American Food

February 6, 2010February 14, 2010

Food is America is more a utility than an art, and when the Americans try to go fancy gourmet style, it is a bit of a shock culture for a Frenchie:

(mouse over the images to see the French interpretation)

The Cupcake is to American what Macaron is to French:

Warning: not kosher ! chocolate spotted at WholeFoods, the flavor : BACON !!

Cheese in a spray can – Only in America !

Design

It seems that the iPad got a lot of hate when announced last week, but my bet is, as usual, all the haters gonna love it . Keep in mind that it will be shipped in less than 60 days, hopefully when the iPhone OS 4.0 will be released, as there is an event scheduled in march for the iPhone developers.

There is (or will be) a camera
You can use as a phone ( See screenshots from the beta sdk below)
It is the perfect tool if you are designer and or you have visual job to DISPLAY your work( it will replace your portfolio, your reel if you do videos, etc…)

So stop the hate & get on it …

Here is below some screenshot form the iPad simulator in the iPhone SDK and some link of vector files to get your iPad mockup game on:

return to call on iPad — Return to Call simulation on iPad

From the extremely talented Cocoia, here are the psd file of the iPad icon template:

A very useful for mockups but baaad quality for design in PROD is the tehan+lax Photoshop file:

You can also get the Illustrator CS2 & CS4, Photoshop and PNG files all in one file here. ( Source: 3rd floor lab )

Design

Flashlights

January 20, 2010February 22, 2011

My first post for 2010 is a quick one on Neon & Typography

Every Word Unmade by Fionna Banner (2007)

rubbish- stefanbruggemann — Rubbish by Stephan Bruggemann

Yann Serandour - I will not make anymore boring art (2005)

google neon — and now Google it for more neon images

Me via this isn't happiness — me (via this isn't happiness)

Fashion

All Leopard everything

December 13, 2009October 22, 2010

I have this thing for Leopard print, I always have a piece of clothes or accessory with this fierce Animal Print< so when I looked at this winter collection, I was so happy that the leopard coat was back in trend.

@ Isabelle Marant:

@ Christian Dior Resort collection 2010:

On a more realistically affordable note , there is this Zara coat

Or on Etsy or ebay you can find some niece and cheap pieces:

And here is below an expert of my personal collection of leopard items…

[nggallery id=6]

Featured

It takes two to tango

November 29, 2009October 21, 2010

They look even better together:

[nggallery id=3]

Fashion

Paris shopping

November 28, 2009October 27, 2010

As I have a NY girlfriend traveling to Paris for the 1st time, I made her a list for a cheap shopping in Paris (at least the cheapest possible as we, Dollars earners, can really afford anything overseas right now). So here is my ideal shopping list from Paris with the addresses on a Google map on where to find it at the end of the post:

1. BEAUTY / PHARMACY

CREALINE H2O BIODERMA – Best Skin Cleanser, make-up remover – 9 Euros
MONOI HEI POA – Pure Monoi Oil form Tahiti – 10 Euros
LIERAC “APAISANCE” Anti-Aging Cream for sensitive skins (Great for winter) – 30 Euros
VICHY DEODORANT 48 Hours – Spray deodorant no perfume my favorite – 7 Euros

Note : when in Paris got to the Pharmacy City Pharma, they have the cheapest prices and great selection.

2. SUPERMARKET

DEMAK’UP – Extremely softs cotton pads, I am addicted to them – 1.50 Euros
NAIR CIRE DIVINE au Monoi – Microwave Wax comes in 2 flavors Berries or Monoi – 6 Euros
CHOCOLAT COEUR DE NOUGAT – Run straight to the chocolate alley, it’s heaven – around 2 Euros
FOIS GRAS – It’s French tradition for the holidays, and you can get them through US customs (just make sure it is NOT refrigerated ) – 10 Euros

You can buy all this and much more at Monoprix ( it is could be an equivalent of Duane Reade in NYC plus they have clothes too ! )

3. LINGERIE

DARJEELING – Black Sheer panty with stones – 15 Euros
PRINCESSE TAM-TAM – Polka dots bra & thong – 39 Euros & 25 Euros
ETAM – Natalia collection, Garter Belt – 25 Euros
MONOPRIX – Deep Navy Bra & frou-fou panty – 20 Euros & 10 Euros

