Everyone remembers the pictures of Kim Kardashian with blood all over her face following a Vampire facelift. It might be a bit gruesome but I tell you what, it’s sticks in your head! My opinion is that the most controversial beauty treatments tend to be the most effective. I mean once you’ve used one moisturiser you’ve used them all, I want to see my beauty treatments in action! I posted a picture on Instagram of my face covered in blood and naturally everyone wanted to know all about it.

I recently went for a new derma roller treatment. It basically boils down to a beautician rubbing a roller covered in little spikes all over your face. Think medieval mace. Before you ask, no, it didn’t hurt. She used numbing cream beforehand, the same stuff they use when tattooing your eyebrows. The little spikes pierce the top layer of skin (so there’s a little bleeding), the trauma of which causes collagen production to go into overdrive. Collagen is the stuff which makes our skin plump and youthful and unfortunately it’s levels deplete as we get older. The derma roller forces levels to step it up a bit.

I get 3 areas of botox (I’m only 28, but prevention is better than cure) so my forehead and eyes are pretty youthful. I am starting to get laughter lines ever so faintly so I’m really interested as to how this will affect them. A course of 3 treatments is recommended for the full effect and of course depends what you want to achieve. I don’t have a huge issue yet with my skin so for me the difference won’t be massive. Saying that, after only 2 weeks a few people have come up to be telling me how amazing my skin is looking so it must work!

I will definitely go back in 6 weeks (treatments MUST be 6 weeks apart to allow for the collagen production to run its course and settle down) as Clair told me that you can also used derma roller to stimulate collagen production in your hands. I think the hands are a dead giveaway to a woman's age and after one too many summers battering the sunbathing, my hands could deffo do with a little youth injection.

Look out for a competition soon to win your own derma roller session worth £200 – currently on offer at CL Beauty @ Herberts for £140.

XOXO

Scouse Bird

I posted a picture of my new Venus With Love charm necklace on instagram and I couldn’t believe how many people were going mad over it.

One girl said she’s been looking for a stockist in the UK for ages (I assume they’re big in another country). I only came across them because they followed me on twitter and after having a nose I thought what they were all about was really different and unique.

Basically it’s a cross between a charm bracelet and a locket and it’s totally customisable to you. You choose a colour locket, a back plate and then you pick which charms you want from their different collections. I got the SB initials ;-) (you’re not gettin onto my real initials that easy), a shoe (well obviously), a cocktail, a palm tree, a heart and a flower and loads of little red gems because I thought they looked cute. There’s absolutely loads to choose from.

Anyway, just thought I’d share my little find. Happy shopping!

http://venuswithlove.co.uk/index.php? 

XOXO

Scouse Bird

Obviously as soon as you get with a man, the first instinct you have is to change him beyond all recognition.  Scouse Man Probs is a smoker…no lad, them dirty ciggies gots to go, Scouse Bird don’t be about neckin no ashtray.

The sign of a clever woman is whether or not she can change a man while making him think he actually has a choice in the matter and sorry SMP, you’re playing against a pro here. I’m the Murray to your Henman.

After a brief conversation he (I) decided he was going to try hypnosis seeing as it was Stoptober. He doesn’t seem the type to deal with patches and plastic ciggies so a road less travelled was the way to go.

I spoke to Elliott from Revive Hypnosis and asked him a little bit about how many sessions would be needed etc. He explained it is possible to stop someone smoking in one session but in reality he’d recommend around 4 just to make sure it’s properly ingrained.  My concern was that not everyone can be hypnotised but Elliott explained that everyone can, it just means thetechnique he uses from person to person differs. SMP’s concern was that he’d be dancing round the room thinking he was a chicken and ending up a YouTube sensation. I told him “Don’t be so stupid, gobshite.” then as an afterthought, “Buy me some shoes or I’ll arrange for it to happen.”

Elliott asked if there was anything he could help me with and I was all like “Bitch please I’m like Mary Poppins; practically perfect in every way.” For anyone who’s interested he does hypnosis for all sorts of things like weight loss, anxiety, anger management, self-esteem, stress and phobias.

