When The Body Met The Nobody: An Audience and Interview with Elle Macpherson

Here it is. My most bizarre, surreal, fabulous interview yet (and likely ever). Thank you to STYLEetc magazine and, of course, Elle :)…

 

There are several moments in life, not that necessarily define us, but that define our memory banks with rigid ferocity, be that in a pleasant or unpleasant way. Luckily (for me) I’m about to tell you a story about the former.

Recently, STYLEetc were invited to interview a Mother, a Business Woman, a Supermodel, a Philanthropist, a Fitness Guru, an Actress and someone with the most gloriously golden locks of hair that we have ever seen! Yes, we were invited to sit down and chat with Fashion Icon Elle Macpherson, to discuss good underwear, the joys of Instagram, and most importantly, a revolutionary new product, the Super Elixir, that she has co-developed with her friend and Nutritionist, Dr Simone Laubscher.

Elle Macpherson

Elle Macpherson

Allow us to set the scene. STYLEetc wait with eager anticipation outside San Carlo Farmacia Del Dolce on the basement floor of Selfridges Exchange Square, fresh notepad in (a somewhat clammy) hand, watching as a bustle of people make preparations for an imminent arrival. Two chairs are set before the rest, awaiting the co-creators of the wondrous Super Elixir.

The Super Elixir is designed to support healthy nutrition and to generate an overall sense of wellbeing and vitality. It claims to balance hormones, regulate digestion, and as a result, improve our appearance. Sounds too good to be true right? Well, it actually isn’t.

We’re not claiming you’ll wake up looking and feeling like Elle Macpherson after one shot of the green stuff, but we’ve found that by supplementing our normal diet with a couple of teaspoons of the Super Elixir each day, after several weeks, we now feel more energetic, refreshed and balanced. ‘Beauty and wellness from the inside out,’ is how Elle explains it, and despite our skeptical journalist tendencies, we can’t help but agree with her.

photo-27-400x300

photo-16-400x300

Elle arrives suddenly, towering above oblivious passing shoppers and looking, frankly, phenomenal. Tall, tanned and slender with locks of long, lustrous hair. Her most attractive feature? Her smile. Radiant, warm and within an instant, us media folk are put at ease.

In accompaniment is Dr Simone, Elle’s Nutritionist, who, as the Supermodel puts it is, ‘a wonderful woman, a woman of integrity.’ Together they developed this product of super greens to combat Elle’s fatigue and increase her sense of wellbeing. It worked so well, that for Elle’s 50th (Yes, 50th!!) birthday, she decided to give back, to make this must have health product available to everyone.

photo-45-400x533

JS38626361-400x266

The texture of the elixir is surprising. A fine, powdery substance, you can mix it with lots of water (Elle’s favourite way to take it), take it as a quick shot on the go, or sprinkle it over a cold salad. We were given our dose with some iced water, ‘the nicest way to take it,’ Elle assured us with a smile.

Despite being initially somewhat put-off by the pond water-esque colour and consistency, the taste was fresh, with hints of pineapple, and was actually quite enjoyable.

After discussing the Super Elixir with Dr Simone and a small audience in the intimate cafe setting, Elle would then sit down one on one with STYLEetc, to elaborate on the origins of her new product and explain why promoting inner wellness is so important to her…

I chose to come to Manchester you know, I could have gone to Birmingham! I was here for Britain and Irelands Next Top Model actually and I found some really beautiful girls here. British girls have such great style. There’s a real respect for eclectic individuality here. You have your own way of doing things and I like that, I like a good sense of humour, I like that it’s irreverent.

I find that if you’re healthy, you feel good and then you look good. I wanted to make the Super Elixir because I was feeling flat and I just didn’t feel healthy. I had all of these vitamins that I would take each day and I just didn’t feel like they were working.

I led a really healthy life style but just felt as though something wasn’t quite right. We went through a shopping list of things that weren’t working for me. She diagnosed me as having basically a very highly acidic body. Too much stress, too much coffee and not enough greens. She told me that I was eating well but that actually I wasn’t absorbing the nutrients into my body and I needed something to help me do this better. I started on a kale and green powder to help regulate my PH balance and I started to feel better, so we then started to add ingredients. Lets do this, lets do that, lets do hair, lets do skin, lets do kidneys and we did it together.

It wasn’t like I just had a business idea, this was an evolution. We shared it with friends and family and they were saying, ‘hey this products great!’ And everybody loved it so that’s when I said actually you know, I want to make this accessible!

