Bowe Bergdahl And Robert Bergdahl Are A Disaster For Obama But He Can Recover

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A lot has been said about the video of Bowe Bergdahl’s father praising Allah at the White House. Frankly, most of it is wrong. Obama was not smiling. Anyone who knows body language and looks at the video will see that, actually, that was a grimace. President was also obviously angry, he knew how much political damage had just been done to him. I don’t know who is advising Obama at the moment, or why he let five terrorists go for one man but whoever is advising him needs to either be fired or given the worst job in politics somewhere far away from the President to make a strong point. American Ambassador of Outer Mongolia or Siberia sounds good.

I don’t know if Obama knew what the Arabic meant at the time, but he knew it was enough to damage him in the eyes of his enemies, most of whom constantly try to make the President out as not a true American.

Robert Bergdahl said at the press conference of his son’s release, “Bism allah alrahman alraheem,” which translates from Arabic to English as “in the name of Allah, the merciful, the compassionate.” It is said before every chapter in the Koran except the 9th (the chapter of the sword). The level of stupidity in quoting the Koran at the White House, even more than ten years after 9/11 is insurmountable. Not to mention insensitive. He may have meant it in a well-meaning way, but it was not that he spoke in Arabic, it was the praise of Allah, the same Allah whose name the pilots flew into the World Trade Centre for. The beard didn’t help. Robert Bergdahl grew it out of ‘solidarity’ for his captured son but we live in a visual world. How things look matter, and it looks bad.

Bowe Bergdahl allegedly left a note saying he wanted to renounce his citizenship before he went AWOL. Then six American soldiers lost their lives trying to rescue him from the Taliban. This is the biggest crisis of Obama’s career and the shades of Homeland (incidentally one of the President’s favourite shows) does not help. The President did not know what Robert Bergdahl was going to say, and he clearly didn’t like what he did say. No man left behind is very American. Even if the man is controversial and not liked within the armed forces because of his desertion.

To rub salt into the wound, the Taliban have released a video of the release of Bowe Bergdahl. Despite all of this, I believe the President can still recover. He just needs to surround himself with the right people.

What do you think?

 

Yves Rocher Rouge Brillance Vegetale Lipstick Review

I love lipstick but always have to wear lip balm too. Not so with these amazing 100% cherry oil lipsticks which are also rich in Omega 6 and 9.

This is what they say: “The Yves Rocher Research Institute has selected cherry oil for lipstick, because of its extraordinary power to shine and refract light. It is also rich in Omega 6 and 9, natural sources of protection and nutrition.”

These are amazing lipsticks. They are natural, made by an environmentally-friendly brand and come in 18 beautiful colours. You don’t even need to add a lip balm to your beauty routine.

The two I tried were Rose Grenadine and Iris Mauve. You can see how beautiful the colours are below.

Yves Rocher Rouge Brillance Vegetale Lipstick Review

They look beautiful on and are really good to lips, acting more like a beauty product than makeup. I am a fan. They are expensive but I will indulge if I want to treat myself.

Comes in 12 shades inspired by nature, £18 at www.yves-rocher.co.uk

Available now.

Life Drawing By Robin Black Book Review

lifedrawinghyrobinblackbookreviewLife Drawing is the first novel from critically acclaimed writer Robin Black. Her collection of short stories If I Loved You, I Would Tell You was a finalist for the Frank O’Connor Short Story Prize.

This book is riveting from the very first sentence. I read this book quickly and was completely involved in the story. Black really is a writer of note. Her way with words is nothing short of stunning and the novel really captures marriage, betrayal and love. It also captures a writers life well too.

The characters, particularly Augusta, are likeable despite their flaws. I even find myself staying up late to finish the book and rereading sentences and paragraphs. I really loved this book. I would say it is one of the best of the year. Pack it in your suitcase for your holidays, but only if you want to spend all of your time reading. Riveting.

Life Drawing is a fierce, honest and moving story of married life – its betrayals, intimacies, and secrets. Augusta and Owen have taken the leap. Leaving the city and its troubling memories behind, they have moved to the country for a solitary life where they can devote their days to each other and their art, where Gus can paint and Owen can write. But the facts of a past betrayal prove harder to escape than urban life. Ancient jealousies and resentments haunt their marriage and their rural paradise. When Alison Hemmings moves into the empty house next door, Gus is drawn out of isolation, despite her own qualms and Owen’s suspicions. As the new relationship deepens, the lives of the two households grow more and more tightly intertwined. It will take only one new arrival to intensify emotions to breaking point. Fierce, honest and astonishingly gripping, Life Drawing is a novel as beautiful and unsparing as the human heart

Life Drawing can be bought here.

