July Favorites

Woo! A favorites post done on time! The world must be ending or something. I actually haven't spent a lot of time with makeup on my face this month, so it's a small month for favorites, but here we go nonetheless!

First up is this Jo Malone fragrance. I'd been dying to try some of their products and picked this up at Galeries Lafayette in Paris, along with the Peony and Blush Suede Body Creme. The way that you're supposed to use Jo Malone products is to layer the cologne over the body cream/lotion, but I like it just as is. Such a bright and fresh smelling scent. You will fall in love with the nice fruity citrus scent and the slight mix of honey in this I've worn it every day for two weeks now.

Honestly, if you've seen me at all this month, I've probably had this on my lips. It's from L'Oreal Paris' Limited Edition Collection Privée in shade 610, Eva's Nude. I. Love. This. Color. Honestly, I might have to go back to the drugstore and pick up a few more tubes because this has become my new color. It's slightly darker than my natural lip color and it feels so creamy and luscious on the lips.

I might be the last person on earth to come to this realization but a shadow primer makes all the difference. And of course, Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion is a quick favorite for me. My eyeshadow used to crease so badly and with this, you can't even tell at the end of the day that I applied my eyeshadow ten hours ago. So worth the money!

This eyeshadow quad from H&M really surprised me. I bought a bunch of makeup from them because we either don't have it here or I literally don't know where to find H&M makeup in my local H&M. This cost me under six Euros and has been a fast favorite for me. I use the light nude shimmer shade (as you can see it basically matches my skin tone once swatched) as a base over my whole eye from root of the lashes up to the eyebrow, and then I layer the gold shimmer on my whole lid. I use the darkest shimmer in the crease and outwards. The matte brown (which looks orange for some reason in the photo) has become my new perfect brow color.

I wasn't sure about this product when I first got it last month, but now that I've been using it for longer I have definitely noticed a difference in my blemishes. It takes a few days for them to heal, but they definitely don't grow once they've popped out and this helps reduce my redness. I use the Indie Lee Blemish Stick twice a day, and I just apply to the spots where I need it. It's also great for back and chest acne.

Sometimes I just don't like to wear lipstick in the summer. Sue me. In that case, I always go to the Benefit Coralista gloss. It's not sticky at all, which is my number one requirement in lip glosses, and it makes your lips feel super smooth. It also has good staying power and doesn't dry out my lips.

My last product is also from H&M, their compact powder in Ivory Mist. Now, this isn't going to work for under your eyes, but if you're looking for a light coverage powder that keeps your foundation locked in place, this is my new go-to and I even prefer it over the Rimmel Stay Matte powder, I think, which has been my favorite literally since I discovered it.

Style Icon: Dianna Agron

I don't have a specific celebrity that I model my wardrobe after or a particular 'look' that I go for in my own wardrobe, but if I had to peg my style down and say who it most closely resembles, I would go with this lovely lady: Miss Dianna Agron. Dianna doesn't always get it right on the carpet - in fact, it would probably be fair to say that she gets it wrong about 50% of the time when she lets stylists near her - but when she gets it right, damn does this girl get it right.

Dianna's style strength, in my opinion, is her fearlessness with patterns and bold colors. Not every celebrity can pull off a bright jeweled skirt or a landscape-print dress, but Dianna can. What works for Dianna is that she leaves the drama to her clothing and not to her face, in general. She keeps her makeup fairly neutral, just occasionally giving a little pop of color, like in the photo on the left where she has that bright pink lip. And that works for her. In general, I think that her team errs when they try to make her makeup overly dramatic and  slick back her hair. Dianna is someone who looks best when you let the clothes shine and keep her makeup and hair simple, as you can see here. 

I blame her faults mostly on her team because when Dianna has a chance to dress herself in her everyday life, she generally makes her style look effortless, and that is ultimately what I think we are all going for. She often wears accessible brands that you could go out and pick up after a day of work if you wanted to and she is very much the 'girl next door' of Hollywood style.

Dianna's style tends to veer mostly towards the girlie dresses that come in at her waist and flare outwards on the hips, giving her a slender figure and accentuating the tiniest part of her, which is always a smart choice. She regularly pairs her dresses with heels that are smart but not ostentatious. The dress is always the star of her outfit, and her makeup is always kept simple. In the winter, she tends to layer a bit more, as you can see on the left, but she has a keen sense of awareness about how pieces go together. Dianna is a big fan of accessories and has an extensive sunglasses and purse collection. Almost every outfit is paired with something different but effortlessly chic. My own fashion sense is definitely pretty similar to Dianna's everyday look. A girlie dress paired with a lovely shoe and a great bag is all you really need. Jazz an outfit up with a few carefully selected accessories and you are truly in business.

A lifestyle check: Beauty isn't so easy

This is supposed to be a beauty, fashion, and lifestyle blog, but I haven't really done many lifestyle posts to date. I guess that's because I know that my lifestyle hasn't exactly been anything to brag about. But I feel like this week, I did something that is worth at least a tiny mention on this blog.

I went to see a nutritionist for the first time in my life.

Seeing a nutritionist really affects every part of this blog: beauty, fashion, and lifestyle. I'm seeing a nutritionist because I've put on a crazy amount of weight since starting grad school. 50 pounds. In a year. Yikes. Clothes that I bought in October no longer fits me now in July and it's clear that I've let myself go, I just didn't realize how much. In combination with grad school stress, I've also been dealing with waiting for knee surgery and I can't really do much physical activity because of it.

