Lipo-zapping, rip-off Uggs and Parisian chic

By Lisa Butcher on 21 Jan 2011 5 comments

Well, I'm back from Bali and after a sojourn in Paris I've got all sorts of style snippets to impart...

Let's start with Paris, I went out to see a friend for a few days and I must say I genuinely think they are more stylish over there. Sorry English people, but there were quite a lot of very well dressed women. It’s the way they put an outfit together that sets them apart. I saw one woman, in her forties, wearing brown boots, navy tights, a brown A-line skirt (I'm sure you’re thinking ‘yuck’ by the description), and this turquoisey scarf... and she just looked so stylish, really well put together! And I saw an incredibly stylish girl wearing this grey furry cape and leggings - such a simple style but well put together, all the boys’ heads were turning.

Another observation on Parisian style... Uggs are massive over there! I certainly wasn’t expecting that, maybe the French are getting a little more scruffy... like us.

On the subject of Uggs, this blog comes with a warning: beware of online shopping. In the hope of netting a January sales bargain I hit the web. I typed 'ugg sale uk' into Google and up comes this site that I thought was a genuine Ugg site, I ordered myself some really nice Uggs for £75 - 'bargain', I thought... But I didn’t get an invoice. Thinking it a bit odd I called my bank and they said the order was being sent from China, but on the site it said they were based in England...

Well, I’ve just received the 'Uggs' and they’re the nastiest, ugliest things you can imagine, real rip-offs. So now I have to go to a proper Uggs store and have them write a letter confirming they’re fake, and hopefully I can get my money back! So be warned - only go to reputable brands. If you’re buying Uggs go somewhere like Kate Kuba rather than doing it my way.

Continuing the shopping theme, I tell you what - forget Paris, London, Milan for shpopping, it has to be Seminyak in Bali! We walked down this one street and I was utterly blown away - the clothes, the jewellery - it was amazing. I bought a 5ft Buddah made of volcanic rock, I'm getting it shipped back, although I have no idea how I’m going to get it into my house! Unfortunately Bali has become quite westernised, I went to find my spiritual home and realised it’s buried under McDonald’s. Saying that it was lovely to be with my brother, his family and my kids. It’s all about the people there - they are exceptionally warm and extremely genuine.

I‘ve been back at school doing my NLP training. I’ve discovered how to get rid of pain without hypnosis, pill or anaesthetic. And I learned hypnotherapy... and helaing. So I had a great weekend, very eventful! I'm feeling very positive, this is going to be a big year for me. My jewellery ranges are ticking along nicely and will launch in a few months... I'll be sure to share plenty of photos and updates with you on that. And I'm off to Tenerife this weekend for a photo shoot with Long Tall Sally. All that's left is for me to get a TV show now. I’d love to do a What Not To Wear but with a therapy slant - watch this space!

As for new year's resolutions - I have none... because I just know I'll break them; my only resolution is to have a smile on my face and be happy!

Till next week... x

Product of the week: I went into a bit of a meltdown pre-Bali, looking at my thighs. In my bathroom I have overhead lights, clearly a man did the lighting, it shows every lump and bump and the mirrors make you look really wide, with that in mind I did some research and stumbled across Dr Michael Prager.

Dr Prager provides a treatment called Lipo-Smooth - it’s not liposuction, it’s non-invasive, using ultra sound and a vacuum massage technique that gets rid of fat and cellulite. I went for about eight treatments and while it didn’t get rid of my cellulite completely it worked a treat and made a really considerable difference. It's so nice to have confidence when you're going to have your legs out on the beach.

I also discovered Lifewave patches, they work on accupressure points. 1.8 billion people use accupressure or accupuncture and these patches are incredibly popular with sports stars but they're becoming available to the general public. The patches stimulate your accupressure points for a range of effects: there's a detox patch, one for anti-cravings, weight loss, energy... all sorts. I use the anti-ageing patch every other day and a detox one every day. They cost around £90 for a box but it certainly does the trick! For more information call Malvina on 07956 360411.

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