Do the Pink Thing

Rounding up our week of beautiful buys that support breast cancer charities, we've got some gorgeous high end treats and a couple of handy must haves - your choice (but I'd get all of them if I were you...)

Starting with Bobbi Brown's Pink Ribbon duo. This lovely lipgloss and lipstick set is super wearable and super pretty. Go and grab it at your nearest counter now before it sells out - you can read BeautyMecca on your mobile of BlackBerry you know, there's no excuse to still be at your desk...

If you're feeling a bit fruity, you could opt for the Missoni Profuma. A beautiful work of art in itself with the added bonus of smelling delish and a big old donation to charity. Gorgeousness itself.

Boots has a fantastic range of products that support Breast Cancer Awareness and they're all available on Boots.com so get clicking! My two personal favourites are the mini kabuki brush for just £5 and the travel kit containing plastic containers and a spatula, how great is that?

Tomorrow is the beginning of a Beauty-Full Christmas on BeautyMecca... Man alive I love Christmas so bah-humbug to all you Scrooges, it's time to start shopping!

Think Pink!

I have fallen deeply in love with Prescriptives and anything that allows me to further my crush is well received. Sometimes (a while away from payday that is) I need an excuse, okay?

Today's recommended treat is Prescriptives beautiful Pink Ahead eye palette. For just twelve English pounds, three shimmering shades of gorgeousness can be yours and a whole FIVE of those pounds will go to the Breast Cancer Research foundation.

Hands up if you feel a little bit better about yourself right now...
Is it the warm glow of charity or the sparkling highlights from the light pink shade that you've dusted on the inner corners of your eyes and under your brows?

I'm going to go with, both...

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is two things on BeautyMecca, Trick or Treat month and Breast Cancer Awareness month. Luckily, thanks to some fab companies like Estee Lauder and Boots, we get to combine helping out an amazing charity and treating ourselves. Isn't this a wonderful world?

I'm hoping there's no one out there reading this that isn't already aware that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. I've also got my fingers crossed that you not only know about it but also know how important it is to be breast aware (and no, I don't mean who's had them done and who hasn't. Well, I usually do but not right now).

I had a breast cancer scare when I was just 18. I found a lump in the shower and, too scared to tell my mum, I took myself off to the doctors and they made me an appointment at the local hospital. As soon as the letter arrived confirming the appointment, I took a deep breath, told my mum (in the car - not advisable) and more or less fell apart. Finding the lump wasn't so bad, going to the doctor was a bit weird but telling your mum? That was what made it real. The thought that I might have to undergo cancer treatment, lose a breast at the age of 18, even die... It was so, so scary for both of us but luckily, it turned out to be nothing serious and I was so happy I'd had the courage to deal with it instead of hiding. See, sometimes you need balls to look after your boobs. And sometimes you need your mum.

Despite going through all that, I know that I'm not as vigilent as I should be about checking my breasts so I'm begging you to please, please check yourself out. Visit www.breastcancercare.org.uk and find out everything you need to know. Plus, it doesn't hurt that the pink ribbon badges sit so beautifully on this season's purple trend - buy one now!

There are a million ways for you to help raise money and awareness and we'll be looking at a different treat every day. Today I'm recommending the gorgeous, beautiful, shimmering shade of BREAST CANCER AWARENESS ‘COSMIC PINK’ GLOSSWEAR FOR LIPS. This pretty gloss soothes and moisturises with aloe vera and linoleic acid and helps protect against environmental damage with antioxidants including Vitamin E and BHT. Gleaming, high-shine colour deposits colour directly onto lips with a comfortable plush wand. Yummy.

For each Glosswear for Lips sold in the UK, £2 will be donated in total to charity.
Pick yours up from Boots or boots.co.uk today. And you know what? Get one for your mum too.

A Level: Eyeliner

Now we've hit October, it's really time to wrap up Beauty School and look forward to my FAVOURITE TIME OF YEAR - Christmas! No really, I already got the Boots Christmas Catalogue. Didn't you?

So today we're looking at a more advanced level of Beauty Schooling - eyeliner.

I heart eyeliner almost as much as Christmas. Smokey eyes, as is well documented, is my favourite make up look and with a little bit of practise and the right products, can be one of the easiest looks to achieve. To get a super simple look, all you really want is a soft, smudgy pencil to line your upper and lower lashes. This can be kept tame for daytime and really vamped up at night.

I love Stila's kajal pencils (Antique Silver is my top pick) as well as MAC's Technokohl Liner in Graphblack and Clinique's Kohl Shaper for eyes (which has it's own sharpener in the lid!). None of these pencils are going to drag on your skin, they're all going to sit nicely and smudge as they're told.

