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Fashion Voyeur

People will stare, make it worth their while.

Categories: Fashion, North East

Exploring Steve Messam’s Hush

Because we made the decision to paint our Batcave and I’m an absolute shocker when it comes to ruining gloss paint.  Seriously, I can’t resist slapping a hand down in wet gloss, or at least a finger, I have to be removed from the area completely for a period of at least eight hours – we took a family trip out to Upper Teesdale this weekend to Bales Hush on the recommendation of my friend Laura from Pop Up Studio.Bales Hush is an old lead mining site on the Raby Estate in County Durham and it’s quite a site to behold anyway – it’s feature within the landscape created when miners worked the hillside by hand to expose a mineral vein, after which the land was flushed with water to reveal what was below.

Now Bales Hush is a huge gouge spanning over 400m in length and up to 20m deep in some places.  It’s an amazing natural feature that you can hike up to and through at any type of year, providing you can manage the terrain.  On Sunday we managed to catch the final day of environmental artist Steve Messam’s ‘Hush’.  A large scale, temporary outdoor art installation which occupied Bales Hush for jus 17 days over the Summer.  Inspired by the landscape, geology and mining history of the area, Hush fills the space with 5 kilometres of recyclable yellow fabric formed into hundreds of sails which flow through Bales Hush in the breeze.

Steve Messam's Hush, a large scale temporary art installation at Bales Hush in Upper Teesdale. Pixie Tenenbaum stands in Bales Hush under the saffron coloured sails. Image taken by Pixie Tenenbaum for Fashion Voyeur

We arrived at Bowlees Visitor Centre having done some advance research into the hike, there’s a much closer carpark at the foot of Bales Hush but we were looking forward to being outdoors and killing a full day with some exploring.  The hike from Bowlees to Bales Hush is around an hour (1.8 miles ish) and is over varying terrain.  None of it is particularly difficult but there are walls to climb over, a river to cross and hills to ascend and descend, so depending on your fitness levels, it may take more or less time.

Christmas Tree Forest at Bowlees
An image of Blogger Pixie Tenenbaum on a hike to Steve Messam's Hush in Upper Teesdale, County Durham

The views throughout the hike are spectacular.  It’s one of those hikes that looks like it’s been pre-filtered.  There’s a section which opens up on to Christmas Trees which is just breathtaking and every now and again I spot a tiny house in the distance and wonder whether Amazon Prime deliver there.

An image of the countryside in Bowlees, Upper Teesdale in County Durham showing a small house in the distance
An image of the countryside in Bowlees, Upper Teesdale in County Durham showing a small farm in the distance and a river running into the foreground

When we reach the river, I’m tempted to just plough straight through it, then I’m reminded by Bo that I’m only around half way and still have the return journey to do in the same shoes – plus, there’s a very clear and pre-determined rock path set out for people who don’t want to get wet.  We opt for that and power on up the hill to the farm on the other side.

As we exit the farm we get our first glimpse of Hush from a distance.  The sails look like spun gold and the people like ants crawling towards it from here.  The banks either side of the gouge don’t look steep but as we get closer it’s clear to see that it’s an optical illusion.  You can approach Bales Hush from any direction, either the left or right bank, or you can walk straight through the bottom of it and then come back down on of the bank sides when you reach the end.  We did all of the above.  We walked up the left side and then explored through the middle of it – we actually spent quite a few hours up there exploring over different terrain and got caught in rain and some blistering heat too.  If you’re heading up that way, make sure you take a decent pair of shoes and something you can layer up with in case it’s cooler when you get to the top.

A large scale temporary art installation by Steve Messam occupies Bales Hush in Upper Teesdale in County Durham for 17 days over Summer 2019 photographed here by Pixie Tenenbaum for Fashion Voyeur. Large saffron coloured sails fill a natural gouge in the landscape
A large scale temporary art installation by Steve Messam occupies Bales Hush in Upper Teesdale in County Durham for 17 days over Summer 2019 photographed here by Pixie Tenenbaum for Fashion Voyeur. Large saffron coloured sails fill a natural gouge in the landscape
A large scale temporary art installation by Steve Messam occupies Bales Hush in Upper Teesdale in County Durham for 17 days over Summer 2019 photographed here by Pixie Tenenbaum for Fashion Voyeur. Large saffron coloured sails fill a natural gouge in the landscape

The installation itself is just beautiful.  It’s serene and peaceful up there despite being busy with people.  You can’t really get a sense of the scale of it in a picture suffice to say that it’s huge.  You keep walking thinking you’ve reached the end of it and it unfolds its golden sails further and further.  Another thing that’s impossible to convey is the sound; from the top you can’t hear it but once you step into the void and you’re underneath the sails you can hear the rippling of the fabric all around you like a whispering.

