Category Archives: beauty news

Weekly Window Shop: Wedding Guest Essentials

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wedding guest essentials

Ah, the wedding season is upon us. Actually, it has been upon us for a while now, but I’ve only just done my first one – a gorgeous, outdoor affair in a very posh garden with possibly the most lavish tent I’ve ever set foot in. I could have set up home in it!

Anyway, as I was so utterly unprepared for this particular wedding (it came around more quickly than I thought it would) I’ve put together some wedding guest essentials to make sure that I’m ready for next time. Obviously some of the essentials are more tongue-in-cheek than others, and one is a more “if I won the lottery” choice rather than anything realistic, but I have to have some fun with my window shopping otherwise it becomes a chore. Shopping should never be a chore. An olympic sport: yes. Chore: no. If it gets boring, shut the laptop and try again another day, that’s what I say…

wedding guest essentials

Let’s start with the dress, shall we? I’m all for pretty and elegant this year – the Crilly Physique is in no way ready for anything bodycon, “nipped in” or mini. I have been enjoying shirt dresses (see this post) but the Karo Silk Dress from LK Bennett, with its longer length and fine cut, is just beautiful. Very English Country Garden, but you can stop it from looking too Miss Marple by sexing it up with some vampy accessories. See below. The Karo dress is £325 here and comes in a few different colours – pink is my favourite.

topshop kimono wrap dress

Staying on the floral pink theme: I am head over heels with this wrap dress from Topshop. It’s a little short for my confidence levels, at present, but those wanting to get their legs out in full glory will look spectacular!  I have a feeling that those with very large busts might struggle with it a little – it could tip over into “sexy dinner lady fancy dress costume” territory with that particular pink hue – but who am I to say. Give it a try and let me know! It’s £55 at Topshop here.

Let us please just take a moment to appreciate the fabulousness of this bag:

chandra s jimmy choo

It’s so glitzy it almost hurts my eyes. So does the price. It’s not my usual sort of style (I’m normally quite simple and understated when it comes to bags) but – my God – I would totally carry this until it fell apart. Mr AMR has just reminded me that I have a rather special bag that is still in the box because I’m too scared to take it out, so I suppose I won’t be adding to my handbag collection anytime soon! But if you fancy a little fantasy gaze at the Chandra from Jimmy Choo then it is here online.

wedding guest essentials

What does every handbag need? A handbag-sized pack of blotting paper. Thinner and lighter than carting a powder compact about, and you’re less likely to look like you’ve covered your face in a layer of chalk dust by the time the dinner’s served. I’d totally forgotten about blotting papers until I was on a shoot, recently, and the makeup artist whipped out a packet of them on set. Makes so much more sense than repeatedly powdering throughout the day – the skin stays fresh-looking and bright. These blotting papers, from DHC, cost £4. Find them online here.

halston heritage suede heels

We’ve splurged on the bag (in our minds) so let’s save on the shoes. They have to be chunky-heeled, if you’re going anywhere near grass (I spent last week’s wedding sinking repeatedly into the lawn, most annoying) and though – good lord – I am sorely tempted by these Nicholas Kirkwood laser-cut beauties, the Bobbie Suede Sandals from Halston Heritage (pictured above) are chic, sexy and a relative snip at £150. Find those here.

Right, I’m off. I didn’t realise that the sales were on – I’m in my element! I have one page open with dream holidays (doesn’t look like I’ll get the time to go away, but I’m still rooting for my stay-at-home-cation) and another with my fashion wishlist. There goes my early night…

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Sarah Jessica Parker Stash Eau de Parfum Review

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Sarah Jessica Parker Stash Eau de Parfum Review

I wanted to kick start the New Year with a new fragrance; a scent that would remind of all the optimism, hopes and dreams, held for the coming months and offer a sensory kick up the butt, or warming embrace should I need it. Said scent would also have to suit all occasions and be a somewhat power player (year of the “Boss Lady” and all) and yet not be so demanding that it becomes cloying at the mere mention, of an admittedly optimistic heat wave. The answer may surprise you, a celebrity launch that is far more affordable than the packaging may suggest, and is easily the best attempt at a truly ambiguous and unisex fragrance, I have encountered in a long while. Yes I am gently swaying you to give Sarah Jessica Parker’s Stash Eau de Parfum a chance, regardless of how you feel towards the now adopted New Yorker’s (SJP was born in Ohio) past fragrance launches.

