The Story of the Hiatus III

Now we're ready to make our return. We are finally ready to pick up where we left off and bring it all back to you - our fans.

So first things first - we had to get our house in order.
This meant we had to tidy, sort out and completely reinvent our operations. The processes we had in place had to be streamlined and made much more efficient. We needed to start moving in a direction where we were working smarter and not just harder. With these changes we would be able to free up our time and focus to do more important things - like design, write blog posts and smoke.

The stage we're at now, means we can fully devote our attention into designing new products, contact the right people, gather the right tools and turn our ideas around into reality quicker.

So what's the key lesson during this stage of the metamorphosis?
Momentum is key my friends.

The Story of the Hiatus II

The awakening.
This was the moment of the rebirth my friends. The moment we all accepted we had done wrong. That we had left what we started for far too long. However, before we could seek our forgiveness, we needed to remember this moment. We needed a way to never forget the mistakes we had committed. We needed our own penance. So, it began....

The slapping.
That's right ladies and gentlemen. Everyone in the room turned to the person on their left. Then with all the mighty force we could conjure up into our arm, we let fly across a barrage of "reminders". One by one, we took our turn to fill the room with the sounds of thunder. Faces became red, palms became sore, tears were shed. It was brutal. Or at least metaphorically speaking it was.

Of course we didn't really all slap each others faces as hard as we possibly could......twice.

The Story of the Hiatus

The big question.
Just what on Earth were we up to in seven months?
Well, the question isn't just the what, it's also the where....

The first couple of months after the brand refresh, there was just so much travelling. Now when we say travelling, we mean travelling. Not the cute:

"I'm taking a gap year to travel and find myself".

No no. We were visiting the best Shisha scenes in the country. Lugging our tired bodies to every corner of the UK. Speaking to all walks of life to understand further what we could do to make the Shisha experience safer, smoother and smarter. This market research was invaluable. It brought to us many insights into what the troubles were being faced by the community. Some we had suffered ourselves, other insights we were completely unaware of.

The next two months....well there's no beating around the bush here. Now we were on holiday. The webstores all shutdown, communication was on lockdown, everything went dark. As far as everyone was concerned, we had disappeared and was swallowed as we fell into the depths of Hades underground....

What shisha smoker does next is amazing...

Surprise! A second post to come in the same week and not 7 months later!?
OMG! Maybe, just maybe things are really...changing?

We're not going to lie, it's always been our intention and constantly in the orbits of our minds thoughts to pick up The Chronicles again. However the road paved to hell was paved on good intentions. So it's better we actually start acting on these intentions and not let them become memories.

We're going to be posting the things, you, the fans want to see again. The jokes, the stories, the missing chapters from our hiatus are just to name a few, but most importantly it will be posted more regularly.

More regularly than once every seven months? Oh ssshh.

The time for change?

Well that time is now my friends.

Hello again from Flare - woah woah woah! Before you throw your ash trays at us let us explain!
Excuse me? What excuse do we have this time?
Well the first time it was a busy new year. Then we went into exile. Then the website updated with promises of grandeur, amazing change and a new future.

Then nothing.

Just an empty void of no updates. No words. Not even a little spamming tweet. A lot of people thought that was the end of Flare. They would say we burned down even quicker than our burners could light up coconut coals.
Well, it looks like the phoenix has shed a tear that has dropped through the fallen leaves. Leaving in its scorching wake the flying embers of our reignition.

Ladies and gentlemen, we're back with a furious vengeance....again.....again, again.

Guess who's back?

No, it ain't Shady.

However you can tell a friend that Flare Shisha is back again with a fresh new feel!
"But Flare, didn't you only refresh your website only 7 months ago?"
"Yes. Yes we did...but that was SO last year."
You see, we're always on the lookout for the next best thing, to stay ahead of the game and lead the way. The first point of communication, the very first impression we can make on you is our website - and you don't get second chances with first impressions. The attention to detail, the style and quality of our work should shine through everything that is produced by us. Which is why we've updated our site. Again. New fans will be better able to grasp what we're about as a company and existing fans will have a brand they are even more proud of to share.

Website aside, this refresh is the nudge on a snowball that will pick up speed, gain momentum and continue to build itself into something bigger. The Flare calender has so much planned for the rest of the year. You, the fans, are going to be part of something really special.

We know it felt empty without us - but rest assured we're getting closer to the perfect smoke.

864 HOURS

"Wait, the only reason you haven't posted anything is because your computer was lost in all that smoke?"
Essentially....yes.

At Flare we're not afraid to take bold steps or risks in order to excel into the next realm.
However to do this, sometimes drastic actions need to be taken. Actions such as locking ourselves in a basement, boarding up the windows and bolting the doors shut with the keys out of sight. We have spent our 2015 back in time by taking the shisha experience back to the basics. We've stripped away all the gimmicks and embellishments from the smoking experience that has been thrown at us recently. Taking a massive leap back and really questioning what us, the shisha lovers actually need and want. Needless to say the light hurt our eyes as we exited the clouded box that became the birth place of the innovations we had thought up in our exile.

Now we begin the journey of transitioning these ideas into reality. We're very excited about what we have planned and we will keep you all apprised of each update as it happens. Moreover as a thank you to show our appreciation to you, the loyal and most dedicated supporters of Flare, we have rewarding surprises lined up just for you that we will hopefully have ready within the next few weeks...

Forget what you think you know about shisha. We're about to blind your sight with the innovation that will guide you through the smoke into a new dimension of shisha smoking.

Amazing photography by - Kyle Thompson

DIE HARD, SMOKE HARDER

Locked in a garage. It's cold. It's damp. The doors are barely keeping anything out. There's no food. We have Diet Coke. So there's nothing to drink either. The wildlife seems to sense the desperation. Paranoia tells me the spiders are hungry.
However, my best friend is here. We have everything we need for a solid smoke - and you know what? You mix all this together and without realising, I suddenly have one of the greatest evenings I've had in a long time. The warmth of long overdue conversation flowed as effortlessly as our smoke.
Complete accident? Maybe. All I know is, if I had to change any detail about tonight, I wouldn't change a thing.

HISTORY IV

This photo of a man smoking his pipe in Cairo brings me so much solace on a Monday morning. The weather today is neither hot nor cold, it is the beginning of the Autumn days where everything will slowly start to turn and change. The days will become shorter and the nights ever colder. You'd imagine this beginning of dark times would make us cherish what warmth and light we have left from our days until winter fully crawls over. However, this reminds me to stop and think about the important things, what does matter and what actually does have an effect on me - these things are never dependent on the season!
The quiet times smoking shisha - where some of the best thinking is ever thought.

IOOI HOOKAH

We love seeing traditional shisha reinvented into something new and modern, which is why we like the design of the IOOI Hookah by Christian Zanzotti. Zanzotti has applied modern methods and materials such as anodized aluminum, polished brass, 3D printed parts, automotive-standard fabrication to make his shisha pipe design come alive into this modern age. Zanzotti is based in Munich and as you can tell from the precise design, it's manufacturing in Germany will be nothing less than perfect. Made to order, the IOOI Hookah truly is stunning.

ONLY BY INVITATION

We've been checking out the newest and most exclusive shisha place on the scene. Taking a modern step back in the time, this shisha garden is a hidden Aztec gem with an amazing unique feel for its members. Needless to say, we love it.

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