A large scale temporary art installation by Steve Messam occupies Bales Hush in Upper Teesdale in County Durham for 17 days over Summer 2019 photographed here by Pixie Tenenbaum for Fashion Voyeur. Large saffron coloured sails fill a natural gouge in the landscape

The hike itself was really enjoyable.  Given that I had hip surgery in April which hasn’t gone entirely to plan this felt like natural rehabilitation and it was great to be outdoors as a family doing something fun and moving around – that’s not something I’ve been able to do for a while.  Even Plankton enjoyed it and it takes a lot to motivate him to do anything, even getting him to put clothes on and leave his room is a chore.  The installation was breathtaking, I found it calming and soothing and loved being above and below the sails, Bo quite enjoyed getting in amongst them and straightening them all out and unravelling them so they could flow properly in the wind and making people’s photographs look nice – well if it keeps him happy right?

Pixie

Categories: Uncategorized

Waxology: The Science of Waxing

You know by now Voyeurs that I’m a bit of a connoisseur when it comes to intimate waxing, it’s probably top of my agenda when it comes to waxing treatments and good waxers are hard to come by.

you’ll know from previous posts that I’ve lived between Newcastle and London for a number of years and have found a select few very good, very reliable waxers who specialise in the “Hollywood” – that’s everything off down there for intimate wax virgins – and these expert waxers should be top of your emergency contact list, right above your partner and / or mother.

Waxologist Frances Nixon has practised out of a converted room in her home in County Durham for a few years before deciding that it was time to branch out and bring her services further North, enter Waxology.  Frances has set up shop on Saville Street, Newcastle, The discreet entrance provides the perfect cover for “shy waxers” and the period art deco staircase is a pleasant surprise as you enter the building; the Waxology room is clean and bright and Frances takes all clients through a pre-treatment questionnaire to check for any contra-indications, to say she’s thorough is an understatement.  She talks through the treatment and shows me to a room where Im asked to go through the standard procedure before a Hollywood Wax, yes Voyeurs, this procedure is done panties off and it’s a breeze, way more pleasant than a visit to the Gynaecologist and the room smells amazing so we’re already streets ahead in the points stakes.

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Frances chats through what she’s doing as she works, she tells me that she prefers to use Waxperts Hot Wax than the more widely known and used, Lycon Wax.  She tells me she’s involved her regular clients in testing and found that this product is less painful, faster to use and more economical as less is used, making it cheaper for you, the customer.

The premise is simple, skin is prepped with oil and the hot wax only clings to the hair, shrink wrapping around it to remove hair, but not skin.  The wax itself is painless, I’ve been having this treatment now for a million years and I’ve become acclimatised to it, although i’m advised that Wax Virgins could pop two paracetamol 20 minutes beforehand to help dull the pain, I’m super brave and just run with it…..

After 20 minutes I’m done.  Frances is very thorough and gets to the parts that lesser Waxers can’t reach and there isn’t any of the stickiness often associated with intimate waxing afterwards – in a crude little nutshell, your underpants don’t stick to your bits.

I usually leave 6-7 weeks between waxing appointments and true to form this was the case with this wax, however I did notice a slightly more ingrown hairs than usual.  This may be down to the fact that I usually have Lycon treatment and that’s what my body has become accustomed to, I’m not sure.

Frances currently practices out of the Newcastle studio Thursday and Friday and there’s a late night opening on the agenda too in the run up to Summer, for the rest of the week she’s in Spennymoor – literally covering all bases.

So, if you’re a regular waxer and can’t get booked up, have a waxing emergency or fancy trying an intimate wax for the first time, add Waxology to your list of Expert Waxers and check it out…

Pixie x

Waxology Newcastle: 17a Saville Row, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 8JE

Waxology Durham: 20 Abbey Green, Spennymoor, Durham, DL16 6PD

 

 

Pixie Tenenbaum 2024

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People will stare, make it worth their while

Pixie Tenenbaum

FASHION VOYEUR

Freelance Fashion and Beauty Writer
Currently taking review slots
Hire Me: pixie.tenenbaum@gmail.com

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