Monday 28 November 2011

Nicky Morgan

I’ve never been nervous about doing a blog post before, but i’m nervous about writing this one.

On Thursday 27th October, my friend Nicky Morgan went for a night out with his work pals to celebrate a birthday.  Nick works as a bouncer in Nu Bar in Essex (as well as playing for Billericay Town FC as a Goalkeeper), and was out to celebrate one of the other bouncers birthdays.  Towards the end of the night a fight broke out and Nicky stepped in to help.  This resulted in Nicky suffering a neck injury, and now he’s paralysed and has been in Queens hospital in Romford for the last month.

Obviously when everyone who knew Nick heard this they were all devastated.  I don’t want to bang on about how much of a great guy Nick is as the sheer amount of people that are willing to help him recover  in any way is proof enough, but he just genuinely IS a lovely bloke.  It’s a shame when this happens to anyone, but Nick was so active, so full of life that it’s hard to imagine him being restricted like this and hardly anyone being able to help him.  The recovery will be long and Nick will have to work hard, but he’s determined and persistent so we all know one day he’ll get there and he’ll be back to his normal self.  Unfortunately for him to be able to do so he is going to need some help, and this is where you lot all come in...

As I stated before, Nick is currently in Queen’s Hospital in Romford.  A few days after the incident Nick had a major operation, whereby he had 2 plates and 8 pins inserted around his spine to relieve the pressure.  He now has slight movement in his arms and he can feel his toes being touched and last week achieved slight movement in the backs of his legs.  Obviously all of these factors are huge positives for Nick and it’s succeeded in giving everyone hope that he will get better.    Queen’s hospital have provided him with a wheelchair but he is currently waiting for a specially adapted one due to his size.  Regardless of all this, what Nick really needs is to be moved to a specialist spinal unit called Stoke Mandeville so he can start his rehab.  Unfortunately Nick’s surgeon presented his case at a seminar on Thursday, but the relevant representatives didn’t attend – Nick’s family hoped that they would be there and ‘cherry pick’ him for admission to their rehab program.  He’s an ideal candidate as he’s young, fit and willing to work hard but as things didn’t go to plan the people that needed to listen to Nick’s case weren’t there to hear it.  Nick’s surgeon has suggested everyone kicks up as much fuss as possible to get his case heard – local MP’s, contacting the media, everything.

I know a lot of you reading this blog post won’t know who Nick is, but it doesn’t matter.  It’s not clear whether Nick fell accidentally or was pushed.  Nick was involved in this fight because he was trying to help.  He wouldn’t have been throwing punches, he wouldn’t have been continuing the argument when it was nothing to do with him.  Nick’s JOB is to stop people from fighting, and at a height of 6ft 7 he probably didn’t have much of a problem with this before.  Unfortunately the CCTV has still not been analysed by the police as of yet so we do not know the exact circumstances surrounding this fight.  All we know is that we want him to get better, and we are all willing to do whatever we can to help Nick and get him admitted to Stoke Mandeville. 

I know I bang on all the time about RTing tweets and helping me with random rubbish on Twitter.  All of the things I had asked for your help with before are irrelevant when it comes to this.  I almost wish I hadn’t asked anything of you all before, just so this request would have more impact.  I genuinely mean it when I say this next bit:  If you only ever read 1 of my blog posts, if you only ever RT 1 of my tweets or you only ever listen to 1 thing I say then please, PLEASE let it be this.  Everyone that knows Nick is willing to do anything they can to help and this means spreading the word of Nick’s case as far as we can.  I’ve put some links below to newspaper articles, donation pages, his personal blog that keeps everyone updated on his progress, but I’m not necessarily asking for your money.  I just want you to take 3 seconds out of your daily routine to push this around Twitter and spread the word about what happened to Nick.  If enough people read about Nick’s situation, soon enough someone who will be able to help will get to hear about it too.

If you want to buy tickets for the Charity night, the link is below.  The tickets are £6 each or 2 for £10, and Nick's family have said that if you wanted to attend but can't, still buying a ticket means you will be supporting Nick on the night.  

We are also collecting items to auction off to raise money at the charity night.  If you know anyone or have any celebrity contacts who could provide us with something signed or something of value to auction off that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading and if you help in anyway, thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.




