Tuesday 31 March 2009

Creme de la Mer The Body Refiner

Okay, so after my concession to the recession (I'm a poet, I know) yesterday I'm going all out today. It is payday after all.

I've been testing some exfoliators what with spring allegedly around the corner and meh, I thought they were all been pretty good until, I started using what will now and forever been known as The Daddy of Exfoliators. Oh yes, it's Creme de la Mer's The Body Refiner.


You might think it's a wee bit extravagant using a Creme de la Mer body scrub. You might think you have better things to spend nearly £75 on. You might think you have lived before today. You would be wrong about all these things.
Do any of your current shower products contain frickin' diamonds?
No?
Loser.

Here's Creme has to say about their latest miracle, I mean, product.

True to Crème de la Mer’s heritage, this multi-faceted treatment includes precious ingredients—including 1.75 carats of pure diamond dust— to deliver a cushiony resurfacing treatment that both polishes and softens the skin.

Plush, creamy, and calming, The Body Refiner incorporates fermented acidic sea muds harvested from a natural marine source to detoxify and purify skin for a bright healthy appearance. Their low pH level makes these muds extremely gentle and especially suitable for sensitive skin. This essential purification process clarifies the skin and helps to restore its smoothness.

Pure diamond powder and polished sea quartz act as physical exfoliants, as this precious treatment instantly lifts away dull cells, gently retexturizing skin to reveal a smooth and supple new surface. The Body Refiner’s cream base serves to cushion the skin and protect its moisture barrier.

As The Body Refiner is massaged into skin, La Mer’s piezoelectric (electrically-charged) minerals – tourmaline and sea quartz - convert the massage action into energy, helping to stimulate circulation and awaken skin. A new vitality appears to glow from within.


Seriously. Diamond. And yes, it does leave you a little bit sparkly but in the best way. Like, 'yeah, I'm totally glowing from within. And from the 1.75 carats of FREAKING DIAMONDS I SHOWERED WITH THIS MORNING.'

I tried so hard to find the bit from Arrested Development where George Michael buys Anne a diamond moisturiser but it's nowhere to be found. Sob.

The Body Refiner however can be easily located on Creme counters and at cremedelamer.co.uk

Monday 30 March 2009

All things bright and beautiful: Revlon Tropical Temptation

I am SO over this winter thing. Even though it was all sunny and lovely this morning, it's cold and crap outside.

And so I'm pretending it is the height of summer with my beautiful new nail colour from the lovely ladies of Revlon. It's not showing properly here which breaks my heart a little bit but honestly, it's the most gorgeous cool corally orangey pinky goodness you ever did see and I've actually had compliments on it. On my NAIL COLOUR. I'm also in love with Red Hot Tamale for my toes and Plum Passion for both fingers and tootsies.



I so go through phases with nail colour (except on the toes. The toes are always painted) but these babies have really reminded me how much fun it is to paint your nails. Plus, relatively credit crunch (boo!) friendly.

Friday 27 March 2009

Eye Eye: Estee Lauder and Bella Pierre

Ooh, I'm trying the lovely Lauder Double Wear Pencil in a navy blue today with a sparkly, sky blue Bella Pierre powder. Honestly, these pencils are amazing. They just Do. not. Budge. They might be my favourite find of this whole experiment.
In happy eye news, I have been complimented on my ability to blend eyeshadow today.
In less happy news, it was by someone at work who perhaps should have been more wowed with my skills in my job. Is it wrong that I was more excited that they were impressed at my ability to wield a smudger?

You win some, you lose some.

Wednesday 25 March 2009

P.S.

As you might have noticed, I've been mighty busy this week and my posting has been uber lazy but I promise to get right back on it next week. Lots happening, all good.

BL x

Eye Eye: Estee Lauder and Boots 17

I'm sampling two extremes today but they're working together pretty well.
To line and define, I'm rocking Estee Lauder's awesome new Double Wear Stay-In Place Eye Pencil in Forest, combined with 17's Seagreen Splash.

Honestly, I could get into this colour nonsense...

Tuesday 24 March 2009

Please God Let Me Sleep: Champneys Perfect Sleep

At this point, I'll try anything. NO ONE gets in between me and sleep. Seriously, the entire male cast of Gossip Girl could pop round for the evening and if I thought it would stop me (I know they're too young for me. I Don't Care) getting some shut eye, I would... well, I'd ask them to keep it down in the living room. It would be rude to turn them away if they've made the trip, right?



Should they by some unforeseen circumstances NOT make it to The Penthouse this evening, I'm going to be rocking out my new Champneys Perfect Sleep prods. Namely the Pillow Mist and Body Butter, both of which are to die for. They're also available from Sainsbury's which is conveniently located underneath The Penthouse. I didn't say it was a classy penthouse...

