LAHENDO2016 PART TWO

So now part one is done, it’s time for part two! Apologies if this is slightly lengthy, but we actually did a hell of a lot of stuff on the Saturday which ended up going on till about four in the morning- I blame the strippers!

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So I came downstairs to find that most of the girls were already up and making themselves breakfast. Sharon was making herself a lovely meal and I had my breakfast made by three or four hens which was lovely!

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Soon after this we had the spa team arrive! We could choose a massage, nails or a facial- I had a special hot stone massage using lava shells which was just fabulous.

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After this, it was time to get crafty! For my wedding I decided to have handmade flowers on the tables and so enlisted the help of my hen party to finish the job! We made red and white flowers to go with the theme using tissue paper. I think I’ll be doing a mini snippet of how you make these in my hen do vlog if any of you would like to know how to make them!

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After a solid craft session, it was time to relax those muscles with a trip to the jacuzzi outside on our decking. I was so excited to whip this out of my suitcase…

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I’m wearing a one piece swimming costume from To Dive For, a brand who you might remember hearing about on my recent trip to Dubai this summer. I love the bright colours of the design and I will be showing you more (including the back detail) on my hen do vlog on YouTube!

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As the afternoon slowly crept into early evening, we all gathered in the living room to play a few games and quizzes. Each hen had their Sass and Belle notebook handy but they couldn’t do anything about beating me in the quiz muhahaha.

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Some of the prizes given out were a mixture of underwear which somehow ended up on our heads, so photo time!

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I was so excited to introduce the bridesmaids to their dresses for the wedding on the hendo- these stunning dresses are from In One Clothing, and they loved them! The versatility means that each bridesmaid could wear the dress exactly how they wanted- don’t they look gorgeous?

So after playing dress up, it was time to get ready for our evening dinner cooked by a team of chefs who came to the hen house. I laid the table with some very fitting Halloween decorations from Talking Tables– we had a bunch of masks and accessories which were just the trick!

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We had a plentiful supply of wine from Premier Estates wine as well as some scrumptious non alcoholic drinks from Luscombe Drinks– the raspberry crush was definitely the favourite of the night.

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We took a stunning group shot on the balcony upstairs, I couldn’t have asked for a better bunch of friends.

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After dinner, we made our way outside for a quick five minutes to let off our sparklers- you’ll all have to stay patient to see what happened in the vlog!

One thing I wanted to share with you all was a very special present from one of my oldest friends who gave me this..

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I couldn’t believe it when I pulled it out of the box, it was an apple made from the book pages of Twilight:Eclipse and it is honestly one of those gifts that I will remember forever.

So the evening ended with a fabulous screening of Magic Mike XXL in the cinema room, the best strippers and we all enjoyed it very much!

Saharasplash x

Missed out on lahendo2016 part one? Read it right here!

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how to do a ‘girl’s night in’

Last week was my final week at my job. I have now left the office for the life of a full-time blogger, and I simply cannot wait to get started! I am hugely excited about this, and so I wanted to throw a little get together with the ladies to celebrate my new beginning. This blog post is all about how to do a ‘girl’s night in’ with style and I have some amazing companies that are a definite must for anyone planning on throwing the perfect party.

First up, you need to think about a theme. A theme is a great way to get everyone excited and will also help your guests to decide on a dress code too. My theme was carnival, so lots of bright colours, frozen cocktails and pineapples! I found an amazing company who helped me with the event, and they are Talking Tables. Talking Tables are an online retailer who specialize in party accessories and decorations. They have so many ranges for any occasion- birthdays, weddings, tea parties and of course an array of excellent goodies for a girl’s night in. I decorated the flat with fiesta fan garlands around the doors and sofa in wonderful bright colours, and we had a few parrots adorning the tables and chairs!

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For the main table, we had the most amazing pineapple accessories, from pineapple picks for the giant cocktail glasses to pineapple sunglasses! We also had some flamingo ones too for some epic selfies. You can’t go wrong with some silly props to get everyone having some fun!

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Talking Tables really do have such great quality items, even the patterned plates and wooden spoons helped to tie the whole carnival theme together.

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For food, I went for something really easy and simple that you can’t go wrong with- chilli. I made a meat as well as a veggie chilli for everyone in less than 30 mins. You don’t want to keep your guests waiting ages for food, and getting a takeaway for large groups is pretty expensive. The ingredients for the chilli (mince, tomatoes, kidney and baked beans) plus rice will have you and your guests covered for under £15 which is a great budget, especially if drinks are happening!

