Tokyo Milk

I was delighted to find that I still love discovering a new fragrance line this weekend. Sometimes I worry that my appetite for fragrance is waning. I occasionally feel as if I have just tried just about everything I want to try and found such wonderful fragrances that nothing is going to top them or spark my curiosity. While that might be good for the purse strings it would also be terrible as I so enjoy the voyage of discovery.

These worries always vanish when I something new and interesting to explore!

I found Tokyo Milk on the second floor of Fortnum and Mason (more on their beauty floor to follow soon!). As you can see the bottles are small but beautiful, with a vintage feeling and lots of attention to detail.

The fragrance names and styles vary quite a lot. Cherry Bomb and I want Candy are very nice but perhaps not unlike lots of other sweet, candy fragrances on the market- albeit in slightly more chic packaging.

The fragrances I enjoyed most were Gin and Rosewater- a lovely, surprisingly refreshing but pretty scent that feels part 1920s and part ultra contemporary- it would be perfect on a hot summer's day punting by the river or for a boozy picnic in Kensington Gardens.



I also really took to Song in D Minor. Initially the notes of orange flower, gardenia and white orchid sounded pleasant but not really for me- and not very like a song in D minor would smell in my mind. The first spritz was a pleasant smell but a bit too sweet and fruity for me. The dry down becomes much less sweet and more contemplative. A slightly smoky but transparent comforting scent that would be lovely as a long day turned to dusk.

Tokyo Milk pictures courtesy of www.amazon.com

Playing and dressing up

I think I am regressing.

It all started with the purchase of what I think is a very fun Scrabble tile necklace. I have been a big Scrabble fan since I was old enough to spell (and to look up the 2 letter words in the dictionary to try and get rid of all my awkward letters). I could probably write a whole post, or group of posts on Scrabble, the amusement/ arguments that can follow from playing with unfamiliar partners whose families have a whole different set of rules they play by and how ultra competitive even the nicest person can get when they are convinced you can use abbreviations. I thought the necklace was witty and fun whether you like the game or not.

I bought my version here (although there are lots available on e-bay and other sites). I logged back in because a friend had admired my necklace and I have now found a Lego necklace too!



My interest in Lego, which has been a constant since birth really, was reignited recently during an acoustic set at The Liberties in Camden where the audience were provided with buckets of the lovely bricks, together with colouring pencils, cupcakes and Starbust (they should still be called Opal Fruits!).

It was such an enjoyable evening. The acts were very good but actually even if they weren't I think I realised that the reason we all think children are so relaxed is because they play with Lego and do lots of colouring. I honestly think a session with Lego and or with a colouring book and some nice sharp pencils should be a weekly must for all the stressed out. Colouring isn't just for adults, look at this lovely Arthur Rackham colouring book.

So I am going continue to flit around town with my necklace, possibly ad to my arsenal of dressing up stuff by getting a Lego version and perhaps add a colouring book to the notebook I always carry- so I can do colouring when there aren't any words coming.

Regressing is fun! and relatively cheap too ;-)

I'm still here, entertaining and being entertained

The baby was showered with sugar, bucks fizz and a sprinkling of snow this weekend. Thank you for all the suggestions for making it a happy day!

After all the excitement of organising the party and getting up at crazy am to make many, many teeny tiny sandwiches I collapsed on Sunday. I have developed a worrying hang over/ snow stopping play addiction to UKTV History repeats of The House of Elliott (1920’s period fashion drama). I began watching for nostalgic reasons and to see if it was still good, I remember loving it as a child. Initially I wasn’t convinced but three hours later I was still there. I find watching TV from my childhood strangely comforting, especially on Sundays. To me they are either made for roasts and walks, trawling markets or period TV.



I also watched the BAFTA’s fest. I thought most of the fashion this year was decidedly so so, although Thandie Newton looked great as ever I prefer her in the more unusual colours because she wears them so well.



