Raw Skin Food Spa at Ivo Venturi.

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World renowned Beauty Medi Spa Owner Ivo Venturi, with over 30 years experience in the spa industry has welcomed Award Nominated 100% Allergen Free Ethical skincare brand, Raw Skin Food into its chic medi spa, situated in the opulent Knightsbridge opposite Harvey Nichols, on Sloane St.

As someone with a history of  bad skin in the past I am very careful with what I put on my skin. I once read that a women puts over 200 chemicals on her face a day. Do we really need all of these chemicals in our skin products? No, we don’t. And why put alcohol in them, it dehydrates! This is why I am now such a fan of Raw Skin Food. I had an Avocado facial and it looked like I was wearing very good foundation.  They now have a life long fan. I just can’t complement them enough.

Raw Skin Food’s Founder, Ethical Beauty Entrepreneur & Vegan Raw Foodist, Clare Eluka, is proud of the partnership with the spa:
‘This truly is the future of contemporary spa and treatments. Our ethos is sumptuous, healthy and ethically sound. By using living natural ingredients present in our products including Mangoes, Brown Rice and Cocoa in their rawest and freshest form, our clients will experience the truest and purest epitome of ‘Raw Skin Food’. By being a leader of the new school of spa, women and men can look to us for 100% Allergen Free treatments that will only enhance the natural beauty from the outside in by eating, drinking & applying fruit & veg to the skin.’

The beauty products are hand made, not tested on animals and don’t have any chemicals in them. They are so pure that you can actually eat them! So if you want to treat yourself and go to the spa, do, but if not; then definitely try their products. They are reasonably prices and worth every penny.

5 Sloane Street, Knightsbridge, London, SW1X 9LA

 

Kate Middleton; How To Catch Your Own Prince. Jerramy Fine Tells All.

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1) How excited are you about the Royal Wedding.

Are you kidding? I live for this stuff. To me, royal nuptials are this heady concoction of ancient tradition, modern-day romance and fairy tale magic. (Not to mention that I have been fascinated by England’s royal family since I was a toddler and for many years, my greatest wish was to marry one of the Queen’s grandsons!)


2) What do you think about Kate Middleton?
I think Kate’s fashion sense is pitch-perfect. She always looks chic yet conservative and her love of classic staples like tailored suits, tweed jackets and suede boots, makes it clear that the girl was born to be a Windsor. I wish she weren’t so heavy handed with her eye-liner, but she is leading the way when it comes to teaching England the value of a good American-style blow-dry.

4) Why did you want to be a princess?

I was born with this incessant princess desire. I’m not sure why or how. (I mean, my parents are hippies and I wasn’t allowed television!) I guess it started with Disney Princesses and then when I saw Diana’s wedding – that was it. My career goal was solved at a very early age. Princesshood or bust!

One of the major things that always attracted me to princesshood was the amazing sacrifice these rare women made for their countries. The idea of living a life of duty – for the sake of your subjects, rather than yourself – still brings tears to my eyes. One of things I loved about Princess Diana more than anything else – more than her stunning beauty and more than her royal title – was that she genuinely understood the unique and far-reaching power of being a Princess. Wherever she went, for better or for worse, Diana knew the press would follow – yet she had the principles and the courage to use this incredible power to draw the world’s attention away from herself and onto those that needed it most.

Needless to say, I also wanted Princess Diana’s wardrobe, palaces and parties (what little girl wouldn’t?), but I also yearned for that distinctively royal strength: to be able to think beyond yourself any situation.

5) Any tips for women who want to get into the Royal Circle?
Always be polite, but getting your foot in the royal door is not easy so be prepared to punch your way in! Once you’re there, be sure to dress appropriately, to smile demurely and to say as a little as possible. (Check out the the ball scene in My Fair Lady for more details.)


6) You obviously love Royalty. Why do you think the Royal family are still relevant?
When you hail from a country where the only palace is Cinderella’s Castle, it’s natural to be enthralled by the UK’s living, breathing royal family. For many Brits, the royals are just a part of everyday English life, but to me the royal family and all it represents is a constant source of enchantment.