I've never been a "small" girl. I've never had a tiny waist, I've always had big hips, and I've never really paid attention to what I eat, but the last year has just been awful. Adjusting to the stress of grad school has done a number on me. I started the year at about 130, and I am now at 181 lbs. Even at my heaviest, I have always been 150-160 lbs and so to see that number on the scale yesterday was a huge wakeup call. I couldn't believe it.

Luckily, my nutritionist is awesome. I'm seeing Vanessa Perrone, whose stuff I've been following for at least a year now. She creates a bunch of great online content and she has a really realistic approach to food, and I am keen to get my health back under control. Yesterday was the first appointment but I feel like I already understand a lot more about my body and my health, and I am hoping that seeing a nutritionist will make me more accountable both to my goals and to myself.

I will be shopping for food more regularly (no more one grocery every six weeks oops) and posting about food on social media, so let me know if you want me to post recipes or dedicate more posts to it.  But the real purpose of this post was to talk about the fact that one aspect of your lifestyle (your food habits) can really affect everything.

One of the questions that I was asked yesterday was how I felt about myself on a scale of 1 to 5. Right now, I feel like a one. I am super confident in some areas, like my academics for example. I know that I am smart and I feel confident in the work that I'm doing. But in every other way I feel horrible. I don't feel pretty, I don't feel like I am being my best self with friends, and I am always self-conscious. The truth is that I have never felt like a five and I want to hit that point.

I think that my inner beauty not being at 5 has started affecting my outer beauty and that is affecting my fashion. I have gotten better at hiding my figure when I need to by being good at accentuating small parts of myself, like my waist, but I don't want to have to feel like I'm constantly hiding something or cheating the system. I have never been able to see my cheekbones, really, for as long as I can remember, and I desperately want to.

The plan is for me to spend time planning my meals for the week on Sunday and go shopping and do prep for what I need on Mondays so that I can have food that is fresh, healthful, and good for me. No more takeout. I'm going to be eating more than I eat now (every three to four hours) and more food than I was used to eating before, but better proportioned food. This means more of things that I already liked (ie: baby spinach, kale, and romaine lettuce) and less of those things that I eat and enjoy but are just plain not good for me (ie: them hamburgers). I think that if I can get excited about food and make food that looks good, I will want to start making more of a change overall.

Everyone says to focus on inner beauty but that is really easy to say in a world where the average woman seems to be a size six and you're a size 14. But I am done feeling sorry for myself. I am going to war with my weight, and I will be the victor this time.

Get Ready for Fall: The Pencil Skirt

The central element of this outfit is the pencil skirt. A classic element to every wardrobe, this would be the perfect outfit to wear to university or to work. The pencil skirt is a real basic for any university girl or working professional, and the particular one in this outfit is really fun because it provides a punch of color and is a great variant on the traditional black or grey pencil skirt that everyone has in their closet.

Why this outfit works:
The emphasis in this outfit is on the pencil skirt and on playing with dimension to give everyone their most flattering shape. The tailored waist and hips on the pencil skirt (I picked this one because it can fit girls with a variety of sizes - up to 2X) are balanced out by the looser fitting top from H&M. What you're doing with this outfit is accentuating the waist and making it the smallest part of your figure by adding more volume up top. What this does is give you the illusion that your waist is very slim and it will give you that perfect pear shape. The jacket keeps the look work and school appropriate while breaking up the dual-tone color palette of skirt and top. The embellishments bring in small elements of the top so that it 'matches' with the outfit while adding some unexpected flare. The great thing about the jacket is that it's versatile enough that it can easily be carried over into another outfit.

The accessories were chosen with care and balance. Personally, I would wear the rings on one hand and the bracelet on the other to give a subtle poise to the outfit and avoid having one side of your body look off-kilter with a bunch of jewelry. I didn't add earrings but I'd probably just do some simple pearls or small gold hoops, which don't take anything away from the outfit or other accessories. The real key here is the pendant color wheel necklace. This should be a staple in every girl's wardrobe because the beauty of the color wheel is that it can match any outfit but it also ties in everything together in a very simple, unobtrusive accessory. It adds a bit of a splash and allows you to be more creative with accessories like shoes and bags. I think that the key to any outfit is balance and if you're going to do a pop on the bottom of color then you need to replicate that on your top half, even with something as subtle as a necklace.

The nailpolish is just a light neutral. Most workplaces don't allow anything too dramatic in terms of nail and hair creativity, unfortunately, and so I tried to keep this a nice, light color, but you can feel free to use any color that you think would go. A dark purple or a deep blue would also be great to add some flare and probably still fit into dress code rules!

Personally, I don't wear heels all that often and I prefer to wear flats for ease in the workplace, but really any black pump would work. I would even pair this outfit with my Nike high-top sneakers to dress it down a little bit. The peach purse is a nice offset from the red and ties back into the color of the bracelet and the gold chain harmonizes all of the other accessories.


