Jules

February 4, 2013

Shopping Guide: 36Boutiques

36Boutiques is an online shopping destination for fashion lovers that has been around for a couple of years. They stock a range of local and international labels, and while they specialise in clothing, shoes and accessories, they also have an amazing range of beauty products – many of them French pharmacy brands. The site is packed with cult beauty favourites (see below) and make-up must-haves from the likes of Bourjois, Stila and Essie. Towards the end of last week, I saw a couple of tweets saying that they had re-launched their site with a new design, so I promptly alerted…

January 17, 2013

Girl Crush: Blake Lively

“Crush” is actually not a strong enough word for how I feel about Blake Lively. I’m actually obsessed with her perfect features, glowing skin, thick, glossy hair, endless legs, Hollywood smile and extremely hot husband. She also famously refuses to diet or exercise… so basically a fine example of just how deeply unfair life can be. Let’s look a little closer, shall we? Excuse me while I cry myself to sleep now. Images via.

January 15, 2013

The Original YouTube Beauty Queen

Discovered this little gem after seeing Lisa Eldridge post it on Facebook. It’s footage of Joan Collins being interviewed by Michael Parkinson while she puts on her make-up and the look is pure 1980’s glamour: gold-and-purple eyeshadow, dark brows, glossy pinky-red lips and a big, fat, stripy line of blusher down her cheeks. Despite the dated make-up, she has plenty of sensible things to say on the subject and seems like a total pro. Enjoy!

January 13, 2013

My Manicure: Essie "Tart Deco"

Pretty, nê? This is one of my favourite nail polishes from Essie. It’s bright without being neon so totally appropriate for you office-bound types, and looks fantastic on toes too (especially if you have a tan or are lucky enough to have naturally darker skin). My only issue with it, as with all of the lighter Essie colours, is it needs a few coats before it turns opaque. Essie is available from Clicks, Dischem, Foschini, Edgars, Wellness Warehouse and various pharmacies, and is priced around R100 each. Image by me.

January 11, 2013

Trend Report: Glitter Nails

I’m just a LITTLE bit obsessed with sparkly manicures at the moment. Pretty much every time I paint my nails (which is about once a week) I add a glittery top coat or go full dazzletard with all-over shimmering polish. Something I haven’t tried yet but seems to be popular is the “ombre mani” done with a glitter – here’s a great tutorial by The Nailasaurus or check out Pinterest for inspiration. Some of my favourite sparkly polishes are from Inglot, Mavala, Essie and OPI. A word of caution though: don’t be fooled by cheap imitations. Many of the budget beauty…

January 9, 2013

Favourite Five: Lush hair products

By now you’ve probably all heard that Lush have opened a store in the V&A Waterfront, much to the delight of the brand’s South African fans. I used to avoid Lush when I lived in London as I always found the smell of the store really overwhelming, and I’ve heard this from a lot of other people too. The strong scents and bright colours of the products also give the impression that everything is full of nasty chemicals and synthetic ingredients. The truth is that not only are Lush’s products ALL NATURAL (and organic where possible) but they’re handmade with…

January 7, 2013

Brand I Wish Was in SA: Urban Decay

Urban Decay is a brand name that I’ve started seeing popping up regularly on overseas beauty blogs. They appear to have had a makeover and are now famous for their brilliant makeup, with many products reaching cult status with fans. I bought a few things recently and had them brought back to SA for me – these are the highlights: No. 1: Eyeshadow Primer Potion – I have suffered from oily lids and eyeshadow creasing for as long as I can remember, until now. This stuff is amazing, it primes the lid, giving a smooth base for makeup application and ensures…

January 5, 2013

Beauty Spotlight: Ciaté

I’ve always liked the look of Ciaté nail polishes, with their unusually-shaped bottles and natty black bow-ties. I was thrilled to discover them on Zando a few weeks ago and promptly put in an order for Main Stage, a sultry deep pinky-purple. I was not disappointed – the texture is unlike anything else I’ve tried (they’re called nail cremes and truly are extremely creamy in formulation) and the pigment is good so you can get full coverage with just one swipe. Now, I love Essie as much as the next girl, but one of my biggest issues with those polishes…

January 4, 2013

My Manicure: Inglot #644

I’m having a bit of a mermaid moment here – how gorgeous is this colour?! Inglot O2M nail varnishes are free from all sorts of nasties (toluene, formaldehyde, dibutyl phthalate [DBP] & camphor) and are not tested on animals. You can follow them on Facebook.

January 3, 2013

Beauty Spotlight: Tangle Teezer

You read lots of hair styling articles that recommend fancy paddle brushes, ceramic barrels, boar bristles and designer wide-toothed combs for the “best blowout”. That’s all well and good, but what about the more low maintenance among us who can’t be bothered with all that malarkey? It’s very rare that I read anything online or in magazines that provides useful information about how to treat fine, pin-straight hair. In particular, I’ve never read anything that offers practical suggestions for brushing out this type of hair without the associated strand snapping and scalp yanking. So, here is my top tip for…

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