Every little girl dreams of meeting prince charming, becoming a princess and living happily ever after – and by agreeing to marry William, Kate Middleton has become a conduit for the world to vicariously live out these dreams. I think the royals fulfil a very real need in our global psyche that cannot be fulfilled by politicians or Hollywood stars.


7) How did you come about writing your book?
When I met my childhood crush at the age of 25, I knew I had a story tell! I’ve always enjoyed writing and I knew that my quest to be a princess was a theme most girls could relate to. There’s lots of negativity and skepticism in the world these days – so most of all, I wanted my book to convey the importance of listening to your heart, holding tight to your childhood dream and believing in the impossible – no matter what those grumpy cynics out in the real world may tell you!


8) Who are your favourite writers?
Paul Coelho (The Alchemist), Marianne Williamson (A Return to Love), and Garth Stein (Art of Racing in the Rain) – for soul-touching narratives. Nancy Mitford, Evelyn Waugh, Julian Fellowes and Oscar Wilde for pure British wit and aristocratic indulgence.


9) How should women dress and act to fit into aristocratic circles?
Ignore fashion trends and stick with the classics. (Skinny jeans belong on Kate Moss not on Kate Middleton.) Instead, learn to love cashmere and tweed. Buy a copy of Debrett’s and study your etiquette. Table manners can make or break your social standing, so memorize the proper way to eat peas and the correct direction to pass the port.


10) What’s next for you?

I’m working on a book entitled “In Defence of the Princess” – exploring the princess archetype that so many girls cling to and the redeeming qualities/life lessons that can be gleaned from fictional and modern-day princesses.

 

For more information go to Jerramy’s website and buy here book here.

GURU THAT INSPIRED DAVID CAMERON’S HAPPINESSS INDEX TURNS HIS BACK ON ‘HAPPINESS’

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH MARTIN SELIGMAN IN PSYCHOLOGIES NOW QUESTIONS THE ‘HAPPINESS INDEX’ AND HAPPINESS MOVEMENT


This month the Government will interview 200,000 families across the UK in an attempt to gauge how happy we are as a nation.

David Cameron has already attracted a barrage of criticism for the idea. Now, one of the men who originally inspired the happiness movement has dubbed much of the world’s focus on feeling good as nothing more than ‘happyology’.

American happiness guru Martin Seligman, who invented the whole concept of ‘positive psychology’, has now admitted in an interview in this month’s (May issue out Today – 6th April) Psychologies magazine that he now believes people want more in life than mere happiness.

“What humans want is not just happiness. They want justice, they want meaning. An interesting example is that there’s quite a bit of evidence that people’s mood isn’t as good once they have children. If that’s all people were interested in, we should have been extinguished a long time ago.’

Despite writing internationally renowned books, ‘Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realise Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment’ and ‘Can Happiness be Taught?’,  Seligman now believes that the word ‘happiness’ has become so overused that it has becoming meaningless.

‘The word happiness always bothered me, partly because it was scientifically unwieldy and meant a lot of different things to different people, and also because it’s subjective.’

Instead, he suggests we focus on ‘flourishing’, his big new idea that encompases a wider definition of feeling good. In the interview he also addresses the issue of whether
governments could be doing more harm than good by measuring the mood of their populations, particularly with the forthcoming ‘Happiness Index’.

Sucker Punch {Film Review}

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Ever thought Inception was lacking on imaginative sets for the dream sequences and weren’t too bizarre enough? Well Sucker Punch may answer to your prayers. Zack Snyder has had a tendency to produce films that look visually stunning, that if you pause it at any moment; it’d look amazing as your computer wallpaper!

