'Cake It On!' and Cake Club

Bake, Brew and Blend...
My two main enterprises 'Cake It On!' and The Clandestine Cake Club are meeting at the end of this month in one big cake-y/cosmetic-ky proper make-up bake-up.

This is because of my Avon campaign dates and mental personal schedule all falling around the same time. So while I'm still on this charity ration diet, what better way to pay homage to the women of the era by not only re-creating their recipes but also re-creating their look and having one big Blitz extravaganza! If your'e not a member of Cake Club and want to be then click on the pic below and join the network in general, then look for my Shoreditch group:

www.clandestinecakeclub.co.uk

And if you want to attend the event you don't HAVE to bring a cake! This is a joint event so you can do either. In fact what I find at a lot of Cake Clubs is that we have soooo much cake left over. We cakey people are sharey people so come along anyway, have a bit of cake and just have fun. There's a war on after all :) xox

Cake It On!

Blitz Party Special (Avon Campaign 10)
Turning off the main roads of Shoreditch and onto Leonard Street, you begin to feel the hustle and bustle of the City slowly fade off into the distance. Then, stepping over the bright red threshold of the cosy Crimson Heart vintage shop, you've finally reached your oasis of calm. 
Descend the stairs like Alice in a retro Wonderland, and all the delights of the tea-shop await. For this particular Cake It On! which had a theme dedicated to the upcoming D-Day special of The Blitz Party, those delights included a soundtrack of fabulous 40's female singers and foam rollers aplenty as well as the usual fabulous ambience and decor.

The purpose of the event is to allow women to chat and have a laugh over a cuppa and a cake, while perusing the Avon catalogue and asking the Avon Lady (me!) any questions about the products. It's nice to be able to try the samples and get recommendations, not just from me but from the other customers, which products are the best. I also like to include some Avon history during the course of the evening and this time it was the fascinating story of their company (and other cosmetics companies) during the war. Half of Avon's factories became weapons manufacturers during WWII for example, and their mosquito repelling formula (which is now found in Avon 'Skin So Soft') was manufactured originally for the troops.

Courtesy http://www.hagley.org/library/exhibits/avon/

However, my passion is for vintage style so I like to offer tips and tricks on how to achieve that look, as well as inject a bit of fun into the proceedings
This time I opted to do a Victory Roll tutorial (in-keeping with the theme) with the help of my lovely models Ella, Kayleigh and Paola. Anyone going to the next Blitz Party, take note!

Modelling my own rolls while hard at work

The tricky part is trying to get the 2nd one symmetrical!

I used a simple tong method in those pics but for more hold and authenticity I'd certainly recommend sleeping in pincurls for rolls that will withstand any bombing! ...Or withstand an energetic evening with the boyfriend... haha ;)
I also created a little 1940's pin-up quiz for ladies to fill in the blanks: on the list, some first names were left blank, and others had blank surnames. I think the funniest thing was people adding the first name that came to their heads! The the first one was meant to be Lana Turner - instead I received different variations including Tina and Anthea! I also got Gene Simmons instead of Tierney and Lily Savage instead of Anne... We did have a winner though, and she received a free 'Vintage Glamour' shower gel from Avon - can't complain :)

We were naughtier than usual as it was a Friday night, so we brought along our own bottles of bubbly and just paid a £3 corkage. We whiled the rest of the night away with Billie Holiday, Judy Garland and lots of cake. 

So get yourself down to Crimson Heart on Tuesday 12th June for the next event! If you have any questions or any requests for tips/tricks at the next one you can e-mail me at theteasemaid@gmail.com or leave a comment on here. Until next time! xox

See http://www.theblitzparty.com/ for information on the next Blitz Party

The Blitz Party

Saturday May 5th - Shoreditch

No self-respecting 40's obsessive (like myself..) would be able to live in London and not go to The Blitz Party! I just thought I'd add a few pics of my hair and make-up etc to this blog and maybe next time we can do a 'Blitz Party' Cake It On! Special if anyone else has tickets for it and want tips on how to achieve the look.
So the clothes are pretty important and I was so pleased to pick up this Tara Starlet dress at their sample sale last weekend. The lovely Tara Scott, who is a committee member of my W.I, basically is Tara Starlet and her company make reproduction clothing from original vintage patterns...and they do it all ethically - it's well worth checking out their website:

http://www.tarastarlet.com/

Then of course the second most important thing is hair and make-up! I used my usual trusty tools for the hair: setting lotion (about £1.50), hot rollers, kirby grips (about 99p) etc (Ooh my nan would be proud...! All those old fashioned products and cheap too! Well, there is a war on...) 

Now the make up was mostly my usual stuff ....

Liquid Eyeliner

Red Nailpolish

Red Lippy - no that's not mine on him!

But I have a new foundation which is AVON 'Calming Effects Illuminating Foundation' in Ivory and it's fantastic! I love being able to buy little tiny ones to keep in my handbag, and that way I can try the shade before I buy the big one too...it's win-win! (unlike the war which was just WIN...by England). 

Anyway, back to make up.

One thing I also got was new lipstick samples and I really wanted to wear one for Blitz Party so I tried these two on:

"Really Rosy" and "Charged Cherry"

I'll be honest with you, they were lovely colours but the consistency wasn't right for an event like this as they're actually quite sheer and you need gloopy matt lipstick to recreate vintage looks. However, they'll be fantastic summer lipsticks and I'll definitely be wearing these as a 'day' lip, even at work I'd get away with it.

It was such a great event to go to and I know there's one again in June so if you want any tips on how to do Victory rolls then let me know

Right I'd better go - those socks aren't going to Make-Do and Mend themselves...xox