Melissa Odabash x Harper's Bazaar x Banyan Tree

Last week saw the match-made-in-heaven coming together of high fashion magazine Harper's Bazaar, exclusive resorts Banyan Tree, haute couture holiday company Select Collection & Melissa Odabash for a night of exclusive VIP shopping, beauty treatments & of course, plenty of champagne!

Guests were treated to an after-hours shopping experience, with a 20% discount off all Melissa Odabash swim & beachwear & the chance to finish off their holiday wardrobes with the exclusive MO jewellery collection as well as hand-selected pieces including Tom Ford & Hugo Boss sunglasses, sandals by TKees & accessories by independent & young designers. And Melissa was on hand to give expert advice throughout the evening, meaning this was a very special event - who better to advise on your perfect beach look!?

Canapes provided by the wonderful Whisk Canapes

Banyan Tree ran a prize draw throughout the night to win a week's stay at the super exclusive Maldives Banyan Tree resort.

Left: pendants by hand-selected independent designers effortlessly tap into the neon trend.
Right: Friendship bracelets from the MO 2013 colelction - pile them high on your wrist to channel Meliss'a beach style.

Downstairs, express manicurists from Coco's Nail Bar were on hand to whip shoppers fingernails into shape - and the girls did such a great job, quite a queue formed up the stairs - Melissa Odabash events do tend to get busy & this was no exception!

Also downstairs, the girls from haute couture holiday company Select Collection were on hand to offer advice, provide information on their bespoke breaks & holidays (including Banyan Tree Resorts) & hand out gasp-inducing brochures - because planning one of these incredible holidays certainly gives you something to look forward to on a dreary (and of course, rainy!) London evening.

Whilst holidays may have been booked & beach wardrobes bought throughout the evening, the bikini diets went out of the window, at least until the morning. Kate & Florence of Whisk kept (incredible) the canapés coming throughout the night - with the exotic duck & mango rice paper rolls, thai chicken salad wonton cups & satay skewers with peanut sambal going down a particular storm, though perhaps not as much so as the amazing 'MO' branded pudding pops that lucky guests found in their goodie-bags.

Throughout the evening, guests entered a prize-draw to win not one but three prizes - a beach look from Melissa Odabash,  four days stay at the new Banyan Tree Spa in Portugal & last (but by no means least!), one weeks stay at the uber-exclusive Banyan Tree Maldives resort, comprising of flights & transfers to the private island, all meals, a group of staff, treatments & all the activities you could handle (be still our beating heart!)
The Odabash girls were sorely tempted to enter our names, however refrained from doing so - which was probably for the best as the lady who did win was the epitome of (excited) composure, which I'm not sure any of us would have been. 

Melissa then retired from from the advice-giving for the evening & had time to catch up with some friends of hers who had come along, including long-time friend & Odabash&Macdonald collaborator Julien Macdonald (who took a much needed break from hectic London Fashion Week preparations) & the stunning Yasmin Mills, whilst happy customers shopped more before leaving with gorgeous nails, the perfect beach wardrobe, holiday plans & of course, an exclusive goodie-bag courtesy of Harpers Bazaar.