all shades of red

When I think back of myself in school, university, business, the underground fashion periodes I´ve been trough, good times and hard times - I always see myself wearing bright red lipstick and long red nails. 

I still remember my first lipstick in the age of 11, when I found that old dry and stinky 50s one from my glamourous granny and kept it. And the first one in cherry red I bought on an annual fair for pennies when I was 13 years old. 

My ideal of beauty is inseparably connected with pale skin and red lips. I´m not complete without. Surely I have eaten a ton of it trough my life so far. I always buy red lipsticks on my travels and have been searching for the perfect shade for years. I can say that I found it, but still trying new ones.

There is a litte collection of my favorite shades of cold true reds, warmer reds and pinky reds with its packings.

For a better view, I show you some swatches in the same order as the lipstickheart.

 from left to right: 

1 - Guerlain: Exces de Rouge

2 - Rimmel: Shocking Pink

3 - Too Faced: Drop that Red

4 - Markwins: # 00001

5 - Yves Rocher: Rouge Toscana

6 - Collistar: Rubino

7 - Mac: Lady Bug

8 - Darphin: Rouge Flamboyant

 

from right to left:

1 - NARS: Funny Face

2 - Shiseido: Electric Red

3 - Art Deco: # 95

4 - Prestige: glitter DL-10

5 - KIKO: # 607

6 - Mac: Ruby Woo

7 - Dita von Teese: # 208

8 - Mac - Russian Red

  All my lippies, more than shown, are living in this bag.

 I use all of them with Mac´s lipliner in beet, there is no better.

Besame´s Cherry Red is also a good one and when you need a kissproof one, I can recommend Lip Ink Red and Lip Ink Energy Red. The problem is, when you found the perfect shade, they change it or don´t produce it anymore, like iconic Chanels Nr. 1 velvet rouge...

If you ask yourself now, what my fave is, its not a surprise: Mac´s Russian Red! 

The secret is, to mix it with Mac´s Ruby Woo on the lips...

I think that every woman should have different red lipsticks, the blue pigmented ones in cooler shades and the yellow pigmented ones in warmer shades - as you all know - important is, that it matches with your clothing. 

Now the autumn comes up, with all the great green and brown tones, so go for a more yellow based lippy, the daylight will make the best out of it. To give a résumé as an make up artist: buy one true red expensive lipstick, that will fit you every season and will give you a selfconfident and feminin look, when you need it.

 

BTW, when it comes to nailpolish, I´m obsessed with red too.

A little detail from my bathroom cabinet:

Leave you with a huge super red kiss and wish you all a glossy weekend!

1940s Twen Mag

"Die junge Dame" was a magazine for twens in the 40s. I like to collect those mags for the common people the most. It´s thin, cheap and full of helpful informations for young german ladies. First of all, which profession to choose in wartime, how to find Mr. Right and what will happen in marriage.

Here the profession of a design draftswoman is explained. And of course fashion is a big issue, especially strawhats and summerdresses with nice illustrations.

Romantic costume movies and their actors help young ladies dream, so nothing much changed until today.

The mag ends with a cross word puzzle and some funny ads for tap dancing lessons, pills to loose or put on weight and other wonder products to get long lashes and such. Hope you like it as much as I do.

a house in the middle of the street

In the last days in my alley a little house has grown, just like that, out of the blue. Today it was time to take a closer look on it. It emerged as an art project of the "Galerie im Turm", made by the french artist collective Gariste Gatené . Inside I found a monster and some crazy creatures living. They stand for the worldwide markets who caused the current Euro crisis. Fantastic!

I was in a 1930s mood, so I wore my dress with the wing sleeves.

 

dress: asos
socks: Falke 

 shoes: Molly Holly

screw ons: 40s vintage ebay.uk

gloves: 30s vintage my grannies

What did you do on the weekend?

these boots are made for dolly

After a very stressful week it was time to relax, so we visited friends living in a house in a green outskirt of Berlin. 

