Trilogy is launching Helping Hand Wash a 10^th Anniversary limited edition product which will be sold throughout 2012.

100% of profits from the sale of Helping Hand Wash will go to the Child’s i Foundation, a wonderful charity helping to end the tragedy of baby abandonment in Uganda. The founder of Child’s i, Lucy Buck, worked as a TV producer on shows including Big Brother, until finding an abandoned baby in a car park changed her life. This spurred Lucy on to give up her career in TV and set up her own charity as well as an orphanage in Kampala, Uganda.

Helping Hand Wash combines the natural antibacterial properties of Elderberry and Burdock with natural vegetable oils in an effective, low foaming liquid soap. With Trilogy’s signature fragrance of frankincense, rose geranium and lavender, the luxurious creamy texture leaves hands feeling deliciously soft and clean.

Lucy’s story

“For several years my life was divided. I worked as a producer on high-profile TV shows and volunteered at an orphanage in Uganda. In 2008, I buried a little baby boy called Abraham. He had been abandoned in a taxi park and died of meningitis in an orphanage aged just 16 weeks. In his short life, no one had truly loved him. I decided then to quit my TV career to establish the Child’s i Foundation, with the aim of helping ensure Abraham’s tragic story wasn’t repeated over and over again. Our belief is that every child deserves to grow up in a family rather than in an institution.  Every purchase of this product helps make this dream possible.”

Trilogy Helping Hand Wash RRP £13.50 (300ml) is available online here 

They say a craftsman is only as good as his tools, and I think this is definitely true of make up artists. Many of us scour the world looking for the finest brushes to apply our art, and we lovingly care for them as a fine artist would. To compare make up applied with cheap, synthetic brushes as opposed to quality, real-hair equivalents, is to compare nursery finger painting with Rosetti’s Pre-Raphaelite’s. Flawless application requires artisans tools.

And so to JAPONESQUE®, who, up until recently, were a bit of a niche brand on our shores. Though well-known to make up artists worldwide for the luxurious quality of the products, their make up accessories have not been so easy to buy in the UK. When I first finished my make up training I scoured London for a stockist, splashing out on several JAPONESQUE®  palettes for my kit because I’d heard from US artists about the wonderful quality of the brand. 11 years on, my JAPONESQUE®  palettes have outlived every other palette I ever bought, MAC, Charles Fox, Make Up Forever, Screenface you name it!

They are in fact over 25 years old in the US, having been created by make up artists for make up artists, and inspired by the professional make up tools used in kabuki theater in Japan, which were of superior quality and function.   Imagine my excitement upon learning that JAPONESQUE®  have launched a brush collection in Boots and John Lewis.  Boots stocks the travel collection which contains the perfect size of brush for both travelling and transporting in your handbag. The quality has not been compromised at all, as is often the case with other travel sized brush sets. I have washed mine scores of times over the last month or so and they have shown no sign of shedding hairs.

A few of my favorites are:

• Angled eyeliner brush £12.75, creates the perfect, fine precision line
• Pro concealer brush £10.50, perfectly shaped to fit the under-eye socket
• Angled foundation brush £19.50, to work foundation into the skin and contour the planes of the face
• Medium Eye shadow Fluff Brush £14.75, to blend colour into the socket line
• Powder and blush brushes from £24, are silky soft and dispense just the right amount of colour, whilst blending beautifully.

And if you’re quick, Boots online are offering a buy one get one half price on the whole brush range.

The Screenface website which sells the palettes, cases, fast lash: http://www.screenface.co.uk

The Pro range and other tools at John Lewis: http://goo.gl/j82IN

JAPONESQUE® short-handled brushes at Boots stores: http://goo.gl/jO8A6

By Hollie Kiernan

False lashes can be difficult. Trying to do anything with one eye closed (with the added danger of lash glue) is a challenge for anybody. Plus, the end effect can often be more chav than fab.

