Welcome 2012....

Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2012 brings all that you wish for!

Kate
xoxo

011 Saturday Matinee

 Well it has been a while since I did one of these but I thought I would start off with my most recent trip to the cinema which was to see Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. This is the second in the series of Sherlock Holmes movies which stars Robert Downie Jr as the enigmatic and very eccentric Sherlock Holmes, accompanied by Jude Law at the put upone Dr John Watson. Whilst the hype had this movie dubbed as better than the first, I went into the cinema a little sceptical that this would be the case, you see I loved the first film it was the film that made me ever so slightly fall in love with Robert Downey Jr and his querky portrail of Sherlock. In that respect this film did not fail, Mr Downey was true to form with great support given by Jude Law.

 

Professor Moriarty played by Jared Harriswas the ever polite overly intelligent vilan, a great job with in my a opinion a very boring script and character development. He should be a super villan to end all villans intelligent, suave with an air of mystery but I just didn't get that in this film.

My favourite part of the first film was setting of the film in victorian London with all the hustle and bustle in the back ground and I am afraid that is what was a bit lacking in this, the more remote settings lacked the energy given to the first film. What was still true to form were the great victorian costumes especially those worn by Rachel McAdam's character, Irene Adler, I love that hat and the dramatic makeup.

 

By far the stand out best part of this film was the small role played by Stephen Fry as Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock's slightly more put together brother who still lacked some of the social graces for normal society expectation. The comic timing in the delivery of Mycrofts lines was excellent.

  

 

All in all this was an entertaining movie and although it wasn't as good as the first one I still felt it was worth my cinema ticket and shouldn't be relegated to the "Oh well I will watch it when it comes out on DVD" pile. The costumes, action and cinematography were great, well worth a view on the big screen.

Good bye drafts!

I had to share this with peops so badly... It is my new draft excluder from George @ asda for a bargainus sum of £5.00. I am really happy with it, its purple tones complement my purple door to a T!

Although it did make me feel a little old lady when buying it but the check out guy made me feel much better for asking my for ID when I purchased this with some red wine and the rest of my grown up shopping... Candles, slow cooker and soap dish etc. Thank you Mr Check-out-boy!!!!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Honey I'm Home!!!!

I have tots been AWOL for the last 6 months while I got my life together and really put some effort into my career. As a result I have sacraficed my blogging somewhat, and also my Finepix S9600 went to the great camera graveyard in the sky, which hindered the blogging process. But now I have got my career back on track with 50% of my engineering chartership under my wing (only a 7.5 hour exam to go!), my flat has come together in a more completed way and I have a new little desk in my room where I can sit and blog and work and such, Ooooo and for christmas santa brough me a new Canon S95 compact digital camera which should help with all the blogging.

So my new years resolution is to put more effort into this blog (my for fun one) and a new professional blog that I am starting to discuss stuff that is a bit closer to work like Architecture, Engineering and interior design and stuff! More news will follow shortly.....

Pout Polish....

Whilst browsing the aisles in Superdrug I decided to pick up one of the newish Sleek Pout Polish in Pink Cadillac 947.

Pros....

- Packaging is great, I love the fact it is in a screw lid pot. The branding is pretty and modern, the matt black lid makes it look tres chic. I like that the lid has no stickers to peel off or rub away.

- Price £4:30... Very affordable

- size... 10g

-colour and consistency are great, a sheer bright pink that adds a touch of colour with no stickiness.

Cons...

-smell, it is a sweet vanilla not great a bit sickly but I can live with it.

All in all this is a great little pot to have in your bag. The only ways of improving it would be to change the smell/ flavour to something fruity and maybe putting a mirror inside the lid for true convenience!

Kate
xoxo

Beauty Balms...

Just thought I would provide a quick review on the "new" Garnier Beauty Balm. I have been using it now for 10 days and am starting to really enjoy it, the application process is so easy I only need to use my fingers to smudge it on. The coverage is light but it does exactly what it is supposed to do and evens out the skin tone. It smells better and feels more luxurious than a simple tinted moisturiser. The consistency is similar to a thick eye cream but it is quickly absorbed into the skin.

I love to use it in conjunction with the Garnier tinted under eye roll on and collection 2000 concealer to give a flawless finish. The finish is a little dewy for my liking so I dust it with a translucent powder, which helps it last a little longer. I expect it will be an ideal product for winter as my skin starts to dry out, and is probably already ideal for people with dry skin as the moisturising effects are great!

