Every so often I learn a little trick that has me amazed at its simplicity – and this week my Hairdresser & Manicurist showed me a fabulous one. I often say I have the taste of a drag queen magpie when it comes to glitter so you can imagine how much I loved this:

Glitter Gel nails! Take Gel varnish, add glitter, then add more gel varnish and voila – enough sparkle to blind anyone who casually glances down, small children and pets.

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Well I’m back from a weekend oop North (well kinda..it was further north than Northampton…). First stop on the Burlesque express was

The Embraced Showcase where I got to meet a bevy of burlesque beauties at a small theatre in Wolverhampton. A great venue (complete with with cheap drinks) I got to debut my new routine! ( I do love theatres with lighting genius’ where you get to play with effects and spotlights) and I had so much fun meeting the fabulous other performers.

I was performing with Havana Hurricane, Mimi Rose (who had a wonderful debut), Lolita Laytex, & Marie the painted lady. Not to mention the musical talents of Mark Ward & Luke Brown & The band 4oz of groove who completely rocked the place. I absolutely loved them all, as did the audience.

 And we were looked after wonderfully by Scarlette Wood who looked absolutely amazing and had the most glamorous onstage assistant in the form of the lovely Emma. And Then it was back to travelling ‘oop North’ with Lolita Laytex as my guide to Leeds where I was performing at Dreams Presents.

I was always told to wrap up warm when heading north – and they weren’t wrong. As soon as I got there I noticed the snowdrifts. Well we were in the snowdome in Castleford near Leeds. I had a fabulous night - the show was enough to have me wanting to hold on to the door and refuse to leave. Not only am I now completely in love with the stunning Georgia Honey and in lt with the amazing Eva Fox – but I also got to spend time with the wonderful Starla Bright, Flixx Demontrant, Doc Leroc, Danni La Blue, Scarlett D’Lyte.

 They all got me so hot Georgia and I had to go and cool down…(well that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it)

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April started with a visit to the House of Burlesque in Portsmouth to watch some absolutely amazing performers at the gorgeous Kings theatre in Southsea. It was a fabulous show and I am so disappointed that I can’t make the next one. Afterwards, with my partner in crime the delectable Khandie Kisses (http://www.KhandieKhisses.com/) we headed to the after party (accompanied by the best drag queen lollipop lady, Sally Monella) before getting some much needed sleep before seeing the fabulous Vie O Lette for lunch.

            The following weekends had me at private parties and working on a new surprise before heading back to Portsmouth for a very exclusive show with the Kissy Kat burlesque show where I got to perform with the beautiful Starla Bright, the kingtastic Alamaba Love, the twist in the tale that is Vie O’lette and the lovely Willow Blue, not to mention Lilly – the bouncy bubble of a stage manager.

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March has been spent performing, rehearsing  and meeting fabulous new people. Bambi Dear, Susie Von Sequin, Scott Chalmers, Millie Dollar, Ben Giddions and the mind twist that is the fabulous Frank Sanazi as well as getting ready to launch my brand spanking new act next month.

The month started with a fabulous Hen party in Portsmouth where the ladies learned to walk with a wiggle, then the next even was a show for Yacht club in London wanting to raise money to help the heroes. Where I met for the first time (and hopefully not the last) the fabulous Bambi Dear & Susie Von Sequin. Unfortunately I had the following nights gig cancelled, but that meant I was able to fit in another dress fitting.

Then it was a case of all hands to the pins as my new costume began to take shape. A gorgeous confection of sequins and ruffles, it put’s Marilyn Monroe’s dress from ‘some like it hot’ firmly in the shade and contributed to the acts name: ‘Some Like it Red Hot’ – also in honour of my change of hair colour. I’m now a gorgeous shade of a spicy ginger and am completely in love with the shade.

Once I had the amazing dress I had to get some photos done, so here is the first sneak peek of a photoshoot with the fabulous Scott Chalmers.

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How fabulous are these bags? By the fabulous Olympia Le Tan.
http://www.olympialetan.com/index.cfm


Put simply...I want!



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Apocalyptic gig! 11/04/2010
 
There's something strangely beautiful and compelling about seeing a crowd respond to the energy coming from the stage and moving hundreds of people to the same pulse. Standing on the Balcony at the HMV Forum I could see the beat of crowd as they responded to the bands output and finally even gave up on recording* the band and gave into the pure enjoyment.

