on an adventure...

"you dress like you are on an adventure.".... one of the best compliments i have ever gotten (from a the sweetest guy working in a boutique in phnom penh, cambodia)

hunting for handmade jewelry and traditional clothing, with my beautiful soul-sister shay lee nissim (who took this picture of me, in our office-of-the-day in vang vieng, laos) has been so excitingly adventurous! not only for the artisan treasures we find, but also for the beauties we meet, and the endless maket-scenes that i can't seem to get enough of.... and take pictures of (more of those are coming sooooon)

heart racing....

luang prabang was the place.... the place, where my jewelry-loving heart was beating like craaaazy....... and check out the headwear!

january 2015, luang prabang, laos... photo by shay lee nissim

cheshire.... love at first sight

it's my weakness..... jewelry. or strength... however you look at it. (and shoes ...but that's another story)

 

over the weekend i did a little shopping in my hood. i walked into the rising states and after browsing through the clothe racks (i have trained myself to not check out the jewelry first... i would never buy clothes) i had a look in the glass case and saw a bunch of coooool-ass pieces, and had the lovely sales girl michelle  (...we bonded quickly) pull a couple out. but these farris earrings were love at first sight.... so perfectly random... and minimal... and unique...... and i immediately didn't care about anything else in the store or how much they cost......

 

you can find them (in silver) here.


and thanks michelle for this lovely instagram......



oh yeah! and "i got baaangs!" (little legally-blonde-moment.....). well.... i cut them myself over the bathroom sink... with kitchen scissors..... et voilà.

visiting steve...

 just read looked at the pictures on into the gloss, the power of piercings....

it reminded me of when i got my last piercing (by a veeery sweet guy named steve, at pure body arts) a couple of weeks ago. funny thing... piercings. after each piercing i get i think "how stupid do you have to be, to have someone jam a needle through (in this case) my lip!?" i (in some respect) do understand the "body-mutilation" my parents throw at me... but(!) actually it is just another way of decoration. and isn't that what all this make-up... nail-art... clothes... and shoes is about? (yeah! i definitely have hade more painful moments with some heels (that will stay anonymous...) than with piercings. ladies, can i get an amen?)

 

anyway, just like (a couple of months ago) when i paid maike a visit, i did my makeup to feel like the bad-ass that i am pretend to be.

 

this make-up look was kind-of the precursor of the one i did here.

 

 

whatever your decoration-of-choice might be... have fun with it!

5 dollar happiness

so here is finally a picture of my new hair color. i know you have been dying to see it ....unless of course, you follow me on instagram, in which case you can call me out on being totally behind on my posts. and i know, super-professional-blogger style instagram-selfie.... but it kind of goes with my super-professional-die-job... in my bathroom with hair-die for $5.29. yes ladies fiiive dollars. i used ion color brilliance brights semi-permanent hair color. 

...not too shabby, hu? it was more or less spontaneous. i did my roots first and then the ends to get a subtle baby-ombre. ok i did have to scrub the entire bathtub after wards (which was kinda suuuper annoying), because it looked like a certain scene... from a certain movie... called psycho.
 

anyway, i love it. so there. not that easy to find thaaat much happiness... with only 5 bucks. 
well, 5 bagels are pretty awesome… or a matcha green tea latte from doughnut plant (yes, i aaam able to go in and not(!) buy a doughnut. sounds like no big deal? i dare you to try it.)… and of course a guaco taco form brooklyn taco.  
yes yes, those are 5 dollars well spent.

in the picture you can see my friend emerald and i, freezing our butts off. 

i am wearing escada sunglasses and a self-knit scarf.

my big ring is from my special jewelry-lady ching, the spike (my favorite) is lady grey (from the helmut lang store) and the green one is a flea-market- find.

 

what do you spend 5 dollars/euros/punds on, that makes you really happy? because lets not forget my (and therefor (in my mind) also yours. jk.) new years resolution! to smile more!

say hello to my left hand

 the funnest part about jewelry (to me anyway) is finding random pieces that tell stories… 

(from left to right)

vintage silver ring, from this crazy flea-market-house, in munich, that i went to with my parents before it was torn down to build an aldi (a discount grocery store)

gifted from my mom santa mouse (my sis has the same one in pink)

  vintage gold and rose gold double-ring gifted from my dear friend, christa

coral and turquoise ...my two favorite stones. i bought this queen-of-boho-rings from my super-special-jewelry-lady ching (who i most recently bought this pendant from)

isabel marant ring i bought in a random boutique in berlin. it reminds me of the crazy-fun times i had opening berlin fashion week (with my former company)

cos ring that was part of a set my friend bought. but like it usually happens with sets…. there was one she didn't like. (scooore!)

