Beauty Bible Blog

His (and her) dark materials

2012-01-27T11:01:00.000Z

Second time we've found ourselves inspired by the Everything Fab blog, this week. (Because as blogs go, it jolly well lives up to its name.)
   This time, we bring you the corner of a beautiful bathroom - latest in our series. Just goes to show that they don't always have to be light and airy: inky blue tongue-and-groove can work, too, if you add sconces and mirrors.
   Love the black-and-white photo propped on the shelf. The bamboo table (bamboo's suddenly so hot, and you can still find it in junk shops for a song). Most of all, we like the rustic basket in place of a boring wastepaper bin. Easy to copy, that.
   The overall effect is very Ralph Lauren, no? And definitely somewhere we'd like to pamper ourselves.
   Wherever you wallow, this weekend, have a wonderful one.

www.everythingfab.com

20 years of iconic beauty products

2012-01-26T11:01:00.000Z

Did you miss Jo's run-down in Sunday's YOU Magazine of beauty's all-time greats: the iconic beauty products that have changed our lives, in the past 20 years...? (It was to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Cosmetic Executive Women, the beauty industry's networking and talent-nurturing organisation.)
   If you were digging the garden or having a duvet day, then you might like to know: you can still read it at Mail Online, if you click here.
   And just a reminder: it's somewhere you can also catch up with Sarah's Health Notes - find them here - and the column that we write exclusively for YOU's website: Beauty Bible Beauty Clinic, featuring tell-it-like-it-is beauty advice, plus a product that we've loving right at this moment. (We also archive all of the Beauty Clinics on our own website, if you click here.)
   We can think of 20 good reasons to check it out.

www.cewuk.co.uk

Spa Watch: One & Only Private Spa at The Palm

2012-01-25T11:01:00.001Z

There are (rather to Beauty Bible's surprise) lots of very good reasons to visit Dubai.
   The climate. (Think: perfect English summer's days - in January.) The shopping. (From Jimmy Choo to Dean & Deluca via Bloomingdale's and Prada.) And the food. Yum, yum, yum...
   But should you ever find yourself in this new global hub, we also recommend you make a bee-line for the stunningly glamorous new ESPA spa, at the ultra-deluxe One & Only The Palm resort.
   And book yourself - and someone you love - in for The Palm Escape, which takes place in one of their super-discreet, two-person suites. First, you'll be scrubbed ultra-clean on heated marble hammam beds. Then the two of you you can slather mineral-rich rhassoul mud all over each other, and swelter in steam for 20 pore-opening minutes. After a cool cleansing shower, a soak: each suite features two of these egg-shaped baths, so you can chat as you sink beneath the bubbles.
   The finale? A blissful 60-minute ESPA massage by therapists that are truly, truly world-class. (And we've kissed a few frogs, on the therapist front, so we know of what we write...) Then you can hang out in the private relaxation area. (Glimpse it through the doors, in Jo's photo, above.)
   Only that's not quite all, because afterwards, you'll unravel a little more over a two-course lunch on the hotel's terrace (included in the treatment price).
   It is pure spa heaven. And we'll be back.
   Inshallah...

www.espaonline.com

Quick! Grab your Chanel screensaver!

2012-01-24T11:01:00.001Z

Have to be quick.
   We've a hunch this is disappearing off the Chanel Makeup Confidential website soon, 'cos it's on their (soon-to-be-removed) Christmas edition. (Click on the 26th December 'window': 'A GIFT FOR YOU', and follow the simple instructions.)
     But we downloaded this for our Beauty Bible Macs and it's really smile-making: whenever your screen's 'resting', the screensaver transforms it into a cascade of make-up tumbling from the sky.
   Sexiest screensaver ever, we'd say. Just find it here - but get your skates on!
   (And yes, we know this is our second Chanel item in two days. Vous avez une problème avec ça...?)

Chez Chanel

2012-01-23T11:01:00.000Z

It's destined to be a big year for Chanel.
   There's a new fragrance in the Coco family launching with a top secret new 'face'. (Watch this space, later this year.)
   The 'Chanelworld' exhibition which first popped up in Harrods is on a bit of a world tour. (Latest pitstop: The Wynn, in Vegas. But be fast: it's only there for another week).
   On the skincare front, we're already loving the long skin drink that their new Hydra Beauty creams delivers. (Though you'll have to wait till 18th May to get your paws - or should it be pores...? - on these.)
     And tomorrow (Wednesday) their couture catwalk show happens, in Paris. Always a visual treat.
   But as a glorious reminder of where the legend really began, we thought you'd like this little glimpse of Mademoiselle Chanel's apartment, on Rue Cambon. (For more - almost a virtual guided tour, actually - see the Everything Fabulous blog, where we stumbled across this little sliver of interior heaven.)
   Beauty Bible has been to the hallowed sanctum of the apartment ourselves, a few (privileged) times. Frankly, it's hard to imagine anyone who wouldn't be inspired to create exquisite fragrances, couture and make-up, in that gilded, quilted, Coromandel-screened environment.
   We'd move in tomorrow, if we could. (Maybe we could just sneak in with a moving van, while everyone's distracted by the couture...?)

www.everythingfab.com
For regularly-updated Chanel news, click here

Small room, big impact

2012-01-20T11:01:00.000Z

Oooh.

Ooooooooooh!!!!!!

We're crazy about the latest in our series of Friday pampering spaces (spotted in Rue's on-line mag).

Navy walls. Vintage marble basin. (Nose around good reclamation yards and you'll quite likely stumble across similar.) Glittering sconces.

And one thing's for sure: not a Giles annual or a dog-eared Private Eye in sight.

Time to come out of the (water) closet about your redecorating dreams...?

www.ruemag.com

The queen of smokey eyes...

2012-01-18T23:01:00.000Z

So we're twiddling our thumbs.
   Surfin', as you do, of a morning.
   And we come across this glorious little film of Liz Taylor making up her eyes.
   SORT OF. Adding layer upon layer of smokiness, in reality. To a vampy backing track.
   Proof that it's almost impossible to overdo a smokey eye.
   And the bit we love the most...? The sunglasses.
   My, she was glamorous. Beauty Bible will be channelling Liz, next time we reach for a khol pencil. (And for slightly more practical VIDEOS? Do check out the hand-picked selection on our own site...)

www.youtube.com - click here for the mini-movie
Our own BeautyBibleUK YouTube channel - click here

Seriously colourful hair. (Naturally.)

2012-01-17T11:01:00.000Z

Don't call the men in white coats.
   We haven't lost it.
   And we're not suggesting that you really go for bright blue and yellow stripes. (Though it would brighten up January enormously, no...?)
   We just wanted to illustrate the extraordinary range of shades that are now available with Aveda's new Full Spectrum permanent hair colour, which just launched nationwide.
      From chocolate-y brown to Jean Harlow blonde via va-va-voom reds (fire engine to Titian), there are endless options available at Aveda spas and hair salons.
   This revolutionary new colourant is 96% natural, packed with luscious hair-friendly ingredients like sunflower, castor, jojoba, coconut and babassu oils (for serious shine). The cartons are made of 100% recycled fibre. And let's never forget that the whole Aveda range is 100% wind-powered. (So whatever shade you choose, it's really green.)
   However: if you really have fallen for the blue-and-yellow, we'd definitely recommend a cooling-off period, before you commit.
   Because although precious little in life may be permanent, Full Spectrum truly is...

www.aveda.co.uk
Stockists: 0870-034 2380

Tamper-proofing. Buttoned-up...

2012-01-16T11:01:00.000Z

Full of surprises, cosmetics law.
   Like: did you know that legally, scent must be sold in tamper-proof packaging...? (Hence those acres of cellophane we wastefully discard each year.)
   So we very much like this eco-solution from Aesop. Instead of origami-ed plastic, we noticed they seal each fragrance with a safety pin and a button.
   Useful, as well as beautiful. (Which happens to be our favourite combination.)

www.aesop.com

The bee's knees in bathrooms

2012-01-13T11:00:00.000Z

Like Guerlain (who long ago adopted it as their symbol), we love a bee motif.
   And so, clearly, do the folk at on-line Rue magazine.
   For this Friday's beautiful bathroom shot, we bring you this tablescape - which, if you're anything like us, will have you clearing off your own cluttered surfaces, and following down the path of mirrored minimalism.
   Leaving just a delicious potion or two to drizzle into warm water, and a fresh cake of soap. (One of life's simplest and yummiest pleasures, a new cake of soap, wouldn't you agree...?)
   Enjoy your downtime.

www.ruemag.com

Calling would-be models...

2012-01-12T11:01:00.000Z

'Face of' competitions.
   A lot ping into our inboxes.
   We're never quite sure whether to hit the 'Delete' button, or spread the word. But it's January, it's quiet out there, and who knows: one of our readers (or their daughters) might get a serious thrill out of this.
   So: here goes.
   Hairdressers Haringtons - who've created looks for Pixie Lott, Lily Cole, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Billie Piper - are looking for a new 'face'. (Er, so your hair's got to show promise, even though it'll get a total makeover.) Or even a head-start on a modelling career.
   Would-be contenders simply upload a photo to the salon group's Facebook page and then - gulp - get voted on. (It's fine to enlist friends and family.) The six 'winners' will then be narrowed down by Haringtons' Art Directors, and reposted on Facebook. Then more voting. More nail-chewing.
   Until - ta-dah! - those Art Directors put their heads together again. And the winner will join a line-up of professional models at an all-expenses paid shoot in May. In a tough industry, with lots of unscrupulous people promising would-be models the earth, it's certainly a bona fide first step on the modelling ladder.
   Oh, and you've got to be 15+. And under 30.
   And boys can enter, too.
   Many more of these competitions, and we're going to be renaming it Face-OF-book.

Click here for Haringtons Facebook entry page
www.haringtons.com

Pearls of wisdom

2012-01-11T11:01:00.000Z

'Be pretty if you can, be witty if you must, but be gracious if it kills you.'
   A Beauty Bible 'Thought for the Day', from Elsie de Wolfe.
   A legendary interior designer/style icon.
   Dog-lover - it would appear.
   And definitely a follower of another favourite piece of advice of ours, about pearls.
   We just liked this, and hope you do too.

Germ warfare goes all fruity

2012-01-10T11:01:00.000Z

Colds. 'Flu. Germs. Lurgies.
   Anyone can be forgiven for coming over all germ-phobic at this time of year.
   But hand sanitisers...? Yawn.
   Until now. Body Shop have freshened up the whole category with this fruity selection: Coconut, Satsuma, Strawberry, Mango, Sweet Lemon and Pink Grapefruit. (What, no Dewberry...? There's a mercy, actually.)
   Neatly hand-bag-sized, from just £2.50 (so pocket-friendly in every way) - and free from Triclosan (an ingredient we just don't like. Sorry, but we don't).
   Oh, if only Howard Hughes was still with us...

Click here to find them at www.thebodyshop.co.uk

Aloha Aloka!

2012-01-09T11:01:00.000Z

'One-stop wellbeing destination'. Don't we all need one of those in our lives...? Well, truth to tell, anyone within striking distance of Brighton has exactly that, in Aloka, which really is entitled to call itself a 'quality of life centre'...
   On the ground floor: a truly mouthwateringly delicious veggie/vegan/raw food café. (We'd eat there every darned day, if we could.) Oh, and a shop selling natural wonders of the beauty and health world, such as AEOS: Aura-Soma's organic skincare. (We're liking. Liking v-e-r-y much.)
   Upstairs: an airy Studio, offering a range of Yoga and Pilates classes and workshops for mind/body/spirit.
   Plus: a Day Spa with amazingly restful treatment rooms, offering therapies based on the Aura-Soma range. You pick the coloured oils that seem to call your name (they really do) and then magically, somehow, don't ask us how, they translate into a treatment so relaxing and escapist that - well, Jo would report more if she could just remember what happened, but it's all a blissful blank. (And isn't just the way a perfect spa treatment should be...?)
   We'll be back for seconds. And thirds. (And not just of the amazing lentil bake.)

