You are perfect...

A thought for today and every day of your lives... 

Spring into Summer with Harvey Nichols

It's been a busy old spring and here I am slapping myself for not getting on here regularly again. Note to self: must try harder.

The reasons I've been so busy? Well, mostly work related to be honest. I work in PR and for some very nice clients which I'm either working on some interesting projects for, or I'm attending events as a result of and so on. Certainly can't complain.

It's been a whirlwind of networking dos, fashion shows, lunches and launches, but what I really want to to tell you about is the Harvey Nichols Spring/Summer 2014 fashion show I attended few weeks back.

Scaled back in terms of guest list in comparison to the past few seasons' shows, this time around the list totalled just 150 specially invited guests, clients and VIPs. It was also moved to a new venue - a so far disused space on John Bright Street. Small on the outside, once upstairs the space was large, open and although bare, very cool, creating a suitably spacious, urban setting for the upmarket store's highly anticipated show.

With London brother DJ duo, the Dixon Bros (one half of whom I went to University with), who also host a regular show on Kiss FM, on the decks, models strutted their stuff in the latest designers looks for the guests to peruse.

Six scenes featured within the show, showcasing the biggest trends for the new season:
Prints
Sports Luxe
Sheer and Pleats
Yellow
Tribal and Folklore
Evening

Mixed and clashing prints featured heavily throughout, with the colour schemes mostly brights.
Yellow was a major colour trend, in everything from flowing dresses to more structured shorts and suits.

My favourite items from the show - as always - were the shoes. In particular a fluorescent pair of pointed stilettos and a fab pair of yellow strappy Sophia Webster sandals (below).

Skirt - Philip Armstrong, sandals - Sophia Webster

Shapes in the womenswear collections reflected very much the theme of 'anything goes', as did the hemlines: short shorts, mini skirts and dresses, midi skirts (including a particularly fab electric blue one from the wonderful Philip Armstrong - above) through to long flowing pleated skirts.

Kenzo dress, Nicholas Kirkwood sandals, Deepa Gurnami headband

My favourite, which I unfortunately didn't manage to get a good shot of, was a beautiful long, red dress... well, you can't go wrong in red can you?

See below for a few more looks from the show:

Parker jacket, Parker shorts, Alaïa ankle boots

MSGM top, MSGM skirt, Jimmy Choo caged sandals, Jimmy Choo bag

Mary Katrantzou dress, Christian Louboutin shoes, Ray-Ban sunglasses

Markus Lupfer dress, Roland Mouret ankle boots

Proenza Schouler dress, Christian Louboutin shoes, Alexander McQueen clutch

Pinko jacket, Pinko shorts, Kenzo shirt, Christian Louboutin shoes, Gucci bag

Pinko blouse, Christopher Kane skirt, Aquazzura sandals

Sunday Brunch is Big in Brum

Picture this: You've been out on Saturday night, you've had a few cocktails, a few wines, then the next morning you wake up and what is on your mind (aside from the dull pain of a mild hangover)? FOOD.

At that moment, all good intentions to eat moderate, healthy portions fly straight out of the window and you want as much tasty, delicious food as you can fit on your plate and, more importantly, in your soon-to-be expanded belly. Besides, it's Sunday right? You can eat what you want.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, this is exactly what happened to me not long ago (well, most weekends to be honest, I won't lie, but most Sunday's aren't as successful as the one I'm about to tell you about).

This particular Sunday I awoke in anticipation of the feast that was awaiting me in the 'local' Malmaison Brasserie. 'The Biggest Sunday Brunch in Town', they said. Well, OK, I thought - there are lots of places that do giant full English breakfasts, so we'll see how true this claim is.

Off I popped to meet a few lovely blogger friends (see below). Firstly I was greeted with a Bloody Mary - Praise the Lord! Sadly, I have to admit I was in dire need of this to pick me up a little as I arrived amongst lots more much fresher faces than mine was that particular morning.

Bloggers at Brunch!

Next, we chose an item from the Brunch menu - Eggs Royale in my case - if it's a good one, you can't beat it. The other options were Eggs Benedict or Mal Big Brunch Breakfast.

Eggs Royale

- So far so good.

After a little refreshment and placing our order, we were lead through to the chef's table which had on it the most scrumptious looking display of breakfast choices. 'Biggest Brunch in Town' was starting to become clear - you could load up your plate with as much or as little as you wanted from this table. We're talking unlimited hors d'oeuvres, cold meats, cheeses, smoked salmon, hot smoked salmon, pates, terrines, eggs, waffles and pancakes. 



The 'piece de resistence' for me - at least aesthetically - was the hand carved Serrano ham. Although I didn't actually try it so I couldn't judge on taste.

Hand carved Serrano Ham

So feeling full after two trips to the chef's table, followed by my Eggs Royale, I then learned that we had a third course... a dessert. Naturally my sweet tooth forced me to order an ice cream sundae. Sadly, that never got finished - a little too creamy for me by that time and I decided I needed to be able to walk out of the door, rather than be rolled out of the door in the style of Violet Beauregarde in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory when she blows up into a giant blueberry. Plus, just in case there are any Umpa Lumpas in exisence, I thought it best to avoid taking any chances on coming face to face with one since they freak me out a little in both versions of the film. The orange and green ones in the film with Gene Wilder more so than the others. But I digress...

