london Archives - Page 6 of 12

saharasplash17 April, 2016

The Blogger’s Tea Party at PopUp Patio

It’s that time again, time for another Bloggers Hangout event! This event was focused on food and drink and was hosted at the Pop Up Patio in Hoxton. It was a great location for a smaller event, and I took thetrousseaudiaries along with me too!

First, to the fashion:

I’m wearing a white lace boho blouse from Forever 21 and some tan high waist wide leg trousers from F+F. I went with a funky print shoe from the M&S Limited collection to finish my look- I got these in the sale at just £8.50! Best buy of the month.

Now, onto my top 5 brands from the event:

The Cocoa Den

The Cocoa Den is a company owned by Kate Burton who specialises in handmade chocolates. She creates the most intricate designs in chocolate, it was wonderful to see her creations as well as taste them too! Virtually all her chocolates are gluten free and they were so lovely! Here are my favourite designs:

Just Bee Drinks

Just Bee drinks were really awesome. They have just gone through a complete brand relaunch and I was really pleased to meet them at the event. They infuse each drink with just a single drop of honey and they use the best honey from this family-orientated business. They stock in Selfridges, Fortnum and Mason or you can buy from them directly too. A 12 pack is just £19.99 and they have 3 delicious flavours to choose from:

Chikas Snacks

Chikas snacks were really popular at the Bloggers Tea Party. Inspired by West African heritage this company is all about making a change for the better. Chikas snacks offer you a way to eat healthily (suitable for vegans and gluten free) and at the same time help do some good. For every subscription box ordered (starting at £4.99) you will also be paired with a child who needs support to receive an education. The snacks are so delicious, my favourite was the plantain crisps!

Drink Me Chai

Drink Me Chai are the number one instant Chai drink in the UK. I know I have been guilty of spending way too much money on chai tea lattes in Starbucks in my time, and so Drink Me Chai are the perfect solution for saving money and still being able to have those luxury drinks. Much like a hot chocolate, all you have to do is add hot water or a water/milk combo to 3 teaspoons of the mixture. It’s so perfect and blended so well, it’s definitely the best instant drink I have tried. These are available in Sainsburys, Tesco and Waitrose for £2.50!

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Snact

I reviewed these guys in my snackly box review a few months back, and it was great to try some more flavours. These snacks are 100% fruit so they are vegan and gluten free. The flavour is intense and so fruity! These are the perfect snacks for on the go, busy bloggers and for in the office too. They have also just launched a brand new flavour- apple, blueberry and banana which I am dying to try, they didn’t have it in time for the event so if I get my hands on a pack I will let you know on Snapchat and Twitter!

Thank you so much to the Bloggers Hangout team for organising such a fun event, Merrell and I had a great evening and we will definitely be blogging more about the brands there in the coming months! If you have any questions about any of the brands mentioned in this post, feel free to reach out to me on Twitter.

Saharasplash x

Catch up on the latest beauty post here- I trialled Mintycoco natural teeth whitening for 14 days!

saharasplash12 April, 2016

My Mintycoco Experience!

Over the past 2 weeks I have been trialling a new product. Once every day for 14 days, I have been oil pulling! What is oil pulling you ask? It involves Sri Lankan coconuts, swilling and smiling! I’m here to share with you my Mintycoco experience…

Using Mintycoco is a great way to a natural detox for a happier, healthy mouth. I have always been a little conscious that I don’t have the whitest teeth and so I really jumped at the chance to give Mintycoco a whirl and a swirl! This works just like a mouthwash essentially, only the texture is a bit different. I don’t suppose you’ve ever held 2 spoonfuls of oil in your mouth before, so it is a very weird sensation to begin with…

My Mintycoco package came with 14 sachets of oil. At room temperature the coconut oil is a solid state. You warm them up in some warm water or in your hands to liquify them before you tear the top off and suck out the insides like a frube. Remember frubes? They were good! You don’t swallow the oil, you just keep it in your mouth for 5-15 minutes and let the oil get to work! I had my Mintycoco experience as a part of my bedtime routine, but you can use it in the mornings too just before you brush your teeth.

So here’s my smile, day 1!

Here’s my smile 7 days in:

Here’s my smile 14 days in:

And to show you the clear difference, here are the photos close up and side by side- I really noticed a difference after just 14 days, plus my teeth felt super smooth and my breath was super fresh after each use…

I absolutely loved my Mintycoco experience, check out their website here to order your sachets and watch my YouTube video below to see the product in action!

Saharasplash x

To get more amazing content, find out all about my bottomless brunch from the Hard Rock Cafe!

