Vintage Treasures

Shabby chic, vintage decor, call it what you will but my house is filled with it - an eclectic mix of mostly French and English 'objets' that I've accumulated over the years and found a home for. They have been chosen for their style, colour, history, patina, and I never miss the chance to have a browse wherever I am, in the hope of finding some new treasure to squeeze on to a shelf.

L'Isle sur la Sorgue

Turns out the actor Richard E Grant and I share the same passion - who knew? Grant revealed his love of all things French and vintage on a recent TV programme entitled "Dirty Weekenders" where he revealed that he's been Channel hopping for the past 25 years indulging his "... insatiable desire for beaten up old stuff. Distressed furniture, rusty light fittings, nostalgic paraphernalia...''

Richard E Grant Photo: Radio Times

Oh Richard, I'm so on your wavelength. The programme showed him grubbing around in antique shops, flea markets and French Brocantes on the lookout for that small (or large) gem - see the old metal lantern above - to add to his collection of vintage 'stuff' back home, and I was pleased when he said that he's "always in search of something unusual and interesting rather than valuable." It's not about the value for me either, but about the connection, and the sheer joy of finding an object that will add something to my home decor.

Richard E Grant Photo: Radio Times

For my boys - both large and small, a trip to any flea market or Brocante is quite possibly the most tortuous thing on earth - "BO-RING!" is Rockboy's official verdict, with lots of nodding from English Gent. He just can't see what I see, and I have to negotiate hard to get my 'hour to scour'. But as Grant explained, it's the thrill of the chase that always keeps us coming back for more - and I have to admit I'd love to go off on the hunt with him, though I fear his scarf-wearing skills out-do mine - look how completely chic he looks, I'm loving his tricolore scarf above.

L'Isle sur la Sorgue

I'm rarely looking for something specific, far better to keep an open mind and see what's out there. From old soup tureens, to flower-patterned jugs to chipped church Madonnas, I know immediately I spot something whether it's got that 'je ne sais quoi' and whether, for the right price, it's coming home with me.

 Last Summer when we were visiting some friends in Roussillon in the South of France, I managed to persuade English Gent to accompany me to the town of L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue which is known as the Venice of France due to all the canals that criss-cross the town and is something of an Antique and Brocante mecca for those in the know. The town hosts regular antique fairs and flea markets, and there are also permanent antique 'villages' selling everything under the sun. Sadly, bargains are few and far to be seen these days - it's unfortunately too well known, so perhaps it's just as well that on the day we visited most of the vendors were closed, but I did get to see a staggering array of things that could have made a severe dent in my wallet if I'd been given half a chance! Grant also went there on his French treasure hunt so I felt pleased to have at least been in the right place, even if it wasn't exactly the right time.

L'Isle sur la Sorgue

Still, I hope to make a return journey this Summer and fingers crossed that this time the shops and markets will be open for business - I'll let you know what I find.

High-brow, low-brow

A good pair of brows will definitely take you places - and you need look no further than the glorious Audrey Hepburn to know that this is true. One of my style and beauty icons for many a long year, her brows are quite frankly, amazing, and mine, quite frankly aren't. Slowly but surely, with impressive stealth, my brows have been gradually getting thinner and sparser - a sure-fire sign that I'm on the slippery slope of, yup - the dreaded middle age...

Audrey Hepburn

To be fair, the left one has always been at a disadvantage, ever since I collided with the corner of a chair in a church vestry as a toddler, resulting in stitches and a scar that dissects my brow in two if you look very closely. But over the years I've been good - I've followed the rules - from Jackie through Cosmo to Vogue, taking care not to over-pluck, never removing hairs from above the brow line and ever hopeful that the odd professional shaping would somehow turn me into Brooke Shields, the Queen of the 80's Brow.

Brooke Shields Photo: vogue.com

My brow high-point (my high-brow?) came back in the mid-90's when a very glamorous film producer complimented me on my eyebrows at work. Coming from someone who was highly groomed compared with my 'just out the shower and ran for the Tube without looking' look, the fact that she thought my eyebrows were worth commenting on was astonishing - I think I swore then and there never to touch them again.  And so I hadn't really, until I started noticing the thinning thing and realised that as I was never going to look like Cara Delevingne there still had to be ways to boost my brows and give that illusion of fullness.  Plus, if I could knock a couple of years off as a result, at my age so much the better.

Cara Delevingne Photo: Imaxtree

Back in March, Benefit and Debenhams ran their annual Brow Arch March collaboration raising money for Look Good Feel Better - the only international cancer charity which focuses on problems associated with the visible side effects of cancer treatment. In conjunction with the annual fundraiser, Benefit's Lisa Potter-Dixon gave some great tips which you can read here, my favourite being that the colour of your eyebrow pencil should match the darkest colour of your hair at the back of your head. So regardless of whether your hair is your natural colour or not, your brow shade should literally go back to your roots. Secondly, when applying the pencil you should run it against the grain of your brow and then again in the right direction as this will help give the allusion of thicker brows.

Photo: Garance Doré

Obviously there are various ways to tackle the problem - pencils, fillers, gels, highlighters, temporary tints and permanent tattoos are all available - so I have been working out what looks best for me and what is simple to incorporate into my daily routine.  I alternate between a pencil - Sephora currently and my Bobbi Brown Eyebrow Kit, depending on how much time I have and how fully made up my look is. For evening I would definitely use the Bobbi Brown powder palette, but the truly genius product for brows I have to share with you is Benefit's "Gimme Brow".

Benefit Gimme Brow Photo: www.makeupandbeautyblog.com

I discovered this in Sephora by accident when I was drifting around and the make-up assistant at the Benefit counter offered me a brow tint to boost my thinning arches, (she could see I needed help...) and when she applied the 'Gimme Brow' gel - it was quite simply a revelation. It is a volumizing brush on fiber gel that is buildable, waterproof, incredibly long wearing and most importantly natural looking, with a precise wand for arch-shaping and tapering. I have it in the 'Light/Medium' shade using it alone or on top of the powder or pencil if I want a stronger look, and it has quite simply given me back the brows of my youth. I am now living in fear of it being discontinued so am quietly stockpiling it (along with their 'Boing' concealer in Shade 2 which I also can't live without). Definitely one of my hero products of the year so far - Benefit I thank you.