All posts by Shirley

All Posts, Beauty

Skin Care Remedy: The Must-Have Magic Cream

What product do you use to prepare your skin for makeup?

When it comes to putting makeup foundation on my face, I love to use Charlotte Tilbury’s Magic Cream to hydrate my skin first. After applying the Magic Cream to my face, my skin instantly looks awake and glowing. And the Magic Cream keeps my makeup looking smooth and refresh.

The Magic Cream by Charlotte Tilbury is a facial moisturizer, which can be used for either day or night. It has a mix of anti-aging and collagen stimulating ingredients. It’s also the product Charlotte uses to prepare celebrities’ red carpet look.

Charlotte's Magic Cream

I use the Magic Cream mainly to prepare my skin before I apply the makeup. Once in a while, I will use the Magic Cream as my day moisturizer.

How did I hear about the Magic Cream? A few years ago, I attended a Charlotte Tilbury’s hands-on makeup event, led by one of their product line’s international makeup artists. I learned many great things about Charlotte Tilbury’s skin care products and makeup items. Since then, I started to use the Magic Cream as part of my makeup routine.

In my opinion, the Magic Cream not only hydrates my skin it also serves as a skin protector. I’ve accidentally fallen asleep with my makeup on a couple of times. When I woke up in the morning, my skin still felt hydrated, because I used the Magic Cream prior to applying the foundation. Before I started using the Magic Cream, leaving makeup on overnight would irritate my skin the next morning.

To summarize, Charlotte Tilbury’s Magic Cream is a great skin care product that serves as a daily moisturizer and makeup preparation product. The wonder of this cream lives exactly up to its name, “Magic Cream”. If you haven’t tried the Charlotte Tilbury’s Magic Cream, I’d highly recommend that you get one and experience the magic yourself.

For more skin care products I recommend you to try, visit Skin Care page.

All Posts, Beauty, Fashion, Top Five

5 Things to Try This Month – April 2020

April marks the beginning of the second month of pandemic social distancing. I am very grateful that most of my friends and I are home safely with our loved ones. But my heart goes out to the people who are being affected by this unfortunate event, especially to those who lost a family member or friend.

While I am sheltered safely at home with my elderly parents, a couple of my friends have family members working on the front lines, such as hospitals and essential businesses. They are risking their health and lives to save people and provide the services that keep us going. I can only imagine how difficult it must be for anyone seeing their loved ones go out for work and face uncertainty every day.

I really hope this pandemic transmission will slow down and be under control soon, so people can feel safe to resume their regular lives again.

Below are some of the things I will be doing this month at home. Most of them are related to what I can do while I am staying home.

Baking

I am so glad I bought a new bread maker machine during the past holiday. We eat a lot of bread at home every day, so I’ve been making a new loaf of bread every two days. My recent favorite bread to make is oatmeal with raisin.

Homemade Oat Bread
(This is the oatmeal bread with raisin, my latest favorite.)

New Beauty

I could never resist the temptation of the new lipsticks, especially when it comes to glitters. Dior recently launched new Addict Stellar Halo Shine lipsticks and lip glosses. These new lip products have extra shimmering and shine. The must-get signature color in these collections is “Be Dior”, which was first released last year for the Addict Stellar Shine lipsticks.

New Dior Addict Stellar Lipsticks and Lip Gloss
(New Dior Addict Stellar Halo Shine lipsticks and lip glosses.)

Concert

Last October I bough tickets for my mom, aunts, and I to go watch Celine Dion’s concert at the Tacoma Dome (in Tacoma, Washington)  scheduled for April 15. Due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, the show has been rescheduled. I am so glad that I went to watch Celine Dion’s show in Las Vegas two different times last year and recorded most part of her show on my phone. Although I can’t watch her in person this year, I have the ability to watch her fantastic show at my fingertips.

Celine Dion Concert
(The picture of Celine Dion I took during her concert in Las Vegas. I was standing right in front of the stage at that time.)

