Coat – Zara, Dress – Christopher Kane for Topshop, Shirt as skirt – Uniqlo men’s plaid, Shoes – Primark, Clutch – Chanel

I may have once or twice placed a pot of boiling rameon on my geography textbook, but at one point in time I could rattle off the countries in Africa and their capital cities, courtesy of my nutcase middleschool geography tutor. I would thank her for the education but then again I’ll wait till I save a baby from a burning building with ‘Libreville is capital of Gabon’. Speaking of which, I’m still yet to thank my math teacher because I’ve also yet to solve the unemployment crisis with the quadratic formula. Sorry, this paragraph just reads stupid, I should’ve been born a marshmallow. But if you just thought isn’t Africa a country I might as well get a cardboard box for your belongings and walk you to the door.

So, despite the fact that I thought I was pretty well-versed with the lumps and slumps of this planet and their respective names, Azerbaijan might as well have been a country only accessible through a wardrobe when I first read it in the invitation email. I simply did not have a single reference to form a sort of expectation when getting ready to travel to Baku, except perhaps vaguely remembering something in one of the 007 movies from back in the days when red leather jumpsuit with lumps spilling out meant you were a bond girl. When I landed and the cab weaved through the city towards the hotel, to put it blunt, it was HOLY LLAMABALLS WHERE AM I. I’ll show you more about the city later, but just from the Emporium store launch you can tell it’s been one very very well-kept secret.

Huge thanks to Emporium for the invitation and Andy & Pelayo for a great time.

Cashmere Coat & Scarf – On loan from Eric Bompard, Cashmere blend jumper – Uniqlo, Jeans – c/o Levi’s, Brogues – Office, Clutch – c/o Chanel

If I used ‘soft‘ to describe cashmere, would that put me in the Humour, lack-thereof category in Bloglovin’? You see, ‘soft’ really doesn’t cut it when describing the furry ball of rainbow scrunched up in your hand, slippery and foamy all at the same time. Soft is for sentences like ‘Baby here’s your Gilette, the enchanted forest must go, I liked your legs soft and smooth’. Best not put me in a game show, I don’t stand a chance in explaining the fabric without using words like supercalifragilisticexpialidocious or MAGIC. Isn’t everything MAGIC when it’s sparkly and furry anyway. What’s a Paris visit without a visit to Eric Bompard, the one brand that is understood to have reached the prime shelves of practically every Parisian’s wardrobe?  You should’ve seen this one black 100% cashmere poloneck that would’ve banished every piece but a pair of grey skinnies and black stilettos from my mood-rail for the rest of the season… Lorraine kindly let me borrow a coat and scarf for the night as I’d underpacked for the weather, which probably was a very big mistake – not the underpacking – the getting an unintended taste of the… MAGIC, and having to give it back. See me go my precious with a coat.

Thank you Lorraine & Gabriel for the invitation, and Carrie for helping with the shots!

There’s that one sweater that goes with absolutely everything. I was contemplating the pink version of this at ASOS but decided I just might not be coherent enough in the morning to even consider making pink work.

By the time I’m done with those friendship bracelets that ship may have sailed… Time to call it vintage then?

I like to keep a few key pieces for the season separate so in the confusion of learning my name anew while scoffing down breakfast and slapping makeup on in the morning things would simply be easier.

Favourite pieces of the moment: Young Frankk 3-bar necklace & Twig Solitaire ring by Michelle Oh

Fell in love with the fact that it’sheer enough to see every single goosebump during the colder seasons. Pair it with a smart pea-coat and you got a whole new man attracting/repelling phenomenon right there.

Head over heels for this photoshop-in-a-box bronzing kit by Chanel (4 Facettes Bronzing Powder) & Kate Kanzier glitter shoes that strangely remind me of classic Ferragamos.

It’s been the best thing to cycle home to after a long day at work – lemon tea with water just hot enough to prevent boiling off the vitamins, with a bag of English Breakfast tea and a tablespoon of manuka honey.

Winter Skincare

Clinique All About Eyes Serum Probably more attracted to the feeling of a wet metal ball gliding over my eyes… yah, that didn’t sound creepy at all.

Kiehl’s Avocado Eye Cream Tub of magic, I call it – costs £30 but lasts months and months.

Lancome Genifique serum Two pumps after cleansing and toning, sets the skin for the next layer.

Vichy Nutrologie 2 I reserve this only for the colder seasons; the creamy texture is perfect for dry & sensitive skin types like mine.

Biotherm Skinergetic Nightcream – I only started using this a week ago but so far absolutely satisfied with waking up with dewy skin.

Shu Uemura Cleansing Oil Literally just melts off makeup and cleanses while depositing essential oils.

I’m rather obsessed with the smell of Sassoon Halo Hydrate Leave-in conditioner spray…

Sandy Bay White Tea Candle – smells like blisssss. That is all.

Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse Been adding a drop of this with my body lotion every now and then and it leaves this really refreshing feeling like just coming out of a spa. The smell is divine too.

I’ve been increasingly paranoid about the skin on my hands so I always apply FC5 Hand Creme after washing dishes.

Recovery Balm by Monu for stressed skin (stressed thinking of dinner ideas for the hubby, pork chop or pork stew!?)

Cable-knit Sweater – Gladys & Pixie, Ribboned Dress – Alexander Wang (both loan from START London thanks to Farfetch), Shoes – Pierre Hardy for Gap, Clutch – c/o Chanel

If you ever find yourself in Paris this coming holiday season, particularly near the Printemps, and happen to spot a rather large foundation smear on one of their windows…that’s me. The next window should have Carrie‘s smear, with a bit of her signature red lipstick smudged in, of course. Chanel is taking over the world, one window display – one mini Karl doll at a time. It’s pretty obvious by now that it doesn’t take much to coax me to go to Paris; in fact, isn’t ‘coax’ too strong a word, a whisper of allons-y would do. So I made my way down to Paris, barely having read the invitation from the Printemps, just the few words: Chanel, Paris, Laduree… who knew Karl was in the small-print? I’d say silver lining but 1) the trip was magical, and 2) I shan’t make jokes about his hair. Nah, I might enjoy the diva facade and not read invitations but when I got to the bit about cocktails with Karl, I kind of blanked out, then called Farfetch to see if I could borrow an appropriate outfit from one of their boutique partners.  That cocktail didn’t happen, but Carrie and I had a ball anyway, pressing our faces against the glass hoping maybe we could pull a Harry Potter zoo trick and end up inside the window.

Thank you Ykone & Printemps for having us!

Chanel at Harrods; One month take-over from 5th September; Pics of me taken by Susie, thanks!

I know I’m a step late on this one – while the others swiftly fled down 3 flights of escalators, found the exit and took a jet home to post about this after the preview, I took a wrong turn and ended up joining a crowd of Asians ohh-ahhing at a Hummingbird bakery cupcake being packed. Coincidentally Harrod’s is going through some major ‘Visit Korea’ promotion, so the waft of Korean BBQ smell in the food section kept me chained there for an extra hour. So think of this as a snooze, second, third or fiftieth reminder to visit Chanelified Harrod’s if you’re in London this month. Take a hike around the building and see 23 windows in a magical forest theme from the AW collection, lose a few coins (Sonic hedgehog style) at the temporary boutique on the ground floor, and then find yourself inside a Chanel 2.55 bag at the Une Promenade installation on the third floor. The pop-up exhibition is especially lovely, and you can’t help but expect a parade of Chanel no.5 bottles, Coco bearbricks and huge Karl Lagerfeld heads passing through the rooms singing & dancing while the kids shove icecream in every hole but their mouths.