Five Make Up Items I Keep Repurchasing.

I love trying new things and make up is definitely one area in which it is fun to swap things around and experiment. However there are some products that just seem to have it all - the color, the formula, the feel - that even though I try out others I always seem to come back to them.

Here in no particular order (as they say) are five products that for me are outstanding - ones that are always in my stash or on my repurchase list.

Chantecaille Just Skin. 

I've written about this amazing tinted moisturizer before. It really is the best as far as I'm concerned. It has great coverage, feels comfortable, is good to my skin and contains SPF 15. Honestly, I've tried out other TM's, BB's, CC's and foundations but nothing compares to it. I like to wear this in the shade 'Bliss' if I'm going for a natural look or 'Nude' if I'm going for a summery bronzed look - Yes it really is that good you can wear it in different shades!

Collection Concealer. 

Honestly I'd fly to England just to buy this I like it that much. It covers everything yet doesn't go flaky or cake. I find the shade 'Cool Medium 2' works well for me. Sure the packaging isn't beautiful - the lettering always comes off by the end of the first week of use - but it's functional and a tube of this lasts for ages... Also did I mention it's as cheap as chips?

Hourglass Veil Primer. 

The first time I tried this it blew my socks off! It really a Godsend for someone like me whose face becomes shiny the moment they walk out of the door. This stuff just works - put the tiniest amount on - it's got great slip - wait 5 minutes and you will feel it gripping your base as you apply it. And it keeps it there. I may flirt around with other primers but I always come back to this.

Kevyn Aucoin The Eyeshadow Single #104 Soft Clay

I've bought three pans of this in a row. It's just the perfect 'My Eyelids But Better' color for me and I wear it practically everyday for work. It's a gorgeous pinky/grey/beige with great pigmentation and the texture is simply gorgeous - very finely milled so there's never any fall out. And of course the packaging has to get a mention - a little mirrored compact that not only has a spring loaded lid it closes with a snap - glorious!

Chantecaille Brilliant Gloss 'Modern'. 

Lip products are the things that I swap around the most and that I have the most of but this gloss in the shade 'Modern' is always in there somewhere. I hadn't worn this for a while but picked it up the other day and had one of those 'hell yeah moments' I love all Chantecaille glosses but the formula of this is really rather wonderful - it's moisturing yet it lasts - and it's glossy and shiny without being sticky or gloopy. 'Modern' is a very wearable, very subtle MLBB nude that goes with just about any makeup look. This is another product with great packaging - rather that a doe foot it has a brush - which always feels more professional and hygienic somehow and the tube itself is just sleek and sexy with a bit of heft to it that makes it solid enough to throw in your bag.

I'd hate to get stuck in a make up rut but all of the above just work so well for me that I think they will have a place in my routine for a while to come.

A Perfect Heritage.

Penny Vincenzi's lengthy, multi-generational family sagas are a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine. They are extremely well plotted and hugely entertaining. There are aways a lot of characters and a lot going on in her tales.

Her latest A Perfect Heritage tells the story of the the house of Farrell, an old revered English cosmetic company. However, it has been a family concern run by matriarch Athina Farrell and has failed to keep up with the times. Now in danger of bankruptcy, high flying business woman and marketing whizz Bianca Bailey is called in to rebrand and relaunch the House of Farrell in order to save it. Can she do it without ruining her professional reputation and without also putting her marriage at risk? 

It's a hefty book clocking in at 770 pages but if you enjoy this kind of story you will find yourself zapping your way through this. It's an enthralling tale that has both romance and intrigue at it's core and once you get into it it's easy to follow the plot and keep track of the many characters. The epilogue ties up all the loose ends very neatly and (I don't think that this is a give away) it's pretty much a happy ending all round.

I didn't find this to be quite as 'un-put-downable' as some of the author's previous books but it's still a

great relaxing read for the beach or travel. It's a book you can immerse yourself in - pure escapism and totally enjoyable. 

Whilst I know this type of book isn't everyone's cup of tea if you enjoy this sort of thing I would recommend it, along with the other novels by Penny Vincenzi.

A Few New Beauty Bits - Summer 2015.

Although I do buy myself a few presents around my birthday time I generally try and hold off with any major beauty buys until September aka to me as 'The month of GWP'. However this year there were a few things that I needed right this minute so here's a quick look at some new beauty bits.



