Endymed Facial at Destination Skin

Earlier this week, I had the good fortune of visiting Destination Skin for an Endymed facial sculpture treatment. The treatment is aimed at giving you smoother and firmer skin, and just in time for summer too. After hearing all of this, I made a quick dash in to the Maddox Street clinic.

The aesthetic treatment is quick, painless, super simple, and most importantly non-invasive; it provides an instant visible improvement. This is great as I didn’t have any of the discomfort normally attributed to similar tightening treatments and was ready to leave the clinic directly afterwards without irritation or having to wear my sunglasses on the tube. All in all, a skincare result.

Endymed is available from Destination Skin clinics across the country.

Grenson - Jessie Boot

I recently had a shoe-based epiphany. I discovered Grenson. It’s one of those brands that I just want to share with everyone, as I’m so impressed with the quality, style and customer services.

It all started when I was on the hunt for a well-made pair of brogues for my boyfriend’s Christmas present. I can’t keep secrets (and more so, I hate dealing with Christmas returns), so I took him to the Hanbury Street store to look at styles and try-on. It was at this moment that I saw a very chic Gallic woman trying on a pair of Jessie Chelsea boots. After weeks of calling up the store, I eventually got my hands on a pair.

What’s so great about Grenson? Apart from the informative customer service and beautiful designs, the sheer quality of each item is incredible. Each shoe follows a strict shoemaking process, which ensures its durability, meaning that they can be re-soled on multiple occasions. What’s not to love, eh?

Designers/Makers Market & Andaz Hotel

Just before Christmas I was given the fantastic opportunity to attend a blogger brunch hosted by Designers/Makers and the Andaz Hotel. It was a great way to meet some like-minded bloggers (Made in Shoreditch and Magpie on the Run) and find out more about the talented people that make Designers/Makers.

Every month, Designers/Makers host a colourful market in Old Spitalfield, this enables designers across the UK to showcase and sell their work. Designers/Makers cultivate new talent to help them flourish in the creative sphere. It’s a fantastic concept with a variety of designers on board from jewellers to artists, furniture makers to ceramicists. It’s definitely worth a special trip for anyone that has yet to visit.

The brunch was hosted to celebrate the collaboration with the Andaz Hotel on Liverpool Street, which involved a Christmas theme entitled: Andaz Goes Ape. The hotel was covered in ape-themed decorations throughout the lobby and in Old Spitalfields market itself. It’s the first time that I’d been to the Andaz and it certainly won’t be the last. The hotel and brunch were a real pleasure, and I will certainly be sharing the little secret that is the Eastway restaurant with friends.

All in all, it was a fantastic day and I’d like to thank Hollye (Designers/Makers) and Liam (Andaz Hotel) for their kind invite and good company.

Paul Klee: The EY Exhibition

In the words of Luther Vandross on Paul Klee: Never too much. Ok, perhaps I used a little creative licence there, but you really can never have enough of the Paul Klee retrospective.

It’s been ten years since the last major show and it has been hotly anticipated. Tate Modern has pulled together a fantastically comprehensive exhibition starting from Klee’s entrance on the art scene in 1910 to his death in 1940.

It’s a varied retrospective covering every phase of his work throughout the 17 rooms, yet it manages to feel fresh, innovative and spontaneous.

Personally, I found it a refreshing choice for the Tate Modern and was quite taken aback by the variety and depth of his work. In my opinion, Klee has come to the forefront as one of the most influential painters of the twentieth century.

Booking until 9 March 2014. (tate.org.uk)

Corinne Day Exhibition - May the Circle Remain Unbroken

Corinne Day's photography inspired and excited a generation of creatives. Her images are realist, raw and centred around the youth culture; she created a whole sub-culture which has gained her legions of fans. Day's infamy grew for the Vogue photo shoot in 1993, featuring a young and grunge Kate Moss, depicting the 90s beautifully. The candid images scandalised many and saw Day ostracised from the mainstream fashion media for some time, with Corinne later to return to the fashion and art world.

Sadly, Day died in August 2010 but 'May the Circle Remain Unbroken' brings together unseens works that feature both collaborators and friends. The exhibition at the Gimpel Fils Mayfair Gallery has now finished but there is the beautiful accompanying book to satisfy any Corinne Day fix.

Dover Street Market - Cardboard City

Dover Street Market are hosting a pop-up 'Cardboard Market' offering a clear out of their highly covetable stock, with discounts up to 75% off. The cool London department store is offering archive collections of Comme des Garcons as well as its much-lusted over collections that it has stocked over the past nine years.

Thankfully, for those of you with an office job, stock will be replenished daily, so get down there!

Dover Street Market, Market Market Cardboard City, 21 - 24 November 2014, 10am - 7pm, The Biscuit Factory, V22/F Block Halls, Clements Road, SE 16 4 DG

Donna Tartt Talk - The Goldfinch

After an eleven year hiatus since 'The Little Friend' was released, Donna Tartt is back with the highly critically acclaimed 'The Goldfinch'. This week I attended a Waterstone's talk with Donna Tartt hosted by Kirsty Wark at St James' Church, Piccadilly.

'The Goldfinch', which immediately after release topped the best seller list, features a young boy who is involved in a horrific accident where his mother dies. Entwined in the narrative is Carel Fabritius' (a student of Rembrandt) painting 'The Goldfinch' which gives the novel it's name.

The talk was split in to two sections, an interview with Kirsty Wark and a Q&A session with the audience. It was a great insight in to Tartt's writing methods, her inspiration and more importantly, why she writes a book per decade (a large amount of time spent researching and editing apparently).

Ally Capellino Sample Sale

Ally Capellino

Sample Sale
Men's and Women's Bags and Accessories
Thursday 14 November
11am - 8pm
£2 Entry
St Hilda's East Community Centre, 18 Club Row, E2

Ally Capellino is renowned for designing high-quality and utilitarian leather accessories for both men and women. Thankfully for us, she is having her annual sample sale tomorrow so you can bag a design or two ahead of Christmas. Friends have been in the past and say that it really is worth the wait as a wide selection of designs are usually on offer at great prices.

Malcolm Gladwell Talk - David and Goliath

Last week I was given the opportunity to go to a talk held by Malcolm Gladwell at the Lyceum. The talk was part of his brief UK tour for the promotion of Gladwell's latest book 'David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants'.

Gladwell is known for such titles as 'The Tipping Point' and his 'Broken Window Theory' and his latest book covers the dynamics and powers balance between the big and the small. It was a fascinating and thought-provoking talk which covered many interesting case studies from a peaceful women's march that liberated a town in Northern Ireland to the American heiress Alva Vanderbilt and her overbearing ambition for her daughter's marriage.

One recommendation for Gladwell (other than stop quoting Kanye West) would be to give modern day examples of how this theory plays out in politics, current affairs and the culture of today.

A.P.C. Sample Sale

A.P.C. Sample Sale
Saturday 23rd November 2014, 11am - 6pm
Sunday 24th November 2014, 10am - 5pm

Up to 70% off womenswear, menswear, shoes and accessories.

The Old Truman Brewery
London
E1 6QL

A.P.C. have perfected that nonchalant, minimalist look synonymous with Gallic style. The brand continue to bring out easy-to-wear and understated designs for both sexes each and every season. I for one am certainly looking forward to getting my elbows at the ready and picking up some great buys.