Seems like yesterday…

Actually, it was QVC’s birthday yesterday, but I’m referring to it seeming like yesterday that we launched QVC in the UK and yet it was twenty-seven years ago! How did that happen?

I shared some images from down the years on my social media, but if you don’t do Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, I thought I would pop some on here too.

By the way, thanks so much for all the messages, particularly those mentioning the behind the scenes teams without who the shows would never get to air. They are a great bunch… this picture of Marie-Francoise Wolff and myself adorned with Santa hats was attached to our floor monitors in a show we did together around Christmas some years ago. It’s the sort of thing our studio floor staff do to keep their presenters smiling! I wonder if you managed to get the Kipling Big Deal bag on the Style channel this week – amazing value; seriously tempted myself.

To take you further back though, this photo is of the original presenters who launched the channel in October 1993 – it was the Christmas card that was sent out to customers that year and judging by the messages you sent me yesterday, lots of you are still watching and shopping!

This next picture was taken at a charity ball in 1994, organised by Katy John, (the lady seated opposite me in the previous photo) and I’m sure you’ll recognise Debbie Flint and Jilly Halliday who had joined the presenter team in January 1994.

Over the years, all the presenters have had lots of publicity head shots done, but this one, taken circa 1999, is my favourite one of me. I think it is the one I will look back on when I’m even older (and greyer) to remind myself I was okay looking once upon a time!

Many of you will remember we used to do a lot of customer events, particularly for beauty, fashion and jewellery. This photo of Glen Campbell and myself was at an event in the early noughties – we were trying to remember the exact year yesterday but failed miserably. Glen started at QVC in 2002 and is still one of my favourite fashion guests to work with. Unfortunately, I will be missing him on Tuesday when we have a Denim & Co. Today’s Special Value as part of our two-day Winter Fashion event.

I chose this next shot of me with my daughter, Sophie because she worked at QVC for a time after leaving university and this was at a QVC Christmas party that we went to.

I don’t normally go as they are always on a Friday and I have Fashion on Friday (today with Kim & Co, which you can buy throughout October on three interest-free instalments by using the code KIM3EZ at checkout on our website) but she persuaded me that year and I loved the 1920’s theme.

There are so many more moments from the last twenty-seven years that I could share with you, but I really wanted to remind you of the great support I received from QVC when I was organising a charity swimming gala to coincide with my memoir (with a twist), One Hundred Lengths of the Pool, which we sold on QVC.

I’m sure you recognise Chloe Everton in the photograph – it was great to have her as part of the event as she had only recently started at QVC – and Debbie Flint also joined in with all the fun and games. The three chaps are former Crystal Palace players John Salako and Geoff Thomas (proud to call them both friends) and paralympian James Crisp, a fellow polio survivor. We raised several thousand pounds for Polio and blood cancer charities thanks in large part to QVC organising the event.

And then this photo with Will Gowing is only from last year, shortly before QVC launched the Inside QVC podcast that Will hosts. I’ve been delighted to do it twice and both episodes are still available to listen to on ‘Stories’, but you should take a listen to Debbie Flint on this weeks’ if you get a moment! By the way, Will is going to be hosting the Saturday Night Show at 7 p.m. all the way through to Christmas and it’s always great fun!

Well, I’ve run myself a bit short of time looking through old photos, but I wanted to draw your attention to two fabulous beauty Today’s Special Values. The Molton Brown Today’s Special Value is already on presell and is hugely popular. There are two options, Warm or Floral and it comes with two gift boxes and a gift bag if you want to separate into different gifts.

There are two 300ml Bath & Shower Gels, a 300ml Hand Wash, two 100ml Bath & Shower gels, and six 30ml Bath & Shower Gels in some of your favourite scents, including Tobacco Absolute and Black Pepper in the Warm option and Rosa Absolute in the Floral.

Then, on Wednesday (launching on air 9 p.m. Tuesday) we have an amazing offer from Percy & Reed. The collection is introducing the new bespoke London Florals limited edition scent, created especially for Percy & Reed by perfumers here in the UK and I can confirm it’s gorgeous.

The fragrance pyramid for the hair products is exactly as it would be for a fine fragrance, with top notes of pink pepper, raspberry, orange blossom and pear – ylang ylang, cinnamon, rose and jasmine through the heart – and anchored by musk, patchouli, vetiver and amber. There are two options available, Volumising or the one I’ve tried, Hydrating, which is exactly what my hair needs. This is the latest formulation of the shampoo and conditioner, which are silicone and sulphate-free and have been dermatologically tested for sensitive skin, although I would always recommend you do your own twenty-four-hour patch test when trying a new beauty product. There is even gold foiling on the Wonder Balm, which looks very ‘posh’ and QVC are the first to have it for their customers. It’s a great value 7-piece collection and all comes in a slogan Percy & Reed bag.

Well, that’s it from me today – have a great weekend.
Love,
Julia x