A Cut for Charity

For the past three and a half years I have been growing my hair.  Okay, I understand that may seem like a strange thing to say as with each day that passes we are mostly all growing our hair.  But I had a goal in mind.  I was wanting to grow my hair long enough to allow me to eventually have it cut and then donate some to the Little Princess Trust Charity.  The charity provide wigs to children who have lost their hair through illness or cancer treatment.  Now if that is not a worthy cause then I don't really know what is. 

To try and even begin to imagine what these children and their families must be going through is just unimaginable, so to be able to give such a simple thing that to be honest is something that I just take for granted, really is quite heart warming and satisfying.  

Sorry about the blurry photo, this is the best photo I have of before the cut.

Yesterday the day arrived, it was time to put my words into action and go for the chop.  I've always had long hair so I knew I needed to grow it pretty long in order to keep some length to it.  I was able to keep the length to my shoulders and donate 11 inches which is more than I had initially intended and I am so pleased about that.  They ask for a minimum of 7 inches.  

Lets face it, my hair will grow back, and I am very lucky to have the hair that I have still remaining.  For many they are not so fortunate, so this really is nothing in the grand scheme of things.  The other thing to add is that I am doing this by choice.  I know that there are others out there who are loosing their hair though no choice of their own and it may seem like a very immaterial thing, but for them it isn't and I know for me it wouldn't be either.  So if by doing this I am able to help one person then that is enough for me.  However, if by sharing my experience of cutting and donating my hair encourages others to do the same, well then that is just a pretty amazing thing.  But please read the details on their website first as there are some details to be aware of before going and getting your hair cut.

If anyone does decide to donate their hair or have already done so in the past then I'd love to hear from you.  I find it so incredible to hear other peoples stories and if it can help to inspire others then it is all worth it.   

~ Gem x

Since writing this post I have signed up to take part in the Run Disney 10K race later this year in Disneyland Paris.  I have set up a fundraising page for which The Little Princess Trust is one of my chosen charities.  If you would like to make a donation to my sponsorship page I would be eternally grateful, every donation no matter how small helps.  The link to my page is here: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?userUrl=GemWilson&pageUrl=1

Christmas with LUSH

I blogged last month about the blogger event I attended at LUSH Romford.  Back then it seemed just a little to early (even for me)  to talk about their Christmas range.  Now we are mid way through November and I can't refrain from talking about Christmas any longer as you at have noticed from my article published on Wednesday.

The range this Christmas is pretty special with some favourites from last year returning and a few new products being introduced.  Take a look a just a small selection of what's in store.

 Peeping Santa bubble bar.

 Luxury Christmas Pub bath bomb.

 Father Christmas bath bomb.

*New* Santasaurus reusable bubble bar (my favourite newbie this year)

 *New* Ruby Red Slippers bubble bar.

 Butterbear gift set (perfect for the little ones this Christmas)

*New* Jester reusable bubble bar

I am loving the Christmas range this year and have stocked up with a pretty big collection, and there is still plenty more that I could happily buy. 

So if you're stuck for gift ideas this Christmas, pop into your local Lush store, I'm sure you will find something for just about anyone in there.

~ Gem x

Lush Halloween Collection

Have I mentioned before how much I love this time of year?  Seriously, I do think it is quite possibly my favourite.  I don't need an excuse to play around with mini displays around my home, but autumn and winter gives all the more reason to do it.  The good thing with this time of year is that it can extend to the bathroom with thanks to Lush and their ever amazing Halloween and Christmas ranges.

I was invited to Lush in Romford last week after hours, to check out the new products in store for the upcoming celebrations. I must say, I liked what I saw.  I'll be saving the Christmas range for another day, as I wanted to share with you my favourites for the current season.

I fell in love with the Boo bath melts.  Such a cute design, wouldn't you agree?

I was also really pleased to see the return of Sparkly Pumpkin, this was one of my favourites last year.  Of course I had to bring one back home with me.

A new addition this year is the Autumn Leaf.  Such a beautiful design filled with pretty autumnal colours that fizz and froth away in your bath creating a colourful show

And lastly for today is the Monsters Ball.  Such a sweet design and beautiful, bright colours.

Such a great range, well worth taking a look and stocking up.  No one said that Halloween was just for the kids you know. 

~ Gem x 

Down Hall Spa and Afternoon Tea

During my blogging break I was treated to the most lovely day out by my wonderful mum, with my sister in law to be, for our birthday's.  We were to be spending the day at Down Hall in their stunning spa complete with a massage, followed by afternoon tea in the hotel.

Driving up the main driveway the hotel soon came into view.  It is such a stunning and beautiful building, very grand indeed.  I couldn't wait to catch a glimpse inside.

