Cuisine Crush: Dessert Date in Jyväskyla, Wilhelmiinan Konditoria

Jyväskylä, Finland

Jyväskylä is a city of WRC, Alvar Aalto, Sofi Oksanen and Wilhelmiinan Konditoria. A warm and welcomed café at Asemakatu 6, decorated with Finnish minimalistic furniture but elegant chandeliers, a cabinet with a grand piano, provides a wonderful setting for atmospheric café. The building was built by restaurateur Nikolai Wahlgren, now nicknamed as Nikolainkulma, opened its doors as early as 1899. Becoming as social life occasion, the house also has operated as Alvar Aalto Office of Architecture and Monumental Art from autumn 1923 to spring 1924. 

Founded in 2003, Wilhelmiinan Konditoria (Wilhelm’s Confectionery in English) is a confectionery bakery that presents handmade pastries, breads, rolls sandwiches or salad selections. While after the lunchtime, we are too full to devour any further main course; therefore, I hence choose vanilla and chocolate softis ice cream and double espresso at my afternoon dessert time.

I always love chocolate. It’s my period fatigue remedy. I love chocolate more after watching Lasse Hallström’s Chocolate starred by Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp. The vanilla & chocolate softis ice cream from Wilhelmiinan Konditoria adapts cocoa butter rather vegetable fats, and the rather less sugary but slightly bitter taste melts immediately while taking a sip, the cone cookies are crispy filled with vanilla and butter flavor. The double espresso shows a somewhat spicy odor at the shot. Having chit chat and nude hue of vintage style of cabinets, definitely Wilhelmiinan Konditoria will be on my revisiting list when I spend lovely moments in Jyväskyla, perhaps again, during Christmas season. 

 

WILHELMIINAN KONDITORIA

Accessories Accede: What’s in My Chanel Camellia Sac de Maquillages?

Q&A in Jyväskylä, Finland  

Tell us the brief history of Chanel Camellia.

The blossoms debuted the first appearance in 1913 at Coco Chanel’s N° 31 Rue Cambon apartment, Paris. Requiring 25 petals to create the iconic Chanel camellia brooch or shopping bag deco, camellias originate in Eastern and Southeast Asia and are a symbol of longevity and faithfulness; while in the West, known for its perfect symmetry, camellia symbolise desire, passion and refinement. Coco Chanel was given the very first camellias bouquet by her polo-playing lover, Boy Capel, she started pinning silk versions on her lapels or hair, therefore, the camellia has becoming her favourite synonymous motif of love. 

 

How do you choose weekend trip cosmetic sac? 

For the weekend trip, all I need is a 15x 10x 3 cm lamb skin Chanel sac de maquillages, since its light weight sewn with beige camellia puffy polyester lining, the cosmetics or skincare in travel size I carry, will have less chance of collision. The extra pocket is the best place of the eyeliner brush, rubber bands or 2ml tube eau de parfum. 

✔GÜLSHA Rose Elixir to smooth and shine the skin is one of my favourite organic skincare products, only a few drops on freshly washed forehead, cheeks and chin, and massage approximately 3 minutes, the formula equals to the moisturizing facial mask sheets. Made in Turkey, rich in antioxidants and vitamins, high in Omega 3,6,9 essential fatty acids, GÜLSHA products are free of parabens, phthalates, sulfates, mineral oils, alcohol, propylene glycol, synthetic colorants and synthetic perfumes. The 3ml travel size of rose elixir I purchased together with 100% natural rose water, are perfect together to mix and match before bed time or makeup moments. 

✔CHANEL Rouge Allure Ink #152 Choquant owns liquid matte effects, 6ml with rather petite applicator, its intense and dense pigments, it instantly and weightlessly fuses with the lips for a long lasting, around 7 hours on my lips. Composed of jojoba oil and sappan wood and Vitamin E derivative, the rouge is never unnoticed, but also comfort and supple on the kisses.  

 

✔CHANEL dimensions mascara #10 Noir 1.5g, two-stage eye-liner brush and BOBBIE BROWN long-wear gel eyeliner at Black Ink hue are always easy to go on weekend trip or just daily commuting.

 

✔CHAO&EERO bubble rings, designed by Taiwanese and Finnish design duo, made of Japanese fresh water pearls and 18K gold always give the casual but feminine touch on my fingers. 

 

✔Rubber bands and hairpins are the best hair accessories to restyle the hair. I always restock them when I revisit Taiwan or Japan. 

 

✔CHANEL CC logo earrings are my irresistible dreamy items. This AW20 design makes the glass pearls attached at the corners of logo, while the crystals highlight the most part of the alphabet. 

 

✔Made in Denmark, in size 30x60mm, MEDIQ alcohol swab with 70% isopropyl alcohol is always one of the lovely mini treat from a Taiwanese friend of mine. This hygiene necessity is good to do the instant cleaning the fingers before dining, also the great tool to disinfect the poles of earrings. Size doesn’t matter, care really does. 

