Sunday 30 May 2010

West End News

The past few weeks have seen the London theatre scene buzzing with excitement: Danielle Hope is to be Andrew Lloyd Webber's new leading lady, Sister Act sees a cast change, Lee Meed joins Wicked and of course, Hair had it's closing notice.

It's a full range of emotions.

Let me tell you, Danielle Hope was definately the right decision for Dorothy, she had the charm, charisma and passion whilst the others seemed to lack the acting skills needed for such an iconic role - that is to say the other potential Dotties won't go on to great and wonderful things. For a start, many of them have been auditioning for shows and drama schools.

Sister Act had it's cast change which bids farewell to the great performers but I'm sure it welcomes some wonderful replacements... Shame it's set to close before the of the year.

In a similar fashion Lee Mead recently joined Wicked as Fiyero, replacing Lewis Bradley who was temporarily acting in the role whilst Lee finished other projects, Lewis has returne to his understudy position. Funny how they were both finialists on "Any Dream Will Do" and Lee won? Ironic? What's even more ironic is the fact that Rachel Tucker (the new Elphaba) was also a finalist on Webber TV talent search... It seems that's the only way to get into the industry these days.

And of course, the hippy musical Hair recieved it's closing notice recently. We say goodbye to the show on Sept 9th. Shame. Where else do you see naked hippies in London?

And there we have it... Highs, lows and the domination of Andrew Lloyd Webber in the West End...

Some fashionable products....

Sunday 23 May 2010

Top Summer Beauty Tips for Lads and Lasses

We all know how the weather can play havoc on our skin, especially when you're trying to catch a tan so I've compiled a list of my top tips for summer skin...

1) Not a fan of sun tan lotion on your face? I for one hate the greasey texture it leaves behind, therefore, I use a moisturiser with built in SPF. My favourite ones are "Asda skinsystem: face" with an SPF 8 and "Boots Botanics Active Plant Extracts" with SPF 12. The latter is part of a general male skin care set that includes face wash and shaving gel. The moisturiser keeps your skin protected and hydrated during those long summer evenings.

2) Caught the sun but not a fan of those icky aftersun lotions? Use cocoa butter. It hydrates your skin taking away the redness, it smells so much better and they often have natural ingrediants. Plus it can be used as a general skin care product.

3) We've all spent fortunes on spot products over the years and we all know hardly any of them work. I've started to use TCP, yes, that's right, TCP. It works as an antiseptic and literally burns you spot away. Use sparingly and a couple times a week to get rid of those major spots. (Take precautions and read the label for this one!)

And there you have it. My top tips for lads and lasses for perfect summer skin.

What are your rituals? Are you a fan of the aftersun lotion or do you prefer cocoa butter? Leave a comment to share your tips!

Excuse my absense...

So recently I haven't been posting as much due to so much going on in life right now, however, postings will become regular once again over the following weeks...

I'm still on a mission to make socks and sandals work and I'm still failing.

I'll be reporting on the current fashion trends that seem to be hot for this year's winter.

I'll also be commenting on some of my favourite artists.

And most importantly, I'm looking for the input from my followers.

What do you want to see more or less of. Leave a comment with your thoughts.

Wednesday 5 May 2010

Can socks and sandals work?

It's been known for many years that socks with sandals are the worst fashion crime ever... The thought of seeing a cotton covered foot strolling round in an open shoe makes me gag.

However, surely there's a way to make this style work? Some of the worst fashion crisis's have been turned on their heads, (Cheryl Cole has us all loving the chav-tastic braids a few years back, right?) So can we make this one of them?

It's my mission over the summer to find a way to make this look work!

Get in touch if you think there's a way to make socks and sandals work.

The Hot and Not World of Fashion


Major alert!!! A fantastic new blog has just been set up documenting the hot (and not) world of fashion! Get yourself over there, follow it, subscribe to it and comment it!

Tuesday 4 May 2010

Gucci Men - PreFall 2010 Collection.

Summer has gone (well at least in the fashion industry) and designers are starting to advertise their Fall collection and Gucci is no exception. Laced with rich browns and chocolate tones, the collection features similar style features from the Spring 2010 collection.

Let's start with every Fall essential: the coat. Gucci is following the military style and features some luxury trench coats in rich tones and exotic textures. With coats ranging from cotton to leather, block colours to animal prints, Gucci really has a coat for every Fall occasion.

Staying with the clean cut style we can already see, Gucci has suits and jackets that are made to fit the body like a glove. No more loose fitting tops, it's all about slim fit and smart shirts. It's time to invest in a new shirt collection.

Gucci's trousers are also taking a turn in the upwards direction. Trousers are starting to get shorter, not necessarily ankle grabbers, but they're getting shorter and being teamed up with boots so they fall just below the ankle.

Heavily featured in the PreFall collection are reptile prints. We see crocodile, snake and lizard patterns on shoes, coats and even incorporated in ties. . . Not good for someone like me who has a phobia of reptiles. Great. Dark colours are also in; Gucci models have been flaunting chocolate brown over layers with navy blue under-items - something not seen so often.

The Gucci PreFall collection really does seem to going outside the box whilst staying in line with the rules of the Spring 2010 collection.



View the collection here...

Saturday 1 May 2010

Wicked the Musical: Nik-Shaw Backstage.

Life as a standby in the theatre can be boring at times, never knowing when you're next on... However, "Wicked's" standbys fill their time by making us wonderful videos detailing life backstage in the West End.

Click here to see the first Nik-Shaw Video.