My sister, a bride-to-be, not yet a bridezilla, requested that all of her bridesmaids and maid-of-honour (me) must wear nude heels to the wedding at their own expenses. Luckily for me, I have a pair of Maxmara Filly Patent Peep Toes in nude courtesy of The Editeur, I better practice walking in those heels.
I’m not a fan of liquid nail polish that involves a messy paint job, smudges and paint stain on your best white trousers, been there done that. Nail Rock nail wraps are a little tricky (it’s actually rubbish) you have to heat them up with a hair dryer to make them stick firmly on your nails, that’s another time wasting application.
I first discovered Incoco when my youngest sister ordered a batch of nail strips via Ebay with an amazing deal, I saw how easy it looked when she applied them on her nails in perfection. The strips are thin, the formula is 100% real nail polish, and easy to apply in minutes. Impressive.
So, without further a do, here’s a quick easy-peasy nail DIY with the help of my sister’s beautiful hands as a nail applier (instructions via Incoco.com)
1. Clean and buff nails before application. 2. Select the size that best fits your nail, gently remove the clear cover. 3. Peel polish. 4. Place the strip on nail and smooth until wrinkle-free, gently stretch for a perfect fit. To realign or resize, peel nail strip and re-apply.
5. Crease strip nail edge, and remove the excess using your nail or a nail file.
6. Use a cuticle stick to smoothen out the air bubbles. 7. Done! To remove, use a regular nail remover.
Incoco nail polish appliques are available at Selfridges. Thanks to my sister May for helping me out.
Japan is one of the biggest buying countries on luxury leather goods, despite the slow growth after the March Tsunami, it remains luxury’s second market. At this current state of economic climate our eyes are on China, the luxury consumption by Mainland Chinese people will account for over 2o% of the global market by 2015, and will surpass Japan as the world’s luxury market this year, according to Bain & Company in its latest report on the 2011 Chinese high-end market.
I apologise if you’re tired of hearing ”it’s all about the Chinese these days, they can afford Rolls-Royce, Burberry and Louis Vuitton hand bags”, if you think it’s a bore you can skip to the next section but I promise this is relevant.
I remember I was on a return flight back to London in February after a couple months stint in Hong Kong, I sat next to a Mainland Chinese man wearing a Moncler puffer jacket, awfully rude, openly having a loud conversation to his shopping tour mates across the cabin in heavy Mandarin accent ”I can’t wait to buy the goods at Burberry, in a British standalone store, on a British soil’‘ – seriously? Is that why there’s so many Chinese tourists shopping in London and to avoid high taxes in China if bought domestically?
I came across this report ”Tapping China’s Luxury Goods Market” by McKinsey & Company (April 2011), ”…an internationally well-known brand has become one of the most important factors in making a purchase’‘, it’s a pretty darn good read. The top 3 key factors in luxury purchase in 2010, take leather goods as an example: (1) Internationally well known brands (2) Superior craftsmanship (3) Good material.
A while ago I was invited to visit Tusting to see how leather bags are made in Bedfordshire. Tusting is a family owned and run leather goods company set in the heart of the English countryside, originally a tannery and they’ve been manufacturing bags for over 130 years and is the second largest manufacturer in the UK. Exploring the workshop surrounded by leather parts, pattern blocks, tools and machinery, this blurry reminiscent of my student days sewing a collection for the next month’s deadline was a sweet reminder how important craftsmanship, production and manufacturing really are today especially textiles industry in the UK. Japan is one of their biggest (on leather goods) consumers and Tusting’s biggest fans, after browsing through their press cuttings that heavily features Tusting bags, I didn’t realise how much they love English heritage leather goods made in England. This appreciation does make you ponder how we support ‘buy English, made in England’, and with China’s growing demand for British-made goods, it’s time to bring back UK manufacturing, question is how?
Check out my simple interview with Tusting below, thanks to Push PR for arranging this via email.
