What does the term icon mean nowadays? It's not something we tend to dwell to heavily on, letting the media do as they will with the term, and blissfully ignoring the bastardization of this once impressive word. It has been used in conjunction with many up and coming stars ( Agyness Deyn and Kate Moss, are two who have had the term bandied around) and I may even be guilty of having used it in describing some fresh faced starlets.
The actual meaning of the word become more significant when trying to write this column however and has led me down this rather introspective path. The original meaning of the word referred to religious iconography and then went on to mean something that symbolized something else- for instance you'd call the Eiffel Tower an iconic display of Parisian culture. Can one be an icon if you've hardly breathed however? Agyness Deyn may be cutting edge and hip, but the fact that she's barely out of braces (figuratively speaking) makes me uncomfortable with allowing her that tag.
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Day 2
A 6am start with clear bright skies and jogging up the hill with lots of racing and interval training is about the opposite to how I spend my Saturday mornings- the only time I'd ever be up this early is if I hadn't been to bed yet!. Yawning I chase after the other girls, placing on heavy foot in front of the other. Breakfast is a meagre bowl of muesli and then we're loaded onto a coach. After a 30 minute snooze I wake up to find we've arrived- and gleaming out the window is the sparkling Devon sea, with sandy dunes aplenty and seagulls cawing overhead.
We spend the next two hours strenuously circuit training and rope pulling, and I'm particularly appalling at the tug of war challenge, getting all girly and not wanting to break a nail. Next we take a seriously looong hike along the coastline, but thought he view is beautiful my hip flexors are really starting to ache- we've hardly begun and already I'm feeling tired and sore!
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In an attempt to look super svelte at the multiple weddings I'm attending this summer I'm heading down to Devon to try out the Ultimate BootCamp Weekend- think four days of enforced exercise, controlled diets and 5am wake up calls. My kit list request 4 pairs of trainer -2 outdoor, 1 indoor and 1 walking boot and a total of nine tops, so I guess I'm going to be worked pretty hard., This is the diary of my experience.
Day 1
I arrive in the wilds of Devon after a 3 hour train ride to meet four similarly nervous looking women at the train station. Two men wearing army gear introduce themselves and load up our bags in the minibus and drive us to the secret location - a country estate with 52 hectares of grassland and Enid Blyton style cottages, washed in white. The beds have Cath Kidston coverlets and everything is very quaint and adorable, with a notable lack of anything processed or chocolaty- it feels more like a vacation than an attempt to knock my body into shape.
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Sarah Fisher writes...
Everybody loves a bargain - and beauty can be an expensive hobby. Plenty of us shop around for the best value, browsing discount sites, department store sales, and of course, eBay.
But the enticing deals touted by many eBay sellers are often not as they seem. For years, eBay has been rife with counterfeit high-end cosmetics, manufactured cheaply and without safety regulation. They're passed off as genuine, netting a tidy profit for sellers. Scary, right? Find out how to shop safe and avoid the fakes after the jump.
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You know those offers you get accosted with on the street? The ones where you're promised a 'top name' salon day out for a ridiculously low price that includes a makeover and hairstyle? Hopefully you've stayed away from those scams, but you may have fallen into the other trap- the lure of a free photoshoot with one 'lovely free print for you to take home'.
I was given a voucher to their 'flagship Farringdon branch' and like the fool I was I thought I'd go along for a day of pampering. I was prepared that there would be a bit of a hard sell when it came to choosing my free photo but I'd never expected anything like what occurred. The finished photos may look stunning but the tale behind them is that of sweat, money and six months of angry negotiating.
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Five days have passed since I embarked on my juice fast and it's gone surprisingly well. Yes, there have been some up and downs, and my energy has gone from zero to 100, and then stabilized somewhere in the seventy percentile range, but apart from a slip up with a Solero I've faithfully stick to the plan.
I've gritted my teeth and drank black mixtures of bentonite clay, endured the unpleasantness of a colonic and said no to alcohol, chocolate and fizz even when placed in dire temptation. Today is the day of reckoning, and I'm going to assess how I feel.
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I've been a contact lens wearer for many years now and price has always been an issue. It seems really unfair that I have to fork out monthly for something I can't live without, and though I love my glasses. They really aren't suitable for everyday use. Prices in stores don't seem to compare with those offered on the web, but are you really getting the best deal when you buy online?
I'm going to take a look at some of the major contacts retailers out there and give you all the hard facts, including prices, consultation fees and monthly charges- and I'm going to look at both daily contact lenses and monthlies.
Do you really get a better bargain online? Read on to find out!
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