This blog is dead.

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1-2-21.blogspot.com

On Short Notice

This is short notice but this blog will soon be no more!

There is several reasons to closing down Picked Pics. First of all, I have grown out of this format. It doesn't suit my interests and life any longer. I like clear cuts so I want to start something new that gets all aspects of me under one address, and leave everything else behind.

So yes, that means I'll stick around, just under a new address, with a new blog, with a new format. Whoever wants to stick around also, do it on my new blog from now on, or keep an eye on my twitter.

Picked Pics has been my special baby, but now is the time for me to move on.

Thanks again for an amazing time!

1-2-21.blogspot.com

Jung Ryeo-won

Jung Ryeo-won is a Korean drama actress and singer who is currently starring in the recently airing K-drama Salaryman Chohanji. She's also known as the wife of Uhm Tae Woong, but it doesn't matter really. What matters is that Jung Ryeo-won is been making headlines lately for her impeccable style she is showing off in the new drama, and you can also get a taste of it in the new issue of High Cut. Here's a few pictures of the shoot both from the official High Cut homepage (also see here) as well as a few scans I did myself. You should check out the drama if only for a glimpse of her style. The Korean fashion blog scene obviously likes her, too (like for example here)!

2012 01 22 Skater Skirt

And more bad quality mirror pictures! The skirt is by American Apparel. It's girly, and not the typical thing I'd wear. But I am looking forward to spicing it up. Also, I've been practicing doing french braids. Still got a long way to go, but I'll get there eventually!

2012 01 16 Outside

In the winter, I oftentimes think it doesn't matter much what I wear underneath my coats. My outfit thus covered is a well kept hidden secret for the greater part of the day anyway. That's why I already preached about the importance of good outerwear in times like these years ago. And this is what I look like for the greater part of the day, then. Count of layers in this outfit: five. Plus new Converse shoes, my Sunday's impulse buy of the week. How could I resist? My way to casual wear one pair of sneakers at a time.

An Approach to Personal Style

I received a request for advice on finding one's own personal style. It's possible that the way to one's own personal style differs from person to person. But I guess, most of the time it works like this:

Rice Porridge

Rice porridge is what any Asian mom will cook you when you're sick! But it's not only the perfect food for when you're sick, it's also a convenient way to use up your cold left over rice. Anyway, I've been sick lately, so this is the rice porridge concoction I came up with for the occasion. Recipe is for one person. For more, adjust accordingly.

Set up 1 cup of soup stock of your choice. Boil. 

Add one bowl of cooked white rice. 

Turn the heat down to medium. 

Boil and stir often until the liquid turns into -- excuse the expression, haha -- slime, and the rice has mainly dissolved into pap.  

Add an egg. Stir. Let it sit for a few seconds. 

Add a topping of your choice. I used doljaban muchim, seasoned seaweed.

Serve hot and enjoy! 

Another version I often cook and which is even more suitable for sick people is by using water and white rice only. Usually I top off that version with pork floss.

A Year In Style

I might be a little late with this, but I, too, felt inclined to assemble a little 2011-personal-style-retrospective, and well, that's it. All in all, I felt like 2011 was much about comfort and casual. I can see the red thread running through my outfits and feel absolutely good with it. 2011 also marks the year in which I took the plunge and settled in Korea. I am happy to say that despite of this I was still able to hang onto my own sense of style and not have myself drift away in other fashion abysses. Again, to an even better 2012!

Still available

Click to shop

Nail Talk

There is three things I am decidedly obsessed about: clothes, Korean boybands and nail polish. I can spend hour after hour on all of them. But anyway, let's talk about how to prolong the wear of your nail polish!

Of course, the right top coat is a must.  

A good base coat is very helpful, too. And yes, top and base coat do differ in important aspects! 

essie top coats don't work all that well on most OPI polishes is what I experienced 

Remember to go to the toilet before painting your nails. 

Also, paint your nails after washing your hair! Hot water and the head massage that, fyi, you perform with your fingertips after all won't be nice to your fresh manicure. 

