27 June 2008

The longing inside....

Hey Zephyr!
I guess we all want what we can't have eh? Because by the looks of what you are loving at the moment, you should be in London. Since I arrived I have enjoyed various B&B outings, the people here are horse mad like us, and the cars in my neighbourhood... well, there's a Maserati parked permanently down the road for a start. The money here is outrageous.
And what I want are all things I can't have too, like that trip to Fiji you are taking later in the year!

Lets get started:
1. Cowboys.
Upon visiting the Guggenheim over Christmas I fell in love with a cowboy, and then many other cowboys, all by Richard Prince. While his other art means little to me, he has taken one of my all time inspirations - American Cowboys & Horses - to new heights with a beautiful photograph series. Sotheby's will be selling off a giant sunset image of Prince's, of cowboys setting up camp out West, in this week's Contemporary sale, and the Serpentine Gallery show opened last night here in London. Oh yeah, and he guest edited July Harper's Bazaar, but more about that in another post. The mania is too much - it's boring when an artist is too much the latest thing - but Prince's cowboy images will prevail for me.



2. A Burberry and Balenciaga work wardrobe.
It's crazy to be working on New Bond Street, one of the most iconic streets of London fashion, art and well, shopping! But somehow I do, and each day I wish that I had Burberry Prorsum's Christopher Bailey to dress me in the morning, and Balenciaga statement shoes (not necessarily the lego platforms, I would kill for the suede ankle boots selling online at Matches right now) to finish off a corporate look. For now though that's just inspirations and wishful thinking.

3. Gossip Girl.

I dont care what anyone says, people are watching this show! They crave the styling, they watch 15 second clips on youtube or they brave shitty desktop ads when they Google free episodes, because they are addicted, like me.

4. The Macbook Air.
Now that featherandzephyr is live and running I desire even more to have my own Macbook Air. I read its bad reviews online and still know that, since I dont need anything ridiculous from a laptop, it is the beautiful, light, stylishly designed, practical and technologically perfect gadget for me.



5. Tropical Islands.
Since I moved to this city not a day has gone by where I have not dreamed of an island with blue water and white sand. I then dream of the swimwear to go with it, but if I let myself daydream anymore here I will get depressed. I need to embrace the pavement and Victorian architecture for now.

6. And, last but not least: LOVE
A huge inspiration and I see signs of it everywhere, from the white swans on the Little Venice canals near my place to the roses I see men bringing home on the tube. Keep it up everyone, it triggers happy feelings for me.

xx Feather

21 June 2008

Rich Kids, B&Bs, Gucci and a Maserati




Now that you live in London Feather, it's harder to keep in touch with eachother's current style inspirations. We use to bring magazines to look at over coffee. Or we would show eachother our scrapbooks with pictures we'd cut out to reflect our current mood and ideas on style and fashion. So I thought I'd post a couple of photos to show you what's inspiring me right now.


Gucci AW 08


Ad Campaigns featuring socialites, rock offspring and general beautiful people

Maserati = Sweet Ride


Country B&Bs



Boys in boots, The Chanel Bicycle and Horses (always horses)



17 June 2008

Makeup etc.... a blonde and a brunette dish on their top 3 products

I was sorting out my make up yesterday and I realised I need to update, rearrange and throw out a lot to make room for more. This both excites and scares me. I love walking into a department store, checking out all the latest products. Clinique for lipstick? Dior for nail polish? Who knows? That's the fun part. But fun often leads to confusion, bewilderment and tantrums. There is honestly just so much out there. And with every new product comes a celebrity endorsed ad campaign. Just when I have read my latest copy of Vogue or Russh and settled on my next new mascara, I see another ad with Scarlett, Charlize or Penelope batting their 40,000 calorie lashes at me.
My greatest mistake is choosing products for the packaging. One line might have the perfect shade of pink gloss, but then I spot another shade of pink, not quite right, but it comes in the coolest box ever! I'm sold.
This is what I do know. I know the products that work for me. The trusty, familiar little pots, tins, tubes and cans that forever line my shelves. The products that run out faster than anything else. The products that make me panic when I'm on holiday and realise I've forgotten to pack.
So, Feather, I bring you my top 3 favorite beauty products. I'd like to know what yours are too. Maybe we 'll both learn something new, from a source we know we can trust and speaks from experience (not to mention our cute packaging too!)

