L'Oreal's New Studio Secrets Professional Range

L'oreal Paris is currently launching a fantastic new range called 'Studio Secrets Professional' revealing their top 5 professional make-up secrets, this is the first range of professional make-up to the mass market including products such as Re-Surfacing Primer, Anti-Dullness Primers & various Eye & Lip Intensifiers.
Inspired by supermodel Linda Evangelista, who throughout her 15 year career within the fashion industry as acquired a vast amount of inside knowledge within professional make-up as well as regularly doing her own make-up for catwalk shows & high profile shoots, the range has been developed with a teaching base & step by step approach. Linda now shares all the secrets of professional make-up with women worde wide, so now every woman can easily create professional make-up in her own home!
Here are each of the steps with all the magic products to have you preened to perfection!

Secret 1 - 'A Perfect Skin Surface'
All professional finishes start with a well prepared smooth surface, this includes 2 products 'Smoothing Resurfacing Primer' (Pictured Above) & 'Anti-Shine Mattifying Primer'. The first creates a soft even skin texture with pores & fine lines appearing smoother, I found when using this that a little goes along way which is great, my skin felt velvety smooth instantly & what's more my foundation stayed in place all day! Secondly is the Anti Shine Primer which will keep your skin shine free all day, perfect for those with oily skin, again only a little is required & best to add little dabs onto the shine prone areas such as forehead, nose & chin. Resurfacing Primer £11.99 & Mattifying Primer £9.99
Secret 2 - 'A Uniform Skin Tone'
All skin can have a few areas that either have slight red patches, signs of fatigue or lacklustre so with the right colour base your complexion can be flawless! Three colour primers are on offer here, Green 'Anti-Redness Primer', Pink 'Anti-Dull Primer for Light Skin' & Peach 'Anti-Dull Primer for Medium Skin'. With the green skin looks more even & toned with the redness reduced, with the Pink creating a glowing complexion for light skins & the Peach creating a warm tone for medium skins. I tested out the Pink & found it instantly gave my skin a fresh appearance, also one excellent tip is that if you apply a little to your foundation under the eyes it instantly brightens the under eye area! £9.99
Secret 3 - 'A Flawless Complexion'
A successful complexion depends on the attention given to it & with a winning combination, the right consistency, the right colour, the right coverage, the right luminosity & the right application, you can have the wow factor guaranteed!
The new Studio Secrets 'High Definition Smoothing Foundation' guarantees a satin soft & dazzling finish. The tube comes with it's own brush attached to give an even & professional application, the formula is designed blend perfectly with the skin giving an even finish & with a meshwork of fine waxes & soft focus effects the skin looks flawless, also a soft satiny powder provides luminosity leaving the skin radiant & glowing! There are 8 shades available which are addapted to suit all skin tones. £15.99
Secret 4 - 'Glorious Eyes'
Ever wondered how to make the most of your eyes & what colour works best without endless trial & error!? Well Studio Secrets can tell you exactly how to get it just perfect first time!
The eyeshadow should intensify the colour of the iris & your eyeliner redefines the eye, there are 16 shades within the range, 4 against each eye colour - Blue, Green, Brown & Dark Eyes. For example Blue eyes are intensified by an array of golden & warm browns, Green eyes by shades of brown, green & purple, Brown eyes with dark blues, light purples & brown as well as Dark eyes suiting greys & vibrant greens. The shadows are available in a variety of textures from Matt to Pearlescent & Shimmer plus all the pigments are optimised for an intense result in colour. I tried out some of the colours for brown eyes & found the deep blue really brought out my eye colour & the complimenting light purple look dazzling, also the shadows are great to work with & blend like a dream! £5.99 Each
Secret 5 - 'Sublime Lips'
Most lip shapes all need a small amount of redefining & rebalancing so the secret for seductive kissable lips is perfect definition & a well chosen colour!