Thankfully, Model Co have developed a new product ‘Fibre Lash – Brush on False Lashes’ (as beloved by Danni Minogue) which promises to give a false lash effect with one simple sweep of a mascara wand – no glue, no sticky fingers, and no peeling lashes at 2am. The kit comes with two mascaras – one regular black one, and a smaller tube of the special lash fibres. The premise is simple, apply one coat of the regular mascara, and then apply a coat of the lash fibres, don’t be alarmed – the fibres look like something you pull out of the lint drawer in the tumble dryer – but they’re very easy to apply.

Once you have coated your lashes in the white fibres, wait about 30 seconds and then top up with the black mascara.  Be careful when applying the white coat, it’s best to look down when doing so, in case you get any in your eyes.  It’s also a good idea to wiggle the wand of the black mascara slowly through the lashes to build up maximum volume.

The results are good, while I am fairly well endowed in the lash department, it did add length to my lashes, compared with the use of mascara alone. When I tried it on a friend with shorter lashes, it did add a lot of length to her lashes, giving a very natural look, rather than an obvious false lash affect.

This is best for those who want to add natural length to shorter lashes, without the hassle of falsies. One thing I will say, aside from the fantastic sleek packaging, this mascara stays put.  No amount of rubbing or tears (splashes of water in my case) will make it budge.  It does, however, come off easily with the use of a cream cleanser, or an eye make-up remover. This would be the ideal product for a bride who is looking to subtly enhance her lashes for the day, without using inserts.

The fibres itself are made from Nylon 66, a common thickener in many mascaras, and the mascara itself contains Beeswax, which will help keep your lashes soft.  The company are also against testing on animals, which is always a relief.

At £35, it’s pricy, but for a special occasion, it’s definitely worth it. The Fibre Lash is available from Boots, or see www.fibrelash.com.

So dear readers, I’m shooting away from home for 10 days in Manchester and staying in fancy hotel. The air is so dry in this hotel that my skin appears to have aged 5 years in 5 days. It’s hideous. You can’t open any windows in the room, and the steady thrum of air-conditioning is driving me slightly potty.

One can go a bit stir-crazy under these conditions, so occasionally myself and the rest of the team have to go and let off steam. Last Saturday, the aforementioned steam-release came in the form of huge quantities of red wine and not very much food. I woke on Sunday morning for work with the mother of all hangovers, which was greatly exacerbated by the Sahara-like conditions in my room. My lips were damn-near glued together for the total absence of saliva present.

Initially I berated myself for being so reckless on a school-night, especially as I can’t drink coffee, but then applauded myself for remembering to pack Faust’s Hangover Potions for Discerning Night Owls. The pack contains two vials -  Awake -  with B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B8. B12, C, E vitamins, Minerals, Green Tea, Ginko Biloba, Guarana & Korean Ginseng to give you a kick-start first thing. And Asleep, which contains Electrolytes, 5-HTP, Milkthistle, Selenium & Honey to promote restfulness & relaxation. This 24 hour restorative natural formula also claims to work for general stress, tiredness & jetlag without relying on caffeine.

The idea is to replenish lost minerals and vitamins naturally and recharge energy levels without turning to sugary, energy drinks and black coffee.

So I broke open the seal of the ‘Awake’ potion and sniffed tentatively at the contents. In honesty I have to say it smells and tastes absolutely foul, I can’t quite describe how, you’ll just have to take my word for it. That said, the hangover potion had me feeling significantly perkier and considerably less nauseous about 15 minutes after I gulped it down, holding my nose. The effects continued for a couple of hours, giving me some all-important grace time to get my model shoot-ready without needing to excuse myself once. The effects seemed to subside after that, I was back to feeling green around the gills in the afternoon, but I was very grateful for the morning respite.

Later that night , I necked the ‘Asleep’ potion which is considerably more palatable thanks to the honey. It’s hard to say whether this had a particularly soporific effect as I was already exhausted from the night before. But I did sleep well. I think it’s fair to say that Faust’s potions definitely assist your recovery from the demon drink. I don’t think I could bring myself to take the ‘Awake’ potion as an everyday tonic or pick-me-up, but for desperate measures it’s handy to have in your arsenal.

Available on www.cultbeauty.co.uk for £5.50 a pack, the price of the last drink you probably shouldn’t have had!

