I’ve always loved art and painting and make-up for me is an extension of that. As a child I loved and was fascinated by punk make-up looks and was convinced that, as soon as I was old enough to be allowed to wear make-up, that was the look I would go for.
By the time I reached my teens, however, it was the era of the supermodel and I was much more into beauty and high fashion looks. Therefore, I spent my time trying to recreate Cindy’s (Crawford) and Linda’s (Evangelista) eyes and lips.
With a long period of studying for firstly a BSc and then a PhD in Physics, make-up took a back seat for a long time but I still made myself up everyday for labs. After a few years of being a qualified Patent Attorney and having no more exams left, my husband returned to his old hobby of portrait photography so I took this as a sign to get back into make-up artistry. Charlotte Tilbury had not long launched her own brand and I love her style so got back into it watching Charlotte’s and others’ tutorials on YouTube. I love make-up because it can be like magic and there’s nothing I like more than a magic transformation.
I love cooking. It’s difficult to remember when I first started getting interested in, and loving, cooking, but I know it was very early on in my life, pretty much as soon as I could stand up. I’ve got a feeling it started with baking. My mum was a keen baker, having given up her job as a history teacher to have me and needing something to occupy her time and keep me entertained. Scones were the first thing I remember, perched in my high chair at the work surface counter of our kitchen in Aigburth, Liverpool, hands covered in flour and cutting out the round shapes from the dough with serrated edge cutters. Many years have passed since then and in between these baking sessions; helping my mum cook in readiness for her almost weekly Friday or Saturday night dinner parties; being taken on restaurant visits and holidays to France and Italy; turning pescetarian at the age of 10 for at least a decade, then back and back again a few times (current status “flexetarian”); moving to Germany; getting married to a man from southern India and becoming a mum myself; one thing has remained constant: I have always cooked and I love cooking. Here I would like to share my easy and quick pasta sauces and curries if you’ve previously been intimidated or too pushed for time. I can show you how to prepare roast dinners and desserts to impress your friends if you want to use your cooking skills to entertain.