Birthdays

A and I are lucky enough to have birthdays but one day apart so this is a big week for us. I had very few wishes for my birthday this year and I got all of them: a lovely party with my friends, an Iitala wibbly glass vase and flowers to put in it and a couple of hilarious-sounding books:

This has turned out to be a gem. Written in 1936, Marjorie Hills takes a stern look at the lives of women of all ages who find themselves living alone (it seems to have been relatively easy to find a studio flat in 1930s New York, lucky ladies). She has no truck with feeling sorry for yourself and sets a lot of store by bedjackets. As I type, a maid is bringing me my nightcap while I recline in a quilted bedjacket. Where can I get one or, indeed, an affordable maid?

I did follow Marjorie’s instructions to some extent this weekend by being taken off for a pedicure at the London Bliss Spa on Sloane Avenue. I went with a new colour, “Not Just a Pretty Face” and sadly it makes me look a  bit dead, but it’s satisfying that at least one bit of me is being well taken-care-of. Tomorrow I am off for the best meal of the day, brunch, which calls for taking care of the whole package in case I sit next to a celebrity, which happened once at my local place (it was a Strictly dancer, so I didn’t throw myself across the table at him or anything. Fingers crossed for Keira Knightley or Adele or something next time).

My two imperceptibly different nail colours. I think the second one is my usual colour, BBF Best Boy Friend. Next time I go I will be ringing the changes and getting Movers and Shakers. You will be able to pick this one out of the lineup below I imagine.

Happy birthday us.

S

 

Toes Tuesday – Foot Fetish?

DISCLAIMER:  if you’re squeamish about feet you should look away now!

I don’t consider myself to be high maintenance; I like to try new products but I don’t consider myself a slave to beauty and I often make it to the shops without make-up on. So I even surprised myself when I went for my first pedicure last week.

I have never been very partial to feet, mine or anyone else’s, and I’d managed to make it to the ripe old age of 27 without ever having experienced this indulgence. I usually file and moisturise my feet on a regular basis, especially in the sandal wearing summer months but this year, I realised that I was going to have to call upon a professional to battle my cracked heels

 My first stop was my local chiropodist which proved to be a big mistake. For £25 I had all the hard skin removed with no filing, no product of any description and I even had the pleasure of holding my own leg up for 15 minutes at a 90 degree angle. Enraged, I called a friend and she suggested I head for a pedicure. And what good advice it was.

I went to Fingers & Toes on the New Kings Road and spent ‘a fairly high but

Paint it black

well worth the bother’ £34. For this, they removed all hard skin, filed, soaked, moisturised, and I also got a shape, cuticle cut and paint. They had the full A-Z rainbow of colours of Essie varnish (ironically I chose black) and the whole experience was extremely satisfying. I’m a fan of Nails Inc, OPI and now, Essie nail varnish. I’m highly impressed that there is not a chip in sight, a week after the pedicure.

The Results

I am now most definitely a convert and hope that I can factor the price into my beauty regime on a 6 weekly basis. After all,  I rely  on my feet for an endless number of activities and if I am not going to look after them, who will?

V