Below is a quick set done on Polyvore with some Parisian shopping, all below 100 euros or almost…

Some affordable shopping in Paris by Madame Lolo on Polyvore.com

Items in this set: Fur & Gold Boots | San Marina, 149 EUR Metallic Bracelet | Pimkie, 5.95 EUR Little Black dress | Pimkie, 20 EUR Crealine H2O Face and Eyes Cleanser, 9 EUR Neo Disco Gold & Black Sandals | André 99 EUR

And here is below, a quick maps of the Parisian Shopping with New Yorker’s stores references:

View Madame Lolo In Paris in a larger map

Design

F… WORDS

November 28, 2009February 20, 2010

All thanks to FFFFOUND!

Design

Inspiration

November 15, 2009October 28, 2010

Yesterday I went to the Anthropologie store on 5th Ave & 16th street and they had the Xmas decoration full on already:

Here is a close up, it is made out of paper cups stick together, and reminded me strongly of a great artist I have seen for the first time at the Met a couple years ago…

Close up at the wall decoration @ Anthropolgy

…Tara Donovan she makes beautiful ‟sculptures” like this one out of thousands of styrofoam cups and hot glue

Untitled, 2003 Styrofoam Cups, Hot Glue Dimensions Variable Ace Gallery Los Angeles, 2005

Close up

In the same spirit I like a photographer named Chris Jordan and his series of mass consumption :

even closer chris Jordan Mont Fiji — Even closer

Design

MoMA with PoPa

November 12, 2009October 21, 2010

Yesterday I went to my favorite museum in NYC, the Moma with my Popa who was visiting me here for the first time. Here are some snapshots taken with my iPhone with the effect of the polarize App, and written on the WordPress App for the iPhone as well.

Apps used for this post : the Polaroid effect is done with Polarize (free App) WordPress (free as well) . Enjoy !

I can’t wait for the Tim Burton Exhibition next week !!

Design

Graffiti New York City

November 5, 2009November 29, 2010

I have always had admiration for graffiti artists, especially for the lettering and typography style more than the cartoon & drawing type.

There is an amazing exhibition at the Cartier Fondation in Paris based on the work of Evan Roth (check his website he always have great art project going on)

I have several shots of graffiti pictures in NYC below :

[nggallery id=4]

some others taken with my phone below :

: Wise

: Skull

: Door on 7th

: Street Light

And finally, some others on my Flickr page:

Update: How could I do a post about graffiti in NYC and not mention Faust ??? My bad, he is amazing, here is below his season greetings and a link to his site, check him out !

Fashion

Make me up before you go-go

October 28, 2009February 25, 2011

LOOK CREATED BY M.A.C ARTIST: KARIN STONE

STEP BY STEP …

1. Start out on your clean face. Lightly buff a thin layer of Luna Cream Colour Base all over your skin with a #187 brush. Set it with Gesso eye shadow and a #116 brush – pressing the eye shadow in rather than buffing it.

2. Using Blacktrack Fluid Line and a #266 brush – paint in your eyeliner and brows – don’t be afraid to experiment with painting an expression on.

3. Sculpt your cheek bones with a bit of Concrete or Omega Eye Shadow and paint your lips a daring red.

4. Finally, find a chopstick or something in your house with a small round shape that you can use as a stamp. Scrape some Passionate Eye Shadow onto a small kitchen plate. Mix some Fix+ into the scraped shadow – make it not too watery and then dip your stamping tool into it and go to town with your dots.

