Well this is just extraordinary. It has to be the most un-seasonal seasonal beauty release I’ve ever happened upon: a winter launch of a fragrance product that is so summery, so reminiscent of tropical islands and hot holidays and steamy evenings, it’s virtually growing legs and wandering off to find a warm cupboard to hibernate in.

Tom Ford’s Soleil Blanc couldn’t be any more exotic – it’s coconuts and heady florals, it’s warm amber and sexy ylang ylang. It’s a lithe-limbed boho babe reclining in a rope hammock, eyeliner smudged and hair tousled and skin all golden and glowing. It is summer in a bottle. IT IS NOT CHRISTMAS IN A BOTTLE! Yet here it is, the summery Soleil Blanc fragrance, making an appearance in the slightly more muted “dry oil” form as part of the Tom Ford Winter Soleil collection.

See what they did there? Added the word “winter” to the description. Add the word “winter” and it shall be so. And who am I to complain? This dry oil has been giving a much-needed boost to my flagging autumnal spirits, recently, tricking my mind into thinking that soon I’ll be going on a lovely beach holiday.

Fat chance of that! I’d be lucky to squeeze my egg-shaped torso into an aeroplane seat, and that would only be if I could summon up enough of my pregnancy-depleted energy reserves to get to an airport. For now, I’m dry-oiling and day-dreaming.

I should add, for those of you who find dry oils a faff, that this one comes in a spray-can and can be applied in approximately eight seconds flat, rather than one of those spritzes that starts to become a total bore even before you’ve done your left arm.

If you’re already a Soleil Blanc fan, you’ll love this addition to your bodycare line-up. If you lust after a bit of TF luxury but can’t/won’t stretch to a Private Blend perfume then the dry oil spray comes in at a fraction of the price…

You can find the fragrance online here and the dry oil here – the dry oil is limited edition and part of the utterly gorgeous Winter Soleil collection, which includes foil-finish lipsticks and amazing Continue reading →

It’s time for me to don my Beauty Judge Hat again (or should it be a Beauty Judge wig?) and help to sift out the best products that the industry has to offer. Work-wise, beauty judging is one of my favourite things to do. I really enjoy testing out loads of different products and comparing them, rating them, noting down their strengths and their failings. Not only does it bring me great joy to find something truly superb, it means that I have a wealth of information stored in the back of my mind about the kind of things that are being launched and how they perform. And so when it comes to reviewing makeup and skincare and fragrance for A Model Recommends, I have this whole mental database of what else is out there – it provides an extremely useful bit of context.

Anyway, I digress. It’s the Debenhams Beauty Club Awards* and although I’ll be sitting at the High Table as a big bad judge, it’s your votes that count. If you’re sick of seeing the same old products win, or you have strong opinions on what’s brilliant and what’s a load of old tat, then get voting! Five lucky people will win EVERYTHING that they’ve voted for in the awards, so it’s well worth spending a few minutes to make your thoughts known. You can vote online here or you can tweet your votes to Debenhams’ Beauty Club using the hashtag #BeautyClubAwards. You can also share your choices on Pinterest using the same hashtag or on Instagram copying in @DebenhamsBeauty.

I’ve just been through to the online voting pages and it’s actually quite a therapeutic process – kind of like a quiz, but one that you can’t get wrong. Though I must say that there are so many products that I rate very highly – judging day will not be easy!

Vote in the Debenhams Beauty Club Awards 2015

*this is an advertorial for the Debenhams Beauty Club Awards 2015.

The post Debenhams Beauty Club Awards 2015 – Vote Now! appeared first on A Model Recommends.

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