Instaglam

NARS Radiant Cream Compact Foundation 

Available in 20 shades

I think I need to check myself into rehab. I am a self confessed makeup addict. I currently wear three types of foundation, NARS Tinted Moisturiser, Sheer Glow Foundation, and now, the new Radiant Cream Foundation. A little extreme, I know. 

The logic behind my most recent purchase of the NARS Radiant Cream Foundation is practicality. Having to touch up makeup, especially foundation on the go is so difficult - you have to carry your whole bottle, or keep having to refill miniature pots which is always messy. The compact foundation however, comes in a portable, and very nice case, with a fantastic mirror, providing you with everything you need in an instant. With party season in full swing, this little compact foundation can easily slip into the smallest of clutch bags, and pulled out for the moments your makeup starts melting, or at the end of the party, when the lights turn on!  You can guarantee, your skin will look flawless.

Available in 20 shades, this foundation evens the skin with a lightweight and luminous finish, which can be layered according to the coverage you require. If you have oily skin, you will need powder to set it. It really is perfect for a night out as it moisturises the skin for up to 12 hours, helping to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, making it look fresh and radiant. Definitely my party season essential!

The foundation includes a foundation Sponge, but please note you will need to buy the NARS Radiant Cream Foundation Empty Compact separately.

NARS Radiant Cream Compact Foundation, £28.  Avaialble from NARS concessions and Selfridges, Liberty and Spake NK

Life's a bleach and then you dye...

BLEACH LONDON 

DIY COLOURS

My favourite hair salon is now available to the masses. Great. I’m not going to deny that this is a little annoying. It's kind of like when you discover a band, and then a few years later, everyone loves them. So, if you haven't already heard, the uber cool Dalston hair salon Bleach has created a hair care range for Boots.

Amazing news if you don't live in London, or if you're a total hair dye whore, and cant afford to go to the salon every week. There's something for everyone from Super Cool Colours, to DIY Bleaching, Colour Care, and even styling products.

Walk down any high street and you will see a vast array of ombre dip dyes and rainbow hair colours. Some good, some terrible. So I guess it was only a matter of time before, Alex Brownsell, the pioneer of the kaleidoscopic hair colour trend, and founder of Bleach London would create her own range of DIY hair colours.

The product ranges features Super Cool Colours from Awkward Peach, Washed Up Mermaid, Bruised Violet, and Rose (which I will try out in a few weeks), Total Bleach, DIY Dye, and White Toner. There are also hair care products such as Silver Shampoo (love this) and conditioner, dry shampoo, and a serum, which I have been told, is amazing. The range also consists of probably the best product to ever be invented - a Washing Out Liquid colour reducing shampoo...now why couldn't I buy this as a teenager!

Bleach London are committed to educating the young dip-dying generation on how to dye your hair safely, without doing any damage and their formulas are specially created with hair care in mind. Go to their Bleach Bible for tips and advice.

Prices start from £5.00 for hair colours, which is unbelievably cheap.

Despite being a little annoyed my hair salon is now available to the entire world, I was super excited to try out the new products so I bought the Silver Shampoo and Rose Super Cool Colour (which I will try out in a few weeks). 

I had my hair coloured from my usual Bleach Topshop salon last week, and my stylist did an amazing job, however, I have to admit, even though I went blonder, the colour was a little warmer than I wanted. I didn't mind at the time, as it was rather Autumnal, but I would have liked it to be lighter. Beth suggested I use silver shampoo to wash out the toner rather than applying more bleach, which would obviously prevent further damage to my already bleached ends.

For the last couple of weeks, I have been using the Silver Shampoo on my new hair colour, which is normally used to take yellow and brassiness out of blonde hair. It is used to create an ashy blonde tone, and contains wheat proteins and vitamin B5 to moisturise your hair. It worked immediately. This shampoo is the best silver shampoo I have ever used, and believe me, I have used shampoos that are four times the price of this.  The texture is so gorgeous and silky, it slides straight onto the hair, which means you don't need to use a lot and it smells amazing. I have been using it on my roots as I'm trying to lighten them, but if you have a dip dye, only use it on the ends and leave in for about 5 minutes, once a week.  You will see a massive difference and it will freshen up any blonde hair colour. My hair is now exactly the colour I wanted, I love it!

I seriously cannot wait to try out the Rose, and maybe the Washed Up Mermaid… and for £5, I might try out the whole collection!

