Prosecco, skincare and a makeover in Didsbury

I am not by nature one of the beautiful people. I don’t have lovely swishy hair and flawless make up. In fact on the rare occasions that I wear make up it’s usually a quick flick of an ancient mascara and some free lip gloss I got with a magazine years ago.

The saying goes – you can’t polish a turd, so there’s no point in me trying, but this week my friend Jane and I went to Toni & Guy in Didsbury to find out more about their beauty rooms and Jane persuaded me to have a makeover.

makeover

Jane has recently had what ladies of our age call “a special birthday”, she arrived at her party looking stunning. Gillian Rafferty, a local make up artist had done her make up and although Jane is naturally beautiful anyway (with swishy hair) she looked flawless and fabulous. Gillian has been a make up artist for ten years and has worked with celebrities including Colleen Rooney, Kate Kelly and Michelle Keegan.

Gillian did my make up and Jane watched keenly. Gillian quickly assessed my skin and applied a tinted primer, deftly hid my quite massive eye bags and put eye-shadow, mascara and eyeliner on me to make more of my eyes. She finished my makeover with some pink lipstick in a shade I’d never normally try, but obviously worked for me, and then sort of spray painted my face which fixed my make up and made it look flawless. Yes, I looked flawless.

makeover

We spent some time looking around the beauty rooms, Clare Angela is the resident beauty therapist and she offers pretty much everything you might need -manicures, pedicures, tanning, waxing and facials. Clare is passionate about skincare and she offers a range of facials using Environ products starting from £45.

During the evening Environ were there with a special camera which takes photographs of your face and allows you to see how damaged your skin is and what you can do about it. They come to Didsbury every few months, so if you’re interested it’s worth phoning Clare and booking a session with them.

makeover

We had a lovely and interesting evening learning about make up, beauty and skincare at Toni & Guy and then we went off to drink some more prosecco in a local bar. And my make up still looked good when I got home!

makeover

Beauty and Skin Health by Clare Angela is available by appointment at Toni & Guy in Didsbury, phone 0161 445 5466 for more information on what Clare offers. Makeovers and make up tutorials are available from Gillian Rafferty by appointment.

Well-Being: Experiencing an AromaTouch Massage

Earlier this year my local holistic health centre, Healthyspirit in South Manchester added a new massage treatment to their already impressive list – AromaTouch. I was keen to find out more, and when a friend tried it and recommended it I knew I had to get myself booked in.

The massage sounded blissful, “a light relaxing massage technique of applying therapeutic grade essential oils to produce a profound whole-body experience. The many benefits of this massage include stress management, immune support, and support of your body’s autonomic balance. AromaTouch enhances essential oils activity and stimulates known body meridians and energy zones, while balancing body systems and function.”

I was shown up to the Crystal Room, a cosy and comfortable therapy room at Healthyspirit. The therapist, Helen Scott sat down and talked me through the treatment and asked me some questions about my physical and emotional health. I explained about my spinal injury and Helen reassured me that it was very gentle and the massage wouldn’t hurt me. We talked about how I was feeling at the moment and the reasons why I was feeling stressed and under pressure. Helen then left the room while I got ready for the massage and made myself comfortable on the massage table.

AromaTouch

As Helen would be touching my back, ears and feet, I lay on my front covered in a warm towel. I had taken my jewellery, clothes and socks off, but she let me keep my leggings on as I was comfortable wearing them.

Helen began by getting me to breathe deeply several times to relax me, and as soothing music played in the background she gently and rhythmically massaged a series of essential oils into my back. Her hands felt like warm waves moving from my spine to my side, very gentle, but with each application of oil I could feel some of my stresses being stroked out of me.

Several different essential oils were used on me in a specific sequence, after each one was applied Helen would massage the oils into my back in that same wave like motion. It was blissful and I was incredibly comfortable, almost dosing off at one point.

Helen then moved onto my feet, applying peppermint and orange essential oils to them, she massaged them using a gentle rhythmic motion and I felt incredibly relaxed, I didn’t want it to stop. I have eczema on my feet which wasn’t a problem and Helen double checked if I was happy for essential oils to be applied before she started, which I was.

The AromaTouch massage was incredible. Afterwards I felt a bit woozy so I sat for a while and sipped some water. I often feel this way after a particularly relaxing treatment. Helen suggested I have a bath the following day so that the oils could stay on my skin for as long as possible, so I went home and snuggled under a blanket for a few hours whilst I enjoyed feeling blissfully relaxed.

The AromaTouch massage is currently £35 for an hour long massage. It’s very gentle and soothing, but I’ve rarely felt so deeply relaxed. The effects lasted for quite a few days and it was gentle enough that my rickety spine felt no ill effects afterwards. AromaTouch is so pampering and blissful, if you need some time out from life for an hour, a serious stress release or a pamper I can very much recommend this treatment.

