Breakfast with Mixed Gems on LSRadio this weekend!

How would you like to have breakfast with me?

This weekend, I’ll be hosting another special edition Mixed Gems radio show for my student radio station, LSRadio. To celebrate their coverage of Liverpool Sound City, the annual music festival which kicked off this evening, I will be taking Mixed Gems to the airwaves and punctuating my segments with music from Sound City performers.

In a true Mixed Gems format, I’ll be featuring four different segments during my breakfast show. I would love for these to be really interactive and collaborative, a chance for me to engage with my readers, so please get in touch with your requests/ideas! Here’s what I’ll be covering:

• MAKEUP: I’ll be broadcasting on Saturday morning at 9am, so chances are I’ll be speaking to lots of people who are wondering what on earth they’re going to wear that night! Whether you’re off to lunch with your other half or planning a wild night out in the evening, why not let me help you with your makeup? Tell me what you’ll be wearing and I will suggest the perfect products, colours and ideas to help you to set off your outfit in style. Maybe you’ve just got a general question like which blusher to buy, or which eyelashes I like to use? Whatever the question I’m here to help – I could talk makeup all day…
• RELATIONSHIPS: Is your boyfriend driving you a bit nuts? Has your best friend got herself all stressed out about her exams and you don’t know how to help her? Whatever the problem, let me know and I will try my best to offer some candid and helpful relationship advice.
• CAREERS: With mere days to go until finishing University, I am concentrating now on my next steps and on finding a good job. An extension of my regular Dream Jobs features, I’ll be using this segment to explore ways in which you can nail a job application and find the perfect position for you. Are you graduating and want some tips for putting together the perfect CV? E-mail me with your queries and, using stories from previous Dream Jobs interviewees, I will provide some inspiring advice from those who have been there, done it and nailed it!
• HOT THIS WEEK: What have you been watching this week? Which celebrities have caught your eye with a Twitter row? Which new music videos can’t you get enough of? Let me know your favourite things about the last 7 days and let’s talk about them.

I’m really excited to do my show as I thoroughly enjoy working on the radio, but it will only be as entertaining as you make it! Please get in touch with absolutely anything you’d like to ask or have featured and I would love to work my Mixed Gems magic to help you.

Get in touch by e-mailing me at rosaleen@rosaleengallagher.com.

If possible it would be great to have your name and location, and if you’re asking a makeup question then a rough idea of your age would be great for me to recommend something appropriate.

Be sure to tune in to LSRadio by visiting www.lsradio.co.uk at 9am this Saturday 19th May and I look forward to having breakfast with you!

Style vs Fashion: the Liverpool Fashion Week 2012 Debate

Girls in Liverpool have today been upset by an interview with Liverpool Fashion Week organiser Amanda Moss. Speaking to the Mirror, Amanda revealed that for her next fashion week, she will not be selecting models that encompass the classic Liverpudlian beauty trends of big hair, false lashes and heavy eyebrows. Liverpool ladies appear to have taken this as an insult with a few notable figures such as Justine Mills, owner of Cricket, giving quotes to the newspaper.

I can see both sides of the argument for this decision.

• Why it’s a shame…

On one hand, I think it is a shame not to use models of this description because these are really classic characteristics of Liverpool girls. This is a city where girls love to take pride in their appearance and have a ‘look’ that is very special to the city. Of all of the places I have visited, I don’t think I can say that any other city has such a strong ‘look’ or way when it comes to beauty choices. To show this in Liverpool Fashion Week would be a great way to celebrate these trends and enjoy them.

• Why it makes sense…

There is no denying that Liverpool ladies are impeccably stylish; the popularity of these beauty trends and the fact that the city has enough of a fashion following to host its own fashion week is more than proof of that. There is, however, a huge difference between style and high fashion. Style is timeless but high fashion is ever evolving, and in order for Amanda to celebrate new and upcoming trends in her fashion week she must focus on beauty trends as well as fashion trends. Things such as hairstyle and brow shape vary just as much as fashion garments when designers create new SS or AW collections, so models that are something of a blank canvas would be needed to capture these trends.

