Dear all,
SorryI havent posted since the summer - I've got what can only be escribed as a right pain in the arse in the form of a severe sprained wrist with associated tendonitis. Typing that last sentence took way too long - thus I'm not blogging til it's healed...
Hope everyone doen't abandon me!!!
xxxc
Sunday, 14 October 2007
Sunday, 2 September 2007
Signature Scent
For a while now, I've not been wearing perfume... mainly because I kept losing the bottle - so I really only have myself to blame.
I love perfume, in a kind of, love the image of some sophisticate wafting around with a hint of her signature scent revealed only to the few who get close. I think I had that (minus the sophisticate and wafting bits - i'm 'eccentric' and i clump about...) for a bit with my Angel Innocent parfum... but part of me post-school relationship has been subconciously stopping its use by being disorganised and messy so as to prevent finding the bottle for that fateful spray.
So I've moved on. Innocent is definitely in the past - along with my shame, sense of sartorial decorum and the various toxic relationship issues I've had... I do remember very vividly being told by an ex that my perfume lingered on his pillow, making him think of me all the time. Now, sweet as that may have been, I have no desire to return to being that person...
On to the future I declare... being without a scent for nigh on 10 months has been excruciating. There is something about perfume that is so erotic, so mysterious (I'm not talking about the cloying, sweet and mass marketed variety here... god help anyone with Jade Goody's perfume as their signature scent... [oh god, I'm being a snob... *slaps wrist* - sorry!] )
It takes quite a lot to plough into the perfume department of any shop, and I hate it. It gives me a headache. So the search had been non-existent really, left by the wayside in a busy life, until the Paris trip...
One of my first ports of call in the city must always be Colette. This shop is AMAZEMENT INCARNATE! Mother and I spent hours in there browsing the music, art, cosmetics and clothes... It is the concept store to end all concept stores... (photos aren't allowed otherwise I would be tempting and tantalising you with the images of decadent yet minimalist and oh-so-french goodness)
The perfume bit is small, yet (cliche coming...) perfectly formed. They had a perfume mixing desk as well as a select few brands to browse. These included Prada, Marc Jacobs' Daisy, Comme des Garcons, Juliette has a Gun and Molecules. On entering Colette, the idea of a new scent had not even occured to me, but the sheer comfort in the perfume zone was enough to tempt me into spritzing a few scents onto various pulse points. Since our hotel was literally round the corner, we were in no hurry to make a choice (unlike the usual perfume hunting expedition where one is watched by beady eyed purveyors of headache inducing toilet-waters...).
After wandering around the rest of the day, sniffing various parts of my arm regularly, I fell in love. The scent I chose cannot be called light, or subtle, but it is not cloying, nor does it leave a trail behind you. It stays where it's put; it lingers like a dark exotic, erotic shadow. It smells beautiful yet damaged... Sigh.
Not everyone will like it - my friend commented that it was a little heavy. It is, but only when stuffed right up to the nose, with its notes of (here goes the list...) labdanum, cedarwood, cardamom, cinnamon, black pepper, honey, clove, nutmeg and sandalwood, my perfume is hypnotic, and, I hope, really suits me; where I am right now; where I'm going...
It's Comme des Garcons' Original... and I'm in love.
Signature Scent glory, here I come!
I love perfume, in a kind of, love the image of some sophisticate wafting around with a hint of her signature scent revealed only to the few who get close. I think I had that (minus the sophisticate and wafting bits - i'm 'eccentric' and i clump about...) for a bit with my Angel Innocent parfum... but part of me post-school relationship has been subconciously stopping its use by being disorganised and messy so as to prevent finding the bottle for that fateful spray.
So I've moved on. Innocent is definitely in the past - along with my shame, sense of sartorial decorum and the various toxic relationship issues I've had... I do remember very vividly being told by an ex that my perfume lingered on his pillow, making him think of me all the time. Now, sweet as that may have been, I have no desire to return to being that person...
On to the future I declare... being without a scent for nigh on 10 months has been excruciating. There is something about perfume that is so erotic, so mysterious (I'm not talking about the cloying, sweet and mass marketed variety here... god help anyone with Jade Goody's perfume as their signature scent... [oh god, I'm being a snob... *slaps wrist* - sorry!] )
It takes quite a lot to plough into the perfume department of any shop, and I hate it. It gives me a headache. So the search had been non-existent really, left by the wayside in a busy life, until the Paris trip...
One of my first ports of call in the city must always be Colette. This shop is AMAZEMENT INCARNATE! Mother and I spent hours in there browsing the music, art, cosmetics and clothes... It is the concept store to end all concept stores... (photos aren't allowed otherwise I would be tempting and tantalising you with the images of decadent yet minimalist and oh-so-french goodness)
The perfume bit is small, yet (cliche coming...) perfectly formed. They had a perfume mixing desk as well as a select few brands to browse. These included Prada, Marc Jacobs' Daisy, Comme des Garcons, Juliette has a Gun and Molecules. On entering Colette, the idea of a new scent had not even occured to me, but the sheer comfort in the perfume zone was enough to tempt me into spritzing a few scents onto various pulse points. Since our hotel was literally round the corner, we were in no hurry to make a choice (unlike the usual perfume hunting expedition where one is watched by beady eyed purveyors of headache inducing toilet-waters...).
