We’re bubbling with excitement here at Silver HQ, because next week we’re off to Hickstead. Silver Skincare is exhibiting at the legendary Al Shira’aa Derby, and we can’t wait to be part of one of the biggest and best events in the British equestrian calendar. And yes, that’s me on the stand above, at a show we did recently.

From Wednesday 18th to Sunday 22nd June, you’ll find us right in the heart of the action – trading all day, every day – with our full range of gorgeous natural skincare products available to browse, try, and buy.

Our exclusive Silver Skincare collection has been specially developed to nourish, protect, and rejuvenate your skin. And it’s all made using natural, cruelty-free ingredients, with no parabens, sulphates, or nasties. We’re all about quality, integrity, and skincare that really works.

We’re also all about giving our lovely customers a little something extra, so read on to find out how you can get your paws on some fabulous deals, and a chance to win an exclusive luxurious skincare hamper worth over £250.

Read more about the Silver Skincare range

A unique shopping opportunity – at a special price…

One of the best things about visiting our stand at Hickstead is that you can buy all your favourite Silver Skincare goodies at a lower price. Zero P&P means we can afford to offer VERY special show rates that you won’t find anywhere else.

It’s the perfect time to top up your skincare collection. Or try something new and indulge in a little self-care.

PLUS – win a luxury beauty hamper giveaway

This one’s for those of you coming to Hickstead. Come and visit us at our stand (Stand 51) and you can enter to win an absolutely beautiful hamper, featuring one of every product in our range.

All nestled together in a sleek black presentation box and tied up with a bow, this prize is worth over £250 retail and makes a stunning treat for you – or a very generous gift. If you can bear to part with it!

All you have to do is pop by and fill in a quick entry card at the stand, or drop your business card in the pot. It takes less than a minute, and you could be walking away with a truly indulgent prize. Ts&Cs apply, natch.

What’s so special about Silver Skincare?

Our serum – hero product!

Our products are crafted with natural ingredients, eco-conscious practices, and a whole lot of love. We use plant oils, essential oils, herbs and botanicals to create skincare that is gentle, effective. And kind to both skin and planet.

Everything is made in the UK using natural ingredients. It’s 100 per cent cruelty-free, and almost entirely vegan-friendly. From our dreamy Collagen Face Cream, to our cult favourite Stem Cell Regenerator Serum, we create skincare that people genuinely love – and keep coming back for.

We’re proud to be part of Silver Magazine – the lifestyle brand that celebrates midlife and beyond – and our skincare range reflects that same ethos: smart, stylish, and refreshingly real.

Come and say hello

We’ll be at Hickstead from Wednesday 19 June to Sunday 22 June, and we’ll be trading all day, every day. Bring your friends, bring your mum, bring your dogs (yes, they’re welcome) and treat yourself to something special. See you there!

Hickstead Derby

Sam Harrington-Lowe

Sam is Silver’s founder and editor-in-chief. She’s largely responsible for organising all the things, but still finds time to do the odd bit of writing. Not enough though. Send help.

The post Silver Skincare heads to Hickstead showground appeared first on Silver Magazine.

Set your alarms for next week. Glastonbury Festival has revealed the details of its 2025 Emerging Talent Competition, and entries are next week.

It’s an initiative aimed at giving promising new acts from the UK and Ireland a chance to perform on one of the festival’s main stages. The competition, which is free to enter, is supported by PRS for Music and PRS Foundation.

Open to artists from all musical genres, the competition will run for one week only, opening at 9am on Monday 27 January, and closing at 5pm on Monday 3 February 2025. To enter, acts are required to submit a YouTube link to one original song, along with a link to a video of themselves performing live.

What the winners get…

The winner of this prestigious competition will secure a performance slot at the 2025 Glastonbury Festival, one of the world’s most iconic music events. They’ll also receive a fat £5,000 Talent Development prize from PRS Foundation. This is to support the next steps in their songwriting and performing career.

Two runners-up will each receive a PRS Foundation £2,500 Talent Development prize.

A commitment to diversity and inclusivity is central to the competition. Glastonbury Festival has encouraged entries from disabled artists, with additional support available to ensure equal opportunities for all participants.

We’re assuming this commitment to diversity also includes mature entrants. Waiting to hear back from them on this but will update you!

