Category Archives: Reviews

Beauty Tips for the Mother of the Bride

Wedding days are of course about the bride and groom but there are other family members on show too. After the bride, all eyes will be on the mother of the bride, so you’ll want to make sure you look almost as good as the bride if your daughter is getting married this summer. Here are some top tips if you’ll be doing your own make-up for the big day:

Primed to go

Using a primer is one of the top tips for smoothing out skin tones and helping make up to last longer during the day. You use a primer underneath foundation to smooth and firm up the skin. If you’ve been suffering from hot flushes, don’t apply any moisturiser on the big day, just apply some primer instead. Of course, if you want to splash out for such a special occasion, you might consider having a botox treatment to smooth out those lines and look amazing. For Botox Gloucester, visit http://doctorkate.co.uk/

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Planning a wedding can be stressful and if your skin isn’t quite as glowing and flawless as you’d like it to be, consider a lightweight foundation or face tint but avoid heavy foundation. Too heavy and you’ll simply accent any lines even more. Face tints are ideal for minimizing the look of fine lines. Apply a light concealer under your eyes, not too heavy or the delicate under skin will look older. For dark circles, concealers in a peach shade can help and still look natural.

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The Eyes have it

Eyes that look more youthful can be achieved by doing away with any beige or brown eyeshadow and using charcoal, navy, plum, deep green or lilacs. If these feel too bright or bold for you, combine a touch of charcoal with taupe or ivory. Don’t think you’re too old for shimmers either as these are a great way of livening up eyes.

To give your eyes a bit more definition in photographs, choose a black or bluey-black waterproof mascara and not brown. A few false lashes along the base of your lash line will make your lashes appear much fuller and still natural. Don’t forget to softly define your eyebrows too.

Be Cheeky

Dusty rose shades are more flattering for your cheeks, but the decision comes over what texture to use. Creams will give a dewy appearance while powders will provide a satin finish. Either choice will give you are brighter, more youthful appearance for your complexion. Remember that blusher shades in pastel can look too chalky and browns will make your face look more drawn.

Pucker Up

To stop lipstick from feathering into those fine lines around our lips, try a lip base before adding any colour. Use a lip liner to define your lips in a lip coloured pencil, not the lipstick colour. The good thing about doing this is that should your lipstick fade during the day, you won’t be left with an obvious outline. Avoid going too dark with your colour for fear of looking too hard but too beigey and you’ll appear to have no mouth in photos.

How Bringing Your Own Device Is Changing the Way All Work

More and more businesses are allowing their employees to use their own devices for work purposes. This has many advantages for business and for workers, but it also raises problems and highlights the need for testing items for safety.

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The BYOD Boom

The idea of adopting a bring your own device (BYOD) strategy has really taken off in recent years. Research earlier this year shows that 74 percent of organisations either have adopted or are planning to adopt a BYOD strategy.

It’s easy to understand the attractions, employees get to use a device they’re already familiar with, and businesses save on the cost of providing hardware – even if they choose to subsidise staff to buy their own kit. It also means that those visitors to your company will be able to utilise their devices while they sit on the Reception Chairs that you sourced from companies like https://www.bestbuy-officechairs.co.uk/reception-chairs/ whilst they wait for their meeting to begin.

It’s also indicative of the general shift towards mobile devices and this means that software companies have to produce new mobile apps to allow their systems to be accessed from a wider range of devices. This means much more work in testing systems to ensure that they work on a wide range of devices.

Risk vs Reward

Of course while there are tangible benefits from adopting BYOD there are also risks involved. Businesses need to be aware of these and take appropriate steps to ensure that their valuable corporate data is secure.

The rise of BYOD gives malware writers extra opportunities to access sensitive data, using the employee’s device as the weakest link. Therefore, it’s important for any company allowing staff to use their own devices to have an appropriate security policy and supply security software if required.

There are increasing numbers of mobile device management (MDM) solutions on offer. These solutions streamline the whole process of allowing access on mobile devices. By using a secure app store it’s possible to control which packages employees are allowed to install. MDM solutions can also ensure that work and private data are compartmentalised, and allow sensitive information to be remotely wiped should a device be lost or stolen.

Like any new technology or practice, BYOD has the potential to streamline business operations and make for happier employees with a better work/life balance. However, there are also risks, so it’s important that IT and business managers are aware of these and take appropriate steps to manage them.

Reviving your Home Room by Room on a Budget

If you are a bit bored during lockdown and tired of staring at the same old stuff, why not give your home a bit of a refreshing makeover. The best thing is you don’t have to spend a fortune to make your home feel refreshed and revived – there are loads of great ideas that you can use to breathe a new lease of life into your home and make spending time there much more enjoyable!

