Inspirational autumn shoes

Daily wear: lovely high heeled almost nude colored shoes from Valentino. They don't look comfortable, but sure are inspirational through so much else (style, fabric, a.s.o)

 Evening wear: the pretty pink pair with rock insertions. They go with just about anything and inspire youth, dare, glam and girly at the same time.

Spring Summer 2014

Philip Lim  is one of the most popular designers of the moment. His spring-summer 2014 collection is inspired by simple, earthy solids. Or at least this is how he characterizes his entire collection. Materials inspire fluidity, interesting combinations of metallic elements with leather and silk, vibrant colors (yellow, green, blue) caught up in play with monchromes (white and black). 

Here comes an excerpt of the collection with some of the outfits I especially liked. Note: the last outfit I would wear at any time! :)

Autumn chic

6. This is the number of clothing articles which you need in order to be autumn chic. They are timeless objects, a safe combination, which can be worn at any time. Years 2000, 2010, 2020, 2030 a.s.o. You just add on a drop of perfume (Miss Dior or Pure Poison) and a more intense lipstick and.. voila, you're ready to go! :)

Fleurs dÓranger

Serge Lutens - Fleur dÓranger - we agreed that I'm into perfumes more than I should be. I don't even want to start counting the number of fragrances I'm currently using. There's barely enough space on my dresser for anything else :) However, since it's customary to use the phrase, "signature scent", I thought for a while of what that would be in my case. This perfume came to mind. Because I love the orange blossoms, for me, it's one of the most perfect perfumes I ever tried. Powerful and yet light, floral - musky - and something else, indeterminate. And very, very long lasting.  I spray two puffs in the morning, and late, in the evening, after a shower, you can still smell it, warm and delicate. For me, it's pure PERFECTION. It can be worn both in office as well as in the evening.

Rate 10/10.

Clarins Wake up Booster

Clarins Lotion Energizante Wake up Booster - being just a toner, do not expect miracle effects...although it sure convinced me to buy it, after using a sample. It's fresh, with a delicate texture. It's main advantages, from my point of view, are the fact that it's hydrating and its application gives your skin a certain luminosity. But then again, you can have hydrated skin by using a moisturizer, and luminosity..by so many other ways. It's not a necessary product, unless you actually use toner on a daily basis, in which case I certainly would recommend. 

Rate 10/10.

Superb, Dior

Superb, precious and pretentious! :)

Clarins - Eye Contour Gel

Clarins - Eye Contour Gel - Because in the last post I started writing about Clarins products, I'll continue with the eye contour gel I've tried. It targets eye puffiness and reducing dark circles. I used it under these circumstances and sadly I didn't notice any improvement. Problems were still there! It's true that it easily penetrates the skin and it's refreshing but it doesn't hydrate nor improve the look of the sensitive skin around the eyes. It may function in your case, under certain circumstances, or maybe helps reducing some smaller problems :). To cut it short, the end is that I wouldn't buy it again.

Rate: 5/10

Gel-cream or cream-cream?

Clarins Hydraquench Cream Gel - lately I've been starting to feel the express need of hydrating the skin, much more than before. Maybe I'm more sensitive or attentive to my skin's needs or maybe it's just that I'm growing older...or both, who can tell? :) The fact is that I've had the opportunity of testing the Gel-cream a while ago, just in the beginning of autumn. It was a nice surprise. The gel has a very fine texture, smoothly sinking into the skin. It's slightly perfumed, but this doesn't bother me at all (the smell is subtle and fresh). It reacts well in combination with my sun protection factor and foundation (which is an important pro). What I didn't like was that it's not hydrating enough..I mean, if you feel that your skin is still a little bit dry, then this cream is not sufficient for you and you may have to start compensating. Another minus is the absence of SPF. But again, this matter seems to be generalized when it comes to moisturizers, it's rather rare when you can find a good face cream with enough SPF.

Rate: 9/10