Although where the visuals soar; the story/characters, however, fall flat! The characters in this film have barely anything to work with and hardly have any characterisation through-out the entire duration. Our main protagonist is Baby Doll (Emily Browning), and her story seems ripped off from Cinderella (one of her biological parents dies, so her step-father can inherit her will. Though slight difference is he doesn’t, and decides to get drunk and commit incest! The step-father is so cartoonish, that you feel he should have a mustache so he can twirl with his finger and laugh manically) and Alice in Wonderland! The problem I have with Alice in Wonderland (including last year’s Tim Burton’s take) is it doesn’t have a story. It’s just Alice going through a world and bumps into bizarre stuff that happens out of nowhere. This film has a barebones plot; Baby Doll gets committed to a mental institution after nearly killing her step-father, finds out (not too discreetly) she’s going to be lobotomised and plans to escape with four other female patients.

The girls are Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish), Rocket (Jena Malone), Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens) and Amber (Jamie Chung). Again, barely have anything to work with from a script by Zack Snyder and Steve Shibuya. As soon Baby Doll arrives at the institution, she imagines it as a brothel (follow me so far?). This basically turns into Moulin Rouge but mixed with Showgirls. Not something you would want to mix together! Their psychiatrist/dance teacher, Dr. Vera Gorski (Carla Gugino), really hams her performance as it sounds like a hilariously clichéd Transylvanian accent. Jon Hamm is completely wasted in this film, he barely has screen-time to be considered a character! Scott Glenn plays as the Wise Man, he plays the archetype old wise man Fu Manchu (though saying that lightly). Some of the dialogue he’s given are cringe-worthy (i.e. “Don’t ever write a check with your mouth you can’t cash with your ass.”), it just sounds like rejected fortune cookie lines and just dumb!

The whole escape plan sounds like a video game, and this film would’ve worked better as a video game! They have to collect five items; Map, Fire, Knife and a Key. The fifth thing is a mystery (although you can see it coming a mile away!). This is where the action sequences that were the eye-candy in the trailer(s) come in.

The action sequences are shot very well, and can see Zack Snyder is a very competent action filmmaker. Although in order for your action sequences to feel exciting; you have to show your characters have their lives at stake or something that could jeopardise their goal. The action sequences in this film feel like it’s there for the sake of it! The characters jump out of a helicopter with no parachute, and smash to the ground like concrete. So there’s barely any moments where you feel worried for them because they just go through it like it was nothing. The worse part of it is it’s boring! There was not a single moment where it made my jaw-drop. Remember the hallway fight scene in Inception? Where they actually filmed with a real set and did it with no CGI? Well this is the complete opposite. We’ve dealt with films that have excessive CGI and have done better (The Lord of the Rings, Avatar etc.). This would’ve been great if it was a short film but having it stretched to a feature-length film with barely a story developed; you’re just asking yourself “what’s the point?”.

I know I shouldn’t think in a movie like this, but it just doesn’t make sense! For example; why do they use contemporary weapons, although this is set in the 50s/60s? How would Baby Doll come up with a futuristic setting with these anime robot-mechs? It looks cool, but logistically it doesn’t make sense in context with the time period it’s set in.

This is an unfortunate case where you give too much money (only estimated $82 million) and creativity to a filmmaker than sadly wastes it. This will without a doubt be an early contender for Worst Picture. Hopefully his next film, Superman: Man of Steel, will be a huge improvement because he’s going to need it!

Overall; If you’re easily amused to go see a film for the visual effects, beautiful looking girls in scantily-clad clothing and fighting against nazi zombies and dragons; then this is will be a treat. If you’re looking for any decent story-line or characters you give a damn; then I’d avoid this movie. A strong case of ‘style over substance’, and have had one too many of those (along with not only Alice in Wonderland but also Tron: Legacy).

2 out of 5

WHITTARD OF CHELSEA RELEASES PERFECT ‘CUPPA’ GUIDE

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WHITTARD OF CHELSEA RELEASES PERFECT ‘CUPPA’ GUIDE, AHEAD OF BUMPER TEA-MAKING DAY – MOTHERING SUNDAY

The UK Tea Council expects more than 165 million cups of tea to be drunk in the UK this Mothering Sunday. As the annual homage to Mothers approaches, millions of sons and daughters around the country are planning to serve breakfast in bed including the ultimate ‘cuppa’ for the celebrated women in their lives. Tea and coffee specialists Whittard of Chelsea, who have already identified a pre-Mother’s Day tea selling surge, have today released their expert guide to making the perfect cuppa.