Kitchen – Many people think that you need to put in a brand-new kitchen to revive a tired old kitchen, but this is not the case at all. You can give your kitchen a much more up to date look by simply changing the fronts of your cupboards. Changing the colour of the units by painting them, as well as the handles can give your kitchen a completely new and fresh look.

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Living Room – Making a living room look like a different room is easy – it is all about the accessories. Look at specialist companies such as Laskeys Tewkesbury blinds company to get some new curtains or blinds on your windows, and change your cushion covers and ornaments to give you a completely refreshed living room to spend time in.

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Bedroom – A bedroom should be a place to relax and escape the stress of the day and get a good night’s sleep. Get some comfy and cosy bedding as well as super soft cushions and throws to make your bed as inviting as possible and add some indoor plants too to create an even more relaxing atmosphere to your room.

What does a florist actually do?

It goes without saying that one of the most important things for a florist is that they actually like flowers. There is no point in having a job surrounded by all things flowers and foliage if you aren’t that interested in flowers and aren’t partial of a flower arrangement or two. This is why Gloucestershire Florist https://flowershedtewkesbury.co.uk/ enjoy their jobs.

Florists don’t only sell flowers, they are also highly creative individuals who will make floral arrangements for a variety of functions and gifts, such as valentine’s day and Mother’s Day bouquets as well as funeral wreaths and wedding flowers and corsages. Some florists also provide arrangements for local hotels and businesses so that guests and customers can enjoy the delights of a nice floral centre piece all year round.

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The arrangements that are made can be as small as a bowl of flowers to fit on the centre of table to a larger living wall display or floor standing podium filled with flowers and foliage. It is important that florists have some knowledge of how to care for the plants that are in their stores and how they will look next to other items in the arrangements. With weddings in particular couples will be looking for some guidance on which flowers will look best in a bridal party bouquet along with those that will complete their chosen colour scheme for floral arrangements during the ceremony and for the wedding breakfast and evening gathering.

You may also find that some florists will create arrangement for local floristry competitions with some also competing in national events. This is where they can really stretch their creativity and not only display their plant knowledge but also their design skills. Taking part in these types of competitions can help to elevate a florists business and will then hopefully bring in more business.

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Plant care is another element of a florists day to day tasks. This is much more than just making sure that the flowers are placed in fresh water regularly. The varieties of flowers being cared for will include everything from native flowers and foliage to more exotic species that may require more care. Using flowers for arrangements needs careful timing as you don’t want the flowers to have started to wilt by the time the arrangement is presented and equally you don’t want buds that have yet to flower. This is where the knowledge and skills of the florist come into their own.

 

Interesting facts about our tongues

Our tongues are incredible muscles that help us eat and talk and they are what allow us to taste our foods and distinguish between one flavour and another. The way the flavours are introduced, either from raw ingredients or Flavouring Manufacturers such as Stringer Flavour doesn’t have an impact on the way our bodies process the information from our tongues.

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Here are some interesting facts about our tongues.

From the epiglottis (a cartilage flap in the mouth at the back of the tongue) to the tip, the length of the tongue is measured. The average tongue length of an adult man is 3.3 inches (8.5 cm), and the average tongue length of an adult woman is 3.1 inches (7.9 cm).

There are no distinct areas for the human tongue to distinguish sweet, bitter, acidic, salty and savoury tastes. The so-called “tongue map” is based on dodgy research published in 1901 by a German scientist named DP Hanig.Taste buds actually have 50 to 100 receptors for each taste.

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There are 2,000 to 4,000 taste buds in total for the average adult. Every week, the sensory cells in the taste buds responsible for the way we experience taste refresh themselves. Some individuals have more tastebuds than the rest of us. They are known as Super-tasters. That doesn’t mean that they’re connoisseurs o rhave the refined palettes of top chefs, but that means that they’re very susceptible to bitter tastes.

How a Vegan Diet can Benefit your Health

Being a vegan is easier than ever before – you can now easily fit a vegan diet in with your lifestyle, you can even follow a vegan bodybuilding meal plan like this https://www.vivolife.co.uk/blogs/news/a-big-maca-mistake-gelatinsed-vs-raw-maca-powder  if that’s your sort of thing!

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One of the main reasons that a vegan diet has become so popular, is the health benefits that many people can have when they switch over to a vegan diet. Of course, when you are cutting some foods out of your diet it is important that you ensure you are getting all the right vitamins still, so may need to take supplements – but here are some of the amazing health benefits you can enjoy from following a vegan diet…

A vegan diet can reduce our risk of many types of illness, including type 2 diabetes, hypertension and some types of cancer. A vegan diet that is rich in antioxidants means that it is generally a much healthier way to eat, and it is a great way to keep our bodies in the best condition.

