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12/04/2022 by: Connie

Henna Workshops are back!

Okay, hands up who learned a new hobby during the last two years? I know I did… Ever the over-achiever here’s full disclosure of things I started during lockdown/pandemic living:

  • Crochet
  • Baking (steaming buns, loaf cakes, scones, pancakes, cinnamon rolls)
  • Having my first pet (a hamster – actually two)
  • Building custom hamster homes
  • Re-decorating (the entire kitchen, the cellar, my wardrobe area, our family computer cubby hole)
  • Sewing, everything: reusable face covering, cushions, leather coin pouches, pockets, altering old clothes
  • Modelling clay creations
  • Upcycling Disney bags
  • Selling things on eBay
  • Skateboarding (honestly have never felt such mortal fear)
  • Journalling

It’s been a tough time trying to stay occupied… BUT finally we are all able to try to make moves into something resembling the life we used to know, and excitingly this means that I am once again able to bring HENNA WORKSHOPS back to Bradford.

I was approaching in my DMs by the most perfect workshop space – Perfect.

TYRO Studios (Shipley) is a retail and studio space hosting a curated range of creative workshops and lifestyle events – think floral arranging mornings with a glass or two of rosé, choose a red wine and painting evening, or opt for a whisky education night; go for an embroidery afternoon with prosecco, or maybe relax with a couple of hours of mindful calligraphy and rosé.

Every workshop ticket is fully inclusive; expert tuition, all materials, your take home gift (where applicable) and refreshments; red wine, white wine, rosé, prosecco or if you prefer, gorgeous non-alcoholic alternatives.

The space is also home to a range of beautiful gifts, items from our workshops, stationery, homewares and art from local artists and beyond

I’m so excited – SO excited to be able to start henna workshops again with TYRO. Our two initial dates are:

3:00PM Saturday 7th May 2022

10:30AM Saturday 21st Mat 2022

TYRO Studios, 42 Westgate, Shipley BD18 3QX

You can book your place by clicking on the dates above, or visiting the TYRO website at www.tyrostudios.com/

And a final message from the wonderful TYRO Hosts, Izzy and Yvonne:

The word ‘tyro’ is the Latin word meaning ‘a beginner or a novice’ and at Tyro Studios we have created a space for all to learn without judgement or pressure to be anything but a beginner.

Our spaces are inclusive and safe for all people. All our workshops are run by incredibly talented and passionate tutors and are perfect for beginners. Our tickets are fully inclusive, you will not need to buy anything from us when you arrive; this includes all your materials and refreshments – all you need to provide is enthusiasm. Our workshops are aimed at adults (18+) as we serve alcohol.

Our classes are small (6-10 people) to ensure that everyone gets as much direct assistance from our tutors as possible and run from 1.5 hours to 3 hours maximum (please check your specific workshop for timings)

We cannot wait to meet and host you!

03/04/2022 by: Connie

A Marrakech Henna Journey

Mektoub. Arabic, meaning “it is written”, from the Islamic notion that Allah (pbuh) has pre-written all that is meant to be. Also meaning fate, or destiny. Pre-destined. Pre-ordained. Meant to be.

I didn’t actually learn the translation for mektoub prior to embarking on the Marrakech henna journey so aptly named ‘Mektoub Henna’. The organisers, Lisa Butterworth and Jenpa Konchok, of this journey have been nurturing this idea for a decade or more, and the pandemic stalled it for two of those years. Twice the dates have been rescheduled, postponed, pending the safe re-opening of international borders. Even as I finally boarded my own flight to Morocco, I had yet to allow myself to believe it was actually able to happen.

From the seed of an idea in the minds of Lisa Kenzi Butterworth, germinated with Jenpa Konchok, and brought to bloom with Monique Herzig, this humble “henna workshop” promised us henna tuition with native Moroccan henna artists, and an insight into the historically deep and rich Moroccan culture with planned daily excursions.