Every year, Whittard of Chelsea monitors the Mother’s Day effect, estimated to be one of the biggest tea-making days of the year. Selling over 130 varieties of tea, Whittard last year saw a +32% surge in sales of tea gifts in the run up to Mothering Sunday. So far this year, the firm tea favourites are – unsurprisingly – English Breakfast and Earl Grey. However, sales of speciality flavours such as English Rose and Orange Blossom are also creeping up.

Says Fiona Robinson, of Whittard of Chelsea’s head office in Oxfordshire:

“A cup of tea in bed is one of life’s simple pleasures, and one that children can help

prepare at any age to spoil the lady of the house. Whittard starts to see a real peak in sales about two weeks before Mother’s Day as people come in to buy their favourite teas, along with pretty bone china to make a celebration out of the perfect cuppa. Tea gifts also sell very well for Mother’s Day with year’s best sellers including tea caddies, leaf tea with silver-plated infusers and tea selection boxes.”

Whittard of Chelsea’s Expert Guide to Making the Perfect Cuppa

1. Choose the right blend to suit your mood – Deciding on the right blend – whether loose leaf or a teabag – to suit your mood and individual taste is key. Many people have on average three blends in their cupboard for exactly this reason. Great wake-up teas for Mother’s Day include classic English Breakfast or Assam.
2. Delicate cup and saucer or comforting chunky mug? Many swear that tea tastes better from fine bone china. Fine bone china cups are lighter and more delicate than ceramic mugs and keep the tea hotter for longer. However, nothing will do sometimes but a great big comforting mug of strong tea.
3. Is it a full tea tray moment? Mother’s Day offers the perfect opportunity to produce a proper ‘tea moment’ complete with laden tray, sugar lumps, strainer, tea pot and milk jug.
4. Always use freshly drawn water either from the cold tap or even better, filtered. Pre-heated water loses oxygen and dulls the flavour of the tea.
5. Are you in a Milk Mood? Some teas are considered best without milk but it’s all a matter of taste. For example, Earl Grey has a very delicate flavour so only requires a dash of milk, whilst some prefer it without milk and just a slice of lemon.
6. Boiling is best – Pour the boiling water straight into the cup as soon as it’s boiled. Boiling water brings the tea to life

TEAPOTS & TEALEAVES

7. Warm the pot with a dash of water. It creates a better brewing temperature
8. Measure your tea leaves carefully
* Very strong dark type of teas; 3 or 4 teaspoons per 6 cup pot
* Medium strength teas, possibly drunk black. 2 teaspoons
* Lighter teas, enjoyed without milk. Use 1 teaspoon of leaves
9. Optimum brewing time for tea leaves is 3 to 5 minutes – Less does not extract the full flavour, more and it can become bitter.
10. Stop what you’re doing, pour and enjoy!

Labour’s Debt Legacy

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You (every UK household) will pay £2,128 in taxes this year just to cover interest debt repayments!

That’s not to pay off the debt, that’s just to cover the interest. That is Labour’s legacy.

The worst part is this amount is set to increase as the national debt continues to soar thanks to the estimated £146billion budget deficit this year (and that’s after the cuts)!

In 1997 Labour inherited a budget that was in balance and set to move into surplus. That is a budget deficit of £0. With the budget deficit moving to a surplus the Labour government wasted a valuable opportunity to pay off some of the UK’s debt.

It’s so infuriating that that £2128 in taxes we’re all paying today to cover interest debt repayments need not exist at all.

