Lash love

Just as some people change their boyfriends/hair/jobs on a whim I change my mascaras! I’m never faithful to one for too long, always having my eye out for one that promises longer, thicker and prettier looking lashes without having to resort to fakes. I can’t be bothered with the theatre of putting on fake lashes and would rather the mascara did all the hard work.

Bourjois 1 Seconde Volume Mascara is who I’m currently stepping out with. As any beauty geek will know the success of a good mascara is all in the brush. This brush takes its inspiration from professional round hairbrushes. It has wraparound spherical bristles that work to coat and capture every single lash. The brush even works great on those tricky outer lashes which can all too often look clumpy. The overall effect is one of fanned out, evenly coated and pretty lashes that don't go near witchy or spidery in appearance. I may have just found The One.

Bourjois 1 Seconde Volume Mascara is available in Intense Black and Intense Black Waterproof.

Retails at £9.99 available from mid May.

A shade of spring

Bourjois have been doing some blue sky thinking for their newest spring additions. Their Little Round Pot Eyeshadow, £6.99 in shade 19 is an ultra pretty and delicate ice blue. It highlights the eye something wonderful. The matching  So Glossy Nail lacquer polishes off the look perfectly.

Rosy cheeks are taken literally with their timeless little round blusher pots, £7.99. The Paris in Bloom Collection has limited edition designs in four shades, all of which have a built in cheek highlighter. Applied they give a ballerina like pearl finish. Slimmer and radiant cheekbones are yours in a sweep!

Bourjois Spring shades are available from March.

How to do wake-me-up skin

If you make any New Year resolutions for your skin next year let it be, ‘I will buy Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Cream Foundation.’ Honestly, it will wipe away the sins of 2013. Well, nearly! CC stands for colouring correcting and this little tube of wizardry contains three pigments that give an airbrush action. I’ve been mixing it with my moisturiser and it really does give a wake-me-up-before-you-go-go kind of radiance to the complexion. Colour pigments include apricot for anti-fatigue, green to combat anti-redness and white to help diminish dark spots. And by golly, it does seem to disguise all of these skin disrupting trio. It’s an oil-free formula so works for every skin type and has an inclusion of an SPF15. Available in four shades, it’s your new must-have and for a penny less than a tenner, it's a January bargain too!

Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Cream Foundation, £9.99 available from 23^rd January

The twist and shout about it mascara

If there is one thing outside Breaking Bad I’m obsessed with, it’s mascara.  I’m always searching for The Holy Grail.  I’m very, very fussy. The application has to be incredibly black and just the right side of normal. I don’t like clumpy, false looking lashes that appear to be creeping half-way down your cheekbone. Neither do I have patience with a mascara that does very little except tickle the lashes, giving no eye appeal.

A couple of years ago mascaras got a little OTT. They whizzed, they whirled, they vibrated and did the can-can (okay, I made that one up!) but you can see where I’m coming from, so when I was introduced to Bourjois Twist up the Volume, I thought, ‘just another gimmick.’ I was wrong – it’s fabulous. A 2-in-1 brush you twist up from the top of the lid into two positions. The first position gives lash-by-lash length. Mascara is evenly applied to lashes over their entire length and the separate bristles give eye popping definition. The second position is for volume. Twist and the brush becomes bigger. It coats the smallest of lashes and super sizes them without looking ridiculous. Intense and black, once wearing lashes look bewitching. I suggest you set your sights on one!

Bourjois Twist up the Volume Mascara available in classic and a 24 hour waterproof version.

Costs £10.99 and available from this month.

Sweet and creamy cheeks

Oooh! I have been waiting for these for sooo long! French cosmetic house, Bourjois launched their first baked powder blush nearly 150 years ago, and although I love the dinky little pots and the pinch-your-cheek shades, personally I prefer to use a cream on my cheeks. So imagine my delight and subsequent whooping when Bourjois launched their Cream Blush. Whooping because although I have many cream blushes, I am always searching for the next one that will give my cheeks that extra glowy-ness.

