L'Oreal Telescopic mascara

You meet someone with amazingly long eyelashes, you ask them if they just have amazingly long eyelashes or whether they have found the holy grail of mascaras. None of them ever say 'well yes, I am blessed with amazing eyelashes.' They modestly blush and say 'well, I do use xxx mascara' I rush out and buy xxx mascara and sigh heavily.

This, my friends is what brings us to today's mascara review.

It's nothing special whatsoever. The search continues. In the meantime my favourite is still Max Factor Masterpiece Max.

Nail fun

This purchase was totally unnecessary but so much fun. It's basically one of those nail displays you see when you go and buy nail varnish. The Opi counter in Selfridges has it so you can hold each fake nail next to your own and see what the colour will look like. Well, I saw them online for a massive £1.50 each and thought 'must have!' and so indeed, I had.

I ordered seven - one for me and six for the lady who does my nails each week. Every week I go through her vast collection picking each one out thinking 'hmmm, not sure, maybe that one' and no doubt it drives her mad.

I spent an extremely happy half an hour painting each nail with my own collection and here is another picture.

It's basically the grown-up, slightly OCD take on colouring in. If you want some of your own to play with, you can buy them here. I can't really describe how much fun it is and the reaction I've had - people have oohed and aahed!

Recommended

I now have a new label for my A list products that I heartily recommend.  It's called, handily enough, Recommended.

Thanks for reading.

Origins Clean Energy oil

I never really reported back fully on this. I bought it a few months back and have just purchased my second bottle. It's wonderful and not at all oily. You put it on dry skin and then lather up from there. It rinses off easily and leaves your skin dewy and soft. I love it. It also lasts a fair amount of time and you don't need much of it. You can get it here. For £15 I think it's a bargain.

Highly recommended.

Kindle love

Why am I writing about my new Christmas present? It's not beauty related. Aha, but I have managed to combine my love of gadgets with my love of shopping by buying The Book in Kindle form. This means whenever I shop and I smell a perfume, I can immediately look it up! Me, a geek? Never!

Watch out bank balance. I think I need a perfume declutter actually before I go and sniff some more.

Anyway, since we're here talking about Kindles, I can report that I love it. It's so dinky and easy to use. You can get loads of classics for free and this means I have no excuse, I will read Anna Karenina. I shall do so while wearing red lipstick and an elegant hat. Rather like a Mad Men character.

New perfume

Christmas isn't Christmas without a bottle of perfume under the tree. And so my exploration of Guerlain scents continues and my enthusiasm is not dented by having several bottles now.

To recap, here is what I have:
L'Heure Bleue
Idylle
Mitsouko
Nahema
Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune

Out of those, Mitsouko is my favourite for several reasons. Mainly I feel it can be worn at any time of the day and whatever mood I am in. It's just wonderfully comforting and always right. It doesn't make a hangover worse (in fact, I find it helps clear my mind) and it never feels too much.

I love L'Heure Bleue and blogged about it here.  However it's really not a day scent unless you want people around you to wonder if you have another 'evening' job.  It's very heavy and sexy. I love it and often put it on after an evening bath and spend the night sniffing my wrists.

Idylle was a Christmas present last year. I wasn't wild about it to start with but I have grown to really like it. It's quite sweet which isn't my usual taste but it's very classy. When I am in the mood for it, I enjoy it.

Nahema is rosy heaven.  I love it but again, it's not a perfume for any time of the day. I have to be in the mood and it can give me a headache. When I am in the mood, it's simply fantastic and lasts beautifully. I love it even more a few hours into wearing it.

Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune reminds me of the South of France as I bought it for a holiday there. To me, this is such a holiday perfume. It's full of sunshine and happiness. But it's not a perfume for this time of year. It feels like I am trying to fool myself if I wear it in January.

So, that brings me to my new perfume. It is Apres L'Ondee. I tried this a year or so ago and was unimpressed. However, earlier this month I tried it again and was bowled over. It just goes to show how emotional and mood-driven perfume can be. This is just a lovely scent. Very comforting and soft. The Book describes it as a heavenly heliotrope and one of the twenty greatest perfumes of all time. I am not going to argue with that. It's also another beautiful bottle from Guerlain. They really know their perfume.  I am going to have to go to the shop in Paris soon...

Feeling sluggish?

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. I am sure some of you go for Boxing Day jogs and so on but if you're anything like me, you're feeling a tad sluggish. I have just the solution and it's not too expensive. Grab a bottle of this baby and jump in the shower. Elle Macphearson's Double Duty Cleanse & Scrub.

It's a really zingy scrub and you can feel it doing you good. The best bit though is the Instantly Smooth Firming Lotion. This is almost the perfect body lotion. It smells lovely, it sinks in easily with no tackiness and it makes your legs (or wherever else you put it!) tingle like mad. For about half an hour after you put it on. It must be firming my wobbly bits, right?!

I discovered this a few weeks ago and have been meaning to share with you all.

Nail colour of the weekend

I can never resist a Christmas nail polish and this year I have bought Ali's Big Break from the OPI Burlesque collection. It's a beautiful shimmery, low-sparkle red. Very Christmassy indeed. I just applied it (not very well or I'd give you a photo).

Now I am very much in the festive mood.

