Aveda and The Art of Relaxation

If you love having massages, you have to try out the new Aveda Stress Fix massage, which, frankly, should come with an addiction warning. It combines Swedish and deep tissue massage with foot reflexology, and harness the relaxing properties of lavender, lavadin and clary sage so that your mind can drift off while your body’s knots are untangled and soothed out.

I had my first Stress Fix experience at the Aveda Spa at James Dun’s House in Glasgow last week, and was slightly trepidatious after Nicki, my therapist, explained that unlike other Aveda massages which can be tailored to suit the client’s requirements and concerns, this one follows a strict formula designed for optimum results. The main focus, of course, was the upper back – where so much stress is carried – and Nicki did wonders at working out the knots in a way that was thorough and firm but not so much that I didn’t stay awake. Indeed, so relaxing was this massage that I woke myself up with my snoring! Highly recommended – and don’t blame me if you get hooked.

Copacabana Cool

Don’t be alarmed by the name of Clarins’ summer cosmetics collection – Colours of Brazil. There’s no vivid green or yellow in sight. Instead, the eyeshadow palette at the heart of the collection is a beautiful – and very wearable quartet of shades. The limited edition Colours of Brazil Quartet & Eye Liner Palette (£32) comprises a matte taupe, a shimmery gold and a chocolate brown along with a glistening coral and a lapis blue eyeliner for a dash of Brazilian-style va-va boom! The rest of the collection – a limited edition Summer Bronzing Compact (£30) and the highly moisturising new limited edition Lip Balm Crayons (£18 each)-  ain’t bad either … One for all would-be Girls from Ipanema ..

Complexion Perfection

Ooh, I haven’t been as excited about a foundation in living memory .. Let’s face it, it’s generally not the sexiest of products; it’s the boring bit before you get on to the proper, fun, face-painting stage of make-up. But I have to say, Chanel’s latest addition to its family of foundations is worth getting excited about. Don’t be put off by its name, Perfection Lumiere Velvet (£33), which might suggest that it’s the foundation equivalent of the matte Rouge Allure Velvet lipsticks. This liquid base actually provides natural-looking, lasting and thorough coverage and comes in a good range of shades, with fair skins well catered for. Oh, and I love its French name. Allez-y – say it: “flouteur”.. Tres sexy, non?!

True Grace

There are lots of areas in which Grace of Monaco, the new biopic of Grace Kelly/Princess Grace, fails spectacularly and although it reeks of style – as befits a film about the rich and famous in the glamorous 1960s – it doesn’t really have much of Grace Kelly’s distinctive style about it. Nicole Kidman’s princely (don’t think there is a female equivalent) wardrobe is certainly a pleasure to look at, but it’s not a patch on the original, and – it seems – only one or two of the original ensembles are actually recreated.

What they did do rather a nice job on, however, was Princess Grace’s hair (see pic of Kidman as Kelly, above). In the 1960s, the style icon who had been known primarily for her pearls and accessories in during her movie star days, made her repertoire of formal – and increasingly outlandish – up-dos (created by the hair couturier Alexandre de Paris) her trademark. Here are three of the most memorable.  

 

 

 * Grace of Monaco is in cinemas now (if you’re not careful!)