Friday 28 May 2010

Doggy Style II

I can't remember what Marcel's Nars-ism was this time, but this picture is too cute to miss.


While we're talking dogs I just need to share this Judith Leiber creation (she did Carrie's cupcake bag - remember?) that I happened upon while looking at Net-a-Porter's 'new for you'.

I am stunned into silence. LOOK at the FACE! 

Web Editor Kate (my psychic twin - more on that later) is actually and shamefully taken with it, I can't stop looking at it, but I'm not sure why exactly. Shock? Awe? It's £4,295! Shock. Definitely shock. Or awe? 




Friday Afternoon Cocktails, Yes Please

"Your life is so much more glamorous than ours" Commissioning Ed Jo sighs as I walk past her desk with my Margarita just now. 

Well, yes, today I can't really argue with that can I? Thanks to the Eyelure girls coming in with the bar manager from Cocoon on Regents St to mix me a Margarita in my new Lolita Flirtini glass! Yum.

All this in aid of their HBO collaboration to develop a set of SATC lashes, one for each character. I'm a little dismayed to admit my favourites are not Carrie's, but in fact Miranda's. Oh well, one or two cocktails later and I'll be able to deal with my unfortunate affiliation. I liked her Nubar nail collection best too, damn it...




MAC 'Watch This Space' Lipstick Update


Ruth at MAC was right - the new lip colour came in, I got more excited than if Thierry Henry was sat on my sofa (well ok, not me, my boyfriend, but he would be SO excited, and that's what I was).

To The Beach Lip Pencil in Temperature Rising, £10 has so far made more cameos than Terry Richardson's private parts.

Including to date:
*National Movie Awards Red Carpet (it matched my fluro Louboutins)
*Santorini Wrap Party (lasted through three courses, numerous glasses of local [i.e killer] wine and several rounds of Charades - how rock and roll)
*LOOK Festival Shoot (seen in action here).

Ruth, I'm worried about the Limited Edition status - it will be my equivalent of Robbie leaving Take That. I'm going to start stockpiling to avoid the sobbing...

Thursday 27 May 2010

Shoe Love


I never thought it could happen, but I'm starting to see what all the fuss is about with little Emma Hermione Watson having drooled over her Karl Lagerfeld choice last night. Am not a Harry Potter fan you see.

But the SHOES! Loved them till it hurt.

In second place Diane Kruger with her Lanvin lovelies. Although she might put me in the top two herself having complimented my fluro Louboutins twice. That might have been the most exciting moment of the entire evening actually.





I Love Lipstick at the National Movie Awards

Yeah, just going to Claridges to get my hair and makeup done (I missed out on hair superstyler Alain Pichon *swooon* - he had to go and 'do' Diane Kruger, but he winked at me later, so I got my fix), then yeah, just going for cocktails at Soho Hotel with Diane and her boyfriend, Pace-er I mean Joshua Jackson, you know. 

Then just walking the red carpet, got papped a couple of times, like you do, bumped into Mr Big three COUNT THEM times.

Just sat right at the front and watched Orlando Bloom, Gwyneth Paltrow, Tom Cruise, Kylie, etc. etc. come up and present awards a spit away from me. Then just got whisked to after party at Claridges and got glared at by Gwyneths bodyguards.

I'm sorry if this is ever so slightly gloating but wow, what an evening.

THANK YOU EMMA SCOTT AND L'OREAL!!! You do good awards and then some...









 thankyou Emma!

Wednesday 26 May 2010

New Lash Trend


Meanwhile... on Katie's Trends shoot this week.

Less '60's Twiggy, more a ClockWork Orange. Not so sure this is going to catch on...

Wednesday Afternoon in the Beauty Cupboard...


So I walked in today to find a perfect lipstick for my turn on the red carpet later (National Movie Awards with L'Oreal - more on that later), to find Assistant Ed Claire, prone on a table having a new lash extension treatment applied.

Lash Flicks™ is a quicker, cheaper version of the original extension idea (that I've always steered clear of because I can't imagine lying still with my eyes closed for two + hours). This one is done in half the time, and costs only £30.

I keep peering in to watch the progress skeptically - where's the catch? - but no, I can officially report: They look amazing.

Now I'm suffering lash inferiority and I can't get to the lipstick box before I have to leave. Beauty sulk imminent.

