helena frith powell

  • Lifestyle
  • Women
  • Beauty
  • France
  • Contact

Big hair, small stomach

3rd March 2007 by Helena 9 Comments  

Hair Don'tThe week after Britney Spears ended up with no hair, I ended up with twice as much. At Rodolfo Valentin’s salon in New York I have been treated to his famous “hair infusions.” They are an advanced form of hair extensions that don’t damage your hair but still make you look like a Desperate Housewife (which of course is my main aim in life). As you walk into the salon there is a big poster which reads: Come in with the hair you’ve got, leave with the hair you want.”

I had had a particularly dreadful haircut (at Harvey Nichols can you believe it?) and every time I looked in the mirror my hair made me alternately depressed, at how limp it looked, and furious at how much money it cost. Anyway Rodolfo sorted me out. I wafted out of his salon feeling like a million dollars. Even my husband (who normally hates all this sort of thing) concedes I am now more fun to be with and look better.

As I write I am tucked up in bed having had the treatment I warned you about below. This is called smart-lipo and is a much less violent form of liposuction which not only removes fat deposits but tightens the skin.

At the moment I look (and feel) like a mad-woman. I am wearing a strange black corset and my stomach (the area my new best friend Dr. LookGood treated) is swollen and slightly sore. The two pin-prick areas he used to get to my fat are turning a rather nasty shade of blue. But otherwise I feel amazingly good.

This might sound insane to you but in the interests of the book I felt I had to try it. And of course it helps that Dr. LookGood has promised me my stomach will be flat for the rest of my life. This is extremely good news for someone who has suffered from a pot belly since the age of nine and whose body has been ravaged by three children and industrial quantities of pasta.

“It’s like doing five million sit-ups,” Dr LookGood told me as I lay on his treatment bed and he manipulated a laser around my fat deposits. I will be uncomfortable for a couple of days but not nearly as uncomfortable as I would be doing five million sit-ups.
Anyway, I leave you with a brilliant quote from Bill Maher in the Los Angeles Times: “When you look at Britney [Spears], head shaved, half-naked, drunk, crying, puking, walking into walls, crazy as a loon, remember: This is the woman, back in 2003, who said, “I think we should just trust our president in every decision he makes.”

And I think Tony Blair is a jolly good bloke…..

Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2007


Filed Under: Fashion, Style, Women, blog --> Tagged With: small, stomach

9 thoughts on Big hair, small stomach

  • artemisia says:
    4th March 2007 at 5:26 pm

    First time commenter- had to thank you for Bill Mahar quote, it made my day.

    Good luck with the research on the book – aging is a hot topic for me, as after spending most of my life looking ridiculously young, I’ve been smacked by the wrinkle stick. I’m selfishly sorry to see from your pictures that you probably won’t be trying out the filler treatments! I’ve been mulling them for a few months.

  • Rita Rice says:
    20th March 2007 at 7:37 pm

    you right!, Rodolfo Valentin is not only the best hair extensions in New York, but he is also the best authority for haircolor!.

  • Verna Milkos says:
    20th March 2007 at 9:37 pm

    Rodolfo is also a great person.

  • Susy Parker says:
    6th August 2009 at 10:39 pm

    no doubt about it, Rodolfo Valentin is the,top hairstylist in New York, best hair colorist, best hair xtensions, best in everything!

  • replica watches says:
    28th March 2010 at 5:21 pm

    replica watchesDeWitt watchesJaquet droz watchesreplica Rolex Day-Date IIomega watch for saleTag Heuer watch for salereplica Franck MullerIWC replica

  • replica watches says:
    28th March 2010 at 6:01 pm

    watches for saleRolex Milgauss replicareplica Vacheron ConstantinLady replicaHublot watchesRolex Day-Date II watchesreplica FerrariRolex Day Date watches

  • vsdv says:
    12th April 2010 at 12:33 am

    love you
    [url=http://www.htyytt.com]very love[/url]
    most love

  • steelers shop says:
    25th July 2010 at 7:11 pm

    First time commenter- had to thank you for Bill Mahar quote, it made my day.

  • XRumerTest says:
    6th June 2013 at 6:56 pm

    Hello. And Bye.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Helena Frith Powell was born in Sweden to a Swedish mother and Italian father, but grew up mainly in England. She is the author of eleven books, translated into several languages including Chinese and Russian. She wrote the French Mistress column The Sunday Times about life in France for several years. She is a regular contributor to the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, The Times, Daily Telegraph, Tatler Magazine and Harper’s Bazaar.

Helena has been the editor of four magazines, including M Magazine, a supplement for the Abu Dhabi-based National Newspaper and FIVE, a high-end fashion glossy, also published in Abu Dhabi. Helena was also editor-in-chief of 360 Life, a quarterly glossy magazine published with the Sports 360 Newspaper in Dubai, part of the Chalhoub Group.

Helena contributes regularly to UK-based newspapers and magazines and holds a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Cambridge. She is working on a thriller set in Sweden as well as a novel about the relationship between Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield called Sense of an Echo.

In 2022 her short story The Japanese Gardener came second in the Fish Publishing Short Story Prize. One of her stories was also shortlisted for the Bridport Short Story Prize. When she’s not writing, she works as a headhunter for the media and entertainment industry for the Sucherman Group. 

Helena, who was educated at Durham University, lives in the Languedoc region of France with her husband Rupert and their three children.

Bibliography

More France Please, we’re British; Gibson Square 2004

Two Lipsticks and a Lover 2005; Gibson Square (hardback)

All You Need to be Impossibly French; (US version of above) Penguin 2006

Two Lipsticks and a Lover; Arrow Books (paperback) 2007

Ciao Bella Gibson Square; (hardback) 2006

Ciao Bella Gibson Square; (paperback) 2007

So Chic! (French version of Two Lipsticks) Leduc Editions 2008 (also translated into Chinese, Russian and Thai)

More, More France; Gibson Square 2009

To Hell in High Heels; Arrow Books 2009 (also translated into Polish)

The Viva Mayr Diet; Harper Collins 2009

Love in a Warm Climate; Gibson Square 2011

The Ex-Factor; Gibson Square 2013

Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles; Gibson Square 2016

The Arnolfini Marriage; Amazon Kindle December 2016

Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles (paperback); Gibson Square spring 2018

The Longest Night; Gibson Square spring 2019

 

 

© 2023 Helena Frith Powell
Website by Web Inclusion
/* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: content-template-for-layout-for-header-and-footer-layout - start */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ .helenaHero .mainTitle h1{ font-size:3em; -webkit-transition: all 0.8s; -moz-transition: all 0.8s; -ms-transition: all 0.8s; -o-transition: all 0.8s; transition: all 0.8s; margin-top:-100%; padding-top:100px; padding-bottom:50px; margin:0; } .scrolled .helenaHero .mainTitle h1{ font-size:1.2em; padding-top:30px; padding-bottom:20px; } /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: content-template-for-layout-for-header-and-footer-layout - end */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: 17hfp_about - start */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ .HFPA-section{ width:100%; background:#eee; } .HFPA-Image{ background-position:center right; background-repeat:no-repeat; height:276px; width:100%; -webkit-filter: grayscale(100%); /* Safari 6.0 - 9.0 */ filter: grayscale(100%); } .HFPA-Text{ padding:20px 10px; } /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: 17hfp_about - end */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: 17footer - start */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ .footIt{ background:#222; padding:20px 10px; } /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: 17footer - end */ /* ----------------------------------------- */