As well as keeping our bodies healthy, it also can help with our moods. Because it is much healthier it means that we benefit from less hormone fluctuations and a more stable blood sugar level meaning that we don’t get tired as easily.

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If you are trying to lose weight, a vegan diet is a great way to help with this. Unlike fad crash diets, it is a sustainable way to achieve a healthy weight.

Things to Look Forward to this Christmas

It’s getting chillier and coming up to Christmas quickly. Although this year will be a little bit unusual, due to the Covid regulations and restrictions being in place, there are lots of things that we can do to make this Christmas as normal as possible.

Christmas shopping – Giving gifts at Christmas is one of the best things about the festive season. Seeing the joy on someone’s face when they open it is a real joy – whether you are buying mens Farah Oxford shirts from EJ Menswear for the stylish man in your life, the latest toy of the season for the kids or gardening gifts for dad.

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Decorating the Home – Making your home feel Christmassy is so exciting, and this year, we all need as much festive joy as possible! Decorate your tree and put lights up around the windows and outside your home, to spread a bit of festive cheer to all the people who walk past your house.

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A Winter Walk – This is one of the best things you can do to boost your mood, and it is great for both your physical health and your mental health. There are loads of lovely walking places to visit in the UK during the winter months. The forests are silent in the snowy landscape, and the fields shine white in the winter frost.

Clear Out Your Wardrobe and Make your Life Easier

Clearing out your wardrobe effectively can change your life for the better, but it is going to be a big job! If, like many people you are the sort of person who has a wardrobe crammed full of items that you never wear then you probably are starting to feel that a wardrobe clear-out would be a good idea and make your life a lot easier!

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First things first – you need to decide on a date when you will do it and stick to it! Mark it on a calendar and decide that will be the day. Put on a favourite playlist and get started!

 

First of all, you will need to empty out everything. Assess it with a critical eye – you may love it, but have you had it for two years and not worn it? Get rid of it! Does it look great but never seems to go with anything? Get rid of it! You need to be a bit ruthless in this stage to work out what it is that you should keep.

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Once this is done you may find that you may want to add more things to your capsule wardrobe – things like mens designer jackets from https://www.ejmenswear.com/ are the things that you may want to add for the new season to update your look and add an item of clothing that goes with every outfit you own.

 

 

 

 

A quick history of Eton College.

There are many prestigious schools in England but one of the most well known is that of Eton College. Eton is  the place where the children of the wealthy go to be educated. It has a long and rich history that deserves a mention. It’s origins might well surprise you. If you are in the area it is worth a visit but make sure that you visit a Restaurant Eton way such as https://thechristopher.co.uk/bar-and-dining-eton/ to enjoy a lovely evening meal after a day of sightseeing.

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Etons origins are royal. It was the decree of Henry the Sixth that charity schools would be created that would aid the poor and allow their sons to get an education. These seventy boys would then go on to Kings College in Cambridge. These lucky boys would get one of the best educations that the middle ages could offer. In his set up of the school Henry the Seventh created a series of endowments and tracks of land that would ensure the college’s financial security. To continue this income trustees were also appointed so that any land that came under the crown’s control was gifted to the college and its use.

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This continued until Henry was deposed by Edward the Fourth. He began to dismantle the system and the school faced downgrading and loss of staff if the situation continued. However a swift intervention by the King’s mistress saved the bulk of the schools income. Although greatly reduced the school continued to flourish by taking paying students. It’s six hundred year history was assured.

Where to Enjoy Walking in Scotland

For getting away from it all and being with nature, the Scottish Highlands is one of the best places to go. Camp out and sleep under the stars, or find a remote holiday cottage to rent, and you will truly be able to make the most from rural Scotland.

You won’t need to pack much, just some good footwear for walking as  well as waterproofs and walking maps from https://www.themapshop.co.uk/Explorer_Walking_Maps.htm to ensure that you don’t get lost!

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You will be spoilt for choice for stunning and scenic places to visit in the Scottish Highlands, but here are some of the best laces where you can really enjoy all the beauty that nature has to offer…

Muckle Flugga – One of the Shetland Islands, Muckle Flugga is small, but beautiful – see the seabirds such as Gannets and Skuas on the cliffs, and head up to the lighthouse to take in some truly spectacular views.

Hermaness - Muckle Flugga Lighthouse. - Picture of Hermaness ...

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Loch Ness – Famous for the monster supposedly lurking beneath the loch, for walkers and camper’s loch Ness is a real treat. Take in the views over the loch, and visit the medieval Urquhart Castle, stood proudly overlooking the loch.

Beinn a’Chrulaiste – This imposing mountain near Fort William is said to be the best view in all of Scotland by many people. Make sure you have your climbing shoes as it is steep, but the reward is a view that will stay with you for life – looking across to Glen Coe.