The Cult of Chanel

This past weekend Chanel sparked yet another rush to it's cosmetics counters as the long awaited Black Pearl, Pearl Drop, and Peach Necree nail varnishes were released for Spring Summer.

Chanel's seamless ability to create an instantaneous cult classic was once again showcased as the nail varnishes started to sell out in a matter of hours

Black Pearl, for me at least, is the clear standout of the three. Its mermaid shimmer, a unique mix of deep green, silver and intense black depending on the light,make the nails appear as if they have been dipped into diamonds, a perfect polish for both the current cold snap we are experiencing as well as the summer months ahead.

The other two however are rather same old, same old. Pearl Drop - whilst providing a pretty sheen to the nails, hardly differs from its Chanel cousin Intermezzo, and although Peach Nacree is a pretty spring colour, it  isn't anything special. Similar colours and finishes can easily be found by many a drugstore brand, meaning it really isn't worth its £22 price tag.

When carefully considered however, are Chanel polishes ever really worth the designer price tag? Sure the quality is good (it better be for over £20's a pop), the packaging is chic and adorned with the signature Chanel logo, but, if I am really honest the colours are rarely anything special and dare I say it? A bit copycat.

Case in point. Chanel's Jade green polish caused a frenzy when it was released in September 2009, and is currently being sold on ebay for up to a quite frankly astonishing £80. Yet the almost the exact same colour was released by Mac and OPI six months earlier in the form of Peppermint Patti and Gargantuan Green Grape, respectively.

 Another example of Chanel jumping nail trend bandwagon is the release of Particuliere in April 2010. This dirty taupe colour was hailed as the next big thing when it was seen on Chanel's runways, when in fact the 'taupe nail trend' was already going strong thanks to OPI's release of You Don't Know Jacques a whopping 18 months earlier.

So if Chanel isn't setting nail polish trends, instead merely following them, why do thousands of women rush out to get their hands (and nails) on them?

There really is only one answer to that, and its because they (myself sometimes included), want to have their own little piece of Chanel. £20 is a hell of an expensive nail polish, but its a very reasonably priced piece of a Parisian design icon.

See by Chloe - Poya Satchel

Whilst casually shopping yesterday, I came face to face with my latest summer bag craving, and through pure intuition, mind reading abilities, or the rather unimaginative post title, I reckon all of you will already know just what it is :)

Taken from the See by Chloe line, the Poya Satchel hits that pefect happy medium, where b it looks smart enough to carry whilst wearing a tailored jacket and heels, yet relaxed enough to to wear with jeans, a white tee and sandals on a summers weekend. Ok, I may have got slightly carried away with the summer's weekend knowing our weather's track record, but this satchel manages all that whilst being big enough, and practical enough to carry all your daily essentials.

The understated gold hardware butter soft leather and scalloped edging give the notoriously masculine styled satchel bag, a feminine and cool twist, rendering it perfect for the summertime (again I know, but a bit of optimism never hurt anyone).

Pictured above in butterscotch leather,  the bag from Chloe's diffusion line also comes in black, tan, a beautiful nude pink and my personal fave - coral, and can be purchased on line from net-a-porter or My wardrobe. 
Priced at £355 the Poya satchel comes in at around a third of the price of the famous Mulberry Alexa, which I believe in comparison looks heavy, and perhaps even a little clunky.

The only satchel styled bag that could currently usurp the See by Chloe offering in my eyes is the Proenza Schouler PS1

The envelope flap, squared hardware and crinkly soft leather are (for want of a better word) divine, but with a £1200 price tag I fear Iwill have to dream a little while longer.

The best of Nars

So as you can probably tell from my last post, I do love me some Nars.
Over the last couple of years I have most likely spent an awful amount of money at my nearest Nars counter, (I think its possibly for the best if I don't tot up the final amount, it could induce some involuntary purse pinching!).

So I thought I would tell you my top picks and just a few thoughts about each one.

