beauty winter

Product of the week: WHITE AAA QUALITY FRESHWATER PEARL NECKLACE

What better way to add a little traditional class and elegance to a sultry summer number than with a gorgeous pearl necklace? At PearlsOnly you have a wide and stunning variety of pearl necklace designs.

The beauty of pearls has been admired for hundreds of years, their sleek and dreamy surface conveys radiant and pure beauty with their silvery shimmer and stunning white glow – they can be worn as part of a classic dinner date outfit or a light summer dress to turn heads under either the soft glow of a candlelit meal or the brilliant gleam of natural sunshine. read more

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Surprise pearl finds!

Pearls have been used in jewellery making and valued highly within our society for many generations, and considered to be great objects of beauty for countless centuries. The most valuable and revered pearls occur quite naturally in oysters or fresh-water mussels but are extremely rare, with the majority of pearls being artificially made, or cultured. They are not the same quality as those that occur naturally but are much cheaper and so are more readily available to everyone.

So considering the rarity of naturally occurring pearls, imagine the surprise of one woman when she discovered two pearls inside an oyster that had cost her less than a pound! Apparently the odds of finding a pearl in this way are around two million to one. The lucky lady was with her fiancé enjoying a celebratory home cooked meal. Shellfish and champagne was the chosen menu as the couple had recently managed to finally buy a new home. The oysters had been carefully cooked smothered in parmesan cheese. read more

PEARLS – A MODERN CLASSIC

Pearls have been used in elegant jewellery pieces for so long now that we have almost desensitised ourselves to their radiant beauty – admittedly, it would be incredibly hard to find anybody who didn’t immediately envy a glamorous pearl neck lace laden on top of a gorgeous, sultry body con dress. But how relevant are pearls in the modern day? Are they only to be worn when adorning vintage inspired numbers or can we use them as part of our modern repertoire of increasingly wild, vibrant and original formal wear? The answer is a simple yes to both the former and the latter. read more

Pearls – folklore and healing properties

It is quite amazing that something as beautiful as a pearl starts life in a most unglamorous way, growing from a tiny piece of grit inside a mollusc which is not renowned for its beauty! Although occurring naturally for many centuries the advent of cultured pearls made these wonders available to many more people who can now enjoy the indulgence of owning and wearing stunning pieces of pearl jewellery.

Our love of pearls and their association with all things beautiful goes back a very long way in history. In Roman times Venus was their goddess of love and personified all that we associate with pearls – love, innocent charm, resplendent beauty, and all with a touch of mystery. The story goes that Venus started her life fully grown inside the shell of an oyster. She emerged naked out of the sea to fill the world with love and beauty. read more

Pearls of wisdom – fascinating facts about pearls

No one can deny that pearls are beautiful and can be used in jewellery to make stunning creations. But how much do we actually know about them? Apparently there are as many as 17 different types of pearls and these fall into three main categories – natural, cultured and imitation.

Natural pearls are very rare these days due to over harvesting in the past. For them to be formed requires a unique set of circumstances. They are formed inside molluscs, moist commonly oysters and mussels. The process begins when an irritant gets inside the shell. This could be something as small as a tiny grain of sand or little stone. In order to protect the surface inside the mollusc a secretion known as nacre is secreted around the irritant. Layer upon layer of this lustrous substance builds up and so the pearl is formed. This rather amazingly can take up to seven or eight years. Although there is variation amongst the species as few as one in every thousand oysters or mussels might contain a pearl. And out of these only a few will be of the right quality and texture. In terms of quantity, around three tons of oysters might only produce 3 or 4 perfect pearls. The most valuable pearls are perfectly symmetrical, relatively large and produced naturally. They shine and shimmer and have an iridescence known as orient lustre. The main oyster beds lie in the Persian Gulf, along the coasts of India and Sri Lanka, and in the Red Sea. Chinese pearls come mainly from freshwater rivers and ponds, whereas Japanese pearls are found near the coast in salt water. Freshwater pearls also occur in the rivers of Scotland, Ireland, France, and Austria. The different locations and types of water where the molluscs are found produce local variations in colour, ranging from white, to those with a hint of colour, often pink, to brown or black. read more

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Be a devilish DIVA for Halloween!

Halloween is almost upon us so preparations must commence! Ladies, we are sure that the broomsticks are out, the cobwebs are up and the pumpkins are being carved in the most grotesque ways possible, but of course, were getting our claws on what we think, are some of the perfect Halloween fashion ideas. Get ghoulish in style this year with a spookily and sexy party dress or a string of gorgeous pearls to keep it classy.

Halloween is a perfect opportunity for you to show off your creativity, but who said you couldn’t do Halloween without remaining girls, gorgeous, elegant, and feminine and of course, oh and did we mention drop-dead gorgeous? Literally. It’s all about accessorising that old prom dress, or adding the right accessories to a current outfit to create an effortlessly evil look. Lets have a look at some of our favourite ideas for the perfect for Halloween look. read more

WHERE DO PEARLS COME FROM?

Pearls are quite possibly the oldest form of widely used, naturally occurring beauty product for use in cosmetics and jewellery available – they have been around since, well, not TOO far after the beginning of time (okay, human time – if we’re speaking dinosaurs and the lot they’ve only been around for a few seconds!) and it’s brilliant that they have stood the test of time so well that their beauty is still revered by connoisseurs of all things luxury all over the world on a daily basis. read more

Natural Beauty remedies for your hair and skin

Are you a lover of all things natural? Do you love pearls from the ocean as jewelry and home grown or organic vegetables for dinner? There is a lot to be said for appreciating natures home grown produce, especially when it comes to your beauty routine.

When it comes to beauty remedies we love nothing more than earth’s most natural creations. It is all too easy to be swept off your feet by all the beautiful new products which have tempting packaging and celebrity all claiming to give you that beautiful sheen and glow. The funny thing is though, these products often try to enhance the fact they are made with ‘natural ingredients’ and contain essential ‘vitamins and minerals’ your skin needs. What they often fail to tell you is that these so called beauty products are actually loading your skin and pores with chemicals and parabens galore and the vitamins will be in very small abundances in very limited ingredients. Facial masks and moisturizers can contain heavy fragrances and coloring to make them appeal to your senses and shampoo contains harsh additives and ingredients which strip your hair of its natural moisture causing it to produce excess oil so it gets greasy quicker. read more

Product of the week

The Alexandra Necklace

This week’s product of the week is the stunning Alexandra necklace. As the months become hotter and the summer sun fills us with positivity it’s not hard to understand why this stunning necklace has made it to product of the week.

When we think of summer we think of green grass, blossoming trees and nature’s beauty at its best. This gorgeous necklace captures the very essence of everything that’s beautiful about summer. How do you fancy wearing one of nature’s finest creations around your neck? read more