To find out more visit www.lashis.co.uk or phone 0117 907 6363
or 07830 248370

Friday 21 May 2010

Katie's Friday Tutorial


Every Friday someone asks Katie to do their hair/makeup/both. It's purely coincidental, but these styling session's have started to draw a crowd.

This week Katie does the 40s roll on Maria from art. Closely watched by a team of 2, and more distantly by most of the office, including Toby, Production Ed. er...

Its a common misconception; Just because we write beauty, doesn't mean we can do beauty. I 'did' Debbie once for a gay wedding. Lovely red lips/smoky eyes combo, and was somewhat disheartened to see no trace of it in the wedding snaps.  

Except annoyingly Katie can, and very well actually. I'll be crediting her in my shoots soon.

Wednesday 19 May 2010

Why Don't You Love Me?





If only I looked this beautiful in tears...

Of all the looks in this amazing Beyonce Video (shot before Telephone apparently), this is by far my favourite. The contouring, the monotone, the smudging, the streaking. It's sort of mesmerising. 

Definitely iconic. Covetable? re-create able? Not so sure, but next time I watch The Notebook I'll pile on a LOT of makeup first and take some photos when the credits roll.

p.s Nail colour: Chanel s/s in Nouvelle Vague

Tuesday 18 May 2010

Bad Wind, part II


p.s. In August 2008, a chef chopped his wife's head off with a meat cleaver and ran around the streets of Santorini with it and stole a police car and put the head on the passenger seat and drove around knocking over tourists.

I told you that wind was bad.


Er, It gust have been love, but it's over now....



Celebrity Footsteps


A loooong wait at Athens airport before we get the final flight home (two flights in one day is about the very most I can handle - and I'm not handling it so well).

So to distract me I'll share the news that Brad and Ange no less were staying in our tiny little village up a mountain for two days while we were there. With their kids and an entourage of 28 people. (Esther the villa manager told us, so it must be true)...

She also stayed at the Vedema Hotel once, where we shot two of our stories. Clearly The Pitts and us have an awful lot in common, choice wise.

OK, two hours twenty minutes to go...

Monday 17 May 2010

Bad Wind


Last day of trip, and we've all gone slightly loopy from the constant howling wind. Last night we parked the car at the bottom of the hill and proceeded to stagger up the 50 meter climb to the villa (not so ideally placed for a photographic trip with heavy photographic equipment and daily supermarket trips), which was treacherous to say the least. Throw in some angry dogs, goats and chickens along the way and I'd say we're lucky to be alive today.

The one good thing about this mind altering gale force major hindrance is it seems to have blown ash away quicker than expected to we can make it home, phew.

Yassou Santorini

Saturday 15 May 2010

No Tools Hair Styling

Having tried to shoot the 'holiday hairstyling' story for three or so days, we finally got it done yesterday, finishing at about 9pm. It's very lovely and everything, but the weather in Santorini - not so great for us.

Still, my hair dried in about three minutes this morning. Every cloud and all that...

Thursday 13 May 2010

The View from Inside a Cloud...


...Is like this.

Sacked off yesterday after trying to shoot with no sun till about 6pm. 'Don't worry, we NEVER get bad weather two days in a row' says our villa manager Estha.

Hmmm and uh oh

Wednesday 12 May 2010

Nail Trip


VERY busy morning you know...

Seeing not so red


'No, no no, you won't need sat nav in Santorini, it's so tiny, just the idea of sat nav is laughable, that's how much you won't need it.'

Not only is there no sat nav availble here, there are no road signs either.

Recce day - first objective: find the Red Beach that looks so amazing in the tourist shots.
So we drove around the island a few times, got lost a lot, asked locals and deciphered their arm gestures and got lost some more.

And then we found it. RUBBISH. After a painful and awkward climb down, you get there and it's about the size of a single bed. And then the red sand? Not so red.

Plan B?

Tuesday 11 May 2010

Donkey Watch




Santorini Beauty Trip: Day 1.5


Day one involved lots of travel - which is my least favourite part, so I won't bore you with how much I whimpered on Jess's shoulder or left my little medicine stash (in case of ANY trip emergency, makes me feel calm) on the first plane.

The trip to the villa in the dark was gorgeous enough (I said it looked like Jerusalem, having never been there), but this morning waking up to the view was something else.

