Author Archives: marc

Here we are once more; monthly favourites. I have Caroline Hirons with me again so you’ll need to prepare yourself for a fair amount of chatting. In Caroline’s skincare video, at any rate – I edited the makeup video down from thirty-two minutes to about nine, but Caroline has gone for the director’s cut and published something that’s not far off a feature-length movie. Ha! If I were you, I’d grab a glass of wine (but not if it’s still breakfast time) (and not if you’re at work) and make yourself comfy. Perhaps have a little plate of olives to hand? Some breadsticks maybe?

Whatever nibbles and beverage combo you end up going for, you may want to have a notebook ready because there are some gems in these videos. I’ll paste the makeup links below the videos, but for the skincare credits you just need to click through to Youtube at the bottom left hand corner of the video. Enjoy!

Clarins Tinted Moisturiser – I use shade 1: http://tidd.ly/8a694806

Clarins Brow Kit: http://tidd.ly/1f47ced2

PAM London Jan Sewell Makeup – sorry, can’t find this but leave a comment for Caroline and I’m sure she’ll enlighten us!

Becca Shadow and Light, launches 14th August. Pre-order:http://goo.gl/Y5O1YV

Real Techniques Dual Fibre Brush: http://tinyurl.com/oeh33qj

New CID i_glow in Coral Crush: http://tinyurl.com/p2cq5r9

Bourjois Creme Blush in Shade 1, Nude Velvet:http://tidd.ly/f50c7491

Bobbi Brown Palette in Surf & Sand: http://rstyle.me/n/mm3hct6a6

Lancome Grandiose Mascara: http://rstyle.me/n/m63rkt6a6

Urban Decay Subversion and Perversion Mascaras:http://tidd.ly/4d221bc2

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I’m back with another Beauty Reviews video after a little bit of a gap. I really enjoy making these –  capturing my reaction to new products when I use them for the first time, watching on the little camera screen as the makeup works its magic (or not!) on my face. This video was supposed to be all about YSL’s Fusion Ink foundation which is, quite frankly, a marvel and one of my most-requested reviews ever. But I can’t for the life of me find it; it was on my desk and then it wasn’t. No doubt the cat has pawed it onto the floor and the dog has then picked up the baton for his part of the “let’s hide stuff” relay and deposited it inside a boot, or beneath the sofa, or in one of the waste paper baskets.

So anyway, Plan B was my next most-requested review: the Chanel Vitalumière Aqua Loose Powder Foundation. Now for me, the words “Aqua” and “Powder” don’t really belong in the same sentence – unless this powder foundation is actually made of water. Which it’s not. It’s decidedly dry and…powdery. I don’t actively dislike it, but as you’ll see from the video, it doesn’t hold a candle to my favourite Chanel base (Perfection Lumière Velvet) and although it does give alright coverage, it’s probably not a product that I’d use on its own. I’d layer it over the top of a sheer base, a BB Cream or some kind of complexion enhancer.

Which would all be well and good, this use of the powder as a “supplementary” kind of product, if it didn’t cost a whopping great big £55. With the beautiful, glowy, creamy, velvety Perfection Lumière coming in at £33, it seems rather a tall order. (You can read a full review of Perfection Lumière here, with close-ups of my skin before and after application.) If we were to compare another powder base then Eve Lom’s mineral foundation is, I think, slightly heavier on the coverage than Chanel’s powder and it has more of a “lit from within” glow (read that review here). But it doesn’t come with a cute little marshmallow-soft mini Chanel kabuki brush, so…swings and roundabouts, my friends, swings and roundabouts!

Read more foundation reviews…

Take a look at the video, see what you think. The Loose Powder Foundation does appear to give off a lovely sheen, and I didn’t find it particularly drying, but I can’t really imagine a scenario in which I’d be desperate to use it. As a setting powder, I have always thought that Chanel’s Poudre Universelle Libre was one of the best (and used loads backstage) and if I wanted a “top coat” of something, then I think that Chanel’s Les Beiges is simply unbeatable. I use it almost daily to add a bit of life and healthiness to my skin (shade 20) or to give a really pale bronze sheen on my cheeks and temples (shade 30).

See more Beauty Review videos…

(The other two products in my video are knockout: I really like Benefit’s new blush and Jane BritishBeautyBlogger‘s lip pencils for M&S are juicy, pigmented and a dream to apply!)

Chanel Les Beiges: http://tidd.ly/816257c3

Chanel Loose Powder Foundation: http://tidd.ly/c3293459

Chanel Perfection Lumiere Velvet: http://tidd.ly/7833e124

Benefit Majorette Blush: http://tidd.ly/d1fce33a

British Beauty Blogger Lip Colour Trio: http://tidd.ly/914eaa6

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The beauty world, as you will have realised by now, has gone contouring crazy. I mentioned in my previous post that my preferred contour method, for a really soft and subtle look, was simply a sweep of matte bronzing powder beneath the cheekbones. None of that “snail trail” of illuminator across the top, no harsh lines, no muddiness. With that in mind, I decided to give the Clinique Sculptionary Cheek Contouring Palette a go. Much more “up my street” than the Chubby Sticks, which, despite having received a unanimous round of applause online I still can’t get the knack of. (The illuminator stick is very weak-willed, for a start – it barely shows up on my skin. Then there’s the dark contour stick, which only comes in one shade and can get a little muddy and messy upon blending, as can all cream contour products. Seems foolproof, with its chunky child’s crayon-type appearance, but I’m still struggling to get it looking as good as a powder.)