I'm lucky enough to live close to Caudalie's delightful boutique on Bleecker St. and I stopped in there to restock my supply of Grape Water - my favorite face spray. I came out with a generous handful of samples and they also gave me a token that allows me to add free oxygen treatment to any facial I book there. 

Mr C&C zips through his Kiehl's products so when I went to restock his stash I also took in a load of empty Kiehl's packaging. For ten empties you can choose a free travel sized item. I'm just about out of body scrub so I was happy to swap the empties for a 2.5 oz tube of Soy Milk and Honey Body Polish. This is one of my favorite body scrubs, it smells de-lic-ious. It's not harsh yet somehow you don't need to use a lot of it so it lasts for ages. Whilst there I asked for some samples of their new(ish) Iris Extract Activating Treatment Essence that I am curious to try.

I was quite amazed to find that I had finally worked my way through all my daytime serums so I ordered Sarah Chapman Skinesis Intense Hydrating Booster from Space NK. I love this serum, it really does seem to plump and hydrate my skin and although it's a pricey one you only need a couple of drops so the 30ml bottle lasts for ages. 

I've used up a lot of cleansers in the last couple of months and I have been dying to try Tata Harper Purifying Cleanser. This totally natural soap free cleanser not only smells divine, it removes excess oil from the skin cleansing pores and balancing it - so far I really, really like this and it's my most reached for cleanser at the moment.
Because I've got a crazy addiction to all things Sunday Riley I just had to try out their Effortless Primer. It is a truly lovely primer that is slightly tinted to even things out - you could use it by itself on good skin days - and it gives a little grip to your make up that you can feel. It feels hydrating and although it doesn't give the longevity that Hourglass Veil does it did significantly prolong the life of my make up. I feel that this will really come into its own once the weather cools down a little. I split this shop into two orders and picked out the same samples each time (unintentionally)  - 37 Actives Cleanser, Oribe Shampoo and Conditioner for coloured hair and Ren Glycol Lactic Masks

I was browsing in  Sephora recently (as you do) and found myself wanting just about everything from Surratt. I managed to restrain myself though and only picked up the Artistique Blush in 'Guimauve'. The texture of this powder blusher is amazing - it is so finely milled that it is almost creamy. The color is a delicate, pretty rosy pink - I don't have another blush like this it really is unique. But here are a couple of downsides to this product... One is that the packaging is cheap looking and flimsy - it's not even sturdy enough to carry around in a make up bag. Now you are meant to transfer these to a compact that you buy separately, but it's a pretty pricey product already at $32.00 and I think it's a little cheeky (no pun intended) to expect you to pay another $17.00 just for reasonable packaging. The other thing is that the blush itself is pretty small only .2 of an ounce. I don't mind this - I'm quite partial to smaller make up items as they last so long, but it is annoying that it's not easy to swirl a larger brush on the pan without overspill...
 The 'weekly special' sample I opted for was a Sunscreen Sample Bag, 10 samples of different sunscreens,which is perfect for me. (I have so much trouble finding sunscreens that don't make me break out or that I find uncomfortable to wear that they are one product I really do like to try out before purchase if possible.)  

That's not a bad little restock is it? But for now I'm honestly not going to buy a single beauty item until it's time for SpaceNK's Autumn Beauty Edit and Barney's Love Yourself event!

Muji Shopping.

I have to admit that it took me a little while to get into Muji but the more I go there the more I like it! 

It really is a great place for well priced, good quality odds and ends. Excepting food they really do sell pretty much everything you could ever need from socks to skincare to saucepans.

I recently bought a new dressing table and needed to get a few organizational pieces (we all know that Muji is the place for that sort of thing) and along the way a few other items caught my fancy.

The big ticket item here of course was the set of clear acrylic drawers for makeup and an acrylic pot for make up pencils. I also bought a small mirror to use as I'm undecided as to whether I need a fixed wall mirror or not...

I picked up couple of stacking, oval lidded containers to tidy up some odds and ends in my bathroom. Not only do these take care of random hair ties, odd sachets of product etc etc they fit neatly into my bathroom cabinet which I can now open without having things tumble into my sink pleasing me no end.

I travel a lot and although I'm pretty well organized I usually end up with an assortment of ziplock and carrier bags in my luggage - not a good thing - so I grabbed three of their travel cases and a pill box that will hold two weeks worth of supplements. 

