Christina Aguilera perfume - the lowdown

Image courtesy of slapiton.tv

I'm most definitely not a fan of anything celebrity endorsed, so when I was given a sample of Christina Aguilera perfume, I must confess, I did approach it with suspicion.


My first impression, when I dabbed it liberally on both wrists was warm & sweet and somehow it reminded me of my grandma.  I really don't like sweet perfumes but as time wore on, the sweetness subsided and just the warmth remained.  Pleasant enough, if you like that sort of thing...  


It was only when I read the fragrance notes that I realized why it reminded me of my grandma.  The top note is vanilla - my grandma loved baking!!


Overall, I think it's a safe, uncomplicated perfume for teenage girls who think that 'sexy' is nothing more complicated than wearing a short skirt and glittery make up.   

Cosmetics reviews

I have a love-hate relationship with cosmetics.  


I love them because of they promise so much - luxury, pampering, self-indulgence & the possibility of looking like a better version of yourself.  On the other hand, there's an awful lot of bulls**t, the promotion of only a very few 'acceptable' ways to look and the promise of looking like an eighteen year old, which any sensible person over the age of nineteen knows is rubbish.


On that note, I'd like to share with you some of the beauty products I've tried recently and my experiences with them. I have notoriously difficult skin - dry, extremely sensitive to environment influences like central heating and prone to rosacea. My hair is similar but without the rosacea - dry and prone to frizz at the drop of a hat.


I'd like to start with Boots No. 7 Protect and Perfect.

Image courtesy of www.iloapp.queenpeach.com

  
This is an interesting one.  In 2007, BBC's Horizon programme, which is a very well respected science programme, claimed that the No. 7 Protect and Perfect Beauty Serum actually worked. This naturally sparked a buying frenzy and Protect and Perfect has been at the top of the best seller lists ever since.


So did it work for me?  


Unfortunately not.  The cleanser and the beauty serum felt harsh against my skin and both the day & night moisturizers made my face sting.  After a week, my cheeks were noticeably redder and felt inflamed.  I certainly didn't notice any reduction in the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines.  
Rather worryingly, after about a month, I found that my skin was more sensitive to things like central heating.  I also don't like the fact that the range doesn't differentiate between skin types - ie. there's no special creams for oily skin, dry skin etc.  It's just one cream for all skin types and let's face it, dry skin needs are very different to oily skin needs.


However, I'm not going to dismiss Protect and Perfect out of hand though because my friend S swears by it and even I can see the difference in her complexion when she's not using it.  


After my (didn't) Protect and Perfect experience, I was looking for something to try and calm down my now inflamed looking complexion.  I don't have a lot of money at the moment to spend on cosmetics, so I was nosing round my local branch of Boots when I spotted this.

Image courtesy of kaboodle.com

Eau Thermale Avene's Gentle Milk Cleanser.  I bought the cleanser along with the Soothing Hydrating Serum. Immediately I noticed a difference, even after the first application.  The cleanser is very soothing and feels good on the skin.  My complexion looked far less ruddy and felt far less dehydrated.  After about a week, people were commenting on how healthy I looked and my skin felt far more supple and far less susceptible to environmental influences.  My rosacea has calmed down to the point where I just look like I have healthy, rosy cheeks.  Definitely a big yes from me.

I can't abide celebrity endorsed products so it's with a heavy heart that I have to tell you about this.

Image courtesy of eleven.se

It's James Brown's Richly Moisturizing Shampoo.  James Brown is Kate Moss's hairdresser and boy, does he let you know about it.  The shampoo is however (sadly!) excellent. In fact, I'd go as far as to say, it's the best shampoo I've ever used.  It's a little odd to use because you leave it on like a conditioner for three minutes and I keep forgetting that I then need to apply conditioner after that but no matter.  It leaves my hair soft, silky and most importantly of all, not frizzy!!  Absolute bonus in my books.  Just a shame he felt he had to go down the celebrity route because the product is good enough to stand on it's own merits.  

Films, fashion and faux pas.

I just love the Oscars.  I love the films, the fashion, the personalities - the whole over-the-top glamourous splendour of it all.  The live broadcast is in the middle of the night here in Britain but I don't care.  I stay up all night wrapped in a blanket, eating popcorn and watching it all. 


This year's Oscars were a particularly good watch.  It's a shame that 'Mugabe and the White African' didn't make it through to the final short list for best documentary but they did incredibly well to get as far as they did. I was overjoyed to see a woman, Kathryn Bigelow finally winning Best Director.  The mean part of me was particularly pleased that she beat her ex-husband, James Cameron of the mighty Avatar / Titanic / Aliens etc fame to the post.  Bizarrely 'The Hurt Locker' hasn't been released in the UK yet but I certainly intend to see the film once it has been.  Not sure how it managed to win a BAFTA without being released here...


Sandra Bullock was another treat this year.  I thought her outfit was one of the best Oscars outfits ever.

Image courtesy of chron.com

That gorgeous Marchesa gown would look even better on me, (in my dreams!) but no matter, she looked exquisite. The beautiful, delicate embroidery on the bodice and the shimmering, metallic fabric just took my breath away but I think that the final touch of genius was the fuchsia lips.  The obvious choice would have been a pillar box red but the pink made it fresh, youthful and modern.

