TRENDING: DOUBLE BRAIDS

We’ve seen Kim Kardashian and her mini-me daughter sporting matching double braids, already the tumblr teenagers are on board; so it won’t be long until we’re all getting in on this hair trend.

It seems to be the more volume the better, although attempting a regular braid for me can be difficult. Thankfully I’ve come across a ‘how to’ piece on Bustle.com complete with a range of video tutorials taking me through the double braid.

You can watch the braid tutorial videos here: http://bit.ly/1U5bPS9

Good luck!

 

 

KOREAN BEAUTY: WHERE TO BUY

Korean beauty has taken centre stage of the beauty industry, everyone is looking to the East for the next cosmetic advancement or latest trending ingredient.

One very smart lady, Alicia Yoon saw the demand for Korean beauty products here in the west and created Peach & Lily. The idea behind Peach & Lily is to teach its customer about the innovations behind the brands, as well as ancient philosophies and beauty rituals from the East.

So why is Korean beauty so popular at the moment? Well did you know that they were the ones who came up with the BB cream? We also have them to thank for the CC cream! They have introduced the western world to many new innovations and new products including sheet masks and the cushion compact. So quite naturally we start to look to Korea for our new beauty fixes.

They are also the ones who introduced us to the benefits of snail secretion, which sounds revolting but surprisingly is packed full of collagen boosting nutrients. Hyaluronic acid is great for improving your skin’s moisture content.

By educating and offering advice alongside hand selected and quality approved brands Alicia is definitely giving the customer what they crave. For so many online retailers fill their blogs with the same generic ‘how to create the smoky eye’ posts, which have become a bit tiresome to say the least. As I am sure also most would agree, entering into the beauty hall at Selfridges is a military mission; ducking and diving the missiles of perfume clad store assistants ready and armed with the latest Juicy Couture scent to kill you off in one spritz.

As well as running a super helpful blog which offers advice and ingredient info, Alicia’s team go through a rigorous process to test and carefully select the brands they sell,  maintaining a high standard of new and forward-thinking brands.

So if you’re in the market for a new oil based cleanser or a collagen plumping face mask from Korea look no further than Peach & Lily.

Shop the Sheet Masks at Peach & Lily here: http://bit.ly/1opgRwD

WHY I AM LOVING GLOSSIER

If you haven’t already heard of Glossier then you need to, they are definitely one to watch, move over every skincare brand you ever loved!!

For the last 6 years there has been a flurry of new online magazines and ecommences making the most of the digital era to supply us with what we need in the click of a button; from gossip to fashion to inspiration… Ok so we have seen the rise of a few new beauty brands tapping into the millennial age group. Charlotte Tilbury for example has really taken the UK by storm. With her beautifully branded cosmetics, she has a following of ‘darlings’ dropping Mac and other brands for her golden cased make-up essentials.

But I can’t honestly think of any skincare brand that has entered the market and targeted the younger digital generation with a fashionable approach.

Step in Glossier, your answer to fabulously fashionable skincare that looks way cooler than Topshop’s Instagram feed. I actually feel like I’m on a new fashion ecommerce website shopping for shoes not shopping for skincare. I love their social media presence; they have the kind of Instagram account that makes you want to randomly burst into a mood board making session.

So a bit of background, you might have heard of Into the Gloss, popular online blog/magazine who have the 411 on all things beauty, health and skin related. Into the Gloss founder Emily Weiss, started Glossier after the success of ITG prompted her to give the millennial girls something she knew they were missing. A cool new skincare brand that works and looks fab on the bathroom shelf.

She explains to BOF journalist Lauren Sherman the gap she saw in the market, “I love all my products and yet there has not been a brand that has come to define my generation…I want to think about what beauty means today in 2015.”

Of course I have my commitments to certain skincare brands (bioderma is my water elixir that I cannot live without for 24 hours) but this brand have brainwashed me, I’m loving it. Next step is for me to try it. Thankfully they are stocked at Net-A-Porter, so being based in London is no issue. I can’t wait…

Click here to shop Glossier Set of 3 Balm Dotcom for £30 on Net-A-Porter: http://bit.ly/1P667h7

SOCIAL ECOMMERCE: THE NET SET

How funny I wrote an article over a year ago about Social Ecommerce and look what launched last month; The Net Set, Net-a-Porter’s first social shopping network!

I’ve been a bit busy to get to the laptop the last few weeks so I know this is old news by now but I still wanted to touch on the subject.

Having worked for the last 3 years with various fashion and lifestyle tech start-ups, you come to realise that we are teetering on the edge of a digital Ecommerce transformation. With apps helping you buy the things you like on Instagram and wearable tech becoming a norm, I give it another 2-3 years until the way we shop online does another 360 and we are completely shopping through apps on our smartphones.