I just about managed to walk home, where I proceeded to have a lazy Sunday afternoon on the sofa allowing my absolute feast of a brunch to go down whilst I attempted to watch the football on a fuzzy online stream. Aside from the fuzzy stream, I'd say that was a pretty successful morning/afternoon!

Of course you don't have to follow a big night out with a Sunday Brunch of such epic proportions. In fact, next time I'd be inclined to eat soup and salad the day before and then go for a long run in the morning just to make way for those extra calories I tried my hardest to resist last time.

If you fancy a treat of a Sunday morning, I'd recommend it!

More info here.

Lisa Shepherd launches new Express Color Bar

I'm a little late saying this, but hell, who cares - Happy New Year everybody! I don't know about anyone else, but I'm thrilled to get rid of 2013. I know,I know, you should try and be positive but quite frankly mine was filled with useless men, silly phone companies, more lost and broken heels than I care to remember (and for a high heel obsessed girl like me, believe me, that's painful), a realisation that on turning 31 I'm older than Bridget Jones and STILL my Mr Darcy hasn't popped up and told me he likes me just the way I am... the only good things I think I discovered were to do with my hair. (Maybe that's a slight exaggeration.)

As shallow as it sounds, your hair is something that always makes you feel a million dollars if it's looking good - even if you don't genuinely feel great at that particular moment.

My first hair related discovery was at Lisa Shepherd Birmingham - located by 'Pigeon Park' and Colmore Row in the centre of Birmingham.

Having identified a gap in the market for swift colour treatments for ladies-on-the-go; be that busy businesswomen, busy mums or otherwise, and realising the popularity of the express styling and colour bars in the US, Lisa Shepherd embarked on creating a version for the UK market.

The Lisa Shepherd Express Color Bar was born. (NB - no that spelling of 'Color' is not a typo).

Now, anyone who knows me well enough should know that I've always been very into changing my hair colour. Frustratingly, yet wisely, my mother always forbid me to permanently dye my hair as a young'un, which meant that as a naturally very dark brunette, most hair colours would make very little difference when applied. Cue several cans of Wella Colour Mousse and a brightly dyed pillow, rather than hair, when I was 13 years old, as I desperately tried to prove my better knowledge wrong.

However, when I hit my twenties, I'd finished university and was earning proper money for the first time in my life, I decided to go blonde. Not just slightly, but fully. This was great until my hair started breaking off. So then I chopped my hair into a fab short bob, and dyed my hair bright red. I kept getting brighter and brighter until I started heading towards 30 years old - the age my mother started to go grey (incidentally this was after having me... hmmm) and I decided to dye my hair back to normal, let it grow out and restore my hair's condition.

Fast forward to now and I'm 31, still no grey hairs (well, I found one the other day, but that's the grand total, and it no longer resides on my head since I plucked it out instantly in protest to its presence), and I'm getting itchy feet - or rather follicles - again.

Being introduced to the Lisa Shepherd Color Bar - launched only in the latter end of 2013 - was fantastic. I still don't want to stray too far from my natural colour whilst it's an actual colour and not grey, so one of their express colour treatments - Glossy Locks - is perfect. For dark hair such as mine, the colour treatment adds a subtle hint of colour, but not only that. it acts as a super conditioning treatment too (hence the name of it) making your hair fantastically smooth and glossy.

I decided to try it out just before my birthday at the end of November and whilst the red colour gave my hair a warmer, richer tone, the glossiness was amazing, as was the feel.



The concept of the colour bar is that it is quick and you can style your hair how you like in the shortest time possible so that you can easily fit it into your day. I had an hour to spare, and that's exactly the time I was in there. A far cry from the 3 hours I previously spent in the hairdressers getting my hair coloured and over-styled!

For lighter hair, especially blonde, this is fantastic for an easy change of colour without committing to something too in-your-face!

Another option on the Express Color Bar is Fast Track. I have yet to try this, but never fear, there is no doubt I will be trying this out. This option works as ready made temporary brightly coloured extensions to add a striking flash of colour to your locks. Available in a selection of vivid colours, this is one sure-fire way to jazz up your look for that big night out, or simply for a bit of a change!



The added benefit of the new Lisa Shepherd Express Color Bar is the price. We all know that in general, getting your hair dyed professionally can cost an arm of a leg. Because these options are relatively quick-fix, despite delivering fantastic results all treatments are under or around the £30 mark. Conveniently quick, conveniently priced... there's lots of talk about your day to night outfit and fast face fixes for that office to evening glam look, well now there's an option to switch your hair in your lunch break ready for the night ahead!

Go and try it out ladies. We live in a world where everything is available 'now'. Well, now that applies to your hair.

For details about Lisa Shepherd salons and the new Express Color Bar, visit http://www.lisashepherd.co.uk/