 

✔The mini eyebrow brush made in South Korea is surely one of my restock items when I pay a visit at drugstores during Taiwan trip. 

 

✔AVÈNE Eau thermal rehydrating serum intense can be applied as base of face cream, 5ml tube is adequate amount during weekend trip, and mix a drop of GÜLSHA Rose Elixir, the rashness will forever wave farewell. 

 

✔VIKTOR&ROLF Flower Bomb Bomblicious Body Cream in 15ml nude pinkish tube is the best freebie while purchase Flower Bomb Eau de Parfum, which envelops my body skin with a delicious scent of sambac jasmine and patchouli.

 

✔ATTRAPE-RÊVES (Dream Cather) launched in September 2018 by Jacques Cavallie, its top note with bergamot, ginger and lychee, heart of peony, cocoa flower and Turkish rose and base on patchouli essence, is amazingly balanced together with oriental spicy fragrance for men, L’IMMENSITÉ. Both top notes share the same scents except grapefruit, while L’IMMENSITÉ’s mid-notes found rosemary, sage and geranium, and base notes smell of labdanum, amber and ambroxan. LOUIS VUITTON 2ml samples are fun and chic to mix and match both in feminine and masculine sniff during the relaxing weekend holidays. 

 

✔Made in Japan, the single package cotton swab duo is essential to clean the smoky eyeliners, disinfect the ears and other cosmetic tools. 

 

✔ALLERGAN Refresh Plus carmellose sodium eye drops are disposable daily needs for the instant cure. 

 

✔CHANEL Hydra Beauty Crème and LE LIFT eye cream are perfect for normal or dry skin. The sizes in 5ml and 3ml tubes are the best travel companions.

 

✔CHANEL Nourishing mascara base is ophthalmologist tested, which is suitable for contact lens wearer as I am. This new version of mascara contains meadow foam oil derivative, to repair and strengthen the eyelashes and enhance the volume. 

 

✔DIOR Flash Luminizer #002 is inspired by the lighting techniques used by DIOR BACKSTAGE makeup artists, with a single or double clicks, the booster pen not only can sculpt facial contours, highlight and correct signs of fatigues, brighten the eyes but also enhance the complexion. Recommended by my professional makeup artist friends at Taipei Dior Backstage, is my favourite carry-on immediate foundation. Slightly pressed by Dior puff from Forever Couture Perfect Cushion, my base makeup is easy to complete within 5 minutes. 

 

✔樁油仕上つげhandcraft wooden hair comb is the cute souvenir from Kyoto, Japan. The woody scent from the masterpiece and the fine-calculated comb teeth massage the scalp smoothly whenever I brush, are boosting my favour toward Japanese craftsmanship.  

 

✔KANEBO LISSAGE Deep Clean Powder 0.4g capsule contains enzymatic immediately lathers into fine bubbles, which remove dead skin cells, excess sebum, and other impurities, while also protecting the moisture of the skin. Usually I use twice per capsule, and since it’s disposable design, it will also reduce the weights of camellia sac at the end of trip. 

Now using promote code Mindy15 to get 15% DISCOUNT at CHAO&EERO

Special Thanks: MP, OKBI, TSAI, Soniya & Dior Backstage Taipei

Fashion Fun! VLTN Cashmere, Zara Jeans & Chanel Accessories Under Jyväskylä Blossom Trees

August 21-23, Jyväskylä, Finland

Etymologically, Jyväskylä derived from ‘jyvä’, means ‘grain’ and ‘kylä’,is village in Finnish. It has also been speculated that the word jyväs refers to the reflection of sunshine of the surface of the water. Elias Lönnrot, the compiler of the Finnish national epic Kalevala, gave the city the nickname ‘Athens of Finland’, which, refers to the major role of Jyväskylä as an educational centre of Finland. It’s been always lovely to revisit this cute city for the family moments, my toddler godson and bushes of organic treats at backyard. In August, early autumn as already arrived at the backyard: the wind blows slightly chilly at lakeshore, the rain drops hard during the midnight, and the poppy apples do not fall far from the trees.

The outfits at apple tree backyard are Valentino 70% virgin wool and 30% cashmere in black, with Zara 100% cotton baggy jeans in light grey. Made in Italy, VLTN cashmere sweater presents merely the off-white abbreviation logo plus a pentagon star; its feather-lightweight piece is comfy and easy to carry during the weekend trip, on its wash label indicates manufactured on 19. July 2019 with bard code, and the cropped shape surely also dexterously to match Zara baggy jeans. 