I asked SMP what it was like and he said it was completely relaxing and he was fully aware of everything Elliott was saying and fully in control of all his faculties throughout the entire session.

SMP went along for his first session on Friday, it’s now Monday and since seeing Elliott he’s smoked one cigarette when he was out on Friday night and that’s it. He hasn’t bought any, he hasn’t taken them with him when he’s left the house, and he just hasn’t felt like one at all. He said he’s got so much more confidence that he’s got the ability to stop and he feels amazing. I was gobsmacked, I was genuinely thinking it would take a while, like maybe he’d cut down a bit but already he’s pretty much cut them out already. He said going to work this week will be the true test but he’s pretty sure he won’t be bothering with the bifters. We went out yesterday for a few drinks and we got a waft of someone smoking and I asked him whether it bothered him at all and he said “No, not in the slightest.” Miracles do happen. We sat down last night and worked out that this could potentially save him almost £4000 a year, that’s like 8 pairs of Jimmy Choos!

The other change I’ve seen in him is that previously he was a bitof a stress-head. He’d get wound up by things quite easily whereas I’m placid and easy-going about pretty much anything apart from the existence of kitten heels and short haircuts on girls. Now he’s like a completely different man, he’s the most happy-go-lucky person ever. He keeps doing this weird thing with his mouth, smiling I think they call it, rather than Scouse snarling at everyone. I feel like doing things to piss him off just to test him but I’m not evil enough. Old Scouse Bird even kicked me off Team Crank yesterday, I was FEWMIN.

I text Elliott saying “What have you done to SMP, he’s like a new man!” and he said, “That’s just what I do.”

I found out Elliott does past life regression actually and that issomething I’ve always been interested in. Obviously I was Queen Cleopatra, Queen Anne Boleyn and Rose from the Titanic in a previous life so I’m going to go and see him soon and give that a whirl. I’m dead excited.

I hope this has helped give even one person the courage to change something they don't like about themselves. According to Elliott, all hypnosis is self-hypnosis, meaning we all have the power within us to do whatever we want, he just helps you tap into it.

http://www.revivehypnosisliverpool.co.uk/

XOXO

Scouse Bird

There are 3 things which my parents refused to buy me when I was growing up which to this day still upset me; A Mr Frosty machine, a Soda Stream and a Baby G watch. Here’s me all deprived and scarred but it’s funny how they always had money for their things like bottles of wine and the gas bill. Pfft.

I tweeted something to thing effect a few weeks ago and it was amazing how many other people felt this similar deprivation. Honestly, it’s a small wonder we all weren’t on the phone to Esther Ranzen every 5 minutes because this is clearly child abuse. Anyway, the wonderful people at Soda Stream Uk decided to right the wrongs of my parents and decided to send me my very own Soda Stream. The inner 12 year old in me felt vindicated.

I just thought I’d tell you all a bit about what it’s like being a Soda Stream owner. It’s boss. It’s everything it was cracked up to be. First of all I was made up that it doesn’t required plugging in, I have an original 70’s kitchen (bought my nans house) and the lack of plug sockets is a real issue. It runs off a pressurised gas bottle. It required minimal setting up and it’s so easy to use. They’ve got a full range of diet drinks, not just diet coke. They actually sent me diet pink grapefruit and diet blackcurrant and they’re both gorgeous along with marguerita, mojito and cosmo mixers. Yes while they know they’re appealing to the inner deprived child, they know that deprived child is now an alcoholicadult, with adult needs, such as vodka. And yes, fizzy vodka is amazing by the way.

I’m not great at drinking enough fluids but I definitely find I’ve been drinking more since I got it and ok ok it’s fizzy so it’s not THE  healthiest thing in the world but come on, I haven’t got (that) many vices. So yeh, all in all, thumbs up to Soda Stream. Thanks guys.

XOXO

Scouse Bird

Now that I'm depressingly back from holiday I thought I'd do a holiday related blog to get you all in the mood for booking the next one.

Firstly no matter where you go you're probably gonna get feasted on by mozzies an there's nothin itchier an more irritating than a bite. Then when you've itched it it just spreads the poison which makes it even more itchy and then it looks a sheow! 

