Blog

A visit to the Marie Claire Beauty Playground in Jozi

We were invited to the Marie Claire Beauty Playground in Braamfontein in Johannesburg last year. Maybe because we are sometimes fancy (have you seen us when we're out of our PJs??) -- I'm not sure but that's what I'm putting it down to.

It was filled with beautiful people, and beautiful products. We were greeted at the entrance by this ridiculously good-looking foursome which felt briefly intimidating, until we'd slugged down the glass of JC Le Roux Method Cap Classic (the good stuff - and it was good) that they handed us. Marie Claire is fancy that way.

The event was held in a gorgeous, large and bright open space in Braamfrontein in Jozi, with floor-to-ceiling sweeping views of the city. There were a range of things for all budgets within the show and I made a point to stop in at each and every booth.

First stop was, of course, the A Ring To It stand. It never disappoints and because I am a sucker for rings and unable to control myself, I left with one.

A Ring To It's neighbours to the left were Vintage Zionist. We met the two owners and this is a brand that I hadn't heard about before but am really freaking excited about. Keep on the lookout for this one, they're almost certain to get huge soon. Two hip guys with superb taste, in the business of upcycled fashion. They source and upcycle high quality leather and make leather jackts (and some other things I think? I was mesmerised by the jackets.) They're young and they're unique, and can be headed nowhere but up. Get on it before you can't afford it anymore when people like Rihanna are buying them.

The show also had an OPI stand with nail polishes in every shade, to make your heart race a little.

There was the Moroccan Hair stand (yes.. I left with 1.5 litres of hair products. Don't judge.), Vogue eyewear (who were doing a mini photoshoot of everyone who tried on a apair of glasses), and Optiphi facial products (which have won awards, and I tested and they were good).

A new discovery for me is a brand called Harrison Lee & Co. They do hand-crafted leather things, and they're beautiful ones. A unique and fabulous product in their range is a gorgeous leather pouch for your makeup brushes.

Inglot had a makeover service. I was keen to get in there, but unsurprisingly it was popular and had a queue to heck and gone. So I just took photos of these other two pretty gals getting made up.

Last stand on my travels through the Marie Claire Beauty Playground show was the Karen Murrel stall, who had top quality cosmetic products. I hadn't heard of them before and I was very pleased to discover them. If you happen to stop them, try them out and then email me to say thanks ;)

Next time Marie Claire holds one of these events in Jozi I can't recommend enough that you head over and spend a couple of hours browsing, being pampered and perhaps shopping.

Win with RYO Coffee and Hello Pretty - CLOSED

In case you missed it, RYO Coffee paid us a visit last week and showed us how to roast coffee on our own stovetops, in a wok.

It's gutsy, and take it from us, you're going to end up making some bad-a$$ coffee this way.

As a follow-up, she's giving us a bag of 300g RYO Blend Raw Coffee Beans, and a Manual Burr Grinder, worth R510 together, to give to you.

To enter:

Leave a comment here and tell us what your favourite coffee drink is.
Like RYO Coffee on Facebook.
Get an extra entry by tweeting @HelloPrettySA and letting us know in the comments below.

Entries close at 10am on Friday 27th February. Hello Pretty's standard competition Ts and Cs apply.

Only one entry per channel will be counted.

RYO Coffee visits the Hello Pretty team

Last week Kirsten from RYO Coffee swung round to HQ to give us a crash course in home roasting - and guys, it's so easy.

She arrived carrying a box full of the green coffee beans that she sells via her Hello Pretty store, as well as some grinders - we showed her the kitchen and she lept straight in.

Tools needed: green coffee beans - we used the RYO Blend. Wok or saucepan. Spatula.

Not nearly as hectic as you'd think right? You start on a high heat, flipping the coffee beans over gently. Once they start getting a bit smoky you can turn the heat down, and consistently stir through the beans until you reach your preferred darkness.

Now note! These little suckers get crazy hot, so keep your fingers away from them until they've cooled.

Stir them through in a colander to remove the husks, and you're ready to grind. Don't have a grinder? No worries, RYO can sort you right out with one here.

My arms are more or less good for nothing, and even I could grind like a pro within seconds.

And we have coffee! RYO is making roasting your own coffee super accessible. It's really not a terrifying, technical process, as many coffee roasters would have you believe. (Not to knock their methods, because their coffee is delicious too!)

Impress your buddies with your own hand roasted, hand ground coffee at your next party - having gone through the ropes and tasted the results, we can highly recommend it!

*If you like this, stay tuned because on Monday we may have a little treat for you.*

Hexagon madness with Hello Pretty!

Hexagon madness with http://hellopretty.co.za!

Clean lines and geometric designs are always a win!

Hop to it!

Team Hello Pretty celebrated Valentine's Day with Fairview and Yuppiechef!

Pretties, will you judge us when I say that Team HP partakes in the labours of our nations wine industry with great enthusiasm? I hope not, because we do.

Our online store crush has always been Yuppiechef - they inspire our own customer service, because let's be honest, those guys are just so super friendly and on the ball.

So basically, our crush sent us our favourite thing for Valentine's Day! Aw Yuppiechef stahp, you're making us blush.

After we rolled around in all of the pink shredded paper like little kids, we found the gorgeous bottle of Fairview Brut MCC, which was promptly flung into the fridge to be opened when the clock struck five pm.

The good news for all of us is that Yuppiechef's great service is bringing Fairview's delicious wines straight to our doorsteps - as serial online shoppers, we revel in the idea of door to door wine delivery. I mean, there's nothing more terrifying than a mall on a holiday. (That's a whole big pile of nope as far as I'm concerned.)