Category Archives: beauty products

A quick whizz through my empties – no, not the wine and beer bottles in my recycling box (chance’d be a fine thing), but the finished-off beauty products that I managed to collect this month. All of the products and links are listed below the video screen, just in case you can’t think of anything worse than spending eight minutes with a lovely cuppa, listening to the sound of my voice. Enjoy – and please do subscribe if you’d like to get my videos sent to you by email…

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I’ve been busy shooting fashion features and videos, so do excuse the sudden torrent of style posts! I will attempt to balance them with plenty of beauty, because I know how you get withdrawal symptoms… These boots are too good not to talk about, though, and I have an inkling that they will sell very well and so I’m getting in there (relatively) early. The “Leona” boots are from the new season collection at LK Bennett; sturdy, beautifully-made and surprisingly comfortable. I did the “Ruth Crilly Heel Test”© in them and managed to survive the following: three brisk strolls totalling approximately 1 mile, a section of rubbled, pot-holed track and about twenty seconds of one of those ridiculous run-walks that you do when you’re about to miss the bus. Overall: GOOD. Considering that they look reasonably high and sexy, you could easily tackle day-to-day tasks in these – you’re not going to be clinging to the escalator handrail or keeling over on the tube.

I first spotted these boots because they looked very similar to a Chloe pair that I saw a year or so ago. I tried the Chloe ones on and then took them off and deliberated; by the time I returned to buy them, they had gone. LK Bennett’s Leona boots are nearly half the price, they are easier to walk in and they have the same strappy/buckled styling that I loved so much on the Chloe versions. They are just on the cusp of comfortable-meets-sexy; enough height to make you feel all stompy and powerful, but enough chunkiness in the heel to keep you stable when you’re striding about town. You can find the Leonas at LK Bennett here.

The post Sturdy-meets-Sexy: LK Bennett’s Leona Boots appeared first on A Model Recommends.

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I’m sorry, I fell down spectacularly with teen gifts this year. Perhaps because I did a “kids and babies” one and that took up most of my brain space. So here are a few bits and bobs that I thought might be appealing to the girl who likes cool, graphic stuff rather than pretty pastels and cupcakes and kittens. (Nothing wrong with kittens, I hasten to add: love them myself. Just not everyone does. The obsession with cupcakes I do not get, however.)

This post should come with a warning: I do seem to have gone for style over budget with a few of these items! So I’ve broadened the horizons and made this a post for everyone who requires non-kitten non-pastel gift ideas. Problem solved. There’s something for every budget…

Starting with the smallest budget: currently on offer at Superdrug, a can of the very finest non-white-dusty dry shampoo that money can buy. If I may say so myself. (It has my name on it, in case you’re new to A Model Recommends!) A styling essential, especially if you suffer from lank hair or flat roots. Colab London is currently £2.32 here.

The “Nothing to See Here” notepad is from Nuuna here – it’s a bit posh with its soft leather binding and black-edged pages, but I’ve included it because a) it looked great in my flatlay and b) everything from Nuuna is gorgeous and differently priced, so you can have a browse and see what fits your budget. This is special, stylish stationery at non-Bond-street prices and I love it.

Little pot of sporty-coloured snag-free hair ties: £5.50 from Hershesons here – XMAS20 gets you 20% off.

The candle is from Bella Freud and is part of a set of four (featured earlier in the week here): I joked that I don’t condone splitting luxury candle sets, but these are very cool and the scents are lovely and fresh and non-stuffy. You can also get full-sized versions, which I would imagine are slightly better value for money. I would stop and work it out, price per gram, but I am typing like some kind of dervish in an attempt to get this finished before Masterchef starts. Bella Freud at Cult Beauty Continue reading →

Facial pads. Little flimsy rounds of cotton, soaked with strong-smelling stuff that is prone to making your eyes water… God, these bring back memories! Who else had the Clearasil pads when they were a teen? Double-sided – one side like sandpaper, the other only slightly less so, and both of them saturated with enough acidic stuff to strip the paint from a small car.

The pads I’m talking about today, it has to be said, are not like the ones from my teen years. These are far more sophisticated – less abrasive, more effective and far less irritating to sensitised faces. And they’re not just useful for acne-prone or oily skin, either – though they will work a treat to keep skin nicely exfoliated and toned; these are all-round saviours for pretty much any skin type, apart from perhaps the very sensitive, helping to brighten and clarify and treat fine lines. The alpha hydroxy acids in the formulas can also help to boost collagen production and increase the plumpness of the skin as well as sloughing off dead cells to make it brighter and fresher, making them very worthwhile additions to any skincare routine.

I tested out two types of exfoliating facial pads; firstly the Facial Radiance Pads from First Aid Beauty and then the PHA+ Bio-Peel Resurfacing Facial Pads from Zelens. The First Aid Beauty pads cost £20.50 for 60, the Zelens, £65 for 50. Quite a difference in price, but also, as you’ll see, quite a difference in performance, too!

At first glance, the Facial Radiance Pads from First Aid Beauty seem like the perfect dupe for the Zelens version. They contain AHAs, they are pleasant to use and promise to leave skin bright and glowing. The pads are pre-soaked in the formula and housed in a screw-top pot, which does a perfectly adequate job of keeping the pads juicy and fresh. But here’s the thing: a quick swipe over with one of these pads and you feel virtually no tingle at all. Maybe a slight one, to the acid-exfoliant-uninitiated, but really, they are as gentle as can be. Perfect if you’re new to this type of exfoliation and want to ease yourself in; perfect if normal AHA exfoliants are simply too harsh for you. It’s almost just an exfoliating gesture; a kind of half-exfoliant.

The Zelens PHA+ Bio-Peel pads, however: whoosh! Dr Marko Lens doesn’t do things by halves and these exfoliating pads are like powerful one-step mini-facials. If you appreciate an AHA tingle then you’ll love these, but it’s interesting to note that rather than being all harsh and bolshy, these pads have been specifically formulated to be non-irritating and easily tolerated by most skin types. They include “next generation” hydroxy acids that are less prone to causing irritation and the formulation is hydrating as well as exfoliating, leaving skin plumped out and brightened. I actually find that I don’t need to moisturise afterwards – I like to just swipe and leave – but if you want the extra hydration, just wait for five or ten minutes so that the acids can do their business.

Verdict? The Zelens exfoliating facial pads are in their very own little league, I think. This is effective-yet-gentle exfoliating at its very best; great for tired skin, dull skin, skin with large pores or fine lines, any skin that needs a proper overhaul. If you can afford to splash out, then they are worth every penny. The ones from First Aid Beauty are mild and non-offensive; they don’t stick their head above the parapet but they are affordable and a wonderful place to start. If you don’t want to pay for pre-soaked pads and want an AHA exfoliant that you can apply with your own cotton pads, then Liquid Gold from Alpha-H has always been right up at the top of my list. You can read about that here.

Zelens PHA+ Bio-Peel pads are £65 at Cult Beauty here, the Facial Radiance Pads from First Aid Beauty are £20.50 with free delivery at FeelUnique.com. With both, apply after cleanser and then wait a few minutes before continuing with your beauty routine. Have you tried either of these? I’d be very interested to know how you got on, especially if you have relatively sensitive skin.

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