AWARDS // On Tuesday, I had a most pleasant surprise. At the Johnson & Johnson Journalism Awards 2015 (which I’d attended as part of team Marie Claire), I won the award for Best Emerging Blogger. Lovely though that was, I’d really not expected to be on stage that evening and had done a hasty job of make-up at my desk, was wearing an old jumper from M&S (it’s the most comfortable and warm thing in my cupboard), and tripped on my way up to the stage to collect my award. That old adage of making an effort every day as you never know what it may hold resounded in my ears as I grinned inanely before all my peers wearing a bobbly jumper…
FAT, FAT, FAT / More humiliation in the form of having my fat content analysed by the rather dishy AND charming Si Tate on Friday. I’d be curious to hear if anyone reading has gone through the sheer embarrassment of having a man pull fat from the backs of arms, stomach and other areas where stubborn pockets of flab reside and then measure them with what can only be described as pincers. The whole process was ghastly, but I am hoping good things come of it – in research for a colleague’s article for the magazine, I’ve been enlisted as a tester bunny and have embarked on a thoroughly sensible eating plan in a bid to put paid to my anxiety while simultaneously lowering my body fat percentage. I’m being remeasured in a month so if you follow me on twitter expect endless food updates (and please do encourage me – some chocolate looked longingly at me last night and it took an awful lot of inner strength to turn it down).
HITTING THE RIGHT BASE NOTES / Make-up, oh make-up – how you continue to titillate me. New discoveries this week? Tom Ford’s Correcting Pen designed on the one side to apply a creamy sweep of coverage to redness and on the other to pin point and erase blemishes, is just too good. Also frequently adventuring out my make-up bag is Chanel’s CC Cream (Mary Greenwell told me she loves this by the by – there ain’t no better recommendation that that!) and Eve Lom’s new Primer (due out in April here). The three together have done an excellent job of rendering my slightly dodgy skin uniform and glowing (fake, I cry when complimented – it’s all fake!)…
MOISTURE ON THE GO / Skincare has been equally as delicious of late. Those of you who like to look radiant of complexion keep checking back – there are so very many things I’ve been testing that I’d like to bang on about right now but that are unfortunately embargoed (pesky rules). Two things I can tell you about that have been total game changers for me of late? First, La Prairie Perfection a Porter. I raved about it over on the Marie Claire website here, but need to add that if you get red, sore eyes or dry, cracked lips and are always looking a little tired on the go, get this. Bloody expensive, yes, but lasts forever, will be used (if it’s in your handbag, you won’t be able not to whip this out approximately every twenty minutes for a touch of eye and lip moisture) and does the job like no other.
THE SERUM/OIL WONDER / Second, Caudalie Premier Cru Elixir. Half serum and half oil, it’s lightweight and almost immediately absorbed, leaving skin looking refreshed and bouncy. But that’s not all, my friends. Whack a little of this on and then chase it with serum or oil and thanks to the lipophilic nature of the Caudalie Elixir, whatever you put on after will be sucked more deeply into the skin. If you still aren’t using a serum (in God’s name why not?!), start now. The days are getting brighter and longer and a little work done now will mean that when spring properly springs in all its glory your face won’t be dry and wrinkly like a prune…
P.S. / Also in my Marie Claire piece are some other thrilling things: Nars’s new blushers (oh my), REN’s new addition to the Moroccan Rose family, Ciate’s nail collection, Nurse Jamie’s B12 supplement and many, many more…