The AromaTouch massage is available from Healthyspirit in South Manchester. For more information and to book, visit their website.

FREE Christmas Printables from Pip Ahoy!

The lovely people who make the brilliant cartoon Pip Ahoy have given me a fantastic set of 12 Christmas Pip Ahoy! printables to share with you.

If you’ve not yet heard of Pip and his friends, Pip Ahoy! is a cartoon about Pip the puppy, and his friends including cute kitten Alba and adorable Alan the penguin in the seaside town of Salty Cove. You can catch up with Pip Ahoy! on Channel 5’s Milkshake and on Cartoonito.

This set of free Christmas Pip Ahoy! printables includes lots of festive pictures to colour in, as well as template letters to Santa and Christmas craft ideas. Lots to keep the little ones entertained throughout the Christmas period.

To download the free Pip Ahoy! printables click here.

Don’t forget to join us for the Pip Ahoy! Twitter Party on 1st December, follow @PipAhoyUK and join in with the hashtag #ISpyWithPip to be in with a chance to win some prizes. You can download your free Pip Ahoy party pack here.

Your invitation is below…

Don’t forget you can win your very own Pip Ahoy! Skippers Bucket Toy in my Christmas competition – it ends on 13th December 2015, click here to be in with a chance to win!

Review: Pip Ahoy! Skipper’s Bucket Toy

Since the small boy was poorly a few weeks ago and he binge watched the entire back catalogue of Pip Ahoy! on Channel 5’s Milkshake, we have been a house obsessed with Pip. For his birthday he was given a lovely Pip Ahoy plush toy (which now has the number one cuddling spot in his bed), and the latest Pip toy a Pip Ahoy! Skipper’s Bucket – a pull along tugboat which also doubles up as a bath toy.

Pip Ahoy! Skipper's Bucket

Skipper’s Bucket is suitable for ages 3+ and measures 20cm long and 17cm high. It has rotating wheels underneath and you can pull it along using the rope and lifebelt attached, or like the small boy, you can play with it in the bath, it floats and had a realistic rocking motion once it’s in the water.

It comes with a Skipper figure, but you might want to get a few of the other characters to add a bit of variety. The Skipper figure has little holes in his feet so you can attach him to various parts of the boat, he is also movable and poseable.

Pip Ahoy! Skipper's Bucket

The Pip Ahoy! Skipper’s Bucket boat is made from durable plastic and seems to be able to endure the attentions of a 5 year old boy at bathtime. The rope can work loose, so it’s worth getting someone with their Boy Scout knot tying badge to double check it’s firmly attached before it sets sail in the bath, but it’s a great bath toy in its own right.

The Pip Ahoy! Skipper’s Bucket toy is available from a range of retailers and is made by John Adams Toys. It’s a lovely robust toy which he’s played with every day since his birthday, both on dry land and in the stormy sea (the bath). It’s a thumbs up for us!

My All Time Top Ten Favourite Songs

There has been another one of those Facebook memes going round of late, usually they get right on my pip, but this one caught my attention in a favourable way. Basically if you’re “tagged” you have to share one of your favourite songs on Facebook for seven days. It got me thinking about what songs I would choose should I ever be tagged and I decided to choose my top ten, not just my top seven.

As a confirmed indie kid I had a few problems narrowing it down from the thousands of tunes I love and listen to regularly. Some were instant, obvious choices, some others I agonised over for a little while, struggling to decide between two or three of my favourite songs from whichever band. It was a difficult task, but I’m glad I sat down and made my own YouTube playlist, it means that I always have 50 minutes of my favourite music on hand for a start.

I’m not sure what my musical choices say about me, other than “indie kid stuck in the mid-90s” but I’m sure there’s a Buzz-feed quiz which will tell me all I need to know about my inner thoughts and feelings.

top ten

Here’s my all time favourite top ten. It is a movable feast because I’m sure in six months time it’ll have changed slightly, it always does, but for now, these are the songs which speak to my soul (in no particular order)…

Sometimes – James
Devil In Your Shoes – Shed Seven
Temptation – New Order
Fools Gold – The Stone Roses
Married With Children – Oasis
Right here – The Go Betweens
Circlesquare – The Wonder Stuff
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out – The Smiths
Chasing Rainbows – Shed Seven
Can’t Get Out Of Bed – The Charlatans

What’s in your top ten? What do you think of my choices?

Our low-key Bonfire Night celebrations

I’ve never been a big fan of Bonfire night, it’s always seemed a bit on the dangerous side for my liking, flying fire which explodes? No thank you very much. In previous years we’ve enjoyed a somewhat low-key, safety concious celebration, but this year we’ve decided to cast all my health and safety fears aside and go to a local display. But that will have to wait until the weekend, on the 5th November itself we’ll be spinning out our usual celebratory fayre.

