London Luxury on a budget- Eating and drinking

When going to London there are many different places to go and see and sometimes it can be a real struggle to not end up in a chain or a tourist trap if you aren’t familiar with whats going on around you. The struggle is also real when wanting to live the lifestyle of your fave celebs and stars of instagram with what looks like endless days of wining, dining and living it up.

I’ve popped together a little guide of some tried and tested places that I’ve been that shouldn’t break the bank.

So for me the staple to any day out revolves around eating and with the choice around London making a decision on one place to go can be tricky. It’s amazing how many people that I’ve spoken to even my friends who live there who don’t know about the Book A Table- Star Deals. This is quite literally where I begin to plan my trip for either lunch or dinner. There is something on the for most tastes and price ranges and if you’re a real foodie or have a taste for the finer things Michelin star restaurants are frequently included and lots of beautiful places that are definitely a must see at least once like Aqua Shard and other restaurants in the Shard. If the choice is still too much I have never been disappointed by relying on good old Trip Advisor to find the quality in the quantity.

I have eaten in the Northall restaurant at the Corinthia hotel twice on their 3 course menu including champagne for £35 and more recently ate at Roux at The Landau for the same 3 courses with champagne for £38. Sadly Michel Roux JR was not there but it did excite me as a foodie and film lover geek that it was where Burnt was filmed (loser, I know)  Both are absolutely stunning restaurants in even more stunning hotels, the staff and service is just incredible and you feel like nothing short of royalty. The Artesian bar in the Langham where Roux is was once classed the #1 cocktail bar in the world and is fab if you want something a little different.

 

One deal thats always on there that has amazing reviews is steak, lobster and a cocktail plus a £50 betting chip at the Heliot steakhouse above the Hippodrome casino for £20!! So  you could actually leave full of surf ‘n’ turf better off!!

 

Then there is that most wonderfully relaxing meal that chilled out weekends are made for B R U N C H. For me- someone who definitely enjoys the happy times in life with a drink to go with it- brunch is just breakfast without a glass of fizz! Bottomless brunch hasn’t hit the doors of Norwich yet sadly so is something that I very much look forward to when having a weekend morning in the big smoke. If this sounds right up your street and you wanna research further there is an amazing website which will narrow down all your drinking needs and specifically has a page for boozy brunches- Design My Night so have a browse.

I have tried a couple and they are both opposite ends of the spectrum…

Villandry– Great Portland Street and St.James you get here free flowing prosecco, OJ, 2 rounds of tea and coffee, a brunch meal, a freshly baked pastry and a cake from their in house patisserie and 2 hours to do it in which is definitely long enough to really get your moneys worth on the bubbly. £35. Villandry is a really pretty Parisian style cafe bar and is definitely a lovely one if you’re out with the girls or other prosecco enthusiasts! Served Saturday and Sunday 12-4pm

The Big Easy– This is totally the opposite end of the spectrum and if you hit the name link it will take you to the menu because this one is an absolute gut-buster if you want it to be. If you choose the BBQ option not only are your drinks free flowing (Prosecco, house wine or lager) but the bbq is bottomless too!! Alternatively you can also have a whole lobster and fries and its all for £29.50. This one I went to with my boyfriend and definitely had more of an atmosphere that a lad would enjoy. I happily enjoyed my lobster and fries with a few glasses of Prosecco and Jamie had a feast of unlimited meat and beer so we were both happy and no accusations of getting dragged around ‘girly’ places. Saturday and Sunday 9-5 and kids even eat free too!! I believe this is only available at the Covent Garden and Canary Wharf branches and not Kings road.

 

Then one of my absolute favorite hidden gems.The Wright Brothers Oyster House every day 7 days a week all branches of The Wright Brothers do an oyster happy hour where oysters are £1 each between 3 and 6pm. That it literally a fraction of the price you would pay ANYWHERE else and they are so delicious. I normally go to the Kingly Court branch just off Carnaby and it always has a great buzz if you sit out the back in the court. Our bill came to literally £25 for a dozen oysters, beer and Prosecco which is under half what you would pay up the road at the Selfridges oyster bar!!

 

These are a few of my favorite places to go when I’m in London if I’m looking to feel special and experience something  lovely and not break the bank! I can’t wait to try more book-a-table deals in the future!

 

Do any of you lovely lot have any tips of places to go? Or any of these places your favorites too?

