I’ve been starting to feel it a bit lately, as well as seeing it too. The age and the stress of life are starting to etch themselves on my face so I have been taking action. I never go out without sun protection on my face any more. When I think back to when I was younger and never stopped for a second to think about what damage the sun was doing. In fact, I was the total opposite, if the sun came out I had my face directed toward the heavens basking in the warmth of it before you could say ‘sun damage’, ‘age spots’, or ‘lines and wrinkles’.

Now, though, I always put on my sun factor as part of my skincare routine in the morning and on top of that, I don’t go out without my trusty Ultrasun SPF 50 Transparent Mist. It has been a huge hit with many of you and I know why. If I find myself suddenly caught in a little sun trap, I whip it out, lightly mist in a second, and I can then relax and enjoy being in the sun like I used to, or maybe at my age, I enjoy it more like an old cat who likes to curl up in a little sunspot because he has no energy to do anything else! Lol.

Then to continue my care for my face and my skin, I have also taken to sleeping with a silk pillowcase. I have been hearing about the benefits of doing this for years but never really thought about it too much. Lately, though, I have been starting to see the signs on my face and I want to do all that I can to diminish those ridges and craters that line my face first thing in the morning, like someone has made their way into my bedroom in the dead of night and replaced my actually face with a shrivelled, desiccated prune!

Honestly, the creases and wrinkles that used to be minimal or that would fade fairly quickly before, today would still be there the following night if I didn’t try to smooth everything out with the help of some trusty skincare brands we all know and love – Liz Earle, Elemis and Gatineau to name a few!

What I have done, though, is invested in the new Mulberry Silk Pillowcase from Northern Nights! The silk’s natural, breathable fibres provide softness that feels luxurious against the skin, helping you have your most restful sleep. It’s also great if you use any of your good night creams because it’s less likely to absorb then the way cotton, for example, might. Therefore they are more likely to stay on your skin doing the job you have put them on there for! It’s definitely worth trying and what a great little luxury beauty gift for someone. (I’m told that a silk pillowcase is also great for those of you who tend to wake up with frizzy or matted hair too!)

This Friday evening, I will be launching another great Today’s Special Value from the UK’s number one selling vacuum cleaner brand that is Shark!

They are bringing us the Shark Anti Hair Wrap Corded Stick Vacuum Cleaner with Flexology and TruePet technologies!

It has been a Today’s Special Value a few times in the past and it has sold out multiple times, so if you missed out, this is your chance to get it this time and, though I can’t say much, you may be able to spread the cost of it over more months than you ever have before! (My lips are sealed!)

What you will get is:

1 x Corded Stick Vacuum Cleaner with Anti Hair Wrap Floorhead, 1 x Anti Hair Wrap Pet Tool, 1 x Multi Surface Tool, 1 x Crevice Tool, 10m Power Cord.

It will have Shark’s signature DuoClean floorhead, now enhanced with Anti Hair Wrap Technology. It means that you can glide from carpets to hard floors with two brush rolls working together in one floorhead. The Anti Hair Wrap Technology removes hair from the bristle brush roll as you clean.

It has been designed to make cleaning awkward areas as easy as possible because its flexible wand bends so you don’t have to. You can easily reach and clean underneath low lying furniture such as beds, sofas and tables with no need for heavy lifting. Simply fold down for compact, freestanding storage.

It’s not just a floor vacuum though, as it transforms into a handheld vacuum cleaner too, allowing you to clean stairs, sofas and more with the included attachments.

If you are a pet owner it is perfect because the Anti Hair Wrap Pet Tool effortlessly removes embedded hair from sofas, cushions and stairs.

For those of you that are allergy sufferers and pet owners, you can be reassured that Shark’s Anti Allergen Complete Seal captures and traps 99.9 percent of dust and allergens inside the vacuum, not releasing them back into the air you breathe.

I have recently moved out of a hotel room and into a temporary rental apartment whilst my place is being sorted out after the storms and I have been whizzing around with this vacuum, keeping everything spick and span because I can. The apartment has hard floors throughout with underfloor heating and for some reason the place gets very dusty! I arrived home the other night to find a whole family of dust bunnies rolling down the hallway to meet me! I thought I can either give them all names like Flopsy, Mopsy etc., or, I can get my Shark vac out, which is what I did. Problem solved, dust bunnies gone!

I’ll be pre-launching this on Friday evening with Phil Parker at 9pm, so do join us, but don’t worry if you can’t – it will be on air all day Saturday (or while stocks last!)

Until next time,

Miceal X

The post Out and about in the sun and keeping it clean with Shark! appeared first on Stories.

I also notice, more and more, when I am home how beautiful my homeland is. I don’t know if it is just nostalgia or me getting older or the fact that everywhere I go, I have memories of mum and my life from growing up there, but it looks more incredibly beautiful every time I see it.

