#michelle lau

[hufmagazine]

Sergii, photography by Ryan Chiu for HUF Magazine Issue 44_http://hufmagazine.com/sergii-photography-by-ryan-chiu-for-huf-magazine-issue-44_/

[beauticate]

Michelle Lau, Style Blogger, A Minute Away From Snowing

Having created a blog that caught the eye of no less than the Vogue Australia team, Michelle Lau hasn’t looked back. Instead, she’s parlayed her vision into Instagram account @aminuteawayfromsnowing with over 50,000 followers, who can’t get enough of her chic personal style combined with beautifully shot scenes of her family and their travels. Her WA home is just as stylish as you’d expect – think lots of white, lots of light, and perfectly chosen statement pieces – and she invited us in to discuss the creative fulfilment her work brings her, the importance of a good gin and tonic and her ultimate red lipstick.

“I moonlight as a content creator on my Instagram account @aminuteawayfromsnowing, and I’m a Spy Style blogger for vogue.com.au.

By day, I’m in PR/Marketing/Comms (which I’m currently on maternity leave from). I’ve been in the marketing profession for over a decade now and it’s my number one passion. 

I so appreciate that my work interests me enough to want to keep doing it forever, and also allows me to be a mum first and foremost as soon as I walk through the door at 5pm. My work is a very grounding aspect of my life and one that I value just as much as being a mother.

My style is classic, easy, a little minimalist and undone, then depending on my mood I throw in some colour and print.

I look to Totême and Bassike for day to day (both absolute godsends during pregnancy and postpartum too), and Scanlan Theodore and Pleats Please Issey Miyake for the office, as well as quirky printed pieces by Ganni. I also swear by Topshop denim.

Some favourite recent wardrobe additions include a Haider Ackermann black kimono wrap shirt  I recently stumbled across in a vintage store, as well as a pair of early ‘90s Levis 501s, which I’ve been wearing when the weather’s cool enough. A beautiful crystal Chanel brooch my husband bought me during our recent family trip to Tokyo is very much a prized possession.

I adopt a ‘less is more’ approach to beauty - mostly out of necessity! Someone is always either hungry or bored in my house, so I’ve got my routine down to five minutes flat. 

I’m all about luminous skin, defined but natural-looking brows and a wash of colour on my cheeks and lips. I have also been embracing a makeup-free face quite often these days when it’s just me and the kids and we haven’t got much on.

I tend to experiment more with cosmetics than skincare. It’s amazing what a difference to an outfit - or a day - a bold lip or a cat eye can do.

I’m also unapologetically a creature of comfort. I’m quite choosy with what I use as I have hypersensitive skin, but I like to think that I am also a minimalist - all I need is concealer, a brow product, blush and a bit of powder, and I’m out the door.

Old faithfuls I’ve been using for years – some for decades! – include RMS Un-Cover Up concealer in 22, Armani Luminous Silk Foundation in 5.5, NARS Eyebrow Pencil in Ipanema, and Make Up For Ever HD Powder. (Oh, and I’m looking to try Skin Veil by Ellis Faas as I’ve heard so many good things about it). I really love a multitasking cream blush. It saves room in my makeup bag by applying it to both my lips and cheeks. My all-time fave is Cactus Flower by NARS [Ed. note: not available in Australia].

When I want to feel dressed up, I rely on a good red lip and mascara.

Tom Ford lippy, straight from the bullet, in Wild Ginger is my go-to for a bold red lip. For mascara, I find Japanese drugstore brands work really well for me. After years of using Chanel Inimitable, I now repeat purchase Kiss Me Heroine mascaras. Unfortunately I can only buy them whenever I (or my sister) travel to Tokyo, so I tend to stock up.

I’m really lazy with mascara – both with the process of applying it and when it comes to taking it off at the end of the day. So instead, sometimes I’ll apply dark brown eyeliner really close to my lash line when I don’t want to wear mascara that day. I find this still opens up the eye area and makes me look ‘done’.

I only wash my hair twice a week and let it air dry 99% of the time. 

When I do blow dry it, usually if there’s an event the next day, I’ll spritz EVO Salty Dog on my damp hair (mostly at the roots), then blast it with my Dyson Supersonic as it’s powerful but gentle and doesn’t fry my hair. It also dries my hair so bloody quickly, which is great, because kids wait for no one. Dry shampoo is an essential, not only to extend days between washes, but also as a styling product, in place of hairspray. Toni & Guy always makes good ones for styling.

