Out and about in London

I think as I become a bit older, going out dancing until dawn has slightly lost it's appeal to me. The hangovers, amount of people, drama, getting home, drinking too much - it's all quite a lot after many years of tormenting my liver in Ayia Napa and I think I would prefer to stay at home and consume those calories in pizza form. In front of Netflix, obviously. 

But then you have the odd night out that is so much fun! For a never-failing night out, try Mahiki. It's guaranteed fun, with cheesy music, amazing cocktails that come in coconuts and hawaiian themed. What more could you want?

To bring out your best dance moves, try a Zombie cocktail. It has a hit of absinthe and always ensures the night will go well! 

Grab a few friends, add a Treasure Chest..

(Which is champagne/fruity amazingness in a literal chest, complete with starfruit and pineapple nibbles)

And voila! 

Another club I've been going to a lot recently is called Cirque Le Soir. It's a really random place, and you can never guess what will be there next time. On the time we went, there was none other than a fully blown ball pit for adults, face painting, free unlimited popcorn, a couple of celebrities, snakes and a lot of fire breathing. 

I forgot how much fun ball pits are, despite drowning in them! 

They play a lot of 'warming up' music though which is largely house so it's best to get there a bit later. The shows, which are just utter madness, start at 1am and continue throughout the night and feature a lot of random things - such as oversized giants, fire eating dwarves, snake charmers, dancers etc. Definitely something to see! 

Last time we went there was also beer pong! 

Let me know how you get on! 

Bridal Fashion Week

Last week London Bridal Fashion Week descended on us. For three long, full days my life became wedding dresses and veils, beautiful hair and make up, heels and a lot of walking down a catwalk. I should probably amend that to 'furiously trying not to trip in heels/extremely long wedding dress made for gazelles, whilst still looking graceful and smiling with the eyes'.

We had so much filled into our weekend - Saturday was rehearsals and fittings (very very long), Sunday and Monday had not only four shows but also four hair and make up changes! With four beautifully large wedding dresses per show, it was definitely a challenge. 

Fittings

Wearing wedding dresses is a lot of fun, especially when they are this gorgeous. It's just like playing dress up wedding Barbie bride for the day, imagining your future wedding to the last detail (on a beach in Barbados), and then getting to go home and wanting to not see another wedding dress for at least two years!

Luckily we had some great help backstage - this was Iman, my dresser, who was literally the only reason I managed to get into the dresses on time to rush back out on stage! Some of them were pretty complex, and backstage was a haze of dressers, half dressed models and white lace. 

Waiting to go on was a lot of fun!

Ever seen 15 incredibly beautiful brides together? Not sure if it surpassed the stress of a real wedding, at least there weren't grooms at the end of the catwalk waiting for us! 

Despite all the craziness, when you step onto the catwalk you instantly become serene and relaxed, focused simply on putting one foot infront of the other and not falling down. Some of these dresses were long! 

Levitating!

My favourite dress! 

After three consecutive days of purely wedding show mania, I was beginning to feel a bit like this.. 

But eventually the end came and I can confirm that although a lot of fun, I'm quite happy to leave the wedding madness for many years yet! Well done LBFW, you put on some wonderful shows :) 

WakaWaka Marrakech

When I saw on my call sheet we were shooting 'WakaWaka', I wondered if this was maybe a new type of print or range of clothes. Nope, it was just where we were shooting - a hostel!

Buried deep within the Souk, I was expecting a run down 'edgy' place - edgy was about right! From the moment we walked through the doors, we were hit by colour and beauty at every angle. It was one of the most beautiful places I saw in Marrakech!

It had an open air centre, like most Riads - a huge lack of ceiling. I think here and at our Riad they had covers, but if some rain suddenly came along you were in for a problem!

It was an incredible place for a shoot. The photographer captured parts of multicoloured walls and cushions in a magical way (Jamie Gray - he's amazing!). We were also given hot pancakes and almond dip by the lovely people who worked there which were great shooting fuel.

I especially liked the roof garden (as all houses there seem to have!)

Climb up the rickety stairs and come out in a burst of colour!

I love the shade of this blue - the make up artist had shot in this exact spot before, Debenhams, winter coats in 50 degrees heat! Thankfully we only had summery light clothes, and a 'cool' 30 degrees to shoot in.

We also came across the oldest WakaWaka resident..

The very cute, friendly tortoise! He had 'doom' painted on him - how mean :(

Here's a sneak peek of me - I had my eyebrows dyed blonde/nonexistent for this shoot and they are only just starting to grow back in a very uneven, unflattering fashion.

It was another incredible shoot and I loved the pictures from it, they're like nothing I've ever done before!

Marrakech Souk

If you remember my last post, our Riad was based within the old town - the Medena - with its' hustle and bustle, the Souk (market) taking up a vast proportion of this, with all the winding side streets leading to the main square. I had no idea that the Souk could be as deep as it was - once you are in, you are completely and utterly lost in a never-ending maze of glitz, noise and bartering. 

It definitely out did any London market I've ever been to! Every turn you take greets you with items you never knew you needed - treasure coves of lanterns, lights and jewellery, huge carpets slung over eachother, spices, animals - anything you can think of, it's here. The amount of stuff is just overwhelming - every stall has got something different and unique. 

I became obsessed with this Hand of Fatima seen everywhere in Marrakech! 

I was expecting to be jeered at for my blonde hair and 6 foot height, but I didn't actually come across anything much worse than I've experienced before. I was respectful and covered my body in maxi dresses, and sometimes my hair in a shawl, but on the whole it was fine. I think I scared them more with my intense bargaining skills! 

I picked up some spices to take home for my spice-obsessed boyfriend (seriously, we have an entire ceiling length cupboard filled with the stuff) which were all cheap as chips and smelled amazing. There's quite a lot of knock offs of spices and things like Argan Oil though in Marrakech - quite a few stalls claiming to have the best in the Souk! Luckily we went with a great man, Abdul, who took us to great stalls (even though they were probably his friends'!) who definitely made up a large part of the fact that we weren't really ripped off anywhere, and found our way home! It was amazing to follow him navigating his way through the hundreds of stalls. 

I came home with so many bowls, plates and pots - I had to wrap them all in several items of clothes to get them back in one piece! 

A truly one of a kind place - I could have got lost for days quite happily in the Souk!