CW from bottom left: GoMA Saturday Art Club; Sharmanka; Echo and Transcend at GoMA.
PHWOAR FOR LESS
Looking great doesn’t mean shedding vital pounds from your purse – Niki Boyle offers some sneaky hints on budget beauty
Being a hairdresser’s ‘model’ can sometimes be a daunting prospect, but you can get a quality trainee cut at Rainbow Rooms in Glasgow, for £19 – that’s around £30 less than the Rainbow Rooms salon rates. The salon also offers a ‘stand-by’ rate of £25 if a slot is free when you happen to drop by – an offer also available at Sublime Hair Design in Edinburgh. Changing your existing stylist can also yield results. All-organic specialist Emma Hall Hair Design is offering a 20% discount to all new customers in Edinburgh until the end of January.
Students also enjoy some bargains. In
Edinburgh that includes 40% off all cut and colour services at Charlie Miller, Mon-Thu; and 40% off your first visit at Cheynes, with up to 25% off subsequent visits. In Glasgow, Anton Steele offers 20% for students Mon- Wed, while Mo Hair barbers offer 20% off to students, UB40s and musicians, provided you can play them one of your own songs. In our ‘something different’ category, Snip
& Sip at Edinburgh’s Forest Café offers a ladies’ cut and shot of vodka for just £15 (£10 for guys), while Glasgow’s City Barbers boasts four large sports screens and hair cuts for no more than £15.
Beauty treatments tend to drop in price in January to grab the New Year detoxers, so look out for offers such as those at Julie Ross in Glasgow (50% off all beauty packages) and Zen Lifestyle in Edinburgh (£43 off the January Detox package). For self-improvement that’s more than
cosmetic, you might want to head down the gym instead of the salon. An Edinburgh Leisure membership costs £35 to join followed by a monthly payment of £43.50, and gives you access to 14 gyms and all swimming pools around town. Alternatively, Edinburgh Uni opens up its sports facilities to non-students for just £39 a month. Unfortunately, Glasgow University only opens its doors to students’ friends and families (for £38.50 a month, in case you are lucky enough to know one), but don’t fret – membership of Glasgow’s City Council gyms costs only £44.10 a month anyway, or a one- off payment of £6.70 if you just want to attend the odd class.
22 THE LIST 21 Jan–4 Feb 2010
For something more off-beat, visit Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre inside Glasgow’s new Trongate 103. Adults cost £4, but two accompanying children can watch the spellbinding carved figures come free. See www.sharmanka .com for more. life
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Edinburgh City Council may not be quite as generous, but you can still swim in their pools for free until you’re 12 (excluding Leith Waterworld), and there are a few free museums worth checking out. In particular the Museum of Childhood has dolls houses, dressing-up, puzzles and more for those still young enough to play, and a stroll down memory lane for everyone else. Also on the Royal Mile, the Museum of Edinburgh has costumes and art activities, and is home to Greyfriars Bobby’s old collar and bowl.
Despite being renovated, the National Museum of Edinburgh is still worth a look, with lots of free events at the weekend – visit www.nms.ac.uk. The National Galleries also run
arty activities that cost absolutely nothing. One Sunday a month, you can pick up a Bag of Art at the Gallery of Modern Art or visit the Art Cart in the National Gallery and produce your own masterpiece (www.nationalgalleries.org). Meanwhile, down on Gorgie Farm you can hang out with the sheep, goats, pigs and hens for free. More info at www.gorgiecityfarm .org.uk
If you shop at Tesco, it’s worth saving up your Clubcard points for free entry into Edinburgh’s Butterfly & Insect World, Glasgow Science Centre and M&Ds theme park in Strathclyde. But, given the glorious countryside we have in Scotland, perhaps the best free day out you can give your child is a visit to one of the fantastic country parks in the Central Belt. From Vogrie and Beecraigs in the Lothians, to Mugdock and Calderglen in the west, plus many more besides, there are adventure playgrounds to be climbed, trails to explore, animals to pet and energy to use up. (Kelly Apter)