HydroFit - Spin your way to Fit

From Boxercise to anti-gravity yoga each season brings new fitness trends in a bid to make your exercise regimes less grueling. One new exercise device that has taken America and France by storm finally landed in the UK last summer with the aim to revolutionise the way we work out. 

Hydrofit is a pod containing an exercise bike submerged in water, with power jets to massage your legs whilst you work out, banishing unwanted cellulite and improving blood circulation.  

I arrived at the luxurious Chelsea Aqua Fitness and Spa Centre feeling calm and peaceful in the relaxed yet stylish atmosphere. The fitness spa also offers a nutrition juice bar where freshly made juices are personalised to your taste. The underground Hydrofit rooms are equipped with a TV, music device and Bluetooth headset to make your underwater cycling experience all the more enjoyable, and the water in your Hydrofit cabin will always be fresh and clean and is not reused between clients. This relaxing and exciting way of exercising can burn at least 300 calories per 30 minutes and is perfect for a lower body workout with added water resistance, or those looking for joint recovery and muscle development.

The water is set at a refreshing temperature to boost metabolism however it can be made warmer if you require. After Delphine, co-founder of Hydrofit, talked me through the touchscreen control panel, I was soon cycling with ease as the water gradually filled up to my waist. However be prepared for splashing as you cycle your way to the recommended target of 9 kilometres. There are pretty lights in the water and water jets with a steady release of oxygen atoms to promote natural exfoliation and skin rejuvenation. The thirty minute session sped by rather quickly and a few minutes before the end Delphine returned to show me a series of positions to massage the abdominal muscles and quads. This would certainly make bath-time fun for anyone! 

Once the water had drained below the door-level, I was able to dry-down and head to the nutrition bar for a refreshing energy-boosting fresh orange and lime juice (I’m a sucker for citrus). The Hydrofit Aqua Fitness and Spa also offers nutrition consultations from highly-qualified doctors and professors, massage treatments and slimming packages, and sells a range of oils, hair, and skin products from Les Cinq Mondes and La Sultane de Saba spa specialists.

A course of six 30-minute Hydrofit cycling sessions are priced at £165, or a single session costs £30, and in a matter of weeks you will see the arrival of the Hydrofit ‘jogger’ - a treadmill immersed in water. Hydrofit is the perfect way to treat someone to a spa experience, with the added bonus of burning calories in a chilled environment - keeping fit in a fresh and fun way. 

Hydrofit Centre,

278, Fulham Road

London

SW10 9EW

0207 352 2546 

www.hydrofit.co.uk

Rouge Louboutin

Shoe and designer obsessed I am, it will come as no surprised to you that at 9.29am on Thursday 14th August, I was second in line to purchase a bottle (or two) of the Rouge Louboutin at Selfridges, Oxford Street. I know, I know, I should have been first (I was waiting for doors to open at 9.10am) but all the staff at Selfridges had a head start. So I did pretty well getting second place, and a snaking queue formed within minutes. 

This £36 nail polish, sold in what some would consider to be an utterly ridiculous sized and shaped bottle, or a genius idea and a undoubtedly another masterpiece of Christian Louboutin. This bottle, if you have somehow managed to stay away from the hype and articles of this momentous moment in the beauty world, is 20.5 cms tall, largely made up of a terrifying 'spike' supposed to represent/ echo the Ballerina Ultima Pump designed by Mr Louboutin (which looks more like an instrument of torture than a ballet 'pump'). The bottle is a glorious chiseled glass rock, inspired by classical 18th century European balustrades, and the whole thing looks like it could very easily double up as a weapon of self-defence. Maybe ladies around the globe will be using these pots of Rouge Louboutin to push their way through the unprotected masses when he extends his range with 30 additional nail colours in September.  

So what's it like? Is any nail polish worth the £36? Does it last? 

Firstly, any item by Christian Louboutin selling for £36 is a must-have. Which is why there were queues simultaneously all around the beauty departments of Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, and Harrods at 9.30am. It comes in the most incredible bottle - a centre piece on itself - which I hope to have on my dressing table when I'm an old (and stylish) 80 year old woman.  

