Bobbi Brown Party Season Treats!

One of my favorite luxury beauty brands is Bobbi Brown and this winter I have fallen in love with two of their new pieces, their Party Shimmer Brick & the Pastel Sugar Eye Sparkle quad.

  The party shimmer brick is the latest in the ‘brick’ collection from Bobbi Brown, with gorgeous silver and gold perfect for the forthcoming party season.

You can go for a glimmer of gold or a sparkle of silver with this set or combine to two to create a rich, gorgeous glow perfect for accentuating cheekbones, brow bones or just to brighten your face with its glowing effect.

Silver & Gold

 The brick is gorgeous to look at, depicting a cocktail shaker and glass which I think is both fabulous and   unique. 

Silver and Gold blended together

 This is one of my must have item’s this party season.

My other favourite item is the beautiful Pastel Eye Sparkle quad.

 

Now before you say anything I know that the shadows are not highly pigmented, indeed they were not designed to be. 

The shadows offer a gorgeous, glimmering  appearance to help light up your face and can be used over other shadows to give a more sparkly effect.

 The four shadows consist of Pale Turquoise Sparkle, Halo Sparkle, Storm Sparkle and Orchid Sparkle and are set within Silver Sparkle, so you are actually getting 5 shadows and with such a variety of colours you can mix and match to create any look you like.

Bobbie Brown Party Shimmer Brick costs £32.50 and the Pastel Sugar Eye Sparkle costs £30, both are available from Bobbi Brown online now.

Cosmopolitan Magazine Blog Awards 2011

Wednesday night was the night of the Cosmopolitan Blog Awards 2011.

Hosted at the sumptuous 24 London in Kingly Street, it was an evening of cupcakes, canapés, cosmopolitans and class.

The venue was exploding with talent and glamour, fantastic dresses, gorgeous shoes and immaculate hair and make up.

While i didn’t win in my category, that accolade went to Vivianna Does Make up, an exceptionally worthy winner, i had a fab time and thoroughly enjoyed getting glammed up for the evening!

Im really into vintage, old school Hollywood glamour at the moment so decided to go for that particular look, doing my own make up and visiting the Incredible Powder Rooms where their Powder Puff Girls have created some stunning hair styles for me on more than one occasion.

My dress and shoes are from ASOS, Photo courtesy of Cosmopolitan Online

 

Thank you so much to everyone who nominated me and voted for me, i felt hugely privileged just to be shortlisted and loved meeting loads of fantastic fellow bloggers.

Thank you Fabulicious followers for getting me there and thank you Cosmo for such a lovely evening.

Vaseline Limited Edition Lip Therapy Revealed

Vaseline has finally unveiled its first ever Limited Edition Lip Therapy today.

Tension has been building for weeks ahead of the big reveal today with Vaseline fans racking their brains trying to guess what the mystery flavour would be!

Inspired by the classic French dessert, I can now reveal that that highly anticipated flavour is Crème Brulee!

Available exclusively from Selfridges in London and Manchester from today until the 2^nd November, you are going to want to get in fast before they sell out!

At £2.99 a pot, Vaseline’s unique take on one of our most staple beauty products is guaranteed to be a winner!

Are you going to be rushing out to grab one before they go?

Pukka Skincare Mate!

 

Pukka Ayurveda, better known for their herbal teas have this month launched a Skincare collection.

Their new, naturally active organic skincare range has been inspired by natural beauty for radiant, rejuvenated and happy skin. Ayurveda , which is an ancient Indian philosophy of health and wellbeing, advocates skin detoxification and nutrient replenishment, and it is this philosophy which is key to their skincare range.

Formulated by their  Practitioner and Herbalist, Sebastian Pole, Pukka Ayurveda Skincare is a collection of ten skincare classics. Each formulation contains highly concentrated, sustainably harvested oils, fruits and herbs, all of which are organically certified by the Soil Association (92.6% – 100%).

All the products are free from parabens, petrochemicals, synthetic fragrances and colours and made from concentrated herbal extracts for outstanding richness that extends deep down into the skin’s tissue. 

The Exfoliator can be added to any cleanser to give a great exfoliating treatment

All packaging for the new range is recycled and recyclable, with each 50ml tube made with 80% post consumer recycled material . Pukka is not just good for you, but its good for the environment too.

My favourite products from the range include their Radiance Serum with Organic Aloe Vera and Manuka Honey, the Nourishing Brightener Organic Bilberry and Almond Freshly Ground Exfoliator and the Firming Eye Cream with Organic Blue Chamomile and Rosehip Oil.

