Living Life the Essex Way (15 page)

I think the next was Jess and her underwear shop, With Love Jessica, which is lovely, and there isn’t really anything else like it in the area. She thought of the idea after she had her
boobs done and couldn’t find good bras. It’s a hard market to tackle though, because for everyday underwear, a lot of people – if they are like me – go for comfort over
looks. Jess’s underwear is more about the latter, and they are very expensive for everyday wear.

Also if you are going for some all-out underwear, or if a boy is looking to buy a girl something special, you go for the more established brands, like Agent Provocateur for example, don’t
you? So I am not sure she is going to smash it and get lots of bestsellers. And, to be honest, Jess’s heart isn’t really in it – her passion is singing. That is what she cares
about, so I think she should put all her efforts into getting her singing career to take off. Maybe her mum, Carol, or her little sister, when she’s older, should take over. Or even Nanny
Pat!

I think the next business that came about was Lauren Goodger’s tan, Lauren’s Way. Well, I guess someone had to bring one out, didn’t they? And if it was anyone, it should be
her – she always has quite a tan on her these days! If I’d been asked to do it, I’d have said no – I wouldn’t want to be forever associated with fake tan. I’m
not even sure that it’s Lauren’s own business – I think maybe she just put her name to a brand. From what I know of her, she isn’t very business-minded, and she
doesn’t seem that passionate about it to me. But it’s done well as a brand, so I wish her success and all that. I can’t tell you what it is like though, as I have never tried it!
Despite all the free clothes she has had from Minnies, I have not been sent one free bottle of the tan, which doesn’t impress me! I did feel sorry for her when she tried to open a shop for
her tanning range, though, and it was firebombed hours later. As with Mark’s club, it was probably the work of jealous people, but that’s why you have to be so careful. Good on her for
not letting it put her off, and for reopening it.

Then there is Lydia’s vintage store, Bella Sorella. I love her shop, and it is good to have a place like that in Loughton. It is so Lydia! It really reflects her style, which is so
different to the usual Essex look – Lydia is unique! But I do worry that her clothes won’t do so well – because I think maybe the locals like to look at them but not actually buy
them. But I think the furnishings and cakes and frames are adorable, and they are doing really well. I also love that she loves her shop. When we are on shoots or filming, she will be in the corner
on her iPad, checking on new stock and ordering new brands. She is like me and Billie – it is something she is genuinely enthusiastic about.

So at the moment I have income coming in through the shop and a steady income through my
Star
magazine column and various other interview fees. Then I also earn money from appearances.
These can be the personal appearances in clubs that I mentioned before, or shop openings or launches of products I have agreed to back. When I am there, I usually just have to pose for official
photos and do a meet and greet with fans, but I have been asked to do more random things as well, such as read a bedtime story to shoppers, or pull pints of gravy for passers-by! I am normally paid
a few thousand pounds for an appearance, and will be there for a couple of hours, although it can mean travelling quite a bit, as I will do this all over the country. I enjoy doing PAs, as it is a
great feeling to meet all the fans, the people who have made
TOWIE
what it is.

On my way to a recent event where I was getting £8,000 for a two-hour appearance, I was thinking about how crazy it was. That was a very high fee, and it was by no means a one-off. Yet
just 18 months before it would have taken me seven months of work to earn the same money.

I know some people get funny about it, and ask why I deserve it. But at the end of the day, you can’t blame me for taking the opportunities that are offered to me – wouldn’t
you do the same? I’d be stupid if I didn’t. And I work really hard for it – believe me, when there is an opportunity for me to make a success of myself, I am always working on it.
But I’m not going to sit here and say I deserve it just because I work hard for it, because that would be disrespecting those who work just as hard in worthier jobs and who earn a lot less.
But I have always been taught to take every chance that comes along, and whether it is fair on other people or not, this is about business. If I didn’t take on jobs like this, someone else
would. I am realistic about how long this might last. If it all ended tomorrow, at least I would know I had taken every opportunity that being in
TOWIE
has given me and set myself up for a
good future.