Reading Material

There’s no better time for self improvement than now.  For this month I am reading the book, “A Mind for Numbers”. The author of this book explains how our mind works, and emphasizes the most effective and efficient techniques for learning. The techniques can be applied to anything you want to learn, not limited to math or science only.

Reading Material for April 2020
(The book I am reading this month.)

New Beauty

As I age, it’s impossible to avoid getting facial wrinkles. However, there are skin care products we can use to make wrinkles less visible. For example, BeautyBio’s “R45 The Reversal” three-phase serum. The product is intended for nighttime use. Each phase of the serum lasts about two weeks. Once you finish the phase 1, you move on to phase 2, then phase 3. I am currently using this serum. It will be interesting to see if it makes any difference after I finish using this product.
BeautyBio Serum
(The BeautyBio Serum I am currently using.)

The Cover Image: I am wearing Chanel’s Rouge Allure Velvet Luminous Matte lipstick in color “347 Camelia Fuchsia”. I love this fuchsia/bright pink lipstick as well as its camellia motif embossed on the bottom. For the day time look, this lipstick color goes well with this See by Chloe jean dress.

Wearing New Chanel Lipsticks

All Posts, Top Five

5 Things to Try This Month – March 2020

It seemed like Year 2020 just started a few weeks ago, but we are already in March. During the first week of March I took a trip to Las Vegas. I had the chance to meet my friends for afternoon tea and eat at my favorite restaurants.

Little did I know all of the places that I visited in Las Vegas would all be closed due to the coronavirus outbreak. I’ve been staying home with my family since I returned from my Las Vegas trip.

With everything that is going on, I am grateful that I can be home with my loved ones. Thanks to all the people working in the health care for risking their life to save people. Please be safe.

For the rest of people, if you have no essential business that requires you to go out, please stay home.

Below are the things I did this month, before the pandemic quarantine. I plan to do more cooking and baking while I stay home everyday.

New Nails

Last month I had red glitter nails with gold accessories and one gold glitter nail with red crystals on each hand. (Click here to see the picture.) I think the red crystals stand out more when they are placed on the gold glitters instead of on the red glitter nails, which I had back in November.

For this month, I wanted more gold glitter nails with red crystals than my usual favorite red nails. In additional to red crystals, I have light pink crystals on my index finger and pinky. To showcase the crystals, I decided to go with plain red instead of glitter red nails on my thumb and ring finger.
Gel Nails for March 2020
(My gel nails for March 2020 — I have more gold glitter gel nails with crystals than last month.)

New Coffee

Nespresso just released new flavored coffee and espresso. As usual, I want to try each new flavor. The new flavors for the Nespresso’s Original line are Cocoa Truffle, Caramel Crème Brûlée and Vanilla Éclair. And the new flavors for the Nespresso’s Vertuo line are Hazelino Muffin, Caramel Cookie and Vanilla Custard Pie. My favorite picks are Vanilla Éclair for the Original Line and Hazelino Muffin for the Vertuo line.

Morning Pick-me-up for March 2020

(My morning must-have drink — Nespresso coffee.)

Afternoon Tea

In the beginning of March, while I was in Las Vegas, I met with my friend who lives in Las Vegas. We had the afternoon tea at the Tea Lounge in the Waldorf Astoria. My overall experience of the afternoon tea there was great. Everything was delicious and the company was wonderful, as always.

Afternoon Tea with Friend
(Having afternoon tea at the Tea Lounge in the Waldorf Astoria, Las Vegas. On the right is the dessert portion of our afternoon tea.)

New Beauty

Pat McGrath released a new Opulust Gloss. I bought this new lip gloss in Venomistress (which I wore in my picture below) and Glowing Garnet. The formula of this Opulust Gloss is not sticky, but they stay put on the lips surprisingly well. If you are into sparkles and shimmering lips, you’ll like these as much as I do. I plan on getting more of it in both Lavendering and Dreamcatcher.

Trying on New Lip Gloass

(Picture: Use the latest one taken in Vdara shows the lip gloss.)