Appeal for Witnesses

Friday 25 November 2011

Online Security

I wasn't sure what I was going to end up blogging about today.  I haven’t been too concerned as I am leaving work at 4 (yippee) and I have been blogging like a mo’ fo’ lately anyway, but then I stumbled upon a blog post by someone I follow on Twitter that really caught my attention.

Everyone reading this is probably reading it due to social media.  I post a blog and then I tweet the link or I put it as my facebook status encouraging people to log on and read it.  I try to be careful with my Facebook, but probably to my detriment i’m not as careful on Twitter.  My private Facebook account is strictly kept for people I know through old jobs, childhood friends or current friends and family.  If you are not my friend on Facebook then you can’t see anything other than my current profile picture.  Twitter is different, and it’s probably not a good thing.  There are a lot more randoms on Twitter.  I have over 1,000 followers now and I never really think about it that much, but they could literally be ANYONE.  I have been careful to not disclose my real full name on Twitter, but to be fair I probably haven’t done enough to keep my identity private.  I have my profile picture as a real picture of me.  I have links to my blog that is covered in pictures of me with my real friends.  I tweet about what train station i’m at, what venue I am going to that night.  The only thing I have never done is disclosed my work place to my followers, or the name of my company.  Again, this isn’t for any other reason than if current or prospective employers were to try and find me they would only have my real name, and therefore my Twitter account and blog wouldn’t appear.  Hopefully.

So, browsing my Twitter timeline today, I stumbled across a tweet from @the3rdgirl promoting her blog.  In there I found a blog post explaining why she was deleting her Twitter account and taking some time out from it, posted about a month ago.  Her post is explaining the various reasons, but partly calling out the internet ‘trolls’ she had the misfortune of experiencing in the weeks leading up to this post.  I can’t say I blame her for taking a break, but I am pleased to say she is back.  While reading her blog post she directed links to two other blogs, one detailing serious experiences of stalking and another that advertises the frankly brilliant Twitter account set up to track worrying or obsessive tweeters contacting vulnerable people, and a bad experience with one tweeter that lead to it's creation. 

I’ll start with GrumpyHatLady’s blog, which you can read here.  (I’m aware that all 3 of these people are concerned with their online security, so I have contacted them all to check they are ok with me linking their twitter accounts and blogs here).  I read the whole thing and was frankly AMAZED at what she had gone through at the hands of a stalker, but unfortunately I was not shocked.  Unfortunately her stalking experience ended up consuming much more of her life than just on the internet, but it doesn’t take a genius to work out that you might have some sort of weirdo following you on Twitter, someone that isn’t just up for a chat or a discussion about a random topic.  This poor lady had been stalked before when she was 15 and then experienced this twice more further down the line, and the worst case was because her stalker found her on the internet.  This wasn't because she was giving away her details enabling him to find her, but he was persistent and ended up using the internet against her, to find out all of her personal information.  She goes on to say this is why she doesn’t have a facebook, use LinkedIn and doesn’t reveal her real name or any details about herself on the internet.  She explains this isn’t because she’s got something to hide, but just a matter of preference, to protect herself from any sort of trouble she might get just for the sake of telling someone her name.

The second blog, ‘The Blog That Peter Wrote’ unveils the disgusting behaviour of a tweeter called BertieWWooster, and you can read it here.  BertieWWooster sounds like your average troll, gaining trust from women on the internet, stepping things up a notch by trying to get them to engage in ‘cybersex’ or the like, and then turns nasty when they decline.  He has claimed all sorts of ludicrous things, from having contacts within the FBI to knowing someone’s full house address, work address, name, phone number etc.  Peter launched a campaign against this guy and at the very bottom of this blog post states that through his hard work he has managed to get all 4 of these rogue accounts deleted (BertieWWooster was only 1 of 4 accounts this guy used to terrorise people). 

Reading both of these posts, you might think that the experience @the3rdgirl had was a bit tame.  Fair enough, it might have not been full on stalker mode like @TheGrumpyHatLady, but it was still bullying and I just do NOT understand why you would bother to do that online?  Most people have a Twitter account because they want to socialise, but there are some people that sign up just to verbally attack people that have done nothing wrong, and 9 times out of 10 haven’t come into contact with this troll through any fault of their own?  I will forever fail to see the point in that and can only come to the conclusion that the people that do this have underlying 'issues'.