Aloka - call 01273-823178 or click here
For more info about the Aura-Soma Colour-Care-System, click here.

Double (Friday) delight

2012-01-06T11:01:00.000Z

No, this isn't Mariella Frostrup's bathroom: if you remember, she got into a little trouble for placing two pampas grass plants on her balcony, allegedly - and unwittingly - an 'invitation to swingers...'! (Who knew...?)
   In fact, we're generally a bit pampas-grass-phobic at Beauty Bible ourselves - but could just be converted by the pop of colour they deliver in this beautiful bathroom (which comes to us via A Punch of Color's blog - always visually inspiring...)
   Love the double basins, as always. Those big baskets.
   So: happy pampering, this weekend. And pampas-ing, as it happens.

www.apunchofcolor.com

More Mary Greenwell marvellousness

2012-01-05T11:01:00.000Z

You wouldn't be the first woman to look in the mirror in early 2012 and silently scream 'I need make-up H-E-L-P'.
   And it's certainly a great time to learn a few new tricks. (Not least because if you're anything like us, it's all looking a bit 'blah' right now.)
   So we're pleased to be able to point you in the direction of expert advice, via the two latest how-to videos that Jo made with make-up guru Mary Greenwell for High50.
   There's one for eyes (the eternal bug-bear of the mid-aged woman), promising an 'instant lift' - and one on cheeks. (Including the art of contouring. Without looking like Pocohontas.)
   They follow the earlier videos on brows, and foundation.
   Almost as good as having Mary in your front room.

www.high50.com

Urban retreat at home

2012-01-04T11:01:00.000Z

After yesterday's weather - seemingly courtesy of Noah - we can be forgiven for not wanting to poke our noses outside the door, today.
   Might just be the perfect moment to experience the new Urban Retreat at Home's menu of beauty services, actually. Yes, brought to you by the same folk who have that swanky spot on the Fifth Floor of Harrods, in Knightsbridge. And with Urban Retreat's reputation for excellence, you can be confident of A-list treatment.
   Ferried via a sleek Urban Retreat-mobile, expert therapists will pitch up at your door and perform pampering miracles - facials, body treatments, waxing, hand and feet treats, self-tanning. Hen parties catered to...? Absolutely.
   Prices aren't over the top: £55 an hour outside London (though not all regions are covered, yet), £70 within the M25 and £95 within Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea and the City. (Blame the parking.)
   And the bonus, always, with treatments at home: you can roll right off the massage table and into bed.
   Where, at this rate, we may stay till February.

Urban Retreat at Home - book on 0844-793 8344

A happy, healthy (vitamin-powered) New Year!

2012-01-03T11:09:00.001Z

As you may know, we're a pair of pill-poppers.
   Vitamin pill-poppers, that is.
   Our eternal conundrum? Finding a container that's nice enough to produce at a swanky Claridges breakfast launch, so we can take our must-have Sun Chlorella, Femergy, Ideal Omega 3 et al.
   Just found one. (Thanks to US Daily Candy.) It's from a site over there called House & Hold. Comes in white, too - though we love the cheery, fire-engine, find-it-easily-in-your-handbag scarlet, ourselves.
   They do ship internationally (and it clearly doesn't weigh a ton).
   2012 just got off to a rather healthy start, then.

www.houseandhold.com

Have a beautiful Christmas, from us...

2011-12-23T11:01:00.000Z

Just wanted to say: Beauty Bible's signing off till the New Year - and sending you a (virtual) marshmallow wreath, to celebrate the holidays...
   We'd like to wish you a wonderful time, and we hope Santa delivers everything you've got your heart set on. We'll be chilling with loved ones - and thinking of the 250 young women at Centrepoint, unpacking the beauty gifts we assembled for them last week.
   We're back on 3rd January. Bright-eyed, bushy-tailed - and probably marshmallow-stuffed.
   But hey, what are New Year's Resolutions for...?

Our favourite MAC collaboration yet

2011-12-21T11:01:00.000Z

Ninetysomethings, rejoice.
   Because this is surely a landmark in cosmetics history: MAC has teamed up with our favourite nonagenarian to create a range of colour cosmetics launching exclusively on-line, from January 12th.
   Some years ago, Jo found herself standing next to the most incredibly stylish white-haired most-definitely-not-a-'little-old-lady', in a Paris cashmere store. For years, she wondered who the drop-dead- stylish stranger was.
   But in recent times, Iris Apfel - who once worked for Women's Wear Daily, helped redecorate The White House for nine presidents, is the subject of a book called Rare Bird of Fashion (photographs by Eric Boman) and still lectures on style - has gone on to blaze a trail and prove that older women need not fade away.
   And there's definitely no chance of that, with those showstopping red lips and nails.
   Iris, we salute you. (And MAC too...)

www.maccosmetics.co.uk

Oh Roja, how we love ya...

2011-12-20T11:01:00.002Z

Not least because of the rather wonderful, waft-me-to-paradise-with-a-single-sniff visual for his new Roja iPhone App.
   Roja Dove, the renowned professeur de parfums, has distilled 30 years of fragrance knowledge into a perfume guide in which he describes and categorises a scent, and nudges you in the direction of others you might like to try. (Having created our own Beauty Bible Beauty Steals App, we appreciate what a lot of hard work has gone into this project.)
   OK, so the descriptions aren't quite as evocative as Jo's, on her (other) blog, The Scent Critic - but it's a must-download for devoted scentophiles and Roja fans (who are legion). So far, there are 1000 fragrances listed on there, with more to come.
   Roja Dove Scent Selector is available now from the iTunes Store, price £2.99 (and you can of course 'gift' Apps, too.)
   And round here, with our limited-edition NEOM Christmas Wish candles flickering spicily, it's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas.

www.rojadove.com
www.thescentcritic.com

Shops We Love: Alastair Hendy Home Store

2011-12-19T11:01:00.000Z

We're sharing this with you in the wake of Mary Portas's lament for the Great British High Street.

Because a few still exist. And Jo happens to live on one. In Hastings, on the south coast. A baker (Jo's own Judges Bakery), a butchery counter - and now, somewhere you can find a candlestick.

Because on Saturday, one of the most intriguing new (for which read: old) shops that we've ever delightedly stumbled across opened on Hastings High Street: Alastair Hendy's Home Store, from the self-taught cook/photographer/author.

It's unlike anywhere we've ever shopped. Like stepping back in time - because inch-by-inch, Alastair has spent three years up a ladder restoring the shop to what seems like Victorian glory. (The sales staff even wear long aprons and black weskits.) Except there are discreet bar codes and an electronic till, hidden in the mahogany counter.

You'll find vintage fire buckets. And pinking shears. Cosy woolly bedsocks (see above). Churchy beeswax candles. And just about every type of brush (er, except for hair) to satisfy anyone's inner Howard Hughes. There are shiny reclaimed desks, and Mason jars, and that wonderful green 40s china your auntie used to serve you a Rich Tea biscuit on. And if you needed an ounce of nails, Alastair's probably got one somewhere.

We haven't had a glimpse of the bathroom section yet - he's opening it room by room - but at a guess, we'd imagine: linen towels, old-fashioned bath salt cubes, backbrushes... Maybe those wonderful bath-racks, with built-in candlesticks. (Well, a beauty editor can dream...)

So Ms. Portas, get yourself an Awayday to Hastings fast.

Because truly, there's life in the high street yet...

A.G. Hendy & Co. Home Store, 36 High Street, Hastings Old Town, TN34 3ER

www.alastairhendy.com (no doubt there'll be a proper website, in due course)

Friday fabulousness

2011-12-16T10:42:00.002Z

Normally, of a Friday, we encourage you to enjoy a little pampering over the weekend, featuring a gorgeous bathroom.
   But today's a bit special - because we spent yesterday organising some pampering for 250 young homeless women at Centrepoint's London hostels.
   Thanks to the generosity of the beauty industry - brands like John Frieda, Decléor, Ojon, Elemis, Mandara Spa, Nelson's, nurture, Revlon, Parfums Kenzo and many, many more - the Make A Difference Makeover team (which we're proud to have co-founded) gathered together at Centrepoint's London HQ were able to put together hundreds of a-m-a-z-i-n-g bags.
   If you'd like to turbo-charge to our efforts, do visit the Centrepoint website to make a little donation (And big thanks so much to Percy + Reed, the hairdressers, for doing just that - pledging £500 instead of sending out Christmas cards, this year).
   10 of us fell into bed tired but happy last night - but not quite as happy, we suspect, as the young women who'll be opening these on Christmas morning.
   To everyone who was involved yesterday, big thanks from Beauty Bible. It's truly a beautiful thing.

www.centrepoint.org.uk
Find the Make A Difference Makeovers on Facebook to find out more

If you go down to Borough Market today...

2011-12-14T11:01:00.000Z

... You'll discover Aesop's new 'punnet-sized' (as they put it) store.
   We've always bought into Aesop's philosophy. As they put it, 'We advocate the use of our formulas as part of a balanced ife that includes exercise, stimulating literature and good food and wine.' (And so say all of us.)
   This Australian aromatherapy-powered skincare range (which we've been fans of since they very first launched, oh, aeons ago) also has a reputation for creating funky spaces. And this is entirely in keeping, with its haberdasher's counter, reclaimed wood floor - and basins, so you can try the products before you buy.
   Afterwards, as Aesop points out, you can revive yourself with a short black from Monmouth Coffee across the road, and/or nibble on a wedge of aged Cheddar from Neal's Yard Dairy.
   Appropriate setting for their latest store, then, for a range that's almost good enough to eat.

Aesop Borough Market, 5 Park Street, London SE1 9AB

Something rather divine has happened...

2011-12-13T18:21:00.000Z

Look closely.

Look v-e-r-y closely. And then, if you're us, do rather unladylike cartwheels around the office.

Because what's at the very centre of this 'greenhouse' in L'Occitane's just-opened flagship boutique in New York's Flatiron District?

Answer: a giant blow-up of The Anti-Ageing Beauty Bible. The reason? To celebrate the fact that L'Occitane's Immortelle Divine Cream scored the highest mark of any 'miracle' product we've ever trialled - over 16 years of research - in our book, beating literally hundreds and hundreds of others.

So the whole greenhouse is Immortelle-themed (immortelle being a Corsican 'wonder plant' you're going to be hearing much, much more about in 2012).

We can't wait to see the store ourself on our next New York pitstop. It's very gorgeous generally. And there were lines around the block on day of opening of customers.

Who - like us - clearly think it's divine, divine, divine...

L'Occitane - www.uk.loccitane.com, or click here for the award-winning cream

High(50)brow stuff from Mary Greenwell

2011-12-12T11:01:00.000Z

A few days ago we told you about the first of a series of videos Jo's put together with make-up genius Mary Greenwell - which have already picked up some rave reviews.
   So we thought we'd alert you to the fact that the second segment of this five-part beauty masterclass has been posted on the High50 site (for those who believe that actually, age has its benefits) - and it's all about brows, which can become a real challenge as we grow older.
   If you've ever wondered how to shape a brow (or even 'snip' at strays with scissors), how you can lift a face with the right brow shape, dithered about brow-tattoing - and if you'd like to know why a green brow product may be best for you (yes, truly!) - it's all here.
   When the series is done, we'll have them all on our Beauty Bible website, too, joining our own line-up of what we consider virtually the only beauty VIDEOS worth watching on the whole darned internet. And if we sound biased, we suggest you waste a few hours on the main YouTube site looking at every teenager on the planet who owns a webcam and a lipstick.
   Mary Greenwell, they most definitely are not...


For the video, click here
www.marygreenwell.com
For Beauty Bible's videos section, click here

We're peachy-keen on this

2011-12-09T11:01:00.000Z

There's something super-warm and seasonally welcoming about this bathroom - our Friday 'pampering inspiration' for you.

We dig the etched glass doors. And terracotta tub, and the plaster bas relief on the walls.