I met Amanda very briefly at Liverpool Fashion Week 2010 and I remember how passionate she was about the event. She talked about how great it was that a city with such huge fashion potential was receiving national recognition, and she genuinely seemed to love her city. I doubt very much that this interview is a comment on her opinions of Liverpool girls or, indeed, their style choices. It sounds, to me, like a simple clash between style and high fashion.

Get your rollers in, put your St Moriz on and celebrate the quirks of every Liverpool girl by reading my interview with Liverpool’s favourite new tweeter (and self proclaimed ‘Scouse Bridget Jones’) @ScouseBirdProbs.

Scouse Bird Problems – Liverpool’s Favourite New Twitter Feed

The city of Liverpool is one that has an undeniable personality all of it’s own. As someone from Birmingham living in the city, I’ve had to decipher all sorts of sayings and trends that are alien to me since I’ve been working here! Although Liverpool has come to be a second home to me, the quirks and mannerisms of its inhabitants still amuse me and I love soaking up the culture from an outside perspective.

Sometimes it’s as simple as understanding a phrase – for example, I was always wondering what people were going on about when they ‘felt sly’ on someone, when actually they just meant that they felt bad for them. Initially I was amazed by some of the beauty trends that a huge amount of girls in Liverpool, or ‘scouse birds’, tend to follow. Things such as doing your shopping with your rollers in, drawing on your eyebrows or going out for a pint of milk looking immaculate just wouldn’t have occurred to me before I lived here. Some instantly recognisable ‘scouse’ qualities were even photo shopped onto this image of the Sea Odyssey Giant Spectacular that came to Liverpool this weekend, lightly teasing the event and transforming the mechanical giant into a typical local.

A couple of weeks ago, a girl who has dubbed herself the ‘Scouse Bridget Jones’ set up a hilarious Twitter account to poke fun at the expense of herself and fellow ‘scouse birds’, and the reaction has been amazing. She’s attracted thousands of followers because she is highlighting all of these quirks that make people from Liverpool, especially girls, stand out from the crowd. Here are a few of my favourite tweets from her…

• Having a mental breakdown when you can’t stick your eyelashes on straight
• Living a champagne lifestyle on Lambrini wages
• Suddenly turning into a contortionist when you’re single an’ need to fake tan your back
• Havin’ a mate who does makeup an’ havin’ to endure her takin’ 1000 close ups every time she does you a smoky eye
• Not bein’ able to get a foundation which a) matches your neck but b) makes you look tanned

Here, she talks to me about how she founded Scouse Bird Problems, a satirical Twitter account based on the hardship of keeping up a high-maintenance Liverpool lifestyle.

Tell me about the beginning of Scouse Bird Problems.
On my personal Twitter account @boobleyboo I had been tweeting Scouse Bird Problems for a few months. It came about one morning not long after Christmas (2011) when I only had about 100-150 followers and I drew my scouse brows on wonky when I was late for work.

(For anyone wondering what a ‘scouse brow’ is, it is a term that was coined by Desperate Scousewives actress Jodie Lundstram to describe the popular Liverpool beauty trend of sporting very defined eyebrows.)

It was during the height of Desperate Scousewives and I tagged Jodie Lundstrum – the original scouse brow guru – and she was good enough to retweet it. After that I just tweeted them every so often and they always seemed to be popular with my followers. The new @ScouseBirdProbs Twitter account was started on 7th April 2012.

What inspired you to make the Twitter feed?
To be honest my hand was really forced on this one. After tweeting a Scouse Bird Problem one night, a follower of mine was good enough to ‘scouse’ the idea from me and set up a Twitter account based on it. To say I was livid would be an understatement. After a few hours of raging – and a stiff vodka – I decided that if I could come up with the original concept then I could certainly be original enough to compete.

How long was it before the Twitter started to attract so many followers?
It started straight away – the mass retweeting was instant. I was sat in the nail shop at the time and my phone was just blowing up.