Anyway, I wanted to blog about this because although I personally have never experienced anything of this sort (and I think I would be totally petrified if I did), their blog posts have totally made me think long and hard about my ‘online life’.  I have never had a stalker but there was 1 guy on Twitter who started off sweet and lovely and I spoke to him a lot, but as the months passed he got weirder and weirder and kept DMing me saying he wanted to meet me etc.  It got to the point where I panicked and basically found an excuse to unfollow him without trying to wind him up (next to impossible).  After that I was left alone so he wasn’t a major threat but even experiencing that made me feel uncomfortable when I logged on.

We all hear the news stories about there being bad people online and the things we should do to prevent ourselves getting caught up in any sort of online trouble, but if you are anything like me you don’t really think of it that much.  It's always one of those “it’ll never happen to me” situations.  After reading these blogs I went onto Facebook and double checked my security settings.  I then logged out and checked what my account looked like to someone that wasn’t friends with me.  I checked my Twitter information, and I went and amended my ‘about me’ section on this blog.  All that’s left for me to do now is make sure I am careful with the things I tweet to people and blog about.  I'm not saying you have to suddenly be suspiciouis of everyone on Twitter, but where they might seem really nice and friendly, you never atually know what goes on behind closed doors, or people’s computer screens.  Keep your personal information safe, and just be wary of people.

I would just like to congratulate Peter (@PME200)  for sharking out the bad eggs on Twitter and working that little bit harder to make everyone feel safe.  I’m glad @GrumpyHatLady is now clear of any trouble and is looking after herself online, and i’d also like to express my pleasure that @the3rdgirl is back on Twitter and enjoying herself.  The account Peter set up to warn women of Bertie is @SexPestWarningI have linked their Twitter accounts here so if you would like to contact them regarding their blogs or experiences you are able to.  Clearly no trolls allowed.


Thursday 24 November 2011

Dermalogica Samples & The Tanning Shop

When I am preparing to go on holiday or in need of a special beauty treatment, there is only one place I go to.  My chosen haven is The Tanning Shop in Waltham Abbey.  This shop is my chosen place purely because it's clean, the staff are incredibly friendly and they offer every treatment you could imagine. 

Run by the lovely (loud) Leily, when you walk in the door you are immediatey welcomed like you are an old friend.  It's nice that the staff appreciate you are a paying customer but also like to have a chat and a giggle, and the atmosphere is extremely relaxed - that's a very good thing if you are bricking it becuase you are about to go and have your first bikini wax!

This franchise offers lay down and stand up sunbeds, spray tan machine, on site nail technician and all the standard beauty treatments.  They also have a botox and weight loss clinic that runs once a week.

My experience of The Tanning Shop started just before I was going on holiday last year.  I wanted to book a sunbed course as I wanted to try and establish some sort of base tan before I went (I hardly EVER tan).  I went in and spoke to the super helpful beautician Jo about how easily I burn etc, and she advised me of the most cost effective sunbed course to purchase, how many minutes I should do on each occasion and how often I should have a sunbed.  She also told me the best cream for my skin - christ, she even told me in depth how the sunbed works and how it compares to the sun!  It was really encouraging that they employ staff that know in detail about the treatments and the results you will get, instead of them just being like "it's a sunbed, it'll make you brown".

Due to this I have been going there ever since for things like eyebrow waxes, sunbeds, spray tans, nail wraps and i've had 'gelish' nails on some occasions.  The service I have received has been really good, I cannot recommend The Tanning Shop Waltham Abbey enough - thanks Leily!

Anyway, back to the reason I started this post in the first place.  I have been trying to find a good skincare routine for years.  My skin is normal, maybe slightly oily in small places but pretty average, although every so often it goes really dry - I have an issue whereas my hairline gets really dry and itchy and sore and no moisturisers really seem to help.  I figured instead of scouting out lots of different moisturisers I might as well go into TTS and see if anyone could give me some advice. 


