Candy Yum Yum by Mac

I think winter is the most wonderful time of the year for make-up. You have longer to spend doing it (the weather’s shite, who wants to be out there?) and there are more parties than you can drunkenly shake a cocktail sausage at. Although it feels wrong to transition from cocktail sausages, here goes.

When you’re tired of your usual wintry crimson lip, why not buck the expected colour palette and go neon pink?

I’ve long-loved the eye-hurting brightness of Mac’s Candy Yum Yum shade – the lipstick is matte and so pigmented that reapplication doesn’t feel like an endless chore. My only gripe is that it can sometimes feel a bit dry. I recently tried the gloss version which feels great on the lips and is a bit more wearable for daytime. I also like mixing pure Candy Yum Yum lipstick with the Cyan Lipmix to create a surprisingly flattering bright violet hue.

I’ll post some good Mac combinations soon, but in the meantime here are some pics of a look with the Candy Yum Yum Tinted Lipglass.

With such a bold lipcolour, I like keeping the rest of the face quite neutral. In this case I prepped my skin with a primer, used a light foundation with some pink contouring and filled my brows in with a combination of Mac Lingering and a mid-brown powder.

Something Appy for the Weekend

Every now and then, an app comes along that Blows. Your. Mind. ‘Makeup Genius’ by L’Oreal is one such app. “Bianca, you are going to love this” said my friend Rachael George. She was right, and you will too.

In a nutshell, you stare gormlessly into an oval ‘mirror’ on your phone for a while, and then you can ‘try on’ different L’Oreal make-up looks and products. On your actual face. The virtual make-up moves with you, it’s insane. Afterwards, you can share the results (ranging from the mental to the marvellous) with your social media friends.

As a complete make-up addict, I’m just completely and utterly into it. There’s not really much more to say – it’s free, so download it here and have an incredible, beauty-filled weekend.

Grease be Gone

You know that feeling when you wake up in the morning? At best, a bit groggy, at worst, zombie-like. Sometimes, your skin feels sticky and you don’t know why. You cleansed, toned and moisturised like a good girl the night before (or at least gave your face a quick swipe with a moisturising wipe when drunk) but after a night of sleep, it still feels a bit icky and greasy. I wasn’t sure why, or how to combat this feeling until I attended the Vichy event at the Ham Yard Hotel last month.

I had been looking forward to visiting the Ham Yard for a while (it came highly recommended by a particularly glamorous friend of mine) and it didn’t disappoint.

The instant I stepped inside, I realised I wanted to live there forever. Everything was pink! There were neon lights from God’s Own Junkyard! The chairs were upholstered with African-style prints in fluro brights! Safe to say I was excited.

Pushing my interior design enthusiasm to one side, I tried to focus on the real reason I was there: the launch of Vichy’s Normaderm Night Detox. Ham Yard has a built-in cinema (nice) and myself and Vichy’s other guests enjoyed a presentation as we sipped our drinks and munched popcorn.

In a nutshell, as you sleep, oily skin works harder than any other skin type. Sebum is overproduced, leaving you with that oil slick feeling in the morning. Your skin tries to renew itself, working twice as fast as it does during the day and already oily skin produces three times more sebum than normal skin types. Normaderm is powered by ‘revolutionary double-edged technology,’ tackling sebum with a potent combination of detoxifying and purifying ingredients. Eperuline, LHA, Salicylic Acid and Hepes mix with mattifying Perlite and absorbing powders to give you a smooth, matte complexion well into the day. The results are proven – 93% of women noticed an improvement in their skin’s quality.

During the day, I’ve been using Vichy’s ‘Global Anti-imperfection Hydrating Care’ moisturiser which is non comedogenic (won’t clog your pores) and paraben-free. I've found that the two products work incredibly well when used in tandem.

I was surprised at how effective Normaderm Night Detox was – I’m always overloading my skin with rich night creams and it has actually been a refreshing change to use a lighter option. Similarly, switching to a lighter day cream has really made a difference to my skin this summer – it has definitely felt less oily and greasy.

Back to the cinema: after we watched the Normaderm presentation, we were treated to a surprise viewing of film classic Grease! It was a fun end to a brilliant, informative evening.

www.vichy.co.uk

Ham Yard

Two of my favourite things: cocktails and skincare

Just in case there was any doubt

Gorge lamps

Note to self: paint zig-zags on walls

Tasty popcorn is a must for any cinematic experience, as Vichy well knows

The new Normaderm range, available at Boots

Skincare steps to success

My friend Olivia gets into the swing of things

Amaze chair

The presentation in the cinema

I went with the 3 in 1 cleanser - it makes a great mask

Grease in the word

Love the opening sequence to Grease with the Bee Gees!

Pretty Much Everything: Inez Van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin

Is there anything better than a glossy new fashion book? Taschen, in my opinion, publish the best ones. I adore the new Inez Van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin photography book. It’s packed full of amazing glossy fashion images and begs to be enjoyed on a lazy Sunday with a cup of tee and pack of Hobnobs. Don’t let the acres of slimline, tanned model flesh put you off; these pictures are simply too perfect not to have been airbrushed. The colours, the gloss, the glamour all hook you from page one. The sticker sheet made me gasp with joy and I’m framing the poster as soon as the stickers have found their natural homes. The cover is so gorgeous to look at that it would be a sin not to display it somewhere prominent. I found myself deliberately skipping pages so I could go back and ‘discover’ new pages. A must-buy for yourself or fashion-loving friends. 

A Handy Look

Isn't this photo incredible? I was staring at it for about half an hour. I found it in quite a rubbish tourist guide book. She looks a bit like Florence and the Machine,, I really want to have a go at doing this but think I will need a model to do a good job. Any volunteers?!

Beautiful Things Part One: Bits of my Bedroom