Apocalyptica the Finnish Cello Metal band (trust me, it works) are one of my favourite groups. A group of classical musicians who got together over a love of metal and combined the two forms of music to fabulous effect. They are also one of the hardest working bands on the circuit. Looking at their gig list for the last year leaves you feeling exhausted so they must be counting down the time till a day that doesn't involve travelling, interviews or performing. This last week alone has seen them performing in Tilburg then to Paris to Brussels to London then Scotland and Wolverhampton.

Tuesday I made my way to London to see the latest tour supporting the newest album, running late due to the great British transport system I met up with friends and made my way to the Forum looking forward to the evening ahead.

'Pain of Salvation' were supporting, an area that I've always found lacking in previous Apocalyptica gigs - which made the pleasure of a good (if unintentionally amusing) band all the more marked. I regret that I only caught the last three tracks of theirs, they've now shot straight on to my 'must buy' list, even if only to work out if the earnest messages in their last song of the night were meant to be taken with a wry wink or not.


To start with, it looked as though the travelling had have sapped some of the energy from Apocalyptica, but they've always had energy to spare. Even tired they manage to outdo so many other bands on the rock/metal circuit for pure mania and after they played a powerful arrangement of 'Seek and Destroy' the entire venue seemed to perk up and the evening just flowed perfectly.


In my fantasy rockband, Mikko Siren would be the drummer. He's no only a fabulous drummer but he connects me straight back to watching the Muppets. A controlled explosion of energy topped by shaggy hair and a wide grin he (for me) is the human incarnation of Animal. And as well as his covetable clear drum set they've set him up with banging lights - that's right Lights that work from the vibration (I think) of the drum. Giving an epileptic danger warning of a performance.


The celloists, Eicca Toppinen, Perttu Kivilaakso & Paavo Lötjönen are fabulous at both music and showmanship. Everytime I've seen them they manage to find a way to make the audience feel included in the obvious joy they get from their instruments. The reverent silence during 'Beautiful'** was a wonderfully marked contrast to the mania shown during 'I'm not Jesus' and the Metallica covers.

Even as the night drew to a close and they hadn't played my favourite 'Hall of the Mountain King' I was still very happy. And after the encore I was happier still. In fact the only thing that would have made the night better would have been the transport strike being called off. Due to the need to catch a certain train I couldn't meet the band after the gig. But there's always next time…...

*Calm down ye pirate hunters. I merely refer to the practice of using phones and cameras attached to the very top of your upright arm getting in the way of the person in behind you and resulting in a series of blurred and unfocused images. Doing it a couple of times is fine, but when the audience is almost at a standstill as they're busy concentrating on the machinery, something seems to go missing from the entire gig experience.

** Beautiful - Please pop over to Acts for news of a routine that makes use of this wonderful track.

*UPDATE* 
I feel the need to clarify that I feel slightly bad mentioning how tired they seemed now I know that one of the members was not very well. Get better soon Perttu 

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As requested, some pictures of me all weddinged up
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Whats in a name? 10/14/2010
 


I've recently had a flurry of e-mails asking advise about burlesque
names and help on choosing one.

Your stage name has to do quite a lot for a name. You have to like it,
it should be memorable and above all it should be unique (please google
every combination in a variety of spellings - as you can be assured that
fans won't always remember how to spell your name and you'd be amazed at
what could come up). 

Some ground rules:

1) There are a lot of performers out there and it is very easy for the
public to get confused among all the newbies calling themselves ' Kitty,
Dolly and Rose" same goes for wannabe Scarletts, Cherry, Rubys and most
variations on the colour Red. Sure you can use them, but you'll have to
work four times as hard to stand out with your acts. 

2) An homage? More like straightforward rip off - and not a bright move.
Calling yourself after a famous performer from the past is a bad idea.
You're not going to compare favourably - no matter how good you are.
They may well still be alive (and you do not want to piss those ladies
off). And anyone typing the name into search engines is going to be
easily confused by the variation in results.
Same goes for anyone even thinking of 'borrowing a name'. One of the easiest 
ways to piss off a promoter, and audience and the rest of the scene. 
Always google & facebook to double check it really isn't already being used.

So much comes into finding the right name, the personality you
want to project, the type of performances you want to do, they way you
look and act. E-mailing me and asking if it's a good name isn't really
the way to go about finding your perfect one. I can tell you which one I
prefer but without meeting you I can't tell you if it suits you or your
style. 

