A bit of Class and Glamour under the Christmas Tree

Christmas is coming! It's time to work on  our self improvement. Especially for those who like to be lazy and mobilize only for a reason. 
Let's go back to the past, to those golden days!

Let's promise ourselves larger dose of glamour - since more is always better than less - and more satisfaction from life.

Especially nowadays when all values disappear with a blink of an eye. Women wander around the streets basically naked, people have sex on the side walk (yes, strange London streets at 4am) and art of casual conversation is dying. 
Maybe the art of any conversation or rather art of thinking vanishes.... 
It just happened I met a girl who's name didn't stick to my brain, unfortunately, who got this strange need to talk to me. She approached me with a question:
- How do you do your hair?
I didn't have time, willingness and found it boring but still I answered.
- Your hair is so damaged, it looks so bad, no shine at all. I !!! take care of my hair very much that's why it's so nice besides I don't want to become bald. It will fall out.
And she disappeared.

Perhaps it's my environment or could it be me?
If yes, could it be 'Dave' my workmate? Random guy asked him: 
- Are you Dave? 
- No, I'm not. 
- Are you sure? You look just like Dave. 
- Who is Dave anyway?
- You know; this fat guy.

However now when I think of it... I had (I'd like to emphasize Had) a friend, lady G., who as my guest, under my roof, using my electricity and hospitality practised the same art of conversation. Once, during London trip day, she asked me.. 
-So, what kind of perfumes do you use?
After very detailed pictured I built for her including Where, How much and Why I love so much Agent Provocateur she just simply replied:
- Because you smell like an old lady.

I've been thinking about myself What do I do wrong? Am I not aggressive enough? too patient? ...or really...?
But then if you've ever experienced such thing and have doubts just look at this persons life:
depression, failure, complexes or - simple explanations always work - stupidity. I admit it warms me up from inside and brings sentimental memories from Denmark that is living it's own life fortunately without me and ... I smile.
I know, it all starts with parents, so how can you blame them.
Let's promise ourselves (hopefully - They will do as well) something no one can buy or receive; 

more Class for next year.

Savoir vivre is French and means living a good life while staying elegant and smart. (noun)

And let's remember - the art of saying Get lost is as well important.

Doing Blonde

"I color my own hair, too. I hate beauty salons. I just hate them. I hate them because I hate making appointments for something else, another appointment, and I hate spending the money. I like to have my hair freshly dyed every two weeks without fail, and I like to color on my own time while I’m multitasking. Plus, black hair is easy; if you do streaks and highlights it’s different."
Same as Dita I hate appointments and spending money for something I can perfectly well or even better do at home. I'll never get to british pedicurist again simply because HeRe they do like to keep nails from quite to very long and last time when this nice lady told me to put my sandals on, shyly I said 'I think it's not dry yet.' and 5min later I was marching home. Never!! Ever! go to Bonds Beauty Salon in Northampton - 25 The Drapery. When I got home I had to do it all over again. 

I couldn't stand waiting period for waxing appointments. How hairy you have to become!!!
And what about brazilian waxing? Twice I was send home because there was nothing to work on.
Terrible and undignified.
On top of it you spend a lot of money.

I'm not saying there are no excellent professionals, but you need to go through many rotten tomatoes (never ever go to hattbox hairdressing on Kettering Road in Northampton, unless you want to find my back hair that felt off and maybe is still somewhere there) to find the right one and if your excellent hairdresser dies (for example...) you start the whole searching cycle from the beginning. 
I already lost major part of my back hair before I found So Great Matrix studio: Christian Wiles Hairdressing in Northampton. After I discovered there Harry-the-Cypriot with his bushy, black, curly (?) hair that he treats as his private experimental lab, I had to leave Northampton behind. And after I decided with myself I can travel, why not?! it appeared my days off are usually Sundays and Mondays just as Harrys. 
So getting back to the point.

I am the best service for myself, reliable and cost free, always available for depilating, waxing, manicure, pedicure, eyebrows regulation and darkening even brazilian waxing - yes, it is possible.
I know myself and I know no one will do it better.
And how I hate to pay for it!

I understand that nowadays women just can't or refuse to do things around themselves - sometimes even the most basic. 

But just because the world is going down doesn't mean there are no ladies who can keep their own glamour in shape.

So finally I made very significant progress...for the first time I dyed -me- my own -by myself- hair.

I dyed my hair blonde.

As I rarely see the light I still don't know how this colour looks like in daytime but so far so good.

You see, I've been told by a hairdresser so many times that it's impossible to do it yourself and even smallest attempt may leave you with green hair, yellow hair or no hair at all.
That is why most of my life I spend flashing with my dark roots.
I've always experienced highlights that are the most expensive option you can get. In UK for medium hair you'll pay 100-150 GBP excluding toner, cut, drying, styling, conditioning and so on, of course! So it's not only the most durable process but the cheapest (for salons) as well as destructive since hair tend to break.

I started to gather all informations. Mostly what I found was the question 'I have this hair dye, what kind of developer do I use?' and the answer 'you won't be able to do it yourself anyway (implication: you're armless or brainless) and your hair will fall off. Professional products can be used only by professionals (developer and hair dye mix mystery: 3 times right and 4 times left) and you're definitively not the one so get lost. Besides you have ugly roots. With love. A hairdresser.'