I also bought a set of their nail clippers, they really are the best and as a result they are normally out of stock. And, of course, I couldn't leave without stocking up on my favorite cotton wool pads and facial blotting papers. 

Not only was it fun shopping for all this, I had great fun arranging my things and, I do believe that there's room in that set of drawers for a few new lipsticks...

www.muji/us.com

The Rocks.

Here's another good summer read - The Rocks by Peter Nichols.

Set on the island of Mallorca the book opens in 2005 with a chance meeting and violent argument between 80 year old Gerald and his ex wife Lulu. 

Subsequent chapters work backwards in time, telling the story of their extended families to finally reveal the incident that caused them to split up.

The Rocks is the name of a small guest house owned by Lulu and frequented by well to do, louche British expats and although the characters here are all a little over the top they are well developed and credible. There are some rather ridiculous names and TBH I found most of the older characters to be pretty unlikeable -  there's a lot of them too which I found a little confusing at first. However the island and the lifestyle are portrayed very well and I enjoyed reading about boats and yachts that were written about in a way that was factually correct.

There's some great writing and storytelling in this book. 

I did find that the way of telling the tale backwards was a little annoying in a couple of instances as you already knew the outcome of a couple of the chapters because of what went on before. But overall I found it to be a complex yet intriguing story well told with very evocative writing.

Recommended.  

Free Birthday Goodies 2015.

August is my birthday month and although there isn't anything that I desperately need I always like to treat myself to a few small things and fit in a spa day as a present to myself. 

Not only are the summer sales still on here in NYC it's nice that retailers give you a discount or a little something extra in your bag. 

As usual I take the time to visit Kiehl's, Sephora and SpaceNK to pick up my 'gifts' - gotta do it, right?

Kiehl's had their standard gift of a Lip Balm #1. Not the most exciting gift for sure but it's a practical unisex one. I have quite a few of these hanging around - it's a good basic balm that I really like - and I appreciate getting it as a gift as at $7.00 it's a little more than I would normally spend on a lip balm.

SpaceNK have a mini REN Moroccan Rose Otto Bath Oil as their treat this year.
I love Ren products  and this has a glorious rose scent that's warm and sensual and lingers on your skin. It's not a huge bottle but you only need to add a few drops of this to your bath -
this will last me for ages as I'm a 'shower person'. In fact it's a good gift for me as bath (as opposed to shower) products just aren't something that I buy for myself.

Sephora had the most exciting gift this year. A duo of NARS Lip Pencils.  There's a sheer, glossy, pinky nude Satin Lip Pencil in the shade 'Rikugien' and a Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in the cult classic  red shade, 'Cruella'.  These are both 'suit anyone' shades and comfortable to wear. I think that lip products are always a fun thing to get - it's great to be able to test them before investing in a full sized product.

I really like all my birthday freebies this year and its good to get a little top up of minis before the September GWP's kick off.

Happy Birthday to me!

One Step Too Far.

I seem to have had a run of disappointing books so it was about time for a gripping book that I could not put down and One Step Too Far was that book!

One morning Emily walks out of her family home in Manchester, leaving her old life and everything and everyone in it behind. In London she reinvents herself as Cat Brown and carves out a new life and lifestyle for herself until a calamity forces her to confront her past. 

What was it that made Emily leave her old life? 

This book was clever and I loved the way it was written. The characters in it were very believable and well formed. The writing and the story flowed so well and the sub plots were as interesting as the main story. Normally with thrillers you get to a point when you realize what's going on - not so with this one - it will keep you guessing up until the end and there are some shocking twists and turns to the tale. I really enjoyed this - wonderful writing and a great plot.

Recommended.

Wholefoods Beauty Shopping.

For my Birthday and Christmas gifts Mr C&C always includes a selection of beauty related items and this year's birthday selection came from Wholefoods. Now whilst I do browse from time to time in the their 'Whole Body' section and occasionally pick up something or other it's not somewhere where I do a regular beauty shop. But they really do have a great range of products and there are some treats to be found there...

I've not previously been a 'body brusher' but now I have one I will be! Dry brushing boosts circulation as well as exfoliating. This brush is by Earth Therapeutics and the back of it has a rubber bobbled massager (technical term!) which will be perfect for easing back and shoulder aches and pains.