For special occasions or right before the weekend, I swear by Bumble and Bumble Brilliantine and Schwarzkopf Osis+ Dust It powder. After I’ve put some S-shaped waves in my hair with my GHD straightener, I’ll texturise the roots with the powder, then run a small amount of Brilliantine through the mid-lengths and ends. That kind of sets the waves in a natural, undone way. 

I’ve been seeing Marie Cain at Head Studio for almost 12 years now. She does such a good, choppy lob, which is my go-to style after having longish hair for years. 

Postpartum hair has been tricky to navigate, and after treading these waters twice now, I’m amazed at how different my two experiences have been on my hair. After my first baby, my hair didn’t start falling out until around the four to five month mark, and it took ages to grow back. Second time around, the hair loss began at the three month mark, but it only took a month or so for it to all start growing back. I have a little trick to hide the postpartum receding hairlines: I have curtain bangs cut (making sure the fringe starts from the top of the crown) and it immediately adds thickness to the front of the head. Then, as the new hair comes through, it blends into the existing fringe. 

I haven’t told anyone this but my pharmacist-turned-personal-hairdresser husband actually cut my recent fringe, because I needed it done so badly and couldn’t get a hair appointment! 

Look, it sounds pretty rogue and like a true recipe for disaster, but after a couple of YouTube videos… I’m still shocked to this day that he did a decent job of it, even though he cuts his own and the kids’ hair all the time. I think I was happier to take the risk because, having gone through two postpartum hair losses, I’ve realised hair is just hair and it grows back (thankfully).

My mum has always been pretty fuss-free when it comes to beauty and grooming.

She drilled into me the importance of taking care of my skin by being sun smart, and my favourite facial sunscreens include Mecca’s To Save Face and Biore UV Aqua Rich SPF 50+ [Ed. note: not available in Australia]. 

While she has a laidback approach to beauty, to this day she is fastidious about her eyebrows. Sometimes she would only do her brows and leave the rest of her face, and she would be out the door still looking ‘made up’. That kind of thinking has really left a lasting impression on me, and just getting out the door having done whatever your own essentials are is something I now live by.

Speaking of eyebrows… her brow pencil was such a part of her routine that I just had to use it myself, at at the ripe old age of 12. 

I remember proudly walking into the kitchen with my new eyebrows all ready for school and my mum couldn’t help but be equal parts amused and mortified. 

These days, I steer away from anything resembling black on my eyebrows, despite having really dark hair. A mousey grey/brown creates so much more of a natural look for me.

To recharge, I rely on music, YouTube and replenishing my sleep bank when I need to. It’s as simple and as difficult as that! 

Ever since I’ve had kids, just an uninterrupted two hour nap can offset a whole week of sleep deprivation and make me feel human again.

I like discovering a lot of new music on Spotify and have recently gotten into podcasts (Offline, The Podcast by Alison Rice is a current fave). I’m also addicted to ASMR (autonomous sensory meridien response) videos on YouTube. Failing that, a gin and tonic once the kids are in bed does wonders, as does a cup of tea before I turn in for the night.”

Story by Zoe Briggs. Photography by Michelle Lau and select images from her Instagram account @aminuteawayfromsnowing

[flipermag]

FLiPER 潮流藝文誌 上的新文章

Fliper Mag 的新文章 http://flipermag.com/2014/06/11/portrait/

每月最佳照片比賽，5月人像情感得獎作品

五月的最佳照片比賽已經完滿結束，感謝各讀者踴躍參加。我們與專業攝影器材及電子數碼產品零售專門店 Image Digital 舉辦 每月攝影比賽，五月的主題是「人像情感」。這個月的評審是攝影師Michelle Lau，以下為判評選出最優秀的10張作品，各得獎者將獲賞SLIK SLIM POD II 單腳架一支。

  以下是有關作品及評判感想（排名不分先後。）︰

NUNO《思去》 一把吉他、一個空間，劃分出黑與白兩個世界。 歌曲唱完，思緒未完…. （Michelle ：光線和陰影剛好勾劃出人物，而黑白分明的構圖令畫面更有層次。）

