Ebony and Ivory

I am sure that none of you have heard about this awesome pop pianist-just yet. This pop pianist recently released his beautiful first album and actually this Thursday I was invited to see his first concert "I'm All  Yours" in Seoul. I have known him personally since he is good friend of my brother from Berklee School of Music. I was so excited to see him in tv shows recently-and he actually made very successful debut in here. There are two different kinds of self-composed songs in his recent album. One is very soft and gentle while the other one is wild and powerful. He introduced very strong performance-hitting the piano keyboard with his fist, pounding his feet on the ground to create his own background beat. Actually, the famous Japanese jazz pianist Hiromi Uehara came up to my mind while I watched his performance. Hiromi Uehara does very similar performance, while Jiho's performance seemed more cruel and harsh. Seeing his hands all bleeding after the show seemed to be expected-and I was very worried to see such pain that follows after each performance while it seemed like he didn't even know that he was bleeding during his passionate play. Anyways, I loved most of the songs it was featured in his first album. They are very beautiful. You can listen to his songs if you go to his website- http://www.cyworld.com/jihoshin

I personally loved this image from his album jacket.

Jiho from the famous Korean tv shows named Stocking. I enjoyed watching him playing with popular idol group CN Blue during the show.

 

His first concert was held in this cool place named...something I don't remember. The place was very well mood-designed-although his company didn't give us much to eat during the show. I went there with empty stomach since I was told that there will be dinner before the show. And here is what I got-

4 pieces of salmon...It was yummy but hey, I barely could satisfy my stomach with this!!!!!!

Me waiting for the show to begin...

Me with violinist Seungyoun. She played his (one of the best) song Blind together with Jiho in the end of the show- and her violin with his piano-it was superb :)

me with Jiho after the show-at fan meeting! I am wearing my recent purchase- Anna Sui dress for that special day! I heard bunch of compliments from other people about the dress all day that day-and hey, that feels great and enough to make me feel better about spending some few hundreds of dollars on one dress..(I think I will not do it again for awhile...)

 

me with my brother

Getting ready to go to dinner after the show! Personally liked that back-stage room.

At dinner after the show. I went there with his managers and other company-related people. It was fun and I had bunch of soju... Anyways, I would recommend you gals to listen to his songs since it has pretty good mix of jazz and those emotional-movie-featured piano songs. It's just easy to listen to and if you like the legendary composers like Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yuki Guramoto, it's kind of must-listen-to music. :)

Ga-eul Story (Fall Story)

Summer is still on its climax and it's still super sunny outside- thou fall is on its way. I feel more breeze during the day and importantly, at night the temperature gets really cool- you gotta have to put on some stuff for your on-going vacation nights. So here are some recent trends news we received from famous style.com- as we took a look at some Autumn/Winter 2010 runways. Here we introduce some of our favorites-and the inspired items at our store.

 

Cacharel

 

Francesco Scognamiglio

 

Louis Vuitton

Paul Smith

Nina Ricci

These 50's inspired looks are gorgeous-especially these designers, including Nina Ricci's amazing red bustiers and silouette-hugging long skirts. Style.com always give great ideas about new trends and this one was one of my favorite trend of this fall-Fifties Something. I recently got into obsessive vintage shopping and have went through amazing stuff around many different vintage shops around here. I think the difference between Korea and US vintage shop is- that it's easier to find rare Japanese vintage items in Korea. Japanese vintages are lot of times have better fit and shapes. (I might think this way since I am more Japanese size than American size)  Anyways, those long length skirts and classic patterns( which are often very fun) are now one of my big pleasure in life. Oh and also those low-neck bustier-inspired looks are just way too amazing.

 Alexander Wang

Celine

Antonio Berardi

 Balmain

Dolce&Gabbana

My another favorite trend this season is- Man Up. I have been loving ethnic-boho look last winter, chunk up myself with tons of layers, rich up with colors and patterns. However, I started to get super attracted by this minimalist trends that has been explored by designers. And yes, I think adopting men-wear designs are very good way to reach that attractive style of minimalism. I LOVE Celine's collection this season since her adoption of men-wear seems very fresh in its overall shapes. They are obviously inspired by men-wear, and the fits of the jackets and pants are actually very similar to those of men's. However, there is still beautiful feminine quality to overall fashion they creates. It's simple, luxurious, elegant, and to-the-point type of chic.

 Check more items at..

STORETS

Summer outfit ideas

Talk about this huge trends of see-through stuff this season- Try on bikini top underneath that sexily visible layer. Match it with denim shorts and one big jewelry that would highlight the outfit. I often have fun trying crazy patterned bra tops inside. The patterns creates even more rich feeling by adding enough amount of transparency colors on top. 