I will let you know how I rate the affordability once I have seen how long a 50ml tube lasts. At £8.99 from Boots/Superdrug I am happy with the cost. The packaging is simple and works it may become more frustrating trying to get the last of the product out of the tube.

Where for art thou.... My Motivation?!?

 

image 

So far today I have had the longest bath, cleaned my kitchen, messed my kitchen up again and watch two films. Considering I have a major career deadline this week which I am not fully prepared for I am finding my laziness to be completely unacceptable, so for the past 30 minutes in an attempt to get on with things I have been googling motivation. Whilst most of the items I have come across are to motivate women to attain the perfect body there have been some gems... the drive reduction theory, the Herzberg Two-factor theory, Need Hierarchy theory... and a whole load more bullshit that people have spent a large chunk of their life researching!

When it comes down to it there are reasons, motives, incentives.... (the list is endless)... as to why we do what we do.... So in the hope of motivating myself I have come up with a list of my motives:

1. Success
2. Increased pay
3. recognition amongst piers
4. More responsibility
5. security both in my life and financially

Some day all this stress and confusion WILL BE WORTH IT!!!

How do you get motivated?

Now to work....

He's just not that into.....

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I made the most enlightened discovery the other day, I had always thought that my BF was just messy and the he was not that into cleaning. I was learning to live with it, I would get home from work an hour before him and set about doing some chores. However much of a walkover I might sound I can assure you this not the case... I much prefer cleaning and getting it done that arguing about it!

However I think I might have got it wrong! Two weeks ago after we had struggled with a bit of weekend DIY hanging some new curtains in our living room (which look lovely by the way) the BF made this comment.... "The curtains look great but the length will mean we will have to clean the floor more often!" 

Sometimes I wonder what planet he is on... I asked him if he realised I clean the floor twice a week and mop every 2 weeks. He stared back at me blankly... It is not that he can't or won't clean it is simply that the Dumbass is BLIND to any dirt!

Do you live with someone that suffers from DIRT BLINDNESS?

Bake off....

 

Last week I gave the Maple and Pecan Layer cake a go from my new Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days book. It seemed to turn out pretty well with people at work requesting the recipe so I was happy. But I am a bit of a perfectionist.... one thing that annoyed me was I only had 2 8" sandwich tins and one 8.5" cake tin so the bottom layer of this 3 layer cake was a little too large.

Anyway today I am feeling inspired to bake after watching the Great British Bake Off.. if anyone hasn't seen it before it is sort of like a cross between the apprentice and master chef. If only they would say "You're Fired!"

Along time coming......

It has been a while! To say the least... but I am not going to apologise for that as this blog is purely for my own amusement. Life has been pretty busy recently that I haven't had the time to ponder anything. But things are starting to get really exciting that I thought I might spark up the old blog again to share my experiences....

It might change a little bit but hopefully it will be a delightful journey.....

010 Saturday Matinee....

OK so this one strictly isn't a film but a TV program I am absolutely loving right now.... MADE IN CHELSEA... I love it! When the Hills ended there was a massive gaping hole in my TV watching schedule that simply could not be filled, until now. I had tried to make several attempts at watching TOWIE but I have never been able to make it to the end of an episode, something to do with the people, accents, tans and general hideousness of the program. It just didn't have that what seems like ordinariness (is that a word?) to which I could try and relate... not that I am saying my life is anything like the people's in The Hills and Made In Chelsea but there is something that seems a bit more normal, saying that though...

Made In Chelsea is HILARIOUS! There is the ongoing love triangle going on between Caggie, Spencer and (wait for it....) FUNDA!!!! Who calls their child Funda? It sounds like an STD... but other than the ridiculous name these 3 seem like pretty normal people to me, Spencer and Funda live together in a normal looking Chelsea flat where you don't get much for your money and Caggie is an aspiring singer/songwriter, although the singing wasn't amazing and well her first gig was a bit Karaoke with no song writing skills put on show.

Then there is Spencers friend Hugo, who seems to like to play match maker and Caggie's friend Millie Mackintosh a bit of a flirt....

