Barcelona Beautiful

So, this Easter weekend just gone Mr P and I packed our bags and headed for sunny Barcelona. Well, it wasn't that sunny really, with temperatures in Brussels reaching a record breaking 28 degrees and a very sorry 17 degrees in Barcelona we were almost tempted to cancel our trip, but hey ho, on we went.

I had spent a good deal of time prepping myself for 'sunny' Barcelona. Mr P had to endure 3 days of me smelling like a rank old digestive biscuit in my bid to turn myself from lowly milkmaid into a bronzed goddess. It never fails to surprise me that despite all the advances in the manufacture of cosmetics no company has yet managed to come up with a fake tan that doesn't make you smell like the contents of a  mouldy cupboard. Anyhow, despite the smell I was very happy with the results. I used a combination of L'Oreal's Nutri Summer gradual tan moisturising lotion and then topped up my legs with L'Oreal Sublime Bronze tinted self tanner for the legs which I tried for the first time on Friday. I recommend both products heartily, if it weren't for the smell I'd probably use them more, but I'm just so self-conscious of the odour when I'm out and about.

Other essential prep included a leg wax, rigorous exfoliation, pedicure and manicure. And to think that once in Barcelona the most flesh I got to bare was on my arms, for like an hour only. What a waste of goddessness!

Still, better hot than not I suppose. 

We were not alone in Barcelona. Two other friends came along, one of whom was my dear carnival queen some months back. She came along on the condition that I would do her make-up twice a day on every day that we were there. And because she wanted to see Barcelona.....but mostly because of the make-up :)

This for me is no hardship. It's easy to get creative when you have a stunning canvas to begin with. Big beautiful green/blue eyes and the most luscious lips you can imagine make my job easy peasy. All I had to do was colour her in!

I'm also lucky that she is as much of a make-up obsessive as I am and has a make-up bag that dreams are made of, full of MAC, Helena Rubinstein, Dior, La Prairie etc. I had particular fun working with the Reelers and Rockers palette from the MAC Tartan Tale collection which launched before Christmas. It contained, amongst other colours, a gorgeous warm toned gold-y green along with a very wearable copper- burgundy. It worked both on her and me and our complexions and colourings couldn't be more different. How I wished I had picked up one of those palettes when they were still available.

I also got to trial the MAC Haute and Naughty Lash mascara which she brought along. This two wand mascara is supposed to define and separate with the finer wand and then build volume with the second. It looked like a bit of a gimmick, but I can honestly say it works. It's also really cool how one wand seems to 'fit' into the other.

The first coat with the fine wand is very natural and delicate but at the same time delivers length and good definition. The second application manages to deliver volume and curl without clumping the lashes together. My friend has much finer lashes than me and they remained beautifully separated even when I got a bit mascara-happy with the volume wand. Definitely one to check out when next in MAC.

Also in the make-up bag of dreams were some samples of La Prairie foundation which I insisted on using on her instead of the powder foundation she was using (also La Prairie..... *sigh*).

 
Oh my, what a beautiful foundation, so soft and blendable, creating a lovely second-skin effect and natural radiant finish. It was about a million times better for her dry skin and she glowed. I made a mental note to check it out at the airport on my return flight. When I did I nearly fell over...... €138!!!!!! Methinks I'll have to decline. You better make those samples last sweetheart.

I was hoping to find a Sephora in Barcelona, but I was cruelly misled by seeing a shop window with Sephora branded all over it, only to go there and find that the store was still being built. I could see products sprawled over the floor waiting to be put to bed on the shelves of paradise. And then stairs.... stairs! It was a multi-storey Sephora and I was not in time to see it in all it's glory. Oh the disappointment.

Luckily my darling friend had brought some things for me from Greece which is obviously more civilised as Sephora is thriving there. She picked up the Perfecting Cover Foundation for me (which I love, review to come). She also brought me the MAC Cream Colour Base in Virgin Isle which I've wanted for over a year and never managed to find. Again, love love love.

The Barcelona beauty haul did not stop there. At the airport I succumbed to the Yves Saint Laurent spring 2011 collection. Actually I was torn between the Chanel Vanities palette and the Yves Saint Laurent one but YSL won over the originality of the colours. I just couldn't resist when I saw that shimmery pink stare up at me.
I also picked up the Golden Gloss in number 40, incidently the colour used in the publicity shoot.

Being totally impatient, I opened up my goodies on the plane and, much to embarassment of Mr P, proceeded to photograph them on my fold-away table before I tarnished them with use.

But just look at those colours! Don't they just invite you to play? And I accepted that invitation immediately, giving myself an in-flight make-over.

Who says patience is a virtue?

Pandora in Paris

This week I got to escape the gloom of Brussels for the bright lights of Paris! It was just one day, but boy did I make the most of it. After the business part of my trip was over, I popped straight onto the metro and headed straight for nirvana (aka Sephora) on the Champs-Élysées.