And so move over Chubby Sticks, enter stage left the Sculptionary Palette. I used the Defining Nudes version. Three shades – one highlight, one colour, one contour – for painstakingly creating that sucked-in-cheek look with your various contour and blush brushes. Or, if you’re lazy like me, three shades that can be swirled together with one massive brush (Chanel Powder No.3, perhaps) and applied slap-dashedly all over for an instant healthy glow. Behold my before:

And after.

Who needs lengthy contouring methods when you can lightly bronze beneath your cheekbones and be done with it? Marvellous. Clinique’s Sculptionary Cheek Contouring Palette costs £28 here.

I seriously doubt that this will be the end of my contouring investigations; I have become slightly obsessed with it, recently. Not with actually doing it, but just observing others who have. I enjoy bearing witness to the various levels of contour ridiculousness, but also having a genuine admiration when it is done really convincingly, when it becomes kind of like a weird optical illusion. I did a Max Factor video last week (don’t think it’s out yet, I’ll give you a nudge when it is) where I did a softer contour using the new Creme Puff blushers (which are properly lovely, by the way) and I really liked the effect. It was far stronger than I would ever wear in real life, but that’s the problem with this whole contouring craze: most of the demos you see are in online video tutorials, and you have to pile on loads of makeup so that the effect is dramatic enough. In an everyday situation, you need – and want – far less. Tread carefully, use the lightest touch!

The post Contouring Makeup Products Continued: The Sculptionary Palette appeared first on A Model Recommends.

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I look forward to any new launch from Dr Marko Lens’ brand Zelens, but when it’s two very potent and impressive serums, I really sit up and take notice. Dr Marko is a world-leading authority on skin cancer and regularly contributes to some of the most cutting-edge research when it comes to skincare. His own Zelens skincare line offers powerful, advanced formulas that are subjected to the most lengthy and thorough clinical trials – this is impeccably-researched skincare at its best.

I always tend to go off on some kind of love-fest when I talk about Dr Marko so I’ll cut to the chase and get straight to the serums! Intense Defence Antioxidant Serum and Z Luminous Brightening Serum both have active ingredient lists that each take up the best part of an A4 page. Two columns, not one. Little writing. But it was the Antioxidant serum that most caught my interest, mainly because I don’t currently have any dark spots and my skin is quite even in tone, so the Brightening version wasn’t something I felt I needed. (Though, thinking about it, I did use the Olay Luminous Serum for much of my pregnancy and I’ve mentioned before, tentatively, how perhaps that has kept my skin in check…)

So the antioxidant serum: helps to protect against free radicals that attack the skin. Think stress, alcohol, smoking, air pollutants. I’m not going to delve too deeply into the science, here, because last time it gave me a right headache. If you want to read my shockingly bad pub/antioxidant analogy then do read this: Shockingly Bad Pub/Antioxidant Analogy or if you want, my more sensible post on antioxidants. The Zelens science goes further than this, at any rate, identifying the three different types of free radical attack and formulating a product that will address all of these types, rather than just the one that is tackled by a typical antioxidant product. The result is a serum that provides protection from environmental aggressors and that helps to repair existing damage which, in turn, reduces the appearance of fine lines and helps with skin firmness and elasticity.

At which point, in my head, I’m usually going “yeah, yeah, yeah” in a sarcastic manner, but as usual Zelens have the clinical results to back things up. In fact the results of this particular trial have been published in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology, so you can look them up yourself if you so wish – search Assessment of the kinetics of the antioxidative capacity of topical antioxidants. The highlights of the trials showed that the Zelens Intense Defence Antioxidant Serum provided strong antioxidant protection, reducing UV-induced oxidation of the skin surface lipids by 74% after one hour. After five hours, 50%. Incredibly impressive.

As well as some familiar ingredients – Vitamin E and stable Vitamin C, Squalene, Hyaluronic Acid, Coenzyme Q10 and Green Tea – the formula is packed full of potent actives that address inflammation and strengthen the skin’s barrier as well as providing antioxidant protection. Superoxide Dismutase, Alpha-Lipoic Acid, Pycnogenol (me neither!) and TriPeptide-1 to boost collagen, and sesame protein to provide an instant tightening effect. The actual visible results of this serum would be, you would think, slow to make themselves apparent. A bit like protecting against long-term sun damage – it’s not until much later that you reap the rewards of having adequately protected your skin. But actually the visible results were quite prompt: glowing, less-dull skin that felt smooth and calm and altogether tip-top. And I don’t know whether this was purely coincidence, but I sat outside a few times in the sun without SPF (shock horror – I was waiting for the dog to become de-constipated and basically spent a lot more time in the direct sunlight than I had anticipated! A half hour catching up on Instagram feels like a mere thirty seconds once you get absorbed in it…) and I didn’t get the remote bit of redness or freckly occurrences. I wonder, I wonder…must ask about whether these antioxidants can boost the skin’s defences against the sun, a bit like a natural SPF? (*UPDATE: I did ask! Dr Marko’s answer: “many strong antioxidants act as natural SPF and in fact without adding any sunscreens filters they provide some degree of SPF. They also boost SPF of sunscreen formulations.”)

You’ve probably guessed that this serum doesn’t come cheap (but if you’ve used Zelens before you’ll know that this is high-end, hi-tech stuff) – it’s priced at £125. Oil-free, suitable for all skin types, use it after cleansing and before your moisturiser. (Add an SPF if you’re waiting for your dog to de-constipate / sitting outside wasting time on Twitter.) You can find Zelens Intense Defence Antioxidant Serum online here.

The post Zelens Skincare: Intense Defence Antioxidant Serum appeared first on A Model Recommends.

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