h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

In all the excitement about taking up running again, I completely forgot to mention that the weekend I was in the UK I had my very first "official" (IE: in a salon) beauty treatment! (not counting trips to the hairdresser)

In Meadowhall (big shopping centre in Sheffield) there is a small nail bar and beauty place called Mint. I was eating an ice-cream (4 ices, 2 with sprinkles Six of yer English quids and 50p!! daylight robbery, even if it was Baskin Robbins) and waiting for the gruesomes to finish licking their sprinkles up, when I noticed the shop. I have toyed with the idea of nail extensions (not that I often need them, I have fairly good nails, usually) and was checking the prices to compare with back home (bleeding expensive, as it turns out)

And my eye was caught by "eyebrow shape and tint" - seemed reasonable at 8 pounds 50, so I went in to see about an appointment. My luck was in: I could come back in an hour. So I sent my mum and the gruesomes packing, and mooched around Waterstones until it was my turn.

I have to say that as a teenager my eyebrows were plucked to within an inch of their lives. To within a millimetere, in fact. And since then I have on and off tried to "do" them. But the simple fact is they are fairly pale, and not too badly shaped, and it hurts. So I don't bother.

But... what the heck, I thought I'd have a go. The girly laid me down, and applied gunk to my brows. She chatted a bit then wiped it off.

she then applied more, warm, gunk to the area between my brows and WAXED ME! Youch!! She then shaped my brows, not by plucking but by waxing them. Youch indeedy!

I never wax any part of me after doing one strip on a leg once. Man, I was not built to take pain.

But I'm so pleased with the result that I'm deffo going back in October, when I'm next in the UK.

Am I finally growing up?

I used to have 'that' sort of eyebrow in my teens too, Sho
Plucked within an inch of their lives they were - sort of one hair after another, in single file!

Have you ever had a massage? I definitely recommend it as a wonderful experience - looking forward to booking the aromatherapy massage gifted to me by Mr T's colleagues.
Now, if I could just teach Mr T to do massage...........unfortunately he's got hands like hams

I have had a series of massage - being over here in Germany I have the benefits of the German health system (ie. there is enough funding for some really nifty treatments)

After I had Gruesome #1, I was bf her one morning and my left shoulder seized up. Luckily -hubs was there to help out and take me to the doc. Who prescribed 12 sessions of massage. Man, it was rough. I was pummeled and pushed and all sorts, and at the end of each treatment had these giant (about the size of teacups) electrodes (4 of 'em) stuck to my shoulderblade and upper back. The woman said "it's going to feel like an army of ants" and indeed it did, but I have very pale sensitive skin. I had massive lovebites for ages, because the electrode things sort of sucked my skin.

But the feeling afterwards was wonderful.

-man can do a good massage - but in true male tradition, thinks that it always has to lead on to Other Things. So I don't get one that often.

"but in true male tradition, thinks that it always has to lead on to Other Things"

Aint that the truth!

"but in true male tradition, thinks that it always has to lead on to Other Things"

Nice to know my marriage is 'normal'!

Having experienced the eyebrow thing, I actually prefer the waxing to the plucking now.

Jules

H does the most wondeful neck massage, it really loosens my neck up.

I have had the occasional facial done and once I had an Espa wrap. I've found that it makes a huge difference where you go to. One facial was very rushed, another had me practically floating out of the salon.

My eyebrows too were plucked very thinly when I was in my teens. Now, thanks to hypothyroidism, the outer thirds are virtually non existent! But I was shown how to fill them in by the Lancome lady in our local House of Fraser, so I do that when I'm getting tarted up to the nines.

I never feel anywhere near "dressed up" unless I've pencilled in my eyebrows - I can miss out lippy if I've done that, and I feel like Jean Harlow!

I think I'm going to go for a facial next - maybe for my birthday. And deffo the nails.

Is this the start of the slippery slope to hedonism?

I don't feel dressed without eyeliner and mascara - but I've never known what to do with lipstick so always feel like Coco the Clown if I attempt to wear it.

A facial sounds good - never had one of those. But I have had an Indian head-and-neck massage which was fab, even though it took me several shampoos to get the oil out of my hair.

