PRODUCT REVIEW!! Neals Yard Frankinsense Hydrating Cream

Two Words. TOTES AMAZEBALLS!!!!

'Rejuvenating" is the main descriptive word in the catalogue text for this product and I can wholeheartedly say thats a TICK!! Ive literally used it twice - from a tester tube I acquired ( more on that later ..)
It smells gorgeous and its so refreshing.. I know it sounds cheesy but I can almost feel its anti- ageing properties working. Its packed full of anti oxidants and no nasty chemicals ( being made by Neals Yard Remedies thats pretty much guaranteed for all products ) Apparently the properties of the plant extracts in it, boost elasticity and it SMELLS GORGEOUS!!!!
Its ingredients are mostly organic and certified - its fair-trade, and it comes from the Baobab tree which is called the ' Tree of Life '

And Frankinsense is a very christmassey ingredient - so - perfect for presents... but like I said .. more on that later - stay tuned Im becoming a NYR Organics consultant but this review is nothing to do with that - i would have reviewed this product anyway coz it ROCKS!!
       

Look at what I won!!!

Ooooo how excited was I this morning!!! I won a competition with American Crew https://www.facebook.com/pages/American-Crew-UK/183309985056843  ( thats their facebook page ) I had to answer some James Bond geek facts. Now Im the proud owner of some lovely grooming products and a smart new bag for my clippers. Hurrah !!  and at the same time, the neighbours gorgeous velvet kitten wandered into our house and me and my daughter spent the next ten minutes trying to extract it from the house but at the same time wanting to catnap it coz its so gorgeous.Its like a little dark grey velvet ninja...EXACTLY the sort of cat James Bond would have, and would obviously name it Pussy Galore...anyway we were late for school but it was all SO worth it!

When Brow Bars turn BAD!!!!

BAD REVIEW ALERT!!!  I dont think Ive ever had call to write a bad review before - I dont normally let things upset me that much , and now tbh Ive ' let it go ' on the advice of my Buddist friend.. but I feel its my duty to enlighten you readers to this, so you dont have the same awful experience as I did, and apparently ( according to the Superdrug office lady I spoke to ) Im not the first to complain..about.. 'Super Brow Bar' - the in-store brow threading service apparently run by some franchise that isnt even linked to Superdrug, so this is NOT a complaint against the store.. although hopefully after these complaints they'll think twice about about keeping them there - bad rep and all that...

Anyway I dont normally go there.. I normally go to a cheap as chips and lovely lady in Chinatown called EyeWow - she is lovely and friendly..or Brazilian Waxing Co ( but theyre a bit pricey) and Ive never had a bad experience..   but today I had a tired daughter with me and it was a case of the quickest place, and as I passed Superdrug on our way to the bus I just nipped in - "a fiver!" i thought " that'll do, we'll be in and out in 5 minutes.. concerned about getting tired daughter home for a rest.. There were 3 threading girls there and no customers so they were having a chat, fair enough but it took a minute to get their attention..I was told  to pay at the counter and bring my receipt back, which I did, but that was as far as the conversation went. I decided myself that I should probably sit in the chair, and as the other chair was occupied by ne of the other threaders ( still chatting ) my 6yr old daughter had to sit on the floor ( because she was tired ) I sat in the chair and one of the threaders had her back to me but said ' Hold It !!" and i didnt realise she was talking to me.. why would i - she had her back to me, then she turned round and aggresively said ' HOLD IT!" I realised she meant my eyelid but i hadnt known she was ready to start .. so I did that then then before she moved on to the other eye she carried on the conversation with her colleagues ( I cant tell you what it was about because it was in Arabic ) then she started on my other eye and said "hold it" againbut then realised i was too low down in the chair for her and said " can you move up the chair please!!" in quite an aggresive tone once more. Then she plucked some last hairs out quite hard and painfully, then quickly shoved a hand mirror in my face so i could see theresult ( the result was fine, but I couldnt wait to leave. She didnt even attempt to put any soothing gel or soothing wipe across my brow. NO BASIC aftercare AT ALL!!! To be honest I didnt even think about that until I was on the bus and realised how sore my brows were . I had tried to complain to the checkouot staff asking if i could see a manager but she said they are not linked to Superdrug and Ihave to speak to the Brow Bar staff myself - well I think complaints should be made to a higher power, so I got home and put cucumbers on my brows straight away, then I rang Superdrug Piccadilly office and complained to the lady there - she said I was not the first complaint they had  had about the Brow Bar staff, and hat the Floor manager would have a word. So thats as far as it went but I'll be going back to Eyewow, or forking out more at Brazilian Waxing Co in future.

So in summary 'Super Brow Bar ' NO customer service, NO proffessional aftercare, Painful service, BAD attitude and RUDE staff!! Dont even GO there!!!

