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May 29 Perfectly polished tootsiesI'm a big fan of Zoya nail polish, in fact I'd go so far as to say it's my favourite nail polish of all.
The colours are lusciously bright and deep and the shiny finish beats all the others I've tried when it comes to longevity.
Now Zoya have introduced a new shimmery range called 'ChitChat'. Perfect polish for tootsies that are pedicured to perfection this summer.
Featuring six zingy shades, all of the new colours are layered over a shimmering golden base to create a sparkling sheen.
Gaia is an icy white metallic, Erika is a romantic pink with a rosy gold sheen, Bekka is an atomic lime metallic, Lianne is a gorgeous tangerine metallic, Annie is a vivid burnt orange and Elke is a bright berry red.
Zoya is available from leading professional salons, spas and branches of the Organic Pharacy. For stockist details call 0800 1116647 or buy online at www.zoyapolish.co.uk. Each shade is £8.95.
*All Zoya nail colours are free of potentially harmful industrial chemicals including Toulene, Formaldehyde and Diutyl Phthalate (DBP)
May 28 Beach fun at BluewaterFancy getting into the summer spirit as you do your summer shopping? Head no further than Bluewater in Kent, which has just launched a season of summer style with a glamorous seaside theme.
Take a break between shops and chill out by a beach hut, designed by the likes of Alesha Dixon, style icon Jasmine Guinness and Peaches Geldof.
Meanwhile, to help you find the perfect new wardrobe this summer, Bluewater's resident stylist Anna Moore has some top tips...
1.Body Shape Love the body you're in! Identify your body shape and wear clothes that accentuate all your best points and disguises your imperfections! 2. Colour
Don’t be afraid of wearing colour. Identify the colours that work best with your skin, hair and eye tones and team them with complimentary and toning colours. 3. Trends
Be aware of trends, even if certain styles are not right for you – you maybe able to create a nod to them, which will keep your look current. Accessories are fabulous for accessing trends. 4. Shopping
Be aware of budget and objectives. Do not be tempted to panic purchase. Try to consider what items will work with in your existing wardrobe before you buy. 5. Foundations
Begin with underwear that fits correctly. Always get measured and fitted for a new bra – it can make a huge difference to your body shape, confidence and even your posture. 6. Style
Find your own style. Try to visit a new shop/try on a new colour or garment shape every-time you go shopping. We all get stuck in a style rut, and need to think outside the box! 7. Everyday Basics
Items such as good fitting jeans, vest tops, t-shirts and white shirts should be considered in terms of fit and quality just as much as special occasion looks – after all you wear these things all the time! 8. Alterations
Never under-estimate the power of alterations – we do not all fit into the exact shop size – and may need to shorten hems or sleeves to get a perfect fit. 9. Accessorise
Accessories can make an outfit come to life. They are an inexpensive and accessible way to buy into the trends of the season and bring your look bang up to date. 10. Wardrobe
Organise your wardrobe by season, (storing other clothes away) and by colour – this will make it easier to make decisions in the morning. To see Anna's, Alesha's or any of the beach huts, visit Bluewater any time up until August.
May 27 Avon calling!There are rumblings happening within the world of Avon right now. Avon used to be the cosmetics company with the air hostess-style image and the ring of 'Avon calling' from a lady at your mum's front door. But there are changes afoot. Not only has Reese Witherspoon become the new face of the relaunched brand (and in particular Avon's Pro-To-Go Lipstick, which incidentally, comes with rather clever packaging that allows you to apply with one hand - for women on the go), but now the firm has teamed up with James Bond. Yes, 007. The company is creating the new signature Bond Girl 007 women’s fragrance, the first to be created in conjunction with Bond. Says Gemma: “I’m thrilled to be working with two such iconic and established brands. The Bond Girl 007 fragrance embodies everything a Bond Girl represents - intelligence, sexiness and confidence.” The Avon range is still exclusively not available in shops, but can be personlly hand-delivered to your door. Visit www.avonshop.co.uk to take a sneaky peak at what's happening, or call 0845 601 4040 ( 00 353 1870 6540 for customers in Ireland) to find out more.
May 19 Sassy heels by Mary-KyriGwyneth Paltrow may well be single-handedly responsible for bringing sky-high stilettos back into fashion right now, so fans of the sassy heel will be pleased to learn a new brand is launching the UK: Mary-Kyri shoes.
Australian born Mary-Kyri has developed something of a reputation for producing unique and contemporary stilettos that are made with comfort in mind.
Created entirely in Italy using leather skins in vibrant colours, Mary-Kyri shoes are made for 'elegant and passionate women who are not afraid to express their individuality', say the designers.
Celebrity fans include Kylie & Dannii Minogue, Megan Gale, Pink, Jade Jagger, Kate Moss and Fergie.
In Australia, Italy and New Zealand Mary-Kyri designs are stocked in prestigious boutiques such as Cactus Jam, Jean Brown, La Vetrina Di Beryl and Runway sitting alongside Stella McCartney, Versace, Salvatore Ferragamo, and Chloe.
To find out more visit www.mary-kyri.com.
Kylie wearing Mary-Kyri and one of the most popular styles: the Clovella. May 13 Monthly MailbagIt's that time again where we say thank you to everyone for all your comments on this here blog. And a special thanks to everyone who replied to the post WHO STOLE GRANDDAD'S PRESENT - it seems there are many people out there who have experienced things going missing in the post - and there really needs to be a clampdown on the few rogue posties out there who are giving the system a very bad name.
Eileen said: "I agree there are a few toerags out there who help themselves to the contents of the post, it has happened to me twice now and both times the Royal Mail has not been at all interested and more or less brushed my complaint under the carpet, no wonder they are having to close much needed post offices down and are being privatised."