  • Rooftop Lunch
  • Evening in the medina
  • Ourika Valley Excursion

Off the tail-end of a pandemic and carrying the cumulative anxiety we had all been conditioned with as a result of lockdown living, social distancing, mask-wearing, sanitising and vaccinating, the first Mektoub cohorts numbering 16 touched down one-by-one in the medina. Greeted warmly and guided to our riads by our hosts, Lisa, Jenpa and Monique who were already gently sleep-deprived from anticipation and preparations for our arrival. Indeed the first 24 hours were surreal as we all came to terms with successfully fleeing leaving our respective countries, and now being slapped face first with the desert heat and rich bilingual culture, vastly differing from the home life we had been cocooned in for two years.

Swag Bag

The shock was real. We were all gently supported in seeking our own necessary coping methods, which set the ethos for the entire week: Take what you need to feel comfortable in yourself; Leave what you do not need, without fear of judgment. I quickly retreated to my room for some isolation and space to reflect/readjust in time to welcome my dear roommate to our new home for a week.

  • Welcome to Riad Farah
  • Riad Farah
  • Riad Farah

Riad Farah and Riad El Nil were the two homes that our henna journey would be spread across. El Nil was the smaller, quieter riad. Farah was the larger riad, with a communal meeting room, large dining room and spacious rooftop terrace used as the main location for teaching. These centuries-old villas of burnished plaster are cooling living spaces, appropriate for the climate, beautifully decorated, complete with marvelously retrofitted plumbing and electricity. Though the staircases are an uneven drunken-like experience, and the ‘afterthought toilet’ (read: the tiny toilet cubicles retrofitted into the cupboard under many a staircase) may give our Western health-and-safety sensibilities pause for thought, there’s really no substitute for the immersive experience of staying in a riad while visiting Morocco. Every resting space is a photo opportunity. It is perfect for your instagram grid posts.

  • Riad Farah
  • Riad Farah
  • Riad Farah

We settled in the first night with a traditional family meal of a home-cooked tagine, prepared by the team who managed Riad Farah. Gratefully tucking in, learning how to authentically eat from teacher and host Khadija (Galerie Henna) the meal was sweet and delicious, followed by a platter of the freshest fruit we had ever tasted. There was no need for ice-breakers or team exercises – food had instantly bonded us and we had become family. Road-weary, and well-fed we gratefully tucked ourselves in for a restful night of sleep.

  • Welcome Platter
  • Family Tagine
  • Fresh Fruit Platter

On the morning of the first full day, I took myself to the morning briefing and guidance session, arriving quietly late – inadvertently setting my attendance pattern for the rest of the week. No one batted an eyelid or took offense – as grown adults, everyone was given the grace to come and go as they needed to. I took in very little of the orientation talk as I struggle with my bearings, or maps and orientation until I’ve been able to hit the streets and feel the surroundings. And truly, there is no map that can accurately reflect the experience of walking around the medina in Marrakech which followed at lunchtime as we moved out for a group meal. To save on repetition and superlatives let me state up front that every single meal we consumed during the Mektoub journey was deliciously fresh, flavoursome and amazing. With access to the freshest local ingredients, you’d really have to be intentional to find a bad meal in Marrakech. Perhaps we were spoilt by our hosts who researched many restaurants prior to our arrival. It’s possible. But I choose to believe that it’s impossible to find a bad meal in Marrakech.

  • Khadija @galerie_henna

Our afternoon was then delightfully occupied with learning from Khadija. Assigned as a riad ‘Mother’, as well as core henna teacher, native to Morocco. Khadija enveloped us all with her boundless love and energy for henna. She shared endlessly during her class, and continued beyond her classes, always giving to us from her experiences, her knowledge and her love. Often also offering dual/triple services with her translation skills and cooking skills. We learned Arabic vocabulary from her on a daily basis. There was also an evening cooking lesson. Khadija took it upon herself to offer the most embracing welcome to Morocco.

  • Nadia
  • Nakia
  • Fatima

Our week continued to be filled with the generous spirit of sharing knowledge from the invited henna teachers from around Morocco. Nadia, a resident henna artist at the Marrakech Henna Art Cafe, demonstrating her individual and beautiful almost magical style of henna. Nakia, interrupted her peak henna season bookings to travel through and drop in to teach us about three key styles of Moroccan henna and the associated spirits with each style. Fatima who travelled from Timoulayt to teach us Saharaoui and tape resist henna art. Humble and diminutive, each artist brought unique insights into the history and culture of henna in Morocco. Our brains were regularly teased, expanded and blown by what we learned.

