Dinner with Salon Success

Of all the events I’ve been to so far in my short time blogging, this was by far my fave.

  I was very, very lucky to be invited to a cosy diner at St.Davids hotel by Salon Success, in the most amazing room overlooking Cardiff Bay. It was the perfect gals evening to just chat, drink some wine and talk about beauty.

 We began by going through some makeup from New CID, including this amazing nude lipstick which lights up and a pretty incredible eyebrow pencil. We all got to play with the products and take a little goodie bag home, so I’ll make sure to share all those with you very soon.

 Diner consisted of a yummy leak and potato soup, with mini Welsh Rarebit (cute coincidence!), chicken and veggies for main and an Apple Tart Tatin for dessert. Sounds dreamy doesn’t it?

 The first haircare products we talked about were the Marula Oil ones from Paul Mitchell’s new range. Marula oil comes from the nuts on the Marula tree and the concentration of it in these products is very high, which helps to hydrate and repair damaged hair. They smell incredible also and my favourite product so far is the rare oil treatment, which is extra nourishing.

Lastly we talked through the Awapuhi Wild Ginger range (still can’t pronounce it) also by Paul Mitchell. The Awapuhi plant is grown on a farm in Hawaii, purchased by Paul Mitchell and his friend John Paul DeJoria to produce the plant sustainably. Very impressive! It has the most gorgeous smell too, like the richest ginger biscuit you could possibly ever find and I can’t wait to try it out.

I was so grateful to be invited to this, it was such a lovely evening and I’ll get these reviews up very soon! If there’s anything in particular you would like to hear about though let me know in the comments.

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Pixi MakeUp Haul

So recently, I was lucky enough to be invited to chat with Amanda Bell from Pixi, about all things makeup and skincare. She gave me some seriously good advice about what products I should and shouldn’t be using and the main beauty trends for this season.

Pixi is a very natural brand and some of the products are vegan, so it’s perfect for sensitive or troublesome skin. As a brand they celebrate natural beauty and all the products are packed with botanicals and nutrients to enhance your skin.

Starting from the top, the Natural Brow Duo is a 2-in-1 one gel and pencil, which makes sculpting the perfect brows easy. The angled pencil helps you to get amazing definition and the tinted gel holds all your hard work in place. It’s a great makeup bag staple, that would work for anyone, especially if you haven’t used anything for your brows before.

Moving onto the Brow Brightener, this gel is essentially a highlighter for your eyebrows. The expert tip is to sweep this on when you’ve overdrawn them to redefine the hairs, creating a more natural finish.

This last one I’ve been using everyday and I’m in love with it. The Brow Tamer is a lightweight gel that really works to hold your eyebrows in place. It has a lightweight, natural finish and it doesn’t feel drying or crispy like some of the other’s I’ve tried.

This Endless Silky Eye Pen is serious holy grail territory. The formula is beyond incredible. It’s soft, creamy and easy to blend but it’s also really long-lasting. It has amazing colour payoff to, so you don’t have to work at it back and for to get a good result.

A gorgeous finishing touch, the Lengthy Fiber Mascara is perfect for super long and defined lashes. It’s fragrance and paraben free so if, like me, you have sensitive eyes, it’s a perfect choice. You can see the stretch fibers really building your lashes and the brush is gorgeously delicate too.

A bit of a buzz product right now, the Black Lacquer Lash Primer is your first step for building amazing lashes. It plumps protects and strengthens for a perfect base to build your mascara on. I also love that it’s black, white eyelash primers can be such a nightmare and it means you don’t have to worry about covering anything.

How cute is this packaging! I’m in love with the Shea Butter Lip Balm. It’s such a soft, creamy formula and it keeps my lips moisturised long after I’ve used it. Amanda suggested blending this on my cheeks as a blusher too and it works really well.

Lastly the Lip Contour Liner in soft nude. I love that this is twist up as I go through lip liner so quickly and this makes my life so much easier. It’s a really lovely, light weight formula and it’s not heavy or drying on your lips at all. You can use this as a filler for fine lines around the lips too, so it does have a really nourishing, plumping quality that works perfectly under lipstick.

So many beautiful products! I’ve really loved trying these.

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Rouge Baiser Lip Liner

I love discovering new brands on my travels, I think that’s why Japan is so high on my must visit list. There’s just something so satisfying about finding an amazing product that you’ve never heard of before that’s special because you can’t get it at home.

This was a little treat I picked up last time I was in Paris for my Halloween makeup look but it’s actually become a bit of a makeup bag staple. A deep purple lip has become my favourite winter go to and works really well for pale skin. The same goes for a shadow this colour around the eyes (obviously not together) but it’s good to know your colours.

