Making stuff at the Make Lounge

Rarely do I love living in London.  In fact, most of the time I positively dislike it.  But I can't deny that it does carry the bonus of having loads of good stuff to do.  I've been to the The Make Lounge in Islington a few times recently which is basically a cool workshop in a cool area that runs one off classes on how to make stuff.

A couple of weeks ago I went on a valentines biscuit decorating class.  We learnt how to ice biscuits using the 'flooding' method with royal icing and also cutting and sticking using sugar paste.

The red heart is made using the 'flooding' method and the others are cut and stuck sugar paste. They're not perfect, but I'm going to have a good practice at home, maybe make some Mothers Day ones.

I've also done a cupcake decorating class there.  I made the orange flower, but the white one is by Dr Oetker I think.

They do non-cooking classes such as knitting, beauty product making and even a make your own knickers class!

COMO Shambhala Shower Gel

NEVER in a million years did I think I'd be writing a post about a shower gel but this came in my Glossybox this month and I LOVE it!

I'm usually an Avon 'Senses' £1 a bottle (or Soap and Glory when I'm really pushing the boat out) kind of girl... I've just never thought that shower gel was worth investing in.   Despite the claim that the product would put me in a 'perfectly uplifted mood' and 'inspire me to greater wellbeing', the COMO Shambhala Invigorating Shower Gel that arrived in my Glossybox on Monday was the item I was least looking forward to trying out.

But after a particularly tiring Zumba class that night and then again this morning (after a bit of a late one last night) I tried it out and I have to say that it really did pick me up - both my skin and my mood felt better - it was like a mini aromatherapy session and my bathroom smelt amazing for hours after.

It's now made me think about going down the natural route (this product contains eucalyptus, geranium, lavender and peppermint) more often.

Now just working out whether it's worth paying £20 for the full size product!

p.s. my table cloth is from Dunelm Mill - one of my best home purchases ever!!

Summer Lights at Headmasters

I took the plunge and had 'Summer Lights' colour at Headmasters yesterday.  They've got quite a good colour sale on at the moment; all colour treatments are half price and if you join HM club and book your appointment between 9am - 4pm weekdays, you get an extra 25% off.  Cut/ finish is stil full price though so don't get sucked in to thinking it'll be dirt cheap like I did!

I had originally thought about having ombre colour - I particularly like Jessica Alba's - but I wasn't sure if the look went with my style (although Jessica's looks beautiful!)

In the end I went for something a whole lot more subtle, it's quite hard to see in the picture but basically they put a subtle golden blonde low lights scattered around the bottom and middle layer of my hair and then put a light brown gloss over the rest.  The result is great if you curl your hair because the light really picks up the low lights.

I curled my hair with my Babyliss 2258u curling wand, I love it for creating waves - you simply take 2 inch strands and wrap them around the wand.  The come out in ringlets but if you then hairspray all over and leave it to cool until just before you leave the house, when you run your fingers through the curls they come out in these loose waves.

Not quite Jessica Alba but it's a start... next time I might go Ombre!!