Picnic under the Brooklyn Bridge

Parisian elegance in New York City

Spring is my favorite season in New York City. I adore the colorful blooms, happy faces walking the streets and it is the perfect weather to spend time outdoors, and adore the parks and green spaces that is in New York City. We have so much greenery in this concrete jungle.

It was an honor to be contacted by Corinne and Laéthycia from Personal attention – these incredible Parisian ladies, run a private concierge and event planning company, here in New York City. When asked if I would like to attend a picnic hosted by them, I jumped at the chance. I was not disappointed, these ladies know how to throw an elegant and charming picnic.

A dreamy spring night at the Brooklyn bridge park

Personal attention put a lot of effort into making an enjoyable and memorable experience, one that I will never forget and will be forever grateful for. The weather was perfect, the location was stunning and their set up was incredible. We arrived to be greeted by the happy crew at Personal attention, who had just finished setting up the picnic, their positive energy set the scene. The setting was amazing, with a beautiful blanket and cushions to sit on, looking out to the Manhattan skyline with views of both the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridge.

Attention to detail

The picnic was perfect. We were provided games to play (frisbee and uno) and music to listen to. The cushions and blanket were extremely comfy and made for a relaxing evening. The food was perfect, which included a cheese platter, fruit salad, a hearty salad for each of us, and delicious sparkling apple cider. The atmosphere was amazing, we spent three hours enjoying the picnic and watching the sunset over the Manhattan skyline, a perfect spring night in New York City!

If you’re looking for a unique and elegant New York City experience, look no further than Personal attention. They excel at creating beautiful and memorable events. A highlight of my time living in this amazing city.

Brooklyn bike tour

Get up and ride

Explore New York City by bike, with your guide as a local New Yorker. Get up and ride is rated as New York’s number 1 biking tour company! So I was honored to be asked to join and review one of their tours. The company did not disappoint. I love the concept of get up and ride – allowing visitors (or locals) to bike around the city in small groups and learn about the area from a New Yorker. Not only do you get to bike around, your guide will also highlight interesting facts about the area, and take you to their favorite coffee and food places! You definitely learn a lot, experience the real New York and have fun while doing it!

Bike tours

Get up and ride offer three tours:

1. The central park and more bike tour

On this tour, your guide will take you around central park and through the upper west and upper east side of Manhattan.

2. The lower Manhattan bike tour

This bike tour will take you around the charming greenwich village, the trendy lower east side and Chinatown.

3. The Brooklyn water front tour

Ride through the hipster neighbor of Williamsburg, then onto the stunning Brooklyn water front.

The Brooklyn waterfront bike tour

It was hard to decide which bike tour I would like to attend, in the end I decided to go on the bike tour in my neighborhood- I live in Williamsburg. I thought this would be a nice way to explore my surroundings via bike and as I have already biked around Central park and the west side of Manhattan numerous times I thought the Brooklyn tour would be best.

And it was amazing! Even though I live here, I still learnt a lot from our friendly and engaging tour guide. We met at the get up and ride bike store in Williamsburg, here we were fitted with our bikes and set up our walkie talkies – this would be the way our tour guide could communicate with us during the ride. It was a nice small group, with four people from Germany, a lady from California, the tour guide and the two of us. A small group allowed for a more intimate and fulfilling tour.

Williamsburg

So the start of our tour began in my neighborhood of Williamsburg, a hip neighborhood which has a great nightlife scene, with plenty of rooftop bars and live music venues, trendy cafes, chic boutiques, the cutest coffee shops and vibrant street art. We rode through the streets and the gorgeous McCarren park, stopping to see some of the oldest street art in the area, then at one of my favorite coffee shops “Devocion” here we stopped to rest, enjoy each others company and drink a delicious coffee in a beautiful setting.

Brooklyn navy yard

After our coffee, we continued on our bike tour. From Williamsburg we headed to the Brooklyn navy yard. The navy yard was once a ship yard and is now an industrial park with a mission to “demonstrate how modern manufacturing can thrive in urban America”. A highlight of our visit to the navy yard was our tour of the Brooklyn Grange – a world leading rooftop farm with a sustainability center. Here, they design, build and offer landscape services for gardens, farms and green spaces in NYC. As I work within the sustainability and conservation field, I was so excited that this stop was on our tour. The rooftop farm is very impressive, and the views of Brooklyn and Manhattan make it even more impressive! Our guide also pointed out that the navy yard also has a rooftop vineyard, which is now on my list to visit.