If you can't make it to la supermarche, bag yours from Champneys.com

Eye Eye: Vincent Longo & Bella Pierre

In an attempt to brighten my tired eyes (I haven't slept since Saturday - what is wrong with me?) I am going for gold today. And well, I'm coming in bronze but third isn't so bad, is it?

I've started with a base of my lovely Vincent Longo Eye Souffle in Pallido which is a beautiful light gold shimmer mousse which I think has been discontinued (boo) although, to be fair, it's gorgeous but has no staying power whatsoever. So to attempt to keep it in place for a heartbeat or two, I've layered up with a pretty bronzey gold Bella Pierre shimmer powder. I love these powders, they are so versatile and long lasting. Over the Vincent Longo, they give the most amazing foiled effect.



So my eyes look good, even if the bags underneath them, do not.

Monday 23 March 2009

Eye Eye: Avon Big Colour Pencil

I'm going pastel today - haven't you heard it's very Spring/Summer 09?
Well, I'm rocking Avon's Big Colour Eye Pencil in Plum Passion/Angel Mist. It's a big fat, double ended chunky waterproof eye pencil and so far I know it goes on like a dream and doesn't smudge off on the way to the office.
We like. Especially the icy lilac Angel Mist end.



And it's a bargain.

Friday 20 March 2009

Eye Eye: Revlon Aubergine

Hmm, going for a matte Aubergine from Revlon today and I really like it. smudged all around the eye, it's a lovely day alternative to a punky black or grey smokey eye.


Go Revlon!
Also loving their Beyond Natural Mascara. What's with High Street mascaras at the moment? They're SO GOOD!

Thursday 19 March 2009

Eye Eye: Estee Lauder Re-Nutriv Youth Eye Creme

And while I'm on the subject of eyes, all this attention to eye make up has turned my attention to the general subject of eye prods. My peepers really need some TLC at the mo, seriously. Those pillow creases that won't go away? They aren't pillow creases...


Well, in an attempt to head the non-pillow creases off at the pass, I've started using this bad boy, Estee Lauder Re-Nutriv Youth Eye Creme. It appears to be about as hardcore as eye creams get. Estee Lauder says:

A breakthrough for young skin, this revolutionary Eye Creme with the exclusive "Youth Molecule" delivers the look of Youthful Vitality, Youthful Smoothness, Youthful Tone and more — in a rich formula specifically for the eye area. In addition, it hydrates and brightens for a recharged, energized look. With continued use, it helps visibly soothe away puffiness and minimize dark circles.

Sounds good right? Okay, bloody marvellous. Order yours here.
I'll let you know how I get on.

Eye Eye: Estee Lauder Stay in Place Shadow Creme

Silver today! This is fun.
I've gone for the new Estee Lauder Stay in Place Shadow Creme in Silver Leaf. It's a dark, almost taupey silver but it is shimmery and pretty and so far, hasn't budged. If it ends up down my cheeks this afternoon, I'll let you know.


But that could just be from the tears I will be sobbing at 6.30 when the 'genius' at the Apple Store tells me my iPod cannot be repaired.

Wednesday 18 March 2009

Eye Eye: Ruby & Millie i-Metal

Following yesterday's entirely unintentionally St Patrick's Day themed green eyeshadow (which was disappointingly not very long lasting. Maybe I needed a primer?) I've gone for a solid line across my upper lash line of Ruby & Millie's i-Metal in Metallic Blue today.


I bloody love these, they go on easily and once they're set, they DO NOT MOVE. Which is just as well as I'm out for drinks tonight and don't have time to be fannying around reapplying.
I'll let you know how it goes*. You can get yours from Boots or Boots online here.

*The eyeshadow, not the drinks. Sorry.

Exciting things to do in Selfridges on Saturday

Aside from the handbag stroking and trying on Temperley that everyone on the floor knows full well you can't afford, obviously.

This Saturday, the CEO and creator of bareMinerals, Leslie Blodgett, will be talking about the wonder that is her mineral make up collection.



As per, there's a booking fee of £30 but that's redeemable against bareMineral purchases on the day (and you just try spending less than £30, not possible. You'll need a Buxom Gloss because it's Saturday night, a couple of eyeshadows, the colour payoff on these bad boys is amazing, and of course the mindblowingly awesome foundation at least.) plus you'll get what has been described as a 'generous' gift on the day...

Just give the Selfridges team a bell on 0800 123 400 Extension 12095 or stop by the bareMinerals concession to reserve your space/do a quick recce on the masses of slap you are inevitably going to purchase on Saturday.