All off-set beautifully with grey towels (so it's not totally, boringly matchy-matchy. Plus: when did you ever meet a man happy to dry himself on a peach-toned towel...?) Oh, and is that a vase of straight-from-the-Folies-Bergère pale blue ostrich feathers, in a vase...? Decadent touch, that. (So: thanks to A Slice of Beauty's blog, for sharing this with us.)

We'll be lighting a few candles of our own and sinking beneath waters aromatherapeutically-scented with our new bathtime fave rave, Aromatherapy Associates De-Stress Mind Shower & Bath Oil, this weekend.

You might like to be the same. Not least because behind a locked door, in a bathroon, is one of the few true escapes from Christmas madness, right now.

And isn't that a peach of a thought?

To read A Slice of Beauty, click here

Salaam Bombay (Chanel-style)

2011-12-08T12:26:00.000Z

Normally when our new site update's uploaded (as it is today - click here for all the excitement), we cut ourselves some slack, and don't blog.  We file our nails a bit. Flip through magazines. While away the hours checking out Facebook. (That's the theory, if not the reality...)
   But here's the thing... For 48 hours we've been swooning over the photos from the Chanel 'Paris-Bombay' show in Paris (for which our friend Sam McKnight did the hair, Peter Phillips the make-up).
   So when an e-mail pinged into our inbox from Chanel about 10 minutes ago, we decided to share this beautiful image - and the inside info on products used to create this smouldering look, from Peter Phillips, Creative Director of Chanel Makeup.
   Think: lashings of Le Crayon Khôl in Black, and (Jo's favourite) Inimitable Intense mascara in Black, on lashes.
   Think: Perfection Lumière, to create the flawless base (launching early next year), with a whisk of Joues Contraste in Brume d'Or on cheeks. Think: Rouge Coco Shine in Empreinte, for those soft rose-pink lips.
   What we also love, though, is the use of jewellery in the hair. Why not use a necklace, for an up-do? For slightly more accessibly-priced hair accessories, meanwhile, click here for the for the speedy Party Hair Know-How feature on our website.
   Because (alas) we can't all have a live-in Sam McKnight.

It's a win-win situation

2011-12-07T11:01:00.000Z

Gotta share this with you.

Not least because of the glorious drawing illustrating Latest in Beauty's 12 Days of Christmas competition.

Latest in Beauty, if you don't already know, is a way of trying products before you take out a second mortgage to buy them. The brands featured in their stylish mail order beauty boxes (at various times) are really special - think Decléor, Estée Lauder, This Works, Olay, John Frieda, L'Occitane, Elemis and more. We applaud brands which have the faith to allow customers to trial products, because it fits with our philosophy of not wasting money on stuff that just plain doesn't work.

And following the successful Fragrance Discovery Box created by Latest in Beauty to mark Jo's recent scent article in YOU, we're working on something rather special with them ourselves.

But meanwhile...? On their site right now, there's that rather wonderful 12 Days of Christmas competition we mentioned, with prizes worth over £1,500. And anyone who enters will automatically be entered into a draw for a bumper beauty hamper worth £500.

Sadly, we are not allowed to enter.

Gutted doesn't cover it.

So have a go, on our behalf. And we hope Santa's smiling on you.

www.latestinbeauty.com

To read Jo's Eau So You! fragrance special, click here

Guildford gets a little more gorgeous

2011-12-06T11:01:00.001Z

Lucky little Guildford. They just got their very own Liz Earle Naturally Active store, in this lovely Grade II listed building in the town centre.
   There'll be treatments on the menu, next year, but for now it's a chance for the wannabe-smooth-skinned beauties of Surrey to dib, dab and spritz their way through this award-winning range. (A staggering 220 awards, at the last count, according to Liz - and quite a few of them from Beauty Bible, of course, including for legendary Cleanse & Polish. Which several of our testers, over the years, have attempted to give a mark of 11/10...!)
   So if you live within striking distance - well, Christmas just came early. And it may just be the most exciting thing to happen in this market town since they filmed The Omen, at the cathedral...

Liz Earle, 72-74 High Street, Guildford, GU1 3HE

The gift of great hair

2011-12-05T11:01:00.000Z

Forget expensive jackets. Or good coats. Or even haute couture,
to be honest.
   At Beauty Bible we've long believed that the secret of looking really fab is great hair. End of. (You buy a designer jacket, and how often do you wear it? But your hair? You wear that every day...)
   So: maybe your best friend/mum/goddaughter is a haystack head. Or maybe she has an arsenal of styling products and a relationship with her straightening irons that really ought to be announced in the engagement column of The Times.
   But one thing we know: if she's within a kirby grip's throw of Hershesons salon, she's bound to love one of these gift vouchers for Hershesons Blow Dry Bars (located at Westfield, Topshop Oxford Circus and One New Change, St. Paul's).
   Available for one, three, or six free blow-drys (prices: £24-£144).
   Sure beats novelty slippers, in our book. (Because who ever looked groomed in those...?)

Click here to buy the vouchers on-line

Ten-four, rubber ducky...

2011-12-02T11:01:00.002Z

Decorating, we've observed, can sometimes get a little serious for its own good.

So we were very happy to stumble across this stylish bathroom in on-line Rue Magazine, which is worth a cyberflick if you're a decor junkie, like us. (There's an iPad verison, too.)

We love the splashes of yellow, to brighten the monochrome colour scheme. And the tufted bath mat: imagine burying your toes in that, on a chilly morning. But we especially like the duck: a witty touch that transforms the decor from 'safe' to 'witty', in one webbed-footed bound.

Happy Friday, from Beauty Bible. And wherever you're soaking this weekend, have a relaxing one.

www.ruemag.com

A plum of a make-up masterclass, with Mary Greenwell

2011-12-01T15:50:00.001Z

Great make-up videos are rarer than hen's teeth. (Trust us: we've spent hours in a darkened room narrowing down a useful selection for our own website VIDEOS section, and almost lost the will to live in the process.)
   As for great make-up artists, they don't come much more mega than Mary Greenwell. Not only would most supermodels not get out of bed for less than $10,000, but they darned well wouldn't get out of bed if Mary wasn't going to be doing their make-up, either. And Mary's list of stellar clients is still as long as your arm.
   So: it is time to discover the first Mary Greenwell Makeup Masterclass, on www.high50.com. (Say it 'High Five-Oh'.) And yes, it's our very own Jo presenting this series (there will be five, in all, uploaded weekly).
   Mary's just brilliant at explaining what she does, sharing her pro's secrets and demo-ing in a way that's not only incredibly easy to follow, but inspiring, too. Though essentially targeted at fifty-plus women (it's so easy to lose the plot, make-up wise, after un certain age), it's just as fascinating to watch a true pro at work whether you're 17 or 70.
   Mary's other great 'make-up' tip, FYI, is fragrance. Fragrance...? It's what she's always sprayed on models before sending them in front of the camera. 'I make them look beautiful, but fragrance makes them feel beautiful,' she says.  Few fragrances are destined to make a woman feel more beautiful than Mary's own debut signature fragrance, Plum - so can we suggest you check this out, too...?  (And to read Jo's blog about Plum on The Scent Critic, click here.)
   Meanwhile, as soon as we get a whiff that the next High50.com Mary Greenwell Masterclass is live, we'll let you know...

www.high50.com - click here for the Masterclass
www.marygreenwell.com

The Campaign for Slow Scent

2011-11-29T11:01:00.000Z

As we're always saying, scent-shopping shouldn't be rushed. Ever. You need time to stop, relax, explore. And then maybe even go away again, before making up your mind. (It's the enduring base notes in a fragrance which you really live with, and those don't unfurl for a few hours.)
   At Beauty Bible, we support the idea of Slow Food. And Slow Travel. And now we'd like to launch a Campaign for Slow Scent, inspired by the new Les Senteurs boutique, in Marylebone - because we cannot think of a nicer place for leisurely scent exploration.
   It's getting on for thirty years since Michael and Betty Hawksley opened their first shop, in Pimlico - and now the baton has been passed to their daughter Claire, who's heading up a truly knowledgeable team at this new temple to scent, tucked away behind Marble Arch.
   There are fabulous niche and independent fragrances showcased there, cleverly categorised - think: chypre, floral, leather/tobacco, etc. - to help you take a short-cut to 'possibles'. Fragrance houses include Frederic Malle, Mona di Orio, Juliette Has A Gun, Lorenzo Villoresi (the legendary Florentine perfumer), Parfumerie Générale, Serge Lutens, Annick Goutal...
   Oh, we could go on - but instead, we're going to urge you to find a decent window of time to make a scent pilgrimage of your own, just as soon as you can.
   Then enjoy taking it s-l-o-w, when you get there. Because when it comes to finding a new fragrance, you really can't hurry love.

Les Senteurs store and Scent Salon, 2 Seymour Place, Marylebone, London W1H 7NS
020-7138 5842

Liz Earle bottles it!

2011-11-28T11:01:00.000Z

Most fragrances are as divisive as Marmite. But we haven't met a woman yet who doesn't fall for Liz Earle Botanical Essence No. 1. (And that includes most beauty editors.)
   So if you're looking for a goof-proof scent choice for a friend/relative this Christmas, this uplifting creation - which is 98% natural - is an excellent place to start.
   But to make it even more alluring, Liz Earle is offering a complimentary engraving service (initials on the cap, words on the side - within reason!) at various locations. (That's Liz Earle the brand, not Liz Earle the person. She may be the living embodiment of Superwoman as far as we're concerned, but she's sensibly leaving this to the professionals.)
   The dates and times are below (click on the locations for the full addresses). Just engrave them in your diary, and pop along.

Liz Earle flagship store - Saturday 3rd December, 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.
   Sunday 4th December, 11 a.m. - 4.30 p.m.

Liz Earle store, Leeds - Saturday 10th December, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
   Sunday 11th December, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Fenwick of Bond Street - Thursday 1st December, 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.

Vanity vignette

2011-11-25T11:01:00.000Z

There are upsides and downsides to sharing life with a partner.
   A downside: his grooming stuff, which often makes a takeover bid for the the shelf over the basin.
   So, for Friday (when we like to peek inside a beautiful bathroom on your behalf), a solution. (With thanks to Sacramento Street, an American interiors blog.)
   Take one mirrored tray. Place on back of cistern. Neatly arrange all his lotions, potions, unguents (plus a framed photo and maybe something butch and botanical).
   Be generous, while you're at it, and give the whole darned lot a good wipe.
   Saves on 'bathroom rage', we promise. And if it all migrates back again?
   Repeat the process.
   And file under: 'Love is... tidying his moisturisers.'

www.sacramentostreet.com

Pale and very interesting

2011-11-24T11:01:00.002Z

Suddenly, we're all about Christmas. (Well, Sarah's not: she's jetting off to Australia tomorrow on hols. For which those of us left behind will try, grudgingly, to forgive her.)
   Since mirrors, however, come under the beauty 'umbrella' (er, try putting on your make-up without one), we're showcasing some rather stunning examples here from another new website, Pale & Interesting.
   In fact, it's the website of a glorious new shop in Rye (but a mascara wand's throw from Jo, actually) which has been opened by uberstylist Atlanta Bartlett. Atlanta has written many a glorious interiors book that we're sure you've seen. (Think: The Relaxed Home, At Home With White - and Pale & Interesting. Which means this is actually the website of the book of the shop...)
   Pale & Interesting (the site) has really lovely things. Even with our powers of description, we can't put it much better than that: sparkly tealights, divine cushions, glasses we have our eye on for the Christmas table - and the aforementioned mirrors. Everything, in general, is pale (white, dove grey, with splashes of colour). And yes, interesting.
   We cannot recommend a cyber-mooch too highly.
   Or better still, a visit to the real-world shop.

www.paleandinteresting.com, 96 The High Street, Rye,
TN29 9TL/01797-344077
www.atlantabartlett.com

Once upon a time...

