Category Archives: beauty news

I seem to be having a bit of a “rose revival” at the moment. I went off rose for a while, possibly because I completely overdid it, smothering myself in rose stuff from head to foot, but now I’m back on it with a vengeance. In fact, when I think about my total skin-and-body-care routine, most of the products I’m grabbing from the cabinet seem to have a touch of rose somewhere! Oh dear: how long before I put myself off it again?

More rose-scented things…

Two excellent little body nourishers, here, both from Balance Me. Both, also, free from parabens, sulphates, petroleum, silicones, artificial fragrance, if you keep a lookout for those things. Personally, I find a little mineral oil in my bodycare to be quite a helpful thing, sometimes (SHOCK HORROR!) because it gets rid of my scaly shins and I know that if it’s a pretty basic cream, with just that and a few other bits and bobs, my skin won’t react to it. However, each to their own, and I know that for some it’s the work of the devil. At any rate, this gorgeous Rose Otto body oil and body balm don’t contain it, so there’s no issue here.

More body care posts…

The oil is silky smooth with a good amount of massage-ability. You know some of these dry oils that just kind of sit on the surface? None of that here. You can give it a good rub in and it smells bloody amazing, what a little treat! And I do think that the relatively plain and homely-looking packaging makes you want to use it everyday, rather than saving it for absolute best, which is a good thing. You know those really daunting glass bottles that look as though they should be in a locked display case? Well I do love them, but at the same time it makes me reluctant to use the contents! This Balance Me bottle has been knocking about the bathroom for a few weeks (it’s nearly finished) and I’ve used it after almost every bath. I’ve also dropped it about seventy-five times with my clumsy oily hands, and as it’s plastic it didn’t smash. Winning.

The body balm is an interesting one; a bit like those rescue balms that you get for your face. (I wrote about the Neal’s Yard Remedies one, Balance Me also have one called the Stellar Balm that I think is one of their bestsellers, if I remember rightly.) It has a consistency that cleansing balm-users will be familiar with; a solid that begins to melt down to an oil with the warmth from your fingertips. This feels a little bit more heavy-duty than the body oil, though, and it’s great for dry patches – around the knees and elbows, on shins and feet and heels. This seems to be a relaunched version of the balm, as I remember it before in a less lovely-looking tub, with bright pink labelling. I don’t know whether Balance Me are revising the whole look of the brand, but I like what I see so far. Very chic and understated.

You can find both the Balance Me Rose Otto Body Oil and Body Balm for £24.50 with free delivery at Beauty Expert.

The post Rose Otto: I Love it a Lotto. (Sorry.) appeared first on A Model Recommends.

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Naked On The Run

The first thing to say about the Urban Decay Naked On The Run palette is that it’s flipping heavy! As a ‘travel’ or portable kit, it’s a bit like carrying a (small) brick in your bag and I really don’t get why the fundamentals of ‘portable’ – i.e. lightness and compactness were missed here. BUT, it is a lovely palette!

Urban Decay Naked On The Run

Urban Decay Naked On The Run really does have everything apart from foundation for a whole face look – mascara, lip gloss, liner, shadows, bronzer, blush and highlighter. But no brush. I’d say it was one for the office drawer for a go-anywhere last minute look so you don’t have to cart your makeup in and out of work. It would be brilliant for this.

Urban Decay Naked On The Run

Swatch wise from left to right, we have: Dive, Fix, Resist, Dare, Stun and 50/50 in a mix of sheen and matte.

Urban Decay Naked On The Run

The gloss is Sesso (a rosy shimmer), the blush is a vibrant pink for a winter pop of colour and the bronzer is a medium tone with a matte finish.

There’s also a Perversion Mascara (brilliant) and a small size 24/7 (love these). Urban Decay Naked On The Run limited edition set launches today HERE and nationwide from 4th December for £37.

Portable? Not really. Pretty? Oh, yes!

The post Urban Decay Naked On The Run appeared first on British Beauty Blogger.

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A burning question, for those of you who’ve read The Cuckoo’s Calling and/or The Silkworm: who, in a TV or film adaptation of the novels, would play Cormoran Strike? Mr AMR and I have spent hours discussing this most important subject and, despite trawling through every single actor in the world on IMDB, we still haven’t found our man.

If you haven’t the faintest clue what I’m on about then you need to get stuck into the new Cormoran Strike detective novels that are topping the bestseller lists; J.K. Rowling has been writing them under a pseudonym, Robert Galbraith, and they are proving to be quite the flavour of the year. They’re well-paced and filled with colourful personalities and although I’ve been a tiny bit disappointed with the endings in both cases, I thoroughly enjoyed them and couldn’t put them down! The main character, Cormoran, is a huge, hairy, ex-army interrogator with one-and-a-half legs and a psychopathic ex-girlfriend; he’s one of those characters you find yourself rooting for. Something of an underdog, living in his office with a fold-away camp-bed and boxes filled with his belongings, but also a figure with a bit of clout and authority, not least because of his huge size. What I like about Cormoran is that he’s fallible; throughout the novels you see him at his most vulnerable and pathetic as well as at his most professionally triumphant. In one moment he might be casually threatening a potential suspect, the next he might be slipping over on his false leg. He would be a very interesting character to play in a film or TV series, I’d imagine.

And so who would play him? Who would play Cormoran Strike? As I said, Mr AMR and I are at a loss; the closest we have come to a possible is Tom Hardy, but I think that’s just because we both love Tom Hardy. A friend pointed out that perhaps Hardy would be a bit on the short side (Cormoran is over six foot tall, Hardy is apparently around 5’8″) but is that a deal-breaker? He played Bane in Batman, after all; Bane’s the biggest guy on the planet. We are both desperate for suggestions so please leave them below – now there’s something enjoyable and entirely pointless to do with your Saturday morning!

(If you haven’t read the Cormoran Strike books then you can find them on Amazon here.)

The post Who Will Play Cormoran Strike? appeared first on A Model Recommends.

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With the Pop Lip Colour + Primer, which launched last year, Clinique brought us a lipstick that was just about as perfect as could be. Great, intense colour, an easy to apply formula, a comfortable feel and a juicy, non-greasy finish. I had thought before testing them out that the Primer part would be a gimmick – just a word that they had thrown in to make the whole enterprise sound more marketable and unique – but to my great surprise the primer worked. It managed to smooth over minor flakiness and the colour didn’t bleed or wear off quickly. I think, at the time, I called Pop Lip Colour + Primer the perfect lipstick for learners. Foolproof.

Read the original Pop Lip Colour + Primer review…

And now Clinique have introduced a new little gem – the Pop Matte Lip Colour + Primer, which is probably one of the most wearable matte lipsticks you’ll find. If you’ve always wanted to go for that edgy, sultry, retro sort of look but have worried about getting dry lips or accentuating fine lines or flakiness then this is the starter stick for you. In fact, you’ll probably never move on from it if you try it – there’s no real need. It ticks all of the matte boxes (non-drying, vivid colour, a chalky-ish-yet-comfy finish) and, at £16, it most definitely does not break the bank.

Here I am sporting (sporting!) Peony Pop, a pink I thought I’d hate but instantly loved. It’s a pretty, girly shade but the matte finish makes it far more interesting than it would be were it your typical sheeny lipstick. Please ignore my red-tinted eyes, I was exploring the Chanel Le Rouge Collection before I shot this picture…