(In fact, some parkland in a small town very near me was the inspiration for Narnia in the books written by C.S. Lewis, so perhaps that goes some way to letting you know how outstanding the scenery is).

I am back now though, and straight into work at Q towers – what an exciting week this one promises to be, because this week we are celebrating a truly once-in-a-lifetime event, namely, the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty The Queen. We here at QVC are celebrating with a bang, joining in with the nation to celebrate this momentous occasion with all of your favourite brands and some very special offers!

From 1st June until Sunday evening, everything… that’s right, everything in stock is on 4 Easy Pay interest-free instalments with the code ALL4EZ, and as a special treat, all of our Today’s Special Values are on 5EZ Pay!

We’ve also got some big one-time offers and event prices scattered through every hour that you won’t want to miss. Stick with us, as we’ll be going behind the scenes to our Green Room each hour to see how we are celebrating and to show you some very special finds.

I will be working right across the event and will be on air this Thursday, Friday and Saturday and will even be launching one of the incredible Today’s Special Values we have lined up for you.

On Thursday evening and then all day Friday, we will be bringing you the Innovators collapsible double cocoon chair – yes, that’s right, it’s a double chair!

The single seater Holly Cocoon chair has been so popular and sold out every single time it has come to air so we thought you might like to complete the set or even just get yourself a nice comfy outdoor piece of furniture with plenty of space to curl up in and while away those summer days.

You don’t even need to worry about it taking up too much room as, just like the Holly, the double cocoon folds down into a compact size. Or, perhaps just take it indoors after the summer and put in that little sun trap space in your conservatory or even your living room. We have it available in a choice of Dark Grey, Light Grey, Latte and Black. Like I said all our Today’s Special Values over the weekend are online already so don’t miss out on this one!

I also wanted to mention a Today’s Special Value this weekend that I will definitely be getting and that is the Australian Bodycare one. It’ll be launching on Saturday night at 9pm and then be on air all day Sunday.

I always find Australian Bodycare are brilliant when the temperatures start to rise and staying fresh is important. This Today’s Special Value is the biggest of the year from them at 2.5 litres in total! It will contain 1 litre of the original Skinwash, plus a 1 litre and a half litre bottle in a choice of fragrance, including Lavender and Eucalyptus, which is the first time we will have seen this fragrance this year.

So, whether you’re still practicing regular hand washing or you want to keep on top of personal hygiene in the warmer months, whilst still maintaining your skin’s health, this is the perfect Today’s Special Value for you, so don’t miss it.

I hope you all have an incredible Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend, whatever you are doing. It really is such a special celebration. So, whatever you are doing, let’s all remember to congratulate Her Majesty for reaching 70 years on the throne!

Until next time,

Miceal X

The post Trip home, Jubilee, Today’s Special Values galore! appeared first on Stories.

For those of you in my age bracket (51), is this something that happens in midlife? Or is it just me?
Some headlines (these are definitely not a list of moans or complaints, just some context to my busy-ness):

• My apartment is still a disaster and nothing has happened at all in the almost 10 weeks since the storm! When I say nothing, I literally mean nothing! Apparently this isn’t atypical when it comes to insurance companies and major losses – knowing this does not make it any more bearable though!
• I am still living in hotels at the moment, carrying my life around with me in bags and suitcases, which isn’t much fun but I try to pretend I am some hotshot international business man flitting hither and thither with clients to meet and a portfolio to organise! Lol. It doesn’t really work though when I am faced with the reality that I need to find a laundrette to rinse out my smalls, and dinner is, yet again, a salad bowl from the local supermarket eaten whilst sat on a bed in a room that is smaller than the Geneva convention would deem big enough for humane habitation. I mean I am joking, in part, but you get the idea!
• Renovation works, I am told, will take a minimum of 6 months (when they finally begin). So I have reasonably concluded that I won’t get back to my home until Christmas at the earliest. With this in mind I have been searching for a place to rent in the meantime (anything has got to be better than the hotel situation). So hours have been spent trawling through property websites and estate agents. But it’s probably all been a total waste of time as anything available will probably be gone by the time the insurance decides to act. I do just laugh to myself at this point about the futility of it all. I’m sure many of you have been on this insurance company merry-go-round at some point too.
• Popping back and forth to Ireland to see and care for mum has been hard to manage but I’ve been trying to get there every four weeks. In fact, I am heading there tomorrow for 6 days. I refuse to ever complain about being able to see mum, that is always a joy and a blessing.

There’s actually lots more going on but you get the idea I hope. I was actually quite lucky the last time I got home to mum in March and I took a couple of days to meet up with a friend of mine. She is also originally from Northern Ireland but now lives and works in Scotland. We have been retrying to see each other since before the pandemic and we used my last trip home as an excuse to finally do it. She flew home to visit her dad, who still lives there, and I visited with mum. Then we had a couple of glorious days just hanging out.