Items:
Color Wheel Pendant, Yellow Owl Workshop, $44.00
Raw Diamond Ring, Poketo, $18.00
Cute Bow Enamel Ring, The Red Bow, $18.95
Werrani Bracelet, Aldo, $12.00

Beaded Embellished Jacket, Topshop, $141.50 (UK 2-14)
Red Pencil Skirt, Pin Up Girl Clothing, $48.00 (XS-2X)
Black Crepe Top, H&M, $39.95 (2-14)

Quilted Cross-Body Bag, ASOS, $43.03
Ormelle Shoes, Aldo, $65.00
Nail Polish in Marshmallow, Essie, $8.50

Total cost: $438.93

The jacket is really what makes this outfit expensive. The good thing is that, like I said above, you can easily use it with other outfits, same as the jewelry. I think that the key to building a jewelry collection is making smart decisions and purchasing pieces that have a lot of versatility and can be easily incorporated into several outfits.

1D Makeup Collection Partnership and Giveaway!

I teased on my Twitter account yesterday that I was going to be teaming up with everyone's favorite boy band, One Direction, on a new campaign. Well, I am proud to announce that I am going to be an official previewer & reviewer for their new makeup line, Makeup by ONE DIRECTION. The makeup line looks fantastic. Anyone who is even remotely aware of One Direction's merch situation knows that it can be pitiful at best sometimes, but the packaging for this is honestly awesome. I can't wait for my sample to arrive in the mail. I'll be posting a blog post and some videos with reviews, tutorials on how to use certain products, and help you get the most out of your kit!

I'll be in the front row at the boys' concert next Friday and I'll be bringing you all of the inside scoop - how inaccurately do photos depict Louis' beauty? How many times will Zayn and Liam be fawning over Niall? Will Harry show his #hanana love on stage again? I'll be on instagram and Twitter all night (links in the right bar) giving you front row access to it all! And hopefully I'll be doing it looking fab in my new 1D makeup!

In the meantime, if you'd like to win your very own set of products, you can enter the official Makeup by ONE DIRECTION giveaway. You can enter up to three times a day!

Paris Blog #7: Grand Palais

I can't believe that today was my last day of visiting Paris. I want to live here for the rest of my life, but alas, I have to go back to Montreal. </3

With my last day, I decided to sleep in late and go to the Bill Viola show at Le Grand Palais. It was the final day of the exhibition. I arrived at around 1:45pm and I walked around the entire building just looking at the gorgeous architecture. The science side of the building was closed so I just went to the one exhibition. 

Because I didn't have a ticket, I had to wait in the normal line and it was packed. It took me over an hour and a half just to get into the Grand Palais. My feet were sore just from waiting in line! I was pleasantly surprised to discover, however, that the building had two things that I took for granted before this week: free wifi, and air conditioning! I instagrammed live today and I was even able to post up two videos so thanks Grand Palais!

                    

After having a quick lunch, I went to the exhibition. I'm not sure if it's because it was the last day or if it's always this crazy, but it was packed. Considering that the exhibition was of video art, I was really expecting there to be more seating, because a lot of older people were at the exhibition and they were standing or sitting uncomfortably on the ground in each of the rooms. There were maybe about 20 pieces in the exhibition in all and I enjoyed the vast majority of them.

My favorite piece was the video that I took with the office-like setup. The first time you go in the surprise element is so unexpected. A lot of people screamed if they came in during a semi-scary clip. The television screen on the desk displays someone sleeping and then about once a minute, for a few seconds, the tv cuts out and projections appear on the wall, sometimes of people falling into the water, sometimes of a fire, sometimes of hounds. Presumably it's a few seconds of being in the subconscious of the sleeping people! Scary stuff!

I went through the entire exhibition in about an hour and a half. It was an easy walk-through and the pieces are very cerebral and immersive, so I would have stayed longer if it wasn't for the overcrowded feeling that I had. I was starting to get a little claustrophobic being around so many other people, honestly. 

All in all, it was a perfect way to round out my trip. I'm going to see if I can get some macaroons at the airport tomorrow morning (that should make Karen over on The Red Bow happy), and hopefully I can have some awesome desserts to bring back with me that way! I don't know how I made double the clothing fit into the same suitcase. I ended up shoving more in there today, oops! 

When I get back to the city, I'll be getting ready to move and I'll be at the Just For Laughs festival, so it'll be pretty quiet on the blog, but comment, let me know what kinds of posts you want to see and if you want me to try out any products, just make your wish known!

Paris Blog #6: Brunch & Musée du mode et textile

Note: I took no photos today, they're all courtesy of Dries Van Noten.

Today was a fairly calm day. I began by having brunch with my friend Lucile and her friends from earlier stages of school. It was great! We had a fun time at a lovely little restaurant near Bastille. The food was super good and it only cost 21 Euros - the same price as lunch at museum cafés, but about two times more food. 

I didn't end up going to Notre Dame because I was invited by the people living downstairs from where I'm staying to go and hang out with them and I don't know if I'll get to go tomorrow. It will depend on how early I wake up! Instead, I went to the Musée du Mode et Textile, which is currently home to the Dries Van Noten: Inspirations exhibition. I am so glad that I went because it's been my favorite exhibition by far. I went through it twice!

The exhibition pairs together Van Noten's collections with various artworks and other designer collections that have inspired him. The exhibition opens with a fabulous case containing works by well-known designers, especially ft. Pharrell's well known hat. The exhibition then goes through Van Noten's collections, supplementing the works with videos, photographs, etc.

The exhibition was extremely colorful - the second floor has an ongoing floral motif. The exhibition rooms in the Musée are really dark by nature and I think some people were having difficulties navigating, but this was not an issue for me, personally.

