Monthly Archives: May 2014

Urban Decay Electric Palette

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Urban Decay have now added the Electric Palette to their collection of famous eye shadow palettes, and I have got my hands on one. I can never fault an Urban Decay palette and having many of them myself they are really great tools to work with. The intense pigments and the variety of colours, those who have invested in Urban Decay palettes will know what I mean. I truly love the electric palette, it is a burst of colour from Gonzo to Freak, a mixture of Chaos and Slowburn and the splash of Savage. These shades are WOW!

 

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After getting the chance to play with the Electric palette and trying different looks by using just the colours in the palette itself as well as getting out my Urban Decay Naked palette as a partner in crime, I have fell in love with the electric palette. The pigment is bright and intense, a real trademark of Urban Decay. I can’t even pick a favourite out the colours, as they are all so different. You may find yourself having to dig your brush in other eye shadow palette to bring out the colour of the shade but with this palette a little dab is all you need for the soft subtle looks as well as the bright daring ones.

 

What I love most about this palette is how it can complete any look by adding a dash of colour. We’ve all had those moments when we are all done up and just staring at ourselves in the mirror thinking something is missing, my face looks plain and you can’t just figure out why. Just add a touch of Electric.

 

Electric can be used not only for eye shadow, but can you it for eye lines with its double ended brush, and if your really feeling creative you can create those theatrical looks as you can use these pigments all over your face and body, don’t just limit it to your eyes! You may be worried about the strong pigments staining but they are easily washed off. I really cannot fault Electric!!

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Is the Electric palette a winner for you?

Top Tips For a Skin-Friendly Summer

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amandaeliasAmanda Elias, beauty expert and founder of Bravura London has her top tips for a skin-friendly Summer.

1 – The first thing you want to think about is sun protection; the sun is the main cause of premature ageing which can leave your skin dull, dry, wrinkled and with hyperpigmentation (brown spots). Protect all exposed skin with a broad spectrum SPF (protects against both UVA & UVB) of at least 30, preferably a mineral SPF which acts as a sunblock to instantly block the sun’s rays. Look for a product that’s waterproof and don’t forget your lips, ears and the back of your neck. Re-apply frequently.

2 – You may know about cleansing, exfoliating and moisturising your face but do you spend as much TLC on your body? Ensure you exfoliate at least twice a week and if possible, slather yourself daily (after your shower) in your favourite body lotion.

3 – Do you find your skin flushes when you get hot? Keep a refreshing water spray or toner spray at hand to spritz your face and neck when you feel yourself overheating

4 – Avoid wearing perfumes on your skin; when the sun hits the areas of skin that contain perfumes it can cause irritation. Fragrance your hair by spraying your hairbrush then brush through your locks, every time you swish your hair you’ll be surrounded by a beautiful fragrance.

5 – Sun and lip gloss aren’t a good combination, remember the days of people baking in the sun covered in baby oil? Same thing. Get yourself a good lip balm that contains an SPF, you can get plenty that have colour or line your lips with a lip pencil then top with a clear SPF balm.

6 – Parched skin after too much alcohol and sun? Intensely nourish your skin with an oil such as jojoba oil, this non-comedogenic (won’t block your pores) oil is more of a wax and is close to your skin’s natural oil. For sun burnt skin, help the healing process with pure aloe vera gel and apply 3-4 times a day.

7 – Don’t forget to hydrate yourself, to keep your body functioning properly and to aid in the removal of toxins from our body it needs to be well hydrated so be sure to drink 2-3 litres of liquid (sadly this doesn’t include dehydrating substances such as cocktails and coffee) per day.

Beyonce’s Sister Solange Attacks Jay Z

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The world was shocked yesterday when a video showing Beyonce’s sister, Solange, physically attacking Beyonce’s husband, Jay Z, in an elevator went viral. The video is below and it is hard to understand the reason behind the attack as there is no sound. Take a look and tell us what you think.

The video footage was obtained by TMZ and is from inside an elevator in the Standard Hotel. The incident happened in New York after the Met Ball Gala last week. Beyonce later posted a cryptic prayer about relationships on her Instagram feed.

