How To Find The Perfect Jeans. Mimi Noor Tells You How

Posted on April 11, 2013 by Catherine Balavage

Frost Magazine has called on Mimi Noor, the owner of Miminoor.com, to help you find the perfect pair of jeans. Mimi offers a personal outfit builder advice section on her website. With a focus on how to buy the perfect jeans and turn the chore of finding the right pair into a pleasurable experience.

Mimi Noor stocks a variety of designer brands including J Brand, Victoria Beckham, James Jeans, Wild Fox, Zoe Karssen and Des Petit Hauts.

What should a woman look for when buying jeans?

One of the first recommendations I would make is to really narrow down what

occasions you want your denim for as it’s going to determine what to

look for in a new pair of jeans. There are so many fantastic denim brands

that are able to offer styles to suit every shape so women no longer have to

worry about a certain jean style for their body; it’s all about lifestyle.

Work out if you want an everyday pair or one for evenings/smart casual wear. What footwear are you likely to wear with it? I’ve had so many customers who have admitted to buying several pairs of flares or bootcuts because they tried them on with killer heels, which looked great in the shop. However, if your lifestyle means that you can’t wear killer heels all day every day then you’re not going to get the right amount of wear and should reserve these styles for evenings out or special occasions.

What is the main problem women have when buying jeans?

Buying jeans on your own can be a scary experience because most stores don’t

offer the sort of assistance you need when finding that perfect pair of

jeans. Many brands run sizing differently so you never know what size

you are, It is not always obvious how the styles differ and often no one is

available or knowledgeable in denim to help you pull out the right size,

colour or shape once you’re in the changing room.

How do they fix this?

I would always recommend shopping with a friend or relative you trust if

you’re buying denim from the high street or in department stores. Take your

friend with you to help bring you alternative options or sizes once you’re

in the changing room and ask their honest opinion on whether the cut suits

you. Alternatively, shop with a specialist like us. We provide a

consultative service where we establish what you want your jeans for,

determine your general size, provide alternative options based on your

feedback and then do any further alterations you may require (such as hemming to

the correct length).

I find it really hard to find a great pair of jeans, they always seem too big at the waist. What is your main tip for women to buy the perfect jeans?

The 3 main considerations to make when buying your perfect jeans are

1) What purpose do I want these jeans for

2) What footwear am I most likely to wear with them

3) What rise is most comfortable for me

So many pear shaped women struggle to find a pair of jeans that fit well on the legs and fit neatly into the curve of the back or waist as you’ve mentioned. This is where rise comes into play!

Depending on your figure your preferred rise will vary. So often we find that women who have that perfect pear shape will need a jean with a higher rise and greater fabric stretch so that the jean fits perfectly on the legs and nips into the back of your waist.

For ladies who are really long bodied the high rise is going to sit

like a mid rise so it’s really important to factor the rise that’s most

comfortable for you.

What are the best jeans for the following body shapes: Tall, short, petite

and curvy?

The denim market right now is full of amazing brands that are able to offer

a plethora of styles for every body shape out there so the traditional

combinations such as a pear shape with a bootcut don’t necessarily apply anymore. As a general rule I would suggest:

Tall: A mid to low rise jean in a straight or skinny style. My pick would be the Goldsign misfit, which is long in length with a 14″ leg opening that means it’s sleek but not ankle tight.

Short: Super skinny styles look great on smaller girls as they flatter a more petite

frame. My favourite would be the James Jean Twiggy style.

Curvy: Curvy girls look best in two shapes. Firstly, a high waisted skinny looks

fantastic on a pear shape when teamed with boots or heels. Equally a

babyboot looks great on this frame. Pick the J Brand Maria or 818

respectively.

What are your favourite jeans?

Picking a favourite is so hard but so far this season I have been living in

my Mih Bonn in minidot. It’s a cropped skinny with a high waist, which is

perfect on my frame and the fabric is super soft. I love how the polka dots are on trend but subtle enough for everyday wear.