South West London has a new day spa, The Dolphin, although if you led someone inside blindfolded, they could easily be fooled into thinking they’d been kidnapped and dispatched to Morocco. It is beautifully designed, your senses are delighted with a musky rose fragrance, twinkling lanterns lining the halls and walls, the sound of beautiful Arabian music drifting through the air, and an incredible choice of tea blends from the Moroccan tea bar. A good start. 

Aforementioned teas are served in the courtyard waiting room, modelled on a traditional riad, which is a typical Moroccan home with an internal walled courtyard garden. Sadly I didn’t get to experience it in full thanks to the grim British November afternoon. I bet it’s lovely out there on a warm sunny day though…

The Dolphin Spa specialises in the ancient cleansing Hammam and Rhassoul rituals, which, for male visitors can include a traditional wet shave by a highly trained barber. The location houses 5 treatment rooms, 2 studios and a Salt Steam Infusion room for an authentic Moroccan experience. It’s personal preference of course, but I’ve never been a fan of the Hamman ritual myself, so I opted for the 70 minute Arabian Back, Scalp & Face Ritual. And I’m SOOOO glad I did.

“Using exotic Moroccan fragrances and Arabian influenced movements, this treatment commences with a warm oil back massage to relax and indulge, followed by a full facial with a hypnotic face, scalp and foot massage, ideal for generating energy in tired bodies.”

I can honestly say this was one of the best spa treatments I have had in a very long time. The therapist was excellent and the treatment was so intensely relaxing that I fought hard against sleep – not wanting to waste a single moment of the experience – however it eventually got the better of me. The Aromatherapy Associates products are perfectly suited to a Moroccan spa thanks to the use of rose oil in many of the blends. Blissful.

Of course with it being so recently opened, the towels and robes are uber-fluffy, and everything is shiny, sparkly and new. The relaxation room is dark and warm with more tea on offer, and there are heated beds that I would sell my right arm for in order to have one at home.

My only complaint is that guests of the spa are not allowed to use the lovely, large swimming pool which is the very first thing you see when you enter the building. Whenever I go to a spa, I really like to make the most of the experience by doing some gentle exercise, and I felt a bit cheated that it was sitting there, invitingly, but only open to members of the gym next door. If I were the owner of the Dolphin Spa, I would have negotiated a pass to use the pool as part of the package. But overall it’s a very small complaint. There is free parking outside on a Sunday and this made me incredibly happy, as I hate to get on the tube after such a relaxing experience. The Dolphin gets a double thumbs up from me.

By Hollie Kiernan

January.  A month of detoxes and diets, both physically and financially. This year, instead of making false promises of 6am runs and grapefruit breakfasts, I decided to start my detox from the outside in, which is much less of a struggle, and way more fun. (There are also still copious tins of Roses lingering at home, so I have to polish them off first before the dieting commences, natch).

I started from the top this year, with what once was my crowning glory, my hair. If, like me, your hair has been straightened, curled, teased and tortured over the festive season, it may resemble a bird’s nest rather than a sheet of shimmering silk. Fear not, there is a solution.

Detangle your hair as much as possible and then apply olive oil to your entire head and scalp. Really massage it into your scalp, which will boost circulation and help ease any flaky patches.  Then using your fingers, or a wide tooth comb, brush the oil through your hair, ensuring that the ends are properly moisturised. This is best done over a sink, standing on a towel, as oil can be messy, and potentially dangerous, especially on a tiled area. Leave for 20 mins and then hop in the shower to shampoo out – it may take two or three rinses to ensure the all traces of the oil are fully removed, and then condition as normal.

If your regular shampoo is leaving you unfulfilled, the DGJ range is one to definitely try. I have become addicted to the aptly named Hangover Hair shampoo by Daniel Galvin Junior. The shampoo promised to offer an intensive detox for your hair, and I have to admit it does what it says on the tin. This product is laden with certified organic ingredients, which is a great start for the new year/new you detox.

As soon as you begin to lather, your senses are hit by the uplifting and soothing smell of lavender oil, which is great for clearing your head the morning after the night before. The shampoo effectively cleans hair without drying it out, as it only uses natural cleansing agents, as opposed to the chemical ones found in most shampoos, which makes it perfect for regular use. It will remove any traces of debauchery and product build up from your locks, leaving them moisturised and prepped for styling, so even if you feel hungover, your hair won’t look it.