  • Le Jardin Secret
  • Le Jardin Secret
  • Le Jardin Secret
  • Le Jardin Secret
  • Le Jardin Secret
  • Le Jardin Secret

In Morocco, the henna syringe is mightier than the cone. In many ways, the experience of handling a henna syringe lends itself greatly to the style of Moroccan henna. No henna workshop in Morocco would be authentic without impressing the importance of learning to use a henna syringe. Its appeal for me, is mostly in the reusability of the tool, therefore more environmentally responsible. We were given access to the full spectrum of syringe choices: 5ml glass syringe; 10ml glass syringe; 5ml plastic syringe; and 10ml plastic syringe. We learned how to customise tip lengths, how to change tips, how to troubleshoot, how to clean and how to maintain the syringe. We learned insider tips on how to make the syringe smoother and how to adapt the syringe to our individual preferences. Sadly, the truth was that many of us did not fall in love with the syringe on first use. I would go so far as to say that the first interaction I had with a syringe during mektoub was demoralising. I felt deflated and disconnected, dramatically on the cusp of retiring entirely from henna art.

  • shop
  • shop
  • shopping
  • more shopping

My decision to join the henna journey with Mektoub Henna was an attempt to rediscover my connection with henna. Following a traumatic online community implosion (that I had triggered, spurred on by global civil rights activism), then the isolation of a pandemic, I was jaded by feelings of guilt, shame, loneliness and adandonment. If I couldn’t reconnect with henna during a visit to Morocco then I knew that my time with henna was over and it would be time to re-invest my creative energies elsewhere. By the end of day 4 in Marrakech, I was retreating. I made an attempt at creating one lone henna design, and I hated it. For the rest of the evening, I avoided the social occasion (a visit from the Women’s rugby team – a group of youthful, vivacious humans who injected inspiring energy into our riad). Instead, I took advantage of the relaxed, unpressured environment. No-one was expecting anyone else to put henna on somebody else. There was no race to collect hennas from other artists. There was no pressure to practice. We felt free to just… exist and accept our current states of mind.

  • Saharoui Henna by Fatima
  • Saharoui Henna by Fatima

The day my inspiration was re-ignited happened on day 5 – the penultimate day. My relaxed morning routine meant that by this day I was not only quietly late to morning class, I was also uncharacteristically sitting at the back of the classroom. Spectating Fatima’s Sahraoui work on the projector screen, I followed along by drawing with my pencil in my sketchbook. As I witnessed the unfolding of her creativity through the lines of henna on skin, her henna art slowly but surely pulled the jaded veil from my eyes. How could her linework be so fine and delicate? Why is this line being applied like this? I had never seen a layout anything like this: The first time this style had ever been taught to artists outside of the native industry. The design principles and construction were unlike all other styles I had learned before (and likely since). My mind was blown. I could feel the drive to pick up some henna to practice creeping upon me.

  • more shopping
  • svenj

We reluctantly took a break for a group lunch before returning to the riad for a conservative 2 hour lesson on Sahrawi tape resist henna. Fatima had warned that tape resist henna cannot be taught in only two hours. We all knew that such a beautiful form of henna art couldn’t be comprehensively covered in only 2 hours. But somehow, it happened. We watched, and we quizzed, and we scrutinised as Fatima created tape resist designs before our very eyes, demonstrating all her techniques, tapes and tools, unlocking all the secrets for us. When evening approached, we were handling the tapes, snipping away, sticking tape on ourselves and each other in an attempt to apply all the new things we were learning. For me, a whole new world of creativity opened up and I felt like a child with new colouring pens to play with. Later that night I went to bed wearing a community-collaborated tape resist design on my left hand, caked in fresh henna paste, and protectively covered with a plastic bag. The consummate henna student in me was back.

  • tape resist henna
  • group collabrative tape resist

By the last day I felt truly bonded with my mektoub family, complete with sisters I never knew I needed, sisters I never asked for, and sisters who came to refill my cup when I couldn’t refill it myself. Our parents (our hosts) had facilitated something magical and deeply life-affecting. They concluded the week with musicians that had been booked to perform for us on the last night. We expected musical light entertainment to inroduce the sounds of the gnawa in Moroccan music, but mektoub delivered us a traditional spiritual healing ceremony – a gnawa lila, which we have all since come to describe as a vibration-raising, religious experience. Even the most rational, logical, and jaded among us felt our emotions crushed and cleansed in some way. Perhaps it’s a reflection of how mentally and emotionally damaged we all are from the pandemic. Who knows.

