RMUK Leeds Official Launch

When it comes to beauty and hair salons, I admit I can be really choosy. The salons I go to have to be trendy, relaxing and have a certain ambience about them. There's nothing I loathe more than a dull salon that looks stuck in the 80s and where the hairdressers seem more interested in themselves than the clients. I've been around the block a few times when it comes to hairdressers and beauty salons and I'm not afraid to try new places. After all the average cut and colour these days can set you back anywhere up to £150, if we're paying those type of prices, we definitely deserve the best.

Recently I was invited down to RMUK in Leeds for processco, canapés and to review a few of their treatments on the official launch night. The newly opened hair salon and day spa is situated on George Street in a beautiful traditional Georgian Property boasting a whole host of original and unique features. From the moment I walked through the door, I was blown away by the beauty of the building and decor. The salon looked elegant, clean and polished and exactly what Leeds was in need of, a new upmarket, vibrant and trendy place to relax and be pampered.

The salon and day spa covers 3,500 sq. ft and consists of a spacious top floor hair salon complete with spacious styling stations, a real fire place and exposed beams and a floor dedicated to beauty, which includes a bar and pedicure spa, private treatment rooms and an Aveda day spa. The floors are beautifully decorated with buddha statues, colourful asian style lanterns, all of which are set against a tranquil beige and earthy brown colour scheme. 

For those who fancy a little something extra, the salon also has its own private bar and rooftop terrence. These are wonderful places to sit back and relax after a day of being pampered whilst having a glass of much needed Prosecco or a cocktail. Yet again the bar area is beautifully decorated with stunning woodwork and brass lamps on the ceiling. The bar is quirky, yet sophisticated and the best bit is that it is only open to spa guests.

When I read my invite, I couldn't wait to see the rooftop terence and when I got the spa, it did not disappoint. The terrence area is well secluded and although the buildings behind are not the prettiest sight to see, the plants, the seating arrangements and the lovely sheltered canopy make it for it. It is a relaxing area and a lovely place to chill out with friends post treatment, especially in the summer.  

Once you are finished for the day, the official RMUK taxi can drop you off home (depending on distance) or to the train station. The salon has created a city first with the launch of the RMUK Pamper Cab, a refurbished black taxi that will provide customers with a free chauffeur service, picking them up and dropping them off at locations across Leeds. If it wasn't for this cab, I would have missed my train that evening and I'm really grateful. I think the cab is a wonderful addition to the salon - especially for days when it is wet and the weather is horrible, after all no-one wants to leave a salon looking as bad as when they entered.

Overall I was really impressed with the spa and hair salon and I'm already planning my next treatments for when I go back. It's a great place to go whether you are looking for a day of 1-1 pampering or a day out with your friends.

Have you been to RMUK Leeds?

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The Glamour Beauty Power List Box 2015

Back in 2012 I was all over the beauty box hype. Glossy Box, Birch box - you name it, I had it.  I loved receiving my boxes and doing the obligatory 'look what I got' Twitter statuses, but after a few months I grew bored of them. The items just didn't live up to my expectations and I realised that I was paying for the surprise element and not necessarily liking what I was given. Since ending all my subscriptions a few years ago, my mind has constantly wondered whether I have been missing out. I keep seeing bloggers rate and slate boxes and every now and then a few boxes come up that I think 'wow, how did I miss that?' The one box that kept grabbing my attention was the Latest in Beauty box. 

I've been a fan of the Latest in Beauty site for a long time.I remember when I used to pay something like £4 and I was able to pick a few samples off the website and they would arrive in the cutest little box. I used to tell all my friends about it. When I noticed Latest in Beauty had started doing collection boxes, I knew at some point I would need to try one of those. The Latest in Beauty Collections are boxes focused around particular themes or magazine collections. The Glamour Beauty Power List is one of these.

The Glamour Beauty Power List Box is in collaboration with Glamour Magazine and all the products have been handpicked by the Glamour Magazine beauty editor Alessandra Steinherr. The box consists of eight of the best beauty products this year and is worth a whopping £92.87, even though the subscription price is £18.99.

The Glamour Beauty Power List Box 2015

1 x Eyeko Mascara in Blue or Black

1 x Rimmel 60 Seconds Supershine Nail Polish

1 x Phillip Kingsley Geranium and Neroli Elasticizer

1 x Nail Inc Superkale base coat

1 x Kiko Velvet Touch Creamy Stick Blush

1 x Revlon Ultra HD Lipstick

1 x Garnier Miracle Sleeping Cream

1 x Vita Liberata Self Tanning Night Moisture

I'm really impressed with this collection and there are so many products that I love. The Nail Inc NailKale base coat has been a delight to use on my brittle nails, I have noticed that gradually they are becoming stronger and now I won't apply nail polish without using this product first. The Garnier Miracle cream is also high up on my fave products list. The cream is really soft and blends in well and unlike most sleeping creams, it doesn't make my face itch in the middle of the night. I also can't get enough of the Kiko blusher that looks so natural once applied. The products that haven't thrilled me in this box have to be the Rimmel nail polish - it chipped within an hour of wearing it and didn't look good when I arrived at a blogger event with bits peeling everywhere. I'm also not a fan of the Eyeko mascara as it doesn't add enough volume for me. Overall though I'm very impressed with the collection and the box itself is a cute little collectors piece.

