December & January 2010/11
JO BRAND
IS GOING SOFT AND GETTING ON
GILLIAN McKEITH
WE GET OUR OWN BACK
FOUR QUESTIONS
Curves
THAT CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE
YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOUR
WE’RE ON THE HUNT FOR THE UK’S NEXT CURVY COVER MODEL
adv
vert
contents December/January
Features
10 Bitch Fight Gillian McKeith v Ben Goldacre 12 Celebrity profile: Jo Brand is Getting On 16 Beautiful’s curvy cover model competition Could it be you? 20 The larger than life Velvet D’Amour Size 28 model and acclaimed fashion photographer 31 Plus Model magazine How the US does our thing 54 His and hers gifts Christmas shopping made easy
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Fashion
18 Street smart Who our model scouts met this issue 24 The lady is a vamp Go glam gothic for your Christmas party 28 Rubenisstas Beautiful’s own curvy fashionista reports
Beauty
32 Hide that hangover Get a glow when you feel low 35 Black Eyes Please How to get sexy black eyes, if you dare!
Health & Psychology
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36 “I hate being single!” Relationships coach Susan Savery talks to a reader 38 Four questions can change your life Is it true? 42 Fall in love with exercise (part 2) Effortless ways to fitness
Food
46 Levi Roots is our guest celeb chef His life and times, what Christmas means to him and gives us recipes for a Caribbean Christmas 52 Secret supper clubs We review three of the best underground restaurants
Travel
57 Weekend away
Sen Spa, an oasis in the New Forest
Culture
7 Beautiful loves… things to do Just a few things to treat yourself with 9 Curvy women speak out… about our critics and more! 58 What’s going on? News, reviews & previews
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You might have noticed we’re called Beautiful, not Just As Beautiful. And while the names look similar at first, they have very different meanings. One is a comparison (to thin people) and an apology and the other is a confident statement. One thing you can be sure of is that when we state that you are beautiful we’ll never apologise and we won’t compare you because you are incomparably yourself! We wanted to be called Beautiful, so we’ve split with our original publisher and his online magazine and are launching again with our new name. It’s been a bit of a roller-coaster ride for all of the staff but things have turned out just fine. There’s still no diet advice and nothing in Beautiful that will tell you you’re ‘wrong’ because of your shape. You will find lots to prove how fabulous your curves can be. No models are under a size 12, many are well above that. We exclude sizes below a 12 simply to redress the balance, not because we think thin is bad. One day we hope to represent all women. Our first issue had a lot of support from the national Press and on TV but some said we’re encouraging ill health. Over the coming months we’re going to prove that nothing could be further from the truth. Feeling good about yourself is not unhealthy. Feeling bad about yourself is! Whatever is thrown at us, I am 100 per cent sure that publications like Beautiful are essential for the health of the women in Britain. You have written and emailed in droves and some of the stories you’ve told about the shame and hurt that you’ve felt when reading some of the cutting things written about curvy and plus size women from so-called health journalists has brought a tear to my eye. This makes me more determined and bringing Beautiful magazine to you is more important to me than ever! Have a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year! x
One day we’ll represent all women
Sue Thomason Editor in Chief
www.beautifulmagazine.co.uk | 5
editor Sue Thomason
Celebrity Food Editor Levi Roots
art Art Director Kevin Gilmour
publisher Revolution Press www.revolutionpress.co.uk
features Feature Writers James Homer Karen Cross Kate Wilson Colin Houlson
Financial director Matt Gowing
...LOVES
beautiful.
Revolution Press
fashion & beauty Beauty Editor Amy Durrant
11 Langford Road Lostock Gralam Cheshire CW9 7QP 0160 633 3577
Fashion Editor Caz Moss
www.beautifulmagazine.co.uk
Fashion & Beauty Writers Gail Ostick Rebecca Takacs Olga Crosse
Cover Model: Stephanie Gallagher Make-up & Hair: Lesley Scott Photography: John Cameron Design & Direction: Kevin Gilmour
food Food Editor Melanie Iredale
Be a Rock Star
Clothing provided by: Next Thanks to: Rebecca Young & Charlie @Next
contributors Susan Savery is a personal development coach. She specialises in ‘fresh starts’ and relationship issues. Susan helps our reader out on page 34.
James Homer is a freelance writer, journalist and serial blogger. He’s also Beautiful’s film reviewer. “Sandwiches and a movie. My idea of heaven,” he says. jameshomer@beautifulmagazine.co.uk
Adam Saunders is an 18-year-old photographer from Manchester. He’s worked for numerous fashion lines and music labels. asphoto.x@gmail.com www.flickr.com/adamsaundersphoto
Forget boring old karaoke, with new entertainment phenomenon Rockaoke, you can now get up on stage and sing with a rock band. Despite it’s terrible name, rockaoke is so much fun, especially if you like to show off a bit. It doesn’t matter whether you can sing or not, getting up there with a band and singing your heart out is an exhilarating experience and such a laugh. Just type ‘rockaoke’ into a search engine (there are loads of bands around the UK, so there’s bound to be one near you) or go to: www.rockaoke.co.uk
www.susansavery.co.uk
John Cameron is a talented freelance photographer from Glasgow. He photographed model Stephanie Gallagher for this issue’s cover image. photography@behold.it
Lesley Scott A make-up artist from Dunfermline, with bags of enthusiasm. Lesley provided the fabulous hair and make-up for our cover photo. t: 07525829489 e: lesley_jane2004@yahoo.co.uk
Beautiful is published by REVOLUTION PRESS, 11 Langford Road, Lostock Gralam, Cheshire CW9 7QP. Revolution Press © 2010 all rights reserved. Reproduction in any manner or any language, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited. All material in this magazine, both print and digital issues, is provided for your information only and may not be construed as medical advice or instruction. No action or inaction should be taken based solely on the contents of this information; instead, readers should consult appropriate health professionals on any matter relating to their health and well-being. The information and opinions expressed here are believed to be accurate, based on the best judgement available to the authors, and readers who fail to consult with appropriate health authorities assume the risk of any injuries. In addition, the information and opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of every contributor to Beautiful. Beautiful acknowledges occasional differences in opinion and welcomes the exchange of different viewpoints. The publisher is not responsible for errors or omissions. Subscribe to Beautiful by visiting www. beautifulmagazine.com. All other enquiries, call 0160 633 3577.
6 | beautiful DECEMBER & JANUARY 2010/11
...loves
Make a trip to Fairyland If you send a photo of your kids to Victoria Dixon, a mum who works from home, you get it back magically transformed into a glittering fairyland or a Christmas fantasy. The portraits are unique and really beautiful and they’d make great cards or gifts or even framed pictures for your wall. Victoria’s pictures are so spectacular that she made it to finalist in both the Mum & Working Awards 2010 for the ’Self-employed parent of the year’ and the Mumpreneur Awards 2010 for the Best Online Business. www.enhance-me.com
...THINGS TO DO Look online Photo: Rufino www.flickr.com/rufino_uribe
We thought we’d help you out just in case you find yourself stuck for things to do or places to go. Try a bit of easy and relaxing yoga, sing with a rock band, read a great fashion magazine online, have your eyebrows done or go to fairyland…
Do Yoga 2 Go
Get Irresistable Peepers
Yoga2hear now have over 40 different top-quality audio yoga classes that are easy to follow, A hundred per cent portable and suitable for all different levels, they make the Yoga DVD a thing of the past. With yoga2hear it is possible to practice yoga at any time, whenever and wherever you choose. All classes are available on both CD and MP3 and are specially created by leading yoga professional, presenter, writer and Natural Health’s Resident Yoga Expert, Sue Fuller. From 17.99. www.yoga2hear.co.uk
This November, Benito Brow Bar, the slick and modern in-store walk-in eyebrow Bar, opened their 19th UK store in Debenhams in London’s Oxford Street. They’re giving 20% off to Beautiful readers until 24th December. So get down there and have your brows and lashes extended, thickened, coloured, tinted or volumised. Go for ‘Benito WOW Lashes’ (set and go in a flash) or get ‘Back to the WOW brows’ - a new bespoke brow treatment that creates full brows instantly! www.benitobrowbar.com
EVOLVE is a great new online magazine dedicated to developing products and services that influence higher levels of self esteem for women who are size 14+ ‘through positive imagery and media.’ Launching in December, Evolve is online and freely available (meaning you don’t have to be a subscriber to read it) and you can download it to your computer. The great thing about Evolve is that it showcases new designers. Rianne Ward, the founder of the site says: “We see ourselves as a portal of fashion information for women. We let them know about some of the amazing designers that are creating beautiful collections, many they may not have heard of yet.” Evolve also provides fashion events and some brilliant workshops, such as Full Figured Funk…This is the UK’s first ever street dance workshop for full figured women. From ‘body popping’ to ‘break dancing’, covering all forms of Street Dance the Full Figured Funk Workshop will be doing it! Rianne says: “Women should be confident no matter how big or small they are.” We couldn’t agree more! www.evolve-magazine.com
www.beautifulmagazine.co.uk | 7
One gift. Two smiles.
£7 Visit our More than a Gift site and buy Christmas dinner with all the trimmings for a homeless young person on behalf of someone you love. That’s one great dinner and two happy people.
www.centrepointgifts.org.uk/beautiful To order by phone call 0800 138 8479
VAP1011P01
Charity no. 292411.
regular
MAILBAG We love getting letters from you, our lovely readers. Please write to use about anything we’ve published or your thoughts about Beautiful - what you like and what you don’t like. If you want us to know you’ve seen us on TV or radio or read about us in the press, or just want to tell us your story, we’re interested in hearing your thoughts. The writer of the best letter reaching us by 14th January 2011 and printed in our February & March issue will win a set of gorgeous underwear from Curvy Kate (www.curvykate.com). Please email mailbag@beautifulmagazine.co.uk or write to Beautiful, Revolution Press, 11 Langford Road, Lostock Gralam, Cheshire CW9 7QP.
