Have Your Cake And Eat It

Just a quick one for Easter Weekend. I won't lie, it wasn't as fun as last year, when I'd abstained from chocolate AND sweets for six whole weeks, then was handsomely rewarded, by myself, with a Betty Crocker Chocolate Fudge Cake mix (suspiciously similar to the Pizza Express one btw, a DIY tip off which shouldn't be taken lightly since I used to waitress there).

Which brings me neatly round to a serious affliction that us Beauty Editors have to endure on an almost weekly basis. Cupcake Overdose. We are gifted with delicious, sweet, beautiful, did I mention delicious? butter iced cupcakes from Hummingbird Bakery, or Lola's Kitchen with cholesterol boosting frequency. Usually by beauty PR's to launch a lipstick, sometimes just to say 'happy wednesday' or something, but always to rapturous delight from, first my desk, then the rest of the office who get our leftovers.

When news first spread about my other serious affliction, I got lots of sympathy cupcakes, which was lovely in theory, but lovelier in reality for the team, since I couldn't eat them. For me then, they were more like prettily iced torture.

This week I received this on my desk.

Oh lord, more tempting torturous deliciousness I thought. But no - these are vegetable cupcakes from Petit Pois at Selfridges. Yes veg-e-table, as in Petit Pois, as in peas. Sceptically I tried the 'chocolate' one. It tastes exactly like a delicious, beautiful, sweet, iced chocolate cupcake. But since the main ingredient in this chocolate cake is in fact beetroot, I was fall-off-my-chair surprised and excited in equal measure. Add in the fact it's gluten and dairy free, and only half the calories (170) and fat of normal cupcakes, and I'm swooning with relief at the end of my dessert withdrawal.

Also love the orange and lemon (mostly courgette), and vanilla (pumpkin) varieties, and am hoping this might put an end to the usual cupcake OD's, and kick off a new and slightly less dangerous habit, courtesy of those sugar-pushing PR's.

In the name of the resurrection of Christ of course. Or Passover or whatever. Or because aside from actual medicine, laughter is apparently the best for you, but I reckon cupcakes should be vying for that number 1 spot too...

www.petitpoiscakes.com

From A (sos) to B (urberry)

Its no secret I spend a lot of my time on asos.com. I should take out shares. At the very least get a uniform allowance (nice try?), but since I am a workaholic, even when I'm shopping I'm working. Sort of.

The humongous ginormous retail site has a lot of people behind it. I would love to be one of them -  a styling spot - that would be a great job, but even while I'm thinking I'd love it, I'm appreciating the loooong hoooouuuuurs that go into creating every-single-item-as-still x 4 + catwalk shoot.

For the last few months or so, I've had an asos model crush. Obviously I have exceedingly good taste, as the cute, awkward, blonde object of my affection (not in a weird way, please) has gone onto much greater things. Every time I looked at a t-shirt that she gawkily wore - always the same uncomfortable expression, I'd say to Katie; 'Who is this? We should shoot her.'

Alas I never researched it hard enough, and Mario Testino got in there first.

Cara Delevigne for Burberry SS2011, you had me at Heart Ink T-shirt, £18

Do Not Disturb

We just moved from the 5th to the 7th floor at Blue Fin Building. Going up in the world eh? (sorry), Although this news was met with the usual fear of change feelings, in actuality, its really nice and refreshing. And I get to chat to the InStyle beauty desk every time I go to the toilet now, which is always nice...

The not so nice part was the packing. I HATE moving, this was particularly traumatic. 3 1/2 years worth of desk hoarding into two measly crates. And then unpacking it all two floors up. Ugh.

The nice thing was finding the little things I forgot I had. This was my favourite:

I used to be Beauty Editor at CosmoGIRL! Such cute teenage days. I sat on a great desk with fashion team Navaz, Bella and eventually Olivia (beautifully modelling my customised chef hat at the head of the post).  Navaz was gold. If blogging was prolific in those days, she would have featured in mine regularly. Not least for THIS particular hat.

