New Year's Eve

A few days ago, I read an article in the latest Instyle Germany issue, where a women decided to spent NYE alone at home. Only her dog was allowed to spend the night with her. 

The article in the Instyle issue

The reason for this was that her past experiences with planned NYE events turned out to be unspectacular. All the preparation, excitement, money spent were almost for nothing, because most events and party during the year were a lot better than the "legendary" NYE party. 

I think that NYE is totally overrated. Many people plan it weeks or even months before, including outfits, accessories, and also think about other related subjects e.g transportation, who am I going to meet etc. In the end, in best case, it turns out as a normal party, but in most cases it is even worse. The earlier people start planning and preparing, the higher the expectations are getting. People are disappointed that the party is not that special, and just a normal night, they are frustrated looking back to the past year, scared and anxious thinking about the upcoming year and things take their course. 

The thing about spontaneous, unplanned events and parties is that we do not have ANY expectations that cannot be fulfilled. And this is why these parties are the best and will always be remembered. 

Picture: taken by myself Dec 2011

So, folks, stop thinking about NYE, do not stress yourself if you do not have anything planned by now, just be spontaneous and start something. 

So long, Happy New Year

XOXO

My favorite beauty and make up products 2012

I really like reviews and recommendations for everything, I am a big fan of these peer-to-peer recommendation systems. 

This is why I decided to do a review about the things I liked most this year. 

Since I lived in France for quite a long time, I also tested many things that are popular there, but the good thing about Europe and internationalization is that people bring products from one country to another. 

1. John Frida's Frizz-Ease Intensive Masque
I use this one for years and could not find anything better in the same price range. It costs around €10, and you can buy it in any drug store or warehouse. I particularly love the smell, an it makes your hair shiny and soft. The best thing about it is that you have to leave it in only for 3 to 5 minutes, 2 is even enough if you are in a hurry. 

2. Sephora BB Cream
I bought this at Sephora for €15 in October and use it every day since that day. I guess that other brand's BB creams are a lot better, but by now I am very happy with this one. It makes your skin soft and even, hides red spots or other irritations and comes along with SPF 15. I'll probably go for the Clinique one next time once this is finished. 

3. Bioderma Micelle Solution
This one is multitasking. You can use it to remove face and eye make up, to fresh up or to clean your face. It moisturizes the skin and does not make it feel dry. It is awesome for traveling! I bought it in a French pharmacy, often they offer 2 for 1, and it was €20 for two bottles of 500ml. 

4. Organix moroccan argan oil
I bought this one in NYC, but today you'll find argan oil products everywhere. I use it when my ends are dry, and it does not make your skin look greasy. It is unscented, which I like, because most shampoos and conditioners are scented and I do not like mixing too many odors. 

5. Sephora Express nail polish remover
This one is magic! You dip your fingers in the bottle, move it a little, take it out and all nail polish is gone. It only struggles a little with glitter polish, but ok, this is always hard to remove. It makes removing nail polish really quick and easy. I bought it at Sephora at €7. The only problem is when you use a lot of red or dark nail polish, the foam inside the bottle keeps the colors and after a while gives color traces on your finger. Until now I did not have that problem, but my friend had it, and I told her to try to clean the sponge using normal nail polish remover. I think this should work.  

6. Benefit Hervana blush
I wanted to buy Coralista first, but it was not to be seen on my skin. I really like the color, it is very subtle, very good to use it every day. I also love the smell, like fizzy tablets. This is available at Sephora or Douglas for around €32. 

7. Artdeco eyeshadow 29
I use this every single day as the base color. Together with the base (number 12) it lasts forever. Plus I have it for more than one year and still the bottom is not to be seen. You can buy it at Douglas, for example, and it is about €6. 

8. Urban Decay Naked 2
I already posted about it on the blog before, it is great. You have tons of possibilities to combine the colors, darker or lighter; work, party, restaurant visits. It is around €50, I bought it also at Sephora. The only disadvantage is that it is not suited for traveling, I ordered it online and when I received it most eyes shadows were destroyed. 

9. Clinique all about eyes
Eye cream, does not burn in the eyes, and does not move into the eyes neither. This one is great for summer and spring, for the colder months the rich version might be better. 

10. Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream
I had some issues with my skin a few weeks ago, and the woman at the Kiehl's counter recommended this one to me. I tried so many different creams and moisturizers, but nothing worked. 30 mins after applying them my skin felt dry again and started itching. She gave me two samples, and convinced me. You can buy it online on the Kiehl's website, in their store or in some warehouses. It is about €25, but you only need a small amount. 