Summer Beauty Picks

We have tested a few beauty products that are perfect for summer.

Rococo Chichi have a new range of natural shea hair butters. They can be used as pre-wash conditioner, as a treatment before blow drying or as sun after care treatment to help your hair back to its healthy, lustrous and hydrated state. They are free from chemicals, preservatives, parabens, SLS, artificial colours and perfumes. We tried the…

Rosemary Whipped Shea Hair Butter (100ml) £7.95
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A great natural shea butter, Rocco Chichi’s nourishing rosemary whipped shea hair butter stimulates the scalp, and softens, fortifies and revitalises lacklustre hair. Naturally scented with rosemary scented oil, Rocco Chichi’s Rosemary Whipped Shea Hair Butter increases the circulation to the scalp and is therefore effective for promoting hair growth; just perfect for those who want flowing hair that smells divine.

This smells amazing and was a good hair butter. It is handmade and softened dry hair. I would just use a little to stop hair looking greasy.

Unscented Whipped Shea Hair Butter (100ml) £7.95
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This luxurious moisturising Rococo Chichi’s Unscented Whipped Shea Hair Butter wave’s goodbye to split ends. Perfect as a pre-wash conditioner; just massage well into your dry hair and scalp and leave on from anywhere between twenty minutes to an entire night, shampoo as usual, and hey presto beautiful looking hair.

This is good for split ends. Leaves hair looking better and split ends less noticeable.

Thea Organic Enriched Skincare Age Revival Uplifting Face Creme
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We liked this creme, it smelt nice and left skin looking healthy. The 15ml tester we used was not enough to conclude whether it would leave a lasting difference to skin but it is rich, 100% natural and has no chemicals. This British beauty brand left a positive impressions on us. Here is what they say:

Firm your skin and reduce wrinkles with this indulgently rich, smooth and easily absorbed unity of age-defying natural ingredients that feed moisture and nutrients deep in to the skin, restoring elasticity and stimulating circulation. With 78% high performance organic ingredients, this creme targets areas that are prone to premature ageing such as the cheeks, forehead and neck

The result: firmer, plumper, softer skin with a healthy radiance.

Organic Aloe Juice attracts & seals in moisture, encourages new skin cells to grow & enhances circulation.

Organic Coconut, Jojoba & Avocado Oils highly nutritious & hydrating, deeply penetrate, balance & moisturise, plump the skin & clean pores.

Organic Rooibos Tea powerful antioxidant slows down the aging process by purifying & regenerating the skin, protecting from free radicals.

DMAE a B vitamin derivative proven to reduce sagging on the face & neck & stimulates cell growth.

MSM organic sulphur, essential to the health of skin cells. Helps repair, replace & strengthen mature skin, reducing wrinkles.

Sweet Basil Essential Oil removes excess oil, moisturises & rebalances the skin

Lavender Essential Oil balances skin tone, hydrates & purifies.

Fresh Ginger Essential Oil stimulates circulation & revives mature skin.

Vitamin E one of the best anti-aging vitamins. Protects, repairs & feeds mature skin with a naturally occurring SPF of 6.

Buy their products here.

The Bakewell Soap Company May Chang Multi Purpose Balm
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This is a handy multipurpose balm. It is uplifting and has a great zesty lemon citrus smell. The lemon smell is quite strong but I like it. It is made fresh with naturally antiseptic and anti-inflammatory oils that help clear oily skin. It is a soft balm that melts into skin. Very handy and really works. Here is what they say:

An all-natural balm for hands, nails, lips and body with soothing Hemp, Walnut and uplifting May Chang Essential oils.

Commended by the experts at the ‘Free From Awards’, a bright and uplifting natural balm with zesty lemon notes. Naturally antiseptic and anti-inflammatory and rich in replenishing Vitamin E. This multi-purpose balm has been specifically formulated for oily skin.

Contains Hemp and Walnut oils rich in Omega 3 – essential for healthy skin and nails. This pocket-sized balm is perfect to use on the go!