Cooking

My family has been making homemade dumplings from scratch since I was a child. To make dumplings, you’d need to make the filling with meat and vegetables, knead the dough, and roll the dumpling skin, then wrap the filing in the dumpling skin. The only thing I I knew how to do was to roll the dough into dumpling skins and wrap the dumplings with filling.

This month, I wanted to learn how to make dumplings from scratch all on my own.
Homemade Dumplings
(These are my homemade dumplings. It’s my first time making them from scratch on my own.)

The Cover Image: I was getting ready for the dinner at Harvest restaurant in the Bellagio hotel, Las Vegas. In the picture I am wearing Pat McGrath’s Opulust Gloss in Venomistress. I think this purple/fuchsia glitter lip gloss matches well with my Self-portrait sequined minidress in black and green pattern.

All Posts, Food, Travel

The Mayfair Supper Club in the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas

During my recent trip to Las Vegas, I ate at the Mayfair Supper Club, the new restaurant that recently opened in the Bellagio hotel. The Mayfair Supper Club is a modernized classic American restaurant with entertainment. The CNN Travel site has named it as one of the 20 best new restaurants in the world.

Mayfair Supper Club Entrance
(Picture of the restaurant entrance.)

I like the entrance of the restaurant and all the internal decor. There are two bars, one by the entrance and another one by the main dining area.

The Mayfair Supper Club Bar
(The bar in the main dining room.)

In my opinion, it’s a little bit difficult to describe Mayfair. Their advertising says that they are a supper club. But what does that mean?

Basically, there’s a stage that has different acts going on throughout the night. For example, there was a piano player/singer. And later there was one singer singing while other dancers performed on the stage.  Also, the entertainers were wandering around the dining area and interacting with the dinners. The entertainers act as if Mayfair was a 1930’s style cabaret.

The Mayfair Supper Club Piano Performance
(The piano player/singer in the beginning of the evening.)

In short, Mayfair is a combination of dining and entertainment mixed together. Most fine dining restaurants in the Bellagio hotel close around 10:00pm, but Mayfair serves food until 1:30am.

If you like old school songs such as “Luck Be a Lady” and “At Last”, you’d have a blast at the Mayfair Supper Club restaurant, because those are the types of songs you will hear while you eat there.

If you like Jazz, you’d want to go to Mayfair on Sunday night because there will be Jazz band and singers performing.

To be honest, I was skeptical about the whole concept of the restaurant when I first heard about it. But it worked very well, at least in my opinion. I had a great time eating there with my friends and enjoying the entertainment.

Stay tuned for my future post on the appetizers, entrees, and dessert we had at the restaurant.  The Mayfair Supper Club Lounge
(The lounge and the bar at the front of the restaurant.)

Picture with Friend at the Mayfair Supper Club Restaurant
(Picture with my beautiful friend, Ying.)

All Posts, Food, Travel

Club Lounge at the Vdara Hotel in Las Vegas

During my recent visit to Las Vegas I stayed at the Vdara hotel, which is one of the two properties that has no casino floor in the City Center in Las Vegas. The other hotel property that has no casino is Waldorf Astoria, which formerly known as the Mandarin Oriental.

Like many of the hotels on the Las Vegas Strip, Vdara has its own private lounge for hotel guests. Hotels guests can get lounge access by booking special suites on the property, or by paying an additional daily lounge fee. The private lounge usually offers drinks and light snacks.

The Vdara’s private lounge is called the Club Lounge. It is open daily from 7:00am to 7:00pm, and serves complimentary coffee, tea, soda, and light snacks throughout the day.

The coffee machine at the Club Lounge gives you various choices from Americano coffee to Cappuccino, with fresh milk and syrups. They even offers Chai tea latte, mocha, and hot chocolate.
Vdara Club Lounge Pastry
(These are some of the fresh fruits and pastries served at Vdara’s Club Lounge every day.)

In the morning from 7:00am to 11:00am, the Club Lounge provides selections of self-serve breakfast, fresh fruit, pastries, bread, and donuts.

Vdara Club Lounge Breakfast
(Scrambled eggs, cheese crepes, fresh berries, and caramel macchiato.)

