[FACES] The Thinking Hair Creator, Marcus Chin of The Soloist Salon

Fell in love with all things related to hair for more than 10 years now, his love affair has grown even stronger these days with the forming of The Soloist Hair Salon with his other two founding partners, Nicholas Chua and Eewen Yap. Marcus Chin loves cutting and colouring most now, as he feels these two elements go hand-in-hand and they are areas that give him the most satisfaction in terms of creativity. He has found his calling and confidence in the hair industry. He loves cooking and would not mind to invite you for a meal or two some day. We caught up with him recently to get to know more about this talented hairstylist and try to find out what makes him tick and what pushes him in the hairdressing business today. 

Born in 1987 and grew up in Seremban, Marcus has always been a somewhat hyperactive teenager who seemed to give teachers headaches even though he scored wonderfully in his comprehension but just could never get good grades as expected from his teachers. Seen as being relatively naughty, a troublemaker with a mix of street smart, in the eyes of the teachers and peers, he was destined for other things in life besides studying. One thing stood out though, he always loved to style his hair in a particular way and often got the attention of his friends. Naturally, Marcus thought that perhaps his interest would eventually be in hairstyling. 

It was confirmed much later through an incident in school which this young hairstylist-in-the-making was destined to walk down the path that he is now walking - when he had to help cut and fix a friend's hair which was ruined by the teacher's carefree way of cutting due to punishment. Marcus very first hair cut in his life was done in a boys' school toilet back then, as a favour for his friend to "rescue" and "salvage" his bad hair. Even then, he came to realise he still could not find his real purpose in life.

[FACES] The Unassumingly Creative Eewen Yap of The Soloist Hair Salon

The only female founder of The Soloist Hair Salon, our official hair partner, Eewen Yap injects that feminine aspect to the business of hair, bringing a breath of fresh air and unique perspective to how hair styling should be interpreted. Always eager and ready to try new things, she impresses her customers and is adored by media friends with her creative hair work for photo shoots. Eewen believes, "you are greater than you know yourself to be, so just be great!" that is her motto in life. 

We had a chance to speak to her recently and picked her brain on one thing which is close to her heart now, the matters of the hair.

[FACES] The Exquisite Sharing of Melvita's Nectar Suprême The Serum & Oil & All Things Organic With Didier Thevenin

We had the pleasure of attending one of our favourite French organic beauty brands, Melvita's new Nectar Suprême The Serum & Oil sharing session recently and got a chance to have a chat with the brand's Head of Global Training, Education & PR, Mr. Didier Thevenin. It was most definitely an eye-opener to be able to listen, first-hand from a trainer's perspective, in terms of how one should approach anti-ageing skincare while at the same time, embrace how we age, as naturally as possible, as women. So, here is our quick chat and our exquisite time with Melvita Malaysia that very beautiful afternoon, at Ciao Restorante. Thanks to our friends at Melvita Malaysia for the kind arrangement *_^

[FACES] The Charismatic & Talented Nicholas Chua of The Soloist Salon

A life filled with memories and stories like growing up struggling, financially, playing in a band, jamming with friends after school, drawing portraits and comics, behaving mischievously like skipping classes or getting into fights, then moving onto selling jeans, boots to earn a living, right down to taking up hair lessons and subsequently winning the coveted REDKEN IDOL competition in 2006 and now owning and running his own hair salon with another two founding partners, how would one categorise such a personality? 

An entrepreneur in the making? Or a man who has come full circle in life and is now learning to take his own stride, after much life experiences? Perhaps a bit of everything as the way we see it, it is such colours in his life that made him who he is today - a man who treasures the good times but will not forget the hard times from the past that made him stronger today. Yes, we are talking about our FACES personality, NICHOLAS CHUA, one of the founding partners and proud owner of The Soloist Salon, our official hair partner (in crime *_^), which we introduced previously here. Do read on as it is a roller coaster ride from here onwards. 

This is his story and this was our conversation that day.