THICK AS A…
I saw Samantha Brick’s article in the Mail where she says she’s watched kids cry at fat camp and that ‘not one of them was happy in their flabby skin.’ She used this as an example of why Beautiful magazine is a bad idea. Has anyone asked the kids at fat camp WHY they feel so ugly? Could it be a lack of normal sized role models? Could it be that they’ve been teased and bullied because they fail to meet the current sized zero yardstick? Self-loathing is a psychological issue that many people of all sizes suffer and it’s nice that there’s a magazine offering a way out of that. I don’t see anyone yelling about Gok Wan or Trinny and Susannah teaching women to embrace their real sized figures. Why is Sue Thomason and Beautiful magazine copping flack for doing it in print what these media darlings do on television? Rebecca Bloomer
I BELONG HERE
I am a naturally curvy 28-year-old woman and have battled to accept that for more than 15 years. My turning point was asking myself why should I have to fight to accept who I am? I have large breasts and for years I tried to wrestle with clothes that I saw the on likes of Fearne Cotton, Victoria Beckham and other women in the fashion game. I eventually asked myself how can I possibly compare my style and look with these women? We have absolutely no comparable features! I’ll be first in the queue when the next issue of Beautiful is out because it’s the first time I can read a woman’s magazine without feeling like an outcast. Christine Coogans
FREE AT LAST
THANKS TO BEAUTIFUL
I am so excited about Beautiful. I always felt less of a person because I wasn’t skinny - so much so that I went to extreme methods to lose weight that I probably didn’t need to lose. I owe my happiness to Beautiful at the moment, as since I read it, I’ve started to look for more sources of positive body image and I’ve never felt more comfortable in my own skin. I am just a normal 27-yearold married mother of two and my husband has never seen me exude more confidence than now. I’ll NEVER go back!! Thanks xxx Jane Wilson
I spent 10 years of my life maintaining an unnaturally thin figure. My sister, who died in an accident last year, found it effortless to stay at a size 10, so I could never understand why I had to work so hard at it. I never for one moment felt happy or beautiful. The effort to control my wayward body was a full time job. When my sister died I thought: “Surely there must be more to life than this?” I’ve wasted so much time. But not any more. I still eat well and I run for half an hour most days but I’m making sure I’m reading and watching things that don’t make me feel that I need to be skinny to be acceptable (which is not easy). Without the obsession, my brain is freed up so much that I’ve started a course at university and I feel that when the shadow of my sister’s death has left me, happiness is finally waiting on the horizon. Sarah James
TWEET LIFE
Writer Colin Houlson visits the social networker sites and sorts the celebrity tweet from the chaff... Should I do Celebrity (hah!) Come Dine with Me? Aren’t the others pissy about your house? Btw, I can’t cook. ARABELLA WEIR @ArabellaWeir Cornered by a young Tory at a party. I wanted to say: “You’ve already got all of the money and power! Why can’t you leave me be?!’ JOSIE LONG @JosieLong Could everyone please ensure they also take a hearty breakfast this morning. If you don’t your body will panic and store fat in your arse. SIMON PEGG @simonpegg I won’t be satisfied until I see Lauren Harries in a one-woman musical production of Faust. And I suspect neither will she. KATY BRAND @KatyFBrand There should really be somewhere you can go to punch meat. SARAH MILLICAN @SarahMillican75 I wonder what they do with all the ovals they cut out of the head end of massage tables. DAVID SCHNEIDER @davidschneider How do you take your coffee? Like my men: orally. PETER SERAFINOWICZ @serafinowicz Colin Houlson writes the popular film review blog Popcorn Double Feature, http://www.theargus. co.uk/blogs/blogs/popcorn_double_feature
www.beautifulmagazine.co.uk | 9
BITCH
in the red corner
Gillian McKeith
Gillian McKeith is a celebrity nutritionist and crusader against obesity. Famous for shouting at fat people and sorting through their poo on TV in her weekly series You Are What You Eat, she’s built up a substantial business empire selling personal health plans, detox diets and nutritional supplements as well as her own diet books. Millions of us have watched You Are What You Eat, and seen Gillian bullying larger people to by shouting at them, piling their week’s meals in one unappetising mass onto a large table, showing them a grave stone made of food and telling them they’re going to die unless they eat her way. She uses humiliation and scare tactics to help people into healthier eating habits and weight loss. More often than not, contestants are reduced to tears. Contestants then change their eating habits for eight weeks, sticking to Gillian’s eating rules, which are always strict and based on Gillian’s ‘detox’ dieting rules - a big change from their usual fare, in both amount and type. She prescribes a mixture of old-fashioned advice and severe dieting. The You Are What You Eat participants reach the end of their eight weeks looking temporarily slimmer and smiling brightly, thanking Gillian for ‘changing their lives’. Gillian has a company called McKeith Research Ltd, which is ‘dedicated to obtaining the most credible research in the field of Nutrition and disseminating that information to the public’. As a result of her research, Gillian says she can assess your nutritional needs by examining your nails, hair, lips, skin or tongue, by mapping your pimples, and by inspecting your poo. She believes that many parts of the body provide insight into illness. “I always think of the tongue as being like a window to the organs,” she says. “The extreme tip correlates to the heart, the bit slightly behind is the lungs. The right side shows what the gallbladder is up to and the left side, the liver. The middle indicates the condition of your stomach and spleen and the back, the kidneys, intestines and womb.” The appearance, smell and consistency of Poo, Gillian argues, gives clues
to bodily malfunction. Gillian also says that the colour of food is relevant to its health giving properties and she recommends eating darker leaves because they’re full of chlorophyll, which, she says, ‘will really oxygenate your blood.’ Until 2007 Gillian called herself ‘Dr’ Gillian McKeith, but agreed to drop the title on promotion of her range of health care products. The reason? A result of one of Dr Ben Goldacre’s blog posts. Ben says that some of Gillian’s credentials are fake - namely her claim that she has a PhD from the acclaimed American College of Nutrition. Gillian, in fact, has a distance-learning PhD in holistic nutrition from the American Holistic College of Nutrition, which was not accredited by any recognised educational authority. Ben’s blog post prompted a reader to report her to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The ASA investigated and Gillian removed the credential from some of her product promotion. At the time she said: “As far as I am concerned, because of the hard work I have done, I will continue to put PhD after my name and I am entitled to use the word doctor as and when I choose.” Publicly Gillian has kept quiet about the ongoing battle with Ben Goldacre, but someone recently expressed allegedly libelous opinions about him through her official Twitter account, she claims it wasn’t her, although the Tweets were written in the first person. This dispute is now heading towards a legal climax, and she is inclined to sue those who criticise her so we’ve decided not to publish the comments. But she does say: “I am on a crusade to change the nation and fortunately, or unfortunately, that is going to put me in the limelight. But you cannot have change without a bit of resistance. They can try to attach stigma [sic] to me, but it will bounce off, back on to them. I refute [sic] anyone who is trying to bring me down. I’m proof that if you’re trying to forge a new way ahead, you’re going to ruffle a few feathers.” Many of Gillian’s followers say they have benefited from her health advice and she says that Ben Goldacre isn’t taking into account that she has helped a lot of people to turn their lives around.
“I am on a crusade and you can’t have change without a bit of resistance”
10 | beautiful DECEMBER & JANUARY 2010/11
Photo: McKeith Research Ltd.
FIGHT
feature
Photo: Pop Tech & Kris Krug
TV nutritionist Gillian McKeith and Scientist Dr Ben Goldacre have been locked in battle since 2004. Here Caroline Coulton takes a look at what this fight is all about...
in the blue corner
Ben Goldacre
Dr Ben Goldacre is an NHS psychiatrist and science writer who has set himself up as a watchdog for the portrayal of science in the media through his website www.badscience.com and a column in the Guardian, also titled Bad Science and his book of the same name. He has written at length about Gillian McKeith’s claims on health and diet and he describes her as a ‘menace to science’. Goldacre’s criticisms of Gillian’s credentials led to her to agree to stop using the title ‘Dr’. Stating that he gets ‘a bit upset’ by Gillian, Ben exposed her claims that her PhD is from the respected American College of Nutrition as false. He says her degree is from Clayton College of Natural Health in Alabama (now called the American Holistic College of Nutrition), which is a correspondence school not recognised by the US secretary for education. When Ben made this public on his blog, Gillian said that the statement had been a mistake made by one of her employees. “The real problem, though,” he says, “is not what she calls herself, but the mumbo-jumbo she dresses up as scientific fact.” Ben writes in a Media Watch column in the British Medical Journal that he finds it offensive that the British media is “filled with people who adopt a cloak of scientific authority while apparently misunderstanding the most basic aspects of biology.” As an example, he discusses Gillian’s recommendation of eating darker leaves because they are rich in chlorophyll, pointing out her claim that it will ‘really oxygenate your blood’ as quackery. Ben explains: “Chlorophyll is a small green molecule that uses the energy from light to convert carbon dioxide and water into sugar and oxygen. It’s very dark in your bowels. There is no light there. Consequently the chlorophyll will not create oxygen, and even if it did, even if Dr Gillian McKeith PhD stuck a searchlight up your bum to prove a point, you would not absorb any even slightly significant amount of oxygen with your bowel.” On his blog, Ben adds: “And in case you think I’m being selective, and
only quoting her most ridiculous moments, there’s more... Gillian says the tongue is ‘a window to the organs – the right side shows what the gallbladder is up to, and the left side the liver.’ “And more... ‘Raised capillaries on your face are a sign of ‘digestive enzyme insufficiency – your body is screaming for food enzymes.’ Thankfully, Gillian can sell you some food enzymes from her website. “And more... ‘Skid mark stools’ (she is obsessed with faeces and colonic irrigation) ‘are ‘a sign of dampness inside the body – a very common condition in Britain.’ “And more... ‘If your stools are foul smelling you are ‘sorely in need of digestive enzymes’. “Again,” He continues, “her treatment for pimples on the forehead – not pimples anywhere else, mind you, only on the forehead – is a regular enema. ‘Cloudy urine is ‘a sign that your body is damp and acidic, due to eating the wrong foods.’ The spleen is ‘your energy battery’. “She is a menace to the public understanding of science, and anyone who gives her a platform should be ashamed of themselves.” Ben often gets into a very entertaining lather about people who he says misuse science, including drug companies, self-styled nutritionists, deluded researchers and health journalists. He told us: “I think it’s really sad that so many TV producers and magazine editors seem to think that people would prefer hysteria and bullshit to evidence based information about health. It underestimates everyone’s intelligence.” He says that people like Gillian, while individually not massively important (although usually multimillionaires), are damaging as a whole because: “People really do base their health risk behaviour decisions on what they see in the media.” Although Ben might say he counts Gillian as unimportant as an individual, he has devoted an entire chapter to her in his book Bad Science and he does call her the ‘awful poo lady’. Bad Science by Ben Goldacre is available from Amazon at £3.50.
“The real problem is the mumbo-jumbo she dresses up as scientific fact”
www.beautifulmagazine.co.uk | 11
Main photo: BBC/Hat Trick/Richard Kendall
GOING
soft &
on GETTING Jo Brand
...is on our TV screens more and more often these days and she’s unrecogniseable as the aggressive stand up comic of the early Nineties. Jo’s bovver booted, clichéd lesbian look and string of man-hating one-liners such as: ‘The way to a man’s heart is through his hanky pocket with a breadknife,’ sparked a lot of criticism. Now she’s turning old enemies into fans by dropping her stage persona and revealing who she really is. She knows it, too. “I’m aware of this general feeling, just from bits and pieces that people tell me they’ve read in the press, that I’m a bit nicer than I used to be.”
J
celebrity
o’s new softer image is tremendously likeable and she’s as funny as she ever was. Now she’s even become one of the lads, as she is the only woman to appear regularly on the ‘jobs for the boys’ shows, such as QI and Have I Got News For You, that always seem to be on whenever you switch on your TV. This new warm, more feminine Jo adds a soft-focus to the sharp and cutting wit of her male counterparts. That’s not to say she can’t be sharp and cutting, she most certainly can be and is as hilariously rude and witty as the men. If this sounds like a contradiction, it is! One that is borne out of the fact that Jo has the unique ability to appear both shy and vulnerable and ultracomposed and relaxed in her own skin. Comedian, writer and now, to her surprise, actress, Jo also recently appeared in BBC4’s Getting On, which she co-wrote with two of her co-stars. It’s a darkly comic tale of life in an NHS geriatric ward and it’s so deadpan it takes you a while to realise just how funny it is. Described by A A Gill as ‘The Office meets One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’, the show pokes fun at death, bodily functions and the desolation and humdrum existence that is working in the health service. Something Jo knows all about – she worked as a psychiatric nurse for 10 years. “We wanted to do the antidote to Holby City,” she says, “where everyone’s got so much make-up on and they do nursing care for twenty seconds and then they go and have an affair with the surgeon, or a patient comes in that they fancy. We wanted to unglamourise it and make it as normal and human as possible. We wanted to capture the sheer quiet desperation of it all,” “It’s a grind and it’s depressing and people’s lives are sad. But a lot of the time it’s funny and you meet lovely people and you get fond of them. But dying is something that happens all the time. It’s something that nurses aren’t blasé about, but it’s almost a daily part of their lives and they deal with it in a sort of rudimentary and fairly bland way, if you like.” Jo, who was nominated for a BAFTA for her role in Getting On, is being either falsely modest or she doesn’t know how good she is when she says: “I don’t act at all. I wanted to stick closest to what I was when I was a psychiatric nurse, so it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch.” As Getting On has been signed up for another six series it might be the former. In Getting On Jo reveals herself to be a great actress. Then, of course, there are her three novels, her two autobiographies, Look Back In Hunger and Can’t Stand Up For Sitting Down, and she finds the time to do masses of charity work and run marathons and spend time with her husband, Bernie (a psychiatric nurse), and her two young daughters, Maisie and Eliza. Before this revelation of actress, comedy writer, author and, of course, the new softer ‘real’ Jo that was always there beneath her stage persona, she w www.beautifulmagazine.co.uk | 13
celebrity
was one of those stand ups that you love or hate – or love to hate. In the early Nineties, her manhating, monotone one-liners upset the sensibilities of audiences, TV personalities and the press. She’s had drinks thrown over her at gigs and a slap in the face. And at a student gig, the audience threw food at her. “It toughens you up,” she says. “A lot of them were just showing off in front of their mates.” “But sometimes I would get heckled and I could tell there was real hatred in it. I don’t know what that was about, perhaps common-or-garden misogyny.” On her very first time doing stand up an audience member heckled her as soon as she came on stage, shouting obscenities at her. “I went on at a benefit at midnight and some bloke at the back started shouting: ‘Fuck off you fat cow,’ immediately I got on the stage. He then just chanted it over and over again until I got off.” “It was almost a pleasure,” she says. “I felt that no one in an audience could abuse me worse than the abuse I’d had at work as a psychiatric nurse. People in a manic phase of bipolar are enormously eloquent and their abuse is focused and personal and raw. We treated a lot of criminals who’d killed people and I was scared from time to time.” No matter how much abuse she’s had over the years, from audiences, the press, and even other TV personalities, Jo has always seemed to remain relaxed, dignified and serene. “I’m not particularly calm,” she says. “But I’m good at acting calm — if you look like you’re not fazed by the hecklers, it helps. The more scary the gig, the greater the satisfaction if it works. And I did want to be liked by an audience. Feminism was not a fashionable school of comedy. I wanted the people who hated feminists to realise we could laugh at ourselves, 14 | beautiful DECEMBER & JANUARY 2010/11
and be funny as well as serious and boring.” ‘Women get judged far more on appearance than on content. If you’re on a comedy bill with three men, their heckles will be ‘you’re boring’, whereas the woman’s will be ‘you’re fat, you’re ugly, get your tits out’. “A bit of me wanted to say to the men in the audience: ‘Look, I can do this just as well as anyone else can and I’m a woman and you’ve got to stop underestimating women because we’ve got a big strength about us.’ And stand up comedy just
Some bloke at the back started shouting
‘fuck off you fat cow’
He then just chanted it over and over again until I got off.
