Les Parisiennes des Mamansnet: Too much good taste can be very boring. Independent style, on the other hand, can be very inspiring.

[botemp]

Lovers of Parisian style and fashion with a conscious mindset and lots of chatter in between.

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Favoured Parisian addresses:

Second Hand Shops

Outlets

Favoured London addresses:

Charity Shops, Dress Agencies, and Outlets

Favoured NYC addresses:

Consignment shops, Vintage, and Restaurants

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Previous threads:

Un

Deux

Trois

Quatre

Cinq

Six

Sept

Huit

I didn’t have a chance to look at much more, I was looking for a tee I’d stained but they don’t do it anymore, then trying to get to other stories (waste of time, they must have a whole online only range as no staff had heard of the items I wanted to try on)

Long time reader, occasional contributor but been out of the loop for a while. Spent a happy hour catching up, always so many great ideas/tips/advice here, it's a special place in the weird internet landscape..

August has me feeling in a rut, straw like hair, accidentally burnt forehead and no holidays taken or planned (humph).

In an attempt to de-bleurgh myself, I recently bought some Trinny London make up which I've found refreshing in that I like the casual application (it's sort of made for finger application) and the dewy effect is lovely for that sort of on the go Parisian girl, barely there, still see your freckles finish. The experience of the make up lesson was not ideal for an HSP (LOUD voices, bright lights, hyper excited girls everywhere) but nevertheless I like my purchases and the freshened up make up bag feeling. I recommend if any of you are looking for a bit of a make up play.

I remember a while ago some great foodie recommendations, my kitchen is in a major rut, what are you lovely lot cooking and eating lately? I could do with some inspiration..

Your link is too confusing/not working for me, Bani.

Happy (belated) birthday Xing

The summer Uniqlo U collection was a bit oddly timed, they released it right before the sales. It was quite colourful but a lot was swimwear/holiday wear. I have to say in comparison to the original Lemaire colab it's feeling like it's slipping in quality and finish. I think he's a lot less hands on with it and just sort of directs it rather than designs it, iyswim.

Super, were you the poster that was off to the south of France around this time last year and were doing all the cooking?

For the straw hair I'd rec an aloe vera and coconut oil mask, easy to DIY. The summer has definitely left my hair dehydrated and the aloe really seems to help with that.

Ha, Trinny herself seems like an HSP's nightmare to be around, so if the brand aligns with that I'm not surprised. Similarly I think I'd be miserable at Charlotte Tilbury. For other 'melts into your skin, barely there makeup but it's definitely doing something' I've been quite enthusiastic about the Perriccone no makeup makeup line. I especially like the bronzer and mascara. As the name suggests it's barely detectable, it has some skincare benefits but that's a load of nonsense as far as I'm concerned.

I'm in a bit of a food rut too, but it's mostly to do with my appetite disappearing throughout the day and then I don't feel like putting much effort into cooking. I've mostly been making things that I can prep earlier in the day so it's more of an assembly job in the evening. I can copy paste my meal planning for the coming week if you'd like? I'll link recipes where possible.

www.studioheijne.com/product/custom-made-silk-top/

Fixed link ...

Flo I don't understand the waxed cotton?

My hair was terrible after the summer as well - I just used a hair mask left in the bathroom by one of the daughters and that sorted it (needs a cut but ah well). Hopefully your's is as easy to sort out Super.

time your Paris visit does on the whole sound more productive than mine ... ;)

What were our opinions on the Uniqlo curve trousers, I forget?

Fucking cooking and meals, bane of my life (and mr Bani does most of it). Yesterday I made mapo tofu. Haven't mastered how to get the szechuan pepper to not be gritty.

Intrigued by Trinny's makeup now. I got a ding in my H&M shopping app about their new sheer lipstick, so I popped in the shop down town to have a look in my quest to be a lipstick person before I die. They were supposed to have it but staff had no idea. A few days later I was in again, saw them sitting in a box on the counter but decided they could have a few days to unpack them, get testers etc. Popped in again a few days after that - they were nowhere to be seen. This is about 10 days now. Yesterday on my walk to weigh myself for free in an electronics supermarket (#winningatlife) I went into a different H&M. They did have them on the shelf, but no testers, and a very kind shop assistant recommended me two other brands and made no attempt to open testers. All a bit bizarre! It's just there was this one shade that looked nice on the model ...

Hello! It wasn't me going to the South of France last year but that is the post/topic I remember yielding lots of great foodie tips.

I will try the aloe/coconut hair mask thanks bo I've honestly never known my hair to be so affected by heat and sun before, it's grim.

