Electric Cars, Bike incidents and BB Mousse

Why is is that everyone I know seems to be having odd runs of bad luck at the moment?

I was having a lovely dinner with my friends the other night when one of them who will I will refer to as B arrived not looking herself. She looked tired, stressed and vulnerable. After a glass of wine she regaled her terrible tales from the last week or so. Within the space of 10 days she had:

1. Had her bag stolen
2. Fallen off her bike (twice)
3. Looked after her other half who had a nasty bug
4. Caught said bug

The next day I spoke to my Grandma who I have referred to a number of times in this blog. (The one who goes line dancing, has French classes and who is on the look out for a man!) Once again I was presented with a list of terrible tales. Unfortunately I have promised not to reveal them as if my Mum finds out she will tell her off! (Let me tell you though I have given said Grandma a big lecture!)

Well they say things like this happen in threes so I guess it was only natural that I would catch whatever is in the air.

So here is how my Saturday panned out:

1. Chris and I hired an electric car for the day because it was cheaper, more ecologically friendly and supposedly more fun than other cars.
2. Chris and I took said car on a trip to Grays in Essex where we saw his wonderful Nan Barbara and went out for a really awful lunch!
3. As we headed home we realised that our eco-friendly marvel of a car was rapidly running out of electricity. (It is meant to do at least 70 miles before this happens!)
4. The only place to charge said car was Asda in Dagenham (please don't ever go there unless you REALLY have to!)
5. It was pissing it down, Chris was running around with a live plug and we had no IDEA what we were doing.
6. After half an hour of supposedly charging the car a soaked Chris announced the inevitable. "It's not working is it?"
7. One hour later, having finally worked out how to use the damn thing the electricity had gone up by a miniscule amount.
8. We drove back to London with no heating and the windows open so the car didn't steam up. I was moaning, Chris was shivering and the car was making worrying noises.
9. We also ended up mistakenly driving in the wrong lane and Chris left £30 cashback at Asda.
10. Oh, did I add that the hire company charged us extra for being late back even though there was something wrong with their stinking car and we phoned them in a state of panic??

I turned up at my best friend's birthday celebrations looking bedraggled and stressed while everyone else looked cool, collected and glamorous. Even B had managed to turn things around and looked all elfin and Audrey Hepburn like.

My best friend put her flawless, glowing skin down to Shu Uemura BB Mousse which she reckons has changed her life. Although I was excited by this and will be testing it in due course, I put it down to her owning a good old, ecologically unfriendly, petrol-guzzling vehicle.

Singing In The Rain

As well as beauty, one of my big passions is the theatre. There is nothing better than heading to the West End in your glad-rags and sitting back in the glory of one of our beautiful theatres. They always feel so full of history and I love the buzz of excitement in the auditorium as the performance is about to start.

Last night I took my Mum to see the press night of "Singing in The Rain" at London's Palace Theatre. The production was fantastic. I have never seen a cast with so much energy and the dancing was exceptional. If you do go along then make sure you wear a mac if you are sitting in one of the front six rows...I'll say no more but trust me on that!!

Anyway, apart from the onstage action, there was a whole different performance happening in the auditorium. Everywhere you looked there was a different well-known face. From Sheila Hancock to Babs Windsor to Tamsin Outhwaite, the luvvies were out in force and the thing that struck me about them is that they all looked wonderfully glamorous. I love the idea that you should dress up to the nines for a trip to the West End. These days so many people shove on a pair of jeans and gobble on sweets during a production and this somehow seems wrong to me. Rewind as little as ten years and going to the theatre was a big event that deserved a great outfit and glam makeup.

So here's all the beauty gossip from last night:

Babs Windsor looked glamorous and fabulous with her trade-mark blonde hair piled up in a bun. Her lipstick was bright like her personality and I loved the fact that she looked glamorous yet reassuringly familiar and down-to earth.

Tamsin Outhwaite had gone for a bright coral lipstick which had been applied with great care. The coral looked great with her blonde hair.

Sheila Hancock looked effortlessly glam with her cropped grey hair. She had chosen a slightly smoky eye and red lipstick in a fairly dark shade.

Janet Street-Porter was also there and as ever I was totally seduced by her bright red hair. In fact, it looked so good on her that my Mum and I both discussed going red ourselves but eventually decided against it. (We have the wrong complexions.)

I definitely recommend a trip to "Singing in The Rain" and why not opt for some old school glamour when you go? I reckon it will add to the sense of occasion and make it all the more special x

Kyoku For Men

With Valentines Day only a couple of days away, I thought that I'd recommend a great present for the beauty conscious man.

When I first met my husband, like a lot of men, he swore by plain old soap and water. I introduced him to the wonders of moisturiser and within a few months he was addicted. Fast forward six years and he gets just as excited as me about reviewing new products. (Although he'd never admit it!) The other day he announced that he loved my Darphin face-wash and asked me what exactly a serum does as he had been using (my very expensive one) and quite liked it.

