Ever experienced village life as a peasant? A simple life away from the city? Experiencing a territorial land so proud my grandma reminds us how poor life was back in their days. It is a Saturday, so glum, gloomy, grey, wet and cold in the heart of London. I was going to prepare some lifestyle flat lay photography but with no natural lighting coming through I sought for an alternative post for today. I uploaded a picture of me waking up to the beautiful sunrise from my bathroom view at the Westin Hotel in Singapore; but then I found some village pictures of my Dad’s hometown in HK. I spent some quality time with my grandparents and have learnt so much about their simple yet struggling life in HK back in the days and 80 years later, The Village in New Territory is on it’s way to create their own mini empire. The village have worked so hard to protect their land from government ownership and little did I know as to how much history involved in the large caption area of New Territory. I have visited HK more than 8 times in my life and this time marked a very special memory for me as to what I’ve learned. There are a lot of Lee’s in the village, but we are not the only “clan” (I don’t know how else to reference it) and I barely know any one around but we all somehow are related. Just a blog away from my Grandma’s house lies a standing shrine/temple. This is what my sister was talking about; my dad told her that the stone wall panel marks the word “dragon”…but it doesn’t actually mean dragon but Royal. You need Government approval to be able to use the word “dragon/royal” in a temple; so what’s the meaning of this? Only to learn that our ancestor was the great Emperor Taizong of Tang Li Shimin of Tang Dynasty.

I’m not going to lie, I daydreamed a lot during my Chinese school days so I am quite poor with my Chinese history. After some wiki searches; not only am I proud to be a direct descendant but I can’t help but frown and wonder that I may have been a descendant by royal illegitimacy by a concubine or a chamber maid as he had over 20 kids! Nevertheless, it was very liberating that my dad side family tree was so exciting; not only related to Emperor Li Shimin, but also the Philosopher Lizhao, the founder of Li surname and Taoism. Again, I had no idea what Taoism was so unsurprisingly did more wiki searches. So what happened? Where’s all the riches, gold, fortune? Apparently, there were many Emperors in China from different states (thank goodness for Chinese period dramas to educate me bits of the history) so off course there were many wars to conquer more states and unfortunately, the most glamorous reign in his time was robbed. Unlucky! However, this story will be passed down for sure and the next Li/Lee person I meet…I am sure we are somehow one way or the other related!

Hope you can follow me on Instagram, Facebook and/or Twitter. May xx

It has been a long 3 and a half weeks break from work and had some of the best memories in Hong Kong and Singapore. My last day of work was pretty manic; I had to finish at 5.30pm and leg it to the airport so I was on superwoman mode to get all of my work done and get my automated emails switched on to tell all of my clients and colleagues that I am gone until 2015! You may have seen quite a few snapshot posts already of my wonderful adventure in the Far East; main purpose was to be a great Granddaughter and spend more time with the Grannies and Granddad. Usually when you are on work mode, it’s difficult to keep up with blogging, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook…then again, “busy” is just a lame excuse. But with 3.5 weeks of free time in my hands, I was on it and gone Instagram crazy; capturing some amazing moments along the way! When I first started this blog, it was pretty much Beauty and Fashion oriented and somehow, for the last few months; I have been travelling quite a bit and explored more into food and general lifestyle.  It is quite a big transition from Beauty Blogging to Beauty, Travel and Lifestyle. Currently, I am migrating my blog and hopefully soonish, I will have a new layout in place :D I have so many different categories I wish to share with you and despite my simple, clean layout I love so much…it’s definitely time for an upgrade. I am no coding geek so it’s great to have friends who knows how to do all of this stuff and help me migrate my site as well as ‘fix it up’…yes my blog is going under the knife!

Thinking back, I have no idea why I chose ‘Red Velvet London’ as my blog name. Originally, my blog name was called ‘So Tres Chic’ when it was just a simple wordress.com blog; but my sister brainwashed me into thinking that it’s a rubbish name and that I had to change it. I panicked, I couldn’t think of a name, I wanted my readers to know it’s a British blog…I loved red velvet cakes at the time…and somehow plugged it altogether as Red Velvet London. Couple years later, I am still Red Velvet London…ecstatic with what I have achieved as my side hobby; although…I wish I had spent a little more time coming up with an alternative blog name; but I guess it was rather amusing as to how I came about it.

