Cuisine Crush Jyväskylä: Dessert Date in 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

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

Accessories Accede: What’s in My Valentino VSLING Sac?

Q&A in Tapiola, Finland

Share your opinions about Valentino collection at the age of Valentino Garavani and Pierpaolo Piccioli.  

Founded by Valentino Garavani in Rome, from Prêt-à-Porter to Haute Couture, Valentino’s design DNA never departed feminine floral and fine fabrics; while in 2008 that Pierpaolo Piccioli were appointed as one of the Creative Directors of the house (the other was Maria Grazia Chiuri, now the Creative Director at Dior), the collection of Valentino has been carrying more Rock ‘n’ Roll and music festival characters, yet remains the best quality on the use of materials. I was at first not the huge fan due to its overly red-carpet glamour, but after the casual release of VLTN abbreviation logo and VSLING monogram, in 2020 I am so buying the stories under Valentino Garavani’s magical spells. 

How the VSLING sac attracts your attention at the purchase? 

Made in Italy, this Valentino Garavani VSLING shoulder sac in matte calfskin and nappa lining, equipped with an extendable shoulder strap and adjustable chain, can be worn as a cross body/shoulder look. With the dimensions of Width 18 x High 16 x Depth 8.5 cm, the platinum-finish hardware contrasting the leather in black more of a classic must-have. The magnetic fastening V logo is at front, and the rock studs details on the hook, the only disadvantage is that as the result of the dimensions, the IPHONE is not warmly welcome within. I treat my new favourite VSLING as a cosmetic and accessories mini pouch and then carry an extra tote bag to create a summer festival vibe. 

✔VLTN calfskin slim bracelet creates a touch of concert atmosphere at this event-cancellation epoch. Made in Italy, with its adjustable punch holes allow me to imagine that Valentino kicks off the new gig on stage. 

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

✔CHANEL New Classics cardholder 7.5 × 11.2 × 0.5 cm, aged calfskin and platinum-finish, is available to insert 6-7 cards still staying at elegant shape. 

✔TOM FORD lipstick #03 UDO soft-matte carries plum purple with warm undertones, the texture was lightweight, velvety and smooth as it skated across my lips, and it didn’t feel traditionally emollient but more primer-like without being clingy or drying. It stays on well for at least 3 hours and is lightly hydrating over time. The cap of the lipstick is dent the monogram of TF, furnished with bleak black and decorated with shining gold beams on the whole. Its 1.8 x1.8 x 5,5 cm petite silhouette is the cutest travel size I have ever purchased. 

✔Home key is no doubt as the most essential to take during outing, IPHONE comes as the second and credit cards rank the third. 

✔Launched in 2018 by Jacques Cavallie, LOUIS VUITTON Nouveau Monde is an oriental fragrance for men. The odor features saffron, cacao, agarwood (oud), rose, amber wood, caramel, olibanum, leather and vanilla. Sometimes I adore slightly masculine touch on my skin to mix my floral eau de parfum collection. This 2 ml tube sample is amiable to everywhere. 

✔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 to dry skin. 5ML and 3ML tubes also performing easy-to-use travel companion while having a daily city tour.

✔CHAO&EERO bubble rings made of Japanese fresh water pearls and 18K gold are my favourite collection.

✔CHANEL pearl drops own the copper platinum-finish and rose-gold glass pearls, and the anti-exaggerating dangling styles but yet matured feminine are always fun to mix and match together with my rather Rock ’n’ Roll Valentino accessories. 

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

Special Thanks: Dellies & OKBI

Fashion Fun Tapiola! When Valentino Accessories Meet Zara Outfits At Garden City Tapiola

Tapiola/Hagalund, Finland 

According to the Finnish National Board of Antiquities, Tapiola was the most valuable example of the 1960s construction ideologies in Finland, as was one of the first post-war ‘new town’ projects in Continental Europe, managed by Heikki von Hertzen, the executive of the Asuntosäätiö (The Housing Foundation) and garden city advocate, Tapiola is a cultural city surrounded by forest lands without the hustle and bustle of vehicles. The development of Tapiola garden city has been expanded with new residential buildings since the completion of Tapiola metro station, while some parts of the city remains the graffiti walls, the sign of the next stage of expansion.

The outfits of the day at garden city Tapiola are ZARA 100% linen white V-neck t-shirt--made in Portugal, I purchase both black and white for the next round of mix and match; and ZARA 100% ecologically grown cotton high-waist jeans, made in Bangladesh, its straight-leg style allowing the comfort to walk but not the swelter to wear in high summer. As for accessories, lately I am especially in love with Valentino leather goods. Founded in 1960 by Valentino Garavani, the focus on high-end ready to wear now transforms into more of a Rock ‘n’ Roll coolness by the creation of VLTN abbreviation logo and VSLING monogram. I really adore Valentino’s smooth calfskin VLTN bracelet and mini VSLING black calfskin shoulder sac. The simple design of bracelet shows a touch of concert goer hype, while the sac quipped with an extendable shoulder strap can be worn as a cross-body/shoulder style, both remind me of the vibe of summer music festival. 

The other side accessories are Louis Vuitton alphabet V necklace and leopard ribbon sandals, both are my all-time favourits during steaming hot season; CHAO & EERO pearl bubble rings are my daily needs, and CHLOÉ ivory white acetate sunglasses suits almost my 80% of outfits to go. HERMÈS 100% silk twilly in peachy pink, bright yellow and teal green with the totems of horses and saddles, is a friend’s favour from Hermés boutique in Paris. Twilly is both effortless style for the hair band and the easy belt. 

The choice of fashion fun photo shooting is the graffiti wall along the construction passageways. The unknown artist on the interpretation of black-and-white Jean Reno starring in Léon, has been my neighbourhood surprising found ever since. The outfits of the day at garden city Tapiola are black & white, on the touch of copper gold and leopard print

TOP TIP 1: Linen matches cotton perfectly. The Choice of materials shall be the top concerns during purchase

TOP TIP 2: Leopard pattern and nude colours match each other very well. Try It on! 

Special Thanks: JMH