Wyrd Wednesday - Airgetlam, the Silver Hand

Today's Wednesday and it's the day I go all Wyrd (=weirder than usual that is), talking about whatever comes into my head. I'm still in my Celtic nail-art series but today's nail-art comes with stories and legends. I'm gonna talk a bit about me too! Still in my endeavour to be less harsh on myself, I'm forcing myself to see my progress instead of the road that's still ahead. It goes for every field: sooo, you might have noticed that lately I've been a bit more into nail-art than I used to be and I decided to re-do some designs I tried last year, with mitigated success I have to say!! So from time to time now you'll see my past endeavours in all their awful glory (and bad pictures!) and the 2012 version.

The inspiration behind this manicure was a character from Irish mythology called Nuada Airgetlam, Nuada of the Silver Hand. The name might be familiar to you if you know the Hellboy stories but there's no similarities between the two characters. Nuada was a king of the Tuatha de Danann, the Fairy Folks of Ireland (I'm summarizing a bit otherwise we're here until 2013), but he lost an arm during the first battle of Mag Tured agains the Firbolgs (the primeval giants that held the Isle of Ireland under thralldom). Being king of the Tuatha de Danann required, among other things, physical integrity, so Nuada had to give up his position. Bres became king in his stead, but he was unworthy and submitted the Tuatha to the Fomorians, much to the dismay of his own people. In the meantime, the physician Diancecht had devised a silver arm for Nuada so the Tuatha could destitute Bres and place the Airgetlam back on the throne where he reigned for another twenty years. 

So when I found a konad plate with a Celtic interlace, I wanted to go for different kinds of grey and become myself an Airgetlam, Lelie of the Silver Hand! That first nail-art was done with OPI Suzi Sky in the Pyrenees Suede and China Glaze Let's Do It in 3D, with the stamping done with China Glaze Milenium. Apologies for the blurry pictures, but that should give you an idea...

 

 

For 2012, I used A-england Arthur instead of a holo polish, and I tried to draw a French manicure with the stamping (it's a straight line on the plate, so making the curve wasn't easy as it looks!) and then cover the tips with OPI Suki Sky in the Pyrenees Suede.

Of course, the second version is "better" in terms of execution and pictures, but I will probably try it again with the combo matte and holo, I find it feistier!

Wyrd Wednesday - Let's go pastel!

Yesss, I'm trying to get back to my weekly sections. I have no idea yet what I'll do for Friends' Friday or if there'll be a Minnie's Minute this week, but let's give it a try. For those who don't know, Wyrd Wednesdays are for talking about this and that, random posts that won't usually be about nails and manicures (I say usually because today, actually, there will be some nails!!).

So, today's a double Wyrd Wednesday since we're on February 29th and that's really weird. My calendar says it's August's nameday today, makes me wonder if Augusts actually have another nameday in the year or if they have one only every four years... yeah, I know, I can get lost on stupid questions sometimes. But the weirdest thing for me today is the weather: a couple of weeks ago, we were flirting with -10°C during the day (not that I minded) and now it's Spring. And spring means pastel. Well, it also means spring cleaning, but this week's cleaning is a difficult business, I can't seem to get around starting it, so let's not dwell on that. So, Spring and pastels. Of course, for nail polishes, we're showered with Spring collections, but truly, most of them seem to be the same to me. I know that there are minor differences between China Glaze's Electropop collection and their past Up & Away, but honestly, not enough for me to take out my credit card. Which I wouldn't anyway, since I'm on no buy! So I'm trying hard not to notice the few Spring shades that could appeal to me and to remember that I already  have many pretty springy things in my Helmer that I haven't shown you. Or I did, but I'm trying them again, which brings me to my impromptu manicure of the day, once again inspired by the ever-talented Pshiiit.

