Tuesday, 31 January 2012

with love

Lovely readers,

Well, it's been 'totes emosh' - but I feel the time has come to wish you all a fond farewell.  As of today www.girlinthecityglasgow.com is closing for business.

A big thank you to all that welcomed me in to the wonderful blogging community - may all your blogs continue to grow and take over the world.

And to those that have commented - or just read from afar, you rock.

I'll still be tweeting beauty tips, fashion notes and general Glasgow gubbins @girlinthecityG - so please do say hello, and watch out for my regular column in the UK Beauty Guide magazine too.

Now maybe I'll finally get that first novel finished ;)

With love,

Girl in the City, Glasgow x


PLEASE NOTE THAT WHILE THIS BLOG IS NO LONGER ACTIVE - I'VE ARCHIVED MY TOP 50 POSTS BELOW - PLEASE ENJOY :)

Saturday, 31 December 2011

should auld acquaintance be forgot

For auld lang syne, my dear 
For auld lang syne, 
We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet 
For auld lang syne!

Sex and the City: The Movie, Soundtrack Mairi Campbell and Dave Francis 

To you and yours wherever you may be, wishing you love, health and prosperity for 2012 from this girl in the city.

Thursday, 22 December 2011

Fusion Fabulous at Kuta Glasgow - and The Kraken lurks within!

Dim sum, tapas, heck - party buffets with plates of tiny little sausages and cheese and pineapple on a stick… there’s just something about food served in lots of little dishes that turns just about any dining experience into some sort of wonderful exciting feast – whether that be a picnic in your local park or (a more winter friendly option) sharing a selection of tasty dishes in your new favourite city centre chow down retreat.

Glasgow is full of such wonderful little places and spaces – Kuta on Bath Street being my latest find.  Nestled in the basement of hairy fairy fabulous Taylor Ferguson (hairdresser to the likes of Billy Connelly and Lulu apparently – he admits it on his website and everything!) Kuta is a haven of fabulous fusion food, seductive lighting, unexpected baroque touches and the most delicious dark rum beastie referred to reverently as ‘The Kraken’ – once sipped, never forgotten.

It was a quiet Sunday evening when I met up with one of my oldest friends for an evening of catch up and Christmas shopping cool down. We were seated immediately and offered up information on personal favourites, specials and vital advice on how ‘seafoody’ the seafood dish was (we’re both quite new to this fishy business).

And while the steak and burger options sounded appetising (both spicy and served with sweet potato chips) we decided to get our very own table picnic on, opting to share two 3 bowl starters (£7.95 per three) from the list of small dishes, and one 3 bowl main from the large dishes selection (£12.95 per three).  
top left - right: chicken satay skewers, chicken and noodle tom yum soup, vegetable spring rolls
bottom left - right: duck spring rolls, breaded okra, shellfish tempura**

So came the starters – hot little bowls of duck and vegetable spring rolls with plum dipping sauce (crispy and stuffed full of goodness – especially the duck which was rich and spicy), chicken satay skewers with the lightest most moreish satay sauce I’ve ever tasted, chicken and noodle tom yum soup (lots of noodles – lots of thai style creamy spicy soup), breaded okra with chilli and garlic mayonnaise (crispy, crunchy flowery things – who knew?) and the dreaded mixed shellfish tempura – mussels, oysters, king prawns and scallops – and colour me happy, I’m a shellfish convert (although I may demand them in such a light tempura batter going forward, could be tricky but I’m committed to the cause.)

It may sound like a lot of food, and heck I’m not going to lie – there was plenty on our platter(s) but everything was light, tasty and bite size good.  The 3 bowl main is a similar pick what you fancy menu and served on a lazy susan style tray that lets you spin and share with your dining companion(s).
 Clockwise: spiced honey glazed pork belly with coconut steamed rice, butter chicken with rice noodles and mixed peppers and Malaysian style vegetables with coriander rice**

We were recommended the butter chicken (served with rice noodles and mixed peppers) and could happily recommend this on – tiny little pieces of melt in your mouth chicken in a delicious dark glaze with well seasoned noodles that guarantee to send your fork into a spinning frenzy – think Asian lady and the tramp and you’ve got the perfect sharing dish.  We also shared the spiced honey glazed pork belly with coconut steamed rice.  The pork belly was charred to perfection and the rice slightly sticky and oh so wonderful.  Our final bowl was of Malaysian style vegetables with coriander rice.  My partner in eating is a spice fiend so we asked for a little extra heat with these which was delivered in this deliciously hot treat.  Fusion fabulous!
 The Captain's Rest cocktail - The Kraken lurks within!**

And if your evening is more pre-club merriment with drinks a plenty then Kuta also has an impressive cocktail menu and stylish bar area -  one of the select elite to stock Caribbean dark rum The Kraken.   

