Essex Fashion Week has arrived!

Today I headed down to Essex Fashion Week with the LGN Events team (www.lgn-events.co.uk ) to see what Essex really had to offer and meet the cast of 'The Only Way is Essex' (also known as TOWIE), the UK's answer to American reality hit series, The Hills! The show was hosted by TOWIE twins Adam and Simon Ryan.

I must say I am a fan of the show and refer to it as my guilty pleasure so was excited about the thought of meeting Nana Pat :)She was lovely, but

unfortunately I did not get to taste some of those famous sausage plaits she makes :( I know right!!!!

Below pic: Myself and Nana Pat

I definitely feel TOWIE is one of those shows you either love or hate! But I must say you gotta love it :)Overall Essex Fashion Week was much better than I had anticipated and offered something different and kept the crowd engaged at all times, drinks were flowing consistently throughout keeping everyone smiling.

Above pic: These two lovely ladies made us some mean cocktails!

Several TOWIE stars featured on the Catwalk included Lydia Bright Rose and Jessica Wright. Lydia looked Amazing I must say. I don’t think TV does her justice, she is stunning!

Above pic: TOWIES Lydia Bright Rose

Above pic: TOWIE'S Jessica Wright

Joey Bevan, Basildon based designer and stylist or as he refers to it himself Bas-Vegas, got to showcase some of his skills by creating a dress for Lydia Bright Rose in a matter of minutes on the Catwalk.

Below pics: Joey creating Lydia dress on the Catwalk

Joey is the owner of PoInTeD bRoWn ShOeS and everything in his collection is recycled and even has a Turkish rug in one of his pieces. His collection is all about encouraging ethical practices.Below are some more pics from the Event! :)

Above pic: Me and Jo Wood, who is actually originally from Basildon Essex

Above pic: Stylist Natalie James

Above: Guests at Essex Fashion Week

Enjoy!

Bisous xx

Link: http://www.itv.com/channels/itv2/itv2shows/theonlywayisessex/

National Beauty Blogging Event at the Professional Beauty Show

Last week I attended the National Beauty Blogging Event which took place in Excel London.
Bloggers were invited to preview the latest beauty launches from ARTDECO, Batise, Broadway Nails, Carita, Decleor, JOICO, Kiss Nails, Medik8, MONU skincare, Nailease, Natura Bisse, RMK, TanOrganic and Gentry Grooming Co. Being a beauty junkie myself you could just imagine my excitement!!! I had never come across a lot of the brands so was surprised to discover they had been around for quite a number of years and couldn’t wait to try them out.

The day also involved different speakers coming in to give talks and further insights into all things beauty-ful :)

The event was a whole day event starting with expert advice by Celebrity Make-up artist Daniel Sandler. For those of you who have never come across Daniel Sandler, he has basically beautified a selection of A-List celebrities who have included Twiggy, Myleene Klass, Naomi Campbell, Rachel Weisz, Kristen Scott Thomas and Kate Moss.

Below pic: Daniel Sandler the man himself

Later in the afternoon Gavin Duffy from the Irish Dragon’s Den gave a talk on his investment in TanOrganic, a 100% natural, organic, odourless tan with no artificial / synthetic colouring! Yes you read right!!! A woman mentioned she nearly divorced over the smell of the current fake tan products she was using as her husband could not take the smell!! It just shows how important the odourless feature of TanOrganic is!!!

Gavin also spoke of the importance of beauty blogging and told us a funny and insightful story about the first advert they ever ran for TanOrganic but that’s a whole other post LOL.

Below pic: Gavin Duffy's mystery advert lol

My tired looking self (The effects of Fashion Week) also managed to get a quick snap with the lady behind TanOrganic (Below pic)

To close the event a short film entitled ‘All Walks Beyond the Catwalks’ by Fashion and Style Guru Caryn Franklin and Debra Bourne was shown. I first met Caryn at a fashion business meeting I was invited to by the British Fashion Council with regards to raising the profile of select designers. She was so lovely and passionate about the lack of broad representation within the Fashion Industry, so it was nice to see Caryn continuing to promote her belief by putting together “All Walks Beyond the Catwalks’. The film basically talks about how they feel we are bound by stereotypes exemplified by the Catwalk ‘ideal figure’. They see ‘Beauty through Diversity’ and wish that the leaders of fashion would recognise this is their choice of imagery in the future.