Beyonce-prayer instagram relationships

According to US Weekly, the two sisters flew to Costa Rica very soon afterwards for Kelly Rowland’s secret wedding to her long-time boyfriend Tim Witherspoon. It was a “quick, simple ceremony – only around 30 people,”

Top Wedding Songs

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Choosing your wedding playlist can be stressful, with lots of choice and little time. So, to help get you started here is Frost’s Wedding Playlist. Let us know your thoughts and what you would add. Wedding First DanceHow long Will I Love You – Ellie Goulding

All Of Me – John Legend

Can’t Help Falling In Love With You – Elvis Presley –

When A Man Loves A Women – Percy Sledge

Ain’t No Sunshine – Bill Withers

We Found Love – Rihanna & Calvin Harris

Chasing Cars – Snow Patrol

(I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life – Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes

Ed Sheeran – Kiss Me

Adele – Make You Feel My Love

Marry You – Bruno Mars

Just Like A Star – Corinne Bailey Rae

You’ve Got The Love – Florence & The Machine

Rule The World – Take That

Everything I Do (I Do It For You) – Bryan Adams

You Do Something To Me – Paul Weller

God Only Knows – The Beach Boys

Just Say Yes – Snow Patrol

Don’t Want To Miss A Thing – Aerosmith

Your Song – Elton John

At Last – Etta James

Come What May – Ewan McGregor & Nicole Kidman

The Way You Look Tonight – Frank Sinatra

Let’s Get It On – Marvin Gaye

So Here We Are – Bloc Party

Iris – The Goo Goo Dolls

We Have All The Time In The World – Frank Sinatra

Better Together – Jack Johnson

Happy – Pharrell

Endless Love – Lionel Richie & Diana Ross

You And Me – Lifehouse

Sex On Fire – Kings Of Leon

Truly, Madly, Deeply – Savage Garden

Heaven – DJ Sammy & Yanou

When I Fall In Love – Nat King Cole

Isn’t She Lovely – Stevie Wonder

I’m Not In Love – 10cc

Your Song – Elton John

Midnight Train To Georgia – Gladys Knight and The Pips

What a Difference A Day Makes – Dinah Washington

My Baby Just Cares For Me – Nina Simone

I’ll Stand By You – Pretenders

I Will Always Love You – Whitney Houston

Moon River – Audrey Hepburn

Take My Breath Away – Berlin

You’re Still The One – Shania Twain

I Don’t Want To Miss a Thing – Aerosmith

 

ILA Spa

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Ila Beauty

I adore bath products so when I was sent these lovely ILA beauty products recently I set aside some much needed me time and indulged myself with an evening of home Spa relaxation. Also to test them out to give you the low down on all the soothing, organic and delicious products.

Running a hot bath and adding natural products sends your senses to giddy heights and creates a virtual powerful health spa in seconds. A deep down feeling of wellness and being at one with nature.

With only the finest natural, traditional and sustainable plant and mineral ingredients ILA spa products are delightful, pure and embody great natural healing. They are perfect for emotionally nourishing your body as well as your spirt. The candle enveloped the woods on this photo shoot and filled the air with droplets of pure rose. The aura was enchanting, relaxing and peaceful, it made the day really special and created the perfect atmosphere for being at one with nature, the woodland and the creatures that where hiding away out of sight.

Ila Beauty

When trying the bath salts crystals you will drift away with a mix of jasmine, sandalwood and they made my skin feel so nourished and smooth. It comes with a wooden scoop so you can add just the right amount to the bath. The crystals dissolved beautifully and left no hard grains behind. Only a pretty pink glow to the hot steamy water.

Ila Beauty

After soothing your tired limbs you will need to feel refreshed and try the body scrub, Organic rose and geranium hits you as you open this jar and the grains are perfectly milled to a fine salt. With argan oil to nourish the skin and the organic juniper berries to stimulate circulation and help eliminate cellulite. This product can’t fail to impress, just heaven.

Ila Beauty

Now for me other than the candle the facial oil was my utter most favourite product. This has been my go to morning and night product since receiving these wonderful treats. This is their best seller apparently a ‘little miracle’ The face oil is a cult product revered by men and women worldwide. Packed with essential fatty acids and wrinkle-fighting antioxidants, it revitalises, nourishes and supports at the deepest level. Your telling me, I feel like I am glowing from inside out! It is a fantastic product to apply about 10 minutes before your moisturiser of factor cream. I use a factor 30-50 every day all year round. This will fight wrinkles, heal scars, help regenerate the skin cells, nourish the skin deep down into the layers of the dermis and gives you that glow of youth and hydration lost in our everyday busy modern life. Not only that it has won awards such as…Harper’s Bazaar Hot 100, September 2012, Beauty Bible Award Winner for Anti-Ageing, March 2011 and Natural Product of the Year, AsiaSpa Awards, 2009!!

I have been invited to meet the founder of this company and visit the manufactures. I will be asking loads of beauty, anti ageing and healthy skin questions while I am there thats for sure. ILA is now on my top list of beauty products that I will be recommending to everyone.

Tweet me @sarahbacchus if you are wanting to know more about the products and visit the ILA website here to purchase all you need. Fly over and Tweet them @ila_spa and say hi!

 

Visit www.sarahbacchus.com if you are interested in booking me for photographic work.