 Sheer Glow Foundation

Retailing for about £29.50, this is defiantly a pricey choice, BUT it is possibly my all time favourite.
 It gives a natural "skin like" finish, that doesn't look cakey, yet still manages to give good coverage. All the redness on my skin is covered in just one light coat.
I find that on my dry skin it doesn't even need to be set with powder for it to last all day.
However the name is seriously mis-leading, if you purchase this wanting a sheer coverage, glowy finish foundation, you will be bitterly dissapointed. I more accurate name would be 'medium - buildable semi matte', although I don't suppose that would have quite the same ring to it!

Modern Love Palette

Nars eyeshadow palettes may be extremely pricey at nearly £40, but they provide a unique selection of shadows, all of which are super high quality, in a travel friendly compact, complete with large mirror perfect for taxi touch ups.
I was unsure as to whether to include this since it was limited edition, but I feel I must since it is one of my most used eyeshadow products ever - and I have checked and all the eyeshadows included are all available to purchase individually.

The eyeshadows included are from left to right;

Alhambra: shimmery peachy pink

Jezebel: shimmery reddish brown - perfect for making green eyes stand out

India Song: shimmery golden brown

Tokyo: shimmery silver

Habenera: shimmery plum

Pandora: possible the most pigmented matte black I have ever come across,

you have to be extremely careful whenn applying otherwise you could be in the awful situation wherby you somewhat resemble a racoon 10 minutes before you have to leave.

 Deep Throat Blush

For such a risque name, this blush is surprisingly safe and wearable.
Boadering that fine line between peach and pink, this blush delivers a gorgeous flush to the cheeks with just a subtle gold shimmer.

In my opinion, Deep Throat provides a much nicer pop of colour than the famous Orgasm blush, which, when I tried just adds a glittery coating to the cheeks rather than any amount of colour.
That is one thing that you have to be very careful with when purchasing Nars products, Mr Francois seems to have a bit of an affection with glitter and so if you don't pick wisely you could end up resembling a disco ball, not quite the look you want for work on a Monday morning!!

Frisky Summer Lipgloss

Ok Ok, I will admit that I was originally drawn to this product because of the name, (slightly shameful I know).
I bright raspberry gloss with no shimmer, this is much more of a 'liquid lipstick', as it goes on with enough opacity to be worn alone and still provide a good amount of pigmentation.

Many people complain about the plastic scent that comes with Nars' lipgloss, and whilst I can't deny that it is there it has honestly never bothered me one bit. Unless you are smelling directly into the tube it can't be detected one bit, and personally I find this scent much more preferable than the synthetic fruity scent that some makeup companies incessantly put into their products, (yeas I am looking at you YSL with your melon scented golden gloss, and rouge voluptes).

And so that concluded my ultimate favourite Nars products, I am just loooking forward to trying the new Sex Appeal blush (I love the name OK), and Hollywood land creme eyshadow pencil now :).

Have you tried any Nars products, if so what are your faves??

Nars heads to New York City

So after 16 years, the cult makeup brand Nars is set to finally open its very first stand alone store this coming spring. Located in NYC on fashionable Bleecker street, the Nars boutique is set to find itself nestled in between the likes of Marc Jacobs and Ralph Lauren, so cementing its status as one of the premiere luxury makeup labels, (and fooling New Yorks shoppers into thinking its very high end prices are positively froogle after browsing around the designer showrooms it is located near).

It's hard to believe it has taken them this long to launch a free standing store, their iconic black rubber packaging, and provocativly titled products lend themselves perfectly to an interior design concept.

And so with only a few more months to wait until the stores grand opening, I have but one question;

When are they going to open one in London?????

As a huge fan of many of their products, I would be a shoe in to be one of the really uber sad people queing outside on opening day, instead (because of a minor geographical location problem), I will instead have to console myself by popping in to Selfridges to check out their newest Spring collection.

The promo pick for the latest colletion hints at minimalist, refined makeup, with just a shot of colour.

