convert

So, I've been hearing a lot about Mason Pearson brushes over the last couple of years. After an early 20s glut of purchasing beautifully packaged makeup I didn't need or use, these days I try not to buy new beauty products unless I've researched them thoroughly and have come to the conclusion that they will be frequently used, and make my morning routine a little more happy and luxurious. So far the list of items that fall under this category are Smith's rosebud salve, Nuxe body oil, Avene thermal water spray, a drugstore eyelash curler and Dior mini mascara. A NARS blush and MAC powder might enter the picture if I'm going out in the evening. Anyway, I kept seeing seemingly genuine, unsponsored praise of MP brushes in interviews with models, stylists and beauty bloggers, and any product that has remained popular and unchanged since the early 1900s is worthy of investigation. To cut a long story short, I decided to try out the "Handy" model with boar and nylon bristles, and ended up purchasing it from a beauty clearance site that ships within Canada (hooray!).

My hair now feels like this:

I don't know which model this is, but I suspect an MP brush may have been used before the photo was taken...

Honestly, it's good. Feels strangely light in your hand at first and the cushion effect takes some getting used to, but I suddenly feel like an Edwardian lady sitting at a dressing table in a flowing robe, preparing to put my hair up just so. Never mind that Edwardian ladies had maids putting it up for them. It's a pleasant illusion at 7 am en route to a lecture theatre...

Do you have an MP brush? What do you think?

1st photo: mine; 2nd photo: black elephants

fairest of them all

Speaking of Charlize, the new Snow White trailer is out, and it looks promising. I preferred the evil Queen to Snow White in the original, and probably will here too, but a Snow White in armour is an idea I can get behind. Also, the braids on both women are stunning. The costume, hair and makeup people must have had a lot of fun with this.

The shapeshifting into crows reminds me of Madonna's video for Frozen, a personal highlight of 1998 for the moodiness, mehndi, and gothic Olivier Theysken's designs...

glamourous dryad

I love braided hairstyles and am always excited to come across ideas I haven't seen before. The thick braid in this Swedish bride's hair reminds me of a fairy tale or mythical painting, while her dress and makeup recall the classic glamour of the '30s...

Dreamy dress is by Isabel Marant, of course. See more photos here.

diva austria

I've fallen madly in love with French stylist Lala Adrianarivony (her domain is aptly titled we love lala). In fact, perhaps love at first sight really is possible (with people I mean- obviously it is possible and torturously common in relation to beautiful clothing). Her 'galeries' of style are the stuff of dreams.

The sense of grandeur and solitude in the image above reminds me e'er so slightly of another Austrian diva:

eye of the beholder

Found this clipping pasted above a doorway last night. Something to remember as the fashion weeks approach and city centres are packed with impossibly impeccable people. You may well be one of those individuals, but everyone should remember these 3 words.

big brows or bust

Ah. This is why my tweezers were confiscated at the airport. I take it that PETA has infiltrated the ranks of airport security in an attempt to make eyebrow hair the new fur. Who knew Frida Kahlo would become a beauty icon for fall 06.