Tuesday 31 July 2012

Cosmetics & Beauty News (July 2012)

L'Occitane sponsors World RiderZ
As a brand that promotes honest values, strong ethics and positive change, L’Occitane has chosen to sponsor the WorldRiderZ in their round-the-world bike journey to raise awareness and funds to fight chronic kidney disease. During their London stop-over, Stephane Etienne and Paul Torriero visited L’Occitane boutique in Covent Garden where they were pampered with mini facials and treated to hand massages to ensure they’re set for the rest of their three-month journey, which spans 9 countries and 25,000km. Along the way they've visited 11 hospitals, held press conferences and filmed a Discovery Channel documentary. L'Occitane have also given 15% of their sales on specific days to the WorldRiderZ cause, as well as providing the lads with travel bags full of L'Occitane classics to keep them in shape (which contain, among other things, repairing shampoo, verbena shower gel and cade aftershave balm).


Also among L'Occitane's philanthropic adventures this month is their launch of a honey-scented candle to raise funds for UK sight loss charity the RNIB. Costing £13, the candle is available at shops nationwide as well as online.

She Said Beauty launches
Forget Facebook - if you're into beauty, She Said Beauty is where it's at when it comes to social networking. I've been on and tried it out and am very impressed: you're able to update your status and upload pictures just like on the Book of Face, but you can also follow fellow beauty fans like on Twitter, and choose your favourite products, brands and looks like on Pinterest - so it really does take the best of everything to make something new and different focusing on fans of cosmetics and skincare. ELLE magazine loves it and I'm sure you will too. There's also tutorials and trends and the chance to connect with beauty experts, so it goes beyond just a hodgepodge of existing social networks (although you can also connect your existing social network accounts to your SSB accounts for convenience and to make further connections). It's free to join and will have you reading articles and writing your own reviews in no time.

New Chubby Stick shade to crush cancer
United with Estee Lauder since 1994 in a yearly campaign against breast cancer, Clinique has launched a new Chubby Stick shade which will be available in October. The new Chubby Stick comes with its own limited edition trousse for the same price as a normal Chubby (€19). The line has already been hugely successful, with millions sold since its launch in 2011. It's hydrating, colourful and full of antioxidants - and this fundraising bent means it's also well on the way to helping in the fight against breast cancer too.

London via the world 
In its new Global Heroes collection, Molton Brown is taking consumers to and from London via the rest of the world. Guests at the Goring Hotel London between now and September 15 will be able to experience their bathing menu. Choose one of the five countries and a bath butler will draw the bath for you with the appropriate bath gel (choose from China, Madagascar, Florida, Guinea, or Australia), complete with a matching candle and specially-created cocktail inspired by the country. All of these experiences are priced affordably, costing a highly appropriate £20.12. If you can't get there, nab all 5 bath gels in travel sizes, in a special gift box, for £36 (I've been lucky enough to be sent this by Molton Brown, and will be reviewing it soon). Full sizes of each shower gel are also available separately at £18 per 300ml.

30 days of fashion and beauty is back!
The ultimate online beauty festival, 30 Days of Fashion and Beauty, is back this late summertime, kicking off with a new contest to win your perfect spa break. Say how far you would go for youthful skin (options range from 'drink lots of water' to 'go under the knife'), then enter your details and select the spa break you'd like to win from the options given. A great way to ease yourself into the new term as kids and teachers prepare to go back to school!

Make a wish
In fragrance news, we have heard whispers on the wind of Anna Sui's latest fragrance. Entitled Fairy Dance - Secret Wish, it uses fruity notes of tangerine and mango, spicy notes like pink pepper, sandalwood and vetiver and floral notes of peony, bamboo, rose and vanilla to create a warm and playful scent. This shimmering carton would make a perfect gift for any ladies with a summer birthday, and would make a welcome stocking filler too for any super-eager beavers who are already thinking of Christmas.