11. MaxFactor lipstick 755 Fire Fly
Great color, good for the office, shopping, and even parties, lasts really long and is only about €7. I also like the packaging. I saw this one on funnypilgrim's blog, and really loved the color. I like red lipsticks, but do not always find the occasion to wear it. People sometimes look really irritated. This one is really for every day. 

12. Artdeco eyeshadow base
Eye shadow lasts forever, even really cheap one. I recently recommended it to a friend, and she now adores it as well. It is around €8, I have mine for more than two years now, use it every single day, and it is not even 1/3 empty. 

13. Lancôme Hypnôse Doll Eyes mascara
My favorite since they launched it. It makes the lashes long, nicely curled, and does not smudge. It is around €30, what I think is a lot of money, but it is worth it. The only thing I did not like at the beginning, is that it is slightly perfumed, what I think is total nonsense for a mascara, but I got used to it, although my eyes are easily irritated. 

14. Dior powder and eyeshadow brush
I bought those ones on sale for minus 30 or 40% and they are both awesome, super soft, and apply powder or eyeshadow equally and easily. I also have many essence brushes, and they are quite good as well, but there is a huge difference between premium brand brushes and low cost brushes. The minute you use it you feel it, and if you take good care of your brushes, they will stay with you forever. I wash mine at least every two weeks, make up brushes even once a week, using mild baby shampoo. 

15. Tweezerman mini brow rescue kit
I got this one in NYC, well, I could not understand why a tweezer can be that expensive, but once I used it I could understand. There is no better tweezer than a tweezerman. This kit came with a highlighter pencil, a brow brush and brow mousse, and all products are great. The whole kit costed around $25. 

My Christmas gift for me by me

Whenever I buy Christmas gifts for my beloved ones, I always find something for myself as well. 

Once I had all the gifts this time, I could not resist entering the Christ store. So finally I bought this DKNY ring, about which I thought so many times. 

I was very lucky, it was the last one in my size. This gave me the final push, well, I deserve a Christmas gift as well, right? 

What should I say? I love the ring and wear it every single day ever since. 

The problem is that the sales women had an awesome Michael Kors watch, well, I fulfilled one wish and immediately added another. That's life...

I hope you have spent some peaceful and nice holidays with your family and friends...

Primark shop opening?

Rumor has it...

Today I discovered that maybe there is a new Primark store to be opened in Cologne at the end of 2013. While this is a long time to go, I am happy to hear about it. I think that in terms of growing strategy it is really necessary to go to the bigger cities. 

I have been and are still surprised about Primark's market strategy for Germany. The first shop in Germany was in Bremen, followed by Francfort, but then they opened in smaller cities, for instance, in Gelsenkirchen. Cities like Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich were always missing. This summer, they finally opened a store in Berlin (Source: www.primark.de). 

My problem with Primark is that whenever I go there I feel that I really should grap the opportunity and "buy things ahead". By this, I often buy things that I do not need and will never wear. Having a Primark close would, hopefully, change this buying behavior. 

things I bought at Primark in June (solely the pink shirt is from Blanco);
good hunt since I have been wearing all pieces regularly during the summer months

What I am also missing is an online store, but since the inventory turnover is really high, this implementation really is a challenge and so I give them some time to set this up. 

Happy shopping!

Christmas

I know, November has just begun. Still, Christmas is coming for sure, and always sooner "than expected". All over sudden, Christmas eve is there. Although it is always at the same day and I know it, it seems that I forget about it. Last-minute-panic because of missing gifts, food or drink preparation, planning, organization, and at the end I promise myself that next year will be different (while thinking of a nice sunny place with no Christmas trees). 

And now, this time starts again. Why do we always want this "perfect evening" on Christmas? Can't we just relax, being with someone we love, having a good but decent meal with ONE glass of wine? Without all this preparation and planning for weeks, going shopping once and coming home with all gifts? 

via marthastewart.com

By now, I did not manage to do it the other way. Shops are open today, so I am heading downtown hunting for gifts. Almost two months before Christmas. Yeah. 

Urban Decay NAKED2

I have been reading so many different reviews about the Urban Decay Naked2 eye shadow palette, and I thought about buying it for a very long time. Still, 43€ is a bunch of money.

Eventually I found a 10% coupon for Sephora in my bag I had completely forgotten about. So I ordered (I also needed a birthday gift so I had a good excuse to pass the order...)

