A very good Egg

Jo came across this little magazine while judging the National Geographic Green Awards the other day - and wearing our Green Beauty Bible hats, we thought you should know about it.  You know how so many green/ethical publications are worthy and - oh, let's face it, boring as hell.  (I mean, we always buy The Big Issue, but read it...?  Hmmm.)
     Well, Egg Mag's different.  Almost pocket-sized and (yay!) free, it's targeted at London and Brighton (so far) and is full of culture and style and scrumptiousness.  Think:  recipes for Fairtrade White Russian cocktails and Hugh Fearnley-Wearnley's chocolate macaroons.  Perfectly pick-able up-able by anyone who isn't green-minded for a jolly good, bite-sized read, the current 'White issue' actually runs from January to April.
     So it won't mount up in that media pile that you keep meaning to get round to reading, by your bed - but Georgette Heyer or India Knight somehow always beckons instead...

www.eggmag.co.uk for back-numbers, extra content and eco-offers.

You MUST watch this!

We begged.  We pleaded.  We grovelled.  (And it wasn't pretty.)  But Chanel has given the exclusive rights for a truly BRILLIANT animated film - 'Here Comes the Beauty Pack' - to a new luxury blog that we're actually rather loving called www.nowness.com.  Tant pis.
     But you absolutely totally and utterly have to take one minute out of your life right now and watch this robot-powered life-enhancer, which was made by their in-house make-up genius (and former graphic designer), Peter Phillips.  Our favourite bit?  The logo-smoking, vogueing brush-babe, striking a pose at the end.
    In 60 seconds, you'll know what we mean, if you just click here.

www.nowness.com

Viva Violetta!

Breaking news:  our very wonderful beauty editor colleague Karena Callen (ex-Red, ex-Elle) yesterday opened the kind of beautique that frankly you'd be happy to stumble upon in any corner of our fair isles. In fact, it's in Rye (East Sussex), a convenient hop-skip-and-a-jump from Jo's home town of Hastings - but definitely worth a pilgrimage from much, much further afield.
   What will you find?  Beautiful Miller Harris fragrances, the cutest discoveries from Sussex-based Juliette at Home (loving the teacup candles and the gorgeously gift-wrapped soaps), This Works skincare and bath oils (we swear by Deep Calm), Adrianne's vintage-inspired jewellery, Max Benjamin candles, Cartolina cards (our favourite), and lingerie from Tallulah Love, which comes in powder-style boxes.  Vintage items, too:  you could buy that table Karena's standing beside, if you fancied.  Coming soon?  Paul & Joe, Narciso Rodriguez fragrances, and - fingers crossed - the amazing perfumes of Serge Lutens, which will definitely be a fragrant Sussex first.
      If you're lucky, you'll find Karena there, too:  as lovely, clever and drily funny a beauty editor as you could hope to meet.  And if you're very lucky, she might answer your beauty conundrums.
     Which is a gift-with-purchase beyond price, if you ask us.

Violetta, 110 High Street, Rye, East Sussex, TN31 7JY/07793-824166

A scent of L.A.

Should you find yourself on the West Coast of the US (as Jo did last week), there are several good reasons to head for Abbot Kinney Boulevard, in Venice, L.A.  The first is that it's become probably the hippest shopping street in the States.  (Shabby to chic in just a few years.)  The second reason, specifically, is one of the boutiques that's helped put Abbot Kinney on the map:  the gloriously (and aptly) named Strange Invisible Perfumes.
     If you think that botanically-based fragrances are all earthy, hippie-dippy and patchouli-heavy, SIP (for short) is the proof:  it just ain't so.  In this exquisitely minimalist boutique, you will find exquisite scents such as you have never smelled, created by super-talented botanical perfumer Alexandra Balahoutis.  (The store itself slightly reminded us of being inside a Japanese birthday gift:  everything perfect, with little touches of colour and all done with the greatest delicacy and elegance.)
     As Aussie Vogue put it:  'A must-visit international destination for the true fragrance connoisseur' - and we couldn't agree more.  We suggest you set aside an hour - preferably more - to be talked and spritzed through the Strange Invisible Perfumes themselves, with their evocative names:  dewily lush Aquarian Roses, dangerously sexy Narcotic, or soothing, grounding Lyric Rain.  (Keep your fingers crossed that you're served by Shannon, the charming and patient SIP perfume pro.)
     It is, you will find, almost impossible to choose between them - though make sure you're in funds:  SIP doesn't come cheap, but you'll end up with a fabulous signature scent you're unlikely to smell on anyone this side of the Atlantic.  Jo's chosen SIP?  The airily rosy L'Invisible - and you can read her review at The Scent Critic by clicking here.  Which - until you've got that flight booked to California - is alas the closet you can get, for now.