What are your thoughts on the Glamour Beauty Power List box?

*PR Sample

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Sunday Thoughts: My Life with Chronic Illness

Growing up I always took things for granted - my health, my stable family and the fact that I got relatively good grades and knew from a young age my future career path. I suppose that is like all young people. We are always taught we can be whatever we want to be and no-one expects to fall ill or have something that can truly impact their ambitions. My adult life has been pretty stable, I got engaged at 21, I passed university with a first class degree and my future looked bright and cheerful. It was in during my final year at university my health started becoming a burden. I developed joint pains and rashes and I felt so tired. I had really bad anaemia and struggled to stay awake most days. A month before I handed in my dissertation and around 9 months of feeling weak, I was finally diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. 

I felt like my world was crashing down and the future I once dreamt of felt like it was impossible achieve. Luckily after playing around with my medication my health grew stronger and although I have 'flare ups' my arthritis seems under control. I had regained a part of my life and my future seemed brighter. Then earlier this year I started becoming ill again, this time it wasn't my joints but my stomach. I suffered from very painful stomach spasms and ended up in hospital six times. The doctors decided it was my gallbladder and in July I had an operation to remove it. Yet again, I felt optimistic and kept reassuring myself it was only a tiny set back. That was until I was hospitalised again a further two times with the most pain I have ever experienced. I was screaming down A&E pleading with the doctors to take the pain away, morphine didn't even touch the surface. I cried for days, writhing around in agony. Since my last hospital admission I have undergone several tests and finally been diagnosed with a very rare stomach disorder called Sphincter of the Oddi dysfunction that causes my stomach to spasm due to problems with my bile ducts. The condition also causes frequent jaundice and uncontrollable sickness. I can go a few weeks without a spasm then it hits me when I least expect it. Yet again I was told by doctors that they cannot completely treat it and there's a chance it may never go away, it is a chronic illness. 

I'm not going to lie, the last few weeks have been a bit of a haze. I have days where I feel like I can conquer anything then the next day I feel like I want to spend hours curled up in pain just wondering what the future holds. Everyday I'm drugged up to the eyeballs on medication and work, blogging and even general life is more tiring than it used to be. People have commented saying I seem withdraw and unhappy. It's usually when I have a bad pain day. Everyday I'm struck with the thought that I'm on 24 and I should be planning my career, but right now I feel like I'm planning my retirement.

I've learnt that dwelling on my problems isn't the way forward. Although I'm going through this right now, it doesn't always mean it is forever. After all, no-one can predict what the future brings. All I know is that I need to stay positive, work hard and know when my body needs rest. My doctor keeps telling me 'you have all your life to live and work', it doesn't matter if you take a few days out to rest. Although it is hard in a fast paced modern society, she is right. I need to focus on getting my life back on track, to focus on coming to terms with what I have and most importantly, learning to adapt so that I can live the future I want,  I just might have to go a different route.

I haven't wrote this post for sympathy, I've done this for all those out there going through the same as me, to raise awareness of SOD and although this post seems a bit doom and gloom, to let people know that chronic illness isn't the end of everything.

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Lady Betty Afternoon Tea

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As you may have gathered from many of my previous posts, I'm rather partial to an Afternoon Tea. In fact, I'm a little bit obsessed. I have gone from Afternoon Tea virgin to a self proclaimed Afternoon Tea connoisseur in a matter of months and I cannot get enough of them. Recently I was kindly invited down to Betty's in York to sample their new Lady Betty Afternoon Tea menu. My blogging bestie Lizi and I made our way up to the glamorous Belmont suit situated on the first floor of the tea room and was treated like royalty during our two hour stay. The piano played in the background, we drank champagne and ate like Queens and you too can experience this with the menu.

As I'm vegetarian my menu options are slightly different to the classic Lady Betty menu, but nevertheless, they are still absolutely scrumptious. As an appetiser I was served this wonderful avocado mousse with fresh chopped tomato salad. The dish was beautifully presented and was perfectly light,  whetting our appetite for the next few courses.