I was worried that the stark red would look like I'd torn my fingernails off, as usually I go for a more crimson colour with pink hues. The nail paint is identical to the iconic soles of a Louboutin shoe, with a faint hint of pinky red. It looked... Amazing. I read that it took colour technicians over 50 attempts to create the tone absolutely 100% identical to the shoe soles. And congratulations, they absolutely nailed it.  

The patented triangular brush has been designed specifically to pick up the precise quantity of polish required for each nail, while short bristles avoid the collection of air bubbles allowing for meticulous application. Whilst I saw no visual difference to the brush (Rimmel is the noticeable one with its wider, flat brush for easy application), there were absolutely no bubbles under the coat of polish, and I couldn't have asked for a smoother application - I put this down to the quality of the paint though. No complaints though - it did the job!

The biggest achievement in this bottle of Loubi magic is the paint's drying time. Oh my god! By the time I'd finished one hand, the first few nails were dry and rock solid. Obviously I didn't want to bite my nails to test how 'dry' it was, but I could get on with everyday tasks without streaks of red left on everything. 

My verdict? It's everything you could wish for, and more. Its smooth and fast drying application, fantastic colour, and a bottle which will look good as an ornament whether or not you use nail polish make it a must have. The only fault (gasp) is that, like with any nail varnish - including the Chanel Le Vernis that I love and adore - the paint on the tips of my nails had chipped within two days. With the amount of hand washing I do though, it would take a miracle or a polish with superglue as a main ingredient to get a nail paint to stay completely unscathed on my nails for longer than 48 hours. I will add that it chipped a lot less than other brands I've tried (Barry M being the ultimate worst and one I refuse to ever go near).  

 

 Buy buy buy! You even get a mini version of the signature Louboutin bag to carry your pot of happiness - you just can't go wrong with this one. Oh Christian, we do love you. 

Get Refreshed with Health Drinks

Firefly natural drinks

Advertised as ‘natural drinks’ with no added nasties and ranging from 100-113 calories per 330ml bottle, these refreshing drinks come in a range of flavours and are blended with active botanical extracts such as Green Tea, Ginger & Kola nut, so take your pick. The RRP is between £1.39 and £1.95 in the UK which is very reasonable considering the ingredients and health benefits of the drinks, and available from Waitrose, Holland and Barrett's and other independent health stores. My previous assumptions on health drinks and flavoured waters were that they were full of sugar, but these Firefly tonics contained no more than 8 grams of sugar.

As a sucker for packaging, I was delighted with my line up of brightly coloured, retro milk bottles, making for a colourful shelf in the refridgerator. This collection of thirst-quenchers are entirely natural, made up of purified water, fruit juices and botanical extracts. There’s no caffeine-laced sugar rush when you sip from one of these bottles – just subtle flavours, quietly doing you good.

Peach and Green Tea

As the first drink to try, I took an apprehensive sniff of sweet, succulent peaches. The smell is definitely stronger than the taste, as the first sip revealed a light, refreshing texture - nothing too syrupy. It has a delicate peach flavour, a hint of grape juice and an underlying taste of green tea. And for some, a nice change to the normal citrus and berry drinks you get.

Grapefruit and Passionfruit

If you're not a huge fan of grapefruit, it can take a while to warm to this flavour. It is quite punchy with the sharpness of grapefruit, but nonetheless refreshing on your pallet, with a satisfying aftertaste of rosemary and passionfruit.

Lemon, Lime and Ginger

This flavour is unbelievably satisfying and very tasty be it a morning refreshment or an evening after dinner treat. Think homemade lemonade with a hint of ginger. This one tasted the most natural of them all, and consists of zingy lemons and limes brimming with a punch of ginger, dandelion and burdock.

Mune Support 

These drinks have a shockingly high amount of sugar at 25 grams a portion, but do contain 50% of your recommended daily allowance of 8 vitamins and minerals all designed to support the immune system. The amount of scientific research gone into the two flavours is impressive, and remains free from gluten, wheat, lactose, caffeine, added sugar, artificial sweeteners and preservatives. The drinks retail at £1.79 for 330ml, and are available at Whole Foods Market, Nutri Centre, and Holland & Barrett branches.