One piece of advice I can give, is play with word association. Think of
the character your creating and then brainstorm words & descriptions.
Take a break and when you return see which ones jump out at you. Grab a
thesaurus and comb through if you need help. Then add in your favourite
names and see which ones work together. A glass of wine and a friend
with a sense of humour will help, 

It is hard to find 'your name'. Some people  find their name -
and know that's the one. Others try out names and then grow into them
and others find they've been given the perfect name.
Plenty of performers have started out with one name and ended with another
 so don't feel that you have to live with the one you chose.

Oh and my last piece of advice - the one I wish I'd known? Ask a drunk guy to pronounce it.
If it passes then you should be safe from most compares renaming you.

For more tips on finding your name visit http://resources.ministryofburlesque.com/questions/27/How+Do+I+Choose+A+Burlesque+Name%3F

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I love love love having my nails done. It's one of those areas
where if I had the resources I'd have them done every other day. There
is always that inevitable disappointment however when I chip, scratch or
break a nail, and with my millinery work it happens on a depressingly
regular basis. So I decided to try 'Geleration'. Each layer is covered
with a special gel that is then hardened under a special lamp before the
next layer is applied. The result should last 'up to three weeks.' And
then needs to be removed at the salon. 

I figured I may as well try a pedicure and manicure (hell, why
not?) so went in to K:SPA ( http://www.mykspa.co.uk/) to try it with
 an open mind. It's currently only available in Jessica's most popular 
colours and I did see a gorgeous bright red that I loved but bearing in 
mind the first rule of experimentation (no 1: Thou shalt test, knowing you
 can disguise the results if it all goes pasties up) I went with a very 
natural nude shade that looked beautiful when on. The beautician was 
wonderful and did a fantastic job. The gel gives a wonderfully deep 
gloss that doesn't diminish over the week and a half I had them. (Also
 happened  to be the week of my wedding so trust me, it was fully tested 
with the amount of jobs I had on my list)

After 10 days the gels was beginning to curl up away from the
base of the nail where the new nail was pushing up and 12 days in I had
to make an appointment to have the gels removed as they were starting to
catch in hair & stockings etc. I was disappointed that they didn't last
for the full three weeks, but the only fault lay in my nails having a
growth spurt.  After the gel was removed my nails didn't feel as healthy
as normal but they didn't break of split when I had a manicure later
that week.

It is only a choice between a full nail colour or a french
manicure - none of my half moon manicures (but very few local places
will do that anyway), and as mentioned before the colour choice is very
limited. It's not something I think I But next time I know I've a number
of gigs on one weekend I'll be back as they do look fabulous and stay
looking fabulous for a week. Now if only they did half moons.......

http://www.jessicacosmetics.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=GELERATION
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T LeClerc 

Have you ever had a second date where you're not too sure about the guy,
but hey, you had nothing better planned and the first date wasn't that
bad? Then you find yourself having an amazing night and one of the best
dates of your life. Or you find you yourself staring at him across the
table, wondering how come you remembered him being cuter, taller,
smarter and funny. 

My previous pot of powder weighed in at 100g and I assumed that the new
pot would be a similar size. Of course assumptions lead  to
disappointment when the 35g arrived. Completely my fault as it states
the size on the website, but it did mean readjusting my expectations.
The previous powder had been used all over the body, giving a beautiful
feel & shimmer, but this pot seems destined for the face & cleavage at
the most. No powder puff which was disappointing but for the face I do
prefer to use a brush, and no shimmer which made it much more suitable
for trying during the daytime.

Made with cornstarch (the same ingredient that make's Benefit's Dr
Feelgood so good to combat shiny skin), the powder really does help give
a silky smooth finish. My skin felt gorgeous after a light dusting and
it lasted a decent amount of time (a relief as it's not the type of
packaging you can just pop in to your portable make up bag).

The shade of powder  I tried (Parme) is meant to give a white glow to
the skin and while it works as an anti-bronzer I wasn't convinced that
it made that much of a difference normally. But it does solve the
problem for those very fair skinned who find the lightest shades
normally too orange. 

Overall I liked it once I'd gotten past my initial disappointment. It
won't oust my favourite everyday powder but it runs a close second and
I'm looking forward to trying the other shades over time. But For now
I've mixed it with glitter and marked it for my Christmas act to give a
sparkled snow white effect.

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