Oh Sephora, Sephora, wherefore art thou? And WHYfore art thou not in Belgium?? Thou art in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Greece etc.... but not in this Godforsaken country. Why?????
I had a plan for my pilgrimage to cosmetic paradise. I would systematically work my way through the brands that don't exist here in Brussels, and then treat myself to a few bits and pieces from said brands, WITHOUT going over the top (Mr P reads this, don't you know :))
The plan failed. I headed through the massive store front, the red sloping carpeted entrance drew me in like a moth to a flame and I was blinded by the sparkle of thousands of perfume bottles which lined the entrance and paved the way to Xanadu. I was lost. Where did I begin? I picked up a little basket and walked down through the centre of the store. Beautiful girls with perfectly painted lips dressed in sleek black outfits delicately asked me if I needed assistance. I looked at them with big, wide eyes. "Don't worry about me, I'm ok. I was in Brussels, but now I'm here... here in Paradise. I'm just fine" They would give me a knowing look, which I translated as meaning that they understood my plight. Or they may have thought I was nutter with bad grammar. Either way, they conveyed their expressions with charm and elegance. I felt loved.
The Sephora brand of make-up was my first calling point seeing as I couldn't get that in Brussels, or London come to think of it. Why they ceased operations in London is a mystery and a CRIME.
There were so many eyeshadows, palettes, nail polishes, lipsticks.... all laid out over 4 counters, like a sweetie pick & mix. I began swatching. The pigmentation was great and the texture smooth and soft. But the prices had increased 3 fold since the last time I had been there (a good 10 years ago now). I had to be selective. In the end I picked up a soft pink eye crayon which I thought would be useful for a quick Blossoms and Brownies look and some more brushes, specifically a bronzer brush and a short bristled flat brush for eye definition (I'm a complete brush fiend). The eye palettes were gorgeous, with superb colour combinations but my problem was that I just couldn't choose which ones to get. I could have easily popped them all into the basket but I had to restrain myself. At €16 a pop they weren't exactly the budget option either.
The other brands I was excited to find were Make Up For Ever, Urban Decay and Too Faced. I've been so excited to try the Make Up For Ever HD foundation but for some reason I hesitated this time. A quick glance in a mirror showed me that my make-up had held up incredibly well the whole day, and I actually felt no need to have it all wiped off. In fact, my skin was glowing (it was either the highlighter or the sheer happiness of being there... or both.)
As I lingered about the store, touching, sniffing, swatching, I realised just how restrained I had become. I had envisaged myself filling my basket to the brim with goodies, but in fact my basket was looking extremely modest. There were two products I would have bought on the spot if they had been in stock. MAC's Cream Colour Base in Virgin Isle, which has been sold out for ages, and Urban Decay's Naked eyeshadow palette which I've lusted after for almost a year now and never managed to find. Alas, t'was not to be. I contented myself with some inexpensive treats from the Sephora bath and body range, including a lemon meringue shower gel which smelt so good I could have stood there eating it out of the tube. My one big splurge was on a Chanel Coco Mademoiselle body spray.

Well, I was in Paris, I had to have something Chanel, it would have been rude not too. I've recently fallen in love with this scent, after HATING it for years. In fact, I used to have a bottle of the eau de parfum, but I found it too strong that I gave it away. Maybe my nose has changed because now I really love it, but in small doses only as it's still very intense, hence picking up the body spray instead of the perfume itself. And I'm so glad I did. The smell is just sublime and without the strength of the original eau de parfum it lingers softly on the skin like a veil of roses and musk and makes me feel oh-so chic. It's a much lovelier way to wear scent rather than spritzing a blindingly strong alcohol concoction on your wrists and temporarily blinding your other half when he comes near you.
At the cash desk I was cheerfully asked if I would like a bath to go with my shower products. I thought I had misunderstood and the cashier switched to English and told me that I would in fact receive a free "bath" as I had purchased 3 Sephora bath products. She brought out the cutest ever mini silver bath tub in which she placed my bottles of shampoo and shower gel and I was most delighted.

I smiled all the way to the station, clutching my black and white striped bag with my little silver bathtub filled with lemon meringue shower gel, coconut shampoo, mint shampoo, make-up brushes, eye crayon, foundation samples and Chanel body spray. As I was passing through the metro station there was an old man selling beautiful bunches of fresh mimosa. I stood there for a moment, transfixed by the cheeriness of the fluffy yellow buds. He smiled at me, and I bought bunch to take back to Brussels. This is my Parisian take on throwing a coin in Rome's Trevi fountain. I'm determined I will be back to Paris soon, and back to Sephora with a plan. Next time I buy Chanel in Paris, it will be Spring and I will honour that by picking up the new Chanel varnish....

In "Mimosa" :)




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