Original

The smell of Manuka honey was horrendously off-putting however pinch your nose and underneath the strong honey tones you will experience hints of cherry and black elderberry. If you're a honey monster, give this one a go for a kickstart before your walk to work.

Revive

The Mune Revive drink contains 88 calories of spring water enhanced with coconut, pineapple, blood orange, lemon grass and nettle, and 50% of your RDA from a host of vitamins. It smells of sickly-sweet pineapple juice, which can be overpowering on the accompanying fruit juices. As a water supplement, both flavours are quite sweet but I can see this product proving useful after a visit to the gym or an incurable hangover.

Little Miracles

Promoted as being an 'organic energy' drink, this mix of botanicals and juice extracts aims to provide you with natural energy from metabolism boosting tea, revitalising fruits and ginseng. Coming in two flavours: green tea & pomegranate, and white tea and cherry, these fruity antioxidant-filled waters are perfect for a refreshingly healthy lift. 

As a hater of anything cherry, I stuck with the 'Green' bottle (as opposed to the purple bottle), which has green tea, ginseng, pomegranate, açai, and agave in. With 88 calories per bottle, and 6.3g sugar per 100ml, these are a tasty way to stay hydrated. They are not sweet in any way - think of it like a flavoured water, with very delicate undertones. The clear flavours you can taste in the green bottle are the green tea and a touch of pomegranate. 

The purple bottle contains white tea, ginseng, cherry, açai, and agave, and these Organic Little Miracles can be found in Boots for 2 for £2 and large supermarkets. 

Whilst it is advertised as being an alternative of red bull and other energy drinks, this is not something I would entrust to get me through a workout - other than helping with hydration levels. The ginseng can improve energy levels with it's active ginseonosides, and the açai has more active antioxidants than any other berry. The addition of either pomegranate or cherry, depending on which flavour you choose gives the drink a light burst of flavour (nothing too tangy or in your face) and extra vitamins from the fruit extracts. 

If you were lagging at work and needed a burst of refreshment, this little miracle is for you.

Sirco 

Sirco is a 100% fruit juice that contains Fruitflow, a natural, active ingredient from tomatoes (but this isn't what they taste of) that keeps your heart healthy from the first day you drink it. Sirco and Fruitflow have been scientifically proven to help maintain cardiovascular health and benefit circulation of the blood, reducing risk of DVT. Despite being high in sugar (with 26.5 grams of it) it only has 125 calories per 250ml serving, so the countless 5-star reviews on Amazon can’t be wrong. As well as being healthy for your heart, it contains 1 of your 5 a day, provides a source of vitamin C, and contains no added sugar, artificial flavourings, preservatives or artificial colours.

Apple and Blueberry

The first whiff of the Apple and Blueberry flavour reminds me of tinned tomatoes, but once drinking, it has a strong flavour of apple juice and an after-taste of blueberry. Turns out it has 51% apple juice from concentrate, with added grape juice, lemon juice and blueberry juice. 

Orange and Passionfruit

The Orange and Passionfruit flavour is invigorating and zesty, with an equal balance of both main ingredients. For an aquired taste but as a replacement for your morning fruit juice, this bottle of goodness certainly hits the spot.

Vita Coco

You'd have to be living in a bubble not to notice these cartons of coconut water... everywhere. Fresh coconut water designed to replace lost electrolytes and potassium after workouts and improve on hydration and nutrient intake, these come in a seven flavours and are ideal for those with a hectic lifestyle. Or, those who want a tasty refreshing post-workout calm-down drink, that has additional benefits including being gluten-free, fat free, dairy free, lactose free, nut free, oat free.... Sold for £2.89 from Holland & Barrett, and can also be found in Sainsbury's and Waitrose. A note to those considering this drink - delicious when chilled, not so wonderful when warm. Keep it cool folks. 

