BEAUTY-FULL

After my recent trip to France, I promised a post on the spoils of my pharmacy visits, and thought it would be nice to include the rest of my skincare products - of which, I must admit, there are rather a few... 

My somewhat chaotic bathroom cabinet shelf featuring French Pharmacy must-haves, Kiehl's, Aesop, Dermalogica, Clinique, Yu-Be, Bliss and Eve Lom

I spent nearly a whole day in France mapping out the pharmacies one town had to offer and then dragging my boyfriend from one to the next, to the next, to the next until I had what I had set out to make mine. I, like many others I know, had been utterly done by Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop post on the french pharmacy. The brilliance of certain french beauty products have been well known by beauty enthusiasts, and luckily for us common folk, they are all readily available in nearly every town and village pharmacy around France. I suppose the French have a better approach to skincare, and understand the importance of being able to stockpile a product that works. 

On my visit I secured the following: Bioderma Crealine TS H20 Micelle Soultion, Embryolisse Lait-Creme Concentrate and Avibon Vitamin A cream (we struggled to locate this one at first ((yes that's right, by this point my boyfriend was on board and fully committed to the challenge)) and had to ask the pharmacist in broken french for this magical cream). 

Yu-Be cream, Embryolisse, Avibon

The Bioderma make-up remover was just as good as all the reviews promised, instantly dissolving the hardiest of eye make up in a few sweeps, and removing my remaining facial make up too. I must say I don't go particularly heavy on the make up, so can't attest to how well this would work on more heavy duty make up - but it is perfect for me. It doesn't sting in the least and is very effective whilst not irritating sensitive skin. 

I use Embryolisse in the morning after my toner and underneath my tinted moisturiser. It is not heavy despite being quite thick, and the idea is it is hydrating the skin, cleaning it, and providing the perfect base for make-up. I hear the professionals swear by it, and that's good enough for me! It can even double up as a make-up remover too. It's slotted into my routine really well, replacing my normal moisturiser with great results. I now need to ensure I have a high SPF in my tinted moisturiser, but this is easily achieved. 

Avibon is definitely one for the evening - it has a very thick, vaseline like texture, so unless you like the shiny look - steer clear for the day! It is packed full of vitamin A and has quite the anti-ageing reputation.  I think it will come to the fore during the winter for me - it feels intensely hydrating when a blob is mixed with a normal moisturiser and slathered on before bed. 

I'm really pleased with my french additions to my bathroom cabinet - I'm always keen to try products that have earned their cult following over the years and are still going strong. These are not flash in the pan products and have well and truly earned their effectiveness stripes. I won't lie, I also love how their names are whispered amongst women and that you have to travel to make them yours - no flashy ad campaigns needed. 

Whilst we're taking skin-care, I have to mention my new discovery: Aesop. Yes I am hideously late to the party and know beauty enthusiasts have been enthusing about this brand for yonks, but I have only recently been won over by the Australian botanical-based beauty products. For years and years I have been a Clinique 3-step girl, and I still stand by the effectiveness of the regime. But on a recent trip to Aesop I was given a bundle of samples based on my skin type and needs, and in less than two days I was hooked. My skin somehow appears more refined, and has a glow to it in the mornings that it didn't have before. (I know this sounds somewhat corny, but I promise it's true!)

Aesop products and Dermalogica Overnight Clearing Gel (a godsend for unsightly blemishes!)

I raided my piggy bank to add 3 products to my shelf, but in the fullness of time hope to add their Fabulous Face Oil to my regime. For the time being I am reaping the benefits of the Fabulous Face Cleanser, Purifying Facial Exfoliating Paste and Parsley Seed Anti Oxidant Serum. I cannot recommend my experience with Aesop products highly enough and would urge you to get hold of a few samples to try out for yourself.

A STELLA SUMMER

I'm not great with the sales. Yes they fill me with that nice sense of anticipation, they quicken the beat of my heart when I fear I've missed out or might only just have got there in time. But when it comes down to the nitty gritty of a purchase, I can't block out those rather useful sale-wisdom quotes that everyone wheels out at this time of year. 

"Would I have bought this at full price?"

"Would I rather spend this money on this, or on something I've spotted for the new season?"

"Is this even actually my size?!"