Available at Boots, Bleach, and Bleach Topshop, Oxford Circus. 

The thick of it...

Bumble and bumble 
Thickening Dryspun Finish 

I was recently talked into wearing my hair in a beehive. A few hours of youtube, and a whole bottle of Elnett later, I'd backcombed my hair to perfection! Although it looked great, having that amount of product in my hair was really uncomfortable, so I have been searching for a hairspray that doesn't leave behind a sticky residue.

Having mastered the art of messy hair (which is my look), Im finding the super groomed big hair look to be a real challenge. My naturally, limp (boring) and flat hair dreams of being thick and volumous, a la Ms Del Rey...

I have recently discovered the new Thickening Dryspun Finish spray by Bumble and bumble which is amazing.  Spray it on dry hair (around 10 inches away) to create instant fullness and an airy texture that doesn't feel sticky or weigh the hair down. The translucent spray contains raw silk powders with light holding polymers which adhere instantly for a softly interlaced texture to make hair look effortlessly full.  It sort of works like a dry shampoo, which has been a secret hair stylists tip for volume. This works better.

Available a selected Boots, nationwide, and Bumble and bumble, £21.50

Get Lucky!

SUPERSTITION 

Chanel Autumn 2013 Collection 

A new season can only mean one thing, new makeup trends, and luckily for us, the latest Superstition collection by Chanel, with its vibrant pinks and corals, will guarantee brighten up skin on the dullest of winter days.

Is this a happy coincidence or a sign of destiny?

Inspired by Gabrielle Chanel's belief in luck and good fortune, Superstition plays on the surrealist spirit where it reinterprets the talismans and good-luck charms she surrounded her world with.

The collection itself is a joyful prediction of beauty where it mixes intense pink or burgundy palettes with sumptuous tones of bronze, taupe and khaki with the magic of a golden beige.

* From her first successes to magical encounters, the shade names tell the story of Coco Chanel at the dawn of her destiny. 

LE BLUSH CRÈME DE CHANEL £27.00

I find it really difficult to maintain glowy skin during the winter. Even dark and olive skin can lack radiance due to the cold and less exposure to sunlight. Try LE BLUSH CRÈME DE CHANEL, available in six shades from soft beiges to intense pinks and burgandy's, to add instant luminosity to the cheeks. The innovative powder-cream formula offers an enticing new way to blush, and can be applied with the fingers or a brush. The silky texture offers a long-wear satin finish which is perfect for blending onto the cheeks to create a subtle colour. Of course if you prefer a more intense look, you can smooth on with fingertips and layer to sculpt and accentuate cheekbones.

ROUGE COCO and ROUGE COCO SHINE £24.00

In this collection, the cream blushers perfectly match the ROUGE COCO and ROUGE COCO SHINE lipstick shades. 

ROUGE COCO SHINE is an innovative formula with intensified pigments to take colour and sheen to a new level of vibrancy. It's amazing how sheer these come on considering the lipstick are so highly pigmented, so don't let your initial reaction put you off as the colours are really subtle and soft.

ROUGE COCO, available in 18 shades is a lightweight formula infused with Hydratender complex to hydrate the lips for up tp 8 hours and makes them look fuller. Both lipsticks are perfect for the winter months as they protect, condition, and hydrate the sensitive lip area. After using the lipsticks for a few days, I did notice an instant difference, so I ditched all of my MAC lipsticks for Chanel, even though they are double the price; the benefit being that you would never need to buy lip balm again. I use ROUGE COCO SHINE during the day and ROUGE COCO in the evenings.

OMBRE ESSENTIELLE £23.00

Winter also equals party looks, and therefor the fail-proof and magical smokey eye. The new OMBRE ESSENTIELLE comes in a sleek, rectangular case and contain vitamins C and E to provide excellent protection against free radicals. They come in an infinite variety of shades which express themselves freely in three makeup effects: satin, iridescent or matte - this is achieved by applying dry, or wet for a more intense colour. 

LE VOLUME DE CHANEL £24.00 

To intensify the mystery and complete the look, LE VOLUME DE CHANEL mascara in an original KHAKI BRONZE shade heightens the paradoxical influence of subtle makeup by boosting volume and coating lashes with a wide-open effect.

All products available from Chanel Boutique, Covent Garden, Chanel Bond Street or Sloane Street, or all major department stores.

