Lanvin's Albert Elbaz believes that luxury triggers joy.

He hand-illustrated a whole range of Lancome collectables. 

"I wanted to created rounded shapes with a hint of humour." 

" I'd never done make-up before. I thought, "oh my God, panic attack." and then I thought, "Shall I say no?" I went for panic attack."

"Once I was on vacation in the south of France, and I remember seeing shiny people, shiny cars, shiny hair and shiny diamonds - but no shiny eyes. And I thought, "How sad. They have it all - and yet they don't." That's why this collection is all about happy eyes."

"Perfection scares me - when the dress matches the husband that matches the wall that matches the secretary behind the desk. There is more energy in imperfection."

Lancome Show by Alber Elbaz launches on June 15 exclusively at Selfridges. Available elsewhere from July 1.

Carmen Thyssen in Malaga

Visited this nice art museum called Carmen Thyssen in Malaga.

 Palacio de Villalon on Calle Compania is home of 

the Carmen Thyssen Museum in Malaga.

The museum was opened in March 2011 and it has a permanent collection of more than 200 works of Spanish artists of the 19th century, centred especially on Andalucian paintings.

The building is a 16th century Renaissance city palace.

The restoration focused on the recovery of its original layout and spaces, combined with newly built areas.

Beautifully renovated!

Julio Romero de Torres (Cordoba, 1874-1930) is one of the most renowned Spanish artists of what was known as the fin-de-siecle period and has come to be regarded as the absolute master of Andalucian symbolism.

 Had some lunch tapas at the museum bistro.

Tortilla español, sardinas... yummy! 

The naturalist landscapes were my favourite ones together with the costumbrismo paintings which gave a great peek to the everyday life of people at the mid 19th century.

Carmen en Malaga

by Mercedes Lasarte

2011

Mercedes Lasarte in the Carmen Thyssen Collection” is an exhibition of works created by Mercedes Lasarte between 1970 and 2011 and kept in the personal collection of baroness Carmen Thyssen. This is the first retrospective dedicated to the Argentine artist, and a hint at the broad scope of the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection.

Chocolate & Tea

 So delicious!
Sea salt, champagne, pistacchio, mint...

The pralines are hand-made of real berries & fruit, fresh cream, no artificial flavours nor preservatives. The first-class chocolate ingredients are from Belgium, Switzerland, Italy and Germany.

Mrs Jones's tea bags are so nicely packed. 

Delicate flowery patterns on the background and the black sort of accent colour is a perfect choice to sharpen the package.

Beautiful & simple. 

Nice Nancy is an organic verbena tea. I love verbena!

Hotel D'Amour is a natural rose tea.

My favourite tray - a Morning in Manhattan by Famille Sommerbelle.

Mrs Jones's pop up store at Petris Chocolate Room on Tehtaankatu, Helsinki, the other week.

Petris Chocolate Room

Tehtaankatu 14, Helsinki

Shopping Spree

 When in London I always go to 

Selfridges as they have everything,

Liberty as it's so special and the collections are carefully chosen having a bit rebellious in them,

Bond Street, both New or Old part, as all the high-end labels are there especially Jimmy Choo, Mulberry,Alexander McQueen, Prada, Miu Miu...,

Abercrombie&Fitch as already the building is worth seeing and I love comfy clothes,

Jo Malone as one can never have too many fragrances,

Muji as everything, whether is clothing or homeware, is so functional, simple and sleek,

Gap as comfy clothes, specially tees & sweaters are my thing,

COS  for the same reason.

 Liberty

PS. I'm back in Budapest, arrived last night at 1am.

Brick Lane

 Had Sunday lunch at Brick Lane.

Brick Lane is famous for its many curry houses and it's known as Banglatown as it's in the Bangladeshi-Sylheti community in Eastend.

 Just popped in to one of the many restaurants and chose different plates like vegetable byriani, mushroom massala, prawns and fish in spicy cause, lemon rice...

Very tasty! 

The only issue for me was cilantro in some of the dishes as I can't stand the flavour of it.

 Brick Lane at Aldgate East side.