There is also other step by step Halloween make up inspiration, avalaible here (Just change the number at the end of the url to have acess to all the pdf , ex :…./looks/print/Halloween1.pdf, …/looks/print/Halloween2.pdf)

Featured

Smoking Cigarettes

October 19, 2009December 4, 2010

Some smoking shots of smokers smoking

[nggallery id=2]

Smoking Smokers by Peter Funch from Babel Tales

Featured

So Frenchy So Not Cheap

September 30, 2009October 28, 2010

Even though I have been living in NYC for a while now, and that here you can find anything at anytime , there are still some French stuff that I miss from La France , so every time I go back to Paris here is what I bring back:

1. BIODERMA CREALINE H2O : The best make-up remover and skin cleanser hands down !! All the make-up artists I know are using liters of it especially during Fashion week. It is around 10 Euros for the 500 ml in France, here forgetaboutit …. the cheapest I found were on ebay for $22 plus shipping

2. DEMAK’UP COTTON PADS: they are softer, bigger and stronger than any cotton pads here, and may I add sooo soft.

3. VICHY DEODORANT 48 HOURS: Because I am never gonna wear SECRET :), but the spray version is not available in the US, I don’t know why …

Secret 1983 ad

4. FRENCH CIGARETTES: They taste different, and duty free makes them so much cheaper than here in NYC ( at least $10 a pack…), and the European Marlboro Lights have a brown filters, not a white one like here in the States.

Yves Saint Laurent cigs so chic ...

5. MARIAGE FRERES TEA: Even though there is some places where you can find Marco Polo, I still miss some of the flavored tea only availble in France, such as ( irony) American Breakfast … Also I love their Tea Boxes:

So next time you come and visit me in NYC, you know what to bring ….. 🙂

Note: If you would like to know where to shop those items in Paris, and more on affordable shopping In France check this post.

Featured

911 ain’t a joke in this town

September 11, 2009February 6, 2010

Sunday september 9th, 2001

Today is has been 8 years, since the twin towers collapsed, I wasn’t in my favorite city when it happened, as I left the sunday evening before (9/09/01) , this the last picture I took from my stay in NYC this year on my way to the airport. We were gonna saty till this famous tuesday 9/11 but we couldn’t find anymore tickets to go to the Michael Jackson concert at Madison Square Garden for monday 9/10… I was in Paris that afternoon when it happens, and I felt so guilty for not being in NYC. So here I am , in my love town, on a cold & rainy day, 8 years later and still no memorial for the victims, and no more Michael Jackson…

So here are below some pictures of the Magical New York skyline:

Al Pacino and the Twins ( not the Olsen...)

Iconic Image of NYC and its skyscrapers (Peter Adams)

Empire State city, original picture by Peter Adams

Twin Towers in a rainy day like today + fashion week ny

NYC skyline by Michael Kenna

Before the Twin Towers NYC 1951

Downtown view - 1942

II Towers

Irony

Design

Gone Baby gone…

July 9, 2009October 21, 2010

Another downtown NY reference gone this week, after the DKNY mural now the Keith Haring wall on Houston and Bowery is over…

The mural was commissioned by Deitch in 1982 and the new mural will be designed by brazilian graffiti artists Os Gemeos, also courtesy of Deitch…

UPDATE : (also known as too lazy to do a new blog post)

now the mural has changed again just for the time of the big Shepard Fairey “May Day” exhibition at Deitch and I am guessing the Banksy film showing across the street at sunshine theater is a good promo as well. (MUST SEE MOVIE by the way)

And even if I like Shepard Fairey, I absolutely hate this mural, and my favorite part was this just right next to it:

Featured

Keep On Smoking, Don’t Stop…

June 19, 2009October 20, 2010

At $10 a pack my addiction is getting more costly than crystal Meth or Crack cocaine, but there is a an old school vibe to it that I like, and of course being French doesn’t help quitting… I smoke Marlboro Lights or Winston Lights (The Euro version, blue pack) and it’s funny how there is less difference in the taste between those 2 brands than between American Marlboro and European Marlboro , even the filter’s color is different, I wonder why ?

I have customized my trash can on my mac as a pack of cigarettes, here is the link to get the icons to download the city icons set and the the coffee shop set (in which you will find the “loosie” burning cigarette icon.

: Cigarette Icon

: Cigarettes socks by ashi dashi

: Vintage Lucky Strike Pin-up

Lolo Monroe

Also if you would like a lucky strike icon to custom your mac, you can find it here on the iconpaper site, a great selection of customs designs for your Mac, iPhone, etc…

Lucky Strike Icon (from iconpaper.org)

Featured

Stuff Tourists Like #2

June 14, 2009March 9, 2010

Another obsession for tourists in NYC, is getting the I ♥ NY tee-shirt, on Canal Street or Times Square. Only tourists get that shirt & wear it in New York on top of it…

There are so much cooler and nicer shirts out there:

Check this one form Reason a Store on 6th street between 2nd & 3rd Avenue:

Or this one very 2009 for $14.99

And below some cool creation based on Milton Glaser logo ffffound randomly on the web.