What To Look For In A Hotel

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Catherine Balavage

Hotels can be a home away from home or simply just a place to stay the night. While people have different preferences there are a few things you should look for in a hotel. Here is our list.

Location

Arguably one of the most important things about the hotel you choose is the location. It is worth paying more for a hotel that is close to what you want to see or where you will be working.

Other things to look out for is a hotel which has good transport links. If you rent a car this may not matter, but if you don’t you will be stuck in the middle of nowhere.

If you go somewhere like New York you will want a good view of the city. If you can afford it, paying more for this would broaden the experience. The Hotel Tirler in Italy has beautiful views. Definitely worth a visit.

What’s included

You will have to check what is included in the price of the room. Some will have toiletries and some will even include breakfast in the price. Few things in life are more annoying than turning up to a hotel, exhausted only to find out that the hotel does not have any shower gel and you cannot even clean the day off.

Reputation

Reputation is a thing that precedes all else. If a hotel is slammed online I would stay clear. Of course it is hard to please everyone and even the best hotels have a few people who have complaints. So research and then make an informed judgement.

Reviews and the star system.

The internet is a wonderful thing. Before you could get a gauge about a hotel on how many stars it had. This is still quite reliable, but read reviews online too. I have stayed in four star hotels and wondered how the hell they managed to get their rating.

Bed

What is more important than the bed? Not much. You are in a hotel to sleep right? And if not…ahem, you probably still want a good bed.

Extras

Some hotels have gyms, restaurants, libraries, tea rooms, bars, spas, saunas. The list goes on. If you are a gym bunny you probably want one in the hotel you are staying in. You may also want to check whether any of this is inclusive. The Ampersand Hotel in London has a lot of extras, including a gym, a business centre and a beautiful, quaint tea room.

What do you look for in a hotel? What hotels do you recommend? Let us know and we will include them.

Thatcherism: The Ideology that Broke Britain.

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Tim Austin

The passing of Margaret Thatcher, who died on Monday aged 87, isn’t a time for rejoicing – even for those of us on the left, writes Tim Austin. It’s a time for reflection and action.

While there can be an understandable feeling of jubilation in the communities that suffered horrendous poverty, persecution and unemployment as the result of the policies enacted by Maggie, I feel that celebrating her passing would do far more harm than good.

Quite beyond the crass tastelessness of finding joy the death of a frail old lady with Alzheimer’s (and I honestly believe that we should show compassion, even to our enemies), there is a danger of handing a moral “high ground” to those people who still see her as a saint. It’d be a Thatcherite tabloid field day: open season on the “loony left” and the “wet liberal mob”.

As someone who honestly detests the failed ideology of those currently holding the reins, it is not a backlash that I’d welcome – especially if we’re to get this country back on its feet.

So what should our response be? Should we remain silent, contrite and “well behaved”?

Not quite.

For the right wing media are already playing a game that I find equally distasteful: the attempted deification of the “Iron Lady” and a shameless astro-turfing the social damage she did. And I don’t think that this should stand.

David Cameron has already come out swinging, harping on about how Thatcher “Saved Britain”, a cry that has been welcomed as some kind of biblical truth by writers at the Daily Mail.

Now, while the country was certainly in a fairly poor state in 1979 and many of her policies (the privatisation of heavy industry and the winding down of the coal pits) were, with hindsight, inevitable, it was her callous disregard of the social consequences that will always stick in my mind.

A little careful planning, an injection of cash into areas set to be decimated, and a longer-term approach to the winding down of those industries, giving time for communities to adjust and survive, would’ve made all the difference. But her ideology – the ruthless, black and white, survival of the fittest ideal – wouldn’t allow it. The resultant devastation and social upheaval is still being felt today: the underclass of benefits dependency, the ghettoised communities, one of Europe’s worst levels of social mobility and a general feeling of desperation in areas that were once hard-working and proud.