We booked into a really funky boutique hotel in Belfast (well, my friend booked it) and then took day trips out to the seaside, a National Trust home and some other sites along the way, including all the places she lived growing up in Northern Ireland, which was so lovely to see. We ate some great food and I have to say, having left Belfast about 25 years ago, they now have some cracking restaurants!

My hotel room, by the way, was amazing. It was actually a suite with the most enormous four poster bed, a roll top bath in the room itself (there was also a completely separate en-suite) and a record player with the most fantastic selection of vinyl from jazz (my favourite) to country to the original soundtrack of Cabaret! I am not one for having baths myself usually but, hello, it was right there in my room so on went the jazz records and in I got! Heaven.

If you are ever over Northern Ireland way and are near the Ards Peninsula, can I recommend the National Trust house and gardens of Mount Stewart? The gardens are in the top 10 gardens in the world and they were just starting to come into bloom when we were there but were already making quite an impact! There is so much to see and we had the most spectacular weather too! We even did some ‘forest bathing’ whilst we were there. It was blissful and gave some much needed relief from life.

That was weeks ago now and seems like a long distant memory. We have had Easter since then. How was yours? I was working at the Q for much of it but it’s always fun at work around festive times. The Easter bunny was leaving chocolate for us all every day (so much so that I still have some, anyone else?). He is a very generous bunny, I have to say.

I have been busy at work too and there are lots coming up, including some great Today’s Special Values! Here’s a quick rundown of a few of them:

If you are in the market for a new smartphone, we have one for you from Motorola. It’s the Motorola Edge 20 6.7″ 5G 128Gb Sim Free Smartphone and it is on 3 Easy Pay interest-free instalments too!

We recently had a Today’s Special Value from Emma (the UK’s most awarded sleep brand) who brought us a great mattress option. If you missed out on that and you are looking to improve your bed and your quality of sleep, we have an superb option coming up from Silentnight in the form of the Silentnight Miracoil Mattress, so stay tuned for that!

Last but by no means least, there is a four-piece L’Occitane Complete Shea Body Collection (available on 3 Easy Pay interest-free instalments). It’s super and I know you are going to love it!

I am sure it must be time for me to start packing some bags and moving to another hotel room, it’s been at least 5 minutes! Lol. So I’ll get off and do that. In the meantime stay safe, mind yourself and catch up with you again soon.

Until next time,

Miceal X

The post Escape from reality and some amazing deals! appeared first on Stories.

Plant pots got smashed, furniture got blown over and my trellis, which gives me some much-needed privacy got torn to shreds. It’s going to be a big clean up job but spring is the perfect time for a revamp anyway. Where do I start though? Well, the timing couldn’t be more perfect (I am desperately trying to look on the bright side of all this and positive spin on it, so please work with me here)!

Luckily for me, The Big Spring Garden Event is happening this weekend and I will be kicking things off on Saturday night with a brand new Today’s Special Value (more on that in a bit).

As part of this event, for the first time, ALL our gardening products are available in 4 interest-free instalments using the code SHOP4Z! You can use this code across all our gardening brands, throughout the entire day and on whichever shopping platform you choose to use – on the phone, on the app or online!

So, if it’s time to refresh your garden or outside space this season, whether that’s giving your back garden a makeover, or creating a sanctuary to enjoy on warmer days, we’ve got a wide range of new products to help you make the most of your space. Discover stylish outdoor furniture and décor, outdoor trellises and living walls, vibrant plants and flowers, plus of course handy garden tools to help you breathe life into your garden.

Enjoy an outdoor space you’ve been dreaming of with EVERYTHING in our garden selection available in 4 interest-free instalments! So if you are looking for ways to attract wildlife into the garden how about our Grumpy Gardeners Deluxe Fatballs or, if it’s a focal point you need, we have the Homes2Gardens Rainbow Leaf WindSpinner or the Luxform Set of 2 Kensington Solar-powered Lamp Posts. Richard Jackson will be with us too bringing us the supersize of his Rootbooster as well as his Flower Power which I swear by!

However, the most pressing issue I have with my garden is replacing my damaged trellis as I use it for privacy from the street below and the neighbours across the way. It’s also nice to look out at – well, it was nice to look at but not any more! Luckily though, we have a terrific trellis Today’s Special Value coming up and I couldn’t be more pleased!

It’s the vibrant Trellis in Bloom from Garden Reflections! Constructed from bamboo and covered in faux leaves, it’s also pinned in a lattice design, enabling it to fold and extend into the perfect size for your garden. Whether you’re decorating an al fresco dining area or bringing greenery to a shady corner, this luscious trellis is sure to elevate your space.