2014 brought me a Journey of cameras from Canon 400d to 7D to 5D Mark II. Made some amazing blog friends along the way with super sweet private messages how they’ve enjoyed reading my blog (readers like you really inspire me to improve). I was once this lazy girl who saw blogging as some kind of boring chore to something I enjoy, am passionate about as a hobby where I can express pretty much anything and everything. I am able to express my creative side in photography as well as collaborations with luxury beauty brands, hotels, jewellery, fashion and many more to come. Thank you 2014 and everyone involved.

Hope you can follow me on Instagram, Facebook and/or Twitter. May xx

That time when you hit 16, you’ve hit puberty and the last thing you need is some ugly braces for at least a year in school! It’s usually the most horrifying thing to have but luckily, every 16 or 17 year old went through this phase so it wasn’t an ugly scene but in fact….normal?! I am not going to lie, I had those ugly head gears as an alternative from knocking 2 molars out which I am sort of glad, but I got so much flack when I first wore it in the house so i secretly wear it to bed. Obviously my dentist was pissed off because he could clearly tell I wasn’t wearing it 12 hours  day…. considering I go to bed and nap for 8hours.

To be honest, I am grateful I went through this horrific moment in my teen life because now, I have pretty straight set with the help of lifetime retainers to keep them straight. Why do i still have to wear retainers? You see, once you have braces, it doesn’t mean your teeth will stay straight forever; at some point your teeth will start shifting again so the retainers help keep that clean, straight set! This is where people normally go wrong and I am glad I still have my retainers as they can easily go missing at some point in your life. Do you know what, retainers are in fact really really expensive!! To get a new set made for you is definitely more than couple of hundred pounds (£) so if you have them, wear them and keep them.

I must admit, I wear them occasionally when I remember or if I look into the mirror and see that my teeth doesn’t look as straight. I would die if I went through braces now in my twenties; I would probably get the Invisalign ones but they are so expensive!! I am so glad my mother forced me into braces when I was a kid and also it’s free before you hit 16 (or is it 17)!

Hope you can follow me on Instagram, Facebook and/or Twitter. May xx

I have been dedicating my Sundays to flat lay photography lately and like to think that it would be my thing every Sunday, in my PJs with the telly on! Luckily, I had flower props courtesy of Natasha…using my home as base for her bridal makeup consultation :p

My lovely friend Natasha came over to my house today with some beautiful flowers :D I can always count on her to get me flowers and the perfect prop for my flat lay. It was a girly night in, all things makeup, bridal and oh did I mention…I’m the maid of honour so lots of planing to do! I am becoming a lot more confident with my product photography and still need practice with composition, lighting and general photoshopping as the sun light has been acting way crazy today. Manual mode on my Canon 5D Mark ii can be tricky to keep up with the forever changing weather conditions but I am glad we had sunlight peering through the windows and off course, good practice for me. As I watched over my friend getting her makeup done; it made me realise how little I know about makeup; but; I have learnt a few tricks and stick with what I am really good at…beauty product photography for my blog. The Burberry eye palette in nude blush no.12 is my Christmas gift from sis; a stunning shade right? I was a little cheeky though; my sister asked me what I want for Christmas from Burberry and that I can choose 1 item. I loved the palette, yet I also wanted the lip balm colour tint too so I said to surprise me to choose either or. How could she choose but to get both for me :D I have such great sisters to spoil me! Well, the weekend is over, I am not looking forward to Monday but I am so excited for my weekend plans already :) I will be staying at the Qbic Hotel for a good ol’ review and lifestyle shooting. Any plans for this coming weekend to look forward to?

May x

It has been one heck of a week so far and it’s not even Friday yet! I have been planning my rest of the week and things are looking pretty exciting for me. First up, I have not done a nail post in a long while which use to be my thing here. I have always wanted to try the Rouge Louboutin nail polish since its debut; however i couldn’t justify spending £36 for the bottle. HOWEVER, maybe I can: you are buying a Louboutin afterall, it stands out against any and all of the nail polishes I have, it looks pretty and it matches with my Louboutin No Prive sling backs! I guess there is no harm to own 1 but not for me; this bottle belongs to a friend of mine who is a massive Louboutin lover. She lent this to me to try it out and here I have, it’s in my hands; it looks fab! The colour is vibrant, pigmented and timeless; suited to any skin tone. The application is flawless and when applied correctly, it’s fab. Like any nail polishes; some chip far easily than some; but as long as you coat it well with a decent top coat; you should be alright for the night ;)  I would buy this as a gift; but for me; I will see it has an impulse buy where I will be excited for a few days before it gets left on my shelf with the rest of my nail polishes collecting dust. Then, when there is an event; I will pull out the special bottle; it will be a toggle between the Chanel dragon red and the Rouge Louboutin. Anyhow; I have returned the nail polish to the rightful owner and I hope she won’t have to choose between Louboutin or Chanel.