 The products smell amazing, so natural and organic and it almost feels as if you are feeding your face as you are treating it to such high quality, natural products free from any chemicals or nasties.

Pukka Skincare products can be bought from their website here with prices ranging from £11 for their cleanser to £32 for their face oils.

All I Want This Christmas is.... My Own Blinking Advent Calendar!

As a child, my siblings and I were never allowed chocolate advent calendars. ‘Advent is about the holy time before the birth of Jesus and should be thought about and remembered as that, not used as an excuse to eat chocolates,’ my father would say. (Which fair play to him, for Christians, is true)

That said, after several years of putting up with the moaning and nagging from us three he relented, but would only buy one chocolate advent calendar between me, my brother and my sister.
(Yes,he still bought the religious one for himself)

This meant that we had to share, with each of us taking it in turn to open a door, meaning you got your long, pined over chocolate once every three days.

As I’m sure any parents out there or anyone who grew up with siblings can imagine, this lead to many, many arguments.

People would forget which day was theirs (easy to do when your 10, 8 and 4 years old), chocolates would mysteriously going missing from seemingly unopened doors (cough * not guilty*) and everyone would fight over who got to open Christmas day, which arguably had the biggest chocolate behind it.

Still, we eventually grew out of that, but now I make sure that I always get my own advent calendar all to myself, I even buy my husband a separate one so I don’t have to share, but this year, its not a chocolate calendar that I’m going to be lusting over. Oh no. It's this!

Now I know, I know, its not even November yet and I know that you aren’t wanting to think about the ‘C’ word yet (The word being Christmas, by the way)  but I had to show you this and figured that as it is undoubtedly going to sell out fast, if I didn’t tell you now you’d hate me later!

Available from Selfridges now is their All I Want This Christmas Advent Calendar, a luxury calendar packed full of a host of different luxury beauty brands, all in gorgeous miniatures.

I know that £80 for an Advent calendar sounds like a lot of money, but look at the list below of everything you get!

(Plus with a bit of luck, someone special will buy it for you so you don’t have to, then its definitely a bargain!)

 

Lancôme 

Teint Miracle 03 5ml

 Trésor eau de parfum 7.5ml

 Miracle eau de parfum 5ml

 Hypnôse Drama Mascara 2ml

 Hypnôse Classic Mascara 2ml

Absolu Nu 302 Mini

 Mini Juicy Tube 19 – Lychee

 Visionnaire 7ml

 Génifique 7ml

Génifique Yeux 5ml

Rénergie Lift Volumetry Day 15ml

 Eau Micellaire Douceur 50ml

Bi–Facil 30ml

 Giorgio Armani⁄Emporio Armani

 Armani Code Femme eau de parfum 3ml

 Emporio Armani Diamonds eau de parfum 5ml

Kiehl's 

Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream 7ml

 Kiehl's Crème De Corps 30ml

 Kiehl's Hand Salve 30ml

 Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate 4ml

Shu Uemura 

Cleansing Oil 20ml

Viktor & Rolf 

Flowerbomb eau de parfum 7ml

 YSL 

Belle D'Opium eau de parfum 7.5ml

 Rouge Pur Couture Mini

 Khol Pencil Mini

gelSPA Luxury Bath Soak

I love baths. 

I’ve always been a water baby and there’s nothing I enjoy more than that slipping back into a deliciously warm bath, welcoming  and comforting with frothy bubbles, sumptuous oils or relaxing salts.

On average I purchase at least 4 or 5 different bathing products a month, trying to find ways to enhance by bathing experience and I’ve just found my new favourite item.

gelSPA.

gelSPA is a Luxury Bath Soak like nothing you have experienced before. (I’m not just saying that, it really is like nothing you will have experienced before!)

The product is nothing short of miraculous, turning bath water into a luxurious, thick gel-like substance, infused with aromatherapy oils to help exfoliate, cleanse and massage tired, aching muscles.

Each gel bead can hold up to 4 times it weight in water and retains its temperature for up to four times longer, meaning you don’t need to top up the bath with hot water. 

gelSPA is available in 3 varieties and I tested out RELAX:

REVIVE infused with Rosemary to awaken the senses to kick start the day

SOOTHE infused with Juniper to help to relieve muscle tension and calm aches and pains

RELAX infused with Lavender, Jasmine & Bergamot calms both the mind and body ensuring a peaceful nights sleep 

Its really simple to use, each box comes with 2 sachets, one which forms the gel and one which contains salts to turn it back to water.

