How RatsEye Design gave new life to my old bleached tattoo

When your old tattoos start looking like this, it's no fun anymore!
It's quite embarrassing, to be honest.
I was super happy with this tattoo when it was new (early 2008) but after several years of sun damage, this is what it ended up looking like. That, combined with the fact that I went to a sloppy tattoo artist! This just shows how important it is to research your tattoo artist before you decide who to go to. Although it probably looks worse that it is seeing as my tattoo was a light brown with very light flowers from the beginning.

To the rescue came Zannie from RatsEye Design Tattoo. She's originally from Sweden, just like me, but moved over to England a couple of years ago and started up her own tattoo business in Brighton. 

It has been a year since I went to see her now, and I'm aware that I've been teasing you with my lovely cover-up in various outfit posts ever since. Well, here's my story!

When I first came to RatsEye Design Tattoo I asked Zannie to just fill in my old tattoo, but she refused! She said it was flat and lifeless, and had some ideas for the flowers. Inspired by Alphonse Mucha's Art Nouveau flowers, she started working on a sketch that would transform my tiny dead flowers to massive blooming ones!
What I really like about Art Nouveau flowers is that they're not perfect, but you could say that they're at the end of their glory just before they die. I also love the dusky colours of this era, and this was what we were going to try to replicate.

Zannie drew up the new sketch for the cover-up onto my old tattoo with the help of some stencils, but also by freehand.
As you can see, the basics of the tattoo would remain the same, but the flowers would be twice as big.

 Hearing the tattoo machine for hours was not fun!
Tips for when getting a bigger tattoo: bring a book and some other sort of entertainment, as well as sugary drinks and snacks to keep your blood sugar up. Like it or not, but you do bleed quite a bit, and it gets you tired.

Part one of the process done - the outlines!
Just as with my other tattoos I've gone for a dark brown rather than black, as I think it goes better with my skin colour. Black goes so green after a while...

 Over all, Zannie sat bent over my shoulder with that horrible buzzing right in my ear for almost 7 hours! Talk about draining! But it was so worth it!

I really couldn't be happier with the beautiful Art Nouveau style flowers that ended up on my back rather than that bleached shit that was there before. Zannie is a perfectionist and takes her time, but I'm definitely staying faithful to her and RatsEye Design Tattoo from now on!

A year on, and the tattoo still looks perfect!
Another tip is of course to take care of your tattoo properly when it heals, otherwise you could end up with uneven colours. Don't pick any scabbing, and keep it moisturised with a mild but thick cream such as Bepanthen.

Have a look through Zannie's work on RatsEye Design Tattoo Brighton's Facebook page.

Cryotherapy - The power of ice

Have you ever heard of Cryotherapy? 

Neither had I... until XS Hair in Leeds invited me to a demonstration at their fab event in Leeds last week. 

There were bubbles, pampering, and the power of ice!

I had a very special guest with me to the event (who I think got more out of it than me in the end!) - my little sister! She had come to Leeds for a visit, and I was so happy to get to show her "my" Leeds. She's only ever really been with my parents before, but I had a great time showing her around the younger parts of town.

But back to the event. 

When we arrived we were welcomed with a glass of bubbly, and the first thing we saw was a girl laying on a bed having some sort of treatment on her face. We were promised an in-depth explanation and demonstration shortly.

Having read the benefits on the leaflet I was handed on arrival I was very curious to what this miracle treatment was!

So what is Cryotherapy?

It's a pioneering technology originating from Japan, which uses liquid nitrogen to cool down a concentrated area on your body, which in turn triggers a physiological reaction. These reactions have multiple benefits such as weight loss, tighter skin, reductions of cellulite, wrinkles and acne scars, and even pain relief. 

Or like the lovely ladies at XS Hair explained it in a more humorous way; the freezing temperatures basically tricks your body into believing it's going to die, so the blood rushes to the treated area and plumps up the skin and burns lots of calories.

It's a natural treatment with biological health benefits.

Next up to have a trial session of the facial treatment was Kellie from Big Fashionista.
She was covered in warm towels and had her makeup removed to start with.

Having done the treatment on just one half of the face (the one to the right in the photo) you can already see that her face looks smoother and plumper. 

It was such a popular event, and lots of Leeds bloggers, journalists, and even a soap actor had come to see the wonder of Cryotherapy.

My sister had a quick blast of Cryotherapy done on her chest since she had had a stubborn cough all week. This was followed by a chest rub. She said it was very relaxing. 

On top of this, XS Hair treated us to hair styling, and some advice from their hairdressers.

Here's Ally from Digital Diva having a consultation on her fringe, whilst Kellie from Big Fashionista is having her hair curled.

There was also a choice of having your nails done with Shellac polishes. 

Such a luxury event!

My sister and I had a great time learning about Cryotherapy and mingling with other bloggers.

Thank you so much to Cryotherapy UK and XS Hair in Leeds for arranging such a fantastic event!

What is a microdermabrasion facial, and how does it work?

A couple of weeks ago I ventured over to the neighbouring town Harrogate where I was treated to a microdermabrasion facial by the lovely people at Body Team.

Now, what exactly is a microdermabrasion facial, you may ask?

Microdermabrasion is basically extreme exfoliating, which is a very effective treatment for renewing your skin and getting a fresh and young-looking glow.

It’s a treatment that works in harmony with your body in a way that removes dead skin cells, which then makes your body work faster and harder to replace them with fresher and healthier looking skin. 

It might sound unpleasant, but believe me – it’s not!

The technique works with microcrystals, and Body Team uses only quality products by Crystal Clear Skincare. These microcrystals are hard enough to scrub off the dull and tired skin cell, but won’t make any damage to your other skin layers. The microdermabrasion machine propels microcrystals across the surface of your skin and removes the top layer of skin cells, which reveals new and fresh skin cells and makes your skin rejuvenate quicker as well as produce more collagen.

 The Body Team therapist I went to started off by using two different cleansers on my face. She then began going over my face with the machine, before going back to problem areas such as wrinkles and acne scars. As you can imagine my face was quite red after this treatment, but they are prepared for that. A cooling mask was applied to my face, and whilst that was working its magic I was given a Swedish massage on my arms and hands. Lovely! 

The mask was then peeled off, and moisturising cream was massaged into my face. 

It's crazy how quickly an hour passes when you're getting pampered!

I thought I would come out of the salon looking like a tomato, but the cooling mask had really worked, and I just felt very fresh faced!

It's fine to apply makeup straight after a microdermabration facial, but they strongly suggest that you only use natural mineral makeup. I tried some of the mineral powder foundation they offered at the salon, and I was very impressed with the coverage.

But what is a microdermabration actually good for? 

These are the skin imperfections it can help treat:

Softens fine lines and wrinkles     

Smoothes rough skin     

Reduces the appearance of scarring     

Refines enlarged pores     

Helps diminish age spots     

Evens out skin tone

Reduces blackheads and white spots     

Helps prevent clogged pores

I would definitely recommend a microdermabration facial - I felt extremely fresh afterwards, and even after one treatment I thought my skin appeared smoother. Imagine then after a whole course of 5 or 10! 

Body Team was absolutely amazing, so a big shoutout to the lovely ladies in the salon!