2011-11-23T11:01:00.000Z

... Long, long ago in the dim and distant early days of Beauty Bible, we used to take brainstorming speed-walks together, around Notting Hill.
   And stop to basically lick the windows of The Cross, which was one of the first 'lifestyle' boutiques to mix interiors and clothes and jewellery and beauty in what was/is basically a completely irresistible way.
   For whatever reason, it's taken them till now to enter the wonderful world of the web.
   But we say: better late than never. And if - like us - you've already vowed not to face the madness of Oxford Street* again before Christmas (*substitute name of local shopping centre/high street/mall as required), you'll have fun checking this site out for pressies.
   We're loving the cashmere embroidered eye mask, among other treats.
   So if Christmas shopping gets you all cross... Just log on, and get thee to The Cross!

www.thecrossshop.co.uk

Get a whiff of this...

2011-11-22T11:01:00.000Z

We may seem slightly candletastic at the moment. But it's that time of year. (Who has tealights flickering in July...? Except for weddings.)
   So: always on the lookout for great sources for great smells, we were pleased to stumble into the new home fragrance department at the seriously spraunced-up Peter Jones on Sloane Square yesterday: a dozen or so delectable (and fairly accessibly-priced) brands (think Max Benjamin, Votivo, Compagnie de Provence, Archipelago etc.)
   If you're searching for scented candles for gifts, we encourage you to have a sniff around here: they're displayed beneath glass domes (à la Cire Trudon), which you lift - and then insert nostrils into the dome, to give a much better idea of the candles' scent than smelling the wax itself.
   It's home fragrance heaven.

Peter Jones, Sloane Square, London SW1 8EL (enter via Symons Street for the Home Fragrance department)

All the fun of the Midwinter Fair

2011-11-21T11:01:00.000Z

We’re going to let you in on one of Jo’slittle secrets.

For the past few years, she’s donemuch of her gift-shopping at a Christmas fair organized by a localKent-and-Sussex glossy called The Wealden Times.

Why? Because in several (heated) marquees, erected in a walled garden atBedgebury Pinetum (just off the A21), you’ll find all manner of covetablegoodies: antique, vintage,hand-made – but all super-stylish. Basically, it’s like the Country Living Fairused to be, in its early days, before so many well-known names muscledin.

The only challenge, in fact, is notbuying one gift for yourself for every present you snap up for someone on yourlist. (Ahem. This is a challenge Jo has so farfailed to rise to…)

There are some delectable beauty stands, including a ‘pop-up’ of beauty editorKarena Callen’s Violetta boutique, which is worth a visit in itself.

Of course, on our own site right nowyou’ll find a run-down of all the beauty goodies we’re coveting ourselves. (Find it here.) But we do know that (strange as itseems) not everyone thrills to a bath oil, or a body cream, or a lipgloss trio– and would instead prefer a worthy-of-Mr. McGregor garden trowel, a‘pre’-loved’ book, a crisp white nightie, a gourmet indulgence or a cuddlesomecushion. (Plus: there’s always something veryheart-warming about supporting local producers and ‘makers’.)

So if the Weald’s local to you, make adate: from the 24^th-26^thNovember.

Just be prepared to wrangle Jo for thesilver dessert spoons she’s got her eye on.

The Wealden Times Midwinter Fair -admission £7.50 on the gate or £6.50 via advanced booking (see website below orcall 0800-294 9011 to book)

Thursday 24^th November – 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Friday 25^th November – 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Saturday 26^th November – 9.30 – 4.30 p.m.

www.wealdentimes.co.uk

Gray chic for a Friday

2011-11-18T11:01:00.000Z

It might seem weird to feature a grey bathroom when it's been pretty grey outside. (Or as novelist friend Maggie Alderson puts it: 'The lid's on').
   But grey is eternally chic and we've rather fallen in love with this bathroom. (It came to us from Elle Decor, via a blog we enjoy called Sacramento Street.)
   Just shows that you don't have to go for 'contrast', for a great look. We're loving the velvet-covered chair, on which to pat oneself dry. The botanical paintings and the giant sprig of greenery. The crackle-framed mirror. (Though yes, we'd appreciate stepping out onto a squidgy white bath mat, rather than a slate floor...)
   It probably belongs to a chap, we think.
   But one we'd like to get to know better.
   So: wherever you're wallowing, have a great weekend from all of us at Beauty Bible...

Do you believe in beauty from within...?

2011-11-17T11:01:00.006Z

Then do you fancy becoming a 'face' for Imedeen...?
   We're pleased to spread the word about their model search because Imedeen is the skin supplement that first showed us: these really work.
        Just click here for more info about how to enter, which includes coming up with 100 words about how you embody the spirit of 'Beauty From Within'. The prizes include a year's supply of Imedeen, a set of stunning professional photos and - the juicy bit - a trip to Copenhagen. You don't need to have taken Imedeen before (though we'd say: if you do, you've probably got a head start on the skin front). No need for previous modelling experience, either.
   In all, they're looking for three new 'faces' - one each in their 30s, 40s and 50s - to represent the range in 2012. And after nine finalists have been selected, there's a public vote.
   Very 'X Factor', that.
   Without the public humiliation, of course...

www.imedeen20.com

Enjoy a day of good scents

2011-11-16T15:01:00.000Z

Some of you may know that Jo is somewhat 'scent obsessed'. And even writes a perfume blog, The Scent Critic.
   So if you're as much of a 'fragranceaholic' as Jo is, you might want to know about a special day being organised by The School of Life (the rather wonderful venue/college set up by philospher Alain de Botton near Gray's Inn, in Central London). A Day of Good Scents includes a little scent 'walkabout' led by futurologist Dr. Morgaine Gaye, and sessions with Dr. George Dodd (a fascinating 'smell scientist'), Sissel Tolaas - an internationally-renowned 'odor theorist and smell missionary'... (Click on the tinted words to read more about each of them.)
   Oh, and Jo herself will be hosting an afternoon session, leading you on an olfactory exploration that uses scent to help you delve deep into your memory and imagination. Her session will also explain how a very simple daily exercise, carried out for a few weeks, can actually help turbo-charge your sense of smell permanently!
   Ticket prices are £150 for the whole day to include all activities, catering and getting from A to B during the 'scented walkabout'. It all adds up to a truly fascinating, sense-drenching day, and Jo hopes to see you there.
   And maybe smell you...!

www.theschooloflife.com

Farewell to a wonderful woman

2011-11-15T10:58:00.001Z

Can we tell you how very, very sad we are to hear that Evelyn Lauder has passed away...?
   She is one of our all-time beauty heroes. It may have been her mother-in-law's name on the Estée Lauder packaging, but Evelyn - wife of Estée's son Leonard - played a hugely influential role within the Lauder empire, from dreaming up the name 'Clinique' to having a say on just about every fragrance and skincare product launched. (When we'd visit her office, she'd get us to dip, dab and spritz and tell her what we thought of new creations. Such fun!)
   What's more, Evelyn came up with the idea for Pink Ribbon Week, to promote breast cancer awareness, which has become one of the beauty world's all-time phenomenons.
     A more gracious woman it's hard to imagine. Despite her hectic schedule (she once told Jo she and Leonard had eaten at home on Fifth Avenue about five times in the last decade, because every night was a business dinner), Evelyn never failed to drop a hand-written line to thank us for something we'd written, or a book we'd sent. When we think we're too darned frantic to dash off a thank-you letter, we always think of Evelyn - and reach for that fountain pen.
   She had that knack of making everyone - family, co-workers, beauty editors - feel special.
   And did we add that she was a spectacular photographer, too? As she once told us, 'It's the single thing in my life that gives me the most creative satisfaction.' You can see a blog posting here that we did about 'The Beauties', Evelyn's collection of vintage ceramic lady head vases, or see more of her exquisite photographs here, on her website.
   The (pink) lights in beautyland are a little dimmer, today. We'll really, really miss you, Evelyn.

www.evelynlauder.com

Our flickering fancies...

2011-11-14T11:01:00.000Z

Mostly, the candles you'll find flickering in Beauty Bible's offices are the brilliant mood-shifters from NEOM. (Fact: we believe that offices should be as nice to work in as your home, and provided all the Health and Flipping Safety guidelines are met, why not light a candle or two...?)
But we have to admit to falling just a little in love with Dior's new candle: perfect for now, with a smouldering, smoky, fireside fragrance that conjures up bonfires and crackling logs and roasting chestnuts. Basically, autumn/winter in wax form. (Exclusively available in person from their Maison de Parfums in Selfridges).
Just add a faux fur blanket. a complete series of Freesat recordings of Downton Abbey, a mug of Green & Black's Hot Chocolate - and suddenly, the fact it now gets dark at teatime doesn't seem nearly so depressing...

PS Even more cheering: don't forget NEOM's candles are now available to you at a 5% discount via Victoria Health, provided you click through from our main www.beautybible.com website (discount will be deducted at checkot automatically). Even we can't wangle a discount at Dior, malheureusement...!

More big ideas for the small room

2011-11-11T11:01:00.000Z

We'd love to open a loo door and find this (which comes to you via
A Punch of Color, one of our fave interiors blogs).
   Geometric-print gilded paper, and an etched Venetian mirror. A Chinese desk that's been converted into a basin. (A good plumber/
carpenter can insert pipework and sanitaryware into all manner of furniture finds, if you just ask.)
   Liking the Chinoiserie embroidery on the hand towels, too.
   The flowers. We adore flowers in a loo.
   And oh, that jaunty horse...!
   Beauty Bible would simply add a divine soap and hand cream, for the perfect powder room.
   So, could this be the weekend you ditch the pile of old Grazias, the Giles Annuals and the wellies from your downstairs lav, and go
glam, too...?

Meet Bloggy Brown!

2011-11-10T11:01:00.000Z

We’re sure you can imagine how much we’relooking forward to having breakfast tomorrow with one of our all-time make-upheroes,

Bobbi Brown, on a rare visit to the UK.

But as a consolation for the fact thatsightings of Bobbi on these fair shores are so infrequent, we’ve basically beenstalking her every move on her new blog, Everything Bobbi (which we’ve alsoadded to our ‘blogroll’ of fave sites, right).

It has tips. And wisdom. (Which Bobbi has in spades.) And showcases real, inspiring women that Bobbi encounters; Bobbi shares our philosophy thatyou don’t have to be a supermodel to be

fah-bu-lous. So we especially love herinspiring ‘Diverse Beauty’ section, spotlighting women of allshapes/sizes/races/ages.
(Because my,do we wish there was more of that around...)

She calls it: 'A blog based on truth, beauty and being amazing' - and it feels almost like sitting next to her over a latte anda muffin.
Though we’ll report back after tomorrow whenwe’ve done just that, of course...

www.everythingbobbi.com

A Pukka way to massage your face

2011-11-09T11:01:00.000Z

Yesterday, we told you about a rather fab festival of facials.
   But if you're anything like us, with a too-busy life, a salon facial is generally relegated to the realms of: Dream. On. Darling.
   But to celebrate the launch of their rather fab, chic-packaged skincare, Pukka Ayurveda (famed for their herbal remedies and delicious teas) told us about a super-effective facial massage that's easy to do. Right now. At your desk.
   Click here and you'll be taken to the page with full instructions on how massaging different points on the face can have a (trust us) near-miraculous effect at restoring vibrancy and glow, relieving stress or getting you back into balance when life feels out of whack.
   We've said this before - and we'll say it again - but facial massage really is a key anti-ageing secret, too. (Probably our No. 1 age-defying beauty tip, actually.) And this is as clear a guide as we've ever seen.
   Meanwhile, do click around to check out the skincare, while you're there.
   You can get to the home page, here, too.
   (Only shouldn't that be the 'Om' page...?)

For Pukka Herbs skincare, click here

It's a Festival of Facials!

