Greece is for lovers

So they say!
Apart from the obvious statement, this post is a tribute to the homonymous brand, "Greece is for lovers". Totally makes my day. (text in italics is SO copied from their website - not because I couldn't be bothered to write a couple of lines, but because they said it BEST)

Rest In Peace candle. For instant redemption, fill in with the appropriate x-lover's name and burn the blues way. Approximate burning time: 45h. Cedar scent.

Magic Treat. This year you'd better treat yourself! Accessorize to match your vehicle - be it auto or motor, broom or sleigh. Gold plated brass, odor free.

Build you myth. Is your demanding demigod lifestyle hard to cope with? Does everything feel like a Herculean task? It’s probably time to start pumping iron Ionian style! A set of dumbbells in solid brass, they come in weights of 1.5 and 3 kgr.

Granny tunes. If my grandma had an ipod it would definitely look like this.A hand-knitted sleeve to soften up those hard tunes you love blasting on your ipod.Machine washable, it comes in three colours.

Love this commission: Tougher than Leather. How old school can you get? Strap on this leather beauty and pose your cred away. Socks optional. Originally designed for the "7ply Project" exhibition, organised by Propaganda Rolling Co, in May 2008. One-off.

As well as the Opa curtain prototype: Practice your dance steps with these distinctive curtains and your opas will be as hot as Zorba’s. Low maintenance Tyvek meets Greek traditional embroidery technique “kofta”.

Browse more here. Check out their blog there.
Happy Monday all over again!

Blogger panel @ Premium, Berlin

I've received this notice and I'm kicking myself I didn't book that ticket to Berlin this season. I know (frozen) Berlin is reading so chuck on something warm and go attend this on my behalf:

PREMIUM SYMPOSIUM Fall/Winter 2010/11
BLOGGER PANEL: FASHION BLOGS – HYPE OR FUTURE?

Suzy Menkes: “The world changed, when fashion instead of being a monologue, became aconversation. And that's never going to stop.“

For the seventh time running, the PREMIUM SYMPOSIUM is inviting luminaries from the international fashion industry to talk about themes and trends that are important to the business.

The panel will be moderated by Mary Scherpe (blogs: “Stil in Berlin”, “Quite Contrary”) who will lead a discussion on the significance of fashion blogs and their future, fashion reporting in print and online media, and the actual communication between media and users.

Guests:
Suzy Menkes, International Herald Tribune (via Video)
Imran Amed, Business of Fashion
Markus Luft, Gala Germany
Christoph Amend, ZEITmagazin
Sven Schöne, K-MB Agency for Brand Communication GmbH
Annette Weber, InStyle Germany (tbc)

BLOGGER PANEL: FASHION BLOGS – HYPE OR FUTURE?
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2010
2 pm
PREMIUM AUDITORIUM
STATION-Berlin 1st floor
Luckenwalder Strasse 4 – 610963 Berlin

For accreditation - please send an email to: symposium@premiumexhibitions.com

.......................................................................

- Here's a glimpse of how Premium was for me last season.

Sale-ing

First day of the much awaited sales period for Greece today and I am sure most of you are out there bargain-hunting already. Whilst taking the picture of my little coin-purse above, I was thinking how much I'd like it to be a chicken that lays...euros! When it comes to discount shopping, no amount is ever enough I guess.

Cheap prices can be such a honey-coated trap to lure you into buying a whole bunch of stuff you don't really need, just for the thrill of getting it cheap. Here's a piece of advice to help you stay out of trouble and (unnecessary) bankrupsy:

1. Only buy what you need. What you really need. And maybe that's a vacuum cleaner and not the 100th pair of shoes.

2. Try before you buy. It may look lovely on the hanger, but it has to look good on you or it's joining the dusty pile in your closet. A low price doesn't justify a lousy purchase.

