Hats Off

I feel a new threat to Phillip Treacy's crown as Irish milliner extraordinaire has presented himself. Micheal Leong is one of the country's most respected hair dressers. His fashion work is greatly respected as is his beautiful hair designs for many of the country's most discerning brides. I have worked with him several times and he is a true artist, so when I saw his new hat collection called LBH (Little Bespoke Hats), I was suitably impressed but not surprised at all by how wonderful they are. True talent can transfer from medium to medium so he'll probably be designing frocks any day now too!

The entire collection is in black and the workmanship is divine...

I love the shapes he has created...

So striking...

Well done Micheal.

Pearly Queen

You may have seen this shot by now of Keira Knightley at her premiere last week but in case you missed it, here it is again. The Chanel dress is covered in pearls and I love it. I'm not a massive fan of hers ( a bit too skinny) but she has a beautiful face and her pairing with Chanel creates some nice visuals so she's off the hook for now.

The Coat

This Peacoat is as close to perfect as can possibly be.... I want!

From J Crew.

(image from escapade )

Autumn Walks

It's been a lovely Autumn so far... full of the most gorgeous golden landscapes. Not too cold, not too wet; it's all good.

I had some good rambles over the weekend. Lu loves kicking the leaves and running into piles and collapsing down in heaps on the red ground!

Great walks in the countryside must always be followed by some strong Irish coffees. Heavy on the whiskey for added glow to the cheeks!

*The winner of the Friday Freebie is Tracy*

(image from here )

Words For The Weekend

The Friday Freebie

Anything that promises that it will 'wake up tired looking skin' has to be tried in my opinion. I have never understood the term 'tired looking skin' as much as I do now. Before wonderful motherhood, I had wonderful skin...there was an exchange somewhere along the line! Not one I'd reverse of course, but any help in the exhausted complexion department is most welcome.

I've broken out of my usual Jan Marini skincare regime this week to test Olay's latest offering and I'm suitably impressed. Now, everyone knows that Olay champion their 7 anti-aging steps in every cream; they serve to minimise lines, hydrate, firm, fight dullness, exfoliate, reduce appearance of pores and contain plenty of antioxidants. Sounds good to me.

This new one has the addition of mint extract which provides the 'wake up' element and it does feel minty and fresh when you smooth it over your skin.

Obviously, I have to test for longer to really see how it performs, but my view so far is that it is a very nice moisturiser with a good feel. It is a good makeup base and it's a decent price point.

I have one to give away today in The Friday Freebie, so leave me a comment below and check back on Monday to see if you've won.

Happy Weekend my darlings...

Magpie Session

There was nothing on TV last night but doom and gloom about the economy etc etc. So I left that viewing pleasure to Ivan and went to look at some pretty jewellery. I get solace from the tighter times by picking out things for my imaginary wish list. I call these my Magpie Sessions!

I love these rings from Janish Jewels, a great little shop on Etsy. They use rough and dark diamonds as well as precious stones on hammered silver, yellow and rose gold bands. Their prices are really reasonable for the quality of the materials , so perhaps some of these may actually make it off the wish list and into reality!

Love this rose cut diamond, so unusual...

These emeralds are from another little etsy shop called One Stone New York...

This bib necklace would be great to dress up a t-shirt or peeking out from under a worn denim shirt. It's from here...

My inner magpie was really squawking at me when I saw this Swarovski crystal wrap bracelet. The crystals are sown into silk cord and it ties with a cute button. It's also from Red. Lovely.