Cosmetics & Beauty News October/November 2011

                                                                                    Natural News

As part of its 30th anniversary celebrations, Neal's Yard Remedies has launched a brand new website, NYR Natural News, where you can search for everything you want to know about natural health and wellbeing.The new site promises to offer readers a wide range of resources to boost their knowledge and understanding of natural health and complementary medicine. 

Spa-tacular

Alexander House Hotel & Spa, East Grinstead, has scooped a top accolade from the prestigious worldwide Spa Finder Readers Choice Awards by being named the Best Spa For Romance in the UK. Facilities include double treatment rooms, an outdoor spa garden with its own hot tub and plenty of comfy nooks and crannies to hide away, alongside spacious individually designed bedrooms, some with double showers and sumptuous Victorian bath tubs with room for two - all designed with romance in mind.

You can also create a spa-style atmosphere at home with Radox, who have commissioned Marconi Union to produce the most relaxing track in the world (allegedly more so than any spa treatment or massage). Five thousand women have already turned to the new track, entitled Weightless, in a bid to get that spa feeling every day while saving pennies. The track can be downloaded for free here.
In case you fancy a spa-style treatment at home while you listen, spa and skincare brand ESPA is now even more accessible thanks to the opening of its newest concession in Westfield Shopping Centre's House of Fraser. Find the best products for your skincare concerns thanks to ESPA's Skin Vision technology and give yourself a pampering experience at home.

Hair removal warnings

Women are being warned about unqualified hair removal “clinics” that totally disregard health and safety rules and use cheap devices bought on the internet. The service is very often an add-on to beauty salons cashing in on the huge demand for “unsightly” hair by women who are falsely reassured that they are in safe hands. Horror stories include burns to arms and legs, and eye damage because safety glasses have not been worn by patients. Other injuries are caused by inferior IPL (intense pulsed light) equipment. Britain’s leading ethical hair removal organisation, Laser Active, says the government, as part of its cuts, abolished regulatory controls and opened the floodgates for anyone with a cheap pen light or laser to set up in business. “Since controls effectively disappeared we’ve seen an explosion of amateurs setting up as hair removal experts,” said Laser Active founder Gill Leeden, a qualified nurse who had to pass an intensive training course before she could launch her popular clinics in Canary Wharf, London, and Knebworth in 1998. Gill, whose company is currently being franchised across the country in a bid to stamp out the cowboys, continued: “As the government appears to have abandoned any official regulatory control over these dangerous practices, then we have to offer people a safe and ethical alternative." Laser Active says its franchises will only be available to qualified nurses who agree to undertake proper training, but the benefits to patients will be enormous. “They can undertake treatment in a safe environment where their health is paramount and which

uses only the best equipment, handled by properly qualified and registered nurses,” she added.

Beautifully healthy

Staying cold- and flu-free becomes increasingly difficult as winter sets in (especially if, like me, you have a day job that brings you into contact with baby germs - the most potent germs known to man), so many brands try to help us protect ourselves from colds, soothe sore throats, and keep skin and senses nourished. One of these is Burt's Bees: with its affordable naturally medicated lip balm with eucalyptus and menthol oils, its natural throat drops (available in honey or honey & lemon flavours), aloe and witch hazel hand sanitizer, and its therapeutic bath crystals, you're well set to defend yourself while keeping your bank balance in good health too.

A/W 2011/12 cosmetic collections

See out 2011 and see in 2012 with new makeup collections from Burberry and Smashbox (or get someone else to buy them for you; tis the season after all!). Burberry's 60s-inspired collection focuses on sculptured brows, stormy wintery eyes and soft cheeks. Mascaras, eye shadows and eye definers from the new collection come in shades of brown and kick off at £15.50, while rose lip shades also start at the same price point. Sheer concealers and foundations also promise New Year confidence, although how far base collections with 'beige' in their name can truly cater to true English roses perhaps remains to be seen. For those who always have trouble picking the right eyeshadow colour, Smashbox's newest palettes promise to help: with one palette for blue eyes, one for hazel eyes and one for brown eyes, and with 3 shades in each box for a soft everyday look and 3 for a smoky eye, doing your eye makeup seemingly just got foolproof (even if L'Oréal did beat them to it some years ago with their eye and lip collections based on the same concept).

Heaven scent

Further to the recent news of Burberry releasing a single in collaboration with The Feeling to accompany the Burberry Body TV ad campaign, Burberry today announces the music video of the soundtrack. The exclusive track, entitled The Feeling – Rosé Unplugged at Abbey Road for Burberry, is the first release of a single by a luxury brand. Featuring model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, the video is now airing on television music stations.

Nature, style and sustainability

Artist Vicky Woolford's brand, Sávar, recently launched its premium natural and organic product range which features all that is best in nature, style and sustainability. Concerned about the effect of substances on her hands after days spent painting in the studio Vicky has developed a range of 12 luxurious products, ranging from cleansers to anti-ageing moisturisers, as well as products for men, which are all 99% plant based. Vicky has personally selected the exquisite fragrances for the range, painted the subtle abstract inspired artwork for the labels and photographed the flowers for the beautiful Savar gift cards. The exotic ingredients list includes New Zealand blackcurrant oil, organic bilberry, marshmallow extract, organic fig, lemon balm, lime flower, and organic goji berry.

Sávar ships worldwide, and is exclusively available online at www.savaronline.com

Sticky moments no more

As a sufferer of hyperhydrosis (excessive sweating), I'm constantly on the lookout for the latest miracle. I wonder if this will do it? An AHC range of antiperspirants found on www.scrubsuk.com certainly seems a more appealing at-home alternative than an iontophoresis kit, and definitely more appealing than the outpatient option (which I've been offered in the past). Containing no colorants or preservatives, the products apparently help to close pores and work after the first application, using plant extracts to soothe and protect, such as clove oil and sage. Assuming nothing better comes along, I'll definitely be giving these a try myself.

Sticky sweet lips
Sticky sweet desserts, however, are quite another matter, especially when they don't add to your waistline. Vaseline's Limited Edition Crème Brûlée Lip Therapy seems to tick all of these boxes. It's already proved hugely popular, selling out in several stores - but keep your beady eyes peeled and you may still be able to get hold of one before 2011 is out. At £2.99 it's an affordable stocking filler - or an equally affordable treat for yourself.