Jewellery & Fashion

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  • Be careful when buying designer clothing

    If you are partial to designer clothing, either because you like to be able to wear named brands or because you feel the quality is better and you get what you pay for, you need to think carefully before you make your purchase. There are a number of places to get designer clothing and the many people only buy direct from designer shops in store or online. But if you are after a bargain then you may look elsewhere. Some shops such as TK Maxx specialise in designer brands for less than the recommended retail price. These items are all genuine and if you have any issues you can return the item to store for a refund or exchange. Other places you may be pick up a bargain are in charity shops. Many charity shops have a section for designer or top brand items. These are almost always used but often still have plenty of life left in them.

    Bidding sites such as Ebay is flooded with designer goods but unfortunately a lot of these items are not genuine. You may end up spending over the odds for a handbag or pair of shoes, thinking that it is designer when in fact it isn’t. Before buying any designer goods second hand, ask to see either a receipt or if it is jewellery such as a watch, then there is probably a certificate of authentication.

  • Ear piercing – Which method to choose?

    Many children are pestering their parents to get their ears pierced. Some parents don’t have a problem with it and get it done when they are very young, others like to wait until the child is old enough to be able to look after the new piercings properly themselves – often around the age of 9 or 10. Historically ear piercings were all done with a piercing gun but more and more beauticians are offering the service using a needle. New research seems to suggest that a needle is much safer than a gun and here’s why. Piercing guns are usually made from plastic which cannot be sterilised properly. There are small parts in the gun, which if get contaminated with blood or bacteria, would be very hard if not impossible to remove with a sterilising wipe. Some argue that the gun doesn’t come in to contact with the customers ear, but the hands of the beautician do, who then touches the gun.  The gun forces a blunt stud through the skin, causing it to rip order to make room for the new stud. The back is then fitted tightly to the stud allowing no way for the new wound to breathe and heal properly. When turning your studs as they heal, as often directed, you may just be pushing bacteria from the outside further in to the wound and risk infection.

  • Which smart watch should you buy?

    Smart watches have been around for a few years now but as prices drop and they become more affordable, more and more people are opting to buy one. If you are an avid Apple lover then it choice will probably be pretty simple but if you have an android phone, you may not know which smart watch to go for. Firstly you need to decide what the main reason for wanting one is. If you want to use it a lot for sports or fitness then you need to ideally find one that is water proof, comfortable and integrates with your phone via a decent app that will allow you to view and store the data. If you want one mostly for fashion purposes then you will want to check if you can change the straps, change the watch face and if it has a good number of apps that can be linked to it via your phone. If cost is an issue and you only want it for being able to notify you if you have a message or someone is ringing you or for a step counter then you can usually pick up a cheaper smart watch for around £20.

  • School uniform – where’s best to buy?

    Many parents are frantically trying to buy school uniform in readiness for the new year in September. School uniform often goes on sale from around July time but still many parents wait until a week or so before the schools go back to start shopping for it. Many parents don’t like buying school clothing and shoes too early as their child may have a growth spurt over the summer holiday and buying too early can mean it no longer fits.

    There are a number of places that sell school uniform and with the majority of supermarkets stocking it you can pick it up when your doing your weekly food shop. If you are worried about the cost of uniform then it may be a good idea to spread the cost and buy a few items each week. Scholl shoes are probably the one item you do want to leave until last as going up a shoe size, will mean the shoes you bought at the start of the holiday are now useless and you may have missed the date that you could of returned them.  

    If you are struggling to find the sizes you need in store then you may decide to order the items online, just be sure to allow enough time to reorder if they do not fit.

  • Best tips for cleaning jewellery

    Jewellery, especially jewellery that is worn all the time can very quick become dull, tarnished or simply look a bit tried. Hand lotion, soaps, and everyday dust and dirt are just a few things that can clog your jewellery and make it lose its shine. You may be tempted to take it in to a jeweller’s to have  professional clean, but if the jewellery is not worth much money you might be able to give it a clean yourself, saving on costs.

    You need to know what metal your jewellery is and if it has any precious stones in it as this can alter the chemicals you should use to clean it.

    Silver – The best way to clean tarnished silver pieces and keep them from re-tarnishing as quickly is with a good silver polish. These polishes contain ingredients that dissolve and remove tarnish while leaving behind a protective coating to prevent new tarnish from forming. You can get liquid polish or even wipes that can be less messy to use.

    Gold – Give solid gold bracelets, chains and earrings a bath in a solution of a few drops of dish soap and a little warm water. Put small jewellery pieces into a sieve before placing in the solution, large pieces can go directly into the bowl. Leave to soak for about 5 minutes. Move the items around, then take them out, lay them on a soft cloth and go over the crevices and chain links with a soft toothbrush to dislodge any dirt trapped there. Rinse everything under running water and buff dry with a soft cloth.