A Genius In His Field - YSL Style Is Eternal At The Bowes Museum

Have you ever had one of those days where you could just kick yourself for being such an idiot? Well Wednesday was one of those days for me! A couple of months ago now advanced tickets went on sale for a fashion exhibition at one of my favourite places, The Bowes Museum, in the historic Co Durham, market town of Barnard Castle.

I've been to quite a few fashion and design exhibitions at the museum over the years but this one was something just a little bit out of the ordinary. The museum was to be the first venue, ever, in the UK to host a retrospective of one of the greatest, and most iconic fashion designers in history, Yves Saint Laurent.

Thanks to the Durham County Council, and a host of private investors including Fenwick of Newcastle, The Bowes Museum is able to host an exhibition of Yves Saint Laurent's design work, couture, costumes, and ready to wear fashion pieces, ranging from 1958 - 2000, entitled YSL Style Is Eternal.

To avoid major foot stamping and disappointment, we worked out the best dates and I booked tickets online on the day of release for me and Mummy Lou. After seeing both the press pictures and pics snapped by some of my fellow bloggers, my excitement grew, and grew and eventually the day came, and last Wednesday, we got in the car and headed south.

Our reserved slot didn't start till 1pm so we had a little look around the town (note all the YSL banners), and then we had a spot of lunch in Costa, before heading to the museum for 12.45. I have to say I've never seen the car parks so busy, and once we got inside the queue for tickets was huge, so I was really grateful that we booked and printed off our tickets in advance.

We took the lift to the second floor, and the fashion and textile gallery and then my stomach sank! As I reached into my huge bag for my camera, I realised that the ancient compact camera that I'd brought with me had broken on route :( I'd already left my SLR at home over weight concerns so it was my own fault really but I still didn't stop me being annoyed!  I was left with no other option than to take photographs with my ancient iPhone 4S. I'm therefore going to apologise for the quality of some of the pictures in this post not being up to my usual standard but I hope you enjoy anyways. I took about 100 photos but these are just some of my favourites x

The exhibition not only features glamorous and intricate, and hand beaded pieces but it also featured something that Yves Saint Laurent was so famous for, tailoring and his masculine / feminine designs. From sharp pinstripe suits, to a beautifully tailored tuxedo dress, and a jumpsuit, he really was a master when it came to pattern cutting, and creating sharp lines and structure

As well as all the pretty dresses, and examples of his couture work, the exhibit  also featured hand drawn designs, videos of catwalk shows and the great man at work, sample pieces, trimmings, and original photographs.

One of the most striking photographs in the exhibition was this one of 1960's supermodel Veruschka wearing this safari ensemble from 1968.

Source

Not only could you see the original photographs but you could also see the clothing pieces themselves. Some of the more expensive and fragile pieces, and obviously the art and design pieces were displaced in glass cases, but unusually a lot of the pieces were just displayed on mannequins so you could get right up close and have a really good look at everything  from the buttons and beads to the tiny, tiny stitches.

I have to say we both left completely in awe with the design and the workmanship that had gone into every single piece. Some of the beaded pieces especially, were true works of art and not only show Yves Saint Laurent's talent as an artist but they also show how he was inspired by artists such as Mondrian, Picasso and Van Gough.

I've filmed a little vlog on my iPhone, which will hopefully allow you to see some better shots of some of the more intricate and eye catching pieces. If you're on a mobile you can find it here x



Whether you're into fashion or art, or you just want to see something will make you go wow, this exhibition is well worth a visit, whether you're a north east native or you fancy taking a trip north or south to the beautiful Co Durham countryside.

We booked our tickets via Ticketmaster but you can pay on the day, if you're prepared to wait and queue. As well as Style Is Eternal admission tickets also grant you access to the rest of the museum, which includes numerous temporary and permanent exhibitions including paintings from Canaletto and Goya, porcelain from Sevres and Meissen, antique furniture and of course the famous, musical automaton Silver Swan. If you're interested YSL Style Is Eternal runs until 25th October 2015, so you've got plenty of time to plan your trip, and we'll already planning a return visit but this time with my Godmother in tow x If you want to find out more about the exhibition and the museum, you can find their website here x  Thanks for reading x

Products I've Rediscovered / Shopping My Stash - Part 2 - Lips and Cheeks (Pic Heavy Again)

OK I have lots of Eyeshadows but I have to say I tend to vary them on a day to day basis, my lips and cheeks however tend to remain broadly similar. During Project 10 Pan though I've gotten a bit bored with wearing the same things whilst knowing that I couldn't buy anything new, so again I delved deeper into my stash to find some things I had forgotten about - first up lips  :)

Laura Geller Dream Creams Lip Palette - Apricot Berry

I have to say this palette has been a bot of a breakaway from the safety of my pale pinks and nudes, with gorgeous colours of peaches, golds, pinks and corals, this palette contains 4 fab shades, that taste amazingly of vanilla and have an unbelievably smooth creamy texture, that doesn't dry your lips and actually lasts. You get the four colours but you can mix them to create completely different colours. I'm so pleased I rediscovered this and it's definitely going to be used even more in the summer :)

MAC Lipglass - Kitty Kouture

I actually bought this from a blog sale, from the Kitty Kouture range of MAC by Hello Kitty (I have the little charm from the tube on something else) this is a gorgeous super pale pink lipgloss with just a hint of glitter - I haven't been using this on it own though I've been using it over this.....

