Cosmetics & Beauty News January 2010

Simply essential
Liberty announced this month that at the end of March, they would become the first retail outlet for Parisian brand Anne Sémonin. On the 29th of March, the full range will be available in store, along with a trained expert to provide personal skin consultations and to show how products can be customised to create a bespoke skincare regime. The brand combines essential oils to cater for the demands of every skin type and already has a strong spa presence in venues such as Le Bristol in Paris and Lucknam Park in the UK.


Butter up your Valentine...
...with Palmer's new body butters, available in shea, olive, coconut and cocoa. Their rich formulas are designed to rescue dry winter skin and restore moisture, and all for only £5.86. Another Valentine's Day essential comes in the form of Miss Oops' Pucker Protector - a lip balm cleverly disguised as a gloss, priced at £10.99. Other to-die-for Valentine's treats include Korres' new Japanese Rose range (body milk, shower gel, body butter) or (if your better half is feeling flush) the bank-balance-breaking Diamond Face and Neck Crème from Crystalline (as well as the diamond crystals, it contains a long list of heavenly ingredients for your skin, including marine extracts, acai oil, black oak, and amber, which might explain why it costs 150 big ones). You can also carry on keeping skin looking soft with Jergens' new Ultra Healing Extra Dry Skin Moisturiser, which is packed with vitamins C, E and B5.














Fragrance news
Lots of fragrance news this month, from the fairly commonplace (Acqua di Parma's Bergamotto di Calabria; Eva Longoria Parker's new scent) to the more off-the-wall variants. One of these slightly more bizarre concepts comes from Lavanila, who have brought out an aphrodisiac perfume. The limited edition fragrance, Vanilla Passion Fruit, not only contains the two eponymous ingredients, but also has notes of guava, peach, sandalwood, and the aphrodisiacs blue lotus, juniper berry, and clary sage. It's also free of alcohol, phthalates, and petrochemicals. While not widely available yet, UK and European buyers can purchase it from www.amazon.com (US site) for the moment, priced at the full RRP of $58 for 1.7oz; however, since it's also currently available on the US Sephora site, there's hope that it may appear more readily in mainland Europe too.

Getting your Muji back
Japanese-inspired skincare has really been hot to trot over these past couple of years, with many high street brands such as Body Shop, L'Occitane, and Korres (see above) taking up the trend. Now, however, UK buyers will also have a chance to try a genuine Japanese range in the form of Muji, which hits shelves in March (London stores, and online). Starting at just £7.95, there should be something to suit all skins, whether you're a traditional cleansing gel kind of girl, or want to try the more new-fangled cleansing oil. Sweet.

Avoiding the congestion charge
Finally, back to what seems an eternal topic: getting rid of those damned spots. The latest company to offer a targeted solution is Elizabeth's Daughter, with its Purifying Mask. While it seems pricey at £26 for 100ml, it contains various spot-busting extracts, such as great burdock and erysiumum to regulate sebum production, Amazonian white clay to decongest and eliminate toxins, and lime seed oil to aid skin regeneration.

Liz Earle's Winter Skincare Tips
Thanks to Liz Earle, owner and founder of Britain's biggest independent beauty brand, Bianca's Beauty Blog can offer you some exclusive beauty tips from the lady herself this winter. For the face, exfoliation is recommended in order to keep skin glowing during the winter, and added radiance can also be achieved by the use of a mask. Liz also recommends that to avoid damage to the hands, a generous layer of moisturiser should be applied to the hands (not forgetting nails and cuticles) at least twice a day in order to counteract the harsh effects of winter weather and high central heating temperatures. They're sending me a sample of Liz Earle Superbalm soon in order to help me with this and so that I can report back on the results. With a bit of luck, the tips will work for me and for all of you too.