The Black Dahlia (Part 2)

Cake It On! Black Dahlia Special

Following a seminar I had in my pathology museum (which is what I do 'by day') I decided to look deeper into the persona of Elizabeth Short by reviewing her make-up choices. They actually tell a lot about her personality at the time of her death and I became particularly interested in discoverying why after I read a blog post on Vintage Powder Room by Joan Renner http://vintagepowderroom.com/?tag=black-dahlia 

The BEST part is that I actually got to dress like her using an inexpensive wig I found on eBay and the infamous 'black, tailored suit' which I already had. After popping a Dahlia in my hair and squirting myself with our Cake It On! favourite: Lily of the Valley, I genuinely began to feel like a different person. See what you think:

For this particular cake It On! I created a little gift to give away which included Elizabeth's favourite blood red nail varnish and lipstick as well as AVON favourite Magix Face Perfector which I LOVE for vintage looks as I get a flawless, matte effect. There was also a mini 'Little Black Dress' perfume because if anyone was going to wear a little black dress it would be Elizabeth Short, and also some black dahlia earrings. The way to win this was to answer as many questions in the quiz about The Dahlia, various depictions of her in popular culture and the circumstances surrounding her death.

AVON prize - the bag itself is vintage AVON from eBay

 I had my lovely friend Kay do vintage half-moon manicures on the girls who attended as that was a popular style in the 1940's (and has of course been made popular again by the lovely Dita Von Teese)

The four nail products used in the manicures

And of course the girls got to try the products they wanted to purchase which is the reason I love AVON and which is why I do these retro AVON tea parties! There's nothing better than being able to smell the products, take samples home and even return them if you're unhappy with them which is something you can't do with most cosmetics. Try going into Boots and saying "I'm unhappy with this fake tan/moisturiser/lipstick - take it back and give me a refund" and believe me, you won't get far!

Of course the other reason is that we get too just hang out and have fun:

The next event is March 5th so it has a bit of a Mother's Day theme: Mother's Ruin! (Think gin-soaked 1950's housewife!)

Tuesday March 5th at Crimson Heart Cafe from 6:30pm (87 Leonard Street, Shoreditch EC2A 4QS) Nearest Tube: Old St
xox

The Return of Cake It On!

Cake It On! (Campaign 18) - Hair

Attempting '40's glam using pincurling

I've had a little break, post-surgery but my next Avon Tea Party is on Wednesday 28th November. We have a Christmas campaign coming up after that so the theme I've chosen for the next Cake It On! is vintage hair. I get a lot of questions about how to do vintage hairstyles and believe me I am NO expert but I can certainly share a lot of the tips I have from experimenting and through trial and error.

Being 'Rockabilly' for The Vintage Fair

Different things work for different people so I can let you know what works for me, and I have also ordered several AVON hair products for people to try: hair spray, heat protector etc. Sometimes you just want to know what things smell and feel like before you buy them and that's something you don't get to do in shops!! That's why AVON ladies are the best way to purchase your beauty bits and pieces ;)
I hope to see you all there on Wednesday 28th and remember there will be the usual quizzes, games and prizes (including AVON products) so get yourself to Crimson Heart, 87 Leonard Street, Shoreditch at 6:30pm next Wed xox

Handing AVON 'Vintage Glamour' Shower gel to the winner!

Cake It On! (AVON Campaign 14)

The Naughty 90's!
I'm so happy that I chose the 1990's as my theme for the last vintage AVON party: my hair really badly needed to have the roots bleached and I think I rocked the 90's grunge look fairly well because of it...

Add a few plastic flower clips and a retro tee and the look is complete. Of course the make-up was all AVON, specifically my favourite matt red lippy which is the Lasting Finish in 'Eternal Flame' and I pretty much use it for everything.
All the other ladies made an effort too: 

Hello Kitty, side ponytails and plastic clips were rife, and we all looked the part while playing Dream Phone and listening to 1990's hits.
Of course the main premise of the evening is to look through the newest AVON catalogue and see what takes your fancy, and I have my trusty vintage cosmetic case full of samples for people to try.

It's a great way to try new products without committing and that way you don't have to take my word for it about the performance of a product - simply give it a go and see what you think. The next Cake It On! will be on October 2nd, and as it's the only October one I'll be doing, it will be a Halloween Horror Heroine Special. Also it's the Campaign where the famous AF-33 cream becomes available!! 

You may have seen this all over the TV the day the news first broke. Here is a link to a report from the press: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2201893/Avon-wrinkle-cream-Women-convinced-need-cosmetic-surgery.html and it's actually only £20 in this campaign with a FREE gift :)
Put the date in your diary and I hope to see you there xox

Cake It On! (AVON Campaign 13)

The Warring 40's!

"I'm not taking these rollers out til my man gets home from The Front.."

