by | July 14, 2012

Radiance’s Rest Day

I was offered a Rest Day.  Who would refuse?  Too many nights out (reviewing of course) and end of school year general madness had run me down and worn me out.  With a planned trip to escape London and head for the West Sussex coast with my Blonde and 5 smalls, the Rest Day on offer could be just what the juice doctor ordered.

For those who haven’t heard of Radiance, the juice cleanse company, I might need to explain the benefits of a juice fast.  It is an opportunity to cut out processed and heavy food and, by consuming the juices instead of food, your body can take stock and recover from the strains and stressed of every day life.

my delivery of Radiance Rest Day bottles

Radiance are planning to launch their Rest Day package (24 hours of a zillion liquidised vegetables and fruits) in September and I felt very honoured to be asked to review it.

I should confess that I am, by nature, an eater not a faster.  The bottles arrived in a branded cool bag the evening before we were leaving London.  He was out and as I was packing and had no inclination to cook for one, I couldn’t see any reason not to start the 24 hours there and then with the 7pm scheduled Squeaky Green (cucumber, apple, lime, parsley):  surprisingly delicious and curiously filling.

The next morning I just couldn’t wait until the advised 9am for Lemon Aid(water, lemon juice, maple syrup, cayenne).  And when I did drink it, I found it a little harsh.  Determined not to fall off the bandwagon so early on, I sneaked in an emergency mug of green tea.

A car full of kids, cases and my Radiance bottles hit the road for the beach.  In some ways, it was a great day to ‘rest’ as picnics tend to be full of unnecessarily unhealthy snacks and it was one less thing to think about as we journeyed through the driving rain on the A3.

Every two hours I had a juice so I really wasn’t hungry at all.  And a tub of cashews, almonds and raw carrots were  my go-to when the hunger did finally set in.

Power Green juice against a backdrop of Bracklesham Bay

With a slight buzzing headache, we unpacked in our beach house and I finished my final (of the 6) juices: Power Green (celery, pear, cucumber, lemon, spinach) at 5pm.  As advised, I had a light salad dinner accompanied by huge amounts of water.

This morning I woke up feeling detoxed.  The edge had been taken off my exhaustion and I felt relaxed and now ready to being my real rest on the beach.

Radiance will be launching Rest Day (£90) in September. 

www.radiancecleanse.com

07780 001 432

 

 

 

 

 

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by | July 13, 2012

Room with a View(ing)

Bedroom at the Sanderson

There isn’t just one single thing which makes staying in a fabulous hotel so thrilling.  Perhaps it’s the combination of crisp, fresh linen, bathroom fun-size potions, a fluffy white toweling robe and the magic telephone which could bring me anything from a hot dinner to an extra pillow to satisfy my any whim.  However, watching TV in bed is pretty high on my thrill list.  I’ve never had a TV in my/our bedroom as I’m pretty sure it would kill my bedtime reading, attract the Smalls on weekend mornings and… everything else in between.  So when it was suggested to me that I might like to review the Future Shorts Festival Summer Programme where the short films are exclusively available on demand at the Sanderson hotel, I speed-dialed a girlfriend and hot footed to the 5 star designer urban hotel just north of Soho, W1.

Those readers who knew me when I was a full-time Yablon might remember that I was, at one point, responsible for building awareness in London of the Morgan Hotel Group – in advance of St Martin’s Lane and the Sanderson hotels first opening in late 1999.  The group’s hotels, on both sides of the pond, have always been instant hits as their ‘boutique’ hotel concept combined with daredevil design and personalised service allows them to stand out in an indistinctive 5 star hotel market.

We were shown to our hotel room and given a generous room service tab so that we could order our in-room dining while we viewed the shorts.  Treating ourselves to a tipple from the mini-bar, we kicked off our shoes and reclined on the bed to watch Grant Orchard’s “A Morning Stroll” (7 mins / UK, 2012).  The story of an encounter between a New Yorker and a chicken is told over three acts spanning over 100 years.   This highly unusual yet not overly optimistic animation has already won a BAFTA and a Jury Award at Sundance and was nominated for a Short Animated Film Oscar.

A Morning Stroll

Next we selected Guest (2011) the South Korean film which won the 2012 International Grand Prix at Clermont–Ferrand.  It’s an uncomfortable twenty minutes of a teenager’s fury.  She is furious with her father regarding the affair he has been having and we witness her barging into his home to find two small children (the mistress’) where she unleashes a barage of emotions.

A knock at the door and our dinner was served.  We had chosen a number of dishes from the Malaysian Suka menu.  Scallop satay (£12), Ikan Bakar (sea bass baked in banana leaf £9), Kaksa Johor (fresh crab and noodles in coconut soup £10) and Sotong Goreng (grilled squid with ginger, coriander and green pepper £10).

Room Service

Street Vendor Cinema (2011 / 15 mins) was the last short film we watched. Written by Brazilian Clarissa Knoll, the film tells the story of a short film producer  who sells filmmaking on demand in the busiest shopping street of Brazil. The outcome is an extraordinary mix of genres, from a samurai epic to a family melodrama, amid the market’s chaos.  Girlfriend-on-speed-dial and I probably found this one to be the most interesting short film of all of them.