I am so happy that Christian Louboutin debuted his nail polish line as we all know, his infamous red soles came about when he infamously grabbed a bottle of red nail polish and painted the bottom of the shoes. Ultimately for this post; I just wanted to photograph it more than I actually want to wear it so all in all; a great prop for joys flat lay photography.

Rouge Louboutin nail polish – borrowed from Melissa (aka Muularice on Instagram. Follow her on all the best places to eat/dine/experience). Thank you Mel!

Location: Dressing room at the Cora Pearl Suite, Grosvenor House Hotel in Victoria, London.

Hope you can follow me on Instagram, Facebook and/or Twitter. May xx

What a great start to the year with the ultimate girl’s night out. I had organised a complimentary stay at Qbic London Hotel in Aldgate East; a Dutch based hotel soon to expand around the world. For one night only, I soaked in as much of the Urban vibe, the cool decor and the futuristic cube like interior and enjoy what East London has to offer.

The hotel certainly lived up to my expectations and if not more. The decor is right up my street; it’s vibrant, modern, quirky, fun…very yellow! The ambience feels less like a hotel and more like a studio room which is great; a very warm and inviting room on the second floor. I love the feature wall and did wonder why I am not on there haha maybe one day. The one feature that baffled me was the door leading to nowhere but a blank yellow wall until I realised the concept. Assuming my neighbour was interested in mingling; you just keep the door open assuming that any hour your neighbour will do so too and open the door…I wasn’t disappointed that they didn’t even open the door but it could have been funny. Then I checked out the bathroom which I also call a wet room; I am so glad to find a waterfall shower with a large vanity mirror with reflective lights.

I invited some of my close and new friends over as meeting point before we all decided to hit the town for dinner and night out round 2. Honestly, I spend a lot of my nights out in central or west London just purely on the fact that it’s easier to get around to and from home in North London. There’s nothing worse than have a good night out and suffer a long journey home alone. The location was spot on; close to the coolest bars, restaurants and clubs in the heart of Shoreditch and Liverpool Street. As usual; Saturday night is a busy night as we were all after the same restaurants at the same time; however; a pit stop to Dishoom Indian restaurant was not all a disaster; an hour and a half wait for a table wasn’t all too bad. Despite a friend of mine getting stabbed in the hand by a chair; I have to admit that Dishoom was one of the best Indian restaurants I have been to in London. 

It’s not normal to say this but I do love spending time in a hotel. I was so glad to have a lie in on a Saturday as it has been one epic girly weekend. Checked out at 11am and enjoyed our yummy breakfast at their lobby chill out zone. I off course ordered the full English breakfast with a glass of freshly pressed orange juice. I have to say; the customer service here was brilliant; they are very approachable for a chat and suggest where to go around the area. I think I met the manager there; he was so friendly and cool and offered to show me the other room available that was of a different design than the room I stayed in. I knew exactly which room he was going to show me; I saw it on their website and initially wanted to stay there. He gave us some insight about the design; the inspiration; the influences; and people thinking it’s a Scandic hotel when in fact it’s Dutch (I thought it was British!). I definitely would recommend tourists to stay in this unique hotel and even more so for Londoner’s who wants a place to stay after a good night out or just for the weekend. The room I stayed in was the fun room twin single from £94 a night which included free wifi, 32” LED TV, unlimited coffee/tea out the corridor, rain shower as well as a spacious sized room with an extra door to nowhere-possibly-somewhere. The cheapest room available is from £69 a night for a double; so that’s £35 per person which is not bad at all for zone 1. Thank you so much Qbic London hotel for the ultimate experience. Apart from such a fabulous room, the customer service made all the difference. For more details; you can find out more about the hotel here at Qbic London Hotel.

I hope you have enjoyed my post and do follow me on Instagram, Facebook and/or Twitter. May xx

It has been another long week for me; can’t seem to adjust my 5 days a week work regime! I even took 1.5 days off from work which helped keep me sane for another week. Lots of amazing things to come; I was invited to the QVC Beauty Bash which will be up on the blog soon; as well as a swift visit to Citizen M hotel near Monument. To end this horrid week; I met up with one of my favourites girls at Bob Bob Ricard; a luxury London restaurant serving Russian inspired modern British menu. I first heard of this place through my Azerbaijani friend who off course knows all the fav Russian restaurants around London and when doing my research online; my first impressions were WOW. The decor is breathtaking; kinda reminds me of The Greats Gatsby with the cool art deco surroundings. I reserved the table online with either 5.30pm of 8.30pm slot…hmm, luckily I finish at 4.30pm on Fridays so 5.30pm it was! I did bring my camera along but the room was so dark I couldn’t take justifiable pictures; so here are the images from Bob Bob Ricard’s website.