Your manicure will hold up better on healthy nails. If they're not, change your nail polish remover. Fast! 

Don't shake your nail polish bottle, your manicure might get bubbles! 

Paint your nails with sufficiently lighting provided. 

lacquerized has some tremendously good guides on how to paint your nails (my technique is pretty similar) and easily clean up after painting.

Wardrobe Building: Out with the Old

Having long bid 2011 a celebratory good-bye, the new year is for fresh starts, and that for me comprised a new run at de-cluttering my wardrobe. However, as the contents of my wardrobe are boiling down to only so many items it is getting increasingly more difficult to decide which need to go and which can stay on. Here are a few rules of thumb that work for me.

Toss it, if

You have started feeling uncomfortable in it, no matter if it's the size or the style you are growing out of. For me, for example, that's anything that's sleeveless. No more bearing arms! 

You cannot remember one occasion on which you have worn it in 2011. It might come back in style, alright, but by then, you will probably also want to buy it new. 

Mix and matching it with the rest of your clothes and bringing it into accordance with your own style is giving you a headache. Such items get in the way too much, especially in the mornings when dressing is also about efficiency. 

It's not ideal, maybe because the fit is a little off or because of some detail you don't like. Of course, that's not yet reason enough to toss it, but if it's something you can easily replace by something better out there, go ahead and do it. 

For make up, please be aware that cosmetic articles have only limited shelf-life. That is especially important for mascara and lipstick/lipgloss, but also foundations, etc. General rule is, if color, smell or texture have changed, it's time to get rid of it. Also, if you can't remember any more when you bought it, it's probably old enough to be tossed, too.

OK. You don't wear it often, and it doesn't go with most of what's in your wardrobe. But if you really, really love it, why not hold onto it for special occasions. Be perfectly realistic and honest about it, tho, and remember that you are trying to de-clutter your closet here, don't leave the job half undone! Set your mind to "de-clutter mode" with the help of this post.

Korean Make Up Favorites

If you have taken a look into my Korean fashion shop you will have also noticed that I offer Korean make up there, too. However, I find it important to state that one of my main objectives isn't to simply just sell any make up, but only the make up and cosmetics I personally prefer, like, and can give good reviews of. Thus, here a short introduction to the make up products on offer right now. I will make sure to add more of my favorites by the by.

The Jelly Pop Nail Top Coat by Etude House
It's pure luck I picked exactly the one top coat at random that I would be the most satisfied with ever. This top coat leaves an incredibly glossy finish and extends the wear of my nail polishes by at least one or two days, if not more in some cases. It's a splendid inexpensive top coat I know I will buy again and again.

Lime Secret Shine Base by Skin Food
This comes in three color nuances, #65 Lime Pearl Green, #75 Lime Pearl Gold and #85 Lime Pearl Peach. They can be used as spot highlighter or applied all over the face or anywhere else for that matter giving your complexion a healthy shine and wonderful dew. I love using this all over the face as a make up base under my powder or by mixing it with my sun screen or BB Cream. For me, it really makes a difference and I love the dewy look it creates leaving my complexion looking fresh and healthy. Insider claim that the Skin Food Lime Secret Shine Base in #85 Lime Pearl Peach is an affordable dupe of the famous Benefit High Beam liquid highlighter.

M Perfect Cover BB Cream SPF 42 PA+++ by Missha
This BB Cream by Missha is one of the classics of Korean make up and has been extremely popular all around the globe for a while now. BB Cream is short for Blemish Balm Cream and is, to cut it short, a type of liquid foundation with plenty of nourishing and skin improving properties, as well as often UV protection and moisturizing features. The fascinating thing about BB Creams is their ability to blend perfectly with the color of your teint even though they usually come in very limited shades. This BB Cream by Missha really is no fuss, it blends right in and makes my skin look flawless. It has UV protection of SPF 42 +++, anti-wrinkle, whitening, soothing and moisturizing properties in one. If you are worrying about the whitening feature, please be at rest. What it actually does is lighten up your complexion evening out your skin tone by reducing redness or dark spots, so it's a good feature to everyone. Many blog readers I have recommended this to have been extremely satisfied, too!

