Sometimes dressing up and sipping on cocktails is a little too much and the idea of looking glam at a super fancy bar doesn’t appeal. At the VIP offices, when we are all partied out, all we want to do is sit back in a comfy chair, sip on a long drink and munch on a bowl of chunky chips. That is why we love The Markham Inn. This gastro pub is owned by the same people who bring you ultra swish clubs, Whisky Mist and Mahiki, so you know it’s not going to be your average boozer. The old school interior is exactly what a pub should look like – old, comfy and a bar large enough to accomodate beers from around the world. The seating is so comfortable you could easily have a mid-afternoon nap, and getting up is simply not an option.

The Markham Inn has one main bar, although it is very big and available for private hire. The venue seats 70 people for dinner and 150 people for drinks and canapés – perfect for that relaxed birthday party.

The best thing to remember about The Markham Inn is that it is a celebrity magnet. Not only does it serve delicious food, it also keeps many a celeb fed and watered. Unlike it’s sister venues, The Markham Inn rarely hosts events, but many celebrities travel to West London to visit the classic pub. The best way to catch a star is to check Twitter for regular updates.

If you are after a quiet night with a few beers and some good pub grub then this is what we recommend:

HOW TO GET IN: The weekdays are relatively quiet, with a post work buzz, so booking is not necessary. If you plan on going there at the weekend, it would be easier for you to book, but not essential. If there is a big group of you then give them a call on 02075 819 139 or visit the website.

HOW MUCH TO PAY: It’s pretty damn reasonable considering it’s in Chelsea. Afternoon tea is £25 with a glass of champagne and £16 without. Dinner with alcohol is around £25 per head and that’s for at least two courses! What a bargain!

THE YAYS: (1) The venue is fairly discreet, so if privacy is what you want then look no further. (2) The interior, which was designed by Robert Angell looks like the inside of a Parisian Brasserie – very posh. (3) The food is to die for. Sunday lunches are almost as good as your mums and the hot chocolate fondant with hazelnut ice cream is mouthwatering.

THE NAYS: (1) If the whole Chelsea scene is not your thing, then it’s best not to venture out here – full of rugby shirts and Jack Wills attire. (2) If you are vegetarian, you should perhaps beware of the limited options available to you.

INSIDER KNOWLEDGE: The Dorset crab on toast is Will Young’s favourite brunch dish. Yummy!

WHAT COULD HAPPEN: You may have eaten your weight in gastro pub food, but you will be quite content afterwards. We think this up-market venue is a great alternative to partying it up in the city. Last year we bumped into The Saturdays star Una Headly and boyfriend Ben Foden and had a gossip over a glass of vino. Awwwww, what a lovely couple!

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Celebrities love couture. In fact, we do too. Last night we attended Nina Naustdal’s Couture first anniversary. Along with celebs such as Lauren Goodger and Lizzy Cundy, we sipped champagne and cooed over the intricate designs. Nina’s outfits are so magnificent, any VIP worth their salt needs to be seen in one of her creations. The below mini dress is so bling, it’s like you rolled around in crystals – fabulous darling!

We think Nina and her store, (which by the way is super plush), is one of the best things to come out of South Kensington, so we decided to dig around in the archives and find the top three celebs she’s dressed:

(1) Emma Rigby

Ex-Hollyoaks star Emma, looked like a Princess in this jewel infested frock. The gold satin material and crystal design complements Emma’s hair and skin tone perfectly – what a soap stunner.

(2) Sinitta

Even though Sinitta had broken her ankle she still managed to look beautiful in this creation by Nina. The grey satin bustier design showed off Simon Cowell’s BFFs super toned physique – even with the flip flops!

(3) Lizzy Cundy

Lizzy looked stunning in this sapphire blue dress at the anniversary party yesterday evening. This dress from Nina’s new collection is simply magnificent and is fit for any VIP.

To view more of Nina’s collection visit the website here.

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Accessorise, accessorise, accessorise!! This summer sees jewellery making a big fashion comeback – wearing your fave jewels to the beach is a fashion must. After attending the Nina Naustdal party, we hop, skipped and jumped to the Tresor Paris 1st year anniversary at Gilgamesh and was greeted by a sea of the sparkly bracelets.

