Make away with the January Blues

The Paris Poodle has been fending off the January blues with whatever means possible. And if there's anything that is guaranteed to equal instant happy (minus severe purse pain), its make up shopping! Well - if you followed my plan to clear out the crap from your make up bag, then you'll naturally soon feel the need to replenish it with new wonderful cosmetics!

And although spring make up may be calling out for fresh faced nude lips and make up minimalism, seeing as MAC have just launched a French lace boudoir inspired collection of seductive mauves, cloud greys and startling white, as the Paris Poodle it would be rude not to check it out - purely for the purposes of pampering... check out this palette of pastels... I indulged in the mauve shimmering Hypnotizing shade! It's got Paris under its spell!

From searching in Sephora sales I have also picked up a gorgeous lippy (with 50% off) in the perfect shade of barely-there 'Purely Pearl' this one is subtle, feminine and a great choice to ensure my lips are on trend this spring! The only thing is, it doesn't stay on for that long - so it will probably only last me through the spring at the rate I'm reapplying!

Another lipstick which I am in love with is my recently discovered Guerlain 671 Maxi Shine in Baby Shine - a moisturising candy stripe pink! Not only does it make my lips feel incredibly soft, leave them sparkling with seductive shimmer, it also smells delicious; with its sweet violet tones, this lipstick plumps and smooths and seduces with its girlishly gorgeous candy floss gloss! C'est l'amour!

Its Guerlain gorgeous!

Vampy Vampire Essentials!

The Paris Poodle would like to wish you all a very Happy Halloween! It's a great time to throw a party, loose your angelic inhibitions and let your inner demon come out to play! And what better way to start the ghoulish celebrations than with some blood red nails, heavy death black mascara and thirsty blood stained lips? Think extreme, exaggerated and excessive - think Thriller! This is the one opportunity to embrace being British or American (aka unashamedly seduced by over commercialised holidays) its Halloween for goodness sake - it’s supposed to be cringe worthily naff!

Having recently fallen in love with all of the Cullen’s (a secret I can only reveal on a day such as today) this Poodle insists that women everywhere dress as vampires this year - which essentially means that you have to look as beautiful, impeccable and pale as possible!

Here are some of the Poodles Halloween essentials:

Blood red nails

Guerlain's Terracotta Paduka Nail Varnish Kerala Sunset £16.00 is a deep glossy red which was formulated to be the perfect colour next to a golden tan. Being Halloween I recommend wearing this with a ghostly white complexion to emphasis your pale ghastliness. Ultra bright with a long lasting shine this nail varnish will keep your talons looking petrifyingly perfect long past midnight!

Deepest Black Mascara

BADgal Lash Mascara from Benefit Cosmetics has a rich formula that builds horrifyingly hot lashes that are irresistible, flirty and filthy! The extra big brush is oversized to help achieve a dramatic lash effect so you look like you have very big, white eyes -combine this with some heavy black eye shadow and you will be well on your way to hypnotizing your victims with your killer lashes!

Blood Thirsty Lip Stain

Urban Decay Lip Envy in Envious is a great gel based lip stain which as well as being very hydrating, and long lasting, it dries to a semi-matte inky crimson finish. I recommend building up several layers and powdering your lip line so that the lip stain sinks into your lips and creates that 'just drank a cup of blood' look that Bella Swan does so well. Scented with vanilla and made with green tea and ginkgo biloba extracts this lethal lip stain postures as an innocent gloss, when really it gives you the poisonous lips of a French femme fatale.

Halloween isn’t a big deal over here in gay Paris...tomorrow is Tous Saints which is a national holiday that celebrates the dead, which is basically Halloween repackaged - and being French Tous Saints sounds more somber and respectful and sophisticated. And you certainly won't catch anyone dressing up as pumpkins or zombies. Plus in true French fashion Tous Saints is a national holiday! Too bad it falls on a Sunday this year!

