Vanity Fair

Hey Zeph
Such a rockin' comeback post!
I'm sorry, you can largely blame me for the drought, I disappeared into a black hole. In retrospect I can see that stopping blogging to you was among the first signs things were going downhill for me. I didn't know it would feel this good to be back - it's amazing! So, now that I am, I'd say 60% whole again, lets get going...

I have been trawling Asian beauty blogs to satisfy my recent obsession with skincare (and I can honestly say that none are as beautiful to look at and lovely to read as F&Z. Seriously, a lot of them are a complete mess!).
It all brings me to this post, inspired by travel...and vanity... and fate I suppose.

Three environments of my past, present and future, and their effect on (my) skin...




Past: LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
It was Madonna who said "...the air is just so moist here, it's great for the skin" about London, and when I moved there I immediately stole the phrase for my own conversations. (a) it sounds so glamourous and (b) it's totally true.
Each time you step outside in London, it's like that part of a facial where the therapist directs a fine mist at you and says "You just relax, this will give your skin a nice drink, and I'll be back in about 10 minutes". And while the city is bustling and polluted, and it tempts you to alternate super-cheap fried chicken meal packs (Perfect Chicken, Royal Oak tube station, yum!!) with your fresh itsu sashimi, even those with problem skin like me can have their year of flawlessness.
Method: Anything goes, with slapdash use of Elizabeth Arden 8-hour Cream as required.




Present: CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA
Um.... so when I got my passport stamped coming home from the UK, did they also blast my face with dehydration flames (just made those up, scary huh?) or what...
Ok, Canberra is not the desert, but in general Australia is DRY. It is so dry, that it may just be the "scariest environment imagineable" for those who have difficult skin, like that meteor was for Owen Wilson in Armageddon. And not only is it dry, it's ridiculously hot this time of year, so I get dangerously dry and then I get dangerously oily. Yep, I find it hard here, and this time, being a stressful return home and all, it has been even harder.
Method: chemical aid in the form of The Pill, Cetaphil cleanser a million times a day, and 30+ sunblock.




Future: KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA
People from the West have more to worry about frizzy hair-wise than bad skin-wise in the tropical paradise-city that is KL. So I am not worrying too much about my face in the upcoming adventure that will see me living there. It is so humid in Malaysia that I'm pretty sure, as has happened on past visits, I will regain lost moisture and there will be rejuvenation. Hallejulah! All that's left is to mattify during the day and thoroughly cleanse off pollution at night.
Method: 1 Starbucks Green Tea Latte and 2 litres of water per day. And I will try combination skin products like FANCL oil-based cleanser (available in Singapore) and Clarins Hydra-Matte day cream. The Body Shop seaweed range is also a good fallback in humid conditions.

So there we have it.
Life is a journey, hey Zeph?

xxF

[Thanks to MeccaCosmetica I am now testing the following Philosophy products: Microdelivery Exfoliating Wash, Purity 4-in-1 Cleanser and Hope in a Jar. The sales rep said to use them all in that order, but there is no way I am using two cleansers on my face when one is a '30-second peel' and the moisturiser to follow contains a chemical exfoliant (!) I will do Wash + moisturiser, then Purity + moisturiser. Using the samples this way should last about a week, after which I'll update this post with the result.]

UPDATE:
Microdelivery Exfoliating Wash contains fine granules and does not a lot more than baking soda as an exfoliant - in fact, you can mix baking soda with Cetaphil and trump this product.
Hope in a Jar is light and medicine-y, it gives ok hydration and subtly evens skin tone.
Purity 4-in-1 Cleanser is low-foaming and cleans well, even heavy mascara, with rubbing.

Overall, these products are ok, but didn't deliver anything special, and therefore they are definitely not worth the Philosophy price tag. I've come to the conclusion that the Philosophy skincare range is for people who have given up their search for great products, for a simple life of basics that work. i.e Not me!!

Creative Droughts and Floods...

So it's been awhile since we posted Feather. It's been a busy few months lately for us both, not to mention Christmas, New Year's etc. I've let my creative-ness fall by the way side. But last week I picked up a pencil and sketchbook and have barely put it down. I guess once the inspiration hits you its easy to roll with the flow. It might not turn into a masterpiece or something to hang on your wall, but it's fun and it reminds me of love of art, fashion and music.
I've also been on the net checking out sites devoted to clothing, graphic design and interior design. One site I've spent a particularly long time on is www.polyvore.com
I love a good collage, and this site gives you access to some of the greatest clothing, accessories and shoes. Not to mention all the pretty backgrounds and embellishments, so you can create a look that is totally you in the moment. Here are a couple of my creations..


