What we learned in March

Things we learned this month...

Flying is not good for your skin. Creme de la Mer and Bliss' Sleeping Peel serum however, are very, very good for your skin.

Bobbi Brown and Red Letter Days attempted to make me feel better about only receiving ONE EASTER EGG with a variety of delicious creamy and chocolatey massages and lipsticks.

Usher doesn't think it's important how famous he is, just what he's famous for. Which is apparently now perfume. Who would have thunk it?

Eyelash extensions are BeautyMecca's new obsession.

Paul Labrecque hair products ROCK and as we found out in New York, Adolfo at Paul Lebrecque rocks even harder.

Juicy Tubes remain fabu but aren't great for windy March days.

I'm in love with Love. Well, Love scented product from Never Too Busy to B Beautiful.

Touche Eclat is actually made from miracles.

The weather once again was sneaky and horrible.
Boo to March, yay to April!

New Beginnings... New Touche

For a self-confessed beauty addict, I have to admit, I'm not always right there with the classics.
I don't know why, but I occasionally get a bee in my bonnet about a so-called cult product that I'm convinced won't work once I've parted ways with my hard-earned cash.
And every so often, I have to suck it up and apologise.
With that in mind, YSL Touche Eclat, I salute you.


For years I've watched my friends artfully diffuse under eye circles and bags with this magical product and yet refused to get on board. All under eye concealers make my skin look chalky and crepey, I whined, refusing to even get a dab on my precious, precious skin. Well, on the way to NYC I took the Duty Free plunge. Well, I had to do something, I looked like absolute crap and Anthony from Big Brother was on my flight. No, he really was. Bless. He was dressed poorly.

And do you know what? The beautiful, light as a feather miracle worker wove its magic over my dark circles just like it does everyone else's. I cannot be further than ten feet of the product. So won over was I that I bought another one on the way home, so I can keep one in my bag and one in my make up drawer. I love the click pen applicator, I love the beautiful silky texture, I love the fact that I can draw whiskers down the side of my nose and all of a sudden, my entire face looks sparklier. I do blend the whiskers, natch.

So if you haven't indulged, do. In fact, it's not an indulgence, it's a necessity.
Go, go now! The shops close in like, four hours!

New Beginnings... New E45

Now, I'll grant you that E45 might not sound like the most glamorous topic for a blog as fabulous as BeautyMecca (snarf) but sit, my pretties, while I tell you a tale...

As I can't STOP telling people, Mr BeautyLover and I have recently parted ways. This had led to a series of silly things, some of them fun, some of them drunken and one of them very, very permanent. I got a tattoo. Oh calm down, it's a lovely little wee collection of three stars on the inside of my right wrist and I love it. I'd been meaning to get it for ages and well, this seemed as good an opportunity as any other.

I have another tat (tramp stamp on my lower back, more stars) so the process wasn't a complete shock to me - the agony of having a tattoo needled into my wrist was though. Ouchies. My main memory from the last time round was that moisturising was a big 'must' to avoid the flaky scabiness and general ick factor so it seemed like a great chance to try out the new E45 Endless Moisture body range. According to the E45 peeps, one application is enough to moisturise for 24 hours so being a girl on the go, this was a good thing. So I started massaging the Replenishing Care cream into my wrist every morning and evening. And then into my elbows and knees as they were a little dry. And then onto my shins. And a little bit on my shoulders. And by the end of the week, it had become my body lotion du jour. Do you know what? My skin is so insanely uber soft, I can hardly bear it.
What a time to be single. There's nothing more glamorous than sexy soft skin, right?

And my tattoo is just peachy, thank you.

The entire E45 Endless Moisture range is available from all good retailers where you would get that kind of stuff.

New Beginnings... I'm in Love

As some of you might be aware, I have recently been cruelly and heartlessly been dumped.

This is not good for a girl's sense of self-worth.

What is good for a girl's sense of self-worth is shopping, make up and perfume. Happily the fabulous people at Never Too Busy to be Beautiful have come up trumps. 

Not only do they have a gorge website, not only do they have fantastic shops filled with delightful people and not only are all of their products pee in my pants beautiful, they have sent me Love. Seriously.

Here is what the peeps say about Love:

What kind of perfume is Love? It’s youthful, fruity, a little spicy, green and floral.

What are the ingredients? Lemongrass, lemon oil, orange blossom, cinnamon bark oil, cassia, rose, jasmine, ylang ylang, coumerin and oakmoss

And how can I buy Love?

9g Atomiser Price:£11.00

Perfume bottle 10g Price: £16.00

Perfume bottle 35g £24.00

Love Body Lotion (£11.00 for 175g)

Love Hair Fragrance (£12.00 for 30g)

Love Gift Sets

Small Gift Box £16.95  

Large Gift Box £47.50

Bubble bath (£3.00 for 100g)

Body Spray  (£14.00 for 90g)

So, basically, however you want it. I'm rocking the body lotion and perfume at the moment and quite frankly, I smell like spring has sprung and I feel like kittens have blessed with their fluffiness.

I love being in Love.

New Beginnings... New Fragrance - from Usher?

Now I don't know about you but I love perfume. Love it, love it, love it. Love the smell, love the bottles, love the idea of indulgence, yum. Can't even bear to leave the house without a wee bottle in my bag.