I received this product for free for my honest opinion and review

saharasplash10 April, 2016

Brunch at The Hard Rock Cafe

I hope this post isn’t too long, but I just have so much to say about this particular spring weekend. I’m going to start with the outfit, then move onto the food and the drink because boy there was a lot of it! If you read on to find out what I got up to last weekend, I can’t promise you won’t come away feeling really hungry! You all have to go to brunch at the Hard Rock Cafe…

So first to the fashion:

I decided to go all black for the Rock and Roll brunch, black is my go-to colour and always looks classy. I’m wearing a Karen Millen crop jacket on top of a bodysuit and skirt.

The lace skirt is from Forever 21 and my bodysuit is H&M. I accesorized with a pair of gorgeous gold heels (also forever 21) and my bag is from LYDC.

Croc print and lace crochet really work well together!

So now onto the main event at the first ever Hard Rock Cafe to open, we queued outside and waited to be let in for 10am!

We were seated just inside on the main floor. We had great views of the restaurant, bar and also the band setup behind us.

As well as all you can eat for food, there were bottomless mimosas, bloody mary’s, tea and coffee.

The band led by A.J Moore and Johann Tingall played 3 sets, each set to go with the 3-course brunch. They played breakfast at tiffanys and other really great classics from Journey to Wheatus!

The waiters didn’t stop moving for the whole 2 hours, they were so happy and were enjoying bringing us the food just as much as we enjoyed eating it!

As you know I am gluten free, and the Hard Rock Cafe really has outdone itself since getting accredited by Coeliac UK. Craig, Jonathan and the kitchen and staff have made sure that anyone looking for a gluten free meal can come and enjoy not only the brunch on Sundays, but also enjoy a main meal and dessert from their gluten free menu. For brunch, I had just as much choice as the regular customers- they made gluten free pancakes and waffles which were fabulous, and I even had fried chicken which I have never had in any restaurant since being a coeliac! This along with mushrooms, tomatoes, crispy bacon and diced potatoes saw that I didn’t need to eat another bite for the rest of the day.

The bottomless brunch experience was absolutely amazing, I cannot thank the Hard Rock Cafe enough for such a great time. You can book your bottomless brunch for next Sunday right now right here! They are running the brunch right up until the end of April so get in there and get stuffed! (in the best way possible)

Saharasplash x

For another amazing experience, find out all about how I got to meet a real live owl at one of the poshest places in town!

saharasplash5 April, 2016

The Owl and The Huntsman

The owl and the huntsman went to Claridges for a beautiful braided crown. Okay not really the huntsman, but I certainly did! This post is all about the owl and the huntsman and of course my braided hair!

I was so excited to see the second instalment in The Huntsman series, this time it was all about a winter’s war between two sisters. Snow White was far far away as we got to learn more about Eric’s story (Chris Hemsworth). We arrived at Leicester Square for 6.30pm and were kindly greeted by the Feref team just inside the Vue Cinema.

We had front row seats in the theatre and enjoyed a glass of wine as we watched the film. I loved it even better than the first one, which is quite rare for a sequel! It was reminiscent of the Hobbit in so many ways. The quest to destroy an evil golden object and they even did battle with goblins. Plus the fact that the majority of the film was spent in the woods. This is in no way a criticism of The Huntsman: Winter’s War though, it was a thrilling journey full of surprises and had the perfect balance of humour, adventure and heartthrobbing moments.

The adventure, however, did not end with the movie. I was lucky enough to get invited to a magical mirror room lunch in celebration of the film’s release at Claridges Hotel:

On Thursday I set off for Bond Street station on my lunch break for a wonderful experience. The magical room was filled with scrumptious gluten free delights and a few more surprises too.

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The Braid Bar from Selfridges were there to give us the most amazing hair styles plus they had organised nail and makeup sessions too. I went for the Claudia braid from the braid bar baes and it was so beautiful! I felt like a queen straight from the fairytale, all I needed was a huntsman to come rescue me!

The Owl and the Huntsman saharasplash-11

The Owl and the Huntsman saharasplash-12

The star of the show was a real life snowy owl. Not many of us wanted to touch, but we did have our cameras at the ready for some photos. I spoke with his carer and he loved the attention from the press and the bloggers!

I met 3 new blogger buds too, the Mandeville sisters and Joy Ogude– say hey to these girls on social as they are brilliant at what they do.

I can’t thank the Feref team and Universal enough for such a magical experience, from seeing the owl and tea at Claridges to seeing The Huntsman: Winter’s War preview screening of the film. I also came away with this awesome huntsman hoodie which I will be styling up very soon no doubt!

