All Things Lush and Beautiful

Everybody that reads my blog must know by now how much I love this company and the wonderful luxuries it makes. This year I’ve been treated to – and treated myself to – a whole new host of their products. So here’s my take on all of them, one by one...

New Christmas Edition: Maple Taffy Lip Balm

I really wanted to get this review out sooner as sadly this little beaut won’t be back on the shelves until December later this year. However initially when I got to Lush this Christmas I was instead very sad to find that the Christmas edition ‘Let Them Eat Cake’ lip balm had been discontinued. This was my favourite Lush lip balm in the collection, so much so I stocked up on enough for the year ahead last year so that I wouldn’t run out (and can I add that I only needed two lip balms for the whole year?!) It was also a winner amongst all of my clients as they love the smell when I use it on them as a moisturising base before applying lippy.

But soon all woes were forgotten when I found the new Christmas edition lip balm in its place – ‘Maple Taffy’. Smelling of and containing maple syrup I think I actually prefer this one now. The smell lasts longer and yet the ingredients list is simpler: Extra Virgin Coconut oil, Maple Syrup, Japan Wax, Shea Butter, Illipe Butter, Carnauba Wax and Glycerine.

The other difference – which admittedly takes some getting used to at first – is the waxy consistency. ‘Let Them Eat Cake’ was a lot oilier and glossier, I think owing to the Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Whereas ‘Maple Taffy’ contains Extra Virgin Coconut Oil and a lot of rich butters and these seem to provide a much waxier base. If you don’t mind it though I think it’s worth giving the lip balm a chance because I maintain this one moisturises better because the waxy layer that it forms seems to keep moisture in more effectively and stays put whilst Let Them Eat Cake could sometimes eventually slide off.

Vanilla Dee-Lite Hand & Body Lotion

This lotion is my new Holy Grail Lush product. It’s a light moisturiser, but lasts the mile. The smell is so scrumptious, it’s one that’s truly addictive and makes me feel, well put quite simply, happy. I’ve always been a fan of vanilla, so it’s an easy sell to me really. However they’ve put kiwi fruit in this lotion, and as odd as the marriage of these two scents sounds, I think that’s what gives it the amazingly addictive twist! It’s not as sickly as some vanilla-scented products can be and I think that’s owing to the kiwi – it balances out the sweetness, like lime does to coconut!

As I mentioned above the durability is great too – I can wash my hands after having using it on my arms, get a hairstyling product all over my hands whilst styling my hair and I can still smell Vanilla Dee-Lite on my mitts long afterwards! I can also often smell it on myself as the day winds on which is always a bonus for me as isn’t that the reason we use lovely smelling lotions and potions?!

The only disadvantage to this hand and body lotion I’d say is that it may not be nourishing enough for everyone’s skin. The skin on my arms and legs can lean a bit toward the dry side so I still need to use nourishing exfoliants as well as working this into my skin. However Lush does have the name bang on as it really is a delight to use!

Christmas Edition ‘Cinders’ Bath Ballistic

Again another Christmas limited edition – sorry! But if it helps I’d be curious to see if you’d feel let down by this one too. I'm afraid to say I was a little disappointed by this bath bomb. It smelt so exciting and promising when I took it home and of all the bath bombs Lush sells I think it’s one of the prettiest as the colours are gorgeous.

I could definitely smell its cinnamon leaf and sweet orange when it was solid, but when I popped it in the bath I could barely smell anything as it fizzed away. It turned the water a lovely warm, buttery yellow colour and it did feel like it was moisturising my skin once it had melted into the water but other than that I wasn’t blown away.

The bath bomb promised an experience like “falling asleep in front of a log fire and hearing the crackling embers as the snow falls down” – the crackling effect that it produces comes from very cute red popping candy that’s set into the bath bomb! But whilst it did have great fizzing quality it left much to be desired for me. The fragrance that was left on my skin wasn’t very detectable and I couldn’t smell it when I woke up in the morning at all. So sadly out of the three, I won’t be buying this again in future Christmas shopping sessions!

Now normally this is the bit where I point you in the website direction for your own bottle of Vanilla Dee-Lite lotion, but sadly the Lush UK site has fallen victim to hackers recently and as a result no trading’s taking place on there at the moment (more info at www.lush.co.uk) But as an alternative in the meantime you can get in touch with the Lush team on 01202 668545 to place an order or head down to your local Lush and have a sampler there!

