The Recovery Colleges Preventing a Mental Health Crisis Published in The Mail on Sunday

• They help patients with anxiety and depression become self-care experts
• There are now more than 30 of the pioneering centres across Britain
• But last month, health chiefs in Essex closed one college despite protests 
• Now, there is concern that other self-help schools may now face same fate

By Erica Camus and Sophie Goodchild for The Mail on Sunday

Recovery ‘colleges’, which help patients with anxiety and depression become self-care experts rather than relying on therapists, are under threat, campaigners have warned.

First launched six years ago, there are now more than 30 of the facilities across Britain, based in community halls, day centres and hospital campuses.

The pioneering centres – funded either by the NHS or charities – provide workshops run by and for those with mental health conditions, including people suffering from long-term illnesses such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Recovery ‘colleges’, which help patients with mental health issues, are under threat, campaigners have warned. File photo

However, there is concern that these self-help schools have hit a funding crisis. Last month, health chiefs in Essex closed one college despite protests. Campaigners say others may now face the same fate.

A petition against the axeing of the Mid Essex Recovery Hub and College, which had been running courses in Chelmsford since 2013, raised more than 800 signatures.

But a spokesman for North Essex Partnership Trust, which ran the college, said: ‘The Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group is no longer funding it.’

Clinical psychologist Rosie Beck said recovery courses such as those she helps to run in Manchester can save patients reaching crisis point. She described them as a vital resource for an already cash-strapped mental health service.

Bipolar disorder typically causes sufferers to experience periods of extreme energy or mania, followed by depression. One well-known sufferer is actress Catherine Zeta-Jones (pictured with husband Michael Douglas)

‘There’s no doubt people learn vital skills like relapse prevention,’ said Dr Beck. ‘They empower people in taking charge of their recovery. Learning from peers, others who’ve had a similar experience, is a really major element.’

It was revealed recently that more than 2,000 psychiatric beds have been lost across England since 2011, which represents a 12 per cent decline in the total number available. It also found that seven people had killed themselves since 2012 after being told there was no hospital bed for them.

‘You can’t treat mental health like a light switch – you can’t flick support on and off,’ said Paul Cook, who was a tutor at the closed Essex college. The former City broker credits the facility with helping him recover after he suffered a breakdown several years ago.

‘You can’t use people who are bipolar or suffering from severe anxiety as crash-test dummies, then switch off support and disrupt their lives,’ he added.

Bipolar disorder, once called manic depression, typically causes sufferers to experience periods of extreme energy or mania, followed by depression. One well-known sufferer is Hollywood actress Catherine Zeta-Jones. She now successfully monitors her own condition and even attends residential clinics when she needs to, to receive ‘maintenance’ treatment.

A spokesman for Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group said: ‘After extending the pilot scheme for a further six months, the CCG has had to face the tough decision of whether to continue with funding.’

An American concept, recovery colleges were first introduced in Arizona in 2000 after a mental health inpatient was forcibly restrained against their will and subsequently complained.

The patient asked that they be able to work with, not against, staff and clinicians for the best outcomes, and requested a less paternal-child relationship with staff.

The first centre to open in the UK was the South West London Recovery College in 2009.

The idea is that the patient works with a tutor – or recovery coach – who has direct experience of a mental health issue.

This model of peer support is already used to help people suffering from drug addiction.

Courses can last half a day or up to six months. The sessions range from life-skills workshops, such as how to manage a budget, through to managing bipolar disorder from the perspective both of a patient and family member.

A GP referral is not necessary before attending a course. However, most of the people signing up for recovery college workshops are already known to the health services and will already be receiving treatment.

Research has shown that recovery colleges can help people develop a more positive outlook on life. More than two-thirds of those taking part said they felt more hopeful about their future than when they started the course.

A follow-up at 18 months also showed that more than four in five had been successful in developing their own ‘self-help’ plan for managing problems and staying well.

And those who attended at least 70 per cent of sessions showed a marked reduction in their use of other mental health services.

In February 2011, the Department of Health commissioned the charity the Centre for Mental Health and the NHS Confederation’s Mental Health Network to pilot new ways of helping people recover from mental health issues. These included encouraging the development of recovery colleges.

‘Provision is still patchy and not everywhere has invested [in recovery colleges],’ said Andy Bell, deputy chief executive of the Centre for Mental Health. ‘But there is a case for these to be supported on a human and financial level.