When I returned home from Marrakech, I continued to feel emotionally raw, vulnerable, and open to growth. I filled page upon page of my journal, trying to capture the thoughts and feelings from the henna journey. My regular therapy session was consumed with musings from Mektoub. My personal, emotional and mental growth took on huge, life-changing leaps. My ability for self-reflection has reached new levels of awareness. And amongst all of this I realised: I hadn’t rediscovered my connection to henna; I had found a new connection.

24/06/2021 by: Connie

Me & Eyecare (AD/gifted review)

This blog post review was written in exchange for a gifted optical service by Truesmiths Eyecare. While neither party were paid in this exchange and this is an affiliated ad post, all views expressed here are my own.

I’ve been wearing glasses since I was 6 years old. Most days I couldn’t even remember to wear my glasses to school, but I knew exactly where I left them whenever my friend (who had already been wearing glasses for 2 years) asked me where my glasses were that day (usually on my bedside table). I have astigmatism (basically, it’s a rugby ball-shaped eyeball) and I also have a lazy eye (my left eye tends to let my right eye do most of the heavy lifting. It took ten years for my eyesight to deteriorate to the -4.75 to -5 region, and it was not stabilising for long enough for me to be considered for the pioneering corrective laser eye surgery. It was when I was 22 years old, with a -5.25 and -5.75 prescription, with only 18 months of stability that I was cleared to take the plunge and have LASIK. It was an incredibly traumatic 17 minutes (which was precluded with the most frightening risks/consent document I have ever read) that resulted in immediately perfect vision post-op. After the recovery period, I experienced a new sense of freedom in life – seeing my alarm clock in the morning, seeing where I was walking when I got up in the middle of the night, seeing where my eyeliner was going. Oh and spontaneous sleepovers. You know, important things. Eventually, I settled down, started a family and smartphones took over the world. Increased screentime and age lead to my eyesight deteriorating again aged 32 and I’ve been back to wearing glasses ever since. But unlike my childhood years, I embraced the opportunity to make a style statement by collecting a multitude of new frames each time my prescription was updated. I would decline the glasses offered by the high street opticians, which I felt were generic, and boring. Instead, I would opt for online suppliers for the vastly lower prices, and much more colourful variety.

Me with my glasses throughout the years before LASIK

We are a glasses-dominated family. We visit the opticians as regularly as the dentist in fact, more so through the pandemic. We’ve been to enough franchise opticians now that I even have an embargo on one particular brand following a nonsensical customer service experience. I had my fair share of blame in the incident but it was nothing that a little touch of humanity might have resolved, but I digress. I switched to another high street optician and I also started searching for independent opticians. I wanted to find a family optician service that would remind me of the experiences I used to have at my annual eye test with the now-defunct Dollond & Aitchison. And I wanted to turn away from the national franchises in order to support hard-working independent businesses instead.

A selection of the glasses I have worn in my 30s

It’s not easy to find independent service providers nowadays. Capitalism has really made big business for big businesses being able to take advantage of economies of scale and use a centralised manufacturing centre for cost effectiveness. I’ll admit I didn’t search very hard. So when I received a direct message on my Instagram from someone named Laura , complimenting my choice of glasses and inviting me to an opportunity for a gifted eyecare service in return for promoting their glasses and service through a review and social media content, it felt like for once the creepy, stalky social media algorithms had finally connected me to something I genuinely needed.

So I’ve been wearing glasses again for the last 10 years. I have had countless frames of varying colours and styles. And after 10 years I now specifically seek out metal cat-eye frames, with nose pads that will sit and stay in place on my Asian bridge without slowly sliding down my nose. There’s nothing more annoying than going about your merry day, maybe catching up with friends, taking a selfie and then realising that your glasses have actually dropped right down and the frame is basically covering your eye line. Ugh. I explained this to Laura in our DM exchange (and once again for good measure when we met in person).