How important do you think it is that it was founded by a ‘Scouse Bird’ so to speak?
It’s so important. Scousers have a great sense of humour, it’s really dry and cutting, and I just don’t think other parts of the country manage that. I think the way my tweets are written mean that girls everywhere can relate to them but I think a girl from outside Liverpool wouldn’t quite know how to phrase them. Scouse is like a completely different sub-language.

How have men reacted to the feed?
I’ve had lads tweet in Scouse Bird Problems! I think a lot of lads who go out with scouse birds can also relate and laugh ‘cos they’ve seen their bird do the same thing, but I’d say at least 75% of my followers are girls.

Your blog, Scouse Bird Problems Twitter and personal Twitter feeds don’t include your name. How do you think that this contributes to the account?
I think the anonymity adds to the appeal and the enigma of the account. It makes me laugh when people tag me in their tweets to friends saying, “is this you?”, or speculate that I’m a gay man or a lad having a laugh. I think it’s part of the fun and coming clean would just spoil all of that.

Whether you’re from Liverpool or know of the city, I guarantee there will be something on this Twitter feed that you’ll have come across or will relate to. Be sure to keep up with the Scouse Bridget Jones by reading her blog and following her on Twitter…

www.twitter.com/ScouseBirdProbs – hashtag #ScouseBirdProblems

Women and jealousy: why I disagree with Samantha Brick

People have taken to Twitter today to poke fun at Samantha Brick, a journalist who has just published a piece on the Daily Mail entitled ‘Why Women Hate Me For Being Beautiful’. In an elaborate piece regarding the ‘downsides’ of being pretty, Samantha goes on to discuss the terrible repercussions of women being jealous of one another, and more especially her own experiences of jealousy.

This piece has really startled me because of how little credit Samantha has given women to be happy for one another. When discussing job opportunities she has missed or people that haven’t wanted to speak to her, she’s automatically come to the conclusion that the reason behind this was her looks. Could it not have been possible that she wasn’t qualified enough, or that she’d said something rude? No. Sometimes it’s because another woman felt jealous that they were, “shorter, heavier and older” than her.

People do get jealous of one another – that’s life. But this piece appears to insinuate that all women will react in a certain way toward someone that is more attractive than them, and that really isn’t the case.

I feel as though I’m in a strong position to dispel this myth because I’ve got plenty of experience of being around women that are more attractive than me. As a former makeup artist at Peaches and Cream in Liverpool, my job involved being surrounded by gorgeous women. If you’re familiar with the city of Liverpool then you’ll be aware that the women there take care of themselves in a way that is unlike any other city in the UK – they love having their makeup done, spend lots of time on their hair, and invest in beautiful clothes. Whatever their budget, a Liverpool girl will look immaculate.

As a makeup artist, it was my job to ensure that each client looked the prettiest that they could as a result of some specially tailored makeup. For example, I may slightly change my technique of creating a smokey eye look to compliment their eye shape. During this time, I’d notice a client’s nice features and perhaps compliment them on something. Why? Because I meant it, and it is a nice thing to do. My client may have been prettier, taller or more tanned than me (and believe me, that was a regular occurrence, ha ha!), but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t be happy for them. Jealousy is not a default reaction for a woman to have toward a beautiful woman, and I think it’s unfair for Samantha to have suggested that it is.

Here's me and Polly getting ready for the LMFAO and Ke$ha gig!

Peaches and Cream, in particular, pride themselves on being an amazing place for women to support one another and working there really enhanced my confidence despite the fact that I was admittedly surrounded by gorgeous girls. We were all too busy having fun to be jealous of one another; if anything it’s quite self-indulgent of Samantha to think that women have nothing better to do than be envious of her.

If you haven’t read Samantha’s piece yet, I suggest you take a look at it by clicking here. Complete with a detailed section of how many men have footed her bills and accounts of women that resent her looks, it is really quite stunning.

Part of me wonders whether Samantha has been encouraged to write this piece as yet another one of the Daily Mail’s shock tactics. Do you remember that controversial piece that Liz Jones wrote a while ago about stealing her partner’s sperm to try and conceive? Whether it was or it wasn’t a cry for attention, it has certainly worked. Samantha’s post has been the most popular on the Daily Mail today.