Studio Secrets have a range of colour coordinated lipsticks making the choice easy as to what suits & to compliment a range of Lip Liners & Glass Shine LipGlass.
The colours are split into four groups & there are 24 in total, from Blonde, Light Brunette, Brunette & Dark Skin Tones, all groups have 2 lipliners each to compliment the colours, also each lipstick comes in 3 effects from Glossy, Satin to Matt. The
Glass Shine comes in 16 shades with again four groups from Blonde, Brunette, Auburn & Dark Skin Tones, it also has 3 effects from Lacquer, Glitter & Mother of Pearl. I tried out one the lipsticks for brunettes & found the colour to be very subtle & excellent for my skin tone, it also lasted very well & the gloss also gives along wear extra spake to the lip colour! Lip Stick £8.99, Lip Gloss £7.99 & Lip Liner £5.99

Over all an excellent range that creates a perfect combination of quality make-up, with an affordable price tag & the added bonus of a make-up tutorial built in! Many of the products will definitely be regulars in my make-up kit from now on! Available from Boots Nationwide

Girly Festival Essential - Bumble & Bumble Hair Powder!

Another must have when packing your wet wipes for this year's festival season & as Glastonbury kicks off this weekend it's a product that any girly festival goer shouldn't be without! Bumble & Bumble Hair Powder is a magic, multi-purpose spray which creates instant fullness, enhances colour, blend roots & most importantly it gives you an extra day or two from your last hair wash....! It evens creates extra grip when tying up hair giving your style more hold & flexibility so you can afford to be even more creative with your hair at the same time, better than just hiding under a hat! The powder comes in Brown, Black, Blonde, Red & White - £15.

Johnson's New Baby Soft Range

Building on an Icon.... Johnson's have now brought out their new Baby Soft Range which brings you all the benefits of Johnson's Baby Lotion in two new products, so you can choose the perfect one to suit your skincare regime! Baby Lotion now has a large celebrity fan base, being a favourite to the likes of Gwen Stefani, Jennifer Aniston as well as Beyonce to name but a few, and has been a beauty classic since 1943, passed from generation to generation.
Firstly is the new 'Baby Softwash', a shower wash & moisturiser all in one, many shower gels have 'surface active ingredients' that can strip the skin & create dryness after showering, Baby Softwash is mild & gentle, enriched with baby lotion to help replenish moisture whilst showering. During it's trials 95% of woman said they would use it every day & 90% said it left their skin feeling clean & fresh as well as being soft & gentle. I certainly found this to be the case with my skin feeling silky & smooth, plus you have the added bonus of smelling baby fresh, definitely an all in one wash & moisturiser for girls on the go!

Secondly is a new intensive moisturiser 'Baby Soft Cream' which is perfect for tackling those dry areas on hands, knees or elbows & anywhere that needs a bit of extra attention. The cream is easily absorbed, soothes & moisturises instantly, a great instant fix to dry hands & what's more again it leaves you smelling baby fresh!
New Baby Soft Wash £2.99 & Baby Soft Cream £2.29.

Rimmel's New Sexy Curves Waterproof Mascara

Rimmel have just released a fab new mascara to add to their brilliant collection, 'Sexy Curves Waterproof Mascara', it creates up to 70% curlier looking lashes with 'extreme resistance' & added volume. It's unique & curvaceous triple plump brush is designed to curve both in and out to shape your lashes for a dramatic finish. What's even better is the new 100% solvent-free formula, waterproof doesn't mean compromising on performance so you have amazing long lashes with mascara that won’t budge or smudge but is easy to remove when you choose to! So no more spider leg lashes that hang around for a week after you apply your waterproof mascara! A great budget buy at £5.99

They're Just Like Us - Celebs With No Make-Up On!

When was the last time you dared leave the house without so much as a scratch of make-up on & are you one of us many women who fear that leaving the house without any make-up on may cause such a wave of shock & horror, it would send people running away at the mere sight of you!? Well even some of our most favourite celebs have managed to step out bare faced without terrifying any small children or causing gasps of horror from passers by, they just have the paparazzi following them instead, so we can all gaze at how they too look just the same as us (well almost!) on a quick dash for a pint of milk! Here are a few of my favourite 'with & without make-up' shots I found today -

Fearne Cotton - Out of all the celebs I've seen without make-up Fearne definitely has the best transformation with her dark smokey eye looks & sculpted cheek bones.