In the afternoon, from 4:00pm to 6:00pm, the Club lounge offers hors d’oeuvres and selected beers, wines and champagne. Other cocktails are available for an additional charge.
Vdara Club Lounge Afternoon Hors d'oeuvres_
(These are some of the hors d’oeuvres I had. The asparagus were so good; I had them everyday during my stay in the Vdara hotel.)

Between 6:00pm to 7:00pm, the Club Lounge offers  desserts. I tried the key lime tart and chocolate mouse cake. They were really delicious.

(These are two of the desserts served at Vdara’s Club Lounge. They were really delicious.)

In my opinion, Vdara’ offers the best-value lounge compared to other hotels’ private lounges I’ve been to. Just the breakfast selections at the Vdara alone covers a full meal. In the hotels on the strip, getting a breakfast meal with coffee would easily cost you at least $30 per person.

The complimentary afternoon hors d’oeuvres with wine is the perfect light happy hour before your dinner.

The next time you stay in Vdara in Las Vegas, consider trying their Club Lounge. Even if you don’t get the complimentary lounge access with the suite you stay in and have to pay for the daily lounge fee, it’s well worth every penny.


(This donut tree is one of my favorite items at the Vdara Club Lounge. It’s served every morning.)

All Posts, Top Five

5 Things to Try This Month – February 2020

February is always an exciting month for me. It’s the month of my birthday, February 22. Although I stopped celebrating my birthday a few years ago, I still like the month a lot. After all, what’s not to like about February?

Below are some of the things I am doing in February.

New Nails

I really love my last month’s multi-colored crystals gel nails, but it’s time to switch back to my favorite red. I asked my gel nail artist to put red crystals on my ring fingers. To emphasize the red crystals, we used gold glitters gel polish on background. There is a heart on the index finger and pinky finger. These red gel nails are perfect for my upcoming trip and the special events of this month.

Shirley Style Gel Nails for February 2020
(This is my February 2020 gel nails, with red crystals, mini gold heart, and my recent favorite teardrop crystals.)

Beauty Products

When it comes to taking care of my skin, I was never as diligent as some of my friends who pamper their face with masks on a daily basis. One of my new year resolutions is to take a better care of my skin and use facial masks on weekly basis. Below are some of the facial masks I am using now.

Facial Masks for February 2020
(These are the facial masks I am currently using. My goal is to use them at least once a week.)

New Restaurant

On the past New Year’s Eve, Bellagio hotel opened a new restaurant, The Mayfair Supper Club. The restaurant is a modernized classic American restaurant with entertainment. The CNN Travel has named The Mayfair Supper Club as one of the twenty best new restaurants in the world!

I am going to Las Vegas with friends this month and we will try the new Mayfair Supper Club. I can’t wait to find out more about the restaurant. Click here to read about my dining experience at the Mayfair Supper Club.

Mayfair Supper Club Entrance

(Here is a picture of the Mayfair Supper Club entrance I took during my recent trip to Las Vegas.)

Special Event

As I get older I no longer celebrate my birthdays because it’s just another regular day to me. However, on my birthday this year my best friend is going to get married and have a small wedding reception. I’ve already gotten a perfect new dress for this special day. Since it’s a intimate family-only reception, I will wear a bright pink Alice and Olivia a-line mini dress with my silver glitter spiky Christian Louboutin stilettos. As for the accessories, I still have time to think about what bag to bring and what jewelry to wear.

Dress for February 2020 Special Event
(This is the dress I bought to attend my friend’s family-only intimate wedding reception.)

Baking

I recently bought a new bread machine. I’ve been following the recipe making French bread and white bread. So far, the result are good. I am excited to try making other kinds of bread, such as brioche, oat bread, and whole wheat bread.

Homemade Bread for February 2020
(This is one of my homemade white bread.>

The Cover Image: I was eating at the Mayfair Supper Club restaurant in Bellagio Hotel, Las Vegas. My beautiful friend, Ying, captured this picture while I was touching up my lipsticks in the restroom. I was wearing the Chanel’s matte liquid lipstick and a Self-portrait dress.

