Picnic with the fairies

Spring must be in the middle of some kind of existential crisis at the moment. He's only in his early days but already likes to believe he's summer. And I'm not here to complain ! The 30 dregrees and bright blue sky allowed me to wear the light dresses and shorts I've filled my wardrobe up with. And what better place to embrace the beautiful weather (and to show the world my dress) than a lake coming right out out a fairytail ? My family and I went for a lovely picnic and badmington game in Busserolles (ho, you don't know the place ? What a looser ! I'm joking, obviously), the lighting and scenery were so nice I couldn't resist taking a few shots. Sorry, my outfit is far from exeptionnal, I'm just wearing an H&M dress from last year (although they have a similar one out every year), an extremely flowy kimono from Sheinside and a pair of white Pimkie ballerinas (when I'm actually wearing shoes...what?!).

I kept my makeup light and basic, exept for the bright blue liner on my bottom lash line (If Lily Pepples can do it, why couldn't I ?). I had on my good old Dreampure BB cream by Maybelline, topped up with powder and concealer, Sleek's blush inrose gold, Kiko'seyeshadow stick in n° 38, and Tanya Burr's lipgloss in Picnic in the park (Pinic in the lake ? No ? Ok.).

I hope you enjoyed this post and its pictures, please tell me in which way you've taken advantage of the sun (or of the rain if you're unlucky).

See you next time,

Maddy

Did you know ? Marilyn and Audrey

I'm pretty sure everybody has something interesting about them... wether it's small anecdotes  or "simply" an extraordinary life. Turns out the following fashion icons have both. There's more about them than just the fame and glamourous lifestyle. Here are a few unimportantly interesting facts about a couple ladies, who's names are always the first to pop into my head when I hear the words « fashion Icons ». Can you guess who they are?

Audrey Hepburn

-She was born in Belgium, but has an english nationality because of her farther.
-During the 1930s, her parents were members of the British Union of Fascists.

-She trained to be a ballerina and used to perform to raise money for the Dutch Resistance.

-After the liberation of the Netherlands, she was so malnourished that she fell ill after eating some sugar and a can of condensed milk – she was unused to rich food. 

-She had to abandon her professionnal ballerina career because of her malnutrition, and because, at 5ft7, she was too tall.

-She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work with UNICEF.

-Audrey's feet were a size 10.

-She promised herself to never exeed 103 pounds, exept during her pregnancies, and she succeeded.

-Hepburn could speek English, Spanish, French, Dutch and Italian.

-Truman Capote, « Breakfast at Tiffany's » writer qualified Audrey Hepburn as being « grossly miscast » as Holly Golightly, Marilyn Monroe being his first choice.


Speaking of Marilyn...

Marilyn Monroe

-Norma Jeane nearly chose the screen name of Jean Adair but changed it to Marilyn Monroe in March 1956.

-She had 11 sets of foster parents, and lived in an orphenage, her mom being held in a mental institution.

-She had two plastic surgeries : a rinoplasty and a chin implant.

-She used to use five types of lipstick and gloss: darker reds were used on the outer corners, lighter shades in the middle and a highlighted cupid's bow and bottom lip, to create her fleshy pout.

-Marilyn was burried in a green pucci nylon jersey dress.

-Monroe was an acute stutterer and in the early part of her acting career received elocution lessons to correct it.

-The blonde had an IQ of 168.

-And owned over 400 books.

-When she was with Arthur Miller, she suffered an ectopic prengnancy and a miscarriage.

-Monroe made Joe DiMaggio promise to leave flowers on her grave every week if she died before him. He kept his promise and had half-dozen red roses were delivered three times a week to her crypt for 20 years.

I hope you enjoyed this post. If you did, I'll come back with more installments of this series featuring other inspiring ladies.

See you soon,

Maddy

Spring shortening

Yep... it happened. I said I would chop the mane off in my « Chopping it off » post, and -to my suprise- I really did. I asked for a very slighltly layered, Lily Collins style lob. The hairdresser took in consideration the frizziness of my hair and left it a bit longer than it was on the pictures, giving it space to bounce up when it dries. I am absolutely chuffed with the way it looks now, it feels a lot lighter, structured and healthier, what more could I ask for ?

What do you think about the lob ? Have you already made the cut ?

Have a lovely day,

Maddy

10 Beauty things I suck at

I've been interested in everything fashion-beauty related for the past few years, and with that came the desire to avoid looking like a hot mess. Even though on a daily basis I'm doing my best to not scare people away as soon as they see my face, there still are many beauty (and lifestyle, but lets stick to beauty for today shall we?) related things I am absolute crap at ! But you know what ? It's ok to suck ! Oh, you suck too ? Let's all suck together then !

