A fuchsia-coloured crocodile-skin Hermes bag has broken the record for the most expensive handbag sold at auction, selling for US$222,912 at a Christie's auction in Hong Kong. The shiny pink bag was sold to an Asian phone bidder in an auction that saw "fast-paced bidding from start to finish", Christie's said in a statement late Monday. The final price realised at the Monday auction was around 15 percent more than the auction house's estimate. "With its 18k white gold and diamond hardware, Hermes Shiny Fuchsia Porosus Crocodile Diamond Birkin 35 dazzled the crowds, achieving a HK$1.72 million record," Christie's said in the statement. The bag, part of the "Birkin" series named after British-born French actress and singer Jane Birkin, features a gold and diamond-encrusted clasp and padlock and is 35 centimetres in width and 25 centimetres in height. At the same auction that saw some 300 designer handbags going under the hammer, a shiny black crocodile "Kelly" bag was sold for US$145,000, breaking the record for the most expensive "Kelly" bag sold at auction. The "Kelly" product line is named after the late Princess Grace of Monaco. The auction house's Handbags and Accessories sale achieved $5.99 million in sales. Designer handbags are the latest craze for collectors, taking global auction houses by storm and fetching record prices. The previous record was set at the sale of another Hermes Birkin by an American auction house valued at around $203,000 in 2011.
There are plenty of makeup tutorials on the Internet that can teach you just how to get flawless skin and almond eyes with the stroke of a brush. However, the makeup video taking the world wide web by storm right now is one that shows a woman wiping her face clean. Well, half of it anyway. The video, titled "how to remove your face," uploaded by a South Korean woman on YouTube shows her dabbing one side of her face with a wad of cotton dipped in makeup remover. Slowly, almost like magic, you see the eye liner, eye shadow, brow filler, mascara, foundation and whatever else was used before disappear to reveal her 'original' face. And to say the difference is stark would be an understatement. It's amazing to see how the woman transformed herself with a just few cosmetics and some handy brushwork. You cannot help but notice the glaring difference in the shape and size of her eyes. If the made-up and not made-up sides weren't on the same face, you'd think it were two different women altogether. Uploaded exactly a month ago, the makeup-in-reverse video has gone viral with over 7.7 million views on YouTube.
With casino revenues in Macau in freefall due to Beijing's anti-corruption crackdown and a slowing Chinese economy, the gambling hub is hoping to reinvent itself as a family-friendly mass market destination. But the enclave's plan to replace the high-rolling elite with tourists drawn by new entertainment-focused mega-resorts will not be plain sailing. Macau's creaking infrastructure is already struggling to cope with visitor numbers and analysts and residents question how the city can accommodate the influx necessary to make up for the loss of VIP gamblers. "Casino operators cannot expect the return of the good old days," says Macau expert Sonny Lo of the Hong Kong Institute of Education. Lo says the success of Macau's reinvention depends on consumers' appetite for both mass market gaming and non-gambling entertainment. "It remains to be seen whether tourists are developing this taste."
It is against the law to use a smartphone behind the wheel in most countries but what about a smartwatch? A man in Canada learned the hard way that police will not tolerate those as he was fined 120 Canadian dollars and given four demerit points in Quebec for using his Apple smartwatch. Jeffrey Macesin from Pincourt said he was shocked when he was pulled over because he did not think he was breaking the law. The self-described gadget lover said he thought he was permitted to watch his new Apple Watch while driving, so long as he was not tapping away on his smartphone. "I have it in the bag charging while the auxiliary cable is plugged in to the radio and this controls my phone to play the music. So I was changing songs with my hand on the steering wheel," Macesin was quoted as saying by CTV News Montreal.
Beau Biden, 46, the oldest son of US Vice President Joe Biden, has died of cancer, a White House statement said late on Saturday. The vice president, in the statement on behalf of the Biden family, announced "with broken hearts" that Beau had died after a battle with brain cancer. It added that Beau "battled brain cancer with the same integrity, courage and strength he demonstrated every day of his life." President Barack Obama, in a separate statement, expressed his condolences. "Michelle and I are grieving tonight," Obama said. "Beau took after Joe. He studied the law, like his dad, even choosing the same law school. He chased a life of public service, like his dad, serving in Iraq and as Delaware's attorney general," the president said. "Like his dad, Beau was a good, big-hearted, devoutly Catholic and deeply faithful man, who made a difference in the lives of all he touched - and he lives on in their hearts." Beau Biden, an attorney, briefly considered running for the US Senate to take the seat vacated when his father became vice president, but ultimately opted instead to practice law after leaving the post as Delaware's attorney general.