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Onto the drinks, I went for frozen cocktails. You can get these at all the major superstores and they are the perfect thing for a carnival theme! Fruity drinks are always going to be popular in the summer months, and it’s a great way to keep everyone happy without spending a fortune on spirits and taking up your time by making cocktails on the night. I want to thank Talking Tables for providing such a fantastic array of party accessories which made the night, the giant cocktail glasses were just perfect for our cocktails to share!

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When planning how to do a ‘girl’s night in’ the right way, I wanted to organise something fun for us to enjoy as well as the selfies, drinks and food. This is where my second guest comes in- My Showcase.

Founded by 2 great women, My Showcase is an online store for luxury beauty products, but they also host parties so you can have a My Showcase expert come in with their products to talk you through them. This was such a nice surprise for my guests who didn’t know what to expect, and we had a wonderful time trying on makeup and spraying ourselves with wonderful scents! A few stand out brands of the night were Connock London, New CID and Aurelia.

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To get more info and to host your own My Showcase party, click here. A massive thanks to our Stylist Katie for bringing her My Showcase selection for us! Plus a huge thanks to all my ladies who helped to make the party so great!

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So there you have it, my how to do a ‘girl’s night in’. I would say to sum up, a mixture of the right theme, good home-cooked food plus a surprise for your girls will make your perfect night in!

Saharasplash x

For more lifestyle, check out what’s on my wach list right now!

 

PR Samples included

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A Sweet Affair with RosieBea

So the day after I get back from Dubai, I am off out to an event. I actually didn’t get any jetlag from the plane, so I was up and ready to go for this wonderful sunny day. You may know the YouTube sensation MsRosieBea, she has over 200,000 subscribers and is only 18! She is a great inspiration and works really hard at what she does. It was no surprise that Elegant Touch and Eylure collaborated with her on this amazing new collection for Superdrug- and I want to tell you all about how it was such a sweet affair with RosieBea for her launch party.

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The Loft at Lumiere London was so beautifully decorated, RosieBea’s collection of Elegant Touch Nails and Eylure Lashes were on display all around the space with spring flowers.

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There was a huge cart full of sweet treats, chocolates and macarons which all had the sweet designs from Rosie which mirror all the different aspects of her personality. I love the colours and style of the new collection, it’s very fresh and different to anything else I’ve seen on nails before.

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The drinks were perfectly coordinated with the spring theme- strawberry milkshakes, prosecco and strawberry lemonade!

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Rosie gave a little talk and thanked us all for being there, she was so sweet!

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I also saw my friend Vicki from VickisBeauty at the evet! Photo courtesy of Jasmine from Soeursdeluxe, who was also there for the event!

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I’m wearing checkered jeans from Uniqlo and a crop from Boohoo.com.

I really loved the chilled out atmosphere as there weren’t a lot of bloggers there. It was great to take a look around at all the collections on display, and I even had my nails and lashes done too! I got the lashes in ‘Kitsch’ and the ‘Molten’ nails below!

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I want to thank Eylure, Elegant Touch and of course the YouTuber herself for such a sweet affair with RosieBea- it was the perfect welcome back from holiday and and I can’t wait to try out some more from the range! Shop the collection here and follow the hashtag #ROSIEBEAuty for all the latest news!

Saharasplash x

Are you caught up on the big news from my last post from The Dubai Series??

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Hooray for LaRoche-Posay

I couldn’t wait to hear the news that LaRoche-Posay was to hold an end of year Christmas party for us beauty bloggers. I missed out on their event earlier on in the year so when I received my invite I knew that an exciting evening was ahead of me after seeing the snaps from their previous event. I am thrilled to report all about my evening which really was an exquisite affair, so hooray for LaRoche-Posay!
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My friend Lissa (Girl at the Rock Show) and Luisa (Eat Sleep Luisa Repeat) were also on the guest list, so we teamed up and met after work at the Carousel near Baker Street for the event. I had been following LaRoche’s successes ever since the launch of the serozinc range for acne and oil prone skin. The LaRoche team had some amazing new products on display for us to try, exciting times!
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The venue itself was stunning. Snow-topped forest pines surrounded the room and a festive feel was in the air. The products were displayed on crystal shelves and a dj supplied even more atmosphere. It was a small event but it felt really exclusive, something which I think is really important when planning events for bloggers.
Top marks for effort, presentation and food/drinks too! I enjoyed a non alcoholic mojito made with blueberries and elderflower and I had a glass of prosecco to wash down some gluten free tortilla!
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Sarah and the team gave a great welcome speech, and introduced us to Dr Tabi Leslie, an expert dermatologist who was on hand all night to answer any questions we had about our skin.
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The product of the night was the brand new Effaclar BB blur primer. The primer is different from others with its mousse-like texture and its ability to absorb sweat and oil/sebum. This translates to no more shiny face at 2pm in the afternoon! I have to say I’ve been using the primer every day now since the event and I’ve noticed a big difference. Before I used to have to dab my face with a tissue around lunchtime in the bathroom to get rid of my shine, but with the BB Blur on there is no need. Hooray!
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Back to the event now, I was really impressed with how things ran. I got to mingle with several other bloggers including Lily and also got to talk to the LaRoche-Posay team as they came round to us all. I loved this cute little post box too for an added festive feel. We wrote to Santa asking for something special, so crossing fingers he gets our letters!
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We each got to take home a bag with the new BB Blur primer, the serozine spray and their new Hydraphase intense serum which was also showcased on the night.
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I want to thank the Dowal Walker team and LaRoche-Posay for hosting such a wonderful Christmas party, and I cannot wait to see what’s in store for us next year!
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If you’d like to try the BB Blur primer it is on preorder now so get it here and save 1/3 off!
I thought I would also add a little video when I got home of me opening up my gift bag too!

