Searching for a gorgeous gown to attend a black tie gala this summer? Consider fashion’s recent colour vibe, characterized by vibrant eye-popping shades, edgy neons and Crayola brights from head to toe.
Stripping away all darkness might be your ticket to brighten up your mood. Play with the hues and combine them, colour-blocking is a must. This is your chance to enlighten every party.
LoL, Sandra
„Who said that real jewels have to be boring?“
Victoire de Castellane
Barbara Hutton wearing the 55-carat Pasha diamond and the Vladimir emeralds
When it comes to fine jewelry, Dior’s Victoire de Castellane is the designer that I truly admire for her amazing creations that are for me the most beautiful and outstanding pieces in the world. Often imitated but never equalled, Victoire is the lady of the rings.
Bold, chunky and huge are her designs that appear more like pieces of art than jewelry.
Born into an aristocratic Parisian family, her first experience with making jewelry happened when she dismantled her grandmother’s (Sylvia Hennessy from the cognac family) charm bracelet and transformed it into a pair of earrings, much to her mother’s dislike. As a young girl, her grandma and her best friend heiress Barbara Hutton involved the little girl in their love for enormous gems. A passion was born.
Victoire de Castellane started her career at Chanel working alongside Karl Lagerfeld as costume jewelry designer for fourteen years. In 1999, she was appointed by Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH, as designer of the first ever collection of Fine Jewelry for the house Dior that allowed her to create her own daring and dramatic style that shook up the staid Place Vendôme from the very first beginning.
Each collection tells a story or evokes a place. The French aristocrat is inspired by the exuberance of technicolour, bright and fluorescent. Her designs are known for the best quality enamel with gems and semi precious stones.
“I prefer huge coloured stones instead of diamonds. And I like to wear and design things that look fake; like costume jewelry, but real” , says Victoire.
The collection Milly Carnivora, includes pieces that can open up to show the amazing inside creation. Love those surprises!
The Coffret de Victoire collection for Dior has some of the most unusual and original rings crafted from the finest gems, golds and materials. It includes creations with skulls, cameos and sealife inspirations – a reflection of world travels and exotic adventures with flavours from the ocean and the orient.
This year, the rose flower, which played a big role in the life of Christian Dior, has inspired Victoire de Castellane to create a new jewelry collection for Dior, so-called „Bois de Rose“.
This month, I was lucky to enjoy a presentation of how the rings are crafted at the Dior boutique in Zurich. After having seen the craftmanship and having talked to the goldsmiths who came from Paris for the event, I value Victoire’s designs even more.
Those fanciful wonders sometimes take months to be finished depending on the design. Every little detail is made by hand. I am truly fond of the jewelry’s bold presence.
If you are interested, please visit the Dior homepage for further information and store locations.
So lovely Ladies, think big and enjoy the little forest on your finger…
LoL, Sandra
One of my favourites: Bague Diorette
John Galliano has done it again and designed for the second year running the Christmas tree for London’s famous hotel Claridge’s. This time, he drew inspirations from the ocean.
„I wanted to create an underwater fantasy and have mixed pink corals, seahorses, anemones and jellyfish, all glinting like gem stones, swimming amidst the silver leaves,“ said Galliano, Christian Dior’s creative director.
As for me, I preferred last year’s installation, as the frozen theme looked more wintery.
The tree is on display in the lobby until January 5th, 2011.
LoL, Sandra
To celebrate Dior’s love for grey, the French fashion house has launched a new limited edition trio of nail polishes: Dior Vernis Gris City.
The three grey-hued shades are inspired by the greatest metropolises of fashion and luxury: Paris, London and New York.
With this fall’s most recent enamel collection, Dior changed the shape of their brushes. As I told you before, it took me some time getting used to at first, but now I actually love the more precise control this new shape affords.
707 – Gris Montaigne
807 – Bond Street
797 – NY 57th
Below you see three mood boards that I put together for you to capture the city’s style and to inspire you for some great outfits.
Gris Montaigne is an elegant tone celebrating the iconic code of the Dior house in Paris where Christian Dior’s favourite colour dominates the decoration of the boutique on Avenue Montaigne.
Bond Street is a grey muted with blue, inspired by the emblematic English fog.
NY 57th is the address of Dior’s New York boutique. The metallic grey enamel stands for the colour of asphalt and is an homage to the dusky light of the Manhattan skyline.
This exclusive trio is available in a limited edition now in the new Christian Dior boutique in London on Bond Street, designed by Peter Marino, as well as in the Dior house on Avenue Montaigne in Paris. Starting December 9th, 2010, it will then be sold in the New York store.
So it might take some major work to get your hands on them.
LoL, Sandra
I have a lovely subscriber who recently asked me about my favourite make-up look. I have to admit that I change my look every day. That is for me the most fun about fashion, being able to try out something new each morning. If I had to live with one single look, it would definitely be smokey eyes and pale lips.