The inspiration is easy to spot, it's on her blog banner, and in details, it's here. A couple of days ago, I felt like wearing H&M Peppermint Fusion, and on seeing again the banner on Pshiiit blog, I realised that the base colour seemed to be quite close to Essie's Lapis of Luxury, that she used in this nail-art. This morning, as I was shopping, I checked at the Essie corner and confirmed my impression. Coming back from shopping, I was having lunch (watching NCIS LA with cutie Chris O'Donnell!!) and noticed that my manicure was starting to look tired, but before I took it off, I gave it a try at copying Pshiiit. With some shock, I realised that I didn't have the konad plate with the roses, but I went through my plate stash and found another that could do. So there you go: H&M Peppermint fusion covered with Essie Matte About You, stamped with Excalibur and plate BM 221. 

I didn't expect it would turn out so well at first try, and now I'm bummed that I have tipwear and that I have to take it off!!

Though my shopping didn't include anything nail related, I did go for some pastel: if you have a peek here, you'll see some items from the Home collection for Spring 2012 from a well-known chain of supermarkets. I needed new pans, well, the small pink one and her big sister the baby blue one are home... I know it's silly to buy a pan because it's pretty, but well, I first bought the small one, found out it was actually really good and went for another one, so I guess it's not that bad!!

On another note, I can't resist showing you this: Virgine asked what a lightbox was, well, here's mine fresh out of the box (I just wanted to see how big it was and it's completely upside down). I just turned my back two seconds and I had a model!!

And now I'm done and I leave you with a beautiful song from Loreena McKennitt: Minnie offered me her latest cd yesterday, it's an intimate live recording including, among others, this 

Wyrd Wednesday - In a hole...

... in the ground, there lived a Hobbit". 

 This sentence is known to millions of people, all those who once opened a book to enter Tolkien's world. I will take today's post to tell you a bit of my own story with Hobbits, and you'll have some nice cool bonuses at the end.

As fate would have it, I picked up The Hobbit from the shelves of the child section of the local library when I was 8 or 10, the age at which it was aimed. Strangely enough, I still remember it as if it were yesterday, the exact place where it was, the picture on the cover, everything. Yet at that time I didn't know that this book would literally change my entire life. Some years later, I discovered The Lord of the Rings and fell in love again. And when I entered university for a degree in English Studies, my brother offered me the book in English: the one-volume edition with the picture of Gandalf by John Howe on the cover. It was on reading this that I decided to become a translator, because I realised the immense gap that existed between the book I had read and loved in French, and the treasure I was discovering page after page in English, and I felt sorry for all those who couldn't experience the same thing.

Around that same time, I started to wonder about the author, the man with so many initials whose life and looks didn't quite fit with Elves and Hobbits: why were his books so different? Was it true that he had wanted to write "a mythology for England" and if yes, how could anyone get into their heads to do on their own the work of entire civilisations over centuries? My doom was sealed and from that day on, I started to voraciously eat any book about Tolkien and his works, to look for answers and discover why they had touched me so deeply. It would take many years, strength of mind, some of my Viking stubborness and a pinch of providence but in September '00, I stood for the first time of my life in front of a University jury to present a 100-page long Master thesis on "Hobbits, How and Why did Tolkien Create Them?" and heard that my research work had been huge, my critical insight impressive and the final result worthy of all praise. Once again, little did I know that this was just another milestone in my journey...

In that jury sat a man whose wisdom, gentility, kindness and eye for talent equal those of Gandalf himself, and as chance would have it, one year later, ten years ago more or less to the day, I was with this man in Paris, watching The Fellowship of the Ring on the day of its release, after having learned that he accepted me as a PhD student in La Sorbonne to work on "Celts in Middle-earth: Celtic mythological, medieval, linguistic and literary heritage in Tolkien's works". And this morning, I remembered all this as I saw on my Facebook wall the two links I'm sharing with you now: 

The Hobbit Making off

The Hobbit, an Unexpected Journey teaser and poster

And yes, I was crying at the end of the documentary because it reminded me how that single sentence was the start of an unexpected journey for me, some 25 years ago...

Wyrd Wednesday - Olen väsynyt

I'm not sure I would bear lying on a heater, but other than that, I really wish I was a cat today. You might have noticed that my posts were getting a bit irregular, that I was skipping some sections now and then... I have to admit I have a hard time with the blog right now, my nails are almost all a different size and shape (and right when I was thinking "ok, I've reached a good length on some so I'm keeping it that way for a week so that they all get even, I broke one yesternight), the weather in my corner of the world is very unfriendly for photo shooting, but first and foremost, I'm back in insomnia land and I'm extremely tired. 