After wandering around the rest of the day, sniffing various parts of my arm regularly, I fell in love. The scent I chose cannot be called light, or subtle, but it is not cloying, nor does it leave a trail behind you. It stays where it's put; it lingers like a dark exotic, erotic shadow. It smells beautiful yet damaged... Sigh.
Not everyone will like it - my friend commented that it was a little heavy. It is, but only when stuffed right up to the nose, with its notes of (here goes the list...) labdanum, cedarwood, cardamom, cinnamon, black pepper, honey, clove, nutmeg and sandalwood, my perfume is hypnotic, and, I hope, really suits me; where I am right now; where I'm going...
It's Comme des Garcons' Original... and I'm in love.
Signature Scent glory, here I come!
Monday, 27 August 2007
Sample Sale Goodness...
Not living in London all year round becomes quite an annoyance when, while I'm at uni, I hear of sample sales a-plenty going on... Up until this last week, despite knowing about too many for my piece of mind, I hadn't ever quite made it to one.
So, being able to get to the bStore on Friday with my friend "Opera", was a treat...
Now, being unfamiliar with the etiquette of such things, it did not occur to me that one had to go and actually ask how to get down to the basement... I thought there'd be signs! But after wandering in, then out, then in again, I finally managed to go and ask at the till, where I was directed through the door behind them into their basement! Excitment incarnate!!!
It was odd to be looking at so many gorgeous shoes and clothes within my price range yet higher in uality and innovation than I can usually afford...
Even better, the clothes weren't just smalls and 6s - and though I ended up only buying a pair of shoes, I felt quite good being able to actually fit into some of the wares on display ;-D
I fell in love with several pairs of shoes - notably a pair of black wedges with tassels and some brogues, but eventually settled on these Eley Kishimoto ones...
(Susie Bubble bought the other Kishimoto ones - here...)
I even managed to wear them this weekend in Paris (posts on my little break to come...) - so comfy despite height...
They have made me very happy, and I look forward with much anticipation, to many such gloriously fruitful sample sales in future!!!
So, being able to get to the bStore on Friday with my friend "Opera", was a treat...
Now, being unfamiliar with the etiquette of such things, it did not occur to me that one had to go and actually ask how to get down to the basement... I thought there'd be signs! But after wandering in, then out, then in again, I finally managed to go and ask at the till, where I was directed through the door behind them into their basement! Excitment incarnate!!!
It was odd to be looking at so many gorgeous shoes and clothes within my price range yet higher in uality and innovation than I can usually afford...
Even better, the clothes weren't just smalls and 6s - and though I ended up only buying a pair of shoes, I felt quite good being able to actually fit into some of the wares on display ;-D
I fell in love with several pairs of shoes - notably a pair of black wedges with tassels and some brogues, but eventually settled on these Eley Kishimoto ones...
(Susie Bubble bought the other Kishimoto ones - here...)
I even managed to wear them this weekend in Paris (posts on my little break to come...) - so comfy despite height...
They have made me very happy, and I look forward with much anticipation, to many such gloriously fruitful sample sales in future!!!
Friday, 24 August 2007
Beauty is Pain
Ouch...
Just got half my body hair ripped out it seems...
My eyebrows have been vaguely troll-like for quite a while and finally took the plunge today and had them tiny-fied... scary to see...
Not quite as scary as the Brazilian bikini wax... Wierdly, I don't scream the house down ( - possibly due to a cocktail of paracetemol and ibuprofen :-s - ) - but it still BLOODY HURT!!!
All in the name of a Parisian holiday to a spa hotel in the centre of the city. Should be amazing. I feel quite like the hair ripping was a cathartic act... not one I like repeating particularly much... but I suppose in this day and age, there are certain things that are beauty givens. And I should, I suppose live up to them.
Grumble. ;-D
- On a related note... I do hope I manage to fit some shopping in this weekend... shoes, handbags, beauty stuff and other accessories are on my list - mainly because mother and I had a big conversation this afternoon about getting my weight down. She has never been one to advocate it, but I'm starting to really suffer self-esteem-wise and I do have some issues with eating to punish myself - so it's a sensible idea to think quite seriously about sorting the size-increase. JOYOUS!!!
Just got half my body hair ripped out it seems...
My eyebrows have been vaguely troll-like for quite a while and finally took the plunge today and had them tiny-fied... scary to see...
Not quite as scary as the Brazilian bikini wax... Wierdly, I don't scream the house down ( - possibly due to a cocktail of paracetemol and ibuprofen :-s - ) - but it still BLOODY HURT!!!
All in the name of a Parisian holiday to a spa hotel in the centre of the city. Should be amazing. I feel quite like the hair ripping was a cathartic act... not one I like repeating particularly much... but I suppose in this day and age, there are certain things that are beauty givens. And I should, I suppose live up to them.
