[Musing] Past // Present // Future | What Does 2018 Mean To You?

Time made a mark, came and went for 2017 seemed a whirlwind of ups and downs for us. We looked forward to a more quiet year towards the end of last last year here, instead, life threw us with much unexpected turn of events this year. We made a change in life and took up a new area of work, in some ways, blogging here took quite a back seat, which was never an ideal situation for us, but somehow we had to. Never the less, no regrets, life is such. 

Unpredictability also hit us hard when we lost some loved ones this year, a very close family member and a blogger friend (which her departure came so sudden that none of us was ready for it! But then again, who ever would be for a thing called death, right?). It only goes to assert one thing in life - seize the moment and always live each day as if it is your last. Always be grateful and blessed that you are still alive each day to enjoy it. Some things will seem more important while others become way less significant once you sort out your priorities in life. 

For us, we hope that 2018 will be a fresh new start, one that calls for a change in life, but definitely one that would lead us to better future. We did have a great 2017, for we got to travel and gone places quite a fair bit here, all thanks to a dear friend and the hospitality of great places of holiday destinations. On this note, we hope we get to go travel even more, and beyond our region, to experience more and to live more. 

We would also love to take this opportunity to thank each and everyone of you who dropped by and leave your comment, even though we hardly surf over to say our hello often enough (our bad, really!), we could not have done it without your support, and your love, our associates and brands who still believe in us and our work here at LUMINNEJ. We endeavour to do better in the coming new year ... shall try our very best. Please be kind *_^ 

Have a truly exciting new year of 2018 and may the best come your way as you absolutely deserve the best in life, lovelies. Stay luminous and happy, always!

Visual 1 | Black and White Flower by pfeffergruen on Instagram. All visuals via #pinterest. 

With love, 

Jeann

XMAS 2017 Series | Mamonde Flowers For Me Holiday Collection

We love flowers, period. Flowers speak to us in many ways and one of them would be to sooth our soul and calm our mind. It also inspires us visually during photography work for LUMINNEJ. This time of the year, Korean Beauty brand, Mamonde introduces their Christmas series with Flowers For Me Holiday Collection, one which is fun, feminine yet equally alluring and leaving you looking absolutely delicious and blooming with colourful freshness and surprises this Blooming Winter, Mamonde style. A huge thanks to Mamonde Malaysia for the love as we received this special Christmas surprise package some time back. We hope its still in time to share a little about the collection for you to perhaps not only pamper yourself during this special occasions but share some love with friends and family too when it comes to gifting ideas. So, let's dive in, shall we? 

XMAS 2017 Series | Dior Precious Rocks Rocking That Glittery Glam Look

Nothing beats a good line-up of amazing makeup collection specially tailor-made for the festive season. Christmas bells are ringing in and in no time, we are ending the year of 2017. Time flies when you have fun, no? Our little Christmas came super early all thanks to our beloved beauty brand, Dior and a huge hugs and kisses to Dior Malaysia for still loving us all these while even though we have been so bogged down by our full time work that blogging here took a backseat with delayed updates. How we wished we could just blog full time at times like these. 

Enough of ranting, we are extremely thrilled over the favourite time of the year. With Dior, it is all about the glitter and glam, Dior style all the way, aptly called Dior Precious Rocks Holiday 2017 Collection (here for more). We have put together something a little different this year for our Christmas series, hope you lovelies will enjoy nonetheless. We are going for the look book style instead of purely review piece. Precious Rocks, paying homage to unfettered rock spirit, confidently precious!

Opulent and glittery this season, the eyes sparkle with a kaleidoscope of myriad shades, in a prismatic way. The design is captivatingly hypnotic, the colours will embellish your eyes with wonderful shades. 5 Couleurs Precious Rocks Limited Edition in Ruby and Emerald, you take your pick, whichever that tickles your fancy. Both are equally alluring with a touch of iridescent for us. Here for more on the application techniques and shades. Add a little touch of colour onto the nails with this season's limited edition shades of Diorific Vernis, which comes in its signature bottle with a golden cap. 4 new shades to let your nails do the talking and shine bright with gel-like finishing. We love both colours that we have - Amethyst (deep prune) and Ruby (violet shade with a shimmery sort of shine finish). Discover more here.

This Christmas, we imagine the most sophisticated gold, yet in a more subdued kind of manner, accentuated slightly with a touch a golden shimmer to excite and tease the senses of the admirer of a Dior woman who shows up at a party. She glows in pretty shades of golden dust of the irresistible Christmas 2017 limited edition Diorific Precious Rocks Golden Glow Loose Powder, (here for more) that catches the most brightest light in a sensual way that gets one thrilled with pleasure, looking almost like a Greek goddess of the night. Finish off with an added golden glittery touch of nail art with Diorific Vernis Liner in golden shade and that few spritz of exclusively mixed of floral and spices Dior scent, the absolute J'adore L'Or (here for more on its notes and structure).

It is an epic story of intense expression of the floral notes in every sense, yet entices the deepest desire of a woman to appeal differently with its fruity accents mingled with spices. Voluptuous and rich in nuances, this quintessentially floral scent would cement the wearer with her own interpretation of charm and a woman's sophistication in its subtle sensibility. We absolutely adore and fell in love with its new chiseled necklace and bottle. Read here about our previous thoughts on the other Dior J'adore that had us crushing hard as well.

