Fitness for me has been something that has always been part of my life - as a young girl I was very sporty - I played couny netball and was in to dancing from a very young age. From about the age of 16, I found and loved fitness classes which took over my passion of dancing and when I left school at 17 as well as working full time, I qualified as an exercise to music instructor as was teaching 10 classes a week which I loved.
Even after having children at a young age and then working in my career as a makeup artist, my fitness has always remained an essential part of my life. I've tried every fitness class there is - along with running/ weights - all are amazing, but 10 years ago my life truly changed when I discovered Les Mills Body Combat classes! It is an high energy martial arts inspired workout which can burn up to 740 calories in an hour. Not only did it change my body quicker than any other exercise programme i'd ever done - it is stress busting, inspiring and the best all over body workout I believe you can do in the space of an hour.
10 years on, I do 7 body combat classes a week, along with an hour of yoga and 2 x 10K runs. Yes, I have a crazy busy life with my job - travelling and constantly working being self employed is at times crazy busy - but, I will always make time for my exercise (if i'm working away one day and can't work out, I will double up on workouts the day before/ after). Even when I was working away for 6 months on the Wonder Woman movie, often I would be up at 4am every morning, 6 days a week and would be on my feet all day on set, but even if I wasn't back in to my hotel room until 9pm, I would then still do my body combat workout in my hotel room, no matter how tired I was.
Exercise for me isn;t just about the physical effects - it gives me more energy to keep going and helps me with any stress. I can go in to a body combat class with the weight of the world on my shoulders and after that hour or working out, I feel light, happy and stress free. I'm a working business woman and also a mum - one of my sons has severe autism and learning difficulties so home life is also intense at times - people say to me 'how do you have the energy to keep going'? and I truly believe that working out is what keeps me fit, healthy and focused.
Being a celebrity makeup artist means that my appearance is very important - so working out for me and keeping my body in shape is as important as looking after my face. I've made no secret of the fact that I have used Slendertone Face for years - along with my DVD player for my combat classes, my Slendertone Face also came around the world with me when I was working on the Wonder Woman movie! I work out my body by doing Body Combat and I work out the muscles in my face with my Slendertone Face.
It's as important to work out the muscles in your face as it is the muscles in your body and every morning, I pop on the Slendertone Face and the best thing is that you don't have to sit still while you are using it - I pop it in my pocket and get on with my daily work while I have it on for 20 minutes! I'm always told I have great cheekbones and I always tell my clients (including celebrities) that the reason for my cheekbones still looking great is that I keep my face toned with Slendertone Face - creams alone can not tone your facial muscles and keep them looking young, but Slendertone can.
