DIVA ( Fashion, life, Music, Photography): November 2012

I remember a couple of weeks before, I was at work in Liverpool on a customer site.

My husband Paul rang me and said that a lady had rang me up asking for me saying I’d won a makeover.
I assumed it was one of those services where you go along having won a supposed prize , they take your picture and then charge you loads for a few naff pictures. I said that I didn’t see the point of phoning but he insisted “Now I know why lol”.

So I phoned and spoke to the lovely Emma and she told me that I’d been chosen for a special Matalan makeover and explained that Paul had entered me into a competition and that they’d picked me and that this was his way of thanking me for looking after him :0) .

She explained it would be a complete make over, hair, makeup clothes and that it was an all expenses paid trip to London. Of course I was totally thrilled and said yes immediately: 0), well which girl wouldn’t right!”.

So the day came for me to go and have the makeover, it took about 5 hours to drive down to London, mainly because I had my two dogs with me. Plus my lovely hubbie Paul, is still recovering from a Pulmonary embolism, broken ankle and shoulder operation , so as you can imagine we had to stop quite a few times ( I know, I know I need to wrap him in cotton wool, if his mum had still been alive, she would have said tie a piece of wool around his finger – apparently it stops you being so clumsy, well that’s what they say anyway :0) ).

Lovely Matalan as part of the overall experience booked us into a hotel. It was right next to Euston Station and was called the Euston Thistle. It was rather plush and had a massive bed and the posh-est bathroom you’ve ever seen. London prices though for car-parking , good god I nearly died.
The price for a 24 hour stay was virtually £30.00, ouch!

So the first night in London, saw us walking the dogs around by the station, were they were quite happy padding through the leaves and scaring the tourists ( I have never seen so many people scared of pups before, especially these two lol) .

Then back to the hotel for tea, it was very nice a sort of chicken burger but I’ve never had my meal served on a chopping board before, very quaint. Again the price , eeek.
So to the next day, saw us waking up to a very noisy and crowded London.

We worked our way downstairs to the restaurant rubbing the sleep out of our eyes and ended up having a full English, it was lovely. So nice for somebody else to cook. ( thankfully,no chopping boards in sight this time) .

I was told by the lovely Gurvinder at Atomize TV that climate cars would pick us up at 9:30am to take us to the shoot, apparently when the car arrives they send you a text.
Right on time my phoned beeeped, checked the Text, and we went to meet the car which was a Toyota Prius, goodness what a plush car.

So off we went to the TV company, on arrival we were greeted by Gurvinder one of the assistant produces and Emma from Matalan. We were led into a room and introduced to the fabulous Kat from “Kats closet” and Closer Magazine, Next I was introduced to the producer Amy and the hair consultant (Aaron Blondell) , beauty consultant (http://www.helenharrall.com) and camera/photography chappies .

I’d watched a few of the programmes online so sort of got the gist of what was going to happen.
Kat and the producer Amy asked for a private chat, this involved stepping outside of the room were I was asked what size lingerie I wore lol:0).

Paul was taken to sit in what they call a viewing room as the makeover was not only being photographed but being filmed as well. ( excited :0)

I was a little worried leaving him as hes really not been that well but the production crew sensing my fears told me that they would keep checking on him . They even brought in food and drink in case we needed anything.

I was then whisked away into Kats closet for a bit of a chat with the lovely Kat telling me what she had in store for me that day.

So here’s a confession for you!. I must admit here and now to being very soft, as Kat was asking me why I thought that Paul had put me forward for the makeover.

She asked about the year we had, had and I went to bits . You see Pauls my soul mate and its been a very stressful year seeing him in so much pain, its totally broken my heart. I explained that as well as him being in constant pain with his right shoulder and a broken ankle this year. I’d nearly lost him again to the blood clots and that I just couldn’t imagine life with out him truly. In fact I’m sat here with tears in my eyes , whilst I write this ( I’m such a softie) . So when you do watch the programme please bear in mind you might need some tissues ( very sorry) .

So back to the Closet, Kat showed me a variety of clothes and we discussed style , shape, fabric and color looking at the things that would suit my shape and coloring.