Based on these pics; the rooms look just as fab and despite requested to dress elegantly upon arrival; as long as you don’t look like you’ve come off the streets; you are fine! I was wearing jeans; over knee high boots, royal blue jumper and full face makeup with ox blood red lipstick. I really wanted to try the beef wellington however my friend only eats halal meat; I guess I will give that a go another time. I wish I could show you the pics I took from my friend’s iphone of the food I ordered; but I think I am going to save that and post it on my Facebook Page and on Instagram (check it out). So I ordered the Baked Oysters Brezhnev as my starter- a warm, creamy, cheesy combo where you can get 3 or 6 ( I ordered 3). My friend has never tried Oysters before so I am glad I persuaded her to try it…although she has yet to try raw oysters ( I will save that for another time).
As my main I went for the Beef Onglet; 28 aged scotch beef with bernaise (ridiculously amazing sauce) served medium rare with mashed potatoes as my side.

How can we leave the restaurant without trying the Signature chocolate glory; the gold chocolate orb drenched in dark chocolate sauce. Watching the hot sauce melt the chocolate base was amazing; I love novelty desserts and the orb melted slowly to reveal the chocolate jivara mousse, chocolate brownie, meringue and passionfruit and orange jelly. Can I just say; that tiny piece of orange jelly was bursting with flavours and the mousse…an absolute delight! I had such a great time with this girl; my besty for life and our night came to an end before taking couple of selfies in the ladies room (as you do). Again, check out my food pics and selfies on Facebook and Instagram. For more deets about their menu, it is available here: Bob Bob Ricard Menu. Happy Friday!!

All images from the Bob Bob Ricard website. May x

I was so excited to be a plus 1 at the QVC Beauty Bash event last week; with no hesitation I took the day off and made the most of the beauty event. This year, the event was hosted at Old Billingsgate in Monument with every brand you can think of (associated with QVC) in the room from Nails inc, Liz Earle, Babyliss, Sarah Chapman and many more. First things first, a complimentary Nails inc manicure…except there was a 1/2 hour queue which was expected. Whilst queuing up, I had a good look around me and noticed that the room was full of women mainly in their late 40’s, so what’s a couple of twenty something year olds doing mixing with women with more experience in life than me?! Haha I am not being ageist; you can tell that we were obviously not personally invited but plus 1 guests as the invitee couldn’t make it (my friend’s mum). The best part of the bash is off course the goody bag at the end of the day!

How lovely to meet the one and only Leighton Denny; it seems like he’s looking younger every year! His nail polishes are under rated; very good quality polishes that are vibrant, fast drying and doesn’t chip as easily/quickly.

Ever heard of Merumaya? Me neither! I am always excited to discover new beauty brands in the scene and what better way to get introduced to the brand by the founder herself, Maleka Datu. After a very brief meeting and all things beauty of what they are all about; we were definitely interested. They were offering skincare products that aren’t sugar coated with commercial marketing but formulas that works and evidential results in a short space of time. Merumaya debuted with QVC last week; keep an eye on their collection and not toe under rate them. Hopefully I will get in touch with them soon and learn more about their skincare secrets, watch this space.

This is what I’ve been waiting for; the goody bag at the end of the evening! I am not going to lie but….has the goody bag shrunk year on year? I remember their goody bag was 3 times the size a few years back; not to say I was disappointed but…I was a bit. However, nevertheless I was very grateful to receive a generous goody. SO, what did we receive:

Babyliss hair bands (so glad I received these as my whole box has gone walkies). OPI polish, Leighton Denny polish, Viviscal Shampoo and Conditioner, Lulu’s Timebomb cream set, SBC aloe vera skincare wash, Living proof hair serum, Eve Pearl lip gloss, Ultrasum face cream, Radical serum, This Works deep sleep pillow spray in Lavender scent, Sarah Chapman mask, Liz Earle moisturiser and Liz Earle’s cleanse and polish cloth. Another year another QVC Beauty Bash, until next time.

