I Heart Bionova

I know you're all well aware of my New York addiction and my inability to pass by a shop in said fair city without purchasing something, so imagine how excited I was when I spotted that one of the fabu brands from my beloved Barney's had hopped over the pond!

Let me paint you a picture, there is no bad in Barney's. There are fabulous clothes, an exclusive Marc by Marc Jacobs line, a lovely restaurant and lovely, lovely person after lovely, lovely person. Screw Disneyland, it's the happiest place on Earth. And as such, I'm ALL about their exclusive brands, including the newly available to we lucky UK folks, Bionova.

The fabbiest fabu things about Bionova that, unlike so many other 'natural' brands, all of the ingredients are naturally occurring in the body. They call this Hyper-Natural. As a fan of hyperbole in all its forms, I like this.




Each prod contains between 150 - 300 bioactive substances in nano quantities which are 'delivered' to the problem area in specially created 'cells' which will not destabilise - ooh, fancy!

The prods are the work of Dr Michael Danielov, discovered during his years working in Russia on research into the effects of shock on the body and now utilized in anti ageing and the treatment of acne and problem skins. The range delivers the body’s own active ingredients successfully to damaged cells, which helps them to self-repair. I think that might be mighty impressive. And I like to think Dr Michael is a bit like Phoebe's scientist boyfriend in Friends.

The range consists of two relatively affordable areas, a range that’s affordable and can be used by everybody called ‘The Impact Line’ starting at £29. Then there's also a super swank, exclusive custom collection via the web. By answering a series of tailor made questions, a blend of bioactives is created in the Bionova lab in New York, then blended into a cream to very specifically suit your skin - and the chances of two skincare blends being identical is one in 60 million. It is then delivered to you complete with your own name on the cream.
I want my name on a cream.
This excites me hugely.

For those less concerned with uber narcissim, the Impact Line starts from £29 and is available exclusively from the BIONOVA website http://www.bionova.uk.com/.

Festival Chic - Lee Stafford Minis

Now, correct me if I'm wrong but when I went to me first festival (ten, sob, years ago) it was not in any way glamorous. If the non-festival goers on the train home didn't vomit when you stepped on board, you'd done okay. And yes, I know there are showers but they're disgusting. I was much more inclined towards a Vegas shower (strip wash with baby wipes) and washing my hair with, well, nothing.

But not these days.
Thanks to the likes of La Moss (grr) you can't just go, get mucky and enjoy the festival. You've got to worry what your hair looks like, what wellies you're wearing, which designers best reflect your musical preference and you have to wear make up.


We will tackle these issues one by one (make up needs vary by festival, of course) and I think the easiest task here is hair. This has been made much easier by my lovely friends at Lee Stafford - no longer are you destined to the Princess Leia buns of heartache by day two! Oh no, you can now take mini shampoo and conditioner, mini styling products and - drumroll - mini DRY SHAMPOO!!!!



My top tips are - wash and blow dry the morning you leave. I know it's mean to hair but if you can stand it, straighten it to dry it out at the roots. It's important you stay as product free as possible at this point. Day two should be fine but do try to avoid any strenuous work e.g. carrying your own bag, setting up your own tent, for fear of getting sweaty and greasy.

By day three, you'll want to spritz your dry shampoo through the roots and brush through well. If things still aren't looking good or you're suffering by the afternoon, now is the time to attempt the funky plaits before everything goes grease-tastic. I love that big celeb look at the moment with one plait coming across the front of your face to pull your fringe/front layers up and away. Perfect for festivals and if you put the plaits in when hair is a wee bit dirty, they'll hold until you leave. Just enough grease will actually help here. Maybe spritz with some hairspray to freeze the style.
Once plaits can't cut it, stick on a hat.
Or a wig a la Pixie Geldof at Glasto. That was pretty cool.

I'm not doing any camping festivals this year (after 2007's Reading debacle) but I will be stashing a mini dry shampoo in my desk draw, handbag and anywhere else I can fit one. Greasy hair is my biggest fear in life.
Apart from going back to Reading.

Afterglow Cosmetics

I've been having a bit of a mad few weeks and quite frankly, could use a bit of an glow, before, after or however else it wants to appear, so I was super excited to hear about a new mineral make-up, called Afterglow Cosmetics.

It's a leading mineral make-up US company and the entire range is gluten free, cruelty free and vegan, making it the perfect choice for anyone looking for something super pure (or just the fussy ones amongst you).


