Zizi's

Hopefully it's not just me, but I write a lot of lists. 'To buy' lists mainly and I go through a lot. That's not to say I buy everything (if only) but only that I often have so many things I want to buy and often don't have enough fiscally. Currently on the top my list: Acne Pistols, that Kris van Assche backpack, Tom Ford White Patchouli, a Comme des Garçons wallet and a Clarisonic Mia. Until very recently, Repetto Zizi's were on there.

A few mornings ago, in my just-awakened stupor, I answered my phone. On the other end was Vivian, in an overexcited frenzy one can only get when in a shoe sale, telling me that Repetto Zizi's were $'you'd-be-insane-to-let-these-slip'. That was followed up by a lot of 'errr?'s and 'huh?'s on my part but thankfully, even in my daze, the bargain hunter in me stepped in and asked her to buy them for me. Now that I have them, I can say they are well worth the money - the goatskin leather is so buttery soft that the shoes feel like they've already been worn in, the heel is just the right height to prevent it from looking too similar to school shoes and the sole is thin and flexible.


Today I curled my hair (and also wore Tom Ford's Black Orchid). Mum said I look like a middle aged house-wife with my hair done like this.

I am wearing the aforementioned shoes and my COS top. I was going to go out with trousers then at the last minute I changed my mind and wanted to look as if I was going to a funeral. The coat is my mum's from the 80's (vintage, adorable?) and whoops, you can see the lining of my coat - what a rookie mistake.

The Little Paris Kitchen

It's been over two months since I came back from my three and a half week holiday to Europe and I still haven't recovered - Paris in particular holds a place in my heart. I miss its creamy beige stone buildings and dainty little balconies, the bite of the wind as I stepped out, the lonely café chairs which sat in the cold while everyone else was indoors. Due to my complete incompetence at learning languages and that mortifying Tomato Gate incident, I didn't try much local cuisine but what I've learnt from Rachel Khoo (she's my new life role model) is that I can cook French food how the French do at home and wear cute dresses with socks and lipstick while cooking. Watching her show, The Little Paris Kitchen I can live vicariously through her and pretend that I have my own Parisian apartment in Belleville and that I can peruse the food markets whenever my fridge needs restocking (read: every day). Here are some screen caps from her BBC show.












Croque Madame muffins!


Madeleines with lemon curd






Oeufs en cocotte.








Cheese and potatoes. Obviously we are tastebud twins. Recipe here.


Cheese.

such fun

This is a 3-in-1 post. Makeup, outfit and the day's happenings. Talk about value for your internet. Before you say I don't care about anything, think about this post.

Here is a video on how I do my everyday makeup. If you don't want to have to do your brows every day, I have some very valuable advice for you. Grow a fringe.


Products used:
Neutrogena Sport Face SPF 30+ sunscreen
Lush Imperialis moisturiser
Benefit Porefessional as a primer
A mix of Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser in Porcelain, Burberry Sheer Glow and Burberry foundation in #5 applied with the Real Techniques stippling brush
Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection concealer in Medium blended with a Real Techniques pointed foundation brush
Chanel Poudre Douce in 80 Peche Caresse applied with the Real Techniques kabuki brush
Nars powder blush in Douceur applied with the Real Techniques contour brush
Illamasqua cream blush in Rude
Calvin Klein Liquid Edge liquid eyeliner in black
CoverGirl LashBlast volume mascara

I was going out to see Anton, but didn't leave without a slick of lipstick though. I wore YSL Rouge Pur Couture in #13 Le Orange.

This was my outfit. How standard.
dress - Asos, shoes - Underground


I bet you're all sick to death of ma pug faaaace.
sunglasses - RetroSuperFuture


Anton and I went to the Bavarian Bier Café on York St. I ordered a hefeweiss dunkel and she ordered... not sure what.


This was Anton's chicken schnitzel.


My rocket and parmesan salad with pine nuts and semi dried tomatoes.


Mash.


Anton admiring the view like a tourist even though she's a Sydneysider.


Bamboo.


Spiders are absolutely, what I call, disgusting.


We walked through the Palace Gardens.


It must be spider season or something.


Around the back of the Palace Gardens we found this fountain which I've never seen before. Don't even ask me how I've never been there.