I don’t tend to wear lipstick but I use a liner all over my lips with a little bit of gloss. It is drying sometimes but it’s the best way to make your lips look bigger and get a nice matte finish. I love this one because it’s twist up, so you don’t have to worry about sharpening which just gets annoying. The colour pay off is also incredible and it has amazing staying power to.

I couldn’t find this brand online which is annoying but there are lots of people instagraming about them. If your in Paris I would pick one up or if you know of anywhere I can get some more colours closer to home let me know below.

 

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Ted & Muffy Launch

Last week I was very lucky to be invited to the launch of the new Ted&Muffy store in Bath. For shoes, champagne and cupcakes.

The product is incredible, lots of classic and wearable styles were reinvented with quirky leathers and stand out colours. There’s defitely an emphasis on more unusual fabrics and textures that makes T&M stand out from other brands. 

They also had some great little bags, with cute chain straps. I think the leopard one below might have to make an appearance in my wardrobe.

The interiors of the store were photoshoot worthy to. White, crisp but with the exposed brick work and wooden furniture giving it a very scandi feel. There wasn’t a single person there, who I didn’t hear say they wanted their house to look like the store.
Ted & Muffy

33 Milsom Street,

Bath. BA1 1DG

Ted & Muffy Launch Party

Last week I was very lucky to be invited to the launch of the new Ted&Muffy store in Bath. For shoes, champagne and cupcakes. The product is incredible, lots of classic and wearable styles were reinvented with quirky leathers and stand out colours. There’s defitely an emphasis on more unusual fabrics and textures that makes T&M stand out from other brands. 

They also had some great little bags, with cute chain straps. I think the leopard one below might have to make an appearance in my wardrobe.

The interiors of the store were photoshoot worthy to. White, crisp but with the exposed brick work and wooden furniture giving it a very Scandi feel. There wasn’t a single person there, who I didn’t hear say they wanted their house to look like the store.
Ted & Muffy

33 Milsom Street,

Bath. BA1 1DG

Vogue Festival 2015

So last weekend me and my Mumma went to London to check out Vogue Festival for the first time. I always watch the talks from Vogue Fest when they go up online, but I was really excited to see them first hand. Obviously being Vogue they have access to the most inspiring people in the industry and learning about their careers really helps to give you ideas on what steps to take to further your own.

I went to the ‘I Did It!’ talk with Laura Weir as host and Henry Holland, Quentin Jones, Hannah Weiland and Amy Thompson. It was really a crash course in young entrepreneurship and the stories were so inspiring, especially for a young audience of people eager to work in fashion. They each told their success stories, gave advice and shared lessons they’ve learnt along the way. My favourite quote of the talk came from Henry Holland “If you have that passion, it doesn’t matter if you only have the evenings to get it done.” I think it rings true for a lot of creative people who’s passions have to be kept on the side of a bread and butter day job.

The festival lobby was filled with makeup and beauty quick fixes, including a Bobby Brown makeup counter and a nail art section. Me and my mum even got to shoot our very own Vogue cover, complete with Chanel accessories (a good giggle). It’s definitely worth a trip, next year I want to go to more talks and make the most of the two days. If you couldn’t get down there, I would recommend looking out for the videos on Vogue.com and keep an eye out for tickets next year.

Bristol Fashion Week

So today I went to BFW to watch the show and also attend a little industry Q&A about working in Fashion. It’s all held in the Mall in Bristol and all the clothes are available to purchase now. This was really more a lesson in styling and interpreting trends in contrast to something like LFW where your looking at new, individual designers collections. I thought that the styling was all very wearable and definitely encouraged being more inventive and brave when shopping on the High Street.

My favourite part of the day was the Q&A, hosted by Marc Hayes and Lucy Watson and featuring a panel of different people from the fashion industry. One of those being couture designer Jorgen Simonsen, I instantly found him really fascinating and full of strong advice that has come from his amazing background in fashion. His career is in Haute Couture and so far he’s worked at Galliano, McQueen and Givenchy. His passion came through in his responses and made for great listening. He honestly had such a million dollar personality, I really have no idea why he hasn’t been snapped up for television yet.

Another panellist who I really benefited from listening to was Shelly Vella, who is style director at Cosmopolitan magazine. She had amazing boho style, like a rich supermodel in the seventies and I loved her shoes (little leopard ballet flats with lace up detailing). She was very concise and down to earth and also gave good advice about progressing in fashion.

The main focus was on the importance of gaining work experience to really boost your chances of a career in fashion. Many people have reservations about working for free, however most of the panelists said they had done at point and that the lessons they learnt were invaluable. I have also and despite the lack of compensation really loved being an intern and learning about the industry first hand. I actually want to get back to London and do some more but I have a little bit of saving to get done before thats possible. Anyways, a fun day and definitely worth a trip if you have the time to go.

