Raise an eyebrow

I vividly remember the first time I attempted to sculpt my eyebrows. I was about thirteen, and I'd swiped my mum's tweezers out of her make up bag. After numbing my brows with ice cubes (a tip from whichever rubbish teen magazine I was addicted to at the time) I started plucking. Five minutes later and with tears streaming down my cheeks I gave up, having made no progress in my journey for perfect brows. But instead of doing the sensible thing and leaving it until a time when my face could withstand more pain, I decided to cheat. Grabbing a disposable razor from the bathroom cupboard, I once again braced myself in front of the mirror. With the aim of artfully shaping my brows, I took the first swipe...taking off half of my eyebrow in the process. 

Even with precise fringe sweeping my shameful secret was soon revealed at school, much to the amusement of my friends. I vowed never to touch my brows again, a promise that I didn't quite stick to but I haven't brought a razor within an inch of my face since. 

Until recently, thick brows were strictly reserved for scouse women and Susan Boyle. But then a certain aristocratic supermodel popped into social consciousness. Sporting a thick, full brow, Cara Delevingne has made bushy brows the new style de jour. So much so that fashion-conscious women are going under the surgeon's scalpel to mimic her trendy look, which has also been spotted on actress Keira Knightley.

Taking a strip of hair from the back of the head, surgeons transplant individual hair follicles into the eyebrows using a fine needle. The procedure takes place under local anaesthetic and costs around £3,000, PER EYEBROW!!!

I think I'll be sticking with the pencil for now thanks...

The Only Way Is Tan

The elusive perfect tan. Something that females (and a fair number of 'metrosexual' males) are forever striving to achieve. Since the dangers of the Sun were revealed to be more serious that a painful burn and peeling skin, salons and companies across the globe have ploughed millions of pounds into developing the treatment or product that will have us mindless consumers delving deep into our pockets to purchase. Whether it's a sun bed, spray tan, or magical lotions and potions, there is no excuse to be a pasty face these days. 

I say 'us', but I am a very recent convert to the way of the tan. I've dabbled in the past, being from Essex it's pretty much a right of passage. But the combination of being incredibly lazy and dangerously clumsy means that it has always been a mahogany massacre, resulting in more tan ending up on various floors and furnishings that on my ghostly body. 

So I gave up on the quest for a healthy glow, and stuck with the 'English Rose' look - aka I'm so pale I reflect the sun's rays so deal with it. But then came the moment me and the bottled bronzer reunited, for my friend's 'The Only Way is Natasha Barker' themed birthday bash. Seeing as it was for a laugh, and beauty products are an extravagance on my student scrimpings, I opted for Primark's very own 'Faking It' self tanner. Considering it was about£1.50, and although I'm no expert, it did a pretty good job. That is - I was a rich shade of chestnut with minimal tell-tale streakage. 

And I'm not gonna lie, it did turn into a bit of an addiction, for a brief time. Because the satisfaction of having a tan for ONCE in my life, coupled with an incessant amount of Jersey Shore viewing (where the motto is 'Gym, Tan, Laundry) made me crave that amber ambience. But when the bargain burnisher ran out, I didn't bother restocking. It was fun while it lasted, but I wasn't a tanner. I'm a low maintenance kinda gal - most days I don't even brush my hair (it's called the natural look OK guys!).

However, one flick through a magazine, one glimpse at a TV screen and all I see are caramel complexions. Natural is out, and with special thanks to TOWIE and Jersey shore culture, as well as false eyelashes and hair extensions, TAN is the only way to be. Most of the stars have even cashed in on this craving for faking, with Lauren Goodger launching her own tanning product, and Lauren Pope's hair extensions selling out by the head load. 

So must I abolish my natural skin in favour of the Dorito-bath look? (Think cheesy nacho flavour shade) Where would I even begin? A gradual tanner, instant tanner, airbrush tanner, tanning mousse, spray tan, tanning bed...my minds in a golden blur! I can't trust the good ol' British summer to help me, not at the rate it's going at the moment. They'll be floods before I've even got a single freckle! But I fear that the only other option, remaining au naturel, will leave me looking like the least desirable member of Girls Aloud...

I mean, there's embracing your natural beauty and then there's looking like you're allergic to sunlight and have spent the last ten years ensconced in a black cloak in a darkened room underground. C'mon Nic, put a bit of effort in girl!

Next Friday is Pay Day, and this month I'm going pamper-crazy. Seeing as I've been going mental on the overtime and there's no one in Southampton to party away my dollar with, I'm gonna blow this month's wages on a much-needed hair cut and colour, a pedicure and restocking my dwindling make up stock. Will a spray tan be on that list? At the moment it's a strong no, but if this weather improves and the shorts come back out pas tights...well, another trip to Primark may be in order!

