Notes for the season

Thu, Dec 08, 2011

There can be a world of difference between selecting a stocking stuffer and a gift at Christmas. You can virtually give any random person a gift, but a stocking stuffer is reserved for those we really and truly know and adore. Stocking stuffers are chosen with precision, to make the recipient especially pleased. And amazing as it seems, when a guy says he’d like socks, sometimes a guys does in fact want socks. Below are some suggestions from Brown Thomas, for the people you adore this Christmas.

Stylish office party looks

Thu, Dec 08, 2011

So you are going for some Christmas party drinks after work with your colleagues, but you have very little time to get dressed up? Use these style tricks to dress to impress after a long day in the office.

Plan for tan — picking the right tan for you

Thu, Dec 08, 2011

Find the perfect party look by starting with your tan. Selecting a tan that suits your skin type can be hit and miss, so here are some of Matt O Flaherty chemist’s favourites.

On the wine shelf

Thu, Dec 08, 2011

Jacob’s Creek Reserve Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2007 (Widely available, €12.99)

On the cookery bookshelf

Thu, Dec 08, 2011

Catherine’s Family Kitchen
As Seen On TV

GMIT Hotel School to provide gourmet giveaway in aid of Galway Lions Club

Thu, Dec 08, 2011

Hotel school students in the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology have volunteered to prepare, cook, and serve a gourmet dinner for 30 guests which will be auctioned off to the highest bidder during the Galway Lions Club ‘live’ Galway Bay FM auction tomorrow (Friday).

Finnerty’s champion craft butchers and Corry’s Loughrea

Thu, Dec 08, 2011

Finnerty’s butchers, which is located on the ground floor of the Eyre Square Shopping Centre and in Oughterard, has just scooped a top award at the All Ireland Craft Butcher Product competitions. It won supreme champion in the sausages and puddings section, quite an achievement when you think that there are about 500 butchers in the association and about 300 in the competition. Nevin Maguire was the main judge at the event so we can assume that the winners were all pretty impressive. I had often passed by the shop but never shopped there, so I decided to call in and try some of the award winning products. The main shop is in Oughterard and it has been supplying locally sourced meat for the last 50 years and supplies many of the main Connemara hotels like the Abbeyglen, Renvyle House, and Cashel House.

Your health is your wealth

Thu, Dec 08, 2011

Are you still thinking about what kind of gift you could give to your family members or friends for Christmas? Why not give them a healthy and relaxing gift -- a treatments gift voucher for traditional Chinese medicine?

Traditional Chinese therapies such as acupuncture, acupressure/massage, and herbs, which have been practised for thousands of years in the Orient, have become well known as a medical treatment for pain relief and many other conditions including sinus, headache, frozen shoulder, weight loss, arthritis, IBS, and women’s and men’s health problems. Some of the benefits include immune enhancement, an increase in energy, and an overall feeling of wellbeing. Traditional Chinese medicine and herbal medicine are proven to be among the gentlest therapies and are free of side effects.

Milk thistle — the natural cure for festive hangovers

Thu, Dec 08, 2011

‘Tis the season where so many of us tend to go overboard with drinking, between festive Christmas dinners, countless holiday parties, and New Year’s celebrations. And after the holiday cheer, most of us are left with that unwelcome side effect of our excesses: the hangover.

Discover the skincare benefits of peat

Thu, Dec 08, 2011

Briarhill Pharmacy and Beauty Emporium is introducing Galway to Ógra, Ireland’s first and original organic peat skincare range.

Ógra Skincare has developed a unique and quite amazing range of skincare products using 9,000-year-old peat from the bogs of Ireland as one of its ingredients. Peat is an organic soil produced naturally when plants and vegetation decompose in the bog. It lies deep in the bog and has lots of natural goodness from the herbs, shrubs, berries, and minerals it absorbs. Peat contains up to 200 organic ingredients that help skin's natural beauty. Zinc, copper, iron, selenium are all found, but most remarkable of all is the medicinal plants it contains such as sundew, heath, crowberry, and bog whortleberry.

The perfect Christmas gift is now more affordable

Thu, Dec 08, 2011

Therapie Clinic, the prestigious laser and skin clinic on Shop, Galway, recognises that this is an expensive time of year and while we may have less money in our pockets than previous years, we still want to give a special and memorable gift to the one we love this Christmas. With this in mind, Therapie Clinic is offering 20 per cent off all gift sets and gift vouchers (over €150) for the rest of December.

