And when my husband and I headed out for tapas at Escabeche the other night, we could almost kid ourselves that we were back in our pre-pandemic lives for a few hours.
The restaurant is a place that we’ve enjoyed dinner with friends many times in the past. There were delicious Catalan flatbreads, the signature Baresca meatballs, spicy patatas bravas and of course, the sinful-but-delicious churros to finish, with the usual lovely atmosphere and friendly service we’ve always loved there.
To top if off, it was one of those evenings where the air felt balmy and rich, so we could almost kid ourselves we were on holiday, which is one thing we have seriously missed this year.
So of course, an outfit post had to be done!
My love for Beauty Pie just grows and grows.
Since signing up way back in March 2017, I’ve seen the brand go from strength to strength, improving their formulas, launching exclusive products and expanding from skincare into colour cosmetics, body care, hair products and even things like scented candles and travel bags.
Now every month brings some new launches that keep things interesting but also make it much harder to decide what to spend allowance on!
If you don’t know how Beauty Pie works, my initial post explains the model - but basically it’s a membership offering luxury formulation beauty products for less.
It’s not without it's problems - the spending allowance can be problematic, and they’re very prone to annoying stock issues with things being impossible to get hold of for months, but in my opinion the good outweighs the bad.
I now purchase almost all of my skincare products from them and increasingly a lot of my daily make-up items too, which means being a member makes perfect sense for me.
In fact, there are some items that have made it onto the list of my can’t-go-without items, so Beauty Pie have a fan for life in me.
I thought I’d share the latest order I made with them - a mixture of new products (some of which have rapidly become essentials) and a couple of tried-and-tested favourites.
It’s the particular combination of effortless insouciance and perfectly chosen combinations that captivates me. On the surface, it's a contradiction - how can something be both so simple and yet so nuanced? And yet it’s precisely by putting in the planning - understanding the items and colourways, what shapes go together etc - that French women can achieve that throw-on-and-go effect.
It appeals to me for so many reasons. It’s utterly timeless and never looks ‘too much’. It’s polished but not overly groomed. And as someone with very limited time, the appeal of a selection of well-chosen basics is strong.
So recently, I’ve resolved to ‘be more French’ in my approach. This doesn’t come naturally to me. For a start, I’m a bit of a magpie, drawn to different styles in a way that is sometimes less than considered. I’m also a bit too try-hard by French girl standards - I love a good contour and I don’t leave the house without eyelash extensions, which is way over the top for this style. But it’s something to aspire to and aim for, and as I get older I find it easier to stick to one tried-and-tested thing.
I adore French style icons - especially Jeanne Damas, Camille Charriere, Monica de La Villardiere and Sabina Socol. Plus, my family are French on my mother’s side, so I’m going to claim that and milk it for all it's worth. Years of following these French style influencers has helped me understand the building blocks of ‘French style’, if such a thing can be claimed. So what are the key pieces to pulling together the look?
I can't really remember the last time I went into a physical shop other than a supermarket, which is crazy. But recently, the office I worked at shut down for good (I'm now officially permanently home-based, at least until they lease a new premises!) and I went in to clear out my desk.
As I was in the city centre, I decided to pop into Primark. I was on the hunt for some of their lash cluster sets, and I also like to look for basics and trend led pieces if I ever go there. There's nowhere quite like it, after all. No item was over £15.00, and the choice on offer was amazing.
So here's what caught my eye this time….
- Coco Chanel
As style icons go, Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel is pretty much the one to beat.
With her revolutionary aesthetic, she single handedly made restrained elegance the last word in fashion, and the impact of her vision has reverberated down the ages.
I've been thinking about her style a lot lately, because I've been reading 'Chanel' s Riviera: Life, Love and The Struggle for Survival on the Cote D'Azur 1930-1944' by Anne De Courcy recently.
That time and place always draw me in, and I loved finding out more about this interesting period in the life of such an iconic woman.
Black and white, or monochrome dressing was something Chanel championed, and like many other themes in her work, it's design roots came from her own austere childhood in a religious orphanage, where the strict black and white of the uniforms and nun's habits had a simple elegance.
All black everything is definitely a favourite of mine, because it's so timeless and just fits in anywhere.
