Clarins blogger event - an essay!

Last Thursday I was lucky enough to be invited to the Clarins Head Office in London for their inaugural blogger event. I don’t normally get to go to many events as they are normally not convenient for me to attend with work commitments, but luckily this event was a drop in event after work at a realistic time. Woop! I am also a die-hard Clarins fan and have been for as long as I can remember, so extra effort was also made on my behalf. I love their products and use a lot of them already so I was intrigued to find out more about the people behind the brand as well.

When I arrived I was shown round the new Christmas and January launches from Clarins and Clarins Fragrance Group. I also got to speak to the Head of Treatment who was fantastic and personally recommended which products I should use for my skin type. Shock horror, I have dehydrated skin so therefore was given products from the Daily Energiser and Hydration ranges to use as part of my daily cleansing routine. 

The lovely Clarins make-up stand!

 Fragrances from Thierry Mugler and Swarovski.


I also got to try out the latest limited edition fragrances from Thierry Mugler and Swarovski. The four fragrances of the house (Angel, Alien, A*Men and Womanity) have been enriched with food items such as cocoa powder, figs, caramel and caviar! They were a bit overpowering for me, but my favourite was definitely Aura the new fragrance by Swarovski. It has been described as an incandescent fruity floral which is centred around a prism...I love the stunning packaging as well as the smell :)

My new skincare routine! 

The Daily Energising range was recommended to me and my young (ish)skin! My skin issues — dryness, dullness, blemishes and loss of tone are all signs of exhaustion apparently. With Daily Energisers invigorating plant extracts, your skin will glow with renewed vitality — even after late nights, parties, studying, pollution and stress. I really love the Daily Energiser Wake-Up Booster (£15) in the morning which is a radiance boosting gel with a moisturising action to ensure a soft, smooth look while its toning benefits - lovely! I also love the Daily Energiser Lotion SPF15, which is a a lightweight, oil-free, melt-into-the-skin moisturising lotion that boosts radiance and protects against UV rays. It's really silky and blends into your skin easily which is a must for me when purchasing a moisturiser.

Clarins Rebalancing Oils (£33)


A drop of the oil at night after cleansing helps to tone, revitalise and restore radiance to moisture-depleted skin. I LOVE these and am thrilled to discover them as I used to just use night cream at night but the oil so far has moisturised my skin more intensely and left it baby smooth. Worth trying if you suffer from dehydrated skin like me!

Clarins Winter 2011 shot

Other bloggers enjoying the event :)

New Passion Face Palette - really chunky gold packaging. Love it!

Yummy Reindeer biscuits in my goody bag!

Thanks to Clarins for inviting me to the event, the PR team were all lovely and made me feel so welcome. Keep posted for individual reviews of the winter collection, more skincare products and perfumes!

PS - Clarins also hinted they may bring out a BB Cream next year. I am already very excited and hope I get to try it out as soon as possible!

The winner of the Clothes Show competition.....

..... is Sophie Cox well done!

I will email you now and send your tickets over to you tomorrow. Look out for a post after The Clothes Show next week talking about the show – I can’t wait until Saturday!

Win Clothes Show Live tickets!

Exciting news I have two tickets to giveaway to the Clothes Show Live next Saturday 2^nd December! I am really looking forward to attending for the 8^th year in a row, and hopefully will manage to get all my Christmas shopping done in one day (fingers crossed!) The bargains you can get on male & female clothes and jewellery alone are really worth the £27 ticket fee, I managed to pick up many items last year much cheaper than the high street and a much better choice!

This year the UK’s premier fashion and beauty event returns with an array of top celebrity guests and a brand new team of expert gurus, including international model Max Rogers and celebrity hairdresser Jamie Stevens, to make 2011’s show the most glamorous and interactive yet. I am looking forward to seeing some of the cast of TOWIE at the show (in particular Joey Essex!) Clothes Show Live in association with Suzuki is the UK’s largest fashion and beauty event featuring over 500 leading fashion and beauty brands to shop from, a 6500-seat Fashion Theatre and countless celebrity appearances over six days – it’s the ultimate girl’s day out! Whether shoppers are looking for a brand new winter wardrobe, presents for friends, spot celebrities or watch a fast paced catwalk show, Clothes Show Live is the number one destination.