Below Pic: Caryn’s presentation

I managed to have a quick catch-up with Caryn and you can just feel her passion and how much she is putting in to help diversify the Industry. Find out more about her film at www.allwalks.org

The Brands:

As I mentioned earlier in the post there were so many fantastic brands on display that I had never come across previously so it was great getting a full insight into their products. Below is a quick read on some of them:

ARTDECO
It was the first time coming across this brand and I must say the quality was just fantastic! ARTDECO was founded by Helmut Baurecht in 1985 and is Germany’s No.1 Make-up Brand and available in 88 countries worldwide. The brand is adored by celebrities including Hayley Tamaddon, Michelle Keegan, Holly Willoughby and Fearne Cotton.

Batiste
Batiste Dry Shampoo is the perfect product for all you busy bees out there constantly on the go. Why? Because it is a shampoo with a ‘no water needed’ formula! It basically banishes oily roots, giving lifeless hair the quick make-over it needs. Just a few sprays are needed to refresh your hair and leave it full of body and texture :)

Broadway Nails and Kiss Nails
OMG I went crazy over this brand as nail art is my new thing at the moment! Yes unfortunately I have become a bit obsessed with this craze :) and if it was not for my poor nails being damaged from a terrible fall I recently had (yes very embarrassing) I would have got them done there and then. Kiss Products are the world’s largest manufacturer and distributor of professional quality nail products. Their kits are all easy to use and enable you to achieve salon results at home! I will be testing out my kits very soon so keep visiting to see the results. I am so excited about testing out their nail products that I think I will need a whole day!!

MEDIK8
Medik8 are Europe’s leaders in solution-based cosmeceutical skin care product development. What I liked about this brand was the fact that it gives results without the irritation.

NAILEASE
This product was another one of my favourites!! Being someone always on the go and notoriously known by friends and family for having chipped nails I had to immediately give praise to the genius that came up with such a concept!! Watching the brand representatives quickly demonstrate simply blew me away. This is a great product for girls on the go. They are basically 100% dry nail varnish strips which can be applied to your fingertips in a matter of minutes for a smudge free, long lasting manicure.

Nailease also launched on the 28th February in 300 boots stores with prices starting from only £5.99!!!

Monu Skincare
I absolutely fell in love with this brand!!! I have very dry skin and the instant results I got by using just a small amount said it all! I mean it really lasts and moisturised my skin to the fullest. It has not left my dressing table since, I can ensure you that much :)

RMK
RMK is a leader in the Japanese beauty industry and has been the top selling Make-up Artist Brand in Japan since its debut 12 years ago!!! I had never come across this brand previously and the high quality was definitely apparent!!

So I had to have a quick coffee before dashing home and that’s when I bumped into Amy Childs of TV show ‘The Only Way is Essex’. Those that know me can imagine my excitement as that show is seriously one of my guilty pleasures and Amy is my favourite character :)

Below pic: Amy Childs at the Professional Beauty Event



I will be trying out my goody bag products and give you the full 1/1 on them very soon...

Bisous xx

Link:
www.professionalbeauty.co.uk

London fashion Week: Day 3 : Esthetica Brunch , Olivia Palermo, Vivienne Westwood Red Label and Dinner with a client :)

Although I felt extremely exhausted today after all the shows, working and running from venue to venue I managed to eventually get out of bed and get ready to head out to the Esthetica Brunch at Somerset House.

The Esthetica brunch hosted by Harold Tillman, Chairman, British Fashion Council, showcased a selection of eco conscience designers with beautiful and innovative products.