 And some macarons at Ladure in Covent Garden...

 And a cupcake at Hummingbird's on Wardour Street...

Went to listened to an organ recital in St Paul's in Sunday afternoon. Perfect!

Raven Girl

 Actually this was my first time in the Royal Opera House in London. Gorgeous hall!

Raven Girl ballet was stunning, absolutely amazing modern piece!

A new fairytale by Audrey Niffenegger which was choreographed for stage by Wayne McGregor. Loved it!
Btw, the special effects and lights were so interesting, fascinating and surprising.

Symphony In C was beautiful! George Balanchine's masterpiece choreography and Bizet's music. Very neoclassical ballet.

 During the interval you can visit the Amphitheatre Restaurant & Bar upstairs.

 Wanted to give dozens of roses to all the dancers!

(these roses are at Fortnum & Mason)

Especially the American dancer Sarah Lamb as the Raven Girl, Japanese Akane Takada who danced the part of Raven and American Eric Underwood as Raven Prince were absolutely amazing.
ANd so was Mariela Nuñez in Symphony In C!

The main staircase at Fortnum & Mason.

Had Hight Tea there earlier on Friday afternoon.

Certain Style

 Visited Designers Guild's showroom on Kings Road, London and met the showroom manager Kevin D. who btw gave me a gorgeous present: Tricia Guild's beautiful book Certain Style.

Ombre fabrics look so beautiful.

The effect is quite stunning, isn't it?

 Even the sofa got a new ombre cover.

275-277 Kings Road London SW3 5EN

Fantastic Sylvie!

 Last night saw the fantastic performance of Sylvie Guillem at Sadler's Wells in London.

She was fabulous! All her movements were so precise and smooth.

"SYLVIE GUILLEM: We were in the studio here creating the William Forsythe work, Re-array. It was the last day of the rehearsal, the next day we were taking the plane, so we were following the news (the earthquake in Japan) on the internet, the airport TV and then in France. It’s why I called the show 6000 Miles Away - it's the distance between them and us.

Sylvie Guillem at Sadler's Wells after the night's performance.

Sylvie Guillem(born 25 February 1965 in Paris) is a French ballet dancer. She was the top-ranking female dancer with the Paris Opera Ballet from 1984 to 1989, before becoming a principal guest artist with the Royal Ballet in London. She is currently performing contemporary dance as an Associate Artist of London's Sadler's wells Theatre. Her most notable performances have included those in Giselle and in Rudolf Nureyev's stagings of Swan Lake and Don Quixote.

Destination LHR

Guess where I'm having my late lunch?

At the airport again...heading to London this time.

More Champagne

The One Tiny Champagne Bar at the corner of Stockmann's in Helsinki has changed to Great Gatsby Champagne Bar!
Great idea!

Enjoyed a glass of Ice Champagne with a slice of lime and orange peel and a mint leaf.

Refreshing!

"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

I bought my copy The Great Gatsby at the original Biography Bookshop on Bleecker Street at the corner of 11th Street in NYC already some years ago. Now the store has changed it name to Bookbook and is locate on 266 Bleecker Street.

Have you seen the film yet?

Champagne & Shoes

 Had a pleasure to pop in to the opening of Marita's new 

shop in Helsinki last week. 

The interior of the shop is fabulous!

(sorry for not having more pics of the interior,

but the place was getting so packed...)

Wave shoes are ecological, natural and extremely comfortable on.

The body of the sole is made of thin layers of Finnish birch. 

The surface layer can be made of curly birch, pear, cherry or rose wood. The strap is available in leather, clear plastic or different textiles.

Wave combines beauty, comfort and functionality.

 These are my Wave shoes called Kaiku from the Wave 1 Collection.

At first when I saw the shoes I was pretty sure they would be clumsy and awkward to wear... how little did I know!

It must be the combination of design and wooden sole that makes the shoes so comfortable and great to wear.

My feet love them!

Me and my Waves at Heroes Square in Budapest.

Cute pattern in the bottom of the sole - nice detail!

The shoes are available in the sizes XS, S, M and L.

M is about 39 in European size scale.