I went to Trinny's 'At Home' HQ in Chelsea for the make up trial, the make up is quite hard to find; you can only buy in Fenwick or online and I don't trust make up purchases made online via their 'Match 2 Me' software of whatever it's called. It's so hard to get colours right that way. It's £45 redeemable against purchase so I figured it was a good way to try and then buy a few bits that I knew I needed. It was not an easy experience, as you say bo Trinny herself is an HSP's nightmare, I can't even watch her videos, - all the shoutyness!! The make up itself is nice, moussey and light and wears well, good colours, nice pigment. You do have to be careful of all the dewiness as I think it can veer towards greasy, but I'm pleased with an updated make up bag and a slightly fresher look.

Yes please bo would love to see your weeks meal plan! I'm mainly eating avocado on marmite toast and light salads lately...

I'm not sure it's worth spending extra to get that custom made as it's just a loose fit. Beyond that, it doesn't look that different to the quality of silk and finishing they sell at somewhat more affordable Lily Silk (not that I've ever bought from them, everything I've ever been interested in was on offer or had a code applied which can't be returned which seems to be their business model).

I'm sartorially annoyed, I seem to be refusing to accept the weather and summer is over. I really do need to get my mind set on A/W, saw a nice coat at H&M yesterday to my surprise (never liked the cut/fit or material there) but then much preferred a linen blazer at Zara bought neither due to previously mentioned weather denial.

Sorry bani it was a very unglamorous waxed cotton (so waterproof or near enough) bucket hat from Millets, which is an outdoor / camping shop in the UK and probably doesn't feature on S&B very often. I bought it because I absolutely cannot stand umbrellas - they send me into a rage which is not a pretty sight - and most of my coats don't have hoods and yet my main exercise is walking. So I need something else.

Waxed cotton, along with tweed, often gets written off as 'country clothing' in the UK but I'm rather fond of them both, despite being as un-rural a person as you could hope to meet. But I can feel myself segueing into a post about winter coats in August so I'll back off (for now).

If the curved trousers are the sames ones that Lemaire did in those early Uniqlo collections then I bloody love them. Yeah bo I've also had a feeling that the U collections were slipping, which was probably why I forgot to look out for the summer range. Damn shame.

Okay meal plan:

This week:

Monday: Jim Lahey's 5 Ingredient Summer Squash Pizza with spinach tomato and olive salad. (Portions come up big IMHO, half is plenty for a small eater)

Tuesday: Amritsari Calamari, peach tabouleh, and grilled cos lettuce with tahini ranch dressing topped with toasted almonds and pomegranate seeds. (Thought I had a recipe for the tabouleh but it's pretty much a standard Syrian tabouleh which is mostly flat leaf parsley but I replace the tomato and cucumber with peaches and radishes and the bulghur/freekeh(sp?) with quinoa just a bit of lemon juice for dressing. I've also tinkered with the spices for the calamari -have a premade jar of the stuff, also works with fish and shallow fried- replacing amchoor and the Kashmiri chili with sumac and hot smoked paprika)

Wednesday: Sabiche - not really a recipe, I just buy some manouches from the Lebanese manouche place and stuff it with Israeli salad, some semi-soft (hard?) boiled eggs, a few mango slices and top with amba sauce (murderously good) but I'll make the zhoug oh and eggplant, just split some down the middle and with a smidge of oil set it on medium heat with a heavy cast iron on top and leave it to steam char.

Thursday: eating out

Friday: Cray fish 'lobster' roll, kohlrabi pea shoots and grapefruit salad, seaweed crisps

Saturday: Artichoke salad with lavosh and mozzarella though I may switch it out for Falafel Spiced Tomatoes and Chickpeas on Flatbread especially if there's some zhoug left over and I see some nice coeur de boeuf tomatoes. Although we may be out again on Saturday...

Sunday: Cod en papillote with tenderstem broccoli, rice noodles (rice if I feel like making an effort) and a cucumber peanut salad

That is a serious menu Bo, by my standards! For context it’s 11pm and I justness got home from work without lunch or dinner . I’m scarfing some leftover gammon a la Jamie Oliver, tomorrow dh is making the attached baked salmon which is a go to for us, and he’s making stir fry for wed & thurs.

Bo!! If this is you in a bit of a food rut and without appetite then wow! I can only imagine what gastronomic feats happen when you are not in a food rut! What a DELICIOUS set of adventurous, sophisticated and interesting meals...Makes my avocado toast positively plebeian in comparison. I really like your take on layering flavours, the emphasis on fresh and seasonal and how textured it all seems. I'm so inspired by this, am going to try to tackle some of these recipes this week too. Can we start a Bo Cooks thread now please?!

