Rain, Rain.. Chill Out!

I had every intention of checking out Crown Outlets yesterday.. but I didn't. And I have an explanation!

I was planning on heading down at 1, right after my classes, because I know for a fact that if I get home and get comfortable, I definitely wouldn't be in the mood to walk over there.

As I was walking out of LAU at 1, I felt a slight drizzle of rain, which kind of discouraged me from continuing the walk down, so I detoured to my house. Good thing I did too, otherwise I would have been stuck there until about 3!!

I might pass by Crown Outlets today though, but first I'm going to be in Beirut Souks.

Once again, my cousin spotted something he thought I might like in Beirut Souks. (I should really make him my "fashion hunter", haha).

What did he spot? Nike High-tops for women! I've been trying to get myself a pair of trainers, but they always look too big on my because I'm quite short, yet my shoe size is slightly larger than would be expected. Also, skinny jeans don't help. I figured though, high-tops are bulky from the bottom and the top, so it might balance it out. I'll be checking those out today, and hopefully find a pair for me! These are what they generally look like, for those who don't know:

Also, I haven't forgotten about Ctrl+Z Designs. I've picked out all the pieces that I want, all that's left is to contact Chahine. The reason I delayed this is because, if I have time, I might try and swing by Lunatic in Monot today. This way I can just buy them on the spot rather than go through the whole ordering process.

Let's hope it doesn't rain on me today!

Ctrl+Z Designs

While going to fetch us some goodies from Sugar Daddy's to satisfy our sugar cravings, my cousin noticed some funky jewelry in the window, and brought back a business card for me to check out.

(Excuse the webcam quality)

Naturally, living in an internet-dominated world, I looked for the business' page on Facebook.

According to the page I found (and the card) Ms. Zinab Chahine is responsible for the very unique jewelry I was going through on their photo page. It is a home business, and according to her "everything is very affordable". She also offers custom designs for those who would like it, and everything is handmade.

I personally really liked the jewelry, I will definitely be buying some very soon (I am picking out the pieces I want as I type). The jewelry holds a lot of Arab culture in it, mostly Lebanese culture but includes a lot of different Arab elements in the designs as well, which is what caught my attention. I love holding on to a little bit of my culture, but seeing it interpreted in a new and different way, which is exactly what I saw in these designs.

Since it is a home business, you will have to contact Chahine in order to make arrangements for purchasing. The jewelry is also available at a store called Lunatic in Monot (it is no longer being displayed at Sugar Daddy though). The contact details are on Facebook, but I'll give them to you here as well:

E-mail: ctrl.z.design@hotmail.com

Phone: 03 610 436

Click here to see photos of the jewelry on Facebook.

I'll be doing a follow up review about the jewelry when I buy my own, so stay tuned for more!!

Crown Outlets - Fall 2010

It's been a while since I've posted anything, and as usual I have my excuses. I thankfully managed to survive my first week back in university. I'm using the word survived here very specifically because, as all of you who are familiar with LAU's registration this year would know, the online registration system suffered an endless amount of glitches this semester. This means that my first two days back consisted of long hours camping outside of an office, just to be able to register for my major courses. All that is over now, though, and I'm back on track.

Crown Outlets! For those who don't know, this is a worldwide outlet chain, and it's back in Beirut with its Fall 2010 collection for both men and women. The thing I like about Crown Outlets is that every time their customers come in, they ask what the customers would like to see more of, and they act on it. This year, the collection features even more brands (chosen by customers) which means a whole new variety of things to choose from.

These include:

• UGG Boots
• Juicy Couture
• Ed Hardy
• Christian Audigier
• Abercrombie & Fitch
• True Religion
• Bebe
• Fred Perry
• Hollister

Again, as this is an outlet chain and all the items are bought in bulk, the prices are 50% less than the market price! Here are the dates of this season's open house:

Friday 8th October: 10:00am - 9:00pm

Saturday 9th October: 10:00am - 9:00pm

Sunday 10th October: 10:00am - 6:00pm

The place is where it usually is, which is the 1st floor in Crown Plaza Hotel (above roadsters) in Hamra.

I very strongly advise everyone who is interested in going to go on Friday, and go as early as you can. The later you are, the less you find and the less you have to choose from.

Here's the link for their photo gallery on Facebook, which gives you a preview of this season's collection:

Facebook Photo Gallery

I will try to stop by on Friday, although I won't be able to get there before 1:00pm due to my classes, but nevertheless I will come back and let you all know how it is.

Stay tuned! I promise I will try to be more active :)

"Style is an expression of individualism mixed with charisma. Fashion is something that comes after style." - John Fairchild

Back In Beirut: Hamra Lovin'

Finally back in Beirut! Unfortunately This post is not going to include pictures because I keep forgetting to take my camera out with me.

