Author Archives: marc

There’s a bit of a bronzer review “run” at the moment, so do bear with me! I wanted to get them all tested out so that I was ready for the summer – you saw the Guerlain ones yesterday, and there are still a few more to go. Unless Baby AMR emerges before the end of the week, in which case maybe I’ll take a break.

Although I’m very partial to a fairer bronzer for a more subtle, daytime look, nothing beats a deep, full-on St Tropez hue for really getting into the summer spirit! This KIKO bronzer is part of the Modern Tribes collection and comes in an enormous wooden box. Random packaging note, but it reminds me of what you’d find the soap/ear buds/cotton wool rounds stored in if you were in one of those really swanky hotels in the Maldives. You know when everything in the bathroom is all dark wood and “natural materials”?

The packaging is actually quite excellent because there are no edges containing the bronzing powder, so you can use a massive brush, if you fancy it, to sweep the powder over legs and arms and chest. It all just feels very usable. As for the shade itself, Sienna Melange is a warm, terracotta bronze – very Guerlain, very High Summer. There’s nothing subtle here. Face before KIKO Maxi Bronzer:

Face after one incredibly light application:

You could easily go cray-cray with this stuff and make yourself look like someone who got lost in the Sahara and managed to limp their way back to civilisation, but if you haven’t yet developed your “summer skin” (bit of a sunkissed glow, whether it’s natural or faked) then you’re wise to take it easy. You don’t want to end up with dark pools of bronze that are in stark contrast to your paler, unadorned skin. There’s another shade option for this powder but I’m afraid I haven’t tried it – I’m not sure whether it’s lighter or has a different undertone, but it looks equally as lovely!

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You can find KIKO’s Maxi Bronzer online here – it’s £17.50. There’s also a flagship store on London’s Regent Street which is something of a beauty-lover’s paradise, do stop in if you’re ever passing, they have just about everything and anything you can think of!

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A combination of raging PMT and the four day Easter break has rendered me completely useless in the writing department; I’ve tried to draft this post seven times, now, and each version has been virtually incomprehensible.

So I’ll keep it short and sweet. I’m doing a new series of videos (New Way to Wear) all about finding bits of makeup you already own and wearing them in a fresh and exciting way. Digging out old stuff and giving it a new lease of life.

Take, for example, the classic red lipstick. I usually wear my red lipstick with a slightly heavier foundation and for some reason, the red always makes my skin look really pale. So in this first New Way to Wear video, I’ve bronzed up my skin and then used a tinted moisturiser instead of a foundation to try and keep things juicy and sheer. And I’ve used a bronzey cream shadow all over my eyelids with no hard lines around the lashline so that the look is rather more Ibiza than Old Hollywood.

I hope you like it – I’ll be following this video with other classic makeup finds, but if you have any requests or suggestions then please let me know. The idea is that the products used in the looks are the sort of thing you’ll have lying about already and that you’ll be inspired to have a muck about with your makeup and create something new. (You might not have a “bronzing base” like the one I’ve used below, but obviously swap it for a cream bronzer, liquid bronzer or non-shimmery powder bronzer if that’s what you have. Everything is “swappable”!)

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Caroline Hirons came over to film with me yesterday and I appropriated a lipstick from her stash. (We were filming new launches, she had gone lipstick crazy.) Behold the Burberry Kisses lipstick in Devon Sunset; a luminous peachy shade that looks almost neon in certain lights, definitely bright enough to satisfy those of you who are searching for some springtime beauty excitement. And I can imagine that it would look brilliant with a bronzed-up beach look, too.

The new Burberry Kisses lipsticks have been designed to offer various looks and finishes, depending on how much of the product you apply. One “kiss” and it’s a sheer wash of colour (must say that – with this shade, at least – the finish didn’t look so great with one coat); two or three “kisses” and the colour is more intense, the finish more solid and velvety. It’s a lighter-than-light formula that feels quite hydrating and soft, yet it does seem to have great lasting power and doesn’t slip about too much. You could compare it, I suppose, to something like Estée Lauder’s Pure Envy lipstick, though the Pure Envy is far denser and more intensely pigmented from the word go. No need to build up.