Watch the video here

Tom Ford White Patchouli

Tom Ford White Patchouli

Eau De Farfum

My perfume has run out. And with christmas and my birthday being so far away I decided to go fragrance shopping. It's tragic really, as I consider flowers and perfume to be the two things that I shouldn't have to buy for myself. Luckily for me, I do sometimes get flowers, so I decided to do the unthinkable and buy myself a very early birthday present.

Fragrance shopping is fun and interesting, but can also be really confusing if you don't know what you want. By the end of the first day, all of the scents I had sprayed on every exposed part of my body had merged into one, and I couldn't remember which one I'd actually liked!

I'm normally a classic Chanel girl, so deviating from my OCD shopping behaviour was surprisingly refreshing when I came across Tom Ford. White Patchouli is my favourite. It's a modern fragrance surrounded by woody notes, which gives it a retro and sophisticated interpretation of bohemian chic. It contains Patchouli, Bergamot, White Peony, accented with spicy Coriander, Rose, Jasmine, and Ambrette Seed. 

The bottle is amazing, and equally as classy and luxurious as Chanel in terms of design and packaging. On the first spray, it's really intense, but as this wears away, it leaves behind a beautiful and subtle scent which kind of reminds me of some of the early Calvin Klein fragrances. I love it!

Go save yourself the hassle of going to the beauty counters and buy online!

Available from Chemist Direct, £84.45, 100ml

Hydra Beauty Gel Yeux

Hydra Beauty Gel Yeux 

Hydration Protection Radiance Eye Gel

Beauty Sleep. It's probably one of the most simple and effective beauty secrets known to women for generations. However, the reality of getting a full 8 hours per night is a rather ambitious fantasy. Almost a dream! 

From an early age, we are told to look after the delicate area around the eyes to prevent the first signs of ageing. So, if your eyes are the gateway to your soul, what does the exterior say about you and your lifestyle? Puffiness, redness, fine lines and dark circles can also tell a thousand stories; never a good look, no matter how much fun you've been having! 

Beauty sleep in a bottle!

I have discovered the most amazing product that erases all signs of fatigue - Chanel Hydra Beauty Gel Yeux. 

I was interested in this product, because it claimed to perfectly hydrate the eye area (for 8 hours), smooth away dehydration lines, diminish dark circles, and reduce puffiness. 

This powerful little bottle contains an odourless  fresh gel which instantly melts into the skin giving a cooling effect which not only eliminates puffiness, but also restores radiance. The gel contains a combination of active ingredients - Camellia Alba PFA, which restores moisture balance to the eye contour for perfectly soft and smooth skin. Blue Ginger PFA protects the integrity of the eye contour from free radicals which cause signs of premature skin ageing.  

After the first application I noticed an immediate difference. I have sensitive skin around my eyes so its really great that the gel is also fragrance free, and also oil free so great to apply makeup on top. An additional bonus is that after using it for a month, I have not needed to use as much concealer anymore as my fine lines and dark circles have really disappeared.

Apply morning and night by gently patting with the fingertips and blend with circular movements.  Believe me, your eyes will be sparkling in no time!

Hydra Beauty Gel Yeux 15ml £40.00, Available from Chanel, and all UK Department stores. 

Nuts about this...

Macadamia Moisturising Rinse

As much as I love the summer, exposure to the sun has really dried out my hair.  It has seriously been driving me nuts! ;)

I have heard some really great things about Macadamia products, so was super excited when this I bought this Moisturising Rinse Conditioner, which contains UV protection for hair... I didn't even know UV hair protection existed until now!

Described as the the next generation of revolutionary haircare products since Moroccanoil, the conditioner contains Macadamia oil, known for it's nutritional value and health promoting benefits as well as Argan seed oils to revitalise, heal and nourish 'problem hair' from root to tip. The benefits of the oils are that they are similar to the composition of the hair's natural sebum, allowing the oils to infuse with the scalp for extraordinarily fast absorption, restoring health, shine and shielding hair from heat damage through its natural heat protection. The conditioner is also Sulphate and Paraben free so it contains ingredients that wont cause further damage to the hair.  

Since using the conditioner, my hair is noticeably softer, looks thicker, and has grown faster too, which is always a bonus. I would recommend this to anyone wanting to achieve thick, bouncy, and shiny hair. Also, the UV protection is a must have summer product.

Available from Chemists Direct, £11.29

*Please note that 'Problem' hair is dry, coloured, heat damaged, untamed, frizzy, dull and lifeless hair

Brick by Brick...

