GO SMiLE

Eurgh, sorry I've been away but I've been poorly bad. Actually, having read the last couple of month's entries, I've been nothing but bloody poorly bad all year. Crapola. Here's to 2010 being relatively healthy...

Anyway, off my sleeping sickness and on to my new obsession. As you may have heard, shiny, white, Hollywood teeth are quite the thing out here in the US of A. Now, I don't have terrifying gnarled gnashers or anything but I don't have the sparkling pearly white smile of my US counterparts either. Not. Ideal. So I've been through the lot, White Strips, Brightening Toothpaste, Gel Pens, all that shizz, but it would appear I've found an option that a) works and b) (more importantly) looks awesome and comes in really funky packaging...

GO SMiLE works under the philosophy that brightening your smile should be as easy as refreshing your lip gloss and I have to say, it really is. No need for icky trays or plastic strips, you just snap open a teeny, portable ampoule of gel (massively satisfying and comes in loads of flavours) and then squeeze until it appears on the foam applicator and rub on your teeth. Ta-da! Stains come off, shiny teeth are revealed. And it's party time right? Lots of red wone, coffee and general badness to come. Think of the teeth! Won't somebody think of their teeth?!
Along with the little ampoules, I've been using the AM (Lemongrass) and PM (Lavender and Vanilla) toothpastes, both really lovely and a nice change from the abrasive arctic blast/baking soda aftertaste of some whitening toothpastes.

And most important of all, you can get online here them at Sephora.
And if you can get it there, it must be amazing, right?

Headmasters Christmas Blowouts

Obviously my recent flying trip to London required me to be looking really rather passable at all times - you can't vanish from people's lives for five months and then turn up looking like shat, can you? But combining six hours of turbulence and a hectic social calendar does not a rare beauty make.

What does a rare beauty make however are the awesome Christmas blowouts at Headmasters. Friday morning, I popped into the Mayfair branch to meet with the lovely Jonathan (note to all ladies: by lovely, I mean HOT) and within an hour, I was back out on Regent's Street trotting around in my over the knee boots with a sexily dishevelled do that even Cheryl would think was worth it. I knew that we would find hair harmony when he said he was going to for something a bit Leigh Lezark. Now really, there's a hair soulmate* for you.



Behold... and yes, I know I look slightly deranged but it's early and I'm tired but I look pretty and that is cause for the crazy eyes. And didn't I tell you Jonathan was hot?



Check out HMhair.co.uk for more details and your nearest salon. Really, is there any better treat to yourself than a blowout at Christmas? I don't care how handy you are with a pair of GHDs, nothing looks better than getting a professional to tame your locks and for twenty-two quid, you can be the belle of the ball. Or the skanky office Christmas party. Or, you know, whenever. It's Chriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiistmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas!


*I am aware that I've been a huge hair whore lately but really, I'm just trying to fill the void in my heart that was left when I had to ditch my beloved Jonny in Londinium. Sob.

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.