My favorite part of the exhibition was a slow-motion installation work which features models performing various activities in Van Noten's clothing. I got completely lost in watching the artworks and I stayed there for a long while. The section where it's located was framed by two mirrors on either side of the videos, making it seem as if the videos went on forever, making them even more spectacular.

When I got home, I spent most of my evening packing. Somehow, I managed to get twice the clothing into the same bag that I packed - and it was full before. I just have incidentals left. I can't believe that tomorrow is my last real day in Paris. It passed by so quickly. I'm not ready to go home, I want to stay here forever.

Paris Blog #5: Musée du Quai Branly

I can't believe it, I've already been in the city for five days! It feels like no time and like forever, all at once. It's crazy! 

Today, as planned, I went to the Musée du Quai Branly to see the Indiens des Plaines exhibition. And maybe I went a bit crazy because I took pictures of every artwork in the way that they were arranged. I just know that I'm going to end up writing something about this in the future and so it's better to have more photos than less. The exhibition was huge. It took me just under two hours to go through it even though there only four parts. The shoes in today's cover photo are from the exhibition! Bitching, no? There were over 200 art and ethnographic objects from collections around the world.

I have to say that aside from the Musée d'Orsay, today was probably my favorite activity! I was at the museum for six hours - it takes a long time to see. After I went through the Indiens des Plaines exhibition, I took a break and went to the Café Branly. The service was absolutely horrid. It took forever to get a table, my waiter took 15 minutes to come and take my order and almost 20 minutes to bring me my bill. I would recommend eating around the museum rather than at it. It's right next to the Eiffel Tower so there are lots of little cafés around!

After lunch, I visited the permanent collection, which was great. The museum really made use of its nook and cranny spaces in great ways. One of my favorite things is that you can see the museum's storage (or at least some of it - I assume they have more/an offsite somewhere) as you're walking around the exhibition in a dark, circular glass case that goes right up to the top floor. It reminds me of the MET's open storage a little bit. 

Interspersed with the permanent collection, there were three temporary exhibitions. I didn't go visit the Tiki exhibition, but I did go see the Vietnam Women's propaganda exhibition and the tattoo exhibit. I have to say that I was impressed with neither. The Vietnam exhibition was too small to really be effective - there were barely any contextualizing labels, and the labels themselves looked like they were really cheap, which was odd compared to the glossy rest of the museum. 

As for the tattoo exhibition, a year ago I would have been really impressed and I would have learned a lot. But the other Master's student being supervised by my supervisor is writing his thesis about Inuit tattooing and so I've learned a lot from him over the year. As such, I knew most of the information in the exhibition now and the examples of tattoos that they showed were far from spectacular. The only section that I really enjoyed was on the carnival/freak show. The rest was mediocre, but if you know nothing about tattooing, this is probably a good introduction for you and I'm sure you'll feel differently about it than I do!

Since Quai Branly is literally the next door neighbor of the Eiffel Tower, I decided that I had to go see it. I was kind of remiss that I was going to be in Paris and I would see it from afar. I didn't go up the tower because a) so many stairs and how about no after my Arc de Triomphe debacle and b) I was getting nauseous just looking at how high up the observation deck was, so actually going up there was a no-no. But I did get my stereotypical Eiffel Tower shot, so here you go:

I took the bus home for the first time! I had avoided the bus because it scared me (I generally prefer undergrounds in unfamiliar cities when they're available because it's easier/faster to correct a navigational mistake) but my feet were killing me and I didn't want to take a cab all the way back to the 9e arrondissment. It just so happened that there was a "La Halle" about two doors down from the stop. I'd wanted to go to the one near Grands Boulevards but I haven't taken that Metro since the first day I got here and so I wasn't going to go out of my way to go back. I'm so glad that I got to go in today though. I got like six things and it only cost me 38 Euros. I actually asked the girl if she had said that correctly because I was so shocked. I haven't spent under 100 Euros in a shop so far (oops), so this was a total steal, omg!

Tomorrow's going to be a relaxing day! I'm having a girls' brunch with Lucile and her twin sister & friends and if I have time I'm going to Notre Dame, so expect a tame day on the blog, but that's good because it's Stylish Sunday! Check back for this week's shop!

Paris Blog #4: Shopping & Centre Georges Pompidou

Alas, Friday was not a very good day for pictures. It was hot (again), and I needed new shorts! I was down to pants exclusively and it's going to just be way too warm for that until Tuesday. So I started the day at a place that is very near and dear to my heart: H&M. I saw one across from Galeries Lafayette yesterday but I wasn't able to go in because I spent all my time at Lafayette! 

Luckily, they were having a sale so I picked up a great new set of shorts and 2 tops, plus some random other goodies. I'm most excited because I found a top with buttons that doesn't do the boob thing. If you are like me and have something noteworthy in the bosom area, then you know that button-up shirts can be a nightmare. Everything fits, you've got all the buttons done and then you see it - the thing. That distinct pull that looks like you're about to pop outta that thing at any second. It's a constant problem for me, especially at H&M. So when I found one that fit, I was like FUCK YEAH. I was also really excited to see the plus sized area that they had in their store. We don't have that in any of the stores in Montreal. With the weight that I've put on over the last year waiting for surgery, my trunk has certainly got a lot of junk in it, and so I sometimes have to shop in the oversize. In the EU that's definitely the case. 