Petrolatum and Parabens free. None of our products are tested on animals. Each product is made in accordance with our Environmental Quality Mark accreditation.
made from:

Sweet Almond Oil, Apricot Kernel Oil, Beeswax, Hemp Oil, Walnut Oil, Pure May Chang essential oil, Roman Chamomile Essential Oil, natural vitamin E.
dimensions:

Available from notonthehighstreet.com

DenTek Floss Picks Case

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These are great and handy. Flossing makes a huge difference to the teeth. The cases are perfect for traveling or just popping in your bag. Floss picks are also so much easier than actual dental floss. They come in different colours too.

Available from Boots or Amazon.

What are your summer beauty essentials?

Grabble Launch Party With Andy Jordan

Frost went to the Grabble Launch Event at the Hoxton Hotel. It was a fun evening full of fabulous people. We drank Gin & Juice, gaped at how tall Pandemonium is and wondered how he breathes and listened to Andy Jordan’s set. He’s pretty good. Our pics aren’t that good (sorry!) but you get the gist of it.

Andy Jordan does his set.

Andy Jordan does his set.

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Pandemonium attended.

Pandemonium attended.

Grabble is an exciting new shopping meets social media site, check it out. https://www.grabble.co.uk/. It is like ASOS meets Instagram.

Charlize Theron Admits To Lying On Her CV

Actors are known for being a little bit economical when it comes to the truth on their CV. We can all ride horses and snowboard, oh, and speak French. It turns out that not even famous actors are immune. Even Charlize Theron has admitted she has told the odd lie on her CV.

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Charlize says she didn’t lie about being able to ride a horse (and I am proud to say I can too). Which is just as well as she had to ride in new comedy western A Million Ways To Die In The West.

You can hear Theron’s interview with the BBC’s Genevieve Hassan here.

Bounce Ping Pong And Cocktail Club | Restaurant Review

It is hard to create something unique and different in London, but it is fair to say that Bounce – Europe’s largest social ping pong and cocktail club based in Holborn, achieves this. In fact, it has everything you could need: cocktails, good food and ping pong.

The venue was designed by lauded interior designer Russell Sage and is visually stunning. It boasts an impressive 95 cover restaurant and cocktail bar and 17 bespoke designed ping-pong tables available for play – one being the Olympic final table. All of this can be enjoyed surrounded by London’s most impressive UV installation rolled out throughout the entire club.

bouncerestaurantreview bouncerestaurantreviewpingpong bouncerestaurantreviewprawns bouncerestaurantreviewfood bouncerestaurantreviewcocktail bouncerestaurantreviewcocktails1 bouncerestaurantreviewdrink bouncerestaurantreviewpingpongcocktailThe Frost team went down in force to review. Here is how we got on.

Paloma, Marcin, James and I arrive and head to the restaurant area. The menu has a great selection and it takes us a while to decide what we want. We order our starters and a cocktail each.

Paloma has the H Forman’s Scottish smoked salmon, roasted beetroots & horseradish cream which she says is earthy and smoked. The horseradish was a perfect accompaniment, didn’t have too much of a sting. Marcin has the Bruschetta 3 ways (Parma ham & pesto, Datterini tomatoes, peas, broad beans & pecorino): he says it is fresh and the pea complimented the mint well. James had the Gamberoni – baked king prawns, smoked garlic, chilli, Sicilian lemon butter, rocket & parsley: he says the prawns were huge and juicy and the sauce was amazing. For my starter I had Buffalo Mozzarella, Pixel tomatoes, Sorrento olives, toasted pine nuts, wild rocket & lemon infused olive oil. It was amazing. The ingredients are high quality and the combination really works well together.

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For mains Marcin had the Baked salmon, heritage beets, broad beans and horseradish cream which he said was excellent: tender on the inside and slightly crispy on the outside. Paloma had the Spiced Newlyn Bay crab macaroni cheese. She said it was slightly a let down and overshadowed by chilli. James had a Spicy pork & fennel, plum tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, basil & fresh chilli pizza which was excellent. James thought it was perfectly spicy. I had the Pan fried Label Anglaise free range chicken breast with smoked pancetta, roast squash, Italian beans in a rich tomato ragu: this dish was amazing. The best one I think. It was comfort food but even better. The sauce was amazing and the chicken was perfectly done.

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For my dessert I had the Rum & raisin panna cotta with winter berry compote. It was amazing, with real raisins in. A very unique and tasty dessert. Paloma had the Warm chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream, which she said was possibly the best she had ever had. James had the Spiced plum & amaretto tart with Devonshire clotted cream which he says was superb. Marcin had an expresso which he said was good and we also had some really good English Breakfast tea. The service was also amazing. Everyone is really friendly.