One of the as-yet-unexperienced consequences of that is that it's extremely hard for me to take pics: since light is scarce, I have to set my camera on very slow shutting (sorry if those are not the technical terms), so there's a heightened chance of blurriness and I've found out lately that in the morning, when light is at "least worst", tiredness makes my body tremble. Seriously, it sounds silly and I'm smiling and rolling my eyes writing it, but it's true! So whenever you see three pics in a message with one of them a bit blurry, they're all I could save from an average 150 pictures. And that's seriously depressing!! My draft folder is full of pics with nails at different lengths, or crappy pictures that I keep as a reminder that I have to reswatch the polishes, etc, etc. It gives me the impression that my blog is patchy, my swatches of very uneven (but always medium at best) quality, and most of all, incoherent. I hate incoherence!

I hope that my insomnia will not last, a big part of it was a consequence of the crazy life in the flat due to Minnie's "end of the thesis/preparation for the defence/new job rythm (including being on call duty for emergency transport at night)", but while it's still there, the very little reserves of energy I have left must be put into my work and that strange time-eater called "daily life".

This is without doubt my favourite pic of Minnie's kitty!!

So I can just promise you that I will do my utmost to sort everything out and try to get back to regular posting, sections and pretty pictures asap. I'm also very much in the mood for nail art, but I have no time! Until that blessed moment, you'll have to do with patchy posting and crappy pictures...

But in the meantime, you got to see funny and nice pics of the two furry devils that share Minnie's and my living space :) 

Wyrd Wednesday - EDIT: Models Own Beetlejuice and a contest!

I know, on Wyrd Wednesdays, I'm not usually supposed to talk about nail polish. But in fact, I'm talking about a movie from one of my favourite directors: Tim Burton's Beetlejuice. 

Ok, I know, I didn't fool anyone, and actually, I'd be hard put to write an entire post about this movie, since I only saw it once and it's not exactly my favourite Burton movie. So, I'm actually gonna talk about the Beetlejuice  nail polish collection from Models Own, more specifically about the three I received. By the time I realised the collection had been released, the only one I really wanted (Pinky Brown) was sold out, but I heard about a very good deal at Asos to have a trio from the Beetlejuice collection with Pinky Brown, so I caved in. Along with it came Golden Green and Emerald Black (gosh, what boring names, I have to agree with Jen, her ideas are much better), so this is the trio I'm presenting today. All swatches are two coats without top-coat.

Golden Green is an olive green/bright green duochrome that's opaque in two coats. Very pretty though not really my type of colour.

On the first two pics, you see that Emerald Black seems to be a blue-black polish, while it's green-black in the last pic. The truth lies in between since the shimmer is going from teal to emerald green. It reminds me a lot of OPI's Unripened, but I can't find my bottle to make a comparison.

I knew I would love Pinky Brown and I'm really not disappointed. You can go to Jen's blog (link above) to see comparisons that show it's a darker version of Mac's Bad Fairy (I talked about this polish and its dupe HERE), and I read elsewhere that this polish was Orly's Space Cadet without the green part. I agree with all of this, and it's just gorgeous. Such a perfect fall colour. Surprisingly, it was the only one that had to be applied carefully for an opacity in two coats, probably because of the finish.

I'm still debating on whether or not putting the remaining two from this collection on my wishlist, I like them (well, of course, they are in the mauve/purple category), but they don't strike me as original as Pinky Brown. As for the two green ones, well, that's the surprise ladies, I'm giving them away: I know I'm not really gonna wear them and I see no point in keeping them.

Soo, what to do to lay your hands on these pretties? I'm gonna ask something that can be found on the blog and I'll pick up a winner among the right answers. I would really like to extend this contest every country, I know many of my very few readers are from the US or Canada, but shipping prices are crazy expensive in here, so sending anything beyond Europe would cost three times the price of the polishes... 