I have become a huge ZARA jeans-collection fan since 2019: its versatile selection and fitting, let alone a bargain price can fulfill my Le Look of day without any extra worries. I adore a lot toward baggy jeans this season: Made in Turkey, buckle up with 4 ruthenium buttons rather YKK zipper, Zara Basics line shows the design details and consideration of materials still remaining at house of fast fashion. As for accessories, I decide to go for black and silver hues. Chanel suede slingbacks have accompanied through Finland, France, Germany, Japan and Taiwan, its two-tone and pointed-toe design reduce the rather puffy silhouette. MIU MIU half-moon acetate sunglasses are somewhat challenging due to the oversized lenses, yet they turn out very stylish to crown on the vertex. Under the sunlight the pair transform into pale purple hue, and it approves Chanel Le rouge NO.4 very well.

CHANEL lambskin pouch in camellia pattern loads weekend make-ups and skincare essentials, always being my mini travel must-haves, its supple touch a pleasure to carry, and the interior linen sewing in beige can prevent the collision from the surfaces of containers or brushes. During this Jyväskylä weekend trip I do not take WOC (wallet on chain) or mini sac with me, while handy pouch is highly photogenic enough at apple backyard photo shoots. Holding the pouch against the jasmine brush, VIVIENNE WESTWOOD raining-cloud bracelet forecasts the upcoming weather condition in the city of Jyväskylä. 

TOP TIP 1: Always carry a fine cashmere sweater for the late night chill at autumn trip

TOP TIP 2: Tucking the sweater inside of rolling-up baggy jeans, showing off the ankles to reduce the rather puffy silhouette 

Special Thanks: Perhe Heikkinen

Magazine Madness: Dua Lipa IDGAF at The New Season: ELLE UK August 2020

ELLE UK August 2020

THIS IS NOT THE WAY THIS SUMMER WAS MEANT TO GO. Supposedly not for any of us, neither the cover star on ELLE UK August 2020 issue, Kosovar-Albanian born, London based Dua Lipa: her much anticipated new album Future Nostalgia was planned for release in April, and it followed up the world tours and earth travelling, and now, nobody was going anywhere. 

 

Meanwhile, in at our own reading room, out in the locked-down world, Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia breaking the record on the day of its release. The album provides a brighter and merrier restriction free future—or maybe past. Dua Lipa was having interview for ELLE August issue with Melisa Giannini via ZOOM at her London apartment, stating that the people will be ‘more empathetic. We’ll make moments count. We won’t take anything for granted” (73). Dua Lipa and her family also run Sunny Hill, a foundation supports the vulnerable Kosovo locals.

Talking about the new music, Boys Will Be Boys, one of the most serious tracks from her second album Future Nostalgia, Lipa says the song is about growing pains and personal experiences as being a woman: we’ve all trying to avoid confrontation or please to fit in certain social behaviour, in order to feel secured. At her first smash hit IDGAF, the lyrics portrait the confident attitude toward the breakup, perhaps it’s also what Lipa told Giannini that during the lockdown, not just only the break we take, it’s also a unforgettable opportunities to regard what we’ve done to our relationships and Mother Earth. Her carry-on spirits show between the lines, altogether under the lenses of Photographer Zoey Grossman, Dua Lipa’s wearing black breastplate by Tom Ford, shines her lovely, authentic and intelligent human being. Since her breaking fun single IDGAF released, I’ve been humming the tunes now and then, always in love of its funky but pop melody. My first purchase of Dua Lipa covering ELLE UK August issue in 2020, is definitely one of the most enjoyable reading journey after quite a long absent term of magazine famine. 

Besides Dua Lipa interview, ELLE UK August issue surprises me the most, is its montage layouts at ELLE; The New Season. The well-edited in both information and colour palette, from p. 75-119, The ELLE Guide AW 2020,virtually a mini version of Marie Claire Runway Collection: There is a glimpse of Chanel catwalk, the backstage snaps of beauty ideas, the close-up of accessories, the centerfold of treading hues and multi street styles shots to copy for. The information at every page turn is as equal as fulfilled with the fashion images; additionally, for the lack of designer brands’ marketing budgets due to the pandemic strike, ELLE UK August 2020 carries merely 146 pages in total, presents more of a mini version of AW collection special issue, with less weight but more wonders.

As for photography, following the cover tones of poppy red, off-white and Dua Lipa’s skin tone, I first adapt Chanel 2018 Christmas camellias to cover the price tag at bottom left, and the shining gold-tone of acetate materials can bring up the natural lightening at flat-lay angle. Since Dua Lipa also a huge fan of House of Chanel, therefore, placing Le Rouge N° 4 on the left side of the cover girl and CHANEL N°5 L’EAU Eau de toilette mini twist on the top, a detailed techniques combining both red and white hues. Furthermore, CHAO&EERO fresh water pearl rings, Chanel AW 2020 glass pearl earrings and dried rose buds are also the lovely gadgets to enhance the vibe of ELLE UK August issue; last but not the least, I complete the whole look by adding Chanel travel size skincare and the tube of N°5 L’EAU mini twist in order to make the cover shooting more of geometrical pleasure.

Now using promote code Mindy15 to get 15% DISCOUNT at CHAO&EERO