I arrived on Friday and went straight to Gloria Jeans, oh how I've missed their coffee. I ended up in Ferdinand's later that night, which is one of my favorite pubs on Hamra. The music was great, as was the atmosphere, so all in all it was a great night.

Yesterday morning I had coffee at Caribou Coffee, another great place with great coffee. The weather was absolutely beautiful so I insisted on sitting outside. It was sunny with a really nice breeze. I later headed to Buttermint for Lunch, and Flow even later on at night.

Something occurred to me yesterday while sitting in Caribou, the reason why I love Hamra so much is this: It's almost like New York, but with an Arab twist to it. And I'm not talking about the architecture, I am of course talking about the fashion!

I've been seeing more and more different and funky styles walking around, which is great. I love the fact that there are a lot more people out there who are experimenting and expressing themselves more through fashion. My mission for the next few months is to stop people who I think have a unique sense of style, snap a picture of them, and share it with all of you. I don't know if they'll be open to it, or if they'll think I'm a creepy stalker, but it's worth a try.

Other than that, I will continue with my usual shopping and style updates, along with the lifestyle section of this blog (where to go and when to go there). So stay tuned Beirut, that and a lot more will be coming up soon!

It feels good to be back.

The English Tea Lounge & 2010 VMAs

For those of you who don't know, the 2010 VMAs took place last night. Now, I promised myself not to get sucked into the best/worst dressed thing again, but after seeing Rihanna on stage, I was inspired to. You'll see why in a bit.

Before going on to the VMAs, I have to stop and talk to you all about The English Tea Lounge. I had brunch there this morning and it was absolutely amazing. True, it's location is in a mall, but you kind of forget all about that. It's in on of the secluded areas of The Avenues, and the furniture makes you feel right at home. The food was great, the coffee was great, and the music in the background added a great touch to it all! I didn't have my camera on me so bear with the phone pictures.

The couches are very cozy, it almost feels as if you're sitting in someone's living room.

I thought the menu was really cute.

You really feel like you're sitting in an English tea lounge, they have every different combination of breakfast/brunch foods that you can imagine.

The presentation of the food was really fun as well. You have finger sandwiches at the bottom, pastries in the middle, and the sweet goods at the top.

Finally, you have your mini scones.

Whoever is in Kuwait or visiting, go and try it out one morning, trust me you won't regret it.

Now, on to the VMAs, here are the celebrities, and my thoughts on their fashion picks for the event:

I haven't been keeping up with my reality shows lately, so I kind of missed the part where Audrina went that blonde, but I definitely like her better as a brunette. As for her dress, I like it, it's simple and glam, perfect for the occasion.

Another girl from The Hills, Lo Bosworth. I've always found Lo to be classy on the show, she's always got a great sense of style, and it showed last night too. Great dress, great colour, finished off with simple strappy heels. All in all, a great combination.

Oh Katy Perry, what have you done. I like the top of the dress, and the bottom of the dress.. separately. I really don't think it goes together, it looks like she's trying too hard to stand out, and it's not working for her.

I actually really like this whole outfit. She did really well with the dress, and the shoes are fabulous, I actually really want a pair now. Great picks.

I am actually loving Lady Gaga's look for the evening. She's in Alexander McQueen, and she is working it! Yes it's weird, yes it's quirky, but it's good weird and quirky. Even the spikes coming out of her head aren't making me cringe. Very nice.

I really like the top of Ciara's dress, but I feel that the dress just looks horrible the lower down you go. I was a bit iffy about the feathers at the top, and the fact that they change colours from black to brown to white just ruined it for me completely. Unlucky. Hey, she was on most people's best dressed list, just not mine.

I think this is the best that I've seen Hayley Williams. She looks all grown up in her Miu Miu dress. The dress is adorable, her hair up looks great, she just looks very mature and very natural. I love it.

Rihanna. I'm going to be very blunt about this. She looks like a bride-zilla serial killer who managed to get out of her straight jacket. Honestly that was the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw her (I have a wild imagination). Her hair is crazy (and not the good crazy), the little band on her head looks like it was bought at Claires, and her outfit is just insane. Not good insane, just plain old insane. Sorry Rihanna, you made me do it. (I kinda feel like Chris Brown saying that!)

That's all for today folks, I did go shopping this morning and yesterday morning, so there will be some outfit posts soon hopefully. I'm back in Beirut on Friday, so get ready for some new additions to this blog within the next 2 weeks.


Links:
http://toofab.com
http://mtv.com

Prepping For The Cold

It seems that every year, I seem to find a new love for a store here in Kuwait. Last year, I was in love with Forever 21. Everything that I picked up looked great. This year, it's absolutely horrible, I can't seem to find anything at all. Topshop and River Island are average so far, but the store that stole my heart this year is H&M. Which is funny, because last year it was pretty much at the bottom of my list. Honestly, when it comes to looking for everyday clothes, H&M is more than perfect at the moment.