DUMBO – Down under the Manhattan bridge

After the Navy yard we continued on, riding through the gorgeous Vinegar hill with cobble stone streets before stopping in the trendy neighborhood of DUMBO. The neighborhood of DUMBO is now one of the most expensive areas in NYC – once an old industrial area, the warehouses have been transformed into high end boutiques and pricey restaurants. Plus the area is now known as the tech hub of Brooklyn, with many tech companies moving in. DUMBO is also one of my favorite neighborhoods because of the stunning views of the Manhattan skyline and it’s access to the Brooklyn bridge park. After learning about DUMBO we rode through the Brooklyn bridge park absorbing the cool breeze from the east river and taking in the iconic Manhattan skyline.

Brooklyn Heights

We continued riding through the stunning Brooklyn bridge park to the charming neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights. Brooklyn heights is an affluent residential neighborhood with the most gorgeous brownstones. The Brooklyn heights promenade is also amazing, with great views of Manhattan and the statue of Liberty. We stopped for a slice of coal oven pizza at table 87 – so delicious. Next it was time to ride back to Williamsburg, we rode through the Brooklyn bridge park and continued on the greenway trail to return to the store.

Overall I was extremely satisfying with this tour. Biking is a great way to explore an area, and I loved how Get up and ride go above and beyond, their guides are very knowledgeable and friendly and I love how they added in coffee shops, food places, and interesting places to stop at. I would recommend them to anyone visiting (or living) in New York City. Check out there website here for more information.

Amazonliss

DIY Smoothing hair kit

So from traveling, color treating my hair and living in various climates my hair is, well not that lush. It is a mix of wavy, dry and frizzy! The only time my hair feels soft and smooth is after a trip to the hairdresser, which I cannot afford to do all the time. So I was happy to receive the Amazonliss home hair smoothing kit from Nautree professional.

Keratin

The main ingredient in this kit is keratin. Keratin is a family of fibrous structural proteins, and the key material of making hair. Keratin can be used to restore broken and damaged hair. Other ingredients include, acai extract, cacao extract and hydrolyzed protein (Rice, soy, wheat and corn).

Additional benefits of Keratin

A great moisturizing method for hair
Straightening of hair
Can prevent grow outs
Keratin adds glow, leaving you hair feeling soft and smooth

Results of Amazonliss

So what are the claimed results of using the Amazonliss smoothing hair kit?

Smoother hair
Brighter hair
Deep moisture and nutrition
Thermal hair protection
Results that last up to four months

Kit contains

Anti residue shampoo, used to open up the cuticles in preparation for the absorption of the keratin.
Brazilian smoothing, Easy application keratin treatment
Intensive repair mask, this is the closing step, and provides intense hydration and softness

Step one

Use the anti residue shampoo to wash your hair, leave the shampoo on for five minutes
Dry your hair to 85% dryness
Section your hair into six equal parts

Step two

Apply the Brazilian smoothing treatments in one section, starting from the base of the head. Continue method for each section.
Using a hair dyer set to cool, and dry each section.
Use a straighter to straighten each section.

Step three

Rinse your hair
Apply the intensive repair mask
Leave the mask on for three to five minutes
Rinse hair
Last step, blow dry your hair

Results

Did it work? Yes, after the treatment my hair felt hydrated, was smooth, shiny and straighter. However, I do have to point out that step 2: The Brazilian treatment had a strong chemical smell, and I only completed about 80% of this step as I had to stop using it. Step one – the shampoo actually smells really nice! And, step three the intensive mask works a treat.

I did see results, and this is much more affordable option to a hair saloon. I continue to use the shampoo and the intensive mask, as these products make my hair feel and look shiny and smooth.

