or red as an undertone so that I do not look completely washed out.

That makes me wonder about this MLBB trend. If people seek the perfect #MLBB colour high and low for them, isn't it essentially your lip colour? It's a contradictory topic, isn't it? We like our natural lip colours but we also want to look made up at the same time. It's like the 'no makeup makeup' trend. Humans are truly fascinating. 

Anyway! 

What's your favourite #MLBB shade? Do let me know! 

Love love love, 

Rosie 

Favourite Looks From Paris Fashion Week 2016

Fashion weeks' runway looks have a love-hate relationship with me. I cannot wear some of them due to their unwearable drama (think extravagant false lashes, extremely dewy skin, etc) One time, I was absolutely stunned by the glossy eyelid look. I loved it so much. However, I cannot wear it outside because one, people will think I have a medical condition on my eye lid and two, you don't see people with really glossy eyelid walking around, do you? No, you don't because that just looks too crazy to be normal.  

Here are the looks that I like from the #PFW16.  

Nina Ricci's runway makeup is the look that stands out to me the most since it's so wearable for everyday purpose. Matte, soft-looking skin, minimal eyeliner, fluttery eyelashes, naturally thick brows and sheer coral, my lips but better, lip. I think it can be easily replicated due to its simplicity. As it appears, the theme of the runway is about 'Woman In Love At Night'.

The look is simply whimsical and I don't even care if I am in love or not because I will wear this anytime, anywhere.

Actually, don't you think this look is perfect for a spring/summer picnic or a family event?

A stark difference from Nina Ricci's look is Louis Vuitton's Futuristic Goth look. 

I have been seeing a lot of people scrambling for intense, dark lips this season, including myself. Personally, I think it's fun to have revolution against myself and stray away from the feminine, pink makeup and put on a dark, bold lipstick.  

Isn't this look wonderful? Reminds me of Su Yue Ming's iconic look from Transformers 4 even though her look leans more towards matte lipstick and eyes are rimmed with jet black liner and lots of lashes. Also, trust Fan Bing Bing to bring her A-game to the fashion show she's attending. Look at her sticking to the theme right down to a T. 

I wonder who will inherit her throne when it comes to making dramatic entrances? It'll be interesting.

Another look I adore is from Chloe's runway. The theme is 'Motorbike Babe'. The type of look I'll spend 5 hours smudging the eyeliner right to look effortless, and with high hopes of looking sexy, so that I can say, 'Oh, I'm not great with makeup, I'm just naturally this attractive' to those who ask. (Oh the irony) 

Overall, I noticed that my favourite looks from Paris Fashion Week 2016 end up being the ones that radiate towards toned down makeup; something that doesn't make one look too made up and the ones that are everyday appropriate. Balmain, Valentino, Isabel Marant, Mugler, Stella McCartney - the runway looks from the names I've just mentioned are different variations of au natural looks with little to no dark eyeliner, bright clear eyes, clean canvases and natural lip colours.

That makes me wonder. Is the next trend going to be all about false eyelashes? I'm quite heartbroken because it has not been that long that I've mastered the cat eye flick after months of practices. Oh well, I can save it for the time when the trend rolls around in future. 

What's your favourite makeup look from #PFW? 

Love love love, 

Rosie

[Disclaimer:] All of the pictures I have displayed here are from Harper's Bazaar and Louis Vuitton. I do not claim ownership of the pictures used and the copyright goes to the aforementioned brands. 

Skincare Masterpost

When I was a teenager, I battled with acne and hyperpigmentation problems. During the long and tiring war against skin problems, I went from one product to the next, holding the hopes for a miracle product that would cure everything for me - the holy grail. 

I would like to inform you that there is no such thing as one product, the magic potion, that cures everything, sadly. Good skin requires a regime that one consistently keep up to attain it. 

So I made this post for those who had just started out skincare and get down to the basic of the skincare. As a disclaimer, I am not a skincare professional nor I am trained to be one. I learned everything about skincare through multitude of readings and using different products until I have found the products that work for me. 

I sincerely hope that you find this useful. Nana, this one is for you. 