Featured

Quel temps de … shit

June 13, 2009November 16, 2009

I am so tired of the weather in New York, this winter was one of the longest, and June feels like October… so long week ends at the beach, flip flop tan marks, and roof parties , and welcome Sundays at the museum and movies.

Banksy‘s opening at the Bristol museum is tomorrow for my fellow Brits , Francis Bacon at The Metropolitan Museum, Valentino the Last Emperor Documentary, Yayoi Kusama at the Gagosian Gallery, and the pictures to illustrate this post are from Paul Graves.

: Banksy @ Bristol Museum

: Francis Bacon @ The Met

: Valentino the Last Emperor

: Yayoi Kusama @ Gagosian

: Fuck by Paul Graves

: Temps de Shit

Featured

How to smoke smarties

June 12, 2009October 28, 2009

If the price of cigarettes keeps rising, (and my savings shrinking…) I might switch from Malboro Light to Smarties Sugar Free Cigarettes.

Watch out my dear Europeans this is the American Smarties

not the Euro version below:

Les smarties de mon enfance

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQSJkJAIQdo[/youtube]

Featured

Meet Bruno, my uber-gay cousin from Austria

June 11, 2009November 5, 2009

It is a Cohen’s thing, we master the leopard print underwear 🙂

BRUNO New Trailer

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4LhZ1rmQV8[/youtube]

The previous Trailer

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc8AyIFLkhk[/youtube]

And for those who missed it…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7bxtmXddiU[/youtube]

Featured

Stuff tourists like

June 10, 2009October 21, 2010

Starting today, I will have on this blog a category of stuff that tourists like in NYC, and that we New York Fucking City resident do not give a shit about…

So today’s Stuff Tourists like is : ABERCROMBIE

I am always amazed how EVERY SINGLE friends that is visiting me from Europe, has to make a stop ( more like spend the whole afternoon…) at Abercrombie, even before the Apple Store… Honestly this stuff is a mystery, waiting in line to get into a store full of overpriced clothes that 99% of New Yorkers can’t even stand.

If you want to see real New Yorker topless ? this would be more likely:

: Image via Improv Everywhere

And instead of shopping at Abercrombie, try instead Urban Outfitters, or Forever 21.

Featured

The End of an Era.…

June 9, 2009October 19, 2010

The Famous DKNY wall is no longer a mark for tourists in despair, has been covered up. It was a great sign for lost tourists, and ready to shop girls like myself, to enter the Soho Mall

Here is what is looks like today:

Blank DKNY wall — Pic via Animal New York ( great NY by locals site )

for those who missed it

Featured

My Hairs in a Recession ??? Hell no !!

June 8, 2009March 8, 2010

With the summer coming (hopefully..soon) and the budget of the unemployed, I still need to rock the “because I am worth it !” hairs.

It no secret that the best hair mask from far is Kerastase Masquintense for dry hair (thicks or thins) it does magic !! But the cost to it ,,, unbearable especially nowadays.. the big jar (500ml) is $100 at Rickys, and around 80 Euros in France.

BUT you can find it on ebay for $ 50 that is only if you don’t speak French, or if your browser is not a Francophone. Let me show you the example in images:

Here is below the screen shot of ebay.com on Safari on my laptop ( French and English are installed in the main languages pack)

Kerastase search on ebay

the search for Kerastase returned 0 results !

Now on the same laptop with Firefox in which I removed the French Language in the preferences , same search for kerastase on ebay.com:

here you go , over 1,000 Kerastase products available and this demo is available for all L’Oreal products

Maybe je devrais finir ce post en francais, bref, pour obtenir du Kerastase a un prix raisonable il vous suffit d ‘utiliser un autre navigateur internet que celui de d’habitude , d’enlever le francais des langues installees du navigateur et commander votre stock pour l’été. Si vous avez des questions n’hésitez pas a me laisser un commentaire sur ce post je vous répondrai des que possible.