Run your bath as normal then empty the contents of sachet 1 into the bath.

Then get in. Its that simple.

I’m not going to lie, it’s a really bizarre feeling and experience! The water feels dense yet soft and the gel beads feel as if they are supporting your weight and massaging your skin.

The water looks cloudy with the gel in it

They tend to accumulate at the bottom of the bath but each time you move you can feel the relaxing sensation of them rolling over your skin. 

I loved the fact that the bath water turned a relaxing, blue colour which I felt enhanced the ‘spa’ feel of the product.

You can see the tiny gel beads which massage your skin

Once you have had enough and are sufficiently relaxed, you simple pour the salts within the second sachet into the bath and within 15 minutes the gel has turned back into water.

This is what you are soaking in

 After 10 minutes I found I was bored waiting for the gel to dissipate so I simply drained the bath and showered the remaining beads from my skin.

My skin felt squeaky clean and soft without being tight and dry, a rarity for me as I suffer with eczema.

At £10 for a one use box it may sound pricey, but it is the unique experience you are paying for and a real at home Spa experience.

gelSPA is available from Boots.

Accessorize Autumn/Winter Cosmetics Collection

Let’s be honest. Accessorize is not a shop you would associate with make up. Gorgeous jewellery, bags, shoes and accessories yes, but foundation, blushers and mascara’s, no.

 Despite the fact that Accessorize launched their cosmetics range over a year ago, i had yet to ever try them out, probably partly due to the fact that the make- up snob within me viewed the range as being aimed at teeny-boppers and the other being that as cosmetics aren’t Accessorizes main selling attraction, i may have assumed that they were a poorly made, bad quality after thought.

 I’m happy to say i was wrong and that i was really quite impressed with their range of items which i tried from their A/W 2011 collection.

 It wasn’t just the gorgeous packaging that won  me over, with the shiny, neat pots and tubes emblazoned with images of golden butterflies, but the quality of the items themselves.

I tried out several items from the collection and fell in love with them all pretty much from the word go.

Baked Bronzer Duo Ball in Shade 2, £6, was divine. One half of the baked ball being a rich, matte bronze and the other adding more shine and sparkle.

 Baked Blusher in Quiver, £5, looked a lovely pinky, pearly shade in the pot but transformed into a gorgeous, matte blush with just a hint of shimmer to bring your cheeks to life.

 The Baked Duo Eyeshadow in Thalia, £2, was my favourite. Beautiful to look at you could easily get lost in the swirls and glimmer of the shadow. Easy to apply and highly pigmented it looked gorgeous on my eyelids.

 Similarly the Baked Eyeshadow Trio in Dazzlingly Devastating  whilst beautiful to look at is perfect for creating depth and shading on your eyelids, with deep, rich, highly pigmented tones which are easy to blend.

 

The Picture Perfect long Lasting Foundation with SPF 20 was creamy, rich and provided more than adequate coverage on my skin and for £8 i think its a total bargain, just be careful when squeezing the product from the tube as the hole which it is dispensed from is rather large, resulting in a lot of product being released at one go.

Finally is their Collagen Mascara, £6. The big brush and ultra volumising formula results in big, fat lashes and the tube is so pretty! I love big brushes and this one doesnt bring out too much product with it and the formula builds really nicely without clumping.

Accessorize cosmetics are available from Accessorize stores and Superdrug and for such gorgeous items i think they are incredibly reasonably priced and would make gorgeous stocking fillers!

What do you think, have you tried any of the Accessorize cosmetics range?

Never Judge a Book By Its Cover

This video has to be seen to be believed. I shall say no more until you have watched it, but resist reading the text below until you've seen the video in its entirety.

AMAZING right! Zombie boy  ( Who you may recognise as the skeleton man from Lady Gaga’s Born This Way video) aka Ricky Genest as you’ve never seen him before, tattoo-less! 

Excuse me while i toddle off to get my hands on some of the Dermablend collection to try it out for myself. If their products can conceal his tattoos it should have no problem with my blotchy skin!

As always, i will post my review as soon as I've road tested it, but if you cant wait then you can find the brand available to buy at Boots online here!

(Im still a tad speechless, are you?)

Dita Von Teese To Launch Her Debut Fragrance Femme Totale

As you may have gathered from the fact I am forever harping on about my beauty Idol Marilyn Monroe, I have a real penchant for old school Hollywood Glamour. Im talking  1940’s and 50’s starlets, gorgeous pin curls, curvaceous, hourglass figured pored into tight dresses, red lipstick and flawless skin. 

