Archive for the ‘Beauty’ Category

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28 July 2011: 09:00

Holiday Beauty Essentials

Holidays are wonderful things but if there’s one thing that makes going away a bit of a pain it’s having to leave things behind our beauty products. A lot of women (and men) would agree that ALL beauty items are essential.  Alas, there is a weight limit and if you’re going for hand luggage, a size limit, so we have to cut back. Still here are some of our favourite handy travel items.

All-in-one

Elizabeth Arden’s Eight Hour Cream is a beauty essential any time of the year and this sun cream pack for £29 from Debenhams is one of our favourites. The After The Rain travellers set from Debenhams is also a very pretty compact pack with all you need.  Plus it’s a steal at £5.62.

Mix and match

If you, like us, are obsessed with all things miniature, stock up on Superdrug’s mini essentials.  Our favourites are the Palmer’s Cocoa butter,  this Ooh La La travel pack of washing and lotioning essentials, the tea tree exfoliating wash which will keep your skin free of dead cells and clear for the sun.  John Frieda’s travel packs for blondes and brunettes are perfect but always take your Batiste dry shampoo in handy travel size just in case. 

Can’t live without

If you really can’t bear to be without your products then just take them with you but in handy travel-sized bottles like this spray bottle from Boots for only £1.55 a pop or this pack of four from Debenhams (£7.99).

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Categories: Beauty, Best Buys

25 July 2011: 09:56

Who needs a beach? Holiday at home essentials

It’s July, very nearly August.  We should be basking in the sun, making sandcastles and wearing floaty dresses.  Alas, last week we wore umbrellas and, some of us even resorted to coats and tights.  Tights.  In July.  Wrong.  So, we’ve come up with an ingenius way to fake the holiday at home.  Here are some of the delights in store that make us think we’re somewhere far prettier than reality.

Bobbi Brown Beach, £21, House of Fraser. 
A blend of aloe vera, olive, jojoba and Sunflower oils plus green tea and antioxidants, this moisturiser reduces peeling and prolongs the life of the tan if you are lucky enough to be on holiday.  If not, the scent of beach will make you feel like you are.


Beach Walk Yankee candle, £18.45, Debenhams.   Refreshing salt water and sea musk warmed with sunny notes of tangerine and orange blossom take your living room out of England and imagine just outside your door the sea is lapping up to a sandy beach.

India Hicks Island Living Lotion, £20, House of Fraser.    Pretend you’re in the tropics with Crabtree & Evelyn India Hicks Spider Lily Body Lotion silkens skin with tropical mango seed oil, hibiscus flower and honey extracts and leaves it delicately scented with a refreshing tropical green fragrance. 

 

Tropical Tranquility Radox Summer Smoothies, £1.40, Boots.    The tropics in a £1.40 tube has to be the best bargain holiday in a tube we’ve seen. The luxorious coconut shower smoothie with crushed almonds and myrrh is just delicious.

 Beach Bars, £5.50,  Lush.  With Sandstone, to make you think of cocktails at the beach, and a slice of Sea Vegetable, which takes you to the calm of the cool seas with seaweed, lavender and lime these beach bars are holiday at home essentials.

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Categories: Beauty, Best Buys, Product Reviews

17 July 2011: 09:50

Handbag essential: Mocha rose lip balm

Product: Rosebud Mocha Rose Lip Balm 

Available from: House of Fraser

Price: £8.00

What it claims to do:

Rosebud Perfume Co. Mocha Rose Lip Balm is a trade secret blend of Essential Oils, Shea Butter and Vitamin E in a special Petrolatum base. Infused with the coffee shop flavours of mocha, chocolate, and vanilla. Its aromatic properties practically burst out of the tin when you open it.

Review:

Lip balm, like hand cream is a handbag and bedside table essential.  I live in fear of dry hands and lips and admittedly panic a little when I find there isn’t any to hand.  But I’ve never been fussy, as long as it moisturises and isn’t too gloopy I’m happy.  This lip balm though is something I love carrying around in my handbag, not just as a necessity and something I love using, not just something that stops me getting dry and angry.  It does the job but instead of looking medicinal and boring, the retro packaging is gorgeous and the smell is delicious. 

Final verdict

A side table and handbag essential which smells and looks so much prettier than any other pot out there.

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11 July 2011: 14:02

Introducing Disguys, an all new cover-up stick. For men.

Women, you’re going to have to make some space in your beauty cabinets as an all new brand of make up is launching exclusively for men next month. 

Disguys is a men’s cover-up stick, disguys designed to conceal and give an even skin tone.  For spots, blemishes and under eye circles the range is available in three tones, light, medium or dark, and will be sold in Boots stores from August.

