Burt’s Bees Shines and Glosses

100% natural beauty brand Burt’s Bees already have some fab tinted lip balms and shimmers, but they’re releasing glosses and shines in April, exclusive to John Lewis. 

Infused with botanical oils and beeswax, the colour range offers the same amazing, nourishing results which made me love the original Burt’s Bees lip balms. 

The (also 100% natural) shines are really glossy, taste yummy and don’t feel sticky. I love ‘Smooch’, a deep, plummy shade. The glosses are more lipstick-y and all share a light vanilla fragrance, jojoba esters and sunflower polyglycerides. I’m going to wearing peachy, shimmery ‘Sunny Day’ all summer long. In the meantime I’m into dusky pink ‘Autumn Haze’ with a bronzer to pep up my pale skin.  

burtsbees.co.uk

The New eBay

I was invited to the Rook and Raven gallery on London’s Rathbone Place to learn about the latest developments with eBay. Intriguing news, free breakfast and a very starry panel? I was there!

Essentially, eBay is enhancing its customer experience and harnessing its inspirational power into three platforms. There are similarities with Pinterest, but the main difference is the ease to purchase whatever you showcase or discover; the thrill of discovery makes this seductive and very dangerous for some (shopaholics like me). Did you know eBay sells 2880 handbags every day? 

Here are the new bits:

eBay Collections – handpick items from eBay and display them in groups or themes. 
Follow – be inspired by others!
eBay Today – an inspirational new homepage for shopping on email

According to Sarah Calcott, UK Senior Marketing Director, ‘Shoppers are in the driving seat like never before and rightly expect and experience that’s both fun and functional. That’s what eBay Collections is all about.’ 

The panel included Presenter Reggie Yates, Dannii Minogue, Kelly Hoppen MBE, Alex James, Susie Lau and Sasha Wilkins. They had some great thoughts about the new-look eBay and some interesting facts arose:

-Dannii Minogue owns a worm farm and collects chopsticks 
-Reggie has been buying houses since he was 18. He used to have 1000 pairs of trainers but felt so bad after a charity trip that he gave 600 pairs away!
-All of Alex’s boards feature wet wipes – festival essentials
-Kelly Hoppen MBE has a thing for kettle bells 

Susie Lau, in my opinion, had the most interesting views on the new platform:

‘We expect more from our e-commerce experience and I love stumbling onto things you never thought you would stumble on. It's a whole new experience for me as an eBay veteran.’

I love that her collection features packets of glitter. She has a great one called 'Tra La La' which was inspired by Meadham Kirchhoff. My kind of girl. 

www.ebay.co.uk 

Rainbow Eyes: Inspired by Chanel

Months have passed since the show but I’m still obsessing over this incredible Chanel Spring Summer 2014 catwalk make-up. Decided to have a go myself. I wanted to create something which was a bit more wearable (not hard!) that I could try for a party. Quite enjoyed the nails too; a good way to while away a quiet afternoon. Mmm nail art.  

I used this amazing Sephora palette! 

And a YSL black eyeliner. Got my eyebrows done at Benefit, Carnaby Street before embarking on this one! 

The nails were a few different shades by a few different brands - experiment! 

Viktor & Rolf Fragrance Display

How beautiful is this Viktor&Rolf Flowerbomb display in Debenhams, Oxford Street? I love it so much. 

Shoe Statement

I’m a walking cliché of a fashion lover but at least I've got some bloody nice shoes. This is the tip of the iceberg, but I CAN’T BEAR to be without any of them, even the ones I can't walk in. I'm not selling any on eBay, no matter how poor I am and that is the end of it. How big is your shoe collection? 

Nicer Tuesdays: Magazines

Sponsored by Park Communications, publishers ‘It’s Nice That’ hosted a fabulous evening of magazine talk at Mother London last month as part of their ‘Nicer Tuesdays’ series.

Nicer Tuesdays is a monthly event and February’s was curated by Vice’s Bruno Bayley, Wired art director Andrew Diprose, Riposte Founder Danielle Pender and Will Dean, editor of The Independent Magazine. 
There were lots of inspirational nuggets and free beer (woohoo!). I can’t share the beer with you (wish I could – idiotic blog platform) but I can treat you to some of the same interesting nuggets I enjoyed. 

-'Get another project'. Always have a personal project on the go, says Andrew Diprose of Wired and Rise 

-Learn how to share content across different mediums, making the most of the content you have  

-Magazines are about a variety of stories combined with making the most of print. 

-Vice’s Bruno Bayley thinks ‘People like to read long articles on paper (as opposed to digital platforms). Magazines are also great for illustration and photos.’

-Inspirational Danielle from Riposte magazine thinks it’s important to ‘Spend your time getting the content right instead of chasing advertisers in the beginning’. 

Attend the next 'Nicer Tuesday' 

Vice’s Bruno Bayley

Downstairs at Mother London

Stop daydreaming and listen to the talks!

Danielle from Riposte offered a refreshing take on women's magazines. No 'ring of shame' for her!

Quite right!

Super Shop

I went along to the flagship Superdry shop on Regent Street last week, for the exciting launch of their ‘Premium Lounge’. 

The event was hotly anticipated and it was packed to the rafters with cool revelers and international press. We munched very tasty canapés and swigged, well, whatever we could get our hands on to be honest. Mostly Bellinis.  

The Premium space is now up and running with monogramming, basic tailoring and personal shopping appointments all available.  There were some exciting collaboration between Superdry and Timothy Everest, Cheaney and more!

The Regent Street Superdry is well worth a visit; traditional Superdry gear (logo tees, cargo styling) is now punctuated with some very chic items indeed. I spotted a gorgeous beige leather jacket in Stylist this morning and there were quite a few ‘ooh, I really want that’ moments on the night. 

Visit Superdry Premium Lounge: LG, 103-113 Regent Street. W1

Book a personal shopping appointment: +44 (0) 207 440 5111