I like wearing cowboy boots, especially my beloved old pink ones. I call them "my Dolly Parton shoes". To channel the great Dolly more perfect, I combined them with a deep neckline. I love the pink brooch detail that came with the dress:

I enjoyed the sun in a pink hammock, reading the VOGUE in a canvas chair, played with the kids and roasted marshmellows in the bonfire.

But to visite the little farm "Kinderbauernhof Erkner" with the kids was the best experience.

I made friends with Fatima, the cute donkey lady. She tried to steal my earrings and the kids' potato chips, but she had the most fleecy ears ever.

The meadows around the farm where full of colourful herbages, my chance to get a wonderful souvenir for our dining table back home in the city.

clip ons: 50s vintage ebay.uk

hair bow: OhHoneyHush!
 boots: Buffalo vintage

dress: Vive Maria

I hope you had a relaxing weekend, too.

Lee Miller

 source: telegraph.co.uk

Right now there's a Lee Miller exhibition shown in Berlin. You knew Lee Miller, VOGUE-model, fashion photograher, war correspondent and, all in one, a very fascinating woman. She was so beautiful, smart and courageous, but her personality had a dark side too, and she was a close friend of the most Surrealists I admire like Max Ernst and Cocteau. 

I mostly appreciate her pictures from World War II, so touching and different. She shows the cruelty of the war and the Nazi crimes in a way you will never forget.

One of the most famous pictures of herself is surely the one that shows her in Hitler's bathroom. It could be seen in the gallery:

For a better view, please visit the exhibition here:

dress: Tara Starlet, years ago
lipstick: lipink Energy Red

fishnet tights: Falke

shoes: Vagabond 

bag: etsy

 The earrings I wore are very special to me and a most-loved pair in my vintage jewellery collection. The are screw ons from the late 40s and made out of pink little mussels and pearls. I bought them on a fleamarket here in Berlin from a granny, wonder how they came the long way from the tropics? Maybe a present from a GI once? A lot of mussel are missing and destroyed, but for me that makes them even more a treasure. Things with scars and a story behind are the best vintage findings, I think.

 I photographed them on the cover of her biographie I'm currently reading, written by her son. They're lying in front of her portrait taken by her ex-lover Man Ray. 

On my way back home, moved by her pictures during the Wartime, I gave an extra attention to the golden flaggins called "Stolpersteine" in German. These stones are scatterd all over Berlin to remind us of the Nazi-victims, mostly Jewish people and members of the resistance. 

I guess that those shall remind us of a mother and her two daugthers, unbelievable that one of them was only ten years old. It's good to have those stumbling blocks. Watch out for them when you visit Berlin. And when you can´t go to the exhibition, you maybe can buy one of Lee Miller's books? You will not regret it, I promise!

source: cosmopolis.ch

The Wine

Dress: Tara Starlet, present from honey

suede shoes: 40s vintage

This week, straight after work I visited the lovely little wine shop THE WINE, runned by a friend. He has a delicious selection of french and german wines. Highy recommended!

To change from my office outfit in to a more festive look, I just put on my new 40s clip ons. The are made out of czech glass, hughe but light like a feather and really a great peace of art:

After some glasses of an excellent Bordeau Rosé the world looked as pink as the shop through my new glasses. Cheers!

my loveboat

Back in Berlin a lot of work was waiting, but there was also time for the good things in life.

I love to rent one of the little blue rowboats by a beautiful lake near Berlin, the "Straussee". We stay on the boat for houres, go swimming and have a litte picnic on the water: superrelaxing!

Shown on the pic above is the Straussee public swimming bath from 1925 in the typical 20s style and original archieved.

skirt: H&M, years ago

bra: Triumph Classics Doreen

 shirt: Schiesser

As old as my skirt are my Tiki shoes. Wearing this combination means summertime for me.

BTW, this little lady ate half our picnic.