I love Kate Winslet and I thought she looked good but a bit safe, she seems to have developed an addiction to black. Now we all know the benefits of black but I’m worried she has decided it’s a lucky colour and won’t ever stop wearing it- and she can wear colour so well. The red Ben De Lisi Oscars number is still my favourite of all her awards dresses.



Before the snow came I went to see theatrical bliss- The Donmar West End’s Twelfth Night is the definition of delightful. I think everyone (including me) uses far too many superlatives these days but I am not overdoing it on this occasion. I defy anyone not to come out of the theatre beaming with pleasure. It should be available on prescription.



House of Elliott picture courtesy of: www.amazon.co.uk
Twelfth night picture courtesy of www.telegraph.co.uk

Thandie Newton picture courtesy of: http://uk.fashion.popsugar.com/2788196?carousel=3

Kte Winslet picture courtesy of: http://www.nowmagazine.co.uk/celebrity-news/249598/omg-see-pics-anne-hathaway-wears-kate-winslet-s-oscar-dress-well-almost/1/

The Road less travelled

This week I have been getting up earlier and studying people more acutely as I have tried to get to work through the snow.

(As an aside I am still amazed snow can cause so much chaos, when I was a child I'm sure it snowed this much all the time and we still went to school and parents still went to work- ah well those were the days, Mars bars were bigger too and there less adverts on the TV).

Anyway. What I have noticed is the very early morning is the best time to watch different kinds of people interact. Specifically the only people who have to be a train at 6am are either pinstriped suited city types, usually older, usually I suspect directors or at some level where they get paid enough to go in at 6am- or- the people who clean their offices (and everyone else's) or work in some other service type capacity. It's actually rather sweet to note that I suppose both sections play a very important role in our economy and they treat each other with a lot of respect. They let each other go first and say good morning in a way that people don't on a packed 8.34 northern line tube.

Lostmarc'h: Atao

Atao means Always in the Breton language, the name is apt because this scent is the most classic in the line and would always be timeless. Sometimes though it is the most classic style that can be the most contemporary and this scent is certainly in no way boring. Quite the opposite, I find it engaging, stimulating and moreish- and although it's intended to be masculine I see no reason the right woman couldn't wear this very well.

Still Lostmarc'h themselves call Atao a traditional cologne for men so it must be put in the Pour Homme file at least. It's official notes are: 'Orange, bergamot, lemon, mandarin, with a woody and slightly spicy after scent' and they describe it as 'citrus fresh' with 'hints of rosemary'. Rather than hints of rosemary I would say large fistfuls of it- and for citrus fresh I would say cleansing, sorbet like cooling lemon. There is a slight smokiness to the herbal dry down but the scent stay quite true to the scent you first spritz.

I find rosemary deeply relaxing and calming- to be it is as sleep inducing as lavender but with an added calming effect not unlike rose. I could almost use this scent as a rather expensive mood enhancing spray for myself.

I have found all the Lostmarc'h scents very interesting; from the fragrances themselves to the Breton history and language, even the bottles and packaging appeal to me. It is the sort of line it's a pleasure to discover and you want not to become too widely available because some of the pleasure in it is seeking it out.

I don't think tourist boards usually think of using fragrance as a reason to holiday, except perhaps in Grasse, but this collection of scents has also inspired a wish in me to visit more of northern France and perhaps be more interested in the shared French and English history. These are the kind of scents I would love to find someone producing on one of our coastal shores, with the same attention to detail and mixture of respect for the past and relevance for today.

Out and about in market towns

So this weekend saw me hurtling up and down motorways and A roads to see friends in various parts of the home counties. I visited two market towns in under twenty- four hours and enjoyed their differences from London proper and the outer London excursions I normally go on. I hasten to add that is because a change is as good as a rest and not because I am out of love with London at all.

