Fair Ladies - New Make-Up Range For Pale Skins!

Recently Nicola Roberts from Girls Aloud created a Make-Up Range in conjunction with Jelly Pong Pong, the result was 'Dainty Doll' & includes a range of foundations, concealers, blushers, eyeshadows & lipgloss all designed with the fairer complexion in mind. The foundation & concealer is said to be 'lighter than air' & seamless, so no tell tale tide lines! Also my favourite from the range is the 'Blush & Contour', choose from 2 shades, 'Bloom' which is a light brown & pink duo, mix these together with your blusher brush for the perfect touch of sun to your cheeks, the pink & light brown work together to create a cool tone on the skin, also try 'Blossom' for a light peach tone.
Available exclusively to ASOS.com, the prices range from £6-£12.

From Pale to Sun Kissed - Johnson's Summer Skin!!

With Summer's early & sudden arrival we all want to have a glowing golden tan, 'Johnson's Summer Skin' comes out top in recent polls with a 4 star rating, especially with the paler skins.. With all the sunbed health risks these days, faking it defintely is the best option & with the self tan moisturiser you're giving your skin a treat at the same time!
Johnson's have also released some new editions to the range, including a night lotion as well as a firming lotions too, great for bikini season of course! The latest one is my favourite, 'Summer Skin' for the very pale & interesting!! It helps give a very light & subtle colour, taking that slight blue/purple edge from celtic skin! Certainly no orangina here anyway, nice natural glowing sun kissed skin all the way!
Also boots have a great offer on at the moment, 50% off!!! Grab them while you can!

Male Grooming - Man Make-Up!

Yesterday I was invited to talk on radio about the new craze in male grooming - 'Man Make-Up', it was on a football radio show believe it or not & they wanted to address the male attitude towards cosmetics these days...
It has been a well known fact that men have been stealing their girlfriend's moisturisers & concealers to cover up their spots for years, although none would admit to it! However with the emergence of more & more specialised male product ranges, it makes it a little easier for our men to come out the cosmetic closet & take an open pride in their appearance! Boxed up in a masculine & sleek style these products feel acceptable for the modern man to pick up on his shopping trip to Boots! Of course whilst face creams, exfoliators & eye creams are becoming a lot more acceptable, the issue of 'Man Make-Up is still a little taboo, Russell Brand may carry off this look with style but I'm not sure most men would feel the need...! Although the make-up ranges offered for men are based around light & natural make-up which is to 'enhance' rather than look obvious, such as a concealer to cover up dark circles under the eyes or shaving nicks & spots, also a mattifying product in an invisible powder or gel to get rid of any unwanted shiny noses or foreheads (!!), plus some ranges include a bronzer as well as eyebrow defining pencils & gels, eye liner (or 'guy-liner' as some would say!) as well as lip balm! All of these are specifically designed for men & are set to become a huge success with more & more male celebrities openly admitting to using them such as Justin Timberlake, Johnny Depp & even Barrak Obama!
Men the same as woman feel the need to hide to odd spot or dark circles after a late night, especially if they have an important meeting to go to or an event, I predict it'll defintely become common place for men to have a little pot of concealer tucked away in their cosmetic cabinets!
There are many ranges out just now, Jean Paul Gaultier was the first to release a make-up line for men with his 'Monsieur' range (pictured above), which was recently featured in GQ & includes all the make-up products mentioned above, and more recently Clinique have launched their 'M-Concealer' designed for Men as well as No7 & Biotherme offering a male make-up range, and believe me it won't be long until most cosmetic brands are following suit to meet this new market! So we all now know what will be the stocking fillers this Christmas!!!!!

New From Rimmel - Volume Booster Liquid.

Brand new from Rimmel is their Volume Booster Liquid (£5.49), it claims to give you up to 40% fuller looking lips & it's formula contains marine collagen spheres as well as hyaluronic biospheres (all very technical!!), to give volume & instant hydration to your pout!
Anyway I have been researching the product this week & I must say there isn't a bad word to say about it, a 5 star rating all round! Great for dry cracked lips as well, many long term sufferers have found that within a few days of using the gloss their lips were smooth & healthy. Also the volume boost really does work & after a small tingling sensation you can see a vast improvement with lips feeling firmer & fuller. Also everybody that had used the product would definitely recommend to a friend, sounds like it's worth checking out!

