The Vitality Show

I hear it's delightful in the UK right now. That's nice. It's freezing in New York.
So while I sit here, slaving away over my new book WITH THE HEATING ON, why don't you skip on down to the Vitality Show in the sunshine. I don't mind. Honest. You bastards.

5 Reasons to skip over to the Vitality Show this weekend

I was supposed to have some professional photos for this post but at the last minute my photographer ditched me for a better offer – tsk! I took my sister instead and she bought a super gadget she is going to test out for you lovely people. More on that later...

Anyway here are my top 5 reasons for heading over to the Vitality Show this weekend.

1. Freebies – the free goody bag has lots of samples which are always handy for the gym bag, or nights away (if you’re a gym dodger). And there are tons more minis to pick up on the way round. I am a fan of try before you buy. Just head towards the back of the show to pick up your goody bag.

2. Nibbling – no need to get peckish when wandering around, you can sample all kinds of weird and wonderful snacks... Mostly of the hemp and carob and carrot variety, but also did spy some less than healthy cheese related snacks.

3. Photo opportunities – I honestly thought I could get my picture with a little fluffy Andrex puppy, but it turned out to be of the person in a costume variety. My sister found it very amusing that everyone was carrying around a free roll of toilet paper in a little bag.

4. Gadget-tastic – my fave of the show is the Epicare, which my sister is going to try out, a dinky little gadget for hair removal (not exactly glamorama, but I hope you agree, a necessity) which mimics the action of threading but can be mastered in minute (hopefully). More on this soon!

5. Foot treats – we managed to wangle a lovely foot massage to relieve our tired feet at the end of the show, from the ladies at Delightful Footnotes. Our feet were super soft and citrus fresh by the end. More details below...

There are tons more reasons, the one I am kicking myself about today is 15% off at the Benefit stand and a free £45 gift if you buy 3 products. I foolishly decided to avoid the stand because I bought 3 products on pay day last week. But as soon as I got home I realised I could have easily found 3 more things I wanted, I mean needed.

More beauty bargains to be had...

UNE natural beauty
Stand: B521
Any 2 products £14 + receive a FREE Limited Edition UNE make-up bag
Spend over £20 + receive a FREE Green Beauty Bible (rrp £14.99)

Benefit Cosmetics
Stand: B500
15% OFF Benefit Cosmetics

Jelly Pong Pong Cosmetics
Stand: B650
Exclusive and super-cute show-only gift bags at just £8. I especially loved the super-size lip balms in the Tea Party set.

Delightful Footnotes Ltd
Section: Beauty
B610
Relax on beautiful High Heel Shoe Chairs and enjoy our soothing Pedi-care Treatment. Show Offer price of £25 includes a Delightful Footnotes Travel Set and Nail File worth over £30.

And everything else you need to know at www.vitalitylive.co.uk

An Apple a Day Keeps the Wrinkles Away...

Ooh, you lucky people you. It's another report fresh from London courtesy of that lovely Miss Keren... She spoils us. Which is lucky since I'm so bloody manically busy, I just let you down (Yes, I am fishing for reassurance).


I do love a bit of a story behind a product, maybe it’s because I work in book publishing, but even Michelle Obama likes this story. Once upon a time, some scientist-types noticed that when the Swiss apple fell from the tree it did not wrinkle for a long, long time. Hmmm, they thought, can we extract something from said apple to make a miracle cream. For a while the miracle cream was only available to those with a husband in the white house... But thanks to the lovely people at Superdrug we can all afford to have a go.

Superdrug Optimum Swiss Apple Skin Renewal Day Cream is the latest addition to Superdrug’s Optimum apple stem cell anti-aging skincare range, the first being their best-selling Overnight renewal serum. Both products claim to contain the same miracle ingredient as the expensive versions, but for a lot less pennies... one example being Clark’s Botanicals Cellular Lifting serum is £284 at Space.NK (I digress... but the packaging is so pretty)

I have been using them both* for a few weeks now, and the first thing I noticed was the smell – fresh and (unsurprisingly) apple-y, as I find most miracle creams can smell a bit, well... Plain, if you know what I mean.

I have to admit, even if this is a bit annoying, I don’t have massive amount of wrinkles apart from a mahoosive frown line acquired from 10 years of glaring at people who crush me on the tube. But I do have a tendency to fine dehydration lines around my eyes, and I can say it has rehydrated my tired looking skin and my face feels super-smooth.

Superdrug Optimum Swiss Apple Skin Renewal Day Cream is £9.99
Superdrug Optimum Swiss Apple Overnight renewal serum is £11.99

*press samples

AMBI Skincare

I don't get sent that much info on products specifically formulated for women of colour and when I do, they tend to be extraordinarily expensive, so I was pretty pleased when I received a press release about AMBI skincare. Obviously, it's not something I know masses about, given that I'm the whitest white girl in the world but I know getting the right skincare without having to spend a billion dollars is a major concern of my friends. Black skin does have different needs to white skin or Asian skin and making sure it's cared for properly is paramount.



Not only is AMBI a total bargain (the essential cleanser and daily moisturiser both come in at just $4.99) but the products are chock full of goodies to hydrate and cleanse skin at the same time. Plus the moisturiser has an SPF of 15. I don't need to remind you how important that is, regardless of the colour of your skin, do I? Especially since SPRING IS TOTALLY SPRUNG.
YAY SPRING! Sorry, off topic there.



Check out the rest of the range here. There's a product solution for every potential skincare issue at a really great price. Also, did I mention YAY, it's SPRING!

London Calling: Stocking Up En Angleterre

Sigh, back in NYC after a whirlwind trip to London/Home/London/Loughborough*/Home/London and oh my am I sleepy. I have taken care of all the important business though (got a neon orange manicure, watched Glee and eaten an entire giant bag of Milky Way Magic Stars) so don't despair of me completely.


While I was pretending to unpack last night - a process which usually takes several days of moving piles of things from one part of my room to another and then often back into the suitcase again - I remembered why my bag was so heavy. It was because I'd brought back three huge tubs of The Sanctuary's Hot Sugar Scrub. Aside from the fact that this wonderful stuff is currently on a 3 for 2 promotion at Boots, you really should be stocking up. It's spring people, it's almost time to throw away your tights and, gasp, get out your legs. And for my money, there isn't a better body scrub out there for the price, the effects and the lovely, lovely scent. I love that it leaves my skin feeling soft and moisturised, even though it does a really great job on sloughing away any dry patches. And all for about a tenner! Cannot recommend it highly enough.

The other item I couldn't leave without was something that had totally slipped my mind. While in Lahndahn, I usually stay with my big gay bestie and as well as holding the honour that title bestows, he's also still holding a lot of my stuff from when I moved. I was pootling around in the bathroom when I found a refugee from my beloved penthouse salle de bains, Elemis Exotic Frangipani Monoi Moisture Melt. For the want of bubble bath (bad gay, imagine not having bubble bath) I chucked a bit of the Elemis in and dear god, if I'm not still smooth as a baby's bottom. Granted this stuff isn't as cheap as the Sanctuary scrub but it is bloody effective and you can use it in loads of different ways. Love.

Obviously I stocked up on lots of other important things, like Creme Eggs, M&S undies and Boots tights (it's not summer yet, kids) but these are the things raided from Boots. Go forth and stockpile my friends, and rejoice in the fact that when my Sanctuary body scrub runs out, I'll have to pay an absolute shit ton for Bliss hot salt scrub. Sob.


*Blogger's spellcheck doesn't recognise Loughborough. How very rude.