Dragging ourselves off the big white bed, we reluctantly headed downstairs to check out the hotel’s Monday evening night life.  There were a few corporate diners in the stunningly calm courtyard garden with its fountains, pools and giant bonsai tree and, before finally leaving, we browsed the brilliantly quirky hotel shop.  As I headed home, I thought I could get used to reviewing all films in luxurious hotel rooms….

To enquire about room reservations at the Sanderson Hotel, call  020 7300 1400  www.sandersonlondon.com

 

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by | July 11, 2012

Skin3: some test tube action

Test tubes, Bunsen burners, the periodic table… there was nothing in the GCSE syllabus which (excuse the pun) lit my fire.  With glazed eyes and a wondering mind, 16 year old me sat there waiting for the bell to ring.  Of course my parents blamed my terrible grades on ‘uninspiring teachers’ but I knew, deep down, that a life in a lab wasn’t to be my destiny.

So, more than 20 years later and I am now keen to re-enter the world of science.  Or let me rephrase that:  I am keen to know how non-evasive science could improve my skin.  I have heard (time and time again) of the benefits of Environ, the deeply scientific skincare brand, and – quite frankly – my misguided skin is screaming out for some action.

The Skin3 salon has been on my must-visit list since it opened a few months ago on Fairfax Road, Swiss Cottage. The South African founders are no novices to skincare as they have made it their business to provide the UK (some 1500 salons) with their native Environ magic potions.

skin analysis with the Visia machine

On arrival I was whisked into a private consultation room by manageress, Faye.  And here my in-depth skin analysis began.   The Visia machine uses powerful imaging technology to scan your skin and therefore reveal early signs of damage hidden beneath the skin surface.  Percentages, x-ray images and even a computer generated image of how I would look in 10 years time were all flashed in front of me.

It turns out that my skin is suffering.   Not only is it even more vulnerable in the sun than I had imagined, it is ‘confused’ as I try every cleanser and cream sample sent to me by the beauty prs and, perhaps most crucially, it is desperately lacking the vitamins C and A which it needs to effectively regenerate the cells.

Faye prescribed (and performed) an active vitamin treatment to load my skin with the freshest, most active forms of Vitamins A and C straight from the Environ lab. These nutrients were then driven deeper into the skin using soundwaves and small iontophoresis.

I left Skin3 on that first day with a bag full of Environ skin products,key vitamin supplements and a huge promise to Faye not to touch another skincare brand during our experiment.

In Part 2 I will disclose (and share the brutal statistics) as to whether, over a 3 month period, these products have changed my skin.

COMPETITION: I felt a little selfish with all this skin-attention so I thought perhaps one of my readers might also like to discover how their skin is fairing… Skin3 has very generously given me a skin analysis and the new signature facial (worth £85) for one of you to win.  All you have to do is email info@skin3.co.uk stating which vitamins my skin was lacking.  Competition ends Sunday 22nd July 2012.

Skin3 41 Fairfax Road London NW6   020 7328 1291

 follow @yablon to find out the winners of this competition…

 

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by | July 10, 2012

42°Raw: Breakfast with Boss

I like to call him ‘Boss’ as he is the founder of Evolv Digital.  When I’m not blogging, supported by some really talented web designers, programmers and online geeks, Boss and I provide online marketing solutions for our dearest clients. And I’m always keen to multi-task so, as he is visiting from Malta (where his day job and family are based), I made the executive decision that he and I should catch up while reviewing breakfast.

42Raw at the Royal Academy

42°Raw is London’s brand new raw food café.   Located just inside the Royal Academy, in the heart of Mayfair, I had heard great things about this healthy fast food joint.  The concept is simple:  all ingredients are 100% plant based and none of the food has been cooked above 42 degrees, which is the point at which those precious enzymes are damaged.  Founded by Jesper Rydahl, who opened the first 42°Raw in Copenhagen in 2009, I starved myself pre-school run and met an equally hungry Boss at the door.

smoothies and breakfast at 42Raw

A bit of background on the Boss.  He hates all healthy food, let alone raw and green.  I suppose taking him to 42°Raw was a little bit of a prank as he reads LifeOfYablon and was probably looking forward to a slightly more indulgent option.

We both ordered a smoothie.  I choose the Seattle (celery, spinach, cucumber £4.50) while he thought he would be ‘safe’ with the strawberry and ginger (£4.50) and to eat…. well, if I’m honest, there are only three breakfast options.  He had the tub of museli with almond milk (£4) and I, bravely, helped myself to the organic  chia-cocao pudding (banana, hemp seeds, chia seeds, raw cocoa £4).

The café’s whitewashed tables in the museum’s entrance hall were empty (to be fair it was 930am on a Monday).  We ate and sipped and caught up on online life.  The food was clean tasting and vibrant in colour but was it delicious?  I couldn’t go that far.  It tasted almost too good for you.  While the philosophy is admirable and the nutrients welcome, I am not convinced the café has enough mainstream appeal.

Boss was hungry afterwards.  He was dreaming of a sausage sandwich.  We had to take a diversion via Starbucks on the way to the client meeting.

42°Raw The Royal Academy, 6 Burlington Gardens, W1

 

 

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