Cosmetic Executive Wonderwoman

If you read yesterday's YOU Magazine, you'll have seen the coverage of this year's Cosmetic Executive Women (UK) Awards, with 'gongs' going to names like Clarins, Balance Me, Estée Lauder, St. Tropez - 26 categories, in all, including Best British Brand for Molton Brown, and Most Revolutionary Beauty Product in the Past 20 Years for Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish.  (Now, there's a surprise...!)
     Do click here for the full coverage (and here for Liz's excited blog!)
     CEW - our industry's networking and mentoring organisation - wouldn't be what it is today, though, without its tireless President, Caroline Neville.
     So we thought we'd share yesterday's We Heart Sundays feature on The Urban Retreat Beautique's website, where this elegant, hard-working, eternally charming former PR executive - who, incidentally, it's almost completely impossible to say 'no' to - reveals her top health and beauty tips, alongside other secrets.
     We hope after last week Caroline's slipped off her Ferragamos and has her feet up today.
     Though we sincerely doubt it...!

www.cewuk.co.uk

   
   
   

Now this is REAL Bathroom Bliss!

As regular readers know, Friday is Beauty Bible's day for featuring swoonworthy bathrooms.  
     But this takes it to a whole new level.   
     Ignore the fact that the bath and the very bathroom itself seem to be constructed out of breezeblocks.
     Who wouldn't want to be topless in a tub with Steve McQueen and a bottle of wine...?  (You wouldn't catch us making a great escape from that scenario...)
     Happy Friday.
     And happy fantasising, from us.

The truth about lead in lipstick. (Definitively.)

We get lots of e-mails from women worried about lead levels in lipstick.
     As we've said before, beauty companies don't intentionally put it there as an ingredient, but lead contaminates many elements on the planet we live in (including the air - though much less so since unleaded petrol was introduced).
     We happened upon this brilliant chart the other day, which puts the risks into proportion, and actually compares lipstick levels to those in bottled water.
     The visual's a bit teensy-wee to read on our site, but if you're interested, here's the link on a rather good natural beauty site in the US that we stumbled across called Fig & Sage.
     Something to chew over, for sure...
    

Aveda's still Lighting the Way

There's a week left of Earth Month.  As authors of The Green Beauty Bible, we've been taking our cloth bags to the grocery store, upcycling old jewellery and turning into fanatical light turner-offers.  (Even more so than usual.)  Hope you have, too.
     An easy-peasy way to show you care, meanwhile, is to buy an Aveda Light The Way Candle.  Every year, these are sold to raise funds for the Global Greengrants Fund, to improve awareness of the need for clean water around the world.
     $16 million's been raised in just five years, with over 26,000 individuals benefiting from wells and water infrastructure.  At the same time, 3,000 women have been trained in community environmental management.
     As for the candle itself:  soy-based, it smells gorgeously Aveda-esque, with its stress-easing blend of clary sage, lavender and lavendin, sourced in Provence.  And the glass container's made from the 100% recycled bottoms of drinks bottles.
     From the £16 price of each candle, £13.33 goes to the Fund.  (The other bit goes to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in VAT.)
     Now, wouldn't it be nice if he did his bit for Earth Month, and threw the VAT into the pot...?
     That's just the kind of low-energy-lightbulb moment that could make a world of difference.  

Stockists/0870-034 2380
Find Aveda on Facebook - click here
Find the Light The Way Candle at www.aveda.co.uk by clicking here
     

You can't beat the blues...

If you get our drift.
      We're wallowing in this week's Beauty Bible Bathroom Bliss offering (courtesy of the Design Crew blog, a new bloglove of ours).
     Imagine climbing out of the cool blue ocean and straight into this tub (preferably infused with a slug of Aromatherapy Associates Deep Relax. Now, that really does beat the blues...!)
     Personally, we'd move the coffee table within reach.  And put something chilled and white on it.  (No, we're definitely not talking about a polar bear here.)
     What could be more perfect for the weekend?  So, from us:  have a great one, wherever you're wallowing...
     

Calling all perfumistas

Unashamedly, we're a team of iPhone devotees, here at Beauty Bible Towers.
     However, we do get pleading e-mails requesting news of Apps for those of you who are Android-lovers.
     To be honest, they're thin on the ground - but we thought you'd like to know that iPerfumer - the most useful perfume search App we've yet found - is now available for Android phones, too.  It's been tweaked so that it's easier to use, and also allows you to create a Wishlist for friends/family, which will certainly make it a surer bet that you get a scent you like when your birthday next swings around.
     The iPhone version also offers those new features.  (Download either version here.)
     Because we're reliably informed that there's no truth in the rumour that all Android-users simply wear Thierry Mugler Alien...
    
www.givaudan.com

Sarah's HFMA Health Journalist of the Year!

