Cleansing

I'm a bit obsessed with cleansing, everything starts with clean skin sweeties. Last week I bought two essential cleansing products. First up, Shu Uemura cleansing oil.

Yes, I got the Karl Lagerfeld one because why not? I adore this stuff, it's very expensive but a large bottle lasts me a year. And this bottle makes any bathroom (even my horrid, needs replacing bathroom) look stylish. It's perfect for a quick morning cleanse requiring minimum effort and leaving skin soft and smooth.

I also bought the Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish.

This smells heavenly. I think I am addicted to Eucalyptus because I am a sucker for anything made with it. I use this with a regular flannel in the evenings to lift all make-up off effortlessly. My usual rinse off cleansers just weren't doing the job for me anymore. It must be this damn ageing thing.

So, £100 on cleansers. I had better look radiant.

September beauty buys

September is here and while I am not saying summer is over, it's definitely time to get serious in the beauty stakes. Sali Hughes has released a video of the products she is most excited about and I am warning you, do not watch it unless you want to seriously damage your bank account.

I knew what I was doing by watching it and found myself making a list of things I wanted. Of course that's never enough for me and so I waited hours, hours I say, before hotfooting it to SpaceNK. I had my beady eye on the NARS Radiant Cream Compact Foundation.

I love the idea of compact foundations but have always found them too heavy. This is a dream, it glides on like silk and there is no cakiness, no flakiness. It's just perfect. So I bought that. Along with the pretty compact to put it in which is only £6 extra and is The Business. The thought of using it tomorrow morning makes going to work totally worth it.

I also bought some more Shu Uemura cleansing oil. I bought this last year with the Karl Lagerfeld packaging. It's marvellous, I adore it. It's lasted me nine months which isn't bad as I use it twice a day.

Then I went to the Chanel counter as I have been waiting to buy their cream blusher. At last they bring out a cream blusher. Yes, it is £27 but can you put a price on perfect blusher? This is divine. Again, it glides on and it's very highly pigmented so I can see it lasting for ages. I went for a bright pink: Affinite. J'adore.

I wanted to investigate the YSL glossy stain rebel nudes however not only were they not in yet, the sales assistant didn't know about them. Yet again, I am astounded by how bad YSL assistants are.

No matter, I am very happy with my purchases and declare the beauty A/W season officially open. What's on your list?

Christmas shopping tips

Some people find Christmas shopping hard. I don't understand how shopping can ever be hard but here are some tips for the beauty addict in your circle.

The Karl/Shu Uemura collaboration continues to make my heart sing. This eye palette is so divine, who wouldn't want it?

Bobbi Brown is our friend when it comes to easy make-up and her gel eyeliners are legendary for a reason. I have my eye on this Antique Gold one.

I also love the look of the Black Pearl Eye Palette.

The NARS Andy Warhol set is so beautiful, you'd never want to mess it up.

I know I am always going on about eye make-up. I make no apologies, it's the most fun you can have. And the Urban Decay eye palette is so much fun, you can create loads of different looks with this.

The OPI Bond collection is genius. I almost don't care what the colours are like as I am so in love with the idea of wearing The Spy Who Loved Me.

I'm a bit over Jo Malone these days but you can't go wrong with bath oil and the Red Roses one is still my favourite.

I adore Bliss, their products are fun and they work. The body butters are gorgeous.

Make-up brushes are always a great gift. MAC has some fun ones. Look at the bag!

A Tom Ford lipstick is the height of luxury. Stupidly expensive but that's why we have Santa, right?

After all that partying, a good face mask is what every woman needs. I know it's not cheap but this Sisley baby delivers, trust me.

I could go on and on but I'll stop there for now. Happy shopping!

Karl Lagerfeld for Shu Uemura

Last night I met a friend for cocktails in Selfridges. We had a very strange evening in which I became friends with a lady sitting next to us (we're now Facebook buddies!) and we were given bread and butter without plates or knives. The margaritas were good and after a couple of them we said our farewells and I headed to the beauty hall as I needed a new primer.

Lesson number one: if you are a beauty addict, it's probably best not to shop when you have a few drinks under your belt.

Lesson number two: if you don't like aggressive beauty counter ladies and feel intimidated by them, then go at 8.30pm on a cold November evening. They really couldn't be bothered to sell me anything which was fine by me. It was beauty shopping as beauty shopping should be, me browsing and them waving at me with tired smiles.

I got a primer (Laura Mercier, I'll report back in due course) and then my eye caught the Shu Uemura counter. I had read that Karl Lagerfeld was collaborating with Shu Uemura and oh my word. It's so beautiful. Did you know Karl sketches using Shu Uemura eyeshadows and pencils? That right there is why I love Karl. Wouldn't you do the same if you created Chanel? I know I would.

Naturally my eye was caught by the shadow palettes. Look!

It's simply divine. However, even in my inebriated state, I realised I simply could not justify yet more eye make-up so instead I bought the cleansing oil. I've always wanted to try the Shu Uemura cleansing oil so I felt this was entirely a sensible purchase.

It's so pretty! It's also really good. The lady demonstrated it on the back of my hand (which wasn't necessary, I was so going to buy it based on the little black tie on the bottle) and it's soft and lovely. I can hardly bear to tell you how much it was. Ok, it was £57 but it should last a year. Ahem. It's now sitting proudly in my bathroom. Also, very generous samples  which is something else they give you more of at the end of the day.

I guess we should all be grateful I didn't wander tipsy into the Vivienne Westwood concession. In fact, when I look at it that way, I saved money! Yay.