I heart my Mini

I've had my Mini for about two and a half months now. Am I happy with it? Absolutely! How did I ever live without a car? No idea!  

It is such a fun car to drive, especially because it's the sporty Cooper S. The engine has a really cool and dangerous-sounding rumble to it :-) 

I'm really pleased with the colour of the car, too. I'm glad I chose the white silver metallic, I think it's elegant and there aren't that many around. The child car seat is also from Mini.

I'm even getting better at parallel parking. I've always hated it but you can't avoid it in Europe so I've had no choice but to learn. When I'm parking, though, I'm always reminded of this video and I sometimes look around to see if anyone's filming me (do you ever wonder if you're on YouTube without your knowing?!). It's funny to watch but how humiliating for the woman! (I actually cringe every time I watch this!)

Preview: Louis Galloway stars in Topman film

Who better to personify the Topman spirit than our very own Louis Galloway? The silky-haired Scotsman is getting his film star debut in Laurence Ellis' beautiful new film campaign for Topman's autumn/winter denim range, launching Monday 4th of October.

Based on Louis as well as two other young men, three short films portray different faces of youth as seen through the eyes of the characters - and serve as an eternal memory of Louis' long-hair days. We miss his long locks!

Watch a preview of the film above - the full thing premieres on Monday 4th of October.

www.topman.com

Backstage Boys

  

Oscar backstage @ Man show, image courtesy of FTape

Ever wanted to know what goes on behind the scenes of your favourite Fashion Week Show? Our lovely friends at FTape went backstage at the Man SS 11 show armed with a camera to capture our male models enjoying some down time before they take to the catwalk...we’d like to say they were well behaved but we think from these shots you may come to your own conclusion! We were prepared for the madness, makeup and flashes of nudity but sock puppets and face pulling? Thats not what we teach them at the agency!

Jonny backstage @ Man show, image courtesy of FTape

Oscar backstage @ Man show, image courtesy of FTape

Chanel lip balm

Do you know that feeling when you really want to like something but it's not quite right for you? You're a bit disappointed but determined to make it work? (what was it?) 

Well, I wish I could declare right now that this Chanel lip balm is the best. I can't, though, because it's not quite as perfect as I'd like it to be... but I'm not giving up just yet! Maybe I'll even blame myself - my expectations are just too high sometimes - so I don't have to criticise a Chanel product :-) 

This doesn't dry out the lips, which I swear some lip balms seem to do. It's moisturising and does its job... it's just not as rich and creamy as the Baume de Rose by Terry that I love so much. Unless you apply a lot, it can feel a bit thin and watery, if that makes sense.... which is uh... perhaps a good thing if you want to apply it under a lipstick?

At least the packaging is chic, light and relatively travel-friendly for a lip balm in a pot.

Fabulous Fei Fei

Fashion Week favourite Fei Fei Sun takes a break from the catwalk to appear in the October Issue of Vogue China to show us what’s hot in knitwear this Season. If there was ever an incentive for those Winter months to close in we think we’ve found it!

La tarte tropézienne

Have you ever heard of La Tarte Tropézienne? If you're ever in the south of France you should stop by their boulangerie / patisserie / salon de thé. 

It is also the name of their famous cake. I wanted to try it so I got the smallest one (they called it the bébé - the baby!). It was too sweet for me.

But some people love this stuff... that's why they also sell huge ones (on the left). 

They make everyone's favourite macarons, too. Don't they look good? With all the move-related stress we've had in the past few weeks, I'm so ready to go back for a short holiday!

P.S. We finally got internet in our new home! It's far from perfect - think: cable spaghetti - but I couldn't wait for the hi-tech solution that my husband's planning, I just had to get online. It was torture, not having proper access and I missed blogging. Thank you for coming to visit and comment, even when I couldn't return the favour. It will take me a while to get back into it because I'm still busy with the house but I look forward to visiting your blogs again! 

Maybe she’s born with it...maybe its Marie Claire!

  Team Elite extended our Fashion Week marathon by heading down to the Marie Claire/Maybelline pop up shop in London’s Covent Garden for a day of scouting (and self indulgent makeup shopping!). we somehow managed to distract ourselves from the exclusive new Maybelline collection to hit the streets and the shop floor on a mission to find our very own future cover star...

Jonas walks James Long

Captured by Elite

Jonas walks J.W. Anderson

Captured by Elite

Felix walks Lou Dalton

Captured by Elite

Barbora, Charlotte, Ming, and Nyasha walk Jonathan Saunders

Captured by Elite

Models at Todd Lynn

Captured by Elite

Dorothea and Ming walk Matthew Williamson

 

Captured by Elite

Georgie Wass walks Michael van der Ham

Captured by Elite

Julia Johansen walks Mulberry

Captured by Elite

Models at Fashion Fringe

Captured by Elite

Nyasha walks Louise Gray

(3rd from left)

Captured by Elite

Ming walks DAKS

 

Captured by Elite

Sadie and Sabina walk Ann-Sofie Back Atelje

Captured by Elite

Georgie Wass walks Amanda Wakeley

Captured by Elite

Our little super hero!

I went to Petit Bateau last week and couldn't resist getting this red super hero outfit (they're actually pyjamas) for my little boy! It comes with a matching cape that you can attach / detach easily and a mask that goes over the eyes!

I also thought this blue one was cute. Could be a Michael Jackson costume! 

For the princess girls, there are pretty things in pink, too, here.

NARS sheer glow packaging

What's up with this weird packaging? Honestly, NARS could do so much better than this. Like with any liquid foundation you are supposed to put the lid back on tightly. But not too tight? Because if you do, it looks like this.

And they don't sell the pump, either (only online).

Otherwise, yes, it's a nice foundation but I find this rather annoying! How important is packaging to you?

Constance has it covered

In between shooting major campaigns and dominating the catwalks at Fashion Week, Elite superstar Constance Jablonski has somehow found the time to appear on not one, not two, but three magazine covers this Autumn proving once again that she is this generations answer to a global supermodel.

Maybe its Maybelline...

Fashion Week withdrawal symptoms? Wishing you were in the front row for the shows in Milan? Fear not you can still get a serious dose of fashion week glamour at the Maybelline and Marie Claire pop up shop in London’s Covent Garden this weekend and for one day only, Team Elite will be scouting the crowds for future models. So if you see yourself as the next Maybelline campaign star or a potential Marie Claire cover girl come meet us in store tomorrow (18 Shorts Gardens, just off Neal Street, Seven Dials, Covent Garden, WC2H 9LD) and find out if you could be the next big thing!

Beautiful + Delicious = Beautilicious, right?!

It was a while ago now... but we went to a fancy Japanese restaurant and had a five-course meal with lots of sake. Japanese cuisine always scores high points on presentation and taste, wouldn't you agree?

The sashimi (top right) was the first official course but they brought us a small plate of fried squid beforehand. We chose soup for the second course (it came in a teapot-type thing, how beautiful is that?), then we had prawns and pork for the third.

By the time they served the sushi, I was already full.

But of course I still managed to squeeze in the dessert! We had matcha (green tea) ice cream and matcha pana cotta. Delicious.

There is so much more to Japanese food than sushi! What's your favourite dish?