Beauty is Law

In Paris (if you are an immeuble) it’s illegal to be ugly, unsightly or anything less than perfect! Every 10 years all Paris immeubles (traditional style Paris apartments) have to have their exterior facades repainted and re-perfected, as commanded by law. If you fail to clean up your act (or immeuble) not only do you look worn and haggard you also have to pay up!

This doesn’t surprise the Paris Poodle; this is a city of culture, beauty, a city of art and fashion, la mode and l’amour, and in this town believe me- no one’s falling in love with you if you look like you haven’t cleaned up for 10 years!

It’s a cultural requirement of the Parisian femme to cover up the cracks, and rather than every ten years this happens every 10 hours or so... morning and night. Day creams, night creams, eye creams, gels, serums and masks, there are plenty of options to keep your facade looking fabulous, and here are some French beauty secrets which the Paris Poodle has so far discovered...

Guerlain Orchidée Imperial Exceptional Complete Care Serum £275
Wowowow! This one is expensive! But if a cream doesn’t work after spending 300 euros, the Paris Poodle always finds that you will convince yourself that it really does work nonetheless! The extravagantly titled Orchidée Imperial Exceptional Complete Care Serum, contains Orchide Imperial molecular extract which has skin strenghtening powers, to rehydrate and protect dry skin. This silky smooth serum leaves your skin feeling supple and smoother and looking younger with fine lines reduced after just one application. As with all Guerlain products this serum smells beautiful –(even their lipsticks are like shimmering lip fragrances) and easily absorbed this super serum is the ladies way to better skin. The beautiful glass bottle is a work of art in its own right and or at least you start thinking it is after forking out for it !

Mixa Soin de Jour et Nuit
Right down the budget end of the scale is Mixa, this brand is a French classic that makes loads of moisturisers creams and potions in large ml’ages for not much cash. Their body lotions are great bathroom standards that have featured on every French persons bathroom shelf since I started visiting France many years ago. The day and night face creams from Mixa are suitable for all skin types – even really sensitive skin and are the non cash flashy way to care for your skin on a shoestring. The Mixa Expert Soins de Jour Revitalisant Fermete creme and the Mixa Soin de Nuit Régénérant Fermeté creme work in harmony together with a complementary vitamin complex of vitamin H and vitamin C. They stimulate collegan production throughout the day and night to ensure your skin is well hydrated – which in turn means wrinkles or ‘rides’ as they call them in France, are much less visible - And from 10 euros each this isn’t a bad price.

L’Occitane Immortelle Cream Mask £38.50

The Imortelle range from L’Occitane uses an extracted oil from the Immortelle flower which has anti wrinkle properties. This Poodle loves a rich blend of essential oils and really believes they can improve your skin overnight! The Immortelle Cream Mask is rich in essential oils and although it doesn’t make you immortelle, it does deeply replenish your skin. With restructuring vitamin A and E it protects your skin from the elements even on the coldest of days! A great winter essential this crème mask will certainly leave your skin in better condition, the only downside is the fragrance which is rather too old fashioned for a Poodle of my youngish years.

Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer from £26.50
Although not French in any shape or form the Smashbox make up primer really does leave your skin feeling smoother than freshly spun silk. Apply just a teeny amount of this each morning before applying your make up foundation and this will instantly make your skin feel and look smoother, softer and perfected. Formulated with vitamins A and E this primer is the rescue remedy for skin tone casualties everywhere! Thanks to grape seed extract this primer is like smoothing liquid pixie dust onto your skin, the velvet texture is incredibly smooth but leaves a flawless matt finish whilst the antioxidant green tea extract helps protect your skin from damaging free radicals.

Let the Poodle know what your anti facade cracking favourites are! Post me a comment ...

