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Dubai

fashion

Making Waves over the Weekend

Posted on March 14, 2016

I love a good cocktail at sunset on the beach… i mean who doesn’t! So we wasted no time heading down to the Layali shoreline at Al Qasr hotel on Saturday for a surf inspired sunset session with global brand BCBGMaxAzria.

Live music permeated the venue, with tones more ethereal than the songs she was covering… …must find out who the singer was! 🙂

The collection was a mixture of floaty fabrics, perfect for the So Cal summer they were taking inspiration from, festival florals combined with a few bulky booties. Expect Coachella to be full of this SS16 line up!

fashion

🕶 Throwing Shade with Glassing Sunglasses 🕶

Posted on March 9, 2016

I’m a big sunglass-aholic… literally drawers full, but as much as I love all shapes and sizes, there’s only ever one pair in my handbag at any one time and these Italian imports have made quite an impact.

Born in 2010 by two LOVELY designers Alessandro Forte and Stefano Ottone, they opened a vintage store in Ibiza and escalated their entrepreneurship to creating and producing ‘Glassing‘ – their own brand, after an adventurous summer on the white isle. It quickly emerged as one of Italy’s most cutting edge brands, focusing on using innovative materials, often combined in unusual ways.

With four flagship stores in Italy; in Milan, Portofino, Taormina and Capri, they have now brought their famous frames to Dubai and I have fully jumped on their beachside band wagon (they are currently retailing in a bright yellow pop-up container down at The Beach Dubai). Fans include Kate Moss, Justin Bieber, Beyonce and Jay-Z, P. Diddy, Cristiano Ronaldo and Anna Dello Russo to name but a few.

They have tons of designs but these are my Top 5 Frames:

Fish & Chips at their Finest 🐟🍟

Posted on March 3, 2016

There’s a handful of ‘authentic’ British dishes that I judge quite harshly out here… with fish and chips being the hardest for restaurants to get right (or so it seems). Their mushy peas are either too dry or non-existent or their batter is too oily, but i’m pleased to announce i’ll be haunting this new waterfront hotspot on a Thursday eve!

Where: SENARA is a homegrown concept fusing the UAE’s staple seafood cuisine with Head Chef Anthony Reilly’s British flair. It’s the newest seafood bistro to open in Dubai, fully conceptualised in the UAE and situated perfectly on the waters edge of the Palm Jumeirah, boasting some of the best sunset views in town. Just a stones-throw from the Shoreline, Golden Mile and Frond villas.

What to try: Signatures include a host of fresh fish dishes daily. Its famous fish & chips is a must of course, buckets of mussels & oysters and a mouth-watering lobster linguini is amongst many more mains. If you’ve got a sweet tooth, the baked cheesecake is a worthy dish, and don’t underestimate the apple crumble or sticky date pudding… a true fusion of cultures.

It’s also just about to get its alcohol license through so stay tuned!

Recommended

Powered by Coconuts 🌴 Competition 🌴

Posted on February 25, 2016

Why love the coco?

Apart from the fact I LOVE wake-surfing with them and Xtreme Wake UAE, they have just furthered my organic obsession with their new range of coconut oil!

Coconut oil is one of the few foods that can be classified as a “superfood.”

Its unique combination of fatty acids are well known to have some amazingly positive effects on health.

This includes fat loss, better brain function and various other amazing benefits like helping reduce the risk of heart diseases, aiding weight loss, helping improve your immunity and aiding digestion too!

Not only can you cook with it, you can use it as a form of skin moisturizer and it’ll even help protect against hair damage…

What are you waiting for?

We have teamed up with Vita Coco Coconut Oil to give one of you the chance to win a month’s supply! To win this jar of wonders simply like this image and follow @vitacocooilae! Super simple!

fashion Recommended

In love with… SAPIA•KANG

Posted on January 19, 2016

There’s nothing I love more than beautiful resort wear. I work hard to try and ensure that my body looks half way decent in it, so it makes sense to reward those efforts occasionally and right on time… along came SAPIA•KANG.

It’s the brainchild of founders Sapia Simone and Ellen Kang who met in Dubai and started working together back in June. The brand is a true result of their explorations and adventures, living this sunny expat lifestyle that we all share and love.

If you’re as desperate to get your hands on one of these gorgeous pieces as I am, wait no longer… on January 28, SAPIA•KANG’s e-store, will be unveiling its very first collection, ‘Fantasy Island’. With wild inspirations, it’s a collection perfect for future globetrotting… swimwear to be seen in!

Recommended

Work Hard. Play Hard. Cleanse. Repeat…

Posted on November 25, 2015

Having survived the busiest month of the year, it’s high time I wrote up one of the main reasons how I have managed to stay relatively healthy here. The lovely people down at Detox Delight sent me a weeks survival kit, full of some of the tastiest soups I have ever tried! Vegan in design, these cold-pressed and pureed vegetable soups are so full of flavour… one of my favourite concoctions was the hot pink pear and beetroot combo.

Detox delight soups are neither pasteurised nor preserved in an artificial way. A healthy way to support your immune system in times of stress…

Why is cold press so good? Traditional blenders use a process that adds some heat and exposes the ingredients to air, two things that cut down on how many nutrients make their way into you directly. The cold press method extracts the goodness by pressing the fruits and vegetables without adding heat. With this method, the natural enzymes from the fibers of the fruit and vegetables are liberated. This way of extracting the goodness ensures the maximum amount of liquid from the least amount of produce.

If you haven’t tried one of their juice cleanses, then that is well worth a look, (it’s next on my list after the Christmas holidays).

The optimum balance of fruit and vegetables is crucial: Pure fruit juices contain too much fructose, which increases our blood sugar levels, triggers ravenous cravings and impairs our bodies’ ability to burn fat.