However, I have been uber suspicious of the new cult of celebrity fragrances. Okay, so maybe some style icons can get away with a perfume. I love Gwen Stefani's L, I like SJP's perfumes (although they're not right for me, mummy BeautyLover rocks Lovely like a mofo) and as you might remember, I even liked Sean John's Unforgivable - Man and Woman. Get me.

The perfumes I am not okay with are:

a) Colleen

b) Jade Goody

c) Shilpa Shetty

d) THE BECKHAMS - I mean, 'Intimately Beckham' do you really want to be spritzing yourself down with their 'intimate' scents? Ew. I could be very vulgar (get a drink in me and I will be) but I'll leave it at ew.

Grey areas, because I shouldn't be okay with them but secretly am, include Paris Hilton and the Mary-Kate and Ashley fragrances. I'm a sucker for real celebs, okay?

Today's celebrity fragrance is form Usher (no, really) and falls into the Sean John category. I actually really, really like it, even though I feel as though I shouldn't. Gwen Stefani aside, it would seem the way to my heart for most hippity hop stars  it not via my ears but through my nose.

The Usher peeps have this to say...

For Women:

The Fragrance 

Luscious, Fruity, Floral

Mysterious and Addictive

USHER reveals a mouth watering sensation with a sexy heart. Opening with notes of Red Currant, Pink Freesia and Apple Blossom. Mid-notes of Frangipani, Apricot Nectar, Blooming Jasmine and Passion Rose add sophistication and femininity.

The base is balanced with Amber Wood, Sensual Musk, Cashmere Wood and Incense.

For Men:

The Fragrance

Fresh, Woody. Musk

HE is cool…HE is confident.

USHER for Men bursts open with Verbena, Pineapple and Melon. The mid-notes linger on the skin with the warmth and sensuality of Blue Lavender, White Pepper and Violet Leaf.

The dry down of Vetiver, Amber Wood, Black Suede, Sandalwood, Sensual Musk and Guaiac Wood create an underlying softness.

The range doesn't just include perfumes and aftershaves, there are body butters, shower gels (containing pearl, ooooh) and deodorants.

Because as Usher has apparently said, 'It's not how famous UR, it's what UR famous for.'

While I don't love the UR nonsense but luckily I do like the perfume. Start spelling proper like what I do Usher or no amount of yummy fragrances are going to help you. Unless you do that funny dancing and then I'll definitely buy it.

Check out stockists on 0845 688 3343.

New Beginnings... New Bobbi Brown Creamy Lip Colours

Still sulking about the lack of Easter Eggs in my life and am attempting to cheer myself up with all things chocolatey. Today's attempt includes a giant mug of Options and the new Bobbi Brown Creamy Lip colours.

Bobbi says:

This season Bobbi introduces Creamy Lip Colour – a major new launch in the lip category. This innovative new lipstick combines rich colour, comfortable, long lasting wear, and a soft creamy shine.

Formulated with emollient Shea Butter and plant-derived skin conditioners, this amazing new formula glides on smooth, wears all day, and leaves lips soft and moisturised.

Available in fourteen shades:

Pink Ballet, Honeysuckle, Uber Pink, Nectar, Blue Raspberry, Heather Buff, Rose Petal, Bronzed Pink, Italian Rose, Heather Mauve, Raisin Berry, Dark Chocolate, Nude Pink, Crystal Pink

I am in complete lust with the Nude Pink, the perfect nude for my pale skin and perfect teamed with my beloved smokey eye. Nudes always wash me out so Bobbi has won a lifelong fan here. Please don't discontinue? The lipsticks are genuinely lovely to wear and as a dedicated gloss wearer, I've been surprised at how often I've found myself slicking these babies on in a morning for the last few weeks. Definitely going to give the Blue Raspberry a go next.

See how brave I'm getting?

Bobbi Brown's Creamy Lip Colours are on counters now and priced at £14.00

New Beginnings... New Chocolate Treats

I'm trying really hard to get over the fact that I only received ONE Easter Egg this year (which I'm just about to devour btw) so I'm trying to distract myself by posting for you. It was all going relatively well, when I spotted this in my inbox.

Ooohhhhh...

Chocolate Wrap Treat £99

Pure chocolate heaven

A chocolate wrap and sugar cane scrub plus a day at the spa

Or a chocolate wrap, head massage and body massage with cocoa butter

Chocolate ISN'T bad for your skin during this treat!

Choose your favourite chocolate wrap experience from our selected spa treats. In West Sussex or Kent enjoy a sweet, sugar cane scrub which will add an instant glow to brighten the complexion. Follow this with an exclusive chocolate body mask where the body is enveloped inside a heated wrap to melt the chocolate into the skin. The mask rehydrates and balances to leave skin silky smooth and glowing. You also get to make full use of the great spa facilities (including gym, sauna and steam room), so dont forget to take your cossie! In London, a warmed cocoa butter, oil and brown sugar wrap will get to work. As the cocoa's antioxidant properties revive and condition your skin, the brown sugar exfoliates to leave you smoothed, soothed and relaxed. This is followed by a head massage to help you gently unwind. Once showered, a relaxing body massage with warmed cocoa butter will finish off your experience. You even get a hot chocolate drink for an interior chocolate indulgence!

By God that sounds good. You can book your very own Chocolate Wrap experience at redletterdays.co.uk or on 0845 640 8000.

Now what did I do with the rest of that Flake egg...?