1. Klorane Dry Shampoo. I thank the heavens for this product every time I'm running late for work and don't have enough time to wash and dry my hair. All you do is give your hair a few quick sprays, wait 2 minutes and brush out. It saves time and saves water by reducing shower time. What's not to love?

2. i.d bare Minerals Foundation. My skin is sensitive. Really sensitive. Previously I'd be having a red and blotchy day, put on foundation and things would go from bad to worse. With this little pot of gold any blotches are completely covered. The red and blotchy days occur rarely now, and I it's think because this product is just so un-intrusive. Best of all it doesn't even look or feel like I'm wearing foundation. Gone are the days of painting my face with flesh coloured cement. At least that's how I remember it.

3. Lip Fusion Micro-Injected Collagen Lip Plump. I use this gloss quite sparingly as my lips are fairly full as they are, but if I want the extra oomph this does the trick. Immediately after applying you feel your lips tingle so you know it's doing something. If you want plump shiny lips in seconds this is the gloss you need.

x Zephyr

Hee hee, hi Zephyr! It is so crazy to be talking to you in blog-form, but I will get used to it I'm sure.
Um, I want all of your 3 products, in my makeup kit, now. I especially have been wanting to try mineral powder, since it gets raving user reviews online just like yours all the time. And that Lip Plump stuff, will it work on my lips? I can see I'm gonna have to go to Sephora and test it out.
Now, right back at you, here are my top three make up products. I am so attached to these, I use them absolutely everyday, sparingly in the day and more heavily at night:

1. Benefit Some-Kind-a-Gorgeous Foundation Faker


I have olive/pink skin but I see girls on the tube with fair skin using this product too - blah, don't do your makeup on public transport people! Anyway, Benefit's Some-Kind-a-Gorgeous is not a foundation and not a powder, it just is. It povides coverage with a perfect skintone match everytime, so I dont have to worry about whether I've turned pale with rainy days, or am sunkissed from the rare hot days. I use it under my eyes, on my eyelids, on my chin and on each side of my nose to reduce redness or dark patches, and I leave the cheeks bare for natural rosiness and dewy-ness to shine through. If I want a heavier look I'll just use it all over, it always feels light.

Note: you must not, I repeat: must not use the little sponge that comes with this, it just absorbs it (I don't know why they include it since it was a Benefit salesgirl that first told me this tip) - use a foundation brush and you will be amazed at the convenience and results this product provides.


2. Benefit BadGal Blue Mascara

Yep, 2nd on the list is another Benefit product, and if I had the ca$h there'd be more! Once again, as all makeup should be, this product is one perfectly suited to my skin tone, or rather in this case, my eye tone.

Benefit is saying this 'benefits' all eye colours. I don't know about that. But I do know that blue mascara will make brown eyes giant and extra brown. Now, I know what you are thinking - wearing bright blue mascara everyday makes you look like, I dunno, MIA or something. But trust me, even though MIA is awesome, I dont want to glow in the dark any more than you do, and I look for other things in mascara too. Most importantly: NO SMUDGING (I haven't found it yet, although this one and Modelco's black hardly smudge) and a high lengthening factor. Benefit Badgal Blue delivers to my requirements, it only smudges the teeniest bit because I sleep with my makeup on (I know, I'm evil), and it makes lashes full and long, with the added bonus that it is an incredible, hardly noticeable shade that I wear day in and day out. With this product, I dont look electric, I just look like Bambi, everyday.

3. Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream


This has been a staple for so many years, that I now call it my Magic Cream. Someone was emptying the contents of their handbag for Tatler or Harper's Bazaar this month and mentioned 8 Hour Cream and I was like, hmm what's that? That, ladies and gentlemen, is how close I am to this product, I forgot its name already!

So, onto the uses. This is the ultimate lip gloss, and that is what I use it for most. It is also the ultimate barrier cream on cold or windy days (absolutely awesome on the ski slopes), the ultimate eyeshadow, the ultimate highlighter, the ultimate shimmer cream, the ultimate cuticle rub, and the ultimate hand cream. It is each of these products at their most luxurious. It's a pity the new package design looks so cheap - it completely lets the product and the company down. But hey it's what's inside that counts (plus you can get the standard packaging - pictured here - in-flight or on your way through most airports).

