Author Archives: Frostie

Work From Home Week 2015 – 19th to 25th January

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working from home, work, home workingAs someone who works from home I can vouch for its good points and its bad ones. Mostly it is great, offering flexibility and the chance to work to the best of your potential. No nasty commute needed so it is good for your bank account and the environment too. In fact, this is Work From Home Week and in June 2014, new rights to flexible working laws were introduced in the UK, declaring that all employees – who have worked for the same employer for at least 26 weeks – are eligible to request flexible working, including the option of working from home. In fact, most recent figures now show that around 14% of people in employment are working from home, highlighting the idea that it’s increasingly becoming a viable and attractive alternative for businesses.

Launched in 2003, Work From Home Week, running from the 19th to 25th of January, puts a spotlight on this rising figure, raising awareness of working from home for both employers and employees alike.

In a time of constantly evolving technology, it’s never been easier to access information away from the office, so we’re calling on employers to embrace the opportunity as a way to boost happiness and productivity among their employees.

Graham Long, Vice President of the Enterprise Business Team at Samsung UK supports working from home.

‘’At Samsung, we believe it’s vital for people to be given the option and the tools to work flexibly, which is why we view Work from Home Week as an important and worthwhile initiative.

“Our own research reveals over a quarter of workers would opt for flexible working over a pay rise, and more than four in 10 (42%) employees strongly agree with the idea of being able to access work emails and apps outside of official working hours. Despite this, many businesses still don’t trust their employees to do so, highlighting the need to educate enterprises on the benefits of working from home. The option to work more flexibly can have a huge impact on productivity and wellbeing and with advancements in mobile technology, it is now possible for employees to work beyond the confines of the office, making working from home a choice that should be open to all rather than a select few.’’

Of course, for many across the UK, working from home isn’t just for a week. For the hundreds of single parents, carers, injured veterans and those living with disabilities, working from home is a necessity.

To celebrate working from home, the team behind the campaign have compiled the top 5 reasons to consider it!

Money – Not only would you save money on travel costs – train tickets, petrol, parking, etc. – but not eating out for lunch on a regular basis is bound to save you some pennies too. For parents, it gives the opportunity to radically reduce the costs of childcare.

Commute – Forget about delayed trains or road traffic dampening your spirits.

Comfort – Rather than donning a power suit or being restricted to a desk all day, choose your own dress code and working environment.

Green Living – Working from home can help reduce your carbon footprint, conserve office space for your employer, and perhaps most importantly, allow you to be the master of your own environment!

Freedom/Flexibility – Having the freedom to choose your hours and coffee breaks, while not being dragged in and out of corporate meetings all day is something that could potentially boost your overall moral and work ethic. Not to mention it allows you to create that ideal work/life balance.

Work From Home Week runs from the 19th – 25th January 2015. Twitter @WorkFromHomeWK  #WFHW

 

Boombox iMusic Pillow | Cool Things

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We think this Boombox iMusic Pillow is one of the coolest things ever and a must for music fans. It is a pillow AND a speaker.

Boombox iMusic Pillow

The standard sized pillow incorporates the most melodious secret: 2 hidden speakers and an amp through which you can blast music, radio and podcasts!

Simply connect your device to your pillow via the 3.5mm audio cable and turn up that tune! Available now from www.prezzybox.com for only £27.99 (Jan Sales) or £29.95 usually.

 

 

d.oh Hole in my Sock | Music News

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Band/Artist: d.oh
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Styles: Electronic, Indie
Similar to/RIYL: James Blake, The Weeknd, BANKS, Made In Heights, Chet Faker
CD: Hole In My Sock
Release date: January 15, 2015
Accolades: Performed on Canadian Pavilion at Shanghai World Expo 2010, Toured Cuba

Members/Instruments: Daniel Oh – everything
Production: Daniel Oh

d.oh "Hole in my Sock"

Tracklisting:
Run With Me (feat. Adam Noble-Marks)
Alien Rooster
A carver’s love song
Tear Fall
Mountains of Glory
Only to Kill


Bio:
d.oh is a musical project that was created in 2012 while Daniel Oh was experimenting with music in his bedroom. Between and during classes at the University of Toronto, Daniel has been fervently pursuing his true passion – music. Though his sound has evolved into something that is more electronic, he draws from his influences in rock, blues, jazz, and pop.

