Reservation pour trois svp...

My friends and I are complete foodies and we have been anticipating to try the Michelin star restaurant by head chef Pascal Nibaudeau ever since we booked our holiday. Table was booked... and we ate very light and bland during the day to saviour our tastebuds!  The restaurant was situated on the 1st floor of the Grand Hotel so we enjoyed a few aperitifs before we sat down on our table. Although the setting was formal, the staff were so friendly and even gave us a little souvenir at the end to make our dinner that little more special.

Entrees.. lobster macaron(absolutely amazing), savoury chocolate bite,

Tempura herbs, breadsticks with a mustard mayonnaise dip. 

Amuse Bouche...lobster and butter sauce

Sea bass and Aquitaine caviar with oysters and a sour cream sauce. 

Wild Turbot roasted on the bone and oyster béarnaise and two different
sauces, red wine and Choron sauce.

Palette cleanser: Melon puree with mint ice cream. 

Dessert- Lemon and Raspberry Vacherin... to be honest i didn't really

know what i was ordering at apart from the fact i knew it was going to be lemon and raspberries haha...when it turned out so pretty, i was really happy. 

Gatsby...1920s Girl

After falling in love with the Great Gatsby, I was inspired to try out the glamorous 1920s look. Like the movie, i wanted to keep the look modern and wearable, so i took the key aspects of 1920s ravishing make up and upgraded it to a more relevant 2013 look. If you see Carey Muligan's make up on the set of Gatsby, she has a much softer and romantic take on the classic 20s style. I wish i was much better at styling hair, but this was the best i could do. I create a fake bob effect by tucking in my long hair under itself and pinning it in place. My bob wig with the full fringe would take the look closer to original 20's fashion, but i wanted to make this look wearable and not too fancy dress. Next time i will try to create the finger wave effect for a more genuine 20s look.

The make up was relatively simple:

1. Smokey eyes. The 1920s version was very heavy and used dark black pigments to create the smokey effect. I wanted a much toned down version, so i used a dark brown KATE eyeshadow palette darkened with a charcoal grey MAC powder shadow. To add on the glamour, pearl shimmer was used on the centre of my lids to create a 3d effect. No false lashes or eyeliner were used.

2. BLUSH cheeks. The cheeks were always over the top in the 1920s, so i applied ample amounts on the apples of my cheeks. I opted for a slightly peachier pink to compliment my skin tone... which has tanned quite a lot in the past month for some weird reason considering the lack of sunshine in UK. 

3. LIPS...Exaggerate the cupid's bow. The shape of my lips were altered just slightly to fit into the 20s era. My peaks of my top lip were exaggerated and my bottom lips were made slightly smaller by using concealer. This is a much more wearable and day friendly version of the icon lips. The 20s usually used dark browns and reds, but like the new Gatsby, a dark rose colour was used instead to make the overall look fresher and younger. 

4. BROWS. I noticed that the girls in the movie had much thicker brows than the typical 20s droopy and drawn on brow. So to bring the 20s to 2013, i just extended the ends of my brows with a brow crayon to add to the effect.

Accessories like jewellery and hand held fans creates the extravagant 20s look. Lots of sequins, peals and gold. My dress was bought years ago for a new year's party, who knew it would go perfect with my next Gatsby or 20s themed party.

Vintage Dior Brooch...circa 1970... but the design is very Art Deco to me and perfect for the look!

Hand painted fan from 1920s. I love the story and history behind handheld fans. They were used as semophores for lovers...this deserves a post of it's own...  

KATE shadow palette and Blusher palette. Loreal lipstick in Burn, topped with a little Mac gloss in dark plum. I tried my new YSL base under my Laura Mercier foundation for a matt finish. 

Audrey is Back!

The first surprise i got from returning to the UK was seeing my idol coming back to life in a one minute TV ad, that aired just a few days ago. I was seriously falling in love with Audrey once again when i saw the new Galaxy Chocolate advert. Audrey is that you? I asked myself in awe.  Her essence was bought to life by amazing CGI computer technology. Her elegance and grace captured again. Her lovely polka dot dress was simply delightful! Chocolate and Audrey is simply the best treat any fan could get!

This is not the first time CGI technology has been used to bring icons back in advertising. Marilyn Monroe and Grace Kelly have also been computer generated to star alongside the beautiful Charlize Theron in a Dior Perfume Ad campaign. Amazing right?