Cream Blush is a brand new generation of flush and blush. A cream slash powder technology, it feels weightless on the fingertips, and when blended instantly transforms into a  velvety, silky powder. There’s really no need for over-worked blending as it quickly gives the effect of a second skin – albeit a better one! The good-for-your-skin formula is enriched with poppy, apricot and mango extracts, where the over-all cheeky radiance is one of a subtly enhanced complexion. Think summery fresh and naturally sweet. The staying power is good too. I applied in the morning and colour stayed trued until the end of the day.

The new blushes have the same rose fragrance as the original Little Round Pot Blush, although the little round pot has lost some of its roundness! Now lightweight and slim, it slips comfortably into your purse , where you can use the integral mirror to subtly build up colour during the day.  It’s simply a pot of radiant loveliness and a must-try buy!

Cream blush comes in four shades including Nude Velvet, Healthy Glow, Rose Tender and Sweet Cherry.

Priced at £7.99 each, they are launching 8^th May in Selfridges and from the 15^th May can be found in Boots, Superdrug and Asos.com

Bourjois has an eye for a trend

CASSIE IN ACTION

It’s always a pleasure hooking up with Cassie Lomas, chief make-up artist for Bourjois. Chatty, friendly and passionate about make-up, Cassie is an insider that has the ability to take a trend and make it beautifully wearable. Witness her 60’s eye with a twist for the look she created for Clements Ribeiro’s SS13 look.

AN EYE FOR A TREND

“I wanted to create the perfect retro shade of powder blue eyeshadow,” reveals Cassie. “For this I mixed two products together – a creamy Metallise eyeliner pencil in shade Bleu Clinquant Metallise, £4.99 with a little touch of Healthy Mix Brush Concealer, £8.49 into the colour on the back of my hand. I then smudge the shade across the eyelids.” To set the colour Cassie dabbed a little Bourjois Round Pot Eyeshadow in their just-launched shade 17 – a very pretty azure powder blue. When I dropped into her masterclass that showed how to replicate the runway look, Cassie up-swung the trend further by lining the lash line with Bourjois’s Pinceau Liner, £6.99. “Wing out so it looks graphic and strong, not Pat Butcher,” Cassie reveals. 

THE RUNWAY LOOK SHEET

The rest of the face was kept super simple using the much feted Healthy Mix Serum Foundation, £10.99 which Cassie buffs onto the skin using a fluffy brush. Lips were played down with a slick of Rouge Edition Lipstick in nude. The result? Retro gorgeous!

Eyeing up some Egyptian attitude

There’s nothing quite like working a sexy Cleopatra eye whether it be a cinematic Liz Taylor or an Amanda Barrie Carry On effect. The tool of the trade for this mysterious and captivating look is kohl. This form of eyeliner had its breakout moment in Ancient Egypt where it was worn not only to enhance the eyes, but said to protect skin from the searing desert sun. It has also been speculated that kohl was worn to protect the wearer from the evil eye. Today, the only kind of eye Bourjois is interested in creating is one with modern attitude and mystery which comes courtesy of their new and aptly named Queen Attitude Kohl Kajal.

Twisting up like a lipstick bullet - the black satin ribbon at the end of the tube makes for a nice touch, this cone shaped kohl is inky black and incredibly soft thanks to its natural waxes. Although coal intense, it gives a powdery and graphic finish thereby creating a sensual, rather than a hard looking eye.  But if applied with a heavy hand, it can be easily smudged out due to its baby softness. Really, it's goof-proof to master. There’s no need for a pencil sharpener either as the tip will naturally contour to your make-up application without the need to sharpen. Apart from bathing in asses milk, I think this clever kohl captures the spirit of Egyptian beauty beautifully!

Bourjois Queen Attitude Kohl Kajal, £6.99

Available from www.boots.com www.superdrug.com and www.asos.com

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.