[FACES] The Hidden Gem That Is Josh Kua | Embracing A New Chapter In Music

Visual above via Instagram @joshkua

Beneath that familiar face which graces magazines and commercials like Nivea, Coca-cola and Honda, just to name a few, with his good looks, lies a young guy who loves music and watches TV series to de-stress and is actually quite a private person who rather prefers to keep it simple whenever he is not on stage performing, with his trusted violin. This Malaysian-born talented musician who spends most of his time growing up in Melbourne, Australia is one whom we were about to meet, that afternoon, thanks to the kind arrangement of our friend at M.A.C Cosmetics Malaysia. 

Visual above via Pamper.my 

Holds a double Bachelor Degrees in Law and Commerce from Monash University, Josh Kua arrived looking sharp in a crisp white shirt and jeans. His quiet demeanour was one that stood out upon our initial encounter. Taking pictures of him was a breeze naturally, though we could sense that Josh was professional enough to make sure that we could capture the best shots of him. Seated after the quick photo session, we started our conversation over drinks at the Pastis with this international violinist who had just successfully completed his very first concert in Malaysia called Relentless, not too long ago, before the interview. Our FACES personality for the day - JOSH KUA.

[FACES] The Practical Designer Who Is Sonny San of ECLIPSE

First met the established and award-winning fashion designer back in 2007, when he was appointed the head judge to the TV program Mifa8 Fashion Forward competition for young Malaysian designers, Sonny San, the man behind ECLIPSE, this homegrown fashion brand since 1996, which has since reached the international shores and recognition worldwide today, we were immediately drawn to his unmistakable honesty and straightforwardness (almost like Simon Cowell, but a more polished one though) and have remained one of our good fashion designer friends. The moment we requested a face-to-face interview session with him, he happily said yes! Away from the limelight and glitz of fashion (and from camera), Sonny is a relatively private person, but whenever we meet, the eloquent-speaking and dashing side of him resurfaces for those moments, and talking to him made us feel like the best of friends, all over again, every time. This special chat, was no exception. 

[Faces] The Creative Mastermind Behind CLANHOUSE: Part 2

We had an interesting face to face conversation with Cheah Wei Chun, the Creative Director behind design house, CLANHOUSE not too long ago. He is also the person who has been responsible for creating some of the most fascinating covers and fashion editorials for GLAM Malaysia. Dramatic study journey abroad, first design work back in Singapore and much more here we chat about, our conversation continued on a somewhat more serious note from here onwards, nonetheless, poignant and necessary, we felt.

Why Asian themes and fashion stories through GLAM?
I have been consciously using either a Malaysian model or exploring the Asian theme because I felt it is something that we Asians can easily relate to. It's like I am using Chanel to make it look like Saloma (not the other way round). I feel there are so many things that are left unexplored within the Asian themes. The West has a rich visual library or imagery built up so many years back in fashion, but sadly, no visual library of Malaysian fashion here, which is problematic, I feel.

What makes a fashion editorial great?
First of all you need to have originality, without that, your inspiration suffers, and your work will be too. The very basic that one needs to achieve in making a great fashion editorial is that it has to look interesting and aspirational. It's like playing the scales. That is the very basic you need to master if you were to play the piano. Same goes to fashion editorial. It is that look that draws the readers in. Fashion editorial plays with your fantasies and imagination.

[Faces] The Creative Master Mind Behind CLANHOUSE: Part 1

To say we were thrilled was an understatement as scoring an interview date with one of our most beloved design idols was a long time wish of ours and to be able to catch this man (who is constantly on the go) was truly a surprise. But he quickly said yes to us, which really put us at ease. And boy, we were counting down to the day that we could finally meet him face to face and that day came much earlier than expected *_^

When we first stepped into the executive lounge of The Gardens Hotel at the 29th floor that evening,  not too long ago, there he was, seated at the table by the window, finishing up his dinner. With a grin on his face, Wei Chun greeted us warmly. Cheah Wei Chun, a name that is synonymous with creating those beautiful fashion editorials that we fell in love with way back, is the creative director behind those stunning local fashion magazine covers and fashion editorials for GLAM Malaysia all these years. Founder of CLANHOUSE, Wei Chun's love for design was cemented way back when he decided to make a move to New Zealand to further his tertiary education and honed his skills more in the university in the early 90s. Our friendship with him started when we were producing our very first fashion TV show called Mifa8 Fashion Forward back in 1997!  Seated across this Penang-ite, after all these years and really having an intimate conversation with our friend truly made us appreciate the art of design even more.

