WIN IT > WEEK 2 of the HUGE Boots hamper giveaway

NOW CLOSED: WINNER IS DOROTHY M.

BEAUTYWOOME.COM and Boots have teamed up this October to OFFER YOU A MONTH'S WORTH OF TREATS to indulge during the long autumn evenings! Each week we will be offering you the chance to win a hamper of Boots pampering products, great for unwinding in an at-home spa night or blocking off some much needed 'me time'.

We'll be giving away a mega-hamper of THE ENTIRE Boots No. 7 Protect and Perfect range the last week of October too... just in time to get skin ready for the festive season! Why are we giving you such amazing gifts throughout October? Because your fabulous (and, well, that summer sun is never terribly kind to hair and skin). Do you need a better reason!? 

Terms and Conditions: Week 1 competiton opens October 11th 2010 and closes October 17, 2010. Beautwoome.com is the promoter. Employees of Boots UK Ltd, anyone associated with the promotion and members of their close family may not enter this competition. Winners will be drawn at random from all correct entries received before the closing date. Winners will be notified within 5 working days after the closing date. All details received will not be used for any Boots databases. Prizes will be delivered within 24 days of notification.

ONE ENTRY PER PERSON. IF ANY OF YOU CHEEKY MONKEYS ENTER YOURSELF MORE THAN ONCE, YOU ARE IMMEDIATELY DISQUALIFIED (and don't think it's not easy as pie to find the multiple-entrant offenders.)!

*Your personal details are shared with Boots but no other party. 

 

EXPERT SECRETS | Lisa Eldridge videos

ANYONE WITH a finger on the beauty pulse in the UK knows about the talented beauty Lisa Eldridge. She creates makeup for No. 7, styles amazing shoots for top magazines, is married to an artist whose work I adore and has her own website, populated with some of the most useful how-to videos ever to hit the internet. Which is saying something because there are gajillions of videos on the ever-growing interweb.

The lady's so thoughtful, you can even request to see certain videos (entry form is in the left sidebar), so don't fail to pipe up if there's a look or technique about which you're curious.

Bookmark this site and refer to it often. 

My favourite videos:

1. Anti-ageing makeup eyes, brows and lips
2. Anti-ageing makeup foundation, concealer, powder and blusher
3. Pastel beauty trends (the model looks like a different person after, doesn't she!?)
4. An everyday makeup look
5. 4 ways with lipstick
6. Dita Von Teese inspired matte lip
7. Morning after makeup part I (Very useful)
8. Morning after makeup part II (Very useful)

Find your favourite Lisa Eldridge video.

FROM THE FRONT | Roja Dove Haute Perfumerie

IF, LIKE me, the last time you joyfully spritzed yourself with a heady fragrance, convinced you were walking out the door a goddess, was 15 years ago, and the perfume in question was of the sickly sweet ilk (think Lou Lou or Samsara) turning you against perfume for life, then you’d be forgiven for thinking that a trip to a luxury parfumerie was not going to send me into squeals of joy.

It’s not that I hate perfume but more the way that many women (and a younger me) wear it – too much, too often, initiating a headache-inducing assault on the olfactory receptors. And perfume is such a statement, of glamour and sophistication, if you’re lucky, but so often just an indication that you’re lacking in both. Or is that just me?

Since my over-perfumed teenage years I’ve preferred to remain understated by going unscented. Yes, I occasionally yearn for a sensual, delicious scent which is mine alone, but I’ve never stuck out the search – the closest I ever came was blocks of perfume from Istanbul’s grand bazaar which didn’t smell so sweet once home. But let’s move on.

Let’s talk about Roja Dove’s Haute Parfumerie, located on the fifth floor of Harrods. As you can see this is more opulent boudoir than perfume counter. Just being amidst the glinting bottles and soft fragrances was an experience. Roja Dove the man is a fragrance specialist par excellence, so I’m told and so I read every time I Google him. After two decades at Guerlain, Dove now runs an eponymous, London-based PR company and creates fragrances. And, of course, he is responsible for the heady Parfumerie, where he has gathered together an exquisite collection of scents, old and new, ranging from £50 to an eye-watering £115,000, including Houbigant (one of Marie-Antoinette’s perfumers no less), vintage scents from Baccarat and names like Amouage, Lanvin and Nina Ricci. I’m here to be introduced to some new additions.

First up is a collaboration between perfumers Jacques Chabert and Jean-Francois Cabos (formerly of Balenciaga) called Atelier Flou – six fragrances in all. I am surprised by how restrained and enjoyable the smells were. The ones that stand out are the summery Paradis Paradis (£95) with bergamot and jasmine, and a cologne called Eau d’Aviateur (£75) with orange and sandalwood. I should also mention Roja Dove’s own new fragrance Diaghilev (£75) – a chypre (citrus top-note, floral middle and mossy base) homage to the founder of the Ballets Russes, Serge Diagilev, and created for the V&A’s autumn exhibition Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russe 1909-1929.

But the scent I really fell in love with, the one that I could imagine being ‘mine, all mine’ was, predictably perhaps, one of Roja Jove’s 14 Semi-Bespokes tucked away in a wooden drawer. No.2 is soft, almost musky with a string of ingredients including my favourites (sandalwood and vertiver) and limited to 50 customers. It also has a price tag of £1000.

Gulp.

It’s taken a grand of bespoke scent to re-awaken my ardour for parfum. But re-awakened my interest is and so I shall resume my hunt for the perfect scent. All thanks to the inspirational Roja Dove Haute Parfumerie.

Be sure not to miss The Perfume Diaries exhibition, curated by Roja Dove at Harrods through October 2. Roja Dove Haute Parfumerie, Harrods, Fifth Floor, 87-135 Brompton Road, SW1X 7XL (020 7730 1234‎)

Written by Julia Rebaudo for beautywoome.com. Check out her new blog Planet707.com.