Shopping

A.P.C X Art Berlin Contemporary tote bag



I only had one free hour in Berlin, so I literally checked out of the Soho House Hotel, stowed my bags with the staff and took a right out of the front door to tour the neighbourhood. Very luckily I wandered into a street where I made three lovely discoveries. The BLESS store, RSVP (a shop that sells single paperclips and posh rotating pencils? Yes please) and – what a stroke of luck – the A.P.C store.

The Art Berlin Contemporary tote bags had just gone on sale. I resisted the urge to buy one in every colour and stopped at the red and the black. (I’m still sorely tempted by the khaki though).  At €15 each, they’re not a bad price for a bag that will get tons of use. They can be bought online here (thanks Emma for the heads-up).



Tom Ford’s new hero product and a novel use for old beauty boxes




When it comes to beauty products I’m as swayed by the packaging as I am by the performance of the product. Tom Ford’s packaging is the best (and most expensive) in the business, with lipsticks clocking in at £36. Alas, I’m more of a sheer lip stain girl, so I haven’t had reason to indulge in the highly pigmented Ford lippies but here’s something I will entertain. (more…)



Buy it now: August fantasy shopping list



As a self-confessed knitwear addict, aw12 is looking most exciting – may I draw your attention to Rochas and Acne for starters? I’m also happy to see so many kilts and mid heels appearing – possibly the after-effects of our Jubilee summer. For the August-to-September transition, I like this Chanel ‘Holiday’ nail polish – an optimistic all-year-round shade that looks like summer in a bottle.


ABOVE LEFT TO RIGHT:
TOP: Astley Clarke earrings, £40; Asos bag, £75; Rochas cardigan, £705
MIDDLE: Chanel nail polish, £18, Burberry Brit kilt, £232; Valentino shoes, £409
BOTTOM: Acne jumper, £190; Kenneth Jay Lane earrings, £49.99; PAM bag, £69



Quote of the day: Essie Weingarten



“If the colour fits, wear it”
Essie founder, Essie Weingarten on Into The Gloss

I loved reading Weingarden’s soundbites and stories. Did you know you should wait two minutes between each coat of nail polish? Me neither. She also had this observation of European beauty consumers; “In Europe, as far as color is concerned, women are a little more sophisticated. They like a lot of green.” Er, what did I just post about three days ago? Oh yeah, Estee Lauder’s new green-black polish. Essie has nail colours that are still going strong since the very early days. Bordeaux (a wine red) and Ballet Slippers (pale pink) are 31 years old and Fiesta (colour-matched to a favourite raspberry pin cushion) is 30 years old. Read here for more.

Main image: Into The Gloss