Photos: BBC/VERA & Mark Granier
Jo in her stand up days circa 94. (left) and with her fellow cast from Getting On today. (right)
seemed to me a good arena in which to do it really.” “I know that in my act I polarised maleness and femaleness,” she says. “And I did that deliberately, but I didn’t mean that all men were like that, because that would be ridiculous. The men I was talking about were an identifiable group. They objectify women, they intimidate them, and some of them are bullies.” “It was very difficult not to tar all men with the same brush – because I certainly wouldn’t want to do that – but in some ways making it any more complex than that was a bit pointless. So I did go for them as a group, which I know is unfair, but I kind of thought to myself: ‘You blokes, you’ve had the advantage of hundreds of thousands of years. Why don’t we have a bit of a go now?’” These days, the ‘sea monster’, as she once billed herself, is more of a teddy bear: a Countdown guest, and a reliable, multipurpose celebrity. Her change in image doesn’t come from any change in her – she is as she always was. It’s just that the public didn’t get to see the real Jo until her first reality TV: that makeover with Trinny and Susannah. “After that, a lot of TV execs went, ‘Ooh, she’s normal. She’s not the man-hating, hideous old lesbian we thought she was,” says Jo. “Now we can employ her, and she’s not going to saw someone’s bollocks off.’” “I’m very happy. I get offered more work than I can cope with,” she adds, “so I have the ability to pick and choose things that are interesting to me. That’s an amazing position to be in.” l Jo’s two autobiographies and her three novels, Sorting Out Billy, It’s Different For Girls and The More You Ignore Me are published by Headline Review and are available from all major bookstores and retailers. Written by Caroline Coulton
having my spIrits lIfted MAde iT A gOoD Macmillan Cancer Support, registered charity in England and Wales (261017), Scotland (SC039907) and the Isle of Man (604).
daY
Margaret, 75, living with cancer My day didn’t start too well. Everything had got on top of me and I felt really low. When I called the Macmillan Support Line, I didn’t know where to start. But somehow they helped me find the words. Just talking honestly about how I felt was such a relief. Now I don’t have to cope with the bad days on my own. For cancer support at home, over the phone, call the Macmillan Support Line free
0808 808 00 00 (Monday to Friday, 9am–8pm)
macmillan.org.uk
Britain Needs your
Could you be a cover model on a glossy magazine? Do you fancy being whisked off to Paris to a glamorous photo shoot to be photographed by magnificent celebrity fashion photographer Velvet D’Amour? Would you like to be the star of the day, posing in fashionable clothes chosen by your own stylist, having your makeup done by a professional make-up artist? We will create a set of stunning photos of our winner, one of which will adorn the the cover of our August/ September 2011 issue?
I
f you’ve ever doubted that you’re beautiful as you are, having your image emblazoned across the front of a magazine, looking fantastic, should help to change your mind. And that’s exactly the chance we’re offering you if you enter the Beautiful Curvy Cover Model Competition. Imagine walking into a newsagent or a supermarket and seeing your own gorgeous smile beaming out at you from the magazine stands? Would you pick up the magazine and show people, saying: “That’s me!” Or would you just secretly hope that people will recognise you (they will!). What about the checkout girl’s face as you buy the magazine with you on it?! Your friends and family will be thrilled to
16 | beautiful DECEMBER & JANUARY 2010/11
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see their girl as a glamorous cover girl. And glamorous you will be because you will be photographed by the inimitable celebrity fashion photographer Velvet D’Amour (see page 20). In fact, the whole experience will be almost more glamour than you can handle because you will be flown over for a day and a night in Paris for the cover shoot and you will be treated like a jet-setting supermodel.
The photo session will be fun: you’ll be pampered and preened by your very own hairdresser, make up artist and fashion stylist. If it’s your first fashion shoot, it’s an experience you’ll remember for a lifetime. After the shoot you will be taken out to dinner by a Beautiful magazine representative and you’ll spend the night in a stylish Paris hotel. The next day it’s home again to tell your friends and family about your experience. But then, just as the excitement starts to die down, it will suddenly spark into life again as the magazine with you and your curves as the Beautiful cover model will appear on the shelves. Our model scouts will be out and about in major cities in the UK between now and
June 2011, on our intensive model search. If one of our scouts approaches you, he or she will take a snapshot of you and take down your name, email address and a mobile number. (Please don’t give any more detail than this. Our scouts will not ask you for address or home phone numbers) and you will be asked for your permission to publish the photograph in the magazine. Whether you say yes or no will not affect your entry into the Curvy Cover Model Competition. You can opt out of publication of the snapshot and still enter the competition. You can also enter online at www. beautifulmagazine.co.uk/covercompetition by filling out an entry form and supplying your own photograph. Our cover model this issue, Stephanie Gallagher, says: “I loved being the cover model of Beautiful. It was an amazing experience and it’s brought me so much confidence. I’ve felt so self assured and confident since the shoot – I can honestly say it’s changed the way I feel about myself.” Most women have dreamed of being a cover model at some point in their lives, it’s a bit like the little girl’s dream, like a fairytale. Well, it can come true for you!
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ves Photo: John Cameron
WA T OU CH FO T SC R OU OU R TS !
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Although at work, Bita, size 14, looks amazing - teaming a modern take on a classic little black dress with comfy boots from Dune.
Emma, size 12, looks good in a smock dress with tights. Teamed with a leather jacket, this makes a great outfit.
Emma Williams Lauren, size 12, shows us how great a poncho looks over skinny jeans.
Street smart
Lauren Pye 18 | beautiful DECEMBER & JANUARY 2010/11
Bita Pendashteh Although at work, size 14 Alex looks relaxed and casual but stylish at the same time. Skinny jeans and a T-shirt are perfect for comfortable shopping.
Alex Galbraith
feature Sharmaine, size 14, looked effortless and cool in the perfect combination for a big shopping trip.
Sharmaine France
Jen’s coat is the perfect winter coat. Bright, interesting and a great coat to accentuate those size 14 curves!
We love Jessica, who’s a size 14-16. Her coat makes the perfect female silhouette.
Kate Wilson, Beautiful model scout, went out into the streets of Manchester to find contenders for our Curvy Cover Model Competition. She found so many lovely curvy women that we found it difficult to choose which ones to include here. But after some debating and arguing, we decided on these eight women who we think are gorgeous, well-groomed, obviously enjoying their look and have mastered the art of individuality. Our scouts will be roaming the streets of UK towns and cities over the coming months and if you’re out there and looking good, they might just pounce on you and you’ll find yourself on these pages too!
Jen Nobbs
We think size 20 Rebecca looks fabulous, teaming a classic LBD and a white mac that looked more Burberry than George at Asda
Jessica Beard
Rebecca Unsworth www.beautifulmagazine.co.uk | 19
The striking, individual and iconoclastic Velvet D’Amour has conquered both fashion and TV at a size not usually accepted by either. She is best known for the worldwide media coverage she received after her appearance as a plussize model in Jean-Paul Gaultier’s 2007 Spring/Summer collection shown in Paris, and for strutting her ample stuff in John Galliano’s prêt-à-porter showing, Everybody Is Beautiful. She’s modelled for French Vogue, been a movie star, a singer, dancer, popular TV commentator and she’s recently appeared in the French version of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.
Velvet D'Amour
An American living in Paris, multi-talented Velvet is vibrant, articulate and intelligent and her fans say she’s a ‘refreshing change.’ But her awesome personality and voluptuous frame are not the only things causing a stir in the international media: she’s moved to the other side of the camera and her much acclaimed fashion photography has shot her to stardom once again.
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e’re honoured here at Beautiful magazine because Velvet D’Amour has agreed to photograph the winner of our curvy cover model competition. Here writer Caroline Coulton talks to her about the love of her life: her photography
Q. Have you always had the burning desire to take pictures? A. I find any creative endeavour incredibly fulfilling. My
grandfather was an artist, a painter, and so perhaps art came naturally to me, too. From a very early age I drew incessantly. I went to college at SVA (School of Visual Arts, NYC). It was here I found that I got instant gratification from taking a photograph and it was very different than the hours and hours that went into my painting. Photography allowed me to make my statement far more easily. I love seeing how a simple photo can actually make a definitive change in someone’s life, as well as affect a broader audience. Q. You put a lot of your own personality into your photography. Do you ever look at a scene and wonder how it will look to other people or do you take a picture to please yourself? A. Thank you! I like that you sense
Photo: Aurélia Thevenin
my personality in my photographs. My imagery tends to be seductive. I hope to change people’s idea’s of beauty, to be inclusive. I tend to take whatever subject I am working with, and pull out their individual beauty, whether they’re a 600 pound woman, an 80 year old, or a more standard model. w
www.beautifulmagazine.co.uk | 21
As far as pleasing others, I like to empower my models by revealing beauty they themselves may not see. I think we are all vehicles for the art that lives within each of us and the images we make come forth naturally if you allow yourself to express them. Q. You break the rules with your pictures and refuse to conform. Why do you think this is important?
A. I think a key component to my success has been because I take risks. I have an unapologetic attitude because I am infuriated by how the media curses us with a singular, near impossible ideal of beauty. People will say its about ‘health’, yet how often do we consider the mental health of our society? How many people suffer terribly with low self esteem because they can’t ever begin to reach this ideal which affronts them from every billboard, TV commercial, or taxi driving by? And then, in turn, how many drink to feel better or take drugs, or smoke, etc, etc. If we had a broad cross section of society represented in media, it would help people to feel sexy, included, and beautiful, which then lends itself to better caring for oneself. So my choice of anti-conformity is important - the dictates of a media highly saturated with impossible ideals translates to me having to take action. Q. What do your curvy and fat models think when they see the photographs that you’ve taken of them?
A. I have had subjects actually begin to cry after seeing the photos I take, amazed by how beautiful they are. That is so powerful. I am fortunate in that the majority of people I shoot tend to be highly excited by my work, so it makes for wonderful energy. Some of my curvy counterparts have a bit of difficulty seeing their body, as many fat women tend to stick with their ‘pretty face’, and actually avoid looking at their body. My work confronts the viewer with their body, but in a very fashion forward, complimentary manner. Thus they are taken aback, and then inevitably they fall in love with themselves, and that is a lot of what my work is about. You are going to fall in love with you, when you shoot with me. Q. I read an interview with you where you talked about nude photography of big women and how this is seen as arty and that it takes little effort, tell me why you think we need to have more images of bigger women wearing fashion?
A. What I said was, people tend to feel they will ‘go out on a limb’ and shoot a fatty, and then 22 | beautiful DECEMBER & JANUARY 2010/11
they take a nude pic, which oftentimes is more about shock value than beauty. I shoot loads of arty nudes too, but the difference is we make no statement by relegating fat women to the same ol, same ol, Renaissance flavour. It pushes no limits, and breaks no boundaries. If you really want to be revolutionary then doing a fashion shoot with a fat person is by far more radical. The reason we need more imagery of bigger people, beyond the odd painterly nude, is that fashion is what creates people’s idea of beauty in our modern world. People will rarely ask themselves why they perceive, say, a young emaciated tall girl as gorgeous. But were the witch from Bewitched to wiggle her nose, and automatically change each image out there of a young emaciated tall girl, to a 300lb 50 year old, odds are 300lb 50 year olds would start to be seen as desirable. What I see as ideal, is more inclusion, not only of different shapes and sizes of models, but older models, differently-abled models, different ethnicity, basically a cross section of the world we live in. Q. People have a very set idea of beauty and, in my opinion, it’s all too often a received idea, rather than their own gut feeling for what is beautiful. What are your views on this?
A. Absolutely! I couldn’t agree more. It is as I said before, we are caught up in a world which is saturated with images which can’t help but affect our psyche. Never before have there been such a plethora of advertisements inundating us, no matter where we look. Even when I’m on a plane as I travel from Paris to NY there is an advert on the damn napkin! I know it can be a challenge to try to divorce yourself from the modern media driven concept of beauty and truly take the time and energy to find out what pleases you, what excited you, what inspires you, but it is in the end well worth the challenge. Q. Your work is undeniably beautiful. Would you say your work is directly asking people to start looking through their own eyes?
A. To me what is visually stimulating is that which is uncommon, like say, taking a Kate Moss and pop her next to Beth Ditto. Switch it up! I think my work is seen as beautiful because I can emulate what we witness in mainstream culture, yet it is tweaked, because instead of a skinny 17 year old blonde chick staring back at you, it may be a someone who has a hearing aid. But I’m not against shooting the skinny blonde chick either, its just as bigoted to diss very thin models as it is to hate on fat people.
feature Q. What’s next for you?
A. Well, I was psyched to be in France’s Celebrity Farm [France’s version of I’m a Celebrity...] and ended up making 9 of the 10 weeks! It was an amazing experience as we were in a South African nature reserve. Then this summer I had a expo of my photography to benefit a battered women’s charity (www.safejourney.org). Now I’m flying back from Paris, where I was included in a documentary about the Beauty of being Big. I also made my very first music video for a song which I recorded in NY with Phil Broikos. It was such a blast! I have another two French songs, which I recorded with musician David Coroner in Paris. I am thrilled to be singing, and writing lyrics! And I have a number of people who want my photography to grace the pages of their magazines, portfolios, etc, so I am keeping damn busy! Q. What advice would you give to our readers?
“You’re going to fall in love with you, when you shoot with me.”
A. Take risks, ask questions, and be true to yourself. Volunteer to help others, it helps you maintain a healthy perspective on what’s important in life. Carpe Diem! www.velvetography.com
All photos by Velvet D’Amour taken exclusively for Plus Model magazine (www. PlusModel.Mag.com). From left to right: Photos 1 & 2: Model: Audrey Lea Curry; Hair: Sabrina Adaba; Clothing: ReDress. Photos 3 & 4: Model: Chloe Elizabeth Marshall (www. chloemarshall.co.uk); Hair: Magdalena Tucholska; Make-up Chantelle James. Photos 5 & 6: Model: Chloe Elizabeth Marshall; Hair and make-up; Lorenzo Rosi (www.lorenzorosi. com), using Dermalogica
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TOP: Ann Harvey, £99, annharveyfashion.co.uk LEGGINGS: Evans, £10, evans.co.uk BOOTS: Marta Jonsson, £110, VivaLaDiva.com
F fashion
Four pages of fashion featuring
wearable clothes from stores that go
above a size 10 on Kizzy Ryan, our size 16 model.
