london blogger Archives - Page 4 of 5

saharasplash15 December, 2016

Easy Peasy Gift Guide For Him

Seeing as I’ve already done a Gift Guide For Her post, I thought I would even the playing field this week and bring you an Easy Peasy Gift Guide For Him. I’ve teamed up with Warner Bros. to give you a Super easy (no pun intended!) guide if you are shopping for a brother, cousin or nephew and you just don’t have the resources or knowledge to know what to get. Warner Bros. has the ultimate selection which comes in fantastic rectangular little boxes to get the whole family in the Christmas spirit.

Top Pick Number One: Batman Vs Superman (2015)

I remember seeing this film as soon as it came out and was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. I didn’t expect this movie to be as incredible as it was, and I can honestly say that Ben Affleck makes a wonderful Bruce Wayne. You can’t go wrong with a superhero movie like this for him!

Top Pick Number Two: Creed (2015)

Fun fact: I actually spent the entire day with Apollo Creed a.k.a. Carl Weathers at London Film and Comic Con last year as his guest assistant. Creed is a top choice for any sports fan and it’s definitely made a great impression on the Rocky fans out there according to the hundreds of people in line for Carl’s autograph when I was assisting him last July.

Top Pick Number Three: Point Break (2015)

I remember when I first watched the original Point Break when I was about 13- who doesn’t remember all the Keanu Reeves movies?! You’ve got extreme sports of all kinds, FBI infiltration and all the heart stopping moments of Mission Impossible- Point Break take two is an easy peasy one for a present this year.

Top Pick Number Four: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Quite recently my husband sat me down and made me watch the original Mad Max movie with Mel Gibson. I really enjoyed it and I think that Tom Hardy in the new Fury Road has done an incredible job. It contains all the post-apocalyptic Australian madness of the original with all the up-to-date special effects of today’s cinematic experience. A sure winner for the Christmas stocking this year!

Top Pick Number Five: Black Mass (2015)

The last top pick for my Easy Peasy Gift Guide For Him is Black Mass. I am one of the biggest Johnny Depp fans you can find having watched nearly all of his movies (including some of the stranger titles such as Once upon a time in Mexico and Benny and Joon). Black Mass tells the story of Whitey Bulger- the infamous criminal turned FBI informant- who helps take down a mafia group. This one is definitely for all the festive thrillseekers out there!

I hope you enjoyed my Easy Peasy Gift Guide For Him!

I have one final thing to say and that is I’m here to give you some early Christmas cheer. I’m giving away all of the movies I’ve mentioned above to one lucky winner this Christmas so head over to my Twitter page right now and get all the details in the pinned tweet! Merry Christmas!

Saharasplash x

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saharasplash7 December, 2016

Gluten Free Brunch with Quaker Oats

So I have been sitting on this post like a proverbial hen for a number of weeks now as it has been so crazy busy with all things wedding. Now the bridal bliss has come and gone- far too quick I might add- I’m happy to be going through all the October/November news for you starting off with a Gluten Free Brunch with Quaker Oats.

On the 6th October, the day after my birthday, I had a brunch date at ETHOS with some bloggers and the MD of nutrition at Quaker Oats. The setting was fabulous, who doesn’t love indoor trees?!

ETHOS is a great meat free spot for coeliacs, vegans and healthy food options- they cater for almost every dietary requirement!

The restaurant partnered with Quaker Oats to create some great recipes for us to try out during the brunch. I was so happy to see such a variety of options as people can perhaps stereotype oats as a boring food. This brunch showed us that it most certainly is not boring!

We started out with something quite easy which was make your own porridge- so I mixed mine with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, chocolate chips and honey.

The next dish was very unusual and exciting. These are oaty croquettes made with oats, broccoli, cheese, eggs and seasoning. These were so tasty and I think I ate three! If you’d like the full recipe then reach out to me on Twitter or comment below!

The next delight was a yummy zesty porridge cake. Baked to perfection, this had apricots and cranberries which sort of reminded me of an oatmeal and raisin cookie but way better.

It is safe to say that Quaker Oats can go a very long way for any household, and I for one am very happy that these gluten free oats are now available in sachet packs or in the big 510g tubes shown below.

