Please watch this: 29 ways to stay creative

     Have you ever stumbled across something that so sums up your philosophy, you want to shout it from the rooftops?
     That's how we feel about the video, above (which you can view if you click here.  It's full of ideas about how to open your mind, kickstart your imagination - and frankly, most of it is just darned good wellbeing/life advice, too.
     With love from us (and Tofu Design) to you, this Thursday coffee break.

To view the video, click here

Real clothes for real women

     Strange-but-true:  we don't love clothes-shopping.  Find it overwhelming to navigate most department stores.  And are always relieved when someone with a great eye does the leg-work for us.
     So for the past few seasons, Jo's shopping dreams have been answered by a pair of Hastings-and-St. Leonard's-based style-seekers who've gone out and edited down the collections, staging 'pop-up' fashion shows and travelling boutiques almost on her doorstep.
     Which is fine if you live by the seaside, near Jo.
     The good news?  Who's Wearing What (as they're known) now has a website.  So that wherever you, are you can access their hand-picked ranges, including Ella Moda's easy-wear linens, Innocente's tailoring (from an up-and-coming discovery), Ochre (cotton and cashmere), Sur le Dos des Filles (fab bamboo/organic leisurewear) - plus fab accessories and jewellery.  (The sort of pieces that have friends drooling:  'Where did you get that...?')
     That's just a taster of the labels.  So we suggest that if you're weary of wearing out your shoe leather trying to find clothes that are stylish but not fashion victim-y, you might like to put your feet up and discover Who's Wearing What, instead.

www.whoswearingwhat-boutique.co.uk
     

See you tomorrow in Birmingham and Manchester?

Just a reminder:  if you live in the Midlands or the north, we'll be in the area tomorrow, Wednesday 29th June.

     From 12.30 - 2 p.m., we'll be at Selfridges Exchange Square, Manchester, in the beauty department.

     Then faster than you can say 'Virgin Pendolino', we'll be speeding down to appear in Selfridges Birmingham from 5.30 - 7 p.m. (Ditto, department-wise.)

     Bring your beauty conundrums: we'll be happy to answer any beauty dilemmas, especially concerns about ageing, or summer beauty.

     Bring your copies of our books, for signing (although - hallelujah - there'll be copies of The Anti-Ageing Beauty Bible available to buy.)

     But above all, just bring yourselves.  Can't wait to meet you.

The most beautiful day of your life - only more so

     We couldn't agree more with Bobbi's wedding make-up philosophy, above.  So anyone getting married this summer - might want to shimmy along to your nearest Bobbi Brown counter for a complimentary bridal make-up lesson.
     Ditto if you're mother-of-the-bride, or sister-of-the-bride.  (NB  Although they're not saying quite who, Bobbi Brown's office have 'fessed up that their talented make-up pros whisked their brushes over members of April's Royal Wedding party.)
    You can locate your nearest Bobbi Brown counter below, where you can .  Alternatively, log on to the website for Bobbi's Bridal Beauty Tips: so-practical, so-gorgeous, makes-you-look-like-you-only-prettier advice, which is Bobbi's signature.  (And the reason we love her.)  In addition to that wisdom, there are also four Timeless Bridal Looks which you can print out.
     Our advice?  Just 'I do' it.

Bobbi Brown - click here for Bobbi's Bridal Beauty Tips
Click here for the Bobbi Brown Store Locator

Pampering pink perfection

This is where we wish we could be bathing this weekend.
     We dig the Rob Ryan-style 'silhouette'-framed mirror.  The shelves (easy to copy, these), with birdcage and fluffy towel stack.  The vintage caned chair, given a white coat of paint.  And the classical beauty, framed above the fireplace.  (In winter, we fantasise about lighting a crackling fire in the grate, to towel-dry in front of.  Following all the usual Health & Safety guidelines, naturellement.) 
     The pink walls, meanwhile, are clever:  did you know you'll always look prettier in a pink room - not just a bathroom - because it gives a flattering glow to the complexion...?
     What all our favourite Friday bathrooms - of which this is the latest in a l-o-n-g sequence - seem to have in common, meanwhile, is a fabulous old tub.  If you've been inspired by our watery weekend musings to revamp your bathroom, we point you in the direction of Salvo, the on-line resource for architectural salvage, who always have a fantastic list (available from various reclamation yards around the country).  We found examples from just £140.
     Just add cost of delivery.  Pipework/taps (we can't recommend Lefroy Brooks too highly - also beloved of hotelier Olga Polizzi).
     And, of course, the sweet-talking of a friendly plumber...

www.salvo.co.uk
Lefroy Brooks - click here

PS  The image is from a favourite blog, The Decorista.  Check it out here, or follow via Bloglovin - which is how we follow all our top blogs...