Nail colour of the week

This week's colour is a new Essie one - Smokin' Hot. Already it wins for having such a great name. It's also a fabulous colour. A dark grey with a very slight dark purple tinge, it's gorgeous. I love it. Next week my nails with be a Christmassy red. Watch this space...

Eye palettes - j'adore

I have a weakness for an eye palette. I don't know what it is - I think it's the combination of pretty colours all together and the possibilities contained within. Oh if I just have that eye palette, I too will have gorgeous eyes and look effortlessly chic... so the thinking goes.

This month's Red magazine has a list of the best beauty buys, I shall post more on this at a later date. And they recommend Dior eye palettes as the best eye shadow. I found myself in Westfield this week and so I went to have a little look. Dior make-up has never really been on my radar before. But the eye palettes are amazing. So beautiful and perfect colours. However, they are £39. Seeing as I do have a rather large eye shadow collection and I am still enjoying my Bobbi Brown eye shadows, sanity prevailed. So I pored over them all for a while and reluctantly walked away into Boots.

There I walked past Bourjois which had eye palettes for a rather more reasonable £6. Three eyeshadows instead of five but one can't have everything. Also, I have been told many times that Chanel make Bourjois make-up do you are hardly slumming it if you choose this over Dior. It was enough to sate my desire for an eye palette without spending silly money. Also, they currently have a 3 for 2 offer on. I did just buy one though - the grey set. You can check out the colours here.

I am very impressed with it. It applies beautifully (as long as you have the right brushes - why do they even bother giving you those stupid sponge things?) and lasts for hours. I wore the smoky eye to my Christmas party on Friday night and no smudging at all. Impressive.

I recommend it. If you have the money and buy the Dior set (or already have it), please do tell me what you think as I still have my eye on it... excuse the pun.

Also, as I was googling for the Dior set to show you, I found this. How divine. Christian Dior* me indeed.

*Best line in a song from Evita.

Cover Girl's Heroes of 2010

We don't need another hero. Except we do. We always need beauty heroes. 2010 is drawing to a close and it seems timely to look back over the past 12 months and the dozens of products I've tried to give you my heroes of 2010. These are the new discoveries that have become my must-haves.

I think it's best to start with perfume. It's always my favourite place to begin. My Chanel Bois des Iles has been a revelation. From the moment I realised Chanel did exclusive perfumes, only available in standalone stores or Selfridges, London, I was intrigued. The entire experience in Selfridges is one to behold and if you've not been, I can't recommend it enough. The women are scarily orange and over made-up but it's beautifully done and designed to make you want the perfume like you've never wanted anything. Restrain not being one of my characteristics, I succumbed. I used getting married as my excuse to spend £170 on a bottle of perfume. But you get 200ml. So that's alright then. A day doesn't go past when I am not delighted I bought it. It is just completely divine. Soft, not overpowering but sexy and immensely sniffable. This is a perfume where you just smell your wrist all day long.

My second hero is Bliss Triple Oxygen Instant Energising Mask. I don't know what I did before I got this. It works a treat. It was something I knew instinctively would be amazing when I read about it. It's a skin life saver and really good for the party season. Ask for it in your Christmas stocking.

Speaking of masks. The Sisley Radiance Mask is also another firm favourite. This is perfect to pep your skin up and is such a joy to use. It's ruinously expensive and I am very grateful to my lovely friends for buying it for me.

Back in July I know you were all on the edge of your seat wondering what nail varnish I would choose for my wedding day. I know, right? Bermuda Shorts it was. This is a classic in the making. Such a bright purple and yet very wearable. I shall look forward to digging it out again in Spring - it's certainly a sunshine colour. And Essie gets an honourable mention - best nail varnish hands down in terms of application.

The jury is still out on the Brazilian blow dry but the Pureology shampoo I discovered is a keeper. I won't use any other shampoo now. Shiny hair and hardly any product plus SLS-free. I love it.

Speaking of hair, Moroccan Hair Oil is fab-u-lous. The hair literally drinks it up. I am thinking of just dousing my hair in it and seeing what happens! Shine without grease - It's a Christmas miracle!

Finally, my love affair with Bobbi Brown continues. The corrector I got as part of my wedding makeover is wonderful. I don't use it everyday as I am actually quite lazy (can you believe it?!) but for those mornings where you despair, it's worth having. 

Thank you to you, my lovely readers. I enjoy all your comments. Keep telling me what you think.

John Frieda Precision Foam Colour

Now I don't do home hair colour. This is not me being a snob (well, it's only a little bit me being a snob), it's mainly because I am hopeless at it. The bathroom looks like an abattoir, I ruin towels and bath mats, my neck and ears go brown, I get patchy results as my hair is too thick to ensure I can actually apply it properly. Total disaster.

So for the last 10 years or so I have had my hair coloured by a hairdresser. Yes, it is more expensive but I get a permanent colour so they only do the roots and it means every single hair gets coloured. However, I was in Boots yesterday and this caught my eye. A foam colour. No dripping they say. Easy to apply and covers all grey they say.

I remain sceptical so I thought I'd ask you all if anyone had tried it and had any feedback? The website is fun - you can put in your hair colour, say how much grey you have and they give you a selection of colours they think will suit you.

Nail colour of the week

Bit late to post with this but this week's colour is Essie's Poor Lil Rich Girl. A very nice red but it's a bit too browny for me as I tend towards pinky reds.