 

 

Rosie Fortescue On Trend In An Animal Print Dom Goor Coat

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Animal print will never go out of fashion. Which is why reality TV star Rosie Fortescue has been shielding from this winter’s chill in her Dom Goor leopard print coat. The stunning coat combines rough edge cut shearling in an on-trend leopard print. It’s a real statement piece and perfect to match with a simple pair of jeans in the day or match with a dress for a glamorous evening look. Available at Harvey Nichols.

sie Fortescue in a Dom Goor coat sie Fortescue Dom Goor coat

 

 

UK Women Confess Their Beauty Secrets

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I have never been high maintenance. No fake tan, no false eyelashes. In fact, in the past my husband was lucky if I brushed my hair on the weekends. Truth is, men prefer women when they are not wearing makeup but that does not stop us being insecure. While there are certain things I will keep a secret from my husband when it comes to grooming, and from Frost readers, I was quite surprised at the lengths that some women take to keep looking gorgeous. I think we should all just relax and if your partner does not love your natural beauty, then they were obviously not worth investing time in. I doubt it will come to this though. Men are not as shallow as the stereotype suggests. In my experience, they love natural beauty.

Even in the most open and honest relationships some things are best kept a secret. So when it comes to maintaining their beauty women of the UK withhold more than a pair of spanx and a bottle of fake tan from their partners.Nearly three quarters of men have no idea the lengths their wife or girlfriend goes to look her best, a study found yesterday. Research revealed most men are completely oblivious to the extensive beauty routine their other half goes through on a daily basis.

Among the pampering habits which escape men is the waxing or bleaching of moustaches and the extensive plucking of eyebrows, nose hair and chin whiskers. Wearing push-up bras, false eyelashes and control pants were also tricks ladies confessed to resorting to. As was covertly applying fake tan and wearing hair extensions for extra volume the poll by QVS Beauty Tools Experts found. Four in ten women said they purposely hide the gory details of their beauty regime from their man, with a third of women claiming they want to keep-up the pretence that they always look great.

BIGGEST BEAUTY SECRETS

Pluck whiskers from face

Wax moustache/facial hair

Wax/shave bikini line

Pluck hairs from nose

Bleach moustache/facial hair

Wax/shave legs

Remove hard skin from feet

Wax/shave underarms

Wear Spanx/control pants

Pluck your eyebrows

Cut your toenails

Wear a push-up/padded bra

Apply a face pack

Wear tooth veneers

Apply fake-tan

Wear false nails

Wear eyelash extensions

Wear false eyelashes

Wear coloured contact lenses

Apply make-up

Paint your toenails

Wear hair extensions

Have hair coloured / highlights

beauty, beauty secrets, secrets, hair removal, hair,

The poll of 1000 women and 1000 men revealed incredibly one in twenty women have never let their husband or boyfriend see them without a full face of make-up on.

The study revealed more than a quarter of the 1000 men polled said they have no idea what elements make up their wife or girlfriends beauty routine.With seven in ten saying they would rather be kept in the dark about what she gets up to behind the bathroom door. But one in ten said they would be shocked to learn that the love of their life wore cleavage enhancing bras or pants that sucked her in.And a quarter said they would also be surprised to find out she wore false nails, coloured contacts or had veneers on her teeth. And more than one in ten blokes couldn’t believe their other half would resort to wearing false tan.

But the research showed a quarter of women said they would be left embarrassed if their partner caught them carrying out certain preening tasks, with shaving their bikini line, waxing or bleaching their facial hair and plucking nasal hairs being named as the most mortifying. Fortunately three quarters of women said the longer they remain in a relationship the less they are concerned with keeping up a less than perfect image. With women claiming after being with a man for an average of one year and seven months, she begins to relax about her appearance. Having said that, a devious 61 per cent of females polled said if they receive a compliment from their partner they never confess to any ‘cheats’ they have undertaken, preferring to remain tight lipped.

What efforts do you take when it comes to beauty? Would you let your other half see you without makeup?

Golden Globe 2015 | Red Carpet Round Up

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We love fashion and Hollywood glamour at Frost. Following the Golden Globes 2015, Styloko.com have teamed up with Frost to unveil the most popular trends and looks searched by UK users within the last 24 hours.

Editor in Chief, Emily O’Brien provides insights into how Styloko.com users reacted to the trends and styles as worn by the world’s most glamourous women;

 

Most clicked products:

–        With a range of celebrities wearing stunning evening gowns, maxi dresses with an eveningwear focus accounted for 50% of the most clicked products from Sunday night;

–        Celebrities including Sienna Miller and Joanne Froggatt looked incredible in detailed gowns. This was reflected with Styloko.com users searches which included embellishment, evening fabrics such as lace and glamourous details were a key focus for shoppers; embellishment accounted for 75% of the overall clicked dress styles.

joannefroggartGolden Globe Style - Red Carpet Round Up siennamillerGolden Globe Style - Red Carpet Round Up