Named after a sea beast of myth and legend because of the inky dark tentacles it coats its captive glass with, The Kraken is strong, enriched with exotic spices including cinnamon, ginger and enticingly good.  It adds a kick to coke (if asking for some KrakenCoke doesn’t terrify you too much in  a Glasgow bar) but we decided to test our seafaring legs by sampling it in the form of The Captain’s Rest – mixed with Chambord black raspberry liquor, apricot brand, apple juice, cranberry juice, lemon juice and gomme syrup. Gommenomnomnom.

Kuta is run by Alan Tomkins (of Glasgow’s Urban Bar & Brasserie, Vroni’s Wine Bar, Vodka Wodka, Bolly Mardy’s and Blue Dog) and is situated in the basement of 104 Bath Street, the space once occupied by Tapela. 


The Kraken has an RRP of £22.99 for a 70cl bottle, and is available nationally in good off-licenses and supermarkets including Sainsbury’s, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges and Peckham’s delicatessen.

Monday, 19 December 2011

Nicola Roberts keeps us in aubergine suspenders.

It was no frills allowed as ex girl band turned fashionista Nicola Roberts hit the streets of London in a baggy jumper and itsty bitsty denim shorts.


Sharing 800 minutes of her life with the public to promote the launch of the new Nokia Lumia 800 at Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy, Nicola rocked a look favoured by street stylistas across the nation with this delectable colour block chunky knit from fashion website owntherunway.com (currently half price in store at Bank clothing), distressed topshop cut off denimskid suede topshop ankle boots and the most heart stopping aubergine double suspender styled tights.  

Never did I think that I would happily dress head to toe in the same outfit as a member of Girls Aloud, but heck the girl got style.

Monday, 12 December 2011

Fluffy or Spiky? You Decide!

Ahem.

So this weekend I may have partaken in just a little bit of telly box tenterhooks; resulting today in some very square eyes, the desire for a flashing neon coloured wrist band thingy (seriously, how did they do that?) and the urge to make my next big entrance via trampoline.

While I've loved to hate this year's X Factor with the sick sort of twistedness that makes me want to throw things at Kelly Rowland, the series' true star surely shone in its styling.  Hair was big - and so were the lashes and oh my goodness there was more glitter than your average drag queen convention.  Diva-vine indeed.  But behind the glamoramma was the clever use of a mix of achievable high street pieces and breaking fashion houses, smaller labels and independent designers - even Scottish label and lover of statement dressing Obscure Couture made a number of entrances most notably so on punk princess Amelia Lily.


It's for this reason that it would seem Little Mix aren't the only winners this season.  Helping to style the girl band was recent London College of Fashion graduate Nikita Karizma; a statement loving young designer who created the armoury styled silver harnesses worn by the ensemble dancers and also the stunning spiked Porcupine shoulders featured in the band's season highlight performance of En Vogue's Don't Let Go.


Indeed embellishment remained a theme of the night, and while more fluffy than fierce, the X Factor's style team also took on the homespun trend by dressing the girls in the fluffiest angora dip dye jumpers (from Topshop's current Boutique collection) brandishing each of the Little Mix's names on their jumper in cutesy kitsch high school sequins.

Check out Obscure Couture's personalised knuckledusters (as worn by Amelia Lily) here, or get your fluff on in Little Mix's angora Topshop's pastels (sans sequins) here.

Sunday, 13 November 2011

Cherry pop lips with Daniel Sandler

Adore the professional make up finish captured in your favourite glossy magazines?  Ever wish you could have your very own celebrity make up artist to hand?  Well, if you’re on twitter then you must follow make up guru Daniel Sandler – undoubtedly the nicest man in make up.
 
Daniel tweets top tips and mantras for cosmetic fans of every age, and if his own delectable product range is anything to go by, he certainly knows his stuff.