THE LADY IS AN OFFICE VAMP!
Vampires are everywhere. Twilight at the movies, True Blood and The Vampire Diaries on TV - it’s time to bite back and show what you’re made of with the ultrasexy gothic glamour trend. By Rebecca Takacs
ake blood and fangs aren’t necessary. The new gothic glamour isn’t about a full-on horror story if you wear it right it can look truly elegant. This look has been around for quite some time, but now it’s bigger than ever and this season, black is back with a vengeance. On the catwalks, Christopher Kane used leather trims to toughen up delicate lace tops; Balmain had an array of black furs and sheer chiffon fabrics and most of the models came out pale skinned with jet black hair (finally, you can ditch the fake tan!); Vogue whispered about ‘Gothic romance’, and Elle spoke of ‘black widows’ parading down the catwalks. Every time you turn on the TV there seems to be another programme about the undead or the supernatural. The most popular is True Blood, and it seems everybody wants their very own Bill Compton. Even celebrities are in on the hype, with Lady Gaga, Taylor Momsen, Beth Ditto and Ashley Olsen giving the Goth look more than a passing nod. Britain’s Next Top Model judge Grace Woodward is a fan of the look (she tweeted: “Another red lipstick, oh go on, thanks Chanel.”). And X-Factor judges Cheryl Cole and Dannii Minogue channelled the look this series with Cheryl dying her hair a deep red and Dannii trying out dark lip colours. High street stores, of course, are taking full advantage of the trend. Miss Selfridge, which only stocks up to size 16 (boo, hiss!), have their very own ‘The Vampire Diaries’ collection, featuring dresses and tops in green, grey and black. Evans, leading high street store for the more voluptuous vamp (hooray!), has some brilliant items, ranging from velvet leggings, to stunning maxi dresses and faux-fur coats. Debenhams have some gorgeous structured dresses in and adding a military theme alongside Gothic with cropped jackets. Get yourself to your nearest House of Fraser for a range of different brands, all offering something to get your vampire fix. Reinvented brand Biba www.beautifulmagazine.co.uk | 25
has some gorgeous glittery items to add a bit more glitter and sparkle. Recreating the look yourself is easy - you can simply paint your nails black or go all out Goth. Keep the colour palette black, but if that’s too much for you, try adding subtle colours in such as mulberry and deep violet; these colours keep the look quite feminine. Add interest by trying different fabrics. Lace, velvet, satin and chiffon are again feminine but still fit in with the Gothic look. Curvy girls can use velvet panels to enhance their curves; and if bodyskimming satin jersey isn’t your thing, a long-line dress with caplet sleeves will inject the va-va-voom into hourglass! Dresses with sheer sleeves are very on trend this winter, and Sixties smock styles have a real retro vibe. Lace leggings are a really easy way to add a bit of detail to your outfit, but if you’re wearing them with ankle boots, make sure the leggings are long enough to tuck into the boot. Calf-length styles were a favourite at festivals over the summer and look like they’re sticking around. The maxi dress is back with a bang for the party season. Get ready for that Christmas party you’ve been invited to and team your sparkly new maxi with a thin knit or faux-fur. Earlier this year, Ruth Marshall-Johnson, future trends analyst at the Worth Global Style Network, predicted “the vampire look will be very popular”. How right she was –the Goth trend is hear for the duration of the winter and, of course, as well as the clothes, the make up is what completes the look. The message is clear: colour is dead, long live the Goth!
COAT: (left) £70 SKIRT: £30, both Evans BODICE: (above) £40 SKIRT: £27, both Evans SHOES: £59.99, Schuh, VivaLaDiva.com
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fashion Glamorous Gothic style facts Screen star Theda Bara was the first to glamorise the vampy shades of the 1920’s silent horror movies. Her dark lips came courtesy of make up artist Max Factor, whose legendary ‘Cupid’s bow’ application apparently started from a movie lighting problem: hot studio lighting caused lip colour to run, so he used foundation to cover the natural outlines of actresses’ mouths and then placed only thumbprints of lipstick at the centres of their luscious lips. During the World War II, women were encouraged to wear red lipstick into the factories and on active duty as a morale booster. A Marines dictate stated that lip colours for servicewomen had to match the red chevrons on their uniforms and the red cords on their hats. Elizabeth Arden created her legendary Montezuma Red to meet the demand. Forget lipstick, lip stain pens are the new beauty must have. They allow more precision than lipstick, the colours are a lot richer and they last longer. Topshops ‘Heavy Duty’ make up range has them in a variety of colours and they’ve been given the thumbs up by our beauty editor, too.
Photography: Adam Saunders (asphoto.x@gmail.com). Model: Kizzy Ryan. Styling: Caz Moss. Assisted by Rebecca Takacs. Hair and make-up: Gail Ostick
(www.mobilemakeupartist.co.uk).
DRESS: Marisota, £85, marisota.co.uk
www.beautifulmagazine.co.uk | 27
fashion
Rubenisstas There’s a much publicised blog called rubenisstas.org that is a mine of information on where to get hold of well-made, affordable and fashionable clothes that fit ordinary women, as well as accessories to die for. We thought we’d plunder that mine for you and we’ve asked Rubenissta herself to give you some tips on the best clothes, jewellery and luxurious treats out there right now...
Website of the month
If you read my blog you’ll know that I champion small independent retailers. So I was delighted to come across this website featuring exactly that. notonthehighstreet. com showcases around 1,600 small independent traders. Its mission is “Seeking out the people who create the unusual, the inspired and just plain ‘out there’”. You will not find a single mass-produced item in sight. Everything: jewellery, stationary, tea-towels, clothing, Christmas decorations and lots more besides, is showcased here. If you want that something special which is unique then let your imagination run riot in here. They have a special section dedicated to Christmas and each category is divided into sections. I reckon you could source all of your Christmas needs here and give a much needed boost to the small guy in the process. www.notonthehighstreet.com
Carmakoma
The Vikings are coming...
I discovered this newish Danish label Carmakoma quite by accident. It’s owned by two friends, Heidi Lykke and Angelica Weiss, who met in 1997 at design school. Anyway, many years and many designs later, they launched this label in 2008.
Heidi and Angelica (who are definitely not Rubenisstas (my word for curvy girls, like me) but I won’t hold that against them) describe their range as ‘filled with charm and raw sexy energy’. Now I don’t know about you but I could certainly do with a sharp shot of that!
The range is very black and very rock chick but I really like it, it appeals to my hidden desire to be hanging off the arm of some skinny fool harbouring musical ambitions who has so many tattoos that I can read him if I get bored. This style might not be to every’s taste (what is?) but its edgy and I like that - a lot.
Now to the sizing - I love the sizing! XS = 14, S = 16 -18, M = 20, L = 22-24. I don’t know about you but I can’t remember the last time I bought a piece of clothing with a size ‘S’ on it! Not that sizing matters, of course but it just feels like a novelty to be mainstream. www.carmakoma.com
GUILTY PLEASURE
DISNEY COUTURE JEWELLERY
28 | beautiful DECEMBER & JANUARY 2010/11
My guilty pleasure this month has got to be Disney Couture jewellery. I know at my age I should know better but these pieces are a joy to behold. I bought the gorgeous Cinderella pumpkin necklace to find that you open it to reveal a tiny blue slipper. Breaking my ban not to buy anything before Christmas I took a sneaky peak at the Zentosa website and simply had to purchase the Alice in Wonderland silver glass ‘Drink Me’ bottle. Its great and perfect for wearing over that dress or blouse and does not look at all ridiculous! www.zentosa.com
resurrect your skin
The secret to ultimate hydration Dr. LeWinn’s now brings nature’s super moisturiser to your night time routine - the Ultra R4 Regenerative Night Cream with Haberlea Rhodopensis Extract. Also known as the Resurrection Plant, it has the unique ability to “come back to life” at the first sign of moisture following severe drought, returning to its full beauty and radiance. The Ultra R4 Regenerative Night Cream can do the same for your skin while you’re sleeping. Your skin is more hydrated, looks and feels softer and smoother and the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles is reduced. A new radiance, a fresh glow. Your skin – resurrected.
rest, repair, replenish, regenerate
Available at Harrods, Selected Boots, Fenwick, Hoopers and Independent stores. For more information or to find your nearest stockist please call 01892 750888.
CHANGING THE FACE OF SKINCARE
www.drlewinns.co.uk
on our side
PLUS MODEL MAGAZINE There are so many ways to get your entertainment these days that you can pick and choose what you let into your mind. The Internet means you don’t have to expose yourself to images and ideas that make you feel worthless. You can join the new women’s movement and decide to be in control of your own influences. Each issue we’ll show a source of entertainment that will make you feel good about yourself. This time it’s Plus Model magazine in the words of its editor Madeline Figueroa Jones.
to make each issue the best it can possibly be. Our readers are our number one priority, and while we realize we can’t please them all, we appreciate all the feedback from them, both good and not so good. Every month, PLUS is a learning experience I’m grateful for.
PLUS Model Magazine is the premier, online magazine celebrating the plus size industry. We write about modeling, fashion, events and industry people. We also have PLUS Model Radio and will be launching PLUS Model TV in 2011. As an online publication, the magazine is available to be read in a number of ways. Some people scroll through the table of contents and choose what they want to read, while others flip through every page. We host Curvy Girl Weekend, which is a fun event based around a US Multiple Sclerosis Walk every April. After I was diagnosed with MS a few years ago, I decided to help raise money towards a cure, and use the weekend as a way to celebrate our bodies. We host a party, shopping event and the MS Walk. I was a contributor to another online publication a few years ago and when that magazine folded, one of the owners and I came together and created PLUS because we realized there was nothing out there celebrating the plus size models and industry in the best way possible. This was almost 5 years ago when we started the magazine; at the time, there was no Crystal Renn in V Magazine, or Elle Magazine covers, it was plus size models wearing huge clothing. No one was working with plus size models for sexy or edgy editorials. We decided to celebrate the models, the designers, brands, stylist and everyone who had something to do with where this ‘movement’ was going. It has been a blessing to have such a wonderful staff by my side. My husband is my number one supporter. He’s the staff photographer and shoots a lot of our covers and editorials. We met many years ago; I was his first plus size model. Our staff consists of professionals in their field, we have veteran models, journalists, makeup artists, and other industry people that make a living doing what they write
about. I believe a strong team has helped to create a strong magazine. It’s a true collective effort. I believe the staff of PLUS all feel the same way as I do about the magazine, the industry and the cause. All of the staff members have very different personalities but the one common thread is the passion they have for the plus size industry. We wanted to put a respectable publication out there that the industry would be proud of and want to be part of. I believe we’ve accomplished this.
I hope that in ten years I will be able to look back and see how PLUS has been able to be a positive influence on the plus size community as a whole. Unity and action are two things that are important to me; I want all plus size women to love themselves enough to be good to themselves, their bodies and each other. I want to be able to develop models, increase brand awareness and work with other like-minded companies and organizations to increase the positive awareness plus size people deserve. Most of all, I hope that when my daughter is older, and able to understand what I do, that she will be proud of what I have accomplished. www.plus-model-mag.com.
We’ve had a number of celebrities in the magazine such as Whitney Thompson, the only plus size model to win America’s Next Top Model. Winner of the first Mo’Niques Fat Chance, Joanne Borgella, also graced our cover, so has Brazilian supermodel Fluvia Lacerda and we’ve had interviews with Carson Kressley, Leonard Nimoy and many plus size actresses, models and people in the media. Within our staff, we have Sharon Quinn best known for Mo’Niques Fat Chance and her years as a plus size model and actress and model, Mia Amber Davis. PLUS has already surpassed everything I thought we would be able to experience inside of five years. We have faced some challenges due to the recession, but we were able to make it through and continue to make bigger strides with each issue. I work very hard www.beautifulmagazine.co.uk | 31
t a h T e d Hi
HANGOVER!
It’s that time of year again – lots of Christmas parties. Waking up feeling like a rat died in your mouth and with a headache worse than child birth. And you’ve got to go to work or drop the kids off at school! With a little gentle care and attention you can pretend you didn’t try to snog your boss or take your clothes off. Beauty therapist Amy Durrant gives her advice on how to look like you stayed in and had an early night…
beauty
! W O L G O T D O BE GO The first rule of looking fresh the morning after is preparation on the night itself and it is resisting the temptation to fall into to bed with make-up on. So, before you go out, place a 2ltr bottle of mineral water next to your bed and put your cleanser and tissues on your pillow. Even if the room is spinning, you’ll at least take some make-up off. You need a cleanser that removes both eye make up and foundation with little effort and which can be wiped off with a tissue (probably while you’re sitting in bed). Pond’s Cold Cream, £3.99 from major chemists, is ideal and it’s great for removing even waterproof mascara without rubbing.
You can sleep with the Pond’s residue on your face and it will keep in moisture overnight. Drink a pint of water before you go to sleep. This will stop you from feeling rough in the morning as well as helping you to look more hydrated. Alcohol has a tendency to make you dream about drinking water and you can wake up in the night with a heavy thirst. Your bottle of water is something you’ll be glad of in the middle of the night.