Ibises are gross too.

llama-esque

When I was in London with Jane and Mel we were on Carnaby St and went into the Illamasqua store. It was strange in there - store assistants looked as if they were from a music video set, the store itself was furnished with very simple but industrial tables and chairs and the place was decorated with a mannequin in a very peculiar position. Yes, makeup for my alter ego, but you didn't mention I'd getting the creeps (i wuv err1). We left after about five minutes once I had finished going through their red lipsticks. When we exited the store Mel was like 'What was that store? Llama-esque? What on earth?' - ah, what a Mel-ment. I love Illamasqua but whoa, that experience was intense yo.

A far less intense experience I would say is shopping on their online store - everything is so neatly displayed, swatches on real skin, accurate descriptions. I blame them whoever designed the site, those clever people who know how to tug on my weakened, cosmetics obsessed heartstrings and their stupid Easter sale. How could I resist? 50% of certain shades of blushes (and they were all good shades), nail polishes and eyeshadows and then finally 15% off all orders. So now, as a result, I am now three blushes richer but have now broken my makeup ban. With a little hope I can still carry on with the other categories until the end of the year.

I purchased three blushes in Katie, Hussy and Lover, shared a pack of sealing gel with Vivian (to use with my Burberry eyeshadow) and a liquid liner because I'm out. Katie is a pale, milky pink which, after swatching on my hand, looks as if it would be very difficult to be heavy handed with. Hussy is just a neutral, medium, kind of watermelon-y pink. I couldn't say no. It's got an average rating of 5.0 on makeup alley and it's got 43 reviews - ummm it's obviously a miracle product. I was standing strong and wasn't going to buy it but then I saw this photo on Sarah Assan's Blog and it just tipped me over the line. Last of the blushes is Lover, a peach. Everyone knows how I'm drawn senselessy to anything that's peach or coral coloured and this particular shade also has a pretty rocking rating on makeup alley - 4.7!

Those who see me often will know that I pretty much have winged eyeliner on everyday and as I am nearing the last few applications of my current one (which is an extremely old Calvin Klein liquid edge one) I was desperate to find a replacement. The CK one is the only liner I would use because it's so low maintenance. With many liners they smudge after a few hours of wear and run when wet. With the CK one it's a little like those mascaras which form tubes - it's a little hard to describe but it doesn't budge until you want to remove it and when you do want to remove it, it'll just peel off in a very thin sheet of liner. That sounds absolutely disgusting but I assure you it's awesome. The Illamasqua Precision Ink is a similar formula but it's so much more pigmented. Liner heaven.


Here's a flag! Hussy, Lover, Katie.

I wouldn't say waterproof - maybe water resistant?


Yep. I am hopeless.

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

Cyndi Lauper got it right. So did Deborah Lippmann. She also got Happy Birthday right, which I currently have on my toes after a sleepover at Vivian's. Yep, I agree. That was an awful segue.

It was one of the more spontaneous things I have done in my life (how rebellious, I know, I know), planning to sleep over at a friend's for a night with less than 6 hours notice. There was a lot of cooking involved. I was trialling life as an food loving spinster - it's never too early to begin preparing for the future. We made a pie with everything in it, potato and leek soup and brownies from a packet. At night we watched The Little Paris Kitchen and made her fall in love with Rachel Khoo like I have. After Ms Khoo was Les Chansons d'amour - my favourite film ever. It's still perfect.




Meanwhile, Vivian's sister was on her iPad.

Drinks were consumed in Vivian's Shanghai Tang teacups. Here's the corresponding saucer to the red cup.



Yep we love makeup.

sesame seedy

Now, let's be real. How good are my puns (see title of post)?

This was my lunch a few days ago.





A sesame bagel with pea dip, haloumi and roasted eggplant and zucchini. It's got three of my favourite foods so needless to say, I demolished it. Who's bossing it now? YY: 1, bagel: 0.

Thumbs

Apologies in advance for the overuse of the thumb/s up. Terry Richardson is all kinds of gross and I don't mean to remind you of his grossness.


My harrington jacket arrived! I totally match my pillow cover.

I embarrass myself too.

Here's mum putting potatoes and pumpkins in the oven!

...and this is me eagerly awaiting food.

This is a very old gif from my old place, but I don't think I've posted it. Mice are cool

I am on break now. Cool life. I have a DIY planned. Who remembers my DIY's? No one, obv.