Cupcake lust and canape porn

I’ve been to a lot of press events recently (darling), featuring everything from painting to pore cleansing, but on Wednesday night I went to a couple of events that really brought out the foodie in me. That’s right, don’t be deceived by these skinny limbs, I’ve got an appetite to rival that guy off Man v. Food at times.

First up it was the QVC press day. While Helen was trying on every diamond (and Diamonique) ring she could find and imagining with which one Prince Harry would choose to propose to her, I was transfixed by the best baking gadget I’ve seen in years. The Cassie Brown Cake Decorating Airbrush Set allows you to unleash your inner domestic goddess – or grafitti artist – on fondant icing. The QVCers had taken some ready iced cupcakes and added their own artistic flourishes, which was cute, but frankly, if I got my hands on one of these (hint, hint: it’s my birthday in 2 months people, and I think £109 is very reasonable) I’d be trying to recreate the Mona Lisa on a lemon bun, or at least a blurry version of Monet’s Waterlillies.

After tearing myself away from the cupcake stand we wandered over to – or rather, got a bit lost on the way to – a party celebrating the launch of new website London-Boutiques.com. Here, it was the excellent dessert canape selection that I was feasting my greedy eyes on. I failed to get a photo of the adorable miniature cones filled with tequila flavoured ice cream, but check out this cheeky jelly pop with a glace cherry centre. And I had to hand it to them for their superb branded biscuits. I don’t think Cassie Brown could have bettered them. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to make a Pinterest board called Canape Porn. Or maybe just canaporn?

Prepare to wave goodbye to trousers forever with LaDress.com

No, no, calm down, I’m not advocating a return to pre-21st century inequality, where women who wear trousers are deemed a disgrace to the female sex. But when you see the myriad different styles of dress for sale on LaDress.com you might suddenly find you’re a born again frock fanatic too.

I almost didn’t make it to the LaDress launch last Wednesday evening. I had a harrowing journey by bike from my office which involved getting caught in a hailstorm, sheltering outside the ICA and half falling off my bike, resulting in a big fat bruise on my shin. When I struggled to find the St Martins Lane Hotel (what is up with that, when they make posh hotels almost invisible with no clear signage – are they trying to dissuade the hoi polloi from dropping by unannounced?) I almost gave up and went home. But I’m glad I didn’t.

After an impromptu full-body blow dry using the hand dryer in the toilets to try and get rid of the residual evidence of rain and hail I made my way to the event room, which was beautifully decked out with vases of roses, and grabbed a passion fruit cocktail – well-deserved by that point, I think you’ll agree.

So what’s LaDress all about it? LaDress by Simone, to use it’s full title, is an e-commerce site that specialises in, you guessed it, dresses. Minidresses, maxidresses, shirt dresses, wrap dresses, formal dresses, casual dresses – you name it, they’ve probably got it. Fabrics, mostly silk, jersey, cotton and wool, are premium so price points are too, starting at £125. Simone van Trojen, the brains behind the business, is a former corporate high-flyer and mum of two who noticed a gap in the market for a one stop online shop for that most versatile of garments.

Dutch-born Simone (the sort of lady who inevitably gets described as ‘impossibly glamorous’ a lot) launched the site in the Netherlands in 2006 before expanding to Germany and it’s now available in the UK for the first time, hence the launch party last week. Stylist Aradia Crockett (how cool is her name?) was on hand to talk through a rail full of LaDress pieces that work the upcoming autumn/winter trends. I was eyeing up some very cool pastel shirt dresses, but I have to admit we got slightly off topic when Aradia told me she’d recently got married. Obviously I had to ask about the dress as research for bride-to-be Sophie Caldecott – it was Alberta Ferretti and sounded divine.

There was also a huge rack of dresses on show at the event for guests to basically play dress up in. There was lots of oohing and ahing as the assembled press and bloggers twirled and posed in front of the mirror in their chosen frocks. I like to think I was channelling Michelle Williams in this ladylike red number I tried on (what do you mean, ‘as if’?).

