HE loves...

I'm not sure about the rest of you lovely ladies other halves (apart from Sarah at www.iheartcosmetics.com) but my husband is THE definition of a metrosexual male.

I would like to say I have influenced his need for a beauty regime, but even when we first met, he was using the Dermalogica system and he was having monthly facials.

However, I have influenced his brand buying behaviour...he now loves KORRES, Liz Earle, Eve Lom, ORLY Rich Renewal Cream in Peace and [COMFORT ZONE].

L-R: KORRES Quercetin anti-ageing lotion, KORRES hair & scalp scrub, KORRES body butter in Fig and Liz Earle C&P

All of these products used to be mine, however, they can now be found in his wash bag. The KORRES hair and scalp scrub is a truly amazing innovative product, it has treated his dry scalp which he couldn't believe. It's worked a treat on my mane of hair too, eliminating impurities and build up of hair products. We scrub our skin, so why not our scalp?

I LOVE the smell of the KORRES Fig Body Butter on him too, beautiful scent for men. We both get through these tubes of body butter so quickly, I wish KORRES had bigger bottles.

After years of using Eve Lom, the mister recently switched to Liz Earle's C&P, he loves both cleansers but he prefers the convenient travel-friendly packing of cleanse and polish.

What do your other halves like to use?

Have you discovered they secretly/openly use your products?

TRUST, the NEW hot red lipstick!

TRUST is a brand new, and the ultimate hot red lipstick created by renowned celebrity make up artist Karen Alder.

100% of proceeds from sales will go directly to youth charity, The Prince's Trust, the limited edition lipstick is expected to raise over £60,000 for the charity and sell out in record time on leading television and online retailer, QVC.

Karen is a long-term supporter of The Prince's Trust with first-hand experience of the charity work, Karen got her start in the beauty industry from the Trust.

The lipstick is priced at £8.00 and is available exclusively through QVC from 2nd April.

I will certainly be buying one and I'm 100% sure my little sister Sarah will, as she has a red lipstick obsession, owning one from every brand!

Mother's Day Treats

I'm not one to get sucked into "notable dates" in my diary, such as Valentines Day. However, I do like an excuse to treat my parents on Mothers Day and Fathers Day.

So, for my ma I have got her a lovely range of beauty products (of course) from some of her favourite brands.

* KORRES

TheThyme Honey 24-hour moisturising cream and the Thyme Honey Cleansing Scrub with real honey. This skincare range is ideal for my ma's mature dehydrated skin and the naturally derived exfoliating grains in the scrub are super gentle for her sensitive skin.

I think I may have mentioned this before, my ma LOVES the scent of  Jasmine (which is maybe why I love it too), I have got her into the KORRES body butters so I will also be including the Jasmine Shower Gel and divine Jasmine Body Butter in her bag of treats.

*LIZ EARLE

My ma told me about Liz Earle years ago but she had never tried it herself, until recently. So, I thought I'd treat her to my bottle of the debut Liz Earle Fragrance, Botanical Essence. I am positive she will love the fresh flowery smell.

[ COMFORT ZONE]

I LOVE Italian Skincare brand [COMFORT ZONE], only available in high-end spa's. I use the tranquility range everyday, I have around 3 bottles of the Tranquility Oil in different places, it is designed to make you feel tranquil and is used in spa treatments (I wear it as a perfume because it's made of essential oils and lasts ages). So, I have bought my ma a bottle of Tranquility Oil too.

I'm a good daughter aren't I?

What have you got your mothers for Mothering Sunday?

Big trip to the BIg Apple!

Last week I was in NYC to celebrate my mates birthdays (the Lee sisters). We spent most of our time eating delicious food and partying.

Me being a make up fiend, I had to get my beauty fix, so while the Lee's caught up with beauty sleep, I spent my spare hours in Sephora, Bloomingdales, Duane Reed and everywhere in between that sells beauty products.

I wish our pharmacies were more beauty focused like the USA and the rest of Europe, there are the odd few (a cool pharmacy on Great Portland Street) which sell NUXE and ART DECO but the majority are just so boring!

I also prefer the sales assistants on make up counters/pharmacies abroad, they are so friendly, full of knowledge and passionate about the industry they are working in (they remind me of me when I used to work in make up). I find that a lot of counter staff over here can be rude, judgmental and they definitely lack overall beauty and product knowledge (have found this on MAC counters and this kills me to say, but also a lot of Space.NK's, whereas the girls in Space.NK in NY were superb!!). The staff in Space.NK where I live are clueless, they are so clueless that I have even enquired about part time in-store work with them because I feel like the store will eventually close down because they don't appear to be making any money.

Do you guys prefer to buy your make up online or in-store? While you think about it, check out the highlights of my NYC trip in pictures.








My view everyday



My breakfast and hourly snacks



Pretty pigment glitters at FACE Stockholm store!

