Great hare styles

Yup, read that right.  Not hairstyles:  Hare Styles.  The hare above is by Nicky Clarke, snipper extraordinaire, who's just one celebrity involved in Hare Styling: a charity event in aid of GOSH (the Great Ormond Street Hospital charity).  It's been organised by his younger brother, Michael Van Clarke:  when Angelica Van Clarke was two days old, she needed a life-saving operation at GOSH - hence the family involvement.       Now, dozens of famous figures, artists and sculptors have created hare-inspired artworks which can be seen in an on-line gallery, below - and which you can bid for, in the on-line auction.  From Paul McKenna to Helena Bonham-Carter, Raymond Blanc to Maryam d'Abo, plus Jack Vettriano and a couple of 'Sirs':  Alex Ferguson and Beatles producer George Martin.  (Although the painting we've fallen for is Lady Amanda Harlech's dreamy, ethereal 'bride' hare, with its lace collage detail.)  And on the Harestyling blog, below, you can see many of the artists at work.

     The actual artworks are on display from Saturday at Marylebone's Heartbreak Gallery.  Oh, and there's also The Hare Ball, on 26th May 2011.  So if you're feeling super-flush and charitable and you fancy finding out more about this hopping event, click here. 

www.harestyling.com

Heartbreak Gallery, 17 Bulstrode Street, London W1U 2JH/020-3219 5170

www.heart-break.co.uk

An (unsung) nail star

Are you a fan of O.P.I. nail polishes?  At Beauty Bible, we are.  (Majorly.)  Duracell-bunny strength, super-shine, rocking colours and laugh-out-loud names.  (Think:  A Oui Bit of Red, Bastille My Heart and I'm Suzi and I'm a Chocoholic, a suitably fantastic brown, among hundreds of smiletastic shades.)
     They're based in Hollywood.  (That probably should be base-coated in Hollywood.)  But today, we want to salute an unsung British hero of O.P.I.:  Lena White, the woman who 28 years ago had the vision to introduce the range to the UK (their first export market), having been frustrated by the lack of quality polishes out there.  Astonishingly, Lena had to twist the founders' arms big-time to let her bring them to the UK, where she initially ran a home-based nail salon.  But the rest is history, and O.P.I. now graces the hands of well-groomed women around the world.
   And in case you're wondering, the brand name came from Odontorium Products Inc. Er, slightly less-than-catchy, that.  But a great bit of beauty trivia to have at your fingertips, this Wednesday morning.

www.lenawhite.co.uk

The buzz around Covent Garden...

... isn't just down to the new Apple Store.  It's from the bees newly installed on top of the Melvita Covent Garden Store.  This all-natural brand - France's biggest organic name (with several award-winning products in our new book) - will even be making honey on top of their flagship shop on St. Martin's Courtyard, doing their bit to help London's bee population to regenerate and thrive.
      There are many worthwhile bee campaigns to highlight the plight of the bumble bee right now (and even Boris is backing London beekeepers, with his Capital Bee scheme). But nice to see a beauty brand rolling up its sleeves - or rather, donning a full-length beekeeper's suit - and busying themselves this way.
      And there's a humming album of photos about the beehive installation on their Facebook page, if you click here.

Melvita, 19 Slingsby Place, St. Martin's Courtyard, London WC2E 9AB
www.melvita.co.uk

Beautiful words for Monday

As anyone who reads our books or website knows, we're not just about lotions and potions.  (Even if our life's mission is to introduce you to products that really and truly work.)  So today we're sharing with you an inspiring thought bubble that reflects our real feelings about beauty - which we stumbled upon on a rather sweet blog, Bits of Beauty.
     It's our way of saying:  have a beautiful week...

www.dailybitsofbeauty.com

Chanel's new wow of a website

Oooh, you're going to love this.  Because 'under the radar', Chanel has (unofficially) launched a new make-up website, and (who's surprised?) it's one of the most exciting we've seen.
     You can go backstage with Chanel's Creative Director of Makeup, Peter Phillips.  (On the current edition, he even gives you a guided tour of Mademoiselle Chanel's swoonworthy apartment.)
     Follow how-to tutorials from one of our favourite-favourite make-up artists, Lisa Eldridge, including a great smokey eye tutorial, in 'How to do the new season face'.  (Lisa's own videos feature, of course, on our Beauty Bible YouTube channel, if you click here.)
     Get a sneak peak of the upcoming colours and products.
     And as if that wasn't enough, listen to Vanessa Paradis performing the Kinks' 'Daydream', for the Rouge Coco ad...
    For all those reasons, Chanel Makeup Confidential has zoomed straight to the top of our website charts.  Fabuleux!

To find it, click here.

More than a must-read for the Botox brigade

We've always been upfront about the fact that nobody's coming near us with a syringe, let alone a scalpel.  But we think it's every woman's right to have a cosmetic 'tweak', or even surgery, if she chooses.  (Of her own free will, not because of any external pressure.)  So long, that is, as all the right questions are asked, to optimise chances of the best possible outcome.
     We consistently point women contemplating 'procedures' in the direction of the wondrous Wendy Lewis, who contributed a section on 'the questions to ask' to The Anti-Ageing Beauty Bible.
     But this new-ish quarterly glossy mag is well worth a read, too: nitty-gritty info about procedures, with a list of (carefuly-screened, so they tell us) doctors and practitioners, at the back.  It all seems very sensible and sound, to us - and even if you're not a Botox babe, there's plenty of other fascinating info about anti-ageing creams, non-surgical facelifts, and age-defiance generally.  (Including our own run-down of the best 'anti-ageing' haircare, in this latest issue.)
     Expert Beauty is on bookstands or via the link below.  With a cover price of £4.95, might be the best £4.95 you ever invest, if you're thinking about lasers/fillers/a facelift, etc.  But even better:  they're offering Beauty Bible readers a year's subscription (four issues) for just £5, if you follow the link below.
     Beautiful.
  
Click here for the special offer.
To find out more about Wendy Lewis, visit www.theknifecoach.com

A lipstick with an added smile factor

Your search for the perfect red is over.  But this is more than a brilliant, suits-everyone shade with a creamy, moisturising formula:  it's a gorgeously genius idea.  The Trust lipstick will raise funds for The Prince's Trust, the charity which helps so many young people kickstart their careers.  Think:  mentoring.  Think:  'seed' funding for projects. Think:  much-needed training, in a wide range of industries. (Including, now, the health and beauty world.)
     And they couldn't have chosen a more appropriate make-up artist to come up with the ultimate red.  A-lister Karen Alder (who's whisked her brushes across the faces of Kyle and Dannii Minogue, Anna Friel and Pixie Lott) got her very own start thanks to The Prince's Trust.  'I am so thankful for their support and look forward to giving something back.'
     All proceeds from the £8 price (except the VAT) go directly to The Prince's Trust.  To help put a grin on the face of many young people, who otherwise might not get much of a chance...

See Karen and celebrity supporters talk about the lipstick (and the charity) at the following times, on QVC (Freeview channel 16, Sky Digital 640, Virgin TV channel 740 or Freesat channel 800):

14th April at noon
26th April at 4 p.m.
29th April at 1 a.m. and 9 a.m.

Or find it on-line here.