The Bright Side

Be nice
Think happy thoughts
Champion silver linings
Love all things (not just cute things like babies and kittens)
& when you love - love like they do in power ballads
(you know like on a cliff with the wind in your hair and your eyes shut, knowing you'll never know another love like this)
Watch out for dogpoo
Smile at people - even grumpy ones
Be nice
(oh I said that already)
Remember that anything is possible
& whatever you do
always try to
look on
The Bright Side

(this message is on the back of all the cards by The Bright Side. I love it!)

Balance

Lovely.
Such a 'nice' word
Safe. Secure. Dependable.
Conjures soft smiles and sweet kisses
Routine and Right Thing To Do
Early nights and Forever
I've been there...first love
Perfect introduction
But restlessness inhabited my bones
Flushed cheeks
A pounding heart
Sweaty palms and somersaulting stomach
I need that.
Crave the excitement of illicit encounters
Uncertainty and a whisper of danger
Immeasurable passion
When will I learn balance?

Gone Too Far

Behind the scenes photos from an amazing comedy that wrapped just this week! Was a lot of fun; I can't wait to see the finished product.

Adapted from the play, Gone Too Far was written by Bola Agbaje and directed by Destiny Ekaragha and stars myself, Adelayo Adedayo, Malachi Kirby, O.C Ukeje and Tosin Cole among others.

Myself and Adelayo aka best mates Armani and Paris, first day on set. We filmed outside for most  of the shoot and the drizzly rain drove the lovely hair and make up ladies crazy so they bought us these incredibly glamorous granny hats to protect our hair..but we actually grew to love them!

Armani..fully ratchet!

Mirror shot

The coldest day of filming...3 hot water bottles were sooo needed!

Tut Tut...Adelayo and O.C caught napping on set haha

Rob Nicholls our costume main man

I'm not even going to act like I know what was going on here... Tosin Cole and our head make-up artist My Alehammer

Anna (costume) and Alice (make-up) when our base moved to a church!

My, Rani Sikka and Alice Townes our lovely make-up ladies

All cast and crew had a Gone Too Far beanie

Champers for wrap day

Cheeeeese!

Family affair

Rob tucking into the mince pies!

Tosin, Shanika and Malachi...

Orrrr Razer, Armani and Yemi?

Fire And Ice

I got it wrong
I placed you high up on a pedestal
Anchored by impossible ideals
And romantic notions fed to me by someone else's dreams
But cold grey reality deemed my childish fantasy unworthy
And snuck in to steal my rose tinted glasses
So now I see you for what you are
Just a ragged sigh, a sharp intake of breath
Ice on my thigh, Fire on my neck
A gentle caress is just a gentle caress
Nothing more, nothing less
Nothing more
Nothing less

VICTIM

Yesterday, Victim came out in cinemas across the UK and I'm very excited about it!
It's a film that was written by friends of mine and was made with a lot of love and passion from all involved, from cast to crew. We've waited a long time for it to finally be released and everybody at the gala screening really enjoyed and was touched by it. To celebrate the release here are a few snaps taken on set.

Tell a friend to tell a friend, support British Film and go see Victim at a cinema near you!




Me sandwiched between Jazon Maza (Manny) and Michael Maris (Jason)



Anna and I with lovely leading lady Ashley Madekwe who played Tia...freezing in our warm coats!




Natasha Sparkes (Yaren), Anna Nightingale (Davina) and me (Charmaine)

 

On set during our nightclub scenes doing shots of water! Very fun day



One of my favourite pictures from on set



 

 

Designers Against Aids

I recently had the privilege of becoming a friend of the amazing charity, Designers Against Aids. Founded in Belgium in 2004 by Ninette Murk under the mother organisation 'Beauty Without Irony', the aim of Designers Against Aids is to raise awareness of HIV/Aids and to keep the issue in international media. They have a particular interest in reaching young people in the western world which they do by enlisting the help of well known figures in popular culture; musicians, actors, models, sportspeople, designers etc. 

Their primary messages are 'Prevention is the only cure for HIV/AIDS‘ (protect yourself and your partner) and ‘Know your status’ (get tested) which they promote through printing the designs of various celebrities on to T-shirts, hoods, bags and even condom holders. As well as their clothing collection, which they sell through their online store, an initiative called 'Models Agains Aids' where models promote safe sex and an International HIV/Aids awareness centre in Antwerp, they also have a long standing collaboration with H&M. 'Fashion Against Aids', where clothing items are sold in H&M stores in more than 30 countries around the world has been a huge success and artists such as Timbaland, Pharell, Rihanna, Dita von Teese, Katherine Hamnett, Katy Perry and many more have been involved.

What a brilliant organisation, right? I'm very pleased to be involved and doing my bit, however small. Their logo, which is printed on all their goods features the website address, www.designersagainstaids.com so that everyone who comes across it can head over to the site to read up and find ways to get involved in the cause. So what are you waiting for? Click the link and see for yourself... 

Dirty Dishes

Disclaimer: These were not my dirty dishes! We found a student house (perfect), some vintage furs, a Betty Page roll in my hair and we were good to go. Such a quirky shoot, I loved it.

Paolo Casseb was again behind the lens, Angelina Bianchi on hair, Lexy on make-up and Kirsty Maltby was our creative director.