Ms Paula Bee

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have noticed that I posted a few photos about a styling day. I want to tell you guys all about the day, so sit back and relax. Grab a cuppa too. I know that I will while typing this – which isn’t exactly the brightest idea considering that its 22:15 already. YOLO. #NightOwl (Did I actually just say YOLO? Wow).

About

About a week and a half ago, I was invited to work with Ayanda Masisi, the brand ambassador for Cointreau. In the brief, it mentioned that I could “have a go at styling her…”. Uh, hello! That immediately put a smile on my face as I knew that I would have so much fun. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the international orange-flavoured liqueur brand, Cointreau is specially formulated for women. Like, how cool is that? They’ve created an entire concept devoted to the ultimate lady, known as The Cointreau Woman. At first I was like, “What is that?” But once I read more about it and saw all of the images of what defines a Cointreau Woman, it became more relatable and soon made me even more excited. In essence, a living example of elegance and glamour, all mixed into one individual; women who show a twist of natural exuberance but who are always authentic and willing to take a risk – That’s what I’m referring to. The Cointreau Woman shares a unreserved passion for the Parisian life, so think of the gorgeous style that Parisian ladies have, but with a dash of edginess and rebellion. Now that we’re on the same page, let me tell you about the actual day!

Makeover

On the 27th, I headed to Tasha’s in the V&A Waterfront for the meet and greet. I mean, we’ve never met before so surely there’s a stage where that has to happen first, right? Funny enough, we clicked straight away. Ayanda is the ideal woman to play the role of the Cointreau brand ambassador. She’s petite, with gorgeous black locks and curves that could send anyone into a daze. She had mentioned that she’s not the type of girl who usually wears makeup or keeps a handbag on her arm, which truly shocked me because she seems like a little Diana Ross, but I knew that sooner or later, we would change her perspective about it all. Also, I soon came to know that she’s pretty extroverted (clearly psychology coming into play there, hey Paula?) and quite keen on experiementation when it comes to fashion. We headed to Bobbi Brown, where we met up with a new face I haven’t seen before. She goes by the name of Sbosh Mafu, AKA Sibongile Mafu. I soon realised that Sibongile and I were on the same page regarding the makeup look we wanted for Ayanda – Simple, with a touch of glitter. Bobbi had just that, and I loved it all. We went with a pinky-nude lip, subtle smokey-eye and blushed cheeks which is perfect for a day look.

Shopping Spree

Once the makeup artist had finished with our beautiful Ayanda, we moved onto the part that excites me most – The shopping! Guys, you won’t believe how excited I become whenever I’m in a shopping mall or find an outfit that I like. I think its only fair to compare it to a greedy child in a Sweets From Heaven. We started off with Forever New, where we found a super cute orange clutch that suited the brand’s colour scheme so well, but disappointed our full fashion needs. I must also mention the cream laced pencil skirt! It was seriously beautiful, and the way it hugged Ayanda’s curves seemed as though it was made just for her body. Unfortunately, Forever New wasn’t where THE outfit was hiding so we moved onto The Lot. The Lot seemed to be a good contender for a Cointreau chic outfit in theory, but it only disappointed us. Swiftly moving along, we headed to Tiger of Sweden. When we walked into the store, we were welcomed by a member of the Marie Claire team, as well as the staff in the store. The minute Sibongile and I stepped into the store, our hearts melted. Not with joy, that is. More like depression and yearning desire.

Tiger of Sweden has absolutely gorgeous pieces, from leather jackets, suit dresses, ankle-strap heels, and my personal favourite, the peach bomber (Which you can see Ayanda wearing in one of the photos below). The Marie Claire team member and the staff then assisted Ayanda in finding more formal, fitted outfits which they deemed Cointreau chic and shot a few looks in them, whilst Sibongile and I kept ourselves busy on social media and browsing throughout the store. Once the shoot had come to an end, we briskly walked to TopShop (we had to walk pretty fast as we were almost late for our lunch meeting!). You guys know I love TopShop, so this last visit was going to be great! When we checked out their clothing rails, we found a few great pieces that could be mixed and matched to suit the look we were going for. Funny thing is (and one of my highlights of the day) Ayanda came to me with a top that she liked. That’s right. Simply, a top. I decided to take initiative and go with my fashion gut, by pairing it with a darker denim Joni high-waisted jeans (you know, like my white one?). You really can’t go wrong with those, unless you’re going to be paring it with something completely weird – like an ou tannie top. I then found a gorgeous orange blazer (score!) and paired the entire outfit with a high nude court. When she put the entire outfit on, I could see her eyes lit up and a huge smile formed on her blushed cheeks. Yay!

Shew! I’m actually quite tired from explaining the day thus far, and that’s not even the end. It truly was eventful! After our day running around from shop to shop, we met up at The Grand Café and Beach (also known as the private beach with the massive disco ball) for lunch, and our own personal lesson from Ayanda herself on how to make cocktails using Cointreau (I had a mocktail, of course!). Strawberries, mint leaves, freshly squeezed lime, a good amount of ice blocks, and two to three shots of Cointreau – That’s how we created the perfect cocktail! Shaken, of course. I would know because I had the job of shaking the mixture like its a new dance move for 2014. It was absolute fun!

So yeah, ladies and gents, that concludes our day. I had so much fun, and actually mentioned to Lorenzo and my mom that I defs wouldn’t mind being a stylist as my day job. Who knows? I mean, I am only 21 after all. Thanks so much to Cointreau and Marie Claire for letting me part of this awesome project!