Read more: Jed Novick on why festivals are perfect for the over-50s

The selection process begins with a panel of 30 leading UK music writers who will create a longlist of 90 acts from the entries. This longlist will then be reviewed by a judging panel, including Glastonbury organisers Michael and Emily Eavis, to identify eight finalists. These finalists will compete in live performances at the Pilton-based finals, where the ultimate winner will be decided.

Michael and Emily Eavis have expressed their excitement about the upcoming competition, which continues to serve as a vital platform for emerging artists. Previous winners of the Emerging Talent Competition have gone on to achieve significant success. Many have returned to perform on Glastonbury’s stages in subsequent years, such as Declan McKenna and Marie White.

For aspiring artists, this is a unique opportunity to showcase their talent on one of the biggest platforms in music. Entries open on 27th January 2025, and the Festival team is eager to discover the next wave of musical talent.

How to enter

For more details on the competition and how to enter, visit the official Glastonbury Festival website. The entry form will be available on the website when entries open at 9am on Monday 27th January 2025.

www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk

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The post Glastonbury Festival 2025 Emerging Talent Competition appeared first on Silver Magazine.

Consider running a game of bingo to boost the party mood! Make sure it goes without a hitch by following this guide to hosting a bingo event which includes caller tips and decoration and gift ideas.

1. Create a fun atmosphere

No event is complete without over-the-top decorations! Go all out to create a lively and fun atmosphere for your bingo event.

You could have a theme for your evening and use decorations to bring this to life. Why not try to recreate the glitzy luxury of the casino with a red tablecloth, black and gold banners, and giant fluffy dice? Alternatively, go for something silly to encourage your guests to let their hair down!

Background music and finger food are essential as well to complete the party mood.

2. Get the bingo essentials

Don’t forget to get the bingo essentials for your game. You could mimic the traditional bingo hall and hand out paper grids and daubers, or play a group game online via a bingo app from a reputable provider.

3. Hone your hosting skills

As the party planner, you’ll need to run the game and ensure that play stays fair. In advance of the event, take time to hone your hosting skills so that you’re comfortably in command on the day.

First and foremost, make sure that you understand the rules! You’ll need to explain to everyone how to play and make sure that no one is cheating so that the game runs smoothly. The standard 90-ball bingo has two major winners – the first to a row, and the first to a full house.

You could also look up tips on how to be a good bingo caller. Why not attempt the East End London Cockney rhyming slang that has become synonymous with the game?

4. Mix up the games

Especially if you have time for a few rounds, mix up the games to keep up enthusiasm and competitive spirit.
75-ball bingo is a version of the game that’s popular in the USA, where players can complete rows horizontally, vertically, and diagonally. There’s also a super quick 30-ball version.

For something more inventive, consider changing the completion pattern or switching out the numbers for words, songs, or celebrity names.

5. Prepare your prizes

Lastly, don’t forget to prepare your prizes! You can go for gifts commonly awarded at game nights or be more creative and tailor your offering to your friendship group.

Safe bets include scented candles, bath bombs and essential oil diffusers, boxes of chocolates, and film tickets or gift cards. At the other end of the spectrum, you can have a lot of fun with joke presents like comedy keychains and fancy dress items.

As well as rewards for the winners, you could introduce forfeits for the losers! This might include a performance of their favourite karaoke song, or asking them to be a waiter for the night.

silvermagazine

If you’d like to receive a regular mini-magazine direct to your inbox with a selection of editorial features to read at your leisure, please sign up for our newsletter. We also run the odd competition and offer and whatnot, and newsletter members get the heads-up first.

The post A guide to hosting a bingo event appeared first on Silver Magazine.

Whether you’re a true romantic, or you laugh in the face of such nonsense, there’s a rich history behind Valentine’s Day. Take our Valentine’s Day quiz and test your historical knowledge…

Test your love knowledge

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Love quizzes? Try our Sunday Roast Quiz

Adam Jacot de Boinod

Adam Jacot de Boinod was a researcher for the first BBC series QI, compered by Stephen Fry, and is an author of three books including ‘The Meaning of Tingo.’

The post Valentine’s Day Quiz appeared first on Silver Magazine.

Silver Magazine back in print, you say? Well yes! And not only am I doing this because I love it, but apparently so do hundreds of thousands of other people. I kid you not.

Friends and followers on social media will have seen me crowing about this already recently. It’s vulgar to crow, I know. But I don’t care, because something good happened the other day that was worth having a little crow about. Something that felt like a proper ‘sign’ from the Universe, you know?