Best bit: behind the top pool (yes, there are two. Jess's best game so far - 'which is your favourite pool?) is a DONKEY. I don't think so friendly. We'll see. We have named him 'Snorticus'.

There will be some sort of beauty content at some point, but so far - the view! the donkey! the villa!

'House of Snorticus'



Friday 7 May 2010

What colour eyes to do today?


All three at once? How does that work exactly?

Thursday 6 May 2010

Diet Coke Break (ing news)


The best promotion ever seen? Buy two bottles of Diet Coke at Boots and get a FULL size LIMITED edition NAILS INC polish FREE? YES PLEASE.

There must be a catch I thought when they came in to give me a sample mani. The four colours form the collaborative City Collection - Paris (classic), New York (edgy), Milan (posh) and London (AMAZING), must be rubbish? Wrong

No catch, lovely nails. and the best bit- I can save my daily 60p jaunt to the upstairs canteen come 4 0 Clock, 'cos they left two CRATES for my desk - I heart Diet Coke.

Offer on from now until end of June at selected Boots stores.

Queen B

The PR's on my Max Factor shoot today tell me they've dubbed their new Trio Eyeshadow the 'Rasta' Palette, after I christened it such at the launch.
So today I found out the palette is actually named after me. (when I say actually I mean tenuously and coincidentally) Well, after my team nickname - Queen B, (I am head of my department, my surname starts with B, I can be on the demanding side - it's a whole other story).

Clearly I hold some serious sway in this industry. And on my desk. Jess? Katie? Where's my tea?... anyone?


Max Factor Max Colour Effects Trio Eye Shadow in Queen Bee, £6.49

O2 too much


There are certain obvious perks to the job - I haven't bought mascara for at least 8 years now - but when L'Oreal call and invite me down to watch Cheryl support Black Eye Peas, that's when I thank my BA in philosophy that I chose beauty.

The box, amazing, the food and lots of wine, amaaazing, the singing, live (hats off Cheryl), and Will.i.am doing a DJ set in the middle of the concert, well... amazing.

PR Emma told me on my way out that Cheryl had been watching from the next door box the whole time, I can see why she told me after she'd gone, but good insight either way.

I'm slightly suffering on my shoot this morning - and no one told me there was a film crew here. Back to my miracle blusher...

Wednesday 5 May 2010

Missing Makeup Bag



Yes I admit it, I lose things. DadJokes is even unsympathetic to the point of fatherly with his berating comments when such an occasion arises.

There's something interesting about realising what a beauty editor needs when said makuep bag goes missing, though. Even though I have a cupboard full of makeup at work, I still get VERY upset like the rest of you when I'm without my well collected favourites.

Which brings me to: My Makeup Replacements, Episide One: Miracle Blush

I miss my blusher. Duwop Illuminating Blush in Mango

Just the right shade of peachy coral for my milky skin (some say pasty, I stick with milky), just the right amount of shimmer to give radiance without being tacky, and the perfect shade for every occasion/photoshoot and even fashion show I have happened to need makeup for.

Here's me using it at said makeup shoot, my own pot, on all 24 models. It was being ground out with fingernails by the time I'd finished. 

Peace


Origins know me, they know my needs. I tell them I'm out of Peace of Mind, they make sure it won't happen again (x7).

I realised I had run out when I got stuck on the Victoria Line for twenty minutes due to commuter-bag-in-door. Just as I finished reading my Metro and the word 'claustrophobia' formed in my head, it was all over for me. I only didn't scramble for the passenger alarm for fear of legs giving out. This is what happens when I'm out of the immediate-on-the-spot-calming-relief.

Thanks Becky Knowles at Origins HQ, you have saved me from future black episodes (x7)

Tuesday 4 May 2010

Chanel-alike


On a Friday afternoon whim I thought I'd try out these 'alike' pearl tattoo's we had in for a get the look feature.

With my Chanel SS10 tinted glasses I thought it looked elegant and extreemely fashionable. Through everyone else's I quickly realise it's more September '96, when body transfers were the height of cool and you overlook the eventual grubby edges and the gothic leanings.

And they do. not. come. off.

Another 'only good on models' daliance for the archives then...

Pearl bracelet tattoo from inkwear.co.uk