Never Neverland

When did it become acceptable for society to abolish childhood? 

Looking at recent news stories, it seems that the whole notion of youth and innocence has evaporated completely, leaving behind a disturbing world in which young children, particularly girls, are left vulnerable to the pressures that face grown women everyday. 

The idea of 'baby beauty pageants' filtered through to the UK a few years ago, but thankfully hasn't taken off in the extreme way that it exists in the US. While it seemed bad enough to parade little girls around in swimsuits, fake tan, false eyelashes and caked in make up, all with the intention of winning a cheap plastic crown, what has happened more recently seems much worse.

'Trendy Monkeys' is a beauty salon based in Brentwood, Essex. Not unusual, after witnessing the antics in TOWIE, you wouldn't be mistaken for expecting to see one on every corner with the amount of fake tan consumed by the cast. However this business caters to one specific clientèle, little girls. 

Kids as young as three can be pampered just like the celebrities they aspire to be, getting a variety of treatments including fake tanning and manicures. We all know that the days where a board game or a doll can keep a child happy are long gone, replaced by television and computer games. But this idea of beauty treatments, designed for adults, as recreation for youngsters just doesn't seem right. 

Most little girls have an awareness of their appearance, and today especially care quite a lot about it. But I thought that the furthest that went was a cute headband, or maybe some sparkly nail polish. Not falsies and a St. Tropez. 

I remember reading an article in The Guardian where a 6 year old girl had written in her diary that she thought she was fat and ugly. Children that age shouldn't be thinking these things, this is the time when you don't have to worry about what you eat, or how you look. Magazines and television bombard us (all of us, children included) with images of 'perfect' celebrities, of women who are celebrated for their thin figures and slaughtered if they have an inch of cellulite. While these glossy images may make us feel rubbish on a bad day, a child can't understand that this isn't reality, as far as they're aware this is how they should be. And if they're not, well now they can visit the salon, to be fake as their idols. 

After this revelation, another far shocking story has emerged, about 'Little Spinners' dance classes. Parents can pay £5 an hour to have their toddlers learn how to pole dance. This sleazy and degrading act that, personally, should never have become an acceptable form of 'exercise', is being offered to children as a fun after-school activity. Little girls are imitating the sexualised moves without having any idea of the connotations behind them, and it's completely sick. 

Although you can't wrap children up in cotton wool and protect them forever, they shouldn't be pushed into this adult world so quickly and with such little consideration for the repercussions. With such concern over paedophilia and the child sex trade, it seems like a huge contradiction to be encouraging young girls to learn provocative dance moves, and dress them up to look older than their years.

I dread to think what will be available for children if I decide to have any in the future, make-up designed for baby's? High heels for toddlers? A few years ago high street stores were reprimanded for having padded bras for girls as young as three, but in a few years time will Ann Summers be stocking lingerie sets for school girls?

Whatever happened to NeverLand...

Skinny Genes

The lure of Two for Tuesdays was too much to resist. At 2am, the laptop came out and the Dominos was ordered. For the third day in a row. Big sigh. 

The one commiseration, I didn't finish it all. I left 2 of my 8 slices, and instead of eating them today I have kindly donated them.

That was the last time though. A new, healthier way of life begins today.

(The 30 cans of coke that were just purchased from Asda do not count. At just £8, it was economic sense right?)

In my bid to get skinny again I decided to sample some of the slimming shakes that are on offer. As I'm actually living the poor student stereotype at the moment and am desperately awaiting the next pay day, I went straight for the Asda version. 

Advertised as a meal replacement, it apparently contains all the 'essential vitamins and minerals' of a meal. And chocolate flavour, what's not to love!

While I certainly wouldn't be slurping it out of choice (it kinda tastes like really bad American chocolate) it's bearable, and may be an option in these desperate times. 

Tomorrow I shall be venturing into the dark world of SlimFast, to see if their offerings are any more tasty.

While I was there I also picked up some necessities. You can't beat a supermarket bargain!

Timotei Intense Repair Shampoo & Conditioner - £1 each

Original Source Golden Pineapple shower gel - £1

Clear skin deep cleansing facial wash - £1.60

Oh my god this shower gel smells so yummy. I love Original Source products, I definitely can't find better scented products on the market.

Now it's Apprentice time, then I'll be watching some of the DVD'S that were also purchased on the Asda run, Atonement and Tangled. Standard night in.

But this time I'll be snacking on fruit, and not Dominoes. 

Fingers crossed...