Europe Summer travel wadrobe

Dresses I'm packing includes a Cream cotton Tuscan style dress perfect for the Italian leg of the trip, Thurley dress for Polo in the Park and Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Asymetrical Chiffon Maxi for Barcelona nights and a couple of beach dresses to wear around Positano and Lake Como.

 Tops include: Cotton On multicolour empire line spaghetti strap, Orange sequinned Halter top, Forever New Dusty Pink Cutout top, and a selection of fun print Tees.

 Denim bolero studded jacket, Northface hoodie, Dotti Macrame back vest.

 Sussan roll-up shorts in grey, Rip Curl beach short shorts, Linen Khaki shorts, and Supre khaki maxi skirt

Marks & Spencer bikini in black, Mis-matched Rip Curl bikini.

What else may I need for my trip? I'd have to pack a few pieces for work interviews that I may have, but those can double up as chic wear in the cities I will be visiting outside of London i.e. Milan, Madrid and Barcelona.

Trying to pack accessories that will take me from the Italian coast to High street Milan/London this summer can prove challenging, but I assembled the following (fairly similar) set on Polyvore to remind me of what to take.

Summer travel accessories by happy-e-after featuring flip flop sandals, Embellished sandals, $99 / Ballerina shoes, $44 / IPANEMA flip flop sandals, $32 / Tiffany & Co. / Kate Spade jewelry / Stone jewelry / Orange jewelry, $12 / Alexander McQueen scarve / Coach mirrored sunglasses, $175 / Paul Smith belt / Banana Republic / Longchamp Carry-On Duffel Bag



On top of that I have to bring Mr HEA his Nespresso Machine, pack cosmetics, toiletries, underwear, beach towels, Interview documents. Aaahhh!! Will I forget something?

Europe 2012 haul

Europe 2012 haul by happy-e-after featuring 

 Chanel earrings/ Chanel Illusion D'Ombre Apparence Holiday Makeup 2012/H&M beige sleeveless top/ H&M white jacket, $40/  Zara knit with shoulder embellishments/  H&M puffy jacket , $48 / H&M skinny fit jeans, $16 / Longchamp 'le Pliage' tote/ Maison Martin Margiela with H&M Fusion of two trousers/ Chanel leather GST / GAP 1969 oxblood skinny pants / GAP color block sweater /ALDO flat shoes / Anthropologie Ruched tops/ Mark & Spencer ankle Strap boots, $56 H&M print wrap dress, $19/ Michael Kors Tonne Pebbled Leather Hobo bag

I know it might not look like much but between travelling, fooding, souvenir shopping and seeing shows, I am still proud to have amassed these new items. My credit card bill however, is another story.

London so far

I hit the ground running here on Saturday morning. Before I proceed any further I just wanted to make a public service announcement to anyone transiting at Bangkok airport. Please do find the time if you can to walk the half hour walk to the beginning of Concourse A on Level 3. For 1200 Thai Baht which is about AUD40-ish, I got the most relaxing aromatherapy 1 hour massage at Chang foot Massage and Spa, just what the doctor ordered for those stiff muscles from sitting 8 hours on a plane and lugging around heavy hand luggage.

I even got to shower as part of the package and this is a boon given I faced another 15 hour flight on that second leg to London. This made sleeping on the ride much easier and arriving the next morning to greet a husband that one hasn't seen for a few months, a less harrowing experience.

Now onto the good stuff, I came up with the brilliant idea of going to the Portobello markets as soon as I've dumped my bags at the Mr's house. I needed to keep awake all day otherwise I surely would have fallen into the dangers of jetlag.

Trawling the vintage jewellery stores, I stumbled upon these for GBP45 which is a decent find I tell myself as it is a classic design and can never go out of fashion.

We also bought some delectable berries from the markets, even though strawberries aren't in season anymore which was why they were so tiny and sweet.

We went on from the Markets to Shepherd Bush where I was confronted by a Westfield that reminds me of the Bondi Junction Westfield. That thought is quickly forgotten though as I had approximately 1 hour to conduct any shopping I needed to complete my outfit. I had packed inappropriately for the weather of course and brought 30 denier stockings or something ridiculous like that. To Marks & Spencer's we go and I didn't stop at just stockings, I changed out of my gum boots to these:

GBP 29.50 from M&S!

The evening was spent at the Roux at Landau, a fabulous restaurant of which I shall do a further post on, but I was too tired to really partake respectfully of the meal.

It was the end of the day and I had barely slept, the effects of the massage completely worn off by then, I bade the crew at the restaurant an early mark for the night and Mr.HEA navigated me through the late night shoppers on Regent Place back to our home in Fulham.

I loved waking up with Mr.HEA on Sunday morning. It was like playing house, he takes me to his local Waitrose where we buy these organic groceries and proceed to make ourselves a nice breakfast, much like we used to do on the weekends back home.