Milk Shake Point Make-up Remover by Skin Food
This is hands down one of my most favorite beauty products in the world! It's a great and thorough make up remover that gets rid of the even most stubborn waterproof mascara there is for you all while being nice to the sensitive skin area around the eyes. Nourishing and efficient, I use this on heavy eye make up and lipstick. It's never let me down! Shake well before use.

Pretty People in Hotels

Something about the seemingly endless number of rooms in hotels obviously inspires video makers tremendously. The following three videos feature pretty people in hotels, starting off with the famous H&M x Lanvin collaboration promotion video, and the other videos being poppy K-pop.

"Never Mind" in Vogue Girl Korea, 2012/1, photographed by Mario Sorrenti

"Never Mind" in the Vogue Girl Korea issue from January 2012 plays with the lightness of casual wear and heavy jackets and knits. A mix I find very attractive and well-suited for everyday wear.

20xx xx xx The 2-in-1 Sweater

The thing about my shop is that I only stock things I would, without fail, all wear my very self.

Take this sweater for example.

Shortly before I left for Germany, I decided I need a warm, cosy sweater to keep me warm during the colder days, so off I ran coming home with this one. It's become one of my favorite items to wear!

Not only is it incredibly soft inside making it delightfully comfortable, it also ticks all the right boxes. Its oversized cut with the wide batwing sleeves gives it just the right quirk to an otherwise staple jersey sweater, and the zipper in the back only adds to this. What's even better, that zipper allows for double wearability since turned front to back the sweater can also be worn as a loose jersey jacket (see here).

Running back to the store where I got it, I purchased two more of it and they are now, of course brand new and unworn, available in the shop. Check it out!

Shop!

May I present to you my little brand new online shop,

ONE SIZE TO FIT ALL


selling new and unworn clothing as well as make up and cosmetics from South-Korea, carefully selected and hand-picked by yours truly

***

The offerings aren't much yet, but I will add more and more the next few days, and even more depending on the demand I'm experiencing, so please keep an eye on it and spread the love!

K-Brands: Young Korean Designers in Nylon Japan

While the world has not yet fully cooled down over quirky Japanese fashion, Japan itself has already moved on to the next thing: Korean fashion! Nylon Japan is keeping up with the times and, besides K-pop and Korean cosmetics, is offering an introduction to so-called K-brands, young Korean designer brands. Brands which you must not fail to miss, either, so here they are, with a few informational bits and bobs that Nylon Japan has to say about them.

Paul & Alice, I introduced to you earlier in 2011 already. To follow up the link to my post on Paul & Alice, click! Described as grown up romantic-casual, Paul & Alice is taking cues from a Jean-Luc Godard movie, called "À bout de souffle" from 1960, and its main character Patricia, played by Jean Seberg, this season. Inspired by Charlotte Gainsbourg, Joo Hyo Soon, designer behind Paul & Alice, knows how to translate French chic into casual Korean cool.

Happy New Year!

Happy new year everyone!

All hopes and expectations for something new, for something better seem to be within reach as soon as the new year rings in. Of course, everything is just the same way it has been before including ourselves, nothing really has changed. But this shouldn't stop us from drawing up well-intent resolutions nonetheless. Because with the new year, we have a great starting point from which at least to try our best and hope for better outcomes!

So for 2012, I'm hoping and wishing for good ideas, initiative, perseverance, and confidence.

My new years resolutions for 2012 are 1.) to be neater and not so lazy with the cleaning any more, 2.) to believe in the splendid future I am going to have but also to work for it, 3.) to do as I know is right.

Kiko Mizuhara in Nylon Japan, 2012/1, shot by Hiroki Wada

I doubt that print will be dead any time soon considering the amount of material blogs draw from magazines. Where else would we be getting our glossy fashion editorials to re-blog on our 'inspiration tumblrs' I wonder. Like these three 90ies-inspired shots from the current Nylon Japan issue from January 2012 starring Kiko Mizuhara.