So after spending like 200 dollars there (I guess "other stuff" was probably a little too ambiguous oops - I'll show you everything in my Paris roundup post... or potentially video???) I crossed the street back to Galeries Lafayette. I had seen that cashmere sweaters were on sale yesterday from the house brand and a girl needs her cashmere... but it's hella expensive in Montreal. You might as well buy angora because the price is nearly the same. I also needed to stop by Joe Malone. Okay, so I technically didn't need to but they don't have Joe Malone stuff in Montreal - not that I'm aware of if I'm wrong please correct me - and I picked up a new body cream and fragrance and yum yum. The combo of the two is going to make me smell delish!

After all that shopping (people were side-eyeing me on the Metro with my bags hardcore omg), I went over to the Centre Georges Pompidou to meet my good friend Lucile. She goes to school with me in Montreal, but she's back in France for part of the summer with her family and friends and so it was great to see her!!! It was weird not seeing her for nearly a month! We went to go see the Magiciens de la Terre retrospective, which was not a fabulous exhibit, to be honest. 

To make a long story short about this exhibition, since I realize that most readers are not Art History majors like me and probably don't care, it placed major contemporary artists of the late 80s with unknown indigenous artists from around the world who 'had not been poisoned by the European art well' basically. It paired the artists up on formal basis, ignoring the more significant connections/points being made by both 'sets' of artists. It got a lot of criticism and the exhibition we saw today was basically displaying the ephemera from the original exhibit, but it missed out on the chance to be self-reflexive and critical of what it did. The best part was a video loop that laid out the exhibition plan and showed photos of all of the artworks. There's not too much about the exhibition online because it happened in the late 80s/early 90s, so it was great to see everyone who was there and what they put together.

After that, we took a look at one of the permanent galleries. I only knew Joseph Beuys and Basquiat in the entire exhibit! After thinking about how I was so uninformed about my contemporary art, I realized that it's because my survey courses and a lot of other courses in my program stopped looking to Europe as a source of artistic inspiration and things seemed to move to Asia/the United States. So it was great to discover a lot of new artists - well new to me, anyways!

I am not sure if it was just the exhibitions on display currently (there was also a small exhibit about Piccabia and Man Ray in one of the galleries) or the museum in general, but I would probably not visit again if I came back to Paris, which is the first time that I've genuinely not been wowed by what I'm seeing in this lovely city! I think that tomorrow will be a lot better! I'm going to the Musée du Quai Branly and I'm super excited to see the Indiens des Plaines and the tattoo show (I have a non-museumpass ticket that I paid for so I have to go tomorrow or I lose my money hahaha). 

Paris Blog #3: More Location Lies...

Things I've learned: I clearly should not try to plan an itinerary for my trips because that just doesn't work. I told you I was going to see Bill Viola at the Grand Palais but nope. My friend Lucile is in town for the weekend for her birthday and I suggested that maybe we go and see that show, so I had to find other things to do today.

It turned out to be a busy, busy day. I am sore all over from the amount of walking and hell that I put my body through. 

I decided to start my day off with L'Arc de Triomphe. It's one of the attractions included on the Paris Museum Pass and I want to make sure that I break even on the pass before I leave! I think it should be pretty close. First of all, this thing was not where I thought that it was. I kind of saw a lot of arches in my Art History class and so I assumed that the arch next to The Louvre was the Arc du Triomphe because since when does a city need two commemorative archways? I was wrong. This baby is in the west end of the city. Luckily I realized that as I was on the Metro or else it would have been frustrating!

When you get out of the Metro for the Arc de Triomphe, it's not obvious that you have to go into an underground stairwell to get in. I walked around for a while trying to figure out how to avoid the death trap that is the street surrounding the Arc and then realized I had to cross underground. With that mishap out of the way, I finally got to the Arc and I guess I assumed that there would be an elevator to take people up because that's really high.

Well, there is an elevator but not for able-bodied people. So instead, you have to walk up ten flights of stairs. Ten spiralling stairwells. It was taking people on average ten minutes to climb up because we'd all have to stop. With the scorching heat (it got up to 37 Celsius today!) we were all heavily sweating by the time we reached the top and out of breath - gross, but my thighs have seriously never had such a workout. I should probably capitalize off of the fat-camp style introduction that I got to keep working on them. If you're going to do this activity, I recommend bringing some personal freshening wipes and carry your deodorant with you for sure. You'll need it. I also recommend avoiding this activity if you're like me and awaiting knee surgery. Whoops.

Despite the hardship of getting to the top of the Arc, the view at the top was totally worth it. See?

What a beautiful view of the Champs Elysées! You can also see the Eiffel Tower from a different perspective, but I didn't want to put up another picture because I put one up just yesterday of that! I am kind of a nerd for spatial perspective because we covered Paris and the way that Paris was designed for surveillance with long avenues like this one in a class, so it was cool to see how much more imposing the long boulevards are in person than in a photo, even though they are already quite impressive as is!

After spending some time on the rooftop, which was a comfortable height for me even though I am scared of heights, I had to go down the stairwell. This was much easier, but I had to stop because the winding staircase was making me dizzy! With the exertion of the morning, I decided that taking the Metro to the Musée D'Orsay was not in the cards for me. Instead of taking a taxi, I took a bide cab from the Arc to the Musée. It was about a fifteen minute ride and cost me 20 dollars. I have to admit, it's a very rickety ride because it's basically a rickshaw attached to a bike, hardly safe, but it was a great refuge from the heat and allowed me a more peaceful view of the Champs Elysées than I would have had in a car.