Love the nude colors

Then when I received my order, it was damaged. There was eye shadow powder everywhere, so I had to return it. I am pretty sure that it was not Sephora, it has to be the French mail.

Now I received a new one in perfect shape, and I can't wait to test all the colors.

A pretty box

Flea Market

Again. I start being addicted to flea markets, but I think that this is due to the fact that I always find something. 

This time I found a dark grey woolen turtleneck pullover from Lacoste (8€) as well as a no-name blouse (5€). I really like the design and think with a classic skinny jeans and some nice shoes it will look awesome. 

My BF came with me this time, he bought a Hugo Boss button-down shirt (5€) and a Ralph Lauren polo shirt (7€). 

Le Swing

Nice decoration

After Vicky's post about this fancy vintage store in Barcelona, I had to go there, of course. 

Although I do have a pretty good sense of orientation, I had a lot of trouble finding the store (we also left our map at home and did not want to buy a new one because you are always immediately spotted as a tourist when you carry a map...): The store is located in the old part of the city- ciudad vella- and all the tiny streets always make me feel lost in a labyrinth. 

After 45 mins cycling around we finally found the shop. 

It was overwhelming. All the pretty things!

The owner I talked to

So many bags

The shop owners were really nice and friendly and we had a nice talk. As you may have noticed I love vintage clothes and whenever I have time I go to flea markets to hunt for rare findings. This is why I had to ask him where they get their clothes and accessories from. They have on the one hand people coming to see them in the store. Those bring clothes they do not wear anymore, and sometimes they invite them to their houses to offer articles from their wardrobe as well. The also travel to different cities, for instance once a month to Paris and twice a year to New York City. There they have their clients who offer them their own clothes or findings. They pay attention that the clothes are real vintage, high class brands, in good shape and preferably in a more classic style.

I loved these Louboutins

The store is perfectly arranged, and clothes are organized by colors. The have all famous brands you can think of.
 

organized by color

There is another store about 5 mins to walk which is only called "Le Swing". If you do have time, you should visit both shops. In "Le Swing" there are accessories on the first floor and in the basement they offer mainly clothes, but also bags and shoes. The lady in the store was very friendly, offered advice and explained the arrangement of the store, but left me time to look around. She spoke perfectly English and French. 

I did not find anything this time, but just for the shop it is worth a visit.  

These are the addresses: 

leswingvintage.com

Le Swing
C/rec, 16

Blow By Le Swing
C/Bonaire, 6

08003 Barcelona

My first post has been deleted by accident, this is why I had to type it again. Real sh***. 

Barcelona Shopping

Of course I had to do some shopping during the very short stay in Barcelona (he was not very pleased, but okay, I hurried).

I decided not to buy pants at Primark anymore, since after 30 minutes wearing them they totally lose shape. Still, I had to grab some accessories.

 

Scarf, feather earrings, bracelet and candle: Primark; Peter Pan collar: Stradivarius

T-Shirt from the Linen collection and pale pink pants: Zara

Zara is also a must-go in Spain, as well as some other stores you only find there (this time they still had some leftovers from the sales period). Stradivarius is also a good address, as well as Blanco. There were much more shops I wanted to check out, but time has run out (I had 90 minutes in total and were another 15 minutes late).

Flea Market

Last Sunday I went to my favorite flea market, and as usual I found lots of nice things. On the first market I was not very lucky, but on the second I found a nice green pleated skirt (5€), and then a nice pair of dark blue and white Bally high heels (3€!!). The heels were broken, but I had them fixed for 9€ at my local cobbler. 

 

DIY Satin Bow Tie Blouse

Another thing I sewed during my class has been this bow tie blouse. I found the pattern in my mother's journals and liked it immediately. I found very cheap satin fabrics in Germany (Karstadt is a very good address, because smaller shops are mostly very expensive and do not have much more choice. For those living in France I highly recommend buying during the sales period because you get a lot of nice fabrics for really cheap.) 

This as well was a difficult piece of work, but when you do one blouse you understand the essential steps and can apply them to whatever kind of blouse. 

DIY Brocade Dress

A while ago I found a very nice dress by Victoria Beckham in an Instyle edition. Since I do not have the means nor am I willing to pay 900€ for a dress, I decided to make it myself. This has been one of the first things I sewed, and it was a hard piece of work (because of the lining for example which I then made for the first time).  
I had a little trouble finding the fabric I had in mind. When I started the dress it was actually spring. 