The next morning you need to cleanse again and this time easy exfoliation is what you need when you don’t feel too good. Herbafarmacy Wash-Off Cleansing Mousse, £11.50, from www.herbafarmacy.co.uk, comes with an organic cotton exfoliating cloth and it leaves you looking and feeling scrubbed clean. Wipe off and rinse the cloth and wipe again alternately in hot and cold water (to exercise your pores) and finish with cold.
can literally paint over the bags and sallow tones with their concealer and brush and then gently build up a couple of layers of their mineral make up with a soft brush until you’re happy with the coverage. Sheer Cover eyeshadow palettes are mineral too and Sheer Cover reckon their make up is so natural you can sleep in it, so it wouldn’t be such a disaster if you ‘forget’ to take it
off the night before! Mineral foundation is £59.85 for the Deluxe Kit (you can pay a monthly fee and get a new kit every three months); eyeshadow palette is £20.95 from www.sheercover.co.uk. Apply the rest of your make-up and, put the tiniest, thinnest layer of Vaseline across your cheekbones and on your forehead. You’re not after a greasy shine, but a healthy, dewy look.
Pat your face dry and apply a layer of fastacting fake tan, such as Institut Esthederm Intense Tan Self-Tanning Treatment Face Cream, £25.45, from www.cultbeauty.co.uk, which develops in under two hours. Leave it to sink in while you have your breakfast and then apply a layer of moisturiser. We like Bakel Jaluronic , which is expensive at £85 but it gives a visible brightness. In the Beautiful office we had a poll and some of us (including me) said we’d rather keep the £85 and look hungover! But the beauty product addicts said they wouldn’t think twice about buying this face cream.
The final touch is to shine up your hair hangover hair is a dead giveaway. We like Davines Defining Shine drops, £14, and Defining Gloss Finishing Spray, £12.40. Now you should be good to glow and no one will ever guess that you ever went to that party - they won’t remember!
When it’s soaked in it’s time to apply your make up. Sheer Cover Mineral Foundation is good for hiding a hangover because you www.beautifulmagazine.co.uk | 33
2
beauty
Black eyes please Photo: Tori Barratt Crane www.flickr.com/photos/torimbc creativecommons.org
Mysterious and alluring black eyes are well and truly on trend this Christmas but if you don’t want to look like a panda, follow make up artist Gail Ostick’s advice about how to get it just right
D
ark eyes are essential if you want the glam gothic look. Black eyes are more of a technique than a colour and the look can be created in any shade. If you’re not brave enough to go all black, try a light nude colour all over the eyelid, then use a dark grey colour in the corners. Try the Autograph Quad Eyeshadow in City Grey palette, £9.50, from Marks & Spencer (right). Using grey is a lighter alternative to all black. If you’re daring enough, try new eye gloss such as the Chanel Eye Gloss palette, £39.34, available from Boots (below). It gives a shimmering effect and it was seen all over the Spring Summer 2011 catwalks, so you’ll be ahead of the pack! You need lots of mascara to finish, try The Body Shop Super Volume mascara, £10 (right).
3. 1.
Apply a base foundation just to your eye area and leave to dry. Then apply a wash of a neutral eyeshadow colour to your eyelid and up to your brow bone, choose a colour that easily blends into your skin.
Here are five simple steps to achieving smoky black eyes...
2.
Apply the dark eyeshadow from your lash line to the crease of your eye socket with a shadow brush. Clean off any excess product from the brush and use small circular motions to blend the colour and soften the edges of the make-up until the colour graduates to nothing. Then, with a narrow, flat ended brush, run the eyeshadow under your bottom eyelashes from inner eye to the outer eye and smudge slightly for a softer look.
4. 5.
Get your eyeliner out. You’ll find it easier to apply eyeliner if you gently drag your eyelid sideways to give a smoother line for you to draw along. You need to get as close to your eyelashes as possible and cover the full length of your lid. Once the top lid is done, sweep your eyeliner along your bottom lid. Smudge the liner gently. If you want a super sexy look, add some liner to the inner rim of your eye.
Apply lashings of mascara top and bottom.
You might find that some of your eyeshadow has dropped onto your cheek, especially if you have used dark or shimmery colour. This is the reason it can be easier to do your eyes first so you can clean away any `fallout’ and then apply the rest of your base and make up so you are left with a clean finish and no touching up is needed.
www.beautifulmagazine.co.uk | 35
We received a
letter from a reader
who wanted us to help her with a relationship issue so we invited life coach Susan Savery to offer her
Photo: Andrea Rose (www.flickr.com/photos/andrearosephotography)
advice.
36 | beautiful DECEMBER & JANUARY 2010/11
relationships
Hi Tamzin,
It always strikes me, when speaking to women about what they want from life, that they often rest their happiness or success on others. So many women give themselves up or lose themselves when they’re in a relationship. It’s all too easy to become wrapped up in your partner and everything starts to become all about him. You stop seeing your friends and start living as if you’re joined at the hip. The beginning of any new relationship is often an exciting time and it can feel great when you’re with someone new and you want to spend all your time with them. You want to find out all about them and want them to want to be with you just as much. After all, this is part of what makes us feel like we are in love and are loved back. But so often this can very easily turn into something that can make you feel trapped and bored, and even though it may seem safe and comfortable, feeling like this can kill a relationship at the roots. It can also make your life seem as though it is stuck in a rut, and leave you hankering for something more. Once this happens you might start to think that things will get better if only ‘he’ would do things differently or even begin asking yourself: “How did I get here?” More often than not, goals then become set around how life will be better if the other person changes and we hope that when our partner gets where we want him to be then our lives, in-turn, will be better. So we concentrate our energies on the other person and end up feeling worse, when nothing changes. It’s easy to think of what we want out of life in relation to others. Without doubt, these goals are intended to make all our lives better but in reality we are less likely to succeed, partly because our values, beliefs, wants and needs are invariably different to other people’s. It looks like living this way didn’t succeed for you, Tamzin, and it goes some way to explaining why you left your fiancé. Many women hang on to their lives as well as being in a committed relationship and, in fact, the more independent and the more full of life and exciting you are, the more you enjoy your life and you’re also more attractive to him than if you’re sitting at home waiting for him or living out of each other’s pockets. What is it that these women have? A life of their own! Having your own independence
and interests doesn’t have to mean that you are incompatible or that there is something wrong with the relationship, it simply means that you value yourself as an individual as well as valuing the partnership that you’re in. Our dreams and goals are just as important to us as individuals as well as those goals we have as a couple. If you give up on them because of being with someone, you are effectively giving up on part of yourself. This might seem like locking the stable door after the horse has bolted, but it’s something you can remember when you’re next in a relationship - and you will be believe me. But you will have to
The thing to remember is that you don’t have to wait for a major life change to make a fresh start. learn to deal with being single differently, too. Women often don’t feel whole when single and they devote their lives to finding their soul mate and nothing else seems important. This makes you come across as desperate and this makes it harder for you to find a partner and you get stuck in a vicious circle. It makes life feel as though something is missing and without hope. Becoming happy with who you are and enjoying being that person is the first step in finding happiness and, as we have probably all heard at one time or another, as soon as you stop looking for that someone else and start concentrating on enjoying
your life and doing the things that interest you, this makes you more attractive and, guess what?, you are more likely to find that someone special who loves and respects you for who you are. It’s your life, Tamzin, so how about making a fresh start? What is it that you want? Think about your dreams no matter how big or small. Which of those would you really like to achieve and how can you make a start in the right direction? Begin by doing one small thing every day; you will be surprised how quickly it adds up. Increase your self-awareness by tapping into your feelings and you will recognise the things that make you happy. If you don’t know what it is that makes you happy, how will you know when you are? See what makes you happy and you’ll notice its existence more often. Change has to come from within. By recognising this you can start to look at what you want to change for yourself and begin to empower yourself. Ask yourself are there any hidden benefits in concentrating on someone else. What, if anything are you avoiding for yourself ? There are usually hidden benefits to concentrating on others rather than yourself. It could be that you avoid facing your own fears or that you gain a sense of purpose. Find ways to pursue your passions even if it is only in the smallest ways and you will find that your happiness levels build up from a sense of connection with your true self. The thing to remember is that you don’t have to wait for a major life change to make a fresh start. In future, whether you’re single or in a relationship, there are steps you can take to become more whole, alive and independent, bringing much more enjoyment into your experience and making the world seem like more of an exciting place. If I could condense everything down into one single piece of advice I’d give you is this: Put all the energy that you spend in trying to find your soulmate into working out how you can succeed at your own personal goals. Susan Savery is a Life Coach and NLP Practitioner, who helps women get the most out of their lives and relationships. Visit www. susansavery.co.uk for a free consultation. www.beautifulmagazine.co.uk | 37
4
Four questions can change your life… How many times have you been told to sort
your life out and thought: ‘If only!’? It all seems
is it true?
so complicated - so many problems, so much of yourself and your life to fix. But what if you could solve any problem by asking yourself just four simple questions? Byron Katie says you can with her technique. She calls it The Work. Charismatic Katie’s
guidance is simple, pragmatic and more like cognitive therapy than psychobabble, it’s a way of learning how to take responsibility for your own problems. It seems to bring those who ask these questions a special kind of peace of mind. Writer Sarah Cummins discovers The Work for herself to find out if it’s true… 38 | beautiful DECEMBER & JANUARY 2010/11
pyschology
“I KNOW THAT PEOPLE WANT TO BE FREE FROM BELIEVING THEIR THOUGHTS”
T
HE WORK is a self awareness programme developed by a woman called Byron Katie. Known as just ‘Katie’, she’s a grandmother with white hair and sparkling blue eyes who travels the globe as host to workshops that bring her message to everyone from prison inmates to abused children. She calls it ‘spiritual enquiry’, but unlike most New Age therapies, you don’t visualise or pray, you just ask four essential questions. “The Work,” says Katie, “is a way of questioning the thoughts that cause all fear and suffering.” A former real estate broker and the mother of three, Katie developed the Work in 1986, while in a state of severe depression. She was also an alcoholic with an eating disorder and she had repeated thoughts of suicide, often finding it difficult to even get out of bed. Then, while lying on the floor of a halfway-house attic, she suddenly achieved a sense of ‘clarity’, realising her troubles stemmed from the fact that she believed her own thoughts and that most of them weren’t actually true. She calls it ‘waking up to reality’. She asked herself four questions that worked as a very simple
way to reveal which thoughts were lies. She found there were always alternative ways of thinking so you needn’t believe the first thought that comes into your head. She realised that as her thoughts changed, so did the world around her. Lifted from her depression, Byron Katie began telling people how she had learned to find joy and happiness instead. She was known by her neighbours as the lady who is ‘lit from inside’ and people began asking her to share her understanding and she eventually began speaking publicly. “I just know that people want to be free from believing their thoughts,” she says. “And I have something they believe will help them and I give it in the same way I got it.” Over time, Byron Katie wrote several books and developed the full-blown process and publication known as The Work of Byron Katie. She applies ‘self-inquiry’ to all aspects of life from troubled relationships to rejection to self-image, grief and loss, and even money. Not associated with any religion, Katie speaks at schools, hospitals, prisons and women’s shelters, delivering relief from struggle to those who seek it.
HOW TO USE THE WORK The Work of Byron Katie centres around four questions designed to reveal that thoughts may or may not be true. Then, to provide possible alternatives, there’s what she calls a ‘turnaround’ - or the revelation that it’s just as possible for the opposite thought to be true. The four questions she asks are: 1. 2. 3. 4.
Is it true? Can you absolutely know that it’s true? How do you react when you believe that thought? Who would you be without the thought?
While these questions and a ‘turnaround’ might seem too simple to have any effect, when answered truthfully, with a dig into the depths of your mind, they can create a radical shift in your view. It’s incredible to watch the awe inspiring turnarounds that happen for people when Katie asks them these questions. People who feel the bitterness of divorce feel peace and love towards their estranged partner and terminal cancer patients can happily come to w terms with their illness. www.beautifulmagazine.co.uk | 39
Q1
Is it true?
DO YOU WANT TO MEET THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE? LOOK IN THE MIRROR
HOW THE WORK WORKED FOR ME My assignment was to try The Work for myself but, as it was just four simple questions, I wasn’t impressed and didn’t believe for one second that it could change anything about me or my life. I suppose I was a bit stubborn to begin with as it seemed far too simplistic. I decided to work on my body image and overeating, after all, it was something I’d been trying to change my whole life. After too many new diet Mondays, all the therapies I could afford, 12-step programs, treatment centres, hypnosis, unpleasant ‘cleansing’ therapies, life coaching and enough books to build a small cabin should I ever need to be self sufficient, I considered myself well and truly unfixable in this area. The challenge seemed simple: your thinking is unhelpful so change it - but I was stumped. My argument was why change my thoughts when I believe them? I didn’t believe that ‘The Work’ of Byron Katie would be any more help to me than all the other methods of thought control that I’d tried. But I agreed to give The Work’s four questions a go. Katie gives a free worksheet from her website that helps you to ask and answer the four questions properly. I printed it out and did it. I could see right away that there was more to it than I thought. Then I went on a one-day introduction course lead by Tamara Alferoff. At the start of the course Tamara handed out a business card sized notelet with the four questions printed on it and joked that this was what we had paid for. Not knowing whether to laugh or cry I took it, thinking: ‘There’s no way this could possibly be of any help to me.’ But I was at the course now so what the hell? The thought I chose to question was “I’m too fat.” Here’s how it went: 40 | beautiful DECEMBER & JANUARY 2010/11
Yes, absolutely. There’s plenty of evidence all around me. And daily confirmation from the media that it’s true, I really am not only too fat, but too short, thick, poor... (insert as applicable here).