2011-11-08T11:01:00.000Z

We love a good facial.
   Note: we love a good facial.
   What we at Beauty Bible don't love at all are superficial facials (where the therapist's hands do little more than tickle the skin), which have us wanting to leap off the couch, throw off our origami-ed towels and head screaming for the door.
   So, the challenge: how to find a good facialist...?
   You could go by word of mouth.
   Or you could go by the rollcall of fabulous therapists currently starring in Urban Retreat's Festival of Facials, on the 5th Floor at Harrods.
   There are treatments from NuBo, Carol Joy, Beauty Lab and Omorovicza all taking place over various weeks up to 24th December. (Hmmm: quite who has time for a facial on 24th December, we're not sure; we're rather more likely to be steaming our faces over pans of red cabbage, as per usual.)
   But perhaps the cameo appearance on the facialist roster that we're most excited about is the uber-gifted Antonia Burrell (you can read about Jo's facial with her here), who'll be in residence from 21st - 28th November.
   To book, call below.
   And maybe this will the year you arrive at the office party looking radiant and glowing, rather than ravaged and washed out...

To book, call 020-7893 8333 or visit www.urbanretreat.co.uk

Make-up’s last chance saloon

2011-11-07T11:01:00.000Z

Longing for a lost Lauder lipstick…? Sobbing over a discontinued shade fromEstée’s signature brand…? Thinkingwistfully of a foundation from the aforementioned make-up line that youbasically can’t live without…? Or wonderingwhat on earth you’re going to do now that the skincare you’ve relied on hasbeen trumped by a new ‘improved’ version…?

Well, before you go into a total decline,we’ve one last suggestion that might just help you track down a much-lovedproduct/shade/skin treat that’s disappeared into the ether. Don’t tell a soul, but Estée Lauder hasa Gone But Not Forgotten service, which scours their warehouses for Lauderstock.

Just call, and the Estée elves get busysleuthing down any remaining items they may have tucked away after a product’sbeen withdrawn.

We’re not making any promises. And we’d hate you to bedisappointed. Plus: the chances are obviously higher withproducts that have only recently disappeared from the Lauder counter, ratherthan those from dim and distant make-up history.

But really, what have you got to lose bycalling them – except your pallor/stubby lashes/fine lines…?

Estée Lauder Gone But Not Forgotten – callCustomer Service on 0800-074 6905

A warming winter wallow

2011-11-04T11:00:00.000Z

We actually know someone with a bath like this, in a painstakingly-restored and decidedly wonky 14th century house. (He's a stylist, FYI.) He has discreet taps that fill the metal tub - although even so, we're not sure how comfy a soak it offers. (Found this on Slices of Beauty, meanwhile.)
   What we do like here, though - our latest BF (Bathroom Friday) offering to you - is the crackling log fire. Long for one of those, to keep us all toasty, post-bathing.
   And the stool. Ideal to keep a book, a tub of scrub, even a glass of wine within reach.
   Something to plan, for the weekend?
   Have a lovely one...

To visit Slices of Beauty, click here

Did you oversleep this morning...?

2011-11-03T11:00:00.001Z

Well, if you overslept on Monday, you had a great excuse: it was National Sleep-in Day. (Who knew...?) But with the clocks going back, there's really no excuse not to be a little brighter and chirpier in the a.m., at the moment.
   However, a good night's sleep always helps. In fact, there is, as we constantly witter on, no better beauty aid than shut-eye - so we are indebted to our mate Kathy Phillips (Vogue beauty guru extraordinaire) for making it just a little easier to catch those zzzzzs with her new This Works Sleep range.
   Infused with aromatherapeutic lavender - the classic waft-you-sleepwards herb - and vetiver (a wonderfully grounding essential oil, a.k.a. 'oil of tranquility') - there are four slumber-inducing products: Deep Sleep Bath Soak, a Sleep Balm, Pillow Spray and the beyond-divine Deep Sleep Heavenly Candle.
   What price a good night's sleep? Beyond pearls, naturally, but since there's nothing over £22, we think it's pretty dreamily-priced.
   In fact - sorry, were we yawning there...? - we simply can't wait for bedtime, ourselves.

www.thisworks.com

Cire Trudon lights up Marylebone

2011-10-31T11:07:00.005Z

Once upon atime, long, long ago, Beauty Bible stumbled dreamily into a shop in Paris’sSaint-Sulpice – and found we’d gone to candle heaven. Since then we’ve been devotees of Cire Trudon: an extraordinary, historic brand, whichilluminated the court of Louis XIV, and still produces its vegetable-basedcandles in an artisan way.

Today, they’re mostly scented. Catholicchurch-y Spiritus Sancti. Moroccanmint tea Abd el Kader. Dada, whichis a compelling infusion of black tea and vetiver. Or Trianon, with its white flowers, which always makes usfeel a bit reincarnation-of-Marie-Antoinette-in-her-shepherdess-days.

Eurostar’s loss is Marylebone’sgain, then, now that Cire Trudon has opened its first London store, on ChilternStreet – instantly making it a shopping-boulevard-to-watch. (And BTW, André Balazs is convertingthe fire station opposite into his first London hotel, so it’s poised to becomevery hip indeed.)

Can we suggest you give your senses atreat and set aside a half-hour to breathe your way through almost 20intriguing Cire Trudon candles in this beautiful yet quirky space, which areshowcased (as per usual) beneath glass domes in which you’re invited to buryyour nose.

It’s a little bit of Paris perfection,come to Paddington…

Cire Trudon, 36 Chiltern Street, London W1U7QL/020-7486 7590
www.ciretrudon.com

The new superfacialist on the block

2011-10-26T11:01:00.025+01:00

‘A life-changing experience.’ That's how Anne Hathaway put it.

‘Pilates for the face: very lucky is the person who canexperience a treatment in her hands.’ So said Joely Richardson.

‘She does these facials that keepyour face alive, so it doesn’t fall down dead!’ And that, you might like to know, was Juliette Binoche.

To this roll-call of rave reviews forfacialist and holistically-trained therapist Su-Man Hsu, Beauty Bible wouldlike to add our own: ‘This womanis the real deal. A trulyoutstanding, face-waking treatment in which her hands do all the talking,through firming, massaging, contour-lifting strokes. We wafted out of Su-Man’s studio – a retreat at the bottomof her North London garden – and simply glowed.’

Our prediction is that Su-Man’s going tofind herself in the Facials Hall of Fame before you can say ‘extraction’,taking her rightful place alongside Eve Lom, Amanda Lacey, Sarah Chapman andEmma Hardie.

The catch? You’ll have to make a pilgrimage to Holloway - though forspecial clients, Su-Man pays housecalls.

But never mind hopping on the PiccadillyLine (to Finsbury Park). Frankly,we’d walk on hot coals to get to her...

To contact Sue-Man Hsu: su-man@blueyonder.co.uk(no phone number, alas)

Aromatherapy's new epicentre

2011-10-24T11:01:00.000+01:00

We've said it before. And we'll probably say it again. (And again.) When it comes to mood-shifting, no oils have the power of Aromatherapy Associates to lift us up or waft us off to the land of Nod. (Fact: Beauty Bible's No. 1 Desert Island Must-Have is Deep Relax Bath & Shower Oil.)
   Their treatments, of course, are widely available - but now there's a new mecca for the stressed-out: a flagship store and treatment destination in Knightsbridge.
   Upstairs, you'll find the whole range of oils, skincare and bodycare, beautifully showcased. You can experience mini-treatments, or learn by smelling the essential oils in their 'raw' form.
   But downstairs, heaven truly beckons: boutique-hotel-style treatment rooms where you can enjoy facials or body treatments.
   And the ultimate luxury: for £450, you can have a personalised oil blend created by AA's founder Geraldine Howard, which will be dispatched in an engraved botttle, and can be replenished with your customised oil at any time.
   What's ours? We've called it 'Even Deeper Relax'. We didn't think it was possible (and nor did Geraldine!), but it does just what it says on the (gold-lettered) bottle.
   Cue sound of gentle snoring, from the Beauty Bible office...

Aromatherapy Associates Boutique & Treatment Rooms, 5 Montpelier Street, London SW7 1EZ/020-7838 1117

The bathroom-cum-bedroom...

2011-10-21T11:01:00.002+01:00

Have you noticed the trend for installing bathrooms in bedrooms? Honestly, everyone's doing it. How practical it is, we're not sure. (Though as long as the loo still has a lock, maybe that's fine.)
   Anyway, here's a rather splendid example of a hybrid bathroom/bedroom. It nicely fills the spot we've specifically created on a Friday, to inspire all you bloghounds to give yourselves some pampering TLC over the weekend. Found it on Greige Design, a new blog discovery of ours that anyone who's fond of Scandinavian or neutral interiors will probably hyperventilate over.
   We like the idea you could almost roll right out of this silvered bath and into bed. Or vice versa. In fact, the only thing that would make this more inviting, as far as we're concerned, is if there was a massage couch set up in the foreground. With a strong-armed female masseuse just out of shot.
   We like to think of it as creative visualisation, actually.
   But whatever you've planned, have a beautiful weekend...

For Greige Design's blog, click here

Love clothes, hate shopping...?

2011-10-20T11:01:00.002+01:00

The title of this blog posting certainly applies to us.
   Department store fashion departments and high street stores in general can be the seventh level of Hades, as far as we're concerned. As for fashion websites? Who's got time to trawl them all...?
   So when we can, we both escape to small towns and boutiques where the collections have been edited for us.
   But now there's another option: Dress Me Daisy. They put in the footwork, so we don't have to.
   First of all, you can input your requirements on their THE HIGH STREET section: item (dresses/shoes/swimwear etc.), budget and colours, and it comes up with dozens of options across 200 brands. (Jo did this and immediately ended up buying a Junk Food t-shirt from Harrods.)
   Or use YOUR PERSONAL STYLIST to find a local Dress Me Daisy fashion-hound who'll provide solutions within 24 hours.
   Last but by absolutely no means least, you can ASK DAISY a fashion conundrum, or follow the site's HOW TO WEAR advice, which deconstructs current looks and tells you how to put them together.
   So prepare to save a lot of shoe leather. And time.
   And (most importantly) your sanity.

www.dressmedaisy.com

It's Love Your Body Day!

2011-10-19T11:01:00.000+01:00

We thought you'd like to know.
   Especially because so few women we know do love their bodies - and we'd like to see that change.
   We salute the efforts of the Dove Dove Campaign for Real Beauty to break the stereotypes that pervade advertising, and their work to boost the self-esteem of every girl, growing up. And Psychologies magazine, too, whose Positive Beauty manifesto we wrote about here.
   We slap the wrists of advertisers who airbrush women's faces to erase wrinkles, or their bodies to sleek silhouettes.
   And yes, we'd like to see a much wider range of ages and skintones, throughout the media. (We've always made an effort to do that, in our Beauty Bible books.)
   Love Your Body Day is the brainchild of the National Organization for Women Foundation, in the States. (Wish there was something similar in the UK.)
   We're not saying you have to strip down to your skimpies to join the celebration. But we invite you to feel good about your body, today. About the fact it works so amazingly. About your 'good points'. Even about your so-called 'flaws'.
   Because if you don't love your body, how can you expect anyone else to...?
   It's a good place to start, we'd say.

For more info about Love Your Body Day, click here
For more about Dove's ongoing campaign, click here

Soap & (even more) Glorious

2011-10-18T11:01:00.009+01:00

Our friend Marcia Kilgore could be forgiven, occasionally, for putting her feet up.
   First she created Bliss Spas (and products), bringing us the Oxygen Facial. Then Remède skincare. Next up: Soap & Glory. Oh, and FitFlops. (Maybe they're why she never has to put her feet up, come to think of it.)
   Now, launching into many Boots stores nationwide (the roll-out starts this week) is Soap & Glory Cosmetics: a collection of high-performance make-up at ludicrously low prices, considering the quality of the products. Beauty Bible (cue rubbing of fingernails on lapel) was literally first to tweet about the range last week, having nipped into the preview ahead of the pack.
   We already have some favourite products. Smoulder Kohl, for instantly smokey eyes. Glow All Out, an ever-so-slightly shimmering universally flattering shade of soft pink blush, which promises to enliven even the most hungover pallor. And Super Colour Fabulipstick, which we'd love for the name alone, but have also been seduced by the soft shea butter and monoi texture, and the so-wearable trio of shades.
   As usual, the packaging's fab - and fun - and the names, as ever, put a smile on our lips.
   Keep up the good work, Marcia. It's glorious stuff.

www.soapandglory.com
For hot-off-the-press beauty news, follow Beauty Bible on Twitter: @beauty_bible

Beautiful thoughts for a beautiful Monday...