I'm redecorating the bedroom and recently a local designer was brought to my attention. She's an ex JMU student who's launched her own company Token Homewares. I popped a picture on Instagram the other day and had a few people asking about it so here's all the info! http://www.tokenhomewares.bigcartel.com/

No one wants yellow peggies. My aspiration is to have teeth as white as Ross from friends in THAT episode, however, short of using domestos as mouthwash or getting horrendous veneers a la Rylan I doubt that’s ever going to happen.

Back in the day I used to get 35% bleach peroxide from ebay for a fiver and my god it was amazing, lifted those teeth right up! However it’s kind of a bit illegal in the UK now as it destroys your gums so I haven’t been able to get hold of any for years. I’ve been using the teeth whitening trays from Btox Clinics for a while now which are 6% bleach I think? They do work but it’s a gradual whitening process and for the same reason why I’d be no good on the pill (I’m forgetful and forget to do it daily) my gnashers aren’t where I want them to be. I also lost one of my trays and dilly dallied (ay that’s something you haven’t heard from anyone except your nan isn’t it?) about getting a new one so we’ve ended up a couple of weeks before my hols and I need a quick fix.

Enter Suresmiles. Me and me fella (yes a new one, keep up) went to see the larger than life Maxzine who is passionately anti bleach and pro blue light technology. The offer at the time was £30 instead of £80, bargain.

We were a little dubious when we turned up as Maxzine works out of her house which I didn’t know beforehand BUT within 2 minutes of being there we were made to feel welcome and at home. It was just unexpected. She did a shade test on us both on her peg chart, he was a 24 & 26 (smoker, tut) and I was an 8 & 12 (already pretty white). The treatment took about an hour each and afterward she did a shade test on us again and he had lifted to a 14 (10-12 shades!) and I had lifted to a 2 which is the lightest shade on her chart and the lightest she’d ever had. Yes that’s right, I won at teeth whitening.

The next 48hrs we could only eat white food and drink while the teeth ‘closed’ which was a little bit of a pain but not horrendous. All in all we’re both made up with the results and for £30 you can’t really argue.

https://m.facebook.com/pages/Sure-Smiles/412347255527487?id=412347255527487&_rdr

XOXO

Scouse Bird

I have a bit of a fetish for nice smelling deodorant. I’m still to this day mourning the discontinuation of Sure’s Calming spray – that was the mac daddy of boss smells and I’ve yet to find one quite as amazing.

I was excited when Sure brought out a new range of cream roll ons (the likes of which I hadn’t seen since the late 90’s when that was all the rage) so I decided to try all 3.

The formula gives maximum protection against perspiration…don’t they all claim to? Although after the gym and hot yoga I still smell fresh and great so I’ll give them that.

Scent wise none of them can replace the Sure Calming shaped hole in my olfactory heart but they all still smell fab. The pink one "confidence" is my favourite - they all have a clean smell to them rather than fruity or floral.

Bring back Sure Calming!

Most people will have probably heard of Tangle Teezers and if you haven’t, you should have.

Now that I’ve got 22” extensions I find the amount of time I have to dedicate to keeping them looking amazing has increased along with the length.  Once you’ve forked out a small fortune on the hair of your dreams the last thing you want to do is wreck it trying to comb the tats out. I swear by Tangle Teezers.

They have a growing collection and limited edition & kids ranges and my own personal collection is growing fast. I have the elite salon teezer in hot pink which is used in high end hairdressers. I have the compact one in metallic gold which is amazing for popping in your bag on a night out. Then I have the aqua version which is great for combing wet hair and for at the beach on holiday (that’s my fave, it’s easiest to hold).

The flexible bristles mean that they work through the tats without catching and dragging half your hair out. It’s definitely less painful. I’ve heard of many people who swear by using them on their daughters for less tears after bathtime. I still to this day remember the torture of my mum ragging my hair everywhere after washing.

The tangle teezers are available from loads of places like Boots etc or you can buy them from the internet. They’re about a tenner which is the cost of a good hairbrush anyway.

XOXO

Scouse Bird