Microdermabrasion experience

So many new beauty treatments have emerged in recent years. They both interest me and always draw me into trying the latest fad! Being a regular at my local beauty salon for waxing, facials and pedicures I was keen to see if my skin could be improved through microdermabrasion.

As a teenager and young adult I suffered horrendously with both acne and eczema to such an extent that I was given lotions and potions and medication for one which I then had to stop taking because it worsened the other! Luckily I found a patient gp who sorted me out. The acne had all but disappeared by the time I started by job as a teacher, however even now I have flare ups but thank goodness for concealer and a decent foundation! My eczema still troubles me to this day but with dietary changes and more relaxation activities I am able to control it.

Both ailments have left me with skin which is both dry and flaky and oily and shiny. I have patches of skin where my pores look like craters and this is only worsened with a couple of layers of make up! So.... would stripping the top layer of skin help with my pore problem and my oily/dry skin?

The process was strange - I could describe it as a small hoover, sucking up the small flakes of skin left behind after being rubbed gently with sandpaper! Both actions occurred together however, and the machine was quiet and the process was quick and painless. It left me with a slightly red, but smooth face.   I was instructed to use a high factor suncream for the next few days and booked by second appointment.

So far, 3 days later, I am impressed. My skin does feel smoother and looks brighter but whether it was worth the money is debatable!

Give Blood

So after a busy 5 weeks of summer holidays including travelling around Cuba, decorating my flat and lots of shopping, the August bank holiday came around. Having registered on the Blood donor website a while back (http://www.blood.co.uk), it occurred to me that with this day off (an extra day off for most, but not for me) I should do something useful to help others rather than lie in bed until lunchtime or sprawl on the sofa watching rubbish tv. The aforementioned website allows you to search for donor sessions by place, date, time....you name it. So by popping in today's date it told me there were 4 possible places to donate blood on bank holiday Monday.

15 mins later I was showered and dressed and preparing to drive to Ickenham, near Uxbridge. Following the website's instructions I ate breakfast and took with me a large bottle of water in the car.

The village hall was easy to find. There were a number of people there donating blood, from 18 year old boys to an older couple. Many were first timers like me!

A simple questionnaire highlighted that I was a concern - recent travel, vaccinations, piercings and tattoos within the last year meant that I had to have my blood earmarked for extra tests! The results of these will be through within 3 weeks if there is a problem with my donation. So then I had my iron/Hb levels checked through a simple pin prick of the finger. Following this I was led to a reclining chair, my left arm numbed and cleaned and the needle inserted. It didn't hurt. At all. 7 minutes later I was done. Once in the whole process I heard beeping from the donation machine - this was due to me ceasing to move my hand to keep the blood flowing! - but once I resumed the fist clenching all was OK.

For the rest of the day I rested as instructed. No, sorry, read that as - went shopping, played with the cat, cleaned the bathroom..... even went to fulfill another one of my list things of getting another tattoo, however this was scuppered due to dizziness when laying on the bed. Embarrassed and a little bit gutted, I went home! But another day I will get it finished!

Now that I've done it once I will do it again. I am actually gutted that I didn't have the courage to donate 10 years ago. If you want to do something to help others, only take an hour of your time and will make you feel good about yourself give blood. One day you, I or anyone we know may need blood.

Fly first/business class

Well, this one was a total surprise! After the most fabulous trip to Cuba I was happily minding my own business, eating a final cheese and ham sandwich and waiting for the boarding queue to go down for our flight from Havana to Madrid.

Then, out of the blue I heard 'Could Miss Michelle Claxton please make herself known at gate 9'. Now, being an organised and punctual person I wondered what on earth it could be! Knowing friends who had heard their names called out over the tannoy whilst they were late and  still sitting on the loo, and others who have a tendency to leave their passport in Duty Free, all sorts of things went through my mind. But alas, it was a free upgrade to business class. I have to state now that I had not showered for 12 hours, was dressed in cut off jeans and a vest, with hair that needed a wash and walking sandals. It was obvious that I was not chosen for an upgrade due to my smart appearance!

So, without a single hesitation I boarded the plane, only to see the rest of the group walking past me in my luxurious business class seat a few minutes later.

So, bonuses of Business Class:

1) a massively wide chair (though with the quantity of food and drink provided this is most needed for frequent BC travellers)

2) a chair that almost reclines to 180 degrees. Though after 16 days of travelling anything past 90 is a bonus.

3) The food. Photos are below

4) The drinks. Free cocktails and alcoholic drinks throughout the flight.

5) No screaming kids. No, actually make that one screaming kid, though as I was tired I slept through the shrieks!

Stand under a waterfall

Cuba. The land of rum, music, cars....and waterfalls.





Now, when I wrote my list I imagined standing under something like this:

And yes, I did get very close. But being the rainy season our guide deemed it too slippery to stand under or swim in the small pool at the bottom. So, on our walk back to the hacienda in Cuba's mountains, we stopped at this pool which had a small waterfall so not only did I stand under one, I swam under it, jumped in from it and actually enjoyed it far more than I would have done having a cold shower from the waterfall above!

So, another thing ticked off, though should I ever get another chance to go waterfall swimming I will!