King Gina

My current collection I am a lover of great scents and believe in investing in them. As Coco Chanel once said: "A woman who does not wear perfume has no future." I believe that all impressions, especially first impressions are made using most of our senses. You cannot taste a person, but you do listen to them, you can see them, you can smell them and if they let you, you can touch them too. Nothing introduces you into a room full of people like the way you smell, when you approach a crowd, or when you hug someone, they immediately create a story about you in their heads. The story can be that you had a long day, or that you just took a bath or that you smell heaven sent. And with that in mind, I have always been in love with perfumes, how they make me feel and how people respond to them. Firstly, lets start of by differentiating between Eau De Parfum and Eau De Toilette. According to theperfumeexpert.com , Eau De Toilette has a concentration of 4 - 10% pe...

(Founder and Director of Own It Intimate Wear) Letlhogonolo Letsolonyane is a South African entrepreneur and "start-up" queen who launched her luxury intimate wear brand called Own It Intimate Wear in 2016. She has a strong background in retail and studied at the prestigious London International School of Fashion. Her passion and technical background shines through the impeccable craftsmanship of her intimate wear range and the luxurious materials she chooses for her line. The Own It Intimate Wear range has been positively received by celebrities, bloggers and social media enthusiasts as the brand has managed to use social media marketing effectively. (image by Andrew Berry; Own It Intimate Wear Instagram) The brand is available online and at the GEN-XYZ flagship store in Parkhurst, Johannesburg. Below is my exclusive interview with the woman behind the brand. I have bought a few items from the range and intend on buying more as the quality is...

This past Sunday a friend of mine mentioned a Ted Talk that I had nagged her to watch a while back and she finally had! She referenced it so nicely in a debate that we were having, so much so that I thought it was important for everyone else who had not seen it to catch a glimpse of it. Shonda Rhimes shares about what really makes her the titan that she is and also gives the audience a glimpse into her life as a mother, who is also a businesswoman who makes over 70 hours of great television every season. In the talk she goes into how she had lost her Hummm and how she found it again. I personally define the Hummm as a space where you operate at your optimal level, it is a place where everything that you touch turns to gold because you put a lot heart into it. Hopefully this Ted Talk will help you identify your Hummm ... (https://www.ted.com/talks/shonda_rhimes_my_year_of_saying_yes_to_everything)

(image via www.adjaye.com) Time Magazine has released its much anticipated annual list of The 100 Most Influential People and Ghanaian-British architect, Sir David Adjaye has made the list. He is the principal architect of Adjaye Associates which has offices in New York and London and have projects all over the world. The Time’s 100 Most Influential list is broken down into five categories namely: Icons, Titans, Leaders, Pioneers and Artists . Unlike other architects who have made an appearance on the list in the artist category before, Adjaye has been featured in the Icons list where he has been listed alongside RuPaul, John Lewis and Cindy Sherman. (image via www,npr.org) Sir David Adjaye will also be knighted in 2017 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for his services to architecture. According to his biography on his firm’s site, Sir Adjaye was born in Tanzania to Ghanaian parents. His work has always been influenced by his deep African roots. Sir A...

(image via google images) I came across this TEDx Talk accidentally but I am a person who believes that nothing is by accident or luck. While watching it, I realized that it is exactly what I needed to hear at that moment. (video via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT2XlI8oeh0) Key Points From Zain's Talk: ·         Trust your struggle No matter the hardships that you're going through in life, have faith that it is for the greater good. ·          "I don't believe in competition" "I don't believe in competing for what I want but rather creating it." ·          Give! The more you give, the more you will receive. ·          Success comes when opportunity meets preparation.

(image via www.businessoffashion.com) Yesterday, 10 April 2017, the world momentarily stopped when Condé Nast International chairman and chief executive Jonathan Newhouse announced the new editor of British Vogue; Ghanaian Born Edward Enninful. (image via www.vogue.co.uk) Newhouse went on to further describe Enninful as “an influential figure in the communities of fashion, Hollywood and music which shape the cultural zeitgeist". Enninful will be bidding W magazine farewell in order to take up the reigns at British Vogue. He was the fashion and creative director at W magazine and will be joining British Vogue in August 2017 What you should know about Edward Enninful: 1.        At the age of 16, Edward Enninful was model-scouted 2.        He became the youngest fashion director of an international publication at i-D magazine at the age of 18.  3.      ...

(image via http://www.europeanbusinessreview.com/designing-luxury-experience/) A premium brand does not equate a luxury brand but a luxury brand is always a premium brand. The two have always been used interchangeably. The only problem is that there is a difference between the two and as a marketer or a person interested in brands, one has to be able to distinguish between the two. A luxury brand's main focus is on exclusivity. A luxury brand evokes emotions of superiority and tends to be aspirational in its brand communication. A premium brand's main focus is on superior form and function. When advertising a premium brand, there is extensive focus on specifications and what sets it apart from other products with a similar offering. On his blog, brand guru, Seth Godin expressed that a luxury brand's price is not related to its performance. The price is related to the scarcity of the product, the brand and the storytelling behind the brand. Seth Godin furthe...

(image via pinterest) Today I felt like sharing a very personal letter that I wrote. I had been toying with the topic of mentorship and I could not write about it without writing about me. I also could not write about mentorship without writing about Ubuntu. (image via http://www.mothertongues.com) Ubuntu means humanity. It is a continental philosophy that revolves around compassion, humanity and humility. This is far beyond a philosophy as Africans have been practicing Ubuntu without ever needing to define it. We just believed that that is how all people are. Ubuntu in action is the community coming together to crowd fund and support a family that is known to be in need. Ubuntu is helping the old in the community. Ubuntu is about baking cookies for the wake (the days before the burial) of someone you might not know too well but lives down the road. Ubuntu is the about the whole community going to cook at night for the funeral that will be held in ...

(image via: https://behappy.me) With my 26 candle ritual on its way, I am more determined more than ever to gift myself with a personal glow up. I vowed to myself that from the 1st of April 2017, I would work on all aspects of myself in order to become and live my best life!!! The Glow Up Defined: Colloquially, The Glow Up, can be defined as a positive and sometimes quite noticeable transformation in a person. Sometimes, after one goes through a glow up, you might not even recognize them at all. This may be in actions or physical qualities. I like the use of the word glow because a glow comes from within. A glow is always attractive and draws people towards you like moths to a light bulb. The King Gina Glow Up: As my birthday is at the end of May, I have 8 weeks to acquire that "glow"... that warm light that one can't really put their finger on. My glow up is extremely personal and needs a lot of introspection because I believe that the work should be do...