‘It’s early days and we can’t say yet that they lead to fewer hospital admissions. But for a small investment we get a lot more out then we do with old-fashioned approaches.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3174333/Facing-axe-recovery-colleges-preventing-mental-health-crisis-hit-funding-crisis-campaigners-warn.html#ixzz3hI8nFigu

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13 Reasons You Should Move Out of London Published on Metro.co.uk

Last week MP Dr Rupa Huq told the House of Commons that London professionals are living like students.

It makes sense then that people aged between 30 – 39 are leaving in their droves.

As house prices soar, creativity is squeezed out, and the rich seem set on taking over and turning London into a millionaire’s playground.

There’s never been a better time to leave.

Not ready to quit the capital yet? See how you feel when you reach the end of this list…

1. Reasonably priced housing is only big enough for fairies*

You won’t have to flatshare as you approach 40 or fight over the milk at 50. You won’t have to live with Mummy and Daddy when you’re middle-aged either. Or live in a bedsit where the microwave, shower and bed are all within an arm span.

* FYI, fairies don’t exist

(Picture: Rightmove)

2. A lengthy and tedious commute

If you have managed to get on the property ladder, chances are you’ve a long commute ahead of you. Live in Kent? Expect five hours added to your working week. Essex chap? Expect to pay over £20 for a long commute into the city – it’s exhausting.

3. Limited seating leaves you standing – with someone’s armpit in your face

It’s bad enough that you have to use public transport – venture outside the M25 and you’ll have a seat to yourself.

(Picture: EPA)

4. Londoners are grim about the mouth

The only time I recall ever speaking to people on the Tube was during the Olympics, then everyone went back to being their miserable selves. Where I’m from, strangers have the time of day for each other, and if not a smile will suffice.

5. There’s a rat in my kitchen, what am I gonna do?

Finally, no more rats or mice. I won’t drag out the old cliché about how close rats always are in London, as you’ll no doubt be familiar with it already.

6. Numbers of hipsters on the increase

Tolerating bearded, self-proclaimed media moguls whose every syllable is designed to bolster themselves while undermining you is unnecessary. Just leave Dalston already.

(Picture: Getty)

7. The super rich are on the increase, too

As London’s price tag doubles, so too do the super-rich. The roads now have a ribbon of cars that cost more than your life savings, depressingly highlighting how poor you are.

8. London locals are cursed with black bogies

Yes, outside of London we joke about how polluted the place is and how the day after a visit we have ‘black bogies’.

9. It’s so overpopulated

It’s just too busy! If you’re not stuck in a queue or behind a slow-walker, you’re being elbowed at a bar or shoved off the dancefloor.

10. London hotels are the most expensive in Europe

London is even pricier than Switzerland costing an average of £126 per night.

11. Beer costs more than a McDonald’s Happy Meal

The average cost of a pint of Carlsberg in London can often top £5.

12. The horror of the Tube

Being crammed onto the Tube like sardines with your nose in someone’s armpit – the stench of sweat forcing you to denounce the small slither of sunshine the UK gets.

Great (Picture: Getty)

13. Stinky, littered night buses

Night buses filled with alcohol-induced vomit or bumper-to-bumper traffic in the day with half eaten chicken wings at your feet… Take your pick?

Even if you want out of London, the escape route is filled with perils.

See it live on Metro’s website now!

14 Reasons Staffordshire Is The Best Place to Live Published on Metro.co.uk

From Friday nights out endorsed by Pete Tong to TV’s Victorian pottery museum plus a rolling expanse of countryside with roaming monkeys – Staffordshire’s got everything you need. Plus, it’s all affordable.

1. Gladstone Pottery Museum

It’s been in the news ever since Hollywood hunk Russell Crowe took to Twitter to discover the origin of his Gladstone teacup. Now the Gladstone Museum can boast an appearance on the BBC TV programme 24 Hours in the Past.

2. House prices

Buy a four bedroom house for under £150,000. There are plenty of options in Staffordshire – from Victorian terraces to 1930s semi-detached houses.

(Picture: Flickr/barnyz)

3. Appetite

Transforming ordinary people and places into works of art or one-off performances, Appetite is a three year programme that aims to get more people to experience and be inspired by the arts.

4. Swoon

Mixmag called the clubnight ‘the best Friday dance night’. Pete Tong declared much the same on Radio 1. And Channel 4 immortalised the night on its BPM show. DJs include Roger Sanchez, Jon Pleased Wimmin and residents Mark Rowley and Angel.