Beauty things I just... can't/don't do :

1-My hair : Pinterest tutorials ? Tried. Failed. Youtube ? Same. I can't even dry my mane properly !

2- My nails : For some reason, my left hands feels handicaped as soon as it touches a nail polish. Plus who manages to wait patiently for their nails to dry ? I mean...no peeing, no face scratching, no eating, no moving (?) for at least five whole minutes !

3- Moisturizing my body : Can't be arsed. I rarely feel like waiting fifteen minutes naked in my bathroom for my body to dry.

4-Contouring : The only thing I'll ever give Kim K credit for. I just can't do contouring whithout looking like a muddy mess. My skin is so pale I need to be very light handed with bronzer, and I'm not that kind of delicate, careful girl.

5-Throwing out expired products : I'm willing to admit that this one is a little dodgy, but to me if a products still smells/looks good even after its expiring date, that means it's still usable.

6-Lining my lips : I have to invest in a few lip liners, I still don't own any. It's a struggle to pull of a good looking red lip when your lipstick desperatly tries to escape your mouth's edges, believe me.

7-Khôl eyeliner : I just don't do khôl (exept in my waterline). It either thugs onto my eyelids, lumps up, looks inequal, smudges, doesn't smuge as I want it... Liquid liner ! Liquid liner is good.

8-Keeping my jewellery : The reason I don't buy expensive jewellery (other than the fact that I don't have the money for it, obviously) is that I know I'll loose it. Whether it's at a friend's, in the changing rooms while trying clothes on, in my bedroom (in my vacuum cleaner)... You can be sure these beautiful earring will end up disappearing !

9-Haircair: I currently have dry ass straw hair, with extremely split ends. Why ? Because I don't take care of it properly. I just shampoo every two days, slap on some 1min conditionner before blowdrying it fully (ain't anybody got time for cold blowdrying!) whithout using any heat protecter. I do realise how stupid it is, I just prefer spending money on makeup than on haircair...thanks fucked up priorities !

10- Buying what I need : this point has a link whith the precedent one. If I need a white blouse, I'll go shopping for it and come back with a blue bag. If I'm on the look out for a new foundation/lip liner/eyelash curler, you'll see me come back from my shopping trip with an eyeshadow palette. I'm too much of an impuls buyer, who has to think more about what she needs and will use rather than what she wants on a given moment.

So there you go, that was a tiny sample of the numerous things I'm awful at ! In which domain do you suck ?

See you next time,

Maddy

Springy Asos picks

Seems like spring is creeping up on us frenchies again. It comes to say hi for a few days before leaving us bare-legged and freezing on a cold day of march. As everybody else, I quite want to build a new wardrobe for the upcomming season. To me, spring is all about swapping your dark, gloomy plain fabrics for lighter, cream, pastel, lacy ones (as you'll probably be able to tell, I absolutely love lace). I coudln't think of a better place than ASOS.com to drool over new spring collections. Clothing-wise, Asos strangely has every single piece you need to « springify » your wardrobe. These are a few of my favorites (bear in mind I didn't brows through the beauty section of the website, otherwise this whislist would've been another makeupy-one, because I have no willpower)

Jackets

1: River Island Pastel Biker Jacket

2: ASOS Linen Tailored Blazer

Tops

1: New Look Lace Shoulder Cardigan

2: ASOS Cape With Crochet Lace Hem

3: Only White Woven Shirt

4: Vero Moda V Neck Shell Top

5: Oasis Daisy Lace Top

Bottoms

1: ASOS Rivington High Waist Denim 

2: New Look Skinny Zip Detail Jean

3: ASOS Ridley Skinny Ankle Grazer Jeans in White

4: River Island Lace Pencil Skirt With Modesty Lining

Shoes

1: Converse Chuck Taylor All Star Core White Ox Trainers

2: ASOS HEADS OR TAILS Heeled Sandals

3: New Look Pool Stack Platform Heeled Sandals

Jewellery

1: Olivia Burton Big Dial Rose Gold Watch

2: Orelia Stone Long Necklace

3: ASOS Fine Chain Linked Rings

4: Orelia Pretty Stone Open Cuff Bracelet

5: ASOS Kitten Sunglasses With Metal Top 

Accessories

1: Ted Baker Patent Crosshatch Across Body Bag

2: ASOS Skinny Band Felt Floppy Hat

3: New Look French Bulldog Handle Umbrella

Hope you've found some springspiration (too long on the computer, sorry),

Have a lovely day,

Maddy

Because I'm hatty!

