'Tis The Season...

It's definitely the countdown to Christmas and the seasonal corporates have been out in full force this week at the shows I've been performing at - thankfully I've been surrounded with lovely people which has made the week bearable, and we put up our Christmas decorations so the house looks amazing and cozy!

We win at Christmas!

Actually, to be honest, the office parties aren't always awful: when people have never seen burlesque or cabaret before they either love it and are incredibly excitable, or they hate it and can become, at best, bored; at their worst they become hostile and rude. I've had all sorts this week, and coupled with late finishes and early starts, it's been rather hectic.

Mirror Picture! At Proud Cabaret with Vicious Delicious, Chi Chi Revolver, Taz Zebrowski, Leah Debrincat, Missy Fatale and Friedrich the Snake (though I *always* get the spelling of the name wrong!)!

Mirror Picture! At House of Magic with Chris Harding, David Crofts and Abigail Drake!

 

What's in a showgirls suitcase?

Once again, this week saw an impossibly early start to head to Westfield with Burlesque On Ice - this is definitely becoming a feature of my life at the moment! We were sporting some rather fetching Christmas jumpers and dancing with Arlene Phillips at a record-breaking fundraising event for Save The Children and had a bit of a bonkers morning dancing on ice!

With Arlene Phillips

Loving life!

Whatever Trixie is doing behind me, I'm clearly enjoying it!

With Bonnie Fleur and Trixie Kixx

"..too saucy for Save the Children!" direct quote!

We were on BBC News (blink and you'll miss Sam and I!)

And in the London Evening Standard!

I even found time to start my Christmas shopping! Naturally I had to pick up a few treats for myself as well...

Kiss Me Deadly beauties...

Days Off and Nights Out

After a busy weekend I was looking forward to a lovely day off: I had found out about a Vintage Fair in Belsize Park, so Taz and I drove out to have a look. Unfortunately it was closed so we wandered down into Camden instead and spent a nice afternoon browsing around the Vintage, Antiques and knick-knacks on offer.

My favourite stall of the day was a fabulous little perfume store which looked like a cross between an Egyptian Bazzar and an Apothecaries! After selecting the essential oil for the base of the perfume, the owner, Mac, mixes it bespoke! I bought two, and an aftershave for Taz and they smell gorgeous.

 

Cleopatra's Perfume Palace in Camden Stables Market

I also fell in love with, and bought, a gorgeous winter coat - it's not vintage but it's so luxurious and ridiculously impractical, I had to have it!

On Tuesday, the Cabaret reprobates gathered in Soho for the third Burlesque Night Out - always a great time!

Starting the night early in Leicester Square with Millie Dollar, Scarlet Cuffs, Kitty Devine and Beau Rocks

We met at The Arts Club in Soho for dancing and cocktails in teapots... it all gets slightly blurry after this so I'll just pop up a load of pictures here!

Cocktails in Teapots... here we go!

 

Scarlet ** Beau and Coco DuBois

With Coco, Scarlet, Hayley, Kitty and Beau

Coco, and me trying to eat Scarlet's face... ** Taz with Beau and Coco

 

Scarlet and I ** Randi Lee and Taz

Too Cabaret? Damn straight!

 

Splits! Randi, Kitty,Scarlet and...erm, Taz! ** Joe and I

 

Millie and I ** Kitty, Dolly Rose and Elsie Diamond 

  

Taz with the blondies! ** Joe and Slinky Sparkles

 

Amory and Beau ** Beau, Millie and I

  

With Slinky! ** Slinky, Coco and I attempting to eat Joe's hair...

  

This could have been part of the problem...

Fortunately, today has been a wonderfully lost day of dozing, watching movies, drinking tea and eating chips... blissful!

xx

Vintage Hairstyling - Book Review!

I've mentioned this book before but I love it so much that I thought it deserved its own blog post!

Vintage Hairstyling: Retro Styles with step-by-step Techniques by Lauren Rennells

The books author, Lauren Rennells, is a fellow Blogspot user, and writes here! I can lose hours going through this wonderfully informative blog.

Well, back to the book - this is the second edition: I did the first edition but loaned it to a friend who never returned it. It was a good excuse to buy the revision though, which has more styles and techniques in than the original.

 

Products, Tools and Decorations

The first section of the book contains product information and pictures, explaining which products work best for different techniques and styles, and detailing their uses, both in modern and vintage styles.

 

Curl and Set instructions

There then follows several pages on different types of curls, including the ubiquitous Pin-Curl and Victory Roll as well as the Marcel wave or the Finger wave, popular in the 1920's. There are also details of different sets, combing out techniques, and producing curls with different methods such as water or velcro rollers.

Close-up images accompany the step-by-step instructions, making something that could be quite confusing, clear and concise.

Finished styles and step-by-step instructions

The main section of the book is my favourite, featuring finished styles and instructions on how to create them yourself.

 

Some styles list different variations to create different looks, such as the Pompadour, which offers the Pompadour Twirl, The Happy Pompadour or Your Unique Pomp, or the option for styling fringes: Bettie Bangs #1, and Bettie Bangs #2.

Hairstyles based on famous movies or actors: this is very Veronica Lake

Several of the styles are based on iconic movie hairstyles, such as the Golightly, inspired by Audrey Hepburn's character 'Holly Golightly' in the classic film "Breakfast at Tiffany's" or the Bardot which is obviously inspired by the film beauty Brigitte Bardot.

 

Options for different hair lengths

The hairstyles also cover a range of eras: The Silent Film Star is based on the silver screen stars of the 1920's, there is the 30's Fake Bob, The Page Boy, which recreates a style popular in the 1940's, The Pin-Up is reminiscent of the bombshells of the 1950's and the Beehive is pure 60's glamour. There are also several modern-looking styles such as the French Twist or the Receptionist that, while popularised in the past are still very much used today, more so than the obviously retro styles such as Hat Hair or Snood Style.

 

Finishing Touches

The final section of the book is given over to finishing touches, and covers scarves, flowers, pins and other hair ornaments: there are different options of scarf styles, and even instructions on how to make a beautiful hair flower. It then briefly covers classic vintage make-up, such as winged eyeliner and scarlet lips and includes vintage manicures too!

I love trying out the styles in the book and making them work for my hair - photoshoots and shows are perfect for this as they allow me to experiment and create hairstyles that maybe wouldn't work in day-to-day life.

Silent Film Star

 

My take on the style (Bettie Bee Photography - above left)

 

The 'Golightly' and my interpretation (Candee Piccies - above right)

My favourite styles in this book are Snood Style #1, Your Unique Pomp, The Pin-Up, Tiki Lounge, The Receptionist, For The Boys, Jazz Singer, Silent Film Star and Hat Hair - several of them are intended for longer hair than I currently have but the beauty of the instructions is that many of them can be adapted, and it is easy to combine styles: for example, I have very short hair with a longish fringe so I can style the back using The Contessa and the front using The Page Boy to create my own unique hairstyle!

Oh, and the kittens love this book too!

If you enjoyed this review, why not check out my other book and beauty reviews...

xx