This artistic drapery dress is one of the highlight item we are currently featuring in our store- goes wonderful with fedora and ethnic accessories. It is light and easy to move around- a perfect piece for the vacation.

Such long skirts are one of my favorite style of the season- just putting one simple long skirts (or dress) seems cool enough. Match the cute little frill top to balance such plain-ness that skirt gives to the outfit.

 All the items are available at our store!

STORETS

Holika!!

 

So I recently had chance to try this new cosmetic brand in Korea. Holika Holika has launched its first store on last April, and has been expanding its stores all around Korea. I only have been to the one at Myundong, (immediately walked into the store since the exterior and interior of the store was so pretty!!!!) and it seems like they are pretty reasonable place to shop for skin cares and cosmetics. 

Here are some of my reviews of their items- for those of you who are looking for fresh face products-

HD Skinny Primer Base 

This primer is probably one of the best primer I have ever used. It covers every single pores on my face really effectively- my skin feels like a silk and it absorbs the powder super evenly. My face looks very silky and simply, flawless. (by no kidding)

Peach Girl BB Cream

Korea is super famous for its magic cosmetic- BB Cream. And YES, I am one of the girls who LOVES it so much. It's one of the miracle that happened in the cosmetic history. If any of you have never tried BB Cream, and has some skin parts to hide on your face, I will strongly recommend to try BB Cream. There are tons of different brands that sell BBCream, and most of them are pretty good. However, you have to be really careful with how much greasy they can get. I personally really like this Peach Girl BB cream since it is super smooth and feels really light after applying it. You don't even need to put powder after this. It already does the brightening and covering job all by itself.

Fairy Bakery Cookie Chip Blush

I am huge fan of MAC for their wonderful Blush collections-but Holika Holika actually has as-good items and this specific blush totally stole my heart. I LOVE how natural it looks on my face! The color is soft indie pink and I personally think this would match with any type of skin color.

 

Wonder Drawing

Talk about cool stuff- this is real cool little thing. I always had complaints about eyeliners not being able to fill in the space between the space of each eyelashes- it always looked pretty empty and that part is real pain in my ass to fill in with the brush. I was so excited to find this new type of eye liner-which is specifically made to fill in those areas of the eyes. I only have used it for few times, but it works pretty awesome. 

 

Starlight

I have been using all different brands' lip sticks and lip glosses- and Holika Holika's lipstick is really wonderful in its color and applies on the lips really well. I got super light pink color lipstic and it makes me look like a gyaru in the middle of Tokyo lol. I love how smooth it is and color is just so pretty. The brand has few different collections of lip cosmetics-but i personally think this Starlight collection is the prettiest.

So these are all the items that I have experienced with Holika Holika. I haven't used their Skin Care just yet. I heard it's really good-but I am super careful about the skin care since my skin is really sensitive and am afraid if they will make my skin to break out. I am brave enough to try different cosmetics (like primer, BBCream and so on) However, Skin Care-it's a different story. I will try them after reading more reviews of others. Overall, the brand seems pretty reasonable and I love their mission statement and those all about 'magic' and 'miracle' concept of the store. If you have chance to see their store, check them out!

www.holikaholika.co.kr

Style of the Day from BYUL

Introducing uniquely shaped stripe skirt matched with summer trend items. Matching the wedge heel sandal and simple graphic tshirts would do perfect to create casual look. Sunglasses and metallic bag(the one I chose is different than the bag within the photo.) is fun highlight for the outfit. Create city preppy look with this distinctively designed skirts-and these days it seems like shorts and mini skirts are no longer on popular demand of our store. Mid-length skirts and trousers seems to be the best item for this summer and of course, the maxi skirts. You don't have to show too much to be sexy anymore. Be chic, stylish, and yet feel comfortable with this breezy, snuggy outfit.

STORETS

Beautiful Shots #1

Just thought that I should share this beautiful photos from China's Modern Weekly 2010. Sources are listed in the bottom. These shots of beautiful model that brings up such a classic oriental scene, I was so attracted by its exotic beauty and how photographer caught that oriental beauty of mysty, romantic feeling without giving too much idea of the background as proving that they were actually shot at Asia. Each photo has just right amount of ideas from the background and that's why model immediately get the attention within the space she is given in the photo. Just LOVE it!!!


*I got the photos from Asian Models Blog
Model: Ling Tan (IMG)
Editorial: Madame Soong - Beijing Love
Magazine: (China) Modern Weekly, 2010
Photographer: John-Paul Pietrus
Fashion Direction: Tim Lim
Hair: Chen Tao
Makeup: Dong Dong

Source: JohnPaulPietrus.com