When does the bus leave for Hedonism? Book me a ticket too

I haven't had any kind of treatment for ages. No money. I had been thinking of going for a facial again though, to see how my skin is coping with age. I'm quite pleased with my face, it's one thing I can still live with, so I suppose I should spend money on it. I have never plucked my eyebrows more than to "tidy them up".

I have lousy lousy nails which all break right down to the quick as soon as the summer ends. You can set the calendar by them. The first one goes on 1 September and the rest are gone within 2 weeks. They stay like that - always at least one broken right down - until June. Then they start growing and I have decent nails for the month of August and then there we go again. It's probably through not drinking enough water.

Now I've taken up playing the piano again (to accompany my son on the violin), I'm going to have to keep them short purposely.

Ah yes, Teuchter, Lipstick. My beautician offered a session to teach you to make up to suit you and she showed us a few tricks.

The proper way to do it, apparently, is:

1. Apply foundation up to and over the edge of the lips.

2. Line the lips with a lip brush rubbed onto the lipstick you're going to use.

(Now I'm getting older, I'm going to ask what to do here, lipstick tends to "bleed" much more now, so perhaps I should use a pencil, or make absolutely sure I don't go right out to the edge. A friend of mine had hers tattooed - she always wore a browny lipstick and had that colour tattooed on. Cost her DM 2000 each for 2 sessions and she had to travel to Frankfurt.)

3. fill in - preferably with the brush, too. Press lips together, dab with Kleenex.

4. Repeat 3.

5. Cover with a sealer - you can get them in little tubes with a foam rubber applicator or in a bottle with a brush like nail varnish. Let this dry with your mouth open for a few seconds. Hurts, tastes and smells horrible.

Right, well, that's the proper way to do it. And it does keep on and looks fresh for hours.

Most of the time, though, I just dab it on, and try to make it look as though I've had it on for a while and it's rubbed off a bit. Somehow I find it embarrassing to admit I've just renewed my lipstick. Apart from which, it's a lot of kaboodle to tote around in an evening bag if you're going to repeat the whole works during the evening!

And more time still, I walk around

*looks over both shoulders and whispers conspiratively*

not made up at all.

I think "outline" would have been a better word in Point No 2, there!

I usually go around without make up - except for often I have mascara (now I have discovered the L'Oreal dual brush thingy, I look like I have pet spiders residing on my lids)

TC: I get some vitimins from the DM Markt (but you can get them at the Apotheke too, if you want to spend a fortune) for Haut & Haar (Skin & Hair & Nails) My fingernails are growing well, but I often break them due to gardening and playing with power-tools.

OK, I think we could hire a to Hedonist Central.
Who wants to come?

Me! Me! Me!

(Uses a bit of eyeliner but that's it, really)

Can we go for the whole weekend?

Jules

Darn tootin' we can (sorry, been reading too much Stephanie Plum)

in fact, let's make it a loooong weekend!

Yay!

*Starts packing...*

Now, what will we need?

Handbag with lots of stuff therein - check

Erm, what else?

powder compact
mascara
er....
some of this and this and this

and for the morning plenty of this and this

what else?

*bounces up and down*
I'm all excited...

OH! we need a boogie box and some sounds too.
*packs Eagles and Dido and Carpenters CDs*

*Packs a lot more and *

Will it have a spa? Maybe the has room for a hot-tub in the back?

*Packs swimming cossie, towels, face-packs, more *

Wonder what the driver looks like?!

*Packs interesting driver uniform*

The bus driver looks like your favourite from the thread...

(have you been there, btw?)

and sure, there's plenty of room for the spa on the since it's like the Knight in Harry Potter

*packs filmy dresses and sparkly, kitten heeled flip-flops*

this looks as though it's turning into a hedonistic girly weekend

*puts in glittery pink nailvarnish*

Where is thread? Where is thread? Where is thread?

*Packs lots of purple glittery things...and an 80's mix CD or three*

*adds giant pack of Resolve; handful of type dvds; industrial sized aquavac

Hedonism here we come!

ah, the thread - beware the nearly 6,000post backlog!! - is on my PS

Just click my name, then scroll down a bit - you can't miss it.

- cheers!