Again, it pays to have the Museum Pass at the Musée D'Orsay. You get to skip the long line and go through a "VIP" line where you have no wait at all with your pass. I have to say, I really enjoyed this museum a lot. There are two artists that really got me into Art History - Brian Jungen, a Canadian Indigenous artist, and Edgar Degas - and so to get to see some of Degas' artworks, particularly La Classe de Danse was overwhelming, to say the least. I ended up going to the bathroom and having a little cry after I saw it, which I know sounds silly, but if it wasn't for that painting and Brian's mask series, I probably would be doing something completely different with my life, so to see it in person is just an experience that goes beyond words.

I had lunch at the museum restaurant - shocker, I did not have another ham and emmental sandwich! Instead, I had a vegetarian risotto and a chocolate creme brulée. SO GOOD. The restaurant was gorgeous, too! From what I understand, it used to be a part of a hotel and so the entire place looked as ornate as the picture below. As you can see, I had to up my photo game to match the ornateness of the restaurant!

Warning: The restaurant is super costly. My food cost me 22 Euros! Yikes! But you only go to Paris for the first time once, right?

The temporary exhibition at the museum was about a sculptor named Carpeaux. As I mentioned, I'm not one for sculpture, especially large monumental sculpture, so I didn't particularly get much enjoyment out of it, but it was well put together and the artworks chosen by the museum to complement the sculptures were wonderful. I definitely preferred all of the paintings! I wish I could have taken some pictures, but the museum staff was breathing down everyone's necks. I did manage to snap a quick pick in the Deco arts section, though, so here you go!

Even though I was exhausted, it was still pretty early, so I decided to take advantage of the stores being open late and headed to Galeries Lafayette and the Sephora diagonally across from it. I was so surprised to see how expensive L'Oreal Paris products are in France! Mascara was eighteen Euros! I pay 10 bucks for the same thing in Canada! Foundation was eighteen pounds, it was absolutely crazy. I did, however, find a few brands that are not in the Canadian (and I presume US) Sephora stores which I was stoked about. I brought an eyeshadow palette and refill five-piece from Les Merveilleuses Ladurée, a Paris based cosmetics retailer. I also bought two items from another French brand called SAMPAR: A Daily Dose Foaming Cleanser and the "Glamour Shot Mat Perfection" mattifying concealer. It's not to be used with liquid foundation, so that's going to be interesting since I haven't used a powder or cream foundation in years (I find that I look cakey with them!) I'm going to give it a try.

Galeries Lafayette is crazy bananas. It's like a Holt Renfrew or Nordstrom in the US (I think that Nordstrom is your High-End retailer, yes?). You walk in and you're greeted by Longchamp, Dior, Louis Vuitton, etc. all as you walk in and the majority of the retailers are high-end. Even on sale, a lot of items were out of my price range. But I did finally get to buy some Agnes B. clothing! They're hard to find here without walking into Holts or Ogilvy and every time I try to get past the makeup section in Montreal, I feel like I'm hardcore getting side eyed by the sales people because I clearly don't look like I can afford to buy a one thousand dollar dress. I also got a cute top from Alice and Olivia. It was a splurge, even at 50%, but I really like it and I need some fancier clothes for upcoming events in the early school semester, so this seems like a good opportunity!

I will probably do more shopping because I have yet to max out my credit cards haha, but this week has been off to a good start. I really want to go to Zara! From what I understand, Zaras in the EU are way better than in Canada! We shall see! Let me know if you recommend any other stores in Paris!

Paris Blog #2: I'm Louvrin' It

First of all, I am sorry not sorry about the terrible pun in the title. I couldn't help myself. Gosh, was it ever hot in Paris today. Me being the genius person that I am, I decided to wear long pants. I wasn't going to go to The Louvre, as you know, I was going to go to Versailles, but it was just so hot that I couldn't bring myself to even think about doing anything outdoors. I was already boiling in The Louvre, and it's inside! I arrived at The Louvre at 11AM and there was a crazy line to get inside. Luckily, with my Paris Museum Pass, I was able to bypass all of that and I didn't have to wait in the sun!

Tip: If you're planning on visiting Paris this summer, I highly recommend entering either by Le Carousel du Louvre on Rue Rivoli or on the entrance at 93 Rue Rivoli. I did the latter and it took me less than three minutes to get into the museum. Le Carousel du Louvre brings you to the bottom floor and the line looked like it was about 10 minutes long. Waiting for the pyramid entry was at least 30 minutes. 

Note: If you're coming by Metro, Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre's line 7 (pink line) exits are closed. I recommend either travelling on Line 1, since that line still works at the station, OR get off at the Pyramides station on the pink line, which was what I did. It's about a five minute walk to the Louvre.

I started my visit off with a quick lunch in the Museum Café. It wasn't anything special... it cost me 12 Euros for a bottle of water and a ham & emmental sandwich (apparently this is some kind of French staple food because it's been the sandwich in both places that I've gone to so far). After lunch, I started in the Richelieu Wing's 2nd floor, which is home to the large French, Germanic, Netherlandish, and and Flanders collections. I have to say, the salon-style hanging was a bit overwhelming at first. I don't know how people in the academy shows used to be able to see anything!

