by | November 22, 2012

Wahanda – where your wax can be secret

There was a time when I lived and breathed the beauty world.  But let me be clear.  It wasn’t a life of luxury pampering, thick creams and fluffy white towels.  Taking beauty online in the form of Return to Glory was a great deal harder work than I had anticipated.  And while it has been fun to watch the industry grow since I jumped ship, I was particularly impressed to see Lopo Champalimaud and his team at Wahanda, the health and wellness directory, recently launch an online booking system – just in time for the party season!

where waxing can be booked discreetly

Recently in the car with Lord Y, my favourite waxing salon returned my call.  ‘Hello, please could you book me in for a full leg wax and extended bikini?’ The line was bad and I had to repeat my request another couple of times before the appointment was confirmed… much to my father’s amusement.  How many times have you sat in an office, amidst male colleagues, and tried to casually book a beauty treatment.  Now, all the waxes, tints and lifts are at your finger tips without even having to pick up the phone.

I caught up with the Wahanda man, Lopo, to find out what keeps him sane as he takes us into a pretty impressive online beauty world:

How do you unwind after work? I find physical exercise really helps me unwind, I like tennis or to go for a run. To totally switch off I watch Homeland, I am addicted, it’s so engrossing.

Lopo Champalimaud, CEO, Wahanda

Where would you escape to? Connecticut.  It is beautiful all year round and the Eastern Seaboard in the autumn is stunning. Africa is always interesting, so varied and vast.  And I love skiing, it is the combination of mountain air, alpine food, exercise and adrenalin.

What was the last film you saw? Untouchable.  I thought it was very poignant and thought provoking.

What’s the best advice you have ever been given? Be confident and self-assured.

What’s your biggest extravagance? I have a personal trainer.

Where is the current best place for a massage in London? Metta – it the best Thai Massage I have had outside of Thailand

Who’s your hero? I have people that I admire for their achievements but I don’t think anyone should be put on a pedestal.

What makes an online business a success? Great people combined with a ton of hard work.

Facebook or twitter? Twitter – instant, timely communication

striped navy scarf £59 from Oliver Spencer

Social media or pub? Pub – the only way to spend time socialising face to face

Where do you buy your clothes? Trunk Clothing and Oliver Spencer

Beach or alps? Alps

Work/life balance tips? Timetable in regular exercise

What drives you mad? Laziness

Tell us a secret about Wahanda?  Each member of the team is given a voucher each month to enjoy treatments and there is no set holiday allowance.

 

 

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by | November 21, 2012

First Love and I lunch at Phil Howard’s The Square

entrance to The Square, Bruton St, W1

It’s been a while since First Love and I have hooked up.  He and his missus and their smalls live a proper train ride away and, unless we have a fiesta planned, weeks turn into months before a scheduled catch-up becomes an urgent matter.  It is worth mentioning at this point that any love he ever had for me is now channeled into his love of fine dining now.   Therefore making him perfect as my lunch guest at The Square last week.

fresh bread basket

Working in an ad agency, he’s a well-practiced long luncher.  I, on the other hand, feel guilty stepping away from my desk.  Time and words are money (however little).  Damn life as freelancer (sometimes).  But I knew that this lunch was going to be worth every minute and even worth cheating on my current food mission.  Phil Howard is up there as one of the UK’s most respected chefs and The Square boasts two Michelin Stars while also surviving 21 years on the London restaurant circuit.  I say that because more often than not a restaurant peaks and then goes slowly downhill.  It’s still at the top of its game so I was pretty excited to dine there.

my monkfish at The Square

spaced out tables at The Square

Bearing in mind it was lunchtime and the restaurant is on the corner of Berkeley Square, I was not surprised to find our fellow diners were rich-looking business men enjoying a fine dining experience masquerading as ‘a spot of lunch’.  The tables are cleverly spaced so that big deals can be done in secret while the ratio of waiters to tables is simply boggling.  So, this is how the other half lunch, I thought.

First Love wasn’t concentrating on anything I was saying.  He was pouring over the extensive menu, in a food version of his heaven.  He instructed me not to choose anything he was ordering.  I obeyed, by ordering the infamous Dorset crab lasagna followed by the monkfish with savoy cabbage and lentils.  He chose the daily special, which was scallops, before delighting over his fillet of turbot with autumn truffle and walnut pesto.

‘I totally lost the wine thread’

cheese trolley

But if you think that was all we ate, you are mistaken.  We were spoilt with everything from a sweet smelling fresh bread basket to exquisitely delicate amuse-bouches.  Our sommelier, making choices on our behalf, treated us to a Viognier de Rosine from the Rhone Valley and a Savigny-les-Beaune from Burgundy before I totally lost the wine thread.  As usual, I was the weakest link on the alchohol front but First Love more than made up for my pathetic sips.

The Square’s milk chocolate bar

Dessert took the biscuit though.  Milk chocolate bar with salted peanuts, praline and banana sounds good but it tasted even better.  Now more of a drunk old man rather than my First Love, he choose the cheese trolley before rolling into Selfridges to begin some dangerous Christmas shopping.