Love H x

The Omni Diet

So after a starting the year so well and shedding like half a stone really quickly from being bang on it with the meal prep and doing classes like every other day minimum it all went a bit wayward as my social calendar started to fill and in came the burgers and booze and buffets! Goodbye diet, hello some of those pounds lost.

I was kind of not really too bothered as it was cold and sitting on my bum watching tv and eating cake seemed preferable to going to the gym in the snow and eating raw kale for lunch. When I was having on of these said couch potato days I came across a show on channel 4 called “how to lose weight well”.  It’s on the All 4 player and is so worth a watch- I binged every episode season 1 and 2!!

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In a nutshell each episode puts 6 diets into practice on real people dieting for real occasion on different time frames.  Over the many episodes I watched the diet which stood out to me the most was The Omni Diet which the girl who did it lost a stone in 2 weeks!! I thought to myself “I can do that”.

I’ve been on a relatively clean eating diet plan for around 3 years now since I first had a personal trainer and I know that I enjoy that kind of food and I lost 2.5 stone from the start of my journey so for me the omni diet really was a case of cutting out the dairy, bread, grains, gluten etc.

Now I can’t necessarily guarantee how long I could sustain this for or how good for you it would be long term but this week I can assure you my cravings for sugar are reduced, I have been getting much fuller much quicker and I haven’t really missed the dairy at all! After doing it just for 7 days in the lead up to a work trip I can confirm I lost 6lb in one week, it works.

The diet itself main structure is a 70:30 ratio of plant based foods vs protein. It promises a weight loss of up to 12-15 pounds in 2 week, health benefits from the intake of the plant based foods, improved digestion, anti inflammatory properties and reduction of bloating. So instead of 5 a day I’m talking like 10 a day!!! It was created by Tana Amen who is a registered nurse and bachelor of science in nursing and she believes that this diet not only changes your body and eating habits but your mind too. You can read more about Tana here

The diet itself is pretty strict and could end up quite pricey if you are doing it completely by the book as all meat should be lean naturally raised and all seafood wild-caught which would be preferable in an ideal world so  I have adapted it to suit me and really embody the key principles of the diet and steer clear of anything on the don’t list which you can read a handy summary here

I also used my fitness pal to track the calories and nutritional values which really helped and the diet was averaging about 1000-1200 calories a day.

I thought I would just share some of the meals and snacks I have been having which I found really quick, easy and tasty. I worked with the eating sequence of breakfast – snack – lunch – snack- dinner – snack.

Everyday for breakfast I had a green smoothie which I make out of a frozen mix I get from Aldi for £1.99 for 6 portions. They do an exotic one too, these are great if you are skeptical about having loads of fresh food around and an unpredictable schedule. It has a little banana in it which is on the no list but I figuered it shouldn’t hurt so…Coconut water, green mix (kale, mango, banana and lemongrass) blitzed in a Nutribullet. Nutritious, delicious. Other ideas include poached eggs and salmon, spinach, avocado, poached eggs and tomatoes and any combo of the above. img_3042

Morning/afternoon/ evening snacks– berries, almonds, carrot/celery/pepper/cucumber sticks, hummus, cold cuts of beef or turkey.

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Lunch– a little repetitive but on the go and at work it was just super easy, I would cook up a load of kale and frozen peas, let it get cold to use as the base greenery for my salad (you could also use any salad leaves or spinach for this too), I would add cherry tomatoes, tinned sweetcorn, cucumber, sometimes avocado, olives, artichokes, beetroot the options are endless and then normally a tin of tuna to finish it off with a little drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Turkey breast and chicken breast work great too. I know that cheap tuna is a no no from Tana but to keep it affordable I have just used whatever meat and fish I can get my hands on.img_2872

Dinner– A staple meat or fish- turkey breast, chicken breast, steak, cod or salmon (you get the idea) a load of veg for my 70% so like asparagus, kale, broccoli, mange tout, mushrooms (high in protein and totally fills you up) and the beauty of this diet too is that you CAN have sweet potatoes! So a baked sweet potato with salad and tuna is not off the menu either (just sadly no butter allowed)

 

To cook everything I have tried to steam, boil or dry bake as much as I can or eat raw so I really can truly track what I’ve eaten.

All in all a really good diet, I am definitely gonna do another couple of weeks when I get home as it truly did work and anyone trying to push for a last couple of weeks for an occasion or holiday I thoroughly recommend it. I wasn’t starving on it, i think I was getting all the nutritional quality I needed and it has changed how I look at food in terms of discipline.