Recommended

You Can Never Have Too Many Facials….

Posted on September 22, 2015

What a week it’s been! Busy doesn’t even cut it, so when the opportunity to try out one of Biolite’s many treatments presented itself, I jumped at the chance to help my weary skin with a PSF facial. Created and named after Dubai’s favourite twins, the ‘Pintsized fashionistas’, I did wonder if this facial would be able to thoroughly aid my (slightly older) and more sensitive skin. But this facial really is a great way to wake up, feel rejuvenated and totally cleansed. Bursting with freshness and using only natural products, I was treated to a deep cleanse, steam, skin balancing and an overall totally blissful experience.

You’re taken step by step through a thorough deep cleansing (extraction) & exfoliation using a pineapple based scrub, then you’re massaged and a cleansing mango mask is applied. Finishing the facial, a fruity scented moisturizer made up of apricot and beeswax leaves you feeling completely refreshed. As it’s full of active ingredients like pure pineapple enzymes, fresh mango and strawberry cells, it’s recommended for all skin types too.

fashion Recommended

💅 #TEAMBEEM 💅

Posted on September 16, 2015

#TEAMBEEM

Dubai has a new piece of tech that will literally change your life ladies… no longer do you have to have that embarrassing phone call about which bikini wax you’d like in the middle of your office, speaking like a ventriloquist and willing the receptionist to understand your request telepathically. My VERY clever (and brave) sister has ventured into the world of tech, after working in the women’s fashion and beauty sector here for 5 years, and watching women suffer in silence.

I know I am notoriously last-minute with my maintenance requirements, often begging to sit on the floor of a salon if it means I can get in for a touch up that evening. BEEM takes all of that stress away from you, by helping to geo-locate salons for easy access.

So what is BEEM? It’s a very clever and easy to use APP that allows you to pick from the top 6 services; mani, pedi, eyebrows, eyelash extensions, wax and blow dry. You then get to pick 3 time slots for that day or the day after. As they have the BEST salons already signed up, you can choose from a chain you prefer, or find some that are closer to you and select one of them. There are also featured salons, which is great if you don’t know your way round the city’s hotspots yet. Once you’ve chosen, BEEM will search for availability, and the available slots will be pinged back to you for you to confirm your selection.

Download BEEM free BEEM, to use its one-stop beauty concierge service that takes all the embarrassment out of your bookings.

Fitness yoga

The 6 Week FlyBarre Challenge

Posted on June 10, 2015

Yoga has always been my favourite way to keep fit, whilst helping me to maintain normal stress levels in this busy city, it also has little ways of toning your body. I’ve been an avid yogalates fan in particular, from daring balances to core exercises, there’s always something to sweat about.

And then there was FlyBarre…

Opening in the Gold & Diamond Park, it was a stones throw from work, so I popped in to check it out. One class led to another and very soon was buying packages. Hooked on the sweaty muscle exhausting sessions, it quickly became my favourite after-work haunt. Especially due to their instructors – they have to be some of THE nicest, most encouraging fitness professionals i’ve come across.

FlyBarre provides a revolutionary form of body sculpting. It’s a complete mixture of exercises, taking elements from yoga to dance, pilates and of course ballet. I’ve never been a Zumba fan (i’m particularly un-coordinated when it comes to following choreographed anything), so I was worried at the beginning about the one dynamic arms track in the hour-long loop.

I was offered the opportunity to join the FlyBarre Challenge at the beginning of May – a 6 week course, where you have to complete 4 classes a week, including 3 workshops. I jumped at the chance and with Reebok kindly offering to keep me cool in their latest studio and crossfit gear, I was all set.

It’s the final week now and i’m HONESTLY signing up again next month. It’s been a great way of ensuring I get regular exercise, (I hate the gym) and also it’s kept me off the couch in the evenings! I’ve even been trying out the protein shakes, and made it to the odd early class or two. I would recommend it to anyone who’s looking for a social and dynamic way of toning, losing a couple of inches and building strength.

Hotspot Recommended

Beauty Insider: The Anti-Free Radical Treatment

Posted on May 28, 2015

Recommended: The Anti-Free Radical Facial Treatment

Where: Tips ’N’ Toes, Al Barsha branch

It’s been a long time since I had a facial – I’m talking at least a year!

I have been able to balance my skin with a combination of Bioderma products for the last couple of years and my fear was always that if I had a facial – I could potentially unbalance that chemical mixture. Having had facials in the past, I knew that a certain amount of redness and after effects were inevitable, but to this day, my skin still feels moisturised, and no redness at all!

The Anti-Free Radical Facial is a treatment for dull, dehydrated skin, combining high potency vitamin C, E and D to seal in hydration and refine the skin, it really is the perfect facial for all of us who’s skin is subject to those harsh sun rays, (I’d been at Dreamland enjoying those the day before).

After a make-up removing cleanse and pore opener with a steamer, I dreaded the pain that the pore cleaner can bring, but I was pleasantly surprised, there was minimal stinging and from the look of my skin now, maximum effect. She really went to town on my face too! After the cleansing, came the moisturising… eye pads and a gauze later, my face was covered in a fast-hardening paste. After a quick nap (it was far too relaxing) I woke to the mask being lifted off as the light flooded back in again.

All the massaging and moisturising was followed by a final round of cream, to seal in the hydration, and I was off home shortly after. I made sure to sleep in the moisturisers they had put on, so that I didn’t wash off any of that goodness. The next morning I went make-up free and felt like my skin was literally glowing.

I’d advise having this facial at the end of your day so that you aren’t tempted to touch, prod and stroke your face (reducing the risk of dirt being deposited back into your pores).

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