For a more wild look, go BeneFit's famous Bad Gal which is a big fat chunky pencil, perfect for dramatic rock chick looks. Mmm, sexy.

If you're prepared to sit the higher paper, you my want to brave liquid liners. Okay, I applaud you, so let's put on our best boyscout hats and be prepared. There are some fab products on the market now that mean you can cock up till the cows come home and still achieve a great, sharp line. MAC have some fab premoistened cottonbuds that come in individual sachets that you can pop into your handbag and clean up any mistakes without removing all your make up, while Colorspotr have this fantastic eyeliner remover pen that you literally draw over the eyeliner you need to remove like a felt tip, and off it comes - like magic! I live and die by this baby at the minute.

For a more versatile look, I really like Colorsport's 24 hour eyeliners. Again, they're just like felt tip pens and you can line your eyes anyway you like - thin defined line along the lashes? Fat smudgy sex kitten? You got it and it doesn't move until you take it off with make up remover.

When it comes to actual liquid eyeliner, to get this season's sexy 40s look, I LOVE Estee Lauder's Zero Smudge Double Wear Liquid Liner. The applicator gives me complete control and it doesn't budge once it's applied. Score.

See, you've graduated Beauty School with a huge tick!

p.s.

Tomorrow is BeautyLover's birthday so posting might be delayed by endless whirl of parties and gifts... Or the hangover that follows tonight's drinking myself into denial.

Beauty School: Art and the use of colour

Granted this isn't the best entry to write on a BlackBerry as I can't add pics, but rest easy my lovelies, they will come.

Today's lesson is all about colour and the fact that you must use it. Seriously.

Let's start easy. Lips.everyone in christendom can wear a shot of colour on their pout. If you're brave, try this season's vamp red. Ruby Woo from MAC is a classic. For shy girls, try the new Saint colours from Poppy at Space NK. Lovely sheers with a punch of colour. Delish.

A fab new multiple which gives a pretty pop of wearable colour to lips and cheeks, is BeneFit's Rush Hour. An easy to blend neutral rose colour that's perfect for colour on the go. No mistakes, well, possible.

Now, where I tend to go colour crazy is on the eyes. I love a good slick of metallic green (mmm, Vincent Longo mousse shadows) or icy blue (try BeneFit snow day) but I do realise not everyone likes the 'could veer into tranny territory at any second' look but be brave.

Head to your nearest MAC or Nars counter (my favourite colour cosmetics) and experiment. The make up artists on hand will be more than happy to point you in some new directions. Once you're feeling braver, try some Urban Decay shadows or id Bare Minerals, all fab colour products. I love to create a base all over the lid with Stila smudge pots in green or colbalt blue and then soften to a smokey finish with the id bare minerals loose powder shadows for a different take on the average grey smokey eye.
If you're not up for all over colour, try coloured liner. It doesn't have to be too Lily Allen although that's fun too actually!

Go on, pick up a brush and go crazy.

LA Confidential

LA is a really weird place. Luckily, it is punctuated with many branches of Sephora and various department stores.

I tried not to get sucked in but I really did love it. So random! However, it's super tricky to try and describe an LA look to you. We saw a whole lot of Amy Winehouse-a-likes in Chateau Marmont, Mischa Barton wannabees at the beach and Paris after Paris after Paris at the shops. Interesting.
I'd have to say, go fresh faced by day - don't forget a touch of bronzer- and vamp up the eyes at night. Skin should always, always stay fresh and glowy.

To be honest, I didn't get a whole lot of BeautyMecca time (sorry for ditching you) but I did get the chance to try out a couple of fun new BeneFit products - Rush Hour and That Gal. Rush Hour is an easy to use multiple that gives cheeks and lips a rosy glow while That Gal was perfect for a fresh faced no make up look. It's a primer that really does cool and even your skin. Plus it looks like a pritt stick. Score.

MAC had some wicked 3D lipglosses that were super shiny and Vincent Longo was rocking some amazing moussey textured eye colours in gorgeous metallic green, bronze and pale gold. Mmm.

I also fell in love with Marc Jacobs Daisy perfume. So pretty.

I think I've got just enough time to mention the very LA 'Go Smile' tooth whitening thingy I picked up in Sephora. Go Smile is a peach flavoured tooth whitening gel in a handy disposable tube, like a little bit lipgloss but less sparkly colour and more burn the crap off your teeth. So if you happen to be in Hollywood, you've just necked a bottle of red wine with your lunch and you've got a big love scene with Peter from Heroes that afternoon, you're good to go... (who wouldn't be?)
Aaand, ACTION!