This was the calmest room in the entire floor and there are still a lot of paintings there. As a curator, I certainly couldn't support this kind of hanging style, but I guess that the Louvre has such a substantial collection that they need to do their best to show everything off!

I breezed through the Deco Arts collection on the 1st floor of the building afterwards because I felt like I was seeing a lot of the same thing over and over. I did get to get my first glimpse (and probably one of my only since I'm not going to visit it) of the Eiffel Tower, and so I took the mandatory tourist picture of it. To be fair, I saw the scaled version of it in Vegas last year and when I rode up on that, I thought I was going to puke, I can't imagine going up to the top of the real Eiffel Tower, I probably would just end up having a heart attack before I got up there.

The sculpture garden is by far the most impressive part of this pavilion, and I definitely recommend sitting down there and taking it all in if you can. You can also sit on the steps and practice your drawing skills if you'd like! It's a great way to take a break! I did a sketch but I'm so horribly out of practice that I won't even upload it!

After I finished that pavilion, I knew it was time to do the thing that everybody goes to the Louvre to do: visit Mona. First of all, I have to say, it was hilarious to hear people talk about this painting. They were talking about it as if she were a real human being! "Can you tell me where Mona Lisa is sitting?" "Oh she's left, left, and another left."

I have to say, I have been to a lot of concerts and been everywhere from the mosh pit to the stands to waiting for the celebrities outside before they hit up their bus. I have never, in my life, experienced the kind of hysteria or madness that I experienced in waiting to see the Mona Lisa. To be honest, I wasn't actually that excited about seeing her, but I was fascinated by the hysteria of the crowd. People were pushing and shoving and I'm pretty sure my body has never been as close to another stranger's as in that crowd.

This was the line to see the painting. As you can see, being the short person that I am at 5'1", I literally could not see Mona Lisa until I basically approached her. In the end, I waited for almost fifteen minutes so that I could actually see the painting, and she's encased behind that huge pane of glass, and when I was going to take my picture, some woman pushed me and so this happened:

After all of that, I DIDN'T EVEN GET A PICTURE OF HER. I'm not heartbroken by any stretch because a) that painting has been burned into my memory and my nightmares (I've have a recurring nightmare where I fail my dissertation defence because I concluded that there's nothing left to say about the Mona Lisa) and b) I can just Google it and infinity results will show up. 

After my time with Mona, I had a much better time visiting with Delacroix, David and Géricault. I love me some dramatic French paintings, so I was so excited about getting to see these in person. I didn't realize how big David's Coronation of Napoleon and Empress Josephine was! It was overpowering and overwhelming. Conversely, I was extremely underwhelmed by the size of La Grande Odalisque. I think I've been spoiled by seeing it on such huge art history auditorium screens that it was a little disappointing to realize that it was so small!

I finished off my grand tour with the Egyptian and medieval Louvre sections. I was pretty tired by that point and I'd been looking at art for the better part of five hours, so I thought it was time to call it a day! 

Attached to The Louvre is a series of shops and restaurants, so before I left, I couldn't help but do a little shopping (you'll see what I bought in a Paris Roundup post next week!) - there was conveniently also an Apple Store in the Carousel du Louvre so I was able to right my plug situation! 

To top the day off, I went to Mariage Frères, the famous French tea house. I had a big pot of tea, the limited edition Haute Couture tea. It was 12 Euros, so definitely a treat for the soul, but I have to say that my tea pot was huge and I drank it all so it was worth the price. The tea was lovely and it was the perfect way to rest my feet and do some reading after a long day. I've been keeping a book with me in my bag all week so that I can spend small pockets of time being productive. 

Because it's so hot in the city (it's going to get up to 32 degrees by Friday) and then from Saturday on it's going to rain, I don't think that I will end up going to Versailles, alas. I won't be able to stand the heat in the gardens and there are too many exhibitions that I want to see! Tomorrow, I'm going to try to make it a four-stop day, since a lot of the museums are open until 9pm! Wish me luck!

Paris Blog #1: Musée Rodin - Rodin/Mapplethorpe!

Bonjour! I am writing from the beautiful 9e arrondissment in Paris. It's currently 2:41 AM here, but I basically slept for 8 hours so I'm wide away (yay jetlag!) I arrived safely in Paris yesterday, thanks to everyone who sent me well wishes! I was pretty tired when I got in because it'd be about 3AM in Montreal even though it was almost 10AM in Paris. But I didn't want to waste any time seeing this beautiful city!

I've decided that I will spending most of my time visiting museums and historical sites - because what else would an Art Historian want to visit? So each day you'll get to see what I've been up to and where I've gone. I'm excited! And don't worry! I've left some shopping time slated for the end of the trip so that I can come home with lots of goodies for a special Paris shopping blog!

Rodin/Mapplethorpe exhibition at the Musée Rodin.

Yesterday's trip was to the Musée Rodin. I was interested to see Rodin's sculptures in person because I've only ever seen photo slides as part of Powerpoint presentations and it's really not the same. I am not generally wowed by sculpture (I'm much more into graphic arts and photography), but Rodin is one of the few exceptions for me, and I was so excited that Rodin was being paired with Robert Mapplethorpe. My friend was doing research in Paris a few weeks ago for her thesis and she mentioned that Mapplethorpe was one of the highlights of her week. Girl was on point because it was an amazing exhibition. I have to say, I think that it did more for Mapplethorpe than it did Rodin, but they were an interesting combination to be put together. I commend the museum and the Mapplethorpe foundation in New York!