We made a fair dent in the cocktail menu. We had The Tipping Point, which tasted fruity and dangerous. It was far too drinkable for something which had every alcohol under the sun in it including absinthe. Bounce only allow two per person, the clue is in the name but Marcin handled it well, a Hatton Garden Spritz which was delicious and summery, a Wiff Waff which was also amazing and different, The Pink One which was yummy, a Ladies Delight No 2, which, indeed, was a delight, a Ping Pong Show which was brilliant, a Daddy Mac, which says it is not for girls but we’ll show them, it was very tasty and strong. Lastly we had a Gin Lane Spritz which was superb. Phew! All of the cocktails were fruity and easy to drink.

Paloma and Marcin play ping pong.

Paloma and Marcin play ping pong.

After all of that alcohol came the ping pong. I was terrible which I won’t blame on the alcohol but just on my general ineptness. I did get a little better towards the end. Annoyingly the boys did very well. Although Paloma held the girl’s side up. The ping pong is lots of fun and comes in thirty-minute slots. Bounce is the home of Ping Pong and you definitely get an amazing vibe from the place. Paloma text me the day before I wrote this review saying Bounce was on Made in Chelsea, so it has reached the peak of trendiness and is showing no signs of letting up. The day before we were going to go, my fiance and I were at his best man and girlfriend’s house and they were also going to Bounce. It is thee place to be seen at the moment.

Bounce has amazing food, brilliant cocktails and excellent ping pong. I cannot praise it enough, we really had a wonderful time. A hen party even come to our ping pong table after we had finished, so Bounce is perfect for many different occasions. We will be going back, numerous times.

 

Bounce
121 Holborn
London
EC1N 2TD

020 3657 6525

BackBliss Lotion & Cream Applicator Review | Summer Picks

I am double-jointed and can reach every part of my back. This is a rare skill however and my doctor does tell me off for ‘overstretching’. So to stop annoying him, and for those without freakish joints, we thought we would review the Backbliss Lotion & Cream Applicator. A great beauty pick for summer.

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The BackBliss Lotion Applicator is a device to help you apply sun lotion, cream or after sun to that awkward middle part your back to keep your back protected in and out of the sun. When Caroline Wagstaff, 55 the product’s inventor from Windsor, Berkshire, appeared on the BBC2 show Dragons’ Den the Dragons thought BackBliss was ingenious!

‘Sun care has improved enormously over the years but it is still difficult to get all this good stuff in the right places’ says Caroline.

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Now anyone planning to enjoy the sun here in the UK or abroad can easily and regularly apply SPF to their backs to protect themselves from the suns harmful UV rays and get a safe and healthy suntan.

Applying stuff to your back is difficult even if you are on holiday with someone else. Your partner, friend or colleague is not always willing to cream your back, they are not always by your side, they often do it begrudgingly or simply not very well. Sometimes you just don’t want to ask them again!

Why BackBliss?

Compact and lightweight, easy to use – take it to the beach, salon, pool or gym

Fun, funky and functional! – Available in blue or charcoal (and pink, purple and clear!)

Hundreds of uses – self tan, sun and after sun creams, body lotions and butters, moisturising cream, medical treatments and ointments.

No wastage! Patented pad material doesn’t absorb lots of lotion – only use the amount you need.

Hygienic Replacement Pads – are washable and long lasting.

Ergonomically tested – BackBliss’s patented design perfectly moulds the contours of your back

RRP Single Pack £11.99, Double pack £19.99.

Some genuine customer reviews

Just what I needed for my holiday. I cannot believe I hadn’t thought to search for this product before. I was able to apply my sun tan lotion (and after sun) easily all holiday.

Gemma Cairns

I wish I had discovered BackBliss ages ago. I’ve had difficulty for a few years due to a stiff shoulder and I hated asking my grumpy husband to rub moisturiser on my back.

This device is a fantastic solution if, like me, you need to regularly apply prescription creams to your back. I shall also use it for sun lotion.

So what did we think?

It really works. It stops you straining or hurting a muscle or having someone you don’t like rub cream into your back. It is also good if you have an itch. It comes with a suction hook which you can attach to the shower and the packaging is handy for traveling. It also comes with a spare pad. This is a very good invention and ideal for people with bad backs too. A highly recommended summer pick. Good stuff.