GIRL ABOUT TOWN UT’s columnist Nuala Meenehan

EDITED BY

NUALA MEENEHAN

LOCKDOWN LOCKS

By the time you lovely folks read this, I will have spent a wonderful afternoon in the expert hands of my dear friend, award-winning hairdresser Paul Stafford, and senior colourist Mark James at Stafford Hair. I will have enjoyed every minute hearing the snip of his scissors, the blast of dozens of hairdryers as clients come and go for their long-awaited, much dreamtabout appointment with their hairdressers. For those of you who haven’t got there yet you might want to consider this. It seems there’s money to be made from your lockdown locks. Well known wig makers, Banbury Postiche, who’ve been supplying wigs to the follicly challenged since the 1920s, reports a 30% rise in human hair-buying over the last 12 months and, Bloomsbury of London, purveyor of wigs and extensions, have also experienced a bountiful hair harvest during the lockdown. So if you’re reading this through a thick, knee-length curtain of your own hair you might want to think twice before booking your appointment!

Before After

IT’S JUST AN ILLUSION

A FACE MASSAGE

After being cooped up for months with the central heating on full blast, my complexion is lacklustre to say the least. Dermatologists agree our skin needs a good, kind pummelling to boost circulation and stimulate sagging muscles. While our therapists and salons have been closed, tools made of precious stones have been all the rage, but there’s no need to splurge on expensive gimmicks when your hands can do the job just as well. I’ve been loving the tutorials by skin guru Beata Aleksandrowicz, one of the world’s leading skin massage experts aptly named the Face Whisperer. Get your hands at the ready and start pummelling! Imagine a world where your clothes are made of pixels rather than textiles, where you have all the latest fashion trends in your wardrobe, your virtual wardrobe, that is. Turns out that digital clothes, made from pixels instead of textiles are gaining popularity. It’s not a new concept, digital fashion has been a trend in gaming culture for some time. Singapore-based digital fashion brand Republiqe allows consumers to imagine that they are their own “real-life avatar”. Now call me old-fashioned, but when I fi rst heard about this I dismissed the idea, but the more I think about it the more I see the attraction. Firstly, digital fashion is a sustainable solution to fast fashion. Almost one in ten UK shoppers have bought clothes online with the sole intention of wearing them for social media, driving a culture of fast fashion and churn. Digital fashion houses say they’re offering a more environmentally friendly way to wear the latest trends and designer outfi ts. Digital fashion is body and gender-inclusive, promoting the idea that anyone, regardless of body type, size, or gender, can wear anything, it gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “one size fi ts all”. Perhaps the story of the Emperor and his new clothes isn’t so laughable after all!