Lalique’s newest addition to the Noir Premier collection, Plume Blanche 1901, shines like a glowing jewel. The elegance of a white peacock was the inspiration behind the luxurious perfume, and the scent is just as unique and rare as this animal.
How it smells Lalique Plume Balnche is a floral woody musk unisex fragrance made by Karine Dubreuil. It’s very powdery and seduces with a lot of almond, heliotrope, white wood and musk. A fragrance made to empower its wearer to feel just as proud and beautiful as a peacock.
The bottle The iconic bottle of the Noir Premier collection is well-known by now. For Plume Blanche 1901, the art nouveau bottle appears to be dipped in gold. At the front, there is the most stunning white peacock feather print, inspired by René Lalique’s illustration for the cover of Montesquiou’s book “Les Paons”. The flanks of the bottle are transparent and adorned with the collection’s cicada-wing motif. I am amazed!
My opinion For me, Lalique Plume Blanche 1901 was love at first smell, and I already know it’s gonna stay among the very few and selected fragrances I regularly use. I find it very elegant, intriguing and warm. When I was wearing the perfume for the first time, I met a friend. When we hugged, I noticed how fascinated she was by the smell. She immediately noticed I wear a new perfume and was drawn to it a lot. This showed me that I am not the only one who recognizes what a special fragrance I found.
When strangers meet, sometimes a person, you didn’t know before becomes everything within a few months. How was life before? The memories seem faint. But there is no happy end to many stories, and often people fade just as fast as they appear. They become pale like Victorian ghosts, and all that lasts is a picture of a memory, a version of a person that might not even exist any longer.
How does your voice sound when you are excited? How do you smell when I hug you, and how does your precious skin feel? What is the exact spot, size and colour of your birthmark, and what buttons did the shirt you were wearing the day we first kissed have? I try to grab my nails into those memories and keep them alive, force them to stay. But the white frog spreads in my mind and slowly takes away the clarity and intensity of my beloved memories. It makes me sad, and It frightens me, but I can’t stop it, like quicksand.
I never wanted to let you go, and I don’t want my memories to fade just a shade. But I can’t even beg you to please don’t become a ghost, a stranger. All I have left is you haunting my dreams and thoughts instead of being a part of my world. What happened to the bright future vision that could have been ahead? When did you just become an image in my head?
I became good at fixing hurt in the last two years – or at least I thought so; I swallowed my pain and tried to heal as much as possible until the next blow came. And oh dear, there was blow after blow. What you can’t see in my pictures: Just before they were taken, my heart was shattered to pieces. Not like before, but in a final way. I was cast away from the dream I wanted to live with all its pleasures and horrors. I cried all night, went to the hairdresser and continued to cry while she put cheerful colour on my head. Afterwards, I sat on the train with tears rolling down my cheeks.
As a professional, I didn’t want to cancel the planned shooting. When I know one thing about myself, it’s that no matter what happened, I can perform in front of the camera. A switch in my head turns everything else off as soon as I hear that familiar clicking sound. So I did perform. Eventually, grieve might fade just like happiness and love, but I know I will always see sad beauty in those pictures. Can you feel it too?
Last week I talked to a very old friend after losing touch for a few years. It was a wonderful conversation, open, honest and deep right from the start. I told him that I feel like I am not the same person he knew and got slightly anxious. His answer was amazing: He said “Oh, I don’t expect you to. Actually, I would be concerned if you were”.
This sunk in deep. If I meet people I haven’t seen for a while, it makes me feel uneasy because I fear they might think that I have become something less. Less beautiful, less energetic, less sparkling, less whatever, just less. How can it be that somebody who embraces the change of the world and the possibilities of the new so much, somebody who works to change herself towards a better version of herself every day, be so afraid of change for the worse at the same time?
Yes, I might have become less at something than I was a few years ago. But if you look at the whole picture, I’m also a lot more since then. Maybe what I became less was no longer a priority, or my experiences carry me somewhere else?
I shouldn’t have to be ashamed of the wounds I carry and the tiredness I feel, even if you can see it in my eyes. It means that I came far and made it through a lot. Oh, you can’t imagine where I come from as I will never be capable of where you set foot on. A face is a face, but it often doesn’t give even a glimpse of its story. Yes, I did change, and I work on myself to change even more. I am busy putting ointment on old wounds, examine where they came from and trying to break emotionally unhealthy patterns.