Food
Hot dogs (or bangers) are the order of the day, always with fried onions and mustard. This is always followed by a thick slice of Parkin and custard.

We also make “sparklers” which are really easy to do, take a breadstick and dip one end in melted chocolate, then dip that in hundreds and thousands. It’s something even little toddlers can do and it’s quick, sticky, chocolatey and fun.

Fireworks
Because of the full horror of 1980s public information films I have a fear of fireworks (and pylons), but I feel I must tip my hat to tradition, so we usually get a packet of sparklers, don full safety gear, including having a bucket of water close by, and we stand in the garden waving our sparklers about. It provides about 4 minutes of fun. Total. But that’s enough dicing with danger for one night.

After we’ve done with our sparklers we tend to press our faces up against the window and watch everyone else’s displays from the safety of our kitchen, earnestly chewing our way through a bag of treacle toffee.

Now the small boy is nearly 5 (how did that happen?) he’s a bit more interested in things like Bonfire Night, we’ll be printing off some of these really handy Bonfire Night activity sheets from Pip Ahoy! to add to the evenings entertainment. There’s a poster to colour in, a spot the difference puzzle and a recipe to make some yummy toffee apples!

Do you have any Bonfire Night traditions?

bonfire night

FREE Halloween Pip Ahoy Printables & Activites

Earlier this week I had the chance to have a tour of the CHF Entertainment studio, they are the makers of the fantastic cartoon Pip Ahoy! Pip Ahoy is part of Milkshake! on Channel 5 and is also shown on Cartoonito. The studios are in a beautiful, historic and top secret location in Manchester, close to my home and accessible only through underground tunnels (might have made that last bit up). CHF Entertainment are the reincarnation of animation legends Cosgrove Hall who made iconic cartoon series such as Danger Mouse, Count Duckula and The Wind in the Willows (and literally hundreds more).

For those who haven’t yet seen Pip Ahoy! It is all about the adventures of Pip the puppy, and his friends including cute kitten Alba and adorable Alan the penguin in the seaside town of Salty Cove. Pip Ahoy! features the familiar voices of David Jason, Stacy Soloman, Teresa Gallagher and Jimmy Hibbert. Pip Ahoy! is aimed at pre-schoolers and my (nearly) 5 year old son loves watching it on catch up and gets really involved in the goings on at Salty Cove.

With the October half term approaching and Halloween creeping ever closer, I’m delighted to be able to offer my blog readers a set of FREE downloadable Pip Ahoy! Halloween Activity Sheets to help keep your little ones entertained, or to use to plan your perfect Pip Ahoy! Halloween Party!

Not only that, but I’ve also got nine brilliant pumpkin carving stencils to share with you, I think stencils are great, especially if you’re not confident about carving freehand. As well as the usual pumpkin faces, you can also carve your own Pip, Skipper, Hopper, Alba, Pasty and Alan characters – so much to choose from! Pip Ahoy These free printables, stencils and activity sheets are brilliant for your little Pipsqueaks. Happy Halloween!

Born Survivor 2015 – How Team Didsbury Triumphed

This morning my little family went on an adventure. At 8.30am we clambered bleary-eyed and slightly grumpily into the car and set off for Capesthorne Hall about a half hour drive away from home. My husband, generally a stranger to exercise, had joined a team of friends to take part in Born Survivor, a 10k, 30 military obstacle course. It was all for a good cause and having hit 40 this year he was up for a challenge.

Way back in the spring, a brave group of 29 men and women signed up for Born Survivor. When Matt (hubs) signed up it seemed an age away, he started training but quickly managed to knacker his knees and a physio told him to take it easy, so he did. His preparation for this military style beasting was a few visits to the gym and losing a stone on the 5:2 diet. But was it enough?

Born Survivor

The brave 29 were doing Born Survivor in memory of Lizzie Lowe and to raise money for the Didsbury Youth Cafe at St James & Emmanuel. It’s a great cause, it’s a lovely safe place for school kids to hang out on a Friday night and gets around 60 local kids in every week.

The team were a range of ages and fitness levels, but all were well up for it, determined and smiling. They were ready for mud, sweat and tears. They had a plan and were sure no one would be left behind.

Born Survivor

I managed to catch up with them at some of the obstacles, I was incredibly proud to count these people as my friends as they leapt over barriers, climbed sheer walls, dove into deep muddy pits, crawled under barbed wire and smiled through every minute.

Born Survivor

There was fantastic teamwork going on from start to finish, with everyone helping each other and each playing their part. The large group did naturally split into three smaller groups, with about 15 minutes between them. Matt was in the middle group and did remarkably well for a bloke who’d done comparatively little training and wasn’t very well prepared.

And they all said they’d do it again next year!