  • LED glasses by Speculite!
A selection of the glasses I have worn in my 30s

After discussing available and convenient times Laura booked me in for my appointment through our message exchanges. I could have booked online via their website. Or phoned in (*shudder*). Or Whatsapped or I could have literally just walked up to the shop on the day for an eye test. This makes for a very accessible service (from which I need to learn for my henna appointments to be honest). I haven’t used any of these other booking methods though, and Truesmiths are really very new – lilke opened in March 2021 *new* – so I would be braced to come up against any teething problem style technical glitches. If in doubt, phone up during opening times to check availability, if talking on the phone doesn’t faze you at all. But if it does, just whatsapp them.

One thing I hadn’t fully disclosed to Laura about our arrangement was that this was my first ad/gifted promotion. And I was very excited. I poked around the Truesmith corporate instagram account and found it generic and a little sparse (though there will be a new member on the team soon who comes from a marketing and media background who can jhusjh it up – *fingers crossed*). From there I got the address for my satnav: Morrisons, 265 Bradford Road, BD10 8EG. I wondered what sort of setup it would be. I envisioned the opticians to be occupying a unit space much like the dry cleaners/locksmith/pharmacy services.

Like the dilgent and keen bod that I am, I arrived 15 minutes early. I switched my engine off and noted that parking and accessibility obviously isn’t an issue at all thanks to the benefit of the existing Morrisons infrastructure: Masses of dedicated car parking space, disabled parking bays, parent and child parking, flat level pavements and entry ways, and all the sanitising stations we have all come to expect. I had parked behind a departing police car, loaded with officers who had just bought some lunch from the deli counter. I put on my face cover and wandered into the building.

For the next 5 minutes I wandered up and down by the rows of checkouts, looking for Truesmiths. I saw the dry cleaners, the pharmacy, the customer toilets, the food bank collection point. Then I turned and walked in the opposite direction and passed the cafe and photo shop. Then I wondered if I had been short-sighted (pun intended) and checked the other side again, including the kiosk area. Ok, so wait Connie. It is definitely in here because it’s online and Laura confirmed the address. I have seen at least 3 A-boards for Truesmiths. So it was definitely in here somewhere. I looked up at the aisle numbers in the supermarket and then I spotted the big Truesmiths Eyecare sign (It’s floating above the opticians in the photo below, perpendicular to the aisle signs – but I only got the back of it, sorry).

Ohhhhhh…. so it’s actually in Morrisons. Like: In, in. My anxiety calmed, I slowed to a regular walking pace again and then I realised I was cold. Jeez. The air conditioning is seriously working hard in here. I should probably not have worn an open back blouse.

The Truesmith shop is over two aisles wide, located within Morrisons in the personal care section

After passing through market street and down the middle of the store, Truesmiths was signposted by another A-board and located prominently in the personal care section. We awkwardly but warmly greeted each other – since we’d met online, survived a pandemic, and weathered several lockdowns, I realised that there is no social interaction template that seems “natural” anymore. I explained the struggle I’d had finding the shop. Laura was super understanding, explaining that they were trying more signage but were open to any suggestions that may come to mind. I asked for a “located in Morrison’s personal care section” giant update sticker to all of the A-boards. Maybe even a floor decal at the motion sensor gate entry point.

Truesmiths Eyecare is mostly open plan, with 3 (maybe 4?) closed consultation rooms, and a partitioned pre-assessment area with a really cool roller-retractable screen – this is the area you go to sit and look at that distantly colourful hot air balloon in a field, that blurs and comes into clear view. If you’re of a particular age, this is also where you have that awful “short puff of air” glaucoma test, the one that makes you jump out of your chair. I also had the backs of my eyes photographed by that other machine with the extremely bright light – which always makes my eyes water. Laura took my glasses to check the prescription I was currently wearing and compared it to the last prescription that I managed to find on file amongst my emails somewhere. She was able to tell me if the online, overseas supplier had got the prescription right – this is of course the main, serious downfall of online overseas eyewear suppliers. It turns out that my lenses were only a tiny bit “off”. They weren’t 100% spot-on, but they were definitely not the worst online bought lenses she had ever checked. I was relieved to hear this and ashamed that I, a person who has had so many optician’s appointments in my life and knows exactly how important good eyecare and accurate eyewear is for eye health, could have the audacity to even wear the online-bought-glasses to my in-person appointment. But they’re pretty!! That’s why I buy online! The styles are so much nicer and funkier! I’ve even kept the online frames and paid [a lot] to have them reglazed (that is, I paid a high street optician to replace the lenses with my new prescription for me). I get a lot of compliments on the online frames. They’re always oversized cat-eye style – and that’s just not very easy to find in stores. But I will admit that I do hack the frames and modify them with silicone arm covers, and new nose pads to improve the comfort of wearing them since they are typically heavy frames:

My online ordered glasses from an overseas supplier. The frames on the left were reglazed earlier this year with my latest prescription. Both are heavy frames weighing around 20 – 25gms each.

Very shortly I was introduced to Hafsa my optometrist for the eye test. Hafsa asked me the expected series of questions, how long I’ve worn glasses, previous eye health (e.g. my LASIK surgery) current health, and all that jazz. She momentarily invited me to take a seat at a big machine on the other side of the room to try out – a fancy new sight assessment machine-thingamijig. I’m going to show my age now, as I remember back in the day when the board on the opposing wall was actually a board with letters or even a flipchart style board. I remember the examination rooms that needed to be loooooong for your eye test. I even remember the first time I walked in for an eye test and noticed the room was significantly smaller because mirrors were introduced, which meant you only needed a room half the size for the same eye test. And now, Hafsa was introducing me to a machine that I could just sit at, that could be used to carry out all those same distance tests, and allow her, the optometrist, to do all those tweaks, and lens swap/twists/turns from a computer in the same room. OMG. I still remember wearing heavy half-frames with tons of little monocle style lenses inserted, perched precariously on my tiny bridge, threatening to fall off my face every 10 seconds. Technology is COOL. Though there are limitations. Case in point – LASIK surgery has permanently altered the structure of my cornea, which the machine picked up almost immediately so we couldn’t use the exciting tech gadgetry. Not a problem at all for Hafsa, and not a problem for me – as far as I am concerned, the existing machinery is still Star Trek level advanced.

In the photo on the right, peep the assessment partioned area in the backgound

If you’ve had eye tests before, then you know the drill: Sit in a chair, look at a mirror on the opposing wall, read out [i.e. guess] the increasingly small alphabet letters, check the circles on red/green backgrounds, and decide whether the cluster of dots are better or worse with option 1 or 2, or “about the same”. She also checked my reading vision – because I’m 42 years old now, which means the dreaded long-sightedness is creeping in. My previous opticians had said that it wasn’t imperative to have a prescription set of reading glasses, though it may make up-close detailed work more comfortable, they suggested I try a cheap pair of reading glasses instead – which was a fair and economical suggestion that I appreciated, yet never followed through with. At Truesmiths, Hafsa and Laura chatted with me about having two pairs of glasses, versus having “booster” lenses. Let’s be honest here, we all know those booster lenses are probably bifocals/varifocals, and I’ll be very very honest: I am not ready for bifocals. Laura then assured me that actually, since booster lenses can’t be made on-site/in 30 minutes as they need to be tailored to each person’s sight, single vision glasses would be better for today’s experience. Thanks, Laura, for not telling me to get bifocals. I truly appreciate that!

Then came the part that I used to hate: Choosing a set of frames.

Aged 20 before I could FINALLY get a pair of plan black frames

I grew up wearing mostly oversized glasses, with a large lenses that would have a long drop so the glasses sort of sat on my cheeks, while the top of the frames would inevitably cover my eyes having slipped down my nose. All I ever wanted for the entirety of my teens was a pair of black metal frames that fit properly – oval, ideally. The choices I was offered year after year were gold, silver, or pink acetate. Always full-frame, always the classic shape. Some years I would be able to get new frames during a family trip to Hong Kong where the frames would be better suited to my bone structure. But back here at home, nothing ever inspired me. I would end up settling for whatever was the best of the very poor options, and then they would tell me that with my [previously] very severe prescription, the thinnest lenses would still be too thick for the frames I had settled on. So then, I would need to go with my 2nd choice of the very poor options, sometimes even worse. So I hated it. I really hated choosing frames. This memory is what fuelled the collection of multiple frames when I came to need glasses again aged 32, with a much weaker prescription. I didn’t need to worry about thick lenses anymore so the options increased exponentially so I bought all of the colours!