Hope you can follow me on Instagram, Facebook and/or Twitter. May xx

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I can honestly say I am now a candle person. We have a fair few sitting at home, unlit and used as photography props. I chose the pink peonies scent (it was a toss up between pink peonies and pomegranate and white fig) because lets face it; what girl doesn’t like peonies! The Lovage London candle oozes luxury and comfort; a London based brand born out of love for scent and a love for interior. It cannot get more British than Lovage London with all candles hand made in their Devon workshop.
I recently moved out of my old room and upgraded to a larger room for my ever growing hoarding of bags, shoes and clothes. Probably a way for my mum to lock me at home as long as possible and even asked me “now you have a much nicer, bigger room…you sill thinking of moving out?” “Yes mum, I am.” I know her tricks but we all got to grow up and live independently. I haven’t shifted all of my things yet and is starting to come together; lit up my new Lovage London candle to make it more homey! More importantly, I had a really long week of work; stressful but surprisingly; the lingering scent from the night before really made me feel relaxed. I very much prefer a lingering candle scent than a plug in room perfume. Not only does it look great by my bed side but I also love my photography (as you can see from my pics above
Lovage London is very new and I definitely recommend trying their candles and diffusers from £14 – £34 with free shipping for all orders over £25.
Thank you Lovage London for this wonderful gift; I am now a converted customer; in progress of a prettier room.

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Here I am catching up with my old posts ( I am talking last year) and finally getting the chance to post these! The French adventure continues and here is a light read for you all on general lifestyle and style. I originally saw this dress from Kayture (Kristina Bazan) on her holiday to India (somewhere) and I fell in love with the blue dress! I had to find it and there were no reference as to where this dress was from. After some digging in her comments; apparently the dress was from Zara. Right, I have been to every Zara and couldn’t find it and when I was about to lose hope (I promise, I am not a crazy, shallow shopaholic) my sister managed to find a nice blue dress in the sale and I got way too excited and said “thaaats the dress I have been looking for!!!!” I really owe her one; and even better it was on sale..shoppers in Zara really don’t know what they were missing out on! Anyway; I thought it was very fitting to showcase my new purchase; Zara cotton dress with thigh splits both sides and buttoned along the center. As I am quite short and petite; if any of you have this dress you probably agree to pair it with a tight belt to give it a subtle silhouette. Enjoy your Thursday guys; so close to the weekend!!! May x

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Currently I am enjoying my snowboarding trip in Serre Chevalier, France…no idea where but basically you take a flight to Turin and a 2 hour coach ride to Villeneuve, Serre Chevalier. As expected being so high up near the alps, the altitude is high and so I am always topping up with Vichy Idealia moisturising cream before slabbing on some SPF30 and constantly hydrate with a flask of warm water (yes, warm water! I know what you must think but I assure you, warm water is so much better for your health than cold water…but that’s another debate for another day). It is no surprise how much of a Vichy fan I am and I recommend this brand to all my friends. I managed to convince a friend who NEVER moisturises to use this as I try to in-still fear that when she turns 40 she will look 60 whereas I will look 10 years younger! Anyhow, as I have said many times before; I like to switch between moisturisers as using the same one for a long period of time can wear off the effect and purpose of a moisturiser so it’s all good; just means it lasts that little bit longer. If you would like to know more about the brand; you will be surprised that the Vichy range is at every Boots store! May xx

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At the age of 21 I have started to use anti-ageing moisturisers and serums to maintain the youthful, looking skin ( yes, even though at 21 you should start considering all sorts to age well and gracefully). If you have been reading some of my skincare posts (have you?) posts I do bang on about changing moisturisers regularly and now I am in my mid twenties I am curious of non surgical beauty treatments. You would agree that word of mouth is stronger in terms of honest opinions and I am sure there are many many beauty treatments out there to be discovered and recently a friend of mind has been getting a skin peel. Firstly, it sounds gross and what the hell; but when you hear more about it it’s actually not too bad and rather interesting. The past 6 months has been pretty tough as I have been dedicating many extra hours at work on a daily basis which has killed off a bit of my social life and perhaps aged me quite quickly. So I have been reading up on local skin peel treatments and have come across Skn Clinics where they have branches dotted around London conveniently. Choosing the right clinic is important; it is your face after all and having a botch job can really be depressing but Skn Clinics have partners with the NHS which is always a good sign with background of experienced/specialised skin treatments with trustworthy practitioners. Surprisingly, skin peel treatment ranges from £80 and the one I am thinking of is called Mild Glycolic Peel aka chemical peel which removes the upper layers of dead and damaged skin and encourages skin cell regeneration (in a non invasive/aggressive way and yes, peel like an onion). Here are the factors for which I would consider going for a consultation:

– I wear makeup everyday so I am sure my pores are clogged up and damaging my skin

– Layers of dead skin for sure as I don’t exfoliate as much as one should

– I’m in my mid twenties…time to gear it up with anti-ageing

– dull skin from fatigue and working long hours

As a beauty blogger; I am not vain but a youthful, healthy looking skin is more beautiful than a slab of makeup to cover your insecurities and imperfections. I think I have pretty much convinced myself but would love to know your thoughts on general non surgical beauty treatments! Would love to hear on what you all thought? May xx

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I haven’t had a girly night out in a long long while. I have way too many guy friends and sometimes; I just get bored and need my own girly time and space; doing girly things that guys can’t relate to. Luckily, went for a spontaneous girly night on Friday and Saturday; I have never felt so myself in a long long time. I know I can be very chilled like dude but lately; I have been pretty cranky and borderline…bitchy?! Haha, that’s what some of my male friends think but that’s because I have been hanging around with them for too long. So the weekend girly night was exactly what I needed. Not only did I have the perfect quality time with my girls; I met two of the loveliest girls ( 1 from work and the other was a friend of my work friend) and I am so happy to have met them. Honestly; I am quite reserved and sceptical of meeting new “female friends” – I have come across a fair few nasty, critical, shallow, narrow-minded, judging,back stabbing girls and the reason why I find it so easy to make guy friends is because they are very chilled and relaxed like me. Luckily, all the girl-friends I know and met are chilled, relaxed and easy going; so there is hope for normal girls out there who won’t judge you.

I love to dress up now and again and it was great to pull out my favourite pair of Balenciaga’s I bought in the Harrods sale with my Marc Jacobs denim bag and matching Balenciaga leather bracelet.

Hope you can follow me on Instagram, Facebook and/or Twitter. May xx

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Mother’s Day is less than a month away on the 15th March; the usual question is what to get your Mother for Mother’s Day? Luckily we have planned this a month early and decided to get her the Elemis Pro Collagen Marine Cream gift set. I am very fortunate to have good genes when it comes to youthful looking skin and my mum looks nothing like her age. She really looks after her skin; she’s one of those typical Chinese mums that carries an umbrella when the sun is out (usually my cue to run away like I don’t know her). She prides in her beauty regime and I hope that I will age as great as my mum does. This Elemis limited edition pro collagen marine cream is the perfect gift for Mother’s Day despite a hefty price tag at £99; however the gift set comes with an embossed silver mirror with a matching silver case, a sachet of pro-collagen marine cream, a 100ml tub of pro-collagen marine cream with a spatula in a beautiful presentation box. Elemis strives to create the latest innovations in skincare which delivers high quality, spa products with their skin and body skincare range. This anti ageing tub is perfect for my mum (and for myself), I will no doubt secretly dip my finger in there for my daily dosage. I hope my mum will love it which I am sure; I am not too sure about the mirror so I am sure she will give that to me (yay). What are you getting your mum for Mother’s Day?

May xx

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Bonjour! I have been looking forward to my snowboarding trip for over a month and needless to say; I was super duper excited. Work has been crazy so timing was perfect to get out of here and relax! I honestly have never heard of the location Serre Chevalier in France so having no expectations was a good thing. My brother in law booked our trip through Crystal Ski Holidays which specialised in a full package holiday: Thomson return flight to Turin, Chalet room accommodation, half board, snowboarding lessons and ski passes for a whole week all for £850 per person; not bad at all. I dreaded catching the 7am flight which meant getting up at 3am; sigh…I hope I wouldn’t have to do that again but the views at sunrise on a plane was spectacular (images above taken with my iPhone 5s).

The chalet we stayed in Villeneuve was adorably quaint called Chalet Asters; a short 5 minute walk to the resort. We walked in and immediately felt like we were home

My sister clearly wasn’t in the mood for a sisterly selfie but as you can see, it was so homey and most importantly, warm!! I recently bought a new Canon Powershot G7X camera to document my travels instead of carrying around my massive Canon 5D Mark ii. The G7X is a new model so I am testing this camera out during my whole trip to Serre Chevalier and so far I am loving my camera. I particularly like the flip screen to take sisterly selfies like this one

I am not a morning person AT ALL so waking up every morning at 7am for my snowboarding class (with a French instructor who spoke in French 99% of the time was tricky) was a challenge and a half. But so far, the views were just amazing and I am lucky to have a 360 degree views of it morning and night…every day.

