What Are You Using Right Now?

It's that time of the month again when I need to shed my hair (well extensions) and put on a new look. So on Saturday morning off I headed to Peckham to undertake the ritual of getting my hair done. This meant getting up at 7am, leaving the house before 9am to board the train that takes me to Peckham Rye, popping into Aces to buy the hair and then going to the hairdressers to get it done. To most people going to the hairdressers is quite a relaxing time and for me back in the day when I used to relax my hair it was. I would go in, get seen to right away and be offered tea or coffee, handed some glossy magazines and be able to relax for a good few hours. Sadly the experience is very different when you are going to get your hair braided or twisted. The environment is very different and the customer emphasis is not quite the same. However, the results are stunning hence the reason why you go back for more. Now after getting my hair done I always treat myself to a facial and eyebrow threading at one of my favourite places in the world, Cucumba, an urban pit stop that offers beauty treatments and therapies. An hour or two here and I always leave feeling very lush.

How befitting is it to hear that Lushes Brown Thoughts has tagged me in her hair and beauty post, What are you using right now? The idea of the post is to find out what sort of products different bloggers use on their face and body and it all makes very interesting reading. This is a list of all the stuff that I use to keep me looking great.

Hair

Shampoo - Sulfur8 medicated shampoo - it just works or Olive Oil Creamy Aloe Shampoo

Conditioner – Trespak treatment, gets rid of those knots and makes the hair feels so much better

Styling products – Trespak medicated hair and scalp conditioner

Body
Cleanse – Any soap from Lush
Moisturise – Palmers Cocoa Butter

Deodorant – Palmolive Soft and Gentle Aromatherapy: Lavender, Ylang Ylang & Patchouli

Sun care – None at the mo but I guess I should get on it
Perfume - I LOVE perfume and tend to use different scents, right now it is Daisy by Marc Jacobs.

Face
Cleanse – Clarins Gel Nettoyant Purifiant Cleansing Gel

Tone - Clarins Lotion with Iris

Moisturise – Clarins HydroQuench Lotion
Mask - Clinique Deep Cleansing Emergency Mask
Lip Balm - Any by the Bodyshop or Lush

Makeup

Primer - Benefit Dr Feel Good

Foundation – MAC Studio Fix powder NW45
Eye Shadow – Mac
Eyeliner - Mac
Lip gloss – Mac Chocolaite
Mascara – Maybelline Define a Lash, Mac Splashproof
Nail Polish - Essi Chocolate

I tag Brown Girl Gumbo, The Cocoa Diaries, Mad News, A Taste of Angel Cake, Harlem Loves and all my readers.

What lush goodies have you been using lately ladies?

Graduate Fashion Week 08

Our new bumbling Mayor, Boris Johnson has vowed to get rid of the bendy buses that were introduced by his predecessor, Ken Livingstone and bring back the old double decker Routemaster. Along with many, it took me a while to warm to the new bendy buses and I was very sad to see the Routemaster get phased out. Bold, bright, retro and highly fashionable, the Routemaster epitomises London in full effect. So how befitting is it that the ingenious lot from University of Westminster have hired a bus to show off their final year student's work at Graduate Fashion Week (GFW). While other Universities stuck to exhibition stands and tables, this establishment that boasts Vivienne Westwood and Christopher Bailey as former students stood out from amongst the trainee fashionistas. The bus is not just popular with me because it has also been turned into a restaurant aka bustaurant in Shoredicth. Rootmaster is a quirky eatery that serves tasty dishes and scrumpy snacks.

Now back to Graduate Fashion Week which is now in its 17th year. This magnanimous event was launched to celebrate the creme a la creme of the graduate fashion talent in the country. The event is on par of London Fashion Week (although not as snooty) and attracts scouts from the corner of the globe who are in search of the next Stella McCartney and Julien Macdonald. I took a trip down to Earls Court over the weekend to check out GFW 2008 and I was not disappointed. As usual it was mecca of creativity and talent which left me feeling very inspired and excited.

