Beauty's shelf helper

How do you feel without any make-up on? Not even a smidgen or a smudge? I’m guessing most of us would feel naked, self conscious and just a touch under confident. Now, that’s the power of make-up. It helps not only define our features, bringing them into focus, but in turn helps boost our self esteem, literally making us face our day with a little bit more sass.

Make-up artist Bobbi Brown understands the psychology behind the wearing of make-up only too well. In her new book Pretty Powerful it’s more than just gorgeous pictures – which there are many, but has women, some well known, others not, photographed sans make-up  and minus photo shopping, so you can see blemishes, lines, pores and shine, then photographed expertly make up. The difference is incredible. It proves with a little bit of know-how you can apply beauty and confidence. The book has a life coaching feel to it without being too worthy. Women in the book tell inspiring stories such as how make-up helped them when going through a tough time with chemotherapy or how they realised their look didn’t have to fit into a certain stereotype. And talking of stereotypes, Bobbi doesn't believe in them which is why there are all types of women to relate to in this book: black, Asian, Latino, Caucasian along with start-to-finish tips on getting your base right and colours that suit.   I don’t know how old Bobbi is, but she has life experience worth hearing as a successful business woman, wife and mother, and she gives some of her insights on feeling good and inspiring you to be your best, most authentic self. It just goes to remind us that make-up isn’t just powder and paint, it can be a personal transformer.

Pretty Powerful by Bobbi Brown costs £19.99 and published by Chronicle Books.

Darphin's skin feast

A TUB OF BODY LOVELYNESS

 

If you could eat this it would be dangerous. A veritable health hazard. But for everything you don’t want in your diet, it’s everything you do in a body cream. Buttery thick and deliciously indulgent, Darphin’s Nourishing and Firming Velvet Cream is a luxury, rich body cream leaving skin feeling like, ahem, velvet, and designed to cocoon the skin whilst delivering a firming action. But don’t just take my word for it, this calorific looking pot, has been proven to plump and firm the skin by 34%. Its texture is dreamy too. Sinking in quickly without the aid of too much sweat inducing massage, skin is left lightly scented with a delicate floral scent. Now, this is the kind of diet I can take to!   

Darphin Nourishing and Firming Velvet Cream, £39

www.darphin.co.uk

Cowshed rolls with it

I know roll-on perfume oils aren’t new, but I really like these ones from Cowshed. Namely because of the names! Who can resist Knackered Cow, Moody Cow or Horny Cow? But a-moo-sing (sorry!) names aside, they really do smell rather gorgeous and pure - they’re paraben, petrochemical and sulphate free.   I have Lazy Cow with essential oils of jasmine and geranium – quality is high so a little roll gives a lot of fragrance, to warm and aid contemplation, and it has the desired effect. I can’t stop sniffing my wrist once applied for good scented karma. Pop in your handbag for instant mood enhancing, or buy for stocking fillers. I'm actually going to use a couple for cracker gifts as they're the right size to fit into a toilet roll!

Cowshed Perfume Oils Roll-Ons come in seven fragrances at £18 each.

www.cowshed.com

Bobbi Brown's show of hands

Just a mega quick post to show you Bobbi Brown’s new limited edition Shimmer Nail Polish in Black Pearl. Yes, Halloween may be over, but this tough luxe of a nail lacquer – mid way between black and a dark grey, still looks fashionably edgy.  

Look out for the new Extra Hand Cream too. It 's an anti-ageing treatment for hands addressing loss of collagen and dehydration. Spooky nail colours good. Spooky crepey hands, not! 

Bobbi Brown Shimmer Nail Polish, £11
Bobbi Brown Extra Hand Cream,  £21.00 both available from this month.

Clinique's lullaby skin

MY THREE DREAM CATCHERS

To improve the way your skin looks in the morning, action needs to be taken at bedtime. I rise at 7am, and looking in the mirror is not always a pretty sight. Skin can face the world looking sad, creased and dehydrated. Three good things that have helped improved my AM skin is: a good book. For too long now I’ve been reading emails, tweets and news stories on my iPad before sleep. The upshot? I toss and turn with thoughts running through my head. Now, give me a good book and I’m out like a light. My second skin saver is a silk pillowcase bought from John Lewis for £35. Pillow creases now never happen. That’s all I need to say. And thirdly, my beauty bonus is Clinique’s new Moisture Surge Overnight Mask.