Here's the question: I've talked a couple of times in here about a foreign country I love and plan to move to in a couple of years. Name 3 things (things in the wide meaning of the word) that were mentionned in the blog that are from this country.

The contest ends on Nov, 30th 2011 midnight Paris time (GMT+1).
EDIT: I realised my question was a bit tough, so I'm giving you a tip: the answers to the question are not in articles that deal with nail polish, so try to find articles that are on something else ;)

Wyrd Wednesday - Am I an Addict??

Hi everyone. I'm late for my Wednesday post, because I spent a good part of the day yesterday writing my first instalment about Celtic Women and I'm not satisfied with it yet. It's hard to find the right mix because a subject that fascinates me, so I want to talk about it, and that is quite "technical" too, so it can be boring quickly. So it won't be for this week yet, and I decided to talk about something else.

Lately I've come to wonder where I stood in the nailpolish addict world. Yes, as you might know now, I think way too much! What prompted that was the release / promo pics of several collections from brands I usually love (OPI and China Glaze) that had everyone jumping all over the place and left me completely cold: China Glaze Winter Collection Let It Snow, OPI first 2012 cooperation and OPI Spring Collection. 

Pic taken from All You Desire, see her swatches HERE

While I agree that CG's Let it Snow collection is everything a Christmas collection ought to be, well, it is everything a Christmas collection ought to be: some greens, some reds, some glitter, a bit of gold, silver and white, and one blue. I guess if it were burgundys, purple and greys I would be head over heels, but as it is, I'm not (actually, having badly sprained my ankle yesterday, I would hardly be able to be head over heels right now anyway!!).

 

Pic from OPI, see details HERE

The OPI Nicki Minaj collection doesn't strike me as original either: there was a purple shimmery shatter in the first ones CG released this year, the dark metal grey glitter seems really similar to CG's Haunting (and even Tinsel Town from the Winter collection), the silver rainbow glitter seems awfully dull and the three bright colours look like already existing ones (I'm thinking about the Shrek collection for the green, the Brights collection for blue and I'm pretty sure this is not the only bubblegum pink OPI has).

Pic from OPI, see details HERE

As for the Holland collection, well, all the usual Spring colours plus some brighter ones but all in creams, once again, I won't be waiting for that one.

Besides the fact that I had absolutely no idea who Nicki Minaj is (and I'm still not sure I do) and that I'm getting a big tired with OPI acting like the E! Entertainment nail polish equivalent (let's not forget the Nicole by OPI Justin Bieber and Kardashions collections -_-), I discovered that I found myself more and more going "yeah, well, not impressed" when seeing new collections. 

Of course, having a small budget and not having any partnership, I do have to think carefully before buying a polish, it's a treat each time. And yet, my polish collection is way bigger than what a person who's not into nail art would have (even if I'm not impressed by those upcoming collections, I still have a lot of things to show you!!), I keep reading blogs to see new things. Two years ago, if you had told me I would wear blue or bright pink nail polish, I would have sniggered. At the same time, I'm still attracted like a magpie by vampy shades and pale pinks, no matter how many I already have. So I'm starting to wonder if after feeling like a kid in a candy store and buying plenty of polishes, I now have everything I "need" and every extra has to be really worth it! 

That's it for the musings of the day. What about you? Are you getting bored with collection sometimes or no matter what, you can't resist?

Edit: some OPI swatches HERE

Wyrd Wesnesday - TAG

The delightfully crazy Miss Lavabo answered this tag on her page and I felt like doing the same. Next week will see the first chapter of my "Wyrd Wednesdays about Celtic Women" series, it's quite a lot of work to put everything in a palatable format!

Grab the closest book, go to page 18 and write down the fourth sentence.

"I have followed the evolution of some of the main threads in Tolkien's great tapestry in detail, and The History of Middle-earth allows any of Tolkien's readers who have the interest, patience, and time to do the same for many other threads". Christina SCULL, "The Development of Tolkien's Legendarium - Some threads in the Tapestry of Middle-earth", in Tolkien's Legendarium, Essays on The History of Middle-earth, Verlyn FLIEGER & Carl F. HOSTETTER ed.

Yep, I'm in my study, so the shelves are packed with my thesis books...