What the previous Labour government actually did was go on a massive spending spree with borrowed money. Government spending soared from £309billion in 1997 (40% of GDP) to £647 billion in 2010 (52% of GDP). The Labour government mortgaged Britain’s future to achieve political success in the short term. Ultimately their actions were profoundly irresponsible and selfish. ‘Weak politicians have bribed voters with endless amounts of borrowed cash’

The UK now owes over £31,000 for every person in employment!

See the debt bomb for an idea of the scale of the debt and how fast the debt it is increasing http://www.debtbombshell.com/

No one wants these cuts. But we need to except that we can’t spend more money than we have. If so much money wasn’t going on interest re-payments there would be no need for cuts. But the fact is Labour has created this debt and we can’t just ignore it.

Quite frankly it was sickening to watch Ed Milliband giving a speech to anti-cuts protestors, when it was his party who got us in this situation in the first place.

His attempts to link the anti-cuts protests to the anti-apartheid movement and the suffragettes were ridiculous if not offensive.

Let us not forget the lessons this has taught us. We all need to take a longer term view. Politicians but us voters as well. And there needs to be more transparency. Personally I found George Osborne’s recent budget much easier to follow than the old Brown ones.

The fact is the previous government spent money it didn’t have and now you have to pay it off. Let’s learn the lessons. Don’t let any government do it again.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/7495214/Budget-2010-Relentless-march-of-state-spending.html
http://www.ukpublicspending.co.uk/downchart_ukgs.php?year=1990_2011&state=UK&view=1&expand=&units=b&fy=2008&chart=F0-total&bar=1&stack=1&size=l&color=c&title=Overall%20Public%20Spending%20Chart
http://www.debtbombshell.com/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12830224
http://cluaran.free.fr/debt.html

MAKE THIS THE LAST MOTHER’S DAY THAT YOU ARE SINGLE

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Five tips for single parents looking to escape the parent trap

As a single parent you’re certainly not alone – in the UK there are more than 1.7million single parents. The majority would love to find someone new to support them and their children, but with childcare issues eating into time and energy resources, it can at times feel like it’s at the bottom of a never-ending to do list.

Single mum, TV actress and eHarmony.co.uk’s guest blogger, Donna Air voices the challenges she faces over finding a new partner when her child is naturally her number one priority:

“It’s simply too stressful a job when teamed with kids’ bath, dinner, homework, and bedtime stories into the hour allocation that most busy mums have for the multiple of tasks”.

But it needn’t be the hurdle it can at first seem. In Donna’s accounts of dating, she makes a point of dating when her child is at her ex partner’s house, or when she has some spare time to herself. For those with childcare and time constraints, dating online is the perfect way to ‘get back out there’ again and find someone new, and the best bit is that the initial, online stages of ‘dating’ can all be done when children are tucked up in bed. Make sure you research the top 10 dating sites to find the one that is right for you.

“Looking for someone who will love and respect you and your children can feel challenging but in reality it’s just about finding the person for you”, says Dr Gian Gonzaga, Senior Relationship Scientist at eHarmony.co.uk, the relationship success site. Dr Gonzaga continues, “in a recent poll of eHarmony.co.uk members, 85% said they were sensitive to a single parent’s position, so there’s no reason for not taking that first step.’ Here are five top tips from Fr. Gonzaga that every single and dating parent should follow:

1. Be honest from the beginning

It isn’t always easy to bring up the fact that you have children when considering going out with someone new. But your date deserves to know what to expect — perhaps you’ll only be available every other weekend or you can never be out past midnight due to your babysitter. Be upfront and you’ll avoid any surprises later on.

2. Only date someone who is sensitive to your situation

A potential partner who respects the fact that you’re a parent should understand and be sensitive to the responsibilities that you have to your children. Do they realize that even on a date you need to be accessible to your children? Does he or she understand that only you will know the right time to introduce them to your children? If the answer is no to any of these questions, they are probably not the right partner for you in the long-term.

3. Go slow

Unless you and your date are both certain you want to take the relationship in a more serious direction, don’t rush to introduce him or her to your kids. Having a new adult in their lives is a big deal. When you feel the time is right, keep the meeting low-key and brief, and do all you can to remove pressure from everyone. Your kids need as much time as you did to get to know someone new.