Actually, the biggest challenge in designing clothes is finding the perfect supply. I like touching things, therefore I have to drive around hoping to find what I have in mind. 

Autumn is knocking on the door, so I will hopefully have the occasion to wear it soon. 

By the way, please excuse not having posted for a while we had lots of guests at home...

New In: Cosmetics

Whenever I head off to the cosmetician, I come home with new make up. Last time they still had some leftovers from this year's sale so I got three new items. 

Dior Eyeshadow brush; Lancôme eyeshadow; Clarins Smoothing Base

New In: Loafers

A while ago I bought a nice pair of Zign Loafers. I already have several pairs of shoes from this brand and I was always satisfied with the price and quality.

And as expected those are also very comfy and good quality.

I wear them today for the first time, together with my yellow H&M tights. On the picture they look more deep yellow, but it is a mustard yellow in reality.

I am getting prepped for autumn!

Flea Market

I had the morning off today and could therefore go to the flea market. I tried a new one which I discovered just by coincidence; in fact this was just an occasional "vide grenier" (more like a yard sale). It was not worth going there and I did not find anything; people sell so much crap. So then we went to one of those I normally go to, and I found a nice pair of leather pumps for one Euro. I do not know the brand (Xavier Danaud Paris), but I liked the color and style and they are very comfortable for what I can say right now. 

Since the weather is more like autumn right now I will wear them soon. 

Full Moon

50mm F22 1/13''s ISO 3200

This night we had a full moon and at night we went to the beach to take some pictures. The beach has been very ablaze by the moon, and many people came to see this natural event.

I played a little with my camera using long time exposure and look what happened. I got cloned...

White Blazer

I got this white blazer at Zara recently but with the high temperatures we had I did not have the occasion to wear any blazers or jackets. This morning it has been very cold so I had to cover myself up. 

Blazer Zara (2012); Watch Asos (2011)

I especially love the fabrics, this makes it very unique. 

August Rain

rubber boots from a random Asian street store in NYC, the most counterfeit product I ever owned

Well, it is still August but since today it feels like autumn. We have had heavy rain and thunder that night (I completely slept through it and did not hear anything...) and streets were slightly flooded. 

I hope that summer is not finally over and we will have a sunny September. Normally this is one of the best months in this region with empty beaches and nice temperatures.

New In

I finally received my asos order. French mailing is not very efficient so I always have to be a little patient.

I am very satisfied with the articles and will keep both. What I really like about asos is that both delivery and eventual returns are free of charge. I am very hesitating about ordering, because I cannot try the things on before buying. This is why ordering on asos is very convenient.

I bought a PIECES tube scarf and a RIVER ISLAND white lace dress. I got both on sale plus an extra 10% discount.

Flea Market

I love going to flea markets, and whenever I do not work on Sunday mornings and have the time I drive around to three different ones close to my place. It is pretty astonishing what people sell. 

I am often very lucky and find good and valuable things, for example these nice Chanel flats. They came with the original box, and I got them for ! 3€ ! 

Those findings can make my day...

DIY

Last year I started taking a sewing class. I always wanted to learn sewing, but I never had the time to take a class. I eventually bought a sewing machine and decided that now is the time to enroll in a class.

My teacher was pretty awesome and I learned a lot. Since then, I try to make my own things whenever I can (sewing is very time-consuming especially if you do not have a studio where you can leave your stuff).

Inspired by Vicky's outfit, and since the short has been sold out on zara's online store, I decided to make one on my own. And here it is...

(As a test I made one before in mint without lace)

Flowers

I love flowers and whenever I see nice flowers I take pictures of them. 

I never really had a green thumb but when I got an orchid last year for my birthday I started being interested in having a nice green and flowery garden. Orchids are perfect for garden beginners; they are just easy to grow and do not need a lot of attention. In fact, they grow best if you disregard them. And then they come in simple beauty and a wide range of colours.

Summer Slump

It seems that most bloggers have been gone indulging their annual vacation break. Since I work in tourism, I have the peak season when others take their break from work. This means I actually do have time to blog.

After blogging passively for quiet a long time (which means following several blogs) I decided to create my own blog. So here I am!

My first post has something to do with summer and vacation: Inspiration from BARCELONA. I simply adore that city and if I had the possibility I would move there immediately.

Last time I have been there was in June and I love sitting at the seafront and watch people and their style. Check out some pictures I took at that time.

Stay tuned there will be more posts following and the next trip to Barcelona is already in preparation!