Red lips

A few years back a friend of mine said to me that I always managed to keep my make-up looking fresh and newly applied even the nights we never went to bed. Well in those days I only applied make up to my eyes ans lips and yes it did stay on until I washed it of. My signature red lips was something I learned to master at an early age and here is my secret to bulletproof red lips:

Start with a lipliner and define the edges of your lips in the way you wish. Apply a coat of red lipstick. It is important to work with quality products and a lipstick that has a lot of pigmentation. Anyhow after applying the first coat. Take a pice of tissue and separate it, so you end up with one thin ply. Put it on your lips. Then take a little powder on a brush and dab on the paper that covers your lips. Some of the powder will get on your lips and seal the first coat. Then add a second coat! Et voilà! It is a simple as that. If you want add some shine, I always prefer a dry look during the day and a more glossy by night.

Now remember there is no need for chapped lips just use lipstick every day, all day!

We love you Bettie

The pin-up girls of yesterday all seem so innocent, Betty Grable with her legs, Marilyn Monroe with her looks and Bettie Page with her alluring brilliant smile. Bettie Page was a knock-out pin-up with her great body and lovely face but what really made her special was her energy that beams out of her eyes and smiling mouth. It´s like she is on fire. In the energy and her smile lies a promies of something wild. Betty was the queen of pin-ups in the 1950s and did in her time some very risky bondagephotos. In all the photos she is smiling and keep on giving us that silent promise. She look strong and healthy and sexy and someone who would be fun to roll around with.

Today the pin-ups have become glamourgirls and they are not so innocent anymore. We see them daily pouting their lips from the covers of mensmagazines, teasingly tugging at their knickers, exposing their latest investment from the plastic surgery clinic. Gorgeous girls for sure, but where is the fun? Where is the fantasy about what is hidden underneath or what promise lies in an inviting smile?

I´d prefer Bettie any day. Not only is she stunning but she is also very much in control of the picture. She doesnt need to pretend takeing her clothes off for you to be hot. She just smiles and knocks you out with her energy and that promise of what could happen if you were the lucky one.

Remember, remember to glam up November

This time of the year I hear people around me complain, “November is so dark and depressing”. Well for me it quite the opposite. I like the autumn months and specially November. The air is crisp with hints of snow. Many friends celebrate their birthdays so the evenings are full of parties and birthdaycakes with candles. Christmas is around the corner but without the stress that comes with the season. November is really a good month.  Now if you don´t have parties to go to or like fresh air there is a thing or two you can do to beat down the autumnblues. It´s my secret weapon against any low: glamour. Just put on a pair of heels wear your favorite dress and do your hair in a new way. Automatically you will feel better looking, which will help brighten your mood. Listen to your favorite music and dance around (the best pick-me-up) or meet a friend at your favorite bar or café. Have a glass and celebrate something you both like. Notice the way people look at you and treat you when you are dollied up. I promise you will get positive reactions which will  help further to lift your Novemberblues and soon you will forget all about it. So go get them heels and slap some lipstick on while your at  it! Cheers to a glamorous November!

Fine Lingerie

Yesterday I found out about the Paris Burlesque Festival taking place next weekend in the French Capital. It looks like it is focus on native performers with the exception of the odd american performer. I wish I´d know about it before maybe I would have booked a flight…

You might say that I had an awakening experience when I left my parent’s home 18 years old and moved to Paris. I´d read some french in school and I knew I was enrolled at a language course at L´univeristé de la Sorbonne, so without having set foot in the capital and without a place to stay or a friend to call I arrived on a cloudy september morning.  Je suis arrivé I though as I got a cab to the Swedish church in hope of getting some help as where to find a place to live.

A few weeks (and nights spent sleeping at newfound friends late)r I found a little jem of a flat in the second arrondissement. What happened in Paris was that I lost my innocence. I never lived without my parents before and I had many ideas about life but not much experience. I learned about life and love and work and friendships while sipping my cremé in the afternoon, going to bars and concerts in the evening and or just sitting by the Seine alone and thinking.

Anyhow, I did live in the same quartier as J-P Gaultier and on my way to one of my favorite places in the neighbourhood Palais Royal I always walked past Chantal Thomass. I used to admire the gorgeous  feminine lingerie and wish that I would one day be able to afford some. That day has come but I have not been back, wanting to keep my memory of that first taste of life and freedom and fine lingerie!