5. National Memorial Arboretum

Pay your respects at the National Memorial Arboretum. Since planting began in 1997, it’s been a special place honouring those who have served, and continue to serve. Not just a cemetery, it includes 150 acres of woodland areas too.

(Picture: Flickr/Tim Ellis)

6. Llama trekking

According to the website ‘you feel calmer, walking with a Llama!’ Visit this Llama farm to groom one of a handful of delightful Llamas, take your favourite for a walk and then reward your Llama at feeding time – you’ll have a friend for life!

(Picture: Flickr/Marie Hale)

7. Oatcakes!

Oatcakes, the local delicacy are sold in every shop and bakery in Staffordshire. They’re like savoury pancakes, only made with oats. Buy for a pack of 6 for under £2, and serve with bacon and cheese.

8. The Annual Literary Festival

This year, the second Stoke-on-Trent Literary Festival brought a fantastic range of writers to the city giving local people the opportunity to find out more about the art and craft of writing and the joys of reading.

9. Neil ‘Nello’ Baldwin

Local registered clown and Stoke City Football Club’s kit-man circa 1990, Neil ‘Nello’ Baldwin’s life was immortalised in BBC drama Marvellous, which won a host of BAFTAs.

10. Mental health services

Mental health provisions on the NHS in Staffordshire are among the best in the country. Patients at Harpland’s Hospital find themselves with fantastic treatment – such as Compassion Focused Therapy and group CBT. St George’s in Stafford boast a Recovery College in the pipeline, too.

11. Weston Park

More famous for hosting V Festival, the stately home also offers sleep overs and dinner on occasion, beneath a gorgeous George Stubbs painting.

(Picture: Flickr/Mark Freeth)

12. The Staffordshire Hoard

We have the largest hoard of Anglo Saxon gold ever found.

13. The Monkey Forest

Monkey around with one of 140 Barbary macaques roaming free in 60 acres of beautiful English Forest. Watch the monkeys playing on the ground and in the trees. Guides are positioned along the paths and there are hourly feeding talks.

(Picture: Flickr/Pete Birkinshaw)

14. Transport links

If you do tire of Staffordshire, Stafford train station is under 1.5 hours from London Euston, 45 minutes from Manchester and under half an hour from Birmingham New Street.

See my article on Metro.co.uk here – over 400 shares and counting!

Rewd Britannia – published in Fused Magazine

Fatherhood has not fettered the fire in rapper Rewd Adams. His latest offering, Hunger Pains 2, stands testimony to this. Inspired by real life and peppered with a theme of love, Hunger Pains 2 is more melodic and mellow than his previous releases, but by no means is it any less passionate. His lyrics, sometimes wise beyond their years, are punctuated by the sort of philosophy you find down the pub on a Friday night – he’s even made a video on a camera phone filming one such night for his track Hair of the Dog. But his lyrics – his first port of call when setting about making a track – are also punctuated with a Buddha-esque compassion that comes only from walking in well-worn shoes. Shoes that his previous, more venomous work, under the name Skandal, alludes to. Fused caught up with the man to delve a little deeper…

Your new mix tape Hunger Pains 2 is very uplifting & melodic – intentional? What vibe were you going for?
I’ve always leant to the more melodic side of rap, I’m a believer that it keeps the listener engaged and that’s ultimately the aim for me as an artist. It was a conscious decision to base a lot of the songs around the theme of love, which is something I’ve not done before and it definitely made the project a more cohesive listen.

What came first in putting this mix tape together, writing? Can you explain how it got made?
Yeh. I normally start with writing, beats are an important factor because every beat will give me a different vibe and inspire different feelings and concepts. I wrote most of the demos at home and recorded the final versions at Kilamanjaro studios with Chemo (bad boy engineer).

You did an album about struggling to make ends meet (How Not to Make a Living) – does the internet hinder or help you from making a living?
Haha yeh I was pretty pissed off at the time. I don’t think anything or anybody hinders you making money other than yourself you know? There’s always ways to make money whether in music or not. The Internet is just a tool for artists to use for their benefit if they take the time to learn how to use it properly. Most of my sales have been digital so the Internet hasn’t hampered any of my revenue.

Biggest influences?
Life, my family, everyday people and conversations I have with like-minded individuals.