Its not a joke, she wore it very seriously, when we were NOT TO DISTURB. Every time someone new came in they would humorously try to comment on it, to her, as if they hadn't read the request sat on top of her head. A few days in and the hat was fearfully respected and honoured.

She made me one eventually too. I wore it once at LOOK when I did expenses. It sort of had the opposite effect - I'm not good at commanding fearful respect and honour for the hat.

Still, ahh, the memories...

The LOOK show everlasting mani

It is a full week since the LOOK show SS11. there's web tutorials up on look.co.uk already (I haven't watched yet, always takes me a while to get over the cringe factor), but what I am most obsessed about is the quality of my show manicure.

Katie and I always sneak in a colour before all the models get there, we have to represent! This season nails were courtesy of wonderful Nails Inc in their spring summer shade Porchester Place, it's bright but milky if you can imagine such a thing. In fact, no need, here it is on me!


Having had a five minute application, flapped about back stage for a full 8 hours, then gone about my normal business for a WEEK I cannot believe how long it's lasted! Immaculate! On one hand only mind, and I don't have the bottle for top ups, but still!

I love a wow nail, this colour is like summer in a bottle. If only the sunshine lasted nearly as long...


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The LOOK Show, Season 3

Like America's Next Top Model, the LOOK show gets better and better every season. This time we were back to Spring/Summer, which is always a mood lifter when you're freezing your bits off trying to get to Bloomsbury Square mid February. Once backstage in Victoria House (new venue, amazing results) we launched into lovely brightening S/S makeup looks, and the Urban Decay makeup team demo'd on lovely Beauty Assistant Sam, since she can easily be mistaken for any of the as yet absent models - b!tch (kidding, kidding, I only employ attractive people, it's part of the job description). (kidding again, although since Sam joined the team there have been rumours to that effect!).

Here she is showcasing the first of the makeup looks, that I then went to on film - check out the vids on look.co.uk next week.

Manic hair and makeup frenzy done, the show was brilliant with Petra Nemcova walking, Olivia Palermo in the front row (she is minuscule and beautiful but took a long time prepping for my requested reportage shot), and a renewed and unhealthy yearning for every single look from H&M in my soul. There was even a pink and orange wonder outfit from River Island - the girls must have been reading my 'Luella' blog post - that made me smile nearly as much as this model uncomprehending the concept of 'sleeves' during the run-through. It's the little things...

Here are some of my other highlights from the day...

View and shop all the looks from the show now at www.look.co.uk. 

The Other One

I'm in no no way neglecting ilovelipstick (you'll see), but I've branched out into a sister blog. It's in conjunction with cancer support charity Look Good...Feel Better, such an amazing cause, and of course very apt in my situation as beauty editor, makeup obsessive, wardrobe addict, chemo patient! Don't want to touch on that latter part in this blog, so the other one can, and hopefully help some people out along the way.

I'd love you to follow me and/or (and, and!) email subscribe and show support. It's very much a beauty blog, with products, quotes, contributors, advice, all from my beauty editor angle. I still love lipstick, maybe even more than ever...

Today I am wearing no.7 Stay Perfect lipstick in Gay Geranium




Please follow me at http://sophiefeelsbetter.blogspot.com

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Ridiculous Bright

I'm on a full on lip shoot today - my favourite kind of course, with Kolbrun Ran from Frank who keeps saying 'I LOVE lip colour, I just love lip colour. I so love lips' so obviously she and I get on very well.

And the perfect makeup artist for this story. The model is TWO HOURS late so far, so Kolbrun, instead of sitting around eating croissants as is normal procedure in this kind of situation, is practicing lip colour on herself - how dedicated is that?



My lip obsession from last season was the DVF fluro reddish matte. Not easy to pin point, recreate, achieve or pull off, but practice pays - so for your pleasure:

FIRST, MAC Amplified lipstick in Show Orchid.
SECOND, while still super fresh, pat on MAC pigment in Magenta Madness.



Simple no? Amazing, YES...


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