Bambootastic ... Panda-Mania!

I hope it hasn't gone without notice that 2 adorable, black and white fluffy bears have arrived in Scotland from China this week to make their new home at Edinburgh Zoo.

Tian Tian and Yang Guang are giant pandas and are the first to live in the UK for 17 years.  The hopes are for them to mate and produce lots of fur ball babies during their stay here.

They arrived in their own private personalised jet!

Edinburgh Zoo is a childhood favourite of mine, I remember many trips through to watch the penguin parade so hopefully the arrival of the pandas will be just as exciting for a new generation of visitors.

To contribute to the upkeep of the Pandas at the Zoo and raise awareness about conservation, eco fashion brand Rapanui have teamed up with the Zoo to make t-shirts to be sold to visitors as a panda memento.  The white t-shirts with black and white panda motif are available for men and women.

Rapanui have built quite a reputation after winning the RSPCA Innovation for Fashion award so it's quite the collaboration of the animal/fashion kingdom.  The t-sirts made from Bamboo are edible (if you are a Panda) and is being hailed as the fabric of the future.

Mart Drake- Knight, co-founder and designer explains:  "Bamboo is an amazing fabric, it is as soft as silk but half the price, it grows fast without water, pesticides or fertilisers.  Bamboo has a lot of potential as a sustainable textile, not to mention the softness and kind-to-skin properties that make them feel great"

The t-shirts retail at £24.95 and are available to buy at the Rapanui website or at the Edinburgh Zoo gift shop.   I think they are super cute! 

Who is planning to visit the Pandas?  What do you think of their arrival in the UK?

x

Manicures and Bubbles

I have been back and forth to Edinburgh loads recently, a trip I always love to make as Edinburgh is so gorgeous so it's never feels like chore despite the 50 minute journey.

My last trip was especially good as it involved a bit of pampering at Nails Inc's Champagne Bar at Harvey Nichols.  Based on the ground floor beauty hall, the nail bar has been there for quite some time but has had bit of a makeover in recent months.

Sask enjoying some bubbly! Photo courtesy of Christina - The Daydreamer

The only Nails Inc Champagne bar in Scotland (there is a Nails Inc bar in Glasgow albeit sans the bubbly) ... it now boasts 10 nail stations where the fizz comes as standard.  The manicurists are friendly and informative and you can tell they are passionate about their products which makes a visit all the more enjoyable.

I went for the gel 3-week manicure in a lush purple shade (sorry, I can't for the life of me remember the actual shade!) and on my index finger I tried out the latest Gossip Girl glitter collection.  It wasn't just the Gossip Girl collection that caught my eye, I am now obsessed with their magnetic range which I HAVE to get my hands on!  It's just so simple, easy and effective, the results look wicked so I do urge you to check it out.

Image from Nailsinc.com - Metallic Collection

I also found out the bar is available for parties and hen do's which I love the sound of.  What's better than to have a bit of pampering and bubbly with your 10 favourite girlies before painting the town red?!

And talking of favourite girlies, it was brilliant to finally meet Christina from The Daydreamer blog who I have been twitter chatting with for a while now.  Check out her take on the Nails Inc Champagne Bar and the amazing crystal pedicure she had done - it is stunning!!  It was also a pleasure to meet up with another Scottish blogger and fellow redhead Merle from Beauty Bombshells who I have met a couple of times now and always fun to catch up with.

Zen Lifestyle

A couple of weeks ago I was invited along to gorgeous Zen Lifestyle at Teviot Place in the Edinburgh.  Zen Lifestyle have a few salons around the city and have a wonderful reputation and numerous awards under their belt.

I went along to find out why ...

I was booked in for hot stone massage and shellac manicure, something I had been dying to try out.  My therapist for the day was the gorgeous Katie (who has the most perfect skin ever!).

I have visited a lot of spa's recently and have tried various treatments but the hot stone massage is the one I keep coming back to.  Let me tell you, the hot stone massage I received at Zen is one of the best I have experienced - it was absolute bliss!

This may all be thanks to Katie who used just the right amount of pressure and worked gently on my problem areas.  What impressed me most was the after advice given.  Usually I have my hour massage, I may get advised of some problem areas from the therapist but there is never really a solution.  However, Katie made sure to let me know of certain exercises I could do to help ease pain and discomfort in my back as well as some yoga techniques to ease tight/stress areas.  And the techniques she advised, really do help!

After my massage, I went upstairs to have my nails shellac'd and have a good gossip with Katie.  A joy to chat too and she also did a fantastic job on my nails.  Queue  blurry photo ...

I also had to quiz Katie about her flawless skin.  It seems she is one of the lucky ones who nature has been ever so kind to but she does owe some of it to the advice and products of Dr Murad, which is stocked at Zen Lifestyle.

Thanks to Zen Lifestyle and Katie for such a lovely, self indulgent day :)

x