Cleverly done, you have to be invited by The Net Set to join the exclusive shopping app, once in the clique with app at the ready, you are set forth to enter a world of fast fashion.

You can browse, admire, shop and be inspired, think Instagram with a shopping cart, without the pushy sponsored posts and #likesforlikes kind of crowd!

If you haven’t joined the clique then you can request your invitation here: www.thenetset.com 

 

 

CHANEL OPENS SPA AT THE RITZ PARIS

 

Have you heard the fabulous news? Chanel will open its first ever spa at The Ritz Hotel in Paris!

The exclusive luxury brand are very particular about partnerships and pop-up stores. They did a pop-up store in London a few years ago, which was their second only ever. The spa at The Ritz in Paris is getting a beautiful make-over ready for Chanel’s spa opening, which is expected to be at the end of this year.

It seems the fashion brand is slowing lifting the veil and reaching out for more of us to experience Chanel in all its opulence. They are also planning to launch an ecommerce site next year, so if you’re living in the deepest part of Peru you can still look fabulously chic!

I don’t think this will be the last from Chanel, although notorious for their exclusivity and mystery, they are always quick to adapt to their growing market of tech loving fashionistas.

Watch this space!

 

VOGUE CHINA: TO TAKE OVER

 

It’s no coincidence Apple made their editorial debut of the new apple smart-watch via Vogue China last November!! Clever brands are realising how much of a market China has become.

This thirst for designer labels is not only exclusive to China but all of Asia; when I worked in Thailand and Singapore, I couldn’t believe the rate at which shopping malls and designer stores were popping up. It seemed there was a launch party every week!!

I was quite surprised to hear that Angelica Cheung, Editor-in-Chief of Vogue China, had a difficult time launching Vogue China 10 years ago. A lot of talent and brands were very short-sighted and uneducated about China’s potential. China makes up 29% of luxury market sales!!!

Although more brands are now savvy of China’s importance in the luxury industry I see it time and time again, they launch without really targeting their product properly to the culture and beauty ideals of the market they’re trying to enter.

The west is still imposing its beauty ideals on the east and it’s just as Cheung said, the chinese don’t understand this downbeat mod-adrodgynous style that the west so loves! What works for us doesn’t necessarily work for them!

For example, tattoos in certain parts of SEA are cool, other parts they are associated with thugs and are frowned upon, but here in Europe it’s trending to sell your products with tattoo adorned models.

Understand Asia, its varied religions, culture, history and heritage and you can sell well.

Southeast Asia: Online Fashion Destinations

Having just moved back from Southeast Asia, I have been so busy starting my new job and moving apartments, I haven’t had chance to share all my top fashion insider info. While living and working in Bangkok, I had the chance to really get to know the fashion industry there. Here are my two favourite fashion websites you have to know!!!

 

POMELO

Bangkok based brand Pomelo is my absolute favourite fashion website. Their styles are really on trend and really affordable. Their whole look and feel is super cool. They’re definitely set to take over SEA, watch this space:

www.pomelofashion.com

 

STYLE NANDA

All the way from Korea, Style Nanda are slowly but surely spreading their style across Asia. I went to their first store opening in Bangkok back in April just before I left. There was so much hype and excitement for them to launch in Thailand and they’re already a huge success over in Korea:

www.stylenanda.com

 

 

 

 

 

HEARD OF SOCIAL ECOMMERCE?

 

Instagram, once upon a time, was where I shared selfies of my new manicure holding bottles of perfume and magazines, occasionally I’d share a picture of my shih-tzhu puppy or something I’d baked, but it seems more and more of us are now actually using Instagram for something totally different.

Don’t worry this isn’t about to turn sinister. Insiders believe that we are increasingly using Instagram for shopping. Get this, 90 million people use Instagram regularly every month and those people like photos on Instagram at a rate of 8,500 per second…per second. If you think about all the visuals that are being absorbed that’s a lot of subconscious marketing being taken in!

Currently shopping on Instagram is not so obvious, nor is it easy or direct, it’s hidden behind smoke and mirrors. More and more labels are building their brand awareness through Instagram, bloggers are being paid to promote them and there are apps and websites popping up making the most of this untapped market to provide this additional shopping service.

Heard of www.keep.com? They are doing just that! Using the infamous hashtag, got to love a hashtag, Keep taps into the hottest trending pics on Instagram and then tells you where you can shop the clothes.

CEO Scott Kurnit tells Venturebeat: “Our job is to find cool stuff that is trending, and it dawned on us that there is this vast fashion experience on Instagram but you can’t click outside of the ecosystem…If you see something you like, there is no further information on where to get it or easy way to buy it. We want to make those images actionable.”