Be sure to browse the #samanthabrick hashtag on Twitter for a multitude of opinions on the matter. Needless to say I’m not a fan of Samantha’s piece, but I am shorter and heavier than her so it’s obviously because I’m just jealous.

World Autism Awareness Day 2012

This morning when browsing my Twitter feed it was brought to my attention that today is World Autism Day. One of my brothers is autistic so I have a lot of knowledge on the subject of autism and thought it might be nice to share this in a bid to create awareness.

Rather than speak about my brother, I thought I would talk about autism from the perspective of someone who has an autistic family member. Every case of autism is different and the severity of each case ranges, so my personal experiences with my brother (who happens to be quite severely autistic) may be different to somebody else’s.

Firstly, I’d like to bring to attention the fact that people sometimes feel bad for asking questions about my brother. When I meet new people and talk about him, they often feel guilty or embarrassed to enquire further. If you know someone with an autistic family member then feel free to ask questions! I know that living with my brother all of my life means that his behaviour is second nature to me, but that isn’t necessarily the case for someone who has never met an autistic person before. Bringing friends round, for instance, may require giving a little bit of background. For example, my brother can not verbally communicate so I need to explain that he isn’t being rude if he doesn’t reply when someone says ‘hello’ to him – that’s just a part of his autism. Don’t be shy to ask questions; if anything, it shows a level of support and understanding that you’re willing to learn more about the situation.

Another thing I’d like to point out is that my brother, for example, has no physical disabilities. If you were to see him walking down the street, you wouldn’t have a clue that anything was different about him. For this reason, I’d like to ask you to think twice before poking fun at someone for doing something seemingly unusual. Maybe someone talking to themselves, or wearing something that isn’t necessarily Prada, or eating in a strange manner isn’t just someone worth laughing at – they might just be a bit different to you. I doubt (and hope) that you wouldn’t tease someone with a visible disability, so other conditions should be treated with the same respect.

Finally I would like to say a big hello to anyone who lives with or cares for an autistic family member. Things that other people take for granted, like popping to the cinema, going on holiday or doing a bit of shopping, might not be as simple for those who have to consider an autistic family member. But that doesn’t mean that you don’t love that family member just as much. A really infuriating thing for me to experience is when people find out about my brother’s autism and say, ‘oh, what a shame’. If you’re ever considering saying that to someone, I would ask you to consider the following – what grounds do you have, or even what right, to insinuate that an autistic family member is someone to be pitied? Everyone in the world is different, and for someone to have a condition such as autism is just another one of those differences. Don’t condescend by offering ‘sympathy’ – if the recipient is anything like me, you’ll most likely offend them.

I hope my words may have contributed to giving someone a deeper awareness of living with autism, and perhaps that anyone in a similar position to me might have related to something I said.

Happy World Autism Awareness Day!

www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/waad

An English girl in Paris, part trois: cocktails, shopping and everything in between…

Last weekend I took my first trip to Paris and had a wonderful time. I loved seeing the street art, visited the Palace of Versailles that I have always wanted to do, and generally took the time to soak up the Parisian atmosphere. Here’s the story of my adventures in France according to the lens of my Instagram…

What I ate…

Eating out is one of my favourite things to do and so I was really excited to sample some French cuisine. My favourite meal was at the Chartier restaurant. I had a rare steak that was drenched in peppercorn sauce – my favourite! In between sight seeing I made time for a refreshing cocktail and was sure to indulge in some French cheese with a gorgeous goat’s cheese salad.

Where I shopped…

My main aim was to visit some of the flea markets in Paris, so I went to Les Puces de Saint-Ouen at Porte de Clignancourt for some bargain hunting. For 40 Euros I picked up seven pairs of earrings (I am such a jewellery magpie!) and an exquisite peacock scarf. I was really pleased with some of the larger earrings I purchased as I’m a huge fan of Edie Sedgwick and these seemed to channel her 60′s style.

What I will remember…

There were so many amazing things to see in Paris, I know I’ll never forget it. The best thing I saw was probably this cat themed scratch card, I wish we had those in England! Visiting the Eiffel Tower was a really strange experience; I’d seen it so many times in films that it was really overwhelming to see it in the flesh. Our trip to Notre Dame was incredible, the stained glass windows in there were beautiful.

