We're all going on a... staycation!

Image via www.moredesignplease.com

As I'm sure you have all noticed – Summer’s officially here (well, at least it is inbetween the clouds...)! And what better way to enjoy the beautiful British sunshine than with a staycation?! Who needs to go to a far flung corner of the Earth when you can have a heavenly time right on your doorstep, what’s not to love about BBQ’s, lazy days in the garden and having a legitimate reason to eat ice cream?

Is there any better way to spend a gorgeous summer day than with some classic cocktails in the sun? Here are the Playful Promises team's classic summer favourites!

Classic Mojito

• 10 fresh mint leaves
• ½ lime cut into 4 wedges
• 2 tablespoons of white sugar
• 50ml of white rum
• Club soda
• Ice

Place mint leaves and 1 lime wedge in a glass and crush. Add 2 more lime wedges and the sugar, and muddle together. Fill the glass with ice and pour the rum and club soda into the glass. Stir and garnish with the final lime wedge.

Margaritas

• 50ml tequila
• 25ml cointreau
• Dash of lime juice

To prepare the glass, rub lime juice around the rim and dip in salt. Now the bit we’re all interested in! Put the tequila, cointreau and lime juice into a cocktail shaker full over ice and shake it up! Then put it in the glass and you’re good to go!

Tom Collins

• 60ml gin
• 35ml fresh lemon juice
• 20ml sugar syrup
• Soda Water
• Lemon wedges

Add gin, lemon juice and sugar syrup into a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice and stir. Strain into a tall glass over ice and top with soda water, garnish with a lemon wedge and enjoy!

If you ever get bored of sitting in the garden sipping these delicious concoctions, which I highly doubt, but you never know!  Why not venture down to our Boxpark boutique and bag yourself some beautiful underwear to go under your summer dress? The Juliette Ultramarine Lace Soft Cup Bra and Brief is perfect for ‘Lazing on a sunny afternoon’ in beautiful Blighty.

What will you be getting up to this Summer? Have you escaped the Olympics madness?

Burlesque and Beating Hearts at Boxpark!

To RSVP and for more details, check out our facebook event page!

And here is a little look at Roxy Velvet's performance for our press event at The Box! 

Carnaby 20% Shopping Party

Last night was the fabulous Carnaby 20% Shopping Party in association with Grazia magazine! We had been excited about this all week, and prepared quite a few treats for our shoppers!

Not only were we giving 20% off EVERYTHING in the boutique, but we also had 5 goody bags to give away to the first people to come in and shout "PLAYFUL PROMISES TURNS ME ON!" - within 10 minutes of us setting up, we already had two ladies come marching in and shouting the magic words! Inside the bags we had further discounts, a pair of pin-up panties and some amazing make-up by Bellapierre!

Black Vanilla Cupcakes treated us to these ridiculously yummy cakes! Honestly, these are the BEST cupcakes I have ever had! I need more! 

We also had lovely bartender Steve and his wife dishing (or should I say cupping?) out tasty Brazilian mojitos made with the gorgeous new drink Salto. As a big fan of gin, vodka, whiskey and er.... most other drinks, these cocktails were refreshing and tasted unlike anything I've had before. 

At 6pm shoppers and passers by had the chance to witness one of my favourite performers, Lili la Scala and her superb mixture of opera and burlesque! Our audience was completely enchanted by her powerful voice, I even overheard someone wonder how such an amazing sound came from such a delicate thing! 

Rounding off the evening, the seductive Sophia St Villier teased our audience with a raunchy burlesque performance! Stripping out of the tightest dress I have ever seen, down to our black genie set and waspie, and finally down to not much but a bit of glitter! We had a bit of a problem detatching a few men from the window outside. 

Don't panic if you missed all this! On the 3rd of December we will be launching our new boutique at Boxpark in Shoreditch, with yet another excuse to hold an extravagent boutique party! Keep your eyes firmly peeled on our Facebook  where we will be posting an event with all the details!

