Wow...

Believe it or not, I'm back in New York. No, really. Not that I would recommend a 72 hour flying visit to anyone else but it was fun. And I actually managed on the teeny tiny quantity of slap I took out there with me, which was probably a bonus when I woke up wearing all of it Sunday morning.
Seriously, I never, ever sleep without cleansing and moisturising. This was a big night. I will spare you the gory details. Cough.
And that's an actual cough, I'm totally sick again for a change. Stupid recycled air on a plane full of sick people. Gah.

Anyway, just FYI, if you are going to destroy your health/skin with a 72 hour trip across the Atlantic (and the massive number of Moscow Mules I consumed and approximately three hours sleep I managed, have nothing to do with my current dry and deathly pallor) you MUST cleanse and moisturise and on return home, you MUST use Prescriptives Instant Gratification scrub (which means you need to buy it now before it's discontinued in January!) and you MUST slap on a Dr Bragi mask. It is the only reason my face didn't fall off this morning.

Now, to consume three times my body weight in water and book a facial before my next flight in two week. Meep.

Travel-Tastic

I am so excited.
In just seven hours, I'll be on a plane back to London for the first time since I flitted out to NYC in July, should be SO much fun.

What is not fun is a) how much I worry about the damage to my skin in flight and b) trying to rationalise what to take with me. My lovely, lovely friends have loads of good stuff that I 'donated' from the BeautyLover Moves to NYC So Please Take All My Shit fund in summer but still, there are always things you can't live without, right?

So this is what I'm taking...
Komenuka Bijin conditioner because I officially cannot live without it
Tigi After Party cream because it makes my hair super soft and it sometimes goes flyaway post-flight
Elemis Pro-Collagen Marine Cream, Skin Bliss Capsules, Skin Buff, Tri-Enzyme Wash, Papaya Enzyme Mask and Rose Quartz Collagen mask (which might sound like overkill but I'm going to be SO busy, my skin will need looking after! Plus I have a shit ton of travel sizes, God bless ELEMIS for putting samples in their full size products)
Dermalogica Daily Resurfacers are amazing for travelling as they're individually wrapped and help clear any clogged up pores that have been upset by the recycled air on the plane. Not to mention lack of sleep while I'm in London...
Beauty Flash Balm and Eye Cream - I really love this in-flight
Bliss Lemon & Sage Body Butter
Creme de la Mer lipbalm. The ONLY lipbalm I travel with. One slick on the plane and your lips will be totally hydrated when you wake up.
Chanel Coco Mademoiselle (I'm totally getting this at the airport, YAY Duty Free Shopping!)

I'm also attempting to travel light with the slap (HA) so at the moment all I have is my Nars foundation, mini Copacabana Multiple and pressed powder, Touche Eclat, Prescriptives Lash Envy mascara, MAC Hello Kitty blush, Stila eyeshadows in Cloud, La Douce, Golightly and Shore, Urban Decay eyeshadow Primer Potion, Naked lipstick and 24/7 pencils in Stash, Rockstar, Oil Slick and Corrupt and Smashbox O-Plump lipgloss.

I'm as excited as you are to find out what I actually pack when I get back to my apartment... What do you reckon, twice this amount?

All I Want for Christmas... MAC

Whee, this time next week I'll be getting my Christmas on and hitting London for a wee weekend visit. Can't wait.
And almost as exciting, will be a week on Sunday when I hit the MAC counter at Heathrow on my way back... I know the exchange rate means that it costs more or less the same as it does here but is there any better guilt-free shopping than at a duty free counter? The answer is NO.

Top of my list are the holiday collections - always SO beautiful and I use the shadow compacts more than any others (I have a love hate relationship with compacts. I know, I'm fickle) but I'm also desperate to get my mitts on something from the Baroque Boudoir collection - isn't it GORGEOUS?

The powder compact actually makes me want to do a little cry.
And if the Put a Spell on You holiday lip bag doesn't find its way back on a Virgin Atlantic flight, something has gone very, very wrong.

Oh MAC, how I love you.

Stila Event at Sephora Times Square

Super sorry non-Americano BeautyLovers but this is exclusively for the ladies that love NYC. If you're in the Big Apple this coming Saturday, then you can pop along to Sephora at Times Square for a free Stila make over!