It can be used in a number of ways – vertically or horizontally – creating instant impact. The faux leaves are lifelike, made from realistic UV materials, while the strong bamboo backing offers a sturdy frame. Even better, your new trellis will add luxuriant colour and texture year-round, no matter the weather.

It’s also easy to install with its 16 cable ties and because it’s UV-resistant it’s low-maintenance too. The impressive size and leaf density also mean your trellis offers the ideal solution for privacy screening, not to mention creating shelter and a sense of cosiness in a seating area.

It’s available in five gorgeous colours, so it’ll be hard to pick just one. Go for Pink, Green, Ivory, Violet or Plum.

So, if like me your garden really needs some love, then join me on Saturday evening for the pre-launch of the Today’s Special Value and the launch of the Big Spring Garden Event where everything is on 4EZ Pays!!

I’ll see you there.

Miceal xx

The post The Big Garden Event appeared first on Stories.

That was the plan, but then Eunice had a different idea. Who is Eunice, I hear you ask? Is she an old friend from university, or maybe a work colleague? No, she isn’t any of those – she was a storm that blew into our lives about two weeks ago and wreaked havoc and devastation upon many, myself included!

As an aside, did you know that words beginning with ‘eu’ usually mean ‘good’, like Euphonium (I think it means ‘ good sound’), or, Eugenics (‘good genes’) etc. Trust me when I say there was nothing good about Eunice!

Eunice, just like like the big bad wolf in the fairytale, huffed and puffed and (nearly) blew the house down!

Off came parts of my roof, and in the rain and water poured. Through the ceilings, down the walls, all through the electric cabling, the lights, the mains wired fire alarms, soaking into the carpets and saturating the wood floors.

The fire brigade came out to check that the roof wasn’t a danger to pedestrians on the street below (it wasn’t, thank goodness) and it was they who said that all electricity, and as a result the heating, had to be switched off in case the water in the electrics caused a fire. And so they told me I couldn’t safely stay at home.

Hurriedly, a plan was made to try and move some of my things. The fire brigade, a bunch of very kind and helpful men and women, asked me what I wanted to salvage. Salvage? What were they talking about? This is my home and these are my things – surely they can’t really mean that I had to choose there and then what was most important? (I also didn’t want to be taking up too much of their time either, as I felt there must be other people out there in need of real help.)

I couldn’t think. My mind went blank. I was suddenly embarrassed at needing their help, which is a really odd emotion to be having at a time of crisis but what can I say, that’s what I felt. I can only imagine it is because I do not usually like to ask for help and I prefer to be relatively private about my life, but suddenly here I was with half a dozen men and women in uniform in my home, passing from room to room, filling up my flat. Indeed this was more people than had been inside my flat in the preceding two years of Covid combined.

Think. Think. I couldn’t figure out what I should move, or even where to move it to, but then my years running my own events company and having to deal with last minute issues and changes kicked in and my brain got past the embarrassment and I asked them to move my paintings off the walls. Some are quite large, one of them is a four-metre long diptych (but lightweight-ish), so would need two people to carry them safely. I found a spot that wasn’t as yet wet and we piled them all up together there.

When we had done that, my embarrassment at the ridiculousness of the situation in which I now found myself returned and I felt I had already taken up far too much of their time and insisted that I would be ok with the rest and sent them on their way. It reminded me of a time years ago when a car drove into me when I was cycling, they were coming out of a side road, I was on the main road so had right of way, and they drove smack bang into the side of me knocking me to the ground. I clambered up off the ground and hobbled away in pain, leaning on my mangled bike, insisting that I didn’t need any assistance or medical help, again, because I felt embarrassed! Can I be the only one who reacts like this when these things happen to them?

Anyway, I was grateful to the local fire brigade for their help but I also wanted them to go and deal with what I felt were more worthy citizens in need of their help.

Can I take a moment here to say bravo/brava to all our emergency services who come out to help when we are at our worst and most need someone to help us? Brave, courageous and kind, every one of them.

When they had gone, I needed to get on the internet and google local hotels and find a place to stay for the night, but there was no longer any power and as a result, no Wi-Fi. So after some challenging moments and dodgy 5G internet connections, I managed to find a room for two nights in a local hotel (bearing in mind it was the weekend and as I was booking very last minute, I had to take whatever I could get).

So for the last two weeks my “break” has been spent in a local hotel room with daily visits back to my apartment to bail out water and empty buckets, as the roof is still in a state of disrepair and therefore still leaking.

The insurance company are dragging their heels but I understand they will have been inundated after the storms – for now, though, nothing has happened. The ingress of water gets worse with each passing day and every additional rain cloud that passes overhead (and there have been a lot).

So for now I am still in limbo – no, that’s not the name of the hotel I’m currently residing in! It has been two weeks now and it really hasn’t been a holiday!