UPDATE: I had my kerastase jar in 4 days, with this great seller from the south of France for $45 , his name is hairgume.

Design

New Iphone today…

June 8, 2009June 10, 2009

I just watched the WWDC conference, and OK i Like the new Iphone 3GS but what really made it to me was the macbook pro at $1999, especially when mine just crashed, and had to run disk utility to reboot… and also it now OFFICIAL, AT&T SUCKS ! after the drop calls, the no 3G in nyc, the black spot ( no coverage at all) now, no MMS… Welcome to the American Carriers Land, they are all old, fat in the middle of nowhere and of course then are on Windows…

My dream for today :

My first post for 2010 is a quick one on Neon & Typography

@ Isabelle Marant:

@ Christian Dior Resort collection 2010:

On a more realistically affordable note , there is this Zara coat

Or on Etsy or ebay you can find some niece and cheap pieces:

And here is below an expert of my personal collection of leopard items…

They look even better together:

1. BEAUTY / PHARMACY

2. SUPERMARKET

3. LINGERIE

Below is a quick set done on Polyvore with some Parisian shopping, all below 100 euros or almost…

Items in this set: Fur & Gold Boots | San Marina, 149 EUR Metallic Bracelet | Pimkie, 5.95 EUR Little Black dress | Pimkie, 20 EUR Crealine H2O Face and Eyes Cleanser, 9 EUR Neo Disco Gold & Black Sandals | André 99 EUR

And here is below, a quick maps of the Parisian Shopping with New Yorker’s stores references:

All thanks to FFFFOUND!

Yesterday I went to the Anthropologie store on 5th Ave & 16th street and they had the Xmas decoration full on already:

In the same spirit I like a photographer named Chris Jordan and his series of mass consumption :

Yesterday I went to my favorite museum in NYC, the Moma with my Popa who was visiting me here for the first time. Here are some snapshots taken with my iPhone with the effect of the polarize App, and written on the WordPress App for the iPhone as well.

Apps used for this post : the Polaroid effect is done with Polarize (free App) WordPress (free as well) . Enjoy !

I can’t wait for the Tim Burton Exhibition next week !!

I have always had admiration for graffiti artists, especially for the lettering and typography style more than the cartoon & drawing type.

There is an amazing exhibition at the Cartier Fondation in Paris based on the work of Evan Roth (check his website he always have great art project going on)

I have several shots of graffiti pictures in NYC below :

some others taken with my phone below :

And finally, some others on my Flickr page:

LOOK CREATED BY M.A.C ARTIST: KARIN STONE

STEP BY STEP …

1. Start out on your clean face. Lightly buff a thin layer of Luna Cream Colour Base all over your skin with a #187 brush. Set it with Gesso eye shadow and a #116 brush – pressing the eye shadow in rather than buffing it.

2. Using Blacktrack Fluid Line and a #266 brush – paint in your eyeliner and brows – don’t be afraid to experiment with painting an expression on.

3. Sculpt your cheek bones with a bit of Concrete or Omega Eye Shadow and paint your lips a daring red.

Some smoking shots of smokers smoking

Even though I have been living in NYC for a while now, and that here you can find anything at anytime , there are still some French stuff that I miss from La France , so every time I go back to Paris here is what I bring back:

1. BIODERMA CREALINE H2O : The best make-up remover and skin cleanser hands down !! All the make-up artists I know are using liters of it especially during Fashion week. It is around 10 Euros for the 500 ml in France, here forgetaboutit …. the cheapest I found were on ebay for $22 plus shipping

2. DEMAK’UP COTTON PADS: they are softer, bigger and stronger than any cotton pads here, and may I add sooo soft.

3. VICHY DEODORANT 48 HOURS: Because I am never gonna wear SECRET :), but the spray version is not available in the US, I don’t know why …

Secret 1983 ad

4. FRENCH CIGARETTES: They taste different, and duty free makes them so much cheaper than here in NYC ( at least $10 a pack…), and the European Marlboro Lights have a brown filters, not a white one like here in the States. Yves Saint Laurent cigs so chic ...

