Lip smacking delicious

When not busy being kissed, lips can be in for a hard time. Their protective covering – the stratum corneum is far thinner than the rest of your skin, plus lips are minus any sebaceous glands that help keep skin moisturised. This all adds up to a poorly pout, one which can feel and look dry and not so kissable. Not so lip smacking good.

The new Drink Up Hydrating lip balms from Origins can't help but pack a beautiful pout in their diddy 15ml tubes which are incredibly purse pop friendly. With super hydrating natural ingredients – orange peel wax and wheat germ extract are in the mix, that form a protective barrier over the lips, a cocktail of oils help to simultaneously hydrate. A hint of a tint is left on the lips, making them look sunshine sexy and flake free. Available in 8 delicious colours and with kooky names such as Watermelon Wow and Nude Nectarine, they make for a must try and buy. Slick and kiss!

Origins Drink Up Hydraing Lip balm, £16 each

www.origins.co.uk

Bangs on trend

Botox? Forget it. Try a fringe instead! Along with a great pony tail that gives a mini face lift, a fringe can knock five years off your passport age along with hiding any lines. But apart from the anti-ageing benefits, a fringe - or bangs as they say Stateside are becoming an obsession. Blame Claudia Winkleman who seemingly has the most wanted fringe on the hair planet. At my salon FOUR where they house the best colour specialists, they've put their own inimitable twist on the hallowed fringe namely the FOUR way Fringe Colour Technique.

I like to think of it as hair candy where contrasting shades are added to your fringe to make it all the more delicious. Their fringe theatre includes:

Fringe Trim: No scissors required! A contrasting shade is threaded through the border of the fringe to literally fringe the fringe.

Fringe Flash: Sounding more like an Indie band, a flash of colour is added to a side sweeping fringe. Totally sexy!

Fringe Flicker: The peek-a-boo fringe. A glimmer of subtle colour is weaved through to give movement and interest as the hair moves.

Fearless Fringe: For she who dares to wear! Four colours are applied to a full on fringe. Alternatively work out a design in collaboration with the colourist which can be stencilled into the fringe.

To give you a funky fringe feel here's my amazing stylist, Carly (above) going fearless with her bangs!

FOUR London: 020 7297 9600
www.fourlondon.com

Prices on request

Givenchy's hot legs

What makes legs hot? A good wax. Most definitely. Toned thighs. Of course. But like hair, nails or lips, it’s the finishing polish that can make all the difference. 

Pearlescent particles may not be your immediate go-to for highlighting legs, but when it’s Givenchy you know you’re not going to wind up with a cheap or tacky all-out-glitter result. Their Reflet Precieus Satiny Body Enhancer can actually be used on arms, shoulders and décolleté too, but for me, I’ve found this ultra light fluid the colour of  creamy caramel really up-glosses legs. Who needs the South of France when you can walk around with pins looking just as expensive? 
  
Givenchy Reflet Precieux Satiny Body Enhancer, £36

Origins eye stealer

No Puffery from Origins isn’t new, but what is new is their genius cooling roll-on upgrade. This is one must-have when in the sun, or even for those who never remove their eyes from their desk top or iPad screens!

Teeny, tiny enough to pop into your purse, I whip out whenever my peepers are in need of a quick pep-me-up. So what are the eye enlivening ingredients? Hoelen Mushroom helps prevent redness, yeast extract de-puffs and brightens, and Aloe leaf and cucumber go about their beauty business by hydrating and soothing. The combination of the super light gel formula and the cooling metal roll-on doesn’t make for an eye lift, but certainly a tonic that leaves them looking brighter and smarter. My new eye addiction!

Origins No Puffery roll-on for puffy eyes, £21.00

www.origins.co.uk

Clinique's shadow play

If Clinique get any more fancy pants with their eyeshadows, they’d have to send a make-up artist to your door! Their newest shadow play really does bring out your inner make-up professional where great colour, know-how and wearablity come in a single sweep or two.

First off, let’s talk about the formula. They definitely have the luxe factor which you can’t help but feel as you glide the applicator across the lid. The colour pops due to their high density pigment, with shades staying true all day. Crinkly eyelids are a beauty worry of the past as a special fusion layering and variable milling technology makes lids appear smoother. I do love a bit of beauty science! Secondly, they’re shut-your-eyes easy to apply thanks to colouring by numbers. Each shade in the duos (two complementary light and dark shades paired) and quads are duly numbered where you can apply as indicated on the diagram printed on the mirror. Spoilt for choice when it comes to on-trend shades - from blues to violets to nudes, eyes will be looking come-hither when launched later this summer.