A Model Recommends | COLAB Hair Launch

So this week I went to a glam evening to celebrate the launch of Ruth Crilly’s (A Model Recommends) new collaboration with COLAB Hair. I’ve watched her channel for so long now that it was really lovely to meet her and find out about her new product, she is insanely beautiful in person!

A little champagne and chat was followed by a demonstration from session stylist Darren Hau, he taught us how to use the dry shampoo to create volume and texture, as well as building a beautiful beehive look on Ruth. He confided in us some tricks of the trade, including a cool hack, whereby you spray the product at the roots and then straighten it, immediately, to create a backcombed effect, but without causing as much damage to your hair (useful!).

The launch was for two dry shampoo ranges, the first being a classic and the second an Extreme Volume version. The classic dry shampoo is sheer and invisible (bye grey dust!) and works amazingly well to soak up oil and leave the hair light and fresh. We also got to try out some samples and I loved it, my favourite being the Extreme Volume as it gave me a more dramatic look and really lifted at the roots. The product feels so much lighter than its competition and although the Extreme Volume does have a reside it blends really easily.

Ruth recommended the Tokyo scent (oriental), but there are so many different ones to choose from and it combines a dry shampoo and hair perfume in one which is so useful. There’s the Rio (Tropical), Paris (Floral), New York (Fruity) and London (Classic/Musk) so theres really something for everyone and it lasts. I promise it wasn’t the champagne swaying my decision! I honestly loved it and am definitely converted.

A Model Recommends | COLAB Dry Shampoo Blogger Event

This week I was invited to celebrate the launch of Ruth Crilly’s (A Model Recommends) new collaboration with COLAB Hair. Being the biggest fan of her channel and of dry shampoo I was pretty excited. I’ve watched her for so long now that it was really lovely to meet her and find out about her new product, she is also insanely beautiful in person!

A little champagne and chat was followed by a demonstration from session stylist Darren Hau, he taught us how to use the dry shampoo to create volume and texture, as well as building a beautiful beehive look on Ruth. He confided in us some tricks of the trade, including a cool hack, whereby you spray the product at the roots and then straighten it, immediately, to create a backcombed effect, but without causing as much damage to your hair (useful!).

The launch was for two dry shampoo ranges, the first being a classic and the second an extreme volume version. The classic dry shampoo is sheer and invisible (bye grey dust!) and works amazingly well to soak up oil and leave the hair light and fresh. We also got to try out some samples and I loved it, my favourite being the extreme volume as it gave me a more dramatic look and really lifted at the roots. The product feels so much lighter than its competition and although the extreme volume does have a reside it blends really easily.

Ruth recommended the Tokyo scent (oriental), but there are so many different ones to choose from and it combines a dry shampoo and hair perfume in one which is so useful. There’s the Rio (Tropical), Paris (Floral), New York (Fruity) and London (Classic/Musk) so theres really something for everyone and it lasts. I promise it wasn’t the champagne swaying my decision! I honestly loved it and am definitely converted.

 

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Nespresso Blogger Event #CoffeeWithCurrys

So when I received my invite for this I remembered that George Clooney was in the adverts for Nespresso and I had my hopes up that he might make an appearance. Alas he was a no show but that didn’t seem to put a damper on what was an amazing coffee filled day.

We started with lunch which was the most incredible and very healthy spread by the team at Waterloo Tea, I’d never been there before but I loved it. They stock every tea imaginable and they also make some pretty wonderful cakes (I sampled at least 3) so if your in Cardiff I would definitely check it out. After that we began the workshops, there were four including coffee cocktails (absolutely!), coffee cupping (not as strange as it sounds) and a latte art workshop (not my strong suit). You can see my Latte creation above, it’s the blobby leaf to the left, so much harder than it looks! Even with the barista trying to instruct me I think I would’ve needed months of practise before I could master the technique.

The coffee cocktails were great fun, we learnt to make some interesting tipples combining coffee with things like Toblerone, cinnamon and Baileys which were delicious. As for the coffee tasting I had no idea, as much as I love coffee I found it hard to guess the different blends however it was really interesting to learn more about the range of flavours and the origins of coffee.

We also had the opportunity to use the Nespresso machines while we were there to make drinks, I opted for the Vanilla flavour which was incredible but the Ciocattino chocolate flavour was also pretty divine. They were so easy to use and I’ve actually already decided to add the Inissa machine to my Christmas list. It comes with a separate milk frother called an Aeroccino which you can use for things like hot chocolate and works really quickly. Also when you purchase a Nespresso machine you instantly become a member of the Nespresso Club, giving you exclusive contacts with coffee specialists as well as 24hour customer service should you have a problem with your machine or need to place an order.

When it was time to leave we were given some stylish little espresso cups to take home with us which I was so grateful for as once I purchase my coffee machine they will for sure come in handy! Curry’s have also written a post about the event which you can check out on their blog HERE