Grumble. ;-D
- On a related note... I do hope I manage to fit some shopping in this weekend... shoes, handbags, beauty stuff and other accessories are on my list - mainly because mother and I had a big conversation this afternoon about getting my weight down. She has never been one to advocate it, but I'm starting to really suffer self-esteem-wise and I do have some issues with eating to punish myself - so it's a sensible idea to think quite seriously about sorting the size-increase. JOYOUS!!!
Wednesday, 22 August 2007
Puffing and Padding
I was in Camden yesterday, shopping with the complication mentioned in my last post, and we went into Cyberdog.
Now, while I'm not a big one for the London clubbing scene, I can occassionally be a bit of a raver. This situation is more from lack of time, money and energy than a lack of wanting. So visiting cyberdog is always a lesson in restraint.
But yesterday, I almost gave in. Most of the stuff, one wouldn't wear outside of a place like Fabric, but a pair of trousers really caught my eye. Ludicously expensive they may have been, but relatively on trend they were too...
ok, so they are quite possibly hideous - but with a draped grey tank top or a bright shirt, I think they could work...
Now, while I'm not a big one for the London clubbing scene, I can occassionally be a bit of a raver. This situation is more from lack of time, money and energy than a lack of wanting. So visiting cyberdog is always a lesson in restraint.
But yesterday, I almost gave in. Most of the stuff, one wouldn't wear outside of a place like Fabric, but a pair of trousers really caught my eye. Ludicously expensive they may have been, but relatively on trend they were too...
ok, so they are quite possibly hideous - but with a draped grey tank top or a bright shirt, I think they could work...
How to be a nice person...
Don't follow my example.
Fact: Playing with fire is dangerous but Oh so seductive...
The traditional love triangle has been replaced by a love parallelogram with attached venn diagrams... Everyone 'loves' at least two other people - some people know, others don't. It's all very complicated, and ultimately, somebody is going to get hurt... I don't really know how to get out from this tangled web we've woven, but the time has definitely come for damage control.
I spent yesterday with the one whose introduction into the group dynamic sparked all the complications. Realising at the end of our time together that I was being unfair and selfish if I stayed any longer - not only on him, seeing as I can see no future for us ( - I love him as a friend, find him attractive etc etc, but am In Love with one of his good friends and care more about the friends who are in love with him than about him... - ) - but on our mutual friends to whom any relationship beyond friendship of ours would be a kick in the gut.
There is something very tricky about navigating the waters of relationships between bisexual men and straight women - if a man is just gay or straight, they are easier to deal with; easier to trust. Revealing my soul to a guy who I thought had no ulterior motives - at the time misunderstanding his sexuality - I was setting myself up for this fall.
I wondered if I wished I could turn back time. If I would never have kissed any of them. If I would never have gotten involved, as a confidante, with any of them. If I would never have begun a relationship with a guy so emotionally damaged and insecure that I find myself acting like its his friend I'm in a relationship with, not him, in a bid to counterbalance my loss of control over the situation.
But I don't really wish any of that. I just wish there was a way to sort out the complications without a mess ensuing.
Fact: Playing with fire is dangerous but Oh so seductive...
The traditional love triangle has been replaced by a love parallelogram with attached venn diagrams... Everyone 'loves' at least two other people - some people know, others don't. It's all very complicated, and ultimately, somebody is going to get hurt... I don't really know how to get out from this tangled web we've woven, but the time has definitely come for damage control.
I spent yesterday with the one whose introduction into the group dynamic sparked all the complications. Realising at the end of our time together that I was being unfair and selfish if I stayed any longer - not only on him, seeing as I can see no future for us ( - I love him as a friend, find him attractive etc etc, but am In Love with one of his good friends and care more about the friends who are in love with him than about him... - ) - but on our mutual friends to whom any relationship beyond friendship of ours would be a kick in the gut.
There is something very tricky about navigating the waters of relationships between bisexual men and straight women - if a man is just gay or straight, they are easier to deal with; easier to trust. Revealing my soul to a guy who I thought had no ulterior motives - at the time misunderstanding his sexuality - I was setting myself up for this fall.
I wondered if I wished I could turn back time. If I would never have kissed any of them. If I would never have gotten involved, as a confidante, with any of them. If I would never have begun a relationship with a guy so emotionally damaged and insecure that I find myself acting like its his friend I'm in a relationship with, not him, in a bid to counterbalance my loss of control over the situation.
But I don't really wish any of that. I just wish there was a way to sort out the complications without a mess ensuing.
Sunday, 19 August 2007
Bette, Boots and Bondage
As the below post intimates, I'm not a big fan of the modern 'celebity' culture... but I do like to look back, and appreciate the styles of stars gone by. They just have so much more class, talent and style...
A case in point, for me, at the moment is Bette Davis. These three pictures all exude a charisma and attitude which combined sum up, in part, this season's mindset. I'm going to be finding that long lost copy of 'Of Human Bondage' as soon as I've finished making a cup of tea!
A case in point, for me, at the moment is Bette Davis. These three pictures all exude a charisma and attitude which combined sum up, in part, this season's mindset. I'm going to be finding that long lost copy of 'Of Human Bondage' as soon as I've finished making a cup of tea!
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