This is yet another challenging Chinese phrase, often used in the Internet to describe a person’s style or persona.  This is how Baidu Zhidao interpret this phrase(http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/222462624.html), that it is actually of two parts.

The first half is “邪魅(xié mèi)”, which can be used to

1. describe someone who is so evil and bad that it forms an attraction;

2. a fatal attraction;

3. name of a demon who is very loyal to its master.

I think for the first definition, it would be apt to describe the fans of Anders Behring Breivik (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anders_Behring_Breivik).  I must say, I was somewhat surprised what I read about how one young lady is so concerned about this serial killer.

The second half, “狂狷(kuáng juàn)” was said to originate from a Chinese classic (《论语·子路》) where the first character refers to a person who is not afraid to pursue his goals at all goals and the second one describes someone who is noble and disciplined.  These two characters together appears to suggest a person whose liberal ways are self-regulated according to societal norms and conventions.

And these two halves together?  According to Baidu, there is no real practical meaning but that it is just a phrase widely used (and misused) by the Chinese netizens.

I came across this phrase in a product brochure, describing how the product makes the user “嘴角泛起一抹邪魅狷狂.”  On considering the above, this was what I proposed in the end, “a charmingly evil smirk unreservedly appeared across the face”.  “Charmingly evil ” in reference to “邪魅” and “unreservedly appeared” in reference to “狷狂”.

Other translations I was exploring include “devilishly charming” and “deviously charming”.

I wish there is a more elegant way to translate some a “flavorful” statement but I guess for now, maybe my proposal is not so bad after all.