SS: Describe Tusting in 3 words.
Tusting: Beautiful British Bags.
SS: What does Tusting mean to you?
Tusting: It’s personal! It is our family business which means you get a little bit of us in every bag, and it matters to us that you think they are very, very good.
SS: Which pieces from the archive would you revive?
Tusting: We used to do a gorgeous doctor-style bag called the Lavendon which would be great to bring back, and our sail bags were big, simple holdalls that still carry more than almost any other bag and yet slip quietly under the radar – very English! We keep the ”knives” (the pattern pieces) for all the styles we ever make, so it’s not difficult to bring an old style back to life.
SS: In the current economic climate, how important is it to keep the brand and the factory going?
Tusting: Well, of course, it is always important – it is our livelihood and that of all our staff. But in these straightened times, it is ever more critical because we probably all have fewer alternatives available to us.
SS: Japan is the leading buying country on heritage leather goods in Asia, how do you meet the growing demand of the overseas consumers?
Tustings: We have historically made leather goods for quite a number of other brands, but we now have so much demand for our own TUSTING products that we have been diverting that resource back towards our own production. Of course, we are also steadily increasing our workforce too, though this is a slow process because of the length of time it takes to train new staff.
SS: Which designers or personalities would Tusting like to collaborate with?
Tusting: Well, we are already collaborating with Richard Nicoll who is a great fit for us and we also have joint ventures with a number of other major British brands, but we are always looking for suitable opportunities!
SS: And lastly, it’s the Queen Jubilee, how would you design a bag for the Queen?
Tusting: We’d do a very special edition of one of our holdalls, maybe made from one of our supersoft British suede leathers, and line it in some beautiful heavy silk, perhaps woven in colours inspired by the colours of her favourite place – the Scottish Highlands. Of course, every piece and stitch would be assembled with our customary care and no doubt a large dash of nervous excitement!
I would like to say thanks to Louisa, Push PR and Tusting for organising this trip.
Philosophy: believe in miracles.
I would have been selfish not to believe in miracles, it’s difficult to acknowledge the existence of two words ‘believe’ and ‘miracle’ implemented in an intuitive manner, especially when it comes to beauty and health products, not all works. The beauty in science is still evolving and developing around us chemically and organically, ingredient speaks for mathematical formula, formula speaks for effectiveness and effectiveness speaks for evaluation. Result? Skeptical or not, who knows. This is my philosophy.
Philosophy sent me some lovely beauty samples to try out, I wasn’t too fussed by their combo scented raspberry sorbet hair and shower gel where I likely to drink it all up and suck off the whole tube of lip gloss like a lolly pop, they do taste yummmmy though. I’ve tested Purity Made Simple one-step facial cleanser (award winning daily facial skin cleanser) for 2 weeks, p.m only, it does the usual tricks – cleanse, tone and removes all face and eye makeup gently, all in one in just one simple step while hydrating the skin. My face and pores tightens after rinse and pat dry, and skin feels smooth like a baby’s bottom, very impressive. This is just a result, can this result lead to more possibility of long term effect? Effectiveness can evolve when the skin changes, I let the science speak.
Thank you Ykone and Philosophy for sending me these samples.
Anthropologie AW12 press day, apparel, accessories and home at the Elms Lesters Painting Rooms.Anthropologie is one of my favourite stores (after Ikea), pointing a finger at everything ”I want this, I want that, I want you” tis I always do every time I visit the website and the store on Regent Street. I vouch for their authentic lifestyle products that represent anyone who has compelling passion for their one of a kind pieces, their values of appreciation for innovation in design, craftsmanship, vintage, fashion, art and keepsake items…they are brilliantly edited. There’s a sense of deep connection with Anthropologie is that they truly know what we want, and the problem is I want to live there.
I’m so looking forward to see Charlotte by Charlotte Taylor capsule collection for Anthropologie this month, I just her l-o-v-e her adorable print.
