Make-A-Wish Ball

At the Ball: 1. Jonathan Sexton & Miriam O’Callaghan; 2. Sue Deighan & John Doran; 3. Norman Pratt & Avril Collins. (Pix: Richie Stokes).


The Make-A-Wish Masquerade Crystal Ball took place at The Burlington Hotel and the theme of this year’s event was a masquerade ball with all guests being presented with masks to add an “air of mystery” to the evening - and to hide behind when doing the walk of shame the next day.

Always a glamorous event there were many well known faces in attendance, including Ken Doherty, Bernard Dunne, Caroline Harrington, Gareth O’ Callaghan and Johnny Sexton. Miriam O’Callaghan was MC for the evening.

The event kicked off with a Grey Goose cocktail reception, followed by a 5-course meal. Following dinner there was a charity raffle raising much needed funds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Some of the fabulous prizes on the night included Weekends Away, Jewellery vouchers and Health treatments.

Live entertainment was by the inimitable Barry Murphy of Après Match fame, well known Irish band, Perfect Day followed by DJ Tommy Greene who will play into the small hours.

Cleary's Designer Evening

At Cleary’s were: 1. Brid Casey & Sarah Daly; 2. Sarah Kavanagh & Nadia Forde; 3. Maria Loughran & Aoiffe Madden. (Pix: Brian McEvoy).


IMAGE Magazine editor Melanie Morris talked style at the Cleary’s Designers & Drinks event recently while the assembled guests (mostly girls) perused the latest must have fashion.

The designers behind the brands also gave the low-down on their collections for the season ahead and guests had the opportunity to ask questions and meet with senior designer for Oasis, Elaine Frost; Warehouse designer, Cecily Bear; and country manager for Karen Millen Ireland, Nicki Smith.

There was also a sneak preview of the spring/summer 2010 collections from Oasis, Warehouse and Karen Millen. DJ Enda Waldron provided the tunes, Brambles did the food and it all went down with lots of champagne with the additional surprise of goodie bags for all.

Hypoxi

At Hypoxi were: 1. Marie Junior & Greg French; 2. Michelle McGrath; 3. Jennifer Buckley, Anastasia Campion & Melina Srvortsova. (Pix: Brian McEvoy).

Dublin's newest HYPOXI Clinic opened in The Seapoint Building, Clontarf, Dublin 3 recently. Actress Rachel Kavanagh and Michelle McGrath, model, actress (The Tudors) and member of the band Industry, were on hand to talk about and show the benefits of using HYPOXI-Therapy to lose weight, shape the body, tone-up and reduce cellulite.

These girls practice what they preach though and both Rachel and Michelle have been using the HYPOXI system for three and four weeks respectively and have had impressive results.

Celebrities and models worldwide have hailed the fat and cellulite burning treatment as their main therapy for burning fat - Cheryl Cole, Robbie Williams, Simon Cowell, Louise Redknapp, Michelle Heaton, Tamzin Outhwaite, Caprice and Jordan have been using this revolutionary therapy for years appara.

Halloween at Krystle

Krystle nightclub hosted a big Halloween party at the weekend which saw a variety of outrageous costumes on show, some far to risqué to display on these pages! Here are some of the tame ones... 1. Fiona Creely & Eve Dunne; 2. Martin Aarestad & Wesley Quirke; 3. Naomi Fitzsimons & Ken Lalor. (Pix: Richie Stokes).

Go wan, go wan...

Simply Being: 1. Gok Wan & Brianna Connaughton; 2. Brenda O’Donoghue & Bairbre Power; 3. Liz Mangan & Kristi Kuudissm. (Pix Brian McEvoy).


Stylist to the stars Gok Wan is usually all about getting women to strip off their clothes but there was no sign of that at the weekend as he crowned Ireland’s most curvaceous woman Brianna Connaughton from Waterford at the final of Simply Be Curvy in City West Hotel.