Tales from The Powder Room

Next time you and your girliest girlfriends are looking for a treat-ette, we have a suggestion.  The Powder Room.  Actually, there are two:  in Marshall Street (Soho), and Columbia Road (Shoreditch).  With their chequered floors, pink-uniformed make-up experts, 50s chairs/mirrors and reclaimed shop fittings, The Powder Rooms are pure boudoir chic.
     They offer speedy hairdos, application of luscious false lashes, an 'In a Jiffy Make-up' option - and for those evenings when you can't get home before a London night out, you can be expertly refreshed, beautified and primped for the evening ahead, for just £30.  You might even want to get in the mood with a Powderpuff Bellini, served in a vintage cup, for a fiver.  (Soho only.)  Or if you've 90 minutes to spare, why not book in for a Make-up or Hair Tricks of the Trade session...?
     Oh, and did we say they're a treasure trove of girly beauty finds, with make-up by Paul & Joe and Dianne Brill, among others, to shop for...?
     Just one last thing.  If you're planning a 'hen' do, or a special event with girlfriends, The Powderpuff Girls will turn up with their team of immaculately-turned out make-up artists, hairstylists and massage therapists.  (For more info, use the contacts below.)
     Girly, gorgeous, glamorous.  Go, go, go...!  (With your girliest girlfriend, we'd recommend.)

www.thepowderpuffgirls.com
The Powder Room (Soho):  0844-879 4928
The Powder Room (Shoreditch):  020-7729 1365

Celebrate National Kissing Day

We don't care how you do it.  Or who with, really.  We just want to be sure that your lips are beautifully soft and sexy, to celebrate National Kissing Day today.  And so we have two Beauty Bible recommendations, to get them that way.    
     First up (cue small drum roll):  our own all-natural, fat-and-stubby, liptastic Beauty Bible Lip Balm, packed with vitamin E and aloe:  the only product we've ever loved enough to put our name to.  (And FYI it's just a fiver.)
     And secondly - just in time for summer - the Lanolips™ Lip Ointment with Colour SPF15, a shining (literally) star in the Tried & Testeds that Beauty Bible carried out for YOU Magazine's Glow-Getters summer special.  (Read all the reviews on our site, here.)
     Also a real 'steal', this comes in lots of sheer, summer-perfect shades - and to quote one panellist, 'Really lovely product;  feels silky on lips - the nicest lip tint I have used.'  Oh, while we're at it, here's another one:  'I have a million lippies and am going to throw them all out now because Lanolips is by far my favourite.'
    From their lips - to yours...?

Beauty Bible Lip Balm - find it here
Lanolips™ Lip Ointment with Colour SPF15 - find it here
www.victoriahealth.com

We're in (wander)lust...

We're pretty picky about hotels.  (Don't get us started, actually.)  But here's something that should appeal not only to our greener readers (the legions of you with a copy of The Green Beauty Bible on your beauty bookshelf), but to all eco-conscious travellers out there.
     Next time you're in Amsterdam (and can there be a healthier city, so easy to cycle and walk around?), check out Conscious Hotels.  Well, check into a Conscious Hotel, is our advice.  (There are two locations:  Vondelpark - a short, easy tram-ride from the centre - and Museum Square.)
     As Jo just discovered, the décor's divine.  But it's also as eco as it gets:  organic bedlinen (and breakfasts), a table made out of recycled coffee cubs, sustainable wood, clean, bright and inviting.  And that's even before you've sunk into the eco-mattress (from Coco-Mat):  blissful layers of natural latex, coconut fibre and seaweed.  (Yes, seaweed.)  And there's free WiFi.  As Conscious Hotels say, 'Everything has been designed to be kind to the planet.'  (Well, maybe not the WiFi, but hey...)
     Most importantly, the staff are as welcoming and friendly as you could wish for.
     So:  tulips, chips with mayonnaise, great vintage stores, fantastic walks, accessible by train.  Now you can add Conscious Hotels to the list of very good reasons to visit Amsterdam.
     To misquote The Terminator:  'We'll be back'.

www.conscioushotels.com
www.sleepcocomat.com

This Friday's soak star

You're probably getting the idea by now:  we heart bathrooms.  And for sure we fantastise about stumbling upon a capacious copper tub in an architectural salvage yard, to recreate a space like this.  

