LONDON, United Kindom FEB. 16-18th
This weekend was one I will remember forever. Burberry was kind enough to fly me out to London for a rather fun packed itinerary. I was invited to the last show by creative director Christopher Bailey and masterclass by none other than Wendy Rowe for the Launch of the new Fresh Glow gel stick Foundation. This was my first time ever attending a show of this magnitude and I was so nervous, it was a great experience though. I landed Saturday morning at Heathrow and was driven into town, all I can ever do is gawk over how beautiful London is every time I visit. I’ve always said that if I can live anywhere in the world it would absolutely be London without a doubt. I then arrived at the Rosewood Hotel which is one of the prettiest hotels I’ve ever stayed at and checked-in. The place is just full of Marble everything and they even have beautiful birds in the hallway that give a light airy feel to the place! From the service to the food I had such a wonderful time and couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity.
I then had a lovely MUA named Min come up to my room to do my makeup for the show! Unfortunately, we were running late so there was no time for pictures but we used some of the new products from the collection and did a really fun look. We went for a glossy pastel pink lid with a black flick. She did such an amazing job! I almost didn’t make it to the show due to closed roads, a football game and protesting but made it just by a thread. The show was incredible and so were all the pieces. I love that the brand has changed direction in terms of representing London and how diverse the city is. The inspiration behind the collection is just accepting people for who they are no matter what nationality or lifestyle they choose to live by. It was incredible and inspirational in so many ways, I left the venue a happy camper.
Now having been to my first major show I thought I’d tell you how I feel about fashion week in general… I’m not saying that I will never go to a show ever again but I will say that sometimes it just feels too overdone for me. I don’t want to offend anyone who does these shows and travels to each city but I really don’t think its relatable to my viewers nor do I cultivate that type of audience. I got invited to an amazing show yes, I wore all my own clothes mixed with high and low-end pieces. I played around with color and wore my new Acne Studios blue coat with a turtleneck sweater that I’ve worn to pieces and still remained true to my style. I absolutely love fashion and it is the direction I’ve decided to take with my content but I will always be real with you all and relatability is key. I like what I like but at the end of the day, it’s all just material. I could lose all my things tomorrow and still be grateful for good health and my family/friends. I got to the venue and felt like all the same people were being photographed and by the end, I was over it. The show itself and what it represented was the highlight for me but being a part of the circus wasn’t my cup of tea like I get it but don’t… It’s really hard to articulate and I hope you all can understand what I’m saying without taking offense. I do this for me and have built such amazing friendships because of what we share in common not only with fashion/beauty but also our personal lives as well. Mannnnn, I landed back home at JFK around 9 pm to then to drive home for another 2hrs to then be at work on Monday, talk about fancy huh? So will I ever attend another show? Yes, I would if I’m a fan of the brand. Will I ever be the girl who twirls around in a Dior gown in front of the Eiffel Tour? Probably not… I feel like people don’t talk about these things because they feel like its “hating” or whatever but it really isn’t I just simply can’t relate to that lifestyle and there are other ways of creating content that are more important to me.
After the show I had my driver leave me at Liberty’s where I met my good friend Eva, she makes youtube videos, vlogs and I can’t even begin to tell you how happy I was to finally meet her in person! She and I have a ton in common and we practically talk every day so we’ve become great friends. We shopped around and she filled me in on all the good places to hit up in London (we’re big fans of anything fashion-related). We then had dinner at Flatiron which I’ve now had for the second time and I definitely recommend it (the one we went to was near Carnaby St and they also have one in Covent Garden). We shot pictures and hung out till late at night and then I was back in my room enjoying the massive tub and my bath oils. I always travel with bath oils, Aromatherapy Associates do really good ones!
Sunday morning I got up early and was able to walk around town and shot some more with Eva before the Masterclass. Again the architectural views are insane and found myself walking into Eva a million times because I couldn’t keep my eyes off the buildings lol. She taught me about St. Pauls and history about the streets of London, social media can be a terrible at times but I also feel that it can lead to beautiful things as well. We both said never would I imagine that I’d be walking the streets of London on a weekend talking to a complete stranger, it’s moments like these that I’m so grateful to you all and the blogging community!
It was then time for my class and to part ways with Eva, I’m sure well get together again this year because I plan on going back. London is starting to feel like a second home to me now lol! I had my one-on-one with Wendy and wasn’t as nervous this time because I met her a few months ago. It was like talking to a friend and catching up, she is an amazing human being and such talent… it literally oozes out of her and she is so down to earth. We chatted about the inspiration behind the runway look and of course, the nerd in me needed to pick at her creative process. She is just a whirlwind of fun and so inspirational! She told me she sat down with Christopher and he told her he wanted something raw and real, the color palette she chose is based on what we were naturally given. She said that “If you always looked at past campaigns they’ve always been inclusive and its one of the strengths of being British because Britain is a melting pot of people”. She also said it’s boring to look the same, she would remember someone’s personality before she would remember their makeup look. They both wanted the makeup look to be fresh, real and tailored to each individual model! I can’t even begin to tell you how inspiring her words were, it’s something that I relate to time and time again. If you have someone who has never applied makeup it can be a very intimidating thing and I feel that some brands have allowed only one specific makeup look to be the face of their campaigns. You don’t need to look like that in order to feel like a better version of yourself and that is something I will always admire about Burberry Beauty. They’ve never lost sight of the real girl to just follow along today’s trends. The collection is timeless and totally customizable to what you feel you need, not the other way around.
I loved that she used both a light and dark skinned model to show how it is inclusive of different skin tones. The Fresh Glow stick is suitable for those with normal to oily skins. She was also transparent in the fact that one consistency will not work for everyone which after that comment I was like can I put her in my pocket and keep her all to myself? I will be doing the look she showcased in an upcoming video I have planned to film so keep an eye out for that!
My stay at the Rosewood Hotel is one I will remember for ages and Burberry was such a lovely host. Everyone on the team are just incredibly kind people and I’m beyond thankful for the opportunity! If you got to the end of this post you’re a trooper because it was quite the ramble/rant wasn’t it? I love being honest with you guys as well as sharing the downs and negatives of what I do as a blogger. Numbers, algorithms, and stats aren’t what keep me going, its the adventures I get to document, growing as a person and being able to put it into words…