It starts with concealer but we could be witnessing the rise of guyliner and a whole range of products for the male population.  Watch this space…

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Categories: Beauty

2 June 2011: 09:00

The festival beauty guide

Festival season is once again upon us and if you’re heading to one of this year’s big music events you need to be resourceful with your beauty bag . Here are our beauty essentials to keep you looking perfect all through festival season.

Hair

1. Batiste dry shampoo, £2.35 from Boots

2. Sea Salt Spray from Toni&Guy’s Label M, £11.75

3. If all else fails – a Trilby or Panama hat from River Island like this stone one for £14.99

Make-up

1. Tinted moisturiser with SPF such as You Rebel by Benefit.  Available at Debenhams for £23.50.

2. Multi-use cream stick – Prism from Topshop, £10

3. Maybelline Waterproof mascara, Superdrug, £7.50

4. Carmex Lipbalm, £2.50

Skincare

1. La Roche, Sunscreen spray, £18.89 for 200ml from Boots

2. Eau Thermal Avene Water Spray, £6.50, from Boots

3. Neutrogena Facial wipes, £4.38, from Boots

4. Garnier tanning moisturiser, £2.53 at Superdrug

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Categories: Beauty, Best Buys, Don't Miss, How To

1 June 2011: 13:00

The perfect skin illusion. Thanks Clarins.

Product: Clarins Skin Illusion

  

 

Available from: House of Fraser

Price: £24.00

What it claims to do:

A light reflecting hydrating foundation that perfectly combines mineral and plant active ingredients to create a natural looking complexion. The unique blend of active skin care ingredients continuously hydrates and protects. Your skin, only better.

Review:

I’ve never been big on foundation for the day.  I’m more of a tinted moisturiser with a little concealer, maybe some powder for the day kind of girl with foundation as the base for more full on evening make up.  But I’ve been looking to change that for a while since, well, it seems the right thing to do toward the latter end of my twenties. While tinted moisturiser won’t cut I don’t want to look too made up. 

I’ve always liked Clarins skincare products but have to admit they weren’t massively on my radar for make up so I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised when I tried this foundation.  It feels light and needs only a pea-sized blob to cover the entire face.  It’s mineral which feels better on the skin and it blends perfectly.

So the ultimate test: I wore it to lunch with friends keeping the rest of my make up light.  Not one of them commented on how great my foundation was.  All of them commented on how great my skin looked.  I pretended it was plenty of water and good diet.   

Final verdictAn excellent foundation for natural-looking but very effective coverage.  A little goes a long way and it lasts all day, is a very good base for concealer and blush and feels like a second skin.  A real beauty investment.

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26 May 2011: 12:51

How to do the Kate Middleton blow dry

With those long, shiny, healthy looking waves the ‘Kate Middleton’ has fast become  the new ‘Rachel’ as the most talked about and requested hair style of the moment.  Even Cheryl ‘because-I’m-worth-it’ Cole has said she’s jealous of Kate’s bouncy locks.

So I set out to get my very own Kate blow dry and asked our friends at Hershesons Blow Dry Bar to show me how it’s done.

The finished look was a sleeker version of their big and brushed style with soft pretty waves just like Kate’s.   Here’s the video and a step guide, with details of the products used.

How to get Kate Middleton hair

The step-by-step guide

1. Wash the hair

2. Put a little volume spray, such as L’Oreal Volume lift, on the root

3. Rough dry the hair

4. When hair is 95% dry put a little serum spray on. Hershesons used L’Oreal tecni.art Pli which works as a base for creating waves and curls.

5. Section the hair, starting at the top.

6. Blow dry the hair with a large round brush.  (Hershesons used their own brand round brush no 2 which they sell in store)

7. Wrap the hair round the fingers and secure in place with a clip

8.  Spray a little hairspray, that classic favourite Elnett is best, to hold.

9. Unravel the rolled sections carefully to let the curls out.

10. Shake the hair out and blow dry (with large round brush) over any sections you want to make sleeker

11. (Bonus step) Pop over to Reiss or Whistles – Kate’s favourites – for an elegant dress and find yourself a Prince to marry.  Et voila!

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17 May 2011: 11:20

The beauty panel loves EcoTools brushes!

