Afro Hair & Beauty Show Highlights

The past few days have been completely manic for me as I was working at the Afro Hair & Beauty Live event! I was overseeing the ‘Zed Eye presents fashion show and Pop-Up boutique', which featured a range of collection pieces from emerging and established designers.

Below: Moi Posing at the Pop-Up Boutique wearing a handbag from one of the participating designers, Monsura Bags! Oh I love the way they match my shoes :) What do you think?

The first set of fashion shows took place on Sunday at 12.45. Emerging designers who showcased their collections on the Catwalk included Lanyero, Adopted Culture, Monsura Boutique, Yaa Ataa Bags, Honey Malalou and Yummi Kouture.

Next up at 2.45pm was the established designer showcase which was opened by Zed Eye and featured other more established designers who included Ayakai Couture, Afro-Chique, Oheme Ohene and Tina Lobondi.The shows would off course not have been possible without our amazing sponsors who included Sensational Hair and the Award Winning Josh Hair & Beauty Team, Stacey Okafor from Mac Cosmetics and her team.

Below pic: Sade from Josh Hair and Beauty doing final touch-ups before models go on stage

Below pic: Musician/photographer Bunmi Thomas strikes a pose

The Pop-Up Boutique:

There were a range of fantastic brands selling at the Zed Eye Presents Pop-Up Boutique which included Bianou, Dionne Gooding Shoes and Dres Designs.

All the designers who also showcased on the Catwalk had their collection pieces available to purchase at the Boutique.

Below pics: Random pics from the Pop-Up Boutique

I also got to meet the fabulous lady behind the Doris Michaels beauty brand which I am most defiantly a fan off and swear by! Her concealer and foundation stick does wonders on my skin and keeps it glowing throughout the whole day. I am a beauty freak so trust me I have shopped around for suitable matches for my skin tone and had to leave Mac for Doris Michaels. I do still love Mac eye shadows but as for the perfect foundation and concealer I have to give it to Doris. Check them out at www.dorismichaelscosmetics.com

Other random pics

Above: This model's hair with the aid of extensions has been created into the Olympics symbol!! Soooo creative!

Shoes to die for!

Above: Patrick McCarthy (Oh Yes Magazine Publisher) with the talented Award Winning Angela Plummer!

I’m still shattered from the madness, two days of hardly any sleep and not much food but overall had a great time and Amazing team!

L.A Chick in London...

So the past few days have been somewhat manic yet fun :). My friend Dominique from L.A was in town so we hung out and I got to also give her a tour of London which she loved!

I’ve got to say one of the highlights of her visit had to be bumping into some folks she grew up with and hadn’t seen for many years outside Buckingham Palace and at that same moment getting approached by the BBC to do an interview on the whole Obama visit, as they overheard them talking and realised they were Americans. How random! I must say the world sure is a small place indeed!

I also took her to Brick Lane and she off course fell in Love with the food and fashion!! We also had a pretty windy boat ride to London Bridge which was fun!!

Below are a few pics

Right now have to catch-up on my emails!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bisous xx

Butter London: no ordinary nail varnish that's for sure!

So last week I got to meet Nonie Creme, Founding Creative Director of Butter London at Claridges to learn more about this amazing brand! In an intimate chat, Nonie revealed her current and upcoming collection range which will all be revealed in due course :)

So I bet you're already wondering what it is that makes Butter London so special? In fact to be honest I came across this fabulous brand about 1 year ago and wondered why a brand based in the U.S named themselves after London? Well it all came to light as Nonie explained that she had previously lived in London for 15 years and during her team here she even managed to work with Vivienne Westwood!! Any who that’s a story for another day.

Below pic: Me with Butter London Founder Nonie Creme

What amazed me about this brand was perfectionists such as Victoria Beckham, Issa, and Calvin Klein have all enlisted Nonie to customise shades and in some cases to match the exact skin tone of each individual model for their New York Fashion Week Shows! I mean personally for me that says it all! Butter London however is not just relied upon by fashion designers, but also from women who are turning to a cheaper alternative to update their look. Nonie explains “While women on a budget may hesitate to buy a new dress or shoes, nail polish can be used as a less expensive way to update their look and keep in sync with fashion”. What’s also great about the brand is the fact that they are always on trend each season. The current season palette "reflects the luxe-grunge moment, and burst of new era, ‘dirty’ jewel stones prevalent on the Catwalk for A/W 2011."

At the end of our chat I was dying to try some of the colours. One thing about me is I am very fussy and particular about nail varnish because I am always on the go and don’t have the pleasure of sitting for ages waiting for my nail polish to dry. I have also always found that certain nail polish colours (such as black) take forever to dry so completely avoid those colours. Now what I found with Butter London was far from the above. Not only was one coat only needed but the way it dried so quickly amazed me! I was definitely impressed with this product and will definitely be getting some more colours!

Visit: www.butterlondon.com

Video launch for Egypt's Stronger single has arrived ...

Saturday will see the launch of Award Winning UK musician Egypt's new single 'Stronger' video launch! I can't wait to attend this not to be missed party and dance the night away to 'Stronger'!

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THIS AMAZING TRACK!

Bisous xxx

InstantLuxe: A Fabulous New Shopping Website for Pre-owned Designer Luxury Goods!!