Do you work with any artists stateside? Are there any frustrations to being a “UK Rap Star” rather than one based somewhere else?
Thanks to the Internet yeh, I worked with a producer called Sinitus Tempo on the new project who blessed me with a great instrumental for the song ‘loyalty’. I’ve produced for a cat called Avatar Darko from Seattle as well. I’m slowly building up some contacts and I hope to continue to work with artists and producers all over the world.

Did you know in China they have a genre called C-Rap! What do you make of it?
No I haven’t heard of it, I’ll be sure to check it out…. Wait! C-Rap!? Doesn’t that spell crap?

Hunger Pains 2 features buses, hangovers, etc – inspiration from real life?
Haha 100% unless it’s a fictional character or I’m writing through the eyes of someone else all my music is in person. If I haven’t lived it I can’t really draw much inspiration from that situation. And I prefer to keep it as authentic as possible.

What’s next for you?
At the moment the plan is to keep promoting the new release, keep pumping out videos and do shows while pushing Hunger Pains 2 to as many people as possible.

Download Hunger Pains 2 on iTunes. See the post on FusedMagazine.co.uk.

Top Ten Festival Buys Published in TNT Magazine

Summer has arrived, and with it a myriad of muddy festivals. There are some things you simply can’t turn up without – think wellies and dry hair spray. And then there are others that can leave at home in your bathroom like towels, and a hairdryer. Here Erica Crompton rounds up her top five festival buys…

Travel Perfume
Oh boy can it get smelly in festivals! You may recall an insane lack of toilet tissue, and no space for a shower other than your friend shaking a can of Carling open, over your head. Freshen up morning and night with a budget and travel friendly version of Molecule 01 fragrance from Escentric Molecules. It blends with your natural pheromones to create an individual scent that is unique to you – helping your lost mates spot where you are a mile off. £27, cultbeauty.co.uk

Dry Hair Spray
With Mark Hill’s new Big Night Out range you’ll never need to resort to pulling all your hair up in your hat. For festivals try Dirty Little Stop Out! Volumising Dry Shampoo which will zap greasy roots without having to wash, shampoo and condition. All you need to worry about, is what colour you do your hair now. Pink? Green? Or maybe a “hairs stood on their ends after a night of electro punk” do? From £6.29 for 200ml at Boots.com

Umbrella Hat
Whacky wear works at festivals and will win you points with your friends for providing a talking paint around the campfire. With so many beards, facial tattoos and sometimes even stilts and Penny Farthings to compete with, I say go for broke! Try a novelty umbrella hat that operates like a bright idea bulb hovering over your head – it’ll keep rain at bay and your now coiffured hair intact, too. £3.12 from novelties-direct.co.uk

Wellies

My cherry red Hunter wellies work well for every sundress I own – yes, the lace, floral, nautical and even tribal smocks. They also look great with jeans and, if I was Kate Moss, hotpants. The hardest part of my purchasing these this spring is not succumbing to Hipsterville and wearing them on the High Street. Try the tall red classics for a modern stamp in the mud! Buy today for a reduced price of £74.99 at cloggs.co.uk

Sleeping Bag Onesie
Your camping partner will never be able to nick the sleeping bag again with a sleeping bag onesie. Keep the warmth to yourself and cosy up with a SelkBag Classic Sleep Suit in a selection of “Get off my duvet!” primary colours. You can run around in it all night and, because it’s built for the outdoors, it willl keep you warm. Features include extra leg ventilation to keep you cool at night, an insulated collar and cord lock for extra warmth and even a little check storage pocket so that you can literally keep your valuables close to your heart. Priced at £98.99 from planetcamping.co.uk

Read more: Top five festival buys – TNT Magazine

Sure of you: book review in the Lancet

 

If home is where the heart is, it makes sense that Pretend Friends is set in a home with a verdant garden, furnished with a picket fence, where conversations take place. It’s a book born of love by author Alice Hoyle and illustrator Lauren Reis. Collaborators include Katy Gray, who has schizophrenia and has consulted on the book. Sale proceeds go to the Rethink Mental Illness campaign to help with their work in reducing stigma and raising awareness of disorders such as schizophrenia among people of all ages. The power of metaphor is used to describe the schizophrenia experienced by Big Jay, an adult, and the imaginary friends of Little Bea, a child. Little Bea wants to make her pretend friends big so Big Jay’s pretend friends—that is to say, distressing hallucinations and delusions—can’t hurt or scare him anymore.