2011-10-17T11:01:00.003+01:00

Nice typography is everywhere, at the moment.
   We like that. Makes it easy to surround yourself with positive messages, like these.
   This is actually available from Red Direct, that magazine's very stylish on-line boutique. However, we found it (via the circuitous tennis-elbow-foot game that is blog exploration) on Slices of Beauty. (Nice blog, if somewhat erratically updated.)
   In the hope of enriching your morning - if not your life - we'll leave you to muse on this, meanwhile.

PS The canvas also comes in pink. And blue. All equally beautiful...

Find the Slices of Beauty blog here
To find the canvas at www.reddirect.co.uk, click here

Tray chic, for a Friday

2011-10-14T11:01:00.001+01:00

Something we've noticed, with our Friday fetish for beautiful bathrooms: very often, there's a silver tray in the featured photos. (Like this one, sighted on Everything Fab's beautiful blog.)
   We think they're a rather lovely way to tidily showcase your cosmetics. (And we like the way the Q-Tips and cotton pads are tucked inside cut glass jars here, too.)
   Fab silver trays aren't hard to find. They often turn up at boot fairs (have them re-plated if one of Lakeland's miracle-working Cape Cod Metal Polishing Cloths doesn't do the trick). And we're very fond of the silver trays you find at Brissi (click here to find them).
   Just add a vase of flowers - like these late-season dahlias - for pampering perfection.

www.everythingfab.com
www.lakeland.co.uk
www.brissi.co.uk

Now it's websites at dawn!

2011-10-13T11:01:00.004+01:00

Chanel started it, with their fan-flipping-tastic Make-up Confidential website.
   But since then, other make-up brands have been upping their video game with fun-to-watch mini-movies that we really enjoy tuning into with a biccie and a cuppa around now, in a busy day.
   The latest stylish salvo in the 'video wars' comes from Dior, with this playful film showcasing their new shades, Tetris and pinball-style.
   But game over...?
   Not by a long shot, we'd say.
   (And we can't wait to see what the make-up videomeisters come up with next.)

Click here to enjoy the fun (and to view other favourite mini-films of ours, type the word 'VIDEO' in the SEARCH THIS BLOG box, right.)

A great new website. Naturally.

2011-10-12T11:01:00.001+01:00

We are longstanding fans of Neal's Yard Remedies.
   For more years than we're going to admit to, actually.
   But we're new devotees to their brilliant new Neal's Yard Remedies Natural News website: a fount of wisdom about natural wellbeing, featuring fascinating studies into emotional and physical health, worthwhile campaigns to support, and a handful of really interesting videos to watch.
   There's also an invaluable Learn More section which gives excellent, easy-to-understand descriptions of many different therapies - from Acupressure to Zero Balancing - which are offered in their therapy rooms nationwide.
   Nice to have some good news for a change, isn't it?

www.nyrnaturalnews.com

Celebrate 'Feel Gorgeous Week'!

2011-10-11T11:01:00.002+01:00

We concede: it's already Tuesday of Wahanda Feel Gorgeous Week, but we just had to mention World Porridge Day yesterday. (Er, like it or lump it...?)
   But Wahanda's celebration of health, beauty and wellbeing lasts till Sunday, so there's lots of time to take advantage.
   Wahanda specialise in special offers on hairdos, massages, mani/pedis and day packages at spas, fitness centres and hairdressers around the country (and there really is a wide selection). A taster: right now, you can get 50% off a one-night spa break at the Titanic Spa, one of the country's only eco spas, and somewhere that's been on Beauty Bible's must-visit list for ages.
   Many of them are '2 for 1' deals, so you can either split with a friend or make your own pampering budget stretch that bit further.
   With all the financial doom and gloom right now, that could be handy. After all, just because the world's poised on the brink of a meltdown, does that mean we have to feel (not to mention look) less gorgeous?
   Here's proof to the contrary.

www.wahanda.com

A berry interesting interview with Dr. Perricone

2011-10-10T11:01:00.003+01:00

Mouthwatering, eh...?
   The good news: these are among the skin superfoods recommended by Dr. Nicholas Perricone, whose beauty-from-within philosophy chimes with Beauty Bible's.
   And we're featuring this juicy morsel to alert you to rather an interesting interview with the skin doc about the best complexion-boosting foods on Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop website.
   Yes, that Gwyneth Paltrow, who - when she isn't making movies or sending mothers into a decline with her Yummy Mummy outfits worn to pick up Moses and Apple at the school gates - finds time to put together rather a good weekly newsletter about places/shops/people she loves. (Quite often, we find that we love them, too.)
   Dr. Perricone's useful run-down of superfoods then segues neatly into some scrummy skin-saving recipes. Since today also happens to be World Porridge Day (what do you mean you didn't know?), you may want to know this includes Old-fashioned Oatmeal topped with Apples, Cinnamon and Walnuts. Superfoods every one...
   As we always say: eat your anti-wrinkle products, as well as apply them.

PS You might also like to know that Dr. Nicholas Perricone's Super+ Skincare just launched in the UK at www.boots.com, if you click here
World Porridge Day is a celebration of this favourite breakfast created to help feed needy children in some of the world's poorest countries - click here for more info

Orangetastic! Our favourite bathroom yet...

2011-10-07T11:01:00.000+01:00

We are in lurve. Lurve, lurve, LURVE, we tell you.
   For this is just about the sexiest bathroom we've ever seen. Quite where they got the giant Hermès logo and the Napoleonic shower stand, we can't say. (Paris's Marché aux Puces seems a fair bet, though.)
   Meanwhile, forget dog-eared copies of Sunday colour supplements beside the loo: this is what we call bathroom reading matter. (We are as we write transporting armfuls of coffee table books to the smallest room, having been inspired...)
   But it's the colour combo which really sends this rocketing up the bathroom charts, for us. Those punches of Hermès orange really bring the white-tiled room, with its black ceiling, alive. (Trust A Punch of Color, one of our fave blogs, to have showcased this.)
   Orange. Doesn't it just look juicy, in a bathroom...?

Find A Punch of Color here

Serious specs appeal

2011-10-06T11:01:00.000+01:00

These are real 'Take a letter, Miss Hepburn' spectacles.
   Now, at Beauty Bible we think of glasses as an important weapon in the beauty arsenal. Fact: squinting leads to wrinkles, which leads to angst about ageing. (And Botox. Not for us, but fr some women.)
   However, the new collection from Rock Optika features some of the sexiest, most elegant frames we've seen in a long, long while. Designed by Tom Herrington, they're haute-quality French specs in 10 different styles, with appropriately glamorous names: Antibes, Gstaad, Palm Springs, San Remo. What's more, they can be fitted with sunglass lenses. This gets more 'Audrey' by the minute...
   Find them down the road from Jo in Hastings at The Optical Lounge, and in Covent Garden at McClintock Eyewear. Check out the website for future stockists, because we predict these will go global.
   Honestly, we just see it. Rather clearly, as it happens.

Rock Optika - click here for more info
The Optical Lounge is at 36-37 George Street, Hastings Old Town, TN34 3EA or click here for the website
McClintock Eyewear is at 29 Floral Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 9DP or click here for the website

If we didn't look good, he didn't look good

2011-10-05T11:01:00.000+01:00

Vidal Sassoon is a hair legend.
   Changed the world of hairdressing forever: out with the perm, in with geometric cuts that were as swinging as London itself.
   We just (slightly belatedly) got around to watching Vidal Sassoon The Movie, and are reminded of his greatness. For anyone who's interested in fashion, beauty and hair, it's a riveting must-watch, with wonderful footage and candid interviews with the coolest-ever crimper himself - whose catchphrase was: 'If you don't look good, we don't look good.' (It's peppered with perspectives from his legion of high-profile fans, from Mary Quant to Grace Coddington via our mate Kathy Phillips.)
   Should be compulsory viewing in history classes, we'd say.
     Truly inspiring stuff...

PS And can we add that we only hope we're as spry and sprightly as Vidal when we're in our eighties...?

Find it at the iTunes Store (where you can rent it or buy it for your iPad) by clicking here
Or buy it (trust us, it's one you'll watch again and again) from Amazon, by clicking here

www.vidalsassoonthemovie.com

Take a (scented) journey round the world...

2011-10-04T11:01:00.005+01:00

Maybe you just love fragrance. Or you've been wanting an excuse to get away for a weekend. Or perhaps you've been carrying around a dog-eared cutting about Violetta, the swoonworthy little beautique opened by beauty editor Karena Callen in Rye, East Sussex.
   Whichever's your story, here's a date for your diary: Friday 14th October, at 7.30 p.m., at the fabulous George Hotel in Rye. Because Odette Toilette - the nom de parfum of a very knowledgable fragrance expert, Lizzie Ostrom, founder of Scratch+Sniff events - will be leading you by the hand on a voyage of fragrant discovery.
   Maybe to the Egyptian desert.
   Or a cool, dark Alpine forest.
   Or the jasmine fields of Grasse...
   As Karena herself puts it, 'For those of you who have yet to attend a Scratch+Sniff event, conjure in your mind an intoxicating blend of literary soirée and luxurious perfume sampling. An evening where you will leave smelling fragrant, and perhaps with a few fragrance vials in hand.'
   It's going to be a magical evening. And as a scent junkie from way back, Jo wouldn't miss it for the (scented) world, herself...

Tickets are priced £12 each or £20 for two, from:

Violetta, 110 High Street, Rye, TN31 7JY/01797-227232
Or e-mail Nick@violetta-boutique.co.uk

The ultimate gift-with-purchase. Truly...

2011-10-03T11:01:00.006+01:00

We could devote an entire blog to gifts-with-purchase - there are so many out there. But to make it to this page, a gift has to be Very, Very Special Indeed.
   And this so is.
   You have to spend a fair whack to get it - £90, in Liberty's stunning new beauty hall. But with brands ranging from Nars to REN to ESPA and Trish McEvoy, it's not hard to do that just replenishing supplies, never mind trying new treats.
   The gift itself features all the beauty treasures showcased above (generous travel sizes, too), in a covetable Liberty print cosmetics bag, worth over £150 in all.
   The Ultimate Beauty Kit (and it is, isn't it?) is available while stocks last, in the store or on-line.
   Better be quick, because you may find yourself in the queue
behind us...!

PS We do quite often tweet about gifts-with-purchase that we like (among lots of other hot-off-the-press insider news), however, so be sure to follow us @beauty_bible!

Our latest bathroom swoon...

2011-09-30T11:01:00.001+01:00

His 'n' her loos. His 'n' her basins. And a bath that's obviously big enough for two. (And clearly needs its own 'mounting block'.)

Today we bring you his high-ceilinged, wide-floorboarded, tiled temple to bathing. Not sure of its location (we'd say Paris, probably).

But something to inspire you to kick off your shoes, fill the tub and indulge, this weekend.

Wallowing in blissful solitude. Or à deux...

Whatever floats your boat. (Or your rubber duck, more like...)

Free frozen yoghurt from YooMoo!

2011-09-29T11:01:00.001+01:00

Yup, read that right.
   Now, we're big fans of frozen yoghurt. Snack-of-choice, actually. And YooMoo's is sublime: smooth, creamy, with that yoghurty tang that makes it somehow taste - well, less naughty than ice cream.
   This Saturday (1st October), YooMoo is celebrating their first birthday - and they're giving away free yoghurt to celebrate.
   This yoghurtfest is happening 10 locations, which you can check out on the YooMoo website. They include Canary Wharf, Bluewater, Derby, Leeds, Milton Keynes (but not including Harrods).
   It's just for an hour - from 11 a.m. to noon. On Saturday only.
   But let's not look a gift moo-cow in the face, eh?

www.yoomoo.com

Which are the coolest beauty brands...?

