MY FAVOURITE FASHION ONLINE SHOPPING SITES & RECENT SALE BUYS

It was officially the first day of Spring yesterday and that means summer is just around the corner so i'm starting to think about my transitional and summer wardrobe.

I recently purchased a few items in the sales and fingers crossed I hope we’ll have the weather for me to wear them!

As I have two young children Evie who is nearly four and Erin who has just turned one I no longer can wear my sky scraper heels for the school run etc, so for me now I tend to wear wedges or flats.  So much easier to wear when you’re rushing around all day! (I tend not to use the word practical!)

Being a working Mum I LOVE Internet shopping as I can really view and think about what I’m purchasing for everyday wear or for a special occasion outfit.  This I usually do when the children are in bed. I even do my grocery shopping online!

My favourite online shopping sites I tend to buy from are:

www.asos.com

www.outnet.com

www.net-a-porter.com (usually sale items only)

www.brandalley.com

and most recently www.cocosa.com
www.ebay.com

I’d say I can find pretty much everything I want from these sites and their delivery and returns process is fantastic.

Here are a few of my recent sale purchases…

MELISSA ODABASH Panama hat with leather detail 
RRP £92.00 SALE Price: £40.00 

www.cocosa.com

MATTHEW WILLIAMSON Printed cotton playsuit

RRP £275 SALE Price: £55.00
www.net-a-porter.com

JIMMY CHOO Wish Gladiator Sandals
RRP £295 SALE Price: £120
www.jimmychoo.com

ÉTOILE ISABEL MARANT Warick leopard cotton sweater
RRP: £250 SALE Price: £50.00
www.net-a-porter.com

 

ISABEL MARANT
Pop Color beaded brass bracelet

RRP: £50 each SALE Price: £15.00 each

www.net-a-porter.com

ÉTOILE ISABEL MARANT
Mati mohair-blend sweater

RRP: £205 SALE Price: £41.00
www.net-a-porter.com

J BRAND DENIM
Agnes waxed-denim cropped pants

RRP: £290 SALE Price: £76.00 
www.outnet.com

What's been your best buy in the sales?

Love Jo x

MY ELEMIS PRO-COLLAGEN QUARTZ LIFT FACIAL AT CHAMPNEYS DAY SPA

I’ve been so busy lately with work and making others look glamorous I decided it was my time to enjoy a little pampering.  With the change of weather lately my skin has become so dehydrated and quite sensitive causing it to look rather red in some areas on my face. So I went along to my local Champneys Day Spa for my favourite Elemis Pro-Collagen Quartz Lift Facial.

My love of Elemis products started on my first trip to Dubai several years ago where I enjoyed a few of their face and body treatments at the spa in the hotel where we were staying.

After purchasing a FEW of the products used in the treatments I was totally addicted to their Pro Collagen range and have been using it ever since. I find it works very well with my skin type and people do regularly compliment me on my skins appearance. 

Elemis successful combination of natural active ingredients with cutting-edge technology has enabled Elemis to bring to market some of the most influential anti-ageing products and professional spa-therapies the beauty industry has ever seen.

WHAT ELEMIS SAY ABOUT THE ELEMIS PRO-COLLAGEN QUARTZ LIFT FACIAL
ONE Anti-Wrinkle Facial - Proven Results
This anti-wrinkle facial is clinically proven to reduce the number of wrinkles by up to 94%* and improve skin firmness by up to 57%*, after just one treatment. 

The power of Padina Pavonica is accelerated by the electrical energy of precious minerals Quartz, Tourmaline, Rhodochrosite and Malachite to re-energise cell communication, whilst Laminaria Digitata and Red Coral optimises cellular respiration and regeneration for a firmer, uplifted, more youthful looking appearance. 

Winner! Best Anti-Ageing Facial – Grazia 

WHAT'S INVOLVED?
What I’ve always loved about Elemis facials is that they tend to incorporate so much more than just your face and eyes. And, true to form, this 75-minute treatment started off with a hot foot cleanse and a gentle stretching of my legs and hips to help me relax. 

After thoroughly cleansing my skin and removing any last traces of make-up, my therapist, Jenny, then spent a great deal of time massaging wonderful oils and lotions to my face, neck and shoulders. 

Next, a thick peel-off mask was applied and while that set, I was treated to a fabulous head and neck massage.

Once the mask was peeled away, my dead skin cells were gone and then when you think it’s nearly time the facial was over ANOTHER extremely nourishing mask was applied and my hands and arms were treated to a soft massage.  Total heaven!

These facials always leave me feeling so relaxed that for around 10 minutes after I literally can't string a sentence together! As for my skin, it felt radiant, bright and smoother than it has done in months.

The only negative I can say about this treatment is I NEVER WANTED IT TO END!

MY LOVELY THERAPIST JENNY 

ME AFTER - HYDRATED & OILED!

The Elemis Pro-Collagen Quartz Lift Facial costs £80 at the Champneys Day Spa’s and they currently have eight-Day Spa’s in the UK - Bath, Brighton, Chichester, Enfield, Guildford, Milton Keynes, St Albans & Tunbridge Wells. For more information, visit http://www.champneys.com/Day-Spas


Have you tried this facial or any other Elemis Face or Body treatment?

