I have devised a little giveaway to celebrate the launch of my newest Colab Dry Shampoo product which is, incidentally, my favourite so far. It was rather a labour of love getting the fragrance just right – it’s definitely one for the warmer months, all gorgeously mediterranean and sexy, very much inspired by some of the classic summer scents such as Tom Ford’s Neroli Portofino. This limited edition frahrance is available in both of the Colab dry shampoo formulas – the Sheer & Invisible (clean feeling, refreshes the roots, no horrible chalky residue or white powder!) and Extreme Volume (little bit of residue, but LOADS of root lift and volumising grittiness, a bit like a spray-in version of one of those root boosting powders, but better!)

I have fifty cans of the newly scented dry shampoo to give away to UK readers and Youtube viewers* – all you need to do is guess the “city” that this scent represents and leave your answer in the comments below. As you will know if you’ve used Colab, each scent relates to a city – London, New York, Paris, Tokyo and Rio – the latest is no different. Apart from the fact that it’s slightly a trick question, because the place in question is actually a principality, or small country. That was your first major clue. I’ve also dropped a bit of a clue in the first paragraph, and if you watch the video below, you might see a few visual references to a certain (very grace-ful and glamorous) former resident of the place in question.

Do have a look at the video anyway, as it’s not often I get to film behind-the-scenes; usually there’s nobody willing to keep holding my camera! I’ll be announcing the winners next Monday but you only have until this Friday at noon to enter. So do it while you have the page open or you’ll probably forget. Only pointing that out from experience… Fifty winners will be picked at random from those who have the correct answer. Good luck!

*sorry, UK only due to shipping restrictions. Please be patient, rest of the world, we’re getting to you!

The post Colab Giveaway: Guess the “City”, Win the Spray! appeared first on A Model Recommends.

Continue reading →

It is the year of the slug. Well it is for me, at any rate. I have never been quite so sedentary; whole days – weeks – sat virtually motionless in front of the computer. If an alien landed and peered in through my office window, it would probably think I was dead, but for the tiny, repetitive movements that my fingers make as they dance over the keyboard. The almost imperceptible flicker of my eyelids as I take my twice-hourly blink. In fact, if the alien had to choose a life-form to take back to its planet, and it had the choice between me and a slug from my garden, I’ve no doubt that it would be the slug that would get beamed up to the flying saucer and I would get left behind, still staring at my illuminated screen, slack-jawed and drooling a little from the corners of my mouth.

Now that I have painted such a wonderful picture of my sloth-like self, let me tell you this: I have joined a gym. Yes. Me! For the first time in many years. I used to be something of a gym enthusiast, attending between four and six classes every single week. Spinning, body conditioning, something called “body pump”. That was in the peak days of model-dom, when my only real job (apart from walking to about ten castings a day, constant international non-luxurious travel and standing in the rain on beaches wearing nightgowns) was to keep myself looking trim. God, was I trim. I could tighten my stomach and thigh and bottom muscles all at the same time and not even feel as though I might wee myself. Moving on..

It occurred to me, as I sat there during the gym signing-up process (so many questions, took about eight hours!) that it’s really rather hard to climb back onto the exercise train if you haven’t been on it for a while. You get into a rut of inertia. You get quite comfy spending time on the sofa watching whole series of things on Netflix at once, sometimes until one in the morning. Or two in the morning. Or even three. (Not me.) And once that happens, it’s quite common for your good eating habits to fly out of the window too. I’ve had a few little naughty fridge routines, lately – mostly involving dark chocolate truffles and lemon curd flavoured yoghurt. Not at the same time, but still. Enough bad habits that I’ve been loathe to struggle into my usual jeans and have taken to buying looser “pants” with relaxed fit waistbands. Ha!

Anyway, I put together a video with a few motivational tips. They might help if you’ve become disheartened with your exercise routine or if you’ve not been able to exercise because of illness or work commitments or perhaps you’ve had a baby and want to feel fitter… I’m planning lots more exercise and health posts – I’ve been busy trying new gym classes, so I might do a series on those. Some of them have been quite funny – if anyone had actually seen me trying to do Pilates to a dance soundtrack… Dear Lord. It doesn’t bear thinking about.

Click here, please, if you can’t see the video below, otherwise simply engage the muscles in one of your fingers to scroll down the page and click the play button.

Continue reading →

Oh, I know we’re still in the depths of winter (for people in the UK winter seems to have actually only just started) but there’s nothing wrong with a bit of optimistic, forward-looking makeup wearing. Dior’s 2016 Spring Look – Glowing Gardens – is actually just as suitable for winter as it is for spring, depending on which shades you plump for. Me being – well – me, I made a beeline straight for the pinkish-nude lipstick (Soufflé Nude), the platinum-tinted mascara (Addict IT Lash in Platine) and the beautiful Nude Air Illuminating Powder. I could just have easily have opted for bright corals and pale greens and all the colours of the springtime garden-in-bloom (see pic below for a selection). Mais non. Nude for me, all the way.

I’m having a bit of a renewed interest when it comes to highlighters, which I’ll talk about later on in the week, but suffice to say, for now, that the Nude Air from Dior is a gorgeous example. “Glowing Nude” really warms up the skin and is a good all-year-rounder if you like that “just skin” kind of look. You know when all of your base and face products are very similar in tone? And you get an almost sporty, summery look? That.

Dior did well with the whole design of these Nude powders – I remember when the very first variation launched, it was beauty love at first sight. Heavy, luxurious compacts with good mirrors and easy-to-blend powders with subtle, glowing finishes. I have a selection of the bronzers and complexion enhancers and they’re all pretty foolproof to use. This highlighter is just as user-friendly – not too shimmery at all and doesn’t look frosty, though I would probably not bother using the kabuki brush it comes with, cute as it is, if you want a believable application. You can find the Glowing Nude Air Glowing Gardens at Selfridges here for £40.

It’s definitely my pick of the collection, along with the absolutely delectable Soufflé Nude lipstick, which is just the softest, chicest nude-pink. If you fancy a dabble with a pretty shade this spring but don’t want it to actually be pink-pink then this is an excellent compromise. It’s £26.50 here.

I have mixed feelings about the Platine mascara. On the one hand, the platinum shade was quite a nice – softer –  alternative to jet black, but I’m not sure it gave enough definition for me. I’m going to try it again just on the lengths of the lashes, using black at the roots. I’ll try to remember to update you re my success. If you want to take a look at the mascara (or anything else from the collection, for that matter) it’s currently exclusive to Selfridges.com. Continue reading →