Weekend Away in Ras Al K!

Last weekend I spent the night at the beautiful Waldorf Astoria in Ras Al Khaimah.  After a very scenic one hour drive from Dubai we arrived at the stunning hotel, as expected it was out of this world! Not long after check in (where we were upgraded!!) we headed to the pool bar.  Yes that’s right people they have a pool bar! I sat in the pool at the bar! I don’t mean to over explain things I just want to make it clear how awesome it was!! They also have an adult only pool so if your wanting a chilled out child free stay, head along there. After pool drinks I got ready in my room, I couldn’t decide between the massive shower or bath, so I had both! Oh and don’t get me started on their dressing gowns!!

My friends and I had dinner at UMI their Japanese restaurant; the food was amazing however we felt the pricing was a little steep!

After dinner we hit up 17Squared the Hotels awesome bar! As there was a few of us there we had our on little DJ party! I didn’t manage to party all night as the amazing bed in my room was calling for me!  Next morning we enjoyed an incredible breakfast spread in the Qasr Al Bahar restaurant, my tip, go there hungry! There was just so much food and endless options!  I had such an incredible stay at the Waldorf Astoria, I really cannot recommend it enough! If you fancy a break from Dubai, the resort is less than an hour’s drive away. I’m only disappointed that I didn’t get the chance to try out the spa… Now there’s and excuse to head back!

Boho Girl

So I want firstly to welcome my new love, my Celine Phantom, I've been wanting this bag for over a year now and I finally bit the bullet and got her.  She's a beauty, no regrets, and I can carry my entire life around in her. I'll do another post properly on her soon as I also got the most beautiful little Chloe bag which Grazia magazine has just stated is next seasons 'IT' bag, thank you Grazia for re-confirming my excellent decision making!

So the dress, I love this lil beauty! It's a steal from H&M at 129aed. I love it's baggy selves and general floatyness. It's also great for covering the old tum which is something I'm working very hard at getting rid of but it's a long and slow process :( As standard I've gone for the large hat and big sunnies. I also still had my huge hair here and oh boy do I miss it! Think I'll be getting it back soon, although short hair is exceptionally more manageable for washing (something I did not do very regularly with the extensions!) Anyway I took these picks in my friends garden which is just a dream. I particularly like the ones where me and a flower are in deep conversation! I really am at one with nature.

Finger Tip Facelift

I recently tried out a new and exciting treatment that is a non surgical way to iron out those wrinkles and lift tired skin, and thankfully there is someone in Dubai that does it!

Sam Saunders specialises in Yoga, Sports massage and Fingertip Facelifts. She has a beautiful treatment room in her Springs villa and also does home visits for one on one Yoga sessions.

So what is a Fingertip Facelift? I had no idea! Sam explained:

“Fingertip Facelifts are a unique, holistic therapy that combines very gentle but highly effective massage techniques on the 91 muscles of the face, neck, skull and shoulders to help you look younger in a natural way.”

As I lay down, I immediately felt extremely relaxed with beautiful vanilla and jasmine scents coming from the oil burner and atmospheric candle lighting. There was also extremely relaxing ‘spa’ music… I don’t know what it was but I’m sure you know what I mean when I say ‘spa music’!

Sam began working on my face, area by area she gently massages and tweaked my skin. It was so relaxing, I almost fell asleep!

Halfway through Sam paused and asked me to look in a mirror to see the difference from one side of my face. Immediately I could see clear changes in the side of my cheek, my chin and my eyelid. My cheek was noticeably firmer and ‘fresher’ looking, my chin looked more slender and my eyelid had lifted dramatically.  It was incredible to see such a difference in such a short space of time!

Thankfully, Sam continued the massage to even up my face!

To finish, she massaged my neck and head and even rubbed my feet and toes! This was quite a treat! I left feeling not only relaxed but completely rejuvenated.

My face was noticeably ‘fresher’ and ‘younger’ looking. I can imagine myself getting quite addicted!

Sam explained that a 6 course of top up treatments would see even better results and more radiance appearance.

Fingertip Facelifts, followed by regular top-up treatments will result in a more radiant appearance, improved circulation and skin tone and relief from stress.

I cannot recommend this treatment enough, and as I am very anti-surgery and scary needles, this was the perfect way to plump and freshen my somewhat sagging face!

Visit Sam’s site here for all of her details and further testimonials from happy customers!

Esmod Fashion Show 2015

ESMOD Fashion Show

I recently  attended the ESMOD  yearend fashion show, showcasing the final projects of their 2^nd and 3^rd year students.