For more information and to purchase the kit click here

Wear Pact

Sustainable fashion

Having a minimal carbon footprint is so important to me. I try to limit my environmental impact where ever and when ever possible. I choose to favor “slow’ fashion over ‘fast fashion”. Fast fashion is the second biggest industry polluter, behind the oil industry! In recent years people are becoming more aware of the drastic impact fast fashion is having on the environment, and companies have been making the move to the eco friendly movement. A movement that is trying to limit fashions negative impact on our planet.

So what is ‘slow fashion’? Slow fashion represents our social responsibility and limits our carbon footprint. By choosing quality over quantity. By being clean, using organic and natural resources, and not using harmful toxins and dyes. By being fair, providing fair working conditions of employees and providing workers with decent pay.

So how do I include sustainable fashion into my lifestyle?

I reuse and recycle my clothing. I never put my clothing into landfill. If I no longer need a certain piece of clothing I will donate it to charity. If the clothing item is not in a decent condition I will recycle this piece.
Thrift stores. I will usually buy my clothes from a second hand/ thrift stores.And, as we have so many decent thrift stores in NYC it is so easy to stay “fashionable”.
For new items of clothing, I will source sustainable and ethical brands.

Pact

I was so happy to discover Pact, a sustainable clothing company. With their goal “to create the comfiest clothes in the world without destroying the earth, or harming people” I knew I had found a great company with similar values to my own. Pact use organic cotton, this is so important as organic cotton uses 95% less water than regular cotton to manufacture. Their clothes are made with sustainable ingredients/ fibers, so don’t contain any toxins of pesticides! Pact have sourced fair trade certified factories as they care for the well being of their employees.

I was sent three pieces of clothing to review.

Black relaxed fit tee
Black lightweight eco-blend wrap cardigan
Black wrap dress

I am so impressed with the quality of all of these items. The material feels so amazing. The clothing certainly does live up to the companies motto of “clothes that don’t just make you feel, you can feel good wearing them”. I wore the tee shirt and cardigan together for a weekend trip away. I can’t wait for the weather to warm up so I can start wearing the gorgeous wrap dress.

Pact is a clothing brand that I can get behind, their clothes are of great quality and I love their values, check out their online store here Pact

The Escential co.

Vitamin C facial serum review

I was so happy to receive the vitamin C facial serum from the escential co to review. I have been looking for an anti aging serum to help combat any dark spots that are arising. I love the use of vitamin C in this product, as it is an effective antioxidant. This serum is light weight, which I really appreciate, as it is smooth to apply and absorbs quickly into my skin. I like the packaging and the small bottle that the serum comes in, the perfect size to travel with.

I have been using this serum for a week now and I am already witnessing some great results! My skin feels a lot smoother and hydrated! I can see my youthful glow returning 🙂 This facial serum is a great anti-aging product as it acts as a light weight moisturizer that penetrates deep into the skin, keeping your skin hydrated and minimizing dark spots and wrinkles.

For best results, this serum can be used twice a day. Morning and night after cleansing and toning your face. You could also put a few drops and mix it into your moisturizer and apply this way. The scent is not strong, which is another great factor about this product.

I will continue to use this serum in my daily skin care routine, as I am loving the results that I seen so far. For more information, reviews and where you can buy this serum from please visit The Escential co. “Vitamin C Facial Serum”

MONAT ~ Review

Over the last couple of years I have been making the switch to use natural and cruelty free beauty products. So I was happy to be sent complimentary samples from Monat – a naturally based and cruelty free hair care company, to review. Their products are intended to nourish and promote hair growth, which is great! I love how Monat do not use any sulfates or parabens in their products, this is a big positive for me.

I was sent the following three samples to review.

Revive Shampoo: The shampoo smells amazing and felt smooth to apply. I did notice a boost in my hairs volume and my hair felt soft and shiny afterwards. This was my favorite sample out of the three products.
Replenish masque: The masque felt nice to apply and I liked the scent. I did notice that my hair felt smoother and I felt much more volume after use.
Rejuveniqe oil intensive: I was not the biggest fan of this oil intensive, perhaps it did not suit my hair texture. I did like the scent and the easy application, however my hair felt too oily and heavy afterwards, even with using a small amount. Overall, I was satisfied with the samples that I was given to try. I love that Monat use non-toxic ingredients.

Monat website