Bannish Dark Circles - Best Under Eye Creams

Choosing an eye cream isn't easy, there are so many products on the market, all claiming to work wonders but how do we know which ones really work.... Eye cream ingredients have become more complex and varied & reading the labels on the packaging can just lead to confusion, so many of us just end up spending a lot of money trying out products that don't work!

Anyway the main issues that all eye creams offer to resolve are -

Wrinkles
Puffiness
Under-Eye bags and Dark Circles

All of these concern most of us as we get older, the skin becomes more fragile as we age and often shows up first as fine lines and wrinkles around the eyes, the thinner the skin the more blood vessels show through increasing the likelihood of dark circles. Of course this problem effects all age groups & dark circles with puffiness can be hereditary or simply your life style. Too much alcohol, smoking, a poor diet, sun exposure as well as too many late nights can all take their toll, a quick fix may be to get a good nights sleep alongside a straight forward detox!

Although if you want to find a cream that works for you rather than throwing away the cash, follow this tried & tested guide on what ingredients to look out for -

Eye Creams to Lift & Target Wrinkles -
Caffeine, Alcohol, Retinol, Alpha-Hydroxy Acids (AHA), Copper Peptides, and Vitamin C to tighten skin and stimulate collagen growth. Plus some eye creams also have a small amount of Botox in them as well, this will give you an instant & temporary lift.

EyeCreams for Dark Circles -
Vitamin K, Kojic Acid, and Hydroquinone to inhibit bruising and leakage and lighten skin.

Here are 3 great products to keep an eye out for -


Clinique Anti Gravity Firming Eye Lift Cream (£22.50), A rich cream that firms, lifts & hydrates the eye area for firmer, smoother & brighter skin under eye the eyes.


Garnier Nutritionist Caffeine Eye Roll On (£9.99), This brand new products is great for an instant lift to tired eyes, it has a brightening effect that takes hold right away & over time can reduce the over all appearance of your dark circles, get it fast as they sold out almost right away on launch & a new batch has just been delivered back out to the high street stores for this bank holiday weekend!


Prescriptive Vibrant-C Skin Brightening Eye Cream (£21), This best seller cream that is also recommended by 'In Style' is an all round eye cream, reducing wrinkles, puffiness & dark circles in one go. It's Vitamin C complex works on your dark circles as well as luminizers which instantly lift the whole eye area.

Celebrity Style - Gywneth Paltrow

Gwyneth Paltrow has spent the last few weeks showing off her fabulous toned body in six inch heels whilst promoting her new film, she has been going through a fashion & image update of late, leaving behind her previous grey drab wardrobe & re-emerging as a glamour goddess!
Her make-up look here is fantastic & completes the new glamorous sexy image, the eye make-up is the most striking element to the make-up & is easily achieved - here's how!!!

1 - Take a Dark Brown or Charcoal Grey & apply across the full lid of your eye (just to the point above the socket line) & blend to soften the colour.
2 - With a cotton bud take the colour into the outer corners of your socket line to create more depth & with a fluff brush in circular movements blend outwards.
3 - To line your eyes, take a soft kohl pencil & as close to the lash line as possible define the top lash line & then the bottom, once you have done this go back in with the pencil & line around the entire eye, right into the inner corner & the inner rim of the bottom lash line. To complete this, soften with a cotton bud on the top & bottom to create a smokey finish.
4 - Finish off with lashings of your favourite Mascara!!!

Also while of the subject of recent celebrity pics, Halle Berry has been out & about this week showing off her post baby figure, proudly making the most of her curves! A very yummy mummy!!!!

Lancome Juicy Tubes by Christopher Kane

Brand New & just out this week is the Limited Edition Lancome Juicy Tubes by designer Christopher Kane, the warm fruity colours are perfect for summer & the range includes the colours Rio, Peach, Tokyo Yuzu & Paris. 'Juicy Tubes' are easily the most famous & popular lip gloss range which now has cult status worldwide. With long lasting colour, great staying power as well as conditioning & softening your lips and not to mention their great taste, it takes a lot to rival the no 1 gloss!!! The new glosses are available at Lancome counters nationwide as of this week (13.50)