2011-09-28T15:11:00.000+01:00

Well, it's official. Today, the results of the latest CoolBrands survey are unveiled, as judged by an appropriately too-cool-for-school panel that includes Ben de Lisi, Sadie Frost, Kelly Hoppen, Gizzi Erskine, Lisa Snowdon and many, many influential art directors and designers.
   The criteria? Style. Innovation. Originality. Authenticity. Desirability. Uniqueness.
   So - cue drumroll! - the winners are...
   Dermalogica, voted the coolest skincare brand (beating Creme de la Mer and Eve Lom, no less.)
   And in haircare, ghd (that's the Good Hair Day people) were straight-up winners, pipping TiGi and John Frieda to the post.
   That's just the tip of the CoolBrands iceberg, of course: in all, there are over 500 CoolBrands (whittled down from 10,000), many of them showcased in a luxurious hardback book. If you've got a spare £50 knocking around. And you're a brand junkie.
   What our Jo's also tickled by, meanwhile, is that the lil' ol' organic chocolate brand she started with her husband Craig Sams, in 1991, is for the fifth year running Britain's coolest food brand.
   And if all these wins aren't an excuse for a nibble on a bar of Butterscotch, we'd like to know what is.

www.coolbrands.uk.com
For more about Dermalogica click here
For more about ghd, click here

What's Spanish for 'blow-dry'...?

2011-09-27T11:01:00.000+01:00

To be honest, we haven't a clue, either.
   But in one Spanish destination - Barcelona - a savvy hairdresser has carved a niche for himself with not one but four groovily-decorated Anthony Llobet salons, where the stylists all speak English. (Between them, they've 11 languages.)
   No need for hand signals for 'more volume on top, please'. No being zooshed automatically with lacquer when you don't know how to refuse. No getting 'lost in translation' at all, in fact - which is what generally puts the fear factor in getting your hair styled overseas.
   Jo sleuthed out these 'English hair salons' when in the Catalan capital at the weekend, needing to look zhooshy. Got a fabulous blow-dry (Andreas at John Frieda, are you looking nervous yet?) And can particularly recommend Fanny, at the Gotic location (in this very hip and happening area of town).
   So we say: viva Anthony Llobet!
   (Which is about the extent of our Espanol, unfortunately...)

www.anthonyllobet.com

Sex And The Countryside

2011-09-23T11:01:00.000+01:00

So, this is where SJP goes to kick off her Manolos, at the weekend. A little bit of blue-and-white paradise, the latest in the Beauty Bible Blog's series of perfect pampering places.
   We're taken with the rolling vanity unit.
   Love the butterflies. Can't quite tell from the photo - which appeared in the US's Elle Decor mag (you can find it here on spiffy newsstands) if they're vintage, or Damien Hirst-esque.
   Adore the tongue-and-groove walls. (Genius for swiftly covering a multitude of sins, tongue-and-groove: you can even batten it over the pig-ugliest tiles.)
   But the stroke of genius, for us, is the his 'n' her milking pails, in place of waste baskets.
   She always did have style, that Miss Parker.

www.elledecor.com

What does a year of make-up look like...?

2011-09-22T11:01:00.000+01:00

Here's your answer, courtesy of directors Lernert & Sander and the brilliant Nowness website.
   Over nine hours, make-up artist Ferry van der Nat and his assistant Vanessa Chan applied 365 days' worth of Ellis Faas make-up to the (so-patient) model's face: seven bottles of foundation, three lip pens, two bottles of blush - and more. (Relax: they condensed it into a couple of minutes of film.)
   They did allow model Hannelore Knuts to eat and drink. Through a straw!
   Riveting.
   Though can we just add: Don't. Try. This. At. Home.

To view the video, click here
Ellis Faas make-up (and we love this) is now on-line at Liberty, if you click here

Make yourself a cuppa and watch this (No. 2)

2011-09-20T11:00:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, Chanel.
   Today, it's Dior's turn to entertain you over the McVities Digestives and the beverage of your choice, with a rather beautiful new film for J'Adore. It was shot in Versailles and stars Charlize Theron, Marlene Dietrich, Marilyn Monroe and Grace Kelly.
   And yes, you read that right.
   Just click here to view on YouTube, or here to see it via their Facebook page.
   We think you'll - er - adore it.

www.dior.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Dior

Make yourself a cuppa and watch this (No. 1)

2011-09-19T11:01:00.001+01:00

Those folks at Chanel have been at it again. Again, we tell you!

   So put the kettle on, and treat yourself to a couple of minutes of smile-time, watching the dancing fingers in this short film on the always-genius Chanel Makeup Confidential site. (Just click here to view.)
   Pure Bob Fosse. Pure genius.
   Finger-clicking good, actually.

www.chanel-makeup-confidential.com

Come on you blues (and whites)

2011-09-16T11:00:00.000+01:00

Love this loo. Love, love, lurve it. (Thanks to the brilliant and beautiful Coco + Kelley blog - written by a pair of Seattle-based interior designers - for alerting us to it.)

The bold bird wallpaper. (Big prints can look amazing in a small room.) With a blind that matches so well, you have to look extra-hard for it.

The OTT gold mirror and rococo sconces.

That bamboo shelf unit. (We told you Chinoiserie was back, this season. Though for us, it never went away.)

It's the kind of loo where if you opened the door, you'd almost squeal with delight. And then not want to leave.

So with this latest in our series of pretty pampering spaces, we wish you a great weekend.

Or should that be wee-kend...?

Skin vits you'll never forget to take...

2011-09-15T11:02:00.000+01:00

While swanning through Harrods on Monday (en route to the Chanel pop-up), we were a little bit blown away by the new, relocated Apothecary.
   Can we just say: Such. An. Improvement.
   And savvily, one of the ranges they've hand-picked is Visoanska, named after the unbelievably-smooth-skinned founder (Elisabeth Visoanska), which explains the slightly weird name for this luxe line. (She's Parisian. Via Poland.)
   What we're particularly taken with is the designs. Not just airtight, but each tube of the anti-ageing products - Formule Anti-Age Optimale and Extrème for day, plus Longévité Cellulaire Night - twists to dispense a skin-boosting vitamin to complement the effects of the active creams themselves.
   So the skin vits are right there to remind you to take them, staring you in the (potentially younger-looking) face. Not in the bottom of your handbag. Or your bedside table. Or anywhere else that makes it so darned easy to forget clean about popping those pills regularly.
   No wonder it's won a beauty industry packaging 'Oscar'.
   Truly memorable...

www.visoanska.com

A skincare road trip

2011-09-13T11:01:00.000+01:00

It may look like an ice cream van.
   But actually, this is a skin cream van.
   The bareMinerals® three-wheeler will be touring the country this month (for dates from today see below), dispensing info on their new bareMinerals® Skincare, which is powered by an 'ActiveSoil complex'. (You can read a previous blog about it here. And you've gotta believe us: it's more glam than it sounds.)
   Roll up, roll up, for complexion advice and to try the range. And you'll also be able to enjoy an RDA Organic Smoothie, on the house.
   Or should that be 'on the van'...?

Find the van here, and make a date for your diaries...

13th September - Guildford (House of Fraser Guildford entrance)
14th September - Kingston (Marketplace)
15th September - London (7 Dials, Earlham Street)
16th September - Birmingham (Rotunda Square)
17th September - Manchester (Trafford Centre, Great Hall entrance)

For more info about the bareMinerals® Skincare, click here
Click here for their Facebook page
Click here to follow @Bare_UK on Twitter

Two treats for you from L'Occitane

2011-09-12T11:01:00.001+01:00

First off: we are so coveting this special gift set from L'Occitane, which they'll be giving away FREE to the first 100 shoppers to visit their new store at Westfield Statford City, which opens at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning (Tuesday 13th September).
   How very, very adorable is that bag...? (FYI the whole thing is worth £35 and stuffed with travel sizes of bestsellers including Immortelle Precious Cream and Shea Butter Cream).
   Even better: for one and all there's an exclusive 15% discount for the entire opening week (until 18th September) - and a complimentary bestselling Verbena Shower Gel (full-size) when you splash out £35 or more.
   That's L'Occitane Westfield Stratford. Got that...?
   Because there's more L'Occitane loveliness for you tomorrow afternoon at their Covent Garden Store where Jo (Fairley) will be in residence, happy to answer all your beauty conundrums and sign copies of The Anti-Ageing Beauty Bible. (That's what Jo's brain is there for: picking!)
   There'll be drinks and nibbles.
   And a FREE goody bag. And the chance to dip, dab, spritz, spray and find answers to your beauty challenges.

Date: Tuesday 13th September 2011
Time: 3.30 - 6 p.m.
Location: L'Occitane Covent Garden Boutique, 9 The Market, London WC2E 8RB

To reserve your place (they're limited) call 020-7379 6040 or e-mail ukstore.coventgarden@loccitane.co.uk

A cool idea for a warm(ish) weekend

2011-09-09T11:00:00.001+01:00

Seems autumn's not totally upon us, quite yet.
   So instead of the latest in a long series of Fabulous Friday Bathrooms, we bring you: The Perfect Garden Shower.
   Imagine stepping out of the blazing sunshine int a shaded, marbled shower room. Complete with interesting dark wood stool and an inviting pile of towelled squishiness.
   Cool, or what?
   (And our thanks to the Everything Fabulous blog, for this. Which we follow through the utterly brilliant Bloglovin...)

www.everythingfab.com

Velvet Eyes will be in Vogue tonight

2011-09-08T11:01:00.001+01:00

We're not generally fans of 'ultra-high fashion' make-up. But we're prepared to make exceptions.
   For Dior's Velvet Eyes 'eyeliner patch' for instance: a limited edition which debuts tonight as part of Vogue Fashion's Night Out, at the Dior Boutique New Bond Street and Selfridges W1.
   Since we're not always the most steady-handed of eye-liners ourselves, we love the fact that these are adhesive - and repositionable. (NB There are also versions with Swarovski crystals, but we think that might be going a l-i-t-t-l-e too far. For us, anyway.)
   A liitle bit of make-up fun, on a Very Big Night Out.

Click here to read more about the event, which is happening all over the West End, with hundreds of stores participating - and helping to raise money for the wonderful Kids Company.

Une promenade avec Chanel

2011-09-06T11:58:00.001+01:00

If MI5 is looking for new recruits, they might want to startsniffing around the Chanel Press Office. Yesterday's ssssh-don't-tell-a-soul instruction to Beauty Bible: be at Harrods Door9 at 10 a.m. sharp.

Naturally, we accepted this Above Top Secretassignment.

And what did we find...? Well, we wereactually the very first to discover the pop-ups to end all pop-ups, whichopened yesterday - not a word of which had leaked beforehand. A fashionboutique, tucked behind the windows on Knightsbridge (which are all devoted toChanel, right now).
A jewel of a 'beautique', where yesterdayubermanicurist Sophy Robson and make-up goddess Mary Greenwell were making overreal women using products from an exclusive Chanel 'Knightsbridge Collection', createdby Peter Phillips. (We hear Marian Newman's pitching up, at some point.)

And upstairs on the Third Floor, the pièce derésistance: a 350 square metre exhibition - think of it as 'Coco in Wonderland' -which quite took our breath away, from the moment we stepped through (whatelse?) a floor-to-ceiling pearl curtain, into Chanelworld. (Wherenothing, interestingly, is even for sale. Which is a shame because we seriouslycovet a CC-monogrammed watering can and trowel combo.)

Actually, words don'treally do it justice. So Jo took lots of snaps, to lead you by the handthrough the show... (Sorry about any gaps in this layout. Today we officially hate Blogger.com)

You're invited to step inside a Chanel 2.25 handbag...

To watch a fascinating film of the making of one of these classic bags...

Then visit Coco's 'playroom', which even has a Rue Cambon 'dollshouse' (below)

The 'haute couture' salon, with the special boxes only clients normally see...

The tactile, textured 'Tweed Room'

Meet cut-out Karl in his 10-metre faithfully recreated library

A handbag as big as a room!

Inside a Tuileries-style garden, gravel, topiary, benches - and this gardening set...

But our favourite of all: vintage ads projected in a No. 5 bottle...