The Green Fairy: The history of Absinthe

Banned in many countries for decades, Absinthe has only just come back onto the market in recent years, and often in a watered down version of the mysterious, addictive and mind-altering drink that the Victorians so loved. Adored by artists and the bohemians of yester-year, the drink is often portrayed as a glowing green colour, set on fire before drinking. The media adores it for the apparently extravagant hallucinations it causes, thus receiving the name la fée verte, the green fairy.

Although hitting a maximum of about 90% vol alcohol (consider most whiskeys are around 40%), it is advised to stick between 40-60% absinthe, dilute with water and sip over time in order to enjoy the taste without becoming overwhelmed by the strength!

The exact origin of Absinthe remains unclear; medical use of the key ingredient, wormwood, dates back to Egypt in 1550 BC and a wormwood-flavoured wine known as absinthites oinos was drunk in ancient Greece. Absinthe in the modern sense, also containing green anise and fennel, dates back to the 18^th century, and another attempt at medical history.

In 1792 Dr. Pierre Ordinaire, a French doctor living in Switzerland, attempted to create a cure-all from wormwood. While the healing aspects of the green drink were questionable, it soon became all the rage and the recipe made its way to Major Dubied and his son-in-law Henry-Louis Pernod. In 1797 they opened the first absinthe distillery, and another in 1805 under the company name Maison Pernod Fils, which became one of the most popular brands of absinthe up until the drink was banned in France in 1914.

Popularity for the green fairy grew steadily, and it soon became the favourite drink of both the aristocracy and working class. By the 1860s many bars, cafes and cabarets declared the hour of 5pm the l’heure verte (the green hour) and the bohemian crowd of famous artisans often turned to the drink for inspiration.

The popularity was not to last; the temperance movement and likeminded groups spread the idea that absinthe caused illness, death and caused one to commit violent crimes. The drink was banned as early as 1898 in the colony of the Congo Free State, and then in 1906 in Belgium and Brazil, the United States in 1912 and France in 1914.

Many countries did not ban absinthe (such as Britain – hooray!) due to its lack of popularity in the past. The hallucinogenic effects of the drink are also questionable, and were generally brought about by mistaken scientific papers. Such accounts were embraced by the bohemians, who in turn helped encourage the controversy. Vincent van Gogh and Oscar Wilde were among the most famous of those popularizing the notion – Wilde described the feeling of having tulips on his legs after drinking absinthe.  

Some say that the reports of hallucinogenic effects may have been due to poisonous chemicals being added to cheap absinthe in the 19^th century in order to give a more vivid colour. We now know that drinking absinthe does not result in one seeing fairies, but instead acts as any other alcohol – drink a lot of it and the floor just will not stay still.

At Playful Promises we do enjoy a bit of a tipple, and how lucky we are to have the one-and-only Pernod supplying us with some of their absinthe for our new boutique launch! Not only will you have the chance to learn how to prepare your own absinthe, but you can also shop whilst sipping on the world-famous punch, The Green Beast!

Join us at our new Carnaby Street boutique on the 20^th of October from 6pm until 9pm for our absinthe-soaked evening of shopping and primping goodness, with 20% off all purchases from us and treatments from the Powder Puff Girls!

(Yesterday I photographed our gorgeous green fairy Amanda in an absinthe inspired outfit featuring our peacock nipple pasties, which match perfectly with the Outta This World set and black satin waspie! Makeup by Sarah Jane Ellis.)

Backstage playfulness at our firey press event!

 What happens when you leave our fabulous models alone with a camera? 

 

After rocking the catwalk, Signe, Anita and Jess strike a victorious pose!

And for those that missed out on our burlesque extravaganza, we have a little video of Roxy Velvet's spicy performance! She is wearing a custom-made costume by us, featuring a sparkling red underbust corset and a red version of our Victoria bra!