MN Vogue - vol 34

[shopafrolic]

It's been a while since I set one up so thought I'd do the honours.
For glass half full fashion fanatics. Bring a positive attitude, a love of clothes and lots of lovely links. All welcome, from high street to high end.

Drat posted too soon- Shop I am a stationery junkie. Daughter gave me an acid yellow leather A4 notebook from Paperchase for Christmas. It has a neon pink security band and smells amazing.

I have heaps of notebooks and writing books- French Cahiers are my obsession.

I don't drink coffee or tea but DH likes tinkering with coffee; I think it appeals to the Magnus Pike in him. He has a little stainless steel Turkish coffee pot that he contemplatively stands over of a weekend morning. The scent is lovely but the taste? Not for me. My Father used to work in Brazil and brought home sack loads of coffee beans back in the seventies. Nothing else could be kept in that cupboard so impregnated with the scent was it.

My simple thing is my garden. I go out every morning to do what my Grandfather referred to as 'a walk round the E-state' . Everything is breaking into bud (a little worryingly for some delicate plants) and the earth smells fresh. The birds have found their voices making me feel a little restless and it delights me to see the Goldcrests bickering over the Nigella seed feeder and the enormous seemingly obese Blackbrid grown that way from eating quantities of fat balls out out by my son all Winter.

Great bag Anni and I'm itching to buy those boots but have to restrain myself as I'm spent out for this month.

Bonsoir I had no particular facial in mind. I usually get a Elmis one at my local beautician when I have one and TBH I think it's the relaxation I like more than anything else. I'm the opposite to you Mig, I love being stroked and pampered! That said, what Santa says rings true, it costs about £50 - £60 for a facial and that money would very likely be better spent on retinol products. I can vouch for them BTW. DH gets adult acne and he ordered some potent products on line and they have really improved his skin. Also he fell a few months ago and cut his nose quite badly. He used the retinol cream on the scarring and it's almost completely vanished. They are so effective I'm almost scared to put them on! I would like to see someone and get the right thing prescribed as I suspect what he has might be too much for my skin.

Marsha there are no words for how much better I feel without caffeine! I accidentally had one yesterday (accepted a coffee at a meeting without checking) and felt really shaky and hungry for the rest of the day.

Mig hope you and your DH feel better soon. There is no timeline on grief unfortunately. I read an article about Liam Neeson yesterday talking about how he felt after losing Natasha Richardson and he says 7 years on he still gets knocked out by it at times.

Great parka Linus. I'd like a kimono too. No time to look ATM though - I think Zara had good ones last year.

Such a nice day today. I'm still really enjoying my new bag - it's sitting beside me in Cafe Nero looking so smart and chic - love it will try and stop talking about it now and boring you all to death such a good feeling though when you find the right version of something you have been hunting for. Much more satisfying that the quick hit from impulse shopping.

Colour combo sounds great QueenC. Hope the PMS passes soon.

Right, I really must go - apols for the mega post! Well done anyone who has stuck with my ramblings this far.

Marsha I would be very unlikely to move back to Ireland. I realised last night that what that thread made me miss was an edited version of my childhood. The reality is very different and I'm a different person now too.

Umlauf - that outfit sounds heavenly- just the kind of thing I love to wear!

I have a beauty board on my pin here with a lot of the French brands I enjoy.

My current faves are-

Elmex toothpaste
Nuxe body oil and lipbalms and gommage corps fondant
Klorane cornflower eye make up remover and peony shampoo
Vichy foaming facial cleanser
Bourjois shower gel
Agnes B apricot facial complexion enhancer
Micellar Cleansing water with rose petals
Homeoplasmine ointment
Le Petit Marsellais nut shower gel
Avibon retinol style cream
Bioderma Crealine H2O make up remover
Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentré

Bit of a list but most of them are super inexpensive.

Thanks mig I shall peruse your pin board now! I'll let you know how I get on. I do need cleanser and exfoliator in particular and I'll try the avibon too I think. I'll stick DH and DS in front of the surfing and sneak away for some retail time and patisserie!

umlauf I bought this tee last year and I ordered it again this year in a smaller size as the quality is really good for the price. I have them lots of colours

It's a v-neck though but I think Asos do round neck ones as well. You do have to check the fabric content as some of their tees are a bit poly rich.

And I buy tees from J Crew as well but only in the sales. Have only bought long-sleeved ones so far but the quality is good.

Btw, did you see the Snoopy sweater I linked for you a few pages back?

Mignonette - a suggestion for your pharmacie cosmetics haul: Nuxe Masque Crème Fraîche de Beauté - a lovely rehydrating mask that gives you a great lift before an evening out, combined with a 20 minute post-bath lie down. And Aderma Baume Emollient Exoméga - the most terrifically moisturising body cream. Great for dry shins!

I am addicted to Elgydium toothpaste!

Just missed the AR delivery by 5 minutes - grrr.

Mig Dmil passed away last Autumn. Dh really needs to make one last visit to her home (where he was born) and he keeps putting it off and then feeling very down about it. Although they were not particularly close, it is still very hard for him. You have my sympathies.

