An increasingly ageing population in the U.K. has generated interest in fostering healthy and active ageing, both at a societal level and from the point of view of government economic strategies for the future (Jacobzone, 2000; Welsh Assembly Government, 2007a, 2007c). Due to a rise in life-expectancy an increasing amount of time is being spent by older adults in retirement and adapting healthily to moving from working life to non-working life is crucial for successful ageing. There is evidence of two distinct retirement subgroups. The first comprises the majority of people, those who are well adjusted to life in retirement, while the second includes people who do not adjust well to this change in lifestyle (Wang, 2007). The second, though a minority group, may consist of up to thirty percent of the population (Petkoska & Earl, 2009). However, very little is known about how to positively prepare for retirement, and there are relatively few studies to date that explore individuals' perceptions of a lifestyle in retirement. Hence, there is a need to build up a body of evidence regarding the determinants of successful ageing for policy makers, for society as a whole and for the individuals themselves (Welsh Assembly Government, 2007b). As increasing recognition is accorded to the impact of retirement on the ability age healthily and successfully, it is proposed that an understanding of the changing views of normality when adapting to retirement can play an important role in contributing toward building up a robust evidence base. The aim of this project was to investigate the impact of retirement on lifestyle choices and explore the determinants of behaviour change at this time of transition in the lifespan with people living in South Wales. Utilising a mixed methods approach to investigate self-perceptions of changes, transitions and transformations into retirement; two studies ran concurrently: a survey completed by participants on two separate occasions, and an innovative series of three time-interval interviews. Inferences were made between the survey results and the cross-sectional and longitudinal findings of the interview analyses. The survey results revealed that preretirement levels of stress were reduced post-retirement, and the intention to take more exercise in the future was reported as having been achieved in the interviews. Adapting to a post-retirement lifestyle involved a shift in the perspective of normality with regard to deteriorating health, a change in the pace of life, a rethinking (in some cases reinventing) forms of social engagement and an acceptance of a changing financial status. The implications of these results are that retirement is not marked by a single date but is a process which begins pre-retirement and continues post-retirement, as suggested by Pinquart & Schindler (2007). Theories of both health and ageing support the proposition that successful ageing involves a positive view leading to a time of growth and development which can be achieved by the setting of meaningful goals. For this cohort, the transition into retirement involved the setting up, and following through, of goals for behaviour change which when implemented, resulted in a successful retirement. The participants had been recruited via preparation for retirement workshops. Access to retirement preparation courses is not consistent across the U.K. and currently there is a dearth of evidence regarding their impact on successful ageing in participants. Given the current focus on fostering healthy and active ageing determining the efficacy of participation in preparation for retirement courses would make a positive contribution to our understanding of the transition into retirement so that as many people as possible can age successfully.

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This thesis is a study of the under-researched subject of British hairdressing, focussing on the growth of London’s West End hair salons from 1954 to 1975. It challenges dominant historical accounts that have focussed on Paris and examines developments in London, leading to its centrality as a centre for hairdressing creativity in the 1960s. It culturally contextualises these shifts in the consumption of hair dressing in Britain from 1954 to 1975 by analysing the leading trade paper, the Hairdressers’ Journal signalling how salon design and management, and hair dressing’s fashionable consumption during this era related to wider socio-economic and cultural developments. This study is divided into four chapters. Chapter One examines the emergence of the public ladies’ hair salon in the late nineteenth century and the developments in its interior design up to 1950s evaluating the hair salon as a gendered public space in Mayfair, the heart of elite West End hairdressing. Chapter Two explains why Mayfair became established as a place of luxury and elitism and how this was manifest in the style of the salons and hairdressing performed there and through its perception as such in British provinces. Chapter Three identifies the major innovations in cutting and colouring techniques which elevated London to its position as a world leader in these practices. Furthermore, Black hairdressing and its professionalization as a result of mass-immigration, is analysed. Chapter Four investigates why smaller, intimate spaces including hair salons attracted fashionable youth audiences and it examines the salon’s suitability as economically viable entrepreneurial space aimed at young consumers. It contends that economic changes coupled with more informal social attitudes led to the formation of unisex salons. My conclusion argues that these developments in British hairdressing and hair salon design from 1954 to 1975 evidence an important transitional moment in hairdressing history and in its consumption. It maintains that while West End hairdressing was an elite part of the national hairdressing trade in Britain, nevertheless, it was keenly responsive to broader socio-cultural and economic changes, which directed and shaped its practices and consumption patterns and its international standing.