     But here's what we're loving, in this shot (sourced via Australia's very lovely, very girly Honey and Fizz blog, which you can click to below). These are ideas to steal even if you have a plain old enamel tub chez vous...

     A neutral rag rug.

     A stool, handily placed near the bath, for unguents/muslin cloths or your book.  Heck, it's Friday:  maybe even a glass of wine.

     A distressed, capacious bathroom cabinet (you can pick these up for a song), to hide all manner of lotions and potions.  Mirror, ditto.

     And hydrangeas-a-go-go.

     As we say in the beauty business, it's just 'gorge'.

Find Honey and Fizz here.

Bag this to help the homeless

What happens to old hotel bedlinen...?  Maybe you've never thought about this great life-mystery.  Till now.

     Because artist and silk scarf-maker Vicki Murdoch is transforming 'retired' Marriott Hotel bedsheets in tandem with a local social enterprise called Sleeping Bags, which creates luxury from waste and supports London-based artists and manufacturing.  It turns duvet covers into tote bags giving them a new life, keeping them out of landfill - and benefiting the homeless, at the same time, with proceeds from the £30 price going to St. Mungo's, a charity with over 100 projects across London and the south of England.

     One king-size sheet and duvet cover = 10 bags, and a chunky donation to enable homeless individuals to sleep more comfortably.

     What a dreamy idea.

To buy one of the bags, call 0207-725 5923 

London Marriott Marble Arch, 134 George Street, London W1H 5DN

St. Mungo's - www.stmungos.org

Want to know the way ahead...?

Chaos.  Turmoil.  Change.  In general, we're none of us great at dealing with that stuff.  So we've always found it rather reassuring to listen to our astrologer friend (and generally-very- wise-person) Shelley von Strunckel talk about the times we live in - and the opportunities that are opening up.
    As Shelley says, 'Exciting as living in a new era - the Aquarian age - with its accompanying possibilities might be, there are challenges and confusion to deal with.'
     You can say that again...
     So on 29th June at Kensington Great Hall, London, Shelley will - as she puts it - 'Step off the page and speak directly to you, helping you to change the way you think about yourself, your life and what these unsettled times are bringing.  You'll leave with more solid information, feeling inspired, empowered and enthusiastic about the future and your role in it.'
     Tickets are £22.50 each but for Beauty Bible readers there's a special deal:  £35 for two tickets, if you enter the code TWA241;  just click here for the special ticketing page.

The Way Ahead Tour:  www.thewayaheadtour.com
For Shelley's blog, visit www.shelleyvonstrunckelblog.com, or click here
And remember, Shelley also writes 'Health Stars' for www.victoriahealth.com, if you click here

Rather Shavata than us...!

Top of the list of phrases you will never hear coming out of our mouths is:  'We're going skydiving.'
     However, we have endless admiration for anyone who'll throw themselves out of an aeroplane.  Especially in aid of charity.
     So hats (helmets?) off to Shavata, the renowned 'brow guru', who is joining the Booby Birds in a tandem skydive in aid of Breakthrough Breast Cancer.
     Gulp.
     Slightly less scarily, tomorrow at Harrods Urban Retreat Shavata will be shaping brows with her usual consummate skill - but donating all the proceeds (£35 a pop) to the charity, towards her target of £20,000.  You can book on the number below.
     It's on the Fifth Floor, at Harrods.
     Even we can manage that, without gettting vertigo.

To book at Harrods Urban Retreat, call 020-7893 8333
For more about Shavata, visit www.shavata.co.uk

Tiny Buddha's beauty wisdom

With all this talk about tanning treatments for toddlers and the accelerating (yawn) obsession with celebrity perfection, we find this posting - click here to read it - so refreshing.

     Tiny Buddha is like a breath of fresh air in our days:  a moment to stop, breathe, think.  But we especially like this weekend's wisdom - which kicks off with a quote from Thich Nhat Hanh:  'To be beautiful means to be yourself.  You don't need to be accepted by others.  You need to accept yourself.'  

     It's followed by an account of how Mary Dunlop, the author of this particular blogposting, found meditation helped her to accept her looks, celebrate her body, feel positive - and yes, feel beautiful.  

     You don't need to take a vow of chastity to enjoy Tiny Buddha, or start wearing saffron robes.  We like to check in with the site for a few grounding minutes over a cuppa, either to read the day's posting, or pick on a category that chimes with what we need right then:  'Happiness and fun', 'Letting go', Mindfulness and peace', 'Work fulfilment'.  You get the drift.