Before I left I got a real treat: I was able to choose a gorgeous LaDress of my very own to take home. You might think bloggers get this kind of freebie all the time but let me tell you we don’t! I chose the chic three-quarter sleeved Gabrielle style, as seen in the photo below, in a demure dark grey. I’ve already worn it for work twice when I’ve had important meetings and it made me feel super grown up (yes, I know I’m technically already a grown-up but you know what I mean). As a firm fan of androgynous style I won’t be giving up my trousers just yet, but Gabrielle could well lead to a resurgence of the dress as a workwear staple.

Check out the huge selection of dresses, now available to order in the UK, over at LaDress.com.

An education in exfoliation plus some arts and crafts fun with St Ives

To celebrate the relaunch of their iconic Apricot Facial Scrub, St Ives invited a select group of bloggers to the Hospital Club last week for an evening of informative beauty advice and some arty fun too.

It was basically like a grown-up bloggers crèche. On arrival at the beautiful Forest Room (check out that wicked woody wallpaper) Helen and I were offered a delicious martini cocktail, apricot flavoured of course, and we mingled with fellow bloggers as we nibbled on canapés including dried apricots filled with cream cheese – are you noticing a theme emerging here?

For the first educational portion of the evening we sat down along with Lauren of The Beauty Habit blog to listen to Pedro Mendez, a Technical Manager from St Ives parent company Unilever, who was well versed in all thing exfoliant. Pedro demonstrated the power of St Ives Apricot Scrub by using a little electronic tool to measure the moisture levels on the back of Lauren’s hand. Needless to say, after a gentle scrubbing with a dollop of the apricot good stuff Lauren’s skin had vastly improved in both texture and moistness. Pedro explained (in his adorable Spanish accent) that St Ives scrubs use apricot, walnut and ground corn as their all-important exfoliating ingredients.

Next, Emine Ali Rushton, Beauty Director at Psychologies magazine, gave a fascinating talk about the history of exfoliation. Check this out: crocodile dung, camel urine and nightingale droppings have all been used as exfoliants throughout the ages. Pretty gross, right? I think I’m gonna stick to apricots and walnuts myself.

Finally, we were given the chance to get arty – and a bit competitive. We were presented with a wig block (you know, one of those polystyrene heads they keep wigs on) and told to paint it in a way that we thought represented natural beauty. Despite being totally on brand, with a delicate sunset-coloured floral motif that included actual apricots and everything, we didn’t win the incredible chocolate and marzipan apricot tree sculpture. Clearly, we were robbed. Just kidding, the wig block winner was totally deserved.

The new look St Ives scrubs come in three varieties: invigorating, blemish fighting, and renew and firm, available now at all the usual places. Visit the St Ives Facebook page.

Check out all my photos from the event in the gallery below. Click on the images to enlarge.

Lacoste launch their new fagrance with a little help from Central St Martins

To celebrate the launch of Eau de Lacoste Rouge, the latest scent in their L.12.12 mens fragrance collection, the French brand turned to London’s most famous art school Central St Martin’s and presented them with a design challenge.

Graphic design students were given a brief at the Lacoste headquarters: to design artworks out of the coloured fragrance bottles of the four scents in the Eau de Lacoste L.12.12 mens collection (it’s pronounced el-douze-douze, with a French accent, naturellement). The latest addition, Rouge – which follows Blanc, Blue and Vert – was unveiled at an event at the Hospital Club last week, along with the winner of the CSM contest. Helen and I went along to sniff out (sorry I couldn’t resist) the competition before we headed over to the Batiste launch event.

All the students’ entries were on display, along with lots of bottles of Rouge. Forget the boys, we like the scent so much we want to use it ourselves. Apparently it features a triple blend of spices – ginger, black pepper and cardamom. Sounds more like a chai tea recipe, I know, but it’s actually a really great zesty combination, not overpoweringly masculine.

