E. By The Seine

E. By The Seine by elbonner featuring a leather messenger bag

Now, I know this blog is very beach-themed at the moment due to my impending Brady Bunch inspired Hawaiian adventure, I can't forget that my ass is going to PARIS this summer!! It will only be for a day or two, but it's been one of my dreams to go to the city of light/love/Nutella crepes/amazing drugstore skincare! Now, my only problem with Paris is that I feel I'm not really cool enough to go there. I don't want to give off the "white tennis shoe wearing, I don't speak a lick of French so I'm going to yell everything in English very slowly at you" feel, so I've been looking for some cute stuff that won't force me to go broke. I can thank Zara for the collage above. They have a bunch of Euro-chic pieces that will keep me looking like a country bumkin or a member of the Griswold family without making me poor.

 Paris in July is warm, but not ungodly hot like it is where I live. I think I will stick to flowly dresses, tops, and shorts so I can look cute, but not sweat all over anything. I also have a limited shoe window because I can't wear anything with a heel if I'm going to walk in them, so I'll have to stick with supportive flats and sandals. French women are always so effortlessly good-looking, I'm convinced it's a lie and worry about back sweat as much as I do, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. All I know is that I'm excited and ready to load up on some Bioderma and macarons. Au revoir tout le monde!

All Pieces- ZARA

Sun Care Wants: The Most Illusive Sunscreens Ever

Sun Care Wants by elbonner on Polyvore

I know I JUST posted something about vacations, but this really has little todo with that. After an unexpected trip to a French pharmacie in Saint Martin last summer, I was introduced to the wonderful and fabulous world of French sun care brands. Since I was dragging my boyfriend with me I didn't have the chance to look at every bottle in this tiny store, but it was seriously like I had died and gone to heaven. It had every product you could imagine and I even found a whole display devoted to the ever illusive Hei Poa sun care brand. I bought a bottle of monoi sunscreen, brought it home and cracked the bottle after dropping it on my tile floor. I saved as much as I could, but it was no use. I haven't been able to find any of the beautiful products I saw in that pharmacie and I'm asking the gods of the internet to help me find ways to have these products shipped to the US.

Soleil des Iles is a french brand that utilizes monoi (they all do) and I have barely seen an internet presence at all except another American begging French people on a message board to buy some and ship it to him. I want to try it SO BAD, but all I can find is the French online store that I can only translate so much with my high school French vocabulary.

Polysianes is one of the products I saw in the shop in Saint Martin that I kick myself daily for not picking up. Another monoi-based product that is very hard to find online and when I do it's always in Euros and way too expensive to ship.

Hei Poa is a little easier to find; their monoi is easily available on Amazon. Their sunscreen is another story; it's incredibly hard to find a US supplier and it makes me so sad because this stuff is an island in a bottle. It doesn't break me out and I never got burnt when I wore it.

IF ANYONE READING THIS KNOWS WHERE THIS STUFF IS PLEASE LET ME KNOW. I'm dead serious, I want to try this stuff so badly without having to travel to France to do so. Thanks a lot internets, all I can do now is sit back and wait.

My Hair Idol: Brigitte Bardot

For the past decade I have been calling the woman above my ultimate hair idol. Brigitte Bardot's hair is everything I want mine to be: big, super blonde, messy, long, and super voluminous. I've got the blonde part down, but having thin hair makes achieving her signature look difficult without the help of many hairsprays and root lifters. Luckily, I have found something that really gets my hair close to Bardot status and that's Bumble and Bumbles Surf Spray. I know I've talked about it before in my hair care post,but for real this stuff is awesome. It's gotten to the point where I would spend my money on this instead or eat or get my oil changed. You're more likely to get help at the side of the road when you car breaks down when you have amazing hair. I've spent years trying to perfect her look and have come close on occasions, but I have discovered that the less I try to make it look like hers, the closer I get. I usually have hair like when waking up after a long night of dancing where I'm slightly nauseous and face down in my own drool. It's mornings like these where I don't want to see a soul where I have the greatest hair of all time. One day I'll venture forth after a wild night all big, messy-haired and fabulous, just don't expect me to take off my sunglasses all day.

My Hair Idol: Brigitte Bardot by elbonner on Polyvore

Give Me Your Life, Damnit: Caroline De Maigret

Caroline De Maigret by elbonner on Polyvore

Caroline De Maigret is like the Francoise Hardy of today. She's into rock'n'roll, she has bangs, she wears cool clothes and she's French as all hell. I love her style because she can be slouchy, but sophisticated and dressed up but not ridiculous looking. Her go-to outfit is just perfectly fitting jeans, a t-shirt and a great jacket. I really wish I had more jackets, they really tie outfits together and give you more pockets to put snacks in! She has perfectly messy hair and just oozes cafe au lait and baguettes. She's on instagram so you can follow her @carodemaigret and lust after her Frenchness and leather jackets. Ugh c'est la vie absolument!!

People I Would Have Stalked In A Past Life: Francoise Hardy

Francoise Hardy by elbonner featuring nars cosmetics

Staying with the whole French thing, I disclose one of my most treasured style icons. Francoise Hardy is pretty much the coolest person ever; I love her music and her style and she just exudes cool. I strive to look as fabulous is t-shirts and jeans as she did, but I continue to fail! Francoise whole appeal was effortlessly chic, something the French do very well. There's something about spending your days eating great food, looking cool, and having no expectations of being nice to people that appeals to me. And how they do that with all that cheese and wine I have no idea. Most cheese and wine encounters I have usually end up somewhere on or around the toilet, so maybe that's why they're all so thin. That's it, I've solved the mystery! You really can't go wrong with a loose blouse, jeans, leather jacket, and ankle boots. It always looks good, and since most of these items are really in this season you can find them allover the place at reasonable prices. Finish off your look with a liquid liner cat-eye and you're good to go. Just don't be like me and mess up a thousand times with practically immovable black liquid liner residue, smudged all over my face resulting in everyone asking you later that night if I've been domestically abused.

I Want To Go Somewhere: Paris Edition

Fall In Paris by elbonner featuring alexander mcqueen

I didn't take eight years of high school and university level French so that I could tell people what color shirt their wearing and how to get to the bank. I took it so that one day I could run away to Paris, eat macarons, buy fancy shoes, and get wasted in one of those underground nightclubs that looks like a wine cellar/rape dungeon. The travel bug has crawled into my ear and laid eggs in my brain, like millions of them, and I'm about to explode with a sudden need for a far away vacation. I want to wear this outfit, in Paris, drinking cafe au lait at some place where people who think they are writers go. I already have a pretty well developed bitch face so I think I might fit in well in Paris. This is the first time in my life I've had the option of taking a winter/fall vacation that wouldn't make me fail some sort of class and I really want to take advantage of it! I don't think I'll end up going any time soon, but I can still pretend by wearing an outfit like this in the international section at the grocery store! Until next time, a bientôt!