This was my slightly cocky social media post:

“Today I crunched some Silver Magazine numbers as we’re going back into print (whoop!) and we need a new media pack. And I’ve managed to get hold of a bunch of media packs from competitors to have a nose, natch.

“And we are actually killing it. We’re blowing at least two of the biggies absolutely out of the water! Our reach is higher, our follower numbers are higher. I had no idea, until I actually worked it all out. So yay for us!

“Now I know this I’ve got my swagger right on. Look out!”

So yes, I have a bit more swagger again. And yes excitingly, Silver Magazine is coming back in print format. And while comparisons are odious, and probably odorous too, it was really encouraging to see that not only are we – as a very small business – fighting our corner with not inconsiderable zeal… we’re actually outshining publishers and magazines with budgets and manpower that I can only dream of. Little us!

Some of you will have had a print issue of Silver before. And many of you subscribed, and have been insanely patient, waiting for the print issues to be relaunched. God, I love you guys. Literally about two people have asked for a refund, which is extraordinary. The faith people have in Silver Magazine is humbling.

But I digress. Print! We’re back! Hurrah for print, print, print. With its lovely feel, and it’s new-print stinky inky smell. And as someone commented on my crowing post, that feeling of “thumbing through the pages.” I can’t wait to get into it again. Print will always be my first and biggest love.

WIN a year’s free subscription to Silver Magazine – hurry, enter now!

So why print and why now?

Every Christmas I take two weeks off. It’s a set-in-stone sabbatical, and usually the longest break I take all year. I tend to crawl towards the finishing line in December, absolutely shattered from another year of ALL THE THINGS.

I’m really scrupulous about distancing myself from work at this time. As any business owner knows, it’s virtually impossible to do this. My holidays and long weekends are always punctuated by emails and phone calls and texts. Even if I’m in a beach bar sinking a cold one, I’m still connected. I’m never ‘off the clock’.

But I can do it at Christmastime because everyone else is kinda in the same place. People don’t care if I don’t reply – in fact they’re probably relieved. So I can let go. And that’s when I’m truly able to stand back and look at what’s going on objectively. And after about three days something magic happens. I start to see things clearly again.

Over this Christmas I realised that I wasn’t happy

2023 was filled with the excitement of bringing new things into the Silver arena. I created a truly wonderful little Silver Skincare range, that I’m so, so proud of. And we launched our Silver Retreats, which I am also really excited about. But this meant learning a whole new set of skills, and delving into the world of ecommerce. And if I’m honest, I don’t find that stuff very sexy.

What I DO find sexy is making magazines. And after about a week of R&R, I realised this was where I needed to refocus in 2024. I didn’t care if it was hard to do, or if it didn’t make me rich. I just wanted to do more of the thing I love.

And so when I crunched those numbers, and discovered that we genuinely, honestly stand proud in our given arena, more than head and shoulder above many bigger brands, it was actually quite an emotional moment.

It also helps that one of my younger team members came back from Christmas and before I’d even said about print, told me we should be back in print. Apparently it’s what all the cool kids are doing because it’s trustworthy, and seen as classy. Print is BACK baby.

And so here we are

I’ve put literally everything I have – energy, heart, money, and soul – into making Silver Magazine work. There have been days – so many days – where I’ve felt like I’m banging my head against a brick wall. I’ve seen other startups in the silver sector moving faster than us, and felt inadequate. I’ve wept with frustration as global events have knocked us down, repeatedly. On a personal level I’ve soldiered on through the loss of my parents, the menopause, the end of my longest relationship ever… you get the picture. It’s been hard work.

But through it all I kept feeling like Silver was a good thing. And people kept telling me it was a good thing. And the other day was really wondering if I should keep going. “Give me a sign, please!” I asked the Universe. And I got a sign.

Sam Harrington-Lowe

Sam is Silver’s founder and editor-in-chief. She’s largely responsible for organising all the things, but still finds time to do the odd bit of writing. Not enough though. Send help.

The post Guess who’s back? Back again. Silver print, tell your friends! appeared first on Silver Magazine.

Maybe you’re always winning your local pub quiz, or you just like to test yourself for a bit of fun. The 2023 end of year quiz will show you how much you’ve been paying attention to national and global events in the past 12 months.

We’ll admit, this one isn’t easy…

Big end of year quiz

Celebrate the end of the year with our big end of year quiz. Sport, culture, news, and everything in between... How much have you been paying attention in 2023?