Travel | Royal Langkawi Yacht Club | Our Perfect Marina Sunset Part 2

Once you are bitten, you would shy away? No, you might want to have it more. Well, bitten by the travel bug that is *_^ We are missing Langkawi all over again now that we are back in the KL city with our daily grind. We could not wait till our next travel, honestly. Yes, we are reminiscing over the great laid back time we had at Langkawi here (our first parter) when the amazing Royal Langkawi Yacht Club (RLYC) played host to LUMINNEJ and pampered us with a 3-day-2-night getaway, swooning over the sunset view and a carefree lifestyle of a sailor (a modern one who happens to own some super yachts docked at one of the 250 wet berths, by the way *_^).

Our second day saw us renting a car and simply venturing around the island, one of them was that we visited the Sky Bridge of Langkawi. Now that was quite a time. Our adventure continued into the night with appetising dinner, unwinding the day down to a nice sip of margarita, cultural show and just good old chill time with the ever friendly General Manager of the club, Mr. Tayfun Koksal.

Review | DECORTÉ AQMW Eye Glow Gems, That Oh So Sparkling & Luminous Glow For Your Eyes

Timeless elegance know no time barrier, beauty will always shine through with brand that believes in bringing out the best sensual side of a woman, any woman, especially those who seek beauty at its best quality. Though these little pots of gems were unveiled few months back, they truly come at theright time gearing up for that festive joyous Christmas party look, we believe. We are indeed drooling over the NEW DECORTÉ AQMW EYE GLOW GEMS eyeshadows (here for more) by this Japanese cosmetic and skincare brand. Don't you think they are so pretty already, hidden within the little decorative and motif covers within that little pots of treasures? Thanks to Decorté Malaysia for sending these along and for the huge love! There were a total of 8 super gorgeous chic shades to play around with and honestly, the result is limitless, entirely up to your own creativity.

Our Very First 10k With The Music Run™ by AIA Vitality | Living The Beat

Yes, it was that adrenaline rush, the crowd and the anticipation of running our very first 10k that made it the most memorable. 20,000 participants showed up at the fourth edition of The Music Run™ by AIA Vitality at KL Sports City recently and we were one of them. From seasoned to first time runners, the atmosphere was pulsating and most participants run, danced (or walked) their way to the finishing line. We are no seasoned runner, in fact, we took up walking some time end of last year and did some occasional running to spruce things up the most. We did want to try a 10k run though since we have done our first 5km run earlier this year. This year, the track was also taken up a notch with the addition of a new timed 10k track for Music Runners who want to take their fitness game to new heights. 

Revealing The Charming Gucci Flora Gorgeous Gardenia That Whisk Us Off To Romantism

I taste the forever juicy succulent red berries and pear in my mouth, only to savour their natural flavour of freshness that ignites my love for the nature, I carry the breath of the soul that binds my heart with that petals of gorgeous white gardenia and frangipani flowers only to reaffirms me that I am a flower girl who is hopelessly in love with the whispers of romanticism flower brings. I finally feel the depth of patchouli and brown sugar that linger over my body that dances with joy and a sense of love whenever I layer you. 

I meet you in a place where I could just be who I am, or who I could possibly be - the charmingly romantic one who refuses to think that eternal optimism is not possible in life, for magic does happen when you believe in it enough, no?

This limited edition Gucci Flora Gorgeous Gardenia (here for more) is most definitely aptly named. Gorgeously feminine and sensual with a tinge of fruitiness and playfulness, it surprises us with her ability to tease and warm us up gradually with a mix of delectable aroma as exciting as taking the first bite of our favourite dish. All our senses come alive and a soft wave of craziness envelops our mind, almost like taking a stroll through the gardens of ethereal flowers or lying in a bed of flowers, feeling all intoxicated. 

A charming one indeed. We love this more than we had expected, truthfully. A huge thanks to Gucci Malaysia for the love and that unforgettable experience each time we put this on. Explore the world of Gucci here and the Gucci fragrances here. So, do you have a favourite Gucci perfume, we wonder?

Till our next fragrance adventure, have a lovely and luminous rest of the week, lovelies! Stay happy, always *_^ Meanwhile, enjoy this little song here and dream away with the favourite scent of your choice, no matter which one it may be. 

With love, 

Jeann

Ready For The Music Run? 6 Tips To Get Ready For Your Very First 10k

If you haven't already heard, The Music Run™ by AIA Vitality is returning to Kuala Lumpur for its 4th edition this November 4th! This time with major upgrades for Music Runners. We are so excited about this as this would be our first time doing the 10km run. The annual run is kicking things up a notch with the addition of a new timed 10k track for runners who want to take their fitness game to new heights. Whether you are walking a gentle 5k (which we did earlier this year at the Score Run here), running the 5k or training for the 10k, preparation is the key to crossing the finish line this November 4th. Here are some tips to share with you if you are new to running, or just want to reach your full potential at the KL Sports City for The Music Run™ by AIA Vitality! More on the run here.

It was such a co-incident that we were approached to join in the fun and we totally love music, hence we immediately said yes to the run. We have been keeping an active lifestyle one year ago around this time when we started picking up walking on a daily basis and we have been doing that since then. Keep moving helps us to maintain a fitter body and a more alert mind, most definitely and we have seen and experienced the benefits of it. 

Pre-run Preparation
Get ready
Always pack and get ready before any race. You don't want to take too much and be laden down but you want to be prepared for all eventualities. Pack light is the key! The essentials may look like this: clothing for change, trainers, towel, water, snacks, plasters, muscle supports if needed, money, phone, holder for valuables and any medication you see fit.

Visual via bellamumma.com

A Good Night Sleep
Pre-run nerves are normal, especially if you are a first timer. The 5k and 10k runs are all about having fun and taking part. So just relax and enjoy a good night's sleep before the run the next day. We know we will, most definitely (you should know by now how much we love our beauty sleep *_^)