Thank goodness, though, I was off work. I am back on Monday 7th and that’s going to be weird because I will be going to work from my hotel and returning to my hotel. That’s probably not weird for anyone who travels a lot for work but for me it is, especially as I am a homebody who loves nothing more than to be in my own space.

I do have perspective, though, when I watch television and see the reports of the Ukrainian refugees fleeing their homes. It reminds me that I am still so lucky, much luckier than most, and that’s what I cling to every time I get a bit done about the situation. I’m sure many of you are the same.

Anyway, this was just meant to be a quick update. I will keep you posted on how things progress but I suspect I will be out of my home for some time to come. Let me know if you’ve ever been in the same position and how you handled it or how you stayed upbeat and positive. Perhaps you may even have some tips or hacks for how you can make hotel room living more like being at home – if so I’d love to hear them.

Until next time,

Miceal Xx

The post Eunice – she huffed and she puffed appeared first on Stories.

Looking out at it now, I can see that my pots are looking poor, the decking is a disaster and the fencing is, quite frankly, of-fence-ive (pardon the truly obvious pun). Before we know it, spring will be upon us and I need to get ahead of things. So I am making it my mission to start the great terrace tidy-up, because I want a nice place to sit when the weather warms up. I also want nice things to look at and I want to have a space that I can socialise outdoors with friends, just to be on the safe side, in case the rules all change again!

Where to start though? Well, I have already ordered new screening for the balcony. The problem with my balcony is that it has open railings, but since my apartment has floor-to-ceiling glass windows and doors, it isn’t very private from the houses across the street. I did have some other trellis screens there for the last five years, but I decided it’s time for an upgrade, so I ordered some new screens in the winter sales and they are currently lining my hallway at the moment in preparation for installation outdoors.
That’s the first job ticked off the list!

The decking needs seeing to as it’s gone the inevitable way of being lined with lichen and carpeted in algae (treacherous when wet) so I have my trusty Wet & Forget ready to use on a dry day. That’s job number two ready to go.

What about the look of the terrace though? I need pretty things to look at to make it feel like a beautiful oasis, or, as my nephews and niece would say, ‘perfect for the ‘gram” (meaning Instagram, I assume?). So plants and furniture are next on the To Do List.

Is it too early to be planting up for the spring/summer season? Will any of the nurseries have what I need in stock now anyway? Should I just wait until spring?

The problem with that is quite often all the best plants are gone by then. Lucky, then, that we have a garden event coming up on the weekend of 5th and 6th February with a Today’s Special Value from Plants2Gardens!

Our gardening event is all about exactly what I am trying to do – looking forward and starting the new season clear-up! Tackling those outdoor jobs with our superb range of tools, plants and garden accessories and helping you along the way to be inspired by our stunning range of outdoor furniture, lighting and decor. Exactly what I need right now!

Like I said, we have a Today’s Special Value from Plants2Gardens to help bring some easy colour to the garden. It’s the Plants2Gardens Colour Combinations 10x 9cm Collection (728084), and you can choose between either pinks or purples.

These will be on Advanced Order, so you will be ordering them to arrive garden-ready, just when you need to plant them up. Remember when you order items on Advanced Order, you are simply reserving your stock, no money will come out of your account until they are actually shipped out to you. So it’s the perfect way to get ready for the season ahead. All you have to do in the meantime is start planning where you are going to place them for maximum effect!

I will definitely be using my Richard Jackson’s Flower Power and Richard Jackson’s Root Booster to get the best results. I’ve been using it on my patio and house plants since I started working at QVC and always get great results!

What about when I have everything planted up and blooming nicely? One of the best parts of gardening is sitting back and enjoying the fruits of your labour. Best to do that in style I think, which is why I have my eye on the incredibly popular cocoon chair. It comes in four colours, three of which are new this season and only available at QVC (Latte, Light Grey and Black). It is super comfy and the 130 five-star reviews will vouch for that.

It also comes in the double option, which is only available on our website, perfect for those of you who want a little more room for yourself or for someone else to snuggle up with you!

After that, I think all I need to do is set the mood with some lighting – perhaps the Luxform Set of 2 Kensington Solar Powered 1.3m Lamp Posts will do just the trick?

However you decide to design your outside space this spring/summer, we have it all covered with our great gardening event.

I’ll be launching things at midnight on Friday night (4th Feb) into Saturday 5th Feb. Why not join me and let me know what your planting plans are?

Until next time,

Miceal

The post The garden season begins right here! appeared first on Stories.

It’s been another rough year for us all, but I am focusing on the positive where I can. I am still alive, and I still have a lot to be thankful for. That said, I can’t help feeling a little nostalgic for times gone by. Nevermore so than when I put my Christmas tree up. Every year for the last seven years my mum and various members of my family have come to London to spend Christmas with me and every year I have bought a Christmas decoration for everyone in attendance. Each year as I dress the tree and hang these decorations it is a reminder to reflect and remember those lovely times we have shared.

