October has become “the” month to kick some filthy habits and raise awareness for issues such as Cancer. Plus, healing what you put your body through over the summer months. 

Be a Soberhero and go 31 days without alcohol this October. Say “no” to the booze and “yes” to raising money for people living with cancer.

And every hero should have a trusty sidekick, in the shape of Macmillan, who will be with you each step of the way on your sober journey.

By signing up to the challenge you’ll doing something amazing for those with cancer. All the money raised by those Going Sober this October will help Macmillan support.

And it’s all extremely beneficial to one’s health.

• You’ll have more time on your hands. You’ll have time to fit in a weekend run or learn something new once you’ve banished those horrible hangovers.
• Better sleeping patterns. You’ll wake up with a spring in your step and increased energy levels – who knows what greatness you could achieve?!
• A happier bank balance. By going booze-free, you could save a small fortune.
• A healthier you. The best part of all. With a clearer head, clearer skin and free from hangovers, you’ll be feeling on top of the world.

As well as packing up the booze, why not try and ditch the fags too?

It’s also Stoptober, an initiative in the UK set up by the NHS and Public Health England. The concept came about to help people start the process of quitting, giving smokers the challenge of stopping completely for one month. After thinking about stopping, that first step can be the most daunting, and Stoptober is a great way to embark on the journey. Whether you have already tried Stoptober or not, here are 5 reasons why you should carry on with your challenge into November and beyond.

1) You’re more likely to quit smoking altogether

The whole Stoptober campaign began in 2012, following research that showed if someone gave up smoking for 28 days, they were 5 times more likely to stop altogether. The statistics are in your favour, so keep going.

2) You already look better

Your skin probably looks a lot brighter and more natural than it did a month ago, and people may have even commented on it. When you smoke, your body gets less oxygen through the blood vessels and they become damaged, but within a few days of quitting smoking these begin to repair themselves and the oxygen reaches all parts of your body, including your skin. 

3) You already feel better

Within two hours of quitting smoking your body starts to experience some positive effects, so imagine what 28 days will have done! Your lung capacity will have improved, and you’ll be surprised at how much easier it is to do intense physical activities like running or swimming. Your blood pressure has dropped, and your heart will be beating stronger as well.

4) Your health risks are reducing

Lower blood pressure, better circulation, bigger lung capacity and many other positive effects all lead to a decrease in the risk of dangerous diseases. Smokers are at a much higher risk of heart attacks, strokes and blood clots, cancer and even issues with bones and fertility, but our bodies have an amazing ability to regenerate. Once you quit, these risks began to go down as early as a week into the Stoptober challenge, and continuing on this path will help reduce these risks even further.

5) Your fertility will increase

Smoking puts both men and women at risk of infertility. Sperm becomes damaged and sperm count goes down, and women’s ability to conceive is 72% that of a non-smoker. The good news is stopping smoking reverses these effects and men and women will find it easier to conceive. 

Also, you’ll have more money. Although not linked to health, this is definitely a factor that should be recognised and celebrated. If you usually smoke a packet of cigarettes a day, you’ve already saved up to £250 in October, and that’s a rugby shirt or a couple of micro bags.

WELCOME.

This week is mostly about London Fashion Week, here in our nation’s capital. OK, the news also contains just a touch of Boris. But more importantly, fashion.

Next week, I’ll bring you much more LFW gossip, but while we’re on the subject, one funny story emerged in the red tops yesterday that I simply had to report.

It appears that certain ‘fashion victims’, probably the bloggers and vloggers attending most of this week’s shows, have been splashing out in excess of £2,000 to look like Corrie legend Hilda Ogden

FASHIONISTAS can pay £2,050 to look like Corrie’s Hilda Ogden 

My fave designer GUCCIhave created a shirt which appears exactly like the housecoat worn by Hilda in Corrie, the iconic cleaning lady who was loved by millions of fans during her decades on the cobbles.

Gucci tells would-be buyers: “The quilted over-shirt plays with contrasting prints to create a colourful patchwork effect. The sportswear and outerwear worlds collide in this new style.”

Gucci has also launched a supermarket-style “bag for life” — for £525. The bags – in check, pink, black and floral designs – have the Gucci name printed on the front in gold or silver letters.

Gucci says: “The tote bag is crafted from a soft and lightweight pink cotton fabric, printed with the Gucci logo and specially coated”.

So, as you roll your eyes at such insanity, lets crack on with this week’s issue. We feature an obscene new swimwear fashion which I’m pre-warning you about prior to Summer 2020 (hint – get waxing and squatting), plus the political messages at LFW and also a new fake tan which will keep you glowing, even after summer is officially ‘over’.

I’ve had a 100% natural tan just about all summer long. 50% Balearic and 50% British. Sadly, as soon as that sun disappears, bang goes that tan (followed shortly by the disappearance of a “glowing” summer state of mind).