Product: EcoTools 6 Piece Brush Set

Available from: Boots

Price: £15.31

What it claims to do:

The EcoTools set which started it all.  Whether you want to hide imperfections, define eyes and brows, or create a rosy glow, our set of five beautiful and incredibly soft brushes is the perfect start to your makeup routine. Brushes feature bamboo handles, recycled aluminum ferrules and incredibly soft, cruelty-free bristles

Review:

The beauty panel has tried its fair share of brushes and we have our firm favourites. So, when a pack of brushes in unassuming eco-friendly packaging turned up at Westfield HQ, we shared the brushes between ourselves and didn’t think much more of it.   But one by one each of us started using our brush and one by one, we started raving about it.  Here are a few of the verdicts:

“I’ve never had a crease brush before and I’m not sure how I’ve managed to get through my make-up life without one!  The thickness and angle of the brush means that eye-shadow is smoothly over the eye socket in just one swoop but with very good definition. A professional application delivered in seconds, ” Sarah.

“As soon as I tried the eyeshading brush I loved it.  Delicate enough to precisely shade and blend and soft enough not to cause any friction in the delicate eye area, the brush is a must for any eyeshadow wearers.  I loved it so much and after hearing how much my colleagues loved their brushes I went straight to Boots to buy the whole set.  I’m now obsessed with my bamboo concealer brush which I use with Bobbi Brown concealer, my blusher brush and the incredibly precise eyeline brush,” Anna.

“I bought the Eco Tools five piece set after hearing about the quality of their brushes and am very happy with my purchase. The brushes are super- soft on your face and I can’t tell the difference between my expensive make-up brushes and Eco Tools. My favourite brushes are the big blush brush and eye-crease brush, which is excellent for applying eyeshadow,” Dearne

Final verdict
Eco-friendly and of a quality that matches those we’ve only ever found with more expensive, designer brushes but at a fraction of the price;  a really great buy.

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4 May 2011: 12:00

Reese Witherspoon’s Water for Elephants 30s hair

Today we look forward to the release of Water for Elephants starring Robertinson, Reese Witherspoon and Christophe Waltz.  The film, based on the acclaimed novel, is set in the 1930s which inspirates Reese’s the signature look in the film of long dresses matched with her short curly tresses.  We asked Danny De Freitas, Style Director at Toni&Guy Westfield London to give us some tips for how to acheive what we’re now lovingly calling the 1930s Reese bob.

Water for Elephants star Reece Witherspoon

1930s coiffure

Shorter waved hair defined the nineteen thirties coiffure.  Hair was primarily worn at chin or just above shoulder length with deeply set waves. The permanent wave (perm) was a popular method to aid the in setting of waves. The look of the thirties was clean,  sleek, and sophisticated. Longer hair would be waved and the length of the hair wrapped in a low bun at the base of the neck.

Reese’s bobbed hair is beautifully set into a period specific finger wave, a style that is usually “wet set” or comb styled on wet hair into ridges and arcs then dried into form.  Reese’s hair colour is a fabulous shade of buttery blond that mirrors the era.  This is a classic and iconic look of the 1930s and with Reese being a circus performer this bouncy cheeky look does the trick (Think britney spears on her circus tour).

To acheive the look work a clean side parting, create a finger wave or waved effect on the hair which should sit around chin or shoulder length.  1930s hair is all about setting the hair and in order to achieve the perfect set then product is everything. I would recommend Label.m Volume Foam and/or build it up with Label.m Blow Out Spray.

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Categories: Beauty, How To

26 April 2011: 12:02

Bobbi Brown’s new concealer is my new secret weapon

Product: Bobbi Brown concealer kit

Bobbi Brown Concealer kit

Available from: Debenhams

Price: £23.50

What it claims to do:
Conceal and set in one portable kit. Bobbi’s Creamy Concealer blends easily to instantly cover and brighten dark circles. It also helps maintain skin’s moisture levels for a smooth, virtually line-less look. Fuss-free pressed powder sets concealer for long-lasting wear.

Review:
Bobbi Brown have improved two of their favourites, the concealer and corrector, and combined them to make a handy concealer kit.  The predecessor worked well but had an annoying tendency to settle into fine lines, a problem which has now been eradicated by the new formula.  The new and improved version is still concentrated and, if you’re used to wand concealers, is a lot thicker comes with a pressed powder which seals it in.  It’s then all packaged together in a very purse friendly compact.

So, that’s the technical bit but if you suffer from dark circles you’ll just want to know whether it works or not. As a lifelong dark circle sufferer  I can tell you that I have fallen in love this product.   I apply with an Eco Tools concealer brush and it lasts all day, doesn’t seep into any fine lines, hides all traces of a bad night, doesn’t cake and hardly fades.  It’s my new never-leave-home-without product and if I have to choose one item of make up to put into my miniscule cluth I now choose this.

Final verdict
Bobbi calls concealer “the secret of the universe” for its ability to transform a woman and I want to thank Bobbi for giving me my new secret weapon.  Take that, dark circles!

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