Francis Boulle and Fredrick Ferrier are two really really young looking lads about town (maybe I am just getting old?!?) Francis works in the diamond industry but only ever seems to be getting his portrait painted and saying the most stupid things.... Why get your portrait done with a blow up globe and a pineapple in hand??? Because it represents success in the  18th century... join the real world! He seems to be utterly infatuated with Caggie but she is way out of his league. Freddie is a model/student.. looks about 16 and seems to be a bit of a ladies man.

Amber Atherton and Rosie Fortescue haven't had much character development and seem over pretentious in a show where everyone is pretentious! Hopefully there is more to come...

The next 4 characters seems to have an absurd relationship dynamic, there are best friend Cheska and Binky (nicknames!) who don't seem to quite be acceptable by everyone previously mentioned.. there seems to be a bit of snobbery going on. They are friends with Ollie who is an incredibly metrosexual straight man!?! maybe bisexual!?! who knows? who cares? it is pure entertainment.. he dresses for attention, curls his eyelashes, fake tans for an all over glow and tosses his mane of hair every time he is in shot. I don't know if the hair fiddling comes because it keeps getting in his way... maybe he should consider tying it back or wearing a hairband?!? Ollie is in a relationship with Gabriella Ellis, a pouty mouthed greek who has way better hair than Ollie and seems a lot more comfortable in this relationship than he does. In this group there have been some corking lines:

"Charles Dickens wrote Winnie the Pooh, right?"

"We know you have always wanted a onesie..."


"Those eyelashes look exceptional..."

"I really feel like my hair has gone downhill lately..."

All very hilarious, some pretentious, snobby people with a dislike for High Street and anyone outside their circle, with so few brain cells between them that I don't there could be one successful career made. I LOVE IT!!! It makes me feel smarter just watching them!

Lazy Sunday.....

 

via

I am having such a chilled Sunday doing absolutely nothing and contemplating everything! I spent Friday in London in a meeting and then catching up with an old friend, I got back yesterday at about 2 in the afternoon and spent the rest of the day pretending to be a domestic goddess. We had a little eurovision watching dinner party last night where we served homemade lasagne with salad and breads, followed by some shop bought desserts (I just ran out of time to make my own, it feels like I failed a little bit in my goddess pretence). It was a lovely relaxed evening and good to see people.

Today I have just bummed around the flat, not even properly dressed yet!! I have been forming a to do list inside my head though:

• Tidy bedroom
• take bottles to the recycling
• Put up pictures in the recently decorated hall
• Paint the front door
• Sort out the tintin art for my bathroom

Hopefully in writing that down I might get off my bum and do something productive.

Or I could stay on the sofa browsing the Internet and watching terrible TV, today I have made some beautiful discoveries..... all things bright and beautiful, Seven Seven Inspire, Gallery No. Eight, Wish You Where Here, Bijou and Boheme... happy reading!

Where have you been all my life????

It is very rarely that I will come across a must have beauty tool that I find really makes a difference to my day to day routine, discoveries of the past have been the Carmen heated eyelash curler and the sigma flat topped kabuki brush. This months discover has been the MAC 212 makeup brush....

A brush that is described by MAC as a Flat Definer Brush that:


Lines and define the eye with colour. Firmly bristled, flat of shape; applies colour in a stroke to provide instant definition. Use with powder, liquid or cream products. Synthetic.

It has happily been sitting in my makeup brush since Christmas waiting for me to come along and try it out, since CHRISTMAS!!! how stupid is that! Anyway 2 weeks ago I gave this baby a whirl using MAC fluidline in blacktrack and I am in LOVE! Every day has been any eyeliner day apart from those days when I am exhausted and know I will be eye rubbing. It will successfully create that fine, elegantly defined eyeliner look without me taking 15 minutes to make it look even (whilst inadvertently creating a thick wedge of eyeliner) nor will my BF laugh at me sticking out my tongue when I put my eyeliner... standard practice when I concentrate!

They only problem I can foresee this the brush being a little too big for some people's eyes resulting in some "corners" being drawn. Nothing a little bit of care in application shouldn't take care of. Anyway I love it and I haven't seen any other alternatives on the market, it cost £16.00 from MAC and was well worth the expense.

Yay to the three day week!!!

I am not big into all the random wedding based documentaries on the TV this week but I am ever so thankful for an extra day off work giving me a 3 day week!!! So thank you William and Kate and GOOD LUCK today!!!