Please find herewith my personal list and description how to achieve this style:
1 a good concealer: Christian Dior’s Skinflash (I use it also as a eyeshadow base)
2 a moisturizing foundation: Christian Dior’s Diorskin Nude make-up (great for dry skin), I use N° 020 or 030 depending on my tan
3 a complexion enhancer: Benefit’s High Beam (I like to use it over the foundation)
4 cream blush for contouring: Nars Lamu and Orgasm
5 brow lifting: Benefit’s High Brow
6 a brow powder to fill in the gaps: Anastasia in Ash Blonde/ Taupe
7 a brow gel to fix them: Anastasia in Clear
8 a gorgeous eye shadow palette with easy-to-follow step by step instructions: Too Faced’s Smokey Eye (I love blue shades)
9 for glitter: Mac’s Pigment Colour Powders in Frozen White, Cornflower and Dark Soul (they are not easy to handle, so please try them first, but they last forever)
10 a good eyeliner: Bobbi Brown’ s Gel Eyeliner in Granite Ink
11 best eyepencil in the world: Prescriptives, Softlining Pencil in Jet
12 a good mascara (this is very personal): YSL’s Mascara Singulier in Black
13 this blush suits everybody: Helena Rubinstein’s Wanted Blush in Glowing Peach
14 for deeper colour: Burberry’s Natural Blush in Russet N°1
15 best face glow: Bobbi Brown’s Shimmer Brick Compact in Nude
16 one of my favourite lipsticks: Mac’s Sandy B. combined with C-Thru lipgloss
17 for more sparkles: Chanel’s lip definer in Natural and Glossimer N°257
18 camouflage for emergencies: Benefit’s Erase Paste
19 to refresh your look during the day or for a more natural foundation, the new Christian Dior Diorskin Nude Natural Glow Creme-Gel Make-up (amazing product! -available from October 29th, 2010)
20 a good powder: Mac’s Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in LightMedium
21 best brushes: Bobbi Brown
22 please never forget to clean your brushes on a regular basis: I love Bobbi Brown’s Brush Cleaning Spray
Let’s get started: Happy Colouring!
LoL, Sandra
Today, I would like to give you a sneak preview of the make-up holiday 2010 season. The collections always include limited special editions and hit the stores from the end of October until end of November. Herewith you will find my pre-selection of the soon-to-arrive must-haves. The overall trend is lots of gold and silver sparkles. Glitter against the Christmas Tree is the motto! Deep browns and burgundy reds combined with popping fuchsia let you shine during cold gray winter days.
Chanel’s new limited nail polish is so-called Pulsion, a beautiful bright fuchsia shade. Get yourselves on the wait lists now! The matching lip gloss in Pink Pulsion is also a must. The divine blush duo with tweed effect (Les Tissages de Chanel) in Tweed Fuchsia will give you those young rosy cheeks everybody loves.
Les 4 ombres in Tentation Cuivre is an eyeshadow set including copper brown, light beige, shimmering pink and plum copper that will work for every skin type.
Les Ors de Guerlain is a feast for the eyes! The gold theme that features the famous Guerlain bee, will introduce a silky loose powder creating a light-reflecting veil with a subtle golden iridescent finish, in a gold copper shade (Or Imperial Sublime Radiant Powder Face & Body).
The It-lip colour will be a subtle shiny, violet shade: Rouge G Le Brilliant in B64 Bee.
My favourites are the 4 eyeshadows in 410 Velours d’Or, including two shades of violet along with gold and an intense black liner, embossed with a honeycomb Arabesque pattern taken from past imperial Guerlain bottles.
YSL has created a decadent collection for the holiday season, bursting with the beloved cocktail hour shade gold in combination with pink, chocolat and red. Get your hands on the limited Palette Metallic Colorama, a pink-gold face highlighting powder.
If you are more on the wild side and are looking for some crazy colour combinations, Mac will offer you a lot of choices with their Tartan Tale collection. So stunning! I am completely in love with the packaging and how the pattern is for example imprinted into the eyeshadow.
Best Shade: Semi-precious – an aubergine with chocolat Tartan striping.
I am always a big fan of the Dazzleglass Creme colours– lipglosses with a lot of glitter.
Best colour: Lightly Prancing – a light peach with gold pearl.
Nars is this holiday season all about shimmering nail colours, lustrous lipsticks and glistening glosses with gold, rich berry reds and purples leading the way. The limited eyeshadow trio in Okinawa ( silver, deep cobalt blue and black onyx trio) is a must along with the single eyeshadow in Etrusque, an antique gold.
The two nail colours Bad Influence ( a smoky taupe) and Pokerface ( a lilac) are also on top of my list.
Christian Dior Evening Gold
But I saved the best until last: Christian Dior’s Evening Gold collection offers some fabulous products. The perfect gifts for your fashionista girlfriends or the best treats for yourselves:
The Dior Minaudière is the star product for Holiday 2010. The It-accessoire was inspired by the little cosmetic pouches the ladies were carrying at the beginning of the 20th century – the forerunners of the clutches that we know today. It includes 3 eyeshadows and 2 lipglosses that are covered with a gold plated flap to protect them (love that!) and comes in two different colour combinations: 001 Grey Golds and 002 Pink Golds for CHF 120.- each.
992 Noir Lamé
Also divine is the new Dior Addict Ultra-Gloss in 992 Noir Lamé – for your sexy winter moments!