100% Natural Coconut

Now, I'm all for my vitamins and electrolytes, but plain coconut water is... eurgh. I'm not a fan of milk - unless mixed with chocolate Nesquick - so it was unsurprising that this felt like drinking breast milk or some sort of watered down soya milk. A hit with the celebrities, including Madonna, Sienna Miller and Rihanna, but unfortunately not a hit with me. 

Acai and Pomegranate 

Add a punch of acai berry, and you get a fruity and tropical kick on top of the healthy tasting coconut water. Whilst I'm not particularly keen on berry flavoured things, this was very tasty - not as refreshing as alternative flavours - but was a definitely an improvement on the natural coconut water.

Peach and Mango

This one is my absolute favourite of the Vita Coco range. Light, juicy and refreshing, the peach and mango flavours work together to make a delicate citrus-esque flavour. It is definitely not too sweet or overpowering, but tastes like a smooth nectar.

Lemonade

I loved the presentation of these Vita Coco Lemonade press packs, and the giant VC jug is incredible. All very retro, and a hit with me, before I've even screwed off the lid. This lemonade is the latest addition to their array of flavours, in time for summer. It is made with a lemon puree blended with their all-natural coconut water and like their other flavours, has more potassium than a banana. The lemon is very refreshing, particularly during a UK heatwave, but unfortunately is nowhere near as citrus and tangy as I'd like! More on the sweet/sticky side, but I would still recommend it (and not just because I have the matching sunglasses!). I will definitely continue to buy this as the lemons make it more refreshing than the mango and passionfruit one. Don't expect it to be fizzy though!

Benefit Gel Eyeliner - 'Criminally Un-Easy'

Perhaps Benefit should have thought twice before awarding their latest gel push-up liner the tag line 'criminally easy'. Being a dab hand at liquid eyeliner without resulting in a Cleopatra effect, I thought splashing out on the recently hyped Benefit gel liner would be an interesting and life-changing purchase. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

I'd read several negative reviews on their website which mentioned the gel going clumpy and collecting in blobs on your eyelid, thus causing the 'post breakup' look - i.e. very messy eyes. The sales assistant in Debenhams, Weymouth, was insistent that this wasn't the case, and I would get a perfect smoothly flowing line of eye liner, which was resistant to eye-rubbing and tears (ticking all the boxes for a severe hay-fever sufferer like me). So I decided to bite the bullet and go for it, particularly with several statistics on the packaging claiming it to be the Holy Grail of make up... although what would have been really useful instead was a percentage of people who said it was 'easy'. 

Day 1, and it takes several pumps (definitely over 20, going on 50) to get the gel to push up through the rubber nib. Suddenly - even for the prepared - a blob of gel comes out of the nib and has to be wiped away with a tissue. Wastage number 1. You then drag the 'nib' across your eyelid, and despite the supposed 88% of 'surveyors' claiming this product to 'hug the lashline', a more appropriate description would be to say it hugged the pen. Another design flaw is the fact you are fighting against gravity by holding a pen up to your eyelid, without any way of pushing the gel liner in an upwards direction. I described this to a friend as attempting to put on lipstick without holding the bottom end, so that every time you pushed the lipstick against your lips, it would just disappear back into the tube. 

Unsurprisingly then, you're left with several haphazard dashes lining the bottom of your eyelid whilst you battle with gravity, the positive of all this being that because it's so close to your lashline, no one would be able to see it anyway. After spending several more minutes trying to join up the wonky dashes and create some sort of seductive sweep of black eyeliner, the effect is the same as a fourteen year old scrubbing on Rimmel Kohl pencil onto their eyelids. As a pro at liquid eyeliner, this 'em' grungy look with clumpy bits of gel which have merged with my foundation layer to create a more grey line than jet black is not something I would ever aim for, let alone spend £18.50 on. 

Because of the pen design, more of your make up goes into the nib, rather than gel coming out of it, and the result is more on a 'caked on' effect, which becomes more apparent throughout the day when bits of eyeliner start dropping off. After washing my face later that evening, I was left with even more of a time-consuming mess, when it refused to be come off entirely, despite a method of several cotton pads and a damn good eye make up remover. Short of using domestos or acetone on my lids, I have to scrub harder and use more face wipes. It didn't take this long to remove face paint as a seven year-old, and I think a Pierrot clown would be in a serious predicament if it took him several hours and tubes of face wipes/ cotton pads to remove only his eye make up.