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Fancy another quiz? A British icon – Sunday roast dinner quiz

Adam Jacot de Boinod

Adam Jacot de Boinod was a researcher for the first BBC series QI, compered by Stephen Fry, and is an author of three books including ‘The Meaning of Tingo.’

The post The Silver 2023 big End of Year quiz! appeared first on Silver Magazine.

How well do you know your royal history? Test your knowledge on the history of coronations and general royal history knowledge with our coronation quiz.

Winner gets a quiche. (Not really, no quiches will be won).

Coronation Quiz

In case you hadn't heard, there's going to be a coronation this week. Test your royal history knowledge with our coronation quiz...

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Enjoy a quiz? Try your General Knowledge

Adam Jacot de Boinod

Adam Jacot de Boinod was a researcher for the first BBC series QI, compered by Stephen Fry, and is an author of three books including ‘The Meaning of Tingo.’

The post Coronation quiz – how well do you know your royal history? appeared first on Silver Magazine.

Easter is the first spring celebration. Bright flowers, sunny mornings, and plenty of chocolate.

But how much do you know about the holiday? We’ve got a mix of history, religion, cute rabbits, and more in this Easter quiz!

Easter Quiz

Bunnies, chocolate, christianity... Easter is a lot of things. See what you know about the spring holiday with our quiz!

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How is your picnic trivia knowledge?!

Adam Jacot de Boinod

Adam Jacot de Boinod was a researcher for the first BBC series QI, compered by Stephen Fry, and is an author of three books including ‘The Meaning of Tingo.’

The post Silver’s Easter Quiz appeared first on Silver Magazine.

Find out how well versed you are on the romance season with our love-filled Valentine’s quiz. Exploring both sides of love and lust…

Valentine’s Quiz – love and lust

Valentine's day is here! Test your knowledge on love and lust with our quiz...

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Adam Jacot de Boinod

Adam Jacot de Boinod was a researcher for the first BBC series QI, compered by Stephen Fry, and is an author of three books including ‘The Meaning of Tingo.’

The post Valentine’s quiz – how well do you know your lust and love? appeared first on Silver Magazine.

We weren’t sure how we felt about Peggy being crowned Britain’s ugliest dog; as a friend asked, did she even consent to entering this competition?! But Peggy enjoying the pampering fuss gave us all the feels, so we’re cheering her on now.

Also I think she’s absolutely adorable, I can’t help myself. Incidentally Peggy has her own Instagram account, should you feel inclined to follow her.

She enjoyed several treatments including a fabulous hydrobath followed by a blueberry facial. Feeling clean and refreshed, Peggy then had a hand dry and trim before finishing with a paw and nose balm treatment and a spritz of fragrance, so she left the groomer looking and smelling fantastic.

Peggy and mum Holly arriving for the prize pampering session

Happy mum too

Holly Middleton, Peggy’s owner said: “Thank you so much to ParrotPrint.com, who were behind this competition, for the whole experience, and all the lovely ladies at the exclusive doggie spa.

“Being part of the ugliest dog competition has been brilliant from start to finish. Peggy has loved every second and has been absolutely lapping up all of the fuss and attention.

“The makeover was fabulous and Peggy was treated like an absolute queen. What little hair she has is extremely soft and fluffy and she smells divine, which is rare. She’s been absolutely spoiled rotten but she 100% deserves it.”

Read: Is your dog bored? Time for some enrichment activities…

What else did Peggy win?

Peggy, a study in red jersey

The luxury spa was the first part of Peggy’s prize. She will now go on to receive a canvas print portrait.

Chief judge and Parrot Print founder Matt Dahan said: “Peggy is a little star and she is a worthy winner of our fun competition to find the UK’s ugliest dog.

“It was fantastic to see her enjoy her prize at the spa and she looked amazing after all her treatments. Now we are working on producing an exclusive portrait of her on one of our ParrotPrint.com canvas prints.”

And how is Peggy coping with the fame and adulation?

“She seems to be dealing with her new-found fame very well and I just hope all this attention doesn’t go to her head,” says Matt.

To find out more about Peggy and why she has been named the ugliest dog in the UK please head over to: www.parrotprint.com/uglydogcompetition

Sam Harrington-Lowe

Sam is Silver’s founder and editor-in-chief. She’s largely responsible for organising all the things, but still finds time to do the odd bit of writing. Not enough though. Send help.

The post Britain’s ugliest dog Peggy enjoys her pampering prize appeared first on Silver Magazine.