001 Yummy Yum Yum...

So yesterday was easter sunday and we went over to my boyfriends parents for dinner last night, and I took a strawberry pavlova for dessert. I wanted to take something that was nice and summer, nothing too heavy as I wasn't sure what else we where having to eat so pavlova seemed an obvious choice.

I have been making pavlova since I was old enough to hold an electric whisk, it has always been my mums dessert of choice for dinner parties in the early nineties and something that I fall back onto when I am too lazy to weigh out lots of ingredients.

So the ingredients are egg whites and caster sugar, in these proportions; 1 egg white to  2 ozs of caster sugar. Don't worry too much about the process and things going flat, a lot of people put a lot of hype into making merringue but it is all very simple. The equipment you need is:

• Large mixing bowl
• Electic hand whisk, or a kitchen aide type whisk.
• A large baking tray, preferably with edges I use a loose bottom flan tin as I find it easier to transfer to a serving plate that way.
• good non stick baking parchment, I use the reusable stuff from lakeland it is absolute magic.

The first step is to separate the eggs for a normal size pavlova to serve 4-6 people I use 4 egg whites. If you find seperating eggs difficult just gently break the whole egg into the bowl and lift out the yoke. Remember to keep the yokes and give making homemade mayonaise a go!

Once the eggs are separated use the electric mixer to whisk the eggs until the clear liquid turns white and foamy, you want to whisk until the eggs form stiff peaks (so when you switch the mixer off and lift out the the mixture it stands up on its own). it is very important that all the egg whites are the same even consistency so no clear runny whites at the bottom of the bowl.

Then you add the sugar, so for a 4 egg white pavlova I will have weighed out 8 ozs of sugar. I will add the sugar in two batches and make sure it is properly mixed in so probably whisk it for a couple of minutes. If the sugar isn't properly mixed in then it is not the end of the world it simply means that when cooked the meringue/pavlova will ooze a clear sweet syrup.

Then spatula the mixture into the middle of the lined tin and spread out a little, you don't want it like a cake this has now raising agent in it so it won't expand much in the oven. Remember to spread the mixture so it forms a little dip in the middle of the pavlova so you can easily add the topping later.

Then place in your oven at a low temperature, this is where all the error might occur in the process of meringue making. You simply want to dry out the mixture, not give it colour so I set my oven to 100oC and place the pavlova in the oven for 1 hour.

I then turn the oven off after the hour and leave the pavlova in there until it is cool.

If the oven is too hot is will cause the pavlova to colour and even worse it can start cooking which makes it go flat and chewy. A pavlova should be white can crisp on the outside and soft and fluffy like marshmallow on the inside. If you like a chewy marshmallow type pavlova that comes from leaving it to cool in the oven over night. I spent 3 years with a really old electric oven in my kitchen that simply would go low enough to make a good pavlova, in the end I had to give up and stop trying!

Once the pavlova is cool you can tore it for up to a week until you are ready to use it, in a cool place in an air tight container. If there is any moisture at all it will go soggy so don't put the topping on until you are ready to serve.

I will then whip up a 200-250ml carton of double cream until it forms soft peak. carefully place the cream on top of the pavlova and then add your toppings. You can use anything you what but my preference is summer berries, either a single berry type like the strawberry pavlova in the above picture or a mixture. But you can add anything... chocolate, kiwi, pineapple, crushed malteasers.. just remember you already have a very sweet pavlova base so fruit is good to keep the whole thing light and summery.

If you what to make meringue for Eton mess or Cranachan or another meringue based dessert then you may need to create smaller meringues. What you want to do is dry the mixture out the whole way through so it is all crisp, so keeping the oven as low as possible leave the merringues in for at least 3 hours depending on the size.

Good Luck with it and if you want any advice of tips email me on kate_about_town@yahoo.co.uk.

xoxo

009 Saturday Matinee....

Happy Easter everyone!! Today I was struggling to think of a favourite film to review/recommend but then in a moment of clarity it struck me.... Easter Parade!

It is a 1948 film staring Fred Astaire as an amazing dancer (true to form!) and Judy Garland as the hapless chorus girl plucked from obscurity all because of a bet to become a successful dancer/performer. Ann Miller is the talented dance partner of Freed who abandons him because she thinks she can do better alone, but boy can she dance! My Granda has a complete soft spot for Ann Miller, always tells me how at the time she had the longest legs in show business. I can't imagine that we would now be curious to know what a stars leg length was, I somehow feel Natalie Portman might loose out but I could be wrong.