The Bamboo and Green Tea Candle by Paddywax smells divine - it is one of those fresh, clean spa like scents that are so suitable for bathrooms - very relaxing. I like that it comes with a lid. The throw of this is great, the scent is strong without being overpowering and of course I will be re purposing the pot for some sort of bathroom storage when the candle is finished.

I love minis - not only are they great for travel they are just so cute and Wholefoods have a great selection. Giovanni Tea Tree Triple Treat Shampoo has peppermint, rosemary and eucalyptus in it, all good stuff that makes for an invigorating, energising fragrance. Nubian Heritage Coconut and Papaya Body Wash smells fruity and summery and their Raw Shea Butter Body Lotion contains frankincense which is one of my favourite scents. 

Finally the Burt's Bees Tips and Toes Kit contains three mini hand creams including their brilliant Hand Salve, Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream, Coconut Foot Cream and a Pomegranate Replenishing Lip Balm - what a great selection!

I think I'm going to have to go and pay Wholefoods a visit before too long!

Landline.

Landline tells the story of Georgie, an LA television script writer. Forced to work through the Christmas holidays and cancel a family trip with her daughters and husband to her in-laws, Georgie is put out when her husband Neal goes ahead and takes their daughters on the trip without her.
Georgie can't get her cell phone to work and Neal isn't answering his. In desperation she calls his family home on an old landline phone that she finds in her teenage bedroom at her Mother's house. Low and behold she's talking to Neal. But it's not present day Neal, it's 1998 Neal and Georgie has to steer the conversation as if they were still dating in the hope that she can mend the rift that has grown between them over the years. 

Landline has had rave reviews but I have to say that I found an unsatisfying read - the first fifty or so pages weren't bad, but then the story just seemed to drag on and the same ground seemed to be covered again and again. The 'magic telephone' plot device just did not make sense and was never explained and I just lost interest in the story and the characters. I found the whole book to be very disjointed - as if the author couldn't decide if she were writing a comedy or a romance. 

Overall Landline was a big disappointment for me.

Facial Sprays and Spritzes.

Facial sprays and spritzes seem to be having a bit of a moment right now which pleases me no end as they are one of my very favourite skincare products!

When I lived in the South of France the summers were unbearably hot especially as there was virtually no air conditioning and I used to buy large atomizers of Evian and spray myself with to cool down. Moving to NYC with air conditioning seemingly everywhere I stopped using face sprays. Then a couple of years ago I picked up some Caudalie Beauty Elixir and since then spritzes have been back on my radar and I've been using them constantly.

Not only are they a great at cooling and refreshing you, they are a great way of adding extra moisture to your skin (either used alone or layered between products as part of your routine). They are great to use when traveling or when your skin is feeling particularly stressed as they are so soothing, and if you have overdone the sun they work a treat at easing sun burns or redness (especially the ones that contain aloe). You can also mist them over your make up to help 'set' it - I don't understand the science behind this but somehow they do make it last a little longer as well as making powders look a little less 'powdery' as it were.

Caudalie Grape Water is probably my favorite spray of the lot. It's water that has been extracted from grapes with a little grape juice. It's very hydrating as well as refreshing - it has a very light grape like scent -and is great as either a treatment or a pick me up.

 La Roche-Posay Thermal Spring Water is a great choice if you have sensitive skin, like the classic Evian spray it's simply water in a nitrogen charged spray that mists finely.  This is a good one to keep in the fridge for instant cooling or to calm irritated or reddened skin.

Farmaesthetics Cool Aloe Mist Spray contains lavender and bergamot oils as well as aloe. This sits on the skin for a while before sinking in and is a great to use on skin that has had a tad too much sun.

Mario Badescu Facial Spray with Aloe, Herbs and Rosewater is the cheapie of the bunch so feel free to spray this about abundantly! The packaging (as ever with MB products) feels a little cheap but it's pump spray works well. It has a light rose scent that's ladylike without being sweet or overpowering.

Caudalie Beauty Elixir is a cult product (and the one that restarted my love of sprays). It has a herbal scent that manages to be both calming and uplifting. I always have this in my travel bag, I like to spray it into my hand and inhale from time to time. I also like to spray this just before I go to sleep - it really is, for me, more of a sensory spray than a treatment spray.

Finally, Clinique Moisture Surge Spray is another water/aloe mix. This is a excellent hydrator and the pump spray on this is just outstanding - it works so well. (This handy travel sized one was part of a GWP).