On the morning of Day 2, I came to the conclusion whilst picking off clumps of gel liner with a tweezer before it molded to my eyeball that this daily hassle wasn't ideal in a full-time working Londoner's schedule, and so marched into Debenhams, demanding a full refund on the premise that the package was misleading, and it definitely did not 'do what it says on the tin'. 

I am sure after reading this you can tell that my verdict is a resounding NO. Do yourselves a favour and buy some cheap (but extremely good and easy to use) Collection 2000 liquid liner and get over whatever fear you may have about using liquid liners. Whilst other Benefit make up is extremely useful and effective (a huge fan of the 'Watts Up' highlighter, and POREfessional primer cream), this gel eyeliner is better suited to 'ladies of leisure' who can afford to spend half the day applying this Benefit liner, and then the other half attempting to take it off. 

The Foundation Trials

I hope that any woman will understand the outrage one must feel when told that their foundation brand/shade is being discontinued. Uprooted. Betrayed. This is what happened to me when the time arrived to purchase a new tube of Estée Lauder Maximum Cover foundation, paid with my painstakingly saved-up Boots advantage card points, only to find that the ‘01 Creamy Ivory’ shade had been discontinued. Cue uproar, and begging them to give the tester pot to me. A foundation, the base and core of all make up, and something I rely so much upon, to get me out of the house each morning. Obviously, the boyfriend didn’t see what the issue was. 

After the rants and wrath which then occurred, and countless emails and tweets to Estée Lauder’s customer service team, I decided to turn this into a two-week trial of other foundations (and an excuse to live off free make up for a while). Circulating around the luxury cosmetic counters in Boots, I was on a mission to fill my handbag with testers, accumulated by my persuasiveness and the mutual understanding (and horror) about my make up ordeal (AKA ‘Estée Lauder-gate’). 

Skin type: very oily, occasional blemishes, but not prone to redness/wrinkles/uneven skin tone.

Looking for: a matte effect, non-oily foundation.

Make up routine (in order of application): No7 Primer, Rimmel hide the blemish concealer, Estée Lauder maximum Cover foundation, Benefit blushers, BareMinerals eye shadows, Collection 2000 eyeliner and Dior Blackout mascara. 

To the horror of any make up artist, I use a cosmetic sponge to apply foundation. Yes, it wastes a lot of foundation whenever I start a new sponge, with the first few attempts of foundation just soaking straight into the sponge, but it helps create a really matte and even finish, I don’t get my fingers sticky and covered in make up, and the idea of a) painting my face and b) having to regularly wash brush bristles that have clumped together with foundation goop makes me shudder. (I hear that baby oil is best for cleaning foundation brushes.)

The offending item:

Estée Lauder Double Wear Maximum Cover... the last tube of ivory!

Allow yourself to imagine an artistic squiggle of foundation emitting from the nozzle, as I’m not prone to wastage, and certainly not when the remnants of this foundation are like gold-dust (one sold for £56 on ebay whilst I was in the ‘denial’ phase… I hasten to add that (unfortunately) it wasn’t me…)

And with that… let the trials begin!

Clinique’s anti-blemish foundation has a very creamy and verging on ‘thick’ consistency (although still not thick to my liking). The anti-blemish factor is always a benefit, but in my opinion, nothing will ever beat the combination of hormones and oily skin, so I can’t say whether it’s helped my complexion or not - I’d probably have to try it out on a more permanent basis. It did stay on my face, with partial ‘rubbing off’ around the nose area, but was easy to apply. This turned out to be a very close ‘second place’ to my first choice, but I will definitely consider buying it in the future. 

The very generous Clinique tester

Lancome took ages to apply - it was very translucent, so I had to really layer it over blemishes and darker areas to achieve an even cover. It was very fluid and almost ‘sticky’ to sponge on, but once done and sealed in with loose powder, if gave a pretty flawless and airbrush finish. I was rather biased to this one, until I had to face the truth and admit that by the end of the day, there was absolutely no foundation on my face at all. Where the hell had it gone? I can’t even lie and say it had gone all speckled (when foundations partially rub off); it had literally vanished, revealing a very shiny (oily) and make-up-less complexion. Really bad. On a positive note, the tester pot I was given from their counter in Boots contained over 5 days worth of foundation, and the colour was an excellent match to my skin tone. 