I sat down with Jo and after some input from Leily they advised me to try some Dermalogica products.  Obviously I didn't want to buy full bottles of the stuff knowing that it might not be any good for my skin (I know, god knows how i've got away with never using Dermalogica before now!) so they sent me off with lots of samples to try to see which ones worked the best for me.  See, they are HELPFUL.  It was good timing as well as when I got round to using them my skin was going through one of it's horrible dry phases.  Review of each product below:


So I started with the 'skin prep scrub'.  The first thing I noticed about this was that it smelt really funny?  I'm not sure why but I have this thing about skin products and how they should all smell clinical and fresh and this had an almost spicy smell that I wasn't expecting.  It wasn't a bad smell, it was just... weird?  Anyway, the skin prep had the same texture as an exfoliante and I assume it's just to get rid of all the impurities and dead skin cells etc on your face.  There wasn't really enough in the sample, either that or as well as having wonky lips I have a big face?  I used it and washed it off and my skin did feel smooth afterwards, which was a plus...


Next up, the 'special cleansing gel'.  After experiencing the Skin prep I was pleased to realise that this gel was odourless.  The instructions tell you to apply it to your face and lather it up - It had good coverage, easily covered my whole moon face and it was easy to lather.  It rinsed off easily and left my skin looking nice and refreshed and baby soft.  I REALLY liked this product and it soothed my scabby dry head (sexy).


Next I used the hydrating masque.  The instructions tell you to apply this all over your face and leave on for 10-15 minutes.  Again, the masque was very thick and spread easily all over my face.  It was clear so you can't see it on which was a shame as part of the fun of face masks to me is looking like an actual UNIDENTIFIABLE CREATURE when you have them on, but oh well :(  For the first 5 minutes I found this quite uncomfortable as it stung my head and around my nose a bit.  I'm not sure if this is because my skin was quite dry, but after a while it calmed down and I managed to leave it on for the full 15 minutes.  It dried and didn't stay sticky, and when I rinsed it off my skin felt AMAZING!  It was so smooth I almost wanted to whack another load on and do it again, but I only had one sample :(


I finished off my little DIY facial with the body hydrating cream.  I'm not sure if I was supposed to use this on my face or not, but it didn't say not to on the back and I felt my skin needed 'hydrating' more than anything else.  It had a nice creamy texture and left my skin feeling super supple and soft afterwards.  Yes I am aware of how rude that last sentence sounds.

All in all I was pretty impressed with the condition of my skin after all these lotions had been put on it.  If I was to go out and buy anything based on using these samples it would definitely be the special cleansing gel and the hydrating masque.  I felt the most difference after using these products and feel they went a long way to soothing the dry skin on my head.  You know when you can just FEEL a product working?

So I would just like to say thanks to the lovely Jo for talking through my skincare options, Leily and The Tanning shop for supplying me with the samples and Dermalogica for potentially giving me an answer to my skin care woes.

Next step is to find a skin care range that will enable me to eat BUCKETLOADS of chocolate and then instantly remove spots.  If you hear of any miracles let me know...

Models Own & Diet Coke Collaboration



You should all know just how much I love Models Own, and I have enough fillings to prove I love Diet Coke - so you can imagine how happy I was to hear that they have collaborated to launch the 'Christmas Kisses' lip gloss collection!

As you can see from above there are 4 beautiful colours to collect.  Just pop into Boots and buy 2 250ml bottles of Diet Coke (and before you ask yes they are the small bottles).  Everytime you buy 2 bottles of Coke, you get 1 lipgloss free!  There are 4 to collect and at £2.50 for both bottles you can grab the whole collection for £10 (check me out, just call me Carol Vorderman).  Score!

I ran into the Carnaby St Boots today to grab them but they only had 2 of the colours left :(  I grabbed the one I liked the look of the most, and did some swatches on the quick in the toilet at work (so excuse the dodgy pictures)







So one thing I worked out when I was doing this is that I have really wonky lips?  I'm quite upset about that.

Anyway, as you can see I went for 'Lacquer Red', and that's the gloss second from right in the top photo.  I wasn't sure what I was expecing, I have never used Models Own make up (apart from the smudgeable eyeliner you get free with your first online order) and their nail varnish obviously.  First thing I noticed was the smell.  It smells really... cheap?  Anyway, it put me off a bit but I continued.