All Posts, Food, Travel

Returning to Joel Robuchon at MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas

The first time I ate at Joel Robuchon, at MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, was ten years ago. My overall dining experience at the restaurant back then was great. In fact, the Joel Robuchon restaurant is on my top five favorite restaurants in Las Vegas.

Read my previous post on the Joel Robunchon restaurant.

Throughout the years, I’ve been going back to Joel Robuchon many times. The food at the restaurant was very delicious; I always ended up overeating.

Other than the exquisite quality of the food, the impeccable service, and the fancy decoration at Joel Robuchon, I love their bread cart and dessert cart. I could just eat them all day.

Returning to JoelRobuchon Bread Cart

(Picture of their bread cart)

Of course, there’s always their famous Le Souffle – Chocolate Hot Souffle. I had so many of their Le Souffle in the past, I even have pictures of them being served on different kind of serving plates over the past decade.
Returning to Joel Robuchon Le Souffle
(Le Souffle – Chocolate Hot Souffle)

From eating at my favorite restaurants in Las Vegas, I noticed that they are constantly trying to reinvent their menu and make changes to stay current. Sometimes, they’d remove food that I happened to love or add new items that I enjoy.

However, one thing I am grateful about Joel Robuchon is that while they update themselves, they still keep providing everything I love about eating at their restaurant. This includes their bread cart and dessert cart. Among all the bread their offer, they still have my favorite ones!

Returning To Joel Robuchon My Bread
(Joel Robuchon’s butter with sea salt and my favorite bread selection.)

Below are the food my friend and I ordered during my recent visit to Joel Robuchon.

Appetizers

Returning To Joel Robuchon - Pumpkin Cream Parisian Gnocchi
(Le Potiron – cream of pmpkin with mimolette cheese and Parisian gnocchi, served with black truffle.)

Returning To Joel Robuchon - Pan Fried Egg with Iberico Ham
(L’OEuf de Poule Miroir – pan fried egg on pearl rice with shaved Iberico Ham, served with black truffle.)

Main Courses
Returning To Joel Robuchon - Black Cod
(Le Black Cod – Caramelized black code in Maiabar pepper sauce with wasabi spinach.)

Returning To Joel Robuchon - Wagyu Rib Eye
(Le Boeuf – Wagyu rib eye with stuffed macaroni and Parmesan.)

I enjoy eating at the Joel Robuchon so much, there are just so many good things about it.

There’s another dessert I ate during this trip. It’s so exquisite. I think it deserves to have its own dedicated blog post, so I’ll write it up later.

If you haven’t been to Joel Robuchon, I hope the pictures in this post are enough to entice you to make the trip. Believe me, it’s totally worth it.

All Posts, Food

Taneda Sushi in Kaiseki Restaurant in Seattle

A few months ago, my friends introduced me to one of their favorite restaurants in Seattle, Taneda Sushi in Kaiseki. “Kaiseki” refers to a traditional multi-course Japanese cuisine, prepared with rigorous attention to detail.

The menu at the restaurant changes daily, based on the season and weather. And the restaurant only has nine seats, which makes the reservation hard to get. We had to reserve two months in advance.

Once you are seated, you can watch the chef and sous-chefs prepare each of the courses right in front of you while you eat.

My first time experience at the Taneda Sushi in Kaiseki was wonderful. The food was delicious and the service was great.

I enjoyed eating all the food at Taneda Sushi in Kaisei. However, I have several personal favorites which I don’t mind to eat them all the time.

My personal favorites are the sashimi and uni served over the sea urchin shell, amaebi and uni roll, caviar, uni, Kobe beef over rice, and Kobe beef with meatball.

See below for the images I took during dinner.

Taneda Sushi in Kaiseki - Uni
(Uni and sashimi served on a sea urchin shell – the ingredients were very fresh; they literally melt in my mouth as I ate them.)

TanedaSushi_Amaebi_Amaebi and Uni Roll
(Amaebi and Uni roll — sweet shrimp and sea urchin — in a close-up image – this is so delicious! I think eating just one is not enough.)