And this is exactly what the latest offering delivers.

For me the most exciting product has to be the neutral eyeshadow trio Calanque.

This is the first time that Nars has ventured into trios, and so I sincerly hope that they are not like Mac's mineralize trio shadows, which always look so promising but bitterly dissapoint in terms of quality and pigmentation.

They are also cashing in on the success of their favourite Orgasm blush, that has become a staple in many a makeup addicts life, by producing a matching lipgloss, aptly named Super Orgasm. This along with 5 other new lipgloss additions make up their 'perfect match' sets, all inspired and made to match their eponymous namesake blushes.

Are there any items that stand out to you from this collection?

Fashion: Practical Mediocrity or Inpractical Perfection?

For many people, (myself included), the best part of a night out is undoubtedly the getting ready. That ritual of painting on your makeup, slipping into an LBD, and towering tall in your 5 inch heels, before looiking into the mirror feeling confident and proud. Not only are you ready on time (for once, I swear time evaporates in my hands), but just an hour ago you were stood in sweatpants on the phone in a complete and utter dilemma over what to wear, whereas now you both look and feel fantastic.

For the majority of women, this is fashions main purpose; to enable them to step out of their house feeling good about themselves, which then undoubtedly imapacts upon the way you act and the success of your day. It doesn't matter whether you are wearing an expensive Preen dress that you saved up for a month to buy, or a quick purchase from H&M that costs £24.99 - the effect it has on you is exactly the same.

My most recent H&M dress purchase.
It just needs to be summer now so I can wear it.

It is then a shame that when you arrive home a few hours later you are rarely in the smae confident mind-set, instead cursing the stupidly high shoes, and impossibly tight dress, swearing that neither will ever see the light of day from your wardrobe again.



When going on a night out, I never fail to wear high heels, - however after a couple of hours on the dance floor, far from walking taller I am usually hobbling home like a woman of 85. No longer am I concerned with the aesthetic appearence of my footwear of choice, but with the incessant burning pain enrobing the ball of my foot. This conundrum between practicality (flat shoes), and appearence (high heels), is one I am confident most people reading this can identify with.  However I am also quietly confident that no matter how many times I moan to myself as my feet 'pulse' with pain, no matter how many times I have to head home early, no matter how many times I swear I won't, I will continue to wear them. I quite simply would feel un-dressed and have much less fun without them.



My beautiful tan Carvela sandals.
When I first tried them I thought they were pretty,
after 5 hours of wear they were just prett dam painful.



Even as I write these words a sense of embarrassment wafts across me, as I realise that I  place appearence so far above practicality. "Well it's only shoes that I make the sacrifice for", I think to myself in an attempt at justification, but as the words hit the screen a view memories have come flooding back just to prove how wrong I could possibly be.

Case in point the evening I decided to wear a beautiful black, strapless French Connection dress, that was soooo un-believably tight that I had to forego eating for the whole day out of fear that I would not get the zip past my hips.

A decision that can surely only ever be surpassed by me wearing high-waist skinny jeans complete with tucked in white shirt,to meet my friends for dinner. Very 1950s, Marilyn Monroe chic I thought, until I discovered at dinner, that the jeans were so cripplingly tight they gave me stomach cramps, leading to me and my 1950s chic outfit havng to head for home at 10:15.

So I didn't look quite like this when I returned home.
Actually lets be honest, I didn't look quite like this when I left.

Do you want to know the most embarrasing point of all? I have worn all items mentioned above on multiple occasions - even though I have sworn blind that I will never wear each item again, every time I return home.

So you may wander why I would be so willing to put myself through such self-inflicted fashion trauma on an almost daily basis. But the answer is a supremely simple one; the happiness, pleasure and confidence that I get from wearing the garments far outweigh the issues described above. And ok, ok I may grumble that my feet hurt, or that I have seriously restricted movement in my chosen dress, (think the robot dance circa 1992) but I know full well that I wouldn't have it any other way.