When I put it on my hand for the swatch I was shocked - It comes out like acrylic paint!  It is SO pigmented and SO thick, so that's another thing that put me off.  I imagined it would be like red glue when I put it on my lips.  It has a very glossy texture and seemed very sticky on my hand, but surprisingly enough it did come off very easily using a paper towel and a bit of water.

The best part came when I put it on my lips.  The coverage was instant and although it was thick, it did actually cover like paint!  The bottles are good and make the gloss easy to apply, but best of all (as I have now discovered my lips are just WEIRD and not a regular shape) if you get any on your face it doesn't smudge when you try to wipe it off, it just... vanishes?  You can see from the last picture how striking the colour is compared to my natural lip colour (my lips aren't really pale, they are just normal colour).  Another good thing is that the gloss doesn't smell once it's on your lips, so I either have a mutant sense of smell or the bottles smell plasticy - either way it doesn't matter if your mouth doesn't smell!

I would thoroughly reccomend this gloss, I would buy it even if it didn't come free with the bottles of Coke.  It appears to have epic staying power, I don't usually use lip gloss as within 5 mins of me applying it it's all disappeared!  It's safe to say that i'll be stock piling Diet Coke for a while as i'll definitely be getting the other 3 colours.

Have you tried this glosses, and if so what colour did you go for? 

xx

Wednesday 23 November 2011

Don't Get Lippy...

So, do you like Jessie J?  Coveting her look?  Well, if the skin tight cellulite revealing catsuit look isn’t for you, and you can’t afford to lug a throne around with you all the time then the answer to your prayers is here.

Lip transfers.  Made solely for the brave or mental.  I think applied correctly they could look AMAZING depending on the pattern you choose.  To find out more I have been googling them and the most popular brand for these transfers appears to be Violent Lips.  They do a range of patterns, and are responsible for the Union Jack lips Jessie J plastered on her face for her performance on Britains Got Talent last year.  We know that Jessie is already a fan of the lip-wear, dating back to November 2010 when she revealed black studded lips in her Do it Like a Dude video.  I must say I am not sure if i’m brave enough to go for the studded, it could get painful (and knowing my luck i’d probably end up swallowing one and choking on it by accident!).

Jessie J flying the flag on BGT
Jessie's studden lips in her 'Do It Like a Dude' video
I’m looking for something new to wear out for my friends birthday celebrations this Saturday, but the more I google them the more I am wondering if I should jazz up my outfit like this... They are being sold at Selfridges, and I have just been sent a 20% off code... decisions decicions!

Check out the Violent Lips for Selfridges range:

VIOLENT LIPS Temporary lip tattoo – red glitterati VIOLENT LIPS Temporary lip tattoo – pink glitterati VIOLENT LIPS Temporary lip tattoo – coral polka dot VIOLENT LIPS Temporary lip tattoo – red & pink heartVIOLENT LIPS Temporary lip tattoo – silver glitterati VIOLENT LIPS Temporary lip tattoo – purple polka dot VIOLENT LIPS Temporary lip tattoo – coral cheetah VIOLENT LIPS Temporary lip tattoo – hello VIOLENT LIPS Temporary lip tattoo – gold glitterati
   
The link to the Selfridges site is here and a couple are also being sold on asos too!

So tell me – would you use lip transfers?  If you already have, let me know your thoughts!

xx

Tuesday 22 November 2011

Motel Christmas Collection

Motel held an event a few weeks ago in London to give a glimpse of their new Christmas campaign and collection to all fashion bloggers.  I couldn’t attend the event as I went to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers (i’m sure if you follow me on twitter you already knew about that) but I got sent some info afterwards from the super helpful Selina at Motel (thank you!).

I've seen a few blog posts regarding this evening already and it looks like everyone had a lovely time!  The main reason this was held was to give the bloggers a sneak preview of the collection that will be in shops very soon.  I’ve had a look through all the pictures, and they have some lovely pieces this year.  I am looking for something a bit special for Christmas Eve this year as i’m out with the girls and we all like to make a special effort for Christmas.  Motel probably have most of the dresses I am lusting after lately, so I was really pleased to be sent all this info even though I missed the event J





First up the Christmas campaign.  As you can see from the pictures it fits the bill perfectly.  Lots of glittery dresses, red frocks and colour clashing shoes.  I like this advertising campaign as it brings the feel that these girls are celebrating Christmas in some old country house hotel, all running around going mental ala Skins Series 1 - that is right up my street and pretty much how I act with the girls at Christmas!  As much as the advertising campaign doesn’t exactly showcase the clothes to their full potential, it does the job:  Makes you want to look at the clothes in more detail, and gets you thinking about Christmas, and the all important Christmas Outfits.  (Sorry boys, it’s a girl thing). 

So next up, the actual collection.  At first glance there are lots of dresses, all similar in shape.  I noticed that they have a lot of the same style of dress in the same 3 prints too.  Not a bad thing if you like the print and what some different options, but it's not the most diverse range i've ever seen.  Motel has stuck to the standard Christmas colours pretty well; black, red, royal blue and bronze.  One thing that was nice to see was the amount of print in the collection - most designers think you can whack a few sequins on a bog standard dress and that instantly makes it a Christmas staple.  I’m pleased that they’ve included nice going out tops and trousers – a lot of brands fall into the trap of focusing solely on the Christmas Party Dress, but sometimes you do want to wear something different to everyone else.  Sometimes the LBD just doesn’t cut it.

Here is my pick of my favourite parts of this collection.  God help my debit card come payday!

I ADORE this outfit, perfect understated glamour!
Perfect for the party season, accessorize with a big fur coat to keep warm!
Slightly more classy than the normal Christmas Party attire, think of the
silhouette this outfit would give you!

Staple LBD

Sequins, obviously!

Loving this skirt, it's absolutely beautiful!
What do you think of the collection?  Are there any pieces you love, or bits you don't like?  You can view the full collection here, let me know if you'll be buying anything for your Christmas outfit this year :)

Liz Jones: Rant 3

I have often wondered, given the success of my last Liz Jones blog post, if I should do another.  I was acutely aware that I would have to find something else that irritated me just as much, that it shouldn’t be written for no reason.  I think part of the reason why so many people commented on and congratulated me on the last blog post is because it was necessary.  It was filled with such hate, such loathing for her and it was 100% genuine.  Articles by this pan faced witch have come and gone since.  They have left me sitting at my desk, rolling my eyes and twitching my fingers, but none have affected me in the same way as before.  I haven’t had that uncontrollable urge to write about how much I wish she would disappear off the face of the earth.  Until now.

She has an article on the Daily Mail website today called “Celebrity Clones:  Conker-coloured, tumbling hair, doe eyes and glossy lips:  Why do so many female stars look the same?”  Here we go again...

had Cheryl Cole made a surprise, unannounced return to her rightful place on the judging panel?  No, the doe eyed, dark haired doppelganger was merely Tulisa, who has abandoned any sense of being young, or modern, or different  Oh where to begin?  Well first off, even the title of this article screams “I AM SO JEALOUS THAT I AM TOO OLD AND DECREPID TO LOOK LIKE ONE OF THESE GIRLS”.  Just accept you are 158 Liz, and then work from there.  GROW OLD GRACEFULLY.  Secondly, now Tulisa has eyes and dark hair, that means she is trying to be exactly like Cheryl Cole?  If that was the case then she would have punched Mischa B during a toilet break on the show weeks ago.  They have the same colour hair, and a FACE.  Does that make them twins?  SO WHAT LIZ?  I hate you.

I use the word ‘dolly’ deliberately.  It is no longer acceptable for women to look fresh faced and in any way uniqueAre you SHITTING ME LIZ?  You are now having a go at people for NOT LOOKING NATURAL?   Compared to your boat i’ve seen more natural ice skating pigeons?  This is the HEIGHT of hypocrisy – no one slams Jones publically (apart from me) for modelling herself on Morticia Adams/the little girl out of The Ring, so why does she have the right to do it to others?  Gah.