Strange Invisible Perfumes, 1138 Abbot Kinney Boulevard, Venice, CA 90291/310.314.1505
www.siperfumes.com

Never Knowingly Underpampered

This is a sneak (artist's impression) of what the new John Lewis spas will look like.  Now, we're actually rather taken with good old John Lewis, at the moment.  No longer just a destination to pick up a yard of knicker elastic or some No. 11 knitting needles, but with fab skincare (they were savvy to become early adopters of Liz Earle's range), and stylish, wearable fashion.  (A far cry from the elasticated waist trews that Jo's mum used to head there for, but not as scarily edgy as some department stores we can name.)
     Apparently there'll be facials, manicures, pedicures, eyebrow/lash tinting, threading - and treatments by Clarins, Decléor, Elemis, Jessica, Blink (the brow bar) and the aforementioned Ms. Earle's range.  £250 million has been budgeted for the project (!), and the first sites are Reading and Cheadle (this summer), then Norwich - with Chester and Exeter in the autumn.  Which will please those blog-readers who frequently and justifiably complain that London's too often the focus for launches and general excitement in the gorgeousness department.
     As out-of-towners ourselves, we know that living away from the smoke needn't mean Hobbit toenails, dull complexions or Denis Healey brows.  Nice that John Lewis is making life easier for the wannabe-pampered provincial, though.
     See you in Cheadle...?
     

Cowshed at Gatwick rocks!

You're not seeing things:  the plate glass window of the Cowshed Spa in Virgin's Upper Class lounge at Gatwick has been carefully cut to showcase - yes! - a massive boulder.  Now, whether trading in Virgin Airmiles or travelling Swanky Class for business (at someone else's expense!), we've always found that Virgin's spas at their UK terminals are among the very best business travel bonuses.  Think:  free shoulder massages, manicures or pedicures, with longer treatments for a relatively modest sum - and all using Cowshed's excellent range, as developed at their original spa at Babington House.  (Best to book treatments in advance of travel, though, to avoid disappointment.)
     Wilma Flintstone would feel right at home.  (And so, actually, do we!)

Go on - Kiss It Better!

We're going to tell you a beautiful story.
     Once upon a time, long, long ago, our friend Carmel Allen's baby daughter Josephine was diagnosed with a childhood cancer, neuroblastoma.  Happily, Josephine recovered fully (after months of treatment bravely borne), and is the most lovely child.  (Inside and out).  But Carmel - who'd been Beauty Editor at Tatler - decided that some good should come from this traumatic experience, which many beauty editors friends of Carmel's felt we'd shared in just a little.  So, Kiss It Better was born:  a brilliant charity to raise money (via the beauty industry) for Great Ormond Street Hospital's research into the causes and treatment of childhood cancers.
     The deal's simple.  You get lovely beauty products;  kids get the hope of better health.  And February's basically 'Kiss It Better Month' at Clinique, with two ways you can help raise money.  First, the new limited edition Smoothie Kisses Lip Gloss set (featuring four shades of one of our favourite, antioxidant-rich lip glosses), in a fab splashily printed bag.  £4 of the £22.50 price (£2 from Clinique, £2 from House of Fraser, where it's exclusively on sale) will go to Kiss It Better.  Actually, for every Clinique lipstick or gloss sold at HoF throughout February, £2 goes to KIB.
     Or if you're feeling a bit more generous, you'll want to know that funky illustrator Daisy de Villeneuve has produced this special limited edition print for Kiss It Better - and 100% of the £100 sale price of the triptych goes to GOSH.  It's on-line at the outlets below.
     Sometimes, stories really do have happy endings.

www.houseoffraser.co.uk (to buy Smoothie Kisses)  
www.clinique.co.uk (to buy print)
www.gosh.org/shop (ditto)