 
Harvey Nichols opens Beauty Bazaar
Hot on the heels of Marks and Spencers' new beauty hub, Harvey Nichols has announced that its own Beauty Bazaar will open in autumn this year. Aiming to provide a one-stop luxury beauty destination, Harvey Nichols will use 22,000 square feet of retail space spread over three floors in the LiverpoolONE shopping centre for this new venture. Big brands such as Crème de la Mer and NARS promise to be featured alongside niche companies such as Bliss, and personal shoppers will be available to tailor advice to customer requirements. Treatment services will also be offered in the form of a Blink Brow Bar, and spa offerings from Carita, ESPA, and The Organic Pharmacy, among others. A champagne and cocktail bar with glamorous floor-to-ceiling glass frontage ensures a sparkling finish to this high-shine experience. Follow developments and see what else will be available by using the hashtag #BeautyBazaarHN on Twitter.

folds right down to this
Give it some welly
So it's coming up to August, and the weather is behaving frankly bizarrely where I am. Brilliant sunshine in the morning (which means you put on a dress and ballerina pumps) gives way to extensive cloud cover (which means you change into jeans and a jumper), followed by driving rain (which means you break out the wellies). So what's one supposed to do on a day out? Pack a pair of FOLDABLE wellies, that's what. Soon to be available at www.thewellyshop.com, they're small enough to pop in your bag in case you get caught out, meaning they're perfect for every situation from packing for weekends away and attending outdoor weddings to the commute. In addition, they're available in navy, red or black to ensure you never go out of style while keeping dry either (although they are unisex, so even your bloke can bag a pair without embarrassment). Made by high-quality brand Hunter, they cost £79, but are likely to last you a lifetime. The durable sole, flexible leg and availability in UK sizes 3-12 means they should cover every eventuality. The Welly Shop is taking pre-orders now, and here's an exclusive 10% off code (XVPAV524) that they've given me just for you - meaning you pay £71 instead of £79 from now until the end of September.

    Pop princess Anja gives beauty tips
    And speaking of exclusive stuff, what would you say if a pop princess were to give you her personal tips on beauty? Norwegian starlet Anja is just breaking onto the UK scene, and you can watch her latest video here. But while you're preparing your best "I liked her BEFORE she was famous" line, you can relax in your smugness and take on some of her beauty tips. She recommends adding superfoods to an already healthy diet and switching chemical skin products for natural ones as a starter, as well as using a skin brush to aid circulation. 

    For a natural cellulite treatment, use a mixture of used coffee grounds and coconut oil - and she also recommends trying to get to a steam room, snow bath or sauna from time to time. Anja stays in her food cupboard for her cleanser and toner, mixing honey, natural yoghurt and ground almonds for a face wash and scrub in one. She tones with a mixture of distilled water, organic apple cider vinegar and a few drops of lemon juice to balance skin pH. If you need a vitamin C boost, why not try her concoction of lemon juice, aloe vera juice, vitamin C powder (use 1 teaspoon of each) and purified water? Pop into a spray bottle and use while on the go. 

    As for her masks and moisturiser, Anja reverts to classic ingredients Moroccan clay (as a mask for face, body and hair) and argan oil (to moisturise). Coconut oil makes another good hair mask, she says - leave in the oil overnight before rinsing in the morning with a gentle natural shampoo. Anja's hair is obviously important to her - she also mashes a banana with an egg and a spoonful of honey before putting it in her hair, covering with a hot towel for 30 minutes, and then rinsing for soft and shiny tresses. Argan oil or tea tree oil can also be used to treat the scalp - but Anja recognises, too, that there's more to beauty than just slapping on product after product (natural or no) - her other tips include keeping hydrated to avoid dark circles and, of course, getting enough rest to maintain that hectic popstar lifestyle. Sometimes it's easy to forget that all we need to do is keep up those basics to give us a good springboard for the rest of the day.

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