Behind the Scenes!

In September I did make-up on-set of the shoot for singer Natalie Ross’ up and coming single 'You've Got That Feeling'. Producers at Burning Wick filmed a behind the scenes video interviewing Natalie, director Colin Arnold and giving viewers a little taste of the action in making a 1940s music video.

Natalie's video, produced by The Surgery Productions premiers tomorrow night at Celebrating the Girls of Guildford event held by Guildford-based music venue the Boileroom! With a vintage fair in the day and a fantastic array of artists in the evening, including Miss Ross herself, this will be a fantastic event for any lady who loves her fashion and music – what more could a girl ask for?!

You’ll find the Behind the Scenes video from Burning Wick on my website and I’ll be posting the official music video in days to come. In the meantime have a little peek here...

www.amanda-makeup.com

Natalie Ross

Burning Wick

The Surgery Productions

New Obsession for 2011: Rings, Rings, Rings!

As I mentioned last summer, I’m getting into a bit of a ring obsession and am accumulating more and more as time goes on. I tend to be quite specific when it comes to ring designs but luckily there are some really beautiful designers out there whose work I love! Etsy is a great place to find rings and jewellery (as well as other handmade, beautiful accessories and clothing).

A few of my favourite sellers use Etsy to sell their wares. But also I find markets are a great place to find really unique designers. When I worked at The Clothes Show Live in December I treated myself on the last day to visiting some of the stalls and buying myself a little something. I stumbled across Silver Del Sol – a jewellery company that specialises in beautiful silver jewellery made with shells, semi-precious stones and materials.

The company founder, Claire and I got talking and turns out she sells her wares in Portobello Road market! Another of my favourite market haunts and one that I haven’t had chance to go back to in nearly two years. I loved her collection so much that I’m definitely heading over there soon to pick up some more goodies! Sadly they don’t have an active website at the moment, but I’ll keep my ear to the ground and if it goes live I’ll definitely let you guys know.

Another of my faves is Jewela from Etsy. Whilst I haven’t actually bought anything from them yet – as they’re sellers in Israel so there’s the additional cost of international shipping – I’ve been heading back to their online store every so often poring over some of my favourite pieces so much so I think I ought to put aside a little savings pot and treat myself!

The prices aren’t to everyone’s budget, but as they say on their page – they put a lot of effort into crafting each design and a really beautiful item of jewellery, if well-made and lovingly designed, will be something you wear for many years to come.

If you also like Jewela, I recommend you check out their other Etsy store Hadarjewelry. It’s a little smaller than Jewela, but nevertheless the pieces are beautiful and a definite winner for me.

Below are some of the favourite items of mine from Jewela and Hadarjewely currently on sale at the moment. To check out their Etsy shops just click on the hyperlinks above. To see more of what Etsy has to offer visit www.etsy.com. Prices will automatically appear in US Dollars but once you begin browsing Etsy detects where you’re visting from and converts to your currency so it’s all laid out for you, nice and easy!

Fashion Toast for Breakfast, Anyone?

In the same way that some of us like to kick off their day with a slice of toast for brekkie, I like to start mine with a dose of some of my favourite blogs and websites. Many people have a list of sites that they visit ritually each day and one of mine is fashiontoast.com.

Launched in 2007, I found fashiontoast.com in a write-up a couple of years later in an edition of ASOS magazine, visited it and have been hooked ever since. Written and compiled by Rumi Neely with photography taken by her other half and herself, this website is a fashion addict’s nirvana and I love, love, love visiting it!

Rumi herself is a fashion assistant and model and gets to travel around the world doing what she loves and loving what she does. Very jealous! With her embarking on frequent trips to Tokyo, holding random photo shoots in desolate and beautiful places and visits to parties and fashion shows there’s much fashion eye candy to look at and beautiful shots to boot.

Rumi herself has great taste, of course. She has an enviable collection of silver rings and bangles and provides me with a bit of wardrobe inspiration when I’m feeling in need of a booster. She also manages to pose for photos in the middle of streets and public footpaths as natural as standing waiting for a bus – something I haven’t managed to master myself yet...

Take a look for yourselves at www.fashiontoast.com.

