Le monde de Tokyobanhbao: Blog Mode gourmand

A tailor-made afternoon with Guerlain

Mon 28 Nov, 2016 · Beauty, Fashion, Food

Last wednesday, I had the privilege of visiting “le 68”, the legendary Guerlain store, located on the Champs-Elysées avenue, n°68. Maison Guerlain had on top of this organized a tailored program just for me … I couldn’t have asked for more…it’s like a pre-Christmas gift.

Indeed, when I arrived in front of the storefront, I saw it was Japan-oriented, to highlight an exhibition of Arita porcelain.

I’ve been walking pas this majestic store for years, but had never had an occasion to push the door and walk in.

I discovered a luxurious space, of course, but where everything is thought to make you feel at home, and add a bit of sparkle to your eye : it’s a shop, a museum, a spa but also a restaurant / tea room – a true tribute to the French way of life.

Arita x Guerlain exhibition

The exhibition is located on the 1st floor and is available to all until January 7th. Beautiful vases and finely-worked plates can be admired in this light-drenched space.

Lace or porcelain ?

I also discovered the collector edition of Mitsouko, reinterpreted by the Arita Porcelain Lab.

The Xmas “Arita x Guerlain” Mitsouko collector edition bottle

I found out that the bottle with the rising sun colors is a real lucky charm, thanks to its patterns, that hold a special and precise meaning.

The plum tree symbolizes life, the peony gets rid of bad vibes, the pauwlonia and chrysanthemum are respectively symbols of elegance and longevity. Sterling work, that I discover through the exposes works and videos.

The art of perfume

On the same floor, I take in the olfactory univers of Guerlain by way of the exhibition showcasing all this mythical bottles.

The Bees, The Turtle, the little black dress exclusive edition, Shalimar … a real curiosity cabinet dedicated to beauty and elegance, that I really enjoyed.

My perfume consultation

Then comes the time for my Perfume consultation : I’m invited into Guerlain’s private salon (generally reserved for VIP clients) in order to discover which Guerlain fragrance suits me best.

It is said that “Perfume is the color of the soul”, so I was pretty impatient to discover what mine was.

I sip tea and answer Ophélie’s questions as candidly as I can, who’s trying to determine my preferences : the approach is personal yet not inquisitive. The dialog is spontaneous; questions range from visual to a scent brochure, to daily life situations.

We’ve narrowed down the options, and Ophélie immediatly senses my aversion for heady/sugary/woody fragrances.

My world is pretty flowery, fresh but with a hint of character.

Drum roll please, my best match is “Cruel Gardenia”, with rose, neroli and gardenia : “a white flower, with a sunny glow” … I’m delighted to find that it really is my type of fragrance – and I’ve been enjoying my “sunny glow” ever since, hehe.

My personnalized bottle

My bottle with bees now needs to be personalized, and “Tokyobahnbao” is engraved on it in calligraphy.

I chose the white see-through version, with a simple burgundy colored ribbon, but there are 8 different bottle-colors and another type of “finish” (silk thread, simple, double, metallized …).

A little anecdote for the road: I got a pretty big bottle, only because “Tokyobanhbao” didn’t fit on one line across the traditional-sized bottle. Which is why the Maison Guerlain offered to give me the 1Liter bottle!

Since 2007, I’ve been thinking I should probably shorten and simplify my pseudonym … but I’ll have to admit that this time, it was quite to my advantage … I’ll be wearing Cruel Gardenia for the rest of my life! An early and wonderful Christmas I tell you!

Tea at 68 Guy Martin

Cherry on top, (or bottle cap on the Cruel Gardenia?) I also got to enjoy the tea room (that is also a restaurant at meal times), located at the -1 level of the shop.

Pineapple, passion fruit & lime cheesecake

Guy Martin, the Michelin-starred chef, is in charge. He reinterprets Guerlain in his dishes. I’ll be back for a savory meal – the sweet teatime was already a lovely suprise.

The discretion of my personnalized bottle !

Rocher coco noisette

I loved the coco-hazelnut rock, crunchy and soft at the same time, just how I like them.

With a Paris-Caprice infusion (rooibos, rose petals, marigold, bergamot and violet), my tastebuds are delighted, and I can’t stop admiring my perfume bottle (I almost took it to bed with me when I got home).

PS: A huge thank you to the Maison Guerlain, Marie-Eve (Clic! Clic!), Gonzague (Tac! Tac!) and Ophélie (Psshit! Psshit!) for making this such a memorable time. This afternoon was really custom made for me.

Japan, exhibition, discoveries and yummy things : an ideal theme that I love. Ah … when Guerlain rhymes with Magician … (English translation by Marine)

((This post was published in collaboration with La maison Guerlain)

Everglades & beaches in Florida

Fri 25 Nov, 2016 · Fashion, Food, Travel

After Miami, here is finally the second stop of our USA road trip ! Well… 2nd and 3rd steps that I combined 2 days wandering in america in the same post.