I think true wellness comes from joy, having fun, having a laugh, looking on the bright side of things, doing the unexpected, being spontaneous, watching movies, watching children, actually talking and interacting with them. Drinking lots of water as well of course – I’m talking 3 litres a day, it’s so simple and so effective

Society’s idea of beauty has changed a lot in recent years, their perception of beauty. You see it on Instagram and Facebook, girls are taking selfies, they know their light, they know how they look good, they’ve got style, they don’t need Revlon telling them – they absolutely know themselves! And they know how to portray themselves, it’s quirky and it’s individual and it’s unique and it’s truly them and I love that! It’s so interesting, there’s no stereotypical idea of what’s beautiful anymore.

We’re all beautiful and we can all find that beauty…that may sound a bit cliché but I truly believe it and when I look at my Instagram and I see everyday women posting pictures of what they love, whether it be their children, flowers or a sunset, I think great! We can see beauty everywhere, how cool is that?

If I feel like the clothes are wearing me, I’m just not comfortable, and comfort is so important! Comfort, not sweatpants…but sometimes sweatpants! Just finding something that really works for me. I look at French Vogue for fashion inspiration. I like that sort of sexiness, not strong sexiness but that effortless, strong air French women have. I like clean lines and silhouettes, keeing it simple.

Great Lingerie can help women feel empowered. A woman’s silhouette changes when she’s got good underwear on, it really supports the body, it’s comfortable, it gives a good breast shape that slims the hips. When you have a stronger silhouette your whole attitude changes . Your clothes look better, you look better. Embracing femininity and sensuality helps women to be more open-minded too, less self conscious, less turning inward and more open to people because they’re feeling beautiful and comfortable in who they are.

A day off for me is spent with my kids, I like to be with my children, I say children, my son is 16 so it’s few and far between that I get days with him! I love to go to the movies, to swim and ski, I like to climb, I like to paddle board in the sun…

After a quick round of selfies (taken kindly by Elle – our arms were not even nearly long enough!) just to make sure we had evidence of this surreal encounter for disbelieving family and friends, she was gone, and we were left with a fabulous sample of the Super Elixir, which is available online at http://www.welleco.com and exclusively in store at Selfridges. For a daily boost of energy, stronger nails and a significant reduction in bloating, we’d recommend giving it a try. After all, it’s always good to channel your inner Elle!

 

STYLEetc Quickfire Questions:

The last film you saw…

A Viggo Mortensen film, he was great in it!

Favourite book…

From Atoms To Angels, it really changed my life.

Personal Mantra…

I believe that lifes a reflection, what you see around you is a reflection of what’s going on within.

The best advice you could give…

Drink lots of water!

Favourite City…

Manchester, of course!

photo-53-400x533

 

By A Starstruck Grace Fleming

 

Awkward Journalist Wannabe Meets Fashion Goddess!

Today I met Elle Macpherson…Gosh that felt good to type! to discuss her new wonder product, the Super Elixir! Here’s a sELLEfie (couldn’t resist) I’ll be posting the full interview asap for STYLEetc magazine so watch this space! xGx

20140606-210838-76118790.jpg

‘Eat Me, Drink Me’ – Australasia Manchester

A review of the lovely Australasia Bar & Restaurant for the lovely STYLEetc Magazine 🙂

 

On the edge of Spinningfields, within a chic glass pyramid exterior, you will find a rabbit hole unlike any other. Journey down it and you will embark on a culinary adventure of delectable edibles, exotic beverages and exceptional service – good enough even for Alice herself! I am, of course, talking about Australasia, Manchester’s stylish basement bar and restaurant.

STYLEetc were lucky enough to be invited to explore the offerings of this popular eatery and conduct a review for our readers…

image22-300x180

Australasia Restaurant

Upon our arrival at this sophisticated and fantastical venue, after descending a polished staircase, we were greeted warmly by the Ausralasia front of house staff, who were, throughout the evening, very friendly and eager to assist.

We were then led swiftly to a comfortable booth table, where we met our lovely waitress, Agnes, who was smiley, attentive and incredibly patient given our inability to commit to anything on the menu (it all looked so good!)

The menu is a hard-back story book of refreshments – a foodie’s bible! And can be tackled in a variety of ways (both of which were explained very clearly by Agnes). Firstly, you can order several starters each, then one of the larger main courses, or, as we chose to do (in order to sample as many different things as we possibly could!) you can order 3-4 of the smaller plates each and share them as a table.