Tickets!

Clothes Show takes place from the 2-7 December 2011 at Birmingham’s NEC. Visit www.clothesshowlive.com  for more information and tickets. If you aren’t going yet, make sure you buy your tickets now!

To enter my competition just make sure you are following me on my blog and leave a comment below with your name & email address. Good luck! I will get in touch with the winner next week!

Winter skin

As winter approaches, I find my skin becomes much drier than in summer and requires extra moisturiser. I also find my skin becomes slighly irritated, particuarly on my back after I had an allergic reaction to massage oil a few years ago when having physiotherapy. I had a massage recently at work and the therapist recommended trying Aloe Vera on my body to ensure my skin isn’t irritated as it is now very sensitive. The therapist also recommended cutting down on caffiene as well, which I have done dramatically during the day at work.

I also started using Herbal Aloe Soothing Spray from Herbalife on my body after a shower and as a moisture top up. Made from whole-leaf aloe, it helps soothe the discomforts of sun overexposure (not really required not but will use for this next summer!) and minor skin irritations. If you are lazy or don’t like heavy moisturisers this is perfect for you as it takes seconds to spray on your body, plus it is very light and easily absorbed. You also get a lot for your money, £11 for a large bottle. I am pleased to say since using the spray and cutting out caffeine I have definitely reduced my skin irritations, so will continue to use to ensure it stays this way.

Does anyone else have any tips for looking after skin in the winter?

Pudsey goes couture!

 If you are a fan of Children in Need and fashion then you’ll love the couture Pudsey makeover! Designers include my favourites Mulberry, Erdem and Giles Deacon , who have all designed one-off bears.

My favourite has to be the Mulberry bear, which I initially spied on the Mulberry blog. Quoted from their blog – “He is a complete one off and will be auctioned as part of the Designer Pudsey Collection to raise money for the charity’s many great causes. Mulberry Creative Director Emma Hill took the inspiration for the beloved character from our English roots and heritage of luxury leather craftsmanship.

Emma told the blog: “As with most things we create at Mulberry we wanted to keep him in touch with our roots. His leather, components and colours are mainly drawn from our men’s collection – he is a boy after all!”

All of the designer bears are being showcased exclusively at Liberty of London until the 18th November, and are being auctioned for BBC Children in Need, to help vulnerable children and young people right here in the UK. More information about how to bid for the bears is available on www.bbc.co.uk/Pudsey. The Mulberry bear is already at £620 on eBay so sadly I don’t think I’ll be bidding but it is still a great cause.

The Big Knit 2011!

My favourite Winter campaign is back again! Age UK and innocent have teamed up again to bring you the eighth annual Big Knit, and thousands of people across the country have been frantically knitting over the last few months to reach a fantastic total of 650,000 hats. 

For the Big Knit, Age UK and innocent ask knitters of all ages to get creative and come up with their own designs for mini-woolly hats to be placed on top of their smoothie bottles and sold in Boots and Sainsbury's stores throughout November. For each hatted bottle sold, 25p is donated to Age UK to help make winter warmer for older people across the UK.

The video below gives a nice overview of what the Big Knit is all about:

1. Pick up your hatted smoothie, please visit Sainsbury's (from 2 November) and in Boots (9 November) until stocks last. For each hatted smoothie bought, Age UK will receive 25p.

2. Take a photo of your hat! Innocent are running a hat tag game on their Facebook page, please visit www.facebook.com/innocent to raise even more money to make winter warmer for older people. To play the hat tag game, hold the little hat over anyone (or anything) so that it looks like they're wearing the hat, take a picture and upload it here. Innocent will donate 10p to Age UK for every picture uploaded, be giving away loads of smoothies to the weekly winners, and award £500 in Amazon vouchers to the 3 photos with the most votes overall.

Here are a few photos my colleagues at work took today! Get creating for a really special cause :)