The range is a steal, with both the shampoo and conditioner available for £4.99. For more information and to see the full DGJ range, click on

www.danielgalvinjnr.co.uk

Living Nature is one of New Zealand’s most popular natural beauty brands. Of the small selection of products I’ve tested so far, I’ve been highly impressed. Living Nature’s founder Suzanne Hall says,  ”All plants produce a variety of bioactive molecules to protect themselves from stresses such as insect and bacterial attack, and dehydration caused by drought, heat and frost. Living Nature products capture these concentrated bioactive molecules, and they provide the active ingredients in the range – protecting and nurturing the skin exactly the way nature intended”.

I recently tested the Nourishing Manuka Body Wash (£13.80 for 200ml) and Body Cream from the range.

The key ingredients are:

• Kelp, rich in nutrients absorbed from the sea, with the added benefit of the mild antiseptic properties of iodine and tannin to cleanse and purify.
• Manuka Honey which contains nutrients, vitamins, amino acids and minerals. Honey has been used for centuries to aid skin health and beauty but Manuka honey has special qualities that work not only as a humectant, drawing moisture into the skin, but contain a unique active component derived from the Manuka plant that makes this honey one of the most biologically active and beneficial honeys for the skin. For more information on honey and why we need to protect our endangered bees read here
• Tea Tree Oil, widely used for its anti-bacterial properties

What can I say? These products do not disappoint. The body wash smells incredible, lathers beautifully without nasty SLS, parabens or mineral oils, and feels very nourishing on the body. No tightness or itchiness of the skin upon drying, and when used in conjunction with the Nourishing Manuka Day Cream (£18.40 for 200ml) you feel enveloped in goodness. It is soothing, calming and very moisturising, perfect for the winter months. Pricey, yes, but totally YUM!

Available online from My Pure

Regular readers of my blog will have heard me moan endlessly about my rubbish hair. It’s flat and lifeless, there isn’t much of it, and yet an alarming amount seems to fall out in the shower every morning. My quest for products that improve both the look and feel of my hair, but more importantly my hair health, is something akin to the quest for the Holy Grail.

The nice people at Klorane heard me banging on about this and sent me their Strengthening Shampoo with Quinine & B6 (£6). Quinine is extracted from the bark of an Ecuadorian tree and contains a natural invigorating molecule that is said to strengthen hair keratin and improve microcirculation, thereby stimulating hair growth, restoring thickness and vigor to thinning, lifeless hair. Sounds good.

The shampoo is silicon free, but I was surprised to find it does contain SLS and parabens, ingredients which I try to stay away from on the whole. Even more surprisingly, for a product containing SLS, this shampoo creates hardly any lather whatsoever. Odd. This meant I had to wash my hair twice each time because my hair just didn’t feel clean with one shampoo, which also meant I got through the bottle very quickly. Additionally, it has a very strong scent, not unpleasant exactly, but very masculine and slightly medicinal.

The consistency of the accompanying conditioner (£6.50) is so watery that I lost most of it down the shower with each application. Runny conditioner is a bit of a pet hate of mine. You end up wasting so much of it. However, this does leave your hair super-soft and shiny, so much so I had to avoid using it on my roots at all because they are too oily at the best of times. Styling my hair was quite difficult after use, so whilst it felt lovely and soft, I just couldn’t get any volume out of it at all.

All this means that I wouldn’t buy this shampoo again. Whilst it may well improve the overall health of your hair (I think there may have been a slight reduction in amount of hair loss with each wash), I just couldn’t deal with the side effect of having limp hair. My search for the holy hair Grail continues…

The Klorane Quinine and Vitamin B range is available from John Lewis and selected independent pharmacies. For all stockists enquiries call 01582 820165 or visit www.klorane.co.uk

Good Morning Dear Readers!

We are absolutely delighted to announce that we have been nominated for another prestigious blog award, Marie Claire’s Best Beauty Blog! Yippee! A huge thank you to all our readers who took the time to nominate our blog.