[source] Marie Claire Korea

I am an avid devotee towards the Korean multiple steps skincare - it requires blood, sweat, money, and tears  time and patience. It is time consuming and rather complicated but once you have your routine down to a T, putting your skincare on your skin is a great way to wind down at the end of the day. 

This is my rendition, the adaptation, of Korean multiple steps skincare along with some of the product recommendation that I love.

1. Oil cleansing (or makeup removing if you so prefer to call it)
2. Foam cleansing 
3. Toner 
4. Essence - Ampoule - Serum
5. Oil 
6. Face mask [optional]
7. Moisturiser 
8. Eye-cream 

As a disclaimer: I would like to stress that I have an extremely sensitive skin that reacts to almost any drastic environmental and diet changes. My skin varies between dryness during harsh winters, and combination-oily during the humid summer. What works for me may or may not work for you. I am not endorsed by any of the brands mentioned below and everything written here is my ultimate honest opinion.

[Oil cleansing:]

During the day, your skin went through the microscopic clouds of dust, bacteria, and pollution particles (doesn't that sound awful?) 

One of my personal favourites. [Image Source]

It is not mandatory, but highly recommended, that you cleanse two times in the evening. Oil cleansing is the first step. It doesn't have to be oil, if you hate the word oil, you can use gel, micellar water, milk, etc. Hopefully, you are using something that is not too harsh for your skin.

Personally, I prefer oil cleansing. I take about two pumps (or three if I'm wearing heavy makeup) and massage it onto my face in circular motion, rub rub rub and then wash off with water. 

Rosie recommends: Kanebo's Freshel cleansing oil line, Biore cleansing oil, The Face Shop's Rice Cleansing Oil, Hada Labo's cleansing oil, Shiseido's Ultimate cleansing oil (the price tag is very hyperventilation inducing but worth every cents) 

[Foam cleansing:] 

This step is quite straight forward. It's cleansing with a product that lathers up. For sensitive skin and dry skinned people, please choose cream cleansers because they are much gentler on the skin. 

As an extra step, again not mandatory, I use a foaming net and a cleansing brush to make the process a lot of fun and time-consuming  No, you do not need to get the globally infamous Clarisonic or Foreo if your budget doesn't allow you. It is perfectly okay to get a soft bristle brush to use on your face as long as you're being gentle with your face. 

Rosie recommends: Nutrogena's Gel Cleansers, Shiseido's Perfect Whip, Rosette's Cleansing Paste, Dr.Wu's Hyaluronic Acid cleanser

Never tried the tub before but the tubes get A+ [Image Source]

[Toner:] 

Toners, or skin lotion as how it is sold in Asia. It is confusing but if you see an Asian brand selling skin or lotion, it's toner. Some people like to use toners with cotton pads. I love to pat it on with my fingers. Again, personal preferences - go with what rocks your boat, people.

[Image Source]

As far as I have read, toners, or lotions, soften the skin for maximum absorption of the products that are to be applied later on. I can attest to you that it does soften my skin and makes it feel dewy before further applications. If I skip this one out, I can definitely feel the difference. 

Take about two to three drops and gently pat it on your face. 

Rosie recommends: Hada Labo Super Hyaluronic Acid Lotion (seriously, get your hands on this. It's great), Senka's Lotion, Shiseido's The Skincare Lotion (I think they have discontinued the line in some of the countries though) 

[Essence - Serum - Ampoule:] 

It's a very hard term to coin because to me, they are all the same - a concentrated dose of supplements that you wish to boost your skin with. Essences and serums are very similar to me. To my understanding, ampoule serves as a booster for the future products, making them more effective by making them seep faster through the epidermal layer while essences and serums are vitamin supplements for the skin.

Whatever they are, I love them and if one asks me to drop $1k (not really but let's just run with it for now) for a bottle of miracle essence that would make my skin feel like a newborn's skin, I would drop that money without regret. To me, they are worth the splurge. If you would like to, you can use one after application after another or just only use one for a single purpose like brightening, lifting, pore tightening, etc.

Take about one to two drops and gently pat it on your face.

