Lipstick jungle

A friend declared recently that as part of her personal austerity measures she was only going to buy a new lipstick when she had used up the ones she already owns. And it got me wondering if that approach might work for me too. A root through the bags of spare make up quickly revealed a stock of lipstick which could grace the counters of Selfridges.

beautysoup's lipstick jungle

Twenty lipsticks in all, five of which are in regular use. The colours are all variations on a red, nude, brownish red theme and at the blissful moment of purchase were considered to be perfect, perhaps even "the one". But somehow they're not. Whether they're too red or too nude they've ended up in that dangerous category of not used but too good to throw away. A more ruthless soul than me would declutter them immediately. But I'll keep them, as I have so many other things, in the hope that the day will come when "too red" is suddenly just right.

Whatever happened to ...

Toners and Shaders?


Does anyone else remember those sachets of shampoo in colour called Toners and Shaders. Somewhere in my memory they were made by Silvikrin but I could be completely wrong about that. They were perfect for brightening up my hair colour and the risk of a Sun In style disaster was minimal because they only lasted four washes at the most. My particular favourite was Sherry Gold from the Toners range.


I've recently found myself scouring the shelves of Boots, Superdrug, the local MediCentre and the like for them in an effort to extend the time between highlights by a few weeks but, sadly, there have been no sightings so far.


If you've seen them around lately do let me know where and I'll put in an order ...

The joy of a new jar of Creme de la Mer

Was delighted to read in the Daily Mail, of all places, that Mick Jagger and I have something in common. We both love Creme de la Mer. The article suggested that Mick buys the super sized jar but I must admit I go for the rather more modest 60ml albeit at the not so modest price of £180.

I've never really bought into the whole story of Max Huber, a scientist, discovering the Miracle Broth when working with burns victims. Surely that's just a PR story. But, and it's a big but, having tried umpteen creams I've never come across anything else that comes close to its moisturising and soothing properties for my dry, sensitive skin, especially during winter. On hot summer days it can feel heavy but we don't get too many of those in Newcastle so I use it almost all year round.

Other products in the range like the eye cream and various serums have all been on my list at some point, usually bought in the US when the rate of exchange made them irresistible. Without exception they're good but worth the extra £100 compared to Estee Lauder, Clarins, and my new favourite Nude Skincare? Probably not.

I do have a gripe about how reluctant they are to give samples too. Registering at the counter helps and only this week I was invited to collect a sample of the new Regenerating Serum. I'll let you know if it lives up to the promise of Infinite Youth.

My husband swears by Nivea for Men so imagine his shock when he rocked up to the Creme de la Mer counter just before Christmas and learned the true price of beauty ...

a joyous sight under the Christmas tree