You now have the chance to vote for us to win until January 20th using this link below. It would make us very happy bloggers indeed!

The-marie-claire-blog-awards

Love Aly, Hollie and Rosie
x

I’m a great collector of jewellery. Nothing particularly expensive I might add, mainly costume jewellery, as I like to chop and change to suit my outfit/mood/the weather, and every year Santa brings me something pretty. It’s often a little piece from Top Shop, or Tatty Devine, or some little market stall on Brick Lane, but this year, I asked Santa for a piece of jewellery that I could feel really good about.

I first read about Made in Vogue some months ago. They are a fair-trade accessories brand that produces jewellery and leather goods from a Nairobi workshop in Kenya. Committed to supporting and promoting ‘trade not aid’ in Africa, they collaborate with some very high profile designers such as Hattie Rickards and Pippa Small – who designed this incredible ‘jellyfish statement necklace’ below (which is currently on special offer), and celebrities such as Alexa Chung, Laura Bailey and Peaches Geldof to produce high quality, limited edition designs.

I was really thrilled with my Pembe bangle above (£20) and the long Murinda Pendent (£35), which is made from batik horn and recycled brass and sits on a simple brass hoop necklace. (And don’t worry, the horn used in this pendant is a bi-product of the food industry, not some poor animal).

So, rather than wear a piece of mass-produced, nickel-coated metal with a very short shelf-life from the high street, why not choose a unique, hand crafted design made with love, by people who really need the support of western currency.  Additionally, the customer service at Made is excellent, my jewellery was ordered 2 days before Christmas, and arrived on Christmas Eve, beautifully packaged in a handmade African cloth bag. Made. What’s not to love?

So dear readers, was Santa good to you all this year? We were very fortunate, our stockings were full, as were our bellies, Christmas was spent with family enjoying some well-needed peace and quiet. The blog had a little holiday too.

And now 2012 is upon us, we’ve emerged from a champagne-coloured haze, blinking like hopeful newborns at a bright, shiny new year ahead.

We would like to wish all our friends and readers a happy, peaceful and prosperous New Year, filled with love and laughter.

Blogging will resume shortly, and we hope you continue to enjoy The Truth About Beauty. If there are any new features you’d like to see on this blog, such as a Q&A post where you can ask beauty questions, please do let us know and we’ll endeavor to bring them to you.

Best wishes

Aly, Hollie and Rosie

x

Many of you will have heard the hype surrounding the new skin-perfecting product Nanoblur, in fact apparently Boots sells one every 2 seconds. It’s relatively inexpensive, £19.99 from Boots, and the marketing hype claims it makes you look 10 years younger in 40 seconds. Sceptical? You betcha. However, I’m of the age where the promise of looking 10 years younger is quite appealing, so I gave it a go.

It’s rare that I’m immediately impressed by a beauty product, in fact, more often than not I wonder whether the many lotions and potions I slap on my face make any discernible difference at all, even after twice daily applications for several months. Nanoblur is one of those rare beauty products that actually delivers results almost instantly. Perhaps not in the realm of ’10 years younger in 40 seconds’, but definitely in the vicinty of ‘wow, my skin looks significantly less lined’. I tested this product on one half of my face to get a real idea of the difference it makes and I have to say I was pretty astonished by it. My boyfriend said it looked as though one side of my face was in soft-focus. So far, so good.

But, and this is a big but, Nanoblur is really tricky to use unless you are lucky enough to have the kind of skin that doesn’t require foundation. On clean, moisturised skin, it works like a dream, blurring large pores, mattifying and erasing fine -medium lines around the eyes, forehead and nose. And this also makes it an excellent product for men, both in everyday life, but also for high definition shoots. Pores virtually disappear and skin looks very matte, if perhaps a little flat for hours. However if you’re looking for a miracle cure for very deep furrows, I think you’ll be disappointed.

The difficulty comes when you start to introduce make up into the mix. The instructions state that you should apply Nanoblur after your moisturiser and foundation, but I know from experience that it’s impossible to apply cream over cream without the products sliding around. I experimented with many different types of foundation and could not get a good result, the foundation simply moves around or creates a ‘pilling’ effect on the skin.