Rosie recommends: Dr.Wu's Mandelic Acid Serum 18%, SHILL's Mandelic Acid Serum 20%, Innisfree's Honey Canola Essence and Green Tea Seed Serum, Missha's First Treatment Essence and Time Revolution Night Repair Science Activator Ampoule, Lancome's Visionnaire Advanced Skin Corrector (my heart constricts at the price tag but it gives me a beautiful glow)

[Oil:] 

[Image Source]

If I live in humid weather, I don't use a moisturiser after oil. If I am in dry and cold weather, I use a moisturiser afterwards. Some prefer to use the other way round but I prefer to use it this way since it tremendously helped with my cracked up skin one winter where my skin started peeling off to my horror.  

One precaution - make sure the oil you are using is 100% pure, and preferably organic, and not blended with any type of mineral oil or choose a cosmetic grade facial oil. In addition, please do choose the type of oil that is non-comedogenic to prevent the clogging of pores.

Use one drop, or two-three if your skin feels parched, rub it between the fingertips to warm it up and gently pat it on your face. 

Rosie recommends: Trilogy's Rosehip oil, Innisfree Green Tea Seed oil, Banila co's Honey Essence Oil

[Face Mask:] 

Fan Bing Bing goes through 700+ facial masks every year and look at her skin. I would love, love, love to get her glowing skin. I'm not Fan Bing Bing so let me just stick to 2-3 times per week. 

There are so many masks to choose from - sheet masks, wash-off masks, peel off masks, magnetic masks, holographic mask  clay masks. What follows below is my condensed down version of each mask type's properties. 

Sheet mask - cotton sheets soaked in essences of different performance. Use what your skin desires as long as they are suited for your skin. 

Wash-off masks - quite straight forward. Put it on your face in a thick layer, leave it on about 10-15 minutes. Wash off with water. 

Peel off masks - Put a reasonably thick, too too much, layer on your skin, wait until it firms up and dry. Peel off when it dries. The challenge here is; can you live without speaking for 15 minutes? 

Clay masks - Made out of volcanic clay and they help a lot with oily skin. People with dry skin should avoid it since it can be drying. They are similar to wash-off masks - put a thin layer on your skin, leave it on until the clay dries and wipe off with a wet cloth. 

Rosie Recommends: Innisfree Volcanic Clay Mask and sheet masks, Dr.Jart's sheet masks, Tony Moly's snail sheet masks, b.liv's hydration sheet masks, Leader Insolution's sheet masks, My Beauty Diary's sheet masks, My Scheming sheet masks, basically any sheet masks, DIY Honey mask (Just put on a layer of organic, raw, and pure honey on your skin and wash off after 15 minutes. Enjoy your baby soft skin. You're welcome) 

[Moisturiser:] 

Think of it as a finishing touch, the final step to your skincare regime. Whoo! We're finally here. I like to think of it as a way to seal off the hard work you had put in earlier. It is a product to seal in the moisture onto your skin and make it supple.

This is the only line I go to if my skin starts to get irritated or get allergic reaction [Image Source]

Personally, I am not too fussed about moisturiser's function. As long as the moisturiser doesn't irritate my skin, it's good enough. I prefer a soothing cream moisturiser during winters and gel moisturisers during summers. 

Take a pea size amount and slowly pat it onto your skin after dotting it on your forehead, cheeks, nose, chin. 

Rosie Recommends: Physiogel's cream for Dry and Sensitive Skin, L'oreal's Hydrafresh gel cream, Shiseido's The Skincare cream, La Roche Posay's cream,

[Eye cream:] 

The skin around your eyes are very thin and sensitive while void of oil producing glands, therefore it is prone to fine lines and wrinkles than other parts of your face (Or so I have been told by my aesthetician). Hence, one should take care of it before it's too late. 

If you don't want to spend money on separate cream, your facial moisturiser works fine too. Make sure it doesn't have alcohol as an ingredient and it's good to go. 

Use half a pea size and pat it gently on the skin around your eyes. 

Rosie Recommends: I have not yet found something that I would recommend anyone. So, stay tuned. 

That was a lengthy read and I hope you are still here with me. Thank you for reading this long essay of a post and I sincerely hope this guide helps you. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to send a message or comment down below. I'd be very glad to help you. 

Love love love, 

Rosie