 

                                    My selection of testers                                                           An artistic splodge of Clarins Everlasting  

Estée Lauder Double Wear is actually a better match to my skin than their ‘Double Wear Maximum Cover’, but I’ve never liked the consistency - it’s much too thin for my liking. I noticed after application and powdering-down, than it dried in streaks - mainly noticeable on my chin. It was the most fluid of them all, and I had to be speedy with the sponge before it all slid off the side, and impossible to layer up on the face. By the end of the day the usual area of make up had rubbed off - nose and spreading across my upper cheeks, perhaps more so than others, and all my blemishes were showing. Not good. 

Clarins Everlasting smells like watermelon - it’s something I’d never come across with foundation and I have no idea if this is an intentional ‘feature’, but rather nice. Their testers are ridiculously small sachets of the foundation - the sort you’d pull out from a magazine, so barely even enough to apply once. It applied extraordinary thinly, so I returned to Boots to swipe another sample, and this time used the whole packet, and I have to say I was nicely surprised!  It did apply thickly once I had plenty on the sponge (perhaps the previous time I’d tried to make the packet last at least two days…), giving me an airbrushed effect. After a while, it sort of ‘dried’ on my face, giving me the feeling of wearing a facial mask and powdered off whenever I touched it, but surprisingly by the end of the day (where I’d got caught out in the middle of a torrential downpour, attempted (and failed) to put in contact lenses in preparation for Halloween causing a lot of teary eyeballs, and got fake-eyelash glue everywhere but my eyelids), it was still firmly stuck on my face, with minimal rubbing-off - true to its name. 

Estée Lauder Double Wear Maximum Cover is the foundation I’ve used since I started troweling makeup on my face at the age of 14. It’s the foundation my mother uses and has always used, and I like it as it’s a very thick texture (so I know it’ll cover up any blemishes and stay on my face), whilst really helping with both our oily skins (don’t mock - oily complexion helps slow down the aging process). She liked it because you could layer it in different areas, whereas I just sponged it on thickly...everywhere. The issue I had with layering is that despite having the lightest shade, applying it thickly in one area actually gave it a darker appearance, which isn’t great. Despite being outraged and distraught when discovering that they had discontinued their lightest shade: 01 Creamy Ivory (with their lightest shade now being ‘03 Vanilla’, showing some indication of how appalling this is), trying the other luxury brand foundations and then re-trying the last remnants of my much-loved Estée LauderMaximum Cover foundation, I came to realise that the colour was never right to begin with, and rather on the dark side. However, I will maintain that this is a fantastic foundation, and if only I was slightly more darker skinned. 

Chanel was very disappointing, purely because they don’t stock pale coloured-testers. Their testers came in three colours, starting with ‘beige’, which looked practically orange on my hand (I wouldn’t dare attempt it on my face, like the cosmetic counter lady suggested). I’d have looked African! It was a shame, seeing as the benefits sounded so good, but no way would I (anyone?) pay £36 for a pot they can’t test at home. The cosmetics lady offered to do a make-over in store, but I explained that in doing so would require me to leave the house with no make up. Which wasn’t happening. Ever. 

Chanel... in orange colour.

So my final decision was the Clarins everlasting, purely because it was the only one that stuck to the tip of my nose like wall paper paste (and I’m secretly in love with the Clarins’ sisters). It’s £26, which is at the lower end of the ‘luxury make up’ price scale, and matched my skin tone (I have their 103 shade - which is their lightest). Their testers were a let down, by only having a small sachet of the foundation, so I only hope that buying a full pot of it won’t turn out to be a let down. I have the Clinique anti-blemish as a firm backup though.