Old friends might become new friends when we meet again. Besides: Do you ever know a person anyway, even yourself? Another friend who is married for 20 years told me that he thinks his marriage works because his wife is still a stranger to him in many ways. Maybe we are all strangers? Maybe what it is about is not to expect to know, trust in the unknown, and see identity as a more fluid matter. Change is happening; nobody is who they were when you last met.
Natural cosmetic brand Likami promises to be superfood for the skin. They use active, plant-based ingredients and natural oils to create a new generation of quality skincare. I tested their botanical products until the bottles were empty, and today I tell you what I think about Likami’s face care.
Likami – Icelandic for body – stands for inspiration and vision. It’s a slow skincare brand that focuses on relevant things and is closely connected to nature. The family-run brand is from Belgium and produces in small quantities with fresh ingredients sourced from Europe. The products come with antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins. The four ingredients that most products contain are yarrow, sage, St. John’s Word and burdock, which they call the “quadri gold complex”.
The product line is small but offers everything you really need to care for your face, hair and body. The packaging is recyclable and minimalistic.
Likami Cleansing Milk
Every skincare routine starts with cleansing, and the Likami Cleansing Milk is rich and milky. It contains aloe vera, macadamia oil and, of course: the quadri gold complex. So this milk is the ideal accomplice to get rid of environmental toxins and excess cell-build up.
I wear foundation every day and usually clean my face with oil to take off most makeup and use this as a second cleansing step. It smells lovely, feels gentle and calming, and does what it is supposed to do very well.
Likami Facial Toner
After cleansing comes the toning! The Likami facial toner contains quadri gold complex and orange blossoms, almost a spa feeling!
I must confess at first I was not sure if I’d like a spray toner, but after using it for a few weeks I’m converted. I love to close my eyes, spray it on my face and instantly feel relaxed. I didn’t know that toning would ever become one of my favourite moments of the day, wow!
Likami Facial Essential Serum
A rich oil made of rosehip, argan and camelia, created to be a youth and beauty booster for the face. It stimulates the skin’s production of collagen and cells, adds antioxidants to enhance firmness, soothes and nourishes.
Omg, my favourite product, I think it’s a game-changer! The smell is divine and my skin feels super soft and nourished after using it. I use it twice a day under my cream, sometimes in the evening, I mix it with a retinol oil. I tried a lot of oils, but this one is the best I ever had.
Likami Facial Cream
The hydrating cream with organic aloe vera and macadamia oil feels like velvet and causes a beautiful shine on the skin. It provides superb antioxidant hydration, stimulates the production of collagen, protects and heals. Quadri gold complex is included, too, of course.
The Likami Facial Cream is rich but absorbs fast, leaving just the smoothest skin I’ve ever known. During the day, I also use suncream and a primer to complete my skincare ritual.
Likami Eye Cream
Eye creams are my secret addiction, and this anti-wrinkle eye contour cream is very luxurious to make eyes radiant and reduces puffiness. Grapeseed oil meets hyaluronic acid, aloe vera, macadamia oil and of course: the quadri gold complex.
It’s nourishing and hydrating, and the eyes are given a natural glow. Yes, yes, Likami Eye Cream help me keep the radiance and vitality of the eye area!
So, what do I think about Likami?
After emptying all my bottles of Likami, it’s time for a verdict: Likami isn’t pink, it doesn’t look bling bling, but I am in love! I already went to Absynt in Winterthur to buy more and honestly say: I am a Likami girl and totally hooked!
Sorry to all other skincare brands: You’ll have a very hard job to get back in my bathroom.
Likami is available online and from selected partners in Switzerland. First of all at Absynt in Winterhur and new as well at Fashionpie and Schön&Recht in Zurich and at Clomes in Berne.
Pictures: Sara Streule Samples sent by Absynt. I was not paid for this review and the content reflects my own opinion.
Does love come with a price, and if, how much does it cost? Some people say love is unconditional; others have a lot of demands. Where lies the truth? I grew up being taught that I have to be something special to be worthy of love and that it requires a lot of work to deserve this feeling I was craving for.
So I thought the price of love is to become the cutest girl in the room, the best at school, the one who draws the most beautiful paintings and makes the most intelligent remarks during conversations. The less I felt loved, the more I worked. I read tons of books about every topic you can imagine, starved myself to be the most skinny girl in the room, worked till utter exhaustion and pushed myself into a public position—all of this to catch the attention of people whose love I desired. I wanted them to look at me with pride and to realise that there was nobody who deserved to be loved more than me.