Had my first meal at the La Grotte pub and I think the French locals who sat behind us snubbed me because I ordered Fish and Chips…look, I am British, what can I say! Stay tuned for more of my crazy alps pics and days ahead at Serre Chevalier snowboarding trip!

Follow me on Instagram, Facebook and/or Twitter. May xx

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Recently, a friend of mine on Facebook posted pictures of his new camera, the Canon Powershot G7X. Honestly, I have never heard of this model before which caught my attention and off course so I did some research. I was after a digital camera that would be the perfect alternative from my Canon 5D Mark ii which I love; however my Sigma 50mm lense is so huge it weighs the whole thing down and not exactly practical for my travels. I use my Canon 5D Mark ii for beauty and style shoots; but when it comes to travels…space is an issue, the weight is annoying and to break it by accident will only make me cry. What’s great about my Canon 5D Mark ii and my 50mm lense is that I can shoot at f1.4, perfect for close up shots (blurry background) which I need for my beauty product shots. The Canon G7X is the latest model from the family of Canons so I found it difficult to source in the shops (in London) so I dug around online. Preferably, you would want to buy it in store for the security factor; however I took a risk and bought it on eBay. The camera retails at £499 which is pretty hefty; but I managed to get mine for £360 which is a risk. I managed to receive this on time for my snowboarding holiday in Serre Chevalier (near Briancon) France. My iPhone 5s is great for capturing pictures; but you know what I’m like; I love posting super crisp, quality pictures on my blog (I’m not exactly amazing either but at least I am trying). What I liked about the Canon Powershot G7X is that the f stop is as low as 1.8 (f1.8) which is fantastic with functions as close to the DSLR but in a compact. Even better, the display screen flips up for all the “non existent’ selfies I take genuinely, I actually don’t take selfies because I am not a big fan of the camera quality and lighting (however I am to receive a Lumee case soon so that will change but the flip display screen is surprisingly nifty for selfies with a good grip to it. My Canon Powershot G7X camera debuted on my trip to Serre Chevalier, France so for my photos on my snowy trip using this camera; you can check it out here: Canon Powershot G7x travel photos. I have yet to learn more about my new camera but since I have played around with it, there has been countless times how I’ve said “I love my new camera, it’s so damn good”. I really recommend the compact Canon Powershot G7X for bloggers like myself for those on the go taking quality, crisp pictures. As for product photography; best to use it when you have plenty of light as pictures can come out a bit dull and grainy (like all cameras) but can still take fab pictures like I have here for my beauty post on Elemis Anniversary Pro Collagen Cream.

Hope you can follow me on Instagram, Facebook and/or Twitter. May xx

The post My New Canon Powershot G7X Camera for Travel Bloggers appeared first on Red Velvet London.

A few weeks ago, I attended Pandora’s Wishing Tree event at Shop Eat Do in King’s Cross. I walked in to a crowd of bloggers enjoying their champagne, socialising and snapping away. I met some lovely bloggers during the event (darn I saw Mikaela and was about to say hi to her but she had to leave. Next time!) we had the opportunity to learn how to make origami flowers as well as making heart-shaped lavender-filled pouches…mmmmm. The blooming Pandora wishing tree was the central attention in the room and we learnt how to make origami flowers by the expert himself in the room. I used to be good at origami, but the novelty of paper folding was so long ago I don’t think I can even fold a paper plane let a lone a pretty flower to hang on the wishing tree.

I received a beautiful gift from Pandora, a sweet, silver Love bracelet (thank you Pandora!!) and no surprise,  I wore it straight away. I have only just got back from my holiday so I was surprised to see an unexpected package waiting for me. You know me, love to play with product photography so I hope I really showed off the bracelet here just how pretty it is

I am a sucker for cupcakes and sweets and I must say, I was hovering around the cupcakes for quite a while. I think they were from Hummingbird, I was so hungry and had no dinner that evening…I scoffed a cupcake or two oops. Sorry for the grainy pictures though, it was a dark room as you can see but the chocolate cupcake on the 3 tier cake holder was so delicious!

I had a pleasure to be taught how to make a lavender heart pouch which surprisingly took me less than an hour to make. Was a fiddly job, I like to think I was very good at textiles ( I did get an A for textiles GCSE’s ) but I kept making mistakes! Nevertheless, I made it in the end after a few pricks on my finger and wallah, my cute heart shaped lavender pouch was born and hanged it on the Pandora wishing tree in the middle of the room.
I pretty much stayed to the very end of the event, picked up my goody bag and snap a few more photo’s. What a fun evening I had and be a part of the Pandora Wishing Tree event, thank you for having me! Check out #PandoraWishingTree for more details of the event and pics of the night as well as their Pandora Wishing Tree site where you can read everyone’s wish hanged on the tree and you may be able to find mine (it is very sweet! awww.)

