Scrub-a-dub-dub

This is meant to be a beach countdown  but as I have, er, two days to go until I hit the beaches of Valencia and I am obviously super unprepared.  Thus I have a bit of a challenge on my hands which starts in the shower.  I an un-tanned en ce moment and due to slather on some Xen Tan later but first I need to prep.

I'm quite a scrub obsessive and my current fave is ex-Vogue beauty editor, Kathy Philips (Who I once did a few weeks of work experience under eons ago.  She was blonde and pre yoga bunny then) Goodworks Good Riddance Body Scrub.  It's satisfyingly scrubby with a nice smell but what I like most about it is that it is not oil based.  There is nothing worse than a really oily scrub that leaves you (and the bath)  feeling sticky and grubby.  Plus it's a very bad base to fake tan off as the oil doesn't let the fake tan bond to your skin.  Factoid there people. 


I'll be scrubbing away with this later aided by my daily scrubby gloves which I love and use daily.  For £2.50 you can't really go wrong.  Post scrub I'll be tanning using the aforementioned Xen Tan so will do a quick post on that later today.  

Peer Pressure

After a rather large dose of peer pressure tonight from some of my favourite beauty bloggers I am sheepishly logging on for the first time in a while.  I have a full list of topics I am going to blog about and it starts tomorrow.  

For now I leave you with my current hair obsession that is the Heidi plait.  Girly, quirky and better as the day goes on, I wore it today and I shall wear it tomorrow.

Just don't let anyone see you post-plait-undoing.  Even Kylie in her Charlene period would be ashamed....

What's in my make up bag?

I’m a bit of a sucker for make up bag round ups, either to discover new products or to be smug in the knowledge that my bag resembles that of the experts.  So I thought I’d do a quick round up of what’s currently gracing my little gold tabitha pouch.

YSL Touche éclat – yes I know it’s super boring but I’ve tried lots of others and still come back to this one.  The colour is just right and the texture doesn’t settle into creases unless you go a bit overboard with it.  Now and again I dabble with Boots no7 when I’m feeling a bit frugal, which is a good colour, but I find a bit chalkier than touche éclat.  A staple.

Becca mineral bronzing powder in duende – Based on my skin tone I probably should wear a my lighter bronzer than I do, but I think I look better with colour and frankly I’m not interested in being an English rose, thanks.  Bronzer has always troubled me though and much as I like my Becca option at the mo I’m always on the lookout for something better.  Plus points are good not-too-brown-just-enough-red colour, barely any sparkle (despite the rave reviews for Nars Laguna I just can’t get on with that amount of shimmer) and a very fine texture that allows easy build up.  Negative is the mineral element of the powder – I’m on compact no 3 as they have a very annoying habit of cracking easily (although the girls at the Becca counter in Fenwicks are very good at replacing them free of charge when they do crack) 

Stila convertible colour in petunia – discontinued in the UK, I found this is Sephora in Paris a few months back and so snapped it up toute suite!  I’ve used this for years and always go back to it for a fresh faced perk up.  Good for warding off the pale pallor of hangovers.

Bourjois blush in cendre de rose brune – a perfect I’ve-just-been-for-a-romp-in-a-haystack colour that has excellent endurance. 

Blinc mascara in black – I have lash extensions and although I love love love them, I do miss mascara sometimes.  I wear this on my lower lashes and it just doesn’t budge at all (you have to take it off with hot water)  It gives a clean shiny coat and makes my fake lashes look, er, maybe 2% less fake…

Lipstick Queen butterfly ball in trance – I’m trying to get into lip things.  Gloss, colour, matte, shiny things.  This isn’t really a lipstick per say but more of a tinted treatment with some shimmer type thing.  It’s meant to make your teeth whiter (which I tend to disagree with to be honest) but hey ho it’s an easy first step for now.  It’s currently being supported by Korres quince lip butter when I forget I’m meant to an adult who wears lipstick.

L’Oreal super liner in carbon gloss – *sigh*  This sits in my make up bag no doubt dreaming of transforming me into a Zooey Deschanel lookalike.  In reality my impatience and lack of lining skills make me look more Alice Cooper than Alexa Chung.  I long to do a saucy yet nonchalant flicky eye but I just can’t master it.  Nevertheless this stays in my bag just.in.case. 

grovel grovel...

I promise I'm going to try harder.  I really am this time.

The day started badly...what did I expect

It's been a shocking day.  I should have known this would happen as the day started poorly.  I am OB-sessed with flat whites.  My route to work is defined by the best flat white vendors in London.  After the departure of Climpsons from Match bar on Margaret Street  I've struggled with a convenient pre-work stop off.  I currently flit between The Fleet River Cafe in Holborn, Wild & Wood just down the road - both of whom serve Monmouth - and my preferred destination, Milkbar on Bateman street.

If i had visited my beloved this morning, maybe today would have been better.  But my current cold and this mornings tardiness led me to my nearest Costa...


