blow LTD: Fast Beauty in Covent Garden

Ever needed to be somewhere ASAP and not had enough time to get ready? Be it for either a very important meeting or a night out? Well there's a new beauty bar open in Covent Garden, that is sure to be the answer to your needs.

It's called Blow LTD and it's situated in a convenient central location in Covent Garden. Basically, they can make you look like a movie star in 25 mins.

The blow dry craze never really took off here, even with bars like Hershesons blow dry bar, it was either too expensive for us or took too long. British women have never really taken that much time to pamper themselves, unlike the Americans. We look after ourselves, but not too much.

Blow, however, leaves us with no excuse not to look after ourselves. It brings the concept of fast beauty to London. Whereas places like Hershesons and other blow dry bars only specialise in hair, Blow LTD leaves their competition far behind they not only blow dry your hair in 25 minutes, they can also do your makeup in 15 mins and do your nails at the same time as your hair. You can go in having just rolled out of bed and in about 40 mins you can exit looking like a Goddess. 

Let me talk you through the concept. Blow has a menu, from which you can choose one of 9 styles, everything from up-dos to super sleek hair, plus one or two seasonal specials. The most popular styles are the "Luxe", loose waves, and the "Beach Blow", which is tighter waves. Then choose your makeup, natural, evening or party and then choose the kind of nails you want. 

I visited Blow and decided to go for something I would never normally have, a Starlet blow, which is like that Veronica Waves look. A real classic movie star.

Staff were very friendly and it did only take 25 minutes to complete. 

#nomakeup #selfie The Starlet in progress....


From the side, this hairstyle is stunning. They plait your hair tightly and clip it to one side so it stays in position. It's an absolute dream.

Blow is not just a beauty salon. They consider themselves a beauty bar. Fantastically, they also stock all the products they use on you, so if you love a lip colour or a blush, you can buy them in store too. They stock amazing cult beauty brands, like Jouer, Lord and Berry or GlamGlow, brands that were previously only available online or abroad.

I walked out feeling like a true 1930s Hollywood movie star. I just know I will be revisiting Blow LTD again when I'm in need of a transformation before that night out, or simply in need of a little lift in the form of a quick pamper.

Check out their website here blowltd.com to see the products they sell and the styles they do, or to book yourself an appointment!

Spot Treatments

So you’ve been eating all that Easter chocolate, which is great fun and I reckon most people, like me, have since upped their daily sugar intake by a good 75% so your skin might be suffering from lack of real nutrition. You can see the spots forming, bubbling under the surface, ready to turn into a version of the Himalayas on your forehead.  I know, I feel your pain. As someone who has oily skin it has been a near on daily battle my entire life, but over the years I have discovered a few tricks and miracle workers that really help to get rid of them.

I recently did a post of La Roche-Posay's Effaclar Duo, a quick fix for getting rid of imperfections, but then I thought, really you should tackle the root cause of imperfections too, to make them few and far between.

First, you must have a good skin care routine. Cleanse, tone and moisturise thoroughly day and night and exfoliate once or twice a week. Last year I became a convert to cream hot cloth cleansers and I will never look back to liquid or foaming cleansers. The hot cloth provides a soft exfoliation every day and it really does get rid of all dirt and makeup. My skin feels really clean after. I love Liz Earle's Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser, £14.75. It is for all skin types and all natural.

Face cleanser

Exfoliating can cause spots because it gets rid of trapped oils and dirt in your skin, but in the long term it stops imperfections because of the thorough cleansing. I like Clinique’s exfoliators, £17.50; they do versions for sensitive and normal skin and they’re cheaper than many other brands out there. They also use microbeads which are less harsh on the skin than natural exfoliators, which use grains of sand.

Using an oil at night can help regulate oil levels and therefore stops spots from forming. I like Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Concentrate, £36. With a hint of lavender it smells gorgeous and you only need to use 2-3 drops a night for skin to appear bright and refreshed in the morning. It might seem a lot of money but 8 months down the line I’m only half way through my 30ml bottle. If you have a bit more cash to burn, Estee Lauder’s Advanced Night Repair, £58, is a godsend. A little miracle worker, it does all sorts for your skin including brightening, anti-aging and protecting from harsh environments. Rub a little extra over the bumps in your skin and by morning feel them fade away.

