Beauty Terrorist - Look Good For Free
Story Highlights:
- Free Hair Cuts
- Yoga - Backpacking Back Pains Sorted in an Hour
- Half Off and Free Gym Contracts
- Free Expert Advice
Free Hair Cuts
Ever wanted to be a model? Well now you can stick it to those anorexic giraffes, thrown down the runways by designers - no matter what you age, weight or look. There is a stupendously high demand for hair models in London and we're not talking about the dodgy: “come round to my house for a free chop” adverts on gumtree.com. We're talking the Toni and Guy academy, crying out for test subjects. You always have to book well in advance and sometimes you pay between £5 and £20 for a cut, colour and condition – but the lucky ones get it for free! Be advised you will be letting trainees loose on your barnett but they do it all under the eagle eye supervision of the hair care maestros. There are two big academies in London – one at 75 New Oxford Street - which specialises in restyling and one at 33 St Christopher's Place, which focuses on colours and curly perms. For the completely free cuts keep an eye out for the vouchers in local London papers. Appointments are generally between 9:45am and 1:45pm.
Yoga - Back Pains Sorted in an Hour
Lugging an 80-litre backpack across the world is no mean feat. I did it from Tasmania to Cairns and after a month I'd become a regular at the Aussie Chiropractors. Your back's welfare is important and you therefore need to counteract the curving and damage done by lugging your life around on your shoulders. You can prevent the need for Chiropractic care with a little ancient welfare – yoga. The premise is simple – everything has an equal and opposite reaction, so if you bend your back in a crab position, then you have to balance it out with a foetal like posture. If you're not convinced then try a free class for yourself. A great little sample session can be taken advantage of at the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre. You'll find it at 51 Felsham Road and the nearest station is Putney Bridge. The free taster session is on Saturdays between 2pm and 3:30pm, but it books up pretty quick so call ahead to guarantee your place - 020-8780-0160.
Half Off and Free Gym Contracts
The very nice private health insurance people behind Pru Health are giving you an incentive to get fit – half price and free gym membership. It might sound like a con but hear me out. If you take out a health insurance policy, tell them you're a non-smoker, have no history of serious medical conditions, don't mind paying the first £1000 excess and are willing to be treated outside of London – then they will give you a corker of a gym deal. Mine involves them paying £50 towards a top notch gym which otherwise would cost me £90 a month. I pay the £40 difference and enjoy unlimited heated towels, fitness classes galore, fascist but effective personal training sessions, a pool, Jacuzzi, sauna and a eucalyptus infused steam room. Now for the free bit. Every time you swipe into your gym you accrue vitality points. Every time you spend money at a Sainsbury's supermarket or shop on eBay, you accrue vitality points. With enough vitality points you can upgrade from the bronze membership (£40 a month) to the gold membership (Free)! It therefore actually pays to be fit!
Free Expert Advice
In today's multi media mesh of Blogs, internet journals, chat rooms and community websites you might think there would be someone out there dedicated to the promotion of free beauty advice – and you'd be right. Apart from yours truly, there is a plethora of experts and start up companies, climbing over each other to relay their expertise to your eager eyes. Here's a short list of the best sites and what they're good at.
Beauty Blogs
Cosmopolitan - You've heard of the magazine, now read the advice of its audience - for free. This groovy little concept gives you the benefit of expert advice after it's been digested by a like minded audience. In other words they've already paid for the magazine and you benefit from the collective after thoughts.
Marshmallow – It might sound fattening but don't worry, it aint. This is a nice little directory of special offers and it keeps you right up to date on what you can get for free - when you invest a little in your image.
- Rob Savage