All i can say is, Costa, if you offer a flat white, learn how to make it.  Charging £2.25 for a too hot latte with no resemblance to a smooth, creamy FW is criminal.


Tomorrow will be a better day.  Please?

Not so Bliss-ful

Yesterday I took the jolly old number 19 bus from the safe haven that is N1 to that very different world that is called Chelsea.  Despite spending a substantial amount of my misspent youth here, I always feel rather uncomfortable traipsing about SW3.  I came south for a trip to Bliss, courtesy of a gift voucher my girls gave me for my birthday.

Bliss is an odd one.  Years ago when it launched it was such an exciting concept – quirky names and treatments coupled with slick service and SATC on repeat made it a totally zeitgeist-y destination.  However my last couple of trips, in both London and in NYC, have been a bit disappointing.  But hey-ho, a present is a present and who doesn’t love a spa trip on a rainy Saturday?  

I opted for the tripe oxygen facial, 85minutes of cleansing, scrubbing, massage, masks and then a blast of oxygen.  The recent cold weather has played havoc with my skin and so I was hoping this would calm it down and inject some much needed moisture.  I’m also not a fan of facials, I find the idea of paying someone to clean your face a bit of a waste so this was going to be a hard sell.

My therapist was nice which helps.  I’m quite chatty during treatments and she was happy to oblige at the start.  I have to admit I was a bit disappointed with the amount of time spent on a skin consultation.  I got a quick glance and was told that my skin was a bit combination and sensitive.  So all bases covered then!

One thing I don’t like during facials – or in fact any treatment – is when you are not told what products are being used or what the basic structure of the treatment is.  Alas, I was told nothing about the products or procedure at any point, which was a shame.  I was also given the sneaky sell – which I had been warned about – that of an additional (chargeable) mask.  I declined but it when I asked why I needed it, I was told it helped with moisture in the skin.  Would 85mins of facial not do that?  Hmmmm….

The overall treatment is nice.  Arm, foot and shoulder massages intersperse the facial itself, which compromises of a couple of cleanses, a long massage and some rather poor extraction.  I hate poor extraction, it’s one of my bugbears.  After this comes a mask and then the oxygen blast – which is rather weird.  It’s a long, cold blast, which you hope is doing great things but you are pretty sure it’s not.

I left my facial feeling a bit cheated.  The extraction was poor and the whole treatment felt a bit paint by numbers.  I disliked not been told what products were being used and why and the hard sell of the additional mask (plus an eyebrow and upper lip was recommended – the cheek!) made me feel a bit resentful by the end of the treatment. 

It’s such a shame as Bliss was so innovative when it first launched but it hasn’t moved on with the consumer to provide a slightly more bespoke experience. Maybe it is just me, and people who like a no nonsense experience will love it, but for £145 it didn’t feel worth it.  When I came out I couldn’t help but think back to the amazing Vanda at UrbanSkin whose personalised facials knock spots off Bliss.

So i suppose it's a lesson learnt.  For the price I expected more, which proves there is no such thing as a free lunch people.  

I am bad...

I’ve been dreadful – look at that a whole two months between posts.  

Absolutely shameful and I am sorry.  I’m going to take a much more disciplined approach to blogging from now onwards.  So here it goes…

Softly scented skin

I'm half Irish and thus have the skin tone considered by many to be that of an 'english rose'.  I simply call it pale and blotchy and I'm afraid I am not a fan.   
In the winter months due to general laziness I tend to skip the self tan and with the additional effects of central heating and freezing weather, my poor skin leaves much to be desired.

My usual defence against this is the brilliant Kiehl's Creme de Corps.  Nothing else manages to stave off crepey, itchy, flaky skin so well and I like its custard colour and no-smell smell.  I do not, however, like the stupid pump that means even when there is a good few uses left it gets stuck and won't pump.


I digress.


This weekend a friend of mine gave me some Bamford Organic Moisturising Cream in Chamomile.  I've never used anything from Bamford / Daylesford before as I was a bit skeptical on it being a vanity project and frankly, it's also rather overpriced.


However, I was pleasantly surprised.  For starters it smells *stunning*.  The overwhelming smell is of geranium, which I love love love and the texture is satisfyingly rich and greasy - but in a good way.  I've taken to rubbing it into my legs last thing at night so I go to bed smelling delicious and wake up with nicely smooth skin.
I still use Kiehls in the morning as it sinks in quicker, but when you don't need to get dressed in a rush I'm loving the Bamford.  I'm going to hunt down the bath oils now as, if they smell as good as the cream, I'm going to powerless not to purchase.

New Year New Post

I've been meaning to start a beauty blog for ages, so along with a few other standard and less fun resolutions for 2010 here I am. 

Although I'm going to try and focus on beauty products on this blog, I'm a sucker for anything beautiful so the odd film scene, song lyric, faded photo or piece of letter press stationary might sneak in (like this one from the brilliant Papermash) 


If it does, I apologise, but promise you it will be very lovely.


x