Angela Langford – it all started on Masterchef
Angela Langford’s love of food came from an early age, but it is fair to say that even though her parents ran a successful restaurant and hotel in Somerset, Angela didn’t really cook until after Uni – she once phoned her Mum from her student flat asking how long a chicken would take to cook. ‘An hour and fifteen minutes darling’ was the answer – to which Angela replied, ‘what if it’s frozen!?’
From then Angela made it her mission to learn how to cook, seeking guidance from her parents and devouring cookbook after cookbook. Having been a huge fan of cooking shows, including the likes of Keith Floyd and Rick Stein, it was always Masterchef that was her number one show – from the Lloyd Grossman days, right through to today with Gregg and John.
In the late Spring of 2013, Angela’s partner found out that the application forms for the next series were open. Angela would have loved to enter, but her mum was sick and she didn’t want to spend time away. Sadly, her mum passed away and, amongst the grief and anguish, her partner mentioned that the applications were about to close and how entering for her mum would be a fitting tribute.
That evening, they filled out the form, hitting send and thinking nothing more of it. The next day, to Angela’s surprise, she had a call from the TV people asking for an interview. This then led to a face-to-face interview on camera, where Angela had to cook a dish for the TV production team (she made goose liver pâté with bacon brioche).
A few weeks later, she got the call that she would be on television! Being on the show was a surreal experience for Angela. The studio, the cameras; John and Gregg were overwhelming to start with, but Angela grew throughout the show, cooking for Charles Campion (who loved her crab dish), to Marcus Wareing (who called her dish a dogs dinner!), to cooking with some of her food heroes – Bruno Loubet, John Campbell and Tom Kerridge.
The highlight of the show for Angela was walking onto the iconic set of Eastenders – an even more surreal experience than being in the Masterchef kitchen! So, in the middle of Albert Square, Angela and her fellow contestants teamed up to cook the cast and crew lunch, in freezing conditions. She loved it!
Angela won through the rounds, eventually making Finals Week – a huge achievement considering she thought she had no chance even making the show, let alone doing well. But doing well she did, losing out on the cook-off with the eventual winner, Ping Coombes.
Angela made so many memories, but more importantly made best friends from the show – and her love of cooking continues not only in her food festival appearances, or her pop-up restaurant in Pembrokeshire, or her TV appearances on the BBC (she’s since been a guest judge on the show, as well as BBC Children In Need and BBC Breakfast) – but in her skincare.
“My story for launching my range of natural and organic skincare was rather unusual and an accident,” explains Angela. “There wasn’t anyone with super-sensitive skin, or acute eczema that I wanted to cure. My story is a little more selfish than that!
Working in Gibraltar, in the world of online gaming of all things, I was made redundant and had far too much time on my hands. Living in Spain 12 years ago, I didn’t have access to many things that we now take for granted – one of which was access to good skincare. My favourite brands simply weren’t available to buy where I lived, so I decided to do what most people wouldn’t – I thought I would make my own.
Being a passionate cook, my reasoning was that it didn’t seem unreasonable in thinking that creating skincare products is very similar to creating recipes, after all, making skincare products includes using the best ingredients you can find, they’re heated or emulsified or folded into each other, albeit more scientific than that, to end up with a product that is good for you.
So, I embarked on a journey that would involve being taught skincare production by an inspirational man who was the best in the business, I travelled back and forth from Spain to the UK to complete my studies. What was originally just a hobby to supply some creams and oils for myself and my immediate family escalated to friends and friends of friends – to a point where I decided to launch my own range to the public. I hope I can help you find your recipe for great skin.”
Bloom & Glow, a radiance restoring face oil made with chia seed and sea buckthorn. It’s perfect for skin that is sensitive, easily inflamed or generally out of kilter. This oil is your recipe for gorgeous, glowing, radiant skin. Massage a couple of drops into clean skin using gentle upward strokes. You can use it on its own or after applying your moisturiser. Using this oil regularly will leave you looking, feeling and smelling gorgeous. It’ll help balance your skin and restore natural radiance and can be used during the day and at night.
