Beauty Bus

With the expertise of the make-up artists behind the brand Bobbi Brown, wearers of the product can now create the illusion of a five-minute facelift. This facelift however doesn’t require any painful and expensive procedures. The brand has simply provided wearers of the product with the insight to create the impression of dewy skin that appears full of life.

With a brand new collection sporting four concepts including ‘Define’, ‘Plump’, ‘Pop’ and ‘brighten’, those experimenting with the products are able to create some surprising changes. These impressive changes are due to a mix of clever contouring and expert blending and can achieve many notable improvements.

This particular make-up range is designed to give the illusion of a fresh and rested face, sporting bright eyes and glowing skin. The colour pop lipstick can even be used on the cheeks to give them a rosy and healthy appearance.

This collection has to be the perfect antidote to a hectic lifestyle as the brand is providing the tools to look like you have in fact had those all-important eight hours of sleep.

The new collaboration includes easy to use Brow Pencils, Tinted Eye Brightener that gives the impression of an instant lift, the new peptide-rich Extra Eye Repair Cream which houses a range of properties that target wrinkles, puffiness and under-eye circles and a soothing balm. The balm also substitutes as face make-up and gives cheeks a fresh finish. The range starts at £13.50 and is definitely one way to brighten up the cold days of this month.

With the near launch of Marc Jacob’s distinctive new perfume, fashionistas all over can prepare to pick a Daisy Duo that’s perfect for spring. The limited edition scent is set to hit the high street at the beginning of next month and this time around the designer has gone all fashionably efficient on us.

The scent entitled ‘Daisy’ isn’t just a sweet smelling fragrance for yours truly but also a clever way to add instant incense to the bedroom, living room, drawer, office or even car. The musk base offers hints of pure vanilla, fresh strawberry, jasmine and gardenia and comes in a novel flower embellished bottle.

The real unique addition to the fragrance however, is the daisy chain style garland that can be placed anywhere in the home. The garland can either be hung as a whole daisy chain to create a stronger scent or as individual daisies, which can be plucked from the chain in order to add a hint of the sweet spring scent to an abundance of places.

The new packaging dons the colour sky blue in the shape of fanciful vinyl petals. This is said to encourage those who wear the perfume to daydream about ‘happy blue skies and bright days’ as well as offer a fresh appeal that is light and perfect for the spring and summer season.

The fragrance hasn’t actually changed in scent, as this is the designer’s best selling fragrance as of yet, the concept and the packaging however have taken new heights in order to provide users with the best experience of this product.

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, Estee Laude have taken the romantic date as a perfect opportunity to create a limited edition lipstick and lip-gloss. The collection is perfect for the loved up occasion.

The exciting new range is entitled “love your lips” and includes a total of 12 Hydra Lustre lipsticks and 4 kissable lip-glosses. Each lip-shade is literally sealed with ‘love’ and there is a variety of enticing colors to choose from, some of which include Radiant Wine, Perfect Pink, Spanish Red, Radiant Rose, Chelsea Rose and Coral Kiss.

The glosses and lipsticks guarantee to keep wearers lips feeling smooth, hydrated and glossy with just a hint of shimmer. Each shade is engraved with word “love” and can easily be worn day or night, as a single shade or as several layered together. The range of pretty colors are sure to get wearers of the product noticed this Valentines Day.

The collection comes in equally adorable packaging with the same ‘love’ logo adorning the outer casing of each one. The brand has released three new shades, which are all included in the limited edition range. Cherry kiss, Pink kiss and Coral kiss all come in the classic gold casing but twist up to reveal the ‘love’ logo. The semi-matte moisturizing shades offer full coverage and are perfectly fitting to the Valentines season.

Le Métier DE BEAUTÉ are known for their velvety foundations, intense shades of shadow, glossy lipsticks and scented glosses. This season the brand are stepping it up a notch as they are set to replace NARS at the Marchesa A/W 2010 fashion show in February. The Marchesa fashion house is a big name on the red carpet and the attire created by the designer duo ooze both elegance and dissolution and therefore appears quite different to the style currently sported by the make-up brand. Opposites are said to attract so this is certainly going to be an exciting project for both sides.

The label is already a favorite with big names including Eve, Nelly Furtado, Christina Aguilera and Victoria Beckham. Despite the minimalist packaging, the brand offers an unexpected assortment of bold and brave color palettes with exciting shades.