I’m not one for sunbeds and I’m well and truly over the thousands of bronzing lotions and potions out there. However…

I was recently introduced to bedTAN, a new tanning mousse range which promises to keep you glowing all the way through the winter months ahead.

I tried these gorgeous products, along with a fabulous mitten,  and I was blown away by the results.

Me Before & After

 ‘bedTAN’came about after the brains behind the business suffered a cancer diagnosis within the family, back in 2017. ‘Oh ORGANIC HD-OMBRE’was developed and formulated after research into the dangers of parabens and other toxic chemicals frequently used in the beauty industry. Being a long-time lover of sunless suntans, bedTAN went in search of a chemicalfree vegan product that would generate the longest lasting insta-grade sunless tan. 

“OH ORGANIC” HD – OMBRÉ is beautiful golden mousse which doesn’t clog pores, so can be used on the face as well as the body. It makes the skin feel soft, supple and hydrated, plus it dries in an instant.

Sounds good to me – a long-lasting tan for the face and body and which fades like a real suntan, which can be overlapped on layers, still looking the realistic, with no crackles and patches. 

Roll on winter.

www.bedtan.com

Unless you live in Outer Mongolia, you’ll know that now is all about London Fashion Week. However, rather than it being the usual glamorous round of fabulous catwalk shows in the capital’s coolest buildings, LFW has turned into one huge political protest.

Protesters recreated a united ‘death’ outside various LFW venues, covered in blood, raising awareness for issues such as the huge landfills which labels like Burberry have been known to create. Make no mistake, the controversy surrounding “fast fashion” continues to grow.

Legacy model Naomi Campbell made a bold statement at her Fashion for Relief gala, wearing a dress with blood pouring out of a bullet hole. Apparentl,y to draw attention to youth unemployment and lack of education.

The 49-year-old supermodel hosted her annual charity event during London Fashion Week on Saturday night, to raise money for the Mayor’s Fund for London. Some of the biggest names in fashion and showbiz attended or walked the catwalk, from Stella Maxwell to Leomie Anderson, but none made as big a statement as the hostess herself. 

Many luxury designers lent their creations to the event, such as Givenchy, Marc Jacobs, Gucci, Dior, Marc Jacobs and Alexander McQueen, with more than 60 models showcasing their designs on the catwalk.

Naomi, who founded Fashion for Relief in 2005, had earlier walked the red carpet in another striking dress, which was completely sheer with only sequins strategically covering her modesty. Fashion for Relief aims to fight poverty and disadvantaged people around the world and has raised millions in donations over the past 14 years.

Yes, I know.  Summer is all but done (says she, sunbathing in the garden), but with this UK Indian summer, I still have a degree of justification for discussing swimwear. 

I’m officially giving you the heads up for summer 2020, because THIS is the next trend you’ll need to prepare for.  And I’ve had less intrusive internal examinations.

Cast your mind back to the beginning of this summer. You’ll recall that the Brazilian cut bikini – bum cheeks out – was/is everywhere. Apparently worn regardless of shape, size or age.

Well, just when we were beginning to reassure ourselves that the Brazilian trend was some sort of blip in the fashion space-time continuum, an American swimwear brand has gone and confirmed all our fears.  The swimwear witnessed in summer 2019 is a style that just refuses to go away. But in 2020, it will be all OUT FRONT.

Revival Swimwear has sent models down the catwalk at New York Fashion Week in some of the most extremely high-cut bikini bottoms I’ve ever seen. It hurts just looking at them.

First up was a black belted one-piece, which looked normal enough at first glance with its demure neckline and buckle detail.

But the extremely high-cut bottoms would threaten to flash your “intimate area” if you ever dared to wear them out in public. And for reasons I can’t comprehend, Revival has also brought out the risqué one-piece in white – just in case it couldn’t be any more impractical.

But it doesn’t just end with one-pieces. Scooping up the award for “Bikini Most Likely to Give You Dodgy Tan-lines” is the brand’s equally high-cut and circular studded swimwear.

Along with an extremely uncomfortable-looking set of bottoms, both items in this two-piece have circular gaps which may just make you delete all your holiday pics.

High-cut bottoms aren’t the first wildly impractical swimwear trend we’ve seen this year. The under-boob seems to be as popular as ever too.

November, please hurry up and get here so that we can all safely snuggle up in knits, sweats and Ugg’s.

Welcome to this week’s instalment of Amanda Zips It Up. You might have noticed that I was absent last week; and for once it wasn’t down to a Balearic jaunt or birthday bash. I was poorly with a bout of ‘gastric flu’, which is highly contagious.  So, family and friends all ended up with a lovely dose of vomiting and diarrhea too. What a lovely post-summer gift.

But on closer investigation, I think I may have IBS. That’s Irritable Bowl Syndromeif you didn’t realise.