510g Oats tube: £2.49

I loved my Gluten Free Brunch with Quaker Oats, and will definitely be making the croquettes in my own kitchen!

Saharasplash x

Thanks for reading, if you’re into all things festive and beauty then check out this post!

saharasplash3 November, 2016

Dragonfly Tea celebrates 15 years

I usually am pretty good at getting to events on time as I like to think I am quite organised and a fairly good planner. On the evening of this event however, I don’t think that I could say either of these things as I ended up getting incredibly lost around Kings Cross station. I was hopelessly following my Google maps directions in circles and by this point I was starting to feel like I would never get to the event which had begun well over an hour ago. I ended up calling one of the girls who had invited me who was so great at directing me and 10 minutes later (feeling very puffed out and silly) I arrived at the DFMasterclass!

If you haven’t seen my previous post on Dragonfly Tea, they are a family owned British company who are just so passionate about bringing the best quality teas to the British high street. This year Dragonfly Tea celebrates 15 years and to mark this they have brought out a fantastic new range of teas called the tea house collection. They were also kind enough to host a select few of us for this fabulous tea masterclass!

The location (which I will now remember for the rest of my days) was at the Waitrose cooking school and I was so happy to see it when I arrived. I had missed a little bit of the tea trivia but the staff and hosts were so gracious and set me up with a Long Island green tea straight away.

Our host Georgia Ginsberg from Dragonfly Tea talked us through what would happen next, which was a tea test! We had 10 teapots around the kitchen and we had to taste, smell and work out which one was which from the new collection. The academic in me always jumps at the chance to take a test so I was straight in there!

Even though I missed the first part, my tastebuds did me proud and I got 7 out of 10! I do like to drink a range of teas so I think this helped a lot 🙂

We had a great time taking photos of all the teas and flowers, it was one of the most amazing blogger events I’ve been to this year!

Dragonfly Tea celebrates 15 years in style, as not only do they have the brand new tea house collection, they have also brought out a luxury candle. This candle is super lovely and it’s definitely something everyone should have when taking a relaxing bath. The scent is homely, woody and just right for the transition into the cold season. I had the best blogger evening at the DFMasterclass and want to thank the Babushka Comms team for inviting me along!

Saharasplash x

Head over to my latest beauty post about my 12 week trial with SmoothSkin IPL here

saharasplash26 October, 2016

Smoothskin Gold IPL 12 week trial

Quite a while ago (3 months ago actually) I went to a Bloggers Ball. Now at this Bloggers Ball I met a wonderful range of people. Friends, brands and the usual. But one in particular stood out for me, and I was lucky enough to have been working with these guys over the past 12 weeks on a 12 week trial. I’m talking about SmoothSkin and their very popular hair removal device. So continue reading if you want to find out all about my Smoothskin Gold IPL 12 week trial…

I want to tell you a little bit about SmoothSkin. You can check out their website here and follow them on Twitter here. So how does the device work? So the IPL device uses intense pulse light technology to disable your hair follicle and prevent regrowth. Of course this doesn’t happen overnight which is why I’ve been doing a 12 week trial and the results are just fantastic. The SmoothSkin Gold is so simple and easy to use- you can use the glide mode on large areas like your legs, or single pulse for areas like your underarms or your bikini line.

Before starting my Smoothskin Gold IPL 12 week trial I read all the instructions and the manual cover to cover to make sure that I understood how it worked. Unfortunately this doesn’t work on extremely dark skin and is not recommended for red, grey or extremely light hair follicles becuase they can’t absorb the light treatment safely. It is perfect for brunettes and for those with dark hair like me.

There is a little light up bar system on the side of the device telling you if the area of skin is suitable. It’s best to hold it flat down instead of at an angle to make sure the target area is as good as possible. Once ready you look away as to not get flashed in the eyes (as that’s dangerouss!) and you push the button, et voila! Piece of cake. My legs usually take me ten mins to do, and bikini/underarms a matter of minutes so it’s easy to work it into a routine once a week.