After many attempts, I found the best method is to moisturise really well, let it absorb properly, then lightly pat a small amount of the Nanoblur into the skin. Again, let it sink in thoroughly. And for the final layer, again you need to pat foundation on (not rub or slide onto skin) with your fingers, a sponge or a flat bottomed stipple brush. You don’t need to powder after this, even with a very oily t-zone like mine. With this method, I can confidently say that my skin appeared much younger, yep, several years younger and whilst I’m not sure I can be bothered with the extra effort it takes on a work day, I love having the option to erase a few years before a big night out! To counteract that slightly flat effect, I applied a Shu Uemura powder luminiser on my cheekbones.

Alternatively, I had good results using the first 2 steps above, and then stippling powder mineral foundation over the top of the Nanoblur. A friend of mine says that mixing the Nanoblur with her tinted moisturiser gives a more dewy effect. I also find it works brilliantly as an eyelid primer for powder shadows, colour stays put all day. What is clear is that if you invest in a tube of this, it requires patience to find a method that works for you. And a word of caution, this may not be a good product for those with very dry skin.

It’s worth mentioning that despite it’s name, the light diffusing particles in Nanoblur are not actually nano-sized therefore they cannot penetrate deep into the skin and beyond into the bloodstream, so the product is perfectly safe to use if you are pregnant or breast feeding. Equally there are no reported skin care benefits with using Nanoblur and some users have left comments on blogs saying that they find the product very drying. Personally, I think this is an excellent product and is one of the few that has made it into my kit and my own make up bag.

I’d be interested to hear from anyone out there who uses Nanoblur underneath make up applied with an airbrush gun. I can imagine that results would be excellent with this method.

I thought some of you might like to see this short film I worked on with the endlessly charming and incredibly beautiful David Gandy and Sam Webb, the darlings of Dolce & Gabbana. ‘Time To Teach The Beasts” was directed by Mike J Penn, styled by the team at Spashion.com and was filmed at an atmospheric old-school boxing gym in North London. David and Sam are both experienced boxers so the gruelling training routines that were filmed that day were all for real. Can’t say it was the worst job I’ve ever done, watching two of the world’s most beautiful men slug it out in a boxing ring…

Here are a few stills from the shoot…

It felt like Christmas came early for me this week when I received this little beauty – the Bobbi Brown Party To Go Palette, £32.  This mini palette houses 3 Eye Shadows that are perfectly chosen to help you create a smokey, metallic eye, 2 sultry Lip Colors, plus a mini High Shimmer Lip Gloss, making them the ideal stocking filler and purse companion. I couldn’t help but sneak this into my own personal make up bag for the party season, and it totally saved the day last week when, looking wet and bedraggled, I was persuaded to go to yet another Christmas drinks shindig straight from a day of appointments. 

I have a ridiculous number of Bobbi Brown products in my kit and in my personal make up bag for these reasons:

• The eye and cheek powders are highly pigmented and very easy to blend, plus you get a lot of product for your money (my only complaint is a slight lack of variety of shades)
• The cream eyeshadows are super long-lasting and provide the perfect base for building up layers and layers of stronger pigment on the eye. Of all the cream eyeshadows I have tested over the years, I think Bobbi Brown’s are the best
• The award-winning foundations and tinted moisturisers are excellent quality, ranging from the lightest wash of tint to full coverage for the face
• The lipsticks and glosses are fabulous, and true to the origins of the brand, come in a vast array of extremely flattering shades
• And finally, the palettes are brilliantly designed. It’s so easy to swap the pans of colour, they just click in and out, giving you the option to interchange blushers and eye shadows easily depending on your mood. They have outlasted ALL of my MAC and Shu Uemura palettes despite being dropped too many times to mention.

So, as you have probably gathered, it’s fair to say that I’m a HUGE fan of this brand. There will be more Bobbi Brown reviews coming soon from the bag of tricks I was sent this week.

For those of you that were enthralled by the last few months of X Factor (come on admit it, it’s everyone’s guilty pleasure), here are a couple of pics from my shoot for Fabulous magazine with the female finalists.