'Genderless' in So-en [荘園], 2012/1 shot by Masahiro Sanbe

Japanese magazines currently are full of gender ambiguous style editorials as I think are actually many other fashion magazines all over the globe. Most of the time that means masculine fashion on girls. The capture of this spread called "Genderless" thus simply runs "A girl wears men's clothes". Among all editorials of the kind I've seen so far I choose these pictures as I think they capture the gender-ambiguity best while touching upon some markedly 90ies style elements that are so en vogue at the moment.

As the watermarks suggest, these scans aren't mine.

Ideas

Only a few days left until the new year. My, time really flies! Did you already draw up your new years resolutions? No? I've got some ideas for you.

Use up your tubes, pots and bottles in your beauty and make up stack, or at least try to use up five of your products in 2012.

Compile a list of five books you've always wanted to read and read them over the course of 2012.

Make a list for your next shopping spree and stick to it.

Find the part of your body you especially like and find ways to dress it to its best advantage! Flaunt it!

Think about and prepare birthday presents for your most loved ones way in advance and make it something special by complementing it with things you made yourself.

Sitting Pretty

Drapes, and layers, and sequins.

via Style Bubble // Vogue UK // S Moda

End of the Year Soonish

Wow.

Can you believe it? 2011 is coming to an end supersoon already. The older I get the faster time seems to fly by. I can still clearly remember drawing up my New Year Resolutions for this year, and now it's already about time to think about new ones!

As inspiration, let's see what my resolutions for 2011 were and how, by measure of that list, did I fare.

Lee Hana in Nylon Korea Dec 2011

Lee Hana is a Korean actress and singer, and the star of this short spread in this December's Nylon Korea.

On another note, I'm taking a flight back to Germany today for the winter holidays coming back to Seoul just shortly before Christmas. The posting won't be affected too much I believe. Besides, I still have a few scans left.

But feel free to tell me if you've got enough of them yet.

Nylon Korea Dec 2011, "It's very Hyoni"

Got enough of Korean magazine scans yet or craving for more?

Anyway, I still have a few good ones left. These few starring Hyoni Kang for example from the "It's very Hyoni" spread in this December's issue of Nylon Korea.

Elle Girl Korea Dec 2011, "Fur gets paddings", shot by Hong Jang Hyun

Another editorial that I thought I'd share. I mean, one can never have enough winter inspiration. Especially when it's as playful and fun as this.

To see the rest of the pictures, just jump!

Nylon Korea, December 2011, "Jump Up", Jin Jung Sun shot by Moke Na Jung

I have a scanner now :D

Which is great to scan things. And to scan I will!

My first scans are from a little booklet that was inserted in the most recent issue of Nylon Korea, Dec 2011. Shot by Moke Na Jung, Jin Jung Sun is, as I remember one of the contestants of Korea's Next Supermodel. I don't think she won, tho. Anyway, styling by Kang Hyo Gene.

Good job Kang Hyo Gene!

I like this because it embodies all the things I love about dressing up in winter: layers, coats, and knits!

2011 11 29 The Feminine Dress

I don't own many dresses anymore and I barely even ever look at dresses when I shop!

Which is why I welcomed this new addition to my humble collection all the more. And look! It's feminine!!

I love to contrast my tomboy-ish style with a little femininity sometimes. Doesn't quite work so well when all you own is tomboy-ish only, though. Most of the time long hair actually does the trick. But I felt quite nice wearing something more feminine today. Of course, it's never 100% me without some contrasts in the mix so there go a pair of boots and my biker inspired jacket.

Sundubu Jjigae

I just cooked my most delicious sundubu jjigae, spicy stew with tofu, ever!

In fact, it's so tasty I have to share!

Put 1 cup of water, and a small can of canned tuna in a pot and cook on medium heat. 