You can then see perhaps, why I’m a such a big fan of Dita Von Teese, a 21^st century girl who could easily be mistaken as a star from the golden age of Hollywood. 

In fact, im so much of a fan of hers, I attempted to channel her gorgeous style at a recent awards ceremony (I’ll tell you all about this is a later post) but suffice to say even my best efforts could not come close to replicating her signature, stunning look (see below, cringe!)

 With a lingerie line, her new exclusive MUSE clothing line and collaboration Kiss nails with already under her belt, this month see’s Dita venture into the world of fragrances, with the launch of her debut perfume, Femme Totale.

The Burlesque beauty describes the fragrance as ‘Elegant, sophisticated and glamorous, with a bit of mystery’, so with that in mind  I caught up with her to find out more.

 

Dita, what made you decide to create your own fragrance?

I’ve always been fascinated by the way that the art of wearing perfume is really vital in order to create glamour, which is really everything that I’m about. Early on I understood that perfume is a very important part of creating your own mystery and glamour – it’s a tool for a woman to become every woman she ever wanted to be. I wore the same perfume for about 20 years, when I actually had an interesting experience.

I was walking down the street in Paris with my boyfriend, who I’ve been dating for two weeks when he asked me, what perfume I wear. When I told him the name of the fragrance he kind of hesitated and revealed that this was also his mother’s perfume. I was thinking “Oh my Gosh, I smell like his mother”. 

Dita at the Launch in Germany

This really got me, because I really didn’t want him to associate my smell with his mother, but on the other hand this perfume was perfect and iconic for me, it fit me perfectly and it was mysterious and unknown to everyone I met until that day, so I started hunting for other fragrances that could replace it and there were some which I really liked, but none of them felt like the real me and fit me. So, I decided to create my own scent and this was a dream come true.

 How did the name Femme Totale come about?/ What type of woman do you imagine would wear your fragrance?

I think a lot of fragrances on the market are reminders of things from the childhood. Most of them have a girlish, sweet and very juvenile character, however, I wanted something that speaks of wanting to be a grown-up, sophisticated woman, who is in charge of her life. I just love the idea of something that is both: very good, sophisticated and elegant, but also a little bit mysterious, dark and dangerous.

Those two things together become something very special and really magical. I wanted a perfume that feels like that. I often thought about the great women that I admire like Marlene Dietrich or Hedy Lemarr – those sexy, glamorous, iconic women never smelled like vanilla, fruits or candy, I researched it. I heard a lot about people saying “Oh men love vanilla”, but throughout my whole life – and that is one of the reasons why I am who I am now – I never did things to please men, I always did the things for me.

I never took into consideration what men liked, because I think if you wear the fragrance you love you succeed in being glamorous and that is what it really comes down to. You can’t really please others, you have to please yourself, and I think choosing the right perfume is very much about that.

 

How involved were you in creating the fragrance?

I was very excited about the process of creating a perfume and I enjoyed it a lot. The noses I worked with in Paris probably weren’t expecting me to come bounding through the door at every meeting and wanting to get involved, but it was great to be able to do this, however, also a bit frustrating for me to try to voice and express what I am looking for and the feelings I want to convey with the perfume.

Further, it’s not always easy to bring together things that are super-sophisticated and things that are super dark and moody and sexual at the same time, it’s really tricky. In the end, I wanted something that is really typical me and in tune with who I am.

 

Did you design the bottle? Where did your inspiration come from for its unique look?

Initially, when people think of me, they think of my side with rhinestones, feathers and of the clichés of Burlesque and striptease, but I had different ideas about how the flacon should be.

 I didn’t want a “showgirly” pink perfume, because that is not what I was inspired by. I just didn’t want the bottle to stick with my surface level, because there is something much deeper in my real life, a certain kind of richness and elegance and things that just really feel special and unique.

 I wanted to do something very sensual, sleek and simple in a way that relates to the image of a Femme fatale and something adult or womanly, something that reminds me of the vintage perfume bottles that I have.

 The flacon of “Dita Von Teese” is something you find in a black satin handbag of a Femme fatale, something sophisticated women would like to carry in their purse, however the tassel and the small emblem, which is refined with a martini glass, feathers and a corset, speak in a subtle way to my Burlesque side.

Modelling one of the dresses from her MUSE Collection

You are a beauty icon to many young women, but do you have a beauty Icon?

Well, one of my favorite style and beauty icons is Marlene Dietrich, because she was very in tune with what her own personal style was. She was very powerful, in control of her image and very knowledgeable of everything she was doing. A lot of my heroes in real life are sort of obscure women whose names a lot of people probably don’t know immediately, because they are not in the limelight or product of a Hollywood stylist.