We had a couple of hours to work on the 8 chanteurs, with a strict brief of colourful neon brights to complement the sporty ‘street’ styling, so I worked on Little Mix with the wonderful make up artist Aimee Adams, while I had Misha B all to myself. It was Misha’s own suggestion to go with the head-turning Geisha-inspired lips, and I was very impressed by her enthusiasm for experimenting with new looks. Not one to shy away from a bold statement, Misha was great fun to work with, uber-professional in front of the camera, and this will definitely not be the last you see of her. 

Little Mix were simply the sweetest young girls I’ve come across in a long time, so polite and eager to participate, despite extreme tiredness and having to deal with some very nasty comments across social media channels. But I’m confident they’ll be absolutely fine no matter what gets thrown their way because they clearly have a very solid friendship, a hard-working ethic and genuinely sweet natures. I wish them all every success.

Some of you may remember me tweeting about working with the gorgeous Downton Abbey girls recently, well here is the final picture from Marie Claire’s Christmas issue. The girls are almost unrecognisable as they ditched their period costumes in favour of sequins and spandex for the Studio 54 inspired shoot.

Despite the hectic schedule, it was a very relaxed day and I have to say that every single actress was a real pleasure to work with. They clearly think the world of each other! We were even treated to some wonderful guitar playing and singing from the multi-talented Michelle Dockery.

Special thanks to Pukka Herbs who provided the girls with an array of lovely ayurvedic skin care products on the day to pamper themselves and to my assistants Rosie Hope and Rebecca Doney who helped me with their transformation.

Hello dear readers

Marie Claire are holding a blog awards competition for Best Beauty & Fashion bloggers, and we at The Truth About Beauty would LOVE to be nominated in the category for Best Beauty Blog. It would simply make our year!

So if you enjoy reading this blog, and feel inclined to spread a little love, you can nominate us by clicking on this link:

Marie Claire blog awards

Just be sure to include the blog’s URL which is http://www.thetruthaboutbeauty.co.uk

Thanks to all who lend a helping hand!

Aly, Hollie and Rosie

xx

Contributing writer Hollie Kiernon and I are very pleased to be included in Channel 4 Beauty’s ‘Best Skin Care Blogs’ today, thank you Channel 4!

We are also regularly feature in Grazia Daily’s Beauty Blog Round Up of the Week along with the many of our blogger friends such as A Model Recommends, Just Nice Things and The Beauty Button.

Many thanks to both, it is lovely to be recognised for all the hours we put it!

By Hollie Kiernan

As a fair-skinned individual, (pale and interesting I like to think), bronzer has always been a friend of mine. During the summer months I’m loathe to let sun on my face, instead slathering on the factor 50+ in order to keep wrinkles at bay. Instead, I prefer to get the glow with bronzer, the safer tanning option.

But now, as the winter rolls in, I’m ditching the sun-kissed look and my faithful pot of Hoola has been banished until next year. But fear not fellow Caspers, you can make the most of ‘pale and interesting’ with the clever use of contouring and highlighting. 

Mii cosmetics were created by a range of top beauty experts, who sought the opinions of salon devotees on what they wanted from a make up brand. Based on their findings, their mission is to enhance natural beauty, not mask it, which is exactly what the Mii Divine Illuminator does.  The brand now has a large following, including N.Y beauty Olivia Palemero, so if it’s good enough for her…

The illuminator powder, (or highlighter if you like) is made from 100% minerals, and surprisingly, rubies, which makes it kind to the skin, gives an ethereal glow, and an ultra light feel. It comes in a small screw-top jar; the trick is to tip a little of the powder into the lid (like all powders, this can be a bit fiddly) and then dip your brush into the lid, tap off the excess powder, and apply anywhere that the light will catch – temples, cheeks, brow bone, it also leaves a fabulous glow on the décolletage, or, mix it with some body lotion for an all over sheen, perfect for the festive season!

This may not be a product for those who don’t like fuss as it takes time to perfect application, or a steady hand, because one small jolt can mean your bed linen, sink or LBD is covered in powder.

Although it is pricey, (rubies don’t come cheap) a little goes a very long way, which makes this powder a sound investment.

The Divine Illuminator costs £18.95 and is available from www.miicosmetics.com