Top left / bottom right corner wearing Daniel Sandler Luxury Lipstick in Impulse and Watercolour Crème Rouge Blusher in Soft Pink.  Lipstick pictured alone top right, blushers pictured left - right in Soft Pink and Soft Peach bottom left.

Created for his Autumn Winter 2011 Collection is Impulse Luxury Lipstick (£13.25) – his signature red, rich with cherry pink pigments which according to Daniel ‘make this a demi-bright shade reminiscent of Donna Summer and the disco fever of Studio 54 in the 70’s’.  And while I’m a 80s child myself I seriously can’t resist this classic having worn it on special occasions and everyday activities alike.  Its creamy texture means it glides on to your lips with ease, and its unique lip pluming formula packs a pouty punch that’s both long lasting and sophisticated fun.  

A lady like blush is a must this winter, and Daniel's new watercolour crème rouge blusher in Soft Pink offers the most perfect porcelain skin flush.  Priced at £15 this is a formula that takes on my favourite NARS cream blush finish and lasts all day long.

For tips, make up looks and to find your nearest stockist visit www.danielsandler.com


Follow Daniel on twitter.

Friday, 11 November 2011

Heavenly Hands with Nails Inc and Gossip Girl. xoxo

Glasgow’s Nails Inc salon is a haven for stressed out shoppers this Christmas, situated on the ground floor of House of Fraser Buchanan Street and sandwiched between the beauty hall and Yo Sushi!  In fact, the night I attended for my first ever Nails Inc Heavenly Hands manicure I found myself admiring the finished results at a booth in the very same restaurant with fellow blogger Kirsten (who had just been magnetised – more on that later)

Small but perfectly formed this Nails Inc salon is the kind of place where you could happily spend a couple of hours oohing and aahing over the high end hand collection as you take in polishes in literally every colour of the rainbow, with practically every finish you could ever imagine too – from matte, metallic, crackle, holographic and even hand applied individual Swarovski crystals in the bling tastic Crystal Pedicure (a treat starting from £120 that is apparently favoured by Brides on their big day).

And the nail technicians are as patient as they are friendly – you can literally try before you buy; at one point I had each every colour and finish of the 3 recently launched Gossip Girl polishes as well as the 3 new magnetic polishes deftly applied on my nails to allow me to pick the perfect polish I wanted applied to finish off my Heavenly Hands manicure in style.

Oh the Heavenly Hands manicure, what a treat.  The ultimate manicure and the perfect indulgent treatment as my nails were soaked, buffed, smoothed, filed and shaped and my cuticles trimmed as well as an oh-so-good deep tissue hand massage.  Bliss.

 Nails Inc Heavenly Manicure using the Gossip Girl collection in Blair

 I opted for a Gossip Girl polish using the Blair Collection.  A special effects duo using a deep Teal black Blair nail polish teamed with Privileged blue/green overglaze top coat.  The teal black on its own is rich and shiny – and if you’ll excuse my language, as bitching as its namesake.  The Privileged top coat leaves an almost holographic finish – a grown up glitter if you will, without the gritty grain.

from left - right: Nails Inc Gossip Girl collection in Blair, Serena and Lily

The Gossip Girl collection is priced at £20 per pack for the two polishes and also comes in Serena (a patent black polish with It Girl electric blue overglaze) and Lily (a plum black polish with High Society red and green overglaze) – each finish equally as mesmerising as the other, and the absolute perfect Christmas party polish for shimmering chic this festive season.

Kirsten's Nails Inc Heavenly Manicure using the Magnetic Polish in Houses of Parliament

As for Kirsten, the girl done equally as good sporting Nails Inc new Magnetic Polish in metallic purple shade Houses of Parliament.  Stunning on its own but marbled and intriguing when used with the special magnet housed in the polish’s lid – an absolutely unique way to create a talk worthy nail art effect.  Priced at £13 per bottle, and available in Trafalgar Square (metallic chrome) as well as Big Ben (a gorgeous glittery gold colour), £1 from every magnetic polish sold will be donated to The Prince’s Trust.

The Nails Inc Heavenly Hand manicure can be booked in salon or online at www.nailsinc.com and is priced at £38 for 30 minutes.  Other services in salon include the 3 week manicure, Minx application and nail art.

Shop the Nails Inc Christmas Shop, including the couture crystal lid collection online now.