My starter was then a mushroom frittata and what I think was a Mediterranean vegetable style wrap. In all honesty I ate it quicker than I could acknowledge what was on the plate. It tasted mouth wateringly good and I couldn't get enough of it. 

As if those two courses weren't enough, we were then brought out the star attraction, the classic afternoon tea. My sandwiches were a mix of goats cheese and beetroot, cucumber and cream cheese and egg mayonnaise. All of which were fantastic and yet again tasted so fresh and light. The sandwiches were in nice small portions so they weren't too filling. I admit, by this time my stomach was feeling a little bit full but we were given a three hour time slot to enjoy our afternoon and eat at our own leisure. It was nice not to feel rushed and the piano playing in the background made us feel relaxed. It was a perfect girls day out.

After a good half an hour rest from digesting our sandwiches, we made our way onto the scones. We were given two types of scones - a classic scone and a Yorkshire Lavender scone. Seriously, words cannot describe how nice that Lavender scone was. I didn't know what to expect tasting Lavender for the first time - I thought it would be quite strong and floral, instead it was delicate, aromatic and added to the sweetness of the scone. It was probably one of the nicest scones I've ever had.

My final course and the one that left me feeling completely stuffed, yet extremely satisfied consisted of a mini Fresh Berry Meringue, a Coffee Religieuse (a choux pastry bun filled with coffee cream) and a macaroon. This dish was heaven on a plate. So many of my favourite desserts, all presented in the prettiest way and of course, so Instagrammable!I felt like that kid on the film Matalida, you know, the one who ate all the chocolate cake and wouldn't stop? I could have devoured this dessert three times over...if I wasn't watching my waistline and could afford to gain three stone.

The Lady Betty tea costs £32.95 without Champagne and £39.95 with Champagne and I would fully recommend it to those looking for a relaxing girly days out where you can dress up and eat lots of nice food. The atmosphere is lovely, the service is second to none and the decor is outstanding. Visiting Betty's is an experience that will stay with you.

Have you been to Betty's Tearooms before?

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Autumn Skincare Favourites

Autumn has to be my favourite time of year. I love dark romantic evenings where you can stroll huddled up together and see the stars, I love the colour of leaves as they lay on the ground and I love nothing more than sitting next to a warm fire drinking mulled cider and thinking about Christmas. The only thing about Autumn that I don't like is dry, blotchy skin from the sudden change in weather. I admit, I'm quite lucky when it comes to skin. I never suffer from spots and most of the year my skin is in pretty good shape, but when the weather gets colder I always get dry skin on my nose, chin, elbows, hands and feet. It happens every year without fail.

As I've got older skincare has become an important part of my daily routine and over the years I have managed to preempt the effects cold weather by investing in quality skincare products and using them as soon as the weather starts to turn. This year for me is all about organic beauty products. The older I get the less chemicals I want on my skin. One of my favourite all over body products at the moment is the [M]Botanicals* Uplifting Sugar Body Balm. The body balm promises to gently exfoliate the body and remove dead cells leaving your skin feeling moisturised, renewed and glowing and it does exactly what it says on the tin. I find this product really refreshing and my skin feels superb after use. The scent of Bergamot, Geranium and Frankincense lingers on my skin for hours after the scrub and it makes my skin feel rejuvenated - exactly what you need after a day in the cold, autumn weather.

Another beauty product I'm currently in love with is the Harpers Bazaar Beauty Awards Winner Antipodes Hosanna H20 Intensive Skin-Pumping Serum. The team over at Antipodes kindly sent me a few of their products to check out and I cannot get enough of this serum. I'm not usually a serum type of girl as I find them a bit sticky and I've never really seen the point of using them. However, the Antipodes skin pumping serum has completely changed my mind. I suffer from a lot of dehydration in the face from being ill and on a lot of medication and the Antipodes serum has made my skin look visibly smoother and brighter. The serum is really easy to blend in and feels like a second skin, like no product has been used. It's a miracle in a tiny bottle and one of those beauty products I would buy again and again.

They say that some of the best things come in small packages and another one of my favourite products is this small travel sized hand recovery kit from Crabtree & Evelyn, known as the '60 Second Fix for Hands'. The kit comes with a hand recovery treatment and an ultra-moisturising hand therapy lotion. I was recently given a complimentary hand treatment in the York branch after purchasing one of the nail polishes and fell in love with this duo. I couldn't stop stroking my hands for hours, they felt so soft. The hand recovery treatment is recommended every fortnight and is similar to a body scrub but just for hands. The two step treatment is really quick and easy and leaves your hands feeling super soft at the end of it. When I was told it was only £8, I couldn't buy this product fast enough. I would recommend this product to anyone that suffers regularly with dry hands like myself, it has really made a difference.

What are you Autumn skincare essentials?

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