Savvylash

Thursday 30 December 2010

Well Another Year Over and A New One Just Begun......

Sound familiar?  John Lennon's Happy Christmas Song (War is Over) and whilst the lyrics are as poignant as ever, somehow the battle has changed between who’ll win for the most sofa ads over the festive season ...... since when have these ads changed from promoting family values, everyone watching TV together on the latest Italian leather masterpiece with cushions to match to 3 scantily clad “babes” in underwear, provocatively prancing around to Duran Duran's song "Girls on Film" ???!!! ...... AND not one of the “babes” had a tape measure to make sure the sofa wasn't too big for their lounge, there wasn't an eager Sales Assistant with a clip board of "interest free orders", fabric chart and recommended cleaning products in sight. There was no promise of a delivery date anywhere in the backing track and with the drop in temperature to minus 8 degrees, I think the “babes” are going to need more than a thermal vest and Simon le Bon warbling on in the background to keep them warm!!  Anyway the ad must have caught my hubby’s eye as he turned to me and said "do you think we need to update our sofa?"  I don't think for one minute he was admiring the “babes” soft focus technique.....  "Mmmmmmmmm” said I and called his bluff ….. “Right.....you're on..... we'll go looking when Man Utd play next!".  He’s still thinking about it…….

Whilst we all have a tendency to over indulge at this time of year it's also important to invest a bit of TLC in yourself. There's loads of products out there, in fact the shelves are crammed, however fear not, we can highly recommend a couple with the emphasis being to hydrate your skin and hair. 

The recent harsh weather conditions and everyone's friend at the moment "central heating" has probably taken its toll on your skin – certainly has ours (albeit it the odd Pinot Grigio as well!). So we’re the first to admit we don't drink enough water, the only daily intake coming in the form of soda to compliment the aforementioned “Vino Collapso” and the 15 cups of tea the following morning... and yes, we know it's not good enough.  We've read lots of features about the benefits of drinking more water; improves the skin tone, helps with weight loss and generally, maintains good health - after all over bodies are 60%- 70% water. Not forgetting also that increasing our water intake suppresses hunger – that’s some water intake for me and Debs!!!  So, amidst the many New Year Resolutions, we’re making drinking more water a top priority.

Making sure you cleanse, tone and moisturise your skin properly is also a must for ensuring clear, blemish free skin.  One of Debs favourite facial products is Cleanse & Polish by Liz Earle. This original, multi award-winning hot cloth cleanser quickly removes daily grime and make-up to leave skin clean, soft and radiant. The 100ml pump starter kit retails for £13 which includes a muslin cloth to remove all traces of make up and gently exfoliates the skin, leaving it feeling cleaner and looking healthier.   My first encounter with Liz Earle products came after a weekend jaunt to Amsterdam where Deb’s had proudly laid out her purchases in the bathroom, complete with the muslin cloths which come with the starter pack – there they were, draped like some homage to Tutankhamen’s Tomb and at one point I thought  I was going to be “mummified”…..yikes!!  However, those ancient Egyptian’s were certainly onto something, because Deb’s refuses to cleanse her skin any other way, regardless of whether she uses the Hot Cleanse & Polish or another brand.

The Instant Boost Skin Tonic retails for £11.50 for a 200ml bottle - gentle and alcohol-free, this heavenly scented, non-drying floral toner revitalises, soothes and brightens skin and finishing with Skin Repair Moisturiser which comes in three formulas; combination/oily, normal/combination or dry/sensitive retails at £17.25 for 50ml.  
 
I'm more of a  "Simple” Gal - no witty comments please!!   I don't have sensitive skin, however I like the simplicity of the products and the affordability, I've even introduced my daughter to the range.  

Hair also takes a battering at this time of year – if the weather, central heating and lack of water intake doesn’t damage your flowing locks, then the heated appliances will probably finish them off!!!  Deb’s latest beauty find which she’s raving about is from the award winning range by renowned Tricologist, Philip Kingsley who has over 45 years of experience of treating the locks of the rich and famous, including Renee Zellwegger.  

Being our very own “Bridget Jones”, Deb’s decided to try out the renowned “Elasticizer” after one too many uses of her hair straighteners coupled with her ever changing hair colour (Jordan, eat your heart out!). Retailing around £20, this isn’t a cheap product to use every day but as a weekly pre-shampoo treatment, it promises to put body and shine back into damaged hair …….and boy, does it!! If your hair’s over processed and feeling a little dry or damaged, this is the product to put back what your GHD’s have taken out! If your budget can’t stretch to Philip Kingsley products (and whose can these days?), then my fabulous Hairdresser has written a piece below about how to care for your locks without snapping those already over-stretched purse strings! 

Hi, my name’s Andrew a.k.a "The Ginger Snipper" and I’ve been tending to Mrs Savage’s tresses for over 22 years.   

Well, the Party Season has nearly finished, how was it for you?? A big build up and then a big let down? Did your extensions stay in or did they get caught in your stilleto`s at some ungodly hour in the morning.  Did the Christmas hair-do survive the recent weather, or did it collapse before you got your starter?

As a professional hairdresser, these questions are something you would ask your clients’ next time you saw them, we would do our best to make sure everything was ok but people are human and  guess what, so is your hairdresser!!! Speaking personally I’ve never had a "DO" collapse (that I know of!!!!) If you know different please don’t respond…… after all, your hairdresser is for life not just for Christmas!!

On a more serious note, this time of year can play havoc with you hair, chemically treated, over use of heated appliances, and believe it or not central heating dries your hair out too. As a home remedy (and very cheap!!) once a week after shampooing your hair, heat a small amount of cooking oil for a few seconds in the microwave (probably best to avoid the flavoured oils such as garlic!), apply to damp hair massaging in well, wrap your hair in a towel and leave for at least 10 minutes. Now the important bit, do not just rinse your hair (remember, oil and water do not mix!!!) apply neat shampoo as this will emulsify the oil, massage in gently and then rinse.  Your hair should feel softer and this process should eliminate some static that can be present.

It`s important to keep your hair moisturised at this time of year and a particularly good range of products I can recommend is " L`anza", which can be purchased from salons appointed to stock them or online at
www.lookfantastic.com.




 Thanks Andrew, great tips - hope you become a regular beau-blogger!!

So, it just remains for Deb’s and I to wish you all a very Happy New Year, we hope you'll keep to your Resolutions and that you've enjoyed reading so far and follow our blog in 2011.
Savvy & Appy xx

2 comments:

  1. Hey ladies! Happy new Year to you both!

    Well I have spent the last couple of weeks heavy of eye make-up (lots of granite shadow and lashings of black mascara) with nude lips and teamed with my favourite Agent Provocateur sets I have caused a wow with my new squeeze. Thank Gawd for Savvy Lash - it has prevented the Alice Cooper look and created vamp perfection. My New Years Resolution??? Exploit my good points and ignore my not so good ones... life's to short to worry about our imperfections. Lots of love, Natella XXXX

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  2. I will be having several blog posts over the next couple weeks or even month, depending on how long it takes to clean out of my collections. Right now I have several perfumes and colognes that will go on the sale. Check out my blog for more info!!

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