Sarah Jessica Parker Stash Eau de Parfum Review

What sets Sarah Jessica Parker Stash Eau de Parfum aside from the mountain of other fragrance launches of 2016 is that it is entirely universal; Stash will be as at ease worn by a female as it will be a male, thanks to the harmonious and perfectly blended woody notes. It is sensual, rich, all consuming, yet unidentifiable and entirely enigmatic, which is no mean feat and entirely glorious in concept. Stash all but screams “let’s take away gender labels” and enjoy the product for what it is and as a result wonderfully simplifies an overcomplicated world of fragrance.

The bottle – which I imagine was carefully crafted – too echoes such sentiment of gender neutrality, all the while capturing the robust, almost cognac tinged fragrance inside – the little hints of NYC cool and luxury gold gilded details don’t go unnoticed either.

Sarah Jessica Parker Stash Eau de Parfum Review

Sarah Jessica Parker Stash Eau de Parfum is a classic in the making; as painful as it may be to read, I do believe that had this been a launch by a non-celebrity fragrance house it would have reached cult status by now. Sadly yet understandably, we don’t always give the handy work of the rich and the famous, all the credit it is due and often dismiss said launches as being a little tacky. Sarah Jessica Parker fragrances are the beacon of hope needed within an often overcomplicated, unimaginative celebrity endorsed and created market.

Sarah Jessica Parker Stash Eau de Parfum Review

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Weekly Window Shop: Cosy Cable Knits

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best cable knit products

It’s back by popular demand – the Weekly Window Shop. All feedback duly noted, though the suggestion to make it monthly or bi-monthly does sort of mess with my alliteration! Monthly Window Shop doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.

We return with a bit of a selfish one, because I am obsessed with all things cable knit – it’s just so tactile and autumnal and cosy – and this post is sort of satisfying my craving. Get excited for these little knit-picks – there’s something for everyone, whether you want to add a bit of wool to your wardrobe or get something seasonal for your home.

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Lancome Juicy Shakers

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lancome juicy shakers

I felt it would be remiss of me to go through another week without writing about the new Juicy Shaker lip gloss/oils from Lancome. I did include them in my March Favourites, but they deserve a bit more applause than that, for the concept and packaging at the very least. I love it when a beauty product launches that’s just completely and utterly crackers, especially when it’s as fun to use as this. Who would have thought that Lancome would be the ones to bring out a miniature cocktail shaker filled with a bi-phase, glossy-finish, juicy-coloured lip oil? Who would have thought that Lancome would provide us with an applicator that looks – and feels – like one of those foam strawberry sweets? It’s like applying lipgloss with a marshmallow or a teddy bear’s nose.

As you can see from the photograph above, I took the opportunity to use some of the objects from my dolls house to “bring the products to life”, but I’m not quite sure that even the very best cocktail shaker could make a decent tipple from milk, Evian, Pepsi, San Pellegrino and a dodgy-looking bottle of red wine. Sorry, it’s a very random photo, but I’ve been desperate to put some of my miniatures into a still life for ages, so. There you go.

ruth crilly a model recommends

I’d say that Lancome’s Juicy Shakers are most definitely beauty things that you want rather than need; none of them have a particularly bright pigment and you do have to shake-shake-shake and dab-dab-dab quite a lot if you want to achieve any depth of colour. But I think that they’re supposed to be far more frivolous than that, anyway – each has a different flavour (reminiscent of the Juicy Tube glosses of my late teen years) and because the applicator is so soft, it’s actually a joy to reapply the lip oil frequently throughout the day. The finish is glossy but non-sticky, oily but non-greasy – sort of the perfect shine, really. Very plumptious and flattering.

There are thirteen shades in the shaker line-up as well as a limited edition in minty blue. My favourite is Freedom of Peach, pictured above – I find that it gives a lovely pastel sheen. Not so keen on the “juicier” pink and red shades, ironically, but then that’s just personal preference. Lots of them are so sheer that they look quite similar anyway, so it may be a case of resorting to trying out the different flavours and seeing which one you like best! It’s all very juvenile, but a nice change from the more serious collections and launches with their long-lasting this and twelve-decades-in-the-making that. And the bi-phase formula really does feel moisturising, so it’s not at all a silly purchase, if you’re after a non-sticky lip sheen.

Lancome’s Juicy Shakers cost £18 – you can find them at Boots.com

*the melon wrapping paper in the background of the photograph is from Ohh Deer.

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