Well, as much as I love sharing with him, I decided it was high time that Chris had his own products to play around with and left my special creams and potions well alone. So, the other night I came home with a bag full of male only face treats from the company Kyoku and he is (thank goodness) absolutely enamoured.

Asim, the creator of Kyoku went on a trip to Japan and found that not only were the men there healthier than their Western counterparts, but that they had incredible skin. Now obviously a lot of this can be put down to diet and lifestyle, but Asim also found that the men in the region had nearly five times the amount of hyaluronic acid (a protein involved heavily in collagen production and the structural integrity of the skin) than the average man, despite the fact that ageing usually slows its synthesis. Akhtar concluded that the high levels of hyaluronic acid in the region was an effect of both their diet and natural skin care regimes, which involved a range of plants, vegetables and herbs.

He then came home and began experimenting with the ingredients that he had discovered on his journey and went on to create Kyoku.

Chris has been using the SPF 15 Facial Moisturizer, Eye Fuel, Sake Infused Shave Creme and Oil Control Lotion. He adores the Shave Creme saying that it gives a great shave and smells delicious. He also loves the Eye Fuel and says that you only need to use a tiny amount for a great effect.

From my point of view, Chris' skin is looking really lovely at the moment and the products are so nice that even a bloke who doesn't really enjoy caring for his skin might be inspired to give it a go.

Check out the Kyoku range at http://kyokuformen.com/home_uk.php you can also get hold of it at Harrods, Harvey Nichols, House of Fraser and Libertys. Prices start at around £19.

Radical Skincare

My main aim with this blog is to be as honest as possible with you. When I try a product that doesn't work I either won't mention it here or I will let you know. I think that is the great thing about beauty blogs in general really. We don't have the commercial restrictions of many beauty journalists and build up really good, honest relationships with our readers.

Anyway, I'm telling you this because I want you to know that when I tell you about a product that I love, I generally will have spent a good amount of time testing it on myself and others in the hope that I am giving you an honest analysis that you can really trust.

I have been using Radical Skin Care products for the last month in a bid to see whether they perform as well as I was promised when I met their creator Liz Edlich.

Liz has been creating Radical Skincare with her sister for the past fifteen years. The story goes that they noticed that their skin was aging and decided to create the ultimate anti-aging creams and products for themselves and their friends without worrying about the cost. They never intended to launch them, they were to be used and enjoyed by their closest circle of friends and family. Eventually they managed to create an amazing set of formulas that really worked and their Hollywood mates who trialled them came back begging for more.

Fast-forward to 2012 and Liz and her sis decided that they couldn't hide their miracle lotions and potions from the world because they were so good and Radical Skincare was officially launched.

Now I must admit that I sometimes get a bit tired of what I often think of as PR blurb. I mean in this saturated market, people need to think of a unique selling point for their products and the Radical Skincare story is definitely an attractive one.

However, whether this story is for real or not, Radical Skincare REALLY does work and after a month of using it both my husband and I have seen a dramatic change in the appearance of our skin.

Here's the blurb as explained by Liz Edlich:

We simply developed the most potent antioxidant formula and delivery system on the market today. Resveratrol, Coffee Arabica, acai, green and white tea, prunes, pomegranate, grape seed and many more natural sources create this powerful berry bronze formula. Antioxidants tend to breakdown when put into skin care , so we created a technology that could suspend the antioxidants within the formulas so that formulations would deliver the maximum power and potency of these antioxidants directly upon contact of the skin! I then had our potency put to the test by an independent USDAS lab in a head to head clinical test against leading brands that included: Clinique, Lancôme, Neutrogena, Cellex-C, StriVectin, SkinMedica, etc.

Radical Skincare proved to be 300x more potent in antioxidant strength than leading mass and prestige brands tested!

Here's what my hubby and I think:

- We have been using the Age-defying Exfoliating Pads, the Peptide Infused Antioxidant Serum and the Anti-Aging Restorative Moisture for the last month.

- The Exfoliating Pads are meant to be so potent that they can help rid you of crows feet. Unfortunately I found that they made my skin sting so had to stop using them. My husband really likes them though.

- The serum and moisturiser are just INCREDIBLE. I've been putting a layer of serum under the moisturiser each morning and evening and have been getting loads of comments about how good my skin looks, as has my husband. We are both glowing with much firmer skin. As we are in our 30's it is hard to judge their anti-aging benefits, but all I can say is that the change in the quality and appearance of my skin has been really noticable.

So would I recommend Radical Skincare?

This stuff is expensive but the serum and moisturiser are the best that I have used with really noticable benefits. I don't think that I could afford to buy them as part of my regular routine but when I can I will as I feel that they will not only benefit my skin in the short-term but will help keep it looking young and fresh in the long-term.

If you want to treat yourself or have a birthday coming up, try this range! If you can only afford one product then go for the serum! Radical Skincare is now available in Harrods xx

http://www.radicalskincare.com/about.php