4. Be realistic

After introductions, be careful not to expect too much from your new relationship too soon. Someone who has never had kids will need plenty of time to develop their own relationship with your children. Equally if your partner has children or their own, it will take time for both sets of children to get used to being a part of a single family.

5. Practice being more than a parent

Yes, you are responsible for your children, and you must take that seriously. But being a parent is not solely all you are. You’re a single person looking for someone to share your life with. Get a babysitter, relax, and enjoy dating!

Dr Gonzaga concludes: “Don’t let being a parent stop you trying to find happiness. Just learn from your past relationship, have clear boundaries and be confident and you will find a true partner.”

Donna Air’s dating blog can be found at: http://moourl.com/donnadating.

Jemima Khan and Alistair McGowan lead the UK's first ever voicemail protest against Legal Aid cuts

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‘Sound Off For Justice’ Launches First-Ever Voicemail Protest

Campaign against Legal Aid cuts offers British public the chance to ‘sound off’ to Ken Clarke’s voicemail, as voiced by impressionist Alistair McGowan
©Sound Off For Justice
Alistair McGowan has recorded an impression of Ken Clarke for Sound Off For Justice’s voicemail protest

Sound Off For Justice will launch the UK’s first-ever voicemail protest on Thursday 31st March. Members of the public will be able to voice their discontent with the Government’s proposed cuts to Legal Aid by leaving a rant on Ken Clarke’s voicemail, voiced by impressionist Alistair McGowan.

All messages left will be sent to the caller’s local MP and Ken Clarke himself, so that he can hear the public’s disdain first-hand. If the Secretary of State for Justice’s plans go ahead, many of Britain’s most vulnerable citizens will effectively be silenced in court.

Sound Off For Justice is focused on getting the public to put pressure on the Government to reconsider proposed cuts to Legal Aid, which are ill-conceived and unfair. As it stands, several key areas, including clinical negligence and family issues, are due to be totally culled, meaning there will be no support – regardless of the strength or worthiness of the case. This could affect whole segments of society, from the divorcing father who might lose all access to his kids to the elderly lady who won’t be able to do anything about her botched leg operation. The campaign is proposing alternative reforms that, whilst making the required savings, will protect Legal Aid funding for millions of Britons.

The public can leave a voicemail message for Ken Clarke by visiting the campaign’s website at www.soundoffforjustice.org and entering their full name, postcode and contact number. Ken Clarke, voiced by McGowan will then call back and ask the caller to leave a ‘sound off’ voicemail message detailing why they are upset by the proposed cuts. Brits can also text ‘soundoff’ to 60777* to show their support and be prompted to leave a voicemail. All the public need to do is rant for up to 30 seconds and press the hash (#) key to finish their message. Once completed, messages will be streamed live via the Sound Off For Justice website.

Jemima Khan, Joanna Lumley, Shadow Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary Sadiq Khan MP, Harriet Harman MP, Tracey Ullman, The Gurkhas, Thomasina Miers, Alistair McGowan, Jenny Éclair and Michael Mansfield QC back Sound Off For Justice. Many of which can be heard saying their piece on the campaign website.

“How can people be empowered to enforce their rights if they don’t have access to the courts for employment, housing benefit and so on. There’ll be no service once these cuts come in. People should join Sound Off For Justice’s campaign for alternative reforms, that will mean savings can be made but without jeopardising access to justice.”

Michael Mansfield QC, Legal Aid Barrister of 42 years

Sound Off For Justice is asking members of the public, organisations that will be affected, and politicians opposed to the Legal Aid cuts in their current guise, to ‘sound off’ if they believe in the right to be heard.

Visit www.soundoffforjustice.org for more information.
*Texts will be charged at a standard message rate

Sound Off For Justice is a public campaign promoting alternative reforms to Legal Aid. Visit www.soundoffforjustice.co.uk for more details.