New York Autumn by erinp16



A Day in Paris by erinp16


Shopping in Winter by erinp16


Zeph x

YSL Tribute Sandal

I cannot stop thinking about this shoe.
I want a pair really bad to take on my holiday to Vanuatu in a month.
They come in several colours but I want this red pair.

You like Feather?

You can check out the rest of the collection at ysl.com
Zeph

Hi Zeph

You should get those shoes!! They are awesome. What place they have in Vanuatu I'm not sure, but somehow I do see them in a tropical environment. With some kind of maxi dress.... You should get them!

xF

Style.com avatars??? weird.... and not stylish.

Hi Z
Avatar is nerd-speak for online cartoon versions of people.
Avatars are so not cool it makes me cringe, I can hardly say the word without gagging - it brings up images of lonely den-dwellers who prefer to keep online personalities rather than socialise properly, and that is just so sad and well, gross. Yet they are popular, which must be why Style.com has introduced them - the website now has cartoon versions of a few famous people who then blog with voice over by way of a leisurely phonecall.
Above is a pic of the Margherita Missoni avatar which as you can see looks nothing like her, and you can watch/listen to her (it?) here. Although Style.com can do no wrong, it is odd and boring and the one thing that would have spiced it up would have been a video, a real photo of the person or even better - a slideshow of backstage/runway pics.
xx F



P.S Where the bleep is GOOP? They said Thursday, and everywhere in the world has already had Thursday. Do you think when they said Thursday they meant Friday? Or even Saturday? Do you think Gwyneth is suffering from performance anxiety? She needn't worry, everyone's looking forward to it.

Yep totally agree with you Feather, Avatars are not cool or fun. They remind me of Bratz dolls for grown ups. Not stylish.

Ah GOOP. Good name choice. Nourish the inner aspect. How...very. I don't know what the deal is, but I'm not really looking forward to seeing what pearls of wisdom Paltrow has to share anyway.
Z

Identical Interiors

So. Freaky. You know what I did today Z?
I went to the Portabello Rd markets in Notting Hill looking for bric-a-brac because I'm slowly (on a tight budget) transforming the tiny central London apartment that is my current home.
I think we have been having identical thoughts of late - all I have been thinking about is interiors!

What got me started was that I changed the bookshelves in the loungeroom, following the seemingly obvious advice of Oprah's (gay, unfortunately) hot designer Nate. They now look amazing somehow, he is nothing short of genius.
Today I found an assortment of white pottery and some frames which are going to transform my bedroom. Incredibly, no item was more than £1. I need to update the energy in there and the perfect items just kept appearing!

So anyway, in all the inspo searching I did I came across this quiz at The Inspired Room, which I think you will love (TIR found it at the cool blog This is Glamourous). It's a photo-based style thing, do it, its so fun.

Here is my result:

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

When it comes to decorating and furnishing your home, no one would ever accuse you of purism and restraint. Your home's a shrine to all things glamorous. You're a real glamour puss, never happier than when an opportunity crops up to add another flourish of theatrical pizzazz to your home. We're not saying you're a drama queen, really...!

That new apartment block in NYC is TOTALLY awesome. However, I am a firstly a refurbished brownstone devotee, secondly a Park Avenue girl, and thirdly the sprawling ranch type, so it must be placed fourth.
xxFeather

Hey Feather,
Thanks for the link to the quiz! I love a good quiz - especially design related. I've also spent the last hour designing rooms using the site's 3D layout tool. I get totally addicted to this kind of stuff!

Here's the result of my quiz:

Style Guru
You are something of a beady magpie, gleaning ideas, inspiration and objects from the unlikeliest of places. This is really beginning to synthesise into something mistakably 'you'. And only you know what hits and misses the mark, even if you can't always vocalise the how, what and why. You've got got your own set of unique guidelines and nothing can persuade you otherwise. Trouble is, it takes awhile getting things done when you insist on doing them yourself.
Hmm..

Also, still in theme with your top threes, my top three dream homes would be, a A Spanish style mansion in the Hollywood Hills, a bungalow in Laurel Canyon or an English cottage set on a lush garden.

Zeph.