Q2 Can you absolutely know that it’s true?
Well, no. I work it out from what’s around me. I know there are countries where bodies like mine are considered attractive. Many people in this country find bodies like mine attractive. I just don’t focus on that. My fiancée finds my body attractive, but I choose to ignore this. I see people with bodies like mine that I find attractive.
How do you react when you believe the thought ‘I’m too fat’?
Q3
"I'm too fat"
I do all I can to not be fat. I obsess about food. I feel stress. I see images of me getting fatter and ending up lonely and housebound. I feel sick, my head gets fuzzy and my throat contracts. I bully and berate myself about what I will eat and what I ate last. I try to restrict my food, go hungry for as long as I can. I don’t bring enough food to work so that I have nothing to eat but then get hungry and have crisps in desperation. I fear that if I didn’t believe this thought I wouldn’t keep myself in check and I’d get even bigger and more unattractive. I have believed this thought since I was 14 and I haven’t been able to have a healthy relationship with food since and am always on my way up or down the scale.
How do you react when you believe the thought and who would you be without the thought?
Q4
I’d be a calm person around food as I wouldn’t be afraid of it. I wouldn’t have a reason to try to control food so I wouldn’t have the equal and opposite binge. I’d be less stressed and obsessed. I’d be happy and confident and more able to look outwards at the world and not worry about what I look like all the time. I’d definitely eat less and look after myself more, have more self respect. I’d feel free.
pyschology
turnaround When I focused on this feeling of what life would be like without the thought: ‘I am fat,’ it came as a huge shock that I really understood that I wouldn’t just start bingeing. In fact, I felt a very unfamiliar feeling of being relaxed around food - in control. After I’d answered the four questions, Tamara asked me to: “Turn the thought around, find more turnarounds and give genuine examples for each turnaround.” This simply means to find two or three opposing thoughts that could be as true as ‘I am fat,’ or even truer! These are my turnarounds:
Turnaround 1
Turn the thought to the opposite: “I’m not too fat.” Evidence for turnaround: Fat is attractive when it gives me sexy curves. Fat is attractive at the times I dress up to go out and I feel attractive. It’s attractive when people respond to me as if I look good. Fat is attractive when my fiancée fancies me or when other men look at me in ‘that way’. My face is more attractive with some fat on it. Fat is attractive when I see plus size models in gorgeous clothes. Fat is attractive when I look at some of my friends who are fat and beautiful. Fat is attractive on Nigella Lawson, Jane Goldman, Dawn French and Amy Lamé. Fat can be attractive when I open my mind to it and notice my own likes and dislikes.
Turnaround 2
Turn the alternative around: “Thin can be unattractive.” Evidence for turnaround: Thin can be unattractive when bones stick out. When someone looks gaunt and unhealthy. My face was unattractive when I was thin. Thin is unattractive on an anorexic or a crash dieter. Thin is unattractive on nasty people. Thin is ugly on people I don’t like or find unattractive. Thin is not attractive to those who find fatter women more beautiful.
Turnaround 3:
Consider your thinking: “My thinking about fat is too fat!” Evidence for turnaround: Fat isn’t unattractive, the way I think about fat is unattractive! It’s narrow minded and focused on the negative. It shrinks my world and destroys my life. My thinking is ugly and it brings nothing but stress to me. It destroys my relationships, makes me lonely and anxious. What is good about thinking the thought ‘I am too fat’? What good is it attracting to me? None! It is not a nice or a helpful thought as it brings suffering to me and it causes me to overeat and makes me neglect my health. I had the thought when I was thin and my life would be so much better without this thought, regardless of my actual weight.
It’s easy to see that the four questions aren’t as simple as they first seem and what happened in the weeks following, I can only describe as transformational. I have learned for myself that the questions when answered simply on an unhelpful belief invite inquiry and curiosity in me. Thoughts like “I’m too fat” that had a stranglehold on me and dictated the contents of every meal in an attempt to ‘be attractive again’ have now loosened their grip. I have even found myself laughing out loud at the lunacy of some of the untrue thoughts I held onto to as fact for years! The Work has helped me to realise that I am not my thoughts. As Katie so eloquently puts it it’s not for us to try to let go of our thoughts but rather to question them with open curiosity and they will let go of us... and understanding this has changed everything. The Work can be used on any area of your life, but if you’re looking specifically to work on eating and weight issues Grace Bell and Tamara Alferoff deliver courses in the UK called “Too Much, Not Enough”. www.workwithgrace.com www.tamara-alferoff.com
l Byron Katie’s handbook for The Work ‘Loving What Is’ is available from www.thework.com www.beautifulmagazine.co.uk | 41
fall in love with
excercise part two
42 | beautiful DECEMBER & JANUARY 2010/11
fitness
Getting fit doesn’t have to be painful or even much effort. If you slowly pull exercise into your Comfort Zone, before you know it, you’ll be thinking and behaving like an athlete. This is part 2 of our series to help you to fall head over heels in love with exercise. Photo by Nicholas Ainsley.
Photo: www.nicholasainsleyphotography.com Model: Stephanie Hogan www.starnow.co.uk/SmileySteph/
S
ome people love to move and can’t get enough exercise. Others hate it but still force themselves into a regular fitness routine. Some of us remain welded to the couch reading all about how we should exercise and promise ourselves that we will, but not today. Is this you? If the mere mention of exercise makes you break into crisps, you might have the wrong impression about getting fit. You’re listening to the wrong advice. If you don’t like exercise, you probably think you have to push yourself to the point of pain to get the results you think you’re supposed to be getting. You might imagine yourself puffing and straining, forcing yourself to endure the discomfort, your lungs near to bursting and your muscles burning with the effort. Or maybe you have only been exposed to some of the faulty fitness advice that’s so often aimed at women through the media and think that you have to exercise for at 45 minutes at a high intensity to burn fat or get fit. While the words ‘high intensity’ seem so far away from what you feel you’re capable of, that you don’t think you’ll ever get through the pain barrier to be fit enough to last four minutes, let alone 45! So, with the impression that exercising means discomfort and stress, your trainers stay in the cupboard. But discomfort is only one way of doing it, and it’s not always the best way. If you haven’t succeeded at becoming a regular exerciser using methods proposed by fitness experts, it’s time to stop blaming yourself and try something less intensive, that you’re more likely to stick with. There is a way to learn to love exercise that breaks the ‘no pain, no gain’ myth, and learning to love exercise slowly without pain means you have everything to gain. Using this method it can take a year to make exercising a regular and natural part of your life but this is more beneficial than a year of unrealistic goals and broken promises. One year of steady progress, ending with the joy of exercising
and the huge changes it can bring to your levels of happiness and quality of life is better than the spurts of activity followed by sedentary months and ongoing guilt and always feeling stressed by the thoughts: ‘I should exercise, maybe tomorrow.’ In part 1 of our Fall In Love With Exercise series, you learned all about mental rehearsal and how visualising exercising brought about the urge to actually get out there and move your body. Once you’ve started to take very small steps to get into exercise using mental rehearsal and getting up and out there for regular very comfortable walks, taking it a little further is no more effort. Not only is exercise comfortable if you go at the healthiest pace – slowly – your fitness levels increase and you do much more without feeling like you’re straining or uncomfortable. Getting into exercise can be pleasurable and easy. In fact, it can feel as easy as if you have never left your couch!
FORGET YOUR BODY, THIS IS A WORKOUT FOR YOUR BRAIN If you followed the steps in part 1 and did the mental rehearsal for five minutes every day and then felt compelled to follow the mindful walking plan, you’re well on your way to changing – even if you didn’t keep it up. (Well done if you did!) At this point, you might feel like a failure because, chances are, after a short honeymoon period you not only gave up walking but you gave up the mental rehearsal as well. This leaves you feeling a little down on yourself because you might think: “If I can’t even stick to a plan where I just imagine myself exercising, then what chance do I have of actually doing it?” But don’t worry because you’re going to move on to the next step: helping yourself back into exercise without much effort at all. Understanding that, at this point, you’re not training your body at all, but you are teaching your brain to expect exercise so that you view it
as a normal part of your life. Where other exercise routines would have you setting distance goals or weight loss goals, this time your most important goal is to reach a very clearly defined psychological goal: to create the feeling that going out for a speed walk or a run slots easily into your life like all of your other everyday routines. Once an exercise routine has become as familiar to you as brushing your teeth or travelling to work – something you do without thinking – then you can begin to work on other goals, such as your fitness etc (and even then maybe not in the way you have come to expect!). So write down your goal in the circle below (fill in your desired realistic date about a year from now) and make sure it is very clear and well defined in your mind that you’re only working on your brain (your habits). So how do you reach
GOAL: “I AM NOT WORKING ON MY BODY, I AM WORKING ON MY BRAIN. BY ...................... 2011 I WILL FEEL LIKE EXERCISING IS A FAMILIAR AND NATURAL PART OF MY LIFE.” this goal and teach your brain to see exercise as ordinary and comfortable when at the moment it seems uncomfortable and full of stress inducing effort? You’ve heard of your comfort zone, right? It’s where you live most of your day. And exercising regularly is something that is, for you, very much outside of this zone. All you have to do is take a w hold of it and pull it in. www.beautifulmagazine.co.uk | 43
Registered charity numbers 216401 and SC037717. 6679/10. Photography by Jon Challicom, posed by a model.
1,037 STEPS. 38 FLOORS. ARE YOU UP FOR THE CHALLENGE? Sunday 6 March 2011
Register now for the race to the top of London’s famous Gherkin – and help stop cruelty to children in the UK.
www.nspcc.org.uk/stepchange
fitness COMFORT, STRETCH AND PANIC ZONES
THE COMFORT ZONE
The smallest circle includes everyday activities, such as travelling to and from work, mixing with the same people, watching TV, being with your family, eating meals – everything you’re familiar with and that feels effortless, automatic, normal and comfortable. Most of your activities are likely to be in this zone.
Imagine three concentric circles, with yourself standing in the middle. The smallest circle around your feet is your personal Comfort Zone. Outside that by a couple of feet is your Stretch Zone. Finally, a couple of feet outside this is your Panic Zone.
IC ZONE PAN CH ZON RET E T S ORTZO MF
NE
The middle circle contains all the things you’re not so comfortable with. Nothing painful or scary, but things that are a bit out of the ordinary for you, new experiences or things you haven’t done for a long time. It can be something as simple as a change in routine or going out to the cinema on a night when you usually stay in. This is a stimulating zone and one that adds spice to your life. It seems pretty boring if you imagine taking this circle away and having to live in the smaller circle for the rest of your life. This is called the Stretch Zone because the challenge of changing your routine literally feels like a physical stretch. This is not always comfortable. Exercise might live in this zone for you – if it does all you have to do is gently pull on it and it will fall right into your inner circle.
CO
THE STRETCH ZONE
THE PANIC ZONE
The widest third circle is the Panic Zone. Anything that seems too uncomfortable to contemplate belongs in this zone. For many people it’s public speaking or jumping out of a plane but for some people this is right where regular daily exercise has taken root. If exercise is in your panic zone, you will avoid it at all costs. But it can be easy to get it into your Stretch Zone and then it’s plain sailing to give it an extra tug to its new permanent home: your Comfort Zone.
You will need loose clothing, a good sports bra, good trainers and something to time yourself (you only need an ordinary watch or phone because there isn’t going to be any precision timing, just rough estimates.) Set aside around 25 minutes for exercise, but bear in mind that this includes the time you’re putting on your exercise clothes and your trainers! (Yes, you read that correctly.) Take five minutes to get dressed. Then sit and do five minutes of the mental rehearsal exercise from Part 1 of this series. Then, only if you feel motivated, go outside and walk for five minutes to warm up. After your warm up you’re going to up the pace until you get comfortably out of breath for THREE MINUTES only.
As you get used to doing this there will be times when you feel like doing more than three minutes and there’s nothing stopping you but it’s important that, no matter how much you get used to doing, you have a clear goal of three minutes of being out of breath and you’re always aware that if you only want to do three minutes you can. Then after three minutes (or more if you feel like it), walk back home. The Three-Minute Rule makes it easy to pull exercising into your Comfort Zone (and remember you’re training your brain and not your body at this stage. Remember your goal!). FIND YOUR BOILING POINT You need to keep your ‘comfortable discomfort’ or ‘out of breathness’ at an even level for three minutes and first you must find the right level for you. The discomfort is caused by how hard your heart and lungs are working and this depends on your level of fitness. You aren’t going for pain, you’re going for ‘comfortable discomfort’ for three very short minutes. If you’re unfit, this might mean stopping and starting a lot. Whether you’re walking or running (also depending on your basic fitness), the comfort level of your breathing is your guide to how fast or slow you should go.
Breathe only through your nose. At the point where you feel you have to breathe through your mouth, slow down a little and note your level of comfortable discomfort - this is your personal ‘boiling point’. Maintain this level by speeding up and slowing down your activity for three minutes. When you start to feel your discomfort going above this level, slow down, then as breathing and heart rate begin to go back to normal, up the pace. It’s a bit like boiling a pan of water: you need to keep the water boiling at a constant level by turning the gas up and down. Your level of activity is the gas and your heart rate and your breathing and the feeling of effort is the boiling water. Can you live with this feeling for three minutes? You’ll see that you don’t ever have to bear any more discomfort than this. You’ll find you can do more and more and won’t have to slow down so often to keep your boiling point level. KEEPING IT UP Three minutes of exercise might not sound much and that’s the whole point. It seems easy. But it’s enough to drag exercise into your Comfort Zone permanently. You’ll have an exercise-ready brain fitness will become a normal part of your routine.