Of course, this was a twisted point of view because although it made me very ambitious and reaching for perfection in everything I did, it didn’t bring me what I was longing for the most. I compared myself to others because there was always somebody more beautiful, more intelligent, more fun and turned into my biggest critic, deconstructing every one of my own successes. It was just not possible to ever satisfy this voice in my head that told me I was not good enough. For a while, I thought I was jealous when I saw others succeeding; then I realised that the root of my dark feelings was something else: Other peoples success hurt me because it made me feel like I was a loser. I was so frustrated that I forgot to see my qualities, focussing on where I saw the potential for improvement. Means everywhere.
People told me how beautiful I was again and again. They praised how good I am at many things and how much they enjoy my company. I listened, felt uncomfortable and couldn’t believe it because if I were this good for real, why would I not be loved? This dangerous logic consumed my mind, and I had to learn to get rid of that critic in my head, which was one of my most difficult tasks. It took me years to admit that that critic is too loud, and piece by piece, I learn to push it back and tell it to be quiet. In my job, I lead people, and my strategy has always been to keep their motivation up. It’s a paradox that I couldn’t provide the same positive circumstances I create for others for myself.
Although I got better in the meanwhile, I don’t think that critic in my head will ever disappear. But I see now that the price of love isn’t to be perfect. People who truly love you want your best and love you despite your faults, they can’t stand it when you cry, and they nourish you. True love doesn’t judge you for your mistakes but builds you up, so you grow. This is what I found in my friends, and it makes me a far happier girl than I was, filled with the strength to grow. It’s not my fault that I didn’t have love whenever I needed it; I am not just enough but a firework. If you don’t see that, you must be looking down while I am filling the sky…
My outfit: Coat: Coster Copenhagen kindly gifted by Custom Made, Bag & Hat: Vintage, Shoes: A gift, Sunglasses: Saint Laurent, Bangle: Vintage Versace, Shoes: A gift from my mom
Freedom, that exciting yet frightening feeling. The thrill of doing what you like without compromising and the fear that there is nobody catching you if you fall. All those contradictions mixed up into a cocktail of emotions and experiences, yes this is it: Freedom!
I feel all of it in a row. During the last months, I often cursed this state of freedom, but (teeth-gnashingly) I have to admit, that I enjoyed it as well. Maybe more than I will ever be willing to admit. Freedom is as much a state of mind as well as the circumstance of independence. It doesn’t mean to be reckless or irresponsible, but it means to be presented with a huge variety of choices. Good and bad, exciting and boring, safe and risky. Oh it can be so overwhelming and all the responsibility for your actions is yours, nobody there to blame.
What do you choose if you are the only one judging you, and does the ultimate freedom mean to stop judging yourself but embracing yourself? Freedom, that mental feeling of a rough and wild wind on your face and your hair all a mess. Laughing uncontrolled without worrying how you look and that it might come across vulgar, coming home late eating popcorn sitting on the floor with mascara on your cheeks. Yes, this is how freedom tastes.
I do love it; I do hate it. One minute I want to be saved from it, the next, I realise I am all but helpless and in need of a hero but capable of being free and be me on my own. So I make choices others wouldn’t dare, pushing myself further and further surprised that dreams I didn’t dare to dream while I was busy having nightmares come true. Freedom is where the comfort zone isn’t; I enjoy dancing on the fence, yet I long to rest my head on your shoulders too…
My Outfit Clothing: Nixi Killick, Shoes: Melissa, Sunglasses: Le Specs, Earrings: old
“Don’t be yourself, but all the reflections you see in the mirror!” said one of the dwarves. Snowwhite fell asleep in a bed of ice, thinking about it.
This is my second photoshoot as a model in the snow, and this time, I was so brave and even lied down in my transparent dress. There is a weird thing about me: I can’t stand cold weather and complain a lot, but as soon as there is a camera, I blend out everything, and I’m focused and absolutely living in the moment. Only for the picture.
The snow became just the perfect background and lost its cool touch. I forgot about the wind in my face and became an eerie and melancholic version of Snowwhite. I am really grateful to work with new photographers recently and be more experimental. It feels like seeing myself in a new light again and again. For this shoot, I worked with young Portuguese talent Tiago, who captures people and fashion differently.
The pictures look like a dream that is just about to fade away, already a little bit blurry at the edges, yet still lingering in the air. A dream where Kate Bush just wrote a new enchanting song and the wind chants “Mirror, mirror” in the background in an endless loop.
