Thursday 24 February 2011

Is 'Rose Gold' the new black?


For someone who looks and sounds like a member of N-Dubz, you would be suprised by my expensive tastes, but I am totally in love with this new season Mulberry in perfect pink with Rose Gold fittings. The £1,787 price tag makes this 'Tillie' bag almost a grand more than it's black, brown and beige contemporaries. Is Rose Gold the new black?

Rose Gold (also known as Welsh or Russian gold) is actually cheaper to produce than usual gold as it is an alloy made from merging yellow gold with cheaper metal copper. It is hard to describe why it looks so much more desirable.

To get a rose gold accessory into your life without breaking the bank I love Michael Kors selection of watches which has about four models in this colour.

Friday 18 February 2011

Melanotan… the new smack

Illegal, fulfils your cravings and you inject it. No I’m not talking about heroin, it’s the latest craze in the beauty world – tanning injections.

We’re sick of smelling like stale bacon and don’t want the premature wrinkling brought on by sun bed abuse, so a quick shot in the backside and a Gisele Bundchen Brazilian Glow with no effort required is very appealing. But we thought beauty was pain? This goes against all our fundamental principles? What is it people say when something’s too good to be true? It’s probably not very good…

So what do the critics say?
“A letter to the British Medical Journal reports a ‘concerning’ new development. The letter says that two recent users of the drug had visited a skin clinic after moles on their bodies had rapidly changed in size and “darkened over a few weeks”. Both women had injected Melanotan I and II.”
(And when we say we’re worried about moles we don’t just mean an unsightly coco pop – we’re meaning ‘cancer risk’)
Nursing Times
“In addition to the possible side effects of Melanotan itself, there are also other potential dangers. Using non-sterile water to prepare the injections can cause serious blood infections, and sharing needles spreads blood-borne diseases such as HIV and hepatitis. Injections by untrained individuals can cause skin and tissue damage, and might result in permanent or life-threatening injury.”NHS
“The concern is over the unnatural stimulation to melanin production in order to darken the skin and that this may be found to cause cancer. Cancer cells are, put simply, mutations. Obviously changing your natural skin colour permanently in this way is in itself; MUTATION.”Blogger on Sofeminine.co.uk
“Melanotan has not been tested for safety, quality or effectiveness. Therefore it is not known what the possible side effects are or how serious they could be. For a start, because these products are being sold illegally, there is no way of knowing if they are what they say they are, and not contaminated by dangerous chemicals. Nor do we know how they might interact with any licensed drugs a person is taking. If you have used Melanotan and have experienced unwanted side effects, talk to your GP. They can give you advice and help you to fill out a yellow card, which allows the MHRA to keep track of the side effects of commercially available medicines.”Cancer Research UK
So we know there has been a pilot study (this means a small study with very limited numbers of people) – what did the doctors observe in clinic?
• Drowsiness
• Fatigue
• Mild nausea
• Severe nausea
• Yawning
• Spontaneous penile erections (yay!)

None of that sounds too troubling does it? Hmm except this bit at the end “two subjects had increased pigmentation in the face, upper body and buttock”. Increased pigment means darkening of the skin in patches and is not attractive or healthy looking.

There are tons of forum posts from people affected by this so if you do notice your tan is distributing unevenly – TAKE THAT NEEDLE OUT OF YOUR ASS!

Thursday 10 February 2011

Forehead you could show a film on...


Many of us were shocked when it was revealed this week that Russell Brand had been using his wife Katy Perry's forehead to screen old episodes of 'Ponderland'*. But can you blame him? The perfect square of perfectly flat, unblemished flesh sure beats a hanging strip of linoleum.

"Baby Botox" means that some people are getting frozen under 30, under 25, Lindsey Lohan is 24 and she's been doing it for years and I've got to admit I want in on the fixed and emotionless face trend.

The tell-tale signs are the unachievably smoothness of the forehead and the extreme waxy shine - not sure why that happens? - but as fake as it looks I marvel at the 'airbrush' effect Katy Perry achieves and that Nicole Sherzinger from the Pussycat Dolls**. Just perfect.

I'm yet to try it myself, but it's something I'm thinking about but when I do decide to take the plunge the before and afters will definitely be on here.


* story has been fabricated for a good opener to this blog

** No contestants were blinded by the reflected light bouncing off Sherzinger's face during the filming of this year's X Factor










Tuesday 8 February 2011

The best a (wo)man can get?

As the weather is starting to warm up I am reminded that I won't be able to live my life in tights, jeggings and over-the-knee socks for much longer - hiding my stubbly pins.

I have always been a fan of leg-waxing and have a home kit of wax you warm in the microwave and cotton strips you can wash and re-use. Very eco-friendly, but very messy.
When I was bought the Remington 2 in 1 epilator and foil razor I was very apprehensive. Would it hurt? Would it cut my skin? The gadget makes a fierce whirring noise when you turn it on, but it's bark is worse than it's bite.

The sensation does sting at first - particularly near the ankles - but the cms of skin you clear of black hair is a great incentive to persevere. I'm such a fan I have even done my armpits with it - a particularly ouchy area.

The packaging says your hair need only be 0.5mm, but I think a mm is more realistic as it doesn't really suck up the hairs this short. After my first attempt I did need to have a quick shave to tidy up the areas I missed, but a fortnight on my legs have so little re-growth.

Shaving is still an essential part of my beauty regime as using the epilator is time-consuming and it did leave me with red spots on my angry follicles. For a really close shave use Bio-oil instead of shower gel. It leaves you with the smoothest finish you have ever experienced and moisturised skin. However be warned your razor will blunt almost twice as fast.

Lastly the Remington Epilator is just too painful to use on the bikini area (I did try and managed to clear about 10 hairs, but it wasn't worth it!). However I did borrow my boyfriend's razor and was really pleased with the result.

It's Gillette's new pro-glide razor and has a battery to power it's vibrating action which apparently is what gives it such a clean shave. There was no redness, no bumps, no cuts and no irritation with grow-back so I can't rate it enough.
Just don't get distracted with the vibrate motion ;-)