Simply Be launched their search to find Ireland’s most curvaceous woman ‘Simply Be Curvy’ in early June, looking for women size 14 and over who love and celebrate their curves to enter. Following three heats nationwide (Dublin, Limerick and Silgo) based on over 6,500 entries, 16 finalists were chosen.

A panel of celebrity judges including Alan Hughes, Brenda O’Donoghue and Bairbre Power (chaired by Gok himself) chose the lucky winner from the finalists.

Brianna aged 24 from Waterford is the lucky winner and becomes an instant cover girl and will grace the cover of Spring 2010 Simply Be catalogue. Brianna, a size 14 also won €1,000 worth of Simply Be clothing and accessories, a holiday to the value of €1000 plus spending money and a modelling contract with one of Ireland’s top modelling agents Celia Holman Lee.

Race Against Breast Cancer

Racing Against Breast Cancer were: 1. Oliver & Stephanie Kelly; 2. Susie & Tina Koumarianos; 3. Charlene McKenna, Barry McKenna & his wife Anna McKenna. (Pics. Brian McEvoy).


The wet weather failed to dampen spirits on Sunday as a host of well known Irish personalities from the worlds of business, art, fashion, music and entertainment came together for Breast Cancer Ireland’s annual “RCSI/AIB Race Against Breast Cancer Day” at Leopardstown Pavilion.

The day, now in its fourth year, attracted over 730 people to a “Sell Out” event and raised in excess of €290,000 which will go towards funding vital breast cancer research aimed at speeding up discovery time and ultimately offering more effective and more personalised treatments for those diagnosed.

This year, to add a further sense of glamour and fun to an already super day, a number of well known personalities such as Irish actress Charlene McKenna; TV presenter Brendan Courtney; Clinic star Leigh Arnold; former Miss World Rosanna Davison and Ireland AM star Sinead Desmond who took on the role of Celebrity Totes dishing out their top racing tips to guests in attendance.

Other invited guests included Mary Kennedy, who was MC for the afternoon; TV3’s Aisling O’Loughlin, Wesley Quirke, model Sarah McGovern and golfer Suzanne Coyne. Former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds was also there and had the pleasure of celebrating his birthday on the day.

Once again this year, the esteemed organising committee comprising Kathleen Reynolds; Pat Desmond; Ann Smurfit; and Ann Heffernan to mention just a few, really outdid themselves in these challenging times, by creating a fun filled, exciting and glamorous day at the races.

The piece de resistance however was a live (and impromptu) performance from Chris de Burgh, who entertained everyone with some of his greatest hits.

Party like a Rockstar (Tan)

Rockstar Tan party people: 1. Rachel Kavanagh & Amanda Brunker; 2. Catriona Hanly & Sonja Mohlich; 3. Triona McCarthy & Virginia Macari. (Pics. Brian McEvoy).

Irish girls sure do love to looked tanned and actress Rachel Kavanagh is about to revolutionise the tanning market with the official launch of her very own retail line of tanning products. Rockstar Tan is a luxurious new sunless tanning range about to hit stores nationwide. Although Rachel already has the Rockstar professional range in salons throughout the country, she wanted to extend the brand so that customers could also get the ‘Salon Look’ at home.

As guests arrived at the glitzy party at Residence private members club they were treated like rock stars with an ABSOLUT Rocks cocktail reception and with entertainment by top Indie Rock band Bipolar Empire.

Guests on Wednesday night included Amanda Brunker, Virginia Macari, models Ruth O'Neill and Louise Kavanagh, Cillian O Sullivan and jewellery designer Catriona Hanly to name but a few. No one left empty handed as there were fabulous Rockstar Tan goodie bags for all.

Working with a specialist in the field of self tan in the USA, Rachel created the Rockstar Tan Retail Range with the same unique formula that her salon solution is based on - boasting the most skin nurturing and Organic ingredients.

Go forth and tan ... www.rockstartan.ie