The people who live with Thatcher’s ruthless and callous legacy wouldn’t agree that she “Saved Britain” – she certainly didn’t save it for them.

And let’s not forget the further ideology that she introduced: Thatcherism – the creed of greed.

With the wholesale deregulation of the financial sector and the selling off of social housing stock, she created a credit bubble that taught the nation that it was their inalienable right to have whatever they wanted, without consequence. And rather than recognising that this was unsustainable, as we’ve now painfully discovered, she spurred it on, lauding the rich and promoting an ideal that money, in of itself, was the new measure of wealth. No longer would wealth be measured by happiness or community or self respect or the care you show to your fellow man – it’d be measured in greed.

After all “There’s no such thing as society”, right?

And even now, after being hit by 3 harsh recessions when boom crashed down into the inevitable bust, it is still this ideal that politicians continue to follow – growth comes from consumption, growth will make you happy, it is your duty to make yourself richer and anyone who tells you otherwise is probably a commie. I see these sentiments daily in political sound-bites and the right wing media opinion-pieces. Thatcherism is still very much alive and kicking.

And has it worked? No. We’ve now got some of the worst working wages in the developed world, as the more selfish among us follow through on the Thatcherite ideal – profit first, people second, make me rich and that’s all that matters. We’ve seen the financial services gamble with pension funds and crush entire currencies, throwing tens of millions of honest working people into poverty. And worse, we’ve seen the victimisation of the poor in society as “scroungers” and “cheats”, because clearly they’re just not trying hard enough, are they?

We’ve become a far more cynical, more selfish, more divided and less compassionate nation than we were before the Thatcherite social experiment began. If our society is “broken”, as the Tories delight in reminding us, it’s because Thatcherism broke it – and more Thatcherism sure ain’t going to fix it!

So maybe now isn’t the time to celebrate in Thatcher’s death but we cannot let her mistakes pass history by.

If you agree with me, make your voices heard. Take this time to argue the case for a progressive alternative. Remind everyone who holds Margaret Thatcher up as an icon, that her policies, rhetoric and ideology, while making them and their rich friends vast fortunes, have, ultimately, left this nation a much, much poorer place to live.

Just show a little class while you’re at it, eh?

Evil Dead {Film Review}

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Owun Birkett

It is a tough task on taking a cult favourite series and basically updating it to a modern setting. Though that usually causes scepticism from fans, saying they have missed the point on what made the original films good in the first place or they just completely fail as a whole. Michael Bay’s production company Platinum Dunes have come under criticism, as their remakes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Amityville Horror, The Hitcher, Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street are really beat-to-beat remakes of the original movies (which makes us ask the question; why bother remaking it if it is going to be exactly the same as the original?). So it was inevitable that the news of an Evil Dead remake would make the fans cry “BETRAYAL!!!”. How could anyone think of trying to top Sam Raimi’s (director ‘The Evil Dead’ Trilogy and ‘Spider-Man’ Trilogy) cult independent horror classic which starred Bruce Campbell as one of horror’s most beloved icons? Especially the teaser poster has the guts (pun non-intended) to have giant words reading “THE MOST TERRIFYING FILM YOU WILL EVER EXPERIENCE”. Well I am actually happy to report that it is pretty good (undeniably flawed but pretty good considering it is a remake).

The movie is set (where else?) at a cabin in the woods, where David (Shiloh Fernandez) and his friends are helping his sister Mia’s (Jane Levy) drug addiction. Because they have previously attempted to help detox Mia and failed, they decide to keep her in the cabin until she really has been cured of her addiction. Meanwhile, they find a secret cellar in the cabin and Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci) finds a book (the Necronomicon). Despite repeated warnings written within its pages, he recites the words and thus releases evil spirits. If you have seen either any of the previous movies, you know where this leads to. As Evil Dead fashion, everything starts to go downhill. Demons start possessing our heroes and one-by-one are dispatched in the most gruesome way possible!

