The flowers are blooming, the sun is out and the bright colors of spring are inspiring us to refresh our look in the best pink, poppy possible way. Using just a few Benefit staples, this look is perfect for a park picnic or spring day date.

Here’s how to get fresh for spring!

Step 1: Our new multi-balancing complexion profector, big easy, provides SPF 25 to make sure the sun doesn’t get the best of your skin! We can’t stress enough how important it is to keep your skin moisturized and protected as we head into the warmer months.

Step 2: Nothing screams spring like pops of pink! Tint those cheeks with posietint, and if you’re feeling frisky layer a few coats on your lips for a pink pop!

Step 3: This sheer ballerina pink face powder, dandelion, takes your complexion from dull to radiant with buildable color and just a hint of shimmer.

Step 4:  Last, but definitely not least, finish your look with a little gloss, go outside & enjoy that sunshine!

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This candle shoots straight to the very top of my favourites list; the scent is supremely sexy. I adore Bottega Veneta’s Eau de Parfum, but until now have been banned from talking about it here on the website. My friend Alex Byrne (supremo makeup artist extraordinaire) was wearing it a couple of years ago and she would only tell me what it was if I swore not to write about it. At first I thought she was joking about this, but no: if I publicly sang the praises of Bottega Veneta and she suddenly came across an army of women doused in it, she would kill me.

But this is a candle, so I’m hoping Alex lets me off on a technicality and I don’t have to start sleeping with one eye open! And what a candle. Bottega Veneta’s Eau de Parfum lends itself exceptionally well to a home fragrance – I think it must be the gorgeous leather and patchouli notes – and the perfume lingers for days and days after the candle has been burnt. It was lit for three hours on Friday and the smell in my living room is still pretty strong today, nearly a week later.

The top notes are bergamot and pink pepper and there’s jasmine, too, as well as the leather and patchouli and “oakmoss” base notes. It’s like wearing a favourite cashmere scarf, one that is already scented with a perfume that’s feminine and beautiful, but wearing it with an expensive, worn-in leather jacket. It’s something pretty from Jo Malone crossed with something smokey from Tom Ford. I can’t get enough of it.

More candle reviews…

I’m having trouble tracking this candle down online, apart from at Bottega Veneta (£52 here) – Selfridges have it as part of a beautiful gift coffret with the actual Eau de Parfum and a luxury body cream, that set is £191 here. If you’re shopping in the actual real world (say what?) then you can find it at Harrods.

If you want to try the Eau de Parfum (don’t tell Alex) then the 50ml version is on Amazon Prime for £59.75 instead of £70.

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You may have seen my face popping up on your television screens recently; I was picked to be part of the brilliant #yourstruly campaign for L’Oreal’s True Match foundation, celebrating the fact that the range now has 23 shades and that L’Oreal will be able to match 98% of UK skin tones.

The range of skin tones catered for on the high street is notoriously poor, and so the introduction of 23 – affordable – foundation shades is a welcome one. Thank goodness, too, that the True Match formula is one that is universally flattering and suitable for pretty much all skin types. I can’t really think of a skin type that it doesn’t suit, come to think of it; the foundation is light and fluid, so nice if you’re oily or have oily patches, but it’s also non-cakey and doesn’t cling to dry or flakey areas, so perfect if you’re on the dry side. Supremely blendable for those who want a sheer, natural look (hi there!) but easily buildable if you prefer a fuller coverage.

As per what now seems to be tradition, I have some before and after photos for you as well as skin close-ups – please excuse the fact that I look murderous in my “before” shot, I was having camera issues. You can add your own caption if you wish…

I apply the True Match using a stubby-ish foundation brush, but it’s so easy to blend that you can use fingertips, sponge, flat brush, kabuki-style brush… Whatever takes your fancy.

I dispense a small amount of the lightweight fluid on to the back of my hand and apply from there. And then, mere minutes later…

A radiant, flawless finish with no residue and no chalkiness, just a very seamless and natural-looking base.

