Bronzer on a plate

I just had to snap Lancôme's Star Bronzer on a side plate to show you how big it actually is. Certainly not a little something you can slip into your make-up bag, but nevertheless ample enough to use at home to sweep over face, decollete, collarbones and any other bodily bits you'd like to see bronzed up. In fact, it probably could last a good year until next summer! With this kind of portion distortion welcome, the other reason to buy is for the gradient of colour. Not called Golden Riviera for nothing, the effect is far from a block colour, this Mediterranean inspired powder dusts on dark and light hues as well as a highlighting gold. Skin looks like it's basking rather than cooking in sunlight. There's nothing worse than looking too browned off.

Lancôme Star bronzer in Golden Riviera costs £35 and launches May 17th exclusively at John Lewis. 

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     

And the winner is...Lancome

To celebrate their glamorous and starry pairing with BAFTA, Lancôme  is launching their best selling, long-lasting suits-all-cheeks blusher in Rose Sable as a Limited Edition. Flushing cheeks with prettiness - think the glow of happiness, I just love the lid designed as a presentation envelope. Every time you open it you feel like you've arrived!

Available from the 1^st February priced at £27 (BAFTAS hit our screens on the 7th) exclusively in Selfridges

Emma gets cheeky with Lancome

A post New Year mood won’t stay grey for long when casting a trained beauty eye on Lancome’s extremely pretty in pink SS13 collection. Aptly called In Love – one glance at the tres jolie packaging and you will be, the pop art colours are drawn from street art murals to give a dull pallor a fresh and flirty look.

Emma Watson couldn’t look more adorable or In Love with her flushed cheeks and sweet cupid mouth for this collection. One of her favourite make-up picks is a hint of Baume in Love in Rose Macaron which is a brand new comforting lipstick formula with Shea Butter. Making lips feel extra special, one of my favourites is Sugar Rose (pictured above) which looks very Barbie pink, however, once applied gives the lips a pretty sheen. But the whole look for me is summed up in Emma’s cheeks. When you’re in love it always shows in your cheeks, and in this shot they look gorgeously rosy with a dusting of Pommettes d’amour. Not too delicate and fey, the palette is a mix of fuchsia and orange for a you’ve-been-up-to-something-naughty-but-nice glow! Apply the coral shade to the apple of the cheek followed by the pink shade just above for that on-message ‘doll cheeks’ effect. A sweep of Ombre in Love in Sugar Rose gives softness to the eye along with a graphic line of Kohl In Love in Jade Crush to add intensity. To nail off the look, paint fingertips with the peachy pop hue in Peach Melodie. Simply sweetheart!

Lancome Blush in Love, £34

Lancome Vernis in Love, £12

Lancome Ombre in Love, £19

Lancome Baume in Love, £20

Lancome Kohl in Love, £16

The collection is now available from Lancome counters nationwide

  

Life's beautiful with Lancome

As mentioned many times on this blog, it’s hard to translate a fragrance into words. Yes, you can list the top, heart and base notes to try and give an olfactory imprint, but it’s the spirit of a fragrance that comes across better on a page and in visuals.

JULIA ROBERT'S EMPOWERING SMILE

Lancôme understands the scent psychology with their new fragrance La vie est belle – or Life is beautiful. They reveal that fragrance is more than a scent, a bottle, or a dream, it represents a conviction. Their new fragrance is giving the olfactory message of empowerment, allowing women to break free of imposed standards of possessions and homogenised appearances, and in turn, encouraging us to be ourselves by filling our life with beauty on our terms. And who better to play this strong emotional role than Julia Roberts. Chosen for her mega-watt and genuine looking smile, she symbolizes the freedom to choose our own path leading to happiness. To give a cinematic impression of the fragrance have a peak at the behind-the-scenes shoot journal. It captures chandeliers, pink roses, along with a stunning, wish-making dress worn by Ms Roberts. I won’t explain the thread of the story – I’m sure you can work it out for yourselves here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIrdEvslVzU&feature=plcp

 

As for the juice itself, three masters of French perfumery combined their talents to compose a fragrance that contains almost half natural ingredients. Described as ‘shadow and light’ you really have to spritz to appreciate this multi-layered rich, sparkly and feminine fragrance.

La vie est belle is available to buy from this week and costs £56 for 50ml