While Cheesed-Off from Chichester added: "I buy a lot of things from Ebay and pay for recorded delivery which is money wasted when the postie doesn't bother to get me to sign for delivery. I used to complain when things arrived damaged or unsigned-for and always got the same standard letter back saying they were terribly sorry and assuring me it wouldn't happen again. Now, every time I receive a parcel with a recorded delivery sticker on it which the postie hasn't bothered to get me to sign, I wait a few days, check the tracking number online, which always comes back as "untraceable" and then claim for the parcel. They can't prove it's been delivered as they have no signature, so they have to pay up."
Hair straighteners became the other big issue of the month - and in particular, Remington's Wet2Straight hair straighteners, which cut out the middle man after the shower - that being the hairdryer.
"These straighteners are great!!!," commented one reader. "I have really frizzy thick kinda curlyish hair and they worked really well! Of course they work best with products such as heat protection sprays and stuff - and sometimes I need 'frizz serum' stuff as well, but still, they are amazing!!!"
But H had this sage advice for lovers of hair-straightening "The best way to use heated hair stylers is to use good quality shampoo, conditioner, serums, and thermal protection spray and most importantly DRY YOUR HAIR BEFORE STRAIGHTENING OR CURLING IT!"
It seems the jury's still out on the best way to straighten hair - and different types of hair may work better with different types of straighteners. Our best advice is to ask your hair dresser what kind of straightener would best suit your hair type as they are the experts!
Finally - thank you to everyone who replied to our Gorgeously grey eyes post. It's great to get advice from everyone on where we can find the little beauty products that can seem difficult to difficult to track down at first.
Bestest,
Nic x
May 12 Death of the high heel!Say it isn’t so…Shock horror. Surely it can't be true! The death of the heel? But according to new research 95% of women questioned in the UK don’t wear heels and more than 3 in 5 do not know how to do their make-up! Is this end of femininity? Are the elegant days of Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe lost for ever? Worryingly a further quarter of women admit to regularly leaving the house without brushing their teeth. Errrr dentist anyone? So has every lady turned to a ladette? Is elegance lost in the UK? The research carried out by Bold 2in1 White Diamond & Lotus Flower suggests that women are blaming a lack of time and money, and a shocking third stating they ‘just can’t be bothered to try’. This may explain why a quarter of women do not remember the last time they felt elegant. Despite this, 8 out of 10 women wish they could be more elegant in every day life. So in response, this summer the snappily titled Bold 2in1 White Diamond & Lotus Flower Elegance Boutique will be touring UK cities with a team of hair, make-up, wardrobe and perfume experts to help introduce a touch of elegance to women’s life and laundry. For more information and advice, as well as the chance to win an exclusive limited edition ISSA wrap, visit www.indulgewithbold.com.
Loving high heels: Rachel Bilson May 02 Fragrant soaps from ScillyTwentyeight is a range of cleansers produced in the beautiful Isles of Scilly. Look, these are the Isles of Scilly:
I've just decided I want to live there. Especially since it has a more Mediterranean climate, fields full of fragrant wild flowers and beautiful shorelines galore.
Twentyeight (so called because the Isles of Scilly are 28 miles off the coast of England) is a small family-run farm, where the owners harvest and produce their own essential oils from Scilly's beautiful meadows, and make these lovely looking hand made soaps:
They smell and look divine in the bathroom - and come in rose geranium, lavender and rosemary. Bag yourself a bar, here. WHO STOLE GRANDDAD'S PRESENT?Is a question I’ve been asking myself since I posted an M&S card with £30 of vouchers on it to 82-year-old Bert.
You see, somewhere in between me posting granddad’s voucher card (which was inside an M&S card, inside a birthday card) and it reaching granddad’s mitts, SOMEONE decided to open the envelope, remove said vouchers, reseal the envelope and send it on. Now this is not the first time this has happened to me – or undoubtedly anyone else. And it won’t be the last. Only last month I posted a parcel to my friend who is having a tough time working under lockdown conditions at the British Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. It was a simple parcel of fashion mags, books and a whopping great big bar of chocolate. It’s free to send stuff to British Embassies because of the great work people are doing out there in them. So, you wouldn’t normally send something registered delivery. But did it get there? Did it hell. A few years ago my too-trusting Dad put some money in a birthday card for me and sent it via post. Of course it never arrived. And nowadays nobody would dream of doing such a thing. But the thing is, when I was little, I used to get sent fivers and tenners in the mail from my aunts and uncles for all my birthdays up until I was about fifteen. So why can’t we do it now? The thing that really got me about Granddad’s present though, was that it said ‘Granddad’ on the card. And that someone dared to help themselves to a present that belonged to an elderly man. That stung. Anyway, the point of this rant is this: I wrote to the postal service and they said that because Royal Mail has all been privatised etc, they can’t do anything about it. Instead we all have to pay through the nose for special delivery to stop people pilfering presents out of our letters or parcels. (And for the record, I know that 99.9 per cent of the people that deliver our post are wonderful honest and good people, it's just that a few scumbags are really badly letting the side down.) But on mum’s advice, I also wrote to M&S, enclosing a receipt for said vouchers. Now it’s not M&S’s fault that someone stole them, but gawd bless that store, their people looked into the matter, saw that the vouchers hadn’t yet been used, cancelled them and sent me a replacement (recorded delivery, natch). Now how nice is that? What customer service! I was already a big fan of M&S (partly owing to the fact that our office is situated right over one) and always go there for lunch food. But I am so impressed, I’m going to make a concerted effort to think of them more when I need clothes/flowers/anything they sell. So thank you M&S. You are my new favourite store. |
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