Tuesday 17 March 2009

Happy Mother's Day! The Sanctuary and Lulu's Time Bomb

Do you know who looks really good for her age? Bloody Lulu. And when someone looks good for their age, they're usually pimped out to some beauty brand or high street store to rave about its wares. But not bloody Lulu. Oh no, she had to go and create her own range of pretty awesome skincare products that Mummy BeautyMecca and BeautyMecca's GBF's mummy absolutely love. And it's not just because GBF's mummy is Scottish, they actually love this stuff. Mummy BeautyMecca even has it on display on the bathroom because it's so pretty.



So, they will be delighted to hear that Lulu has only gone and added a hand cream and a scent to the range. Perfecto timing for Mother's Day. Nice one, Lulu. Order it from QVC or LulusPlace.co.uk and make your life easy.

Alternatively, if it's local, you could make your life even easier and earn some brownie points by sending ma off to the newly revamped The Sanctuary spa in London. Aside from TopShop, their gift vouchers are pretty much the only ones I'd ever deem acceptable (you can add M&S to that list if you're actually talking about mummies, I am only mummy to a cat and even she's been taken off me due to my living on the third floor and not even having enough food in the fridge to feed myself). Take a peepo at TheSanctuary.co.uk and peruse the options. At the moment, you can save up to 20% - score.

Eye Eye: Bobbi Brown Eucalyptus

Today I am mostly wearing Bobbi Brown's Eucalyptus with a touch of MAC eyeliner pencil in Industry. I tried to take a photo but you can't really see it... if you go to yesterday's post, it's second in from the left on the lower part of the palette.
It is so green, right?

Hurrah.

Monday 16 March 2009

Eye Eye: Bobbi Brown Brights Eye Palette

Now, I know I'm a little bit late to the table with this one but trust me, there's been a plan.
Given the success of The Great Kiss Off 2009 (which hasn't actually ended, I still have reviews coming in and I - I mean - we're still working hard at 'testing'), I decided to try a new experiment.

I've been in a bit of an eyeshadow rut recently, ever since I discovered the awesomeness of my dark brown hair back in October and the hilarious levels of eye make-up it requires to keep me looking human, I've been rocking Stila eyeshadow in Cloud teamed with MAC's Prune pencil smudged into my upper and lower lash line more or less every bleeding day. Don't get me wrong, it looks awesome but I want to get out of my box a little bit. Seriously, I have hundreds of eye colours and it's time they had a chance. So today will be my last day in Cloud and Prune for TWO WHOLE WEEKS. Every day, I will be busting out a new shade, a new colour, a new texture. It's all very exciting.



Not least of all because I managed to get my mitts on THIS aka the world's most exciting eye shadow palette ever aka the Bobbi Brown Brights Palette.
Isn't it spectacular? My plan is this - stash this puppy in my handbag and then I have no excuse not to be rocking this season's colour block shade on my eyelids each and every day for the rest of March, even if I get up really late (like today) and don't have time to do any sort of impressive make up (like today).

Let the experiment commence...

Friday 13 March 2009

Happy Mother's Day! Vital Restore

So I imagine a lot of you are off out Mother's Day shopping on the weekend? You do know it's on the 22nd right? Phew. I already ordered flowers, yay me.

But if you're looking for something faintly more long-lasting (but not nearly as surgical as my previous suggestion) you could treat ma to Garnier's new Vital Restore range.
It's aimed at women over 50 and contains orchid extract (so you're kind of giving her flowers) and soy bio-proteins (flowers and soy, what's not to love?) and aside from having pretty packaging, it's actually really lovely.


Clearly, I'm not over fifty and clearly I forgot to give it to Mummy BeautyMecca to try before we went to New York but I've had a play and the textures are to die for and quite frankly, fifty or not, my under eye area needs some tender loving care so I'm all for pimping this out to any and everyone.

It's a really simple regime to get your ma into, it's not too pricey and it's widely available.
Go mother's day!

Thursday 12 March 2009

Marching On...

I have been very neglectful lately, so sorry.
If it helps, I was in New York with Mummy BeautyMecca getting stress lines and excessive wrinkles. Expect a lot of feedback on creams, lotions and potions to get rid of them soon.

In other news:

Philosophy Red Licorice Lipbalm = awesome
Too Faced Smurfs collection = snigger
Hello Kitty for MAC = EVERYWHERE
Kat Von D's make uprange in Sephora = ultimate bad gal cool

Anyways, I'll be back on full duty tomorrow, honest injun.

Friday 6 March 2009

I Heart NYC

I am in New York.
It is very cold.

