NUXE Huile Nourishing Dry Oil for Body & Hair

Oil, oil, oil. How we love oils. I don't know whether it's because I am getting older and drier but I am at the point where if a product says oil, I pounce on it. There was a small bottle of this in my M&S beauty box freebie. First of all, the scent. It's gorgeous. That's another thing about oils, they always seem to smell so good.

I applied this on my arid legs after my bath today and I swear they soaked it up and gleamed. It's £17 for 50ml and I think that's a bargain. It's top quality and non-greasy yet very moisturising. You can also use on your hair although I haven't yet. As we officially enter A/W (dark at 5pm today - sob) I think we all need this in our lives. Cosy up people, winter is coming.

Victoria Beckham Modern Mercury Highlighter

After posting that I wanted this, the usual happened. I became like a heat seeking missile about it and decided I must have it. Now.

I then had a brainwave and remembered I have loads of Amex points and you can cash them in for many things, including Net A Porter vouchers and this is on the NAP site. Ta da! Genius. No sooner had I thought this, I was logging in and making it happen. Ordered it and I've been wearing it every single day since and I love it. I adore it. DAMN!

The packaging is sublime. Solid, compact, reassuringly expensive. It's extremely finely milled and subtle. A little on cheekbones and it's incredible the difference it makes. I never 'got' highlighters before but this is knocking it out of the park.

This picture of VB best shows it in action.

You can clearly see she has some on her cheekbones and forehead. She probably has it on her legs and back as well but we're not all on photoshoots.

Yes, it's £48 and yes, that's a lot of money but it will last for ages and it's a thing of beauty on your dressing table.

It's the end of days, I am recommending VB products and posting a picture of her.

Clinique Pep-Start Eye Cream

As a rule, I don't believe in eye creams. They are expensive and to my mind, you can moisturise round your eyes with your normal cream - job done. To sell you eye cream, beauty consultants will say it's a 'delicate area' and that normal moisturisers are 'too heavy and will drag the skin'. I call this utter nonsense. Are you applying lard to the rest of your face? No. Moisturisers don't drag for heaven's sake.

I've never bought an eye cream yet somehow I have ended up with little pots and tubes of samples which I've occasionally used and it's confirmed my above opinion. Waste of time.

However, rules are made to be broken. I decided to buy this months ago and I haven't blogged about it because I forgot. I bought this because I like the idea of soothing the skin around my eye area and I must have been caught on a very tired day when your eyes feel so exhausted that you can barely stand to open them. And I admit, I was a sucker for the name and packaging. Clinique do this so well.

I don't use it every day because I am quite lazy but I do believe this works. I've taken to applying it in the morning (before moisturiser - I read that this is important with eye creams otherwise you end up putting it on top of moisturiser and it can't work properly). I put quite a thick layer on and then go about my morning routine, then I come back and add my moisturiser and I find the thick layer seems to have always absorbed. The skin does feel plumper and the cream has a lovely soothing feel to it. Also, it's great for long flights when your eyes really do need some help.

I must face the fact that in my mid-40s perhaps I do need to pay more attention to my eyes. This is not massively expensive (£22.00) and you can usually get some sort of free gift from Clinique.

They've now introduced a whole range of pep-starts.

They look divine, the packaging is brilliant. However, on closer investigation it's all very lightweight and probably aimed at the younger crowd.

L'Oreal Extraordinary Oil Cream

I have a lot of beauty products, boxes of them. Moisturisers for every day of the week. How did I end up on my recent travels with a moisturiser deficit? I had my Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturiser which is all well and dandy but not enough for a hot and dry climate. I didn't have a good night cream on me. ROOKIE ERROR!

With every cloud comes a silver lining in the form of a shopping opportunity. I rocked up at Bangalore airport ready to buy some luxe moisturiser. Hmmmm, not all duty-free shops are created equal. I've been spoiled by Heathrow's shopping. Bangalore has a new airport and it has a lot of shops but weirdly it's all about perfume. It only had L'Oreal moisturisers and so I picked up this Extraordinary Oil Cream. You can see from my link it costs £10 in the UK. Yeah, I had to pay way more than that. I am blanking on how much because it was quite traumatising. Needs must and all that. You don't go to the desert of Oman with a light moisturiser.