Key symptoms are a bloated belly, cramps and erratic bodily movements; caused by many things, including lack of sleep, poor diet and exercise.

Sorry if that’s putting you off your breakfast, but it’s actually quite common. 

“Diet and foods” is a subject that’s never black and white, despite our attempts to simplify and categorise. However, understanding the basics of food can help explain the bigger picture of diet, as well as safeguard against the many diet myths out there (e.g. that carb-free diets are necessarily good for your gut).

Not everyone’s IBS troubles them in the same way, and different people respond to different therapies. Managing IBS is not a one-size-fits-all approach. 

Here’s my brief guide.

Onto this week’s instalment of Zips It Upand we kick start with the return of DM’s – that’s Doctor Marten boots. Also, we explore the netted tiered skirt as made iconic by Carrie Bradshaw; plus if you’re a Peaky Blinders fan, the I have something to make this Christmas very special. 

It’s become the most iconic look of the most iconic fashion-based TV series ever.

The tutu, or tiered netted skirt, has become a symbol of the much-loved character, Carrie Bradshaw– our beloved (and the original fashion blogger) of the 90s’ legendary Sex and The City.

Who can forget the opening credits to our fave fashion box set. Carrie, in her pink Tutu on the streets of Manhattan. It became an instant classic.

Whilst those days are over, the look hasn’t died and it’s back at Left Bank Six this Autumn. Now you can recreate the look in every colour, along with your leotard, blazer or biker jacket.

Pair with spikey heels or Doc Martin boots.

It’ll be the talking point at any dinner party and a vintage piece to keep forever. Mine’s hanging up on the wall for all to see. In pink, of course.

Here’s the selection at Left Bank Sixand they come in at £85.

InCream, Blush, Flesh, Black or Charcoal.

Contact Nicole or Sophie at Left Bank Six 

55 Elm Road

Leigh-On-Sea

Essex 

01702 716113

Topshop is selling a dupe of Dr Martens’ iconic Jaden boots for a quarter of the price, and I can’t get enough of them.

Yes, Topshop has come to the rescue of both bank balances and wardrobes with this latest style dupe, as DM’s are still costing a rather hefty £170, or thereabouts. The Topshop black boots are almost identical to the original-styled Dr Martens, that some of us remember from the late 80s. And get this: at just £42, they’re a quarter of the price of DMs.

• OSLO Chunky Lace Up Boots, £42 from Topshop

Complete with a chunky platform heel and lace-up design, the high street brand’s OSLO boots are almost an exact match their Dr Martens inspiration.

Better still, the Topshop Oslo boots are also available in a snake-print design, which pair perfectly with some black skinny jeans and an autumnal chunky knit or classic blazer.

Original DM boots are only distinguishable by their iconic yellow thread.

• Jadon Boots, £170 from Dr Martens

The snakeskin design only cost £42

• Snake Chunky Lace Up Boots, £42 from Topshop –

Can’t get enough of the new series of Peaky Blinders?

Well, how about taking your fandom to the next level and inviting the Shelby brothers into your bathroom? Well, sort of.

Superdrug has just announced it will be launching a Peaky Blinders grooming collection, with gift sets available to snap up in time for Christmas – for those trying to get organised in advance.

The range, launching in stores this week, features a Garrison Tailors Wash Bag Gift Set, £20, which includes the bag, a shave cream, a post-shave balm, a body wash and a very dapper tortoiseshell comb.

You’ll also be spoiled for choice as other options include a Hip Flask set, £12 and a hair styling set, £16.

There’s also a fancy Body Wash & Bottle Opener box, £10, where the fancy opener is shaped like an old-school razor.

The whole range will launch at Superdrug on 11th September, so grab them fast and prepare to feel incredibly smug when the Christmas shopping chaos begins.

In the meantime, binge on that box set.

WELCOME TO THE END OF AUGUST.

I’m currently in an unusually stormy Ibiza. Despite the storms, it’s still very warm here on the White Isle, and of course the UK has just experienced the hottest August Bank Holiday weekend ever.

I’ve already featured anti-hot weather “setting sprays” and “chafing balm” for us ladies. Now here’s something to help your man out in boiling conditions – freezable pants.

• Snowballs Cooling Underwear For Men, £59 from Amazon 

Snowballs Underwear is “scientifically backed cooling underwear”.

The pants come with ice packs – dubbed “SnowWedges” – that are frozen before being popped into a pouch over the groin.

According to SnowBalls, the “SnowWedges” are ready for use after less than an hour in the freezer. After that, they’ll keep things cool for 30 minutes.

For a fairly hefty price, customers get two pairs of cotton boxer briefs and three freezable inserts.

Too expensive? You’re better off holding a cold drink with ice between your legs. But don’t accidentally spill it.

Onto this week’s instalment, and on this occasion we discuss Fred Perry’s Polo shirt signifying hate, the night bra to prevent chest wrinkles and the new Buckle trend.