Arriving at the spa we were greeted by the friendly staff, who gave us a quick tour of the facilities and showed us to our lockers.  The spa itself was fairly small but perfectly adequate for our needs, with a steam room and sauna, relaxation room, hydrotherapy pool and a small outdoor terrace area with comfy sun loungers.

We helped ourselves to the drinks on hand and spent a good couple of hours chilling out, chatting away and generally letting go of all our worries.  The massage was amazing, I could quite easily have fallen asleep afterwards and the rest of the time in the spa was spent in the relaxation room making the most of being able to get away with doing as little as possible.  

Once we'd finished in the spa we headed over to the main hotel for our afternoon tea.  Again the staff were lovely, however there could have been more of them, as due to a lack of staff the service was very slow.  The afternoon tea itself though was great and I loved the Wimbledon theme that they had taken on, it worked really well. 

I'll definitely be returning back to Down Hall to use the spa facilities, it really is a great place to loose yourself for a couple of hours.  With it only being a short drive from home, I'm slightly annoyed with myself that I've not taken advantage of it before now, so there is lots of catching up to be done.

~ Gem x

Lee Stafford Academy ~ Blogger's Event

Last night I spent my evening along with some fellow bloggers at the Lee Stafford Academy in Chelmsford, part of Chelmsford College.

The academy can be found in Rainsford Road, Chelmsford, next to the County Hotel and close to Chelmsford bus and train stations.

Here students are trained the Lee Stafford way in hairdressing and beauty therapy.  The academy opened in June 2012, offering a range of level 1 to level 3 qualifications.  

Students have access to a purpose built facility offering top of the range products in a spacious and modern salon, giving them the opportunity to learn and work in a very realistic working environment.

The evening kicked off with a very inspiring talk by Lee himself.  He talked about how he started out from his parents dining room, and his journey through hairdressing and education, right through to where he is now.  It was great to hear how passionate he is about the educational side of hairdressing, it's something he clearly takes very seriously and it came across strongly during his talk.  It also made me feel that anything is possible if you work hard enough towards it and just believe in yourself.  

Feeling inspired we all headed off for our treatments.  To begin with I had a facial which was lovely.  My skin feels truly amazing.  From there I made my way down to the hair salon.  Such a funky space.  My hair was styled into loose wavy curls that I have seriously fallen in love with.  Why can my hair not look like this every day, and why can I never make it look this good?! 

All in all a fantastic blogger event.  The girls all worked incredibly hard to pull the evening off, I've no doubt they will all go on to be extremely successful within the industry.  Thank you to everyone involved in arranging the event, it was a great evening.  The goody bag at the end of the evening was pretty good too. I shall look forward to using these products soon.

~ Gem x

Clarice House Spa ~ Ipswich

Back at the beginning of January my best friend turned 30.  She is forever and always fussing around after everyone else and never giving herself the time of day.  I wanted to make sure her gift was something special, but also something for her to take some time out and relax.  A Spa day for the two of us seemed like the perfect gift.  A chance for us to spend some quality time together, but also a chance for her to be utterly spoilt, she deserves it.  

I greeted her with a cinnamon bun complete with a wonky birthday candle, substance for our drive there, and lets face it, who wouldn't love a birthday cinnamon bun?!

Having visited the Clarice House Spa in Colchester I was really excited to arrive and be able to compare the two.  From the outside the spa looked beautiful, an old manor house converted to a spa.  However on entering it didn't feel as though it lived up to the Colchester spa.  I didn't get that same luxurious feeling, it felt more as though I'd entered a leisure centre as opposed to a spa which was a shame.

I didn't take all that many photos, it's not the most appropriate place to be snapping away, that and it was nice to step away from technology for a while and just chill out and relax.  

Don't get me wrong, we both had a lovely day and both felt very relaxed afterwards.  I'm not sure I would return though if I were being completely honest about it.  I would much prefer to re-visit Colchester (which is actually closer to home anyway).

Staff were friendly but not overly attentive.  Our package included afternoon tea which was lovely, but in an almost empty dining room we had to ask for our tea pot to be topped up, the tables were ridiculously sticky (to the extent that we had to prise our plates off the table) and the counter beside our table was covered in thick dust.  Not what you would expect in an establishment of this kind.

I also felt as though I hadn't been listened to, which frustrated me.  We were booked in for a manicure and during a courtesy call the previous day I was advised that they didn't offer a service for acrylics (which I currently have on), but was told they could offer me a hand and arm massage instead.  This suited me fine.  On arrival they had no notification of this, but again I was told it was not a problem.  When it came to our treatment the therapist had not been told about the change of treatment.  So for a third time I had to explain myself, which although only a small issue, could all have been avoided if only the staff had of communicated with one another.

It didn't particularly affect our day, but I doubt I'll be returning, after all attention to detail and minor things such as communication I feel are of up-most importance when running any kind of business.

~ Gem x