Summer Colours - Bright & Neon.

With Summer here colours are going bright & neon with pink, orange & yellow at the top of the list!
Defintely go bright or neon on the Nails to give your look in instant up to the minute edge, try Nails Inc yellow polish in Carnaby Street (9.50) or for some neon energy try O.P.I's Atomic Orange.
Also clashing colours are very cool this season,
try a splash of orange on the eyes with a vibrant pink on the lips, best orange eyeshadows can be found at Mac & Shu Uemura, also Yves Saint Laurent lipstick in Fuchsia Pink gives a beautful luscious colour on the lips, if you want to go for a vibrant colour with a softer finish try the Bourjois Rouge Hi-Tech liptints.

New - Bourjois Rouge Hi-Tech Lip Tint

Everybody is going lip tint crazy just now & Bourjois's new Rouge Hi-Tech is just the ticket if you're after a long lasting natural colour with no heaviness or sticky gloss! It is water based so feels really light on application & gives you intense colour while keeping the feel of bare lips, it comes with a fab applicator too so precision is easy. Choose from six shades - £7.25.

Must Have Product for Summer - New Benefit Posie Tint

Just out this week is Benefit's new Posie Tint, a new lighter take on their classic Benetint which which makes it perfect for summer! Soft fresh pink cheeks are very hot this season so this is the perfect product to keep your make-up bag right on trend!! The cheek & lip stain is applied just as Benetint & can be worn over foundation or just on it's own, apply 3 small dots along the cheek bone & blend, for an extra soft posie flush apply a dot to the apple of your cheeks (soft fleshy part when you smile) & blend outwards to give a youthful summer glow!!! The lipstain looks great as well, plus it lasts all day, apply with your fingertips & then add a little clear gloss over the top for some added sparkle! Available at Benefit counters from this week - £22.50

Brand New from Bobbi Brown

Just out from Bobbi Brown is their Mini Brush & Palette Case (£50), it has 3 brushes with it for Blusher, Eye Shadow & Eyeliner, plus it has plenty of room to tuck in one of their palette's as well as your mascara & lipgloss!
The Palettes, either the 3 or 4 pan (both £10) all have mirrors as well as room for either your favourite blushers or shadows, so you can tailor your very own Bobbi Brown collection!!

Top Anti Ageing Treatment - 3LAB "H" Serum

The latest craze from the US to hit the British market is 3LAB "H" Serum, it is a hot celebrity favourite over in LA & was even handed out in A-Lister goody bags at the Oscars this year.
Basically it is another anti-ageing serum, it claims to regenerate the skin, soften out fine lines & wrinkles plus repair sun damage to the skin, it's top ingredient is the Human Growth Hormone. This has been quite a controversial ingredient for many years & was even banned for cosmetic treatments by injection due to serious side effects such as irregular heart beat & diabetes, of course the trials carried out were in very high doses & since then the product has been developed into a safe external treatment for the skin in the form of a serum. HGH is added to the serum & bio-engineered to penetrate deep into the skin & after £2.5million worth of research the 3LAB serum is quickly becoming one of the most successful anti-ageing products showing real results with tests proving that in only 2 weeks users found that wrinkles were reduced as well as the signs of sun damage significantly reduced too & the over all tone of the skin being much firmer & youthful. It certainly has a celebrity price tag at £125 but is said to be a worthwhile investment, Sharon Osbourne most definitely agrees!!! Available at Selfridges, see their website for more info - www.3lab.com

Mac SkinSheen Leg Spray

Mac have just released their SkinSheen Leg Spray (£14.50), it is a light gel that spays on to the legs to create an even bronzed finish, giving you sun kissed pins for the summer months!
To create the perfect skin use their Body Buffer Brush (£34) as well, use this after the spray has been applied in circluar movements for a flawless application.

Best & Worst Sun Protection

With the summer holiday season almost upon us, supermarkets are stocking up their shelves with sun creams all claiming to offer us the optimum protection available from the sun, although recent tests have just revealed that 3 leading sun creams do not offer the protection promised on the bottles, first of all M&S's factor 15 only scored 7.1 in lab tests, Tesco's Factor 15 only came out as 12 and finally Malibu High Protection Lotion only scored 10.2 & not 15 as claimed.
Other brands were scored as well & some of the highly rated ones were Sanisbury's Factor 15, Ambre Solaire, Nivea as well as the one I would recommend, Boots Soltan. Sainsbury's lotion is only £3 which just shows you really don't have to splash the cash to get the best results.
Taking note of the SPF number of suncare products is very important, the numbering system applied to sunscreens is to advise on selecting the correct sunscreen for your skin type. The higher the number the greater the protection, the number indicates how much time can be spent in the sun before burning. For example if you use an SPF of 4, you could stay in the sun four times longer before burning as you would without any protection.
If you have fair skin it is more likely that you will burn quickly without any sunscreen and you may well still burn if your SPF is not strong enough. SPF 30 should provide sufficient coverage of any skin type, a higher SPF such as SPF 50 will provide more protection for very fair skins as well as young children. Medium skinned people are probably best to use SPF 15 or higher, darker skins do not need as much protection to their skin although the skin can still be damaged with over exposure to the sun so it is best to use SPF8.
To maximise your skin's protection from damaging sunrays, sunscream should be re-applied at least every 4 hours and more frequently if you are in & out the water. Apply generously to face, nose, neck, hands and feet as these areas are generally prone to burning, as well as the shoulders, chest & neck.
Always apply an After Sun lotion in the evening to moistuise & sooth the skin, even with sun cream applied your skin will loose moisture in the heat, also look out for creams that are rich in Vitamin E & Aloe Vera as these are great for the skin after being in the sun.