As someone with schizophrenia, who is an auntie to two-year-old Archie, I wonder if he’s old enough to understand the story when he reaches four. Yet a children’s book using metaphor to introduce them to the different experiences people have is a worthwhile concept. It’s been observed that Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh has symptoms of depression, yet his friends still love him irrespective. That’s a very important message to drive home for children. Pretend Friends projects AA Milne’s philosophy further, and says that Big Jay needs “special medication” for his pretend friends. But in my own childhood, the very notion of this as a reality for a loved one would have been terrifying. However, there’s a section for adults at the back of the book that address any fears a child might have. It gives example questions about Big Jay with thoughtful responses that foster greater understanding and compassion. Causation and cure (or lack of it) are all covered, and the message is conveyed that, with the right help and support, Big Jay is going to be okay. It’s also stated that psychosis is no-one’s fault and not the child’s responsibility.

Conversations such as this one are very important. Once over dinner with two adults and their 15-year-old son, I brought up my schizophrenia and the 15-year-old laughed in my face. It illustrates how we must tackle misconceptions early and bring such a stigmatised illness in the open, rather than pretending that it doesn’t exist. Regarding my relationship with Archie, I’m keeping the book to give him when he’s just about tall enough to have a conversation over the beautifully illustrated brown picket fence.

Published source: Lancet Psychiatry online

Nineties Nostaglia at Stafford’s Swoon

It’s 11pm and a swarm of neon yellow-jackets are manning the door to Stafford’s Couture night club. They could be having a party of their own. But as myself and my partner reach the doors, it’s clear tonight’s party is the reserve of Lyrca, hairspray and 40-something men in red tartan pants. Yes, it’s as compelling as it sounds – we’re  here reliving our youth.

Tonight at Couture it’s the 1^st anniversary of Swoon, and Roger Sanchez is headlining. Swoon, in its heyday some twenty years ago was a haven for high-heels and discernible yoots. Friday nights saw revellers travelling from the far reaches of the UK for a glimpse Boy George et al spinning a set of pounding yet euphoric house music.

Swoon back then, was awarded Mixmag’s best Friday night in the country and filmed for Channel 4 BPM show. Regulars saw it as a mecca for friendly faces, feather bowers, and flights of fancy with the girl next door.

Today Swoon nights at Couture are part of a series of reunions, very much in tune with the zeitgeist for all things nineties (and yes, I keep a scrunchy in my jacket pocket tonight for when it all gets too sweaty). The familiar DJs are back behind the decks to aid us clubbers in stepping back in time. And it is as magical as it sounds.

There are two rooms in the club and the main room fills quickly, by 10.30pm. The second room downstairs, is more of a chill out space. A heavy haze from the smoke machine fills a near-empty dancefloor – not a melting clubber gurning in sight!

Rested downstairs, we venture back up to the main room and it’s clear why this is the drawcord of the night with what we used to call “anthems” or “toons” being played back to back to an audience with their hands reaching for a ceiling that’s almost entirely eclipsed with a glitter ball. No finer point can be put on how friendly the crowd are – some faces are clearly recognisable, others not so much. But all of them adorning smiles. People spotting and garb dissemination are all part of the fun (Where did you get that dress from?)

These nights at Swoon are memories to be cherished and the reunions are no different. As the lurid green laser beams of good times swoop across the dance floor in my final moments of the evening, we have world class DJs and a vibe that tailgates the Madchester era right here in the Midlands. Then and now, putting Stafford on the map and defying the expensive Virgin train to an even more expensive London as the sole route of a really great night out (and the only place to find the lesser-spotted red tartan pants and their happy inhabitants).

Swoon nights are held at Couture, Stafford, just a stone’s throw from the train station (and a kebab shop!) The next reunion is on 31^st July with Jon Pleased Wimmin, Allister Whitehead, headlining. Tickets in advance, from £15. For more information visit www.facebook.com/swoonfanpage.

Published in Fused.

Belle & Sebastian preview in Fused Magazine

Rewind to 1996, and Belle & Sebastian’s debut album, titled Tigermilk, is the staple for any art school student worth her weight in Gouache. It starts with a song called The State I’m in, and so the storytelling begins.

She makes models of the Velvet Underground in clay, she fills her pockets with pharmaceuticals to fix her brain, and only one sticks around as he’s rendered incontinent in bed. So here is the Belle & Sebastian protagonist, too uncool perhaps for the fashion brigade on Liberty Hill and steeped in tragedy.