Firstly parking in market towns. It's still as tricky as it is in London but here we must park in either circa 1960 multi story car parks that have not been updated for many a year OR those pay and display car parks that don't have change machines. So if you're like me you bowl up the machine to pay very full of yourself because for once you actually have cash in your purse (I am the sort of person who uses their debit card to buy milk or a newspaper) and then find your £10 note is not wanted and you are a bit stuck. Still when I did find a multi story after having got back into the car it was incredibly reasonably priced and there was no stressing about parking because the little spaces are all marked out nicely.

So on to the town. The first market town was somewhere I periodically visited as a child and it was always nice in a the army and navy store is as trendy as it gets kind of way. Well it's all change now; Celine, Chloe and Marc Jacobs bags are available in the town's department store (I don't like it bags really but it was interesting). What I do like, obviously, it perfume and there was a little Roja Dove boutique with Creed, Donna Karan essences, Lalique and other scents. Amazed and very content I sniffed away for quite some time. Then it was out to the street where I found lots of nice and reasonably prices independent shops together with all the usual chains. I did think 'so this is where the independents are now that they are slowly being priced out of Notting Hill, Marylebone, Richmond and aren't trendy enough for East London'.

I found the market town quite stress relieving and having boosted the locally economy a little but not too much I headed back to the car park. Bizarrely it only seemed to have one pay machine for all nine levels but I queued up, twentieth in line (I did have time to count) paid and scooted off on my way.

This is where things get more interesting because rather than hopping on the M4 like a sensible person I decided I would use country roads to authentically reach my next market destination. Reader I had no map, no sat nav and the road signage, well I think it was out to trick me. I did get to see some extremely pretty small towns with very little road lighting and rather a lot of speed cameras but got hopelessly lost and not a little tearful. I eventually saw a sign to the M4 and hurtled towards it. I finally arrived at my destination only an hour late and really quite hungry. The next market town has no multi story but ample road parking and I slotted in without too much parallel parking concern.

I enjoyed a lovely dinner at a free house and a very speedy journey home. I have accepted that country roads by night are only exciting if you know them. I have to say I was the annoying, obviously not local, Granny driver doing 40 mph on the all the deregulated roads. Sorry people of Oxfordshire who wanted to drive more quickly. When I eventually hit the street lit roads with signs for London I had the surge of happiness you always get when you are going home but really for an interesting stress free shop and park (but not drive) I think it's less about London and more about the market town these days.

Revolutionary Road

In recent weeks there have been so many films that I wanted to see. I think it is virtually impossible to catch all the films at this time of year without taking up residence at a local cinema and refusing to leave.

One film I knew I wouldn't let myself miss was Revolutionary Road, which is of course the latest film from Sam Mendes whose work on stage and screen I have always loved. Not because I think I should but just because it is my kind of work. Films that are beautiful to look at but have a depth and resonance without having an obvious aching agenda to be worthy.

Revolutionary Road is a worthy follow up to his other films and as good a film as I have seen this year. It is not necessarily an easy film because much of what it says about life and the way people end up leading their lives is uncomfortably true- and as uncomfortably true now as it was in the 1950s when the film and Richard Yates' book are set.

I don't necessarily want to quote lines from the film or book because they are so much a part of watching the story unfold. I have not read the novel that this film is based on but I have read and got the impression that this was an extremely faithful adaptation. If that is the case it is certainly a tragedy that Richard Yates was not more appreciated in his time because this story and dialogue is beautifully written.

Revolutionary Road has stayed with me much as The Hours did and I have to say both stopped me in my tracks a little and left me struggling for a couple of days, which I think is a natural reaction to really strong writing that has something quite important to say.

This film holds a mirror up to people who settle in their lives for what 'should' make them happy. Now for some these things will make them happy: a lovely house, a contented family and economic stability are all important and there is nothing wrong with being fulfilled by that life. However for others that isn't the case and I suppose this film is saying that is okay and if you are one of those people then you shouldn't look to cage yourself and conform.