This PhD project comprised the development of a state-of-the-art multi-physic modelling framework for the characterisation of wet shaving interactions in a coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian finite element environment. The experimental characterisation of shave prep fluids required the development of sound methodologies to capture the viscous and adhesive properties of the shave prep fluids. The process required step by step modelling approach for the verification of the fluid viscous response and the analysis of the contact interactions and its implications in the behavioural response and simulation run-time performance. The final product resulted in a modular finite element framework, for its application in the analysis of wet-shaving lubrication phenomena, for the assessment of new products designs. Going beyond the original purposes of the project, an state-of-the-art anatomical skin model was developed with the use of image-based modelling techniques, capturing the skin microstructure with high geometrical fidelity. This model was applied for the investigation of the role of the skin microstructure on the macroscopic response to deformation and contact interactions, revealing a complex non-linear interplay between the geometry and mechanical characteristics of the skin layers. In extension/compression, the skin topography reassembles a ‘hinge-like’ mechanism for dissipation of strains in the epidermis, where highest levels of strains were observed at the skin furrows, and lowest at the crests. In contact interactions simulations, the topographic features of the skin appear to dominate the global friction response. The study revealed that the stratum corneum plays a crucial role in the peripheral deformation and propagation of stress, further away from the area of contact. The high concentration of shear stresses derived from the multi-asperity contact summed to the high concentration of strains in the skin furrows, highlighted the importance of the skin microstructure on the mechano-biological implications of shear stress and strain distribution within the skin layers.

It was long believed that humans were unable to utilise the odours of conspecifics to co-ordinate social interactions in ways in which other species appear to be capable. However, a surge in interest in human social olfaction has recently challenged this view. The numerous studies conducted in this area have found that multiple state and trait related cues can be detected in body odour. Furthermore, many studies indicate that women are often more sensitive to these cues, and that sensitivity can be associated with fertility, findings that are consistent with sex differences in reproductive effort and benefits of choosiness in mate-searching. Since previous studies in this area have usually addressed the potential for humans to use olfactory communication in a comparable manner to other mammals, they typically involve collection and assessment of ‘natural’ odour. That is, they explicitly exclude the possibility of ‘contamination’ of odour samples by artificial fragrances. However, humans have used artificial fragrances for millennia, across many different cultures. This raises the question of whether widespread fragrance use may affect or disrupt the detection of this information in modern humans. The first aim of this thesis was to address this question by investigating how fragrance use may mediate the detection of olfactory information in humans. As well as providing further evidence for sex differences in the assessment of olfactory cues, and for the role of olfaction in real world partner choice, the findings herein suggest that fragrance may act differently on different information being assessed, potentially masking accurate assessment of certain traits (such as masculinity), while fragrance choice and preferences may be important in complementing other olfactory information (such as the general distinguishability of an individuals’ odour profile). A second aim of the thesis was to develop a scale in order to more accurately describe the varying perceptual qualities of human body odour – in other words to map human body odours. This work was conducted alongside perfumers in order to benefit from their expertise in olfactory perception and semantic labelling of odours. The development of such a scale could enable improved understanding of the perceptual qualities of human odour, making it possible to link specific perceptual qualities to specific cues (e.g. symmetry, masculinity, sex) or to manipulate odours based on perceptual qualities in experimental settings, and has direct practical implications for fragrance designers and for improving the ability of individuals to choose fragrance products that suit their odour profile. The second section of the thesis focuses on the effects of odours on the individual wearer as well as on perceivers in the environment. One study is presented which investigates the role of malodour reduction compared to the addition of fragrances in perceptions of confidence and attractiveness, finding that both the reduction of malodour and the addition of fragrance appear to be important for confidence as rated by others in the environment. The final study presented in the thesis examines a hitherto un-investigated role of olfaction during human pregnancy. The rationale for the study is based on evidence suggesting that in certain non-human species, which also show bi-parental care of offspring, there may be a role for chemical, or odour based, communication which underpins behavioural and endocrinological changes related to infant care behaviours in males. The study found little evidence to support the presence of analogous olfactory signalling during human pregnancy, though the findings are discussed in light of methodological changes which, if made in future studies, may result in different outcomes. The thesis concludes with a discussion of the importance of continuing to investigate various forms of olfactory communication, as well as improving our understanding of odours through the mapping of their perceptual qualities, and finally further examining the ways in which various fragranced products, which are widely used in society, may affect all of this. Future directions for this area of research are discussed. This line of investigation will, I argue, enable us to finally establish the true role of olfaction in contemporary social environments.