Cue rubbing of fingernails on collar, somewhere in Dorset...
     She's too modest to announce it herself, but the rest of us at Beauty Bible want to shout from the rooftops that Sarah (Stacey) has been awarded the HFMA's Health Journalist of the Year Award. (That's short for Health Food Manufacturers Association, and the award is seriously prestigious...)
     It's recognition, of course, for the weekly Health Notes Sarah writes for the Mail on Sunday's YOU Magazine (you can read them archived here, on our website).
     Past winners have included Dr. Sarah Brewer, Dr. Tom Stuttaford, Amanda Ursell, Jennifer Harper-Deacon and Michael van Straten, so she's in seriously good company!
     HFMA Chairman Martin Last praised Sarah's 'dedication, knowledge and support' as he presented her with her gong.
     Of course, we knew it all along.  But so lovely for Sarah to have it recognised...!
     And if she wasn't teetotal, we'd be insisting on champagne.
   
www.hfma.co.uk

Wall-to-wall gorgeousness

For Friday's Beauty Bible Bathroom Bliss, here's evidence that a sprauncier bathroom needn't break the bank.  (Thanks to The Decorista, for this.)
     Simply slap on a few coats of a Christian Dior-ish soft grey paint.
     Create a picture wall (the key is to use similar frames - and we've seen lots like this in Zara Home).
     Add a bold, patterned skirt to your pig-ugly basin, and hang a gorgeous mirror.
     Add a funky light...
     ... And invite your friends round for a loo-warming!

www.thedecorista.com

Minimalist wisdom from Laura Mercier

We couldn't agree more with this nugget from Laura Mercier, someone we've spent a lot of time with over the years (and someone we have a lot of time for...)
     Why, just this weekend, we were trawling through yet more rubbishy YouTube make-up videos, transfixed as a teen 'expert' smothered her whole face (every last pore!) with lavishly brushed-on foundation.
     Laura's wisdom, by contrast, is (as above):  that each of us should only use what we need.  Which means, in terms of foundation:  just a touch of base, judiciously applied on - say - redness, dark circles, uneven patches.  (Or Laura's legendary, bestselling Secret Camouflage concealer, if extra coverage is needed...)
     Now as it happens, each Sunday, a bulletin from The Urban Retreat Beautique plops into our inbox.  And this last edition featured a lovely interview with Laura about her fave raves.  If you click here, you can discover her favourite Sunday lunch spot, top health tip - and what's inside her handbag.
     Which turns out to be surprisingly little.
     But then, as Laura says, less is often more...

Click here to sign up for The Urban Retreat's weekly update

Now find out what we're loving - every weekday...

Fact: the bit of our website that readers love the most is our We Love... section, featuring our fave raves.
     So recently, we had a 'eureka' moment. We may not be able to update our www.beautybible.com website every single day - but there are certainly enough gorgeous products around to fill an entire product-focused daily blog.  So that's just what we started.
     The name says it all:  Beauty Bible Loves.  Because it only features products we genuinely, truly and honestly love.  Haircare, bodycare, make-up, nails, and so on.  Of course, we bring to each review 45 years of experience, and our in-depth knowledge of the industry.
     And what's more, because we know from feedback that you really want to read about things when you can get your hands on them, we focus on new launches as they become available (not months and months in advance) - as well as long-term favourite classics we've 'rediscovered'.
     This blog you're reading - which has always been news- and trend-based - will continue, three days a week.  But on Beauty Bible Loves, we're sharing the love daily from Monday to Friday.  (Find it here.)
     Of course, we know only too well how hard it is to keep up with blogs. So our tip is to sign up to Bloglovin - the easiest way to access all your favourite blogs, in one convenient place.
     We very much love that, too...

www.beautybibleloves.com

And now, the egg-shaped bathtub...!

How better to wish our readers Happy Easter than - yes! - an egg-shaped tub, as this week's perfect example of Beauty Bible Bathroom Bliss.  (Courtesy of a quirky home site called Design Rumakhu.)
     Have a great choc-fest, from us.
     And watch this space for some very exciting new blog news...!
     We're calling it:  The New Blogging.

A beautiful mess...

How does your make-up drawer look...?
     Go on, be truthful.
     We have to admit there are times we're very glad The Make-Up Police hasn't descended on us lately.
     Spring, of course, is  the perfect time of year for a cosmetics clear-out.  And we wanted to share with you how one funky young woman organises her make-up drawer:  with empty berry boxes, and pretty pastel cups.
     It obeys the Law of Perfect Organisation:  like with like.
     And we'll bet it didn't cost the author of The Beautiful Mess blog, Elsie Larson, a penny.
     Just a rainy Saturday afternoon, maybe.
     For more rainy Saturday afternoon projects, do check out Elsie's blog, devoted to 'Pretty things to make and wear'.  It may be targeted at women a fraction of our age, but it's a cheerful, enchanting read.
     And it's certainly inspired us to roll up our sleeves and organise our lipsticks.  Which can only be a good thing.

For The Beautiful Mess, click here

PS  If you think we're having a bloggy moment this week, just you wait till next week...!

Kay Montano is now blogtastic...

Kay Montano launches beauty blog

beauty | media news

Kay Montano is one of Beauty Bible's Most Respected.  A fantastic professional, a generally gorgeous woman and truly a fount of all make-up wisdom.
     So we're delighted to bring you news of her new(ish) blog - subtitled 'Adventures in make-up and other stories' - where she showcases interviews (not just beauty goddesses but people like shoe designer Georgina Goodman), gives insights on how to become a make-up artist, and features her latest finds (on The Weekly Kaydar).
     We also love any make-up artist who features a Man Ray photo (of Lee Miller, see above) a 'splash' picture from the Indian Holi festival to illustrate a story on Spring Brights, and - yay!!!! - Sam McKnight's Sticky Gingerbread recipe!!!
     Because there's more to life than beauty, even for the most dedicated makeupophile. 
     There is, after all, also cake.

Just because we're full of the joys of spring...

... Couldn't resist sharing this extraordinary chandelier with you, 'upcycled' out of test tubes and filled with wild flowers, and designed by Pani Jurek.  (We found it on Trendland's deeply fab and groovy site.)
     What's it got to do with beauty...?
     It's beautiful, isn't it...?  (And we are the authors of The Green Beauty Bible, after all.)
     Have a lovely spring day...