Xtreme close-up!

Take four eight year old girls, and their thirty-something mothers, and some Colour Xtreme Hair Art Gel and Spray.  In the case of the thirty something mothers, add gin and tonic.  Each pick a colour (we chose pink and blue).  Take a strand and apply gel.  Laugh uproariously at results.  Then get a chunk of hair and spray a block of colour.  Get completetely over-excited and think you are the bee's knees, and in the case of the 30 something mothers, wonder how you are going to explain this on the school run the next morning.

The colour of the gel is clear and washes out easily, and the spray is a more powdery colour.  Words of warning - it also comes out easily on your pillow case.  For a softer, more faded and subtle look, brush it gently and it produces a more pastel variant of the colour.  It is VERY VERY drying though so if you have dry hair, give it a massive miss or you will be cursing me for the rest of your days.

Be firm....

Cellulite is one of those things people think they are stuck with.  We are told that there is no sure-fire  cure apart from exercise, skin brushing, a healthy diet and more water than it takes to float a cruiseship....too soon?  OK.  I too was one of those unbelievers, until Elemis sent me its Body Sculpting Firming System.   


It comes in two parts - a serum that looks rather like baby puree and is a bit sticky,  and then afterwards you apply a moisturising cream.  It's one of those 'use it for 28 days and see the difference' jobs but I could see a difference after a week.  My arms and wobbly bottom felt tighter and smoother.  It is a slight faff as it takes yonks to soak in but it really is worth it.  I was genuinely amazed at not only the fact that it worked, but that it worked so well.  Genuinely astonished by this.  As far as I am concerned it is magic.  It is pricey, yes;  but in the month before a holiday it is worth getting if having smoother, tighter, de-orange peeled will help you enjoy your holiday more. 

Honey, I'm home....

As I write, I am staring out at a leaden sky with rain drops plopping irritatingly onto a verdigris drainpipe. This is par for the course in January, naturally,  but my God it does make you long for a bit of luxury and comfort.  January and June (pre summer holiday) are the most common times of the year for people to go on extreme diets and in my view January is a positively lunatic time to do so.  The whole system longs for a warmed up Eccles cake, or a stodgy jacket potato with pesto and cheddar.  Cottage cheese and ryvita just aren't going to provide that duvet type of sustenance that is vital when your only choice is get soaked outside or be frowsty and irritable inside.

Looking after your skin and hair can make you feel slightly cosy and nurtured and can delay you charging into Patisserie Valerie like a raging bull.  Central heating can make dry skin feel irritated so anything soothing is greatly appreciated by your poor epidermis, and hair can go into abject rebellion at the constant transitions between wet and cold and hot and dry, not to mention the dreaded hat hair.  Reve de Miel by Nuxe is a warming, creamy moisturiser for dry and sensitive skin.  It smells honeyish and heavenly and is described as "ultra confortable" and it really is.  It doesn't absorb very quickly but I don't have particularly dry skin.  And it feels so pleasant to wear I didn't mind in the slightest.

And as for the luxurious aspect, it delayed me baking lemon cake by a good hour and a half...oop, hang on, that's the oven timer....

Light up winter nights

I am, I have to admit, addicted to sites like holymoly.com as there is nothing more diverting than when I am supposed to be writing up something dull than sniggering at photos of orange women in sleeveless dresses and bare legs falling out of Addison Lees at 2am in January.  However, bleak dull weather does terrible things to the face.  It is very difficult for skin to glow when there's no light for it to bounce off.  That is where a subtle fake tan comes into its own, and Tantastic is just such a thing.  Lovely and natural, from Laidbare, one of my favourites, doesn't smell, gives a nice golden healthy glow and won't prompt comments like "Have you been away or have your kidneys packed up?"

Piste off

I have been secretly chuckling at all the people who have gone off ski-ing only to discover themselves trailing around shops selling ludicrously expensive leisure wear (the kind of thing you only ever see people wearing at ski resorts) and sipping fourteen hot chocolates a day as there is no snow and therefore bugger all to do.  This is pure jealousy on my part as I am not going ski-ing this year so yah boo sucks.  

The closest I am going to come to it is Green People's Day Solution SPF15 which appropriately for the ski theme, contains Edelweiss extract.  It smells pleasant and applies well, but is rather thick, which is often the case with moisturisers with UVA and UVB protection.  However despite the thickness it absorbed quickly and left my face feeling hydrated all day, as I traversed the glaciers of East London.  

My six year old son tried the No Scent Soft Lips SPF 8 - £3.95 for 10ml, as he gets incredibly chapped lips owing to the fact that he bolts his packed lunch then roars out immediately into the freezing playground to run into the wind for an hour and a half, whilst generally liberally coated in yoghurt.  His lips and the skin around them becomes very dry and flaky. We have tried hundreds of lip balms.  If they taste unpleasant he immediately rubs the lotion off on to his teddy, and if it tastes nice then he promptly eats it.  This is perfect for him - it comes out of a rather phallic container in a tiny amount through a pin-prick hole which you apply to the lips.  It is almost like a softer Vaseline, doesn't taste of much and stopped the dryness immediately.  Excellent product - there really is little point in buying any lip balms (especially those that are glorified lip glosses) apart from those designed for use while ski-ing.  They seem to be the absolute tops in this field.  

And a big hand for my new bathroom

I have spent the last six weeks with no bathroom.  Well, at first I had no running water, then a bath but no sink or loo, then a loo with no door on and four builders cheerfully whistling away two feet away.  They kindly put up a sheet to save my modesty but the whole experience was not conducive to pampering, shall we say.  In fact I began to regard lavatory paper and a door as unfeasible luxury.  

So what better way to celebrate the advent of a new working bathroom with door and everything than with a very soothing, luxurious hand wash and moisturiser?  evolve beauty have launched a brand new hand care duo consisting of a refreshing citrus hand wash to soothe and moisturise the skin, and a beautifully light hand lotion to protect and nourish hands and nails. The products contain goji berry extract to revitalise the skin and help protect against free radical damage.  But quite frankly I am just very happy that they moisturise my skin so beautifully after six weeks of them being caked in plaster dust. 

You've got something in your eye....

Look at these - aren't they absolutely amazing?  Available from V&A for £14 or from here.  Somebody get some and try them and send me a photo.  What a talking point for a party but I'd be terrified of ripping them.