This is certainly a case of fashion and beauty colliding and is an exciting move for both the fashion label and the make-up brand. The head of the Marchesa brand, Georgina Chapman is already creating customized shades for the show and is set to release a mini-collection for the beauty label, which will appear in stores next year.

The brand is available to buy exclusively at all Liberty stores in the UK. Best sellers in the collection include the precision liquid eyeliner, which offers a uniquely designed applicator tip, which enables the user to create the perfect line. The smudge proof liner is available in classic black as well as statement colors for a more dramatic look. Other popular products include the ‘Blonzer’ a bronzer that is in fact suitable for all skin tones, various luxurious lip shades and the collectible holiday palettes.

Everyone seems to be going mad for 3D this season, and now Director Tim Burton has followed suit by creating the must see ‘Alice in Wonderland’. The 3D fantasy is set to hit the big screen this March.

Whilst we are anticipating the first showing, various beauty brands have created ‘Alice in Wonderland’ inspired products in order to keep our patience at bay. Urban Decay has released some serious fairytale fashion in the shape of a whimsical palette of eye-catching shadows.

The collection is aptly entitled the ‘Book of Shadows’ and when opened reveals a pop up scene from the film, where Alice appears in her mushroom forest. A large mirror is featured behind the scene and gives the impression of being transported into the set itself. Inside the casing there are a range of the brands unique and richly pigmented best sellers, which have been renamed with Alice in mind. The pretty shades included are White Rabbit, Oraculum, Underland, Alice, Curiouser Absolem, Mushroom, Queen Chessur, Muchness, Drink Me Eat Me, Vorpel, Absolem, Midnight Tea Party and ‘Jabberwocky.

As well as the featured 16 eye shadows in shimmers, neutrals, brights and glitters, the product also contains a tube of primer potion and two miniature 24/7 Eye Pencils in bourbon and zero. The looks that can be created are endless.

OPI are another brand that have followed suit and released four limited edition polishes, each individual polish has adopted a name from the film, which ties in with the whole ‘Wonderland’ theme. Deborah Lippmann’s previous rainbow sequin-style polish now sports the name ‘Mad as a Hatter’ and comes in a more opaque version to the original.

Purple is certainly proving to be extremely popular this season. Hair, eyes, lips and even nails were painted in pretty pastels at the likes of Proenza Schouler, Versace and Michael Kors. Models sported surfer-style violet extensions at Proenza Schouler, worked lavender lids at Dior and went for the full face at Michael Kors, complete with statement metallic lips and eyes.

The easiest way to wear this growing trend is to brush a pale wash over your lids and brows, just like the look Pat McGrath created for the Versace girls. A sweep of purple liner will add instant definition to the eyes and really make them stand out against the pale pastels. The perfect spring look involves keeping the face natural and really letting the eyes do the all the talking.

This particular look created by Pat McGrath was for Donatella Versace’s Spring 2010 collaborations and was teamed with fairytale pieces inspired by Alice In Wonderland.

Nicole Farhi however stepped away from the fairytale and went for a bolder theme of lavender paired with hints of lime green, whilst John Galliano went even bolder with lashings of violets, gold’s, oranges and emerald greens. This is certainly a beauty statement that’s set to stay and an abundance of designers working the lavender look for s/s 2010.

Every girl strives to find the perfect foundation, a foundation that will make the skin glow in a healthy manner. However with so much choice and an abundance of brands available this can prove quite a task. When considering the choices on hand you need to ask yourself what you want from a foundation, do you desire even and complete coverage, a translucent complexion or added luminosity?

A good end result is all down to how you apply the product. For example a lot of foundation wearers skip a very important step when striving to achieve that sheer complexion. This particular step comes in the shape of a serum-like gel entitled primer and has the ability to create a smooth and even base for the foundation, as well as making the end product last much longer.

Another important factor to consider is of course the shade. You should go for a shade that is almost identical to your skin tone as this will blend into your skin without appearing too dark or too light. If you want to achieve a sun kissed look you shouldn’t go for a darker foundation but apply a sweep of bronzer to the face instead. Foundation is there to enhance the skin and not act as a mask. Using natural daylight when applying the product will give wearers the most truthful view.