Saharasplash X
If you liked this post, take a read of my review of Instanatural’s Dead Sea mud mask right here before you go

The Motel Edit- 5 reasons to shop the slip this season

I have been really bad at sharing the Motel love since I started blogging- I think that this is down to their sample sales being just at the end of each season. I’m not blaming them one bit for bad timing, I understand that they do the sample sales when they need to, but I always come away with so much stuff and can never post about it because the season changes so fast!

So I thought I would decide to write about my fav picks from the site and write all about the slip dress instead! My Motel summer goodies are now packed away for next year, but that doesn’t mean I can’t share my love for Motel right now…

I have been browsing their site this weekend as usual, and I am really inspired by their unique sense of style and fabulous prints. I do think that they set themselves apart from other popular online stores with their items, and one cut in particular caught my eye…the slip.

If you know me and my wardrobe, you will know that I don’t like to wear the same thing twice- and so this is why I love Motel so much. I know that if I like a certain shape dress, I can go to Motel and they will hook me up in ten ways I had never thought of contemplating. You know that you won’t be caught out wearing the same outfit that the girl on the tube is wearing too (cough H&M)  which is really important.

So why the slip? The slip is something that I’ve not been seeing round lately. Its understated elegance is just what your wardrobe needs and paired with Motel’s excellent patterns and colours, the slip dress will have heads turning in your direction at any party. I’ve decided to pick 4 slip dresses which are absolute killers and also a faux fur crop jacket which you can wear with all 4 of them.

1-    The Flash Cecile slip

Flash Cecile Motel slip dress

This slip immediately caught my eye with its sexy pattern in warm metallic tones. I can imagine wearing this to a few events I have lined up this season and certainly has the wow factor I want when on the hunt for something glitzy and glamorous.

 

2-    The Gaia slip

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The Gaia dress has a more urban feel to it, less showy but still amazing with its warm colours. I think it doesn’t matter if it’s cold outside, you can still wear a floral slip and be cool for the winter. I’d imagine wearing this to a nice meal out with friends and family, but still keeping my fashion blogger vibes in tact 🙂

 

3-    The Meadow slip

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Now this is a real showstopper for all you mermaid fans out there. It is an amazing green/blue which I’m guessing would look fab on a dance floor! Get your heels out for this one, and if you don’t have any nights out planned then buy this dress and make some! I would match my eyes to this dress colour for sure.

 

4-    The Vince slip by Grace Neutral

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I had the pleasure of attending the Grace Neutral collection launch party with the Motel Family group, and I absolutely loved her designs. The material is flowy and light- I tried the Kato Kimono on and didn’t want to take it off! Using the same Mandala print, Grace has designed this slip to suit her style and the Motel audience are eating it up. Just last week I saw a blogger at the Boohoo Xmas party wearing this so the pieces are selling well. I would wear this to any blogger event to get the conversation started with other bloggers about Grace Neutral- you know other bloggers will be asking about it!

 

5-    The Freya fur jacket

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I wanted to tie all 4 of my choices together with a jacket that you could purchase for any of the slips. This charcoal Freya cropped jacket will look amazing on top of any of the slips, it’s short enough to show off your dress at the bottom if you’re too cold to take it off, and I think this jacket is a real solid winter jacket that would go just as well with jeans and a tee for more causal days.

Ps- right now this jacket is on sale right now better than 50% off! It’s reduced from £55 to £25 so what are you waiting for?!

Pps- enter the code 10OFFTODAY for an additional 10% off! you’re welcome

 

If you liked this post you will love my Lindex Lookbook so check it out and don’t forget to subscribe via email too here

Peace and love, saharasplash x

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