BEAUTY OP-ED | Forget the beach body, embrace sanity

PERSONALLY, I say buck the trend, save the money and instead use it to pay for that beach holiday you otherwise might not have the money to take. Forget about getting tan, getting slim, getting ‘glowy’, getting blemish free, getting sun-kissed highlights in the wee morning hours before work and the few precious free ones you have after. In fact, if there’s anything I’ve learned from my seaside sojourns over the years, it’s that you achieve that look more readily going to the beach, not getting to it. And your sun-kissed highlights from swimming in the sea are free.

So are the honed thighs.

TOP TEN REASONS WHY GETTING BEACH-BODY READY IS NONSENSE:

1. Because you already have a body. And it’s ready for the beach NOW.
2. Who the hell wants to spend the summer swathed in radioactive orange tan (at least among the white-skinned folks out there)?
3. You’ll waste bucket loads of money you could otherwise spend on taking an actual beach holiday.
4. It’s as good as yo-yo dieting for your body. Meaning, it’s bad.
5. Even if you religiously follow the magazine’s instructions on how to get beach-body ready, you won’t look like the lady on the cover.
6. Because 90 year-old ladies in Croatia hit the beach every day – in bikinis – without spending months obsessing over how they’re going to look. If they can do it, so can you.
7. If all you can think about is how people think you look in a bikini, you’ll be miserable.
8. Highlights and salt water do not mix. Same goes with fake tan, makeup (even waterproof mascara) and body cosmetics (hey, even I wear a bit of leg makeup when I’m wearing tiny shorts).
9. At the end of the day, all that matters when you’re on the beach is that you’re not at work.
10. Cellulite is genetic (despite what some misguided beauty journalists will say). Sorry. If it bothers you, wear a cover-up. Nothing (no product, no treatment... no matter what the marketeers say) you do in the lead up to summer will ‘banish’ it from your body, so to speak.

Read the full article on LOOKING GOOD NO MATTER WHAT...

Have we lost the art of grooming to Twitter?

RECENTLY, I wrote a post for Looking Good, No Matter What about little grooming habits (that take collectively no more than mere minutes) that greatly tidy up one's appearance. Talk about something for (almost) nothing... In any event, I had a comment that seemed symptomatic of the way so many of us are nowadays... mainly expressing the sentiment: who has time for such trivialities when we're so busy! Well, you do, for one. So do I and not because I am a beauty writer! And if you don't think you have enough time to part your hair, set the iPhone down for 10 seconds et voila! A window of time just freed itself up for your instant grooming! Without further ado, here is the original comment and my rebuttle as to why EVERY MAN AND WOMAN ON THIS PLANET has enough time to do these things, no matter how self-indulgently too busy we all are nowadays. And if you still don't believe me, then it's time to consider how wrong it is that we've become so busy (often times without purpose) that basic things like parting your hair or giving yourself a good scrub have become obnoxious time wasters.  

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TRIED & TESTED | Eyeko mascara

THERE ARE not many pictures of me, period. Perhaps my camera shyness with haunt me later in life, but it's just not for me. However, a recent project required my mug in front of a camera. There were no stylists on hand to do makeup (except for the fabulous Lynne and her impromptu powdering. Thank you!) or wardrobe -- just me, my jet-lag and makeup kit, in which I had my trusty mascara. Some people have seen one of the pics and keep commenting on my lashes so it is high time I do a review of the wunder-mascara that makes them look good (without curling or priming).

DESCRIPTION

Eyeko is a cutesy (in fact the strap line is London's Cutest Beauty), Manga-themed British makeup company. Probably more at home in the makeup bags of teenagers than a grown woman, I have (of course) grown to love it. The Eyeko mascara comes in a silver tube (much like Cargo cosmetics), with a wand of wide and widely spaced bristles and in black. There's a Manga girl on the tube but otherwise, it's pretty discreet.

THE GOOD

Your eyelashes will look AMAZING (long, separated, black), it's cheaper than most drugstore varieties nowadays, the formula doesn't flake AND (I mean, can it get any better?!) it's a TUBING FORMULA (whether intended or not) so it slides right off your lashes at night, leaving absolutely no mess. The perfect 10 of mascaras.

THE BAD

Not a single thing. Not one. Even the Manga girl on the tube is fine. In fact, she's a downright good advertisement for the product inside and the results you'll get, unlike most mascara ads where the models/actresses have to wear fake lashes to advertise the product.

THE PRICE 

8 teeny tiny pounds. 

Buy Eyeko mascara here.