A favourite on the market is Maxfactor’s Second Skin’ which promises to match the skin tone perfectly in order to achieve a flawless coverage. This is probably due to the multi-tonal pigments the product boasts. Not only does it offer a translucent glow but also it’s on sale for less than £15.00.

The best way to apply the product is by using a flat foundation brush in an upward and oval motion as this will create an even and polished finish, to complete the look with a matte finish you should apply a small amount of powder to the t-zones.

Clinique’s Superbalm Moisturizing Gloss is available in eight charming colors so there’s certainly a shade to suit all. Not only does it sooth the skin by relieving chapped and sore lips, it also shields the lips from free radicals.

The clever gloss can be worn both on its own and over lipstick, making the product suitable for both day and evening. The endless list of shades includes grapefruit, mango, apricot, black honey, raspberry, ginger, current, rootbeer and lilac. The brand has recently come up with four new shades to add to the collection for 2010.
This product offers users the best of both worlds as it’s both a gloss and balm in one and has the ability to leave lips shimmering and soft.

The superbalm is certainly thicker than regular lipgloss, meaning less applications of the product are required. In everyday use the gloss can stay perfect for up to four hours.

The anti-oxidant gloss is non sticky and doesn’t leave a chemical taste on the lips as it has no added fragrance or scent. The endless colors are perfect for every season and will suit an abundance of outfits.
Clinique’s Superbalm Gloss comes in an easy to apply tube, which lets the user apply the gloss in a simple gliding motion. The product is priced at £12.50 for 10ml and is certainly an investment for this season and next, as it not only looks great but will protect the lips from the harsh weather in winter and also the sun in summer.

The spring/summer catwalks have shown retro bright lips and dramatic smoky eyes to be a big hit on the runways, but if you are not quite daring enough to try to this particularly bold look, there is an alternative option. This alternative appears in the shape of nude lips, those that almost disappear into the skin and therefore create a 90’s minimalism. This look oozes a simple yet effortless style that appears both sophisticated and chic. Many of the big names in the fashion world such as Jaeger, Hussein Chalyayan, Matthew Williamson and Todd Lynn have all adopted this laid-back and natural style for the spring/summer season, with models sporting mute and matted pigments with hints of sandy tones and shades of beige. At Matthew Williamson the make-up was completely minimalist, meaning faces and lips sported the same flesh colored tones, whilst at Jaeger, the predominant caramel color created a more refined and elegant style. Pat McGrath demonstrated bare lips at Hussein Chalayan. The make-up artist to the stars did this by mixing many layers of nude tinted lipsticks and liner. To finish the look models wore alluring false eyelashes with a hint of black eyeliner. The overall guise created was naturally modish with a feminine edge.
Next season is set to bring back a style that is both timeless and high-maintenance. Mac expert Gordon Espinet said the easiest way to achieve a look that screams both the above is to follow one simple beauty trick. This simple beauty ploy is to create killer cheekbones and applying both lashings of matte bronzer and highlighter to the face can do this. The result reveals the semblance of protruding cheekbones.

In 1987 Guerlain launched the Météorites range and it certainly changed the way make-up was applied. The classic powder compact was replaced by an abundance of enticing and colourful packages, overflowing with skin correcting balls in translucent shades. The range’s pretty packaging was said to of taken inspiration from Marie Antoinette’s trinket box.
The brand has recently re-introduced the popular make-up product in the shape of a new and uniquely styled compact. The collection is to be released this spring and will still ooze the same violet scent that accompanied the initial powder. The colours in each product work together to transform the wearers face, the pink creates a healthy all round glow, the green will aid in reducing redness and combat imperfections, the white will illuminate the skin, the mauve will capture the light and the rose-champagne will create highlights. The nylon powder is housed in a beautifully embellished casing and creates a radiant yet matte finish when applied to the skin. The product can be worn over existing make-up or simply on its own in order to highlight the desired areas and the modest powder pearls are said to be the secret to a flawless and glowing complexion. The powder pearls are available in various shades in order to match different skin tones; some of these include Beige Chic, Mythic 01 and Pink Fresh. Beige Chic is both timeless and glamorous and offers hints of beige in order to create beautifully radiant skin with a transparent appearance. The Pink Fresh version captures elements of apricot tones with a blend of pink and will give an instant rosy glow. Mythic 01 uses greens to soften and reduce redness and also illuminates the skin through the added whites, gold’s and beiges.