Feature by Sue Thomason www.fitnessphilosophy.co.uk
FALL IN LOVE WITH EXERCISE: YOUR INSTRUCTIONS Bringing daily exercise into your inner circle is virtually painless. All you have to do is visit your Stretch Zone or your Panic Zone in a very controlled way for short amounts of time every day. Because you are in control and can jump back to comfort any time, going into these zones is easy.
www.beautifulmagazine.co.uk | 45
True...
Our guest food editor this issue is the amazing
LEVI ROOTS creator of Reggae Reggae Sauce and Dragons’ Den hero. He tells our writer James Homer how he got where he is and why he likes being there. Over the page, he tells us in his own words what Christmas means to him and gives us a couple of recipes that he thinks will make a truly original Caribbean Christmas
food
L
...to his Roots
evi Roots is unmistakable. A reggae-loving sauce guru, and a marketing department’s wet dream. His glorious Jamaican drawl is instantly recognisable. There’s nobody even remotely comparable to him on primetime British television right now, and he has singlehandedly cornered the market in unpretentious and accessible Caribbean cooking. But beneath the sunny exterior lurks a colourful history and a cast-iron resolve born out of genuine hardship and the lifelong pursuit of happiness. In 2007, an unknown Jamaican man entered the BBC’s Dragons’ Den with an acoustic guitar and a bottle of his own-recipe sauce. His presentation was painful to watch at times, he inadvertently misrepresented his own figures and sweated uncontrollably throughout. Ten minutes later, though, he walked out with £50,000 and a
new best friend in millionaire investor Peter Jones. The fearsome Dragon became Levi’s knight in shining armour. The man we all know today is a fully-formed, media-friendly celebrity chef. Wind the clock back a few years, however, and life was very different for Levi. For starters, he wasn’t called Levi. Christened Keith Squire in Jamaica in 1958, his inspirational mother brought him to London when he was just a young boy. “My real education came from my mum. She was 22 when she came over to the UK on her own from Jamaica. She worked hard, then bought a house and sent for her kids one at a time.” His mother’s morality clearly had a lasting impact on him. “Every time I tried something, it was to try and make my mum proud. I worked at the Abbey National selling mortgages for two years. I even cut my hair and did the whole Yuppie thing in the ‘80s.” What a
wonderful, but slightly bizarre image. His parents had high hopes for him. “They had their own vision of what they wanted Keith to be,” Says Levi. “But then I got into the music and I found who I wanted to be and followed my own path.” Usually, when a famous person refers to themselves in the third person, it’s an indicator that they’ve lost all sense of normality, and become an out-of-touch, self-absorbed celeb. Not so with Levi - in his eyes, Keith was actually an entirely different person and he’s talking about someone else. Keith was troubled and lacked direction, earning him two separate stays at Her Majesty’s pleasure. But Levi Roots turned him around and set him free. “It was tough growing up back then, but it made me who I am today, and I made that change w www.beautifulmagazine.co.uk | 47
food
from Keith Squire to Levi Roots. I thought: ‘That’s a Scottish name, and I’m not Scottish.’ I’m black, I’m from Jamaica and I’m a Rasta.” Levi inhabited his new alter-ego, and he very quickly adopted the buoyant and gregarious persona that we all recognise and gravitate towards today. After years of missed opportunities and countless rejections for many reasons including being too black (I’m not kidding, he was actually told this once), Levi is finally comfortable in his own skin. In fact, he is where he is today because of an enviable self-belief. “I went on Dragons’ Den with my guitar on my shoulder and my dreadlocks out, and was completely myself. If I’d tried to fit in, I’d have ended up on the bloopers show. But I got the investment because I was me. I said to the Dragons: ‘I can’t count’. But it didn’t matter because they invested in who I am.” The seismic reversal of fortunes was no happy accident for Levi, though. He is definitely a man with a plan, and apparently he always has been, “Passion and drive are important, but you’ve got to have a plan. You need to work on the plan at an early stage, remember it and keep going back to it. There are a lot of kids out there with the passion, but they’re just doing stuff and nothing’s happening for them.” You suspect that even Levi wouldn’t have believed it if you’d told him ten years ago that his homemade Reggae Reggae Sauce would eventually outsell Heinz Tomato Ketchup in Sainsbury’s. Surely even the man with the plan couldn’t have seen that one coming? Don’t think for one second though that he’s at all nostalgic for his former life of blissful anonymity. When I suggest that there may be a part of him that misses life before Dragons’ Den, I’m quickly corrected, “No, not at all. Before Dragons’ Den it was just me on a journey. Never look back, always look forward.” Ssuccess this late in life does throw up some interesting challenges for Levi, however. It’s hard to convincingly sustain an everyman image when you’re rolling in it, but even the most dedicated haters wouldn’t begrudge him the fruits of his labour. These days he’s often seen looking resplendent in his favourite Ozwald Boateng suits, and he recently splashed out on a flash new car: “It was a very long time before I bought the car I really
I said to the Dragons,
‘I can’t count’
But it didn’t matter because they invested in who I am. wanted, because I still live in Brixton and I don’t want it to seem like I’m showing off. But now I’ve got a brand new drop-top Mercedes for all my hard work.” You can’t blame him. A wise woman once remarked: “If you want to see the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” It has been pouring down for most of Levi’s life, but the clouds have finally broken and he’s loving every minute. I sheepishly confess to him that I’ve never tried Caribbean food. He orders me to visit his “Rastarant” in Battersea, and tells me what I’m missing: “Sunshine!” “Caribbean food is fabulocious!” he says. When you’re this engaging and brimming with passion, you’re allowed to make up new words. These days Levi campaigns tirelessly for the next generation. He visits countless schools around the UK sprinkling that Jamaican magic everywhere he goes, armed with his guitar and a vat of Reggae Reggae Sauce. Recently he teamed up with the NSPCC to create a whole range of meals on
48 | beautiful DECEMBER & JANUARY 2010/11
their behalf: “It’s tough for those kids, and I’m raising awareness and helping recovery with the Caribbean food.” Levi’s one-man crusade to rescue the nation’s children doesn’t stop there, though. “I met with Boris Johnson the other day and I ranted at him. You keep hearing about black kids in south London committing knife crime, but there’s more than just that going on down there. We never hear about the good stuff, like the entrepreneurs coming out of there.” You can just imagine poor old Boris recoiling with upper-class guilt; desperate not to offend, but eager for this noisy Rastafarian to toddle off. Levi doesn’t need to do all this charity work. His daily struggles are a faded memory, and his profile is sky high. He does it solely because he wants to be the type of role model that he never had when he was in school. “Where I can help is by inspiring those kids to be anything they want to be. “Kids need three things: a plan, long-term vision and the ‘P Word’ – passion.” I suggest that he’s been hanging around Peter Jones too long, to which he bursts into laughter and replies: “Before, when people used to mention enterprise to me, I thought they were talking about Star Trek.” But the knowing quips at his own expense belie a serious and steadfast benevolence that I think is really his true vocation. “I love going into these schools to deliver a positive message, and teaching the kids to be Dragon Slayers too.” This is obviously a welltrodden sound byte, but who cares? It’s a bloody good one.
Next Levi tells us what Christmas means to him and gives Beautiful readers 2 recipes to add a little Carribean flavour to the Christmas meals this year...
Luscious Luxurious Divine Sizes 12 -28 www.drapiere.com
arolyn de la Drapière
‘Shapely Clothes for Curvaceous Women’
Have yourself a Reggae Reggae Christmas! Christmas with Levi Roots
If there’s one day in the year that is meant for celebrating food and family, it’s Christmas Day. I grew up in a large family with six kids. As you can imagine, Christmas was always a noisy affair at our house! Back home, Christmas Day involves the invitation of family members whose sole aim is to come around the house and sample Grandmother Miriam’s freshly cooked and beautifully designed meals, and this would go on throughout the entire day. When not eating, we would be mostly found outside enjoying the lovely Jamaican sunshine. Christmas also reminds me of when my mother and grandmother used to concoct mythical stories with interwoven adventures during our Christmas day meal time. They would splice their stories with characters based on exotic food produces, with ingredients like coconuts and mangos as arch villains and so on and so forth, we also used to eat a lot of fresh fish at Christmas. If there’s one non-food memory I have of Christmas, it has to be the first Christmas my family and I spent in London. We moved to London when I was 12 years old, and it was so cold, but it was a great joy to find myself finally being reunited with my siblings and most importantly my beloved mother.
MANGO, PASSION FRUIT AND BANANA TRIFLE
Serves 6 2 mangos, peeled and stoned 5 passion fruit 1 banana 300g (10 1/2 oz) bought sponge cake 4 tbsp lemon curd 50ml (2fl oz) rum Juice of 1 lime 500g tub custard 250ml (9fl oz) whipping cream Icing sugar, to taste Toasted coconut flakes, toasted flaked almonds or more passion fruit pulp and seeds, to decorate 1.
Merry Christmas to all the readers of Beautiful Magazine. I hope your Christmas is filled with laughter, presents and of course, good food. ONE LOVE!! 50 | beautiful DECEMBER & JANUARY 2010/11
Cut the mango flesh into cubes or slices – whichever you prefer. Halve the passion fruit and scoop out the pulp and seeds. Slice the banana neatly.
2.
Now you just have to assemble the trifle. Cut the sponge into wide fingers and spread each one with lemon curd. Put a double layer of these in the bottom of a glass bowl. Sprinkle with half the rum, then add a layer of the fruits. Squeeze half the lime on the fruit, then add half the custard. Do this one more time, making sure you use everything up. You need to finish with a layer of custard. Cover with cling film and put in the refrigerator. It will taste much better the next day.
3.
Whip the cream into medium peaks and add enough icing sugar to satisfy your sweet tooth. Spread this on top of the trifle and decorate with coconut, almonds or passion fruit, as you prefer.
food pale gold. Add the fresh ginger, chilli, spring onions and garlic and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the thyme, preserved ginger and cinnamon and cook for another couple of minutes. Put the mixture into a bowl and add the soaked fruit and almonds. 3.
Put the spinach into a large pan with the water that is left clinging to the leaves after washing. Cover and set over a low heat. Cook for 4 minutes, or until wilted, turning the leaves over halfway through. Leave until cool enough to handle, then squeeze the excess water out with your hands and roughly chop. Add the spinach to the rest of the stuffing along with the breadcrumbs. Season really well and add the lime zest and juice, and finally the rest of the butter, cut into small dice. Mix together with your hands.
4.
LEVI’S BAKED CHRISTMAS FISH
Serves 8 1 whole salmon (about 2.5kg/5lb 8oz), cleaned and gutted 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil For the stuffing 50g (1 3/4 oz) raisins 50g (1 3/4 oz) dried mango 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil 50g (1 3/4 oz) butter 1 onion, finely chopped 2.5cm (1in) fresh root ginger, peeled and finely chopped 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced 6 spring onions, chopped 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped Leaves from 3 thyme sprigs 1 piece of preserved stem ginger in syrup, finely chopped 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 25g (1oz) chopped almonds
500g (1lb 2oz) spinach, washed and thick stalks removed 75g (2 3/4 oz) fresh white breadcrumbs salt and black pepper finely grated zest of 1 lime, plus the juice of 1/2 lime Lime wedges, to serve (optional) 1.
First make the stuffing. Put the raisins and mango in a small bowl and cover with just-boiled water from the kettle. Leave to soak for 30minutes, then drain.
Place the salmon on a large roasting tin or baking sheet lined with foil. You may need to curl it to fit. Rub inside and out with the oil and seasoning. Pack all the stuffing inside, then season the top of the fish. Pull the foil up around the salmon so that it is enclosed in a kind of tent – don’t wrap it closely round its body – then scrunch the foil together to make a sealed package. Place in the oven (it may be a squeeze; don’t worry if the fish overhangs the roasting tin or baking sheet, just make sure it doesn’t touch the sides of the oven) and cook for 45 minutes, pulling the foil back so the fish can colour on top after 30 minutes. Now check the fish: the eye should be completely white and the flesh near the bone at the thickest part no longer look glassy. If it isn’t fully cooked, return to the oven and cook for another 4 minutes before checking again. Serve with lime wedges, if liked.
For more recipes like this check out Levi Root’s latest book ‘Food for
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/ gasmark 4.
Friends’ £18.99 published by Mitchell Beazley,
2.