Now I know you have probably seen a lot of people on TV getting laser hair removal and they are in a lot of pain. SmoothSkin Gold really isn’t that painful at all. You can control how intense you’d like the device to work as there is a soft mode too, but other than being a little warm for a split second, that’s it. There were no tears and no putting me off using this brilliant machine- and the results are just great. Before my 12 week trial I would shave my legs every time I washed my hair, so every 3-4 days. Now I’m finding myself not being able to remember the last time I picked up a razor for my legs which is amazing. My thicker hair on my underarms and bikini line is also improved, though the best results are by far with my legs.

I’m so happy to say goodbye to my unwanted hair after my 12 week trial, now I’ll be taking a break and seeing if my hair manages to stay away for my wedding next month!

If you’d like to try the SmoothSkin Gold for yourself, take a look at the website and see what happens after 12 weeks! Price wise the device ranges from £249-£299.

Saharasplash x

Thanks for reading! Why not check out something fashion related next? My London Fashion Week diaries is just waiting for you!

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saharasplash23 September, 2016

Confessions of a Shopper-HOLIC!

It’s certainly about time I did a post all about my confessions as a fashion blogger. Being in the industry of blogging has really helped my bad spending habits as I am now focusing more on quality over quantity. But I still have a few confessions I’d like to share with you and I’d love to know if you can relate. So here we go- this is my Confessions of a Shopper-HOLIC!

Confession 1: I’m in love with big bags

Yes, the bigger the better when it comes to my bags! I have a big bag for every occasion, and this one comes from the ever fabulous Colette Green. This dogtooth shopper bag is just perfect for all my needs when it comes to a bag. It’s stylish, affordable and it’s big enough for all my things. If I were Goldilocks, this bag would be just right, though I imagine the story would involve three bags instead of three bears! The typical thing you will find in my bag is another bag full of essential makeup products (you never know when you might need a touch up) an umbrella (as you can never count on the weather) my purse, snacks (cereal bars and chocolate) and probably a lot of other random useful things like pens, plasters and business cards.

Confession 2: I’m in love with pattern clashes

I always have a lot of fun when it comes to pattern clashes. My favourite of all being monochrome clashing, which is what you will see in the images below. This is another shoot I did with Nicole (@NE_Moments) in Holland Park. I just love the way that the print from the bag and jumpsuit work perfectly together even though they are two completely different patterns. This pattern clash is so simple to do and really effective, so I would really recommend getting a dogtooth bag like this. Dogtooth also works really well with tartan if you want to add a bit of colour to the mix!

Confession 3: I’m in love with outdoors photography

This is the best kind of photography! It’s quite difficult as a blogger sometimes to get help with your shots, but these are the type of shots I would love to bring to my blog a bit more. I really love getting out there, exploring new places and having a great time with photographers for the morning or afternoon as we shoot in the city. You can find some amazing scenery in London- it doesn’t have to be all about those white houses in Kensington! Find somewhere where you can change it up a bit- especially if wearing all black and white, something like a mass of green trees will just look amazing and bring your outfit to life. So yes, outdoors photography is a big win, and thanks to Nicole for choosing such a fabulous location!

Confession 4: I’m in love with just being me

Call it narcissistic if you will, but I really do love just being myself, and I hope that this shows in my photos and in the blogging I’ve been doing these last few years. I couldn’t be happier with the family, friends and sometimes sheer luck I have had so far. I feel like I’ve done so much for someone still finding her career path and I believe that I haven’t even scratched the surface of where this road will take me. As I carry on my journey, I will leave 2016 as a married woman with hopes of starting a family in 2017. This may come as a shock to many of you who don’t know me well, but I really am not going to be settling down. If anything I’ll be upping my game even more, and with a new addition to the family I hope that the things I’m in love with won’t change, but they will simply expand even more (this includes my bag collection!).

Shopper: Colette Green

Jumpsuit: H&M

Shoes: Primark

Saharasplash x

If you liked my Confessions of a Shopper-HOLIC! post, why not read about my truth behind wedding planning!