Things that are good!! Essie Nail Polish

I dont often review products, but when I do I have to really love it to be arsed with sitting down and writing about it.. but I really DO love Essie nail polish. I discovered it last week (in Superdrug I think) and having been drawn to the lovely display unit and gorgeous bottles of pretty colours, a pretty fabulous range of colours.. like a Pantone chart of Nail Polish!.. I decided to try a nice cappucino coloured one for myself.. ( its called ' Masterplan' ) and Ive been wearing it for a WHOLE WEEK WITH NO CHIPS!! I only put 2 coats on and a top coat that I had at home by Bourgois. Just to give you an idea of how hard wearing it is, Ive done loads of manual work this week, including dragging my kit bag everywhere, on and off buses in all weathers, making up faces including all the cleaning of hands and kit that goes with that,  domestic chores, cleaning up after a child and a cat and someone elses dog, walking said dog, washing up, riding my bike, and its still looking fine on my nails! Just started wearing off at the very tips today, but after 6 days I think its time for a fresh application anyway. I reckon its AS good if not better than more expensive brands like Nails Inc, and it comes in at about £7 - £8. And I think they do a good range of pro nail care products too, as its an American pro-manicure brand, not just a cosmetic colour brand.
The names of the colours are fab too. Go check out the site http://www.essie.com/latest-collection/  and hunt them down in high street stores.

LUSH MAKE UP ! ... BRILLIANT !!

Finalllllly!!!  LUSH have launched their new make up line, 'Emotional Brilliance' and shopping for make up has never been quite so fun and interactive !

Basically you go into the store and spin the wheel ( above) with all the pretty colours on, and shut your eyes, and when you open them and stop the wheel, quickly choose the first 3 colours that you are drawn to on that day.. each colour has its own emotional meaning, relevant to qualities that you either have lots of, or need more of, or that people admire you for.. and as if by magic, the wheel never lies! Its so clever - I think it will make people try colours that they wouldnt normally choose, and as the make up colours are multi-taskers ( they can all be used for anything.. eyes, lips, cheeks, liners..) You can get really creative. Im going to start collecting some.. but I started off with just the mascara - it also comes in the same ' dropper bottle' style packaging.. being both recyclable, easy to see how much youve used AND get the last out of it AND much kinder to the eyes than most mascaras, and its very black. The wand in the bottle is very short, but Ill be using longer disposable wands anyway so thats not an issue. Ill also be investing in some of the foundation colours ( not pictured,but seemed to give good buildable coverage when i tested on my hand and a great price at only £8.50 ) and I'll definitely get a lovely vintage pink colour called ' Sophisticated'. 
The sales assistant had a coppery colour on her eyes and it looked really nice, not creased or dry and she said she'd had it on since the morning.
My personal colours ( just for the record ) yesterday, were: "Intuitive" (lime green) "Calm" (sky blue) and 'Dynamic" (nude).. Dynamic was the emotion I needed more of apparently. ... zzzzzz :) 

Glamourama Ding Dong's FIRST POP UP SALON!!

Ive been meaning to do this for a while, set up a stall at a vintage fair and do hair and make up there.. so when the opportunity arose to do just that ON MY BLEEDIN DOORSTEP ,  I jumped at the chance to book a spot !
Its a new Flea Market / Vintage event in Chorlton, called FLEASY STREET  and they have some fantastic people lined up to take part ... Lomography ( those old Russian style cameras that have such a cult following right now ) , Oxfam Originals for your vintage threads , Some bicycle people and much more - check the Fleasy Street page on Facebook for all the details https://www.facebook.com/FleasyStreet?ref=ts
 I'm most excited about the Lomography crew being there, so after people have come to me for some vintage glamouring, they can go and have an authentic retro photo taken, AND wait for the prints to be developed , like we had to in the olden days, and you just dont know what effect you are gonna end up with on a Lomo print - thats the beauty of it - its so unpredictable. You can predict preset retro effects on apps like Instagram , but Lomo keeps it real, AND the cameras all look like spy cameras from the 1960s!
Anyway - GLAMOURAMA Pop up Salon, thats me - will be offering various styles of hairdoos from bygone eras eg Victory Rolls, fake Betty Bangs etc ... not cutting or wet setting - just dry styling techniques for speed, and make up from those eras too - you can either choose to have a full face of make up, or just one or two small additions to your own make up eg perfect flicked eyeliner and false lashes, or a perfect pout. AND I'll also bring some Brylcreem and pomade for the boys.

Vintage Glamour Workshops with Kitty Wink Vintage

https://www.facebook.com/events/487043967992426/

I've joined a team !!!!!  Not Team GB, but Team Kitty Wink ;)

Click the above link for details of The vintage Glamour Workshops run by Alice Kitty Wink of http://www.kittywinkvintage.co.uk/

Alice has kindly asked me to be one of the make up and hair stylists in her team at larger group events such as this one at Rose and Lee Vintage in North Manchester on 6th October. I will also be joining the team at further events TBC . Alice totally lives the vintage life and is a very talented make up and hair stylist and businesswoman - She has been responsible for a lot of the really productive networking between vintage enthusiasts in the North West via her Facebook group and regular group meetings. You may recognize her as one of my models on a vintage makeover at http://www.altstudiouk.com/ I gave Alice a 1920's vamp look, which she rocked to perfection. Also in the team is Simon Hunt, my ' boss ' from Alt.Studio, who creates the most fabulous Vintage styled  photos and makes all his clients feel like Glamour Queens :)
So what are you waiting for? Join the Glamour party! Shimmy Shimmy y'all to the vintage workshops ( the ones at Rose and Lee start on Sept 1st )

Click the link, for Kitty Wink!