Some of the displays in Truesmiths Eyecare – The kids selection really caught my eye. Some great colours!

The selection of frames that Laura has stocked at Truesmiths is deceptive. At a glance you might think it’s just like any other opticians’ selection – maybe even a bit smaller than I remember seeing at my last high street opticians appointment 6 months ago. At least that was my first impression. But in the end, I picked out 11 metal frames to try on. Two of these were purple (proper purple, not dark purple/black), turquoise was in there and tortoiseshell too for good measure. Several were my preferred cat-eye style, but we had wildcard options thrown in too, including a rounded square gold frame. Why not, after all, trying on frames is free!

The 11 frames selected to try – The 9 frames eliminated

We took my tray of sample frames back to our table where I sat trying on each frame, progressively eliminating frames before finally settling on a black cat-eye frame with gold accents, and an antique metallic gold rounded square frame – yes, the wildcard option that we threw in. Then I had to decide which frames would be my distance glasses and which would be my reading glasses. I had reached decision fatigue, so I asked Laura for her opinion and went with her judgment. The cat-eye would be my work/reading glasses. And the gold would be my general wear glasses – lighter.

Then the next thing that happened was something entirely new to my combined 25 years of wearing glasses.

Laura checked for lenses and returned with 2 pairs of ready-made lenses in my prescription. She explained that my prescription was in stock so they would be able to put the lenses into the brand new sets of the frames I had just selected. It would be done in-store – yes, that’s on-site, right there in the shop – and would be ready in 30 minutes. She opened the lenses to show me. I was fascinated. I took pictures and my brain very slowly processed the information she had just told me. It sank in and suddenly I stopped, looking at Laura and proclaimed: “This Is So Cool. I am geeking out!”

Lenses – not bubbles – ready to be graded to fit brand new frames in my chosen style

I think it’s just seeing the lenses in this form, circular, and then seeing my selected frames, and then realising that someone would be taking those circular lenses, and grading them down to fit into my new frames in the next 30 minutes… My mind was a little bit blown. It seemed like such a straightforward and simple task when presented by the Truesmith team. But it’s just not something I’ve been offered by other opticians before. (I remember when VisionExpress used to exist, promising glasses that would be ready in one hour – where are they now?)

I actually didn’t even finish the muffin…

Laura sent me away to wander the store or visit the cafe while they made my new glasses. It occurs to me now that I could have stayed and stared at the team working on my new frames, intimidatingly scrutinising the process. But I didn’t. I opted to grab a hot chocolate (Morrison’s is seriously cold) and a blueberry muffin from the self service cafe, choose a seat, then sit down to WhatsApp my immediate family and friends that I was in shock and geeking out because my glasses were being made right that second and would be ready in 30 minutes. I nibbled on the muffin and gulped down my very-quickly-cooling hot chocolate for some much-needed body heat. Halfway through my muffin I was interrupted by an SMS update to let me know that my glasses were now ready for collection.

What.

Time stamp above the photo

I checked the time stamp on the photo I had taken when I left the opticians: 13:32

I checked the time stamp on the SMS notification: 13:52

What?!!

I rose slowly from my seat, simultaneously typing the news to my friends. Almost immediately they asked ‘where exactly is this optician?’ I wandered back to Truesmiths with my head hunched over my phone, pinging details to my friends. Laura welcomed me back, brought out my glasses in their cases from the drawer where I presume she had just put them away only moments before. We sat down and started to fit the new frames for my comfort. It was so easy. I don’t know if it was the style of the frame I chose, or if it was the universe aligning. Or maybe it’s Laura being an expert and making it look dead easy, but the first set of glasses fit perfectly with zero adjustments required. Absolutely nothing. The second set, the cat-eye, needed the nose pads adjusting and the arms curving more to go around my ears. She took them momentarily to adjust and returned for me to find that once again, they fit perfectly. We checked that my mascara wasn’t rubbing the lenses. I scrunched my nose to check for sliding (which tbh doesn’t happen until my face has fully greased up the silicone nose pads which takes roughly 10 days). Everything was perfect and that was it. All done.