I heart Stila in a big bad dirty way, seriously, hardy a day goes by that I'm not wearing Cloud (no matter how often I try to break the habit, it's my go to neutral to make my eyes pop) and generally cloud is accompanied by La Douce, Golightly or a little Shore, depending on my mood. All TOO pretty for words. And I'm out of my Fuchsia Convertible Colour. And my Strawberry lipglaze. Oh good lord, this is going to cost me, isn't it?
Anyway, here are the deets:

For every $50 Stila purchase, customers will be entered to win their own personalized Stila girl. Three lucky winners will receive this personalized Stila icon as well as a Stila Gift Package.
Additionally, each person who gets a Stila makeover and purchases any Stila product will receive a FREE full size Camellia Convertible Color

Saturday, December 5th
11am-8pm
Sephora Times Square
200 W 42nd Street
New York, NY‎
(212) 764-2525‎

Perfect excuse to do some Christmas shopping/party prep.
See you there my lovelies!

Komenuka Bijin Conditioner at Studio BeautyMix

I've been growing my locks for about a year now and as someone with lots of very fine hair that's coloured dark brown on a monthly basis, it hasn't always been easy. There have been plenty of times that I've considered taking the scissors to the lank lengths, usually when I've had to get up twenty minutes earlier than usual to wash and blow dry my mop.



But all that is in the past. For the last week, I've been using Komenuka Bijin conditioner from the really rather wonderful Studio BeautyMix in New York and I am all turned around. It's like I have new hair, seriously. Every single strand is long, strong and glossy without a hint of floppy lankess at the roots. It's packed full of wonderful things like ginseng, vitamin E, aloe and seaweed and it smells delicious. I'm in love.

In fact, I've got a bit of a crush on everything in Studio BeautyMix... the recently opened Soho off-shoot of Beauty Maven, Robin Coe-Hutshing, housed in a cosy corner of the Korres store (remember to grab some lipbalm while you're in there getting your Komenuka Bijin) is stocked with all of Robin's beauty secrets. Seriously, if this lady is recommending it, I'm buying it. Hopefully, we'll be taking a peek inside Robin's beauty bag very soon - I cannot wait to see what such a guru totes around with her...*


*and then copy her mercilessly in an attempt to be as cool as her.

Stocking Stuffer: Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion

So you know I featured the Urban Decay friends and family discount a couple of weeks ago? Well, I absolutely indulged in a few bits and pieces myself, including the 'I Can't Believe I Never Owned This Before' eyeshadow primer potion.


I don't know why I've never picked this up before. I love Urban Decay eye products and it always gets such amazing reviews but I don't know if it's lame products I've used before, the slightly sad packaging or what but I have to say, my life was not complete until I started using this product.

I just literally right now as in two seconds ago was washing my hands in the bathroom (sticky hands from handling too much Twilight candy in the office, mmm, Edward) and I noticed that my eyeliner was EXACTLY where I'd put it this morning. I mean, exactly there. Not a teeny tiny but had rubbed off or smudged or shifted and we're talking nine hours ago. And it's bright green. Bright green pencil. This primer is amazing and would be a welcome addition to any stocking this Christmas. Well, maybe not if your giftee doesn't wear eyeshadow... but, you know.
GET IT.

Oh, and Twilight: New Moon capsule review? If you are in anyway awkward about lusting after young boys, don't go. Unless you're prepared to lie to everyone and say you just want to see what a wonderful actor like Michael Sheen can do with such lame source material.
(It's awesome.)

New Moon: Luna Twilight Cosmetics

Now, I know every Twi-hard worth their fake fangs knows about these already but I couldn't resist. Against the will of every adult bone in my body, I'm going to a screening of New Moon this evening and will be shrieking like a girl throughout.

I don't care if it's for teenagers. I don't care if it's rubbish. I don't care if Robert Pattinson is high throughout the entire thing*, I am so freaking excited to see this movie.

Which is why I am so freaking excited to get myself to a Nordstrom to try out some of these Twilight-inspired cosmetics...

First up I give you Mortal Glow Blushing Cream! Fool the humans into thinking your fresh faced rosy glow comes from a healthy balanced diet and lots of exercise, not sucking that rosy glow right out of their jugular.

Second out of the blocks it's the First Light Body Glow. This hydrating illuminator gives you that 'vampire lying in a meadow sparkling his ass off' highlighted effect. But you know, use it on your collarbones, down your shins and along your shoulders if they're on show as opposed to bathing in it.

Trying to distract from the fact that your eyes are blood red? Well, try the Moonshadows eyeshadow. Perfect for getting that smoky eye look without burning a fellow vampire and rubbing their ashes all over your chops.

And last but by no means least, our old friend Lip Venom is here with a Twilight variant. Yes, you've guessed it - the lip venom is laced with a crimson stain. Less painful than the venomous bite of a Twilight vampire and twice as pretty as a big, manky scar on your hand, BELLA.
But not as pretty Robert Pattinson because, um, you know. YOU KNOW.
Sigh, swoon, thud.


*Disclaimer: by high, I of course mean ecstatically happy and not under the influence of a controlled substance just because he sometimes/constantly looks like he is. And I mean, like, alllllllll the time.