Questions like these whizz relentlessly around my head and I always end up erring on the side of caution and returning the bag/shoes/dress/top to the rail. 

I already have my eye on a few bits for Autumn/Winter (from IRO, Maje, Etoile Isabel Marant and some ankle boots from Sam Edelman), so the necessity of saving the pennies for these has ensured, thus far, that I'm uninterested in discounted wares. 

That was until I booked a last minute summer holiday to Greece for September. We have been going to the same small village in Corfu nearly every summer since the year dot - and it's my most favourite summer holiday destination ever. It simply involves stacks of new books, swimming in the sea, sitting in the sun and then eating the tastiest Greek food in the local taverna, all washed down with cheap and cheerful Retsina, only to do it all again the next day.

With flights booked, suddenly summer was back on the agenda and the crisp leaves of autumn seemed rather a long way away. 

Step up the Stella McCartney sale. If ever I was to give away my precious pounds to sale buys, it would have to be for something classic. Bar the citrus fruit print bits (I know bright fruit prints are de rigueur at the moment, but I'm not sure how much more mileage those banana earrings have in them...), you can't go wrong with the longevity of a classic, quiet, Stella McCartney item in your wardrobe. 

These summer sandals are just the thing, and after a windfall on eBay, I bit the bullet and ordered them. They are simple, classic, relaxed yet have a really polished look to them. I love a classic red nail varnish peeping out from under the raffia too. 

SNAPSHOTS: SAINT-LAURENT-DE-LA-CABRERISSE, FRANCE

A little post featuring a few photos from my recent holiday in France. 

We stayed at Les Jardins de Saint Benoit in Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, just over half an hour or so from Narbonne.

By the by, I had the BEST time scooting around nearly every pharmacy in France trying to track down the cult beauty products only available there. More on the spoils of my scooting in the next post! 

MY CLASSIC 10

About a zillion years ago... (yes I have been absent for too long) Miss Sophie so kindly tagged me to put forward my classic 10, following her own brilliant post which you can see here.  I have at last got my act together and have tried to put forwards the 10 elements that I rely upon in my wardrobe, and paint the clearest picture of my closet.

Perfumes on my dressing table - the essential finishing touch to every outfit! Diptyque, Jo Malone and Byredo

I have an addiction to the perfect grey tees - and search high and low for them. These are a mix of American Apparel and Reiss

Stripey tees - must haves. I have a zillion more, but these three are my favourites: APC and Petit Bateau

I am powerless when faced with anything with an elbow patch attached. Just so easy, so nonchalant, so cool. These are COS and Zara

I'm very loyal to Topshop jeans. If they're good enough for Emmanuelle Alt, they're perfect for me. These are my new obsession - the 7/8ths style, cut perfectly at the ankle. So chic. I have black, blue and pink

I love these kimono style silk jackets for a dash of colour and a lovely vintage feel. Thrown over anything they just work perfectly

These need no introduction nor explanations: my beloved Isabel Marant Dicker boots

Beaten up but enduringly perfect. I can't imagine ever stopping buying Converses,  enjoying them particularly with my 7/8ths jeans at the mo!

Essie nail varnishes, all variations on the same shade of colour, pinks to classic reds. I mostly stick to a red shade, but if I feel in need of a jazzing up change, I veer towards a shocking pink. I'm rarely ever without painted nails

Pinkish to red lipsticks (noticing a pattern here?!): Chanel & Nars. Lipsticks are rather a new thing for me, but I'm learning to utilise them as an accessory more and more often these days


It has been an interesting challenge, because I found as I tried to put my 10 together I had to keep thinking about possible elements - they didn't all spring forwards with ease. This is, I suppose, both a positive and a negative thing. Positive, in that I didn't come up with millions of pieces and categories to have to whittle down to 10, so my wardrobe and my approach to dressing is not overcrowded. Negative, in that there were bits that I always mark out as key components of the kind of wardrobes I have long admired, and I found out, with a bit of surprise, that not at all of these were present or well represented in my wardrobe. I think namely these come in the form of those prefect few dresses, non-jean trousers (something crisp, yet effortless), more delicate gold jewellery and friendship style bracelets piled up on your arm, and the perfect white tee. (Between you and I, I think I might have stumbled across it today - will feed back about that anon!) I also need to up the ante on my ballet flats. I have LOADS, but I'm keen to invest in some high quality fellows - French Sole, Repetto or... Chanel?! Ha.