I've got a week left here in Kuwait before I'm back to reporting on Beirut shopping. In this week I'm sure I'll be heading back down to the stores to see if any of them have any new collections and whether they're any good or not, but for now I'll show you my pre-fall/winter shopping from H&M:

I picked this sweater up because of it's colour, first of all, it's a very soft pink which I love. I also picked it up because it looked so comfortable, and it really was.

This grey sweater is perfect because I feel that it can be dressed up and dressed down. It works for both night and day, and is light enough to keep on indoors during the winter time.

Now, focusing on the bag. This is not H&M actually, it's from Aldo accessories. Why did I pick it up? Well, I would only wear a bag that small if I were going pubbing, clubbing or to a concert. And to be completely honest, I am not taking a pricey bag to any of those, because from past experiences I know that you can get alcohol stains and cigarette burns on your things because no one  is ever careful by the end of the night. Carrying this bag around is ideal because it still looks very elegant, and at the same time you won't be stressing out about it all night.

We're back to the H&M pieces now, and the thing that caught my attention about this black sweater was the fact that it came with a belt, because my favorite thing in the world is to add waist belts to my outfits, so I had to have it.

This is also a style that I love for the colder seasons. I'm not that big a fan of pants generally, so I love it when I find cute sweater-dresses that I can pair with tights. I love the colour, Camel is very in this fall/winter, and it fits beautifully.

I will definitely make a point to go back to these stores and have a final look at them before leaving. After this week is over, it's back to the fashion scene in Beirut! (Look out for some new changes)

Wake Up And Smell The Fragrances

Today's post is going to be all about perfumes. Last night, I went on a perfume hunt. I got a bit tired of the perfumes that I was using at the moment, and I was determined to find myself some new fragrances with a similar yet different smell to those that I was already using.

The thing is that I'm extremely picky about my perfumes. I don't like citrus smells, nor any fruity smells for that matter. I don't like candy smelling perfumes, nor do I like flowery perfumes. I like the more heavy scent, which made it very difficult for me to find anything!

The perfumes that I am using at the moment are:

Sicily by Dolce & Gabbana

This is pretty much my signature scent. I think I've been using it for the past 5 years, I can never let it go. The sad thing is that they've stopped making it, so it's really hard to find these days (but I always manage!)

Coco Chanel by Chanel

I went in to the store initially planning to buy Chanel No. 5, because my mum used to use it when I as younger, and I remember that I loved it. When I came to smell it again, I realized that I would never be able to wear that, it's just not me. So I ended up falling in love with Coco Chanel.

Agent Provocateur

I actually bought this one because the sales woman was extremely convincing. I went in to buy a new bottle of Coco Chanel, and she had told me that she had the perfect perfume for me. So she showed me Agent Provocateur, and she was right (as she always is). I couldn't leave the store without it.

While I really do love all 3 of these, I needed a change. So after sampling over 15 different perfumes (which gave my nose an extreme rush by the way) I finally picked out the 3 that I liked the most.

Amarige by Givenchy

"Amarige perfume possesses a blend of violet, mimosa, soft sweet spices, and orange flowers, accompanied by fruity notes of fresh citrus, melons, peaches, and plums."

Although the scent notes included in the perfume are made up of flowers and fruits, it does not smell like that at all. Trust me, I cannot stand flowery or fruity smells, so I would not have bought it. It's not as heavy as my other perfumes, but is still carries this heavier feel than most perfumes. I bought it because of that, because it wasn't too sweet but still had a very feminine touch to it.

CH by Carolina Herrera

"An intriguing fragrance mysterious and complex opening with a floral accord of bergamot, orange, grapefruit and a juicy melon. Bulgarian rose, jasmine and praline are at the heart and the base is an oriental delight of cinnamon, woody notes and leather."

I really cannot explain what this one smells like. It's very unique, ad I loved it. It's somehow slightly sweet while still carrying a very harsh oriental smell (which I love). You really need to smell it for yourself to really understand what I'm saying.

Hypnotic Poison Eau Sensuelle by Christian Dior

"Notes are: sambac jasmine, sweet heliotrope, bitter almond, caraway, Damask rose, ylang ylang, orange absolute, tuberose, vanilla, greem stems, green leaves, sandalwood, musk."

This one was definitely my favorite of the lot. This, to me, is the perfect blend of scents. I'm aware that it probably doesn't appeal to many, but I absolutely and positively love this perfume. I sprayed it on my arm last night and I would find myself smelling my arm every 3 minutes, literally. It's a great perfume, I really do recommend this one to anyone who has the same taste as I do when it comes to scents.

That's all for today, I know that this wasn't really a fashion post, but I guess we could place this in the lifestyle section, haha. Until next time!


Links:
http://www.myperfumesource.com
http://www.perfume.com
http://www.mimifroufrou.com