Project Catwalk 3

Don't laugh but I only signed up for Sky last year so I missed out on the first series of Project Catwalk with the divine Liz Hurley. I am now rapidly catching up via YouTube. I am beginning to wonder how I ever coped before that amazing invention. I throughly enjoyed the second series of Project Catwalk albiet my shock when dumpy, Kelly Osborne was given the presenter's gig. No matter how I try I cannot bring myself to like that girl. Maybe it is her awful dress sense, her obnxious manner or the fact that she possess no talent whatsoever. Anyway - mini rant over - as you all know the second series ended with wonder boy, Wayne Aveline taking the crown and all the perks that came with it. I had my bet on Monika Rene with her flair and feistiness. Didn't you just love the sparring contest between her and Julien McDonald?

The third series started a few weeks ago and I have managed to catch some of it but what I have seen it seems to be more fight than fashion. Contestants bickering over trivial matters. Anyway it is the same format as last year; 13 contestants competing for the sum of £25,000, a spread in Grazia magazine and the chance to design a clothing range for catalogue, Oli. Now I am not one to turn my nose up at clothing labels but surely no aspiring fashion designer wants to be associated with a catalogue. It would be different with if you were an established designer and created a diffusion range to bring in some readies and make your line more accessible. The winner of Project Runway gets to show at New York Fashion Week, now that in my opinion is huge and much more beneficial to any designer's career than a catalogue deal. So how about next year's winner getting a gig at London Fashion Week? That is something I would love to see.

Project Catwalk 3 is on Sky One on Wednesday at 9.00pm

Graduate Fashion Week

On Monday I woke up with a migraine and had the sudden urge to stay in bed all day. I had planned to go down to Graduate Fashion Week (GFW) to see the collections but my head was saying different things. However, temptation got the better of me, I figured that the fresh air as long as the innovative ideas that I would see at the event would do me the world of good. I was not wrong, a few hours and two paracetomols later I was at Battersea Park Arena along with my press pass and goodie bag feeling revived and very inspired. I did have to pinch myself that I was at the right event because the last time I went to GFW it was a low key affair with a few portfolios on display. Today GFW is a huge event that attracts high profile sponsors such as River Island, Revlon, L'Oreal, Pringle and magazines like Cosmopolitan, Company and Glamour. In fact the event is highly acclaimed as one where you find the latest talents in fashion; Stella McCartney got her break here a few years ago along with Alexander McQueen, Julien MacDonald and John Galliano.

At the exhibition what I saw before me were magazines, business cards, posters, brochures, bags and other promotional merchandise that were produced to an amazingly high standard. Battersea Park Arena was filled with a buzz of excitement, expectation and amazing energy and I am so glad that I made it down. The first show I saw was the University of the Creative Arts which featured everything from hoodies, monochrome designs and tailoring. After that I grabbed Nwannie who was working hard backstage dressing the models for that show and we headed to the press office for some lunch. I must admit I was very impressed with the press office at this function, they served non stop food and plenty of drinks. It was also decked out with cosy sofas, fancy tables and wifi where the grande dame of fashion journalism, Hilary Alexander was seen looking rather stressed. In fact the treatment of the press at GFW was commendable; we were ushered into each show without having to queue and were allocated front row seats. This is a far cry to London Fashion Week where we have to queue for ages in the cold and even when we get in we have to stand. It will certainly be a shock to go back to that. As well as seeing vibrant and wonderful collections we met some characters along the way such as a young man from a glossy magazine who was taking pictures with his camera phone. In the press room we got chatting to a journalist from menstyle and we also met some great guys from Disorder magazine who were lots of fun. It was a truly gratifying day and I am still blown away by the amount of talent that is produced in this country and I just hope all of them find jobs in the area that they wish. Picture taken from Graduate Fashion Week website