But that is the benefit of the Kisses; you can go low-key or you can really vamp up to a high intensity finish, depending on the kind of shade you’ve gone for. Devon Sunset works best after three coats – you really get that brightness and luminosity – some of the more neutral shades look better as a light wash. Like a tinted balm, almost, but with a completely weightless feel.

I can only find Devon Sunset on the Burberry website at the moment; it costs £25. Do report back on other Kisses shades and how you wear them – I’m on the hunt for the perfect nudey-neutral that’s not too pale and doesn’t accentuate little flakes on the lips! If I can get a sheer, one-coat wonder with a touch of glow…

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One to grab before it goes; Chanel’s gorgeous Tisse d’Automne eyeshadow palette. The Les 4 Ombres shadow quads from Chanel are nearly always great – flattering, wearable shade combinations with silky powder formulas that are easy to blend – but Tisse d’Automne has a bit of extra edge. Four beautifully warm and rich shadows, two with a pinkish tone (top and bottom in the photograph above) and the other two (pictured left and right) most definitely greenish. I wouldn’t usually touch a greenish shadow because it’s so out of my usual colour comfort range, but the golden green and dark, brownish olive in this palette seem to work with the pinkish shades perfectly. It’s all a bit of a pinkish, greenish delight!

There’s something for everyone here; a grungey look with the gold and the dark olive, or the classic “nude” eye using the pink as a base and the warm, bright caramel to add contour and depth. (Pretty much what I did above, but with some darker olive blended into the crease.)

You can still find Tisse d’Automne online at Boots.com 

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I’m developing an aversion to washing my face over the sink. I think it’s because that (for the past few months) the sink has never been my sink, and I’m a bit tired of not being in my own house. It just never feels like the luxurious, relaxing experience that I want it to be. I’ve also been too squeamish about my C-section scar to have a bath (I have an illogical fear that the water will melt my scar and make it split open!) and I usually do my full cleansing ritual during my nightly soak so proper face-washing has taken something of a hit. I’ve reverted, for some of the time, and probably for the first time in over ten years, to a good old cleansing cream. Removed with warm, dampened cotton wool pads, so I don’t know why I can’t just go a step further and use a bloody flannel, but there we go!

The creamy cleansing lotion that’s won me over: Collagen Boost Restore and Replenish from Balance Me. Brand new and promises great things; softening, plumping, anti-ageing, uplifting and soothing. The soothing one we can tick straight away – this is gorgeously calming and gentle and in terms of a “sensory experience” it feels and smells beautiful. The plumping and “prevents the signs of ageing” part is more difficult, because I’m always slightly wary of cleanser claims when they stay on the skin for so little time, but it’s nice when a product is well-formulated with the right stuff – better to have it in there than not, I suppose! The new Collagen Boost range (there’s a face cream too, though I haven’t got that) includes a natural peptide complex to support cells and give collagen production a little kick up the arse, then there are essential oils to variously uplift and plump. Nice.

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This is a sumptuous type of creamy cleanser, so not one of those wishy-washy lotions – you can get a good massage in before removing with cotton wool and (because it’s after wipe-offs that I always use some kind of water or tonic) sweeping with a toner. Or you can use as a flannel-off/Clarisonic-off/rinse-off cream – it’s easily robust enough and “gives good slip”, which makes it a nice multi-purpose cleanser if you’re looking for something flexible to pack in your holiday toiletries bag. Or, if you move house about seventy times a month, like me, it’s a good one to cart about with you so that you don’t need loads of different product. My skin has been on the dry side throughout pregnancy (it’s starting to get a little oilier now) and this felt comfortable where a few other cleansers left things a little taut, so a nice cleanser for dry skin or faces that are feeling a little fraught.

Find it on Balance Me’s website here – it’s £18.

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