……..no, i don't take these rings off at night ….a faq.

and now the nails….
i really think this color is my all-time-favorite. it is one of the very few nail polish bottles i actually finished.  because of all my rings i don't really wear colorful nail polish ….even though i love it. i go for non-blacks like essie, wicked or nudes like opi, hopelessly in love. aaaanyway this is the perfect navy-purple-non-black…. opi, russian navy. and to add some extra bad-ass-ness i also used a matte top coat. 

buddha….. love at first sight

i already introduced ching to you (yes, i finally asked her what her name was) the lovely lady i buy my jewelry from.

the last piece i bought is a tiger's eye buddha pendant, set in silver. and this is what ching told me about it….. the tiger's eye has protective powers (i have always loved this stone ....being a crazy-cat-lady… and a leo... and it makes me think of "eye of the tiger" from rocky (you know… the boxing movie… i can't help it… i love me some rocky) and my tiger's eye bracelet had recently broken…) the smiling buddha is supposed to remind me to be kind to myself (something we should all remind ourselves of… no?) and on the back… is a butterfly (sorry, mom...), engraved in the silver… telling me that something beautiful will come (also always a good thing to be reminded of...). 

she tied the pendant on a thick black sting and said: "something more tribal for you. you are part of my tribe now." now there really(!) is nothing wrong with belonging to a tribe. especially in new york….. jk. when i hung him around my neck ching waved him good-by and told me that she sold him to me because she knew that i would take good care of him. …she is the sweetest!

sorry for the (totally unprofesh) selfie but i was on my way to have my nails done and i think this (escada sport printed coat… levi's flannel shirt… calvin klein jeans white tee) is the perfect look for my little buddha.

the hottest thing...

this bracelet is the hottest thing i have ever seen... and that is how it make me feel when i wear it. the power a couple of chains and leather can have……. but, just look at it!

the designer is bliss lau.

i wear it with eeeverything… from my skunk anansie (/the black keys) concert t-shirt to a printed silk maxi dress. there is nothing it doesn't go with… well, except sleeves, of course. thanx, winter! noooot.

seen on instagram @madeau

having dinner at wo hop in chinatown, photos by max höll

(and look, freddie was there, too)

these two bad-ass rings… love at first sight

unfortunately only one of these babies is mine… the bottom one (that has been called the devil) (has been mistaken for a piercing(!), more than once) (no, i don't take it off to sleep) i bought a while ago, at the helmut lang store, in london. the brand is lady grey... they ooooonly have sick jewelry!

i haaad to have it! 

the top one is my friends…. and she won't give it to me…….

my-asian-jewelry-lady (i really need to ask her for her name)…. love at first sight

i randomly walked into her store last August. it was the kind of store that i have passed a million times but never noticed. on this beautiful day i did. the window, full of jewelry, grabbed me. in the store i immediately knew that i wouldn't be able to decide between all of the gorgeous pieces. 

the lady behind the counter asks me "what do you need?" me: "maybe a ring... i just lost two of my rings during a visit at rockaway beach……." she looks at me and says "you have to organize yourself" (it was one of these days that i would leave my wallet, sunglasses, keys… all tangled in my headphone cable… in random places. not in random places in my room (everything is looks like it is in random places there...), but in public places…..) and i laugh and answered "very true." and i understood what she meant with "what do you need". i told her about how i just moved here and bla bla bla. she hands me a bracelet with jade beads. the jade should keep me healthy, safe and give me calmness, to put life into perspective and help me prioritize. she says all these things (that unfortunately I can't entirely recall…) but it is like she is looking inside of me. sounds silly i know… 

but then, she did the same with my friend, who i was in the store with. we were both totally perplexed. but whatever i say / write about her…. it just can't do her justice…….. how accurate she is with reading people... and how lovely she is... and kind... and funny

so you might think... that i am totally crazy… or that i am naive and she just wants my money. but it is not about religion, or fortune telling, or stuff like that. it is about finding someone (or something… even if it is just a gorgeous piece of jewelry) that/who makes you feel good (or better, when you are having a rough day) .....and if it involves enhancing my jewelry collection… even better! (it's cheaper than buying shoes.... or certain sunglasses 

picture of "my-asian-jewelry-lady" taken in new york, by madeau 

freddie.... love at first sight

i met this little guy on hester street fair. a cute little street fair, that is unfortunately, conveniently located waaaay to close to my home. i am crazy about jewelry and stopped at the arms and armory stand, to try on some of their gorgeous rings... turns out there was not any more room on my fingers. when i was about to carry on, this cute little beetle caught my eye. it was love at first sight. after trying him on, he instantly became friends with my jurassic park-necklace (a little bug caught in a piece of amber, my dad gave my mom waaaaay back when). i named the gunmetal beetle, freddie. he got a coveted spot in my basic-jewelry-set. the kind of jewelry i really ooonly take off for yoga 

closer.....

the inspiration: natalie portman in closer... total girl crush!
the look: effortlessly beautiful (well being born with her face definitely helps...) one specific look has been a source of inspiration, i have interpreted a looot. in the final sequence.... she is in a white tank and jeans.... dangly earrings..... she is walking through a crowd of people...  in the streets of new york.... in slow motion.... damien rice's, the blower's daughter is playing (in love with this song ever since)..... she looks very natural, but still she is turning the heads of her bypasses.

skin: tinted moisturizer, a tiny bit of blush (latterly, just whatever is left on the brush from previous use)

eyes: tones of mat and shiny brows... very blended, light shimmer on inner corners of the eye and in the centre of the top lid, the darkest matt brown along the upper lash line, with an eye liner brush, a bit of mascara only on tips of outer lashes... and bottom lashes, a delicate line of green liquid liner on bottom inner corners

brows: only filling in the gaps with a very light brown

lips: lip tint in pretty much the natural color of lips... just for definition

hair: messy up-do