The beaded brand have a flurry of celebrity followers including Justin Bieber (pictured above) and Harry Potter actress, Emma Watson (pictured below):

Celebrities are racing to grab one of these glitzy bracelets and the Biebs isn’t the only man to love the bracelet brand. Peter Andre, Craig David and James Bond actor Colin Salmon think they are super cool! We saw Colin wearing one at super exclusive club Scotch, last week.

As you can see the bracelets are sooooo cute (pictured above), so it’s no wonder why the celebs want to wear them and the anniversary party reflected how glamorous the Tresor brand is. The party really reflected the attention to detail of Tresor Paris. Just like the bracelet was striking in every way, so was the party with our fave female DJ Sarah-Jane Crawford, entertainment including a performance from up and coming singer Raoul, a beautiful environment (Gilgamesh is stunning) and every food and beverage need catered for.

Just like the bracelets appeal to all tastes, the catering appealed to all palates – if you liked sweets you could sample a cupcake, baklava, macaroons and ice-cream but if savory was more to your taste then there was sushi and curry galore.

There are far too many of the bracelets to show them all to you, if you go to the website you can start shopping yourself. For some inspiration, here are our top three:

(1) Paris – £149

(2) Hermes – £69

(3) Loupian – £149

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Celebs love a good launch party don’t they? Last night saw the grand opening of John Lewis’ beauty hall on London’s Oxford Street. Mary Charteris DJ’d, whilst celebs such as Alex James, Chloe Delevingne, Dionne Broomfield and Gizzi Erskine tried out the new products and sipped the rather scrummy champagne.

So many of the stars looked bloomin’ well glamorous and we WERE at a beauty party, so it would of been rude not to ask their tops tips…well as long as we bribed them with champagne:

Dionne Bromfield who, lets face it, always looks good (see our fashion post), and we admire her adventurous make up the most. The soul singer told us the key to looking fresh is to use a natural eyeshadow. She said Benefit’s silky powder shadow in ‘Blushing Bride,’ is her fave. To the Benefit counter we go!

Model and ex-Byker Grove actress Donna Air, who has recently been under scrutiny regarding her weight, had healthy looking hair at least last night. The blonde beauty said her bouncing Goldi-locks are courtesy of Hari’s in Chelsea. Hmmmm, we need a new hair ‘do, please give us tresses like Ms Air, Hari’s!

Hot celebrity chef Gizzi Erskine, who also writes a beauty column for Red magazine said she adores trying new beauty products almost as much as testing out new recipes. The brunette beauty said the key to luscious skin is to have a top notch cleanser. Last night Gizzi took us to the Eve Lom counter and made us try her ultimate cleanser. We had better save our pennies though – the price for perfect skin is expensive you know.

British model Laura Bailey, attended the beauty bash on London’s Oxford Street last night. The fair haired beauty told us that her ultimate tip is to take care of your scalp. She said to give your hair the respect you give your skin; cleanse thoroughly, moisturise with a conditioner and use a nourishing mask when it gets dry. Next stop for us is Redken.

Visit John Lewis Beauty Hall: 300 Oxford Street, London, W1A 1EX

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Who dreams of sitting in a super swish London bar, whilst sipping on champagne? Yep, that’s right, us too! Recently, livelikeavip.com tried and tested Flute, AND we filmed our Kate Moss style challenge there. See how magnificent it is here.

Flute has one main bar with the option of a super exclusive private room. The bar is open Monday to Thursday from 4pm till 11.30pm and Friday to Sunday from 4pm till 12, and has the added bonus of a live DJ – party time!

Although Flute doesn’t have that many celeb regulars as yet, they do have some tempting offers to bring people in. They currently have a weekday happy hour deal – which could leave you with a rather sore head in the morning. They are soon to launch an all you can drink night from Monday to Saturday (excluding Tuesdays), where you spend £25 and drink all the champagne you can. If that’s not reason enough to pop down, we don’t know what is?

If champagne is your tipple of choice and want to know where to enjoy a variety of brands then this is what we recommend:

HOW TO GET IN: We seriously recommend making a reservation. If you are planning on a weekday trip then you will be ok, but if the weekend is when you are planning to sip on some of the good stuff then call 0207 3232 328 or visit the website.

HOW MUCH TO PAY: It’s not terribly cheap, with the most least expensive bottle of champers at £60. Because it is a champagne bar, buying spirits is extortionate – a bottle of Jack Daniels is priced at £200. We had better get the credit card out!