Lacoste design director Christophe Pillet, who set the brief initially, had flown into London especially for the occasion. In his swooningly thick French accent he explained, in typical award ceremony style, that it had been a really difficult decision picking the winner. He also suggested, I kid you not, that the students who didn’t win might want to swipe some of the Rouge fragrance bottles later as a substitute. He was very droll. Christophe presented Sabba Keynejad with the top prize for his very cool design in which little Lacoste crocodiles were created from a mass of lots of L.12.12 bottles. After the presentation, we had a quick chat with Christophe (I can confirm he smelled divine, as one would imagine) and asked him why they chose St Martins rather than a French art school. ‘Because we wanted the best,’ he said, explaining that CSM’s reputation for talent and innovation is world famous. Well, vive l’Anglaterre, you might say.

See Sabba and the runners-up designs in the gallery below. Eau de Lacoste Rouge, part of the Lacoste L.12.12 mens collection, is on sale now.

Kirk Originals bright new innovation

Kirk Originals have been making glasses for 20 years but for spring 2012 they’ve come up with a innovative new production technique. Twelve years in the making, the Beam and Sunbeam collections are unique because they’re made entirely from acrylic, rather than the usual acetate. What’s so special about that? For starters it’s more hard-wearing, yet softer on the skin, so you won’t end up with that annoying dent on the bridge of your nose. Plus the new production process allows for the supremely bright jewel colours that merge on the frames. The Beam collection (regular glasses) and Sunbeam (sunglasses – see what they did there?) come in a variety of styles and five colourways: amber, coral, aquamarine, amethyst and emerald.

At a party at the Conduit Street flagship on Thursday night to launch the spring/summer ranges, Jason and Karen Kirk, the husband and wife designers behind the brand, sported pairs from the Beam collection, as did many of the guests. Kirk Originals celebrity clients include notable glasses wearers like Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Heston Blumenthal, so they’re in good company. Songstress Sophie Hiller performed while party goers tried out the many glasses and sunnies housed along the long wall of the store. The party was also a chance to celebrate the store winning the Fashion Frames Practice of the Year award at the Optician Awards 2011.

Check out photos from the launch party in the gallery below (click to enlarge). The Beam and Sunbeam collections are in store now. Visit the Kirk Originals website.

PHOTOS | Flash Trash Treasure Box jewellery

Last week Helen, Naomi and I popped into the very cool Oxygen Boutique just behind Oxford Circus for an event hosted by online jewellery store MyFlashTrash.com. There were a bunch of paparazzi assembled outside when we arrived, so we were expecting slebs. It’s a good thing Helen, fount of all celeb knowledge, was there, because I didn’t have a clue who anyone was. Do the names Amber Atherton, Jade Williams, Zara Martin, Laura Whitmore or Georgie OKell mean anything to you? Apparently they are a bunch of Made in Chelseaites, a singer and a presenter, who were all in attendance. But I couldn’t tell you which is which. I can tell you that I loved some of the jewellery we perused in the boutique and the ridiculously high Jeffrey Campbell platforms. Not to mention the coconut-infused gin and tonics that were served.

Here are some photos that Naomi took on the night. Visit www.myflashtrash.com to shop the jewellery.

In search of wedding inspiration for Sophie

I usually ignore the zillions of press releases, articles, ads and what not that start appearing around this time of year declaring ‘it’s wedding season!’ None of my friends are anywhere near marriage, and neither am I (boo hoo etc). But this year it’s different, because our very own Sophie Caldecott is getting hitched.

In October, Sophie will be marrying her lovely boyfriend – sorry, I mean fiance – Greg in Oxford, and she’s already well under way with planning. So when we got an invite to the Bloomsbury Hotel’s Wedding Open Day last Friday, Katy Spry and I thought we’d go along on a bit of nuptial fact-finding mission on behalf of Soph. To be honest, the event was basically an excuse to advertise the hotel’s three wedding venue options, but there was also a selection of bridalwear, hats, jewellery, shoes and the like on display. We had a chat with Jasper Garvida too, who’s LFW show I’ve been to several times, about his bespoke bridal service – Katy will be blogging all about that soon.

So here it is, especially for Sophie, a photo gallery full of weddinspiration (I can’t believe no one’s thought of this word before. Oh wait, they have), featuring Jasper Garvida bridal gowns, Louis Mariette bridal accessories, plus the Library, Chapel and Ballroom of the Bloomsbury Hotel.

Visit the Bloomsbury Hotel website for more info about their wedding venues.