After renting the car in Miami, we drove to Naples (in Florida… not Italy !) then we headed up to St Petersburg (in Florida… not Russia!) and Tampa.

To check the way, you can go back to the map I drawn here to not be completely geographically lost.

The Everglades

To get to Naples, we had the choice between two solutions: Highway 75 or the classic US41. We decided to choose the 2nd option as it was more interesting to admire the wild coast of the Everglades.

Indeed, along this Tamiami trail (=other name of the 41 road), it’s possible to stop in order to enjoy a tour of airboat and to discover the indian villages as well as the local wildlife.

Someone recommended us to pass by the Loop road, a wilder alternative of the 71 road but considering our vehicle not really appropriate for off-road path, I was a bit worried to end up sank into the mud as a snack for surrounding alligators. Therefore we stayed on the initial road.

Especially as the weather was very menacing and during our airboat tour we even had to take shelter during a hour to avoid the torrential rain. Here are some pictures of our short ride.

The feeling on the airboat was amazing (we had that feeling of flying on top of the water) and seeing alligators from so close in their natural environment was more than impressive.

Thankfully we had a guide as I’m not sure I would have risked to get so close without any surveillance (the “Look of the day” picture with a surprise friend is collector).

Naples

Naples is located about 2:30 hours away from Miami if you take the 71 road and if you do not stop by the Everglades.

As touristic activities, it’s possible to visit the botanical garden or Tin City, an old manufacture for fishermen transformed into a small commercial area.

Even though the place is mainly composed of small shops to buy kitsch souvenirs and restaurants a bit too touristic, it’s fun to discover the area.

Despite everything, I enjoyed having lunch at Pinchers (Tin City Shops, 1200 5th Ave S) , a restaurant chain specialised in seafood.

Crab rangoon

Soft shell crab sandwich

The staff was very welcoming and our plates satisfied my desire of crab cooked in all kind of sauces.

Naples beach Pier

Do not try to find any cultural or architectural sightseeing here, this seaside resort is mainly known for its beach, pier and TV show sunsets .

Good to swim and get some rest… which is already a good start…

Fort Myers

On our way to St Petersburg and Tampa, we stopped by Fort Myers in order to enjoy the beach a few hours.

The positive side of not traveling during holiday season allowed us to discover a beach surprisingly calm. Here again, the main interest is doing nothing while admiring the surrounding rainbow and/or blue-tone colours.

As I wrote in my first post, we didn’t find any major interest neither in Tampa nor in St Petersburg which explain the absence of pictures but I guess it depends on everyone tastes (to note: there is a Dali Museum in St Petersburg).

Musée Dali à St Petersburg

After this episode with a bit of everything, the next destination might interest the friends of the mouse with a high voice as it may be… Disneyworld in Orlando ! hehe ! Be patient ! (English translation by Quiterie)

My Outfit

Necklace ASOS
Sunnies Chloé
Vintage Tshirt Vestiaire des Hommes
Patch MadHatterPlushies (alrady seen here)
Mom jeans Only
Sneakers Superga
Bracelets Dinh Van, Mya Bay, Louis Vuitton
Ring Papyrus Atelier B
Watch Cluse (already seen here)

New eyelashes

Mon 21 Nov, 2016 · Beauty, Fashion

In this end-of-year period, I let myself enjoying new experimentations whether in culture or beauty.

The latest one is eyelash extensions ! I indeed accepted the invitation from the “Les cils de Marie” institute to fulfill a long-standing desire that my Asian genes prevented to achieve so far.

Indeed, Mother Nature gave me thin and straight eyelashes: a total antithesis compared to Audrey Hepburn’s ones, pin-up look expression and blinking had never been part of my secret weapons of seduction.

It’s actually pretty rare that a mascara succeed to improve them. Therefore I decided to forget about having long curvy eyelashes years ago and instead use eyeliner to compensate this lack of lash volume.

… for a new life ?

So last Wednesday, I spent 2:30 hours (instead of 2h usually: I must have given then some hard time!) to get these “Russian volume” extensions and since then, I’ve been rediscovering my look expression and the way to do my make up.

I’m quite impressed by the result and more especially as I put on hold my eyeliner.

Now, we’ll have to see how it will evolve in the long term (apparently it requires some fill up every 4-5 weeks, to brush the eyelashes every morning, to not rub the eyes and be careful with the products used for make up and potential make-up removal): I will anyway keep you updated.

Do not hesitate to ask all your questions about this topic in the comment box: I deliberately didn’t give too much details to not overload this post, but my new eyelashes are listening.

I also let you with the pictures of my look this week-end during which, a shaggy coat wasn’t too much! Have a great week! (English translation by Quiterie)