evil_dead_ver2_xlg

Rather than being a straight remake of The Evil Dead, it is both a reboot and a loose continuation of the series (as fans may notice ‘The Classic’, Sam Raimi’s trademark car). This is mainly to appeal new fans of the series but also bring back fans of the original films. This is an extremely difficult task to succeed, as you have the risk on alienating your new fans but also fail to deliver with the fans. Director Fede Alvarez (this being his feature debut) understood what made the original movie great but decided to bring something different so there wasn’t a case of deja-vu. The film genuinely felt the filmmakers were achieving on bringing something fresh but also delivering what we love about the series. Though the film plays it straight and thus some may find it not as enjoyable to watch such as Evil Dead II (which me and many others consider it to be the best of the series). The film’s tag-line may bring too much hype and can be misleading. The film is really more to shock than to scare and does feature a few jump scares that is often common for filmmakers to think it’ll scare audiences when it is lazy horror filmmaking.

The characters in this film are from decent to being completely unmemorable. Though it is a bit of a sigh of relief that they didn’t rely on having stock characters that horror films nowadays seem to feel obligated to include into the movie (i.e. the slut, the jock, the nerd etc.) Jane Levy as Mia really handles herself well, being able to deliver a sense of dread and fear as to what is about to come (especially what she is going through). Shiloh as David is decent but feels pretty bland as a protagonist and slowly becomes less interesting as the movie progresses. The rest of the cast are just characters waiting to be possessed and then get cut up into the meat grinder (they honestly don’t make much of an impact to the story). Though the series was never known to have such developed characters or having an in-depth story.

The film, however, will get much attention from the use of practical blood and gore effects and it really is a HUGE relief as horror films tend to rely too much on CGI. This movie spills blood by the gallons, limbs are cut off as if it would be preparing a cannibalistic feast! The camera does not shy away from the details, as you really feel the pain that is inflicted upon each character and will use anything they can use such as shards of glass, a box cutter, electric knife and of course, the movie’s trademark, a chainsaw. Though one particular infamous scene from The Evil Dead makes its appearance in the film, but it isn’t prolonged as it was in the original (a scene where Sam Raimi has said that he went a bit too far). This movie is really not for the squeamish or faint of heart, it is primarily for fans of the series and to gore hounds alike. I won’t argue that audiences may find this film too grotesque and can be viewed as being part of the torture porn that movies like Saw and Hostel made such a huge trend.

Overall: This is a worthy addition to a much beloved cult classic series, which is saying something as most horror films and horror remakes fail to deliver its promises. Some may have to be warned of the movie’s graphic violence, and deciding to have the movie playing it serious rather than having a sense of fun may be its downside. It is definitely not up there with The Evil Dead or Evil Dead II but it really does hold on its own and that is something worth giving praise to.

3 out of 5

Egg In A Cup | Snack Ideas

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Catherine Balavage

Egg in a cup is one of my favourite snacks, but not many people know about it. The name pretty much says it all. It is just an egg (or two) in a cup, with some butter. I had this all the time when I was growing up.

Just take two eggs, boil them for seven minutes and then peel them. Put the eggs in a cup and then take some butter and smother them in the butter. Cut them into sections of four or six and then add more butter. Mix the egg and butter well and then eat!

It really is a low calories snack (if you are economical with the butter. I never am) which you can make in 10 minutes. Try it and let us know what you think.

Egg in a cup

Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream | Beauty Review

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Catherine Balavage

Elizabeth Arden’s Eight Hour Cream is constantly on the major magazines best of beauty lists. It is the little tub of cream that has a million uses and is a favourite of celebrities. My family and friends also love it. Here is my review.

Elizabeth Arden says their Eight Hour Cream soothes minor skin irritation and is also for the symptoms of chapping, peeling and flaking due to minor burns, sunburn, windburn, scrapes, abrasions and cracked lips. Phew. That is quite a list. Created in 1930, it is Elizabeth Arden’s bestseller, with a tube of the stuff selling somewhere in the world every 30 seconds.