Choose a luxurious gift set from stunning labels Eve Lom, Aveda, Image Skincare, or Dr Murad. There are wonderful sets for both him and her. You are guaranteed to impress with Eve Lom — choose from the Daily Collection, Perfect Partner, or Luxury Collection containing a beautiful selection of these award-winning moisturisers, cleaners, masks, and balms. Or how about an Image Skincare gift set containing cleanser, serum, and moisturiser and give the gift of more radiant and rejuvenated looking skin?

From drab facades to the Latin Quarter

Thu, Dec 01, 2011

This photograph was taken only 25 years ago, but it shows how much Galway has changed in that space of time, and particularly the area of High Street, Quay Street, and Cross Street.

Europe never tasted so good

Thu, Dec 01, 2011

I am glad Galway does not have Michelin starred restaurants. I have eaten in two Dublin restaurants when the family occasion, so I was told, warranted a Michelin starred meal. The first occasion was very good. The owner/chef visited all the tables and chatted pleasantly, hoping that we had enjoyed our meal. We all had. On the following two occasions, including another restaurant, which to my disbelief, retained its Michelin star this year, both meals were a disgrace. Incredibly over priced, snobby and condescending waiters, tiny portions, and pretentious food. Apart from the obligatory ‘is everything all right?’ no sincere effort was made to connect with the customer.

Lose up to 10lbs in three weeks with System 10

Thu, Dec 01, 2011

Is your metabolism stopping your weight loss? Do you suffer from any of the following?

Slow thyroid — can cost you 400 to 600 calories, more than one hour workout. Thirty five per cent of people have an undiagnosed slow thyroid.

Party dresses for your shape

Thu, Dec 01, 2011

With the Christmas party season kicking off this weekend, it is time to find that special dress that will make you look gorgeous. It is all about feeling and looking good in your party outfit and having a great time. The key is choosing what suits you and accentuates your assets. In the coming weeks I will be selecting looks and style ideas to suit your shape and telling you how to wear them.

Notes for the season

Thu, Dec 01, 2011

Going from day to night in a hurry is going to be top on every woman’s agenda over the next few weeks. This can be done in a jiffy with the right tools at hand, and a few extra minutes in the morning.

G is for getting glam

Thu, Dec 01, 2011

Fashion is cyclical by nature and tends to revisit past trends rather than invent new ones. Now this is a positive thing – if you had a little black dress from years ago or your grandma had some costume jewellery that you happened to find in her attic, well you are in for a treat this season as old fashioned glamour is back.

Style is stepping back in time this season with thanks to some of the world’s most prominent fashion houses. Sparkle, glitter, feathers, sequins, leather, and faux fur have hit the high street with a bang. Taking inspiration from designers such as Gucci and Prada, who are leading the movement away from dull tones and textures, the high street stores such as River Island, Topshop and our own Awear and Born are the ones to watch. And naturally, the celebs are fans too. Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks and singer Paloma Faith are the best contemporary ambassadors for old school glamour who embrace eras past to define their red carpet style.

Christmas Day on a budget

Thu, Dec 01, 2011

It is pretty easy to create a Christmas Day spectacular dinner with an unlimited budget, however I think that you can achieve a superb result if you approach it with good planning and a modest budget. It is also worth remembering that the end result is never really as good as you hoped no matter how much you spend. Why is that? Well, we all want it to be the absolute best for all the family and now everyone has such high expectations that you would need to be a masterchef and a master shopper to fulfil everyone’s hopes for the day. Another stumbling block is that we forget that we are not used to catering at this level, so it really would be a miracle if it all turned out like the fabulous pictures you see in the magazines and cookbooks.

Deck the halls

Thu, Dec 01, 2011

Soon it will be time to raid the attic for boxes of tinsel and trinkets and embark on the annual decorating ritual. While we can’t help you unravel the fairy lights, here are a few tips to make decorating more fun and less about finance this year.

Galway trichologist tackles hair loss

Thu, Dec 01, 2011

Did you know that there are some 50 different types of hair loss, that common male hair loss can start as young as 14 years of age, or that 40 per cent of women lose hair after childbirth?

Trichologist Deborah Whelan MIT is one of a handful of qualified scalp and hair specialists in Ireland. She has been working in Galway city for six years, having opened her first practice in the UK in 1994.

E-paper

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