Rabbit in the Moon.

 "Kung Hei Fat Choi" . So it’s officially the Chinese New Year of the Rabbit. Time for a New Year and a perfect excuse for treating oneself to new pair of heels or a bold hair cut  to symbolise a fresh start.

Chinese New Year in London is one of the most spectacular in the West and every year the celebrations get more extravagant, attracting an ever-expanding crowd. In London, events took place in China Town and Trafalgar Square with both areas taken over by stalls, marquees, dragon and lion dances, traditional and contemporary music, with impromptu parties popping up. 

'Rabbit in the Moon’ might be a funny expression but its is linked to the tale of the jade rabbit or the moon rabbit who is the companion of the Moon Goddess and who never grows old and thus is a symbol of longevity.

The Legend recounts the tale when three fairy sages transformed themselves into pitiful old men and begged for something to eat from a fox, a monkey and a rabbit. The fox and the monkey both gave food, but the rabbit, empty handed, offered himself instead, jumping into a blazing fire to roast himself. The sages were so touched by the rabbit’s sacrifice that they let him live in the Moon Palace where he became the jade rabbit.

Famous fictional rabbits in our lives:
The White Rabbit - The timekeeper in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland
Bugs Bunny – Cartoon’s cheekiest carrot eating rabbit. 
Velveteen Rabbit – Inspiring story of a little stuffed rabbit with similarities to Toy Story.
Watership Down – Surivial story of Fiver and Co with the tear jerking sound track of Art Garfunkel's 'Bright Eyes'.
Duracell Rabbit – Marketing star of a battery company. I wished that I had its energy!  
Miffy, as illustrated. A true bunny icon so simply drawn.

Why do practical girls have short nails?

Whilst walking into work today, I began to lament over the pitiful state of my nails. No longer were they objects of manicured elegance coloured in vampish red, but boringly practical reduced to a barely there length.
The reason? After months of living in limbo land of ‘offer / exchange / completion’, I had finally moved into my bijou broom cupboard of a flat. Thus the weekend was spent in a constant state of lifting and shifting; packing and unpacking; followed by the ‘pottering’ i.e. moving things around in the flat. Then it was the list of things that needed to be fixed: the changing light bulbs, hanging up curtains, putting together furniture, you get the picture I was 'Miss DIY' but I was enfin chez moi. 

Momentary joy soon vanished, when I realised my nails were battered and looking very much worse for wear.  Damn how annoying it is that! The flat may be ready for Architectural Digest’s style section, but my nails definitely did not. Cue the emergency tool kit, no not the DIY nail and varnish I had been using but the manicure one.
Step 1:  Repair and restore with Talika’s Hand Ritual Repair Kit, intense moisturising regime. Somehow I could never persuaded myself to wear Talika’s weighty moisturising gloves overnight morphing my hands to resemble an alien’s. 
Step 2: Nailtiques Nail Protein Formula 1 and 2 formula, introduced years ago by my American friend Crystyl. 
Step 3: Add a bit of va-va-vroom with one of Essie’s fabulously named varnishes such as Sugar Daddy varnish or Fishnet Stockings varnish!
Step 4: Time to whip off the gloves to razzle and dazzle them. It's show time. 

Where have Angelina's tattoos gone?

‘The Boyfriend’ was dragged along to watch the latest RomCom with a twist The Tourist last night. The film ticked plenty of boxes. For me, there was cool funny Johnny Depp. For him, there was the super sexy Angelina Jolie with her bee-stung lips. The film simply oozed glamour out of every scene, as the characters dashed from Paris to Venice with jet set confidence.  Though there were plenty of things to watch out for, the racing of speed boats down around the lagoon; dark dealings of the Mafioso and a couple of ballroom and bedroom scenes; it suddenly occurred to me that there was something missing… Miss Jolie’s tattoos! I dare you, to spot one, because I couldn't , perhaps I was distracted by certain Mr Depp instead!

With a long standing love affair for tattoos which seem to last longer than her relationships, I have often wondered how Hollywood actresses such as Angelina Jolie are simply able to airbrush out their tattoos. Cue to use specialist corrective makeup such as Vichy’s Dermablend Corrective Foundation range and La Roche-Posay Toleriane Foundation range which can be used to cover up tattoos and birth marks alike.

So when you are about to meet the potential Mother in Law for tea (the anagram for ‘Hitler in Law’ to quote the witty David Tang), don’t wear a long sleeved top to cover those naughty tattoos, invest in some corrective makeup instead. Simple!

Our first lessons in beauty often come from our mothers. For me, it was my mother’s devotion to Elizabeth Arden’s Eight Hour Cream. This delicious gloopy golden fix all cream, has been used to as a lip gloss to fixing cuts. Unfortunately this product has become so expensive, I have to wait til I pass through duty free.

However there is an alternative. I first came across Boiron’s Homoeplasmine on the third shelf of a Parisian bathroom cupboard at a girlfriend’s flat. Apparently it is as common as Persil over there. Even the Wonderbra supermodel Eva Herizgova  in a recent interview with Vogue recommended it.

It sinks beautifully onto the lips and gives them a lovely sheen, which is suitable for the casual day wear look, so you can forget about needing to top up surreptitiously with gloss or lippie. It prevents my lips from feeling dehydrated and doubles up as a heal all balm – great on bruises, cuts and stings. One small tube has lasted me for simply ages and at a fraction of the price of a tube of 8 Hour Cream, it is a definite yes.