Whilst it's still Summer why not pick up some facial sprays - if you are anything like me I'm sure that you will fall in love with them and end up using them year round!

The Woman Who Stole My Life.

The Woman Who Stole My Life tells the story of Stella Sweeney.
When Stella is temporarily paralysed by a rare disease she learns to communicate with her neurologist by means of blinking her eye lids. Unbeknown to her, he records her blinked messages and turns then into a best selling book.
 Fully recovered from her illness, Stella separates from her husband and relocates to NYC to start a new life with Mannix, her neurologist.

Will Stella succeed as an author? Will she find true love and rebuild the damaged relationships in her life? Or will her hopes and dreams be sabotaged by a 'friend'?

Written in MK's breezy, chatty style TWWSML was an easy read that kept me entertained but I felt that it didn't quite work. There are a lot of subplots going on here, many of which I felt weren't relevant to the story. I felt that the story of Stella and Gilda should have played a bigger part while other parts (such as the car accident  that occurs in the opening pages or Stella's ex husband Ryan giving away his possessions) seem to be superfluous.

I never really got to grips with the character of Stella and found some of the other characters to be too exaggerated as to be believable (Georgie for instance). And whilst I know that it's fiction and you need to take things with a grain of salt as it were, many of the situations were just too unbelievable - for example the ease with which the family relocate to NYC, find schools, housing etc.

Whilst I loved the early books by Marian Keyes, the more recent ones haven't held so much appeal. Sure the writing flows but the plot(s) can be a bit too far fetched and I find some of the humour just seems rather awkward.

 If you are a huge fan of MK and her writing then I'm sure you will love this book but for me it missed the mark somewhat.

Empties July 2015.

July's empties started off somewhat slowly but then seemed to gain momentum ending up with sixteen samples and ten full sized products being used up.

I'd been traveling a lot in July hence there being two packets of wipes in the photo (I only use wipes for convenience when traveling and then only use them as a first 'cleanse' just to get rid of the majority of my make up. I always follow them with a 'proper' second cleanse.) 

The samples were all used on trips as were the individually packaged facial peels.

Products that I liked this month included Oribe Supershine Moisturizing Cream which smelt great, left my hair feeling super soft and hydrated it enough that it minimized frizz but managed to do all this without weighing my hair down or making it feel greasy.

Rodial Stemcell Super Food Cleanser is a really nice cleansing cream that I have bought repeatedly,  the huge pot that it comes lasts forever. 

I liked the Scalisi Skincare Cleanser and Exfoliator that I received in a Glossybox a lot more than I was expecting to. It was gentle and non drying and a good morning face wash. 

I enjoyed all the skincare samples I used: Sisley Ecological Compound Serum and African Botanicals Marula Oil in particular. (I also loved that the Marula oil came in a roller ball applicator which meant that it was easy to apply with no risk of spillage.) 

On the other hand I wasn't overly impressed by Kiehl's Skin Rescue Hydrator. It made my face too shiny to use during the day and whilst it didn't make me red or irritate in any way it didn't feel particularly soothing or cooling - for me this was just a very basic night time moisturiser. 

I was really disappointed with Make Up For Ever Smoky Extravagant Mascara. It  was one of the worst mascaras I have ever used - very wet and clumpy with an awkwardly shaped brush and it had a tendency to flake off during the day. 

Overall I'm very pleased with the amount of products I finished off this month!

300 Sandwiches.

Stephanie Smith is a New York Post writer who made her boyfriend a sandwich. The boyfriend joked that if she made him 300 sandwiches he would propose so she went on to, not only, make 300 sandwiches but also start a blog about the process which evolved into this book.

The book is comprised of blog posts that have been edited together to make a memoir which is interspersed with sandwich recipes. 

It's a fun idea and a quick read but I found, ultimately that the writing felt a little flat and stilted and there wasn't much of a story.

Personally, I find the concept of waiting around for a formal marriage proposal to be a little odd in this day and age.

  And 300 sandwiches? I really don't think that that is too much of a challenge and was expecting the recipes to be more exciting (there aren't 300 recipes here just a selection btw).

I was anticipating a little more from this book. The author writes quite movingly about her relationship with her Father and his death but apart from that I found the story and it's characters to be undeveloped and the writer came across as being somewhat needy. Maybe it's a tale/ challenge that works better as a blog...