Advice- definitely keep a food diary, be prepared- make it in advance, have the ingredients you need to make it a success, drink a lot of water and try to enjoy it!

Thanks so much for reading! I’ll let you know of any future success I have! Any readers thinking or trying this diet? Or already tried it?

Love H x

 

 

|| PRODUCT REVIEW || GLAM GLOW- YOUTHMUD

So I treated myself to the red carpet favourite ‘Youthmud’ tingle exfoliate mask by Glam Glow. I heard that the celebs swear by the little jar of magic as their secret weapon to flawless looking skin when they are due in a red carpet situation and needed to give it a go myself. If Jen A, Jay-Z and Miley are fans I wanted to give it a go. It’s been around Hollywood for a few years now and is probably old hat for those in the know but Glam Glow was recently bought by Estee Lauder companies and as I work for a sister brand now was definitely my time to try.

I bought the full size 50g jar, this comes in at £39 from Glam Glow directly or you can get it for other official distributors too. There is a also a travel size option for those on the go or wanting to try first.

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I opened it up and trust me even the weight of the jar feels luxurious! It came with few clear and simple instructions to stir it when you first open it and to apply even over the face and wash off after 10 minutes. Simple!

I got straight to it! Now the actual appearance of the mask isn’t pretty and you can see a few of the key ingredients that its made up of clearly- volcanic rock which I believe contributes to it’s colour, French sea clay which is the main consistency and then green tea leaf which you can see the little pieces of leaf in the mask.

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So as instructed I applied a thin layer of the mask all over the face and the first thing I noticed was the – as stated on the box- tingling sensation. For me this excited me hugely because I love when you can feel something taking effect, as the formula dried and set it was feeling noticeably tightening which again is a beneficial feeling like its making all those little lines disappear.

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So tick tock ten minutes later and it’s removal time! I used cool water and just my hands and it comes off like you are doing a routine exfoliation so that extra texture just buffs away and remaining dead skin cells. As soon as my skin was clean I could feel the mask had given instant results as it felt super silky soft. I inspected it very closely and I do think that my pores looked more refined too. I know that this is a once or twice a week treatment so will look forward to the more long time effects also which can include reduction of fine lines and resurfacing so the removal on light sun damage and pigmentation may be on the cards too!!

Shortly after using the mask I applied my make up as usual and my skin had definitely adopted and more radiant bright finish and my make up sat just beautifully and I sure as hell felt glowing and ‘camera ready’.

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Even 2-3 days after each morning when I wash my face my skin still feels so lovely and soft so this mask is definitely one I’ll continue to use in my routine. The price point does make it less affordable that some of the more drug store brands but if you are a fan of luxury or looking to splash out I would definitely recommend it. As I said they also do a travel size for around £14 if you fancy taking it for a more financial risk free test drive.

I’m now excited to try more things in the glam glow range!! Has anyone tried any of the other masks or products? Or had amazing results with this one? I would love to hear your stories!

Thanks for reading,

H x

 

 

 

Getting Into the Beauty Industry

Well friends I have intact not disappeared off the face of the planet I got myself a new job as the Retail Manager for MAC Cosmetics and given the time of year I landed myself slap bang in the middle of the silly season so have either been working hard or sleeping since my last post! The last few months have been an amazing rollercoaster and I definitely couldn’t be happier in my new role and I’ve only just got started!

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I thought I would just give a little bit of info on the recruitment process to get a job with MAC which is quite similar for many other premium cosmetic brands as I get asked all the time how to get into it. For anyone thinking of trying to get a job within the industry this (or something very similar) is the standard procedure.

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First you would apply online and fill out an application form or drop in a CV, secondly you would usually get invited in for an interview for management expect management questions relating to business and your team and for artist and brand consultants expect more trend and inspiration questions and customer service style questions, if you are successful at this stage you would then be offered a make-up trade test (or dependent on the brand usually some kind of practical stage.) This is your chance to show you have the skills required for the job- A clear strong technical ability but also to be able to comfortably engage with your customer and build a good rapport. For this stage you are required to bring a model and your own brushes (any brand.)

