A couple of weeks ago I took myself on a little trip to Paris. I have been to Paris more times than I can remember, but this time was very different because I was visiting for pleasure and not for business. Usually I am in Paris for one of two reasons; a direct booking (a…
I have been pleasantly surprised by some Inika products that landed on my desk last week. The black and gold packaging has a luxurious and exotic feel to it which instantly grabbed my attention – it feels rather ‘Biba-esque’. Now for confession time: I have a (probably unfair) dislike of mineral cosmetics, mostly because I…
Hold on to your seats, people – Wonder Products coming up! Not since Sisley’s Flower Gel Mask and Eye Contour Mask have I been so instantly wowed. Lierac’s Concentré Mésolift serum and Diopti Calm Eye Balm and Mask are seriously, seriously good. I have been desperately searching for products that have the same toning and…
Two weeks ago I paid a visit to the beautiful hotel ‘Les Etangs de Corot’ just outside of Paris. Not to visit the hotel itself, but to try out a few treatments at the Caudalie Vinothérapie Spa as part of my toning and detox ‘kick-start’. As you may be aware by now, I’m quite a…
So, following my ‘lash fiasco’ (see “a cautionary tale”), I am left with a very sparse set of eyelashes. They are about half the length as they usually are, and I’d estimate that I only have about 30% of my usual volume. A very, very poor show indeed. But I mustn’t moan, the situation being…
Last week I attended the G.H. Mumm and Perrier-Jouët Champagne Assembly at the very grand Town Hall Hotel in East London. I took with me my best friend (also called Ruth, which can get a bit confusing) who is a bit of a wine buff and currently finishing off her wine diploma. Now Ruth and…
I am so hideously embarrassed about something that I did last week. I feel so stupid that it has taken me a couple of days to decide whether or not I actually want to write about it; but I do feel that it is my responsibility to tell you about any ‘occurrences’ regarding beauty products…
This doesn’t look much like a lethal weapon, does it? For normal human beings it looks like a bottle of perfume and for the fashion/beauty-obsessed it looks just exactly like a limited edition Balenciaga Paris Eau de Parfum Purse Spray! Both are correct answers of course; I have been rounding up my favourite purse sprays…
Yesterday I was nothing short of stunned to find out that I was ‘Barbie of the Day’. If you don’t know about Barbie of the Day then seriously, you need to get yourself over to the website. Each and every day, without fail, there’s a new Barbie in full-on glamour mode posing for pictures that…
I’ve been having a bit of a play around with the Estée Lauder Christmas Collection and have fallen in love with the Extravagant Gold eyeshadow compact. To be fair, it’s an easy sell because I love gold, copper and brown tones. They are so flattering on every skin tone and can be used the whole…
I was offered an Orly manicure yesterday and I jumped at the chance to get a bit of pampering. Straight in from gale-force winds, wearing a huge ski-jacket and stomping boots, I chose the brightest most fluoro colour on offer; Orange Punch. Rather inappropriate for this time of year, I know, but I couldn’t resist….
I was trawling through some photos today and it occurred to me that I have quite a bizarre job. One day I can be standing on a quayside in Istanbul wearing a twenty thousand pound coat, the next I might be in a grungy back-street studio in Shoreditch wearing crazy art-student hats! These photos really…
In case anyone is remotely interested, here’s what’s on my bedside table (sur la table, as they say in France, which we’re not, but never mind) this month. As you can see, there’s not a lot of room left on it – and actually, I cheated and had to remove quite a few items because…
The full name of this product – and therefore the title of this post – really annoys me. There are too many ‘i’s, and then there’s the hyphen, and the ‘Cid’. It’s just not neat enough for my liking! Despite that, I like this product a lot. The different shades of bronze swirled into the…
Winter is upon us and so it’s time to crack out those cheap lipbalms and put one in each handbag, coat pocket and car glove compartment. We all do it, don’t we? Buy about seventy thousand chapsticks and instantly lose them down the back of the sofa/side of bed/kitchen drawer. But that is the beauty…
Were you aware of my ‘second life’ as a male grooming expert? If not then you really need to get yourselves over to Ape to Gentleman and read my new column. I’m attempting to bring you hot news from the front line of fashion without getting jailed for being a pervert (you’ll see) so I’d…
Sunday’s post on the Liz Earle eye cream reminded me about two others that I have been trying out – Trilogy’s Eye Contour Cream and Lavera’s organic intensive eye cream from the new MY AGE anti-aging range. The reason that I have been testing out all of these eye creams is that I’m preparing for…
I am quite in love with this little product from Laboratoire Remède. It’s just so bloody useful! Now that I have been using it for a while, I can’t quite work out what I did before I had it! It’s a totally light-weight SPF that has just the tiniest hint of colour in it –…