5 hand balms for bitter winter weather

Every year, in the non-equatorial world, it gets cold. When it;s cold, it's dry. And almost immediately, my skin starts to crack and itch. Set the clocks back and cuticles start to peel away on cue, finger webbing gets all ashy and the backs of my hands age years. It's a hot look... not really. It's distracting and painful, mostly. I run several humidifiers at full whack in the house but can't stuff one in my bag for the road so hand balm it is when away from the tropical confines of my living room. Don't leave home without one of these five balms this winter (and if you happen to live in the Southern Hemisphere, start stock piling now for autumnal climes to come). While not all of these are necessarily hand balms, all come in sizes small enough to pop into your handbag without a problem. Find out which five work best in winter weather...

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Introducting the new HQhair.com

There are plenty of wonderful beauty websites out there and HQhair.com is one I am a regular at. Much like red-nosed alcoholics have a bar they find themselves at every night, beauty junkies spend time cruising the same beauty sites -- our virtual bars -- routinely (our laptops, our virtual bar stools). HQhair.com, to be perfectly honest, was somewhat outdated visually until today. There was too much going on, too many words in too small a font, not enough pretty pictures, not enough sleek navigation. It was from a different era of e-shops, one where the developers decided what the sites looked like, not the ones with vision and style.

That has changed. HQhair.com just relaunched this morning and this (non-surgical) facelift is one of the best I've seen. It's a shame the same can't be said for human faces with lifts. And there's plenty to buy, plenty to do. No doubt it's sticky (a good term in the web world). I'm stuck on it right now... have been all afternoon.

My favourite parts: The thumbnails at the bottom, beauty talk, brand focus, ask our experts, hqdiscoveries is SO much easier to navigate.

Not so favourite parts: Drop-down brand selector menu, fluro-coloured navigation on top (and the hover effect).

Visit HQhair.com to see all their new features. To celebrate the launch, HQhair.com is offering £5 off your shopping with NO minimum spend from noon tomorrow so log in and save a fiver.

Preview CHANEL Le Vernis in Jade with a bit of pinky bling

'Love your nails. Is that the new Chanel polish?” the beauty advisor at (my latest find) L’Artisan Parfumeur on Marylebone High Street purred appreciatively. You know you’re onto something good when your manicure gets recognized. Suffice to say it’s not just any old nail varnish adorning my fingers right now, but the much-hyped Le Vernis in Jade by CHANEL, one of two colours created by Chanel makeup’s global creative director Peter Philips for Ready to Wear Autumn/Winter 09/10; the other is Jade Rose, a very pretty, almost flesh-toned pink.

Initially dubious about how minty green enamel will look against my skin, I'm a quick convert once ensconced in a beauty suite at the plush CHANEL HQ with manicurist-cum-nail blogger Sophy Robson – responsible for the lacy nails at Henry Holland. By the second coat (the first paints on quite thin), I'm lusting after this new colour like nobody’s business. “We've done pale, tanned, black skin... this colour suits everyone," says Sophy while her colleague Zaida tells me that oiling my cuticles every day will give me a much healthier looking nail (and sealing the top of the nail when applying polish will give a longer lasting, if not life-proof, manicure). Zaida finishes by applying a teensy gold CHANEL logo to my pinkie - making me feel properly bling. If you like your nail art then Hollywood Star Nails in Peckham is the place to get these mini logos. Although a recent mention on the Elle blog means the shop is currently out of stock!

If you too lust after the look of this madcap tweedy green, then get yourself on the waiting list at a CHANEL boutique or Selfridges where the limited-edition varnishes go on sale 9 October for £19 a pop. I know I’ll be taking good care of my newly polished gems... for the next few days at least!

 Written by Julia Rebaudo for www.beautywoome.com.

Update on 09.28.2009 by Jessica Teas (née Gearhart)

PS: If you don't know this brand yet, you will soon... M2M nail varnish is coming to the UK and CHANEL's manicurist-in-residence to promote Le Vernis in Jade, Sophy Robson, has been using the range for quite a while. 

There are loads of amazing nail brands coming out of the US right now: M2M, KO Knockout, Butter London, Rescue Beauty, Nubar... 

My favourite new colour is the murky, sort-of creamy green called Orbis Non Sufficit by Rescue Beauty (created by a beauty blogger, no less).

PPS: There's a certain famed British nail guru that, I think, will have a range coming out sometime in the next year as well. Can't divulge yet, but when we can...