3. Buy timeless goods. And that's where you make the most out of a buy: minimum cost, maximum use on your timeline. (no, a trendy sequinned skirt is not timeless. Wear it next season and you'll be the definition of "'so-last-year")

Couple of tips you may also find useful:

a) The reason to reach the till is not "love at first sight". It's "can't stop thinking of you when you're not around". That's right. Spot it, walk away from it, go back and get it if you still want it an hour later. (this does not apply when you hear the words "last piece in your size")

b) Sales % off tend to become more exciting during the last week. However. This is mainly because it's left-overs. Don't push your luck if your shoe size is 38 or your clothes size is Medium (experience talking about the first, market research on the second)

Let the sale-ing begin!

I'm on 3D

I have just come back from watching the notorious 'Avatar' movie (& this post is on timer, obviously!). Whether you are a modern cinema tech fan, a nature lover or simply up for a good watch, I'd totally recommend it. Go for 3D projection. I must say that watching it like that made a whole lot of difference.

To give you an idea, today's post is in 3D format (I made this picture here). How are you gonna see me on 3D? Well, unless you have a pair of 3D glasses handy at home (because?!!), here's how to make one:



Easy peasy. Apart from checking me out and playing around with your own shots, wouldn't this be a cool gift for someone? A 3D photo of you or them complete with a set of handmade 3D glasses, now that would be different! Knock yourselves out, this is fun;)

Memoirs of Mariah's experiment

About half a year ago, and with temperatures twice as high, a very exciting email arrived in my inbox (from a very exciting sender): Mariah Carey would release her new album in Autumn 2009, titled "Memoirs of An Imperfect Angel". Exciting part: her record label Island Def Jam Music Group had decided to incude a booklet, a mini Elle magazine all about the artist.
Considering the current poor state of the CD market, this seemed to me as quite a clever move to boost sales. I mean you can buy pirate copies and download as much as you like, but only the original copy would come with the special little mag. In days when the CDs come with newspapers, they thought of trying the exact opposite. Moreover, they'd include ads which would nicely support the release financially.

The fun and promising experiment would be out in 1 million copies to start with at the U.S. and 500,000 overseas. So how come I am bringing this up now? Before answering this, I'll let you check out some of the pages of the booklet, fished here.

Where was I? Ah, yes. The reason why I am bringing this up now, half a year later, is because somehow I bumped on that email again and was wondering whatever happened to that whole thing. For the come-back of such a popular idol and the mini-mag including ads from Elizabeth Arden, Angel Champagne, Carmen Steffens, Le Métier de Beauté and the Bahamas Board of Tourism, things have been TOO quiet.

And then I looked at the sales: 300,000 CDs out of that 1 million were sold in the U.S. by December 09 whereas London reported 67,347 pieces sold up until now, nowhere close to 500,000. My, oh my. It didn't go that well, did it? Were the songs that bad? Can we conclude that print fashion did not work well with music? Either-or, the company is dropping the promo of the album.
Oh well it was a good effort.

Smack! - A giveaway

Speaking of juicy lips these days, my lips get rather dry in this mad weather. Mad I try not to be, therefore I am not gonna walk in fuchsia lips during the day. Sweet pink is more like it and I found my little saviour in Lip Smackers. Even better, they come in more than 100 tastes, watermelon, ice-cream cookie, bubble gum and candy floss (!) to name a few.

And since 2010 began with a "hot" shade of pink for me, it might aswell start with a hot giveaway for you! How would you fancy receiving in the post three delicious smackers in a cute bag?

You know what to do: email me at aleccarox@windowslive.com, type "Smackers" in the subject area and your name as the message - no need to do this if you've signed up for my competitions list, if you haven't, make a note and I'll add you for future giveaways as well as this one.

Thirty parcels are waiting to be posted, one may be yours! Giveaway ends on Tuesday, 26th of January, at midnight.

Stuff I dag out on Lip Smackers:

*Bonne Belle started producing them in 1973.

*They are the only kind of balm/gloss that comes in such a wide selection of tastes.