Overall though I feel these photographs and glimpses into my wardrobe sum me up very well. I love simplicity (simple tops, classic and chic footwear) combined with dashes of the unexpected - a colourful lip, a patterned silk jacket, all set against a groomed back drop. Shiny, effortless hair, a flick of eyeliner, clear skin (whenever possible!) and a subtle, lovely perfume. That's the aim anyway! 

BACK SOON!

Just a quick entry to say I'm sorry for my brief blogging holiday! I'm afraid of late I haven't been particularly inspired to post about things, and have been rather distracted having finished one job and planning what is next. It is quite the all consuming question! 

But I shall return soon with new buys, outfit pictures that make the grade and that little bit of anything and everything else. 

x

SPRING / SUMMER

It's been gloriously spring (even summer) like during the last few days in London. And it's got me to thinking about my summer wardrobe. 

I’ve never found summer dressing easy. I suppose the problem is I know what I’d like it to be, and somehow, more often than not, I seem to miss the mark.

As I’ve said on many occasions before, I love easy, effortless summer dressing. The kind of clothes that go hand in hand with a healthy tan, that speak of road trips, balmy nights, sea-tousled hair and sun-warmed skin. I tend to look pale, slightly wilted and like the sun and are just long lost acquaintances that have never felt comfortable on first name terms.

I’m not sure how much of this is to do with having very fair skin that refuses to tan, and being the type of girl who is not willing to cover every inch of my in high maintenance fake tan to achieve the desired look. I’ve flirted with the idea of a very, very light spray tan – but I have visions of emerging orange and foolish.

 When I bemoan my tan-less state, I’m often told I have that classic ‘English Rose’ colouring and that it suits me down to the ground. I put it to you that this could be the case because they’ve never known me look any other way. :)

Is it this fair skin that lends me my air of anti-summerness? It may simply all be in my head. Either way if one is pale and proud, (which to a certain extent I am), then one has to accept that skin requires a lot more maintenance come the summer months. A tan can hide a multitude of sins, and without this cover you have to keep up a strict regime of exfoliation and moisturisation! (I feel a summer beauty post coming on.)

Skin shade aside, I think the clothes can often be a problem too. I am always on the look-out for structured shorts and skirts of a certain length – they must be lined, not see through and not show off more of my bottom than public decency allows. This is not as easy as it seems. The majority of shorts in my usual haunts are unlined hot pants – structured, slightly longer short seems to be a rarity. I don’t like feeling over exposed – and to be honest it is rare that it is hot enough to necessitate this.

 I don’t find holiday dressing difficult – when temperatures soar and you’re in another country, off duty, it is much easier. But at work, and in the city, on a normal week day, there are certain standards to be observed, don’t you find? And so often you see people who get a whiff of warm weather and break out their summer holiday clothes, and these just aren’t quite appropriate somehow. Perhaps I’m too strict. :)

My summer wardrobe staples would be made up of pieces like the above – silk round neck (scoop neck at a push) t-shirts, and silk vests in muted colours, grey marl t-shirts, aforementioned shorts, lighter weight trousers in place of jeans, a selection of sandals and a pair each of nude and black ballet pumps. I love lightweight but cosy jumpers over the top too when things get chilly – either that or a light boulcé jacket for a smarter look. And bags – in an ideal world, the BEAUTIFUL moss green Balenciaga bag would work a treat, as well as a smaller day bag where necessary (a Mulberry Lily might fit the bill).

I find that with my summer wardrobe I have to be much more strict, because I am less confident with it. I have to know exactly what I have, what outfits each piece forms part of. It becomes a lot more like style Sudoku if you will! I don’t think this is the death knell to creativity that it may appear, but just the way I find works best for me during the summer months.

Do you find summer dressing a challenge or is it the season you love best? How do you approach it?

ISABEL MARANT FOR SALE

Just a quick post to let you know about an Etoile Isabel Marant jacket I put on eBay yesterday. I bought it only a few days ago - and was very excited about it arriving, but it is not the perfect fit on me sadly and I have to be strict with myself and continue the search and save my pennies!

To view the listing, just click here.