All About Shadow Singles, £16

All About Shadow Duos, £22

All About Shadow Quads, £28

In-store nationwide from 2^nd August. www.clinique.co.uk

Lancome's super serum

There are serums and then there are super serums. Lancome’s new Advanced Genifique serum I would certainly put in a pair of Superman pants! Why? Because it has 40% more active ingredients than the original Genifique and developed using multi-omics. I confess I don’t know what that exactly means beyond working with genome biology, but it sounds impressive! Reading through the press release I got the gist that the rebooted formula is scientifically based on how genes are translated and processed, but to be honest when words such as proteomics and transcriptomics are thrown at me, I may as well be reading the script from Inception in terms of how much sense it made to me. So I decided to cut my losses and just experience it, letting my skin do the talking.

Firstly, it’s easy to apply. The pipette allows just one drop to escape at a time so you don’t end up wasting product. Feeling incredibly light on the skin, as a serum should be, it quickly disappeared preparing the complexion for the next layer of skincare. The advanced new ingredients are Adenosine which stimulates leader genes representative of cellular functions – testing shows it has a very important role in glueing cells together, Yeast extract shown to have an effect on leader involved in skin cell proliferation and Vitamin CG. This was a new one to me, but it's actually just a form of Vitamin C, although much more stable. Vitamin C itself rapidly oxidises. The anecdotal test for me was, upon the first week of using it quite a few people said my skin looked good. And that’s the only science I need!

Launched this month Lancome Advanced Genifique serum costs £58     

The getaway colour shots

If you pack one cosmetic in your getaway from-it-all make-up bag this summer, make sure it’s Estee Lauder’s Pure Color Cello Shots for cheeks and lips. Dinky and adorable, at first glance the colours look overly techno to pull off, but the soft gels and water-light finishes belie the fact they’re incredibly easy to wear.

CHEEK POP - BUT REALLY NOT THAT BRIGHT!

Dubbed ‘acqua colour’ by their Creative Make Up Director, Tom Pecheux, the line up includes Pure Color Cheek Rush, an innovative, transparent gel that gives just the right amount of pop for radiant freshness. For a pretty girl flush, quickly blend a tiny drop of this silky liquid gel in small rotations on the apples of the cheeks. I’ve been using this, and it lifts cheeks gorgeously when skin is lightly tanned.

Lips are given that just bitten look with the Pure Color Sheer Rush Gloss, slicking onto the lips super quick, it gives a modern transparent shiny colour. Perfect for a light weight summer lip and no mirror required.

Available in store from July, Pure Color Cheek Rush retails for £24 and Pure Color Sheer Rush Gloss for £19.50.

In the navy!

Who would think of navy as the perfect shade to carry off from summer-to-autumn? Always full of surprises, Bobbi Brown introduces her Navy & Nude collection – and just like a Breton tee, it’s a look that’s summery, crisp and fresh.

“Navy is for everyone,” says Lori Woodhouse, Bobbi Brown’s education executive who talked me through the look at the launch. “The intensity is super matte and dense, and when used with a nude shadow brings warmth to the eye.” The limited edition Navy & Nude Eye Palette really is top drawer – opening to reveal two shelves of 8 shades ranging from ivory, a beige shimmer wash, a rich navy and a blazing star sparkle which Lori says hides texture on the eyelid if you’re not good at blending. Advising to apply from the lightest to the darkest shade when layering, and finishing off with a smattering of sparkle, Lori created the look on the model above. Here you can see how a classically cool, soft smoky eye can totally work for a summer day look.

My other two must-wears from the collection is the limited edition Brightening Brick which is super pretty, super mistake proof and really does give cheeks a pearlised, happy radiance. And I love the reverse thinking of the Navy Nail Polish. So different from the usual pinks, corals and apricots normally spied on finger to toe tips in summer. Looking modern and sexy with lightly tanned skin, it’s become my pedicure polish of choice.

Bobbi Brown’s Navy & Nude Collection is on counter in July.

Navy & Nude Eye Palette, £48

Brightening Brick, £40.00

Nail Polish, £11.00

www.bobbibrown.co.uk