You see each decoration has the names of everyone who was present for the big day so all I have to do is look at my tree and all the memories come flooding back from all those Christmases past and it’s a lovely feeling.

There is no decoration to commemorate last Christmas as we couldn’t be together. I did think about doubling up this year and getting a decoration to mark last year and maintaining the continuity, but, I decided not to. My rationale was that, in years to come, as each of my family members hangs their decorations they will remember that there is no decoration for 2020 and they will remember that was the year we couldn’t be together. But my hope is that in remembering we couldn’t be together we will all remember to be thankful for the years we have been able to share some Christmas spirit together.

This year there is a decoration but each one just has the individual’s name on it rather than everyone’s name, as this year, all being well, I will get to be home with everyone, but it won’t be a gathering here in London. But still, at least the tradition continues. How about you, what traditions have you started or upheld from years gone by? Apart from my annual family decorations I usually have some kind of a theme to my tree decoration. I can’t be alone in this, surely?

This year I chose velvet and sparkle in a pallet of teal, burgundy, blue and grey. I was trying something new. I also put less on my tree than I normally do. To be honest, I was trimming my tree after a few busy days at work and I got tired and decided I’d finish it later, however, later never arrived so I left it as it was! If anyone asks, however, the pared-back decorating was always my plan! Sshh, don’t tell anyone!

I have jazz music playing in the background as I write this, Christmas jazz mind you, and I’m playing it through the Bose Soundbar TV Speaker with Blue Tooth Connectivity. I treated myself to it for Christmas. It’s so good, it’s making me feel jolly. I do love the nostalgia and escapism of Christmas.

I’ve been watching loads of Christmas movies and have gone through the electronic planner (like I used to go through the Radio Times and the TV Times when I was a child), marking all the TV Shows and movies I wanted to record. Every year I record so much that it is my birthday in June and I still have Christmas recordings to get through, lol. What will you guys be watching this year? I love all the classics like Holiday Inn, It’s A Wonderful Life, Meet Me in St. Louis but also the newer ones like Elf, The Holiday and The Family Stone (highly recommend this one). Dark nights, movies and mince pies and chocolate – what more could you want?

I can’t help noticing it’s a little milder here in London at the moment, so much so that I have seen Cherry Blossom trees in bloom and I’ve seen Michael Perry, our resident gardening expert, posting on social media pictures of daffodils in full bloom!

I was also noticing all the berries that are out and thinking of the birds and the wildlife. We really need to spare them a thought this winter. We may be having a milder winter at the moment, but we all know what it’s like here in the UK, our weather is never predictable. If you do want to be kind to the birds this year I will be ringing in the new year on QVC with the very lovely Richard Jackson who will be bringing us a Today’s Special Value of his Richard Jackson’s 10th Anniversary Vitality Mix High Energy Bird Food (724841).

It has been specially designed and formulated to give the birds the optimum in nutrition, which not only helps them see out the winter but also helps them into prime condition for the breeding season come spring. So it has far-reaching benefits beyond the immediate one of keeping them from going hungry.

So, if you are at home on New Year’s Eve and looking for some company, do come and join me as personally, I have never been a fan of the night and would much prefer to spend it with you guys. I’d love you to get in touch with your stories of your Christmas and what you got up to, or even your plans or hopes for the New Year.

Speaking of which, I’d like to take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you a peaceful and safe Christmas and may your New Year be one filled with hope and joy.

Festive felicitations to you all.

Until next year, stay safe and stay well,

Miceal. Xx

The post Merry Christmas one and all! appeared first on Stories.

Plans are made for advance reconnaissance missions in the shops and strategic chats with friends and family containing conversational traps to get them to inadvertently tell me what they would hope to get in their stocking for Christmas. As cunning as I am, it is inevitably me who is the weak link in the plan.

The other side of this coin is also that I never really know what I want for myself. So, when the inevitable question comes, “what do you want for Christmas?” I obfuscate, deflect and side-step as much as possible until my family become totally frustrated with me and loose all patience.

This year, the same situation has arisen, so I am determined to give them a little heads up to ease those festive frustrations for which I am invariably responsible on an annual bases.

We have our QVC beauty day coming up on 5th December and that got me thinking about gifts I would like to get my hands on and with which I would like to pamper and care for myself. Let’s be honest, most men actually do like to look after their skin and enjoy the feeling of it when it is soft and smooth and well-moisturised, I know I do. Most men probably won’t tell you that, though.