Love Jo x

PRODUCT REVIEW: RIMMEL PRO MATTE FINISH MATTIFYING TOPCOAT

It's Mothers Day today in the UK and I enjoyed a lovely couple of hours to myself so I thought I would try out a new product I recently purchased.

The product is called Rimmel Pro Matte Top Coat and it claims to Give a velvety 'Matte Finish' over your nail polish!

I love any kind of nail design so I’ve decided to include a real quick easy tutorial to demonstrate the use of this product and whether it stands up to that claim!

All you will need is the following products plus your favourite base and glossy top coat.

Firstly paint your nails as normal.  Base Coat + Colour + Glossy Top Coat

For my colour I have chosen to use one of my favourite Reds by Chanel Le Varnis Nail Colour in 159 FIRE

For the next step - With the Perfect nail tip stickers place a sticker carefully across the end of each nail covering this area entirely. Your nails must be fully dry before doing this!

Once the stickers are in place, paint the visible part of the nail with the Rimmel Matte Topcoat.

Don’t worry if you paint over the stickers as these are there to prevent the product to cover that area as all will hopefully be revealed when the stickers are removed!

As you paint with the topcoat you will see it still looks glossy until it starts to dry when it becomes that velvety matte finish.

Wait for it to dry thoroughly and then carefully remove the stickers 

There you go! Lovely glossy Red French Tips just what I hoped for...

This product and the stickers could be used for a number of designs with all different colours.

The only slight problem I found is the matte topcoat is quite thick and really you only need a very thin layer as although it looked and felt quite dry when I removed the stickers it did lift the varnish a little. My advice is to really leave it to dry for a while to prevent any scuffs or dents.

Let me know if you've tried this brand or any others similar?

Love Jo
x

1940′S GLAMOUR - THE OTHER CINEMA 'BRIEF ENCOUNTER'

On Tuesday I was part of the team for the makeup and assisting hair for the opening showing of ‘The Other Cinema’ Brief Encounter at the Troxy Theatre, London.

On Valentine's Day, ‘The Other Cinema’ was launched across the UK in London, Leeds, Edinburgh, Norwich, Birmingham and Bournemouth with consecutive screenings of this most romantic film of all time.

David Lean's 1945 classic, Brief Encounter, was the inspiration for a night of live music, an organist, usherettes, delicious food and performance which will bring back memories of the golden age of cinema!

I worked with a very talented group of ladies Farida Ghwedar, Soleil Jackson & Jessie Deol who were the Hair & Make-up Designers for the show. 

I was really amazed how brilliant these girls were with hair and recreating the 40’s styles from the film.

The lead role actress at the event had really long hair and instead of opting for a shorter style wig for the show the girls styled her own hair by using French braiding techniques and pinning it up to form a shorter style.  I have attached a few pictures to show you some of the steps. 

The defined style for makeup in the 1940's was glamour! A full luscious mouth and more prominent eyebrows, getting away from the pencil thin look of the 1930's. Eye makeup was kept to the minimum with very little shadow only really used to define the socket.  A fine flick gel line was applied along the eye and mascara was the main accessory.  For the usherette’s lots of false lashes was used!

The show is running until Saturday 18th February and Tickets are available at: http://www.wegottickets.com/theothercinema. “Brief Encounter” 

For more information please also visit http://www.futurecinema.co.uk/

SUNDAY TIMES STYLE MAGAZINE - TOPSHOP NEWGEN SHOOT

I had a fantastic day recently assisting an amazing Makeup Artist called Carol Brown www.carol-brown.co.uk for a shoot for the Sunday Times Style Magazine.

The shoot was with Topshop which back in 2002 became the sponser of the British Fashion Council’s New Generation (NewGen).

Each year several up and coming designers are cherry-picked for the stores financial backing.  Some get catwalk shows, some get exhibition space, all get business advice, and in return many of the designers do diffusion ranges for Topshop.

Ten years later some of the biggest names, including Erdem, Johnathon Saunders and Christopher Kane, can put the beginnings of their success down to NewGen.

To celebrate the 10^th anniversary of its sponsorship, Topshop asked 20 NewGen names past and present to create one-off T-shirts which are going to on sale from February 18^th to coincide with London Fashion Week.

The shirts were modelled by The New Generation of Bright Young Things: Teo Conner, Models Suki Waterhouse, Naomi Shimada, Clara Paget & Agathe Chapman. Singers Ren Harvieu, Kyla La Grange and actress Natalie Dormer.

The designs they wore from the collection were:

And here’s a few pics from the shoot itself wearing the shirts and some other amazing clothes by the same designers...

Naomi Shimada

Clara Paget

Natalie Dormer

Ren Harvieu

Suki Waterhouse

Teo, Clara & Kyla

The Times Style Magazine 5 February 2012

Me & Suki

The make up was kept really simple and we used a variety of brands including Shu Uemura Foundations, YSL Concealer, MAC Pigments, Lipsticks & Eyeliners, Kiehl's Moisturiser and nail varnishes by Essie.

The shirts will be on sale Saturday 18th February and I will definitely be purchasing one or TWO!

Love

Jo x