Pretty blushers at FACE Stockholm

The cream blush and eyeshadow I bought (which I'm using as a blusher)

Glorious tinted moisturisers

The KORRES stand in Sephora

Corrector palettes at FACE Stockholm

Highly pigmented eyeshadow range by FACE Stockholm

OMG, amazing! We need these in the UK

Me and Lee dying over our Pinberry order

I wish mascaras all showed their brush like this

Erm, hello! I need this supersize in guava!

Josie Maran Argan Oil Lipglosses! I WISH I bought them!!

Tarte Cosmetics stand! The Amazonian blushers are stunning!

The adorable French Bulldog who resides in the same building as Lizzie Lee

FAB Range: First Aid Beauty

A few weeks ago I got to meet the founder of new U.S beauty brand, First Aid Beauty (FAB). I was with work at a Boots event and was drawn to the most adorable, apothecary-chic packaging of the FAB range. I hot-footed it over to the FAB stand to discover more and didn’t realise until later on in the day, I was speaking to the FAB founder, veteran beauty expert, Lilli Gordon.

Lilli is a really cool, down-to-earth kinda gal (that’s my Boston lingo as Lilli is from Boston, where it snows a lot?!!). I even had a sneak peak at a beautiful new lip balm which she is launching in the future, she is a perfectionist which explains why her products have been formulated with breakthrough natural and technologically advanced ingredients, plus they look so hot!

The FAB range launched in 2009 and is making it’s debut here in the UK this month at Boots Stores (with a waiting list for some of the products, I’m guessing the detox eye roller is on that list). All products are dermatologist recommended, allergy-tested, fragrance-free and free of harsh chemicals.

The FAB range consists of;

Detox Eye Roller which reduces the appearance of puffy eyes and dark circles.

Ultra Repair Cream, a hydrating cream which relieves dry, itchy, scaly skin (due to cosmetic treatments, harsh weather conditions and other conditions like eczema).

5 in 1 Face Cream, a moisturising anti-ageing 5 in 1 face cream with SPF30. Suitable for all skin types.

First Aid Beauty Cleanser, a whipped daily cleansing treatment which transforms into a rich cream when blended with water.

Anti-redness serum, formulated to help with skin prone to redness and blotchiness.

Facial Radiance Pads, I have these and really like them. They are like toner-infused cleansing pads.

Essentials Kit, perfect for travel!

For more information, visit http://www.firstaidbeauty.com/ or check the range out in Boots now!

Unleash your inner Artist with ORLY's Instant Artist

Ultra-hip LA nail brand ORLY are launching a competition to look for the best nail artist in Britain to win an all expenses paid trip to the desert which never sleeps - VEGAS!

There are two categories for entrants, flat nail art (which is painting on nails with water-based paints or polish) and fantasy nail art which you would see at Olympia's Nailympics, check out my past posts on fantasy nail artists here.  In that post I spoke with the fantasy nail expert Sam Biddle, or check out another super-talented girl, Vikki Taylor-Dodds here.

The competition ends July 1st and the trip to Vegas will be in September.

All you have to do to enter for flat nail art (which is open to everyone) is send your details on the flyer below or email orly@graftons.co.uk and post 10 graduating nail tips with your design hand painted (you can stick these on card).

This is an amazing opportunity for anyone wanting to begin an exciting career within the nail industry or already established nail techs and of course you get to go to Vegas all expenses paid! Woohooo!

I can't wait to see Leanne's creation at http://www.donotrefreeze.com/.

What are you waiting for?

Anatomicals: The brand that only want you for your body

Girls and Guys,

You have got to join the Anatomicals facebook page, they are always doing amazing giveaways and have hilarious status updates!

Check them out here;

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/anatomicals/26847263680

Here's what they look like;

The Anatomicals body and face products are available from http://www.anatomicals.net/

Have you tried out any Anatomicals products? What do you think?

In a hurry for straight hair? Meet Stylerush Straighteners

A few months ago my GHD's died on me, I hardly ever used them. I only smoothed the ends of my hair with them..occasionally. So, I thought I'd make do without straighteners in my life!

Boy was I wrong! My mane of hair has been tied up in a top-knot for the past month or so because 1. I can't blowdry hair and 2. because I wasn't sure which straighteners to buy.

I didn't want GHD's again, a few of the beauty bloggers on twitter recommended Cloud 9 and another brand of straighteners with a name that sounds like an Ancient Greek God (totally can't remember it). Priya at BeautyWowza knows how much I love new. niche  products which nobody is talking about, so she recommened me a new hair straightener brand called Stylerush.

Stylerush is from Korea and only just launched in the UK. There are two types, the standard and mini straightener available in 4 colours: violet, lime, orange and black! I love that the colours aren't your typical pink or zebra print (yawn).

I plugged them in, unsure of how long they would take to heat up, well, they reached their max 180 c temperature within a minute which is great for an impatient girl like me. The ceramic plates smoothed my naturally wavy, unruly hair instantly leaving it glossy and silky. I love that these straighteners come with a heat resistant cap and extra long cord, I always struggled with the ghd ones in my house because of where the plug socket and mirror are positioned.