Ladies and gents, let me introduce you to the only structured hat that I can wear without looking like Michael Jackson. No, seriously I am in love with this fedora hat from H&M (similar here), even though it's very out of my confort zone, I find it instantly turns a plain/boring outfit into one that could come out of a film. It's a little Breakfast at Tiffany-esq but not as dramatic, don't you think ?

Ho, and it doubles up as an umbrella, and god knows I need one in my rainy Charente.

Makeup:

Base: Chanel Vitalumière aqua, Rimmel wake me up concealer, Make Up Forever HD powder and full cover concealer, Benefit Hoola and dandelion boxed blushes, The balm Mary-lou manizer.

Eyes/brows: Benefit brow zing, The Balm nude tude, Beneit they're real, Rimmel khols in nude and black.

Lips: Bourjois rouge edition in 36 « Pourpre Jazzy »

Have a lovely day,
Maddy

January Clothing and accessories haul

Hi guys and welcome to the 3rd part of my january haul (you can see the beauty one here and the book one just here). Today's the time for, you guessed it...the clothing/accesories one! I purchased all of this sha-bang over the course of a few weeks, online as well as in store. You'll be able to tell I'm really into H&M at the moment, their sales in store are quite crappy, but the ones online aren't bad at all, give their website a look if you have the chance.

I attached a link to the the items as I found them, if some of them are "linkless", it means that I couldn't put my mouse on them.

Clothing:

Etam minimal black V-neck: Just your classic black jumper, I already had a burgundy one of these and it turns out I wore it so much I decided to get the black one. It was reduced from an already low price, which the quality doesn't reflect.

H&M thin knitted cardigan: Not as warm as I wanted it to be but I quite like the way it looks. It gives a classic effortless look, keeping it neutral, super for layering.

H&M blue jumper: Again, not very warm but I just love he way this top fits. I usually stick to neutral colors, but this long sleeve caught my eye with its baby/teal blue color. I am in love with it! Gettin' out of the comfort zone vol°1 (pat on the back).

H&M "pima" black top: This one's a very simple piece, made special by its white detailing on the sleeves, collar and shoulder. This twist on the classic black top is what sold me. I wanted it in the creamy/beige color but it unfortunately wasn't available in my size.

H&M laced top: I've always been a big fan of lace detailings on shirts/skirts, so I can assure you that when I saw this shirt massivly reduced, I knew what would happen to it... it would end up in my closet. It did, and I'm really happy about it!

Stradivarius blue cropped jumper:  Gettin' out of the comfort zone vol°2! It's the exact same colour as the H&M top though...tough!! I like it, it's quite warm and goes really well with all of my high-waisted jeans.

Bershka striped roll neck: My latest purchase, I suprised myself in buying a roll neck, they normally make me look like a tortoise XD. This one doesn't, it's a tad bit cropped and pyjama-soft. I usually find Bershka's clothes quality to be on the shitty side, not for this top though (I'll let you know how it washes). Its suuuper low price point pushed me to the vice.

H&M fleecy leopard pyjama bttoms: I'm all for a comfy/warm PJ in the winter, and if it can make me look like Waynetta Slob (role model) then  it becomes an obligatory purchase. 'nough said.

Shoes:

Eram grey booties: I had already spotted these babies last autumn, they are gorgeous but use to be much too expensive. So when I saw them 50% off, I went for it! The leather quality of the shoes is beautiful, the colour quite unique and the shape goes with anything. I'm not used to wearing light colored shoes, 'guess I just need to be careful in my very muddy countryside.

Accessories

H&M long triangle necklace and long glass necklace: Although quite far from my usual stytle (I'm normaly a silver person), these 2 necklaces look quite classy. I wouldn't wear them together though, as it would be too "in your face" for me. The quality isn't as bad as the price lets it seem, a nice adition to my small jewelery collection (keep loosing them... shame on me).

H&M 3 layers necklace: This one is as pretty as it is annoying (it's always getting tangled). I like it a lot though.

H&M silver necklace: Simple and discrete silver necklace, a must have in my opinion.

Guilty bonus

H&M cosmetics powder highliter: OK, I am guilty, I bought makeup.Again. But it was so cheap, and I'd heard so many good things about this highliter. You get a really good product for the price, of course not as pigmented as the lou-minizers from "the balm" but not bad at all. Worth the spend if you can find it.

And with that comes the end of my january haul, hope you enjoyed it. As a "last word" I'll leave you with a picture of my bed after I received an order from H&M, here comes the apocalyps...