The whole thing is a total swoon. So: wherever you are, we suggest you buy yourself an Awayday to Harrods sometime soon. Or you'll never be able to karaoke 'je ne regrette rien', in future.

There. The secret's out. But oh, what a secret...

Sexy Tom Ford news

2011-09-05T11:01:00.002+01:00

There, that got your attention.
   Though actually, we're not talking about the gorgeous and sexy Mr. Ford himself. We're referring to his equally gorgeous and sexy make-up, which just debuted at Harrods, Harvey Nichols and Selfridges (all London) as well as Brown Thomas in Dublin.
   And as you can see from this shot of a so-wearable eyeshadow quad - we'd go so far as to call it an instant classic - the dark brown packaging, with its gold 'library style' spine (and very satisfying 'click factor'), is as covetable as make-up gets. The textures are bliss, too. And the shades? D-i-v-i-n-e.
   Though if you really want to show your finger's on the pulse, you'll be wanting to grow your nails a bit, 40s vamp style, to show the compact off to its best effect. And gloss them a deep, shiny red.
   Even though Tom doesn't actually make nail varnish yet. But it's surely a matter of time. And till then, we'll be panting for it, Tom.
   Er, the varnish, that is.
   Yes, that's what we meant, honestly.

Also at www.selfridges.com

It may feel like 'back-to-school' day...

2011-09-01T11:01:00.000+01:00

... But here's one last nostaglic taste of summer from a lovely blog - Coco + Kelley - that we enjoy. (And we're pretty sure you will, too.)
Those legs will be encased in black opaques before she knows it, so meanwhile: let's enjoy any sunshine that we get.

Click here for Coco & Kelley

The 'rough luxe' bathroom

2011-08-26T11:01:00.000+01:00

And now for something completely different, bathroom-wise.
   This is the type of beautification space that we would like to discover on arriving at our sun-drenched holiday villa. Somewhere like Crete, or Essouira, or Ibiza.
   Cool, concrete surfaces. Rough-hewn wood doors. A few Oriental artefacts. Simplicity itself, actually.
   Maybe not inviting enough for a chilly British bathroom in the middle of February - but on vacation, a change is as (almost) as good as a rest, interiors-wise.
   Wherever you're showering this weekend, have a good one.

The Big Veggie Survey

2011-08-24T11:01:00.000+01:00

Since the launch of Meat Free Monday, the number of vegetarians has soared. (It figures: if you can go deliciously meat-free one day a week, why not every day...?)
   And if you're veggie, demi-veggie, pescatarian, The Vegetarian Society would like to hear from you. (Or even if you're raging carnivore, come to that.) They're currently running an on-line survey into eating habits.
   Go on, fill it in. It's August. The office is really quiet. And you could win a £50 voucher for a Beefeater Grill meal. (Which is more logical when you discover they've recently introduced Vegetarian Society-approved dishes on their menu. Though we're still not entirely sure how die-hard veggies - that includes Jo - would feel, seated next to a rare-steak-eater. Happily, then, the voucher applies across the Whitbread Group generally.)
   We think it's food for thought, anyway.

To fill in the survey click here
For info about Meat Free Monday, click here

There's 'The Ultimate Facial'. And there's this...

2011-08-22T11:12:00.002+01:00

We have a lot of time for facials.
   Well, in truth, we don't have as much time for them as we'd like.
   But here's one we'll be making time for: the new Liz Earle Healthy Beautiful Skin Facial, which leaves complexion looking - well, just that. Healthy. And beautiful...
   It's very hands-on. (Lots of puff-beating massage.) Uses some of all all-time favourite products. And, frankly, is as much of a skin treat anyone could wish for. Even a picky, picky beauty editor.
   Or two.

And here's where to find it:

Liz Earle Duke of York Square - available now (call 020-7730 9191)
John Lewis Cheadle - from 23rd August
John Lewis Newcastle - from 14th October
John Lewis Reading - from 17th October

Bamboo-yoo-tiful...

2011-08-19T11:01:00.001+01:00

With fashion and beauty's focus on Chinoiserie this autumn, we think it could be time for bamboo to make a comeback in the home. Specifically, the bathroom - of which this is the latest in our (beautiful) series.
   It's certainly got us out there junketeering, seeking out a little bamboo sidetable for beside the basin.
   But we like it, particularly, paired here with Spanish tiles, a 'foxed' mirror (very flattering as one ages, that) - and a single, deliciously blowsy dahlia in 'knicker pink'.
   Thanks to the Everything Fabulous blog, for this.
   Have a bath-tastic weekend, won't you...?

www.everythingfab.com

At last, the unscary makeover

2011-08-17T15:01:00.007+01:00

We know women who'd rather go on the Stealth ride at Thorpe Park than have a department store makeover.
   We know where you're coming from. (Although we've also had fantastic makeover experiences ourselves, most notably at Bobbi Brown, Laura Mercier, Clinique and Chanel.)
   So: you need to know about Shiseido's Magic Mirror, based on a revolutionary technology: it scans your features, then allows you to 'apply' a range of lip, cheek and eye shades so you can see how they'll look on you - very realistically.
   No walking around wearing scary green eyeshadow all afternoon. Or dashing back to the office to wash your face.
   Magic? We'd say it lives up to its name...

And here's where to find the Magic Mirror, in a department store near you...

29th August – 17th September: House of Fraser Meadowhall
September – 3rd October: House of Fraser Manchester
5th October – 19th October: Jenners Edinburgh
21st October – 4th November: John Lewis Newcastle
9th November – 29th November: House of Fraser Westfield
1st December – 24th December: House of Fraser Milton Keynes
23rd December – 20th January: House of Fraser Oxford St
23rd January – 11th February: Harrods

A Vogue-tastic site

2011-08-15T11:01:00.005+01:00

Dithering over what to wear this summer morning?

Us, too.

So we rather hanker over an era when it was a toss-up between the crispest striped shirt, a trio of playsuits, or a full, floaty cotton skirt. Maybe some Capris and – oh, OK, never been sure about dungarees...

But we can’t help but be admiring of those hand-span waists, to show them all off.

Still, we really bought you this to alert you to a new blog discovery, My Vintage Vogue.

Fashion lovers - like our wonderful Executive Assistant Amy Eason (a..a. ''Miss eBay'): read it and swoon. And have a lovely summery day, from us.

www.myvintagevogue.com

Our quirkiest bathroom yet...

2011-08-12T11:01:00.000+01:00

We'd love to meet the woman who bathes here.
Confident in her taste. (You'd have to be, to mix Chinese cabinetry with a Rococo mirror and a straight-from-the-backwoods tree trunk. Not to mention the Japanese cork mat and the black-and-white wallpaper).
Awfully stylish.
And not afraid of a splash of colour. (Try imagining this bathroom with a black or beige cabinet, in place of the lipstick red. Would it be half as impactful...?)
Let this latest in our series of beautiful bathrooms - courtesy of A Punch of Color blog - inspire you, this weekend.
Either to reach for the paintbrush.
Or a chainsaw.
Or simply to lay back in your own bath, and relax.

www.apunchofcolordesign.com

Quite a bathing belle!

2011-08-11T11:01:00.000+01:00

Just one more reason to love Soap & Glory.
   They're currently sponsoring this extraordinary installation by artist Oliver Voss on the Inner Alster lake in Hamburg.
   She is fully recyclable and made of non-polluting materials.
   And man, does she need a lot of soap.

www.soapandglory.com

Feast your beady eyes on these…

2011-08-08T11:01:00.000+01:00

Only if you’ve been living in a cave could you have missed that false lashes are suddenly huge.

In every way.

Forget ‘can’t-tell-them-from-real’: the current trend is for lashes that a Jersey cow would be proud of – thick, lustrous, preferably eyebrow-grazing.

In fact, false lashes are so hot-hot-hot that in Superdrug – where (in selected stores) you can have lashes you’ve bought there reapplied for free – they sold 40,000 pairs of their new ‘falsies’ in the first week or so.

But trust Shu Uemura (say it 'shoo ay-moor-ah') – who were lash kings long before the current fad for faux – to up the ante, beading the tips of these feathery creations, which you can find at their Tokyo Lash Bars and on-line.

Not so much false eyelashes.

More false 'eye-FLASHES', we'd say.

www.shuuemura.co.uk

The perfect powder room

2011-08-05T11:02:00.000+01:00

Off somewhere swanky for the weekend?
   Hope so.
   Will they have a powder room as gorgeous as this...?
   Maybe not.
   We're loving the vintage stool, almost camouflaged by the wallpaper. (Stools like that go for a song in seaside junk shops.)
   We adore the way that a boring brown wood sideboard's been converted (with a bit of marble and some black paint) into a sunken washstand, complete with splashback. (Which has been perfectly shaped to showcase the window.)
   Thanks to the ever-inspiring interiors blog A Punch of Colour for letting us look through the keyhole at such a perfect little space.
   We'd rather like to be washing our hands somewhere as glam as this, this weekend.
   But it'll probably be Wet Wipes on the beach, again.
   (And nothing wrong with that, at this time of year.)

For A Punch of Colour, click here

Ahoy! Liz Earle news...

2011-08-03T11:02:00.000+01:00

For yachties.
   And Liz Earle fans. (Who are legion, among Beauty Bible readers.)
   And anyone who happens to be having a jolly buckets-and-spades holiday on the Isle of Wight. (Or, alternatively, enjoying the island's rather marvellous cuisine: it's becoming quite a foodie destination, as Jo has discovered on successive summer visits.)
   One of the highlights of the island's calendar takes off - with the wind in its sails - this Saturday, with the start of Cowes Week, the largest sailing regatta in the world. This year, one again, Liz Earle Naturally Active Skincare is the event's 'skincare sponsor'.
   Wonder if the sailors will be getting a preview of the soon-to-be-launched Sheer Skin Tint SPF15? (Trust us: it's worth waiting for. Or maybe even learning to sail for, actually.)
   And if you're not into boats but you love your beauty, the alternative is to tack right over to what was their first-ever store, in Ryde.
   Sun, sea and skincare. Now, that's our kind of holiday.

Union Store, 22 Union Street, Ryde
01983-813980

Are they real...? Find out on Saturday!

2011-08-02T11:02:00.000+01:00

Talk often turns to mascara, in the Beauty Bible offices.
   Oh, it's deep stuff.
   However, the mascara that's got our Beauty Bible Assistant Amy all a-froth is Benefit's They're Real.
   You can't really get your hands - or your lashes - on it until 27th August. However, Benefit's organised a 'flash sale' at 10 stores this Saturday, listed below: an exclusive preview where you can put the mascara to the test.
   Our tip: wear dark glasses when you leave the house, to get the full effect...

House of Fraser Glasgow
John Lewis Oxford Street
Boots Manchester Market Street
Boots Nottingham
Debenhams Belfast
Debenhams Brighton
Debenhams Chelmsford
Debenhams Henry Street, Dublin
Debenhams Mahon Point, Cork
Debenhams Cork

Plus the Benefit boutiques in Covent Garden and Spitalfields only - click here for the Storefinder

Vintage decadence

2011-07-29T11:02:00.000+01:00

Something a little 'different' for today's beautiful bathroom. (You know we like to share those with you, on Fridays.)
   It's pink, it's black, it's vintage - and it's courtesy of a wonderful blog that we follow (through the fabulous Bloglovin) called The Paris Apartment. The blog's author is a vintage dealer based in Florida, who specialises in romantic interiors, and is author of a fab book called The Paris Apartment: Romantic Décor on a Fleamarket Budget (available at Amazon if you click here).
   Claudia Strasser (Mademoiselle Paris Apartment herself) found this image in a 1925 catalogue of the show where the phrase 'Art Deco' was first coined.
   And to soak up more of her 1925 discoveries, click here.

PS Throughout August, Beauty Bible will be scaling down our blog postings a little. Like you, we'll be soaking up the sunshine (or soaking up the rain) - Sarah in Australia, Jo in (hopefully sunny) Hastings. Term will 'restart' a little way into September. But do stay (occasionally) tuned between now and then, though...