     It sure makes a change from worrying about how you're going to get your 'bouffant' as 'bouff-y' as Cheryl Cole's, your thighs as dimple-free as Kylie's or your lashes as long as Eva Longoria's.  

     And ought to be required reading in particular for any teen, we'd go so far as to suggest...

     

www.tinybuddha.com

Follow them on Twitter:  @tinybuddha

This weekend's watery wonderworld

It's Friday.  We have our Aromatherapy Associates Deep Relax Shower & Bath Oil to the ready.  And this is where we'd like to find ourselves wallowing, this weekend.  (Courtesy of www.marthastewart.com, a site to thrill - yes - your inner home-maker.)
     Maybe the marbled his 'n' her basins and the table are slightly out of our price-league, but we like the matching silver mirrors, the apothecary glass jars of cotton wool supplies (on top of the black cupboard), the lotus floating in a big old trifle dish.  (Well, it looks like a big old trifle-dish to us and it's definitely copy-able.)  Black-and-white photos always look good, with white fittings.
     We'll just have to imagine what the bath itself looks like.  Meanwhile, thanks, Martha, for making our Friday.

www.marthastewart.com

Yoga in the park (all for a good cause)

Kensington Gardens may look like the savannah right now (even after our recent showers), but we'd like to suggest you take your mat, and get down and - well, Downward Dog there on the weekend.
     Every Saturday through summer, Liz Reumont is teaching yoga on the lawn of Kensington Palace Gardens.  Bring blocks, belts, something warm for final relaxation - and a donation.  Because this is a free class, in aid of Kids Company, the charity set up to support inner city kids by Camila Batmanghelidhj.  (Say it Batman-gaily.)  It's up to you how much you want to give.
     As Liz says, 'Come to this class:  thousands of kids may benefit from your Saturday morning practice!'
     And so will your hamstrings, your abs and your stress levels.
     We'd call that good karma.

For more info, e-mail Lizzie@freeliz.com
To join the Facebook class for the group, click here
For a map, click here

Sophie's looking good, feeling better...

We want to tell you about the most wonderful blog.  And we want you to point anyone you know who's facing the challenge of a cancer diagnosis in the direction of Sophie Feels Better, too.
     Just the other day, this blog - by 31-year-old Sophie Beresiner, of Look Magazine - won the best blog category in the P&G Beauty Awards 2011.  (And Jo, who was shortlisted for her own blog The Scent Critic, couldn't be happier about being knocked into runner-up position by Sophie.)
     Sophie Feels Better will make you laugh.  It'll make you cry.  It is a fount of wisdom, insight and advice into dealing with cancer treatment itself (for instance, avoid your favourite foods when you're on specific days of your treatment, as any nausea may put you off them forever).
     But also, Sophie tackles all the beauty challenges cancer and its treatment presents (hair/eyebrow/lash/skin issues), with tell-it-like-it-is advice from someone who's lucky enough to be able to tap into a lot of expert wisdom, a lot of products - and has figured out what really works.  On last Saturday's posting, for instance, she goes wig-shopping with Trevor Sorbie, who's set up his own charity, My New Hair, and has trained 380 stylists nationwide to offer a wig-counselling/cutting service.
     So:  Beauty Bible salutes Sophie.  Brave, beautiful, brilliant - and simply blogtastic...

For Sophie's blog, click here
For info about My New Hair and salon locations, click here
For info about Look Good, Feel Better (who organise make-up workshops for cancer patients nationwide), click here

A lip balm with a difference

As regular readers know, we are huge fans of UNE Makeup, probably the chic-est natural make-up brand around, which happens to be Ecocert-certified.  But UNE's new initiative won't just put a smile on your lips:  it'll help to educate women in the Cameroon, where 35% are illiterate.  (Educating girls is of course crucial, for pushing forward women's rights and reducing poverty.)
     For every lip balm bought, £1 will be donated via Plan International, a well-established charity working in developing countries.  By 2013, over 3,500 girls under 15 will benefit from the project.
     So:  you get lovely soft lips, with a nourishing balm that promises four hours of moisturisation thanks to its blend of shea butter, organic jojoba oil, beeswax and candelilla wax.  (We like the fact it's clear and can be layered over lipstick for a soft sheen, and we're rather keen on the subtle tomato leaf scent, too.)
    Young women in Cameroon, meanwhile, get an education.
    That's a rather beautiful trade-off, we'd say.

