My Secret Life: Matthew Williamson, 38
29 May 2010 12:00 AM
My parents were... supportive, creative and inspiring. My mother was an optical receptionist and my father had his own television sales company.
On Google+
Beauty Queen: What perfume did Cleopatra dab behind her ears to impress Mark Antony and Caesar?
08 November 2008 12:00 AM
The combined efforts of Liz Taylor and the British Museum have done a good job of familiarising us with Cleopatra's make-up techniques, namely kohl and more kohl; and we've all heard that she softened her skin by bathing in asses' milk. One element of her ancient beauty routine is missing, however. What perfume did she dab behind her ears to impress Mark Antony and Caesar?
Cyclo-therapy
08 November 2008 12:00 AM
At the end of October, the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, finally capitulated in the fight to keep motorcycles out of bus lanes, announcing that an 18-month trial will begin across the capital on 5 January 2009.
My secret life: Petra Ecclestone, fashion designer, 19
25 October 2008 12:00 AM
The home I grew up in...was my big family home in Chelsea, with my sister Tamara, my parents and a rabbit, a guinea pig and a bulldog. It was a big house on a corner, with a lovely back garden.
Skoda Superb 2.0 TDI PD SE
25 October 2008 12:00 AM
Price: £19,030
Top speed: 128 mph 0-60mph 10.2 seconds
Consumption: 47.9 mpg
CO2 emissions: 155g/km
Best for: New Mondeo men
Also worth considering? Audi A6, Saab 9-5, Volvo S80
Talk of the town: 'I stand there pushing my spade into the soil, pretending it's Boris's head
25 October 2008 12:00 AM
"I hate not being in power," Ken Livingstone said to me. "I'm a workaholic control freak and I hate not running London. Boris is going to mess the whole thing up, and until I stand again in four years' time, there's not a lot I can do about it."
Minor British Institutions: The 50p coin
25 October 2008 12:00 AM
The elegant 50-pence piece, or "fifty pee" as we call it, inelegantly, is a wonderful example of the life-cycle of a minor British institution. At first it was resented, as it supplanted another much-loved minor institution – the 10-shilling note. In October 1969, when the 50p coin was introduced, the nation was soon to lose its ancient system of pounds, shillings and pence, and, unwillingly, embrace decimalisation.
Cyclo-therapy: Lorry driving tests need to be updated
25 October 2008 12:00 AM
There's been a spate of nasty cycling accidents in London over the past few weeks – many of which have involved lorries, and some of which have sadly ended the lives of the cyclists involved. Although the local authorities are always quick to remind us at times like these that the number of cycling deaths in Britain has been falling in recent years, the latest set of Government statistics show a worrying trend.
Beauty Queen: 'The 187 foundation brush blows everyone away. It's like instant Photoshop'
18 October 2008 12:00 AM
Seated under the bright lights of a catwalk show, my colleague peered at my face in the unashamedly forensic manner that fashion types often use to assess one another's appearance during fashion week, then delivered her verdict: "Your make-up looks good – very dewy." However, my reply – that I applied it with a foundation brush – elicited a rather horrified, "Ooh, get you," at such an apparently high-maintenance technique.
Cyclo-therapy: My wife had her first fall and realised that coming off your bike can hurt, but it won't kill you
18 October 2008 12:00 AM
Cash strapped by the credit crunch, my wife and I decided to take our summer holiday in Wales this year. To help keep things cheap, we waited till the end of September when the cottage rents came down, and took nothing with us but a few books and our bikes for entertainment.
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