In Essex it really is a case of the bigger the hair, the better – which is a nightmare for me because my hair is really thin! But I have always found ways around that . .
. Although fashions do change when it comes to hair, right now it is all about volume, and it looks set to stay this way for a good while.

I love hair like the Kardashians have – yes, they are helped by extensions, but still, their hair looks so thick and healthy and shiny, with a great wave and volume. My hair is naturally
dead straight, and like most people, I have always wanted what I can’t have. I would love to have a wave in my hair, but no matter how much I try to make my hair curl at home, whatever
product I use and however much effort I put in, I never get a really good curl.

I wanted a perm when I was younger, but I wasn’t allowed. My mum had one though, and we always told her she looked like a poodle, so looking back, it was probably a good thing I
didn’t get one!

But even though I luckily avoided that mistake, I have not always known what to do with my hair. I don’t think I have had any huge hair disasters, like done a Britney Spears and shaved my
head or anything. But I can say it has not always looked the best.

When I was ten, I remember I did the spam ponytail or bun every day, religiously. If you have never had one, well, all I can say is well done on avoiding that mistake! But basically it was a
ponytail or bun that was pulled back so much it gave you a spam forehead – when your forehead looks bigger than normal – because your skin was pulled back so tightly. Every hair was in
place – and you made sure it stayed there by piling on loads of this minging gel. Yep, that look was an error.

You would have the ponytail or bun at the back, and then pull two bits of hair forward to hang down either side of your face. Those two bits of hair were very important – they pretty much
made the look. It was inspired by Mel C, I guess, or at least she was a massive fan of it. As I’ve said before, although I always wanted to be Geri, I had a phase of copying Sporty
Spice’s look and walking around in a tracksuit all the time, and this hairstyle was a part of that.

Around the same time, Amy always put her hair in two low buns, just behind each ear, which we used to call two turds, because that’s exactly what they looked like. I should probably stop
there, shouldn’t I? But before you judge her for that, just remember, we all learn from our mistakes!

But anyway, on to better hair days. I have perfected a routine now for achieving big hair myself at home before I go out (see the box on pages 152–4). Or alternatively, if I have the time
and the money, I do like treating myself to a blow-dry at the salon, and they will always make a good job of it.

I have experimented quite a lot with hair extensions to get volume in my hair. They are the one easy way to big hair – because you can literally double the amount of hair on your head.
Extensions are a huge market now, and there are loads of different ways of attaching the hair, different types of hair – real or fake for a start – and a massive difference in prices,
depending on what you are after.

One method that is really popular in Essex at the moment is Micro Rings Hair Extensions. Basically strips of hair are attached to your own hair with tiny metal rings that clamp onto your roots.
There is no glue, or sewing, or braiding, like there is with other hair extensions, so it is supposed to be better for your own hair, and it is subtle. Once they are in, they are there to stay for
quite a while as well, so you don’t have to do anything more than get them tightened or replaced every few months.

They work for a lot of people, but I am not a fan of them really. I had them done just once, and it wasn’t for me. Washing and blow-drying takes forever with them in. I like to wash my
hair every day – it is so fine that it needs it, and I like my hair to be as clean and shiny as possible. But with the extensions in, it took about 90 minutes a day to do, and I really
didn’t want to spend that long on it, so it just annoyed me. Also I like to run my hands through my hair, which I couldn’t do because of the little rings.

And no matter what is promised, extensions are always going to be bad for your hair in one way or another. After I’d had the micro rings in for eight weeks, I could see that my hair was
thinner and weaker. It’s inevitable. So although it looks really good, do be aware that you are getting yourself into a cycle – the more you wear extensions, the more you need to keep
wearing them. I’m not saying don’t do it, as they can look great – just keep in mind that you might be doing damage in the long run.