Although we ate a la carte, The Square offers a really reasonable set lunch menu: £30.00 for two courses or £35.00 for three. 

The Square: 6-10 Bruton Street, w1  Tel: +44 (0) 20 7495 7100

The Square cookbook

COMPETITION:  I promised I’d mention Phil’s six part digital mini-series, entitled ‘The Kitchen Foundation’.  Produced to run alongside his brilliant cookbook The Square: The Cookbook Volume 1: Savoury, the films are well worth dipping into. Have a look here.  And then enter my competition to win the cookbook (£40).  I have 2 copies to give away and all you have to do is sign up to my blog (top right of homepage),  follow me on Twitter and RT the picture of the cookbook on Wednesday 5th December. The lucky winners will be selected randomly on Thursday 6th Dec 2012.

 

 

 

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by | November 19, 2012

John Lewis’ 2012 advert: freaky snowman

I can’t hide my disappointment.  The John Lewis ad always marks my Christmas-thrill-trigger and this year, I am not excited one little bit.  Last year’s epic ad showed a little boy desperately waiting for the big day so that he could give and not simply receive.  It was a great, misty-eyed message and one which particularly appealed to my Small.

John Lewis Snowman shopping ad for Christmas 2012

Tonight I showed him the shopping mecca’s 2012 version.  Initially, he couldn’t grasp what the ad was about.  And then he just kept saying: ‘But snowmen don’t move and they DON’T go shopping!’

Now, I’m not such a realist that I can’t see the point the creative team are making. I understand the message of the extraordinary lengths we should go to find perfect gifts for those we love and, as a plus point, the advert music (sung by Gabrielle Aplin) is a big hit in this house (Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s The Power of Love was His and my first dance at our wedding back at the turn of the century).  It’s just that a travelling, Christmas shopping snowman feels all wrong to me.  And, what’s wrong with the snow-woman anyway?  Has she forgotten how to move? Or is she just waiting to see if her snowy man makes it back from the shops?

John Lewis, my point is, keep your ads as true to life as possible.  Your shopping experience is known for its real prices, well-stocked shelves and remarkably helpful store team. We want realism not freaky snowmen on a shopping mission.

And, more to the point, if someone I loved bought me a hat, scarf and gloves, I’d leave them out in the garden to freeze.

Here is the ad if you haven’t seen it.

 

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by | November 18, 2012

O2 The Killers live review: Brandon Flowers and the Tim Burton connection

Brandon Flowers at O2 last night

My music friend was my fairy godmother last night.  ‘You shall go to The Killers’ she confirmed.  She knew how desperate I was to see Brandon Flowers perform live, but not desperate enough to pay the ridiculous Viagogo prices.  Anyway, as she’s perpetually full of music magic, she made it all happen with a flick of her wand.

cairpirinhas at Las Iguanas

We met for a couple of cocktails and a cheeky Mexician before the concert at Las Iguanas.  The chain’s lovely PR has been keen for me to experience their Latin American vibe and… well, I thought this would be a perfect moment.  Their O2 branch is literally located in the ‘Millenium tent’.  We chomped our way through one of their famous chicken breast fajitas and two salads, one full of superfoods such as beetroot and pomegranate and the other decorated with crayfish and sweet chilli.  Rather than being bowled over by the food (it was fine, nothing remarkable), we were fascinated by the unusually brilliant team of staff working in the packed restaurant.  Yes, unfortunately, it is unusual to be greeted and served by a bunch who are pleasingly cool.  Communicative, cheerful (without being OTT), efficient and cool (without being uber cool).  And none of these compliments have anything to do with the caipirinhas (£6.40) they kept bringing to our table….

Music Friend enjoys a fajita at Las Iguanas

Music friend tends to be a little scathing of my music choices.  I don’t take offence.  She lives in a real music world whereas I just happen upon bands I like.  Anyhow, it turns out, she wasn’t just humoring me tonight. She saw Brandon Flowers at the HMV Forum a couple of years ago where the Camerons, Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter had also been in the audience.  Flowers seems to attract all sorts.

Suddenly realizing the time, we scooted off to our seats… only to find we were sitting next to Tim and Helena… clearly die hard fans of Flowers.  Well, that’s what we thought until he dedicated Bones to ‘our friend Tim’ and then we put 2 and 2 together and worked out that Tim had directed the music video for this track.

Tim Burton directed Bones for The Killers

Brandon is tiny, a micro action man dressed all in black.  His voice and energy were equally blinding.  The atmosphere was electric and so inspired some pretty alternative dancing from the acting queen and her genius director husband.

The set list was sprinkled with tracks from their new album Battle Born such as Runaways and The Way It Was but it was really Miss Atomic Bomb, their new single, which set the stadium crazy – along with big hits such Mr Brightside and Are We Human?

Sorry Manchester fans (Flowers had to cancel a couple of dates up north due to sickness) – the concert was every bit as amazing as I had hoped it might be.

www.iguanas.co.uk   

2 courses £16.90 per person     3 courses £19.50 per person

 

 

 

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