I suffer from tight, dry facial skin that often flakes around my nose and cheek area. Indoor heating and the dry Seattle air don’t help, which is why a recent trip to humid Hong Kong did wonders for my skin. It looked and felt great.

Now that I’m back, the change of weather has made my skin flake more than ever. The eight hour a day cream that I usually use to combat this problem has not helped, and neither has a facial, regular exfoliation, an alpha hydroxyl peel and super rich hydrating moisturizers.

Having reached the height of desperation, I’ve taken to using pure, extra-virgin olive oil on my nose and cheek area twice a day for the last week. I may smell like a Greek buffet, but it has worked beautifully. My skin finally feels hydrated and adequately moisturized (no more flaking). Am I crazy to apply the same olive oil that I use for cooking to my face? Is this risk-free? I’d love your input.

Today’s post on the recent YLF gathering in Seattle was written by casual-chic boho Meredith, a fab friend and an active member of the YLF community.

Luck shined on us for the second YLF get-together. The sun filtered through the beautiful autumn leaves and into the windows of Café Flora, a lovely vegetarian restaurant in Seattle’s Madison Valley. About six of us gathered around the table, looking just as sunny as the day, sporting splashes of yellow and green.

Wild mushroom omelets, pumpkin pancakes, and sticky buns arrived at the table as we chatted about fashion, sipped our tea, and devoured our brunch. One question for Angie was, “How does one wear a brooch?” Angie said that wearing them on mufflers is a perfect way to combine the casual with the glitzy. Pinning them onto jackets is fine, but shoot for more monochromatic looks. Brooches that contrast too much with a garment can tend to look a bit garish and kitschy.

Another question was, “How do you know when your closet is full?” Angie told us about her system for knowing when she has enough clothes. Her closet has shelves with notches, and she hangs one hanger in each notch. When all the notches are full, she has a completely full wardrobe. Nothing new comes in, unless something else goes out.

Angie also shared a story about how the chemistry in her last hair dye had gone a bit wonky. I learned that your dye might change color over time. Although she left the salon blond, in a few days time her hair had turned a nice yellow. “I looked like Big Bird,” Angie said. But fortunately, better living can be achieved through chemistry. She returned to the salon, and they applied some sort of magical solution that returned her hair to the nice color we all know and love.

After eating our yummy food, sharing giggles, and catching up on families and travel (and yes, the elections too), we gathered outside to pose for the camera. Some of us have very few inhibitions when it comes to vamping for the lens. We had good, silly fun posing with our shoes, bags, and outfits in the sunny garden outside the café.

Sihaya layered multiple pieces to create a fantastic tailored look with depth and texture. Marianna sported preppy sophistication in skinny jeans, a button-down shirt and belted boyfriend cardigan. Julie was radiant in an earthy animal print cardigan and skinnies. Laurel looked lovely in a voluminous green print dress, leggings and fabulous coordinating green handbag. Angie was stunning in her retro Winter floral dress with chartreuse cardigan and chunky new pearls—all recent Hong Kong acquisitions. I wore a bohemian sweater over a tulip denim skirt and my favourite wedged knee-high boots

In the spirit of Autumn, boots and closed toe pumps were the order of the day: from Julie’s fab mock-croc grey snip-toed kitten heels and Marianne’s pretty chestnut mary-janes, to Sihaya’s riding boots and Angie’s pointy patent peds.

Oversized totes and structured satchels in brights or cream reigned supreme.

We are all looking forward to the next YLF get together. Hope to see you there!

We see tartan, or Scottish “plaid” every year and this season is no exception. It’s trending a little more at the moment because of the strong ‘80’s revival and, for the most part, I’m enjoying the vogue.

I adore tartan skirts, scarves and shoes. I’d love to get a funky red tartan pencil skirt to wear with my biker jackets but haven’t found one yet. I like some tartan dresses, and also quite like the idea of tartan skinnies. Tartan coats and jackets can be fun and daring if the cut and colours are flattering.

But I’m not into tartan blouses, or button-down shirts. They bring back bad teenage memories of shoulder pads, dreadful frills, lurex thread and barn dances. If tartan tops in the 80’s weren’t bad enough, they continued to be one of my dreadful looks through the early ‘90’s when I sported the grunge vibe with an oversized tartan shirt and Doc Martens. It’s a look I can’t do again.

Tasteful tartan pieces make bold statements, which is probably why I’m attracted to them. Ignore what the magazines say and wear only one tartan piece at a time (the same way you would wear ruffled items and animal print). I’ll give tartan another bash if I find that pencil skirt. Does tartan tickle your fancy?

Jackets, skirts and shoes in tartan appeal to me more than shirts. The latter are too much of a blast from the past.

Accessories are popular in Hong Kong, but there was one in particular that stood out more than I remember from previous trips to the city: the cell phone ornament. It consists of a delicate trinket that’s intricately knotted onto silk thread and looped onto your cell phone. It’s not only decorative, but is also supposed to bring you good fortune.

This is not a new idea – these ornaments have been around almost as long as cell phones themselves. The trinket can represent anything from the sign of your Chinese Zodiac, to Hello Kitty. There’s probably a science devoted to the selection of the most desirable cell phone ornaments, but to me, the offerings seemed random. You name it and we saw it dangling off the end of a cell phone.

The prices are just as varied. All the way from diamond encrusted status symbols that are available from high-end jewelery stores, to playful street market versions that are as cheap as chips. I decided I wanted one of the latter because they looked so cute. My Chinese Zodiac sign is “the dog”, so that’s the ornament I chose. It’s tiny and the detail is impressive. It cost just over a dollar and makes me smile whenever I haul out my phone. I hope I’m a little luckier too.