I thought that the glass presentoires were an incredibly smart way of displaying the work. Rather than traditional solid walls, this allowed you to see into all parts of the exhibition pretty much at the same time, so that you could kind of formulate your own connections and walk through in any way that you wanted. I'm partial to that kind of exhibition, as it gives me the freedom to do what I want!

The highlight of the Musée Rodin for me, however, wasn't the actual sculptures themselves, it was the amazing gardens and all of the architecture. Hello, gorgeous! Seriously, walking through the garden and getting to look at all the sculptural work was amazing. 

A bonus: I got to try macaroons for the first time yesterday! I know, how does one get through 24 years of life without trying macaroons? I don't know either, but they were delicious! The museum café had such cute presentation for them that I couldn't help myself! I'm glad that I was enticed.

Overall, a great first day. Today's location is Versailles! I'm stoked! I'm bringing a book so that I can spend most of my time reading in the gardens, though I'm sad that I'll probably have to leave a bit early. I didn't realize that my travel adapter was only two-pronged, so I can't charge my laptop, grrr. Here's to hoping that the pharmacy near Versailles has the travel adapter that I need, otherwise I'll have to leave almost two hours early just to make it back into the city! Boo!

Review: July Ipsy Bag

I've been ordering the Ipsy Glam Bag for about three months now and the last two, I'd been disappointed. It wasn't that my products were bad or anything - I loved the Nyx gloss that they sent me, but a lot of the other things were either tiny or just not what I would usually use. This month, however, I was so happy with my bag! The pouch for this month wasn't quite my style and I'll likely end up throwing it out, but the products themselves are great.

First up: This bronzer from Pop beauty. I love that it's got some shimmer to it because that's perfect for the summer to make your skin look nice and glowy. The color is a nice brown-orange and it's a pretty decent size. I've yet to try it, but it looks promising so far, and if I do end up liking it, this will probably last me for a while! Full sized products, yay!

When I saw this, I got a little overly excited. This is the new BareMinerals eyeshadow duo, mine is in the colors muse (l) and passion (r). When I flipped over the packaging it made it look like a purpleish color so when I opened the actual package and saw what the colors were, I was stoked. A few years ago, I was obsessed with the Estée Lauder duo palette in Raisin - so much so that I went through it all. I was never able to find it again, I think because it was limited edition, and while there are palettes that have come close, they've never been quite the right color. I think that this is the closest that I've come so far and I am so over the moon and excited to try this!

I'm not nuts about the packaging on this product, but I like that Ipsy obviously thought about the fact that it's summer and that they should consider products with SPF. I only use BB cremes when my skin is doing alright, and summer is generally not a good time for my skin, so I probably won't use this until September-October, but it looks to be promising from the bit that I squeezed onto my hand.

I've never used Pixi products but I love things that remind me of Clinique's chubby sticks and this definitely fits the bill! It's a nice corally pink and it doesn't look like it'll be too dark, so I'm curious to see how this actually goes on.

I've definitely gotten something from Pur-Lisse before and I feel like it might have been this exact product. With the built in SPF, this seems like the perfect under product for makeup, as it can keep your skin protected from the sun while also helping to moisturize, two of the most important things to consider in the summer.

Overall, I'm thrilled with this month's products and I can't wait to use them all! 

Don't forget to enter my giveaway with The Red Bow, and keep checking in! I'll be blogging from Paris every day!

Stylish Sundays: The Red Bow ft. Giveaway

This week's Stylish Sunday is very special! I've been touting companies so far that are international and awesome (Poketo, thanks again for sending me something special, you are the best. I very much look forward to using my agenda when the one I'm using now is all spent!). But sometimes, a little homegrown love is necessary, and for me, The Red Bow is really the creme-de-la-creme of Canadian online retailers. A quaint little e-shop based out of Toronto, I think I want just about every single thing on this website.

For those of us who have, like, grown up and lived and breathed Hello Kitty merch, this shop is a go-to. They have a lot of great Hello Kitty pieces, and also a lot of pieces that are inspired by her iconic red bow (which is where the shop gets its name).

I recently purchased some of their prints a few weeks ago for my new room in my new apartment - three weeks to move in date, so excited. I've been silently stalking for a while but never had a reason to buy and so I was thrilled that my space was going to need some prints, and what better than a little tribute to perfume? I even posted up a photo on my instagram! Aren't they adorable?

Each and every purchase with The Red Bow comes with a lovely little handwritten letter and the kinds of touches that make you feel like you're a person whose business is appreciated, not just some invoice number for a huge CEO who has bought their 10th car with your money. It's the little things that make a big difference for me in a shop and The Red Bow knows exactly how to make me smile.

Can we please also talk about that gorgeous website design? There is nothing worse than a shop selling cute things disguised in an ugly storefront. Am I right, ladies? Of course I am. Bad design is icky, to stay the least. The site is easy to navigate and all of the products are awesome. I also purchased one of their scents, the apple pie one, and it is delicious. The scents can easily be layered for an all around great scent combination.

Like what you see? GUESS WHAT? The Red Bow generously accepted my invitation to partner and so I'm hosting my first giveaway for you guys. You can win a $25.00 gift card for The Red Bow. They ship internationally, so it doesn't matter where you are in the world, you can have a little red bow goodness for yourself!

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