Place marking

Perhaps appetite rut is more accurate, it helps to have variety and food that is actually enticing to eat as skipping a meal is worse for my health than overeating. I tend to refer to my cooking as pantry cooking as I basically have a lot of dressings and sauces sitting in the fridge. If I'm cooking something like quinoa or lentils (not rice though, I grew up eating a lot of rice and it must always be freshly made though I have contemplated par boiling risotto rice to speed that up) I just do the whole box, freeze the rest on a baking tray and portion it up after, so the freezer has a lot of things ready to go. Lots of grated frozen cheese as well, tip I picked up from MN and saves a lot of time getting cheese in and grating it for one specific recipe. And seasonal, because I buy predominantly organic and it's substantially cheaper to cook around what's on offer and preferably local. Beyond that I try to include as much cruciferous veg as I can as that's really helpful with PCOS.

I've never gotten on with Jamie Oliver, I'm not a meat eater or a great fan of lots of chili in everything so what's left can be a bit bland IME. Similarly always attracted to Nigel Slater recipes but I often find them too dull to repeat, with an exception for the dessert recipes. I always really like the Thomasina Miers recipes in the Gaurdian, even if it's not something I'd eat there's usually something interesting happening that I can apply elsewhere.

Meals have to be family friendly here (dp and dd1 can be quite fussy in different ways, both are confirmed carnivores and I low carb). A lot of meals have been something + salad here tbh in the warm weather. Some regular meals are salmon/other fish en papillote, yesterday just lemon and pepper. A sort of "jambalaya" with separate rice with some combination of chorizo, chicken, prawns, mussels in a slightly spicy tomato sauce with green salad and avocado. Chicken or fish with Asian flavourings of some sort with cucumber salad in a ginger and miso dressing. Salads atm are greek salad, red cabbage coleslaw, caprese or whatever we have with marinated artichokes, olives, other antipasti thrown in. Weekends maybe some slow cooked chicken or other meat with five spice or cajun spices with salad, maybe flatbreads or rice or new potatoes. Tonight is chicken and prawn fajitas with avocado salad and ciabatta, very easy.

Sorry to post and run, but I am in the Lakes at the moment. Will post photo of available tote bags tomorrow if anyone would like onepurchasing, please keep an eye.

Bo Why did nobody tell me about Lilysilk??? Rude. I agree that they have a confusing website. I am however going to save that one jic. Perhaps the loose fitting blouse was not a great example but I liked the red and the v-neck and even cowl neck option (more a funnel really). Didn't notice any price changes when I tweaked the measurements a little? However different price for different options of course.

Like the sound of the tahini dressing, adding that to my Pinterest board!

I thought you'd bought a sheet of waxed cotton or something Flo, didn't notice you said hat. Thought this was the new thing, wrapping waxed fabric around you in the rain like a demented druid.

Talk me out of getting this dress www.afound.com/sv-se/produkter/meera-silk-dress-plum-wine_zzvgfgke

(or into it if it seems like the best thing ever and ever so useful and good quality bla bla)

Why do I get hung up on random shite when I don't even have a variety of shoes

It has a giant silk penis any good? I don't hate it, Bani, except it's an A/W colour to me and the fabric most definitely is not.

Also, demented druid in the rain needs a Reddit style thread.

Demented druid in the rain is possibly my greatest contribution to style ever.

Tsk tsk giant silk penis, it's a lovely tie. And I wear autumnal colours all year round for lack of better options... But very good. I'm holding back. Trying to remember how much I love silk twill and not so much the lighter weights.

I think that dress is the best ever. I wear wine colours all year round as they suit me the best. Don’t let the silk penis comments put you off I’m seriously very tempted myself depending on shipping!

I don't know if your helping Time haha.

I have free shipping and returns here. But I just read an article on environmental effects of all this mail order we're doing so I'm in angst.

First, this is a bad photo and a very cheeky one of the lady ahead of me going to the train this morning. It will be hard to see sorry, but the jacket and backpack are a nearly identical dark very well worn looking leather with a rich worn look as opposed to a worn out look. It looks just right. I’d never have put them together myself, I’d have thought matchy leather how too much, just don’t. (She’s quite tall which helps)

First, I haven’t been burgled. This trashed house look is our usual Wednesday night vibe when work and life are busy. please ignore. bo’s ASOS trouser recommendation! I love them! unfortunatey I dithered and the black 10 sold out so I bought khaki 10 and black 8. I love the black but the 10 are a better fit. 8 fit fine but 10 more wear all day every day relaxing. I’m going to broach to dh the possibilities of keeping both . I love they are cotton, brilliant Bo!

And the khaki, I couldn’t add both images.

In terms of barely there makeup, I love the Body Shop Fresh Nude BB Cream and also the No7 Superlight foundation. The No7 is pigmented enough that I need a summer shade and a winter shade whereas I can get away with one colour all year round in the Body Shop. I’ve also enjoyed the Bourjois CC Cream as a light base. Brown eyeliner, black mascara, a touch of eyebrow pencil and a swipe of rose/ nude lippy, and I’m good to go.