Born Survivor

Gifts for girls which aren’t too “girlie”

When I was growing up I climbed trees, built dens down by the river, I played football and I didn’t own a dolly. In a last ditch attempt to feminise me, while I was away for the weekend my bedroom was painted pink and teamed with some very pink and very frilly bedding. I was not best pleased but had to learn to live with it. In short I am not a girlie girl. These days when I’m buying gifts for girls I always remember five year old me and try and find something she’d approve of.

I do not go out to shop for tomboys, but I can’t help buying for them. I think there’s room in every girls toy box for things that aren’t always pink, purple, fluffy or glittery. My inner feminist wants every little girl I meet to become a scientist, author, doctor, solicitor, professional footballer, anything but the sparkly princess they probably dream of becoming. Let’s face facts, it’s probably easier to become an astronaut than it is to become a princess, so I am going to buy them that astronomy kit and help them shoot for the stars!

gifts for girls

Buying gifts for girls can be pretty tricky. The Giddy Goat Toys website has been designed to help busy people search and buy the perfect gifts for girls and boys. One of the best things about the website is their range of toys and gifts for all children, there’s a delightful selection of gifts for girls which aren’t pink, glittery and fit for a princess (although those are available at Giddy Goat Toys too).

Speaking to the mums of little girls in our social circle, I know that they do appreciate receiving a more diverse range of toys, games and puzzles for their little ones, and it’s always nice to be the one bringing something a bit different to the party. I know when I was a little girl all I wanted was the Millennium Falcon (didn’t get) and some LEGO (had to share my brothers). In this day and age when parents are increasingly aware of gender specific and gender neutral toys, it’s great to have a website which will help you find the perfect gift for your child.

This is a collaborative post.

Flower Essences for Emotional Well-Being

I love my local Holistic Health Centre, Healthyspirit. I’ve had a few treatments there, most recently I had the amazing Warm Bamboo Massage, but I go regularly for juices and delicious veggie lunches at their Hub Vegetarian Cafe and to buy candles, supplements and health food from their shop. Last week I booked myself in for a Flower Essences Consultation, I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but I’d read a little about the power of flower essences and was intrigued.

I met up with Sharon Curran in the Crystal Room at Healthyspirit. Sharon is a wonderful, calming woman who really (really, really) listens and puts you at ease immediately. She told me a bit about the origins of flower essences and about the work of Dr Edward Bach. He discovered and explored the power of flower essences, leading him to develop his famous range of essences which are widely available today.

During the session we talked at length about what my problems were, we discussed my physical health and how that made me feel (ruined spine, chronic pain, I feel very tired and almost hopeless at times) and my mental and emotional health (dealing with trauma, anxiety and depression, alongside my feelings of incredibly low self worth). Sharon listened to everything I said, we explored some areas in more depth so she could find the right combination of essences for me (she had over 300 in her trusty box).

As a result of our consultation Sharon prescribed me a blend of the following essences:

Grass of Parnassus
This essence strengthens your ability to stand in your full power without feeling apologetic, embarrassed or unworthy. It helps you to see your innate beauty and purity despite whatever else you may have come to believe about yourself.

Inner Child – Self Worth
For loving and valuing yourself unconditionally. This essence will help you develop more self-worth, perhaps by shining a light on where you are being unkind or unloving towards yourself so you can transform your beliefs/habits and thus help you to become more of who you really are, easily and effortlessly.

Gorse
This will help ease feelings of hopelessness and despair to promote new hope and vision for the future.

Olive
This helps those who feel that their reserves of energy are completely depleted and that they have nothing left to carry on with. It helps to restore mental vitality.

Star of Bethlehem
This essence helps to transform shock or trauma of any kind, whether immediate or in the past. It assists the body on an energetic level to mobilise its self-healing abilities.

Sharon made me up a small bottle of my unique prescription of essences. There was enough for around a fortnight for me to take three times a day. The Flower Essences are there to support my emotional wellbeing. The essences are apparently very subtle but very potent in their effect and can touch deep places within your being, helping to balance and restore mind, emotions and spirit.

Sharon is an incredibly inspirational woman, I left the session feeling full of light and love, not a feeling I’ve been familiar with for a long time. During the consultation I shed a few tears, but I feel they were cathartic tears because someone had listened to me and understood me. Since the consultation I have been dutifully taking my prescription, I’ve loved myself a little bit more and I’m trying to let the light into the dark places.

I’d love a series of sessions with Sharon, I’m planning to book another Flower Essences Consultation with her soon. She also offers a bespoke soul coaching service for women which incorporates coaching, mentoring and healing using flower essences. She told me I was a beautiful child of the universe and I am.

For more information about Flower Essences Consultations at Healthyspirit visit their website. You can follow Sharon and read her inspirational tweets on Twitter @SoulCoachSharon.