鄭凱豪《Untitled》 https://www.flickr.com/photos/66754892@N04/ 妳擁有獨特 的氣質。 （Michelle ：光線和陰影處理得宜，能特顯人物的情感。採用的冷色更把情感發揮得更好，整個構圖很幽美。）

yfjames《Les Misérables》 http://www.flickr.com/photos/yfjames/ 一支最基本的中華牌鉛筆，竟帶來了旅途上最真摯的微笑。有時快樂，真的是如此簡單。

攝於西藏 （Michelle ：簡單的構圖，但有真摯的情感。人物的衣著顏色剛好與環境一致，成了一幅很好的寫實作品。）

Nina Pang《Blossom Fairy》 http://ninapang.co.uk Pastel perfection （Michelle ：頭髮顏色和衣著與環境很配合，令整個構圖很和諧，唯一美中不足是人物動作欠缺自然，可考慮叫模特兒做自己，例如深呼吸、欣賞大自然等動作。）

Long Hio Lam《下課後的女孩》 https://www.flickr.com/photos/longhiolam/ 照片攝於波蘭克拉科夫，當時正在往機場途中。 下課後的女孩們在公車上快樂地交談着然後離別，只剩下要繼續等待的其中一人。 拿起耳筒，女孩似乎瞬間就跟這個世界分開了。 世界上最美好的事就是在一起啊。 （Michelle ：人物情感與主題很配合，反射的窗令視覺畫面更豐富，唯一美中不足是可嘗試多一些角度，令反射中的人物面孔更清晰。）

Wallace Chan《沉重》 https://www.facebook.com/wallacechan01 生活的沉重、 工作的沉重、感情的沉重、學習的沉重 種種沉重背附在身上, 選擇活着便要背附沉重永遠走下去。 （Michelle ：人物情感與主題很配合，光線與陰影剛好拼砌出幾可構圖，令畫面豐富。唯人美中不足是人物附近的光線不足以勾劃出人物。）

JShine《報喜》 https://www.facebook.com/pages/JShine-Photography/185458948277938?ref=hl 因為高齡102歲的曾祖母重聽 所以長輩在耳邊不斷的重複訴說是哪位曾孫娶媳婦 熱鬧的週邊氛圍 當下這畫面顯得格外寧靜 （Michelle ：人物情感真摯，背後的故事更動人。是一幅很好的寫實作品。）

Jchan《一刻》 https://www.facebook.com/yourstoryteller 在生活中 那一刻的無奈

路 始終要走 只要走得得過 相信前路總會光明 （Michelle ：捕捉到人物的情感，配合有香港特色的茶餐廳，平凡中別有一番特色。）

Chan Hok Kwan《窄巷的伯伯》 路過地灘看見一個滿面風霜的伯伯,他把收集得來而要出售珍貴的飾物, 全部都掛在身上來, 不經意地配搭營做出一個獨特性格和形像, 深深吸引了我的眼球. （Michelle ：構圖簡單，顏色卻很豐富，人物的情感真摯，人物的紅色帽和綠色的紗布配合得宜，令整個視覺效果很好。）

長國《外太祖母與曾外孫》 https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=751188072 一年只見面幾次的外婆，年近九十，記憶力已大不如前，兒女，孫子，外孫，幾乎大部分都不認得，當然，記憶力時好時壞的外婆，卻認得我這位小外孫。。。 一直處於呆滯狀態的外婆，抱著我的外甥，臉上立即露出對曾外孫的疼愛笑容。 或許若干年後，我會這樣虧我的外甥–“你真的很幸運啊，可以有機會跟你的外太婆合照咯。。。大舅都沒有跟外太婆合影的照片咯…嗚。。。。 （Michelle ：人物的情感真摯，兩代人的故事令平凡的構圖卻增添不少生氣。）

註︰得獎者將獲專人以電郵通知有關領獎事宜，香港得獎者可憑信到指定香港Image Digital 分店領取獎品；海外得獎者請與Image Digital市場部聯絡安排速運到付服務，所有運送費用將由收件人承擔及直接以當地貨幣付款予速運公司。如於2014年7月10日或以前無法透過所提供之電郵與得獎者取得聯絡，則作放棄獎品論。

  六月的主題是「體育動感」，歡迎大家參賽，感謝支持！