Until I discovered Blond Bunny who is a blonde obsessed lady with professional hairdressing experience. She shares email address so you can ask her any questions and send photos. 
Ladies, you wish you could speak Polish now!
At first I didn't hope for an answer but then I got one a day after.
She put me on the right direction, told me what kind of Matrix dye I should use and what kind of developers. What not to even think of and precisely how much time to keep it on. 

And everything advised in the way I lOve the most: with bursting confidence. 

Only one conclusion: She knows what she's saying.

I already knew shades I wanted:
Matrix SoColor 10N mixed half/half with 10G.
Previous one made by Harry was 11AA but I found it maybe too yellowish...
That's actually the Creamy Blonde recipe from MatrixFamily but used with different developers.
As I like all cool colours I wanted to get a bit different blonde shade and perhaps it appeared to be too warm but hey! now... Sky is the limit!!!
or rather online shopping in Pak Cosmetics.
I can mix and test.

Before I decided to do the full head I made some try out on a piece. As you see it was already tragic and I had only two options: 
-wait another month for Northampton trip or 
- just do it.
It was difficult to put it on at the back of the head but since now on I only expect improvement.

I just need to find out how to move glycolic peels to my Home SPA...

Vintage Swimming Suit

Summer is over, there's only waiting for winter now. 
There's no point to write about swimming suits, what I'm going to do and no point to shop for one, what I just did.
All vintage Lovers, who doesn't like bathing costume shape from 40s and 50s ?
Showing less than more, especially hip area, sometimes with stiff boning. My man hates the way it looks from behind. Well, did it ever stop me from buying it?
Makes me shiver but since Brazilian Waxing hasn't been born yet, so built up costumes helped to hide what's inevitable. 

That's original photo by Andre De Dienes - surprisingly I've found some photoshoped versions.

Anyway... My boyfriend has mixed feelings towards the one I have...
From acceptance to hate, sometimes even aggression but still finds some power to ask me 'please never wear it again'.

In the end he felt relief when I showed him Lady K Loves vintage swimming suits reproduction that he found most disturbing. I did as well.. think it looks pretty glamour-less. 

Some Vintage just should stay in Vintage.

Except For Luna that is so adorable !!! so burlesque and so colour-and-contrast and expensive obviously.

Quite quickly I found on eBay, obviously, genuine two piece bathing suit, made of cotton from early 60s with original labels that cost me just few pounds. Bra is bullet bra shape and it's based on a long one piece wire that you can't bend so forget about comfortable and efficient holiday packing system. I will have to tighten the strap around bust and neck and fix few stitches. Apart of that it's just perfect but perhaps still too old fashioned at the back for my man but he'll have to find this out next summer since I'm filtering reality to him ...sometimes.

I have no idea about other men but I'm afraid that it can be the case... one piece 40s50s shape may be just out of sexy look for male side. Other option means it's me, I'd rather not think about it.
and it doesn't mean I don't like it.

and two piece bikinis that finally became more popular and accepted...

I was always wondering what to do with your head since bathing cap is absolutely out of question. Pin curls and rollers out of logical sense. 

Exceptionally scarf may be in use...

And this is where I'm getting to The Tattered Dress from 1957 that's only valuable because of Elaine Stewart and her swimming pool hairstyle.

To be prepared next time.

Taschen, Andre de Dienes and Marilyn Monroe

I love TASCHEN books.
I can't live without pin up calendars:

wall calendar

Tear-off calendar

Notebook calendar

...and still I have Gil Elvgren by Taschen

Taschen published also stories by Eric Stanton:
http://pinup-life.blogspot.com/2011/04/men-vs-corsets.html

http://pinup-life.blogspot.com/2011/04/marriage-by-eric-stanton-part1_13.html

So I got extremely excited when I saw amazingly published Marilyn Monroe photos taken by Andre de Dienes and his diaries concerning their relationship.

All photos and diaries were given by Andres wife.

He describes all events from the moment they've met till her death.

I didn't appreciate him much after I finish the book. I guess he'd seen himself as a gentleman but I got the feeling that deep in his heart he was just a very simple man guided by his urges. He has claimed they were friends and Marilyn has thought of him as a family at some point.  But there are few moments where he describes her being depressed and with a lot of problems and still the only thing he's thinking of is having sex with her.

In his opinion sex with him would have solved all her struggles !!!

But that's true that for a while they were engaged however not really living together or next to each other.

Andre has been very superstitious. He has kept contact to fortune tellers, believed even in fortune telling through the phone, trusted in faith and all kind of signs.

I think that's the way she'd look down at her own death.

Few memories about her wanted to break up with sex bomb stereotype interpreted  in an interesting way by Andre.

There are many stories describing lonely Marilyn.
How placeless she was...

How she couldn't mange her problems and depression and how she faded...
That's actually quite strange how he describes no name model as much more sexy than Marilyn herself.

Book contains mostly photos of young Marilyn.

Probably all her future was written in lines on her hand.

Must - have for all fans!

She was very a beautiful and talented woman. I don't believe she has ever used plastic surgery to improve her beauty. 

...now, about this swimming suit...
My boyfriend and my friend think it is absolutely unacceptable to wear this kind of design nowadays because the shape is too 'granny style'.
I would definitively buy it and use it. 
It's very sexy. But maybe I just lost sense of reality...?
However I wouldn't buy original one because it's too much underwear kind and unfortunately I haven't met any nice reproductions yet.