Best of all, however, was the company that I kept; wherever you visit with good friends, you’re sure to have a brilliant time! Paris couldn’t have been better because of the lovely group I was with.

4Talent – The Impossible Media Platform

As I resume my final year at University, my mind is focused more than ever on the question of what I will be doing once I graduate. An aspiring journalist, I have always taken care to keep an eye on opportunities within the media and seek out relevant work experience.

Since my first year of study I’ve undertaken a number of placements and they’ve been invaluable in terms of helping me to decide what I want to do. One example is a placement that I did with the BBC. It was fantastic, a real learning curve, and I had a wonderful time. What it did help me to realise, however, is that the BBC is perhaps not a company I would aspire to work for because they don’t seem to cater to my area of interest – beauty. That’s perfectly fine because I learned so many other skills from them, but at least I know now that I should perhaps look to other companies if I wish to pursue beauty journalism. Sometimes figuring out what you don’t want is what it takes to help you suss out what you do want.

Me with some of the BBC Blast girls in 2010, tucking into puddings after a hard day's work!

One company that has persistently disappointed me is 4Talent, the division responsible for allocating work experience for all to do with Channel 4. Channel 4 is one of my favourite networks. They offer some of my favourite programmes and documentaries, they’re great at covering new music, and all-in-all I’d love to have the opportunity to undertake work experience with them. What’s more is that I feel that I’ve worked hard enough to qualify. Frustrating, therefore, is their application process which sometimes comes down to something as silly as being in the right location.

4Talent host regular open days (or Inspiration Days) around the country. You apply to attend these and then, if you get to attend, you are eligible to apply for work experience. That would be fair enough but the application processes are really unusual. I’ve applied for two of these open days and this is what happened:

1. The first application I filled in required filling out a form with basic details such as my name, address and e-mail address. There was no space for me to include any details of my relevant work experience or even a URL. How this was narrowed down is beyond me, but needless to say I didn’t get invited to the open day.
2. The most recent application was for an Inspiration Day in Leeds. Leeds is the closest city to me (my city of study is Liverpool) and so I wanted to attend this day. The questions, however, were all about the city of Leeds itself. With no knowledge of Leeds I didn’t further my application, so essentially I’ve missed out on an open day because I live somewhere else. What’s more is that the majority of work experience placements will be in London, so the knowledge of Leeds will be irrelevant by the time an attendee gets to apply for work experience!

I hope that in writing this piece I could reach out to other young people that have been disappointed by the 4Talent application process and perhaps even change the minds of the 4Talent team themselves. When applying for jobs, I am perfectly happy to be overlooked if my qualifications are not up to standard. One thing I will not accept, however, is being declined the opportunity to apply merely because of my location. What if that day had been held in Liverpool? Would I now be happily looking forward to a summer internship?

If you’re reading this, 4Talent, please consider making your applications more appropriate for young people across the nation. Some of us would really love the chance to show you what we could offer Channel 4.

To browse the 4Talent work experience page, click here.

An English girl in Paris, part deux: the Palace of Versailles

One of my all time favourite films is Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, so during my first ever trip to Paris I was determined to take the time to visit the Palace of Versailles. Excited to see the beautiful architecture and interior design that had captured my heart in the film, I was utterly amazed when I finally got to visit the palace of dreams.

After a very long walk up to the gates, I admired the view from the heights of Versailles and took my place in the queue. I had already enquired about Versaille’s entry fees, but was delighted to discover that being under 26 meant that I could explore the palace for free!

Upon entering the palace, I was spoilt for choice on where to look. Every inch of every room was adorned in intricate prints, gold detail and furniture that looked far too pretty to sit upon.

From lights to windows and even door handles, every small bit of the palace had been decorated to perfection. It was such a beautiful place and so mind-blowing to consider how much time, effort and money must have gone into decorating it.