MAC Lipstick - Fabby

This is perhaps my favourite lipstick ever by MAC - Fabby a gorgeous neutral pink, with the merest hint of gold shimmer - completely underrated in my opinion but I hadn't quite been showing this enough love until that was I put Kitty Kouture over the top :)

MAC Tinted Lip Conditioner - Pink Fish

Another product from the MAC Hello Kitty Collection, sadly this too was being ignored. The arrival of Sleek Pout Polish in Powder Pink, just before Project 10 Pan started meant that this one got a little less love than it should, my tanned skin just suited the brighter tone better, but as laziness and winter ploughed on the paler hues of Pink Fish suited me better. Super quick application = a bit of moisture and a flash of colour.

YSL Rouge Volupte No 1 - Nude Beige

What can I say about this lipstick I love it, the texture, the taste the colour so why have I shown it so little love until recently? maybe I was scared to use it £21.50 is a lot of money for a lipstick, but why did I continue to use my other two Rouge Voluptes - I really don't know but I grabbed this last month and I have worn it at least once a week since :) click here to see a pic of it on x

NARS Lip Lacquer - Chelsea Girls

It's funny how so many of these lip products can be used with a brush, maybe the discovery of a good lip brush (Laura Geller) has lead to a bit of experimentation, who knows? This was one of the first Nars products I bought and I have to say I love it such a pretty glossy nude, that you can apply with a brush or your fingers making it super quick to use. My only issue is the smell why do Nars lip things always smell odd?

Next up a product that works on both lips and cheeks :)

Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge For Lips and Cheeks - 11 Pale Pink

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I bought this in Larnaca airport as part of a mass Duty Free haul last year and you can guess the story I used it for a little while and then moved onto something new, but over the last few months I've been using this pretty regularly again. A gorgeous pink shade it goes on pretty bright as you can see but it blends down quite nicely to give a pink flush to the cheeks

and you can use as I generally have been as a lip colour too - sorry for the bad picture but it gives a nice semi matte colour

NYX Rouge Cream Blush - CB02 Natural

Another ignored cream product this time from NYX, for a little while my cream blushers of choice have either been by MAC, Illamasqua or Top Shop but then I remembered this beauty - a lovely neutral peach/pink shade that blends down to a lovely healthy glow :)

Cosmetics à la Carte - Cheek Colour - Rose

I won this blusher quite a few years ago now for a competition in a hair and beauty magazine. Cosmetics a la Carte wasn't a brand I'd heard of before, obviously I have now though :) This blusher is gorgeous a gorgeous natural peach / pink shade. I've worn this a lot through the winter months as I think it works best when my skin is paler.

2true True Colour Blusher - Shade No. 1*

I was originally sent this to review quite a while ago now, so long ago that I can't actually find my review, and I have to say I've recently dug it out of my stash and it's as good as I remember it. Again a peach /pink shade this is probably a tiny bit more peach than the Cosmetics a la Carte one but they are pretty similar - this is definitely worth the £1.99 that it would cost to buy :)

Check this little video that I made about these products and more about why I've fallen back in love with them x

I hope you've enjoyed this little look at some of the goodies that I've rediscovered - my advice to you all is look at what you already have before your buy something new, chances are you'll either have something similar or you'll find something you love that you've forgotten about xx Any questions please ask x

*Press Sample

A Quick FOTD x

I made a few You Tube videos today so I thought I'd show you a quick FOTD I did - a light silvery grey smokey eye with a bit of glittery fallout :(




Today I Wore

Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation 100 Ivory
MAC Prep + Prime Eye - Light
Smashbox Photo Op Under Eye Brightener
Lancome Palette Mix Complexion Kit - 1 (Lightest Shade Only)
Boots No7 Translucent Loose Powder
MAC Cremeblend Blush - So Sweet, SO Easy
Benefit Sugarbomb
GOSH Show Me Volume Mascara - Black*
YSL Long Lasting Eye Pencil - 01 Black
Top Shop Eye Trio - Moon Dust (greys only, silver over base, dark grey in crease)

Scarlett and Crimson Creme Eyeshadow - Thunder Road

MAC Lipstick - Fabby

(*Provided by PR)

More Blog Sale Hauling

Well I said I had gone over on my spending diet this month but that's only because so many of you lovely girls have had ultra tempting blog sales this month - my final purchases for April came from the lovely Cosmetic Candy and her spectacular blog sale number 4 :)

I picked up a few lovely things including two MAC paints in Chartru and Bamboom and a gorgeous YSL Rouge Pur Lipstick in 142 Honey Beige - OMG waiting for the alcohol to dry off after sanitising it took for ever (well not really :)- I just wanted to put it on lol




Gorgeous - I am sooo pleased with this and the paints too - she was also kind enough to throw in a lovely set of false lashes and some sweeties (all gone I'm afraid it's been years since I had wham bars lol) - Thanks Rowena xx

FOTD Featuring Urban Decay

In honour of my Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland being dispatched today I decided to use a few Urban Decay shadows in my FOTD - Apologies for the iffy camera angle and odd lighting lol










What I Wore

Lancome Palette Mix Touches de teint Complexion Kit 01 (Concealer kit I use the 2 lightest shades)
Smashbox Photo Op Under Eye Brightener
MAC Prep + Prime Eye Base - Light
id Bare Minerals Foundation - Medium
ELF Sheer Mineral Booster
NARS Blusher - Orgasm
MAC MSF - Lightscapade
Urban Decay Eyeshadow - YDK
Urban Decay Eyeshadow - Twice Baked
Urban Decay Eyeshadow - Midnight Cowboy Rides Again (Glittertastic :( )
AVON Daring Definition Cream Eyeliner - Black
Collection 2000 Collagen Curl Mascara - 17 Ultra Black (first impressions not good!)
YSL Rouge Volupte - No. 2 Sensual Silk