Thursday 23 April 2015

Watercolors Of Brazil II



While The Husband was going about his business, I decided to explore Sao Paulo neighbourhood we were staying at. That pretty much meant shops, restaurants and...nail salons. There were so many nail and beauty salons my only conclusion was that beauty in general and nails in particular are BIG business in Brazil. 
"Nails!!! R$20!!!", screamed posters in the windows.
I did a quick currency conversion in my head: "Blimey! That's only about £5. I think I'll do my nails every day!"

I entered the salon:"Ya, I'd like to do my nails, please."
"Of course. Pick a colour."; said the nail lady.
I picked the brightest, brashest, neon-est (yes, I know that's not a word....) colour I could find.
"This!! And could I please pay before you paint?"
"Of course"; she said and then proceeded to paint before taking payment anyway. Oh well, perhaps it was lost in translation.
"Do you want a cappuccino?", asked the nail lady.
"Yes!"; I was excited...I'll get nails AND a cappuccino for a fiver.
She brought what I can only describe as a SHOT of cappuccino. No Starbucks like massive cups here, oh no. This was the smallest cappuccino ever. With ton of sugar already added, of course (Brazilians like their coffee sweet and their sweets and cakes even sweeter). 
I downed it in one and looked at my hands. The whole process of prepping and painting the nails was completely different than in England. 
"Perhaps it's some kind of weird Brazilian nail art."; I thought to myself.
The end result was the same, however, and I left salon happy.
Feeling encouraged and emboldened by my very very bright nails I decided I should get some shoes to match too.
I spied a perfect pair in a nearby shop: "Do you have these in my size?"
"No....but we have size smaller!!", the sales boy beamed happily.
"Mmmmkaaayyy...I think I'm good, thanks. No need to bring size smaller."; Brazilian logic baffled me.
Eventually I settled on another pair, paid and went to grab the shopping bag with my new purchase from the counter.
The sales boy looked at me completely horrified: "No, Madame, no!!! I will WALK you to the door with your shopping. Let me....". With that he whipped the shopping bag out of my hands and making polite small talk walked me 3 metres to the shop front door where he ceremoniously handed me back my shopping.
Next stop bikini shop...
I perused rails upon rails of brightly coloured, small bikinis.
"Hmmmm....these are clearly for size 0 girls."; I thought.
"Erm...excuse me...do you have this in...you know...my size...erm...for....erm...big boobage area?"; I held up a tiny, but very pretty bikini followed by a forlorn look down at my rather larger tittage to illustrate the point to the shop girl. Clearly, finding a bikini in Brazil is going to be a challenge.
Shop girl took one look at me and then said loudly and PROUDLY:" Yes, we have XL!!!"
Ground swallow me now. Am I really a size XL in Brazil???
She then took out a garment that clearly did say XL on it, but it would still struggle to cover even just your nipples. I looked at it horrified.
"No. Just no. I'm from England, bruv. We like our bikinis with a touch more coverage. Back AND front!!!"
With that I exited the shop and headed straight to the nearest patisserie. I might not have tits and ass  for a Brazilian bikini, but I will always have a space in my belly for more cake. :D
I wore: 
Top: Jaeger (similar here on sale )
Denim shorts: French Connection (similar here )
Espadrilles: Soludos (here )
Sunglasses: Whistles (similar here )
Bracelet: bought in Israel
Rings: Dogeared, Kris Nations (similar here and here )

Linking up with Throwback Thursday

23 comments:

Unknown said...

This was so fun to read! Sounds like you had a fun time in Brazil (: I think Brazilian cut bikinis are a thing though - and they cover much less than usual!

- Deniz
www.dressedupdeniz.com

Sue said...

Ha ha! I know how you feel actually. When I go to Hong Kong, I have to buy clothes in a size Large. And not only that, they actually tell you that you need a size large because you're big as they scan your body up and down with a look that says, someone ate all the dimsum didn't they? Thanks. So I only buy bags there - one size fits all :)

Gorgeous pics and I love the Jaegar top! Lace and stripes - yay!

Ivana said...

Baš čitam i ne mogu vjerovati da si uopće imala hrabrosti pokušati kupiti bikini tamo! Mislim, ja stvarno nemam pojma o Brazilu ali kada mi netko samo spomene Brazil, osim nogometa i karnevala, prvo što mi padne napamet jest polugola ženska s tri trakice na tijelu :D Iako, čudno je to da nemaju malo veće grudnjake... gledala sam neki dokumentarac da tamo cvjeta plastična kirurgija i da cure masovno rade cice... šta ne bi onda trebali moći te cicke u nešto i staviti? :)
Kombinacija ti je super, friz kao da imaš 24 i na apsolventskom si... ma sve pet! :) Ludo se veselim nastavku! :)

Unknown said...