*They are also known for collaborations with Coca-Cola, Fanta, Mars, Disney and Colgate. (Fanta roll-on gloss rules)

*They are collectors items (!) - see this.

*American product, made in the U.S.: a) you know I like it when companies produce locally, b) I am surprised this is not Japanese.

*Apart from my purse, they can apparently be found in the handbags of Lindsay Lohan, Sharon Stone, Halle Berry and Paris Hilton:)

*Features proudly: WE DO NOT TEST ON ANIMALS.

Lady Gaga is a doll

Lady Gaga-like dolls inspired by doll-like Lady Gaga. I knew it was coming. This time Mattel was too slow though. Veik, a 29-year-old Gaga fan from Beijing, got there first and the result is stunning! (source & source)

The Gaga-glam style could find no better artist to reflect it on Gaga worship Barbie versions, pictures of which could be easily mistaken for shots of the eccentric singer.

His Gaga-concert doll even includes a step-by-step tutorial of how he managed to get this:

To look like this:
Whether a Gaga fan or not, do visit his flickr portfolio here. "Kermit the frog" outfit and McQueen's "alien" shoe are only a couple of the miniature takes guaranteed to impress you.

The bowling shoe

If you ask me for a weekend alternative to going out with friends or staying in with friends, I'd say go bowling with friends. Tons of fun I tell you, whether striking those pins down or simply watching your ball travel down the side pipe:)

I am a regular and as you can see I take bowling dress code, well, not too seriously! If you can bend over and get your keys off the floor in it, then you can bowl in it. Fact. The shoes though, that's a different story. They maybe ugly or even funny, but you have to wear bowling shoes.
As a child, I didn't mind their looks. I was actually quite pleased I got to wear the special, "important" shoe. As a teenager though, I attempted several times to cheat and bowl in my All Stars. Busted each and every time. And then finally, someone cared enough to explain: it's a matter of performance as well as safety.

These shoes are different from regular shoes in that the heel and sole of the shoe are made of specific materials, not only for protection of the lanes (reduce scuffmarks, damage to the wood), but also for the protection of the player. The shoes are designed to have a small amount of "slide", because the momentum from releasing the bowling ball transfers to the foot. A shoe with a pure rubber sole provides greater traction and little or no "give" on the lane surface; as a result the increased friction in the material could result in a potential injury. (stolen from here)

Although the sport is no newbie, historians have traced it back to Ancient Egypt, the shoe pattent came as late as 1984 - at least in the U.S. Voila for the thorough learners:

And even though they thought of pattenting it, it seems that very few bothered to make it look a bit more... sight-friendly. (Seriously, where does it say in that pattent "and it has to be ugly"?) I was ever so excited to come across these babies online, only to read they don't do them since 1984. Why, oh why? *devastated*

Anyways, as long as they don't force me to wear any funny pants, I'll allow the shoes. (Although I am seriously thinking of creating an accessory to cover them nicely and... pattent it too;))

Whatever you do, enjoy your Sunday.

Hot pink year ahead

Some say that if you look your best at NYE, you'll be blessed to look a million dollars throughout the year even if you're sporting rags and a saucepan. Err... don't know about that, but I do think it's important to wear at least one thing that lifts your spirits and shouts out "new". New year, new you.

For me, it came in the shape of a lipstick, L' Absolu Rouge #133 (Lancôme). Stayed on lips all night, in and out of glasses of bubbly, through all night cheek-kissing and luck-wishing. I think that after all the singing, smiling, chatting and ...munching it pulled off, my year has a great chance of being loud, happy, social and yummy:)

Let's see.

Perfect ten

Sometimes, good stuff comes unannounced. Just like what kept me away from blogging for a few days.

And sometimes, they come totally planned and inevitable. Just like the new year - oh, it's going to be a good one!

I am back. Actually, I never left;)

May the year 2010 be a perfect ten for all!
Happy New Year.