 

Dicepeople Music Profile

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This music profile is a particular favourite: Dicepeople is a progressive audiovisual collaboration between Matt Brock and Rafael Filomeno. Brock plays and produces the music, and Rafael is the visual artist.

Dicepeople music profile

Dicepeople was originally set up in London, UK in the mid 1990s as an electronic side project when Brock was more heavily involved with industrial acts Noise Union and Replikator. In 2008, however, Brock transformed Dicepeople into his primary musical project and, with it, aimed to go beyond pure electronic music.

Dicepeople – Promo video from Dicepeople on Vimeo.

The tagline for Dicepeople is “dark electronica for the body and mind” because the aim is to create music which combines driving beats with evocative and emotionally engaging harmonies and melodies. The music has an electronic foundation with industrial and EBM components, and it mixes real instruments and voices with synthesisers to add cinematic depth and intensity.

Rafael joined in 2013 as a visual artist to take Dicepeople forward into the audiovisual realm that was always intended for it. The epic, visceral visuals produced by Rafael perfectly complement the powerful filmic soundscapes from Brock.

Dicepeople were nominated for consideration for the 2014 Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition shortlist by the judge Mark Muldoon, who said: “I’m nominating this dark electro-gothy outfit mainly for their full Soundcloud collection of 19 songs; there’s a remarkably high standard being maintained here”.

Dicepeople are currently working on a new studio album which will be released shortly.

The name “Dicepeople” is taken from the book The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart, and the comparison to diceliving is reflected in the wide range of influences and schizophrenic moments found in the music and visuals. Dicepeople recordings and performances incorporate a large variety of styles and genres; but the mood, intensity and dark atmosphere provide the necessary coherence and consistency to bind them together.

Dicepeople influences cover a very broad range of musicians, filmmakers and visionaries including Art of Noise, Black Sabbath, Can, David Cronenberg, David Lynch, Depeche Mode, The Doors, Front 242, The Future Sound of London, Hoodlum Priest, John Barry, John Carpenter, KMFDM, Marshall McLuhan, Massive Attack, Mike Figgis, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, Nine Inch Nails, Oliver Stone, Pink Floyd, The Prodigy, Quentin Tarantino, Siouxsie Sioux, Tangerine Dream and Underworld.

London Heathrow Terminal 2 (The Queen’s Terminal) focus on retail… Caviar House & Prunier

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VIS_9556  Thirty years ago, Caviar House & Prunier established their first store at Heathrow selling packaged salmon and caviar products. Following a chance encounter with Count Basie, who delighted in eating the packaged caviar at the airport, the team were inspired to develop a seafood bar concept.

The world’s first Caviar House Seafood Bar opened at Terminal 4 and is now a feature in more than 80 locations around the world, including Sydney and Dubai.Prunier[1]
Opening on 4 June, the new £1.6m restaurant has been designed to put the loved and renowned Caviar House & Prunier menu centre-stage to an international audience. Caviar House & Prunier is the only manufacturer of fine caviar and smoked salmon in the world to serve its products within its own restaurants and at LHR Terminal 2, passengers will be able to enjoy the products along with a speVIS_9593cially curated champagne menu. The restaurant will also feature a unique wine collection from Chateau Lafite Rothschild, a collection made up of 336 bottles, 28 vintages in original sealed cases of 12, retailing at €449,00 (price correct at time of print).
The restaurant, which overlooks the airfield, will have iPads at each of the 51 seats displaying multi-language menus, as well as content exploring the heritage of caviar and salmon around the world. It will also feature a phenomenal light structure simulating the movement of a school of fish, designed and commissioned by London-based lighting specialists, Cinimod Studio, the structure is 13 metres tall with a unique, unlimited animated sequence incorporating 350,000 LEDs… you will never see the same sequence within a 10 year period!
Caviar House & Prunier spend ten years bringing their sturgeons to maturity, ensuring their welfare and well-being every day of the year. The caviar is processed and salted to the highest standards possible using recipes that are several hundred years old, from a time when farmed caviar was the closely-guarded secret of a few caviar masters in the caviar city of Astrakhan in Russia.
I sampled Qiandao, the fruit of the hybridisation of two sturgeons indigenous to the Amur River on the northern border between China and Russia and now raised in the crystalline waters of Lake Qiandao, ‘the thousand island lake’ in the heart of the Huangshan Mountains. A firm-grained and delicate caviar with a smooth flavour and beautiful, yet subtle aroma.
The values of the company are impressive, with the whole focus on absolute sustainability and ecological responsibility, which is extremely important in today’s marketplace where the race to be the premium brand sometimes is achieved at the expense of poor environmental standards. The quality bar has most certainly been raised with Caviar House & Prunier.
https://www.caviarhouse-prunier.co.uk
@CaviarHouseP
Photographic credits: Visual Devotion and Caviar House & Prunier