Work Out with these Wonders

Here are two of my all time favourite gym accessories to transform ANY workout or training plan. As a keen marathon runner and gym-bunny, I recommend giving these a go when you're next at the gym and consider buying them as they are unbelievably versatile and can be used in pretty much any exercise or position. 

Foam roller

You might have gathered my slight addiction to foam rollers through my published fitness articles on various websites and magazines. Save your money on physio and get yourself a foam roller. You can thank me later when you've saved £££'s. 

What is it?

Pay caution to the name... It might say 'foam' but this will be one of the most painful things you try out (keep at it - it gets easier). Unsurprisingly, it's a roll of hard-celled foam, which can be bought in different lengths and circumferences in different textures ('normal'/flat, or the grid rollers which look tortuous). By purchasing a 'normal' foam roller, you are by no means ‘chickening out’. I own one, and hold no regrets.

What do I do with it? 

This is a great accessory to transform your warm-ups and (more importantly) your cool-downs. Some leg muscles and ligaments (such as the iliotibial band - known as the dreaded ‘IT band’ by most runners) are prone to shortening, and are difficult to effectively stretch out. Cue the foam roller. This is the equivalent of having an intense deep-tissue massage at the end of every workout, without the large bill and awkwardness when the masseuse goes that bit too far up your leg. Lying on your side, use your own body weight to sandwich the roller between the body’s soft tissue (e.g. the side of your leg) and the floor. Once a sensitive spot is hit (usually around the knee area), concentrate on this area for a bit until you feel a release of tension. 

Moves to try...

Aside from rolling away injuries, foam rollers are useful for a variety of exercises, including core-strengthening and stabilising postures and movements. This can be used before competing, or at night whilst watching TV.

To stretch out quadriceps, lie on your stomach with a roller placed under the front of your thigh. Slowly roll up and down from the bottom of your hip to the top of your knee, pulling yourself forward and back with your resting elbows. 

My Story

When I was training for the Brighton Marathon 2013, I started to experience pain in my the side of my leg and around my knee which made going on long runs really difficult. By speaking to other runners, I realised I was suffering from IT-band syndrome, an injury that often causes pain on the outside of the knee, common in runners, cyclists and hikers. 

My personal trainer showed me how to use a foam roller, and it was so good that I went and bought one for myself to use at home after every run or workout. Despite being made from foam, it can be really painful to use if you have lots of muscle tension. Once I’d started using it though, the speed in my recovery was amazing and since then I’ve never experienced pain around my knee again! I’d definitely recommend it to anyone doing a sport which puts pressure on the knees, and it’s cheaper than any sports therapist.

Medicine ball

If I was on a desert island, one of the three things I would take with me is a medicine ball. They’re like a kettlebell and a free-weight rolled into one, making toning exercises fun to do whilst providing many other benefits to keeping fit and trim. 

What is it?

A medicine ball looks like a netball, but you’ll get a nasty shock if you drop one of these on your foot! They come in different weights from 1-20kg, so you can find the perfect one for you. Suitable for all ages, fitness levels and sizes, a weighted ball can add great intensity to any workout by increasing your range of motion and making the body build muscle faster. Instead of isolating certain muscle groups, you are able to train different core muscles at once with the medicine ball. 

What do I do with it?

There are hundreds of exercises to explore, all which improve core strength, balance, flexibility, hand-eye coordination, and upper and lower body strength. Transform those boring squats and lunges by holding a medicine ball at arms length in front of you to increase the intensity of the exercise.

Moves to try...

My favourite exercise with a medicine ball is doing crunches - it really helps revolutionise such a mundane and daily exercise. Hold the ball above your head when positioned on the floor with your legs bent, and then as you lift your shoulders up into a crunch, bring the medicine ball above your head, finishing the crunch with your back upright and the ball held up in the air above your head. Be sure to keep your movements smooth and maintain good posture. Using the ball to transform crunches will help work your core muscles even more, as well as tone up your upper arms. 

Handbag Trauma

During my gap year in Paris, I treated myself to a mustard-yellow Marc by Marc Jacobs handbag. I still remember the whole experience with fondness - paying the very helpful and rather flirty sales guy my hard-earned and totally deserved money, who then chased after me with the box for the bag which he’d forgotten, and the satisfaction of leaving the shop with a bigger-sized bag that the one I’d gone in for. 