I really liked Supermodel Erin O’Connor and vintage designer/stylist Kate Halfpenny’s T-shirt collection entitled ‘She died of beauty’. They were simple yet fun!

After the Esthetica I brunch I managed to have a quick chat with the stunning fashionista and The City star Olivia Palermo who was in London. She was so lovely and nothing near as how horrid she is portrayed in The City!

Below is a quick snap of us in Covent Garden

Vivienne Westwood Red Label

It was finally that moment I had been waiting for all day! Yes the Vivienne Westwood Red Label show time! Me and my bff Mary headed down nice and early as we were fully aware of the chaos and queuing!

I spotted a range of celebrities and fashion elites arriving at the venue which included the beautiful couple Rochelle (from the Saturdays) and Marvin (from JLS), Tolula Adeyemi (Vivienne's muse), Pamela Anderson and Nicola Roberts from Girl's Aloud.

Above pic: Tolula Adeyemi (Vivienne's muse) arriving at the venue

The collection was outstanding off course and what was nice was seeing a voluptuous Daisy Lowe strutting down the Catwalk representing real women.

Below are some pics of her beautiful, bold and structured tailoring...

Above show photo credit: Monica Feudi / GoRunway.com

Dinner with designer Lida O'Reilly and Bollywood actress/singer Sofia Hayat.

To end my evening I met up with leading Mauritian designer Lida O'Reilly whose London Fashion Week show will be taking place on Tuesday and Bollywood actress and singer Sofia Hayat for dinner at Pizza Express. We went through a few things and visited the show venue to ensure everything was in place and then I was off home for some much needed sleep

Nite Nite zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
xx

Thorpe Park Madness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I went to Thorpe Park today after a friend managed to convince me to come. I agreed under the condition that I don’t have to go on any rides (As I absolutely hate all those scary rides) and can just chill and enjoy the weather.

The Ensemble:

I decided to wear denim shorts, my H&M Madonna vest top and my Topshop boots and Kate Kanzier bag. My jewellery was a combination of 4 Seasons Shop pieces (http://www.4seasonsshop.co.uk/ ) and my favourite Christian Dior Bracelet. There I was ready to go to Thorpe Park on one of the hottest days of the year!


The Experience

The weather at Thorpe Park was consistently gorgeous and I kept saying “it feels like were on holiday in the Mediterranean!!”. So there I was relaxing enjoying the weather until I heard “Yolande you have to go on that ride with us!”, OMG my worst nightmare!! I explained I had not come to go on any rides but to have a relaxing day out with friends. All of a sudden everybody couldn’t recall me saying that and convinced me to go on this swinging type ride claiming it was not scary at all and they had all been on it previously. Anyway to cut the long story short, I went on this ride and all I can say is OMG, how traumatizing!! It really took me half the day to get over this ride and I felt so SICK! . After that it was certainly a wrap!!! I can’t believe how people get really excited about scary rides, I just never quite got it –lol


There was another ride called the SAW which everyone was excited about and off course I did not even attempt it this time round. Whilst my friends got on I stood to the side and had this nine year old girl come up to me and try to console me?????!!!!! She was like “ It’s not a scary ride you know? I’ve even been on it twice”- yeah thanks but no thanks was what was going through my mind.

Anyway seeing Peter Andre got my mind off that scary ride. He was so lovely to speak to and genuinely polite! I was extremely impressed. Then a wod of girls came howling down out of nowhere and that was it! Security started getting out of control and so forth.

Also at Thorpe Park today was Miss Frank and Flawless.

Above pic: Peter Andre

So later that evening I saw my mum and told her about me going to Thorpe Park which she found to be hilarious. I’m just not that kind of person-lol I told her about the incident with the nine year old and she was like “Well when you were little you used to do all those scary rides and you were fine.” Which left me with the thought… what happened…??

Bon nuit
Xx

R.I.P Michael Jackson

Regardless of what anyone says this guy was a LEGEND! I am Shocked!

His music will continue to live on forever!!!!!!!

Who’s bad?

Xx