Category Archives: beauty products

Two lovely beauty things that have caught my eye, and they both have waiting lists before they’ve even hit the shelves for the first time. How do you feel about waiting lists for special edition makeup items? Are you are complete makeup obsessive who simply has to have the latest eyeshadow shades or collectable compact? Or do you tend to shop for the things you know and trust, preferring to browse the permanent, cult products that have stood the test of time? I don’t think that I have ever put my name on a waiting list for anything, apart from at the doctor’s surgery when I’ve been desperate for an appointment and gone on that cancellations thing that they do… I just can’t bear the suspense! If I know I want something then I need to know that I’ll be able to get it – I’m not the kind of person who can get all excited about a new coat or bag or whatever if there’s a chance that I won’t be able to buy the bloody thing anyway!

But I’ve gone off-target: I wanted to tell you about the new Naked Vault from Urban Decay and the Virtual Domination cheek palette from NARS. Both land in the UK tomorrow, the 1st November, and both are likely to have makeup aficionados reaching for their credit cards faster than most of us can even say “makeup aficionados”. Which is why I’m giving you a pre-warning, just in case one of these cosmetic delights takes your fancy. (I have to say that the NARS palette would make a particularly lush Christmas present!)

Continue reading →

Do you ever find that sometimes, with beauty products, you don’t realise how good something is until you stop using it? That is exactly what has happened to me with the gorgeous Shampooing Délicat à la rose by top hair colourist, Christophe Robin. When I was using it, I appreciated that it was the height of luxury and that it had the most unbelievable scent and that my hair seemed nice and bouncy, but I didn’t quite give it the respect it deserved.

Because fast-forward five weeks and I am missing it sorely. I left both the shampoo and conditioner in my Mum’s bathroom and – though she has returned everything else I forgot to pack up, including a pot of Manuka honey and a box of breast pads – we have not yet been reunited. I have a sneaking suspicion that my Mum has used the shampoo, fallen in love and is now sat there hoping I’ve forgotten about it.

This rose shampoo is lush. Formulated for fine hair, it does an amazing job at gently cleansing (my scalp pretty much fell apart after I left my Mum’s and started using some cheapie stuff I found in the boot of the car) and leaves hair properly bouncy and lovely. The conditioner is surprisingly rich for something in a bottle – it’s not quite a “cream” but it’s far more heavyweight than your usual non-masque conditioner. Rich in feel, but lightweight in effect – there’s no weighing down of the hair or that funny, cloying residue that you can sometimes get if you use the wrong product. (When hair isn’t the same for about three washes afterwards!) It left mine looking full-bodied and non-fuzzy. Regardez:

My bathtime ritual at Mum’s (I was there for a month with a tiny baby, so bathtime was my little space to be myself): a couple of drops of the Floris White Rose bath essence and then a hair wash with my Christophe Robin rose duo. I felt like some kind of French aristocrat. It was all very decadent. Apart from the fact that my Mum’s house is like Butlins for spiders – they seem to arrive by the dozen and set up home everywhere from the lampshades to the cereal cupboard. My Mum puts bowls of conkers out to discourage them, but still they return. There’s nothing that kills a relaxing bath quicker than a spider making its way down the shower hose towards your feet…

You can find Christophe Robin haircare at LookFantastic here: the shampoo and conditioner are £25 each, so we’re talking serious luxury, but if you feel as though you need some spoiling… (At the time of writing there’s 12% off site-wide with the code “QUICK” and a free hair mask with two Christophe Robin purchases.)

Continue reading →

A new makeup brand that could prove to be rather irresistible; Delilah Cosmetics. Chic, heavy packaging, wearable, flattering shades and beautiful textures that sit lightly on the skin but that still manage to do a brilliant job of enhancing features and adding the odd splash of colour. I have tried the bronzer (excellent), blush (also excellent), lipsticks (I was raving about Tango only last week) and eyeliner pens. All of them do what they say on the tin, and do it well.

And what a tin! Look at that gorgeous detailing around the edge of the bronzer compact – it’s so sophisticated and actually feels far, far more expensive than some of the very premium ranges I could mention. There’s no shoddy “slap on a metal effect trim” for these palettes and lipsticks, it’s all hefty materials and smooth-touch finishes with securely-fastened mirrors and lids that don’t feel as though they might snap off after two uses.

I love that the blushes and bronzers come in their sweet velvet pouches as well as being folded carefully into pretty cardboard cases with an outer sleeve, it’s like unwrapping a little present. And I’m so pleased that the products inside actually live up to the window dressing – the eyeshadows that I tried didn’t have the most intense pay-off I’ve tried, but they were silky-smooth to apply and everything else was more or less faultless. Smooth, velvety eyeliner that stayed put all day, vibrant lipstick that didn’t dry out my already chapped lips…

I’ve heard great things about the skin products (base, primer, concealer etc) so I’ll report back with my findings on those when I get a chance to give them a go – until then, you can find the whole collection online. If you’d like to see Tango in action then take a look at this post – if it’s the bronzer in Light Medium, blush in Lullaby and gel liner in Plum that you’re interested in then I’m wearing those in the photograph below.

The post New on the Chic and Sleek Makeup Scene: Delilah Cosmetics appeared first on A Model Recommends.

Continue reading →

Wonderful British beauty brand Suti have come up with a brilliant – and very generous – giveaway for readers of A Model Recommends. Three readers will win a gorgeous prize for their Mum to surprise them with on Mother’s Day; two will receive a full set of beautiful, organic skincare products and one lucky lady will win a facial with the very talented Suti founder, Suzannah Jenkins. Suzannah is a highly qualified therapist in complementary medicine and works with Reiki, Homeopathy, Crystal Healing and Reflexology amongst other techniques. Every time I’ve met Suzannah she’s given me a little impromptu arm and hand massage and I have to say that she has an incredibly soothing and calming touch. I can imagine that a facial with her would be so much more than a facial – more of an all-round holistic MOT!

The products in the organic skincare sets are as follows: the Honour Cream, Rejuvenate Facial Oil, Nourish Facial Oil, Cleanse Balm, Purity Balm, Fabulous Foot Balm, Rose Water and the Peppermint Water. All of them utterly delicious. I can imagine that it will be very hard to give them away, which is why they’ll be sent straight to your Mums and not to you!

To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment, remembering to enter your email address where prompted, and tell me one thing that’s amazing about your Mum. It can be something profound, something soppy, something silly… For example, “my Mum is amazing because she can sense when I’m down and ring me up at just the right time.” There you go – get to it, tell me about your Mum! UK readers only, for this one, due to the fact that Mother’s Day is drawing near and the packages will be heavy, and also please bear in mind that Suzannah is based in London for the facial. If travel isn’t possible (expenses aren’t part of the prize!) then please say so in your comment, perhaps marking it “product only” or something similar.

You have until noon on Thursday to enter, prizes will be sent out the following day. Good luck!

The post Suti Skincare’s Special Mother’s Day Giveaway appeared first on A Model Recommends.

Continue reading →