The costumes are lovely, the songs are melodic and there are some great dance sequences, my favourite being Fred Astaire's - Stepping Out. It is such a beautiful Easter Morning film to watch.

Anyway I must get on and make a Pavlova to take over to the in-laws for dinner tonight! Happy Easter!!

xoxo

Summer Preparation.... part 2

Now that the summer seems to be well and truly here it is time to wipe the pasty pale skin from my body and look like I have spent the afternoons out in the sunshine rather than stuck in the office. I have started the process of gradually tanning...

After 12 years of searching for the perfect fail safe method of fake tanning I am pretty happy with my current solution which is to use Nivea Gradual Tan Moisturiser. I still have about a quarter of a bottle left from last summer but now that I am writing this blog I have made the sad realisation that it doesn't appear to be available any more!!! I don't know what I am going to do, I guess I am going to have to embark on finding a new gradual tanning moisturiser as I truly believe that is the way forward.

I apply my current gradual tanner every morning to my legs at the moment to build up a more natural tan that I can maintain.

Even though professional spray tans can have good results they can be pricey, you have the search period of finding a good professional with a product you like which can result in an oompa lompa effect, also it wears off and has to be maintained. Other instant products that you can buy from boots etc or even the expensive ones are all as good as the application and sometimes you just don't have the time and unless your and octopus getting full coverage is something that would have anyone else watching absolutely giggling.

Anyway this is what I have been using, at £7 a bottle it was an affordable solution to the summer pallor:

over the next week or so I will be on the hunt for a new tanner so I shall update on how that hunt goes. The important things I look for are:

• quick absorbing
• good tan pay off as it developes
• no fake tan smell throughout the day
• affordable
• no fuss

The great thing about gradual tanners is they can fool anyone, even your parents if you are still at school! If anyone has any other gradual tan recommendation let me know so I can check them out.

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A touch of pink....

No I am not going to review a lacoste perfume, but I am simply commenting on this weeks nail varnish choice. I went with a Barry M polish in Fuschia. Forgive the piccie I took it on my IPhone and modified it with Instagram to make it look more like the real colour. Also I hate my wrinkly hands so I was trying my best to disguise them!

I hope everyone has had a good Monday, today I started my training to get fit but I am going to do a seperate post on that.

xoxo

Not everything is as it seems....

Whilst browsing the Internet I found an amazing website for a company called Faux Pink who specialise in retouching images for magazines, advertising, portfolios etc. I thought some of the digital alterations where such a transformation that you could barely tell it was the same person, more like a sibling... here are a few that caught my eye:

Model 1
Lilly Cole
Model 2

I think that what Faux Pink do is amazingly talented and I would love to have then come around and touch me up in real life! But there is a part of me that feels like the whole thing is false advertising on the part of the campaign, why can't people just be show as they are? There are so many girls out their who believe this is what they should be looking like and it is all fake!!!

008 Saturday Matinee....

This week saw the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, and last night I rented it from Virgin Filmflex. Having seen all the other films and read all the books I didn't have high expectations of this film living up to the the book. The Half Blood Prince had been especially disappointing so much so that I nearly walked out of the cinema and that I didn't go and see the Deathly Hallows Pt1 when it hit the cinema. I was quietly surprised that I enjoyed this film, it is never going to be the book but at least it didn't muddle story lines and makes sense to people who hadn't read the books.

The highlights where the excellent cinematography of the English countryside the location scout on the film did an great job! The costumes even delighted which was unusual for a HP film, the Ginny bridesmaid dress, the Hermione red dress for the wedding and in the bottom picture the Fleur Delacours wedding dress is a n imitation McQueen 'pheonix' dress! The animation scene of the Three Brothers children's story was really really really really good in its monochrome/sepia palette. Rhys Ifans plays and excellent nutcase Xenophilius Lovegood, he didn't quite seem like him and the Irish accent was a tad dodgy in places.

Only downer seemed to be Daniel Radcliffe's lack of acting ability, but it can't all be perfect!

Hopefully the second part will be just as good.

Do you ever have one of those days?!?

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Weeks or even whole years??? I completely irrationally grumpy today and I think the pressures of life are just getting to me. It would be so nice to be a kid and have no responsibilities, no bills to pay and no work to worry about. Now that I am getting on with life an not so ill, I need to get my butt into gear and sort out my finances. Grrrrrr.... So as a first step I have signed up to Experian to get a Credit Report, not sure how accurate it is but it is a start.

