Trolleys and Brollies

So.. in my job I spend  A LOT of time traipsing around on buses or trains and dragging my kit through town ( and Manchester is not known for its well maintained streets.. and there are still even a few with Victorian cobbles..) so you can see that hauling your make up about can be quite a physical experience, not always enjoyable... I have for the past few months had quite a smooth running suitcase with rubber wheels from IKEA that made it slightly less bumpy ( especially as there can be some make up casualties eg smashed eyeshadows, if they have had a rickety journey..) but last week the zip broke on my Ikea case, and it sent me back to using my cute old polka dot, but VERY rickety wheelie case... quite exhausting, and not quite big enough for my stuff either..boo hoo!! EMERGENCY NEW SUITCASE NEEDED!! Now many MUAs harp on about those fancy ZUCA cases with their flashing wheels and sit-upon casing.. But tbh they are freaking expensive .. like £150 expensive!! and I dont ever need to sit on my case- ill have a chair thanks, or a wall.. and I dont want to snag my tights on the hard casing,or risk not being able to squash the hard casing into overhead luggage, or be restricted in my packing, by the shape of the hard casing,or have to take the casing off and send that through to airline baggage hold anyway, coz this will be my holiday bag too - thats why we all work right? to save up for holidays? oh yeah and pay the bills ;) ... so I was looking into the Snowboard / Skate brand luggage, because Im a DEFINITE convert to the SKATEBOARD WHEELS feature .. which also means they are interchangeable should I ever want pink flashing wheels or whatevz.. This was my final choice - DAKINE a well known Snowboard / Skate brand. 42 litre capacity - plenty room, waterproof, and with it being a Skate brand I d have no problem nipping into one of Manchesters many skate shops and asking them to change the wheels for the latest colour of the season .. then whizz outside and pull a kickflip then grind down some railings for a speedy trip to work :) Oh and I got this at a snip of the  price, for £55 ... HURRAH!! Dimensions wise, slightly bigger than the Zuca too, so whats not to love!? Other brands in a similar style - Eastpak, Burton, Quiksilver, Gravis, Roxy etc.. just do search then do a best price search !! and make sure theyve got those skate wheels! Some do girly colours if thats your bag but I like black - it goes with everything and doesnt get trashed so quickly in the NorthWest weather systems :) Oh and all the 'boarders will think you are like TOTALLY AWESOME

Interview on Manchester Fashion Network

http://www.manchesterfashion.com/c/19/938/featured-makeup-artist-nikki-armstrong/

So I got asked to do a Q & A about my job, for Manchester / London Fashion Network - an online community. Ooo I do waffle on a bit! But have a read if your interested in why or how I got round to being a make up n hair person of all things!

RIDICULOUS PACKAGING! Grrrr !

This is RIDICULOUS!!!! I love Illamasqua for their make up - they acn do no wrong especially as they are very Cruelty Free and Made in England ( which we are all trying to promote this year especially ) and Pro quality and Extremely creative and all these good things.. BUT... Every package i order from them comes in this size of a box, no matter how small the item is - ie these tiny false lashes, and a previous package with ONE tiny brush and ONE eye pencil in. They seriously need to get some smaller boxes maaaan. I guess i could wait to order more stuff at once from them, but unfortunately my budget is also tiny, like the boxes they SHOULD get. Im sure ill find a use for all this black shredded paper though - make some sorta mad afro paper wig and go to my next fancy dress party as Shaft?.. Make a nest for a Tim Burtonesque crow ? .. answers on a postcard...