So far, I have bought several pieces of Hello Kitty MAC goodness at Duty Free (go buy NOW before it sells out for God's sake!), chipped a nail, pulled a pair of tights with said nail and realised that I've forgotten my conditioner.
That is all.
More updates later my lovelies.

Wednesday 4 March 2009

PsyDerma on QVC

Ooh, two of my favourite things coming together in one beautiful televisual event!
The oddly calming and really rather wonderful Dr Linda Papdopoulos has launched a gorgeous skincare range, PsyDerma (it should be a little symbol for Psy but I can't find it...) which combats both the internal and external stresses our skin faces every day. So as well as tackling free radicals and sun exposure, it also looks at stress and anxiety. Like the stress and anxiety I have over a) travelling on a plane for eight hours with my family and b) missing the first freaking PsyDerm QVC show Friday at 9am!!!

Isn't it pretty?


Don't pretend you have anything better to do at 9am on a Friday. Sit your ass down and watch Dr Linda explain how to make it all better. It all makes perfect sense - healthy mind = healthy body = beautiful skin.
I'm sold but if you want more info, check out the show Friday morning at 9.00am or PsyDerma.com

Happy Mother's Day: Steam Cream

Okay, I'm a little calmer today and at least half packed. What's not so great is that my skin is, for the first time in weeks, what can only be described as 'calm'. The day before I put it through an eight hour flight and five straight days with my family. I can only hope and pray that the magic New York water will work a miracle and sort me out.

Alternatively, I could dip into one of the really rather wonderful pots of Steam Cream that are currently sat on my desk. I don't know if you've heard about these bad boys yet but they are both extraordinarily beautiful and (yay!) extraordinarily effective. I've been using one as hand cream due to my excessive love of lavender (one of the main ingredients in Steam Cream) but when my skin was all kinds of upset, I did try it on my face and it went on smoothly, sank in immediately and left me soft and glowing. The name comes from the pioneering method the manufacturers have used to bind the ingredients using - you've guessed it - steam! So the orange flower water, lavender oil and oatmeal infusion are able to breakdown into you skin more easily.


And did I mention the tins are nice?

I've pegged it as a definite option for Mother's Day. The tins are so ridiculously pretty and who doesn't love a good moisturiser? Mummy BeautyMecca has really sensitive skin so she'll be beside herself with joy if this works for her.

Have a peepo at steamcream.co.uk or pick up a pot at Liberty.

Tuesday 3 March 2009

Happy Mother's Day: Evolence

Now I would like to preface this with a disclaimer - I am not suggesting at any point that Mummy BeautyMecca needs any 'work done'. On the contrary, if anyone was going to looking for a quick fix right now, it's me. You should have SEEN the state of me yesterday...

But anyway, apparently 90% of mums asked told the lovely people at Evolence that they would rather have fewer wrinkles for mother's day this year than chocolates or fragrance. Coincidentally, Evolence offer a terribly exciting collagen-based dermal filler (but all natural so no nasties will be floating around in your face) that treats harsh smile lines, while Evolence Breeze looks after the fine lines around your lips. And hurrah hurrah, they both last up to twelve months so no need for lots of time of work/nasty injections... And it only takes twenty minutes. I would have happily given up twenty minutes yesterday to look human.

Behold... here is lady pre-treatment:
Nice lip colour.

And after twelve hours:


And after twelve months:



Tis magic, non?

Check out the website here for more information.

Monday 2 March 2009

Bath Time Bliss: Elemis

So it looks like March is going to be a busy month that has started out hectic and is only going to get worse from here on in... Having spent the entire weekend at Popfest in London Town (who knew indiepop could be so exhausting?) and mummy BeautyMecca hitting town on Wednesday for our trip to NYC on Thursday, I have officially got two days to sort my life out and prepare the BeautyMecca Towers (aka The Penthouse) and myself.


Tonight I'm going to attempt to refuel with the a ridiculously decadent bath, full to the brim of Elemis' Skin Nourishing Bath Milk, followed by a thorough basting in Exotic Frangipani Monoi Moisture Melt. The bath milk is full of restorative vitamins, amino acids and oat extract, Japanese Camellia Oil and of course, milk protein. If it's good enough for Cleopatra, right?



While the Exotic Frangipani Monoi Moisture Melt comes in a bottle that the White Witch would be proud to have on display in Narnia... Honest to god, it's gorgeous. Basically, you pop the bottle in the bath with you to melt the almond oils, then smooth the warm oil all over your damp skin (sorry, this is getting a bit x-rated) to lock in all that bath-y goodness. It's awesome.

And then you lie quietly in your bed and pretend you're not about to get on a plane for eight hours with your parents and 33-year-old brother.
Grab your own fifteen minutes peace and quiet at Time to Spa.

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