Shimmer Brick, Bobbi Brown 

These award winning products are without doubt the best highlighters you can buy on the market. Sweep along the top of cheekbones after applying blusher, under brows where light naturally hits the face, or you can use the individual bars as an eyeshadow.  You can use them day and night, and at this time of year, they look amazing with a tan. Pop one into your holiday makeup bag for that golden beach goddess glow! 

Choose from Rose Quartz which gives you a pink rosy glow, Beige, giving a subtle candle light glow, or 24 karat for a pearlescent shimmer.

Available at Bobbi Brown, and Selfridges, £32 

NARS Tinted Moisturiser

NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser SPF30/PA+++

"NARS, foundation is the key to modern makeup. By balancing skin without masking, skin looks flawless and healthy. NARS is about translucent skin" - Francois Nars

During the heatwave, I discovered he most amazing, and lifesaving makeup product - NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser.  It gives you enough coverage to have perfectly radiant looking skin, yet doesn't cake or melt in the heat like a normal foundation.

The task of wearing less makeup, without it looking overly made up or having it melt off your skin can be tricky. We all know showing off more skin in the summer requires a lot of effort - waxing, exfoliating, moisturising, fake tanning, pedicures, etc, etc.... this should also apply to your face too. 

I've tried BB, CC creams, and even mixed foundation with SPF, but none have been as effective or easy to use as the NARS Tinted Moisturiser.  You don't even need a mirror, just apply to your face like a normal moisturiser - perfect for applying just before going to the beach (obviously for those who admit wearing a 'little' makeup to the beach)... ;) 

The oil free formula is infused with naturally derived botanicals to help skin feel hydrated, and also contains sun protection (SPF30), whilst reducing the appearance of hyperpigmentation, and dark spots in four weeks.

* Makeup Artists Tip - For that extra bit of coverage, add a tiny bit of foundation, or for the ultra bronzed goddess glow, add a little drop of highlighter and apply to the face as normal.

I am seriously hooked, I will be wearing this product all year round!

11 shades available from Selfridges, Liberty or John Lewis, £28 

Lancome Hypnose Show collection by Alber Elbaz

One of the most anticipated makeup collaborations this year has finally arrived! The Hypnose Show collection from Lancome designed by the amazing and legendary Alber Elbaz is now available to buy exclusivey in Selfridges or Lancome online.

If I didn't wear makeup, I would seriously consider buying it just for the packaging, as each product is decorated with Alber's signature colourful illustrations. The collection consists of feather-light false lashes, colourful eye-shadow palettes which include magnetic high-precision applicators and volumising mascaras in- Hypnôse Doll Eyes, Hypnôse Star, Hypnôse Drama and the original Hypnôse.

Get them while you can...

Prices start at £18.50

Tangled!!

TANGLE TEEZER, £10.99

If like me it takes you absolutely forever to detangle your hair, then, this product will seriously change your life!

This innovative product is the fastest selling hairbrush in the UK, it's hard to believe that it was first featured four years ago on the TV show Dragon's Den where it was rejected.

Believe me, the the Tangle Teezer dramatically detangles the bushiest, birds nest of barnets, into beautiful, sleek hair, so easily without  splitting, damaging, or breaking.  

My hair is bleached on the ends so it tends to get really knotty, especially after a night out where its suffered from overuse of products and wear and tear. After washing it used to take me what felt like hours to detangle, causing damage, and always splitting.

Now, my routine, is cut by at least half an hour with minimal damage! I really cannot live without mine, and do not know how I have survived so many years without it.

Available in many colours and sizes, nationwide at Boots

*Please note, the possibilities available with long sleek hair are endless...


See below...

To Dye For

YSL La Laque Couture Tie & Dye nail polish, £18

Tie Dye can only mean one thing - the 90's are truly back! Tomorrow, YSL launch an innovative three-in-one nail polish in four colours, Cool (watermelon), Pop (pink), Hip (lilac) and Ice (blue).  

The tri-phase nail polishes are composed of three separate layers to create different finishes - clear gloss (on top), sparkle (second) and lastly, the solid colour. For the tie dye look, the brush needs to slide out smoothly and applied straight to the nail creating a gradient effect.  Alternatively, the bottles can be shaken to form a completely different look, which once applied, creates a candy-like finish.

If you want to go for the ultimate 90's look, wear all the colours and textures at once...with matching hair! 

Available 1 May exclusively at Selfridges