Then I thought it might be helpful for you to know what I might pick across our beauty brands on our beauty day if you are shopping for men in your life, as I am told, repeatedly, we (or probably just me) are hard to buy for. So here goes:

Elemis Men’s 4 piece Gift of Great Grooming
Of course, this has to be on my list because let’s face it, I can’t deny that I like to be well presented and well groomed (even when I had my beard, I kept it trimmed and tidy).

This four-piece collection is a complete four-step skincare routine that is easy to use and maintain, and the packaging is understated and masculine so there’s no worries about using it in the locker room after the gym or training and being worried about what the other guys might say (frankly, who cares what they say because you’ll be the one looking great, but, hey, these things matter to some people!).

This kit is suitable for men of both the clean shaven and the bearded variety, with a choice of either the Ice Cool Foaming Gel (which is on my brother’s Christmas list every year) or the Shave and Beard Oil (this oil can be used for shaving but can also be used as a beard oil to keep those bristles silky smooth and moisturised).

With your Deep Cleanse Facial Wash, Daily Moisture Boost and Sharp Shower Body Wash also included, along with an Elemis branded washbag, it’s a complete gift all in one that many of the men in the family would be happy with. That’s why it’s going on my list!

Clinique For Men Shave And Moisturise Duo
A shave and moisturise set that’s smart, masculine and effective from the Number 1 Prestige Men’s Skincare brand in the UK. A brand, and a gift, you can be proud to give.

The shave foam has an aloe vera base, which provides great glide and moisture and helps to minimise any irritation, followed by an anti-age moisturiser that’s been designed for men and their skin, so if you’ve noticed your own anti-ageing cream is starting disappear more quickly (even though he may deny using it), here’s one just for him!

Shay & Blue Fragrance
Those of you who know me well know that fragrance is one of my most important things in life, not just in my ‘beauty’ routine. I am very connected to fragrance – it really affects me greatly, specifically, personal fragrance.

I’ve been a fan of Shay & Blue since the first time I met Dom DeVetta, the founder of the brand, and we chatted about my love of fragrance and as I told him what I was wearing that day from a very well-known and loved fragrance house, he rather humbly acknowledged that he was the nose responsible for creating that fragrance.

One of the Shay & Blue fragrance on my list this Christmas will be Oud Alif. Handcrafted using real fruits, flowers and spices blended with softwoods, patchouli and the deep aromatic notes of oud agarwood. This fragrance is smokey, sensual and luxurious. The notes of eastern mystery that first envelope you come from the oud itself, carried on an undercurrent of sweet dark chocolate and then gradually revealing luxurious notes of leather and patchouli.

This fragrance is perfect for your man to wear when you want to curl up close and snuggle in tight. It has a masculine, yet slightly musky and sensual presence that will leave you wanting more. So much so, I would say you may even end up popping a spritz of it on yourself whenever you want to feel near to him. A gift for both you.

There will be a full hour of Shay & Blue at 8pm on the day.

There is so much coming up across beauty day that isn’t just for men’s gifting, but I hope that’s a couple of ideas for you if you’re struggling with ideas for the men in your life.

The whole day will kick off at 9pm on 4th December, with a Today’s Special value from Laura Geller that will be available throughout the day. It’s a five-piece Holiday Collection, perfect for you and the party season or as a gift for the girls in your life who love to get glammed up.

On Beauty Day itself, I will be presenting the 9pm show and launching another beauty Today’s Special Value that is the StylePro Original with the 500ml Brush Cleaner. A great piece of kit that really quickly and easily cleanses your makeup brushes, which is so important for maintaining good skin hygiene.

Invented by Tom Pellereau, he has designed this to clean and dry your brushes really quickly as it spins the brushes at high speed, doing the whole job in about 30 seconds! So please do join me for that at 9pm on Beauty Day 5th December!

Hope to see you in Beauty Day 5th December. Happy Shopping.

Miceal Xxx

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Every year I wait for it because I know it’s always going to be special. You can always be guaranteed phenomenal value with great products and a choice of options and fragrances – that’s why it’s always a must-have for me. This year is no exception and it is available to order RIGHT NOW! It officially launches on the 14th November, but if you fancy getting your hands on it before the rush, I recommend checking it out now.

This year, there are eight pieces in the collection, with a choice of three different aromatics – including the beloved Lime & Ginger aromatic brought back by popular demand, alongside Frangipani and Skin Nourishing.

Your bodycare and skincare are all there for you. Five of the eight pieces in the collection are skincare products, with four of those Pro-Collagen favourites! Within your bodycare products, there is also the launch of a brand new Velvet Body Butter.

Speaking of velvet, the whole collection comes in a luxurious velvet vanity case too!

It officially launches on the 14th November, but if you fancy getting your hands on it before the rush, I recommend checking it out now.

If all that isn’t enough, this is a very pocket-friendly way to get your Christmas gift shopping done, as the Today’s Special Value would cost you £193 if purchased individually from qvcuk.com. So our Today’s Special Value price of £54.96 means you could save over £138!

