Jill Brinson's Modern Country Interior: House Tour

You'll never guess what? I've found a fuller, more extensive house tour of the Modern Country interior I shared yesterday so you get to see the whole home in all its un-festive glory! Hint: It's A. Maaaaz. Zing!

This is the house tour of interior designer and creative director at American company Ballards,  Jill Brinson. Does't she have an eye for Contemporary Country interiors?

This large, open-planned space has a perfect view no matter which way you look...

And aren't the iron windows stunning?

{Though I don't envy the window cleaning!!}

Simple, unfussy, pared back....and gorgeous!

A perfect Modern Country interior.

Images via: Jill Brinson and House Beautiful

Modern Country Christmas: Home Tour

The first official Modern Country Christmas home tour is here!! 

And where better to begin the festivities than this inspirational home in classic white, green and gold...?

Can you hear those Modern Country Christmas angels singing?!

Images via Atlanta Homes and Gardens

Patricia Gray's Taste of Life

 Patricia Gray, award-winning interior designer and global aesthete

When Patricia Gray designed a residence for John Travolta (“JT,” she calls him), “he was lovely to work for, and wanted a place to escape to.” Patricia Gray, a regular interior designer to the stars, Feng Shui practitioner and a Vancouver native, was nominated “2014 Designer of the Year,” has numerous “First Place Northwest Design Awards,” and her firm was named one of the “Top 3 Design Firms in Canada.”

Gray’s mother was a bespoke dressmaker in Vancouver in the 1960’s. “I rushed home from school, excited to see the Jackie-O-style dresses and to help drape and sew.” Years later, while Gray was studying at the Parsons School of Design in Paris, one of her instructors, a curator at Versailles, used her ring of skeleton keys, some nine-inches-long, to unlock doors few had entered. After seeing the magnificent interiors they led to, Gray’s fate as an interior designer was sealed.

See the world through Patricia Gray’s eyes when you peek at a few of her favourite things. patriciagrayinc.com

Patricia’s Picks

Chanel delivers what Patricia Gray expects from quality shades: “I’ve always worn them.“

Stella McCartney tops Patricia Gray’s charts in black or white.

Tom Ford Indian Rose lipstick, discovered on a Manhattan trip, is bought “two or three at a time.”

 An Yves St. Laurent bag “holds everything for business, but it’s dressy for dinner too.”

Patricia Gray likes the silence of her Hermès leather bracelet — “it doesn’t clank at my desk.”

 One whiff and she “fell in love” with Diptyque’s Tam Dao.

” Walnut and ¾ inch thick glass make for intricate end tables, Patricia Gray's design. “

The globetrotter totes Tumi luggage in dark grey as she seeks out ever-more beautiful design ideas to bring home to Vancouver.

I discovered Roger Vivier flats in Paris — love the tortoise buckles.”

 Of her upcoming visit to Croatia, “I can’t wait to walk the walls of cities on sea cliffs, visit castles, and learn the history.

Originally published in Taste of Life Magazine

Taste of Life Magazine Text by Brett Price and Catherine Dunwoody 

PATRICIA GRAY INC is an interior design expert in Vancouver. Here we write about lifestyle

and WHAT'S HOT in the world of interior design, kitchen design, architecture, art and travel.

2014 © Patricia Gray | Interior Design Blog

The Best Mascara In The World???

Yesterday, after this Modern Country Fashion For Autumn / Fall post, I promised I'd let you in on my new Modern Country beauty secret with you.....and, never one to rescind my word, here it is! 

{Keep on reading to discover the best mascara I've ever tried!}

American readers may have heard about Younique make-up, as it launched there a couple of years ago, but Younique are brand spanking new to the UK market, having launched this month.

I have several of their products to share with you today to give you a bit of a heads-up (in order of preference):

Moodstruck 3D Fiber Lashes

3 Makeup Brushes

4 Moodstruck Minerals Pigment Powders

Refreshed Pure and Natural Rosewater

First, let's talk about the Younique Moonstruck Minerals Pigment Powders. These are marketed as 'luxurious eye shadows formulated with finely crushed minerals, amino acids and vitamins that provide key nutrition for the skin'.

The reality? Really great products!

 Younique have beautiful packaging throughout their ranges, Look at these babies in their own individual pots:

I picked out four luscious shades:

Infatuated is a rich matte chocolate brown

Vulnerable is a matte rose shade,

Sexy is a shimmery pale gold

Daring is a deep, stunning, shimmering gold.

These four soft and gentle Modern Country colours blend and harmonise so well with each other...but there are 32 to choose from, all with similarly giggle-inducing names!

The powders are free from oils, talc, preservatives and are incredibly pigmented. A tinsy little bit goes a very long way. Rather ingeniously, you can use the Moodstruck Minerals Pigment Powders to make your own tinted moisturisers, coloured nail varnishes....even hair highlights! All by adding a few shakes of these pretty powders.

Once you remove the lids, the pots come with little holes so you can shake out what you need, and pop back what you don't use. These are loose powders so, until they're packed onto your eyelids,  they do have a reasonable amount of fallout. I found it worth placing a piece of tissue paper under my eyes when applying to catch any stray specks. However, once on, these powders last and last. I could still see them on my eyelids after a full day's wear.

And here's a good tip: you can mix a little water, or this pretty Younique Refreshed Pure and Natural Rosewater spray (which smells heavenly, and is also good for a quick spritz on bare skin during the day) with any of the pigments to make your very own coloured eye liner. 

All you need to do is shake out a very little bit onto the lid, and mix  in the tiniest drop of water with a brush.

Speaking of brushes, I was very impressed with the quality of these Younique animal-hair brushes (and that they are completely cruelty free).

I chose three brushes: the deluxe, which is one of the softest brushes I've ever used; the Crease, which is made using Goat's hair to make it slightly stiffer; and the double ended Liner/Shader, which is the brush I like to use with the powders when they're wet. All the brushes are made of non-rusting materials so you can use them wet or dry without worry.

But....

 I have saved the very best until last. This next product is like nothing I've ever seen before in the UK. These are so, sooooo good!

I present Younique Moodstruck 3D Fiber Lashes!! 

Oh. My. Goodness. You are in for a makeup treat!!

I have a slight aversion to the thought of wearing falsies - all that glue near my eyes - but these are basically fuss-free falsies!!

Perfectly packaged (of course!!)...

the kit contains two products:

The transplanting gel, which looks like any normal mascara...

And the fibres, which are made from 100% natural fibres from green tea!...

Younique suggest a 4-step process for optimal results.

1) Apply a thick coat of your own favourite mascara and let it dry.

2) Apply Moodstruck Transplanting gel over the top.

3) While the gel is still wet, immediately apply the Moodstruck Natural Fibres.

4) Reapply the Transplanting Gel to secure the fibres.

Here are my before and After shots....

Before: As you can see, I have pale blonde lashes. I had no makeup at all in the photos below, apart from the Moodstruck 3D Fiber Lashes, so you can see the full extent of the magic, without any other special effects!

After: miracle of miracles, here are those same eyelashes, looking full and voluminous and long and lovely! Just look back and forth between the two photos and try and tell me you're not impressed!! It's as though they've grown on their own...

Not only do they look great initially but they last and last and last, with literally no smudging at all. In fact, I've even gone to sleep without removing my makeup (tut tut!) and there was still no smudging!

Needless to say, I was incredibly impressed with this product.

Do you have experience of Younique products?

You can shop for these products and more (I fancy trying the Younique Stiff Upper Lip lip stains) by clicking on the links!