The good news is I love it. It has a gorgeous velvety texture, it smells really nice, it glides on and makes you glow with good moisturising health without being sticky. It's a winner folks! I am continuing to use it at home which is a sign of how much I rate it. If you're looking for a good budget night cream (don't go to Bangalore to get it) then this is perfect. It's not marketed as a night cream but that's what I used it for.

Victoria Beckham for Estee Lauder

I am typing this with a mouthful of humble pie. I've always found VB annoying and fairly mediocre. And I've been vocal in my opinion of her. However, as I get older and more Yoda-like, I find myself uncomfortable with being mean about women I've never met. Who I am to criticise VB, Charlotte Tilbury, Nicole Kidman (and many, many more I've vilified over the years)? I am not yet ready to be 100% kind about Kim Kardashian but I will hold my tongue more. We don't know the struggles these multi-millionaires go through every day, do we?! Sisterhood and all that.

I was intrigued by this collection. I much prefer VB as a fashion designer than a pop star and I am fully bought into the notion that she might know a thing or two about make-up. It took me a while to get my hands on this because it's not at all Estee Lauder counters. My flight back from Dubai this week provided me with the opportunity to check it out. What could be more perfect than shopping high-end make-up at Dubai airport? They had it all out to play with and nobody was hovering around me trying to help me. I also wasn't encumbered by TeenBoy (whose patience on such matters is not extensive) since he was buying smoked almonds (yum!)

There I was in my element playing with it all on the back of my hand. It is with regret that I have to report it's really bloody nice. I could have happily bought more than one thing except it's not cheap. It's Tom Ford prices and having just spent a small fortune on our holiday, I felt obliged to rein it in.

I purchased an eye foil in Burnt Anise. It has a lip gloss type applicator and it's all shiny (even after it dries). The texture is perfection. I must say it's not the easiest to master and just swiping it on from the applicator causes one to look like a clown. I use a brush to draw a line on and then smudge gently. I could do with more tips on how to work with it to be honest but I love the idea of it and am pleased I got it.

Today I explored the collection more in Selfridges and I can confirm I really badly want this.

The Modern Mercury highlighter. I've never been one for highlighters but this is good. Easy to apply without overdoing it and very subtle. Damn. It also seems to be sold out online and now I wish I'd got it in Dubai when it was all cheaper too. The eye foil is £40 and I got it for £30.

The lipsticks are lovely too - both very wearable colours. The eye metals (eyeshadows) are gorgeous. The Morning Aura illuminating cream is very silky and covetable but expensive for something I'd canter through.

I imagine VB in one of her many mansions with this whole collection at her dressing table and I seethe with envy. That's how nice it all is. My show of envy is to prove I've not gone totally soft. Fair play VB.

Emma Hardie Amazing Face

Hello! Have you missed me? I've been away for three weeks, 10 days with work in India and 10 days for fun in Oman. I have much beauty news to share with you, which include me caving at Dubai airport in the face of the Victoria Beckham for Estee Lauder range.

However, let's not rush matters. Today I want to discuss Emma Hardie. I have two products which I am loving. First up, the Moringa Cleansing Balm.

I got a generous sized pot of this in the Cult Beauty box. I took it on my travels and it's wonderful. It's immensely soothing, it has an oil-based texture rather than being a cream. You rub it over your face and remove with a hot cloth. You emerge looking dewy and fresh as a daisy. And I really tested this theory with way too much wine, late nights, hot weather etc. This balm atones for all that. I don't love the packaging, I would prefer a travel-friendly tube. Nonetheless, it's a great cleansing balm and perfect for the colder weather as it's very comforting.

To get the above mentioned Cult Beauty box, I had to spend some money. One of the things I bought was the Emma Hardie Amazing Face Protect and Prime.

With an SPF of 30, one can expect a certain chalkiness but no, this stuff truly is amazing. It is the best facial SPF cream I have found. It sinks in like a dream with no stinging and it smells like heaven. Oh yes, and it works. Always handy to know. Cover Boy was instructed to put some on (why do men think it's ok to use normal SPF in spray format on their face?) and he was a convert. Which was a bit unfortunate, I had to ration it somewhat.

You can put your make-up on over it with no adverse effects. I highly recommend it if you are jetting off somewhere hot. Speaking of which, Oman was so hot. I've never been anywhere so relentlessly hot. 40 degrees every day. We escaped into the mountains where it was a much more comfortable 25 degrees. In 40 degree heat, this stuff worked a treat. You can't ask for more than that.

I have no idea who Emma is but I applaud her for these two products. I shall be exploring more in her range in due course.