Without checking, guess the time.

10.37am

Check.

10.44am

What are you wearing?

Inside gear, so yoga pants, tank top and sleeves, before getting ready to go out in the pouring rain.

What were you doing before starting this tag? 
 

I was re-reading one of my articles on Celtic Women to prepare for the upcoming WW sections.

What are you hearing besides the noise of your computer? 

Spotify is on with the metal playlist, right now it's Tarot, aka the band of God Marco Hietala (special tribute to Miss Lavabo), with "Tides", one of the most beautiful songs ever.

When was the last time you went out and what did you do?

As a "real" outing, it was last Saturday with Minnie, Mat and Flo to celebrate some super news (symbolised by a ring :D)

Did you dream last night?

Probably, but I barely ever remember my dreams. And when I do, they make no sense whatsoever :p

When did you laugh for the last time?

I remember a good fit of laughter with Minnie on Monday night while watching tv, but I can't remember why.

What's on the walls of the room you're in?

A big picture of Stonehenge that I took back in 2000, my unicorn tapestry, a map of Finland drawn on parchment by a friend of mine as a thesis gift, a poster of "Celtic Myth" by John Howe (until I have the money to buy the real thing) and some family pics.

If you become a millionaire overnight, what's the first thing you buy?
 

A wooden house painted red on the shore of a Karelian lake.

What's the last movie you saw?

In theatres, Conan the Barbarian, drooling fest over Jason Momoa half naked. In DVD, The Sorcerer's Apprentice with Nicholas Cage, very nice and funny.

Have you seen something weird today?
 

Not yet, but it's early still.

What do you think of this tag?

Nice and unusual.

Tell us something we don't know. 
 

The book I've read most times in my life is FH Burnett's "A Little Princess", and even after 200 times or so, I still cry in the scene when she discovers "The Magic".

What would be your daughter's name?
 

Estel, and with that very spelling. But it's theoretical, I want it to be a common choice with the father. 

And for a boy? 
 

It's a crazy unrealistic idea but I've always said that if I were to have twins, they would be Gawain and Galahad.

Have you thought of living abroad? 

Thought, did and will do again. I spent some times in Scotland and plan to move in 2013 to a country where light is rare, reindeer numerous, weather cold and men hot :D

What would you like God to tell you when you cross the doors of Heaven?

"Hi". I like polite people.

If you could change something in the world besides guilt and politics, what would it be?

  

I'd like to eliminate stupidity, huge programm.

Do you like dancing?  
 

Love it. I'm a specialist of the hoover & duster dance, because I always have Disney Classics music blasting when I clean around.

What's the last thing you watched on TV? 


Desperate Housewives

Wyrd Wednesday - Meet my p...

... nooo, I'm not gonna fall for the overdone and not-so-classy joke to talk about Hello Kitty. I know, not a very original subject, and that's quite a big annoyance for me, because I don't like when my tastes are being shared by a lot of people. This summer, I bought this bag, and after a couple of days, wore it with the kitty head near me so that teenagers, salesgirls or anyone else would stop saying "Oh, you're a HK fan? me too, it's so cuuuute!!". That's me and my lovely personality :p.

The thing is that I've always loved having original and funny items as parts of my wardrobe: Warner Bros, Betty Boop, Tex Avery, you name it, I love it. When I was in high school, I learned to embroider only to be able to make my own t-shirts because I couldn't afford the real thing. But t-shirts are not what I prefer. What I really like are adults or classic items with a twist and ever since the European brand that was had the Tex Avery license (Droopy has always been a favourite character of mine) stopped its business, I had to wear normal boring clothes... and then this adorable cat's head started to show up, not only on kid's stuff, but on pretty accessories and clothes, I had to fall in love. What I like about HK is its versatiliy: there are very few other characters that can be found both in kids stores and metal/goth stores, in designer clothes and on cheap H&M stuff, at Claire's Accessories or Swarovski. I love hunting down things that are both my style and HK adorned and with the wide variety in choice and price, I now have quite a collection of HK-related items. I'm not gonna show you all of them, mostly because my room is a complete mess since I'm in the middle of cleaning and summer-clothes/winter-clothes swapping, but I gathered a few things among my favourites and coming from very diverse sources:

My phone-sock, it comes from Claire's latest collection, the tartan/punk theme. On the whole, I'm a bit disappointed by this one, I would have loved a nice handbag or polish set, and the only cute things I could find were this sock and a matching key-ring. Underneath are some items of jewellery. The black 3-D earring (I also have the necklace - oh, and the other earring of course :p ) comes from my favourite manga shop, the owner is super nice and loves to get nice and classy HK things for bargain prices. The two other earrings (also from pairs!!) are from Claire's again, one from a past Halloween collection (two years ago I think) and the other from last winter (it was a gift from Minnie). As for the ring, it comes from the brand Victoria Couture, which I hate because their stuff is super-pretty but costs an eye. Originally, this retailed at 120 euros, and I had it from Ebay at 20 euros... Me loves a good bargain!!

Also from the manga shop, I  have several "shopping bags" which I use to store my clothes in, I keep telling myself I have to use their design to inspire some nail-art, and I will. One day!!

Another of my super bargains, a cashmere sweater from Victoria Couture with HK pictures "à la Warhol" made with rhinestones. I also want to make a matching nail art (actually, I bought LM Cosmetic Moon polish mainly for that!!). Original price was 150 euros, had it for 30: I love Ebay!

A super crazy lucky find: a genuine HK MAC stuffed doll that I found... at the autumn fair last year. Minnie's a queen at the crane game and she got it for me.

And finally for today...

... the "mysterious" item that I started to show on Monday. Last year, to celebrate their respective 50th birthday, Sanrio and Dr Martens teamed up to create a special collection. There were three models of classic 8-eye boots and two models of Mary Jane sandals, this one and one in white, with a blue sole and a red bow. I love having a pair of Mary Janes in winter, both to wear with skirts or shorts and to have some quick-to-put shoes to wear with pants (I adore Dr Martens boots, but hell, you do have to have some time before you can run out!!). So I had a total crush on those from the day I saw them, and I decided to treat myself some weeks ago, after having thrown away my previous Mary Janes. I know they look totally crazy, but actually they're not that hard to wear, and they're super comfy!!

So in the future, when my nails manage to have and keep a good length (one that's comfortable to nail-art on), you will see a kitty head pop up from time to time, don't be surprised ;).

Wyrd Wednesday - Footloose

Today I'm dealing with a touchy subject (no, not talking about fetichism here, you sickos!! :p), because I know most people hate to see feet pics on a blog and to make things worse, I'm gonna talk about sick feet.

I've mentionned a couple of times that I'm suffering from eczema, and while beauty blogs usually make you believe that the biggest skin problems you can have is dilated pores, I've decided to talk about it. I remember how bad I felt when I read a blogger comment her FB page "lol, I received a partnership offer from an association of psoriasis sufferers, hello glamour, you can forget me!!", and how good I felt when Helen from Just Nice Things mentionned her heavy skin problems on her blog, and I guess I'm not the only one to feel that way. It's also easier for me to talk about it now since the worse is behind and it seems I've finally found a long-lasting cure!

Sooo, let's get back to the beginning. In 2002, I started to develop skin problems of two very distinct varieties: rash and eczema. I won't talk about the rash mostly because it was treated with medication and is almost non-existant now (I might have an itchy spot during my period or when I have tight clothes, but it's not really a bother anymore). The eczema was another story. 

I suffer from a very particular form of eczema called Dyshidrosis, and I must have seen ten doctors, none of which had any clue about it, let alone know how to treat it. In the end, it was my Minnie who found out what it was, and she also found the best remedy. 