Keira Knightly - Still looking pretty fresh faced without, although her 'femme fatal' look is certainly helped along with the aid of her make-up artist!



Hilary Duff - Not quite the sun kissed glow on the right as we see on the red carpet!



Courtney Cox - Again the sun kissed glow & healthy complexion is all gone!



Drew Barrymore - A little more 'pasty' than the flawless porcelain look we're used to seeing Drew with!

The Simple Suncare Solution

Simple have just launched their new Simple Sun Sensitive range, it includes 13 products for the face and body formulated to protect the skin in adults to kids as well as babies. As with all Simple products, these are formulated with no harsh perfume or colour, so they are even suitable for the most sensitive skin skin types.
Whether at home or abroad all skin is sensitive in the sun and therefore the products you use to protect it should care for it too. What’s surprising is that most sun-care products contain perfume and colour, which are the most common causes of skin irritation.
The Simple Sun Sensitive Protecting products are the only sun-care range with sunflower goodness to enhance the skin’s natural sun defence, whilst the Simple Sun Sensitive after-sun products contain Aloe Vera and Vitamin goodness for naturally healthy skin.
So the result is Simple - naturally healthy and beautiful skin this summer!

This Week's Celebrity Red Carpet Beauty!

Here's just a few looks that caught my eye from the red carpet this week -

Firstly is Sienna Miller with flawless & fresh natural make-up teamed with loose curls, to get Sienna's look got for a light perfecting foundation such as Chanel's Lumiere, use a nude eyeshadow teamed with a brown eye pencil to define the lash lines & apply plenty of mascara, also go for a light flesh-tone lipgloss.



Next is Clare Danes & I love this look, very glamorous but simple & chic, the smokey effect really brings out her eyes. To get this look for yourself, take your eye pencil & line all the way around the eye & into the corners, then with a liquid liner take it right into the inside of your lower lash line to give a bold finish.



Lastly is Lauren Conrad, now I'm not too sure of the look she is trying to go for here & the shade of red on her lips really isn't doing her complexion any favours! A softer warmer colour would have been better I think, although I love the eye make-up, again very simple but effective, just blend a nude shadow across the lids & with liquid liner define the top lash line, then take a pencil lightly underneath on the bottom lash line to complete the look.

The Apprentice Becomes the Master of Chic!

Everyone is on the edge of their seats, waiting to see who will be crowned victorious as Alan Sugar’s next apprentice. This is the first time since 2006 that we have seen an all girl final, and of course in 2006 Michelle Dewberry walked away with that prestigious prize.
Three years on, Michelle has taken all her business know how, combined it with her love of all things stylish and create the ultimate ‘go to’ website. Chiconomise is set to launch today (5th June 2009) and will take the internet and bargain hunters by storm.
Chiconomise was initially born out of a newsletter created by Michelle who wanted readers to get deals on their favourite things. The success of the newsletter cannot be disputed having attracted over 10,000 readers in its first month on just word of mouth alone.
The new site was developed because Michelle knows that everyone wants to hear about all the coolest things around and everyone loves a deal but we don’t always have the time to spend looking for them. At Chiconomise, exclusive discounts, deals, competitions, sample sales and promotions are combined with articles on every aspect of a woman’s life. From fashion to health, you can find it all at Chiconomise of the best sales from across the high street and web stored in one easy to search diary, you’ll never miss out on your favourite brand again!
Talking about the launch and the upcoming Apprentice final Michelle commented: “It’s great to see two strong, independent women in the final again battling it out for that six figure salary. But, no matter what the budget, savvy women should check out Chiconomise. It really is the perfect solution to living stylishly for less. After all, doesn’t every girl want to be a chiconomista?” Check out the site for yourself www.chiconomise.com

Latest Craze in Anti Ageing Hair Care - Is it All A Con?!