Add 1/4 ts gochujang (Korean red pepper paste), 2 ts gochugaru (Korean red pepper pouder), and 2 ts soy sauce. Stir.  

Add half an onion, sliced, and one 200gr pack of soft (!) tofu.  

(This is optional, but you can beat an egg into the broth, but don't stir it, just let it boil a little as if you poached it.) 

Top it off with some cut Korean leeks, or chopped spring onions, and sliced green pepper.

You can see that the basic ingredients that make for the characteristics of the dish don't really differ much from my last recipe for superduper easy savory Korean mini pancakes, so if you buy them once you can re-use them over and over again and create tons of different meals.

Enjoy with white rice!

2011 11 27 Same Same But Different

Just the same fluffy jacket (like in the last post) turned inside out.

2011 11 26 Fluffy Jacket

Heavens, my love for fluffy jackets knows no end!

I don't think my boyfriend is a fan, but I absolutely enjoy wrapping myself into soft fluffy somethings with sleeves.

I remember a sad time when looking for a fake fur jacket proved to be no easy feat (last year in Germany). Fortunately, Korea obviously loves fake fur jackets just as much as I do and doesn't hold back from providing its population plentifully with exactly that.

I happened to stumble across this black and white number and while bf says it looks like smth a hooker would wear (he then withdrew his statement softening his tone by likening it to smth Peggy Bundy from Married with children would wear instead), I was most delighted when I found out it's wearable inside and out doubling the ways to wear it to countless possibilities!!! The other side of the jacket is simple black, so it's versatile indeed!

superduper easy savory Korean mini pancakes

Life's gotten so much cheaper ever since I know how to cook Korean. It's, without exaggeration, the same ingredients over and over again each and every single dish. You can probably cook a hundred dishes with only soy sauce, gochujang (red pepper paste) and gochugaru (red pepper powder) alone! One of my favorite recipes for example is for


superduper easy savory Korean mini pancakes:

Put together 

• 1 cup of water
• 1 cup of wheat flour
• half a tablespoon gochujang
• and an assortment of your choice of any of the following: kimchi, spring onions, Korean leeks, seafood, chopped up oysters, cheese, shredded carrots or zucchini, etc. etc., and
• one tablespoon soy sauce.

Stir well. 

Bake out spoonfuls of the mix in hot oil in a pan. 

Eat with a dip made of 2 ts soy sauce, half a ts vinegar, half a ts of gochugaru, one ts sesame oil, and chopped spring onions. 

Or just dip in ketchup. Haha, jk. But it might be not bad.



P.S.:
You won't be happy to know that the more oil you fry them in the more crispy they get (like actually most of the stuff you fry). They'll taste fantastic.

2011 11 23 Gray Day

It's cold, it's windy, it's winter soon!

Jeans and shirt from Korea, sweater jacket from ASOS.com.

First of all thank you a lot for the feedback to the last post! It's not been much yet, but I appreciate any comment, and I hope you'll write me more!

Please stay tuned for an upcoming post, I will semi-test drive the idea and show some more pictures of the items I purchased lately and you will possibly be able to purchase two or three of them! I will also talk some more details so we'll all know what we'll be dealing with here.

Please continue to share your thoughts on my possible online shop with me! Any questions and/or suggestions are welcome! 

Would You Buy It?

I have been acting as a buyer for the online shop of my dear friend in China lately, and kept coming back with some amazing stuff I am highly tempted to keep for myself. Now I suspect that you, the dear readers of my blog most likely share a similar taste in clothing and fashion as me, so I was wondering if there is any demand among you if I was to open a small snug online shop myself selling unworn clothing and accessories from Seoul?

Above is only a small selection of the things that could be available through my own shop, though most likely not the exact same stuff unless you wanted it in which case I could try and purchase again.

I'd highly, highly appreciate feedback on this issue so do let me hear back from you!

Thank you :)

Winter Clothing

It's gotten quite cold in Seoul lately. Since we're talking 〜7°C that wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the sharp, piercing wind literally called "knife wind" in Korean cutting right through your clothing!

