Jeepers Creepers, Where’d You Get Those Peepers – Guerlain!

I started a new bottle of my favourite liquid eyeliner recently – only to discover that I had had it too long, and the liquid had thickened and separated. No other eyeliner would do so, while I awaited the delivery of a new bottle, I just soldiered on with the old, thick stuff.

At that point it dawned on me that all my eye beauty needs are best served these days by Guerlain… The aforementioned Guerlain Eyeliner (£25; www.houseoffraser.co.uk) remains unsurpassed, in my opinion, for anyone who likes an easy, retro-style, line of ink swept along their upper lid. The super-fine brush can be used to paint on a subtle, thin line close to the lashes, or can be angled for a more dramatic effect. I love all three colours – the black is perfect for an evening look, while both the brown and blue are great for complementing your eye colour.

Like the Eyeliner, Guerlain’s premium eye cream, Orchidee Imperiale Eye & Lip Cream (£120), was recently reformulated to make best use of the latest scientific findings. A luxurious, rich cream, it harnesses Guerlain’s new “Gold Orchid Technology” to encourage regeneration of the skin cells, firm the skin, deal with fine lines and boost the radiance and evenness of the complexion in the eye and lip areas.

For daytime, I love Guerlain Super Aqua-Eye Serum (£59). It’s been around for a while but is (along with Chanel’s Hydra Beauty Eye Gel) ideal if you like a light, very fluid cream which hydrates and plumps up the skin.

And, for morning-after emergencies (post tears, partying, lack of sleep etc), Guerlain Super Aqua-Eye Anti-Puffiness Smoothing Eye Patches (£73 for six sets) are essential beauty first aid items.

 

All Eyes on No7

Isn’t it great when a beauty company acknowledges the popularity of a product it has tried out in a limited edition – by making it a permanent feature? No7 has gone one better and has just introduced a whole range of fab crayons that made their debut in just two colours at Christmas – so there are now eight shades in total (pictured are the six new additions).

No7 Stay Perfect Shade and Define (£8) is a brilliant, creamy eye crayon that can be used – as it says in the name – to both shade in the eyelid and define the eye line or the eye socket. Just angle it to use the sides for shading and the point for defining. Got it? It’s very blendable and easy to use, though best to practise a bit as it sets quite quickly (and lasts very well indeed) – so blending has to be done quite quickly for the desired effect… Choose from pale, sparkling shades (Cool Mink, Pink Pearl and Glistening Ray are all great bases or perfect for a wash of colour) or dark, dramatic ones (Velvet Truffle, Coffee Bean, Deep Purple, Black and Gunmetal). And team with the new No7 Lovely Lashes Mascara (£12.95) for the full No7 effect…

* Available now from Boots stores and www.boots.com

Puckering Up, Chanel Style

Chanel chose Valentine’s Day to launch a beautiful new collection of lip colour – Le Rouge 2014 – which includes sumptuous shades in pink, red, berry and nude from across the various lip ranges, plus a vampy pink nail varnish, Coup de Coeur.  Model Sigrid Agren is wearing Rouge Coco Shine in Boheme in the above picture. Here are some highlights from this vast, mouthwatering, collection.

From left to right in above picture: Rouge Allure Velvet in La Favorite (£25), Levres Scintillantes in Bliss (£21), Rouge Coco Shine in Satisfaction (£24), Rouge Allure in Conquise (£25).
From left to right in the above picture: Rouge Allure Velvet in La Malicieuse (£25), Rouge Allure in Fougueuse (£25), Rouge Coco Shine in Boheme (£24),  Levres Scintillantes in Murmure (£21).

From left to right in the above picture: Levres Scintillantes in Tocade (£21), Rouge Allure Velvet in L’Amoureuse (£25), Rouge Coco Shine in Emotion (£24), Rouge Coco Shine in Mutine (£24).
I adore this Le Vernis in Coup de Coeur (£18), while my favourites (so far!) among the lipsticks are the Rouge Coco Shines in the vibrant dark pink shade Emotion and the pinky-nude Mutine, and the Rouge Allure in the wonderful coral shade of Conquise.

A Valentine to Funny Face

The generally (s’) wonderful 1957 musical Funny Face is doing the rounds of cinemas this week, to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Decent pictures of the many glorious Givenchy outfits are difficult to source on the internet (the still taken during the fashion sequence, above, is an exception) – but there are some delightful shots of the delectable Audrey Hepburn in costume, both on-set and off-duty, and in publicity pictures. Here’s a selection, kicking off with a beautiful portrait of her in the raincoat she wears for the jubilant Bonjour Paris number.

And, sans raincoat, here’s the rest of her boulevardier ensemble – turtle neck, cigarette pants and loafers – worn as she philosophises in Montmartre .. During the “ugly duckling” part of the film, Hepburn’s character, Jo, was dowdily dressed and bemused by the ridiculous poses and heavy make-up of the models who invaded her bookshop for a shoot. Between takes, however, Audrey Hepburn was quite comfortable in the company of top model Dovima.This monochrome evening dress is only glimpsed momentarily in the film (as are many of the evening gowns). It’s very reminiscent of the one worn by Hepburn in her second Cinderella-style film, Sabrina.And, to end with, here’s Audrey Hepburn’s beguilingly vulnerable version of the Gershwin love song How Long Has This Been Going On? Happy Valentine’s Day – here’s to feeling in a lovely state…

Backstage Beauty: Estee Lauder for Derek Lam

Yesterday in New York, Estée Lauder sponsored the makeup look at the Derek Lam Fall/Winter 2014 Fashion Show at the city’s Sean Kelly Gallery.  Tom Pecheux, Estée Lauder Creative Makeup Director, led a team of 15 makeup artists to create the beauty looks on more than 30 models.

Pecheux says: “Derek’s collection is strong, urban, ethnic-inspired with an emphasis on texture. The makeup look is strong yet fluid, with pools of grey and green surrounding the eye. I was inspired by water, a lagoon, deep and cool.”

Here’s what he used:

Eyes: Lucidity Translucent Loose Powder in Transparent; Pure Color Instant Intense Eyeshadow Trio in Camo Chrome (the darkest shade); Pure Color Eyeshadow in Ivy Envy; Blending Shadow Brush 25

Lips: Pure Color Envy Sculpting Lipstick in Insatiable Ivory and Intense Nude

Face: Double Wear Light Stay-in-Place Makeup; Double Wear Stay-in-Place High Cover Concealer SPF 35; Lucidity Translucent Loose Powder in Transparent

Skin: Revitalizing Supreme Global Anti-Ageing Creme; Revitalizing Supreme Global Anti-Ageing Eye Balm; Idealist Pore Minimizing Skin Refresher

 

Make-up: Tom Pecheux for Estee Lauder

Photos courtesy of Estee Lauder

First Blush of Spring

So, Punxsatawney Phil  has predicted six more weeks of winter? Well, that needn’t mean six more weeks of looking and feeling wan and wintry – thanks to my favourite item in Clarins’ new Opalescence collection. It’s a new, lightweight cream blusher called Multi-Blush Cream Blush (£18; www.clarins.co.uk), and it is just perfect for adding what Bobbi Brown always describes as a “pop” of colour to liven up the complexion and help enhance the old cheekbones. Unlike some cream blushers, this one doesn’t feel like it has to be dragged across the skin; it feels moisturising and very easy to blend. The rest of the Opalescence collection is lovely too, especially the new Joli Rouge Brilliant Sheer Shine Lipsticks (£18 each, shown below).