Mario Testino at the Vogue Festival 2013

     The Vogue Festival is such an amazing place to be. It truly makes you want to work in fashion, being constantly surrounded by beautiful people in beautiful clothes. I luckily managed to get tickets to see Mario Testino interviewed by Lucinda Chambers with an introduction by Alexandra Shulman. I have read so much about these people as individuals and been hugely influenced by they're work over the past few years. Mario Testino has shot so many people of note from the fashion industry, music industry and the royal family.
     He is a very interesting character who grew up in Peru and didn't find photography as his first path. After years in England not making his way forward he began photography and gradually worked his way up. His talent is what really makes the shoots because although there will be a stylist and hair and make up artists, Testino creates the look, using them to make what he sees in his mind, the reality that you see every month in Vogue.
      His advice to anyone wanting to start out in photography is to be an assistant and even then, he himself will not hire an assistant until they have had 4 years in the industry. On a shoot, he says it is easier working with harsher people and finds criticism helpful, ''always take criticism because there's always something you can learn from it.'' He said if he could only ever work with one person it would be Kate Moss because he describes her as having so much energy, saying ''she's like a walking photo.''
      In the foyer, among the crowds of fashionistas were beauty stands which were making people: Dior eyes, YSL Lips stands and a Braiding Bar, leaving half the women with plaits looping their heads. There was also a huge queue for the Vogue Cover shoot, which included hair and makeup for a shoot with prints with a mock up cover which looked so good!
     I wore my 'In Vogue We Trust' crop top and houndstooth leggings and my new studded flatforms. I also took a comfier pair of creepers in my bag to travel on the tube in, because however lovely the flatforms are, they are from Office and only £20 so I had blisters that were killing from the previous days wear! I also wore my Tom Ford shades which I quickly whipped on upon arrival at the Southbank Centre as even though the sun wasn't out everyone was strutting around with their massive glasses on.

Black Matte Topshop Purse

     I took a trip to Oxford Street on Wednesday and I always love the Topshop there because its the first stop right opposite the tube station and it is literally huge! 4 floors and hundreds of racks of bliss. I also bought a shirt with a floral cutout which I will post at some point and a nail varnish in 'Sea Mist'. I love their nail collection because the polish is such good quality and they have massive variety in colour and texture.
     With all this shopping, I realised how dog-eared and worn out my old studded, gold River Island purse was so I took a look at the Topshop range and they have some lovely ones. I like to have a classy purse that I can feel comfortable pulling out anywhere as its always embarrassing when you have a tacky, old or damaged one! I might have been swayed towards the black and white houndstooth print one if only I hadn't been wearing matching leggings that day - a girl couldn't possibly clash.

   
It really fits my cards, receipts and money in conveniently (and yes, cool kid with the library card)

Verena, Lake Como

I took this photographs when I was staying in Menaggio last week, a small town on the side of the Italian Lake Como. The first picture is the view of my room; it began really snowy on the mountains but by the time we left it had thinned out a fair bit as it warmed up. Most of these are taken in Verena and I love all the little houses which are painted a different colour. The area is so pretty, with the atmospheric lake making photographs look great.

 

In Situ Skincare Samples

     I found innovative skincare brand In Situ Cosmetics on Twitter a while ago and have since ordered these free samples to see if the products are as good as their company's ethos. In Situ has been established since April 2012 and their USP is that all of their products are made at time of sale because their aim is to combat the on-shelf products that are on average 12 months old by the time they are purchased. This is a problem which results the ingredients of said products, however wonderful they are on the packaging, will have lost a lot of their potency by the time they are actually used. Also, In Situ believes that all skin is unique and although most brands categorise their skincare into dry, combination, normal and oily, this company has gone the extra mile and every product is personalised to the buyers specific needs. You can receive these samples at the In Situ website here.

     I took advantage of the Eye Cream, Face Balm, Exfoliating Body Wash and Body Butter, which were all customised to suit me with four different choices for each! These were sent out to me a few days after and I was surprised that they arrived at the same time any normal online purchase would be without having to wait a long time for the products to be specialised. I loved the little box they came in, all tucked up in their straw and ribbon.

   
     My opinions varied on these samples as I really liked the eye cream and scrub but I wasn't too keen on the body butter or face balm. The eye cream was designed to reduce dark circles, to be used at night and to give a balancing and calming effect on my mood. I was really impressed with this, as after a few days of daily application I could see a noticeable difference under my eyes which brightened my face. However, I found this quite a short term product but after leaving it for a brief period and coming back to it, the magic worked well again. I must advocate though that although this is a great product, the absolute best way to rid dark circles is to get to bed earlier!
     My arms tend to build up dry skin which is a bit bumpy and really benefits from a good body scrub. This helped me a lot and left my arms feeling so much smoother afterwards. What I love about this is the smell, which is frankly divine. Honey and vanilla is the scent which is really invigorating in the morning and does stay after the scrub is washed off. It is supposed to give radiance and luminosity but I can't say I have noticed much of a difference in this department but can arms really be radiant?

   
     However, I was not too impressed by the body butter as I usually use variations of this product on my legs but I thought the coverage wasn't great and that it would be much better rebranded as a hand cream or butter as I found it was better on small scale because it was not as moisturising as I had hoped.
     The face balm aswell, which although was perfectly adequate, was not right for me. I thought it smelt quite sterile, it didn't sink in well and felt quite heavy on my face but maybe that's because I am more suited to a light moisturiser than a balm. I'll put foundation on over this most mornings and this felt like an extra layer underneath that I didn't need.

The Overcast Streets of Switzerland

      Happy Easter! I hope you're having or had a good break and celebrated with some treats of the chocolatey kind. I arrived in Switzerland on Thursday to meet my mum who works and resides in the week in the town of Zug. I love the Swiss charm and traditional architecture of the main town, with historic and mythical paintings on the faces of the buildings, though the outer houses are much harsher and more modern, which I really don't like as I think the grey cement doesn't fit with the beauty of the hills and the lake.

     So I hit the town to get some photos to capture the town and its pretty houses; there is something about the triangular rooves which I think would look so abnormal and unpractical anywhere other than rural areas surrounded by mountains, but fit so perfectly here. It was pretty cloudy to start with and when I came out of the restaurant it was snowing! Not unexpected but a happy shock anyway.