Tomorrow I will call my bank to review my mortgage status and account facilities... oh the formalities that come with being a grown up.

As it is I am not spending any moment so have nothing to show anyone or to review. I do however have these little tit bits that I want to get on and write....

1. Summer Preparation - Part deux on self tan and looking healthier than you are.
2. Curtains and Drapes - I went to Chatsworth House last weekend and did a little study of the curtains and tie backs which I want to share but the images new to be resized so they don't slow down anything.
3. Coconut and Lime Cake - How to...
4. Blueberry and Lemon drizzle cake - How to...
5. Yellow Bedroom Accessories - Shopping List
6. Sofa Inspiration - I have been looking for a corner sofa bed for ages and think I should try and share my wisdom with you all!

Finally here are a few things I am loving at the moment:

• Messy I have just fallen out of bed hair
• Tesco Makeup wipes - so cheap and great on my sensitive skin
• Sudacreme - great for spots or skin discolouration, I utterly swear by it. In fact right now I am sitting here with white blobs of cream on two spots I have aptly named Fred and Wilma (Flintstones reference), one is large and the other is rather red.
• Rock Lime Cordial - yummy! it makes the best lemonade and limes (maybe with a shot or 2 of vodka added)
• Percy Pigs - They bring happiness into my life!

Anyway hopefully now I can get on with writing those other blog posts!!!

xoxo

007 Saturday Matinee....

This one isn't a film but it is brilliant none the less, the BBC's adaptation of Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice. After visit Chatsworth last weekend I felt all inspired to watch this, unfortunately I was off work ill again on Monday and Tuesday so I could spend all day lying in front of the TV watching the 6 part series on a DVD I purchased some years ago. I love this program not just because of the excellent cast, costumes, sets and script but because of all the memories I have attached to it. Not sure if this is the same for other people but there is always one film/series that you watched time and time again as you where growing up and for me it was this. My Grandma recorded the original series on Video cassette when it was first shown in 1995 on the BBC, me and my sisters watched it so much that we started to wear the tape out.

It stars Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle in the title roles of Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett, and I am sure after Colin's recent Oscar win for the Kings Speech the BBC will be reshowing this program around the world. If you don't know the storyline already it is about the two lead characters finding love against both there better judgement and concerns brought with class and the social standing of the period. The supporting cast is wonderful with hilarious performances from Lydia Bennet (as the boy obsessed teenager), Mrs Bennet (as the menopausal interfering mother) and Lady Catherine DeBurgh (as and interfering old bag :-)).

It is a long one, possibly more suited for periods of illness or days with rain but it is such a goodie!

Happy Weekend....

 

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Yay it's FRIDAY!! I am off to Nottingham this weekend so it is going to be a sparse weekend of post unless I feel the urge to use my IPhone. I travel up there tonight so lets hope the traffic is light and that I can pack in under 5 minutes!

xoxo

Big blow out....

 I wasn't really sure how to follow a blog post on hair removal so I have played it quite safe and gone for a product review. This is an amazing product for application to damp hair just before blow drying to give smooth and shiny hair, it is the Tigi Catwalk Blow Out Balm. I purchased my bottle six months ago from my hair dresser for just over £10.00, but it is available on the Internet for about £8.00. The bottle is quite small but it seems to last for ages, a little really goes a long way, on my long hair I only apply a pea size amount.

This is what tigi say about it....
To Polish and Refine
This blow out in a bottle gives touchable, glossy hair without sacrificing natural fullness. Silk and Soy combine with a blend of Dragon Fruit and Bamboo to give a straight style with long-term hydration.

TIGI® CREATIVE TEAM TIP
For the perfect blow out, smooth balm through hair and blow-dry in sections using a round or paddle brush.
Which is a pretty accurate description for what this product does! What I was most delighted about was the tiny particles of glitter in the clear balm.... so pretty! And the smell is utterly amazing and lasts for a couple of days, it always gets commented on and not just by my Other Half... which yes is slightly weird thinking back on it but I will take any compliments I can get!

As with most blow drys the more care and time you take the better the results but this is a delightful shortcut for those early morning quick drys!

Summer Preparation....