Last week, a fabulous brand new website called InstantLuxe launched in the UK which definitely got me excited so had to share it with you all :)! This brand new site is a fabulous shopping website for authentic pre-owned designer luxury goods. With the amount of fake stuff on the Internet these days, this is one place where you can be reassured that every second hand designer piece is authentic, how great is that??? InstantLuxe is basically the first and only dedicated secure online buyer-seller platform for authentic pre-owned designer luxury goods.

It is the largest platform of its kind across Europe, offering consumers access to over thousands of products, including bags, handbags, wallets, watches, jewellery and accessories from international luxury brands such as Cartier, Chanel, Dior, Hermes and Louis Vuitton.

What makes it unique is that it is the first and only e-commerce buyer-seller platform that works with a team of certified independent professional valuers, to give a guarantee of authenticity to every product sold online.

First established in the fashion capital Paris, home to luxury brands such as Chanel and Dior, InstantLuxe is now available in the UK, so we too can possess some of that French understated glamour and effortless chic, at an affordable price.

Below are just some of the items you can expect to snap up on the site!
Why not take a look around the site yourself? Visit - http://www.instantluxe.co.uk

I also managed to catch-up with the CEO and co founder Yann Le Floc'h for a quick exclusive interview ...

Enjoy! :)

Tell us a bit about yourself and how the idea of InstantLuxe came abouts?

I’m Yann Le Floc’h, CEO and co-founder of InstantLuxe, which I founded in 2009 in collaboration with Clément Le Chatelier. Until now, consumers who want to buy second-hand luxury branded products online really only have online auction websites to go to. With these they have no independent guarantee whether the product is genuine or not, “authenticity” is based on other users’ opinion, and consumers often run the risk of buying a counterfeit or an item at less-than-average quality. This is when we came up with idea of InstantLuxe. With the InstantLuxe brand consumers are guaranteed the authentic article, not to mention in good, if not new, condition. What makes InstantLuxe unique is that it is the first and only e-commerce buyer-seller platform that works with a team of certified independent professional valuers, who personally handle the product and give a guarantee of authenticity to every product sold online. Each buyer receives a certificate of authenticity and an InstantLuxe seal with their purchase.

What kind of items and price range can one expect to find on the site?

InstantLuxe is the largest online platform exclusively dedicated to pre-owned luxury goods in Europe with over 2,000 items online. This includes leather goods (luggage, handbags, wallets and purses) watches; jewellery (bracelets, earrings, necklaces, rings and brooches); and accessories (belts, glasses, scarves, ties, cuff links, pens) from international luxury brands, including Cartier, Chanel, Dior, Hermes and Louis Vuitton. Prices range from anything from £49 up to several thousands.

So how does it actually work?

It’s easy to use to both buy and sell. Vendors place an ad free of charge online and buyers simply search and buy the product. When the sale has been made, the vendor sends it to InstantLuxe where we verify the authenticity of the product. If authentic, it is sent onto the buyer with a certificate of authenticity and the InstantLuxe seal. If the product is deemed to be a counterfeit, the buyer is refunded the entire sum of the purchase. The vendor then receives the payment from InstantLuxe, seven days after the buyer has received the product. InstantLuxe guarantees the payment of the sale, even if the buyer’s funds are blocked.

What has been the most expensive item sold?

The most expensive item sold so far is a Valentino Rossi Master Compressor - Jaeger Lecoultre Watch (Price: 15 600€)

Any future plans or expansions?

We are, of course, looking to expand and grow. For the near future we will be focussing on building the InstantLuxe brand in the UK. We will be telling you more about new developments to the site and other projects very soon – so watch this space!

www.instantluxe.co.uk

Bisous x

Loving the ensembles...

Whilst out and about today I stumbled across these two lovely fashion students, Sandii and Polly so had to snap them up!

Sandii
Dress: All Saints
Jacket: Topshop
Shoes: Topshop
Bag: Riess

........................................................................................

Polly
Jacket: Asos
Blouse: New Look
Skirt: Topshop
Shoes: Kurt Geiger

Meet Tanzanian designer Anna Luks...

A while back I met up with Tanzanian London based designer Anna Lukindo who is the designer behind the Anna Luks brand. Her designs I must say just simply blew me away!

I fell in love with her headgear and had to share some pics of myself wearing her headgear with you below :)

I love the vibrant colours used throughout her work!

For those of you who are yet to come across this talented designer and brand, Anna Lukindo is a stylist and a clothing designer who designs for the woman of today, for those with a free spirit, confidence, and who embrace uniqueness.

The label Anna Luks, began in her native Tanzania in

East Africa. A mother or two boys, Anna did her diploma in Fashion /Textile in Barnet College, and went further on to acquire a BA in Fashion Design from Middlesex University in 2010.

She claims that she has finally found her niche. Anna's signature work is inspired by ropes, and cords. She too experiments with textures and likes to play around with different kinds of yarns to create cords for her fabrics. Printing is vital in Anna Luks wears, she acknowledges that with printing, it allows her creativity, into a new level and sustains the sense of uniqueness and versatility in her creation.

Anna's work is far beyond the ordinary clothes designing. She has a laissez-faire approach to her work, and does not pay too much attention to lines, and allows her imagination to wander and ultimately produce a master piece.

Visit: http://annaluks.com/