This was our only Sunday left together in London. We had a quiet one, cooked breakfast and dinner and ironed shirts. We only ducked out briefly to replenish again my poorly packed wardrobe. You would have seen my exclaim of delight at H&M when I stumbled upon a rack of 50% off leftover Martin Maison Margiela collaboration pieces.

These 100% wool trousers will be super warm and trendy for London Winter. Score, score and score!

I have a couple of other posts I'd do separately from these ones. These are just the musing posts that I record the daily activities with. London's too exciting to be couped up at home blogging. Plus I have Chanel bag mule shopping to attend to. *wink*

Really loving the bag tag that they are giving out this season at Chanel!





P.S. I don't know why the blog republished this old post from last week. OR the week before. Note the date though, perhaps the world is going to end today if random things like these keep happening! 

One Day in Paris

Such a tiring day, but I'd do it again in a heart beat.

Leaving St Pancras on the Eurostar

Paree!

View from the Arc De Triomphe

You can see Paris through the clock in Musee d'Orsay

Musee d'Orsay: The house of the largest Impressionists art collection in the world

Arc de Triomphe

Headed towards espace in Louis Vuitton

Waiting for the vacuum lift that takes you to the gallery

The art being showcased at the moment at espace was an artistic journey throughout Istanbul Turkey, but I dare say the holiday began here in this oasis

Stopping for a cuppa

Gorgeous Laduree tea salon

Shopping frenzy

Swarovski Xmas at Galleries Lafayette

Bottega Venetta's pastel confectionery window display

Where all your dreams come true

If not, there's always LV toting dancing penguins

Tips for recreating this one day:

1) Taking the Eurostar from London to Paris is easy and reasonably safe as long as you keep your valuables where you can see them

2) Download the Paris Metro App and the Trip Advisor map of Paris that gives all the comments and nearest metro stops of the main attractions. Both these apps you can access reasonable amount of information without data and so it was a quite a boon when you haven't got roaming on.

3) If you take the Eurostar, you get 10% off extra on top of your Vat refund at Galleries Lafayette and two tickets for the price of one at Musee d'Orsay (Pity I only went by myself)

4) The Laduree at Rue Cambon (near Madeleine station) is less busy compared to the salon at Champ Elysees

5) Please use the tunnel at the end of Champ Elysees to get to the Arc de Triomphe. That roundabout is atrocious to cross above ground and dangerous too!

6) If planning to buy any of the Chanel classics, be prepared that you might be competing with all the other tourists that travel there for the very same reason and stock as you. (Oh yes, I bought a bag for myself by the way, thus saving myself over $1k in AUD - that's how I justify the purchase)

The Little Black Jacket Exhibition - Sydney

Last Saturday began with a lovely little Chanel exhibition. Mallhaciel invited me to go check this out with her, an exhibition that she has been absolutely dying to see and as I do love it when fashion meets art, I did not hesitate to say yes. The most difficult part of the outing really was what to wear as I did not own many Chanel items. It all boiled down to this one piece.

and a black tweed jacket I purchased from Ally's for $40 for my 'very Chanel' look. Of course Chanel makeup was in order too. Eye-cream, Powder, lip-liner and lipstick the rest of the look was Burberry and Dior, Oh I cheat.

It is a beautiful place, the Pier. Just remember to avoid wearing heels cause it gets stuck in the gaps in the floor. Walking in from the sunlight into the dimly lit exhibition space was daunting at first, but the excitement got us over that really quickly.

The first and last piece of the show that I saw was a series of stills of Yoko Ono with a video of her posing for the shots, shot from Karl Lagerfield's iPhone. It was meant to be an interpretive dance, her take on her life. And it was mesmerising. Poignantly tragic, but like a car accident, you were drawn to it and couldn't turn away from watching. Tragedy and Art goes well together.

If you go, you have the option of receiving any of Theophilus London, Astrid Berges Frisbey, Anna Mouglalis, Elle Fanning's posters to take with you. A little reminder that you were part of this exhibition. And they are generous gifts. I really appreciated getting mine as I had to brighten up the teenage boys' room I currently live in somehow (the posters below covered up theirs of Cars and NBA players) instead of removing their childhood memorabilia.

Mallhaciel's got a way better and more informational post than mine. I only tagged along to have a good time. But after work, whilst the sun's still up, or this weekend, why not stroll over to enjoy this?

Exhibition information:

PIER 2/3

13 HICKSON ROAD

WALSH BAY

SYDNEY NSW 2000

11AM - 7PM

FOR MORE INFORMATION: + (61) 2 9900 2910

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Chanel Vitalumiere Éclat Comfort Radiance pressed powder

Chanel Vitalumiere Eclat Comfort Radiance Compact in Beige Rose Sable is my latest best friend. After five years of Dior Snow, I was ready for a new setting powder.

I am not really a makeup snob but I do feel a significant difference between using Rimmel, Cover girl and Body Shop foundation and setting powders the few times I have deviated from Dior. The texture and the finish is never as smooth or fine.

Who knew though that there was such a difference even between applying CD and Chanel!