The Owl and the Huntsman saharasplash-13

The Huntsman: Winter’s War is in cinemas now so go see it on the big screen over the next few weeks

Saharasplash X

To get more action on my latest events, see what I got up to recently at the Her Boutique Sip and Shop!

saharasplash4 April, 2016

Her Boutique Sip and Shop

I want to tell you all about a new boutique on the scene and a very cool event that happened recently called a Sip and Shop. Her Boutique, founded by Karina Roseway, is a UK based online store which follows the latest trends at affordable prices. She has created a wonderful online shop that became a real shopping experience at the Her Boutiqie sip and shop event.

We headed to Kensal Green to the William IV bar Friday evening for drinks and to see the collection. Everything was laid out for us to see and to buy at great prices.

I was rocking a yellow long sleeve crop top for the event along with my True Brown K liquid lipstick from the Kylie Jenner collection.

I fell in love with this striped shirt and the halter neck below which I bought at the sip and shop:

I also loved this red bomber jacket too and it’s in the sale right now on the Her Boutique website!

There were plenty of drinks flowing and I had my boyfriend, my best friend and her partner there too for the evening,.

The atmosphere was great and guests could have their nails done in between the shopping experience. I met up with one of my models from Petite Model Management who was there on the night. Melanie modelled Her Boutique on a photoshoot we did in December:

I really love the quality of the Her Boutique collections. It is definitely a go-to website for trending fashion pieces from co-ord sets to the brand new mesh bodysuits. Here’s how I styled up my shirt the following day on a trip out to Greenwich:

Look out for more Her Boutique news coming very soon as their new collection launches in time for those perfect summer vibes! I’ll be doing another shoot soon with the petite models for this too so keep updated on socials for sneak peeks!

Thanks to Karina for such a wonderful event!

Saharasplash x

Get all the blogging gossip from the Bloggers Love Fashion Week right here!

saharasplash29 March, 2016

Bloggers, Brands and Braids

Let me take you to a magical place, a place filled with so many bloggers, brands and braids it’s unreal. I’m talking about the Bloggers Hangout fierce fashion week that happened around this time last week at the ProVision studios in East London- my neck of the woods. This event was really special, and not just because I got to say hey to some of my fav bloggers and shake hands with some new brands. It was special because I introduced a very good friend of mine to the world of blogging (look out for her soon and follow her insta here!), as she attended her first offical blogging event. A second, one of my petite models walked in the catwalk!

I have a startup petite agency as well as this blog and a full-time job, so this event really showed me how it could all come together into one and be successful. So let’s start with some of my top brands from the event- some I already knew about, and others were completely new to me:

Amie skincare products are my new obsession. Their natural products suitable for sensitive skin as well as being cruelty free are so affordable and they are a part of my everyday routine now. I loved the scents of these fruity products and they made my skin feel so fresh and healthy right from the first use. I’ve been using them for a week now and I just can’t get enough. These are stocked in Waitrose and online here– I’m feeling a YouTube video is definitely necessary to show off how gorgeous this skincare set is!

Next on my list are Magnitone. I was lucky enough to receive a Magnitone at last year’s hangout and it was great to catch up with them at this year’s hangout event. I use my orange magnitone at least twice a week in the shower and take it with me on my travels. It’s the perfect exfoliator and cleanser without having to use harsh products and scrubs to get that freshly-washed feeling. I can’t wait to try out the new head for it- the stimulator!

I first discovered Thumbs Up products at the BPR press event last year. I have been wanting to try these cool kits out for a while, and so I was really pleased to see them at the event. The designer wraps are effortless to put on and file off the excess from the tops of your nails. And the patterns are too pretty! I trialed the ‘Lisboa’ wrap at the event and I came home with the zebra set (£6.99) to try. Keep watching as I’ll be wrapping and snapping very soon!

A new addition to my contact book are Kenneth Turner. Although I had heard of them, I never really knew much about these guys until I got chatting to them last week. Their table was crazy busy all night, and for a very good reason! Bloggers were drawn to the glowing candles and the amazing aromas from where they set up. The decorations of frozen flowers were just fantastic! They have just celebrated their 30th anniversary for their original scent and are doing better than ever. They stock in Fortnum and Mason and I would really recommend their ‘Original’ scent if you’re a fan of cloves…. I am and now it’s all around my flat! Check out their website to see more.

Now onto the braids…

A wonderful stylist (follow her here) called Amy works for Paul Mitchell who were making bloggers’ instagrams go insane that night. Amy is a braiding whizz and she had everyone lining up for a custom braid. I was the last blogger of the night to get a braid, and we went for a simple chunky style which I adored and is all over my instagram too! I have a bag of Paul Mitchell products I am itching to get trying and styling with so stay tuned for more hair madness…

And onto my star model Esther. She killed the catwalk in so many styles and I am so proud of her. A massive thanks to the Bloggers Hangout and Danielle especially for making this happen: