Archive for April, 2010
I have been going to my local nail bar for years-it’s run by a grumpy Chinese guy and full of non-stop talking Chinese girls who are generally quiet efficient at giving good manis & pedis. I have booked my today’s appointment in the beginning of the week, had a babysitter and was …10 minutes late. When i arrived and apologised, I was told that my appointment was given away to someone else, which left me angry and bewildered.
Honestly, I am a stickler for being on time and this was probably the first time that I was late for my appointment at that particular place. I am a regular and on quite a few occasions I was left waiting, while my ‘usual’ girls finished painting someone else’s nails and came to do mine. I am always living tips and have never been anything but smiley when there and this is what I got, for being 10 minutes late? Someone walked through the door, they didn’t even call me and I ‘kiss the door’.
Call me petty, but I will never go to my ‘usual’ girl for pedicures, as a matter of principle. If you treat someone nicely and get this in return, it’s just not worth it. So much for loyalty in service…..
Fresh is a company that was started in 1991 in America by two creative Russians, Lev Glazman and Alina Roytberg. They began with creating artisan soaps, branching out later into fragrance, skincare, bodycare, make-up and haircare. Both Lev & Alina pioneered the use of natural ingredients like sugar, soy, rice, sake and milk in their products and they continuously searching for new and interesting ingredients and rituals for their brand.
For me, Fresh is like my favourite honeycomb ice-cream-I don’t buy their products monthly but a couple of times a year I venture into their shop on Marlebone High street, smell their fragrances (one of them that I bought a couple of years ago was so potent, that men came up to me, asking what smelled so good-that’s the power of alchemy to you!), talk to the sales assistant and try various products.
Today was one of those days and I left the shop with Fresh’s new Soy Face cleanser and the Sugar Lemon bath & shower gel.
Soy face cleanseris quite gentle, so it can be used not only on the face but around the eye area too.It contains a high concentration of soy proteins packed with amino acids and antioxidants which are also enhanced by such ingredients as rose, cornflower, mallow, cucumber, ginseng and aloe vera, all of which tone & sooth your skin and reduce dryness, which is a very common side effect of the warmer months.
Sugar lemon bath & shower gel smelled so fresh and zingy when I opened the bottle that it almost made me picture the soapy bubbles floating in the air. So it is definitely a product that I would definitely recommend to use in the morning, to wake you up and set you up for a bubbly day ahead. It contains sugar cane extract, mango seed oil, shea butter and vitamins C and E. The fragrance stays on your skin (it’s subtle, not overpowering) and I swear that it lifts one’s spirits and makes you smile, even if the day is grey.
Fresh’s Soy Face cleanser £24.50 for 150 mls, Sugar Lemon Bath & Shower gel £14 for 300 mls
So far, whatever Tom Ford touches, it seems to lead to profit. His revamping of the Gucci brand is by now legendary, his first directorial debut, a film called ‘A Single Man’ was a roaring and well-deserved, must I add, success, his men’s clothes line is beautiful and very smart and now Mr. Ford went a step further, with his first line of lipsticks, called Tom Ford Private Blend Lip Colour collection.
I popped into Harrods last Saturday and indulged by buying three of them, a lovely ‘pink dusk’, a subtle but sexy one called ‘blush nude’ and a beautiful red called ‘true coral’.
TF’s lipsticks are packaged in white boxes with gold lettering and the lipstick tubes come in the same tones. They smell and taste lovely and when you are putting them on you feel sexier, more vibrant somehow-and I mean any shade, not just the reds or bright pinks. The formulations also contain Shea butter and linoleic acid and have TF engraved at the top of your lipstick, just as you swirl it out.
At the moment lipsticks come in 12 shades, divided into four groups. They moisturise your lips and the sales girl said that she put on hers before starting her shift and half way through haven’t had to re-apply it-her lips looked well-moisturised and glossy.
I love wearing blush nude and pink dusk every day and must admit, I already got a few compliments along the way, which is always nice .) I wonder if Mr. Ford will indulge us, women, with beautiful clothes under his name any time soon?
each lipstick is priced £35 and is on sale at Selfridges & Harrod’s Tom Ford counters
Tennis is a beautiful game that can keep you on the edge of the seat if you feel passionate about the players but one wonders what life a tennis player leads, how he or she trains-the list of questions is endless.
Andre Agassi’s book answers many of those. He was riveting on the court and fans loved him, but he says in his book that he hated tennis and wanted to quit it daily. He tells about his relationship with his father, who made the decision that his youngest son will be a tennis star. He recounts with honesty about his time at Nick Bollettieri’ s academy, which brought up such stars as Jim Courier and Anna Kournikova. He talks about his relationship and marriage to Brooke Shields-he comes across as very sincere but Brooke Shield’s wasn’t as complimentary about his descriptions of things in her recent ‘Easy living’ interview.As they say, it takes two to tango…..
Agassi explains how his support team came about and what they all mean to him. He opens up about his drug use. And of course, his opponents and his romance and family life with the court goddess, Steffie (Stefanie) Graff.
I loved reading this raw and honest book, learning more about the game and the players that I grew up watching. You really get to understand how much blood, sweat and tears it takes to take you to the top of the game and of the rankings. You get to respect the people who put their bodies under tremendous stress in order to succeed on the court, in front of fans and foes. And it takes a lot of determination not only to get there but to stay on the top too.
Even if you haven’t been travelling lately it’s been impossible to escape the news about Icelandic volcano eruption, ash in the atmosphere and closure of the airspace across Europe.
I have friends who were stuck in Europe, going from place to place, trying to get home, eventually. My husband got stuck in Kiev, while on business but he was quite lucky that it only took him two days to get back home via plane to Milan-train to Genoa-car to Nice-car to Calais and our very dear friend driving from the UK to pick him up, as no rental cars were allowed out of France.
Yesterday I was watching ITV news and trying not to cry, looking at desperate people, especially the ones with small children, who are still stuck, who have no money, some have expired visas, some have ran out of important medication and no one is helping them to get back home. Not the government, not the British officials, not the airlines or car rental companies. Some companies are raising their fares or tariffs, trying to make a profit out of someone’s misery, and many simply don’t care about the stranded passengers.
Until recently I was under the illusion that it was the Russian government which treated its citizens as cattle (well, not if you listen to the daily news reports, which are beyond glowing!) but that the British government and society were different. I am under no illusion any more!!!!
We are in the midst of the election campaign fever, watching Brown, Cameron and Clegg campaigning around the country but with all of their talk, none of them (!) were decisive in sorting the very pressing problem of getting the Brits back home. David Cameron talks about changes, so does Mr. Clegg while PM Brown has the actual power to do something still. At the moment it appears that the only thing those three politicians are truly capable of is talking. When it comes to action, to actually doing something for the people and not beating himself on the chest about it, they just don’t deliver and actions-or in this case, lack of, speak louder than words. All I can say is shame on you. And election results, whoever wins, make me depressed already. So much for the so-called democracy.
If you like unusual furniture or lighting or art/photography, have a look at a new Internet site www.made.com It has Brent Hoberman as one of its founders (LastMinute.com) and the idea behind it is to cut out the middle man between you and furniture maker, hence get you what you want at a discounted price, not compromising on the quality. You can also buy some prints, which makes it handy if you want to change the mood of your room without spending a fortune.
Quite a few of us cleanse our faces at least twice a day, in the morning and in the evening. Generally all you need is a good cleanser and water, right? Well, Clarisonic has gone a step further, coming up with an electric face/body brush that you cleanse with and quite a few experts agree that it gives your skin a much more effective cleanse, leading to a clearer complexion, a skin glow and a much more effective skin care product penetration.
I was mulling over this, having received preview e-mails from Bliss and Cult Beauty, having seen it at SpaceNK (the sale assistant had the most wonderful skin, but I don’t know if that is because he is blessed with great skin genes or due to Clarisonic brush and effective skin care regime) and having read about it in a few magazines.
The brush itself doesn’t come cheap-£175- but it comes with two brush heads-one for the face, another for the body, a refreshing gel cleanser (for oily skin), gentle hydro cleanser (for normal to sensitive skin), nourishing care cleanser (for dry and mature skin) and refining skin polish (for all skin types). While I was contemplating the purchase I e-mailed Jessica, one of the CultBeauty founders and asked her what she thought of this innovation. Jessica came back with a glowing review and I took a leap of faith.
Having used the brush for four days now I can say that my face definitely feels cleaner and softer after cleansing and that (I think) I have a little bit more of a skin glow. To be honest, while the Clarisonic cleansers are nice, I stick to using Jo Malone’s eucalyptus & mint frothing cleansing cream in the morning and Bliss’s clog dissolving cleansing milkin the evening but that’s a personal choice and not a criticism. But I will tell you that I found the body brush attachment a bit useless, my skin didn’t feel any different and I think on this one I will stick to the tried and tested dry body brushing in the morning.
Would I continue using the brush? You betcha, I want to see if I can improve my skin and my glow .) even further. And in terms of the price I can say this-see if you can get a discount at any of the stockists, then it will be definitely worth the money.
There are so many jewellery brands nowadays that it is extremely difficult to choose-and I am not talking here about jewellery worth thousands and thousands of pounds, let alone millions.
I am quite level-headed when it comes to jewellery and do know what I like and dislike but sometimes even I can be swayed by the sheer beauty of a certain piece.
I remember very well walking through Somerset House a few years ago, in a complete trance, through the JAR exhibition. Every single piece was amazing and I wanted so many pieces-luckily for my husband none was for sale .)
Recently I was walking on Bond street and popped into Pomellato store, a few steps away from Claridges hotel. Pomellato is an Italian brand and their pieces are beautifully crafted and unlike any other jewellery brand.
Olga Grant, one of the sales assistant, was answering my endless questions and then, she asked me if I wanted to see something rare. Of course, the curious me, said ‘yes’ straight away.
I was taken upstairs, where 12 or 13 lacquered boxes were lined on the table. Each contained an extraordinary piece of jewellery, a ring or a pair of earrings made of gold and precious and semi-precious stones like moonstone or coral. Each piece was one of a kind, quite ostentatious and I wish I could buy some of them on the spot. The exhibition has been travelling around the world and is in London for April, before going back to Italy and France and then might be coming back to London for a few weeks later in the year. If you have the time, I strongly urge you to go and feast your eyes on the beauty of the craft that is jewellery making.
Cautionary tale of ads & opticians
posted April 14, 2010
Posted by galina in Beauty & well-being Women's issues
Ads are part of our everyday life, they are on TV( between and during the programmes), in the magazines, on billboards, so it’s almost impossible not to be influenced by them. But it’s not the ads in general that I want to talk to you here, it’s a specific ad and a specific product.
Vision Express, a chain of opticians that is present on quite a few high streets presents itself as the one looking for individual approach to its clients and their eye test, but from experience I can tell you-approach with caution!
A few weeks ago my son was jumping in our bed on a Sunday morning and he decided to put his finger in my husband’s eye, who in turn, didn’t react quickly enough. The consequence? A teary, painful feeling in the eye. We speedily got dressed up, had breakfast and went to the high street, in the hope that one of our local opticians will have a look at the eye and offer some advice.
The first one was…you guessed it, Vision Express. We came in, explained the situation and asked if the optician was in and whether he would be able to examine my husband. We were assured that it would be no problem, but in 40 minutes. We popped into another optician, David Clulow, but their optician wasn’t available for another hour. We wondered around, me trying to distract my husband, him trying to shield his eye from the sunshine and regularly wiping out the tears, streaming from the eye.
Finally the time came, my husband gave his details and went in…only to come out five minutes later, incensed when the optician refused to examine him, instead wanting to run a full eye test. A note: my husband only recently had his annual eye exam. We did explain the situation in advance but the people working in Vision Express had no desire to ‘tailor make’ the solution for my husband, but very determined to charge him for a full eye test, which he didn’t require. They wasted precious time and offered no help.
In the end we went back to David Clulow, where they kindly fitted my husband in, the optician had a quick look at his eye-which had a scratch-but said that she can’t prescribe the medication and it will be a good idea for my husband to go to Moorefield’s Eye hospital, just to be on the safe side. Do you feel a difference in the approach? And they don’t even run their ads on TV!!!
We did go to the hospital, had the eye checked out and were told that this type of injury ‘was very common, very painful but very easily treatable’. My husband was back to health within a few days.
All I want to say is that you can spend a lot of money on the advertisement and it will be futile, because the people behind the service or product are so bad, you will never go back to them. And when you get good service, you are bound to come back time and time again.
Interview with Emma Cannon
posted April 8, 2010
Posted by galina in Beauty & well-being Women's issues
If your life is straight-forward, you take things like good health or having kids for granted. But not everyone is so lucky.
I have several girlfriends who struggled or still haven’t succeeded in getting pregnant and I can’t begin to describe how painful it is for a woman. People ask questions, friends mean well, family tries to be supportive but it doesn’t give you what you want-a healthy baby and takes away your identity as a woman (I am talking about women who want to have kids, because some choose not too and you have to respect their choice). There are lots of books and specialists out there but many of them are more patronising than helpful and a woman often ends up feeling worse and on her own with her fears. But when I opened a book that was published earlier this year by Emma Cannon called ‘The baby-making bible: simple steps to enhance your fertility and improve your chances of getting pregnant’, it grabbed my attention and from the first page I knew that this book might make a difference for many women out there.
I became so curious about Emma that I decided to interview her and even though she has a busy life, she managed to find a slot (albeit a short one) to fit me in.
When I enter her practise, Emma, a beautiful woman, with shoulder length hair, strikingly beautiful eyes and a healthy glow, instantly makes me feel relaxed, tells me to sit down and disappears to make us some tea. Her practise is very un-medical, with grey walls, beautiful flower paintings, pink cushions and kid’s collages adding a welcome touch-it’s hard not to relax, even if your shoulders are burdened with problems.
One of her clients leaves and we settle in for a chat, Emma’s eyes radiating calm and friendliness and the place is intimate and girly, where one feels at ease to talk and get down to the root of the problem. It is only one of the things that makes Emma and her practise different. I remember going to the practise of Gowri Mota, when expecting my son, and her practise looked remarkably impersonal, women being treated side by side, separated by whimsical screens and privacy becoming obsolete.
Emma has done a degree at London’s School of Acupuncture followed by the postgrad course which covered the management of infertile couples. I ask Emma about her childhood and whether someone in her family had a medical background, at which she shakes her head and tells me that it is probably the fact that her father, a general in the Army, had died suddenly and early, in his 50s, made her think about diet and whether some tests could have prevented his untimely death. This shaped her and her way of thinking and led her to help people who struggle to conceive.
Emma says that she is not anti-western medicine. It’s not bad medicine but bad practitioners and often traditional and complementary medicine produce stronger, much more successful results. She mentions that she had a lump in her breast when she was 27 but no one took it seriously, as she was too young. She still wonders if she could have been diagnosed earlier and not at 37, when she was happily married with two young daughters and cancer diagnosis was even more devastating.
She is sure that her background, her attention to the diet and practitioners she knew helped her recover and so far, she is doing well, not so long ago receiving a five year clear. I am sure that it’s her determination to beat this disease and the support of her friends and family that make her who she is. Many people, having battled a disease in the past, prefer to take a day at a time, listen to themselves and become more oblivious to the people around them. Emma chose exactly the opposite, doing her best to help women who struggle to have a longed for baby, help them tune into their bodies and ultimately become healthier in the process.
Emma talked to me about the importance of a good diet, which helps us feel more in control, but then it doesn’t work for everyone, and if a particular client is too controlling as a person, Emma might choose not to try to give dietary guidelines to start with. Her approach is individual, mostly listening to the patient to start with, observing her and then deciding on the best course of treatment.
As with her book, she tries to make a connection and to push a person in the direction right for them. Every one of us is unique, hence we have different reactions and each one of us has inherited strengths (our Jing, as Chinese call it) and weaknesses. Clients can also vary in their needs, some failing to conceive, some having irregular cycles and some already going through IVF. You also have to bear in mind that the result isn’t going to be instant. Emma says that Western medicine often doesn’t address the spirit and our spirit makes each one of us who we really are, underneath the face that we might choose to put on in public.
Emma combines her life experiences and her intuition in her work and she stresses that it is very important to her to hear what her patients are saying. Some people might need a more medically geared approach and some more emotional but it is important to find the key approach to each individual. Of course Emma can’t fix everything but she is intent on giving people the tools and ideas, trying to examine correctly the heart of the matter.
I do ask Emma if it has taken her a long time to write a book and she surprises me by saying it took her about six months to actually write it but that it was based on years of experience of working with the patients. She had strong intentions and wanted to focus on attracting the people she can actually help.
Even though her name is being mentioned more and more often Emma doesn’t seem to be affected by it and I think being level-headed is what you need in a professional like Emma’s. Good reviews might come and go, magazines might be praising you today, moving on to a new practitioner next month, but it is your substance as a professional that serves you and in the end gives you a much bigger chance of success in treating people and helping them realise their dreams.
P.s I have read Emma’s book but don’t want to review it here, as every person will find something useful for herself and Emma did mention to me in passing that there are quite a few reviews on the amazon. It is written in a manner of a caring but knowledgeable friend, who will hold your hand through difficult times and I think many women will find such approach helpful.
Emma’s book can be ordered via the amazon link below:
Emma’s internet site: http://www.emmacannon.co.uk/emma/
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