LoL, Sandra
Minaudière 001 Grey Golds
Minaudière 002 Pink Golds
Feathers are a trend that seems to be always there. For F/W 2010 designers showed that fine feathers make fine birds. From beautiful marabou plumes to ostrich feathers, the creations were versatile. Being dressed in full feathers stands for a certain glamourous allure.
So Ladies, start looking for your feathers of prey:
A marabou jacket or cape is a piece for eternity. It adds the right amount of sophistication to every evening outfit or ball gown. I especially adore the ones from Balmain this season and would opt for a colourful piece.
The Gucci dress from the F/W 2010 runway collection is a smart choice as it comes with a removable feather-trimmed bolero.
In case you do not like to ruffle your feathers, I recommend a feather print or just a little detail like the ostrich-trimmed satin bag by Lanvin.
For F/W 2010, the possibilities are numerous. If you turn up your glam factor, you will surely not be shedding feathers.
And good news is, the feather trend is going to stay for S/S 2011. So those pieces are definitely great investments.
Ladies, it is time to adorn yourselves with borrowed plumes!
LoL, Sandra
Ladies, time to go shopping! Tyen, Dior’s creative director for make-up, joins in the nail polish hype. Launching today is Dior’s new Haute Couleur varnish palette. There are 21 shades of gorgeousness with an amazing long-lasting and very shiny texture (CHF 37.-).
The new concept will always include a one shot coulour inspired by the runway collection.
For F/W 2010, Dior showed a blend of browns and black, leather, tweed and knitwear along with chiffons. So this time it will be Bronze Libertine, a deep brownish bronze with golden hints, which is complementing the look. Hurry, this is one of fall’s hottest nail shades!
I was very lucky to try the palette out before the official launch. The brush is much wider so it took me some time getting used to it. Once I had developped my new applying technique, it worked very well. The polish dries super-fast and the shine stays on forever. Use it with Dior’s top coat which is by the way the best one on the market!
Enjoy my favourite shades and the upcoming special edition for Christmas below.
706 Bronze Libertine – One shot
943 – Rouge Garçonne
999 – Rouge Altesse / Red Royalty
903 – Encre de Chine / Black Ink
To keep you ahead of the game, here is a sneak preview of what is coming up for Christmas. Two fantastic special edition shades will hit the beauty counters on October 29th:
Or Tsarine is a mysterious black with gold hints and Timeless Gold is a shiny platinum shade. Below you can see me wearing Timeless Gold.
LoL, Sandra
226 – Timeless Gold
916 – Or Tsarine
Vending machines selling luxury goods seem to be on the rise. Katie Grand, editor-in-chief of LOVE magazine has teamed up with Selfridges to create such a machine for the beginning of London Fashion Week until October 15th. The new retail concept can be found in the lobby of London’s It-hotel St Martin’s Lane where many editors, models and buyers are staying at the moment.
You can get a lot of fantastic items, some highly exclusive, let me name a few:
-Falabella bag by Stella McCartney
-leather and sequined dress by Alexander Wang
-draped dress by Vivienne Westwood Anglomania
-a unique pair of trainers by Rick Owens customized by Chrome Hearts with solid silver hardware
-Amazona handbag by Loewe
-limited Dior nail polishes
-Mimosa candles by Diptyque exclusive to Selfridges in yellow
–Falke’s new „secret socks“ for men
-a vintage Rolex watch
-embossed leather wallets by Comme des Garçons
-clutch purses by Mulberry
A word to the wise, do not get drunk in the hotel bar, you might lose control and this could end on the way to your room passing the LOVE machine in a financial disaster.
LoL, Sandra
Being too coordinated with your outfit and make-up has not been on the so-hot-list for a long time. But with all those beautiful berry shades everywhere, it seems all natural to match your lips to your dress. Stick with timeless reds or rich, deep tones for your new style statement.
This winter, the lipstick makes its return and takes over the glossy look.
If you are a lipgloss person, I will recommend Yves Saint Laurent’s fall collection of 6 new Rouge Volupté Perle Lipsticks. This super-creamy texture with a little shimmer will be the perfect transition for you.
In case you are looking for the perfect lipstick, the best is to come this upcoming Friday, September 3rd: Christian Dior’s new collection Rouge Dior Haute Couleur created by Dior’s Creative Director for Make-up Tyen will hit the counters in Switzerland (in some countries already avalaible since last week).
There are 32 amazing shades that each has been inspired and named after vintage Dior Haute Couture dresses and grouped conveniently into 3 colour families from Red to Coral, Pink to Lilac and finally Beige to Brown.
I was lucky to try them out before the official launch and the new formula is just divine. Two different sizes of Hyaluronic spheres plump and smooth the lips while leaving them perfectly hydrated.
Please enjoy those beautiful photos of the Christian Dior Haute Couture gowns and their matching lipsticks that left me absolutely speechless. To die for!
LoL, Sandra
786 Mauve Mystère / Mysterious Mauve
999 Rouge Ara / Ara Red
644 Rouge Blossom / Rouge Blossom
874 Prune Fantastique / Fantastic Plum
565 Rose Trafalgar / Trafalgar Pink