Bye,

Maddy

Beauty products I actually need to buy

I don't know about you, but a problem I often have is that I constantly buy the same kind of beauty products and end up running out of others. For example, I have way too many eyeshadow palettes and lipsticks but I currently need foundation, and know I won't buy it until it is urgent. So as a quick post, I thought I would give you a list of the beauty things I actually need to buy !

-A foundation: as said earlier, I'm running out of my rimmel wake me up, which I can't find in France, so if you have any recommendations for a medium coverage, luminous founation, drugtore or high end (it doesn't matter) please leave them down below.

-A new nail buffer bloc: as mine is getting extremely gross and fairly hard to use.

-An instant dry topcoat: never have the patience to let my nail polish dry and end up screwing everything up, that's when a instant dry topcoat comes in handy.

-A nail base : you can tell how bad I am at taking care of my nails, can't you ?

-A highliter brush: I have every kind of makeup brush I can think of, apart from a highliter brush, which is a bit of a bummer, really. Any recommendations ?

-Some eyebrow powder: Ok, here I blame ignorance for not buying any. I really want Anastasia brow products, but unfortunately, they aren't sold in France. At the moment, I'm using a mixture of naked and faint (which are sowly disapeering) in my trusty naked basics, and can't find another match. Could use some help again here !

-A new eyeliner pencil: my rimmel one is now tiny and can't stand having to constantly sharpen it.

-A peach toned blush: Again, I own every shade of blush you could think of, apart from a peach one, which I think would look gorgeous in the winter/spring time.

-Lip liners: I know I shouldn't apply a lipstick without applying lip liner first, especially if it is red. I have never bought any but keep complaining whenever my lipstick smudges all over my face. Spot the problem.

-Moisturizing serum ; as it is the winter time now, my skin has been getting pretty dry, and girl you know those dry patches aren't looking good !

-Moisturizing face mask : I only own cleasing ones, but feel as if my skin needs a kick of moisture at the moment so it's the time to stop procrastinating and invest in some decent skin care.

-body scrub : Prenferently a quite harsh wintery smelling one, to really get rid of my dead skins cells.

I think that's it! Hopefully I'll manage to go past the lipstick counter and buy what I actually need (I stongly doubt so, but swear I'll give it a try) ! Please let me know wich are your favourite products of each categorie mentionned, and I'll see you next time !

Bye,

Maddy

Favorites Vlogmases of 2014

Vlogmas is one of the many things that make me happy around Christmas time. I can't explain why, but I just love following my favourite youtubers around during a whole month. It gives me an idea of what a youtuber/blogger lifestyle's is like (super tempting) and leaves me feeling festive. When you think about it, it 's extremely sweet of them to share a part of their life, and bond with their viewers. These are the vlogmases? I followed and appreciated this year, most of the youtubers are already featured in my top 10 but I though I would give them another shout out as well as include some new ones.

Tanya burr:

I had allready followed and loved her vlogmas last year. Her bubbliness kept me feeling happy througout the whole month, she's always cheary and funny, a real sugar pill. Since she has a really « interesting » life, with a lot going on, her vlogs are never boring. Plus she seems to have such an adorable family (NO, I'm not jealous of the couple she forms with Jim...ok I am)

Sammi Maria:

I love Sammi so much I danced around my bedroom when she said she would do vlogmas. To me it meant brilliant OOTD's and outfit inspiration everyday ! And a daily Riley (the french bouledog, I have an obssession whith french bouledogs) injection !And foood ! Sammi's vlogs litterally made me dribble. Delicious !

Suzie: 

Suzie did a bit of a different vlogmas in the way that she uploaded 2 combined vlogs every other day. Her brilliant editing made up for the fact that they were quite short. I hadn't subscribed to Suzie before I discovered her vlogmas, now it's safe to say I'm addicted to her videos and have watched most of them. That's how good she is !

Zoe Sugg:

Classic ! Even though Zoe missed a few days, I still really enoyed her vlogmas serie. Again, she is sweet, super lovable and shares a bit of sisterly love (and many, many pug clips) in her daily vlogs. Who could ask for more !

Claudia Sulewski:

Another girl I use to follow and adore last year. Claudia got me glued to my sceen again this year, with her short but entertaining vlogs, her hilarious roomate (lexi lombard) , her late night snacks and sleepless nights. It was a bit bizzar to see how much her life has changed in one year, plus I have to say I was guiltely glad to see her mom again at the end of the month, she's hilarious.

That concludes my top vlogmases? for 2014 and I can't wait til next year's. Leave me a comment below telling me who's vlogs were your favorite, as I would love to know and watch them (come on, let's make december last and watch vlogas 'til february!!)

See you in a bit,

Maddy