human lashes no longer cut it.  You need eyelash extensions which not only cost £200 to be applied, they need special balms to “keep them glossy You are a total retard.  Do you think people really have eyelash extensions like that?  You can get strip eyelashes from Boots for £5.  You put them on yourself, it takes 5 mins.  You go out, get hammered, come home and wake up with them stuck to your face the next morning and wind up looking like Hitler.  NO ONE gets £200 eyelash extensions and spends 2 hours of their day conditioning them.  COME BACK TO THE REAL WORLD JONES, you know, the world where people are skint and have more important things to worry about than whether Tulisa’s eyelashes are real or not?

these eyelashes now occupy the time and energy of young women the length and breadth of the land, and are as difficult to look after as a newborn  WAR ON EYELASHES.  DEATH TO ALL EYELASHES.  EYELASHES ARE THE NEW INFIDELS.  Again, I don’t know anyone that pays that much for fake eyelashes.  Do you live in Narnia Jones?  Wearing fake eyelashes and having to wipe a serum on them once a day makes them as difficult to look after as a newborn does it?  You know that time when you tried to milk your ex boyfriend without him knowing because you wanted to artificially inseminate yourself like some crazed COW?  Yeah don’t ever do that again, because I literally could not think of anything worse than you having a child.

Take Victoria Beckham and Cheryl Cole for example.  Both women were probably born mousy, but now the Cheryl Cole ‘chocolate’ is flying off the home-colouring shelves in Boots  Oh so you HAVE heard of that commoners shop called Boots?  Can I ask you a question Jones?  I know you are far too young to need to do this, but have you never dyed your hair?  Oh you HAVE?  That’s why it looks like you don’t have hair, but have instead replaced it with a towel covered in black paint that you drape over your head everyday?  Cool.  Another question if you don’t mind – if you were going to go to the bother of dying your hair, wouldn’t you rather dye it a nice colour instead of opting for mousy? If I ever meet you Jones I will shave your face off.

Is it a bad thing that all these super-rich, super-influential women are persuading the rest of us to spend a good deal of time and money in the beauty salon?”  I don’t know about you, but i’ve never had a phone call from Jennifer Aniston ‘persuading’ me to buy some shoes, or Cheryl Cole ‘persuading’ me to dye my hair brown.  They have their own heads, and they do what they want with them.  If any girls like what they have done with their heads, they will do it too.  IT IS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD.

I think all these women resembling each other so uncannily is like an infection”  No it’s not Jones.  Do you know what is like an infection?  You.  An irritating, annoying, case of the clap that won’t go away, no matter how many times you try to eradicate it.  There should be a whole department of medical science dedicated to finding out why you are here.  Why are you allowed to talk, why you are allowed to TYPE.

I was watching TOWIE with a teenage male relative recently and asked him which of the girls he preferred.  “Does it matter?” he asked”  Christ, you can tell he’s related to you.  He might as well top himself now.  I feel sorry for the poor kid because i’d rather ask Ian Huntley if I can use his bathroom quickly than sit on a seat watching TOWIE with you.

Every time I read one of her articles, I wonder how she’s done it.  I know that the reason she is continually allowed to write for the Daily Mail is because she brings controversy with her whenever she writes, and controversy brings publicity (although I am 25 and probably in the age group that’s top of Liz’s thick list, even I know that).  I just don’t get how she first secured this job.  There are thousands of women all over the UK that can write and share their opinions in a healthy way.  Liz Jones doesn’t share her opinion, she rams it down your throat and tries to belittle you if you think otherwise.  She clearly despises any women who is younger than her, better looking than her and has chosen any different choice to her in life.  Kids?  Forget it, you’ve wasted your life.  Happy in a normal job?  Lack of ambition, you should be shot.

Liz Jones, you are the epitome of everything that is wrong with women in this country.  The problem isn’t that girls want to look nice, the problem is old hags like you that have a problem with it.  Just accept you look like a goat and maybe we can all move on.

Monday 21 November 2011

Magnetic Nails: Nails Inc vs 17

In the world of nail varnish I am sure you've all heard of Magnetic Nails by now.  Magnetic Nails are the new nail craze hitting the high street.  You basically paint the polish on and using a magnet attached to the lid of the polish, hold it over the nails and create an awesome two toned line effect, giving your nails that 'little bit more'.

