Curve-a-licious

Million Dollar babes: 1. Vicky Mooney and Anna Carroll-Browne; 2. Emma English; 3. Lorraine Lacky and Lorraine Costello. (Pix. Brian McEvoy)

Curvy model Vicki Mooney and her best friend Anna Carroll-Browne held the launch at La Banca Restaurant in Lucan for their own book collaboration, Curve-a-licious; the  very practical, effective guide for women, on making the most of their assets and feeling a million dollars!

Publisher John O’Connor of Blackwater Press who introduced proceedings on the night said it had been a long time since he had met two such dedicated and bubbly women. Guests on the night included Bernie Caffolla, Emma English, designer Louise Walsh and Tara Gilleece. Guests on the night were treated to the culinary delight of master chef Keith Kenny, while music was provided by Patricia Roe.

Billed as the ‘Curvy Girls Guide to Feeling and Looking Delicious’, Curve-a-liciousis is available now in Easons and all good book stores nationwide.

CRY Lunch

Pure Style: 1. Angela Scanlon and Brendan Courtney; 2. Lorraine Murray; 3. Joanne Smyth, Roz Quinn and Ger Moran. (Pix. Jason Clarke)

The 5th annual CRY Pure Style fashion lunch played host to the Arnotts Spring / Summer collection show at the Great Room of the Shelbourne Hotel.

Guests were treated to fantastic raffle prizes, which included a Downton Abbey poster and album signed by the entire cast of the popular period drama.  This was donated by Alan Leech who plays Tom Branson, the chauffeur in Downton Abbey.  Alan had been in the same class as Peter Greene in school.  Peter was the son of Marie and Michael Greene, founders of CRY, and he tragically lost his life to Sudden Adult Death Syndrome in 1996.

Guests at the event included Brendan Courtney, Arnotts Chairman Mark Schwartz, RTE sports presenter and CRY patron Jacqui Hurley, Ger Dempsey, stylist Angela Scanlon, Sunway boss Tanya Airey, Arnotts Ladies Fashion Director Deirdre Devaney.

All proceeds of the Pure Style Fashion Lunch will go directly to CRY, an Irish charity set up in 2002 to prevent Cardiac Risk in the Young. CRY aims to raise awareness of sudden cardiac death, provide counselling and support to families affected and to fundraise to give ongoing support to the CRYP Centre in Tallaght Hospital which offers cardiac screening and evaluation for families who have lost a young person or for a young person who may be experiencing symptoms.

M&S Beauty

Beautiful: 1. Joanne Ahern; 2. Carmel Breheny and Charlotte Alcock; 3. Aoife Mangan. (Pix. KH)

M&S on Mary St was buzzing with excitement as the new Beauty Boutique was unveiled. Positioned as Your Beauty - the best of nature & science, the brand new dedicated M&S Beauty department features an exclusive edit of some of the leading niche beauty brands from Europe and the USA, handpicked by the M&S Beauty experts.

Beauty advisors were on hand to answer any questions and one-to-one skin consultations were available with beauty consultant to the stars Malvina Fraser, who flew in from London especially for the occasion.

Getting involved were beauty gurus Jennifer Stevens, Shauna O'Halloran and Leonard Daly. Bloggers Lorna-Claire Weightman, Anne-Marie Boyhan, Rosemary MacCabe and Sarah Jane Lanagan tweeted about their favourite brands, while Elaine Butler Doolin enjoyed her Leighton Denny manicure with the man himself, Leighton Denny.

Brands available at the new beauty boutique include Apivita - Greece's top natural skin and hair care range that is derived from Greek honey bees, NeoStem Serum - a ground-breaking new anti-ageing product available exclusively at Your Beauty, M&S.  M&S also launched a new own-brand range called Pure, a skincare and bodycare brand with a natural and eco-friendly proposition.

Bubblicity

  

Bubblicious: 1. Clodagh Moriarty & Alex Courtney; 2. Carrie Glynn and Colm Carrick; 3. Gillian Kelly and Sinead Walker.  (Pix. Brian McEvoy)

Its tea.....but not as you know it!  Bubblicity, the first ever shop in Ireland to specialise in Bubble tea-making, has opened at 26 George’s Street Arcade.

Bubble tea is a Taiwanese specialty. Colourful, sweet and refreshing, it combines white, black or green tea with fresh fruit flavours.  The mixture is shaken over ice, cocktail-style and given a chewy tapioca pearl garnish. There are hot milk tea variations and other bubblicious choices, including honeydew, guava, tangerine, grapefruit, kumquat and star fruit. Specialities include Apple Green Tea with lychee pebbles and Hot Mocha Milk Tea with coffee jellies. 

Whole cities have fallen to the bubble tea revolution; in Asia, California and Canada, Bubble Tea has become a ‘must have’ product.  Celebrity fans include Lauren Conrad, American Pie star Alison Hannigan and Lindsay Lohan. Now Bubble tea has hit our shores thanks to three young Dublin entrepreneurs. Founders Ronan Murphy, Karl Mulvee and Ivano Cafolla of Afterdark.ie

Good foundations

Good cause: 1. Lisa Brady, Lisa Fitzpatrick & Sam Hopkins; 2. Rachel Roche and Sinead Donnellan; 3. Don Nugent & Andrea Roche; 4. Adam Lee, Rebecca Broni & Sorcha Crosse. (Pix. Stuart Lang, Gazette Newspapers)

TV presenter and stylist Lisa Fitzpatrick hosted a fashion show with a difference in aid of the Ross Nugent Foundation at The Wright Venue in Swords recently.

The charity was set up in the name of 18 year old Ross who lost his courageous battle against cancer in 2010. Ross's parents, Don and Sandra Nugent and sister Emma set up the foundation in order to raise funds to purchase equipment for the Oncology ward in Beaumont Hospital.

Models from AR Model Agency along with a number of Ross' friends took to the catwalk to raise funds for the cause, which to date has funded 40 pieces of equipment from blood pressure monitors to electric beds and chair beds.

"We would like to thank everyone who is helping us with the foundation by the giving of their time and services for free in order that we can raise as much money as possible. If we can make life more comfortable for patients, relations and nursing staff in oncology facilities nationwide then we are achieving our goal in Ross's name" said Don Nugent.

For Further Information on the Ross Nugent Foundation log onto www.rossnugentfoundation.ie

Mount Carmel upgrade

Hey Baby: 1. Pamela Fagan and Dearbhal McKee; 2. Virginia Macari; 3. Minister Alan Shatter TD and Peter Mathews TD. (Pix. Brian McEvoy)

Mount Carmel Private Hospital welcomed the official opening of its new state of the art patient facilities recently. The new refurbishment, which saw works being completed on a new Women’s Health Unit, was opened by Minister for Health Dr. James Reilly TD.

Operating Suite and Patient Services Centre will radically improve the quality of service and infrastructure for patients and staff in the years to come. The €600,000 refurbishment has created a number of new jobs in nursing and administration. In addition the Minister also presented the JCI Certificate to CEO, John O’Brien in recognition of the recent accreditation awarded by the Joint Commission International.

Joining Minister James Reilly was Virginia Macari and her partner Kaste Dahl. Virginia who was a patient at Mount Carmel, gave birth to a beautiful baby boy on Monday!

Mount Carmel opened its doors in 1949 and throughout its proud history the philosophy has been to provide excellence in patient care in a safe patient environment supported by outstanding facilities and a dedicated nursing team. Mount Carmel is widely known for being the only private maternity hospital in the country.