Call me vain, stupid, a glutton for punishment - I probably am in some capacity all three, but there are two factors I am confident about. Fashions innate ability to make women feel happy and empowered, and my guarantee to continue my quest for an (albeit) inpractical perfection.

So tell me, what are the most embarrassing decisions you have made in your quest for the perfect outfit?

Emma Pillsbury: An Unlikely Style Icon?

Ok, I will admit that the words fictional germophobic guidance councelor and style icon are not two things that I would ever have espected to see in the same sentance, BUT Glee's Emma Pillsbury, (played by the delicious Jayma Mays) provides the exception to the rule.

With never a hair, or bead out of place, Miss Pillsbury manages to make the decidedly un-cool seem supremely desirable. She mixes tonal colours, with eclectic beads and mary janes to create an overtly ladylike look, that represents her characters prim and proper persona to a tea.

With a clear penchant for twin sets, Emma's looks are always very put together (indicating the characters OCD tendencies), yet they always have a fun and youthful twist.

Glee's costume designer Lou Eyrich says that he always tries to ensure that the character never appears, "too cool for school", always adding bow detailing or a peter pan collar to an outfit, to bring back a preppy edge.

One thing that I love about the costume design, is that it has a sense of realism. Emma's yellow bracelet (seen below) makes many an appearance, and she even re-wears her yellow silk bow blouse. (Something that doesn't often happen in the world of TV.)

One of my favourite looks has to be the jade green cardigan and sweater clips (they really need to have some sort of a comeback) that she wore in season 1.

Is Emma's wardrobe practical in real life? Probably not, (but then again neither is the character's insistence on individually polishing grapes before she deigns to eat them). It is however sheer un-adulterated fun that can't help but make you smile a little every time she hops on screen. For me this is exactly what clothes should be, a way of bringing a touch of sparkle into an otherwise mundane day.

 Making military cute and kitch

Standing out from the crowd in a pillar-box red coat and matching beret

Which of Emma's ensembles are your favourite?

Glee stars shine at the Golden Globes

So it may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I do love a good awards ceremony. All the glitz, glamour, fake eyelashes, fake modesty, and over the top histrionics leads to a very satisfying evenings entertainment - and the 68^th annual Golden Globe Awards, held in LA last night did not disappoint.

The Facebook film The Social Network, was the biggest winner of the night netting four prizes. But my personal guilty pleasure Glee did me proud earning three awards, (including best supporting actor for the fabulously well dressed Chris Colfer aka Kurt Hummel. Yay go Chris.)

In fact all of Glee’s faux teen cast looked fabulously well turned out last night, giving the established stars a run for their oversized pay checks.

Glee's leading lady Lea Michelle shone in a peach, ruffled Oscar de la Renta gown, accesorised with a turquoise cocktail ring. If my memory serves me correctly she has worn many an Oscar de la Renta gown of late - a very lucky lady indeed.

Both Heather Morris and Diana Agron went for nude floor sweapers to take to the red carpet in.

Personally I think Heather's figure hugging gown slightly outshines Dianna's J. Mendel selection. The colour washes out Dianna's porcelain complection and the heavy necklace seems to be fighting against the dresses wonderful simplicity. In contrast whilst Heather seems to positivly sparkle.

Jayma May's (who plays Glee's obsessive compulsive guidance councellor) ditched her characters preppy and colourful cardigans for an altogether more vampy look in black Atelleir Versace. (I do however love her characters look - I feel a seperate post about her style coming on.)

The dress hangs beautifully of her tiny frame, and is complemented perfectly by Jayma's flowing aubourn hair (has someone had extensions?), and coral lips.

My favourite dress however of all the Glee clubbers (and actually one of my favourites of the night) was Amber Riley's sequined Oliver Tarentino number.

It's hard to wear head to toe sequins without looking a little Diana Ross (trust me I have tried), but she pulls it off with aplomb, looking like a true Aretha Franklin-esque diva.