Category Archives: beauty news

I’m becoming more and more adventurous with my face oils, trying all sorts of different textures and blends. There are so many out there to choose from – dry oils, oils with aromatherapy blends, balancing oils for blemish-prone skin, regenerating oils for damaged skin – and I haven’t really found any, yet, that my skin didn’t agree with. Some of the richer and heavier oils have been a bit “touch and go” on the old T-Zone area, but mostly I have found that spending a few minutes massaging oil into my face, just before bed, leaves me with really plump and glowing skin in the morning.

REN’s Omega 3 Optimum Skin Serum Oil is a great choice if you’re looking for an oil that’s gives you all of the nourishment and hydration you need but that’s slightly lighter in texture. The Omega 3 Serum Oil is incredibly rich in essential fatty acids, helping to increase cell renewal and restore moisture levels so that the skin looks and feels younger and more hydrated. Rosehip Oil helps with this whole regenerative process (great for tackling dark spots and scars) and Vitamin E, from Rice Germ Oil, is a brilliant antioxidant and works to protect against damage from the environment.

Read about antioxidants…

This is a beautifully put-together oil and, as I said, a great choice if you want to start with something really nourishing, but slightly lighter in texture. It smells insanely nice, it comes in a convenient pump-action bottle and the price is excellent. £23. Even better with 20% off, as Cult Beauty have at the moment* – it takes the price down to almost high-street levels, yet the product is distinctly posh. Apply before your moisturiser, or, if it’s daytime and you wear a tinted moisturiser or BB/CC/DD/EE Cream, you might be fine with just a layer of the Omega 3 Serum Oil and then your makeup. Ditto if you have no problem with dryness; you may find that you can skip the moisturiser altogether. Just see how you go!

This is a brilliant “winter skin” buy; extra support and hydration for when the central heating cycle kicks in and dries the hell out of your face. If you find yourself getting all flaky and chapped, or if your skin starts to feel dull and weather-beaten, this is an excellent booster-upper.

Find the Omega 3 Serum/Oil at Cult Beauty here – use the code OCTBEAUTY20 at the checkout.

*(The following brand exclusions apply to the promotion; Alpha-H, Institut Esthederm, Escentric Molecules, Boudicca, Stila Cosmetics, Aesop, Sunday Riley. Code will work until Monday 13th.)

The post REN Omega 3 Serum Oil: An Affordable Skin Booster appeared first on A Model Recommends.

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I told you I’d make good use of my teal blouse – I’ve been wearing it with absolutely everything! Here I am on my trip to Tuscany, standing outside the amazing Castello di Casole hotel near Siena, wearing my crazy Zara trousers, Hush teal blouse and fabulous tangerine court shoes from LK Bennett. I’m not positive that the hoop earrings were a good idea and my hair was slicked back because I’d had a bath and left it too late to dry my hair before dinner, but the rest of the outfit pleased me greatly. Comfortable, summery and chic enough to see me through a posh tasting menu with matching wines.

You can find the Hush blouse here, the LK Bennett shoes here and the Zara trousers at all Zara stores apart from Gatwick, which I am boycotting because you can only return stuff TO GATWICK. Ridiculous. See here. Keep a lookout for my upcoming travel report on Castello di Casole, it is a truly special place.

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I have to admit that I have a tempestuous relationship with the Tom Ford brand. I rather gave up on the brand because TF always had to be called Mr Ford – I probably wouldn’t have objected in the same way if we’d always called Estee Lauder Mrs Lauder. Or Bobbi, Mrs Brown, and so on. But we didn’t and still don’t. My view is that respect is there to be earned, not given and if you demand such a thing, it often has the opposite effect. Premium never has to mean patronising.

However, I did love the thinking behind the Tom Ford Lips & Boys collection – a mini lipstick collection (and I love anything mini) named for men in Tom Ford’s past and present and it’s been a long time since I’ve been interested in anything TF. I just don’t buy the hype. I’ve popped Beau next to one of Charlotte Tilbury’s lipsticks for a size reference. I bought Beau myself via Selfridges on the one-day purchase before they go on general release on 25th December.

It’s worth noting that some of the colours already exist in the Tom Ford regular size lipstick line up. Annoyingly, I can’t remember what I paid for it but I know with the Selfridges postage, it was over £30. I checked over on Temptalia and regular size TF lipsticks are 3 grams and the small size is 2 grams – a regular size lipstick is £37.

So, can spending the best part of £30 on a 2 gram lipstick ever be worth it? There’s no doubt that they’re beautiful – especially if you love tiny things like I do. The formula is very sleek and silky with fulsome coverage but it doesn’t have exceptional last. This shade – typically – wasn’t right for me; it’s just a little bit too pale but I might get away with in summer when my skin isn’t so pasty. But, you know.. I see the attraction. The Tom Ford Lips & Boys does feel rather special; it does feel glamorous, infinitely elegant and as though you have something very luxurious. Bearing in mind I’ve been away from the brand totally for two years so I haven’t really been swayed by PR or marketing hype and I still feel I have something special – that’s quite an achievement. But, I wouldn’t buy another. One is plenty to satisfy my small-and-beautiful craving – the lipsticks themselves just aren’t different enough unless you’re an avid Tom Ford – excuse me, MR Ford, fan – you might as well spend a tenner less on a really good Estee Lauder lippie.

If budget is no object, then pile em up! I love to see any lipsticks done differently, whether it’s in the marketing or in the manufacturing and on that alone, I’m pleased to have mine. But, I don’t need any more.

The post Tom Ford Lips & Boys appeared first on British Beauty Blogger.

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I was sold on the Clinique Lip Pop Colour and Primer Lipstick the moment I first put one on – it has just the most buttery, smooth and sumptuous texture and the colours are punchy and bright. Application is almost foolproof. If ever there was a “lipstick for learners” then this, perhaps along with Chanel’s Rouge Coco, would be it.

Pre-testing, I did think that the whole “primer and lipstick in one” claim would be a bit of a gimmick, but the formula is properly smoothing, as though you’ve already applied a good, matte lipbalm underneath that’s helping everything to look that much more polished. The colour seems to skim over dry or mildly flaky patches and it’s buttery and moisturising without the slightest bit of sliding about.

A few of my favourite shades for you… Here I am before and after applying shade 04, which is called Beige Pop:

To me, this is the most perfect pinky-nude – it’s opaque but not chalky-matte, it has a modern sheen without looking gloopy or patent.

Some may prefer a more “my lips but better” kind of nude, like the one shown below. This one (shade 01) is called Nude Pop. It’s slightly more wearable than Beige Pop, probably, especially if you don’t want to have to pile on a load of mascara and eyeliner, which is often what has to happen to balance out pale nude lips!

I wanted to show you Melon Pop, second from the right in the photograph below, but I seem to have mislaid my pictures! Annoying, because it is, perhaps, my favourite of the bunch. I’ve sent most of my makeup back into storage until I can move into my house later on this summer, otherwise I’d photograph it again for you.

As it stands, you’ll have to make do with me wearing my favourite bright-bright shade from the Lip Pop collection, Poppy Pop.

If you’re looking for an easy-to-wear red then this is it. It doesn’t bleed into fine lines around the mouth, it doesn’t make your teeth look yellow and, with its little bit of juicy sheen, it helps to make thin lips look a teeny bit fuller. Which is a bonus.

Also a bonus: the £16 price tag. For a lipstick with a faultless finish, I’d say that’s pretty good value for money. Find all of the shades at Boots.com here.

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