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Tag: Old Istanbul

My Turkish/Byzantine inspired FOTD and tutorial!

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As I mentioned before, on my trip to Turkey, I did a lot of sightseeing in Old Historic Istanbul, and one of the places that I visited was the Ayasofya.  I was blown away! What stunning architecture, history, art and beauty!  Truly breathtaking to be able to see such well-preserved ancient works.  This was one of my favourite sites!

In the upper levels of the Ayasofya, the must see are a collection of Byzantine-era mosaics.  These are centuries old!  What I loved most about them were the detailed depictions of the subjects and the heavy use of tessera, which shone like fire even in the dimness of the dark corners and aspe.

NoireTropicalBeauty Turkey Byzantine FOTD 1

What’s tessera?  These are created when flattened glass cubes are placed on top of each other with gold leaf sandwiched in the middle.  This amplifies the reflective properties of the gold, appearing very luminous, rich and giving a shine that appeared from within the mosaic.  Amazing!

So this was my inspiration for this makeup look, dark, rich colours accented with gold.  This is a great look to try for a night out, a very on-trend fall/winter look with the use of berry/plum on the lids.

Here’s the look!

NoireTropicalBeauty Turkey Byzantine FOTD 2

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My beauty experience at an authentic Turkish Hamami – Çemberlitaş Hamami

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So my visit to Istanbul would not be complete without a visit to a Turkish bath and after a day of sightseeing and shopping, 3 friends and I decided to visit the historical Çemberlitaş Hamami which is located just off of Divan Yolu (Divanyolu) Caddesi in Old Historic Istanbul.  It is nestled right in the middle of some the most historical sites in Istanbul.  The Vezirhan Monument (build by Constantinople I) is right across the street and the tombs of Sultan Mahmut II and Ali Baba are right nearby.

So the entrance is kinda non descript, look out for the steady treaffic going in and out.  By the way, this is a unisex bath, but I think that there are separate areas for men and women.  Once inside, we were presented with a list of services and I got the traditional style bath, which cost 69TL (Turkish Lira) (about US$35).  The traditional style bath consists of steam and a bubble bath.  So we paid and received our keys for the lockers and our peştamals.  What’s a peştamal? It’s a traditional cotton Turkish towel!  There is no pressure to go completely naked, you could wear a bathing suit during your service, or just panties or nothing at all.  Your choice!

We were led into the sıcaklık, which is the large main bathing area.  What a beautiful place! High vaulted ceilings made of what looks like terracotta with venting holes arranged in a pattern.

Image courtesy of Cemberlitas Hamami

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An ancient country….Turkey!!! A pictoral journey!

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Hey!

It’s December already!! I love this month! We are knee deep into the holidays and everyone is going crazy shopping and prepping! And….it has gotten really cold here in NYC. L  And it gets dark by 4:30pm.  So this would be a great time to reminisce on warmer, brighter days.  Earlier this year, I took a trip with a few friends to Turkey.  It was incredible and amazing!! I luv’d it!  It’s the perfect mix of The Middle East and Europe.  The architecture, the food, the culture.  I’m definitely going to go back, soon!!!!  What happened to art in Italy during the Renaissance, it happened to architecture in Turkey during the Ottoman Empire.

So here are some of the gorgeous sights to Turkey.  I will be posting some other Turkey related beauty stuff , including a makeup look inspired by art!!

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ZKNtefitxOg/ULwQ7Q0jOXI/AAAAAAAAEOA/LfOnNty8U0Q/s640/IMG_1476%2520text.jpg

NoireTropicalBeauty Turkey trip 2

Ottoman style!

NoireTropicalBeauty Turkey trip 3

Sultanahmet Camii

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