Entertainment and Style Gossip

You may think treating yourself during the recession is off the cards. But we at Entertainment and Style Gossip don’t think so! Follow our credit crunch busting beauty, entertainment and health hints and tips, and continue to indulge in the things you love best.

From facials to shopping, hair styling to fitness we’ve researched the best alternatives out there and present them to you with our clear guide. Use the Drop It and Grab It keys to find the alternatives that save the £££ whilst still delivering the same results.

Hair Styling:

We all enjoy getting our hair done, cut, dye, colour and blow dry – there’s nothing quite like sitting back and relaxing whilst you have your hair styled. But the crunch is biting hard. Find out what to drop and grab when it comes to hair styling.

Drop It Wave adios to expensive hair salons and treatments. Say farewell to £55 wash and blow-dries, £75 cut and finishes and £140 highlights. Salons such as Errol Douglas, Lee Stafford and Desmond Murray are all perfect if you have the cash to burn. But if the burn comes from the cash then its best to say well clear.

Grab It Top hair salons such as Vidal Sasson and Tony & Guy have many training salons where their up and coming talented hair stylists perfect the art of hair dressing. Student cuts usually start at £5 and you can find a whole host of treatments and styles available at a mere fraction of the price.

Fitness:

Keeping healthy and fit by exercising is essential to retain a positive mind, body and sole. It has been proven that regular exercising releases feel good hormones which add to a much more happier disposition. But the crunch is biting hard. Find out what to drop and grab when it comes to fitness.

Drop It Say au revoir to the expensive gym membership. Ever signed up to the gym and never really made use of the facilities you’ve paid for? We’re all guilty of it. The average gym membership costs users approximately £45 per month. This is all well and good if you use it and have the money to spend. But if the only thing loosing pounds is your bank balance then it’s best to stay clear.

Grab It Take up jogging. Whether its round the block, or through your local park, jogging is the best way to lose the lbs and give your body and all over work out. Invest in a quality pair of running shoes and an ipod and your good to go. Don’t enjoy jogging? Then try cycling as an alternative. If you have a serious love affair with the gym and find it hard to give up, then try going to your local leisure center, same equipment (and hot guys) but it will cost you considerably less.

Beauty:

Papering ourselves with the latest beauty treatments and indulging in countless amounts of cosmetic products is after all a girl’s porogative. The age old saying “look good, feel good” has never rang so true. But the crunch is biting hard. Find out what to drop and grab when it comes to all things beauty.
Drop It Bid arrivederci to expensive facials and salon beauty treatments. The average working woman will on average spend 34% of their salary on some form of beauty treatments including facials, manicures pedicures, waxes and cosmetics. But if cleansing your face means cleansing your wallet, then its best to say clear.
Grab It Indulge in the very same beauty treatments but at a snippet of the price in the leading salons with a trip to a beauty school or academy. Under the watchful and tentative eye of their instructors, you will be able to get waxes, manicures, facials and much more. Also, invest in quality inexpensive cosmetics such as the range made by Avon. Fitting into the credit crunch theme, Avon Recession Busters feature an extensive list of beauty products and offers. Bag yourself shampoos, make up, moisturizers, fragrance, lingerie, and much much more at totally unbeatable prices. But take advantage of the spectacular offers NOW as the offer ends March 11th^rd!!!!!

Shopping:

Fashion, clothes, shoes, accessories, you name it we love it. It has been suggested that we should consider some aspects of shopping, not as a necessity but as a hobby…or even a sport. The fast pace of trends and the ever changing designs, colours and fabrics means that we constantly seek new items. But the crunch is biting hard. Find out what to drop and grab when it comes to all things fashion.

Drop It Say Auf Wiedersehen to designer labels. With a pair of Christain Louboutin heels costing around £350 (and that’s for a standard pair) and dress by the popular designer Herve Leger costing an entire months salary, these designer labes are not forgiving for the purse. Designers such as Gucci, Armani, and Burberry have fantastic and inspirational pieces. But if you look like a million dollars and you’ve actually spent a million dollars then its best to stay well clear.

Grab It Look to the high street for virtually identical copies of a designer outfit. Topshop, Zara and River Island are the ones to lookout for. For something a little more special and original, consider the much loved Ted Baker. Find a whole host of money off vouchers from popular high street stores with voucher sites such as My Voucher Codes. If you’re anywhere near London, and love vintage shopping, head down to Brick Lane. There you will find quaint vintage thrift stores where you pay £20 for a medium sized paper bag and fill it up with all sorts from the shop, no catch, that simple!

Entertainment:

Cinemas, theaters, musicals and gigs, great entertainment comes part and parcel with a good night out. Find out what to drop and grab when it comes to all things entertaining.

Drop It Wave goodbye to over expensive tickets for the theater and gigs. We all love a good show and performance, but when a two seats at a musical could cost the equivalent of a years road tax, your left asking yourself was it really that worth it? If the only thing making a big song and dance is you when you take a look at last months statement then its best to stay well clear.

Grab It Let lastminuet.com be your new best friend. You can find a whole host of entertainment offers and promotions at a price suited to you. Catch dinner and a show for the princely sum of £10 pp. Get tickets and offers to gigs, attractions and comedy nights. If going out on the town isn’t for you, then stay in and watch a great movie with friends, family and that special someone. Use Find Any Film to locate a film to watch online or download, search by genre and enjoy a hassle free inexpensive night. Fancy a night in and a great book? Well head down to Waterstones and pick up a best seller and escape into a world of fantasy.

There’s nothing worse, well there are a lot of things worse, but it’s really infuriating when you read a really good book and they make a rubbish movie out of it. That warm fuzzy feeling you had for the book evapourates because some Hollywood producer/director failed to capture the essence of the book. I mean, it really shouldn’t be that difficult should it? You’ve got a good story, surely that should be the main ingredient for a good film?

Well apparently not. There are countless good stories that haven’t transferred well to the big screen. One of my favourites (or non-favourites) is Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières. What an awesome book! It gets off to a slow start, possibly a little too poetic for my taste, but it’s different, a little bit quirky and by the end I couldn’t put it down. I was even reading it on the tube on the way to work (and I only had one stop to get to work!). However when the film came out it failed to deliver. I’m not a big fan of Nicholas Cage anyway (Captain Corelli must take the prize for the most miscast role ever) but the film failed all-round. Apparently epic books set over many years are very difficult to translate into 2 hour films.

Another example is The Da Vinci Code. Hugely popular not just because of a great story but also the controversy it spawned, the going-through-the-motions film version was a real let-down. Despite having Tom Hanks playing the lead role the film is so unrealistic, as they scamper from bizarre locations making preposterous escapes, that I now have lost the love for Dan Brown books, which is not really his fault at all.

But not all is lost. There are many films that have only helped to enhance a good book. One of my all-time favourites is American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. The film version, directed by Mary Harron and starring Christian Bale (also of Captain Corelli fame) seems to be an exact extension of the book, often taking much of the dialogue word for word. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, by Hunter S Thompson, also follows this approach. The hilarious, drug fuelled conversation between Raoul Duke and Dr Gonzo is often lifted straight out of the book, and Terry Gilliam, the film’s director, is outstanding in doing the book justice with his film classic.