I'm a winter child at heart so I don't even mind that much. On the contrary, I am actually really looking forward to preparing for the winter!

Of course, I've alrdy been stocking up more and more autumn/winter appropriate clothing, mainly sweaters and knits! Sweaters are seriously all I need this winter. Even knit cardigans are too fussy for me lately, but I got some anyway.

Here's a few of my newer purchases, but I'm thinking of selling the last two items. I like them but then I don't know if I like them enough whereas I am downright in love with the other two sweaters if only for how comfortable and versatile they are.

2011 11 17 Outfit Post on the Go

Ever since I know this app works it's a nice option I can post some quick outfit posts on the go. But does anyone know a good iphone-app to make collages?

Random Mobile Post

Testing out this Blogger app for iphone posting a few random shots from my device.

Beautiful

Glitter and hardware. Perfect.

Blogger Tricks

When we wear flats we stand on our toes to make our legs appear longer than they actually are in the pictures! Mirror pictures give you the advantage of being able to calculate which angle is best, and also of being able to adjust said angle. Detail shots are always fun, keep the observer interested, and moreover are easy as 1, 2, 3. Photobooth-picture fall under the category of selca, and like mirror pictures are a breeze to take while giving you the possibility to control what your face looks like since what you see is what you get. Photoshop is a godsend not only to magazines.

I personally know embarrassingly little about photoshopping so I don't use it at all if you were wondering but I do use the few photo processing tools in Picasa. Everything else is old blogger tricks, if you are planning on writing a style blog someday take notes.

2011 11 11 Morning Cereals

Not that it's any relevant to the rest of the world outside of South-Korea, but today marks the 11.11., Pepero Day in Korea.

Pepero are popular sweet snacks in South-Korea, in Germany we call them Mikado-sticks. In Japan they are named Pocky.

Moreover, it's the 11.11.11!

I'm starting this 'special' day like any other day with a small bowl of my daily luxurious treat, my 7900 W (about 7 US$) the box morning cereals. It's normal morning cereals. Only they're pretty expensive in Korea.

Watches

How many watches do you own?

L'Occitane One Minute Hand Scrub

Having some free time to spare on the airport from Ho Chi Minh City back to Seoul some time ago, I chanced upon this L'Occitane One Minute Hand Scrub.

I was very pleased to find it as the concept of it looked much like my beloved Yes to Carrots Feel the C Pampering Hand & Nail Spa, which is rough natural exfoliating particles in an oily and rich solution full of skin nourishing goodness. In the case of the Yes to Carrots exfoliating scrub sea salt particles in a mix of Sea Water, fruit and vegetable extracts, oils and juices do the job. The L'Occitane One Minute Hand Scrub on the other hand does pretty much the same with organic brown sugar crystals and a oil-mix made up of shea, sweet almond and grapeseed oils.

Here is the thing, however: I don't really use either the Yes to Carrots nor the L'Occitane scrubs for my hands only. The peeling particles are too rough for my dry hands. Instead, I mostly use them for my extremely dry feet.

Some weeks ago, I used a peeling on my feet that made them peel off the dead and hard skin over a course of several days. If you are interested in that particular peeling, it was The Face Shop Smile Foot Peeling. It was after the treatment was over that I found the One Minute Hand Scrub by L'Occitane. So it might not be L'Occitane only I can give credit to for my now soft and pretty feet.

Only one thing I know for sure!

Do you know that feeling when you put on nylon tights and the material gets stuck on the little cracked parts of your fingers and feet? I hate that feeling.

Ever since using the One Minute Hand Scrub by L'Occitane, however, exactly that doesn't happen any longer. My hands and feet are well nourished and the dead skin on both are gone leaving them soft and fine. I am so happy about that because it feels so good. I love using the hand scrub, the smell of it, and above all the results.

I wouldn't say that the scrub is enough to get rid of stubborn hard skin on your feet for you. But it's the perfect product to maintain soft and clean feet and keep the stupid horny skin from coming back.