Background: I have been using the BRTC Gold Caviar BB cream with SPF 50 for a long time now. That product is oily and thick and the high SPF makes me look pale. So I have had to rely on a powder to matte the finish and darken the tone so that I look more natural. I stopped using sponge application about a year ago now, finding that the powder gets cakey and takes off the BB cream if I hadn't let it settle.

With the Chanel powder, it says that brush application gives a translucent finish where else the sponge application provides a natural coverage. It provides you with both!







It glided on with the brush with a silky touch. It was like it almost wasn't there. But you can see the light matte finish and it applies very evenly. Not gathering in your laugh lines or anything so the finish is very very natural.

I touched it a few times throughout the day just to make sure it was still there. And it was velvety to touch. Incredibly comfortable to wear for the whole day ( I never reapply anyways)

I don't know very much about the radiant glow it is meant to emanate, but I know that I look more youthful because it looks like I have hardly any makeup on. And it was still like that when I got home last night at 7.30pm after work. That's about 12 hours coverage.

I am very impressed with the sheer yet complex powder. Other bonuses includes it has floral notes to it as it contains Jasmine and lavender wax to preserve moisture in your skin. And another extra SPF10, cause you can't have too much SPF in Australia (Broken Ozone layer and all).

It ticks so many of my boxes that I am very happy to add it to my repertoire. Strawberrynet sells refills for $65 and get this, when I purchased this from Malaysia, the entire compact was $65 too, definitely works out cheaper than buying from counters here unless it is an emergency buy. Sorry I can't help but keep comparing it to CD (it's the only thing I've known for 5 years!) This compact costs the same as the Dior Snow compact when I was in Malaysia but it gives you an extra brush and has a far superior finish. I don't think I am looking back ever again.

Priceline beauty discount

Who says beauty is only skin deep? It is as deep as your pockets I'd say. And if they aren't quite that deep then well, you'll just have to take advantage of these offers such as store wide 20% off all cosmetics and skincare products at Priceline today and tomorrow. You can shop online too!

I shopped and saved on the following essentials that needed replacements for my bathroom:

 

And although there wasn't a discount for the nail polish remover, with my Priceline Club quarterly discount voucher of $4.56 I still ended up saving more than $17 in this haul. Glee!

Those aren't the only things I need replacing by the way.

I have hit the pan on my Dior compact, which is truly the end of an era. Because since staying true to their makeup for about over 5 years now, they have relentlessly discontinued or repackaged (so that i can't get refills) my favourite products no matter how many times I have found a close substitute within their range.








So with that, I bid Dior adieu and look forward to trialing a new house of makeup. Hopefully my next five years will be better served.




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Outfit plans

What I am wearing to a week night wedding next week...

Outfit plans by happy-e-after featuring christian dior

Diane von Furstenberg sleeveless tie neck blouse, $285 / TIBI army coat, $265 / Ankle length skirt, $135 / ASOS pointy pumps/ Louis Vuitton clutch / Chanel black bangle / Cezanne tahitian pearl stud earrings / Miso bangle jewelry, $8.10 / Chanel lip makeup, $39 / Christian Dior perfume / Christian Dior / OPI beauty product

Am quite excited about putting together this outfit as I found this black skirt from Witchery whilst shopping at Bondi Westfield yesterday. I am waiting till the Black Book event this weekend to purchase it to get the best bang for my buck. You might want to check this out, 120 discounts, events and freebies with participating retailers for four days only. Put it in your black book.

A bob, a manicure and a new set of lips

This body hasn't had much pampering in a while, so inspired by @Sultrabeauty's tweet earlier this week on this do from Elizabeth & James's
Runway, I brought this picture to the hairdresser's to cut off my locks for what was coined 'the new bob'.





The hairdresser argued at first that this is not a bob, and then proceeded to readjust my head a million times whilst snipping away at my chest-length tresses. She was infuriated that I was so tense and constantly watching her in the mirror. I was nervous that she might have misinterpreted what I wanted. Ta Da!





The fringe was already short and so cannot be made to be as long as the one in the picture. Whilst it is a little shorter than what I'd anticipated, I am actually really welcoming the new bob!




Nothing like freshly manicured nails on a weekend morning, all raring to go.



On another note, I experimented with a little Lipliner and lip gloss today and really liked the results: a lasting yet light, casual glossy look. I used Chanel's Precision Lip Definer in Tulip as a base, coloring in the lips, then glossed over it with the fuschia colored Lancôme Juicy Tubes in Awakening of Love ( The tube's design is by Yayoi Kusama, über cute and way before she collaborated with Marc Jacobs in his latest dot craze).





Wearing this knee length, navy striped Dolan Jersey cardigan and it is so comfortable, they dare you to sleep in it. I answered the door for an aunt visiting my in-laws and because I was wearing that, she thought I had only just gotten up. I don't care, am off for a coffee now with some single friends I've reunited with since Mr.HEA skipped town. Enjoy the rest of your weekend folks!


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