PS  To mark this collabotation, UNE is running a competition to win a year's supply of make-up - click here to enter on the Plan International site

UNE Fund-raising Lip Balm is priced £5.99 and you can find it here
UNE's website is www.unebeauty.com, or click here

See you in Birmingham or Manchester...?

We’re absolutely thrilled that the latest phase of our tour to celebrate The Anti-Ageing Beauty Bible is bringing us to Manchester and Birmingham at the end of June.

     On 29^th June, we’ll be at Selfridges Exchange Square, Manchester, from 12.30 – 2 p.m.

     And later that same day, from 5.30 – 7 p.m., we’ll be popping up in Selfridges Birmingham.  

     Appointments are on a first-come, first-served basis, in special ‘lounge’ areas Selfridges are setting up – so do put the dates in your diary.  We’ll be thrilled to answer any beauty dilemmas, especially concerns about ageing, or about summer beauty.  
     Because in addition, you’ll be able to discover many of the suncare products that did well with the Beauty Bible testing panels, for the YOU Summer Sun Special*, which we put together for this Sunday's edition of the award-winning colour supplement.  
          Whether you’re planning to ‘fake it’, or you're looking for optimum sun protection for a long-lasting tan, there’ll be plenty from the YOU Summer Sun Special to discover at Selfridges. 

     And yes, we’ll also be signing copies of our book!  So bring yours along, or you can buy a copy on the spot.  Hope to see you there…


* Those star products also feature in www.beautybible.com's Glow-Getters Summer Special on our website:  make a date for your diary, because it'll go live this Sunday - and you can be whisked through cyberspace to find many of them on-line.

For exact addresses of the store locations for our visits, go to www.selfridges.com
PS  Want to follow YOU Magazine on Twitter?  They're @YOU_MAG

Plum gorgeous

A fragrance isn't the product you'd automatically think a make-up pro would launch as her debut signature product.  But since Mary Greenwell's trick as a make-up artist was always to spritz the supermodels with scent as a last gesture before dispatching them to 'Vogue' it in front of the camera, it's actually quite logical.  (Mary was virtually make-up-pro-in-residence for Cindy, Christy, Naomi etc., during the 80s, and there's barely a famous face she hasn't whisked her brushes over, since those heady days).
     Plum - as Jo raved on her Scent Critic blog (which you can read here) - is one of the most beautiful fragrance launches in years.  An exquisite, rich, heady floral chypre, it's a true classic-in-the-making.  So today, we're pleased to announce the unveiling of Mary Greenwell's brand new website, which features Mary's story, plenty of Mary's covers (including lots of the late Princess of Wales, who became a friend) - plus the tale of Plum, which you can buy on-line.
     Coming soon:  tutorials, so sign up NOW...!
     Although as you know, Mary, what we're really waiting for is make-up.  Your make-up, based on all those years in the wings on some of the greatest shoots in fashion history.  And your understanding of women's faces, and how we really, really want to look.
     Pretty please...?

www.marygreenwell.com
www.thescentcritic.com

Liberty belles

We're very fond of Liberty's quirkiness, and the fact this department store breaks lots of rules.  Take this new makeover of their beauty hall: in general, marbled floors are the order of the day in such departments, but at Liberty's revamped -beauty-zone you'll find pastel-patterned wood-and-tiles, beamed ceilings and terribly Liberty-esque, peacock-patterned counters.
     It's doubled in size, making room for lots of new beauty excitement...
    ...  The first-ever Aromatherapy Associates 'counter', so you can experience the whole range.
    ...  Hourglass Cosmetics (which you can also find on www.zuneta.com, our 'Beauty-Bible-approved site), which marry anti-ageing technology with gorgeous shades.
     ... A Trish McEvoy counter.  What can we add:  the woman's a genius.
     ... Bobbi Brown.  (Ditto.)
     ... Chantecaille skincare and colour:  luxe treats from mother-and-daughter duo Olivia and Sylvie, loved by those-in-the-know.
     Of all the department stores, Liberty's selection of 'niche' fragrances is already the most nostril-exciting out there (think:  Frederic Malle, Le Labo and Maison Francis Kurkdjian, Byredo).  
     But do look out for the beauty hall's so-called 'hot tables', showcasing other new discoveries:  Andrea Garland's vintage-packaged balms, Strange Beautiful nail polishes in outlandish shades, sSwedish Sachajuan haircare, and more, more, more.  (Do look out for Ellis Faas, while you're there - one of Jo's fave make-up brands.)
     All in all, may we take the liberty of suggesting you drop by?

www.liberty.co.uk
Regent Street, London W1B 5AH/020-7734 1234