Hair before

Hair after being straightened

 Overall, I am really glad Beautywowza recommended this brand! Go get yours! Definitely a make up it girl -must-have!

Available from http://www.stylerush.co.uk/

RRP: £79.99 OR £39.99 for the mini size (perfect for travelling)

Which straighteners do you use?

NBBE....the place to be for beauty bloggers

NBBE sounds like some sort of movie or music award, right? Well, it's not. NBBE is the acronym for the National Beauty Blogging Event. This year is the first time anything like this has ever been done and I forsee huge potential next year.

The NBBE took place at the Professional Beauty Show last Monday, beauty bloggers were carefully selected to attend the debut NBBE. I was amazed at some of the brands showcasing new products and collections, such as Natura Bisse (I'm a huge fan of the Oxygen range), RMK (I love all things Japanese, the metallic eyes collection are sure to impress anyone), Decleor (always aspired to use Decleor when I was a teenager working on Calvin Klein in Rackhams, now House of Fraser) and my pharmacy favourite ArtDeco.

Other brands that I had heard about but not tried before are; Tan Organic, Carita (I describe Carita as the Cartier of Spa/Salon Skincare, pure indulgence and stunning, shame there weren't any products to try out). Broadway Nails and Kiss Nails (home nail kits), Joico (a salon professional hair care range from the states), Medik8 (didn't get to try it out but the electric blue serum looks stunning and is designed for oily skin), Monu Skincare (an envronmentally friendly brand ahhhh, I love them already) Nailease (dry nail varnish strips (didn't get to try these but they are in Boots) and Gentry Grooming (male grooming range).

I walked in to see a few familiar beauty blogging faces, which I love, such as donotrefreeze, Beautywowza, Hell Candy and 6inch stilettos. I got to meet some cool new girls too, such as Sabrinaloves, MsDrifted and JessicaRose. There are others who I follow on twitter and their blogs but didn't realise they were there, such as Sparklezandshine and ChicBeautyBlog (erm, I was eyeing up her amazing watch).

Anyway, back to the event, all in all it was really good, wish we could have mingled more with each other and the brands though. I thought it would have been like a 'speed dating' event, where each brand has 15 minutes to talk to us and we change over. However, I did enjoy watching Daniel Sandler in action, he created perfect dewy skin on his Katherine Heigl lookalike model.

Celeb MUA Jackie Tyson created a rock chick look in less than 20 mins, she was cool to watch too. Loved the Jemma Kidd dewy glow rose gold highlighter she used (on my shopping list already).

I found Fiona Brackenbury very interesting to listen to and would love to do an interview with her. Fiona is the head of training for Decleor, she discussed the topic of essential oils and why they are essential in beauty. Decleor have been using essential oils in their products from the beginning. I learned some pretty amazing facts from Fiona, she was so impressive and inspiring. I learned that there are 19 different types of collagen (they are numbered 1- 19, with 1 and 3 making up 090% of the total collagen). I could literally do a whole blog post on this discussion alone....I'll try to get an interview lined up with Fiona.

Moving on, products I am super excited to test out?

TanOrganic, an antiageing professional tanning system, 100% natural containing vitamins and hyaloronic acid and NO synthetic colours, preservatives or parabens.

Decleor Expression De L'Age

Joico Intensive Hair Mask for damaged hair

Natura Bisse Intensive Tolerance Booster

RMK Concentrate Serum

Monu Eye Cool Gel

Decleor Aroma White-C Recovery Brightening Night Cream

Finally, some pics, I know how you all love a good image ;)

Dewy Angelic Skin by Daniel Sandler

Rock Chick by Jackie Tyson

Close up of rock chic eyes

Three letters -OMG oh and 3 more (by) RMK

NEW RMK Lip Crayon in No 4

Medik8 Serum! I must get some of this

If you were at NBBE, what did you think about it?

Have you tried any of these products out?

x

BIOeffect Serum 6 weeks on: The source of youthful radiant skin!

I orginally blogged about BIOeffect in January here.

Serums are set to be a huge trend this year. We all want high performance skincare products that promise long-term results...BIOeffect sure fulfills all of the above, in my opinion.

I have been using this powerful serum for just over 6 weeks, I did start off using it day AND night because my skin was so dehyrdated from the combo of the 'big freeze', air con at work and central heating at home. However, I found that using BIOeffect day and night regulated my skin back to it's former self, so after 3 weeks, I used it only at night.

I must admit, throughout the last 3 weeks, I have neglected using it a few nights when I have been away from home or stayed out late and trust me, I certainly noticed a HUGE difference! I discovered that when using BIOeffect at night, I would wake up with plumper, smoother skin and without it, I would look drawn and tired.

I can't comment on if it has treated/prevented signs of ageing, as I guess that will become clearer over a longer period of time. However, I have decided to make BIOeffect a regular beauty purchase for my skin's future, so I guess in 10 year's time we will really be able to see the results!

Have you tried BIOeffect? What do you think?