Body cleanser, $26 / Beauty product, $20 / Advanced Night Repair | Estee Lauder Official Site

For get-rid-of-them-quick schemes, I've already told you about La Roche-Posay, but another favourite of mine is Clinique's Anti-Blemish Solution Spot Treatment Gel, £13.50. This small tube will last you a long time so don't be put off by the price. It dries out the affected area quickly so an imperfection usually never gets time to form properly.

So, now the skin is sorted, back to eating all that left-over chocolate.

Washington DC, 2012

I thought I should go back and write down some of the places I visited before I started this blog, so I can recommend places and also so I can reminisce. This blog is as much for me as it is for you!!

Last year my best friend took a year out to work in Washington DC and I was lucky enough to be able to visit her around this time last year. I had the most amazing time, visiting famous places like the White House, the Lincoln Memorial and Capitol Hill to name but a few, but we also visited places I would never have known about had I not had a friend living there, places like Georgetown and Dupont Circle, which were like little storybook villages with giant American roads running through.

The Dupont fairytale....

I will always remember DC as the place where I had my first taste of a Five Guys Burger (great, but missing that special something that In N Out has).... 

Five Guys excitement!

The full feast!! Cajun fries yuummm...

The place where I strengthened my love of chocolate and peanut butter baked goods in super hipster coffee shops called things like Baked and Wired....

....and where I queued for an hour in 30 degree heat for some damn good cupcakes (trust me the queue was worth it) from a bakery that has it's own TV show.

The queue....

Georgetown Cupcakes

 TIP: If you're heading to Georgetown cupcakes get there EARLY!! The earlier the better. Also check their twitter feed, they do a secret special FREE cupcake of the day that they only announce via twitter!

Best places to visit: 
1. The Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson Building.
One of the most breathtakingly beautiful places I have ever seen.

Topshop top and saddle bag, H&M jeans, Office deck shoes. Lipstick Shiiap by NARS.

On the steps outside.
 

Everything is so huge in DC....

2. Abraham Lincoln Memorial.

Speaks for itself. So inspiring and a true feat of architechture, with stunning views.

And again....ridiculously huge. They have so much space over there!!

Might be my favourite picture ever. Was a complete accident.

3. Visit the Capitol Building and the surrounding area Capitol Hill. It is full of cherry blossoms around this time of year so it is beautiful and Capitol Hill is very pretty and clearly rather pricey!!

Capitol Hill. Mulberry Bayswater bag, Topshop top, RayBan Classic Aviators, True Reiligion Jeans and my fave Kurt Geiger boots, which have now sadly died!
Lipstick Rebel by MAC.

On my last night there we treated ourselves to an incredible meal at the Blue Duck Tavern, part of the Hyatt Hotel. 

Lobster is my weakness, so as soon as I saw it on the menu as a starter I didn't look at anything else. Nisha had veal sweetbreads with duck, which was equally delicious.

Apologies for poor photos, those were still the bad Blackberry days.

The Lobster 

For mains I had scallops and samphire (I love sea food if you hadn't noticed) and I honestly can't remember what Nisha had I was too entranced by my delicious scallops. 

I wish I could remember the sauce, all I can tell you was that it was so moist and yummy!

Then came dessert, ooooh I remember dessert. Nisha had cherry and green tea sorbet which was incredible! They did not scrimp on dessert portions either as it came in a giant frozen bucket with a wooden spoon to scoop out the sorbet. 
I am a chocoholic so I naturally chose the chocolate fondant, which was perfect in every way: moist, gooey and rich, which came with brandy soaked (more precisely drowned) cherries which honestly made me a tad tipsy! 

JUST LOOK AT IT!! OOZING!!

I have a thing for a nice bathroom too, and the bathrooms at this place were fantastic. So naturally we decided to mess around a bit inside the posh bathrooms....

Topshop top, D&G cardigan, Michael Kors Watch, Lipstick in Lady Danger by MAC.

So if you're heading out to Washington DC, I would definitely recommend the Blue Duck Tavern. It is pricey though so save it for a special night. It definitely created some memories I will never forget!