Nails Inc

Nails Inc have created a range and the colours available so far are silver, purple, gold and a bluey teal colour.  PERFECT colours for the upcoming Christmas party season i'm sure you'll agree!  Each Nails Inc polish is £13 but they don't ALL come with a magnet on the lid, something you'll need to be careful of when purchasing (especially as you have to buy it seperately if it isn't on the lid of the polish you want).  I wasn't sure if i'd like the effect, and my friend had 3 of the colours so she let me have a go of them to see if I liked them.  I did, the coverage was good and it was easy to apply.  The magnet worked well and I had lovely nail art in a matter of minutes. 


Nails Inc Magnetic - Gold

Nails Inc in 'Houses of Parliment' (Purple)

Nails Inc in 'Trafalgar Square' (silver)

I thought the silver and purple colours were lovely and I couldn't decide which one I liked better.  Weirdly enough the Gold colour isn't listed on the Nails Inc website, so not sure if it's being sold like all the others or if it's a special limited edition one.  They have another greeny blue colour on there called 'Whitehall' which looks nice but I haven't had a chance to try it... 

As you can see from the pictures, the gold is a beautiful colour (again, especially for the Xmas parties) but in terms of the magnetic effect it doesn't really stand out that much.  I would happily use this polish without the magnet and just have it as a lovely gold colour - it's very bright and noticeably gold, whereas sometimes I feel this colour can look toned down and almost sandy brownish if they don't have enough colour in them.  Different to the other magnetic effects too, the lines created in the gold are white, whereas with the purple and silver polishes the lines are darker and almost black.

It's hard to see in the pictures, but when you first paint the polish on it's the bright colour all over, THEN when you use the magnet it creates the much darker patches, giving it the lined effect.  I like these polishes, they give a great effect to your nails QUICKLY - perfect nail art for if you are in a rush.

17

So after experimenting with Nails Inc I was all set to buy myself the polishes, and then noticed that 17 had created their own magnetic nails.  They were only selling them in limited Boots shops, but I managed to discover this on the eve of them releasing them in shops a lot more widespread.  I popped into Boots in Piccadilly Circus before work the next day and thought i'd check them out.

When I got there the first thing I noticed was that although the bottles were a different shape, the magnetic lid was EXACTLY the same as the Nails Inc one.  This filled me with confidence in the 17 polish, but also made me wonder how they can both be selling practically the same product?  Anyway, 17 also produce 3 colours;  Purple, Silver and Green.  I was unsure what colour to buy, but then I noticed the price!  £5.99 for 1!  This is a bargain for a magnetic nail varnish (especially compared to the Nails Inc prices) and as Boots were doing a 3 for 2 deal, that meant I got all 3 17 colours for the price of 1 Nails Inc!  Best of all, every polish comes with a magnet on top with 17, something Nails Inc really should think about doing.


17 Magnetized Polish in Lilac
 
17 Magnetized Polish in Teal

17 Magnetized Polish in Gun Metal


As you can probably tell, because of the cost of the 17 polishes I assumed the coverage wouldn't be as good as Nails Inc, or the magnet wouldn't work as well.  The ONLY difference I can find between these polishes is that the 17 one dries quicker, therefore you have to be super fast between applying the polish to your nail and holding the magnet over it.  To be fair, in the grand scheme of things polish drying too quickly is never a bad thing is it?  Don't worry it's not instant drying, you do still have time to do the magnet effect on it as long as you are quick!

I find if you apply 1 layer of the polish onto your nails without using the magnet effect, wait for that to dry, apply a 2nd layer and then use the magnet it works out a lot better.  It's best to apply the polish thinly, as if you layer it on thick it takes a while to dry and the magnet effect isn't as crisp and defined.  As you are covering the polish quite thin the 2nd layer makes it a total block colour and you don't get it looking patchy and see through in some places.

All in all I prefer the 17 polish, just because it is purse friendly and not any worse than the Nails Inc polish at all.  I'm not sure who will release a more diverse range of colours first, but at the moment the only upper hand Nails Inc has is the fact they are selling a gold version.  This is a dubious advantage though, as the magnet effect isn't as clear with this colour and as I said above I would probably just end up using the gold polish without the magnet.

What magnetic nails have you tried, and what were your thoughts?  I'd love to hear your opinions on any magnetic polishes you have tried!
xx