Radley is a British company which was founded in 1988 by Lowell Harder. Lowell Harder was an Australian woman and mother of three, who was a trained architect, and who turned her hand to designing handbags. She had come to…
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A few years ago, when people thought of luxury expensive shoes, they thought of Manolo Blahniks or Jimmy Choos. Now they think Christian Louboutin. His shoes have appeared all over the red carpet, in the haute couture shows accompanying expensive clothes, and…
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Facials became really popular in the 1950’s when society women used to pop into Elizabeth Arden to get their skin perfected. Most beauty salons these days offer facials, but they can be expensive. However, you can easily give yourself a…
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I’ve been reading Harlequin romances (in the UK known as Mills and Boon romances) since I was about 13. My mother used to borrow them from the library, and I would sneak a look, particularly dwelling on the “bedroom scenes”!…
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Many people are surprised when they develop acne round the mouth area, because it’s just not where we expect acne to be (acne usually plagues areas where there are a high number of oil glands such as the cheeks and…
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Staining of nails dates all the way back to ancient China and Japan. The ancient Egyptians also stained nails with henna. However modern nail polish was a by-product of the enamels invented to paint and protect cars in the 1920’s….
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Most people instinctively realise that some colors “suit them” and others don’t, but it took a ground-breaking book published in 1983, called Color Me Beautiful by Carol Jackson, that popularised the idea that individuals should stick to certain families of…
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If you have a rip or tear in your leather jacket, getting it fixed by a leather specialist can be expensive. However, you can now purchase do it yourself leather repair kits – the most popular being the Leather Repair…
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Coach leatherware was founded in 1941 in a New York City loft – the company was originally called Manhattan Leather Bags, and they specialised in making soft supple bags from the same type of tan leather found in baseball gloves….
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Giorgio Armani is an Italian fashion designer who was born in Piacenza in Northern Italy on 11th July 1934, one of three children. Initially he was unsure what career to pursue, going to medical school for two years and dropping…
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Newly pierced ears are vulnerable to infection – that’s because a wound has been made which allows bacteria on the skin to get into the flesh. When your ear has been newly pierced, carefully clean the earlobe each night with…
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From the dark ages to the 18th century, people didn’t bother to have baths, let alone (shock horror) immerse their entire bodies in the sea. All this changed around 1720 with the advent of the first ever seaside resort in…
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First of all, check your home contents insurance policy to see if personal valuables such as jewelry are included, and to what amount the cover is for. Most home contents insurance policies will cover jewelry, but only under certain circumstances….
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Opals are gemstones that are found in fisures of rock. They come in all sorts of colours – the most common being milky white, but you get lovely multi-coloured opals in greens, blues, reds and yellow, and sometimes even black…
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Astrologers have long since associated certain gemstones with astrological birth signs, and some healing traditions, such as ayurvedic medicine also credit certain stones with healing powers for people born on specific dates. Most people are given the gemstone of their…
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When buying gold jewelry, the number of carats indicate how much gold there is in the piece. The maximum number of carats is 24, which indicates pure gold. But because gold is a very soft metal, 24 carat gold is…
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Gianni Versace was born in Reggio Calabria, Italy on 2nd December 1946. His mother was a dressmaker who ran a small shop, and all her children got involved helping her out. Gianni soon started designing clothes which were sold through…
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Jean Paul Gaultier is a Frenchman who was born on 24th April 1952 in a suburb of Paris called Arcueil. He started working in fashion straight after school, working for the design house, Pierre Cardin, though he had no formal…
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Christian Dior was born in Granville, Normandy, France on 21st January 1905. He’d always been interested in fashion (to the dismay of his family) and initially just contented himself sketching designs and selling the drawings on. However, in 1942, after…
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Anna Sui is a Chinese American who was born on August 4th 1955 in Detroit. Her father was a structural engineer and her mother studied painting, and they met in Paris and travelled the world before settling in the USA….
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Donna Karan was born Donna Ivy Faske in Queens, New York on 2nd October 1948 (Karan was the name of her first husband). She studied at the Parson’s School of Design and on graduating, got a position designing for Anne…
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It’s actually hard to follow written instructions for putting on make up, because so much depends on how it looks. It’s so much easier to follow a step-by-step video demonstration, which you can pause at critical points or replay. If…
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January 19, 2015 Skin and Body
There are essentially two types of sunscreens – sunscreens that reflect and scatter light and sunscreens that absorb light and convert it into heat. Let’s start with sunscreens that reflect light. These are usually physical blockers made from titanium dioxide…
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It is quite easy to straighten your hair with a blow-dryer. Here’s how: Shampoo your hair as normal, and once rinsed, add conditioner. The conditioner will smooth the hair structure, and protect it from the heat of the hair dryer….
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The Swarovski Group is an Austrian company that produces expensive precision cut crystals. The company was founded in 1885 by Daniel Swarovski, who had just invented an electric precision cutting machine, his brother and a financial backer. The company was…
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