This is so amazing! Love your post, your pictures and sure in love with your outfit!
Have a nice day!
Natallia Jolliet
http://www.alexphotographygeneva.blogspot.com/

Kristina said...

@sue...oh god I know. I've been to Asia before and I don't even attempt to buy any clothes there. There I'm not L or XL...more like outsize...we do not make clothes for monsters like you. Lol

Kristina said...

@ivana, da...plasticna kirirgija cvate, Al njihovi bikiniji pokriju samo bradavice bez obzira na velicinu cice. :D

Tijana said...

Odlicne fotke kao i uvek :)

http://www.itsmetijana.blogspot.com/

Juliet Polilova said...

Amazing pictures and you look so beautiful :)
Very nice blog by the way :)

Kisses from Russia,
Juliet
RUSSIAN DOLL

Ivana Split said...

uvijek se smijem kada čitam tvoje dogodovštine s puta:) Mislim da mi meni i odgovarao shot cappucchino. Ja kavu pijem u gutljaju, ne volim one velike šalice. Zanimljivi događaju u kupnji, izgleda da su tamo popularni brojevi manje:) ja nikad nisam bila u salonu za nokte, nekako imam averziju prema tome, a ni sama ne znam zašto...ne volim gelirane nokte, ali uređeni nokti su uvijek lijepi za vidjeti.

Što se kostima tiče, nosim skoro uvijek bikinije, ali nekako mislim da bi oni brazilski bili prehrabri i za mene...kad su već tako sićušni, onda se bolje kupati gol, manje gnjavaže, a ista pokrivenost otprilike:)

Ta ljetna kombinacija šorca i majice je preslatka...baš nekako zračiš na ovim fotografijama, reklo bi se da ti je Brazil godio:)




Unknown said...

Loved reading about your experiences in Sao Paulo, especially how your writing style reads like a short story. And I have a brazilian co-worker and apaprently getting your nails done is HUGE there.

Rae | love from berlin

Beauty Follower said...

Great city photos and outfit!

http://beautyfollower.blogspot.gr

nancy @ adore to adorn said...

great to read about your experience. thanks for sharing!
lovely look, too! =)
xo,
nancy

http://www.adoretoadorn.com

Unknown said...

Divota!

Monic Dzej said...

Great look :) lovely photos :)

insp. said...

Divne su fotografije, podsticu zelju za putovanjima! :)

insppppp.blogspot.com

Shaira Manalo said...

Wow, beautiful pictures and that food you munched looks yummy <3 The telephone booths are just amazing. Cute architectural piece :)

Have a great day!

xoxo,
SHAIRA
www.missdream-girl.blogspot.com

Eniwhere Fashion said...

So funny story Kristina! I never had the good fortune to visit San Paulo, but from your picture and your words it seems amazing!
Have a nice saturday, kisses (and thank you for your visit),
Eni

Eniwhere Fashion
Eniwhere Fashion Facebook

ginger said...

Pa zar nisi uvijek nekad prije (odlično se izražavam), nosila baš njihove bikinije, znam da si mi ti otkrila Rosa cha, i te neke brandove divne. Btw: ja sam se isto lakirala kod kineskinja u Rotterdamu za 5 eura možda. Kao da uštedim vrijeme. Fail :D

Kristina said...

@ginger, jesan. Al sad sam prestara za takve egzibicije. 😬😁

nora said...

Beautiful pics and thanks for all the info and inspiration, I definetly would like to see Brazil.
Love your casual and cute outfit too!
Nora
www.jacketsociety.com

Sybil said...

beautiful nature shots!! the flowers are gorgeous! :D

have a great week!
Animated Confessions

Unknown said...

I am enjoying your travel post to Brazil. I always have room for sweets too :)

Thank you for joining TBT Fashion link up and hope to see you Thursday.

Alice
www.happinessatmidlife.com

Maiken said...

haha, walking you to the door and handing over the shopping bag sounded familiar to me but I can't remember where did it happen... anyway, I LOVED that post and was sad when it ended because I wanted more. all those little stories, all the photos, just perfect. but now I'm curious how your nails looked like. oh and I've always thought Brazil would offer bikini for bigger boobs as well because for example let's look at your carnival post. those ladies don't wear A cup. strange...

Maiken - Part of me

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