So there you have it, my top three. I get emotional just writing about them! Time to get ready for work, and now you know what I'll be using...

xx Feath

15 June 2008

The FITness, diet and exercise tool free online toDAY

Hey Zeph, being an Aussie girl in London is hard, and this got me on the road back to feeling like myself again...

If fitday.com were a handheld gadget it would retail for £a lot, and get gold-plated by Prada for a LimitedEdition. And its the ultimate envy item: whole offices full of modern women will soon be logging in, just trying to be like me!


Here at F&Z we only give props where props are due. And at the mo' I am love, love, loving fitday.com! I just stumbled upon the site - I am going to sound like an infomercial for the next few sentences but I'm afraid it can't be helped...

Many girls in London right now are trying to lose weight quickly or to get in shape for summer. For the clever among you, fitday.com should be the first point of call en route towards your goal. It is an invaluable tool to lose or maintain weight, it's completely FREE, and (hello, useful) it's web-based. It works if you are a diet person or not a diet person, because it is so damn easy to use. I am not a diet person (or an exercise person), but I wanted to see what I was eating, and it delivered more than I asked for - in stats and graphs! I got skinny just watching what I ate. That's it.

Phew, that was lame, but I am being honest. Now I'll switch to easy steps so that I'm gushing less!
Step 1. fitday.com is FREE, so set up an account, give yourself a little nickname ~(mine is greentealattes)
Step 2. enter in your details; weight, height and goals if you like, the website will calculate everything for you
Step 3. log in and enter what you eat, and any workouts. Adjust the quantities and, if you dont find the food you ate, use one that is similar or has similar calorie content.
Step 4. Use it hardcore - keep track of your weight, keep track of your fat intake, keep track of carbs, keep track of bloody everything, even nutrition and H2O intake
or
Use it lax - keep track of what you ate or burned, eat under a certain amount of calories to lose (never too low), or up around your basic calorie need to maintain.

xx Feather

14 June 2008

Favorite online finds of the week

Hey Feather, I've spent the weekend trawling the net for future purchases or just nice things to look at, here's what I found.
Le Black Book is a new Australian Online Store. Featuring clothing, shoes and accessories from leading Oz Designers.
My favorite item is this One Piece Swimsuit from Anna & Boy. $270.00 (au dollars) www.leblackbook.com.au






It's winter here in Australia, but this Seaton Print Hat has me wishing it was spring already. Can't wait for the sun to come back out!
$66.00us www.revolveclothing.com



When I think of Quilts, words like designer and couture don't immediately come to mind. But then I found the range at Denyse Schmidt Quilts.


I love "Poppy & Tangerine" from the Works Special Edition collection. So cosy and warm looking! Prices ranges from $400 - $1,500 depending on size. Check out the entire collection at www.dsquilts.com



x Zeph

13 June 2008

First. Post. Ever. - intro






Welcome to Feather&Zephyr!

Fashion, trends, design, people, places,
life...
We used to contemplate this stuff together over Starbucks. Then,
one fateful day, Zephyr stayed in Canberra, Australia and I moved to London, England. We can't get together anymore, yet we have even more to discuss! We decided starting a blog would be easier than posting one another pictures cut from fashion magazines or emailing back and forth with links to looks we've come across online.

So, here you'll mainly find us exchanging ideas and opinions on looks, designers and what we consider to be foreseeable trends. Plus there'll be a bit of health + beauty, food, travel, design and general consumerism as we go through life testing all there is to offer until we find out whether awesome stuff really will make us happy.

At Feather&Zephyr we think globally, so our blog will have an international focus. Be prepared for info on new Australian designers, snooty London in-crowds, and everything unavoidable in-between. Please, please comment on posts, we relish input, this is live debating - granted, between the two of us - but anything you say only provides more fuel for thought, so join in!

Basically, Wowowow is not the only blog by and for smart women, Style.com is not the only place online for a quick fashion fix, and Perez is not the only one who hates and rates celebs... as you will see!

xx Feather

P.S
Zeph, I'm loving this already