So if you don’t think you’re shopping on Instagram you probably are and if you’re not, you will be very soon! Social e-commerce is happening!

TREND WATCH – Gold Chain Jewellery where is it at now?

The chunky chain trend doesn’t seem to be dying off any time soon. Chanel even recently re-launched their Premiere watch, which was the brand’s first ever watch design launched back in 1987. The watch features a gold chain link bracelet. Fashionistas and celebs alike are mixing up their chunky fashion statements with buttoned up shirts and chic blazers, for that street feel, chunky necklaces are worn with baggy designer spoof t-shirts.  To finish the look, fresh neutral toned make-up with a lip-popping colour of red adds understated glamour. The chunky jewellery is a standout feature so the idea of less is more works best. If your purse is a bit empty this month pick up a fabulously reasonable New Look silver chain choker, if you’re willing to spend a bit more however the Marc by Marc Jacobs Katie turnlock bracelet would make any outfit look super trendy. Topshop chunky curb chain choker is thick and doubled up for that extra sass.

Have you Chanel’s Premiere Watch advert? Chic Parisian women running around Paris with their beautiful Chanel watches keeping them on track. How I wish I was back in Paris running through its gorgeous streets.

Bubblegum Bitch photo-shoot Sneak Preview

So I’ve been waiting patiently, as one must, for Mathilde (the photographer) to edit the photos from our shoot a couple of weeks back. We were really grateful to Seven Hotel for lending us the Alice themed suite – so cute and quirky. I am also now obsessed with Flo de Richefort’s collections. After 2 rounds of selecting and editing I think Mathilde and I are finally pleased with our choice of photos for publishing. All that’s left now is to get back in touch with the press that were interested in the shoot. I love comparing the mood boards to the  me how the shoot turns out, there’s always some kind of evolution. Just for you, here is a sneaky preview of a couple of my fav shots, shhhhh don’t tell anyone.

Must give my make-up artist a shout out as well – Havalah Francis of Aveda Agency.

What do you girls think????

Here’s the music that inspired us throughout the shoot:

 

Paris Fashion Week best of Street Style AW13/14 shows

 

 

I, like most fashion craving junkies, have been following the endless tumblings of Paris Fashion week street style shots – Paris attracts the best dressed during fashion week, in my opinion. Here are a compilation of my favourites this season. The trends that stood out for me are:

MULTIPLE LAYERING – trousers, skirt, shirt, jacket and coat – the more layers the better

SPORTS GRUNGE – grungy look mixed with sportswear accessories

HIGH WAISTED CIGARETTE TROUSERS – seemly worn with crop top and plenty of midriff

ROUND SUNGLASSES AND SQUARE BOXY BAGS – the key accessories worn this season

FUR – worn slung over a shoulder or layered up on top of a jacket

THE STATEMENT DRESS – lots of colour or a crazy pattern, generally worn with a plain coat/jacket

Round-up London Fashion Week AW13 – Antipodium

 

I’ve always been a massive fan of Antipodium. A personal favourite. I love how the brand can be quirky yet at the same time have that androgynous minimalism feel going. No accessories, no crap, just simple clean-cut garments in some pretty daring colours and fabrics. Bold colours with leather nudes was a main feature – love the lilac jacket with fur trim. This brand is about style – not everyone can pull off an Antipodium look, but with a piece here and there you can sure try.

Round-up London Fashion Week AW13 – Holly Fulton

I admittedly changed my opinion on Holly Fulton last season. I waited for this season to see if it was just a fluke but no I am officially a Holly Fulton fan. Her collections seem to have gone down a younger more feminine route – the shapes she is now sending down the catwalk are much more flexible and flattering. Her quirky graphic prints are still as fun and loud but I find her collections more wearable. This seasons shade of rusty ruby red was a prominent colour in Fulton’s collection. Holly Fulton is the kind of designer where just one piece of her collection, a jacket or a skirt, would be enough to give an instant bit of creativity to your look.

Round-up London Fashion Week AW13 – Unique

Topshop’s Unique label is always a favourite show; it’s wearable, affordable and yet more than fashionable. Right down to the shoes, accessories and make-up we can all get our hands on the looks they send down the catwalk.

This winter’s collection has a range of hues and patterns to suit all tastes. Lots of thick boxy jackets, we saw both flared trousers and flared knee-length skirts, quite a bit of faux fur draped here and there, lots of midriff, 3/4 length cigarette trousers – a real mix of ‘sweet n grunge’ – just how I like it. Here are my favourite looks from the show…