In a secret underground bunker (well...Crimson Heart in Shoreditch) we all gathered to learn the secrets of 1940's make-up and eat cakes which we'd made from our saved up and pooled together wartime rations. There were quizzes and competitions for fabulous Avon prizes, such as the one below: Attempting to draw stocking seams on your own legs in a 1940's style!

There were vintage manicures and hints and tips about some of the Avon products such as this. (This has a very naughty titbit of info to go with it so you'll just have to come to the next Cake It On to find out what it is!!)

And in general we just all decided to have fun and be idiots :)

Of course you can try the products when you're here and that's one of the benefits of Avon. Flick through the catalogue and if anything takes your fancy have a look through my vintage cosmetic case and grab yourself a trial size version. If I don't have it I'll order it in for free for you next time.

According to Grazia mag, you get a LOT of satisfaction with 2 pumps and a squirt...!

Cake It On happens once every 3 weeks in Crimson Heart and the next one will be a Marilyn Monroe special to coincide with the 50th anniversary of her death. You can expect fun, games, vintage hints and tips, tutorials for Marilyn's look, prizes, freebies and some of this:

So what are you waiting for?! Keep checking back here for the date of the next event and I hope to see you there xox

'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!

1920's Prohibition Special

For a little change I decided to do a 20's/30's inspired event to coincide with the 'Prohibition Party' which happens in London once every couple of months. Whenever I go there, people ask me how I do my hair in a Marcel wave. It looks so difficult but is actually really easy,
so I thought I'd get everybody down to the lovely Crimson Heart and use my fab model Julia to show how it can be done on even the shortest hair:

It took probably 5 minutes using just cheap gel, a comb and some sectioning clips you can find in any chemist. Then Julia was able to sit and enjoy the rest of the party as the wave 'set'. 

Because it has to be done on wet hair, a little trick I've learned is to spray the hair with setting lotion before combing gel through. That way, the next day, you can brush it out into a looser wave and it looks a bit more 30's

And if you'd like to see how the make-up is done, have a look at this fantastic YouTube tutorial! I love this one as the girl has gone to so much effort to make it look 1920's - it's fab:

We spent the rest of the evening, as usual, just having a massive laugh! I used everyone's order forms to do a raffle at the end, and the lovely Laura won herself an Avon 'Hollywood Starlet' set of shower gel and body scrub. I like to ensure prizes suit the theme!

Topics of conversation always seem to end up fairly hilarious, especially after the consumption of copious amounts of (illegal) hooch and sugar :s But I'm not going to tell you about that...you'll just have to come down next time ;-) 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 First Cake It On! Event

April 23rd at Crimson Heart
On a grey and rainy day I found myself tying a bandana around my victory rolls to keep them sheltered from the elements. I carried my white petticoat in a bag lest it should be splashed with dirty puddles and I bolted across Shoreditch with my 'Avon lady' bag in tow!
And I'm so glad I did because despite the horrible weather we had a fantastic turn out and a really great night at Crimson Heart .
The first thing I'd like to do is thank the fabulous Vivien of Holloway for the incredible cupcake print circle dress and aforementioned petticoat which I wore throughout the event, to many 'Oooh!'s and 'Aaah!'s and 'Give me a twirl!'s from the ladies:

http://www.vivienofholloway.com/

And as the girls entered the secret little cafe below the vintage shop above, I played classic tunes from Blue Lu Barker, Connie Francis and ok I'll admit: a bit of Shakin Stevens...

On the menu was CAKE of all kinds - from Mia's sister's signature Ginger Cake to little mini chocolate cupcakes all washed down with lashings of lovely tea - or fresh coffee if you want to be sacreligious ;)  You can also bring a bottle of any alcohol you fancy and pay a minimal corkage fee - and you'll be provided with glasses, ice and even a little umbrella for a retro twist

The aim of the event is to give you a chance to look through the catalogue at your leisure as well as have a chat amongst yourselves and be comfortable. But we all come together for interesting facts about Avon, product demonstrations, games with prizes such as Who's got the Funniest Pin-Up Name? and tips on how to re-create the vintage look.

But the best thing about buying products this way is that you can take a look through the catalogue and if there's something you'd like to try I will purchase a sample size for you for free for next time. That way you can try before you buy at no cost to you :) How many times have you bought a foundation that's turned out to be the wrong shade or a day moisturizer that's just so greasy you can't leave the house for an hour while it sinks in? Well never again with AVON! And the best thing is, Cake It On! happens every 3 weeks - the day after the products are delivered to me - so you will have them to try there and then at the event!

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000616104102

This time I also had the fantastic milliner Enola Rose (engrossed in the AVON catalogue, above) selling her beautiful retro bows...Paloma Faith is a fan! And she will be appearing again, as will many other vintage style gurus.

So what are you waiting for? Next Cake It On! is Thursday 17th May so make sure you're there xox