Shine In and Out

Once upon a time, there was a young lady who owned a petite flower shop called Chez Marie. She was surrounded every day by the beauty of nature, yet she never saw her own beauty whether it be inside or out. Sometimes it takes a little something man-made to remind us and bring out our beauty. It is the story of Shine In and Out. Main Image Jason Yates.

Once upon a time, there was a little flower shop in a small walled city on the French Riviera, its doors and wooden shutters bleached white from golden sunshine. Behind the counter of this exquisite flower shop was Marie, a fresh and sparkling young woman of 23 years old, she was the shop’s petite curator. Demure and delicate every day she lovingly dedicated herself to her flowers.

Flowers bright with life adorned the small room, tumbled from pots and vases across the store. The reddest of roses, the whitest of daisies, the bright pink of dahlias and the golden yellow of tulips.

Around her, the fragrances always twirled. From rainbow tulips on the right to multicolour roses on the left, arranged all over the shop like trophies; everything smelled so good. Behind her counter where she made her bouquets, she had a little picture of her grandmother and mother who owned the shop before Marie.

Bathed in the Sun, the tiny store full of bounty from the earth and the sun which shone out like a beacon of beauty in the tiny town yet she Marie had no sense of her own beauty, blinded almost by the beauty around her she has become blind to herself. She was in fact a sparkling beauty but she had no idea.

One day, after a long day of work in the middle of the Summer, she came back to her house and exhausted she directly laid in bed and fell asleep.

Her skin looked tired and dull from her hard work and lack of time to herself; echoing her tired body. The flower shop was all she had and it was more important than anything else.

In the middle of the night, the florist started to dream. She dreamed a dream as vibrant as the flowers in her shop. In this dream, an elegant woman, modern, chic and charismatic approached her. She had dark hair shaped in a neat bob a striped sweater and long wide black trousers.

Her face was vibrant, illuminated by the moonlight and her red lipstick drew attention to her smiling lips.

“Oh dearest girl”, said the chic lady of the dream “you look so tired while you should be as sparkling as a blooming blossom. Those flowers you sell make you feel alive but they also take all your energy. I wish you to have that sparkling, angelic complexion look that you have when you are fulfilled in the middle of all the colourful flowers you sell”.

“You’re so charming” carried on the lady, “I want to permit you to always be a radiant beauty”.

“Oh excuse me madame … but who are you”? asked Marie?

“I am Coco Chanel. I wanted to share with you just how beautiful you naturally are and how I can aid that natural beauty of yours. With your tanned complexion, your luminous face, your soft lips, I want you to realize your beauty and accentuate it”.

” I have created elixirs, that you can apply and will reveal your inner beauty emphasizing your outer beauty; the Sun is my secret, you will shine from the inside out”.

The next day, she woke up a little bit stunned. She immediately wondered if this dream was true, she was so excited about Coco’s words. When she opened her eyes she could not believe them. Her dream became true, the products Mademoiselle Chanel talked about, were all on the florist’s dressing table. She read the headlines: Les Beiges Summer Light. This 2021 collection was all for her.

First, she tried the foundation, there were so many shades… Then she applied a sunny finished gel-cream that made her skin shine even more than she thought. She continued with the illuminator before taking time to apply her Rouge Coco Flash, this lovely lipstick was her favourite.

She quickly applied her mascara and the Sunlight varnish that was available for her, before opening her shop.

The next day as she walked to work even she noticed the spring in her step she felt lighter and brighter as though the sun was actually shining down on her.

When she arrived at the store, the sun radiated from the two windows and her little flower shop glowed so much that more people were drawn into her colourful store.

When she opened her shop, the morning sun had made all her flowers bloom, it was impressive. From dawn to dusk, her vibrant glow would never end. She was a permanent ray of sun, fallen in the human’s world. At sunset, the florist’s face was still beaming.

To continue…

If this story charmed you, the Channel collection is easy to find here.

If you enjoyed reading Shine In and Out, why not read Sun-shine?