This room was my favourite; one of Marie Antoinette’s. It was featured heavily in the film and so I was delighted to be in there myself. Some of the furniture was preserved by cellophane and tour guides were giving extensive talks about the French Revolution.

My visit took a lot of time out of my 3-day trip, but it was completely worth it. It was lovely, too, to explore the surrounding parts of Versailles. Although central Paris was divine, lots of it was filled with tourists. Strolling around Versailles felt like I was truly experiencing a little bit of France in it’s purest form.

Are you wondering what else I got up to in Paris? You can read about the rest of my trip by following these links…

• An English girl in Paris, part une: street art
• COMING SOON – An English girl in Paris, part trois: cocktails, shopping and everything in between…

An English girl in Paris, part une: street art

This weekend I took my first trip to Paris. With lots to see the majority of my trip was spent walking, and along the way I noticed some incredible examples of street art.

Some pieces of art were so small they were almost unnoticeable. This little picture was near the ground of an enormous wall, just down a side street that pretty much lead to nothing.

Other pieces were impossible not to see. I was so excited to see this wall as I’ve seen it pictured in lots of graffiti and street art books. Can you spot the supermodel toward the bottom of it?

…here’s a close up. It was Kate Moss! She turned up in a few street art pieces that I saw.

Sharing the love was this little tag across the road from the University of Paris. I noticed it about the place quite frequently.

Stickers played a large part in the street art scene. Isn’t this multi-coloured owl beautiful?

Often street art pieces were juxtaposed. I don’t know about you, but I can’t really see a connection between these two? One thing is for sure, they both look great in their own way.

This mosaic piece was quite unusual. Unfortunately it had partially broken, but luckily the writing is still legible. I only speak basic French but would be interested if anyone could tell me what this translates as?

Lots of squidgy, cartoon pieces were painted with vivid colours. I noticed similarities to the work of Lewes Herriot, a Birmingham based illustrator.

My short trip meant that I didn’t find the time to visit the museums I was hoping to see, but with sights like this around the streets, I definitely think I caught the magic of the Parisian art scene.

Would you like to see what else I did in Paris? If so, take a look at the following posts…

• An English girl in Paris, part deux: the Palace of Versailles
• COMING SOON – An English girl in Paris, part trois: cocktails, shopping and everything in between…

Amici Di Peroni at the Anglican Cathedral, Liverpool

Earlier this week, I received a very unusual invitation. Peroni were hosting an evening called Amici Di Peroni, a night in which like-minded individuals come together to enjoy dinner and discuss all things fashion. Inspired by the Italian renaissance tradition of a salone, Peroni were embracing their roots to create an intimate dining experience.

As I arrived at the Anglican Cathedral, I wondered how or why this had been chosen as the venue for such an evening. When I saw this beautifully laid table, however, I realised that they had chosen the perfect location. Candles and rich blue carpets marked the way for me to join the other guests, and the lighting was ambient and haunting.

First of all I bumped into Shivani from 77 pr who greeted me and saw to it that I quickly had an ice cold Peroni in my hand, and then I was introduced to my host for the evening, Gianluca Longo. Formerly the style director at the Evening Standard, Gianluca spent the evening telling us about his experiences as an Italian man living in London. Despite being impeccably dressed and having worked with some of fashion’s biggest names, he was so down to earth and charismatic, even joking that he couldn’t take me anywhere when my (delicious) tomato semi-exploded at our otherwise elegant dinner.

After a chance to talk to the other guests, I took to the dinner table with LSMedia journalist Ashley, local designer Kirsty Doyle (we were amused that we had bumped into one another at yet another alcohol event!) and her lovely sister Jess.

Joined by a hunky Italian model and a beautiful Italian lady, we were in eccentric company. We tucked into a three course meal in which each mouthful was better than the next. (I hadn’t heard of most of the things on the menu, so it was a culinary learning curve for me, ha ha!)

The evening and everyone parted ways, and I realised that I had enjoyed perhaps the most unusual evening of my life. Such a beautiful setting, such riveting company and amazing food and drink… I feel honoured to have been a part of Amici Di Peroni.

The next event is taking place on London Bridge. I can’t wait to see the photographs!