This week the Daily Mail writes about the latest fad that is hitting our shampoo shelves, once upon a time products were only aimed at normal, dry or greasy hair, then of course came volumising, sleek & straight, de-frizzing & not to mention colour enhancing...but now we’re being treated to many new products claiming they can turn back the clocks on our apparent ageing hair?! So not only are we treating our faces to the latest skin care technology our hair also needs to defy time......or does it really??!! Some of these products are Charles Worthington Time Defy, Frederic Fekkai Ageless and Alterna Caviar Anti-Ageing & seem all to be leading the way on this new beauty trend.
Anyway according to some this new trend is seen to be a possible marketing ploy, after all between 2002-2007 anti-ageing was the fastest growing sector within the skincare market, increasing by 67% making a whopping £13Billion, so it makes sense for the haircare industry to try & cash in doesn't it!?
Obviously I'm huge fan of the anti-ageing skincare industry the only thing is there is a large difference seeing that hair is actually dead cells and only has a lifespan of four to five years at the very most anyway?!
So basically if a 30 year old as well as a 60 year old both have hair that’s ten inches long, then tips of their hair will all be the same age which is approximately 20 months.

Anyway here are a few points from the product creators themselves, Sara Botham from Alterna says 'you don’t have to be old to use anti-ageing haircare' -

‘When we talk about ageing hair, we’re not necessarily talking about the age of the person,’
‘Hair can be aged in a number of ways - there’s the environment, UV damage and pollution, which can damage hair; there are chemical factors, such as straightening and colouring, and then there’s chronological ageing as well.’

Of course this sounds all very good but is it not really a protective shampoo or one that treats dry/damaged hair, rather than being labelled as 'Anti-Ageing'

Another pioneer in this new beauty craze is Frederic Fekkai, he says the difference is that anti-ageing haircare should not just repair damage, but actively prevent it happening in the future -
‘My Ageless line is specially designed to combat the three signs of ageing: biological, environmental and mechanical'
‘It visibly corrects the first signs of ageing (dryness, damage, dullness and uneven texture), while proactively protecting hair from daily stressors that accelerate ageing, such as colour and chemical processing, heat styling, pollution and radiation.’

Independent trichologist Philip Kingsley sees this all a bit differently & says that nothing you actually put on your hair can change the structure of the follicle at all. -

‘What many people call ageing - chemical and environmental damage and so on - I call “weathering, and while whatever age you are your hair is subject to weathering, an older person may be more likely to have weathered hair. This is because as we get older, the hair follicles produce thinner hair, which is inherently weaker and has less body and volume than thicker hair.
‘As a result, you’re more likely to colour it or have a perm, and these processes will weather hair more, leaving it finer, dryer and more damaged.’
‘If you really want to try and diminish the effects of age on hair growth, the best thing you can do is eat sensibly.

The main outcome from this is that perhaps we're having the same products we have been using for years just re-labelled, re-bottled & plonked on our shelves...of course they can do great things to protect your hair, give it shine & volume, but didn't they already do this, so basically are they just spinning us a new line?!

Summer Saviour - Korres Anti-Cellulite Gel!

With summer hotting up over the last week we're all bikini-bod obsessed with our summer hols just around the corner! Well here's a quick step to firming up & perfecting those little wobbly bits before you hit the beach! 'Korres Black Tea & Verbena Skin Smoothing Cream-Gel with Caffeine', basically it is an easily absorbed cream/gel that helps reduce the storage of fat. Caffeine is a well known 'lipolytic agent' as it assists in the breakdown of fat stored in fat cells & combining this with Black Tea and Verbena extracts it will reduce the accumulation of fat. Also with the combination of other ingredients such as Ivy, Centella and Ruscus it invigorates microcirculation which significantly reduces any dimple effects on the skin. Use twice a day & clinical trials show it will reduce fat in local areas by up to 1.7 centimetres within two months as well as a smoother less dimpled appearance on the skin. Definitely a celebrity treatment without the price tag, a steal at £27!

Celebrity EyeBrow Guru - Shavata Soothing Gel

Eyebrow guru & plucker to the a-list Shavata has now released her fab cooling gel on the high street that was only previously available in her salon. The soothing gel instantly calms redness & inflammation after plucking with it's healing ingredients including Aloe Arnica, so you can head out straight after a quick brow tidy on a Saturday night! Also effective on the bikini area as well so it takes the sting out of all general de-fluffing! £9.95