ESMOD is a worldwide French fashion school with 22 schools in 15 different countries. The original school dates back to 1841 and their yearly fashion show is a chance for us to see the new UAE emerging designers.

The entire event was broadcast live on esmod-dubai.com and as Tamara Hostal, Director and Founder of ESMOD Dubai stated “We strongly believe in the world being a runway for the local young fashion designers and aim to introduce to the fashionistas all over the globe”

The show was hosted by none other Lanye Redman, my buddy and the stunning Aishwarya Aijt.

Below are some pics my awesome friend Jenna captured of the 3rd years work...

Iftar at Al Majlis

It's Ramadan here in Dubai, so for those of you rusty on your Ramadan knowledge, it’s an entire month of fasting to “commemorate the first revelation of the Quran to Muhammad according to Islamic belief.”

So our Muslim friends fast all day and have their first meal of the day (Iftar) at sundown. I’m going to tell you all about my awesome Iftar experience and Ramadan for me so far.

Fasting takes place during daylight hours, and when I say fasting, I mean fasting, no water, no tea coffee and NO FOOD! Even swallowing toothpaste is out… not that I tend to do that but you know sometimes a little goes down.

A huge bonus for me is that during Ramadan we work reduced hours; so I’ve been finishing work at 3pm each day!

I decided that I would take on board some little projects to keep me busy with these extra ‘me time’ hours.

I decided to do an interior makeover of my apartment and do it all within 500AED…. More on that later.  Others projects were to lose weight, read more and watch loads of films and box sets.

Yes, some 'projects' were more challenging than others, but it’s good to set goals!

 

Back to Iftar… Here in Dubai (this year) 7:16pm is when you can break your fast and you celebrate that with Iftar.  Now you may know already but here in Dubai they don’t like to do things by half so when it comes to Iftar, some places put on quite a show!!

 

I went to the Al Majlis at Mina A’Salam Hotel, we were told to get there sharp as it its important for those who are fasting to break their fast on time.  Unfortunately I was about 20mins late due to nightmare traffic, once I got to the hotel I quickly discover that the traffic was due to a very special guest attending the same Iftar.  None other than Sheikh Mohammed (bin Rashid Al Maktoum) Or as we call him, 'Sheikh Mo' was there!

...This is an honour in Dubai, apparently he frequents many Iftars and will often pay for everyone’s meal! Our Iftar was huge and Al Majlis can host 1000 people, so we weren’t really expecting Sheikh Mo to take care of the bill for us all!

The tent itself was spectacular!

It was enormous with beautiful Arabic décor and the most incredible star shaped lighting installation on the ceiling.

Needless to say, the buffet was immense, there was pretty much anything you could have dreamed of and that night I discovered my love for dates! (I had recently learned that dates are the main ingredient of sticky toffee pudding – fact – and although they look like cockroaches, they are delicious!)

Oh and here’s a pic of me loitering around the area the Sheik Mo and his sons were!

After dinner we were all served tea by the fancy tea man that wears a giant tea pot and sings, the photo doesn’t do him justice.

I wore my H&M patterned blue trousers with their conveniently stretchy waist band, cream shoes and cream blazer and little black vest tucked in, simple but adding a heel and blazer always smartens things up!

My stalking pics of Sheikh Mo trying to enjoy his Iftar!

Beautiful light instillations around the trees outside the hotel.

Topshop Haul

Love or hate Topshop you can't beat if for being bang on trend. But being a Topshop shopper in the UK and wincing at their pricing there I got quite the shock to find that here in the UAE Topshop pricing is at least 1/3 more expensive than in the UK! Therefor I generally avoid the place like the plague!

That was until I heard of a well-kept secret clearance Topshop in Ibn Battuta mall!

I didn't believe it until I saw it for myself... Yes a clearance store! Everything was AED 79 or less (that’s roughly £14!!!) As I raced around the store in a panic the shop assistant kindly reassured me that this was a clearance store getting sale items from other stores and this was usually the pricing. Before I get everyone's hopes up there was a lot of random stuff and a huge amount of knitwear and winter coats, not ideal for coming into the summer in Dubai, but other than that I still managed to get some gems!

I call these my Herman Munster’s, the jury is still out on these ones… I personally love them and their comfort levels soar through the roof so in my book that's win win, but I know they really aren't for everyone!

FYI: Having leaked this secret I feel like I'm the High Street version of Julian Assange. I did have big plans on keeping this all to myself, but this is for the betterment of society. *Raises clenched fist*