Small Extravagances

This week was all about work, so I felt I could infuse some bits of glamour to get through it. Here’s what I went for.

Les Nuits d’Hadrien, by Annick Goutal, is the one scent I have never grown tired of. I’ve been fooled before by other perfumes, believed I could use them until they were finished, but it happens every time. It’s love at first sniff, five months later, can’t stand it.  I was cautious with this one, not only because it looks so precious, I knew if I could control myself and not wear it every day, I could get to the second bottle – and I have. This is what luxury smells like.

The paillettes on these Miu Mius speak for themselves. I have to say though, no other shoe brings so much fun – the amusement on other people faces (notably girls) is priceless. Apparently they sparkle tremendously, I obviously can’t tell when I’m wearing them…

This is the reason this post’s title is “Small Extravagances” – I wanted to go with “Small Luxuries”, but Zara wouldn’t qualify for that. So extravagances seemed ok, I mean, most people consider leopard to be extravagant, and this is the perfect uplifting coat. You can wear whatever bland nothings, old cotton black leggings underneath and still look fabulous.

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Why I Should Stay Away From Her

 

I’ve always been more like Kate.

I was good with discipline for a while, but mostly I was focused on having fun, as I imagine her to be. I’m sure you, too, have seen pictures of her getting a little too carried away, whether tripping her way out of a party or just unabashedly topless, carrying a few extra pounds on a yatch. This intense, fun loving lifestyle is part of my nature and as much as I want to embrace discipline and quit procrastinating, I know I’ll never be full-on Gisele – seemingly perfect, drinks 8 glasses of water, doesn’t drink alcohol, takes excellent care of her skin, eats 100% organic, is always on time. I don’t even want to actually live like that – I just need a shot of it because frankly, I’ve been too much of a Kate for a while…

The Madonna Effect

 

Good things happen in my life whenever I go back to reading Madonna’s biography.

It immediately infuses me with drive and fearlesness, and things always go better when I’m feeling restless like that.  I admire her determination to get whatever she wants and above all, her unapologetic demeanor. So reading just about three pages of her book is so powerful that I feel even my posture’s different afterwards.

But nothing’s quite powerful as going blonde.

I’ve wanted to go platinum for several years now. I’ve never been afraid of extreme looks, I’m quite eccentric even, and I started dying my hair red when I was 13 (thanks, mom). When I hit 16 I finally put my mind in its right place and went natural, I’m lucky enough to have a great light brown hair color that has always been a great backdrop for whatever clothes I wanted to wear – gold lamé, black vinyl, you name it. But the platinum idea was always on the back of my head and the fear of not being able to go back to my natural color always has always kept me away me from the peroxide.

But boredom can be magical. As we girls know, there’s nothing like a change in your look to lift our spirits (maybe 50% off at the shoes department at Barneys) and I knew there was no going back this time. Thus, I can say, blondes do have more fun! Man, what magical powers does a head of platinum hair have.

The most fun I had at first was with myself – just like when I read Madonna’s book, my demeanor has changed. I’m a gazillion times more feminine, fragile, even. My voice must have changed a bit too, and after watching How To Marry a Millionaire, I feel cute and ditzy when I act stupid, not dumb, as when I was a brunette.

Let’s say the most fun I had later was with others.

People ask me how long will I keep this look, I don’t know. I truly feel like a blonde now, even though I know I’m such a brunette at heart. But being the girl all brunettes love to hate’s being too much fun to quit…

Being Gisele-like

So I want to introduce you to this blog with a little story: I was at the hair salon, touching up my roots this week, and I came across this:

I mean, look at this couple. Look at her! This wicked smile promptly ignited a bit of jealousy, but since that’s not my nature, I decided I should aspire to be more like what Gisele represents – this ultimate woman, who manages to be ridiculously gorgeous, has an amazing career and even seems to be… nice! (Even though this picture seems to say otherwise).

I personally believe the only way she has achieved it all was through discipline, ah , the art of being disciplined. Discipline is an enemy I have owned before, but I’ve been knocked out by it lately. I’m only 22 but I already use work stress as an excuse for lack of discipline, and instant gratification’s been my close friend lately.

But who doesn’t feel somewhat inspired by a picture like this? Sure, some girls would feel defeated, depressed, even, but there’s no reason to. I don’t think ice cream’s the answer to facing a picture like this in a magazine – it should prompt you to go running, to do some highlights, to do whatever it takes to make you feel confident, after all, isn’t that exactly what she’s alluding there?

I wanna get my confidence back, and I’ll fight for it – I’ll go back to the gym, even if I’m tired from work (Gisele would! Madonna would, too). I’ll be strong enough not to indulge myself in chocolate if I’m feeling down (can you imagine Gisele in her couch having Haagen Dazs in front of the TV? exactly).

Starting TODAY, not tomorrow, I’ll try my best to stop feeling bad for lack of discipline, and do everything my fictional Gisele would, as a way of start feeling better about myself and getting my confidence back, and will be telling it all here.

Step one, evening skin care routine, here I go.