STYLE FOR STROKE @ The Painted Lady, Shorditch

Invited by one of my beautiful friends Charlotte De Mercur, I made my way down to pretty vintage salon The Painted Lady in Shordtich last month, for an event in aid of Style For Stroke. The campaign is fronted by guru Nick Ede, who aims to gather every 'somebody' in the world of Celebrity & Fashion, to help raise money, and awareness for the Stroke Association

In attendance aside from a few known faces, was 22 year old Sarah Scott, a model for the campaign who suffered from a stroke in 2009. Although she has no paralysis like other sufferers, Sarah has Aphasia, a condition which makes it difficult to read, write, express her feelings, and make basic calculations. On one hand, Sarah is extremely lucky, on the other, as discovered via the Channel 4 show The Updateable’s, Sarah will never be able to connect with a loved one, or even say those three simple words 'I Love You' which is sadly proving difficult for many to accept

The event was also in celebration of well-known cosmetic brand Lipcote joining the Style for Stroke partnership, and donating 10% of all sales to the Stroke Association as of Valentines Day 2013. Made in Chelsea star Millie Mackintosh also donated a generous supply of false lashes from her new range, for the evening. I am not usually a fan of celebrity lashes, but I suppose being from Chelsea, she's spent a bit more money on hers ;) they're amazingly good quality! 

Despite efforts from the NHS, many still believe that Strokes only strike during old age, but all three models for the Style for Stroke campaign had their's between the ages of 17, and 21, and for no apparent reason. To find out more about Style for Stroke, and how you can get involved, please visit the Stroke Association website: http://www.stroke.org.uk/Styleforstroke

You can also help to raise money by purchasing a bottle of Lipcote, it's the only reliable way to keep your lipstick put all evening. Share love not Lipstick:
www.lipcote.com

To purchase Millie Mackintosh's eyelash range, visit the Nouveau website. There are 8 styles all named after a different part of London, ranging from dainty & natural, to those with show-stopping volume! My favourites are; Shorditch, and Carnaby:http://shop.nouveaubeautygroup.com/brands/millie-mackintosh/

Are Juice Diet's really safe? I team up with SOULMATEFOOD to find out

I'd been interested in these so-called miracle Juice Diets for some time, and it wasn't until I was just about to embark on one, that I suddenly thought, is it really a good idea to consume only fruit juice, and no solid food for an entire week? Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely up for a stab at losing the added Christmas poundage, but unless there’s a mixture of both vegetables, AND fruit, is it not going to be chock full of sugar? 

In comes award winning, health food delivery consultancy SOULMATEFOOD, a renowned distributor of the Juice Detox, to help me put it to the test. The company was founded by Nutritionist, and personal trainer Christian Coates, and was designed to offer hassle free, nutritionally balanced, gourmet style meals delivered to your door

SOULMATEFOOD promise to deliver your order between 12am, and 8am so that you can start your cleanse, the following working day. For this particular 5 day juice detox, you sip 6 juices throughout the day, with an advised 8 glasses of water, but no other foods or drinks. And YES, this includes caffeine. Something which seems much harder to cut out, once you've acknowledged the word 'detox'

At first glance, the juices seem very small, but they are surprisingly deceiving as they are thick smoothies, and actually rather difficult to consume all in one day, so initial “how I am going to survive on those” thoughts, are immediately banished

THE MENU:
JUICE 1 - Carrot, Orange, Ginger & Superfoods 
JUICE 2- Pineapple, Banana & Coconut 
JUICE 3- Antioxidant Blend, Cherries & Mixed Berries
JUICE 4 - Raspberry & Pomegranate
JUICE 5 - Orange, Mango, Passion Fruit & Goji Berry
JUICE 6 -Strawberry & Banana

I was feeling a little unwell on the first day if my cleanse, so I was hoping for some sort of miraculous recovery. Juice 1, the detox breakfast juice was definitely not my favourite, it was rather tangy, and I have not been known to be a fan of ginger, however by day 3, I had settled my differences with it, and actually began to enjoy its zingy, energising blend

The other juices, felt like something I'd grab on the way to work if I'd skipped breakfast, several of them tasted pretty similar, and with no vegetable content, after day 3, I began to crash, badly. I felt unbalanced, moody, and was craving some sort of 'carb' related matter 

On the other hand, I felt less bloated, more energized (perhaps through hunger), and my skin appeared to be much clearer. After a little cheeky snack to perk my energy levels up (brown rice to be specific), I felt much better, and by day 5 began to feel the benefits 

The Good:Health fighting antioxidants give your immune system a boost, and cleanse your liver, and kidneys. SOULMATEFOOD do all of the blending, so all you need to do is pluck a juice from the fridge, SIMPLE! The juices are thick, and more filling than you may think, so you don’t miss food as much as you think you will. In total I lost 5lbs over 5 days without ANY exercise, and by the end of the detox I did feel a lot more energised, and less bloated with clearer skin

The Bad:The idea of a juice detox is great, and I love the principal of SOULMATEFOOD, however, I feel that the ingredients do not balance your sugar levels correctly, leaving me wanting to commit murder by day 3. If the juices contained a variety of sweet, and savory ingredients, I would be doing this every 6 weeks!!

If your juice detox plan contains mainly fruit, I would suggest consuming one or two fist sized portion's of rice (or other grains) per day, to keep your sugar levels within a safe level

The followers: Sarah Jessica Parker, Jennifer Aniston and Drew Barrymore are all said to be fans of the juice diet. Katie Price, aka Jordan

The soulmatefood juice cleanse is available at www.soulmatefood.com from £120, they also offer a selection of delicious meals, and weight loss plans. Follow @Soulmatefood