As a side note there’s a fair few blogs out there that I’m always discovering and I think are well worth shouting about and sharing with you. So in future I plan to post more about the great people who share, contribute and make the web that bit more fun!

Image of Rumi Neely from fashiontoast.com

Inspired by... Alex Box by Rankin

This Christmas I was incredibly lucky to receive a book I’ve been after for a very long time – Alex Box by Rankin. This beautiful book is a fantastic collaboration between Alex Box, Make-up Artist and Co-Founder of Illamasqua and world-famous photographer Rankin. Both parties are equally amazing in their fields and together have produced images that will take your breath away and have you looking at them again and again!

With a background in fine art, Alex Box initially began her creative career designing installations and only doing make-up at a shop near her college on a part-time basis to fund her projects. After a while it seemed that make-up was the true path she wanted to explore. To get a feel for her work, her aesthetic, you only need to browse the Illamasqua website or peruse one of their lovely glossy brochures and you’ll find all of her works of art painted on each and every face (or body) displayed.

Alex Box is wonderful at telling a story simply by using a face and/or body as a canvas. She creates beautiful, charming and often dark make-up designs which have your eye roving all over the minute details, wondering how she created the swirls so perfectly or made a face look so ethereal.

Rankin has been a favourite photographer of mine ever since I discovered him. Chances are, if you haven’t heard of him you’ll have definitely seen a piece of his work, whether it be a photograph of one of our icons of today or film. Rankin has been behind two of my recent favourite music videos – Kelis’ ‘Acapella’ and The Noisettes’ cover of ‘Ever Fallen in Love’.

Rankin too, didn’t begin in the field he’s now celebrated for. He went to study accountancy in Brighton before discovering that his true passion was for photography. He loved it so much that he resolutely went back to A Levels to take photography from scratch and the addiction bloomed. Inspired by people, his talent lies in being able to capture people and moments honestly.

When I attended IMATS last January the audience who attended a Q&A with Alex Box were treated to getting their hands on the Alex Box by Rankin book and to have a preview of the images on-screen as the interview progressed. I finally got to have a proper leaf through when I attended a Rankin exhibition ‘Painting Pretty Pictures’ in London a few months ago.

I went through the entire book cover to cover and was completely and utterly captivated. I never seem to tire of looking at each image, in fact I seem to find more to focus on, more to see every time I look at each one! A3 in size, to say the book’s a coffee table book would be an understatement, but nevertheless it now sits on ours, practically taking up half of the width of the table!

I really recommend this for anyone who’s inspired by make-up, photography or even art, because these images are as inspiring as any painting or illustration could be. No stranger to colour or unusual textures, Alex has provided the most unusual inspiration for creating a make-up design and Rankin has captured each piece wonderfully.

Alex Box by Rankin is published by Rankin Photography Ltd. at £50.

Illamasqua can be found here.

Rankin's beautiful portfolio can be seen here.

De-Tox the De-Caf Way with Yumchaa...

You may remember a year ago I posted a series of blog entries on potential New Year’s Resolutions and how to go about keeping them. One post in particular addressed beauty routines – you can find this here. In this I mentioned that fruit teas are a great way of keeping your skin hydrated but without the dullness of sipping just plain old tap water.

In addition fruit teas are a fab alternative to high-caffeinated drinks such as coke and coffee if you fancy reducing or completely cutting out your caffeine intake or when de-toxing – a common goal at this time of year after all of that Christmas feasting!

I’ve been a big fan of Yogi teas (I still am!) but I may have just found a brand that’s knocked them off my Number One spot : ) Their name is Yumchaa and they make the most amazing teas I’ve ever tried. I’m going to admit fruit teas are not my favourite go-to when it comes to hot drinks. I’d rather have a coffee any day but when I’m trying to be good I do like to reach for a fruit tea. However this brand has made me a true fruit tea convert – I could easily drink these every day!

Yumchaa’s unusual name comes from merging Chaa (i.e. tea) with ‘Yum’ – simply describing how tasty their teas really are! My sister introduced me to them a while ago when she took me to their lovely little tea shop in Camden specialising in nothing but their fine teas and the odd naughty nibble.
I had a ‘Notting Hill’ and my other half had a ‘Wanderlust’. “What” may you ask “are a ‘Notting Hill’ and a ‘Wanderlust’ when they’re at home?” The cuteness to Yumchaa is that that they name a lot of their blends really cute, memorable names as they can often include four or more ingredients – much too lengthy to list in a title!