Heat the oil and half the butter in a large frying pan and sauté the onion over a medium heat until soft and
available from Amazon.
www.beautifulmagazine.co.uk | 51
secret Supper Clubs Approaching an anonymous doorway in an unlikely location conjures up images of a speakeasy in Twenties prohibition or an Oriental opium den. There’s something exciting about illegal dining, even though you’re doing nothing more illicit than mainlining a plate of seared tuna carpaccio. This is the rise of the underground restaurant - discreet eateries set up at private residences by people who keep their identities a secret. Great amateur chefs put their skills to use without the stress of running a restaurant, the overheads and all the headaches that come with it. You seek them out via social networking sites, make contact and await an invitation. Often the location is emailed to you 24 hours before the event. They cook, they serve, you dine and socialise and then you are handed an anonymous envelope to make a donation. If you consider yourself a serious foodie, you’ll already have a little black book of secret restaurants up your sleeve. If you haven’t tried underground dining, it’s time you paid a visit to a supper club near you. 52 | beautiful DECEMBER & JANUARY 2010/11
Photo: Ronaldo Cabuhat
food
The White RooM Islington, London
The Spice Club Whitefield, Manchester
The Green Onion Hackney, London
Based in Islington, The White Room was started March 2009 by Claudia, whose love of food and entertaining was the driving force behind it. Claudia, who is more open about both her identity and the location than most underground restaurants, has a great eye for detail. She has created a dining experience that’s unique. Set in Claudia’s own home - a light and airy loft style apartment - the venue is ultra modern and mostly white with large, beautiful windows. Her guests are limited to around 10 people. Her menus are enticing, most of her cuisine is her own twist on a European influence. A typical menu at The White Room might include mackerel pate on pumpernickel and cod saltimbocca with braised cucumber and potato cubes, followed by sage ice cream with melon, coffee and homemade chocolates. Claudia holds on average two evenings a month and while she does have regulars, there are newbies to the scene present on most occasions. The charge is £30 a head. Claudia says: “I am not doing this for money. With a maximum of 10 people, four courses, canapés, welcome drink and chocolates, this is more a cost covering adventure. It’s a dinner party with strangers!”
Just outside of Manchester City Centre is The Spice Club, a more secretive underground restaurant. Monica, a beautiful Indian girl in her early 20s runs this supper club. And, with the help of her warm and welcoming mum, she provides a homely atmosphere and some delicious authentic Indian food, using fresh, locally sourced ingredients. “We cater for eight people to create an intimate environment.” says Monica. “We want to fill the void in the Indian restaurant scene, which lacks the authenticity and satisfaction that you get from eating freshly prepared, home cooked Indian food.” The beautifully decorated table, with great attention to detail (such as a bead studded elephant place name holder) is soon straining under the weight of seemingly endless dishes of spiced lentils, deep fried spicy cauliflower, succulent lamb curry, dips, Indian breads and perfectly cooked rice. You eat, you socialise, and you eat some more and then you get a delicious dessert and chai. The recommended donation to cover the costs of the meal (a percentage of which goes to charity) is £20 and you are welcome to bring your own wine. The Spice Club, which has a food safety and hygiene certificate, has been backed by the local health and safety council. www.spicediary.com/thespiceclub/
The Green Onion Supper Club is the most elusive of all. This one keeps one step ahead by holding secret dinners in a different place each time and the proprietor remains anonymous to everyone but invited diners. Invitations and menus are sent out a week in advance, when you can make your reservation. With an emphasis on socialising (diners can feel free to swap places for dessert) and good food cooked properly, this club is established amongst seasoned supper clubbers. The Green Onion offers a set three course menu, including a cocktail. With ham terrine, roast chicken with salsa verde and Eton mess, the food has more than a hint of gastro pub, but at £35, along with the intimate atmosphere, it’s well worth a visit. One diner called Dawn Boulton says: “You get the feeling that everyone cares about the food and a lot of love has gone into creating it.”
www.whiteroomsupperclub.blogspot.com
www.greenonionguerillacooking.blogspot.com/
he best way to find secret supper club near you is to search for their social networking sites. Here’s a good one to start off with: www.supperclubfangroup.ning. com/, which provides a directory of clubs throughout the UK. By Melanie Iredale
www.beautifulmagazine.co.uk | 53
Christmas Shopping made easy! If you don’t know what you want for Christmas or find it difficult buying for the man in your life (when the only thing that springs to mind is socks), have a look at these quirky his and hers alternatives that will make both of you feel really appreciated...
Hers
Eyeshadow he can buy for you £39.95 www.janeiredale.com
Jane Iredale have made it easy to buy eyeshadow as a gift as they have brought out Eye Steppes, a palette of colours made to flatter either blue, brown or green eyes. So he just has to look at your eyes (because he probably won’t remember!) and buy the shadow that is made to match!
Put some sole in your music £29.99
www.justmustard.com
Alternative to chocs £2.99
www.madbeauty.com Check out the Truffle lip glosses at Mad Beauty: they’re great stocking fillers. They do Christmas pud and mince pie lip glosses, too.
Gimmie Tunes are speakers that look just like a pair of killer heels. They appeal to the little girl in you. Available in hot pink, classic black and sultry red, they work with any laptop, MP3 player, CD player or outfit - more stylish and fun than ordinary speakers.
Bras that fit you first time! Pants £6.95 Bra £14 www.brastop.com
Ultimate hair styling £143.95
www.wantthelook.com This ghd hair straightener is seriously to die for. It comes in a luxuriously stylish case with a heat-resistant roll mat. And the ghd Midnight Collection gift set comes with a matching travel dryer and a Baroque travel mirror and it’s all in a gorgeous treasure chest case.
54 | beautiful DECEMBER & JANUARY 2010/11
You know how you have to try on loads and loads of different bras in your size before you can find one that fits you and you think you have to spend a fortune to get one that gives you the support you need? Think again. This Tease Me bra from Showgirl by Curvy Kate costs a few pounds and everyone we know who tried on their size says it fits them and ‘behaves’ like a bestoke bra from a corset maker. So as long as you’ve got your girlfriend’s/ mum’s/sisters correct size, you can buy this for someone else without worrying about the fit. They do gorgeous matching pants too.
feature BUY HIM A TIPPLE £42.50
www.highlandpark.co.uk
TELL HIM TO PUT HIS FEET UP! £29.99
If he likes a glass or two on Christmas day while you tuck into your chocolate reindeer, Highland Park’s Tasting Collection is five 5cl miniatures of 12, 15, 18, 25 and 30 year old whiskies.
www.paramountzone.com
DIY PIZZA £8.99
www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk Men love tools and they love pizza. This circular saw pizza cutter gives them two delights in one. A great stocking filler.
A MANBAG HE WON’T THINK IS GIRLY £150
Robomop is a little robot that you set free in your house to dust your wooden or laminate flooring. You sit down with a cup of tea while it does the work for you, going under furniture and in the corners. It’s only for light dusting but it’s a nice gift for someone who likes to keep a spotless house. Or a nice gift for him to give him a rest from the housework!
GET THE SILVER OUT £24.95
www.houseofbath.co.uk
www.jamesandlongbourne.co.uk This bag is like the Tardis. It’s has wheels, your laptop zips onto the front of it, it transforms into a wardrobe and a hanging wash bag, it has a special compartment to put your shirt so it doesn’t crease, yet it’s small enough to carry on a plane as hand luggage. If your man travels for his work, this is a present he won’t turn his nose up at.
GOOD GAME, GOOD GAME £19.99
www.sportislife.co.uk If he supports Manchester United you can’t go wrong with this footy board game (but make sure he does support them or he might throw it back at you!). Manchester United Title Chase, available at all good stores.
A more useful update on the silver hip flask (that just goes in a drawer for ever). This 1GB silver plated USB data stick is really sleek and can be engraved. It’s a stylish gift to give to any man who uses a computer.
HIS www.beautifulmagazine.co.uk | 55
Conquer Hadrian’s Wall One epic adventure in just one weekend 8 –10 April 2011 Join us on a 25 mile trek along the best of Hadrian’s Wall and help us reach more people living with illnesses including cancer, multiple sclerosis and stroke. Registration Fee – £75 Fundraising Target – £500 Contact me on: 0845 050 1953 Register at: www.sueryder.org/hadrianswall Partnered by
Sue Ryder Care is a charity registered in England and Wales (1052076) and in Scotland (SC039578). © Sue Ryder. October 2010.
Enchanted Forest Retreat
travel
If you go down to the woods today… you’re sure of magical stay at Careys Manor and SenSpa
N
estling deep in the New Forest, is Careys Manor. From the outside it may look like a tradition English country hotel. But don’t be fooled… It’s home not only to three fabulous restaurants, but also to an award-winning spa. On entering the manor you’re greeted by a crackling log fire, warming the dark, imposing interior and sending the scent of fresh-cut logs rising up the sweeping wooden staircase. The hotel’s 79 rooms have recently undergone a £1.5 million refurbishment – the huge ‘I could sleep here forever’ beds are certainly one of the highlights.
There are three restaurants to choose from - Thai Zen Garden Restaurant, Le Blaireau French Bistro and two AA Rosette Manor Restaurant. Each has mouthwatering menus, meaning you’re spoilt for choice. You don’t even have to leave the hotel grounds. But if you do wish to venture into the beautiful New Forest, the hotel can even supply you with a ready-made picnic hamper. Perfect! A short distance away – by car, foot or cycles hired from the hotel – are Beaulieu National Motor Museum, Hurst Castle, Bucklers Hard Maritime Museum and Lymington Market. Just be careful of the free-roaming New Forest ponies as you explore!
the amazing hydrotherapy pool, herbal sauna, crystal steam room, ice room and experience showers. And these are just a few of the facilities on offer. It would be tempting never to set foot outside for the duration of your stay! Rooms from £178 per couple per night, spa breaks (including breakfast, lunch and dinner), from £169 per person per night. www.careysmanor.com or call 01590 62446
But the jewel in the crown at Carey’s Manor is definitely the £6 million Thai spa. As well as a wide range of beauty and health treatments that you can book with the SenSpa’s Thai therapists, you can get refreshed, revived and revitalised with www.beautifulmagazine.co.uk | 57
regular
ews N
Scientists stumped by the obvious
While making this issue of Beautiful, we’ve come across some good news stories, read some excellent books, seen a few brilliant (and awful) films and watched the telly. We’ve chosen a few bits of news, some reviews and previews that we think are worth a mention...
This month clever scientists are confounded by the fact that wild animals slowly start to gain weight when they begin living with humans and have their food supply restricted. This phenomenon has prompted Science Daily to report that the root cause of obesity may be much more complicated than conventional wisdom dictates (too much food availability, too little opportunity to exercise). The result is scientists will finally begin asking ‘what is causing us to eat too much and exercise too little?’ Something we think is obvious and you can read about it in How To Stop Dieting, Eat Less Without Trying To Eat Less by our own editor Sue Thomason. The clue is in the title! £9.99, www.revolutionpress.co.uk
Film: Pandora and the Flying Dutchman
Fashion: A Soft Jersey Classic
A lushly romantic Technicolor™ visualisation of the often-told legend of the sea. A glamorous Ava Gardner is Pandora, who falls hard for the charismatic James Mason as Hendrik, a 17th-century seaman eternally condemned to sail the oceans. Unavailable theatrically for many years and never available on Home Entertainment, the film has now been beautifully restored. Around £13, from Amazon and DVD stores.
Always keen to get there first, we’re keen to show you the first ever dress by new UK designer Dawn Bartlett. So new it hasn’t been photographed yet and there’s only a drawing available! Dawn started Grace-ful designs, making clothes especially for curvaceous women. We’ve tried her first dress, Maime, and we could see the thought and engineering that has gone into the design. Dawn who’s handled the publicity for stars such as Barbra Streisand and Brendan Cole, says: “I wanted to design a wrap dress for a real woman.” Maime comes in black and brown and in sizes: 18, 20 and 22. It retails at £120. They are limited edition so get your order in quickly. www.grace-ful.co.uk.
Reviews, Previews
Shadows of the Past is one wild ride, let me tell you. Ms Blake tells the story of one woman trying to survive in a world that she can’t remember and her husband who won’t believe her. The suspense is so thrilling that I couldn’t put this book down. Not to mention that the ending is so shocking it will have you rereading the last few pages just to make sure you read them right. You don’t want to miss this outstanding novel that has you questioning who Alva can trust. £18.99 (hardback), available from book stores, Amazon, www.halebooks.com, and www.thebookdepository Review by Coffee Time Romance
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TV: Hattie Keep your eyes peeled over Christmas for Ruth Jones playing Carry On actress Hattie Jacques, in the BBC FOUR’s oneoff film about her secret affair with a younger man in the early Sixties, while still married to Dad’s Army star John Le Mesurier. It is a hot-blooded romance in stark contrast to the matronly roles that made her famous. Hattie also stars Robert Bathurst as John Le Mesurier and Aidan Turner as her youthful lover John Schofield. We can’t wait and we keep pestering the BBC for a schedule date but they’ll only say ‘towards the end of the year.’ They must be doing it on purpose!
BBC/Angel Eye Media
Book: Shadows of the Past by Margaret Blake
The place to be...
Champneys, the UK's most luxurious spa group is the perfect place to unwind and experience sheer relaxation. 08703 300 300
www.champneys.com 2
and nothing But the oil
press information
The Oil, the Whole oil
Beautifully presented in its award winning 500ml bottle, th liquid gold is the kitchen ‘must have’ for foodies.Our Oleifer cold pressed rapeseed oil is grown, cold pressed and bottled by small group of farmers in Northumberland and the Border making its credentials reassuringly green compared to man other culinary oils. Our crops can be traced right back to th fields they came from and are guaranteed GM free. Onc harvested, the seed is simply pressed to extract the oil which then filtered and bottled. Beautifully presented in its awar winning 500ml bottle, this liquid gold is the kitchen ‘mu have’ for foodies.Our Oleifera cold pressed rapeseed oil grown, cold pressed and bottled by a small group of farmers in available to buy online at www.oleifera.co.uk Available to buy online at www.oleifera.co.uk Available from selected delicatessens and food stores around the UK. Price £6.00 RRP