You can probably guess from the random title that I made a “vlog”: which is, to those who are (quite blissfully) unaware, a kind of video diary. Lots of people ask for them, I rarely have a day that’s interesting enough to make one. But yesterday I dashed about from pillar to post doing all sorts of things, waking up in Mayfair (planned, obviously!) and catching the train to Cardiff to do my meet-up for Colab. Needless to say that although I’m back home,  I’m absolutely shattered and so this is something of a lazy person’s post. In all honesty, I started to write something beauty-ish and in-depth but I got sidetracked reading all of your AMAZING comments on my announcement post, and then I had to have a little emotional moment and then I had to ring my Mum to tell her all about it and.. Well. You know how it goes. Time ran out.

But I’m still managing to ramble on, aren’t I? I’ll get back to reading your comments tomorrow, I can’t wait. I have much to discuss with you all. Until then, here’s a “vlog” (UGH!) with a little peek at the Isabella Oliver maternity dress that I bought from ASOS and that I would happily wear if I didn’t have a bump!

The post A Meet-Up, A Maternity Dress and a Hotel Room Tour… appeared first on A Model Recommends.

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I mentioned this tinted balm right at the end of last week’s “What’s In My Makeup Bag” video but have used it so much that I thought it deserved a proper post. I hadn’t tried a Dior Rouge Balm (or Baume!) before this one – where on earth have I been? I’ve looked online and you can get it in loads of different colours. Delicious.

The Rouge Balm is a really buttery, sumptuous lip treatment and so comfortable to wear. Like the Rouge Coco Shine from Chanel, it’s just the type of lip “thing” that you want to keep reapplying – which is handy, because it’s by no means one of these 12-hour/24-hour/non-transfer/remove-with-a-blowtorch affairs. But neither does the colour slide around or quickly disappear – one coat of this and you have a plumpy, tinted look with a nice amount of sheen.

Here I am wearing one of the limited edition shades from Dior’s Kingdom of Colours collection; it’s called “Belle de Printemps“. Please ignore the rest of the makeup which – quite frankly – isn’t my best effort. I was testing out a new foundation and concealer and it didn’t do the most marvellous job in the world. Anyway, the lipstick: like it? I think that it’s the perfect little peachy-ish number to bridge the winter-into-spring gap – it’s effortless and pretty and feels beautiful to wear. The other day I raved about Chanel’s Rouge Allure Gloss in “Sensible”; “Belle de Printemps” has the same suits-all-purposes kind of flush, but without the hi-shine finish.

Dior say that the baumes contain ten times more lipcare ingredients than their classic lipsticks and I can easily believe that. I usually apply a balm (Sisley or Nuxe, more often than not) before any lipstick or gloss, but haven’t needed to before the Dior Rouge Baume. Which I think speaks for itself. You can find “Belle de Printemps” at Escentual.com – it’s £26, but if you’re shopping before midnight on Monday there’s 20% off with the code ESCENTUAL20, taking the price down somewhat! Those reading via email: my apologies, I couldn’t have timed this post more badly.

Oh – the nail polish, I almost forgot about that. It’s pictured top – Lady. Gorgeous shade, and I love Dior polishes, but I haven’t had a chance to pop this on my fingers. Will update you with pictures once I get a spare moment to paint my nails.

The post Dior Rouge Balm for Plumpy, Tinted Lips. appeared first on A Model Recommends.

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I’ve been pulling a few cleansing and exfoliating bits and pieces out from “the archives” recently; products that I’ve tried before and loved, but haven’t – for one reason or another – given my full attention. For the past month or so I’ve had the One-Minute Glow Powder from Givenchy in my bathroom and I’ve been using it for a quick bit of morning exfoliation if my skin has been looking a bit dull.

I get on really well with these cleansing/exfoliating powders (some exfoliate, some cleanse, some do both, though I wouldn’t use any of them to remove my eye makeup); I had the Radiance Boosting Powder from Diptyque on the go for about a year, which felt very decadent and smelt amazing, but there are quite a few different versions on the market. The idea behind them is – usually – that they provide very low-level, non-abrasive exfoliation in a quick and easy format; just mix a bit of the powder with water in the palm of your hand and massage onto the skin. I tend to leave on for a minute or so, especially if the powder contains exfoliating ingredients or a bit of cleansing clay, and then rinse off by thoroughly using warm water.

More facial exfoliants….

The Hydra Sparkling powder from Givenchy feels a tiny bit more abrasive than the Diptyque one I was using, but I like the scrubbier feel. I don’t tend to use face scrubs, but now and then I do enjoy the feeling of giving my skin what feels like a bit of a spring clean! Acid exfoliants (things like Alpha-H’s Liquid Gold, or the Mild Clarifying Lotion from Clinique) are brilliant for getting rid of dead skin cells and boosting the skin’s radiance, but there’s no satisfying scrubby feeling, if that’s what you’re after. The Hydra Sparkling One-Minute Glow Powder gives the smallest bit of scrub satisfaction without the sand-blasting effect.

In actual fact, despite the slightly abrasive feel, the Glow Powder is one of the most finely-milled face-washing powders I’ve tried; it doesn’t clump when you add water, which some tend to do, and so you get a nice smooth paste that’s easy to massage over your skin. No tightness on rinsing, no redness, just really clean and fresh feel. It contains alpha and beta hydroxy acids to smooth and brighten the skin – that’s why I leave it on for a minute or so, just to let things get to work. I have no idea whether that’s long enough, but it’s better than rinsing it straight down the drain! What I tend to do is massage the powder on, after cleansing, then do my other bits and pieces – put deodorant on, brush teeth, etc – before rinsing it back off again. My skin looks brighter and it takes mere minutes – under a minute, if you follow the instructions properly and don’t leave it on!

You can find Givenchy’s One-Minute Glow Powder at Escentual here – it’s £29.50. I’ve been using it about three times a week for over a month and I don’t seem to have used that much at all, so I’m guessing it’ll last quite a while. It actually says “Daily Micropeeling” on the bottle, but as with all exfoliants I think it’s better to err on the side of caution and work your way up…

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