White Weekend

Every year I wish to have a White Christmas.

This year, like every year, my wish wasn't answered, not a single snowflake was seen in London and even fewer were seen in Sardinia, were I spent my holidays at my parent's house.

However, when the first serious snowfall of the year eventually arrived I was lucky enough to be free to enjoy it, it started during the night between Thursday 17th and  Friday 18th, and it kept falling for most of Friday, even if very light and at times it was just flurry. 

first snow on Friday morning

For me the snow has always been magical and is one of the things that make me feel like a child, full of excitement, simple joy and genuine amazement; just to watch it fall lightly, flakes dancing in the air, following Mother Nature choreography, is almost hypnotising, like watching the flames dancing in a fire, they directly call to some deep and ancestral part of myself.

frozen berries
photo by me

Friday afternoon I dressed (not warm enough, as I was about to discover), I forced my feet into my faithful old boots and forgetting my gloves (why should I need them? it's just snowing after all XD), I went around my neighbourhood under the falling snow to shot some pics and enjoy the maybe too short, maybe first and last of the year snowfall (as Latins used to say: carpe diem). 

Garratt Park

photo by me

I went to the near park which was completely covered by snow and deserted except for a few people: a mum with her enthusiastic child jumping all over the place and another girl of my age wondering about the once green lawn and now white carpet; we exchanged a knowing smile when we crossed and each went on her way, while the swings rattled and whispered to the snow in the playground.

Garratt Park

photo by me

for the make-up addicts: 
I'm wearing MAC lip pencil "vino" under a light coat of red lip pencil;
love the deep cool red I get mixing these shades;
the colour lasted for hours, even after drinking a cup of coffee.

the face of happiness

To complete my snowy wondering I went to the local Starbucks to sip a Vanilla Spice Latte (can I say that neither it tasted of vanilla, nor of spices?) from a china mug, while looking the people in the street doing their errands, hurrying to catch their bus or chatting with their friends under the falling snow.

Vanilla Spice Latte

photo by me

Unfortunately on Saturday we had just a few flurries and the temperatures rose enough to start melting the snow, so I just stayed home to enjoy a quiet day with my boyfriend, occasionally peeking out of a window to see if it had started to snow again.

photo by me

At some point between Saturday and Sunday night the snowfall started again, light but steady; the smallest snowflakes ever seen tried to cover up the melted siblings from the previous day and by the afternoon a fresh layer of snow was waiting to crunch under my feet.

photo by me

photo by me

I really loved this proper winter weekend, I know that lots of people dislike snow, cold and all the inconveniences caused by them, especially if you are working and you can't enjoy the snow you'll see only the problems it comes with, but I wish my winters were more like this weekend and I hope that you had enjoyed this snowfall as much as I did.

PS: please do not look at photos quality, I am not a photographer, my hands shake and all photos are made with my poor mobile camera; so forgive me for the crappy quality, I'm just a girl who likes to take pics.

Art is in the Hair

In spite of my not so happy relationship with hairdressers&co. one of my best friends is training to become one (hair stylist actually), and she’s doing great, so great that I’m thinking to have an hair cut done by her (and I've been cutting my own hair for years now).

Elettra and her model, Margherita
photo by me

Tuesday 15th I went to see and support her and her model of at the Richard Ward Junior of the Year Awards, a competition where trainees show off their talents in front of an audience of parents, partners and friends, as well as an esteemed panel of judges including Catherine McMahon from L'Oreal Professionnel and Richard Ward himself (I know I’m missing some judges but I don’t remember their names, I’m so sorry! If anyone could please fill my memory gaps I’d be very grateful).

photo by me

photo by me

 

Richard Ward Hair and Metrospa is the past winner of Hair Magazine’s London Salon of the Year, and has been described as ‘leisurely and luxurious yet unpretentious’; glamour, excellence and an outstanding customer service are perfectly combined to transform customers experience into a little luxury treat.

photo by me

The competition has been running for several years, and it consists of two separate awards: The Junior of the Year Award itself, which was voted for by the senior team at the salon based on day to day work ethic and achievements throughout the year; and the Technical Achievement Awards, which is the one I went to watch and cheer for. For the second award juniors were asked to create a look that combined current trends with model style and features. As well as creating a suitable style, entrants were also judged on research, inspirations and presentation. 

photo by me

This is the second time I have been part of the audience and I have to say that this year the standards were amazingly high (even for one who is not an expert like me the styles were just wonderful) and I really enjoyed it, especially for the ’50 atmosphere which seems to have inspired almost everyone.

rock/romantic braided updo
photo by me

This year I really enjoyed the show because I saw a lot of styles which I would like to try on my own hair (I’m thinking about two braided styles in particular) and also some of them which I personally would never wear but were amazingly done (I’m thinking of an extra short cut with the most beautiful red shade I've ever seen and a lovely Marilyn inspired style).

Marilyn
photo by me

rock/romantic braided updo
[front]
photo by me

super short/ultra red bob
photo by me

My friend Elettra’s creation consisted in a fusion between fifties style, vintage accessories and oriental look, inspired by Japanese anime and manga, the film “Memoirs of a Geisha” and the western '50s atmosphere. The result is an Updo consisting in three sections: the two frontal sections call to mind both the Geisha's hairstyle and the 50sVictory Rolls style, while the back ponytail was tied up to remember famous anime hairstyles as Sailor Moon.

pin-up geisha
photo by me

photo by me

The look was completed by a flower hairpin, a Chinese style inspired dress and a makeup that perfectly balanced Japanese Geisha's and ’50 pin-ups styles.

romantic braided updo - the winner
photo by me

After all of the trainees showed us and commented their creations, and a little break was allowed for everyone, Hellen Ward announced the winners: Elle with her romantic braided Updo won the Technical Achievement Award and she was also rewarded with the Junior of the Year Award itself; while my friend Elettra was the runner up for the Technical Achievement Award.

romantic braided updo - the winner
photo by me

I am really happy for my friend and proud of her work and results; her look was almost flawless and really creative, different from the others in spite of the common inspiration which seemed to have struck all the competitors; plus, it was just perfect for her model (who's also a dear friend of mine), she managed to combine her skills and creativity with her model personal style and character and I think she did a great job.

Elettra and Margherita
isn't that military coat perfect for the look?
photo by me