May x

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Tonight I caught up with my beautiful friend and told her to meet me at Smack Deli in Bond Street. I have allllwwwaaays wanted to come here but never had the time and chance to try it out until today. A friend of mine comes here almost every week, her Instagram is filled with lobster rolls, lobster chowder and more lobster rolls! I wanted to see and try what the fuss is all about and so I ordered the Happy Ending (before you say anything, yes the Happy Ending ) with courgette fries. Surprisingly, the restaurant looked pretty quiet and empty, but I am glad because I can just chill and catch up with my friend. I really don’t want to say this because I was so looking forward to coming here but the smack deli lobster roll on brioche was really greasy. The fillings were lovely but…the brioche was soaked too much in oil?! Same goes to the courgette fries, it was faar too oily and I couldn’t finish them for this reason. I am a bit disappointed as I don’t like writing negative reviews/feedback but for this reason; first impression/experience always count and sadly, I won’t come back here again as I didn’t get my happy ending! This meal came in about £15, £7.50 for the Happy Ending lobster brioche roll, £3 courgette fries and £2.50 for unlimited soft drinks…but the cleaner took away my tray after I was done with my meal and couldn’t get my refill boo.

Next stop, more food locations to come, stay tuned!

Hope you can follow me on Instagram, Facebook and/or Twitter. May xx

The post Getting My Lobster Fix at Smack Deli London appeared first on Red Velvet London.

A great friend of mine was staying at the CitizenM hotel, doing nothing and bumming around. So I thought I would pay my friend a visit and hang out in the quirky, boutique hotel in the heart of London. CitizenM is situated by the Thames, between Southwark Station and London Bridge Station. Upon arrival, if I didn’t know where I was going I would not have realised that the building is a boutique hotel. The hotel room was fully equipped and monitored by the touch of your fingertip – controlling the lighting to suit your mood; play movies and music on the portable tablet device at your bed side. What I liked about it was that it had a curtain to split the room for privacy despite a compact ensuite room. Whilst using the bathroom; my friend thought it was funny to change the mood by switching colours; it genuinely did feel like I was in a disco room! The hotel is great for business men and women travelling from different parts of the world; definitely not the kind of hotel you would stay in as a tourist. At £199 a night; the room offers free wifi/movies, XL king size bed, power rain shower, wall to wall window and built in shower room.

What’s great about the CitizenM hotel in London Bridge is that you don’t have to have a booked room to hang out. From what I can see, there are a lot of students; business men and women chilling, working, having coffee and a place to catch up with your old pals. It’s kind of a giveaway as I am seeing a lot of students on their laptops with chargers plugged into the wall. It’s like one big playground so you are really getting what you are paying for. After a tasty treat of a brownie; it was time to head home and say goodbye to my friend who was waiting for his girlfriend (also a good friend of mine) to finish work. Shame I couldn’t stick around longer but I am sure they had a romantic evening planned one day, I will stay here and have my own room!

Hope you can follow me on Instagram, Facebook and/or Twitter. May xx

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I received the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish hot cloth cleanser in the QVC Beauty Bash goody bag earlier this year. I have heard raving reviews of this skincare product which allegedly helps remove daily grime, dirt, grease, sweat…you name it. I wear a bit of makeup everyday (a bit of powder foundation and mascara) and I remove it in the evening with a makeup wipe. I know I know, wipes are not the best solution to remove facial makeup, if anything the wipe only removes 70% of the grime. But luckily, since having the Liz Earle cleanse and polish hot cloth cleanser strategically placed in my bathroom, I have a good daily routine to apply the cream based cleanser on my face (face must be dry before applying) and then use the hot cloth to cleanse out the cream and grime that comes with it. The fabric of the cloth is 100% cotton so all good and non abrasive against the skin. Ideally you should be cleansing day and night; as lazy and rushed as I am; I am glad I’ve even squeezed this in the evening (I am way too sleepy in the morning). What I really like about this cleanser (as apposed to a fluid based cleanser) is that the usage of a muslin cloth to remove the cream is far easier and less messy than splashing water on my face too remove the foamy/fluid based cleanser. This gives me more of an incentive to use it regularly without having to bother with my hair getting wet and water running down to my elbows and dripping from my chin. My road to clean, radiant, smooth looking skin is calling

May x

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