I think something inside me was unnerved by the unprecedented speed of service because this was the moment I decided to quiz Laura on all sorts of random things that came to mind. I suddenly had all the questions as if I was trying to stay longer to match the template from all the experiences I’ve had with other opticians…

Do you recycle old frames? Yes, using the VisionAid service. Also all the glasses cases are made from recycled sea plastic. Side note: I love the glasses cases. They open up completely flat, but fold up and close up into a lovely stackable oblong box – much easier to store if you happen to collect frames like I do, and like to change up your style.

Open-flat recycled sea plastic glasses cases – So clever!

How do you make your service more accessible for diversity and inclusion? At least half the members of staff are bilingual and representative of the South East Asian communities in Bradford. Approved translation services over the phone are also used where English is not a fluent language. Also, in addition to being able to have walk-in eye tests while you’re in-store picking up your weekly groceries, you can book your eye test through a variety of methods (phone call, WhatsApp, online via the website) which covers most of the preferred communication styles across different demographics. I don’t recall seeing a hearing aid induction loop, so I can’t confirm that detail. However, the protective clear screens in-store are practical and effective, so there is the opportunity for removing face coverings for lip reading, though you will need to let the team know. The entire shop is level access – with standard doorways.

Can you do anything about the cold inside Morrisons – like have some heaters under the service tables? Appreciate that – good idea, heaters under the tables could work! I myself would suggest bringing extra layers for warmth if you are a person who tends to run a little cold.

Will you have more stylish frames coming in? Watch this space. Laura has been invited to design her own range of frames which will be completed and available in-store next year. In previous positions she has provided handpainted frames – I didn’t even know this was a thing that could be done – and she has a lot of insight into what makes frames both stylish and functional. I can see her creativity peeking out in her personal expression and it gives me hope that I will one day have a very awesome set of colourful frames without compromising on frame weight and buying from overseas online providers.

Will you be opening more branches? Hopefully in more Morrisons stores. Truesmiths is not contracted by Morrisons and is a true independent service that has opted and been accepted by Morrisons to operate within the supermarket, taking advantage of its well-established premises and presence. This means you get the personal customer attention you’d expect from a small independently-owned local business, that is not beholden to Morrison’s handbook and mass-produced protocols. Having worked in a supermarket myself, and a supermarket pharmacy, I have seen firsthand how the goals of a national chain superstore can be severely counter-productive to providing a community health service.

So how can people book an eye test with you? Can they just turn up and walk in for an eye test while they’re in Morrison’s? Yes. That is a service that is available. Or you can book online via the Truesmiths Eyecare website. You can call the store during opening times (01274 621992, 9AM – 6PM Monday Saturday, 10AM – 4PM Sunday). And you can also book in via WhatsApp (07865 531114). This just about covers all styles of communication for the typical customer in 2021 – except maybe email, which is available if you wanted to try (info@truesmithseyecare.co.uk).

Bottom line: What was the cost??

The completed prescription glasses I took home with me

The total value of the two pairs of glasses I took home would have cost me £130. The gold rounded-square frames were £110 including thinner/lighter lenses for an additional £20. The black cat-eye frames were £85, but Truesmiths operate a 2 for 1 policy so I would only need to pay for the higher-priced pair. Anti-glare finished lenses come as standard and the eye test is free when you buy glasses in-store. If that amount still sounds like a lot (which it is as a standalone number, to be fair) I have just checked my bank statements to find I paid £220 to the previous national opticians simply to replace the lenses in my existing frames with my new prescription and it took 3 weeks for me to get the glasses back (a standard 2-week wait, plus another week delay due to lack of communications from them). If I had selected from their frames in-store at the high street opticians it would have come to approximately £130-180 (one pair of single vision glasses, plus thinner lens, anti-reflection, anti-scratch options etc), and the obligatory 2 weeks wait. So 20 minutes for two pairs of glasses for £130… If I am completely frank with you, I am still sitting here in shock as I type this review hours after the fact because it’s just a bit cool innit.

When it comes to buying glasses and accessing optical services it will of course boil down to personal preferences, accessibility, location, choice of frames, budget and more… but for me, I think it makes a lot of sense to finally leave national optician services for good and to bring my family (remembering to bring a cardigan for warmth) to Truesmiths Eyecare for our future eye tests from now on.

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