We strongly advise that you peruse the menu before you go and Google some of the more unusual ingredients, Hijiki, for example (which, just incase you were wondering is a very tasty sea vegetable!)

Drinks were the first order of business and to help in your selection, you are provided with an iPad menu that is easily navigated with thorough descriptions of each drink – we found this especially useful for the cocktails! We began with a Ginger and Pear Bellini and a, ‘Love You Long Time,’ a fruity punch garnished with basil leaves, accompanied by a large jug of Orange and Thai Ginger infused water.

image20-300x225

Foodie Bible!

image21-300x225

Handy Ipad

image19-300x225

Delicious Cocktails

image18-225x300

Orange & Ginger Water

The water was sweet and refreshing and lasted us the whole meal – an ideal accompaniment for palette cleansing between full flavour dishes. Our cocktails were beautifully presented, all style and glamour, complementing the fashionable restaurant environment.

The contemporary basement setting is suprisingly light, boasting modern décor infused with more traditional elements. A trip to the bathroom will take you past the kitchen where you can have a nosy at the many chefs, working tirelessly to prepare all of the food. We love this lay-out feature, as it conveys an open and welcoming atmosphere. The bathrooms themselves have victorian style water-closet loos, complete with throne style toilet seats and long chain flushing handles – A grade 1 loo, perfect for a mid-dinner touch up!

We digress -back to the food!

Our first round of tapas was, quite simply, scrumptious! We made sure our choices stretched outside of our usual food comfort zones, fully confident that anything on this menu wouldn’t disappoint, and boy were we right!

Our, ‘authentic sushi,’ choice, the Duck Dragon Roll, was not at all like the sushi we had tried before. It wasn’t dry or lacking in flavour but incredibly moist. The rice and cheese within the roll provided a tart contrast to the sweetness of the cured duck, making for a deliciously different taste experience. Trust us, you haven’t experienced sushi in all its deliciousness until you’ve had it from here!

Another daring choice, the Tuna Tartar, was an even bigger surprise. As someone who isn’t typically a great lover of sea food, I have to say this was exquisite, particulary the lemon and caper dressing.

One of the highlights of our meal just had to be the soft shell crab though! It literally melted in the mouth leaving a fresh and fragrant aftertaste.

Duck Dragon Roll

Duck Dragon Roll

Tuna Tartar

Tuna Tartar

Soft Shell Crab with Courgette Flowers

Soft Shell Crab with Courgette Flowers

Round two of tapas saw a dish of roasted aubergine served alongside a beautiful chicken, lime and coconut salad. All of these smaller plates would make great dishes served alone but we felt that by ordering a varied selection together, we could really excite the palette and experience a fabulous mix of flavours, which we certainly did! The chicken salad with the scallops and pork belly was one particular winning combo!

Let’s face it, we may not be trained wordsmiths in the art of fine dining, but just like you, we know excellent food when we see and taste it and this selection of mains really was a triumph.

Roasted Aubergine

Roasted Aubergine

Chicken, Lime & Coconut Salad

Chicken, Lime & Coconut Salad

Hand Dived Scallops with Pork Crackling and Chilli Caramel Sauce

Hand Dived Scallops with Pork Crackling and Chilli Caramel Sauce

Plates cleared and tummies (almost) full, our attentions were turned to the desert menu. Again, each dish was explained intricately, with care, enthusiasm and with reference to personal preference. Like me, Agnes favoured the carrot cake with cream cheese ice cream, whilst my guest went for the roasted quince with yoghurt sorbet.

Both offered the perfect contrast to the flavoursome spice of our main course tapas selection; sweet yet natural in flavour and not too much to overface us. The carrot puree on my dish was a particular highlight, complementing the sweet cream cheese beautifully!

Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake

Roasted Quince

Roasted Quince

Coffee

Coffee

Though our eyebrows were raised somewhat initially by the, ‘london prices,’ on the menu, after sampling everything (literally) we completely understood. Not only is the food cooked to perfection but the ingredients themselves are of the highest quality. Team that with the high level of service and the sophisticated surroundings; it becomes quite clear that you get exactly what you pay for – excellence.

All in all, we think that Australasia is ideal if you wish to commemorate a special occasion or indulge in a dose of luxury. Be warned though – its offerings are exceedingly tempting, you may just get lost down there – we nearly did! Our very own Mancunian Wonderland…

Discover More: http://australasia.uk.com/

 

xGx