We started from quite the very beginning.

How did it all begin?
Gosh, my journey was one filled with doses of drama and surprises. Back then, like most conservative Chinese parents, studying arts was never an option, law looked more promising to them than anything else, but faith had it that by some twist of events (and a bit of luck here and there), I managed to change from studying English in University to doing Arts back then. After university, I  went to Singapore to further my career. That time in 1994, it was a good timing for corporate design work as that was the boom of annual reports for companies in Singapore. I was doing work at a design company for about four to five years.

Gong Xi Gong Xi From LUMINNEJ For The Year Of The Goat!

Hello from small town Sungai Petani, Kedah! Northern part of Peninsular Malaysia. We are back home (my in-laws' place) for this year's Chinese New Year. You know, home = awesome home cooked food! How to keep those waist line in checked *_^

Anyways, we hope that the year of the GOAT will usher in good luck, great fortune and most of all, excellent health for you and loved ones, who are celebrating this festive season. Oh, if you are into Chinese zodiacs and fortune or luck for the year of the goat, here for more. (It says don't work too hard this year, for us, hmmmm.... what do you think?) Just for fun anyway.

We take this opportunity to say a huge big thanks to all of you out there who have been supporting LUMINNEJ, be it brands and friends from near and far (and future potential ones *_^). We love you all to bits! 

Let's catch up when we come back, all right? Stay luminous and happy, always.

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[Faces] An Intimate Chat With The Charming Fashion Designer, Justin Yap

Our vivid memory of this KL-born fashion designer was when we first interviewed him for Mifa8 Fashion Forward 2007 TV show (which we were producing), having won the title of MIFA Best Evening Wear Designer Award 2005, speaking to us with a great sense of pride, but more importantly what stayed fresh in our mind till today, at Palate Palette, that day, was his self-assured way of delivering his vision towards fashion and his eloquent words about how style should be, yet, in an unassumingly down to earth manner, which we love most.

Today, seven years later, we finally sat down again, this time, at his atelier situated at the heart of KL (Lee Rubber Building, to be precise), a gush of nostalgic sort of feeling filled our heart, and it was a great feeling to be able to have a face-to-face chat with someone whom we admire, not only for his talent as a fashion designer, but his passion and vision in delivering the best, to make a woman feel beautiful, in his signature way. This fashion designer friend, is none other than our homegrown JUSTIN YAP.

His passion for fashion, did not change, in fact, seven years on after creating his own fashion label, under his own name, Justin is now more matured (and with age comes better wisdom too, we feel), be it designing a piece or creating a whole collection for the recent KL Fashion Week 2014 and a special showcase piece for MODA Fashion Show 2014 at Publika. In fact, when we visited Justin, he was busy sewing this beautiful piece above for the showcase! Here is what we spoke about on that beautiful afternoon.

[Faces] Quick Chat With The Fabulous M.A.C Senior Artist, Romero Jennings

As a Senior Artist for M.A.C Cosmetics, this fabulously talented Romero Jennings creates lavish, exotic and handsome looks for a lively list of celebrity clientele including Toni Colette, David Schwimmer, Naomi Campbell, Momoi Kaori (Memoirs of a Geisha), just to name a few. A true to M.A.C's credo, he worked with all ages and across different types of projects, from creating makeup for Broadway plays, music videos, fashion shows (from New York to Milan) to fashion magazines (from Vogue to Vibe). 

His fascination with vibrant colours perhaps stems from his Kingston, Jamaican background where he was exposed to in his very early years. According to Romero, "Colours in Jamaica are more saturated than anywhere else I've travelled, it's like if you look at a hibiscus flower in Jamaica, it's the most vivid red that you will ever see! Therefore, I see inspirations, in colours, everywhere".

We were really lucky to be able to attend the recent M.A.C Cosmetics Autumn/Winter 2014 Makeup Trends Presentation (previous blog post here) where Romero was presenting, personally, to show us what are the up-and-coming makeup trends, as well as recreating some of the looks on the models. We even had a quick chat with Romero himself. Here is a glimpse of what we talked about, that very late morning.