I use the cream on my lips and it is a great lip balm. I also use it on my hands which are really drying out because of the weather and it really sorts them out. It is great on dry skin, you can really feel it healing the skin. I end up using it on my feet too. It makes them really smooth. I also put it along my cheekbones to highlight them when I am going out. It is good on rashes and burns. In fact it solves pretty much any skin based problem.

I quite like the smell but it is not to everyone’s taste. I know Elizabeth Arden recently brought out a version that is scent free. I think Eight Hour Cream is a great all-purpose balm. An essential for every make up bag. I am addicted now.

Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Skin Protectant 50ml

Shameless Q and A with Jody Latham

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Frostie

Jody Latham talks about reprising his role as Lip Gallagher in the final series of Shameless. Episode 8 will be broadcast on Tuesday 16th April at 10pm on Channel 4.

How important has Shameless been to you in the context of your career?

Oh wow! It’s been a massive part of my career. I’ve been acting for 15 years, and I was first involved with Shameless ten years ago. I was the first person ever cast on the show. In fact, I was the first person ever to be seen for the show, weeks and weeks before we started shooting. I’d been working for a few years before I started Shameless, but it was the biggest thing that I’d done. It put me out there. It’s opened the door for many other opportunities as well. It’s so true to life, people can relate to it. And it set the example for so many other shows to follow. It’s been a huge privilege to be part of it.

When you were started on the show you were only 20 years old. Do you feel that you learned quite a lot in those early years?

Yeah. 20-years-old is considered quite young. I was just out of my teens, living in Manchester, on my own in an apartment, for the first time. I was a kid at the time. Now I’m about to be 30 years old. So in that time I’ve grown as an actor, as a person, as a father, as a man. I hope I’ve grown up quite a lot since I started on Shameless. It’s been a massive part of my life, not just in career terms. I’ve lived and breathed it. I’ve done high profile shows like EastEnders, The Fixer, I’ve made music videos with Tulisa, and yet 99 per cent of the people who recognise me do so because of Shameless. It’s always about Lip and Shameless, even now. A couple of years ago, when I’d been out of the show for a while, I found it a bit annoying, but then I thought “You know what? Shameless is a massive institution in people’s lives.” Some people have grown up with it – watching it aged 10 or 11, in their bedroom when they’re not supposed to – and they’re now 19 or 20. I do get people coming up to me saying they used to watch it in their rooms with headphones on because their parents wouldn’t let them see it.

When did you begin to realise you were in a show that was going to be a success?

To be honest, I knew from reading the script. I knew what Paul Abbott was capable of. I knew how massively respected he was even before Shameless transmitted – he’d been involved in The Lakes, Clocking Off, Band of Gold, all these massive shows. Everything he touched seemed to turn to gold, so I knew it was going to be huge. I read it and knew how controversial it was – storylines about gay 15-year-olds and that. Right from reading the scripts with all these huge storylines going on, I just knew it was going to be massive from day one. It was naughty and controversial and artistically brilliant.

When you were in the show originally, you filmed a lot with Gerard Kearns (who played Ian). Did you form a close relationship?

Yeah, we did. We were into similar music and similar films, and we came from quite similar backgrounds. We were also both strong, opinionated characters. We were definitely close, and I still speak to him every now and again. And I’ve got a massive amount of respect for him as an actor, and as a father, and with how he’s done in his career. He started off in amateur dramatics, like me, with no formal training, and he’s straight in there, doing it, and doing a really good job. That was the thing about Shameless, the younger members of the cast were all just raw talent, nobody had been trained. I think it may have been Gerard’s first ever part. It was all about finding new faces, no star names, making it seem more real. And it made stars out of the cast – Ann-Marie Duff, James McAvoy, Dean Lennox Kelly, Maxine Peake. Me! [Laughs uproariously]. Being in a show like that has allowed us to go on and make good, strong British dramas, and in some cases films – even blockbuster films, with McAvoy! So we’ve all done really well out of it.