I am in love with the eyeshadows (especially Storm, perfect for smokey eyes as it blends beautifully) the super dense pigment is incredible and apparently Marion Cotillard is a big fan of the lipsticks and she's uber pretty so I'm willing to bow to her selections.

Bag yourself some purdy minerals from www.afterglowcosmetics.co.uk

Braun Silk-épil Xpressive

I don't know about you but I'm a great big girl when it comes to anything that seems like unnecessary pain e.g. waxing, tweezing, exercise, etc but I do understand that some of these things are for the greater good.
Not exercise obviously.

This is why I gave the Braun Silk-épil Xpressive a go. Now, I'd heard bad things about epilators, I'd endured bad things about epilators but I am committed to giving you the best and most thorough beauty reviews that ever there were. (ish, I totally don't cover stuff from the brand I used to do PR for, sorry...)


Now, I'm not going to lie and say it feels like kittens brushing against your legs and occasionally giving them a tickly sniff but it's not nearly as bad as I remember. The clever little thing can remove hairs as short as 0.5mm which is pretty amazing and it has 40 winglet tweezers (almost sounds as cute as kittens) to grab every last bad boy there. And it lasts up to six weeks! Bonus.

So if you're looking for an alternative to having a slightly over familiar woman rip the hair out of your legs with burning hot wax and want something more long lasting than shaving, head down to Argos or Boots and part with £69.99 - what's that, three or four waxes? Total bargain.
And you can get a pink one.
Sweet.
In a Beavis and Butthead way, not a cute way.
It's quite cute though...

B Never Too Busy for Glitter

I have talked about my love for B Never Too Busy to be Beautiful because it's a philosophy I hold dearly to my heart. Despite how crappy I might look today...

However, when I look/feel/am crappy, there's always something that can perk me up.
Glitter.
Lovely, sparkly, wonderful glitter.



No longer the territory of pre-teens and hen parties, a subtle touch of glitter can look fab. I LOVE the B glitters on my eyes for a really dramatic going out look. Start with an eyeshadow primer and then dab on carefully, maybe use a little Vaseline to hold it if you're having trouble. They make such amazing party eyes. Pretty...

My faves are the emerald green and sky blue but how cool will black look for a massive night out? And they're in such pretty little wooden pots, how can you resist?

Bag all your favourite shades here and while you're there, grab a Sweet Lips Sugar Scrub.
It's delish.

No, not me, this fab new product from Lee Stafford, Messed Up Wonder Web!

As a fan of messy hair, I do like to at least attempt to look like I cocked it all up on purporse and this bad boy is perfect. I'll let Lee tell you because I'll just get all carried away about how pretty the packaging is, how nice it smells and how much I enjoy the clapping motion that separates all the strands. Everyone should clap themselves while they're doing their hair...



Non-sticky and totally gunk-free, Messed Up Wonder Webb is a texturiser that is light enough to use on long hair for his seasons tousled, matt, beachy look, as well as being tough enough to style and sculpt any crop.

Simply pump a small amount of Messed Up Wonder Webb into the palms of your hands and rub together. Pull hands apart and clap to see the crazy webbing effect, then vigorously work through the whole of the hair and finger hair into place.

And it's only £5.49.
And Agyness Deyn uses it.
And did I mention the clapping?
Get thyself to Boots...

I'm off to see Jonny at Lee Stafford tomorrow and I can't WAIT. New hair makes me happy, even post New Yoik.

Sigh, landed...

At least it's sunny right?

And I bought some pretty things on my way back through New York yesterday...

Benefit have a fabulous new cheek tint out, exclusive to Sephora in the US at the moment. It's called Poseytint and is a brighter, pinker version of Benetint. Got to say, I loved it and not just because of the awesome pink mirrored packaging. It's super pretty though, perfect for a perky pink cheek.

I also picked up a Stila Cloud eyeshadow refill before I, god forbid, run out. So pretty.

And since I was going to the till anyway, I grabbed a Bliss Superbalm which has really kept my lips moisturised during the flight, a Philosophy Kiss Me lipgloss - because a girl's got to at least remain hopeful - and a Nars eyeshadow duo in Habanera. Gorgeous shimmery colours for my summer nights smokey eyes.

Now I'm off to slough off seven hours of flight skin with my muchly missed Liz Earle exfoliator and and smother myself in Advanced Night Repair concentrate. Delish.