Posts Tagged ‘Summer’
Perfectly launched to coincide with the onset of Spring, Clarins has introduced two promising new body care products to its repertoire.
Extra-Firming Body Lotion (£39.50 / 200ml tube) and Extra-Firming Body Cream (£39.50 / 200ml) combine all Clarins body firming expertise to offer a double firming action on skin density and elasticity. Containing delicious ingredients such as Lemon Thyme extract, Vu Sua fruit extract, Shea Butter and Hazelnut Oil, they claim to maintain and improve the stretchy quality of the skin, while firming collagen fibres and softening and smoothing at the same time.
I’ve been using the Extra-Firming Body Lotion after showers and baths for about a fortnight. It’s a lovely product with a really fresh scent that melts easily into the skin and leaves it feeling delightfully soft and smooth. I haven’t noticed a dramatic increase in the firmness or tone of my skin yet, but its nice to believe it might have a small positive effect with continued use.
Having used many, many promise-all cellulite-reducing and firming lotions and creams in the past, I would have to say that it is unlikely that a cream alone will deliver miracles when it comes to toning and firming. Sorry. However, the nice thing about this sort of product is that, when complimented by a good, healthy diet and an increase in exercise it can really help encourage you by enhancing any positive results you achieve.
Ideal for summer, a product like this is a perfect addition to any beach-body health & fitness strategy.
We Love: The scent, the texture, the feeling of virtuous pampering that may be helping tone our wobbly bits!
Not So Crazy About: At almost £40, this is not a cheap product.
Available now at Clarins counters and online.
Got a local vista you value? Love your landscape? Heart your horizon?
This year, ‘small but perfectly formed coastal art gallery’, Hatfield Hines of Holt are holding an exciting compeition to discover the best loved view of Norfolk. And should you be lucky enough to win, the rather brilliant prize is an original oil painting of the view by Norwich-born artist David Baxter worth around £400.
‘We’re always keen to show visitors new views of Norfolk’ says Gallery owner Clare Hatfield, ‘so – inspired by this year’s Holt Festival – we’re on a quest to find Norfolk’s scenic top ten.’
The survey was kicked-off by a nomination from celebrity chef-patron of the Michelin-starred Morston Hall, Galton Blackiston, who told the Gallery ‘My favourite view is seen on the drive from Langham to Morston. At one point in the journey you get a perfect view from Blakeney Point to the Watch House. On a summer’s evening it’s just fantastic and I love it!’
Everyone who takes part in the summer scenic survey will be entered into a prize draw in September. The lucky winner will receive a specially commissioned oil painting of their own favourite view by popular Norfolk landscape artist David Baxter.
To enter, download a form here and post it back to the gallery, pick up a form at Hatfield Hines Gallery on Fish Hill in Holt, or visit their website and enter online.
The ‘scenic survey’ is running now, with a deadline for the receipt of entries of 15th September 2010.
Hatfield Hines Gallery.
3 Fish Hill, Holt, Norfolk, NR25 6BD.
Tel: 01263 713000.
As if the host of wonderful shops, workshops, cafe and therapy room wasn’t enough to encourage you to visit Creake Abbey Studios this summer, there is now an added attraction that will be of particular interest to those nature-lovers among you.
A Date With Nature - Barn Owls
White Barn Owls are a regular visitor to one of the barns at Creake Abbey Studios in North Creake, so much so that this year, the RSPB installed a camera in one of the boxes they nest in. Just to demonstrate that while we may be able to observe these stunning wild creatures, we cannot control them, the owls consequently decided to nest in the other available box! When the time was right, the camera was moved, and now provides a live feed from the nesting box onto a television in the nearby exhibition trailer, where you can watch the birds.
What can you expect to see we hear you ask? Well, depending on the time of day, you can be privvy to the owls’ family life as they come and go and raise their young. You can also chat with the RSPB representatives about all things bird-related. If you visit in the evening, you might be able to spot Daddy Owl hunting across the nearby fields before returning to the nest box to feed his baby. Ringed so he can be tracked, Dad is a native to the locale – he was born down the road in South Creake!
There is a slightly sad (and grim) aside to this story that serves to illustrate the delicate balance of nature, including these majestic birds. Originally, there were 5 chicks this year but it has been a poor vole season apparently and there was not enough food to go around. So one chick ate the other four (we warned you it was grim). This remaining (presumably strongest/largest) chick is the only one still to remain.
The event runs 7 days a week from 5 June until 29 August 2010, from 11am until dusk. It is totally free to visit.
View ADWN barn owl (PDF) for further information about the Date With Nature at Creake Abbey Studios or visit www.rspb.org.uk/datewithnature/
Barn Owls - Hunters Not Haunters!
- 18/05/2012 - Victorian Shell Artistry May 18, 2012
- 18/05/2012 - Shipwrecked! Back to 1897 May 18, 2012
- 18/05/2012 - A Walk Through Time: The Victorians May 18, 2012
- 18/05/2012 - Norwich 20 Group – Looking into 20 – paintings and sculpture at The Forum May 18, 2012
- 18/05/2012 - Tony Foster Paintings/Angela Harding Prints May 18, 2012