Another reason I love this as a Christmas gift – it looks expensive and luxurious without it costing the earth!!

The only thing I would say is that I am not the only one who waits for this to arrive every year and it sells incredibly quickly.

And let’s not forget the gentlemen too! You may or may not already know that Elemis have created a cutting-edge skincare range for men, and this collection showcases it in all it’s glory! I get it every year for my brother, as he always requests Elemis Ice Cool Shaving Foam as a Christmas present from me and that is included in this set.

With so much Elemis on offer, the Christmas Shopping season has officially arrived.

Happy shopping!

Until next time,

Míceál X

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To keep myself on something of an even keel, I have been trying to get out running when I can, though most mornings I just want to put the duvet back over my head and pretend there aren’t issues to be dealt with. Running, though, is really good for both my physical and mental health and allows me to shake off some of my worries and anxiety so I have to keep reminding myself of that.

I wear my Fitbit Luxe every day and it helps me keep an eye on how my fitness is doing and honestly, if it wasn’t for my intention to beat my step count or improve my quality of sleep, I’m not sure I’d have kept up my running. So I would say fitness trackers really do work. Mine even gives me a little reminder each hour to get up and get moving before the hour is over and actually it can be really helpful, especially if you are chair or desk bound most days.

If you know someone in your life that is going through a difficult time and needs more time looking after themselves, I would honestly say a fitness tracker is a great Christmas gift idea. I know that sounds odd, but it really helps to remind the wearer (in this case, me) that they need to spend some time looking after themselves.

Alternatively, if you are someone who keeps promising you are going to get in shape and you are thinking it’s too close to Christmas now for that, it really isn’t. It’s about two months away. Think about what you could achieve in that time!

Fortunately, we have a Fitbit Today’s Special Value coming up this weekend. It’s the Fitbit Charge 5 Health and Fitness Tracker with 6 months premium subscription.

Abby Horne will be joining me to tell me all about it and it’s on pre-launch at 9pm on Friday and then it will be on-air all day Saturday.

If you are thinking about Christmas and getting in the festive mood, then Yankee Candle is a great way to set the scene at home. To help with that, we have a Yankee Candle Today’s Special Value coming up on 2nd November.

It’s a six-piece Ultimate Wax Collection, consisting of two large jar candles, two medium jar candles and two small jar candles, all in your choice of either a single fragrance or an assortment of classic/festive fragrances. That’s 510 hours of burn time and all on 4 Easy Pay interest-free instalments!

This allows you to present the whole collection to a lucky loved one, split the candles up for gifting, or treat yourself and fill your own home with exquisite aroma – the choice is yours!

There are 8 different options in the Today’s Special Value to choose from – yes, that’s right, 8 different options. You can either go full-on Festive with a combination of fragrances or have the whole set in one fragrance, or do the same but with some classic fragrances.

This Today’s Special Value will even contain some brand new fragrances too, including Twinkling Lights in the Glad Tidings option and Farm Fresh Peach in the Super Fruits option, so there is something for everyone here.

It’s also the last Yankee Candle Today’s Special Value before Christmas, so this really is the time to get yours!

It is available to order now on our website – just click here to find out more and place your order before they’re all gone!

Your Today’s Special Value options are:

Festive Options:

• Festive Favourites (assortment) – Christmas Eve, Snow in Love, Sparkling Cinnamon
• Glad Tidings (assortment) – Twinkling Lights (New), Holiday Hearth, Evergreen Mist
• Spiced Orange (entire collection is one fragrance)
• All is Bright (entire collection is one fragrance)

Core/Classic Options:

• Dreamy Home Comforts (assortment) – Clean Cotton, Lemon Lavender, A Calm & Quiet Place
• Super Fruits (assortment) – Black Coconut, Farm Fresh Peach (New), Black Cherry
• Cherry Blossom (entire collection is one fragrance)
• Midnight Jasmine (entire collection is one fragrance)

Finally, before I go, I wanted to share a bit of a blooper with you. I try to be as professional as I can, but, like I said, life has been really hectic recently, both at work and in my personal life. As a consequence my braIn sometimes tries to do, or, say multiple things at the same time. The consequence being that I don’t get anything right and what else can you do when that happens but laugh! I was on air the other night, launching our first ever Emma Mattress Today’s Special Value. All the stock we had available sold out in about 15 minutes. During the break, there was a lot of discussions about if and how we could get more stock for the midnight airing. I was so taken aback by how fast everything sold out that as we came back from a break, my brain just couldn’t decide what sentence I should start with. Poor Amy Burrows who was joining me to talk about Northern Nights bedding wasn’t really sure what was happening! Here is a little glimpse of the consequences.

Until next time, look after yourselves, and remember to laugh at yourself sometimes too!

Miceal X

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