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After this dependent on your position (but at management always) you will generally be invited in for a store approval if the brand send you forward which is the stores chance to see if you are the correct fit and find out what they wish to about you too. This stage is still quite interview like (again all my retail roles have been at management level so I imagine are slightly more formal than other roles) so be prepared. For my first job as a cosmeticAccount Manager I turned up with my passport and national insurance number thinking that it was just a formality and I got the shock of my little life at the time. Lesson learned.

If you are looking to enter at management level don’t be shy before your interview and store approval to go and ask for information relating to the business to prepare you, think about a SWOT analysis so you have some material and think about not only how you would manage the business for the customer but also for your team too, think like a gardner with a garden of seeds you want to grow into beautiful flowers.

For my trade test I took my mum. I was asked to create a base look so I chose products I knew would work for her but I also went by the information I got from her during my investigation about her skin and her preferences. Asking the right questions as a make-up artist I believe is one of THE MOST important elements of your service whatever scenario you’re in. This was you are building the picture in your head of what you want your end result to look like from what your client has told you. Don’t ever be shy to dig deeper as no two people are the same and this is tailored to them for their needs with your expertise to recommend the right products. Try not to ask closed questions either as you will get less information. This entire process was timed, I can’t remember exactly but I think I had 5 minutes for consultation/ investigation and I think 20 minutes for the whole base I included everything skincare, primer, foundation, concealer, blusher, bronzer and highlighter. Then after this stage she asked me to finish off with a bold lip which I believe I was given 5 minutes for. The whole process is conducted by a trainer and I had to travel to Cambridge for. I was quite nervous to begin with but she was just so lovely as were the team in store I felt right at home. My feedback was provided after the day by the area manager.

I can’t recall if I was asked to wear all black or whether I did out of choice but as a very trend-focused company you most definitely want to show your sense of style. I also made sure my make up was totally different to my interview too to show I’m not a one trick pony. Super important. BE YOURSELF. Mac is a brand which prides itself on ALL AGES. ALL RACES. ALL SEXES and they completely embrace diversity. One of the many reasons I’m so happy to be there <3

 

If anyone is thinking of joining the cosmetics industry good luck and feel free to get in touch for any advice or questions. This is my sixth year in beauty retail management and I have worked for a variety of brands and store groups and I have lots of experience in applying for roles and in recruiting across different positions so hopefully can answer most questions.

Thanks for reading and being so patient in my break!

Love Holly x

Jive Kitchen opening! Mexican Street food in Norwich

I went to the opening night of Jive Kitchen last week. It’s gone into the old spot that was Le Bistro on the corner of exchange street which is a top notch location with a nice view over the iconic Norwich marketplace. Mexican food and generally anything edible with a kick of spice is right up my street so when I heard about the couple that are behind Jive Kitchen, who picked up their love of the cuisine from their travels in Mexico and combined that with existing chef skills- I had to be one of the first to check out what they had done to the place.

On entering I saw something so eye-catching that I have never come across before and the had used pennies to decorate the stairs as you go up to the restaurant.  thrifty and decorative way to empty your piggy bank but seriously in the candlelight it was very very effective. img_1350

When we got inside we were welcomed with either a glass of Prosecco or a margarita, the anticipated launch was clearly very popular and both floors of dining barely had a spare chair with lots of guests standing too. Clearly this was the place to be-the newest addition to the Lanes area of the fine city. Me and my OH took a spot at the bar to soak up the atmosphere, get a F-row view of the cocktails being made and in a hope to be first in the rotation of mini Mexican canapés as the came down the stairs. (L-R Pork crackling with guacamole, mini beef soft shell tacos, refried bean cakes)

 

 

We had a few drinks while we were there and tested out their lager choices (We had Modelo and Corona), tried a full size Margarita and cracked open their gold patron which they introduced a new twist of shooting with a lick of chipotle tabasco before. They were the biggest shots I’d ever done so by this time after just a few bite size nibbles I was pretty half cut!

 

 

The decor is the rustic distressed look with exposed brick walls, raw wood tables and cracked paint walls and woodwork with industrial style hanging bulb lighting which does suit the place and gives it a warm vibe.

 

 

I’m looking forward to revisiting now they’re officially open to try a full meal, you can take   a ganders at the menu HERE!! Good luck to guys behind this, I hope they see great success, I love Norwich for having so many unique independents, it keeps it special. I’m sure I’ll be a frequent visitor as my new work place in a few weeks Jarrolds is dead opposite.

Has anyone tried the main menu themselves? What did you think?

Thanks for reading!

Love Holly xx