Thank you Bonsoir and I will seek them out next week.

Fedup I totally understand where your Husband is coming from. He will get there in his own time.

Ironically enough I have just seen a forwarded email from my ex stepmother (cow) telling us all about the lovely holiday she has had with her new man- the one she was 'friends with' whilst my Father was dying and took up with a few weeks after the death, moving in with him 3 months after. Oh and she took everything and threw all his possessions away leaving nothing for us. So that has just made my morning just fine .

Have finally cracked and told her to stay away from us (hard seeing as she moved to my town a few weeks ago ) and piss off basically. I was NOT polite.

I did linus but never saw snoopy and it's very similar to my ski one I haven't worn I'm skiing in a fortnight so will have to take it!

For comedy tv clothing references though I did buy this whilst in England. Buffy Summers was my first ever style icon. I still have a long brown leather coat I bought just to emulate her when I was about 15. It's a size 8 and will never fit again but I can't get rid of it!!

Am so sorry mig, that is all just so awful for you. Well done for telling her where to go. Hopefully you won't cross paths too often. I guess it may be hard for you to eventually move on emotionally if you keep seeing her.

Thanks fedup - apologies for ranting on here but with DH having his own grief it feels that I am taking up too much emotional space with all of this- he doesn't think that i know but is quite self effacing about his own emotional needs so I have to be careful to make that space for him.

I actually feel murderous at the moment, so angry am I. she of course would see it as us being annoyed we got no money but it goes beyond that to his complete denial of his children and utterly cruel parenting over the decades. It was the final straw and to see her play the big grieving widow- hell I was dumb enough to read the eulogy praising their big love when I always knew what she was- I feel such a cowardly stupid fool!

Love the T Umlauf - I have Snoop, Road Runner, Yogi Bear and Miffy T's that I still treasure and wear.

Mig

That green satchel is so cute Mig Dp has promised me one of the largest size purple ones if I get in to uni

umlauf its not beauty product,but they have this terrific,oral spray for cold and flu,I can't remember the name,maybe bonsoir knows it,very effective.
Also you can find deals on bioderma cleansing water,I bought two huge bottles for the price of one,and baby products! Don't forget those,I used to buy loads of klorane baby products,it smells amazing,the scented water is nice too,and the nappy rash cream,

My daughter has the purple metallic one Onelittlelady but I swapped the 16" for the 14" as it dwarfed her .

Keeping everything crossed for you!

You never watched Snoopy umlauf? Maybe I'm showing my age here...

I second buying baby products in French pharmacies: Mustela and Uriage are great. And the homeoplasmine mig mentioned is great for red/dry skin from colds and teething.

Bioderma miscellar water (I prefer the pink bottle) is great to remove eye make-up all your make-up when you're feeling lazy and get a mini bottle for when you're traveling.

Bioderma also has great daycreams with SPF 30 and 50 for different skintypes, I think in yellow/orange boxes.

Gosh you poor thing Mig - really feel for you, these things are so emotional.

One of the things my SIL has found really hard is that her father didn't leave anything to his kids in his will, just all went to his wife. It's not about the money as much as having something to remember him by.

But to be fair to stepmother-in-law, she is trying to find things to give them, just feels a bit haphazard rather than thought out as if he had actually willed them something. She is only just starting to send them a few bits and bobs, over a year since he died.

mig she sounds like a charming woman hope karma kicks her hard,and she gets a taste of her own medicine,

shop I still use a cafetieres ,they make the best coffee
, I sent those gorgeous Charlotte Olympia espadrilles,they tick all the boxes,but they were big,I'm still looking,

anni the boots are lovely, I think you should develop an APP for hunting bargains,you are very good at it!

Haha maybe linus but I did miss out on a lot of childhood telly growing up in Luxembourg! it was all tintin for me!

Ok ill stock up on baby products. Ds is teething right now poor thing. 5 months old tomorrow, where did that go?!

mig she sounds awful, do you have siblings in the same boat?

I have just been thinking about which tv programmes I watched when I was a child and I remember watching things on our national channels (only two! Hard to imagine now) but also on Dutch, German and French (Club Dorothée anyone ) channels.

Basically, I watched way too much television!

mig your stepmother sounds like a real piece of work. I always believe people like that will get what's coming to them.

Santa how do you dispose of the coffee granules without blocking the sink? That's the thing I hate, emptying the thing!
Stands beside Linus as a fellow Snoopy fan
Umlauf that is fast. You sounds as though you have taken the first 5 months in your stride

OMG linus you watched that! I used to love club dorothee, loved those Japanese cartoons!

shop Its not pretty! I scrape them with kitchen role,then give them a rinse.but I have one of those sink disposable things,they are amazing.

LOVED that Japanese cartoon called Candy (iirc). She used the have huuuge eyes and nasty cousins or stepbrother and -sister. That's all I remember.

I agree with shop you do seem to have been a 'natural' at motherhood first time round umlauf! I, on the other hand, have blocked out DS's first months as otherwise we would never have had a second child.

For santa

It's the scrape I'm missing Santa - will try that.