Summer Salute: Tea Time at Jyväskylä Birthday Party

August 2015 in Jyväskylä, Finland

While many Finns complain that summer in Finland 2015 arrives outrageously late, rainy-sunny climate surprisingly brings the great harvest of berries: blue, rasp, straw or cloud, all you can pick and eat at bushy lands in Jyväskylä.

Jyväskylä always means good food and lovely family to me. Our Finnish-Japanese frineds’ daughter has her birthday celebration on August 23rd, so we decide to make it as a Marimekko Deco tea party: homemade cheese cake, Muumin cookies, gummy bears lollipops. One of the most interesting summer treat at the party is sweet watermelon pie, and it’s super easy to prepare before the candle blowing:

1. Cut a round shape watermelon into cross section, then 2-3 thin layers, and divide each layer equally into six slices.

2. Squeeze chocolate cream/milky cream on the layer, dazzle the fresh-picked blueberries, raspberries, red currents and mango dries as sweet party snacks.

Served as 12-persons, every 100 grams of watermelon contains 0.2 fats, fiber 0,4 0.6 protein, Carbonate 7.6, Vitamin C 8.1 and water 91 grams.

Enjoy the summer!

Special Thanks: Perhe Heikkinen & Family Nagashima 

Fashion Fun! Polka Dots Top v.s Paloma Barceló Espadrilles

What is the best outfit to match with Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet #49 La PÉTILLANTE? Definitely my Hot Sparce polka dots cotton top, purchased in 2000 at night market in Taiwan (around 7 EUR!), stands out. This 100% cotton top can be worn as shoulders exposure or puff sleeves, and it’s better to wear a removable-stripe balconette on the single shoulder to keep the 50’s look.

MANGO black cotton leggings is easy to wear at home or on the go (9,99 EUR!), and Chanel velvet makeup bag (freebie from the purchase of Pink Explosion) is the eye-catching accessories to lighten up the whole style. This summer, espadrilles are on my top shopping list since it goes well with either the mini skirt or le smoking pants. At first I am struggling if I shall invest a pair from Chanel, unfortunately it will cost around a flight ticket to Taipei from Helsinki (around 830 EUR!!); Spanish brand Paloma Barceló has its leather collection on sale on outnet.com(87,50 EUR!), and it is not a big difference except the interwined back to back double capital ‘C’s.

Paloma Barceló Karine Negro has black rubber heel measures approximately 0,5inches, woven platform, jute sole, whip stitched trims, round toe, which is comfortable for my Asian/Egyptian feet. The only problem is that even Italian size 37 shall be no problem for me, but on the first day to work, I wear invisible socks, Karine Negro slips off from my heels time to time and the stitches parts bites my region skin quite harshly. I spend almost an hour cleaning the bloodstains and at the same time consider placing a thin layer shoe sole to keep my walking much fitted.

The last but not the blast, that I spotted this MBMJ brass bracelet at Stockmann sales (43,90 EUR!). It has a pinky neon knot, a round and a heart shape plates, both chiseled carved in MARC BY MARC JACOBS fonts. It stays better on the first buckle link and is not too heavy on my look of summer. Due to the news of MBMJ discontinuous production, now it’s about time to save some cash and collect the rest!

MANGO

Beauty Boom! CHANEL Rouge Allure Velvet 49 is New Summer Love

Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet collection is regarded as a high challenge on lips adventure, since some reviews described that they are not amazingly moisturized. I would like to take a risk for this red hot summer 2015, since I bargain hunted a new Rouge at SOKOS July sales. Thanks to the lovely salesgirl, my first velvet collection even accompanies with a mini Chanel shopping paper bag, definitely a great accessory for photo shooting project!

Chanel Rouge Allure always comes in a black painted tube with a gold, spring-loaded bottom. A slight push on the Chanel logo pops out the base of the lip color. Rouge Allure Velvet #49 La PÉTILLANTE, literally ‘sparkling’ in English, is a brightened, poppy-red that has slight warmth to it and a satin-matte finish. At first, I use Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream as base, then I take Chanel lip brush and dip some small amount of Rouge, underline the shape of my both lips, then have my ring finger apply the whole lip profile to complete the look. It was nearly opaque applied to lips with a lightweight, velvety texture that was fairly thin but was comfortable to wear. It lasted for around 5 hours on me and was neither drying nor hydrating.

Make sure to keep the lips well exfoliated and hydrated, preferably touching some small amount of lip balm 12 hours before using any Chanel Velvet collection. I decide to put on my black polka dots top and matching this 50’s feel new lip colour. Imaging to provide some sexy lip service, vintage red is surely a new black.