Ready for the close-ups? Starting with the “before” (one day I’ll put them in the wrong order, just to mix things up a bit):

Mm-mmm! Observe that tired undereye area, why don’t you? Bit of redness around the nose, just the usual little problems to iron out. And then:

Bing! My undereye circles were particularly stubborn this day, and I could have built up the foundation a little more had I wanted to, but I prefer to go in afterwards with a separate undereye concealer. I feel as though I get a little more control this way. But the True Match gives very nice coverage indeed and that undetectable sort of finish that we all crave…

Here I am, smugly holding my foundation brush and not posing at all. It’s worth mentioning that I used shade 2.R/2.C here (Rose Vanilla) because I’m a bit darker after a few stints on the beach and a summer of dog-walking. In the #yourstruly campaign, I represent shade 1.5N (a different digital influencer represents each of the 23 shades and each person has a video story to tell – you can see all of the stories here) but we filmed pre-summer.

In other news, just in case you missed this on Twitter and Instagram, L’Oreal Paris recently announced their new #lorealbeautysquad – five UK bloggers and vloggers who will be co-creating beauty content with L’Oreal over the course of the next year. I’m very proud to say that I’m heading up the skincare section, bringing you beauty videos and posts and other sumptuous skincare morsels. Find out more about the new beauty squad here!

Now this is an exciting launch: Armani’s Maestro Glow foundation – or, to trot out the full product name and description, Maestro Glow Nourishing Fusion Makeup Bi-Phase Elixir. Blimey. It’s quite a tempting little mouthful though, isn’t it? I particularly like the use of the words “nourishing” and “bi-phase” – it all feels very new and novel and unique.

And actually, in the sea of velvety-finish foundations I’ve been testing, most offering a “lit from within” sort of radiance rather than anything overtly shimmery or dewy, it is rather unique. For a start, it feels like a face oil. You apply it via a dropper because it’s completely fluid, but when you start to blend it into the skin it seems very much as though you’re working with a dry oil. And then once it’s on the skin, it feels as nourishing and rich as a proper, massage-it-in-and-get-the-glow face treatment. Even after hours of wear, you can still sense the effects of the oils – not a greasy residue, more of a comfortable dewiness, as though you’ve used a very rich moisturiser.

New Flawless Foundations – Which One’s Right For You?

I think that Maestro Glow feels amazing. Those who normally shy away from this type of lightweight, liquid foundation because they cling to flaky patches or do nothing to alleviate the feeling of skin dryness or tightness will love it. It’s absolutely liquid and weightless but seems to develop more and more viscosity as it is blended into the skin. Light as a feather going on, rich and nourishing once it has settled in. Here are my “before and after” photographs so that you can take a look at coverage and finish:

Apart from the obvious warmth that Maestro Glow gives to my skin (I used shade 4, read below for more on that) you can see that it has done a fairly decent job in terms of coverage. My bits of redness have disappeared, dark circles slightly alleviated. It’s not a heavy coverage by any stretch of the imagination, but minor niggles are taken care of. The “glow” aspect is fresh and natural – not anything near the same mega-wattage level as something like Laura Mercier’s Illuminating Tinted Moisturiser, but definitely noticeable.

I haven’t seen the full shade line-up, so I’m not actually sure of my exact match, but 4 seems to be quite good on me. Mr AMR thought I looked a little pale, but I’d be hesitant to go any darker – this is how 4 looks unblended on my skin:

I might try and get to the Armani counter when I’m next in town and have a play with the different shades. If I do then I’ll update you here. This is most definitely a keeper, for me; it’s quick and easy to apply and gives just enough coverage. I really do like the water-free, oil-only formula – I’m finishing editing this post a full nine hours after applying the foundation (it’s about the fifth or sixth time I’ve worn it for a full day) and my face still feels in pretty good shape. Hydrated and somehow more youthful than it does when I wear a more velvety finish foundation. I’d steer clear of this if you have an oil problem, obviously, because this would slide like a demon, but if you constantly feel dried-out by your face base and want something comfortable and juicy, go and give it a try. It’s very different.