After the micro rings, I used Hair Rehab London clip-ins. They are Lauren Pope’s range and I love them. They are made from really thick, good-quality real hair, and are so simple to use.
As the name implies, you just clip them onto your own hair in sections, wherever you want your hair to look thicker. Lauren has quite thin hair herself and has been trying out various extensions
for years, and she has worked in modelling so she really knows what works and what doesn’t.

She got her hair-range business up and running through a show called
Tycoon
a few years ago, where she was mentored by Peter Jones from
Dragons’ Den
, which was great.
Lauren is like me in that she has a good business mind and wants to do things outside of
TOWIE
. She is independent and wants to make money.

Like many beauty things though, extensions can get quite addictive. I used to put the clip-ins on just for special occasions or big nights out, then it got more and more often, then before I
knew it I wouldn’t even leave the house to have lunch with my friends without them. I only stopped using them as much when I went back to blonde this last time. At the moment, I am not using
any extensions except for on really special occasions – I just do a lot of back-combing and use a lot of hairspray! I cut my hair into a bob earlier this year, as it had become so damaged
from all the extensions, and I thought it was time to start again. And it worked! The hair that was left felt thicker and healthier, and it’s easier to style.

I have also got more into wearing my hair up. The only problem is, I am not very good at doing it myself, so I tend to go to the salon. I like to have it quite tousled-looking, in a messy bun
with a sweeping fringe. It’s good to change your look sometimes – when celebrities rock the same hairstyles all the time, it can get a bit boring. I always think there is no excuse for
a celeb to have bad hair, as looking good is half their job! Someone like Britney Spears, I can never understand. All that money, and yet her hair looks so dry and dead, and when she has extensions
they look so badly done.

I also love my wigs – I have a right little collection going now, in different colours and styles. It’s a good way of experimenting without having to do anything drastic to your own
hair. I think they are really fun to wear, and can make an outfit. I’ll leap on any excuse to get them out, like when we went to see
Priscilla Queen of the Desert
at the theatre.
That was the perfect chance to get my pink bob going on!

Colour is a funny one for me. My natural colour is a kind of golden-brown, somewhere between brown and blonde, which is why my skin tone works with both shades, as do my eyebrows, which are also
kind of in-between.

I didn’t actually dye my hair much as a teenager – although as we were abroad so often, the sun would bleach it, so I looked like I had highlights long before I actually did.

In fact the first time I tried dyeing hair, it wasn’t my own! My friend at school, Sarah, became my hair guinea pig, poor girl. I used to dye and cut her hair all the time, but we never
did mine, so she ended up with all these awful hairstyles, while I got to try out what I wanted but still kept my own long hair!

It was only when I was 16 that Mum let me get highlights for the first time. She was quite strict about those kinds of things. I remember wanting to get my ears pierced ever since I was little,
but she made me wait until I was ten years old for that, and she was the same about my hair – she had a set age in her mind that I had to be before I could start messing around with it too
much.

I have also tried dyeing my hair red – I did that for my 18th birthday – but it didn’t stay like that for long, as it was too hard to keep up. In fact I always seem to end up
back at blonde.

I was blonde when I was doing modelling, and I was blonde when I started on
TOWIE
– I guess it is the colour I am most comfortable with. I am not a fan of bleach, or block colour,
so I tend to have two or three different tones put through my hair at the same time, to give a more natural blonde look.

But when series three started, I decided I wanted a change. I guess I was thinking that I was single, it was a new series, and I wanted a new beginning. So I went dark. Not like gothblack or
anything, just a nice chocolate-brown. I really liked it when I came out of the salon, and everyone kept telling me how much they loved it. It was really shiny, and looked exactly as I had hoped it
would. I remember going on
Celebrity Juice
with Keith Lemon – which, by the way, was really good fun, although I was terrified! – and, looking back at that, I think my hair
looked really good.