Who doesn’t love a mini makeover?

Sometimes – well, OK, very often – fashion blogging is a lot of fun. On Thursday I went to the Good Results PR press day with Katy Spry – who’ll be guest blogging soon about some of the great brands we saw – and we had a lot of fun getting a manicure and our hair did. (Please note the Missy Elliot reference there, not a massive grammar fail.) It was held in the very swanky penthouse suite of the very swanky Sanderson Hotel. Get ready for some classic before and after makeover poses.

First up, Katie got to experience the effects of a long, black, phallic-shaped electronic device. Get your mind out of the gutter – obviously I’m talking about the Yogi Hair Wand. The hair stylist took sections of Katy’s gorgeous auburn hair and wound them round the heated barrel of the wand – she used the ‘fat barrel’ wand for looser curls. She wore a heat protection glove on her right/left hand so that she could touch the curler without risking burnt fingertips, which is always a rish with hot hair tools, am I right ladies? After the curls were gently combed through and zhuzhed up a bit, Katy was left with beautiful waves, worthy of a Hollywood shampoo commercial I think you’ll agree.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

At the same time, I got a mini-mani from the lovely Samantha, who leads a similar double life to me: she has a corporate job in law by day and works as a nail technician as a creative outlet part-time. Samantha shaped my shamefully short nails (I had to cut them last week because I went rock climbing OK?) and expertly applied a bright fuchsia Toma nail polish from Mad Beauty called Pacha, named after the Ibiza night club. I always think when I get a manicure (which is always at press events really, since I’m about the least groomed person ever) that men are really missing out – it’s so wonderfully relaxing and it’s amazing how something as simple as coloured fingertips really makes you feel great. It ties in with what I was saying last week about nail varnish sales going up. But anyway, thanks Good Results for that lovely pampering session.

Click on the photos in the gallery below to enlarge.

Introducing the new Style & Then Some logo

We’re very excited to unveil our brand new Style & Then Some logo:

The new logo came about after a chance encounter at London Fashion Week last September. In the queue for the Jasper Garvida SS12 show at the Bloomsbury Hotel, I got chatting to Natalie Vosloo, an art director and designer who also blogs about fashion. Natalie mentioned her interest in logos and typography and I said how we were potentially looking for a new logo for S&TS – we liked our old one but thought that it was a bit difficult to read – so we swapped business cards. A bunch of emails and a few iterations later, this is the fantastic design that Natalie has come up with. She also created a square icon that we can use on Twitter, Facebook and the like.

So we’d like to say a huge thank you to Natalie for kindly helping with the logo, we’re really thrilled with it and we’re so pleased that the blog’s had a lovely spring makeover.

Visit Natalie’s blog at www.foxinthewood.com.

Have you still not joined Pinterest?

Guys! Have you not heard about the newest social media bandwagon upon which you’re supposed to jump? Pinterest is the latest hyped to the heavens website that aims to “connect everyone in the world through the ‘things’ they find interesting.” I was dubious at first, but now I’m really getting into it.

How does it work? You go to www.pinterest.com and request an invite. Once you’re signed up you download a little button that sits on your browser that says Pin It. Whenever you see an image on the web that you want to share you hit the button and save it to a Pinboard. So you might save a photo of Ryan Gosling looking ridiculously hot to a Pinboard called ‘My Future Husband,’ for example. You can also choose to post your Pins to Facebook or Twitter as you go along, and you can follow other Pinners and ‘repin’ their images on your boards.

If you’re a visual sort of person (and you’re reading this awesome fashion blog right now so I imagine you’ve got pretty good taste) you’ll probably love Pinterest. Like most new social media sites, it takes a bit of practice but before long it gets addictive and you can’t stop pinning. I got properly hooked last weekend after the Angry Birds photo on my nail art Pinboard got 15 repins (I’d barely got a single repin before that). And my best friend Caroline discovered that someone had pinned an old street style photo of me, which I was pretty excited about: little old me, a source of style pinspiration, who’d have thought?

Check out Style & Then Some on Pinterest and leave me a comment below with some tips on which Pinners I should be following.