Three years later, and the bag was going grey and looked… well to be honest it was a complete embarrassment to have it hanging off my arm. So I did what any straight-thinking, money saving woman would do, and purchased a small pot of mustard-yellow shoe cream online, with the intention of ‘buffing’ it back to beautiful. I still don’t fully understand why it was such a bad idea… I was using common sense, wasn’t I?

Apparently not, and after days of returning to it to see if another 5 minutes of scrubbing cream into the leather would revive it, I gave up. Still grey, and now with a sticky coating all over, I put it into a Tesco bag and left it on top of my wardrobe for the next 7 months. The shame!

So come Christmas time I finally decided to do something about it. No, pay someone to do something about it. It didn’t take long to find a host of ‘handbag clinics’ online, and after  phonecalls and several quotations, I settled on handbagmakeover.co.uk, the cheapest and friendliest by far. 

They sounded really great, despite admitting after I explained my revival attempt: “Thank god this isn’t a video call or you’d have seen me totally cringe at the thought!”

So I shipped off my sorry-looking mouldy-mustard coloured bag and hoped for the best (and also hoped that it wasn’t a scam where people willingly send off their designer bags to an unknown address). Within a week, I received an email displaying photos of a brand new-looking bag. Shiny clean, back to it’s bright mustard yellow, and polished to the nines. My DIY attempt cost me an additional £10-20 for a ‘de-grease’, but the bag surgery was worth it. 

These websites have before-and-after galleries to show off their handiwork which is always fun to browse through - although HOW someone could put oily items or loose bottles of make up into a Mulberry Bayswater is quite beyond me. One lady had lost her Chanel bag to a house fire, resulting in one surviving panel. It did make me question, however, if it was still technically a Chanel bag if the four new panels had been made by someone other than Karl Lagerfeld, but then again I’d be pretty distraught if I’d lost a £2000+ bag to flames.

I paid £104 to have my bag revamped and revived - and some websites offer a total re-colour of your choice on your bag. It’s definitely cheaper than a new one, but do look after your bag in the first place, and definitely do not attempt a DIY involving shoe cream of any sorts!

Three of the Best... Primers!

1. Lancome LA Base Pro oil free primer gel, £28

The moment the sales lady pumped a bit of the primer gel onto my hand, I knew I had to buy it. It's a really light, clear gel that is perfect for oily skin, and doesn't clog pores. After application, it leaves a really soft-skin feeling, and a great base to add make up to. One pot will last you a year - a small pump goes a long way!

2. Benefit PoreFessional, £24.50

This balm is amazing, aiming to minimise the appearance of pores. It's a thick but with a lightweight consistency that is surprisingly silky, and is a natural/translucent colour that will blend in with any skin tone. I add a bit first thing in the morning to reduce shine on my nose, but it's perfect to reel back in that pre-evening 'shine' by applying it on top of your make up. (I even know a few men who swear by this, to reduce shine and pores.)

 

3. BareMinerals Prime Time (Oil Control), £21

I finally treated myself to a pot of this because EVERYONE seems to have it. (Therefore you'll know how good it is already.) The oil control is a more whitey-translucent colour to the regular Prime Time, which is much more clear. The oil control has a bit of an odd (but faint) smell to it, but is really light and silky, and creates a flawless blemish-free base. When applying it to my skin, it felt rather like a glue, and I could feel it 'tightening' over my face. It was then really easy to apply the make up, as it feels like it glues the foundation onto my skin - there's definitely no budging it! 

All these primers are amazing, and I like to alternate them on a regular basis. If I had to take one to a desert island, however, it'd probably be the Benefit PoreFessional as it's great for touching up shiny areas throughout the day, and can be used as a primer. For holding make up down for a long amount of time, it's got to be the BareMinerals Prime Time oil control - great for those who exercise with a full face of make up (ashamed to admit I'm one of them). I use the Lancome LA Base Pro on a daily basis though as it's unbelievably light weight and provides a really nice texture on my skin to add make up.