Out By The Light Of The Moon.....

....the stars twinkle and so should you! It's Christmas very soon, which means presents, parties, probably eating and drinking too much. Hopefully all with people you love, possibly with work folks. Whatever the situation or occasion, no doubt, you'll want to look your best so before your event creeps up on you, here is our pick of some fantastic people to help beautify you....

Bethany Jane Davies - Is fantastic, after sharing a challay with her at the Riot last year, not only can she dance all night, but she knows all of the tricks to make sure that you'll look fantastic the next morning! Based in Manchester, Bethany travels to you, can be booked for appointments for make-up and hair, and also runs courses and offers tutorial sessions. Plus becuase she's so awesome she's offering Lady K Loves readers 15% discount on make up and hair services between now and Christmas. T&Cs....This does not include bridal make up or lessons and seminars. Regular travel costs apply. Book through the website with the code 'LadyKLovesChristmas'. Below are a few examples of her work.

    
Flamingo Amy - The very talented Amy trained at Nina's in London, and is based up in Norwich, she often works out of Flint hair in the the Bridewell area of the city and is a true jem! I seem to remember seeing something on her facebook recently about spaces for NYE filling up already so act fast as this girl gets very busy!

Lucille's Locks - Over Nottingham way you have the sweet as pie Lucille, I was first introduced to her via a blog she did on Lady K Loves jeans! Her hair tutorials on her blog are a great place for advice and inspiration, particularly good if you're looking for a distraction on Christmas day. But she also offers a full styling service for those who aren't confident to try them selves or what to go for something far more advanced for a special occasion.

The Vanity Box - Some of you may well have already met Verity and Gemma of The Vanity Box, they are regularly attending shows and weekenders, with their beauty pop-up studio, have worked with some of the best brands in the business and can be regularly found on the dance floor! Take a look at their facebook for a true idea of what they can offer.

 

Betty Flowers - If you haven't heard of her you haven't been reading the blog that often! Based in Hastings, lover of sweet tea and fan of all sorts of critters, Betty can, indeed make you blush! She's worked on most of the LKL photo shoots this year and specialises in peachy perfect skin.

 

Tattooed Beauty - After something a little more permanent? Madam Butterfly offers make-up and beauty tattooing. Eyebrows that don't smudge, lip liner that doesn't bleed or disappear when you eat or drink, eye liner perfect every day! It's like heaven. Prices start at £ and you do need to leave time for healing so get in touch with Madam B now to book your appointment.

Next time, fantastic frocks, heavenly heels and hair accessories to die for for all shapes and sizes.

Under The Tree.....

If like me you're starting to feel the cold damp sweat of panic at the idea of Christmas creeping in, fear not. I'm not one to be celebrating having the shopping done and finished by October, I find the fact that the adverts start so early puts me off...and of course I then spend so much time insisting that it's not Christmas yet I forget to plan presents.......hence the cold sweat!

Over the next couple of weeks we'll be running a series of blogs covering ideas for presents, where to find great help for hair and make-up and styles for the party season. So get your self a coffee, sit back and make some notes on what to get for who.

Roundup Records - Specialising in music and with a fantastic range of denim apparel, Roundup Records are regularly at shows and weekenders in the UK and parts of Europe. There's a wide range of hair grooming and pomades, but for the day's where you do just wont do they have the perfect newsboy hats, 3 colours and 3 sizes there a fantastic present. 

Bow & Crossbones - Best known for their jewellery and accessories, Bow & Crossbones also stock some great guys wear like this El Paso Speedway tee for £17

Miss Tiki Designs - Run by the lovely Elaine, Miss Tiki, evolved via a love of painting, with an strong influence of Polynesia and tropical, think fruit, tiki and even some charming animals when it comes to hair flowers. We love the Moai, great on hair clips too! 

Exotic Tramp - Keeping it with the tiki feel Exotic Tramp is an emporium of luau goodies. Among our favourites are the chocolates, from traditional shapes, to chilli volcano's and even a tiki or two (prices starting at £3.50), the beautifully beaded Lei's (prices from £10) and the fabulous coconut handbags

Dolly Cool -  Dolly Cool's Candy Cool range (£7 with free postage) is just out and prefect for Christmas, exclusive designs on a 1" wooden tile base. Dolly prides herself on items being hand made so always unique with fantastic quality and a keen eye for design.