There’s now a US version of the series. Have you seen it?

I watched the first couple of them, yeah. It was really weird! It was interesting, seeing it set in a different environment, but it was literally word for word the same as the English version, and I just found that really bizarre. I believe it’s a huge success over there, particularly the second series.

Why did you decide to go back for the last series of Shameless?

Because they asked me! I’d shared my desires to go back and do a little bit more, and they came back to me with an idea, and we just thought “Yeah, let’s do it.”

What’s it been like, being back?

Brilliant. It was quite emotional. It’s been five or six years since I’ve been there, so it was a real trip down memory lane. One irony was that the first scene I shot when I was back in the studio was exactly where I’d shot my last ever scenes when I left. So that was quite random.

Are a lot of the same faces still there, among the cast and crew?

The crew’s almost completely different – there’s a few from the original, but not many. But in terms of the cast, there’s quite a lot of the old gang there. It didn’t feel unfamiliar, put it that way.

Are any of the other old cast members coming back?

Yes!

What’s happened to Lip since we last saw him?

I don’t know how much I can tell you. But Lip and Frank basically bump into each other on the street. Frank quickly discovers that this might be where Lip actually lives. So it turns out that Lip could be a lot closer to Chatsworth than everyone was led to believe. I think I can say that without giving the game away.

Lastly, how much of you is there in Lip? Are you like him?

I don’t think so, not really. When I was younger, I liked to think I was clever, and I liked to think I was popular with the girls, but I’ve grown up a lot now. I’m not as cocky as I used to be!

Interview courtesy of Channel 4

The Shining Girls Book Review + 5 Copies To Giveaway

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Catherine Balavage

The Shining Girls is a book about a serial killer who kills girls who shine. One by one they die, but not Kirby. The heroine of the story is a courageous, feisty girl who survives a vicious attack and then hunts down the man who tried to kill her. Kirby is definitely one of the most ballsy fictional heroines for a long time. You could imagine her teaming up with Lisbeth Salander. She is brave and as witty as she is determined to bring the man who tried to kill her and killed her dog to justice. (don’t be thrown about the dog, it is a heartwarming and sad part of the story. You will fall in love with the dog)

Harper Curtis, a violent and arrogant killer, stumbles across a house that opens up into other times, allowing him to visit his victims as children, teenagers and women. He murders them in a horrendous way across the decades. He is a skilled killer without mercy. He thinks he is invincible and undetectable, but is he a match for Kirby?

Kirby teams up with Dan, an ex-homicide journalist who investigated her attempted murder. He is burnt out and jaded. Covering sport instead when Kirby becomes his intern for a college credit. They make an unlikely pair but they are a great team. Kirby’s mother Rachel is another brilliant character.

This well written, pacy book was hard to put down. Written by Lauren Beukes who won the coveted Arthur C. Clarke Award for her visionary novel Zoo City in 2011. The Shining Girls crosses over a few genres and manages to do them all flawlessly. Crime meets thriller meets science fiction.

Beukes is an incredibly talented writer. It seems obvious to say a writer is good at putting sentences together, but some are better than others. The book is obviously well researched with wonderful gems of information and character observation throughout.

The killings in the book are quite horrific so the book may not be for the faint-hearted. The fact that the book is fiction does not make Harper Curtis any less terrifying. The Shining Girls is a very original book. An exceptional example of thriller writing.

Frost Magazine has five copies of The Shining Girls to giveaway. To win just follow @Frostmag on Twitter and Tweet, ‘I want to win #TheShiningGirls with @Frostmag’. Alternatively like us on Facebook or sign up for our newsletter. Good luck.

The girl who wouldn’t die, hunting a killer who shouldn’t exist…

Lauren Beukes’ ‘The Shining Girls’ is out on Thursday 25 April. You can buy it here.