5. MARIAGE FRERES TEA: Even though there is some places where you can find Marco Polo, I still miss some of the flavored tea only availble in France, such as ( irony) American Breakfast … Also I love their Tea Boxes:

Sunday september 9th, 2001

So here are below some pictures of the Magical New York skyline:

Another downtown NY reference gone this week, after the DKNY mural now the Keith Haring wall on Houston and Bowery is over…

The mural was commissioned by Deitch in 1982 and the new mural will be designed by brazilian graffiti artists Os Gemeos, also courtesy of Deitch…

UPDATE : (also known as too lazy to do a new blog post)

I have customized my trash can on my mac as a pack of cigarettes, here is the link to get the icons to download the city icons set and the the coffee shop set (in which you will find the “loosie” burning cigarette icon.

Lolo Monroe

Also if you would like a lucky strike icon to custom your mac, you can find it here on the iconpaper site, a great selection of customs designs for your Mac, iPhone, etc…

Another obsession for tourists in NYC, is getting the I ♥ NY tee-shirt, on Canal Street or Times Square. Only tourists get that shirt & wear it in New York on top of it…

There are so much cooler and nicer shirts out there:

Check this one form Reason a Store on 6th street between 2nd & 3rd Avenue:

Or this one very 2009 for $14.99

And below some cool creation based on Milton Glaser logo ffffound randomly on the web.

I am so tired of the weather in New York, this winter was one of the longest, and June feels like October… so long week ends at the beach, flip flop tan marks, and roof parties , and welcome Sundays at the museum and movies.

Banksy‘s opening at the Bristol museum is tomorrow for my fellow Brits , Francis Bacon at The Metropolitan Museum, Valentino the Last Emperor Documentary, Yayoi Kusama at the Gagosian Gallery, and the pictures to illustrate this post are from Paul Graves.

If the price of cigarettes keeps rising, (and my savings shrinking…) I might switch from Malboro Light to Smarties Sugar Free Cigarettes.

Watch out my dear Europeans this is the American Smarties

not the Euro version below:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQSJkJAIQdo[/youtube]

It is a Cohen’s thing, we master the leopard print underwear 🙂

BRUNO New Trailer

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4LhZ1rmQV8[/youtube]

The previous Trailer

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc8AyIFLkhk[/youtube]

And for those who missed it…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7bxtmXddiU[/youtube]

Starting today, I will have on this blog a category of stuff that tourists like in NYC, and that we New York Fucking City resident do not give a shit about…

So today’s Stuff Tourists like is : ABERCROMBIE

If you want to see real New Yorker topless ? this would be more likely:

And instead of shopping at Abercrombie, try instead Urban Outfitters, or Forever 21.

The Famous DKNY wall is no longer a mark for tourists in despair, has been covered up. It was a great sign for lost tourists, and ready to shop girls like myself, to enter the Soho Mall

Here is what is looks like today:

for those who missed it

With the summer coming (hopefully..soon) and the budget of the unemployed, I still need to rock the “because I am worth it !” hairs.

It no secret that the best hair mask from far is Kerastase Masquintense for dry hair (thicks or thins) it does magic !! But the cost to it ,,, unbearable especially nowadays.. the big jar (500ml) is $100 at Rickys, and around 80 Euros in France.

BUT you can find it on ebay for $ 50 that is only if you don’t speak French, or if your browser is not a Francophone. Let me show you the example in images:

Here is below the screen shot of ebay.com on Safari on my laptop ( French and English are installed in the main languages pack)

Kerastase search on ebay

Kerastase search on ebay

the search for Kerastase returned 0 results !

Now on the same laptop with Firefox in which I removed the French Language in the preferences , same search for kerastase on ebay.com:

here you go , over 1,000 Kerastase products available and this demo is available for all L’Oreal products

UPDATE: I had my kerastase jar in 4 days, with this great seller from the south of France for $45 , his name is hairgume.

4. FRENCH CIGARETTES: They taste different, and duty free makes them so much cheaper than here in NYC ( at least $10 a pack…), and the European Marlboro Lights have a brown filters, not a white one like here in the States.

Yves Saint Laurent cigs so chic ...