Fabulous French Fragrance

As well as their reputation for obtuse men, delicious cheeses and a penchant for smoking, the French are renowned for their noses, that is to say, their ability to create the most exquisite, world famous and incomparable landmark fragrances of all time. Chanel No. 5, Miss Dior, Shalimar, are all classic fragrances which are timeless as they are irresistible.
As any Paris Poodle knows, smelling divine is an essential part of your preening routine, as Coco Chanel rightfully said "A women who doesn't wear perfume has no future." Hard to hear but utterly true! And as a new resident of Paris, I thought it fitting to recap the classic French fragrances and list my favourite 3 french fragrance newcomers.

Chanel No. 5

The Mother of all fragrance, the only number associated with style, femininity and class, Chanel No.5 is sophistication in a bottle. Even though one bottle sells every 30 seconds this parfum has only become more iconic with time. Launched in 1921 this i s a parfum classic that has continued to captive, a parfum which has faciliated many costly advertisements with the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Nicole Kidman, Audrey Tatou and and a parfum which has graced the necks and wrists of the worlds most fabulous women for decades! Who could fail to fall in love with the romanticism of Chanel No.5?With a blend of floral top notes of ylang ylang and neroli, and less alluring sounding synthetic chain notes, this rich seductive scent has its mid notes of rose and jasmine and its base notes of sandalwood and vetvier to thank for its trademark associations of finesse and states of undress... I say take Chanels advice and wear this classic "wherever [you] expect to be kissed."

L’air du Temps

This Nina Ricci fine fragrance was launched in 1948 - some time ago! The perfume itself was designed by Francis Fabron whereas the luxury french glasswear company Lalique assisted with the dove design bottle - very fitting in the post war climate. Nowadays the Paris Poodle has found this uplifting scent continues to have an air of optimism with its sparkling top notes of rosewood and carnation, mid tones of powder room femininity evoked by rose, violet and jasmine and with its woody sensual undertones of musk, sandal, amber and cedarwood. The bottle itself is a work of art ou ouevre- the way a true french classic parfum bottle should be!

Jean Paul Gautier "Classique"

Arguably the most feminine bottle around Classique is really the essence of feminine playfulness and sensuality! This Paris Poodle certainly loves its rosey femininity, its flirtatous orange blossom and ginger and its sensual vanilla base which demands affection, caresses and tenderness. Although this parfum was only launched in 1993 its certainly up there with the best of them.

Yves Saint Laurent - Parisienne

As for whats hot now there have been some delicious new launches in Paris lately that demand a few inches of cybercolumn space here on the Paris Poodle - upfront, and no prizes for guessing... Yves Saint Laurent! and their new fragrance, Parisienne - with Miss Moss fronting their campaign and a name that encapsulates the essence of Paris dwellers and wannabes everywhere, I loved it before I even inhaled its fresh invigorating fragrance! A sweet urban fragrance that combined vinyl tones with cranberry, vetvier and damask rose, I love this newcomer! Although the eau de toilette didnt seem to last that long the Paris Poodle still thinks this is the perfect fragrance to wear on sunny days walking along the seine and shopping in the afternoon before stopping for a vin rouge. It is Parisienne after all!

Guerlain – Idyll

Another romantic sweetie is the new launch from Frances finest fragrance house - Guerlain. Their new parfum, Idyll, is the love of love in a bottle - romantic heady and bittersweet. With rosy notes combined with patchouli, white musk and freesia this tear drop shaped bottle is definately a young sexy fragrance, the likes of which may lead to many heads turning as you walk past leaving a trail of lily of the valley, jasmine and lilac. A floral whirlwind inspired by young french maidens pondering the timeless question; 'he loves me he loves me not '...

And last but not least, the Poodle has fallen in love with the paradox that is...

Givenchy - Ange ou Demon - Le Secret

Another delicate floral it may be, but this citrus scent combines green tea and citrus with musk and blonde woods to leave a light and fresh inticing aroma that leaves one smelling very clean and angelic, which is the perfect smell to have when one wants to behave badly! Although the Poodle prefers heady, strong fragrances, for a citrus Le Secret has got it just right!