MY BEDSIDE SKIN STAPLE

I can always tell my skin needs a slug of something serious if I put the palms of my hands on my cheeks and push up. I can see a myriad of fine lines caused by dehydration. With central heating pumping out, winter is a time skin needs PM SOS. To be honest, I don’t really know what the difference is between this and a night cream as you don’t need to rinse it off. I suspect the mask just makes it sound more hard working, but whatever it gives the results. It certainly goes on like a night cream; it sinks in readily and doesn’t leave any mask like tightness or residue on the skin. It feels luxurious, giving intense hydration with moisturise trapping hyaluronic acid along with sodium hyaluronate which delivers an instant burst of moisture. This VIP (very important polymer) is able to hold large amounts of water within the skin so it’s left feeling plumped. It’s not an exaggeration to say, my morning skin is now getting a much better (looking) wake up call!

Clinique Moisture Intense Overnight Mask is available nationwide from 1^st January priced at £28. www.clinique.co.uk

Elemis box clever for Christmas

HO.HO.HO! LOOK WHAT SANTA HAS BROUGHT!

As a general beauty rule, I’ve never been a great lover of coffrets or beauty sets. They always seemed a little bit tasteless in their presenting – everything moulded into plastic, and had a whiff of, dare I say it, can’t-be-botheredness. After all, it’s easy to pick up a box that’s been put together by somebody else, plus the product size was usually so small as to be of no great use.  But that was a few years ago, and coffrets have, in X Factor language, raised their game! No longer are they crammed with mini samples or products that haven’t really sold well during the past year. Today, they’re serious gift givers.

SUPREME GLOW FOR A YEAR ROUND RADIANT COMPLEXION

EXOTIC BODYCARE FOR SHOULDER-TO-TOE GORGEOUSNESS

The Elemis Royal Collection of beauty box sets has no plastic or naffness in sight. They are literally box clever in terms of classy and indulgent looking packaging, carefully selected products and above all the price tag really works in your favour.  For instance, my two favourites include Duchess of Spa Exotic Bodycare with four full size products. Bought separately, it rings in at £88, bought as a box set, £49.50. Or there’s the Supreme Glow Skincare Essentials with three full size products and a 100ml bath elixir which should rightly be £80. To you madam? £46.50.  So whether you’re on the beauty hunt for mum, sister, aunt, friend or mum-in-law there’s no need to give them the receipt, as this is one present that will be for keeps!

Elemis is available from www.timetospa.co.uk and selected John Lewis, Debenhams and Harvey Nichols.

Fashion kisses from Bourjois

Fashion meets lips for Bourjois new lipstick wardrobe. The runway pout packs a punch with colour and attitude, and their 18 Rouge Edition ready-to-wear formula really sets the beauty trend. A true model lip pleaser if ever there was one!

Smart in it’s wrapping - their new lipstick case mirrors the sexiest and sleekest LBD, and the transparent bottom showcases the lip shade perfectly. Saturating the mouth with unadulterated colour, the 18 shades are divided up into a trio of gorgeousness. Lip pick from Preppy for style addicts, Color Block for bright, eye-catching colours and Night Out for shades of divine glamour.

As for the formula, boy are we talking lip smacking good! For starters they slick on smooth. Very smooth thanks to being enriched with orchid blossom extract. They’re comfortable to wear and a quarter of the pigments are lacquered. This adds up to shine. And the more your lipstick shines, the more mwah your lips look. From the collection hunt out Cristal Minimal along with the shades that pop too. It's a transparent concentrate of pearl hues, and it's great to slick over as topcoat to make colour shimmer. It's been in my make-up bag ever since I've discovered it.  You may not be a diva, but your lips can sure play up like one with this fashionable collection!

Bourjois Rouge Edition, £7.99 each launches nationwide in February 2013 but is exclusive to Selfridges London from December 2012.