Mirror, mirror, who is the fairest of them all? Mirror, mirror, do you see me but do you see what you do too? And somewhen the dream is over, the magic captured with the click of the camera. I feel the cold on my face again, wake up from my dream and wonder where my fairy tale is waiting for me.
Dressed up in Nixi Killick and Melissa Shoes, I feel like a colourful rainbow cyborg on a futuristic adventure. Will I dream of electric flamingos now?
Yes, I think I will, and of so much more, all in the brightest colours. I’ve never been a party girl, but I know very well how to look like one no matter where I go. I believe in making every moment exciting, and dressing up is one of my tricks to do so. People ask me at the supermarket where I go. I answer, “Home with my bananas and potatoes?” and they look back like I just told them that oranges are, in fact, ultraviolet through my cyborg-eyes.
It’s a long time since there was anywhere to go, but I don’t think the time to give up looking spectacular should ever come. Because remember: What was the fun about the events and parties? I say it was thinking about what to wear, making plans of a spectacular appearance and turn heads. Well, supermarket, you’re my place for that now! I’m not such a good dancer anyway, and it’s easier to hide than here than in a club.
Ok, I wish they’d improve the music in supermarkets; I’d really appreciate glam rock and electro instead of elevator sounds and chirping birds. Who else is in? Imagine how it would change the setting and give people the feeling that there is suddenly more fun in their lives. Yes, it would include some fights about different song tastes, but I guess we could all agree it’s better than the elevator atmosphere.
Till that happens I take my whole rainbow home with my bananas, hope it made a few people smile and continue to dream of my electric flamingos.
Mellow Heliotrope is one of the three new fragrances for women by Bentley Beyond – The Collection. The scents are made for sophisticated women who refuse to take the back seat and appreciate unique luxury. Each fragrance is interpreting a flower picked on an adventurous trip.
How it smells Mellow Heliotrope takes us to Peru. The floral-oriental composition opens with dazzling spices and fruits and lingers on the skin with delicately powdery and sweet notes.
Heliotrope – a purple Mediterranean flower– is a very feminine note, rather elegant than provocative. Master perfumer Karine Dubreuil Sereni says that she imagined a soft, sensual woman who thrives in intimate situations wearing it.
The bottle Bentley’s design studio created a bottle that holds up the same standards and attention to detail as their luxury cars. Every scent has its distinctive colour, which is visible on the hand-stitched suede cap of the flacon. The bottle’s faceted satin glass is inspired by the signature cut-crystal headlights of the Bentley Continental GT.
The other two new fragrances
Bentley Beyond – The Collection: Radiant Osamthus A joyful fruity-floral fragrance that takes you on a trip to Kyoto. Top notes are Lemon, Mandarin and Neroli; middle notes are Osmanthus, Jasmine and Peach; base Notes are Cedar, Sandalwood, Amber and Musk.
Bentley Beyond – The Collection: Vibrant Hibiscus A passionate floral scent inspired by Seoul. Top notes are Cassis, Mandarin, Bergamot and Violet Leaves; middle notes are Hibiscus, Peony, Rose, Jasmine and Lily of the Valley; base notes are Sandalwood, Patchouli, Musk and Moss.
Pictures: Sara Streule. Samples sent by Bentley, I was not paid for this review and the content reflects my own opinion.
Do you ever feel completely quite on the outside but there is a wild storm raging in your heart at the same time? A storm that doesn’t understand how reality and what you wished for could have drifted so far apart?
When you feel like that your heart doesn’t let you sleep. It keeps you up pondering why even if you dedicate all your energy to work on what stings you like a thorn, you’re still in a cold dark place. All you want is to scream out loud, refusing to accept that you can’t do anything but look for another dream. But your silly, sweet little heart doesn’t want to stop fightings invincible giants and never gave up believing in fairy tales. How difficult life can be!
I am a very stubborn girl: I know what I want, and I follow that path without looking left or right. I am like that in every means. When I buy a chair, and the perfect one is only available on another continent, I make happen that it gets to me even if people tell me it’s impossible. If I love, I love, and there is no but and why and other possibilities. It’s a gift, but a curse as well.
At the moment, maybe more curse than a gift. I stand on my terrace too often, feeling like a short-haired version of Rapunzel asking myself where the dreams I was hoping to live has led me. Loneliness makes my heart go cold, paired with a feeling of being abandoned.
Storm, oh storm, why don’t you calm down and show me the sun? I’ve been fighting a lot, I was strong, and I outdid myself on patience I didn’t know I could bring up, but now you made your point. Please let me get warm, let me laugh and spread all that excitement locked inside.