The sound is soothing and the melody upbeat. The lyrics layer irony and teen angst, sometimes simply moments from everyday life (such as a cold cup of tea tasting of washing up liquid), over a guitar.

But we don’t want anything else from the Glaswegian band who beat Steps to a Brit award in 1999.

They’ve appeared on the soundtracks to Adam Curtis’s The Power Of Nightmares, Todd Solondz’s Storytelling, and Juno – a climax to the storytelling is a teacher looking up some girls skirt. Belle & Sebastian’s clout defies the critics’ who so often say they’re a shy and retiring ensemble.

Fast forward to 2014, and they’ve cut their ninth album called Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance. Songwriter Stuart Murdoch’s lyrics have very rarely been first person – at least, they haven’t until now. The opening track is Murdoch’s life, at least the life he led just before Belle & Sebastian was born. House-bound and with chronic fatigue syndrome prior to the formation of the group, it’s a period he has drawn on before. But never has he written anything as direct as ‘Nobody’s Empire’ – side one, track one of the new album. He says it’s the most personal thing he’s ever written.

There’s a great quote last year from Bob Stanley that sum the band up: “It’s all about trusting in the restorative power of pop music. If you’d trust anyone to write a great Europop song about Sylvia Plath, you’d trust Belle & Sebastian.”

Belle & Sebastian play at the Symphony Hall, Birmingham on the 10th May 2015. Tickets are priced at £25.

For more information or to book visit www.thsh.co.uk.

Chemical reaction: top five perfumes in TNT Magazine

Can fragrances really affect your mood? Erica Camus investigates…

The beauty industry claims that perfume can have a powerful effect on our energy levels and moods. With this in mind, I decided to test five fragrances to see whether they really could transform her mood.

Versace Eros Pour Femme
Mood: desire
Verdict: the middle top notes of citrus have featured in much of the research on aromatherapy, and they do lift my mood. There’s something very rigorous to the scent, echoed in the medusa head embossed on the packaging. The musk and woody notes add a veil of something more mysterious. My mood is slightly sultry, yet I feel energised – enough to wink at a stranger perhaps, or at least pull my partner close for a kiss.

Library of Fragrance Coconut spray (available at Boots)
Mood: feeling free
Verdict: as the cheapest of the fragrances I tried and tested, I now use this as an air freshener for the reason that it creates a tropical backdrop to my terrace house interior in Stoke-on-Trent! Coconut in general is enjoying a renaissance right now, as a superfood, and I was drawn to it simply because it’s fashionable. But found it also gave me a sense of freedom when sprayed liberally around the house.

Leighton Denny Light & Dark perfume, (www.leightondenny.com)
Mood: confidence
Verdict: absolute oils featured in this special mix include an uplifting mixture of pepper, myrrh and incense, for a warm welcoming unique fragrance, which can be worn day and night – as its name suggests. At its heart is gardenia, jasmine, lily and rose, merged with top notes of mandarin, grapefruit, peach and white pepper to “stimulate confidence”. While the packaging is a little bit dull for me, I do use this perfume as a “prep” for leaving the house. With such a mixture of exotic scents, it leaves me feeling dressed and my confidence is boosted a modicum.

Chanel Mademoiselle (available at Selfridges)
Mood: nostalgia
Verdict: I’ve used this perfume since my glory days, on the fashion desk of the Daily Telegraph. It was gifted to me at an event hosted by Chanel. The reason I’m including it is because it brings back powerful memories for me, evoking nostalgia. But if you’re too young to have your own perfume archive raid your Mother’s beauty cabinet – you’re sure to find something that brings back memories of a special time.

Lanvin Rumeur 2 Rose (available at TK Maxx)
Mood: generosity
Verdict: a new version of Lanvin Rumeur – and a new edition to my bathroom. Its main drawcord is rose, lending itself to a charming and romantic feel. It’s lighter, fruitier and sweeter than the original and aimed at younger audience. With orange, rose, magnolia, jasmine, patchouli, and musk base notes, it’s the perfect beginners perfume for students with memories in the making. Wear it on campus in the day – you might be in the mood to give your lecturer an apple!

Read more: Chemical reaction: top five perfumes – TNT Magazine
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Chat it’s fate January issue

chat it’s fate Jan 2015

Eat your heart our Hilary Alexander – here’s my splash on a new you for the New Year with a style guru clairvoyant and tutor!