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saharasplash15 September, 2016

The truth about wedding planning

So I made sure that I cleared my blogging schedule this week as tomorrow is the official start of fashion week. I wanted to do something that I never have any time to do, so this is all very new and exciting. I wanted to post something a bit different to the usual reviews and events that I normally do. This post is based on the truth about wedding planning- my truth on the whole thing! I hope that my five truths offer some important insight for those brides and grooms to be and I want to say that I support all of you out there planning right this very second, I know what you’re going through…

1- There will never be enough time

I have a very good friend who has just tied the knot who will help back me up on this one! This is such a key truth about wedding planning I think. My blogger friend Merrell-Ann was engaged well before I was, and she had been planning her wedding (which happened last weekend!) for well over a year. I got engaged this May and have had just under 7 months, yet we both agree that the time just seemed to disappear on us. The truth about wedding planning is that you can plan as much as you like in advance, yet when it comes down to those final few weeks before you will be saying to yourself, ‘why didn’t I do this sooner?!’. But that’s ok, we are only human, we all have lives and filled up schedules to juggle every single day and adding a wedding to this just creates a paradox of delightful chaos. My advice here is to just accept that you probably won’t have everything ready months in advance, there will be something to panic over two days before and that’s acceptable!

2- Learn to listen to your family (to a certain extent)

Learning to accept comments and advice from friends and family members has been by far the hardest part of getting engaged for me. I am a naturally headstrong person and so as soon as I hear the words ‘have you thought about…’ I automatically tend to put on my game face and get ready to argue the hell out of my POV. Even though it is technically ‘you and your fiancées’ wedding, it also doesn’t hurt to listen to advice and suggestions from others. Your loved ones aren’t trying to take over, even though it may seem that way. I guess what I have learnt from starting to listen to my family is that they may come up with ideas that don’t totally suck! I may have even taken a few of them on board, though I’ll never admit what they were!

3- There are always going to be some things that just aren’t possible

This is another big truth about wedding planning. We are all guilty of dreaming about our weddings years (some even decades) before that vital question is popped. And of course we all like to dream big. Whether it’s a hundred white doves on a paradise beach island or a wedding in your local church, I’m sure that you have dreamed about very specific details from the big day. And when it comes to the realisation that you can actually start to purchase bridal magazines without feeling guilty about it, you might want to start discussing your ideas with your partner. Budget obviously plays a huge part in decision making, and I have certainly had to learn the hard way that I just can’t get Muse to play at our wedding like I’d always dreamed! Even though your big day may not involve rock stars, this most certinly does not mean that you have to forgo all the dreams. You can find your way around it, like finding a tribute band instead. I attended a wedding this summer where the Foo Fighters tribute band was so amazing, I really felt like I was rocking out to Dave Grohl as I closed my eyes and jumped up and down singing!

4- Compromising with your fiance is easier than you think

I know this one sounds like an odd truth, but I’ve definitely found that since getting engaged Paul and I are master compromisers! If we have different opinions on colour schemes or vows we always seem to find a way to keep each other happy. We have naturally been more loving towards one another and I think a lot of newly engaged couples have this to look forward to. You know that you are about to make a big commitment, so all those petty things that got you angry before don’t seem to matter as much. It’s an exciting time, and the truth is that you both know it! You want to make each other happy, and so this just naturally happens- hooray!

5- Someone will know that one person you need

It doesn’t hurt to do a little investigating with your friends and family on who they may have in their contact book. I know that several of my friends have come in really handy. Things like finding a local coach service and giving me names and numbers for caterers and chair hire. Whether your venue is all inclusive of these things or not, you may find yourself in need of a violinist and your cousin just happens to know of one! So don’t be afraid to ask around and talk a few wedding details among friends and family, chances are that someone will know that one person you need!

I hope that this has helped/ inspired you some way, and that you now know the truth about wedding planning! Leave a comment below if you have any more truths to add!

Saharasplash X

Photos taken from The Wedding Fair at London Excel centre

Want to read more wedding-related posts? I’ve got one all about a couples spa day here!

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Confession 1: I’m in love with big bags

Confession 2: I’m in love with pattern clashes

Confession 3: I’m in love with outdoors photography

Confession 4: I’m in love with just being me

You May Also Enjoy

1- There will never be enough time

2- Learn to listen to your family (to a certain extent)

3- There are always going to be some things that just aren’t possible

4- Compromising with your fiance is easier than you think

5- Someone will know that one person you need

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