THE YAYS: (1) Flute is in a prime location – just five minutes from Oxford Street and is so discreet that you already feel like an exclusive VIP. (2) The decor is stylish and well executed – just as you would expect from the swanky chain. (3) Flute offer a luxurious food menu too. You can devour everything from caviar Petrossian (£39.95) to Foie Gras Burgers (£14.95). Yummy!

THE NAYS: (1) It is fairly expensive, but what do you expect in a champagne bar? A glass of Asti Spumante? (2) The staff can get a bit frantic in there, (they cleared our glasses before we had finished), we think a chill pill is needed. (3) On the night we went, there were a lot of groups of businessmen – this is not a young, party atmosphere.

WHAT COULD HAPPEN: Although you may not meet a celebrity as yet, you won’t care as the champagne is so delicious it totally makes up for it.

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We love little Dionne Bromfield! Amy Winehouse’s Goddaughter has certainly been making a name for herself, not just through her music, but the fashion elite seem to be all over this teenager. Recently, Dionne rocked the Women for Women International Gala in a Aztec print mini dress, (which is soooo this season). If you want something similar then head to Lipsy and snap up this Aztec bandeau dress for a the bargain price of £28. Click here to get your hand on this seasons must have.

We think D is a style icon in the making and we think for someone so young, she has a strong head on her shoulders. We admire both her music and look and simply had to wander through her style history.

Although she has only been around for a couple of years, we have seen some cracking outfits and some which aren’t so great:

Noble Gift Gala – 2011

Dionne loves a good mini dress and yet again she rocks the mini, but it’s the red shoes we love the most. After searching the high street top to bottom, we found these beauties from Jones the Bootmaker, and at £90 they are a little pricey, but will last you forever. Click to buy.

Vivienne Westwood Shoes: An Exhibition – 2010

Dionne loves to wear bright colours and we just wish we could pull them off as well as she can. The mismatch of red, blue and leopard print shouldn’t work, but it does. We do love a good bit of accessorising and think that Dionne’s beads are super cool. These jelly bean colours from White Stuff are a fab replica and for £19.95 is as cheap as chips. Visit the website to buy.

Sing Star Take That Extravaganza – 2009

We know Dionne is still a teenager and will be prone to lots of fashion mistakes, (we definitely were), but there is no excuse for dressing like a chav. The leopard print hoodie, snakeskin leggings and flat pumps, look like something you would wear for community service. Please say you chucked this out!

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How hot did Beyonce look at the Met Ball this week? The American singer drew gasps from jealous celebs as she sashayed up the red carpet – it is clear that B has been working hard to get her body back after the birth of Blue Ivy.

The original booty shaker has it all – rap star husband, beautiful baby girl, super fit body and flawless face. Everything from the caramel locks to the smokey eye has us Crazy in Love with this singing superstar. We admire her look and attitude so much that we decided to trail through the beauty archives and find Beyonce’s tried and tested products:

(1) Loréal Sublime One Day Tanning Gel, £9.57

Beyonce’s skin always looks so radiant and perfect. Speaking to Elle magazine the singer confessed her love of bronzer. “I layer on bronzers for public appearances. I love L’Oréal Paris Sublime Bronze One Day gel.” Click here to get super tanned quickly.

(2) MAC Fix + £7

With the summer coming up we all need to feel refreshed. The Dreamgirls actress told Handbag.com that she loves MAC Fix + to give her the cool down she needs. After spending hours in make-up, the chamomile, cucumber and green tea not only looks after her skin, but it will keep her make-up in place too. Click to buy this rescue spray.

(3) Loréal Elnett Hairspray, £3.79

Keeping that weave picture perfect is no mean feat for Mrs Jay-Z. The beautiful singer says she will never use anything else on her hair apart from Elnett. Speaking to Elle magazine the Single Ladies singer says, “I love L’Oréal Paris Elnett hairspray—it holds like nothing else.” Get us a can of that pronto!

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Ever wanted to look like a celebrity but thought it was out of your price range? Fear not, I’m on a mission to show you that it can be done. The Kate Moss inspired outfit that I’m wearing (on the right) cost me £41!

The video below explains how I did it

See more fashion and beauty videos on the NEW Look Like A VIP YouTube channel

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