Well she remembered how much I loved them and gave me three different flavours – and the best ever tea strainer known to man – as all Yumchaa teas come loose! These are Notting Hill, Wanderlust and Red Christmas. I don’t exaggerate when I say that I smelt these before I could see them when opening them on Christmas Day! The scents are incredible and the colours beautiful! You should really invest in a glass teapot just to see how beautiful they come out when the tea leaves diffuse.

Notting Hill contains Keemun black tea, Apricot, Strawberry, Marigold Blossom and Cornflowers (this one’s admittedly not caffeine-free!)

Wanderlust includes Sencha green tea, Apple, Cinnamon and Almond

And Red Christmas (a limited Christmas edition of course) includes Rooibos, Ginger bread spice, Almond, Cinnamon pieces, Aniseed, Pepper cloves and Chocolate chips

The scents from these packets have taken over our drinks cupboard and they all taste amazing. I won’t fib, they don’t taste exactly as they smell, but no fruit tea ever does. However they’re certainly not like any other fruit tea brand as they taste incredibly close! I suggest adding a hint of sugar or honey if you like your tea a little sweeter but they certainly aren’t essential.

Yumchaa also makes many, many other flavours if the above don’t take your fancy or if you’re feeling curious and love your fruit teas I urge you to give them a go. Specialising in black, red, green and white teas they’ll make your de-tox or vow to reduce your caffeine a breeze this year!

You can find their shops all over London, where you can also sit and enjoy a cup there and then with a nice bit of cake. If you can’t get down to one of their London shops, fear not, they sell all of their blends on their website. Find out more at www.yumchaa.co.uk

Happy tea-making : ) x

P.S. Here’s a little piccy of the awesome tea strainer that my sister treated me to along with the triple-tea fantastic-ness. I have no idea where she bought it from (it’s made by a French company called Pylones) but I recommend gift shops and home-ware stores if you want your very own!

Product Reviews Ahoy!

Well as you can imagine, I’ve been filing away a whole heap of reviews for you guys because quite simply when I try something new I always think “I must blog about this!” A little like sharing a piece of great news or gossip with a friend over a cup of tea or coffee ; ) I’ve well and truly missed my little run-downs on all of the cosmetics I’ve got my hands on in recent months so in the next few weeks you can expect to see my thoughts on:

• Boots No. 7 Extreme Lash mascara
• Lush Vanilla Dee-Lite Hand & Body lotion
• Lush Maple Taffy lip balm
• Body Shop Coconut Shimmer Body Butter
• Laura Mercier Silk Creme foundation
• Maybelline Volume Express Falsies mascara

And plenty, plenty more..!

Image from Keep Calm, Stay Positive Blog

New Year, New Start!

Happy New Year and long-time-no-bloggidy! Yup, it’s been a while and this absence has been the longest for which I’m truly sorry. 2010 was a very busy year with me embarking on new shoots left, right and centre, including music videos – one of which is being released very shortly – and much, much more. December was an excellent way to end the year as I had the wonderful opportunity to work at the Clothes Show Live at Birmingham’s NEC for Rimmel and do make-up on many a wonderful face : )

In retrospect I should have prepared you a little for a potential absence here and there! I truly LOVE blogging about all things beauty-related, fashion-oriented and anything sparkly(!) but my main crust is make-up artistry which can mean during the busy spells and with being on the road my blog gets put to one side a little. However I am sticking to my promise to keep adding new features and doing my best to keep All That Glitters a fun and info-filled spot for you guys to get all of your cosmetic and fashion fixes. So in future, if I go quiet, you know what I’m up to and I will return ; )

Without further adieu I intend to crack on and begin blogging about all of the wonderful products and make-up loves that I’ve been itching to share with you all : ) But if you’re curious to see what I’ve been getting up to all this time then take a peek at my portfolio website! Here you can indulge in many a photo shoot and feast your eyes and ears on the wonderful debut music video by the very lovely Georgia Mason, a gorgeous singer and songwriter who has just been signed - congrats hun!

www.amanda-makeup.com

May 2011 be amazing for everyone!

Amanda xxx

Image from Lanpher Photoblog