The most popular Golden Globes trends translated from the red carpet back to Styloko.com were:

–        Black

–        White/nude

–        Black searches by Styloko.com users outweighed white/nude 65% to 35%, 

Other colours searched by Styloko.com users in the last 24 hours include blue and red which appeared to be a key trend on the night. Celebs such as Felicity Jones in teal Christian Dior and Alison Jones in her incredible red embellished strapless gown by Armani Prive showed off these trends with aplomb;

girlsstarGolden Globe Style - Red Carpet Round Up Golden Globe Style - Red Carpet Round Up2015

Lastly…

Styloko.com has seen a 300% MoM increase in number of jumpsuits clicked on site. Leading actress and fashion maverick Emma Stone continued to buck the trend with her stunning embellished jumpsuit by French fashion house Lanvin.

emmastoneGolden Globe Style - Red Carpet Round Up

 

Who do you think was the best dressed at The Golden Globes?

 

 

Wine review of Echo Falls, Fruit Fusion Red Wine, by Matthew Pain

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Wine review of Echo Falls, Fruit Fusion Red Wine, by Matthew PainWine review of Echo Falls, Fruit Fusion Red Wine, by Matthew Pain

 

There is spiced orange on the nose, which belies the sweetness on the palate. This is a light cherry tasting wine, which is best suited, as the label suggests, to either being chilled over ice or served hot as a mulled wine.

 

It probably needs citrus if chilled and extra cinnamon or orange slices if warm, to offset the sweetness. It’s a bit like old-fashioned punch or a winter version of sangria from those memorable package holidays.

Available from tesco.com

 

 

 

Milton Star Unveil The Dark, Beautiful Brooding Single Sorryville

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Sorryville / Salvation
Stereogram Recordings
12 January 2015

milton star, music, music news

Milton Star are Alan Wyllie and Graeme Currie who write and record their unique blend of indie and dark country in a converted church ‘Milton’ located in darkest Fife, the building not only inspired the band name but, as Alan explains, is pivotal in the writing process. “The thing that feeds the ideas and make the sound are the environment and acoustics here in the church and setting of the surrounding countryside. To have that on tap every day is just wonderful, we’ve been writing together for maybe 30 years and nothing before has come close. We tend to work independently on ideas initially, bouncing ideas back and forth and then come together to flesh things out, but there’s no set pattern, sometimes it’s the words, sometimes the music, sometimes a story or a visual, it’s a pretty fluid process once we get going though.”

Each of their tracks is drenched in atmosphere – think Velvet Underground meets vintage Glen Campbell via Rick Rubin collaborating on the next David Lynch movie or soundtracking the latest HBO crime drama…

Alan and Graeme’s collaborations date back through many incarnations of live bands to the early days of post punk and a band called Thursdays who were signed to Fast Records. After some years spent out of the music scene, they came back together in 2010, reinvigorated by a mutual dissatisfaction for what they describe as a “mostly insipid modern music scene”, picking up the gauntlet to produce sweet structured melodies carried by an expansive tremolo wall of sound and a dark soul.

With such rich musical experience the duo’s influences are wide and varied, as Graeme says. “Being the age we are we go back to punk and beyond, that rich seam of creativity with Marc Bolan, Roxy Music, Bowie and Velvet Underground. For me I was always drawn to Beefheart and a lot of left field guitarists. That whole American CBGBs thing with Television, Talking Heads, Patti Smith – Marquee Moon is still my favourite album. If you go back further though to some of the pioneers, Scotty Moore, what an innovator, Link Wray – that sheer power, you listen to Rumble, blows you away every time…”

Alan adds “It was such a focus for me, the music, the visuals, I remember being fourteen and my older brother coming in to my room, throwing the 69 Velvets live album at me and saying, “learn that, you’re joining the band…” Every week having new music to buy and bands to see, we were spoiled and that sticks with you. But equally I love a lot of old country – its easy to dismiss Hank Williams, the Everlys, Cash – Roy Orbison especially, what a voice and the musical tension he generates is unique on something like In Dreams, where it just changes all the way through, no verse chorus standard structure… The great songwriters too – Jimmy Webb “And I need you more than want you and I want you for all time.” Beautiful – but you take that beauty, you scratch the surface and you mix in a big chunk of darkness, pain and sorrow…”

With shades of Soulsavers and Mark Lanegan evident, Milton Star’s debut AA side single tracks ‘Salvation’ and ‘Sorryville’ are the perfect marriage between brooding vocals and shimmering guitars underpinned by a driving beat. Wonderfully atmospheric guitars capes paint vivid images of love, loss and regret lived out in one no-hope town to the next, in the bars, in shady motels and the highways and byways inbetween.