Now that summer seems just around the corner and there has been a delightful change in the weather it seems about the right time to start getting my legs and feet back into shape for shorts and skirt season. It isn't that through the winter I don't remove the hair or look after my legs it is just that in summer time I take a little more care.

The first step is a change in hair removal, throughout winter I will remove hair with a razor, it is quick and easy to do in the shower. But in summer I like the effects to be longer lasting, with summer holidays and the festival season it is always nice to not worry about hair growth especially if you are dark haired like me! So out comes my epilator...

Mine is a Philips Satin Ice (I think) HP6513 epilator, it can be purchased for £39.99 on amazon.co.uk at the moment. I have had this one for a number of years now and it is by far the best I have tried. There are a few key things that you need to remember if you are going to buy and epilator:

1. It needs to be rechargeable and have a long battery life, firstly it is unlikely that most people will have power sockets in your bathroom hence it is good if it is cordless. However it is pointless to use a cordless one if the battery is going to run out when you have only done half a leg, and as the power runs out the whole process gets more painful as there is not enough energy to rip the hairs out.
2. The wider the head the more hair it will remove in one go!
3. In my experience you get two main types of head, metal or ceramic, by this I mean the little discs that spin around ripping your hairs out. I prefer the ceramic type as I find the metal type simply breaks the hairs rather than ripping out from the root and the results don't last long this way.

OK so those are the critical things to remember when buying and epilator but how about when you use it?? I really hate that period of having to grow your hair to be able to wax, which is why I like the epilator and why I start my preparations in spring. So the key is not to grow all your hair out but start using the epilator in place of a razor before you have a shower, ideally with it running and the bathroom nice and steamy to open your pores. This way you are building up the hair removal a little at a time and don't have that horrible growing out period. After a couple of weeks you will notice that you won't need to epilate for a week then 2 and so on...

The next part of the routine is to exfoliate and moisturise, I would exfoliate twice a week with a product from Champney's called citrus glow....

It leaves your skin feeling soft and moisturised and doesn't require additional moisturiser to be applied after you get out of the shower. I think the last tub I bought was in Sainsbury's for about £9 but that was at the end of last summer. One tub will last you all summer long! Only problem I find is that when rinsed off it has a tendency to block the plug hole after a while.

On the days when I don't exfoliate I like to use a body oil from Sanctuary (available on boots for about £6)..

It is in a really large spray container, 250ml and will last forever!! it sinks in really quickly and doesn't sting freshly epilated legs as it doesn't contain any alcohol, which is handy to reduce any rash you might have on your legs.

Finally in the evening just because I am not perfect I like to use a little bit of firming cream/gel.. at the moment the potion of choice is Soap and Glory's Firminator... not noticing the results to much but then i don't like to spend too much time staring at my thighs and butt!

Once you have been using the epilator for a while and are confident with its abilities you can then start using it on the more delicate areas like bikini line and more significantly underarms! This is probably one of the greatest things, it hurts terribly at first but after a while you become accustomed to the pain and the benefits are incredible, I can go up to 6 weeks without having to remove hair from under my arms and it also doesn't leave any stubble shadow! Having dark hair that is always a hindrance to me exposing my arm pits but not if I epilate!

I hope this routine was helpful to some people who wanted to explore the world of epilation!

xoxo

006 This weeks happy list.....

Today I went exploring in the sunshine, off too the Love Food Spring Festival at Bristol Old Train Station and had such a lovely time. The festival had been running all weekend and was free to enter, we didn't buy too much as I had just done an online grocery shop and we get all our organic veg on a weekly basis from Riverford. I had meant to take my camera but I unfortunately forgot it :-( Then we went to the Arnolfini for a couple of drinks in the sunshine!!! I do love Bristol in the sun, it is such a summer city!!

Anyway on to this weeks happy list...
001 Blogging - This week I shall endeavour to be more dedicated than last!

002 Buying other people presents and watching them open them!

003 Feeding people baked good!! I made a delicious coconut and lime cake yesterday that hopefully I will be repeating mid week.

004 Killing Zombies!!! :-)

005 Finishing work at 5 on the dot and escaping into the sunshine of the city. Which will be hanging around that much longer now we are into British summer time!

Oh I shill have to carry over the clean bed linen from last week, I suck at this really but my excuse is that I get up and leave before my boyfriend even gets out of bed and he sleeps like a puppy so I can't bring myself to kick him out of the bed to get the sheets in the washing machine.