La Suite West

After an amazing weekend in London seeing The Rolling Stones a couple of weeks ago I wanted to share with you where we stayed. Since I rely on hotel reviews when I go stay somewhere I knew I had to write about this fabulous find.

We stayed in La Suite West, a minimalist, modern hotel designed by British designer Anouska Hempel.  The hotel takes inspiration from an Eastern aesthetic, with it's limited colour pallet, clean, sharp lines and dark corridors and rooms the hotel feels tranquil and chic. The fact that Jimmy Hendrix stayed in the old Hyde Park Towers Hotel for a while in the 60's in which time he wrote 'Stone Free' make the hotel that little bit cooler.

The location is fab for a London visit, it was brilliant for us as it was only a short walk from Hyde Park. Bayswater tube station is literally 30 seconds away, I actually walked past the hotel thinking it was further away! 
We stayed in an Inverness suite, which consisted of a small dining/kitchenette area, sofa, 4 poster bed and an impressive marble, under floor heated bathroom, it also looked out on to Inverness terrace and it's beautiful row of townhouses. 
The room was a great size for a weekend in London, enough room to move around or dance to some Rolling Stones songs on the ipod dock and comfy enough to relax on the sofa or the incredibly plush bed. I'd include photographs, but in all honesty what you see in the Hotel's own photos is what you get, which is definitely something that doesn't happen often when seeing a hotel in the flesh! We ordered wine on two occasions and I have to say, both times room service was the quickest I've ever experienced. The same went for when I requested an ironing board and milk from housekeeping, which was a nice pleasant change, in my experience room service is usually a lengthy wait!

I'm a self-confessed hotel snob, I like to stay somewhere beautiful, luxurious and clean, it's a guilty pleasure of mine and I often scour the internet for hours if not days looking to book somewhere. La Suite West was perfect, I loved every minute of my stay, and a particular plus was the complimentary chocolates on arrival, they were so incredibly tasty, I'd love to know where they came from!
If you're ever looking for somewhere new to stay in London I'd definitely recommend you to check this hotel out!

NEXT Home Luxury Candle

I recently made an amazing discovery, Next Home candles! They smell beautiful, fill the whole room and last hours and all for £9. I usually stick to Jo Malone and Yankee Candles and I find them to be the best candles that I've tried, so when i started to burn the Next London candle I was pleasantly surprised.   They're all named after major cities (Paris, London, Milan, New York) and come with a range of other products like a parfume and reed diffusers.

London has top notes of lychee and citrus, a heart of peony and rose and a base of musk and cedarwood. The next ones on my list to try at Milan and New York!

Have you tried these?

NYFW backstage beauty

More red at Kenneth Cole! The added depth of this is beautiful and really brings a velvety texture. I feel like I’m on red lip watch! Photo credit MAC cosmetics.

Find more fashion week trends and make-up posts at victoriaholdstockmua.tumblr.com

Tumblr & Facebook

 I've just recently set up a tumblr for more frequent posts on make-up, my work, tips and tricks and product reviews. It's a fresh start as I've had this blog for a few years now and it's mainly neglected, I appreciate every single one of my followers and hate to be so sporadic with my posts here, so if you've enjoyed this blog and love make-up please follow my mua blog here. 

While you're at it, my mua facebook page is here if you'd like to check out some of my previous and current work. 

John Freida Sheer Blonde

I've had these products a while now, for two reasons, I don't wash my hair multiple times a week (there's not a great way of saying that without sounding like a scruff, but I assure you I'm not) and I like to compose a good review on products.

The video above shows an easy way with a few tricks on how to create a fishtail plait, I love a fishtail braid and I don't believe they're just for the summer, so I gave this tutorial a go, the bobble trick really helps. I love using a fishtail plait to create a textured, soft wave in my hair by keeping it in over night of for a few hours and then letting my hair loose.

I've been using the John Frieda Enhancing* range for blondes, now my hair isn't all blonde these days, my natural colour at the top is a dark blonde/medium brown then it blends down into a warm dark blonde and finally into my bleached end. So there's a few colours going on in my hair so I wasn't sure this would work for me, but I've found the shampoo and conditioner not only clean my hair thoroughly and add moisture, but they also give my hair an amazing shine when I've washed it. Just a little bit of background on my hair, I don't really have problematic hair, in fact with not washing it everyday and avoiding heat a lot of the time it's grown a lot and is pretty strong these days, so I don't find myself needing anything massively moisturising or effective for my hair. The enhancing range work by amplifying golden shine in your hair, creating a brighter, shinier colour, something I've found is hard to come by when being blonde.
I also have the Spun Gold Shape and Shine balm, this is a soft waxy balm that has gold particles that create extra shine in your hair. I remember my mam having this years ago and I used to love it, so now I've got one of my own it's even better. I like my hair to be full with texture, but nothing too heavy, the balm separates and adds texture without feeling crispy, heavy or tacky and you only need the tiniest bit meaning it'll last forever.

I really enjoy these products and I believe they work really well, so when I run out I might try the Go Blonder shampoo and conditioner next to maybe lift my colour without the use of dye. The product in the video that gives fresh volume to hair also looks amazing and is right up my street. 

*I was sent samples of these to try. This does not effect my opinion of the product.