Hosting a careers day in her head office this Friday (3^rd May 2013) she’ll be dishing out advice to aspiring designers and entrepreneurs whilst giving an insight into what it takes to head-up your own fashion business.

Across town, she’s showing us how to put the savvy into practise, hosting a pop-up sale shop with up to 70% off brands including J Brand, Victoria Beckham and Current/Elliot. Fashion designer Simeon Farrar will also be on hand this afternoon (Tuesday 30^th April) to give new purchases a makeover.

Want to find your perfect pair of  SS13-ready, completely personal jeans? Look no further.

That’s the rest of my week sorted then.

Image: Simeon Farrar customised jeans

Donna Ida’s Sale Pop Up shop is open throughout May at 171 Draycott Avenue, London.
Simeon Farrar will be customising jeans today (Tuesday 30^th April) from 3pm-6pm.

To join Donna and the Donna Ida girls at the career clinic, please visit the Head Office on Friday 3^rd May 2013 from 10am – 4pm at Phoenix Brewery, 13 Bramley Road, London W10 6SP.

For more information please visit www.donnaida.com.

By Caroline Leaper

1. The Killing
2. Noma (now opening its second restaurant ‘Gustu’ in La Paz – worth a plane ticket to Bolivia)
3. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (a.k.a Jaime Lannister in Game of Thrones. HOT.)
4. Day Birger et Mikkelsen.

A couple of hours later and I am in the back of a car heading to the romantic sounding Al Maha, A Luxury Collection Desert Resort and Spa. It is only the mildest of concerns that I had only packed cocktail dresses for the opening of The Act at the Shangri-La Hotel last night; more pressing is my increasingly hysterical driver, who is furiously tapping at his defunct TomTom as antelopes peer at us through the developing gloom.

After what feels like miles of sandy track, suddenly there are staff and torches and baggage handlers and a small safari-buggy weaving through the dunes to a beautiful Bedouin tent-cum-villa. As the staff open the heavy mahogany doors the most impeccable four poster bed and living room appear, leading, most spectacularly, to a private infinity pool that reflects the red-tinged desert expanse; this has just started to be a very good idea.

Next morning and we’re on camels toasting the sun’s rise across pillowy sand dunes…Oh London, I don’t think I’ll be coming back any time soon.

@olivia_grant xxx

On my visit to the Kingly Court pop-up surgery shop, I felt l had walked into a medicine cupboard  full of mallowy delights. Lounging on giant pillows bathed in pink light, I instantly relaxed into a sugar-infused daze whilst scoffing some Cocoa and Bourbon flavoured treats. Other flavours included the Hangover Cure (infused with fried chicken), the Vice flavour (coffee and cigarettes) or, for the less adventurous, The Scurvy Buster, made with lemon and raspberries.

I can safely say my blues were cured after my visit. What was it Mrs Poppins always said? ‘A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.’ Why did I ever doubt her?

By George Driver

For more information visit: www.therobincollective.co.uk

To get even more out of the experience check out pilates trainer and co-author of How To Cook in High Heels, Korin Nolan’s healthy eating video recipes on the Bootcamp Facebook page. My favourite post-workout dinner is her grilled tomatoes stuffed with pork or turkey mince. Simply delish! If, like us, you prefer to use your oven for storage not cooking, check out Evolve Primal (www.evolveprimal.com). It’s an organic food service of yummy pre-cooked meals made fresh, vaccum-packed and delivered straight to your door. The meals are low in carbs, high in protein and all wheat, dairy and gluten free. Food-lovers don’t despair, the menu choices aren’t as flavorless as they may sound. Try the BBQ chicken with honey roast root vegetables. It certainly doesn’t taste as guilt-free as it is!

By Malena Harbers

The Bootcamp Beach Body Package includes 16 off-peak classes for £160 available at any point throughout the month of May. Your 4 weeks will start from the date of purchase. Call 0330 010 0210 to book.

Follow all the details of the challenge on www.facebook.com/BootcampPilatesLondon and @Bootcamp_London.

SkinCeuticals Balancing Micropeel Treatment Package, from £495, at EF Medi Spa (0207 449 0888). Visit www.efmedispa.com for more information

By Malena Harbers

And, it seems, nothing is impossible here. With only a couple of hours before the party I popped into the extraordinary Dubai mall. A HUGE monument to consumerism boasting an indoor ski-slope, every conceivable world import and multiple high-end Home Interior shops that reflect the local residents’ taste for gilt, even the most discerning expat could want for nothing here.

There is only enough time for a couple of snatched macaroons before a quick change at the hotel and the heady ascent to the top floor of the Shangri-La Hotel for the opening. The venue is designed as a theatre auditorium; complete with light-encrusted mezzanine, gravity defying chandeliers around a central stage, and a bar headed with a neon sign spelling “Choose your poison”. As confetti canons explode over dancers bedecked in tiny mirrors while Jude Law and Jodie Kidd weave between the breakdancers and flying legless acrobats; I feel Dubai would approve of the “down the rabbit hole” feel of the fantastical mayhem…

@olivia_grant xxxx

Can they please be part of our 5 a-day?

We know, we know. Alcohol is the last thing a beauty director should be recommending. But I’ve got an address for your little black book that I simply can’t resist sharing. Following on from a month of eating clean – check out James Duigan’s Clean and Lean cookbook for more info – I decided to make the most of a rainy afternoon and meet some girlfriends for a cocktail (or two). Eclipse, nestled on South Kensington’s Old Brompton Road (they also have a bar on Walton Street, W1) has a cocktail menu to rival all others. Choose from The Eclipse (vodka, watermelon and lime), Knickerbocker (gin, Cointreau and orange bitters) or their iconic Crackbaby (vodka, raspberry liqueur and champagne). And don’t leave without trying their warm steamed edamame.

Visit eclipsebars.com for more information

Mary Katrantzou S/S '13

This summer, think blonde. “It’s big this season,” says über-colourist and Wella’s global creative director, Josh Wood. It may sound silly to declare summer’s ubiquitous hue a top trend, but blonde, rather, platinum blonde, was the shade on the spring-summer catwalks, as seen on models at Mary Katzantrou, Haider Ackermann and Marc Jacobs. Unless you’ve got a short crop or plenty of time for maintenance, a white-blond mane isn’t the most practical shade – it requires a colour top-up every four weeks to keep roots from showing as well as a weekly (if not a daily) obsession with a protein-packed, ultra-repairing hair mask. The most undemanding fair-haired hue is a few shades darker and a lot more natural. Think Rachel McAdams and Reese Witherspoon’s wheat-hued locks. Here’s where I’m obsessing over Illumina hair colour. It’s a sheer colour that creates the most natural-looking blonde I’ve tried. Plus, it gives blondes good gloss, which is not an easy feat! The colour brand has now launched six new shades with two warm soft blondes and two cool crisp blondes among them. The two new cool shades are ideal as highlights to contrast with a warmer skintone come summertime. The key, says my colourist Sally Northwood, is to mix a few creamy, warm pieces in with the cool-toned highlights. This helps to add depth and richness without losing the bright, icy blonde – perfect for both summer garden parties and island hopping in the Mediterranean.

By Malena Harbers

The six new Illumina Color shades are available from Wella Professionals nationwide including Josh Wood Atelier and Atelier Liberty (0203 393 0977).

For more information visit madlikelife.blogspot.co.uk