The big problem with dyshidrosis is that the skin is at once very damaged, which needs deep moisturizing, and blistering, which needs to dry and heal. So if you moisturize, your skin will be healthier and thicker, but the itching will be unbearable because the blisters can't heal. And if you don't moisturize, the blisters will heal but your skin will be ultra-dry and cracking. Usually, dermatologists prescribe corticosteroids creams, but it was a catastrophy for me, and the only thing that worked was a mix of Vaseline (for moisturizing) and aspirin (for treating the blisters). It wasn't the most practical thing (have you every tried to walk with Vaseline on your feet??), but it did make the blisters disappear. Of course, all my skin problems had a psychological and stress origin, so the biggest treatment was finishing PhD and moving on with my life. But that wasn't enough. My eczema is mostly located on my pinkies (the biggest bother being that it deforms my nails) and on my feet, and there it remained a problem until a while ago. My soles were still very dry, crackling often and the apparition of horned layer was multiplied by ten. I spent the last winter applying pure shea butter on my soles every night with socks on, and it didn't do a thing. So I was ready to spent yet another summer hiding my feet, both because they were ugly and because walking around with open shoes could provoke cracks in less than an hour.

But then a miracle happened, and thanks to Yoko, I heard about the cream OPI Soften : AHA calluse skin softener, with green tea extracts, and non-abrasive alpha hydroxy acids, it's supposed to melt dead skin. I gave it a try and was astonished at the result. First thing is that it penetrates quickly: ten minutes after you've rubbed it on your feet, you can walk away. The smell is quite discreet, it smells of ... cream!!, which is quite a change from many footcreams that smell of peppermint (it's fine for the feet, but the smell stays on the hands, yuck!!). And it does work wonders: my feet healed completely in a couple of weeks. Then, stupid me thought "OK, things are better now, I can stop playing the luxury girl that orders her cream from the US, let's go back to a more accessible product". That was a big mistake and it really proved that this cream is what I need. So now I've learned my lesson and I now have 500g of cream waiting in my stash!!

And yes, last summer, for the first time in ten years, I bought flip-flops and showed my feet! So as a conclusion, I would say that skin problems are not a fatality, keep trying products, one might work in an unexpected way!

I've kept the worst for the end, so that if you want to skip the pics, you can leave now!!

The nightmare in 2009 : my feet at the worse, a combo of super dry skin and irritation.

  

2010: things are better, but still, my skin was peeling and irritated

 

And that was this morning. As you can see, my soles are now almost completely healed: I still see some defects, but I'm the only one to see them, and a couple of months more using that cream will finish the job!

Wyrd Wednesday - Ode to Fall and Burgundy

Damn, it's already Wednesday!! Before I start my day's post, I have to thank Constance from A Mon Seul Désir: not only did she send me the loveliest of messages last week after I published my article about her shop, but she's added me to her link page and my stats say that many people ended up here coming from there. So thank you very much!!

Today I've decided to tell you a bit about Fall, which is kind of fitting since it starts today. Over the last years, I've realise that Fall is my favourite season and I think it has to do with the place I grew up in. I was born and raised in northern Burgundy but I left it during almost fifteen years for my studies. Two years ago, I came back to this region though some 150kms away from my birthplace and there I rediscovered Fall. In the various towns of France and elsewhere I dwellt in as a student, seasons were not strongly marked, either because it was mild weather and rain most of the time (Britanny and Scotland) or it was going straight from summer to winter (Lyon). But when I came back to Burgundy, I rediscovered Fall and its beauty. Autumn is a very special season in here, mostly because it's the time of the wine-harvest, but also because the architecture of Burgundy is particularly beautiful at this time of year. I will talk again about all the reasons why I love fall, but since I spent the week-end walking around the city and driving through the beautiful vineyards of Burgundy, today I'm gonna show you some of the jewels of Burgundy. All pic credits go to Minnie :)

The first shop of a very famous brand of gingerbread.

The "Tower of Bar" in the Ducal Palace.

One of the most beautiful old houses in town, it was used to shoot several scenes of the movie "Cyrano de Bergerac"

The "Gargoyle Church", very original with its façade packed with gargoyles

The church I can see from my flat

In the neighbourhing town of Beaune, the castle

The belfry

You do want to click and enlarge to see the beauty of the old hospital in Beaune. It's one of the most famous buildings in Burgundy, and the first one to have had the varnished tiles that have become a signature for Burgundian roofs

I don't have any scenery pictures for Burgundy, but there's another place on this planet in which I was fortunate to see autumn and it further heightened my love for this country... Finland.