We looked through a variety of clothes including a very stunning adelesque Rogers Chiffon Dress.
It was a Chiffon overlay dress with sweetheart neckline and 1/2 sleeves. The dress had a lovely pinky colored satin underneath and looked very elegant and feminine. It also had a bit of

You can see the dress here http://www.matalan.co.uk/fcp/product/fashion-to-buy-online/Plus-Size/Rogers-Chiffon-Dress/65292&resultsPerPage=100&attrList=Dept,brand
Prize £28.00

I was also shown a lovely Turquoise dress “Dipped Hem Prom” again a lovely dress
http://www.matalan.co.uk/fcp/product/fashion-to-buy-online/-Dresses/Dipped-Hem-Chiffon-Prom-With-Gold-Belt/66599&resultsPerPage=100&attrList=Dept,brand http://www.matalan.co.uk/fcp/product/fashion-to-buy-online/-Dresses/Dipped-Hem-Chiffon-Prom-With-Gold-Belt/66599&resultsPerPage=100&attrList=Dept,brand
Price - £20.00

Kat said that I couldn’t see what I looked like until I was completely made-over ( arrr but!) , so all of the mirrors in the room were covered up and Amy the producer stood at the door making sure nobody came in. I remember the door opening and the lift was just outside, Amy literally ran to stand in front and cover the mirror in the lift lol so I couldn’t see what was going on. That was me gone, I cracked me up laughing and shared a giggle with Kat.

So onto the makeup, , I’ve never really used a lot of makeup, but I’m happy to try anything. The first thing Helen (Helen Harrall) applied was like a pre solution , apparently it helps to keep the foundation and power on and stops the makeup sliding off. Perfect for people with an oily T Zone or if you’re going to go clubbing :0) .
Next the eyes, its very strange having somebody applying makeup that you cant see.
Especially having mascara applied, its very ticklish.

Whilst the makeup was being finished off the hair stylist (Aaron Blondell ) explained how he would like to do my hair, it sounded amazing. He told me that the trend currently was to have your hair in a bun type effect with a plait forming part of the fringe.

Talk about being totally pampered, hair and makeup done and it was time for lunch. It was chicken green Thai curry and it was so tasty with like a brown/bean rice and a nice cup of tea to finish it off with.

The production staff were amazing, constantly asking me , if they could they do anything for me. It was a surreal experience and I feel truly blessed, they were so lovely and I was treated like a total Queen and not allowed to do anything. To be honest the only thing I asked for was for them to check on Paul, make sure he’d had his pain killers and oh please may I have a cup of tea?

So back to Kats closet and I was given shapeware to put on, I had to tug and tug and, it was very difficult to get on , but it really did work to smooth out my lumps and bumps.
Next Kat passed me a couple of dress’s to try on, together with lots of different accessories. She advised which one suited me best, talking about the cut of the garments, and the style.

So to the end and the reveal – I came out of the dressing area and stood in front of the mirror for the final reveal.

It was almost like a ta-da moment , the sheet was whisked off the mirror and I stood looking at myself.

I was totally shocked, I actually looked pretty ha ha, my hair was amazing, I’d never thought of having my hair piled up so high, I loved the plait and the way my fringe was swept to one side.

Kat explained that to appear youthful instead of wearing dark eye makeup, it was more attractive to utilize paler creams and browny type colors. The makeup was so pretty and it was definitely something that I’ll try in the future.

I couldn’t believe the effect that the makeup had in opening my eyes up.
The best bit though was the dress, it was the Rodgers Chiffon dress that I’d described earlier. Kat was right it really flattered my curves and had the most amazing see through chiffony sleeves. It was so very femine, sexy and pretty.

So the end of the makeover came boo, the cameras were turned off and it was time for me to get changed. Once changed, I was told to choose what ever I wanted out of the clothes I’d been shown to take home. Super generous of Matalan, I went home with a large bundle of clothes, thankyou x. Aso thanks for the bottle of wine x

It was an amazing experience being filmed, something I’d quite like to do as a professionally to be honest (presenting that is, hint hint :0) .

I had such a fantastic day and I still cant get over it, I have never felt so pampered in my life and I went away on the day feeling so incredibly relaxed and pretty for a change.

Thankyou to my lovely wonderful hubby , my soulmate, thankyou for putting me forward for this amazing prize.

Finally, I just wanted to say a huge thankyou to Matalan and Atomize TV for the most perfect day. Again I cant thank you guys enough for the experience it was totally amazing and you treated me so , so well.

You are all wonderful xxxxxxxx

BTW you can catch the programme here :0)

http://www.closeronline.co.uk/makesfashionsense/ ( see Kat's Closet - Surprise Christmas Makeover)

http://www.wirewax.com/7002571
http://www.itv.com/matalan/ ( see Kats Closet - Merry Christmas Makeover)
http://www.matalan.co.uk/fcp/content/makes-fashion-sense/site-content?icmpid=hp_mfs_290812
http://www.aaronblondell.com/ ( Hair Consultant)
http://www.helenharrall.com/ ( Beauty Consultant)

Its also in Closer Magazine today ( hope I dont get into trouble for posting this) :0)