Taneda Sushi - Special Mix
(Special mix of caviar, uni, and Kobe beef over rice – this course has all of my favorite ingredients. The portion is small, but rich in taste.)

Taneda Sushi Kobe Beef

(Kobe beef and meatball with special sauce – the Kobe beef is so tender. )

Below are more food, in addition to my personal favorites.

Taneda Sush -_Sampling
(Sampling of delicious bites.)

Taneda Sushi Assorted Sushi
(Assorted sushi.)

Taneda Sushi - Chef Preparing our Food
(Watching Chef Taneda preparing our food.)

I am going back to the Taneda Sushi in Kaiseki with a group of friends tomorrow night. Just by looking at the pictures of the food I took during my last visit to the restaurant makes me hungry. I can’t wait for the dinner tomorrow.

Since the food at the Taneda Sushi in Kaiseki restaurant changes seasonally, I am looking forward to see what’s new. I hope they will still offer my favorite dishes. (Stay tuned for my follow-up post on my returning to the restaurant.)

All Posts, Food, Travel

Top Ten Restaurants in Las Vegas

I’ve been going to Las Vegas with different groups of people, such as friends, family, and co-workers in the past years (why I like to go to Vegas). After trying so many restaurants on the strip, I came up with my top ten list of restaurants in Las Vegas. Depending on who I am going with, my top restaurant list might vary. Below is a list ideal for trips to Vegas with anyone who enjoy great dinner.

It is in no particular order. I will go into details in my future posts.

  1. Allegro at Wynn
  2. Bardot Brasserie at Aria
  3. Harvest at Bellagio
  4. Joel Robuchon at MGM Grand
  5. Le Cirque at Bellagio
  6. The Mansion at The Mansion
  7. Michael Mina at Bellagio
  8. Picasso at Bellagio
  9. Sinatra at Encore
  10. SW Steakhouse at Wynn

Las Vegas has way more great restaurants than I could fit into my list. There are three more I would have considered to add to my top ten list, except that they were closed in the past few years, mainly for economic reasons. They are: Restaurant Charlie by Charlie Trotter, David Burke, and Switch. I will explain why I like them later.

LasVegas Restaurant AquaKnox
American Red Snapper from AquaKnox at Venetian
LasVegas Restaurant Allegro at Wynn
Osso Buco D’agnello from Allegro at Wynn
All Posts, Fashion

The Dress with 80’s Fashion Vibe

The off-the-shoulder fashion style was popular in the 80’s, and it has made a come back in the past few years.

I think when it comes to picking a dress for evenings or parties, the off-the-shoulder style is an ideal choice for a fun and sophisticated look. If you pair the dress with the right accessories, you can transform the look with plenty of sexiness.

Shirley in off-shoulder dress

The self-portrait’s Black Sequin Embellished Ruffle Mini Dress (above) is a good example of a off-the-shoulder dress. It is made with black sequins with a asymmetrical top. The dress has fitted bodice with golden zipper on the front and ruffle trim skirt.

Shirley in the off-shoulder dress
(Getting ready for dinner.)

This off-the-shoulder black sequin embellished ruffle mini dress is one of my favorite dresses. The design of the dress is intended to fit to the body perfectly and it flatters the figure. The asymmetrical top shows off just enough shoulder to add some sophistication to the look.

How to Complete the Look?

In general, to complete a 80’s outfit, it’s ideal to wear a pair of statement earrings, intensified/bold makeup, and a red lipstick.

To complete my evening off-shoulder silhouette outfit for dinner, I wore a cocktail flower ring, a pair of the chandelier earrings, and suede heels with crystals around the shoe platform.

For the lips, I wore my favorite YSL lipstick in bright red. And for my eyes, I used both purple and blue eyeshadow.
Accessories for the off-shoulder dressAccessories for the off-shoulder dress
To summarize, I think getting a silhouette with a classic 80’s vibe, like my off-shoulder dress, is a great investment. This kind of dress with timeless fashion style will always be in style.