Alternatots - Something for the little ones, Alternatots is amazing! I didn't even know what to pick! Toy's changing bags and mats, outfits from tini tiny to toddling, Christmas is for kids and now they can look as cool as you! We love this Swallow tee for £16

Shanty Tramp - Beautiful hand made jewellery, custom made to your length, everything is made to order so make sure you get order soon. We love this sea-side necklace (£19), and the hibiscus set, and the daisy's and we're had to stop looking so we don't just buy us lots of presents! 

Deadly Is The Female - We're not sure if this is for him or you...but there's nothing better than some well fitting lingerie (see our previous post on bra fittings and perhaps head to She Said if you're near Brighton), pert of a range of corsets, pants, pantihose and petticoats.

Lady K Loves - Yes we do lots of beautiful clothes (we're so modest), and some wonderful accessories (have you seen the RockOptika frames we stock?) But we also have a selection of books picked out from Amazon. Cocktails, picture books of cars and girls, how to on hair and make-up and some social history.

We hope that's given you a little inspiration and somewhere to start with your shopping....

LKL x

Long Over Due Some Cocktail Fun

Another cocktail post is long over due, and this time I’ve gone for a traditional prohibition drink, Long Island Iced Tea. It’s got an mix of pretty much every sprit, and is from a point in time where firstly drink was illegal (in the States), which lead many people to brew their own. (This is highly dangerous! Making your own beer, wine, ect in this country is perfectly legal, mostly because it’s safe. Spirits on the other hand have a dangerous distilling process which unless done properly can result in explosions, blowing up your house, garage, factory ect is not advised! The other side affect of bootlegged booze is that it can send you blind among other things!)

The aim of the drink is to get a perfect balance of all of the sprits, creating a sweet and sour flavour, which you don’t even realise has alcohol in it (going back to the illegality of drinking and the rotten powerful stuff used). You can buy what you need at your local supermarket……..

You will need –

Glasses

Ice

Lemon – cut in half’s

Limes – cut in 8^th’s in slivers

Straws

Stirrers and any other decoration

Vodka

White rum

Gin

Tequila

Triple sec

Coke-a-cola (any brand, skinny or fat are all fine)

Take your glass and fill with ice,

Squeeze all of the juice from one half of lemon in to the glass, follow this with the juice from 2 segments of lime.

If you can free pour (which I’m not likely to write about you can the basics about it here, I use a count of 4 per 25ml), pour a count of 1 of Vodka, Gin, White Rum and Tequila, this is approximately 6.25ml, add to this a count of 2, or 12.5ml of the Triple Sec.

Top with coke, give a quick stir and taste. It will take some practice, particularly as it can be really easy to go over board on the tequila, but once you’ve got the knack this is a great tasty classic cocktail. 

Dolly Cool

Last year the the London Lowbrow Kustum Kristmas, I was lucky enough to have my little stand next to Clare from Dolly Cool, not only was she lovely it was great being able to have a bit of a chat about shop and talk strategies (kind of dull I know, but it becomes much more interesting when your lively hood and ability to buy the shoes you've got your eye on is directly linked to how much money your business has made.)

It's becuase of our conversations that I looked at sorting a new web site system, (along with other people like Retro Chick and my mum who had both given me excellent idea's and suggestions about what to do), looked at setting up a news page which then developed into this blog, and finally she was definitely an energising force when it came to arranging the Jessie Orbits shoot back in march.

So I wanted to give her a little shout out as she's not only super sweet but also a regular Lady K Loves customer and I wanted to give something back....so here are some of my favourite bits from her current range, and her is her blog, and facebook go take a look!

 Trash Leopard Earrings

 3D heart necklace 'Doll'

 New Rosary Collection rose necklace modelled by the lovely La Dama

Large Rose Necklace

London Lowbrow & Kustom Ko-op

Last year we had a stand at the London Lowbrow & Kustom Ko-op's Kustom Kristmas, it was a hoot, however being out late the night before and not really being from London meant the travelling to get there took it out of my before I even got there.....

That said it's back this year and if you're someone who would consider your self a Kustom Krafter (Lady K isn't so crafty any more as we get everything made in the UK) and want a stall you can get in touch with them via facebook. Or if you're after some interesting Christmas presents, some fantastic home-made cake or just want to have a fun day out and hear some good music in the evening head down to this years event.