Liz Earle Gush

Now if you read this blog at all then you'll know I'm a big fan of Liz Earle products but now I'm being wowed not only by the products (and the customer service) but also their website which has a gift finder on it which is just perfect if you can't think what to get for someone. You can choose the price and the type of person and they recommend a product - having struggled to think of what to get a friend who's going away for a month I was recommended the Flight Essentials kit which seems the perfect thing for a long flight and a great size to have in your bag for the whole of your trip. xx

Home Innovation

My Elizabeth Arden cheek colour gave up and fell to pieces a couple of weeks ago (a bit sooner than it should have if you ask me) and I was about to chuck it (I've never been able to keep powders that self-destruct, they stick around long enough to spread over everything and then I chuck them. Using them just makes me sad and disappointed) when I realised that I was eeking out the very last of my A Perfect World moisturiser and had more on order so I should make my very own cream blusher!

I've never even used cream blusher before (how very 2008 of me) but having tipped the dusty remnants of the blusher into the nearly empty pot and adding a bit more moisturiser (mixing it together using one of the hundreds of disposable chopsticks Joe insists on having) I had made my own! I actually really like it - I'm still coming to terms with how to apply it but i think the colour is nice and it feels simpler and more natural than a powder. Or maybe I'm just telling myself that!

This actually looks a bit gross but it's lovely really!

Thread Vein part 1

I suppose the very fact that I have called this Part 1 means I've made up my mind but maybe there just won't be a Part 2. I have a thread vein. For about a year and a half it's mocked me every time I look in the mirror and actually makes me more guilty about smoking then people coughing in my presence ever did. Of course it may not be smoking - it could be caused by anything but I'm convinced it's smoking. Anyway I hate it and I want it gone. No amount of foundation seems to cover it and it makes my skin blotchy. People say they can't notice it but I suddenly realised... I don't care! I can see it and I'm sure at least 80% of them are being polite.

The thing is its expensive, and not exactly pain free and I'm scared. And I don't want to have a story in the Sun with a picture of me crying and saying 'I only went in to get a thread vein removed and they burnt my face off'. Thoughts? Advice? Horror stories? Dare I even dream - success stories? xx

p.s I would have posted a picture of it but I'm not brave enough

High Street Hair

I got stung by Tony and Guy. Not once, not twice but loads of times and it completely ruined my love of getting my hair done for years. Not only did they peroxide my hair until it died - I know peroxide is bad but any good hair colourist knows you don't do all the hair all of the time - they then cut it all off died it orangey pink and told me that was what I had asked for. The whole thing was awful and psychologically damaging and I spent ages trying to find somewhere non-high street to get my hair done from then on.

I finally found somewhere in Portobello where I loved the way they cut my hair but didn't like the colour... I also didn't like the way I was made to feel when I was there. Not deliberately I'm sure but I did feel like I had walked into a den of cool kids who really didn't want me to be there (except for the lovely Claudio who cut my hair).

So then when I decided to go blonde again I went with a friend to her hair salon in Brick Lane and again got made to feel like I didn't know what I was talking about and didn't get what I paid for at all. If you are naturally dark and you want white blonde hair it is not going to look natural. I am aware of this so telling me that I need some other colour to make it look natural and then sticking orange bits in when I repeatedly say that's not what I want is not really ok.

So I bit the bullet - I tried to go to my sisters colourist in Chiswick but they have just moved to East Sheen. That is too far. I went to Headmasters in Hammersmith. My friend goes to the one in Fulham and her hair always looks great. After a year of hair envy I decided to go for it. I awaited the surly looks and feeling of exclusion, the young girls sniggering and the feeling of embarrassment when asking for a magazine but it never happened. It was one of the most expensive hair treatments I'd had but, to be fair, I had let it get into terrible condition and my roots were about 4 inches long. I actually didn't mind at all.

I was shown to my seat offered a drink bought magazines all by someone who never once made me feel like I didn't have the right to be there. My stylist came and let me know she knew I was there and she'd be with me in a few minutes, she then listened to what I wanted and did it. She told me how I could help my hair without making me feel like I'd been naughty. She offered me a range of products to purchase none of which I felt compelled to buy and re-booked me straight away to ensure I got a ten percent discount on my next treatment. She also advised that I could just get a half head highlights for next time as the roots wouldn't be so bad and that would save me some money.

I'd gone in there with the worlds worst hangover (the sort of hangover where you put make up on and it looks like you've tried to bronze a cadaver) dreading what was about to happen to the extent that I'd even taken a hat with me. I had a blissful experience, the right temperature, non-offensive music (what is it with hair salons and dance?) and someone who listened to what I wanted and didn't feel the need to ignore me. I really recommend Headmasters - I'm still reeling from such a blissful experience xx

Science of Attraction

I got sent this link at the beginning of the week and actually wasn't going to watch it but then... well January's slow isn't it so I thought I'd have a look and actually it's really interesting! Perfect length of time for a bit of mid-afternoon desk distraction! http://www.scienceofattraction.co.uk/ xx