Another surprise was Kristen Stewart.  Her habitual surly glare to camera really gets my goat, (smile, girl, do you know how many people would kill to be in your position?) but last Sunday she actually managed to not only crack a smile but finally lose the irritating rebellious teenager attitude.

    Image courtesy of sawfnews.com

However, my favourite person of the evening was the incomparable Gabourey Sidibe.  

Image courtesy of huffingtonpost.com

I love the normalness of her.  Yes, she's made some slightly duff fashion choices here, (the colour does nothing for her complexion and that applique across the waist & on the neckline only serves to broaden her) but who hasn't made some bad sartorial choices? She's brimming with joy just to be at the Oscars and I love that. If I ever got to go to the Oscars, (yea right), I'd be the Gabourey of the show.

In the absence of any real faux pas this year, I'm going to leave you with my favourite from times gone by - Bjork from the 2001 Oscars in her infamous swan dress.

Image courtesy of tvtropes.org

The genius of Alexander McQueen

Picture from Conde Nast

Picture from telegraph.co.uk

A talent like that of Alexander McQueen only comes along once in a while.  R.I.P.

Private lives

You'd have to been living under a stone this past week to have missed the uproar, here in Britain, over John Terry, the England football captain's private life.  For those not in the know, John Terry is a married man with two young twins, who had an affair with a French lingerie model.  The news of this affair hit the tabloids and he was sacked from his post as England captain in response to media pressure.

I think that this was an appalling move by Fabio Cappello, the manager of the England squad.  Don't get me wrong, I think that John Terry has behaved despicably.  The problem I have is, the way you conduct your private life should not determine whether or not you keep your job.  It may seem like a celebrity matter and nothing to do with real life but these things have a nasty habit of filtering down into the mainstream.  Before you know it, ordinary people will find themselves loosing their jobs for private indiscretions. Contrary to public opinion, people with squeaky clean personal lives aren't necessarily the best at their jobs.  In today's sanctimonious climate, Winston Churchill would certainly have had to resign because of his heavy drinking. Yes, you could argue that Terry is a bad role model for young boys but my argument is that if the media hadn't pried into his private life, it would have remained exactly that - private.  What we have here is a situation of the media feeding on itself.  My grandma taught me that you should never gossip about someone's personal life and yet today, we have a massive industry built around gossiping about the private lives of people in the public eye.


John Terry was one of the best England captains of all time - far better than the sacred David Beckham.  He should be allowed to continue.

The Weight Debate

Picture from the mirror.co.uk

As the uproar over actress, Hannah Waterman's dramatic weight loss continues, I'm reminded of a story my father told me...  

During the late 60's, a friend of my dad's was an Aid Worker in Biafra (now part of Nigeria).  He was starting to feel the effects of too much food and not enough exercise, so, like many people in the same position, decided to go for a jog along the roads around the local area.  After a while, he was joined by a local villager cycling along side him.

'Sir, are you ok?' the Villager asked anxiously.

'Yes, I'm fine, thank you' replied the Aid Worker.

'Sir, if you are in trouble, please tell me and I may be able to do something.  I have a bicycle and I can cycle very quickly to fetch help.'

'I'm fine, thank you.'

'Sir, if you are ok, why are you running?'

'Just trying to loose a little weight'.

The Villager stared at him uncomprehending and continued to cycle along side him for the rest of his jog, anxiously offering help from time to time.  

You see, the Villager's life was so tough and he had to work so hard physically that running was something that he only did in an extreme emergency.  As for excess weight, in the eyes of the Villager, that was a good thing.  It meant that you were healthy & wealthy and that you had reserves for the times when food was scarce. 

I find it bizarre that in our plentiful abundant society, women (and it's often the wealthiest women) have chosen to deprive themselves of food & nutrients and to emulate the bodies of poverty stricken, malnutrised Third World women and that this body shape is seen as desirable.  It's almost as we, as a society, are punishing women as a whole, for something.  Being too successful, maybe?

'How to be Adored' - review

I was initially a little sceptical about this book.  The title struck me as one of those ghastly please-like-me-I'm-quite-nice-really self help books.

Ignore the title.  It's actually a rather wonderful lifestyle guide. The premise is how to be a sophisticated woman, loved by all. Advice is based on tips and techniques from famous women of the stage & screen, both past and present, who've been adored by millions.  Topics range from make-up to relationships.

The book is full of laugh out loud pearls of wisdom from the author;

   'Don't wear Uggs, have platinum blonde hair extensions, use lipliner and carry a chihuahua - this is the working wardrobe of the Wannabe Wag and best avoided if you have any kind of I.Q.'

   'NEVER date a footballer, they may be as rich as Croesus but they will make you look cheap'.

Fantastic stuff.  It's a real tonic in today's shallow, celebrity obsessed world where knickerless girls falling out of cars are held up as role models. 

You can buy it in the U.K. here or the U.S. here.

Katie Price - why?

The current obsession with Katie Price never fails to amaze me. Correct me if I'm wrong but all I see is a hard faced, self absorbed woman with very little discernible talent, who has no idea how to dress or apply make - up. Granted she has a remarkable business sense and a talent for selling herself but still...

And she's been voted 'One of the 50 most influential people of the decade'. God help us.