Masking dryness

I love magazines with benefits, in other words a cover mounted gift. This month I picked up the May issue of Red magazine along with an Aromatherapy Associates Hydrating Rose Face Mask. And it’s up-swung my skin. I’m a big believer in masks. They’re easy to use, simply apply in the bath whilst soaking and after 15 minutes you have newly prepped and primed skin.

AA’s Rose Face Mask rescued my skin when traveling. Dehydrated after a seven hour flight, my high-and-dry pores literally sucked up this deeply hydrating mask. In fact it was absorbed so efficiently I didn’t even have to rinse it off. And my skin felt amazing. Very smooth and the fine lines so tell tale of moisture starved skin disappeared. I can easily use this mask two to three times a week with great results, and for days when your skin is super dry, you can apply over face oil and leave to work over night. From the 50ml giveaway, I’m now super sizing up to the 100ml at £36.

www.aromatherapyassociates.com

Your summer booty call!

YOUR ESSENTIAL SUMMER READ

Bikini bottoms. Do these two words make you clench your butt in desperation? Fitness experts will tell you that our bum is one of the top worry spots. But before you hit rock bottom, cheer yourself up with the fact there’s been a fundamental shift in the feminine ideal. It’s not the size of your booty that counts – the hankering after a skinny fit-into-the-palms-of-your-hand butt has been turned upside down with thanks, in part to the likes of Beyonce, Kelly Brook and Christina Hendricks, it’s the tone. And drum roll please, that’s where my new ebook comes in!

The Booty Bootcamp is my second ebook written alongside exercise guru, Sarah Maxwelll, a Rebook Fitness Ambassador. And our mission is to tighten your tush!  It follows the same formula as our first ebook, The Little Exercise Book for a Flat Tummy. It's stuffed full of lifestyle advice, health tips, recipes – although second time around our tasty suggestions have been created and written by a chef, alongside coloured photographed exercises starring Sarah herself. It’s totally can-do, easy breezy to read and acknowledges we can’t all be Gwyneth Paltrow! It’s simple to download on your iPad or computer where you can follow for the next few months leading up to your summer holiday, and the inevitable bum exposure. Go on; start putting the wiggle back into your rear view!

The Booty Bootcamp costs £1.99 and can be downloaded from www.sarahmaxwell.com

Get your glow on!

Limbs are shedding their layers – hurrah! But after months of cocooning under fabrics skin can look a little lack lustre. The alligator effect may look great for handbags and shoes, not so much for the skin! Even though it’s not quite fling-your-clothes off weather, I always think like a boy scout,  it’s best to be prepared! A day of super warm sunshine can see you wriggling out your cardi and peeling off those tights only to reveal rough looking elbows and flaky legs. The answer? Get scrubbing and smoothing now!

Paul & Joe Beaute certainly puts the pampering back into the mundane. Their packaging is gorgeous and their formulas even more so. The Body Salt Scrub is a joy to use. Rather than squeezing out of a tube, I enjoy scooping out the tub where you can be extra generous with product and super charge the results. Enriched with palm oil and shea butter, it gently buffs away sell-by-date skin cells, leaving the skin velvet smooth. Post buffing, the Body Oil sinks in quickly, leaving skin feeling supremely hydrated without feeling basted. There's nothing more off-putting than an oil that literally needs lots of elbow grease to rub in. Containing organic oils from avocado through to jojoba, simply pump and preen. The body is left glistening and radiant. Used in tandem it’s a sure way to get your glow back on.

Paul & Joe Beauty Body Salt Scrub, £19

Paul & Jo Beuate Body Oil, £27

Available from Harrods, Fenwick and Selfridges.

Online from Asos.com and beautybay.com

Brooklyn Beauty Bound

Visiting New York last week – hence the blogger silence, a friend told me to swing by Shen Beauty.  More a destination boutique, I took the subway, then enjoyed a cab ride across the Brooklyn Bridge on the way back to Manhattan. It’s well worth the short trip. When visiting the US, I like Sephora  for a beauty browse and buy, and there's plenty of them littered across Manhattan where you can pick up familiar brands, but it’s nice as a beauty sleuth to discover somewhere that offers something different.

CO-PARTNER, JULES

The something different comes in the bottles, tubs,  lotions,  potions and liquids  lovingly edited by Jessica Richard and Jules Stringer. Bringing their unique NY-LON eye into the one-off store they created three years ago.  Jessica is from New York and formerly worked at Vogue and Jules a former beauty journalist from London, came about when the two women had a chance meeting at a music concert and beauty bonded over where to buy a decent moisturiser in Jessica’s neighbourhood. And btw, the neighbourhood is very funky with cool shops and a village vibe. Think Primrose Hill.

SOME OF SHEN BEAUTY'S EDIT

OJ IN A JAM JAR BROOKLYN STYLE!

The shop itself is light and airy and prettily washed with shades of lilac and purple. You almost feel this shop can change your life! Brands range from the well known but wanted, Bobbi Brown and Tangle Teezer,  to the lesser known brands such as Kjaer Weis with its gorgeous packaging and dewy colours,  to Mrs White’s - a natural spray anti-mosquito eau de cologne that sells in its droves.  Both Jessica and Jules really know their stuff and will happily talk to customers about any product you wish to know more about in terms of heritage, ingredients and performance.  After your beauty picks, you can soak up the neighborhood where Solange Knowles hangs out and enjoy an OJ in a jam jar at the many cafes. Awesome!

Shen Beauty is at 315 Court Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231

www.shen-beauty.com

nails inc go undercover

Perfecting nails is rather like decorating. You have to prepare the canvas.Cracked walls do not make for a smooth paint job. A bish-bosh bodged job shows and it’s rather like that with polish. Manicurists will say skimp on a base coat at your peril. I say the same. In a rush, I have taken the short cut of going straight for the polish and it’s been a waste of colour. The application is far from flawless, it shortens the polishes nail life, and I’ve kicked myself when the naked nail has been stained with a dark pigment. Leaving my nail neglect behind, I now pay as much attention to my base coat as to the shade I’m going to wear.

Nail inc. Kensington Caviar base coat £15 is, as its name suggests, upgrades the nail plate.  I was introduced to it on a shoot by the make-up artist and haven’t stopped using it since. For nails that tend to be on the dry side it’s a beauty send. After applying, the nails look healthy and nourished therefore giving the foundation for polish to literally glide on and dazzle. All thumbs from me!

www.nailsinc.com

Very skin Suti-able!

With cold winds and central heating still blasting, I’m finding skin hydration needs to clunk up into fifth gear. Whenever I find skin begging for replenishing I turn to oils. For the face, rescue has come in the form of Suti’s Organic Face Oil for Night. This British brand has been garnering lots of press attention lately, and rightly so – the quality and performance of their products can be smelt and felt instantly.

An after-hours skin comforter, you only need apply two to three drops and massage into the face to literally hear the skin inwardly shout, ‘yes, yes, oh, yes!’ Rich in texture, yet decidedly non-greasy, it’s a blend of 15 plant and flower extracts including avocado oil, macadamia nut oil, jasmine and patchouli. Deliciously scented thanks to the essential oils, I find the application works as a meditative ritual just before lights out. Come morning skin rises looking indulgently plumped like the best duckdown duvet. Perfect for all skin types, it makes for the perfect sleeping partner.

Suti Organic Face Oil For Night costs £32
www.suti.co.uk