Film Star Marlene Dietrich, a beauty Icon Dita and i share

 My icons are women that I see in me. I’m amazed by their personal sense of style and the way they are daring to dress and wear their make-up differently. So, I have a nice little group of women that I admire and I aspire to be like.

   

Do you have any plans in the future to extend your fragrance to include a beauty/ cosmetics line?

Every brand that I’m involved with and everything that I’m doing from perfume to lingerie are things that I feel very close to and also very knowledgeable of. Apart of creating a fragrance, I really also would love to get involved in cosmetics and make-up, because I feel strongly related to it. I just want to bring out new products that I really believe in and that I think add beauty to any woman’s life.

Are you chomping at the bit to sample this fragrance now? In which case i would like to apologise as Dita's perfume, while currently available in Germany now will not be available Internationally until spring next year. 

Still, its always nice to have something to look forward to!

bareMinerals Skincare

Like most women, I learnt (almost) everything I know beauty wise from my mother, and while I like to think that I manage to ahead of the beauty game – finding out about new products and brands etc, on this occasion my mother pipped me to the post.

Several years ago my mum introduced me to bareMinerals, and I haven’t looked back since. I inherited my sensitive skin from her, and she had always found it difficult to find beauty products that worked with her skin without reacting with it.

I remember her raving about this make up brand called bareMinerals, a brand I'd never heard of before. She showed me the little pots of powder and brushes and explained how this mineral makeup had completely changed her beauty regime. She could wear the make up every day without it causing any issues with her delicate skin and she looked radiant (whilst always being beautiful)

The Bare Minerals Starter Kit, £48

 She bought me the starter kit for Christmas and I've been a devotee ever since. With a  brand statement of It's makeup so pure you can sleep in it you know your onto a good thing here, so I was elated when earlier this year they launched their skincare range.

The collection contains their ActiveSoil Complex, a new generation of active minerals with extraordinary skin-renewing benefits, including faster cell turnover and antioxidant protection. They have been clinically proven to reveal brighter, smoother, younger-looking skin, reduced fine lines and wrinkles and shrink pores.

 The unique electrolyte delivery system optimises your skin's ability to absorb and retain moisture, resulting in smoother, healthier-looking skin.

The collection comprises of:

Two Cleansers:  Deep Cleansing Foam & Purifying Facial Cleanser

 Three Moisturisers: Purely Nourishing Cream for Dry Skin & the Purely Nourishing Moisturiser for Dry/Normal Skin and Combination Skin

Two Eye Creams: Renew and Hydrate Eye Cream & Firming Eye Treatment

and finally their groundbreaking Pure Transformation Night Treatment which I talked about in an earlier post here.

Deep Cleansing Foam, £15

 My favourite item from the collection is their Deep Cleansing Foam cleanser. Don’t be mislead by the word ‘foam’ in the name, this cleanser is more of a thick gel, and you really do only need a tiny pea sized amount as specified on the bottle. In this case, less really is more.

 (see below for photos)

 When mixed with water, the product works into an incredible frothy lather, cleaning deep into your pores and leaving your face squeaky clean- literally. You face actually squeaks after using it, but don’t panic, your skin hasn’t been stripped of all moisture and it won’t be left dry, in fact I found that my skin felt wonderfully clean, fresh and not at all tight or dry. 

I follow the cleansing foam with the Nourishing moisturiser for combination skin, and as I have a tendency to have oily skin I only need a little. The cream is light and silky, absorbs quickly into your skin and leaves it feeling soft and bright.

Renew & Hydrate Eye Cream, £23

The Renew and Hydrate eye cream is a sumptuously thick eye cream, unscented and deliciously nourishing. Again, a little goes a long way and I find that tapping a little of this cream around my eyes leaves them feeling bright and fresh. 

The Pure Transformation Night Treatment takes a little getting used to. The product is essential a powder which you apply your face as the last step of you night time skin regime. 

Pure Transformation Treatment, £45

The concentrated powder formula is designed to replenish skin while you sleep so you can wake up with the famous Bare Minerals naturally luminous glow. Available in four tones which instantly diffuse imperfections, this item is perfect for women who may be a little self conscious at the prospect of a new partner seeing them bare faced at night or first thing in the morning. 

While it may feel a little odd applying what looks and feels like make up to your face before you go to bed, stick with it. 

My mum swears by this product and you know what they say, Mum knows best!