PLATINUM EVIL

White hair, don't care. Actually I do care, a lot, about everything, but that doesn't rhyme. And my hair isn't actually white, either; not yet. Not through lack of trying. A couple of toners and purple shampoos on from my yellow hair and this is the result: kind of creamy-ish with platinum ends. In daylight it's paler and less brassy than it is under my camera's flash, but I haven't seen much of the outside world recently thanks to the awful weather.

FYI, to get from my virgin roots/caramel lengths to this I used L'Oreal Feria Extreme Platinum Power - which is sticky and hard to spread throughout your hair: use two boxes for any hair longer than mine, or alternatively just use a high volume bleach - plus Colour Restore Iced Platinum and Pro:Voke Touch of Silver shampoo.

Still not exactly sure what to do with my eyebrows, mind. Willing some root to show through so I look a bit more normal..

SKINNY LOVER

No, this post is not about how great it is to be skinny, nor does contain any wacky diet tips. I'm a big believer in being healthy and happy, and working with what you've got, unlike a certain weekly women's magazine who last week promoted "2013's hottest diet", the Fasting Diet. Totally irresponsible in my opinion, but I digress...

This post is about skincare, and how I care for my own skin specifically: much the same as my make-up routine I've really settled into a pattern recently. Aged 17, taking my AS levels, I woke up one morning absolutely covered in dry, red, scaly patches. My entire body, from my scalp down to my ankles, was covered to some extent and not knowing what it was (and the fact that I was a very vain teenager) was a nightmare. It was eventually diagnosed as psoriasis - an immune condition which makes my skin grow too fast - and I was prescribed lotions, potions, and medication, none of which worked very well. My skin has calmed down a lot over the past few years, completely of its own accord, but this experience has left me with a need to really look after and nourish my skin.


For my face I find the only thing that works is the Clinique three-step programme for dry-combination skin. I say three-step, but I never use the moisturising lotion - a Clinique staff member told me that I had to use the lotion and another moisturiser. What's the point?! Total waste of money. I now use Boots' No7 Protect & Perfect cream and have done for quite some years. When I run out of moolah to buy a replacement pot I use the Aldi range but I can really tell the difference in my skin so quickly go running back to P&P when I have the dosh. The detox mask I use once a week when I feel my pores are getting a little clogged, and this totally deep cleans. I recently won a Ladyboys of Bangkok competition for some Korres skincare, and the lip butter has quickly become a beauty essential for me! It's moisturising as well as providing a healthy flush of colour.


Sanctuary is by far my favourite body care brand, and with family and friends being aware of this I get loads at Christmas which sees me through the year! I love the smell, how luxurious it feels, and just how much it lathers up. This is probably down to a load of chemicals but I really can't resist a load of bubbles. One thing I'm not loyal to is body moisturiser; thanks to my psoriasis I need it to be as rich as possible, so I often change to find the best one. I was sent this Elemis lotion by QVC, and as it's for both hand and body it is nourishing enough for my dry skin without being too heavy. It smells a bit like baby lotion when first applied (not a bad thing - baby lotion is my budget beauty secret) but settles to a fizzy floral scent. If that makes any sense. Good job I don't have to describe fragrances for a living, huh?


And here's the best of the rest. I really think I would struggle without even one of these, they are that essential to keeping my skin happy; Sudocrem especially, it's great for sorting my heels out when they've been ripped to shreds thanks to another unforgiving pair of shoes, and Bio Oil is perfect for rubbing into pesky patches of psoriasis to relieve the dryness.

Whilst all of these products are great and do really help with my skin, I really feel the most important factors are to drink lots (and lots and lots) of water and to protect your skin from the sun. I hate to sound like your mum, but it's true.

Oh, I also heard something about staying away from alcohol too.. but that's never going to happen. In fact next Wednesday I will be actively indulging in alcohol whilst also learning about beauty and skincare at Harvey Nichols' Beauty Studio event. I hope to see you there!

FAVE MAKE-UP

From my first foray into make-up (Boots' 17 white liquid eyeliner, blue mascara & orange eyeshadow, FYI.. worn together) until very recently I never had favourite make-up: that is, items I'd buy again and again. I never liked anything enough to not try something new the next time, just in case. Beauty blogger I am not, but now I am so happy about my make-up routine that I feel the need to shout about it!

The introduction of BB creams were the turning point in face make-up for me. I don't like foundation as I find it too thick, so I was using a tinted moisturiser which wasn't quite enough, but a BB cream is ideal for twenty-somethings' skin as it provides light, dewy coverage. I'm on my third Garnier BB cream in Light now and I'm pleased to report the under-eye rollerball is just as good! I went off wearing pink blusher for a while in favour of Benefit's Coralista, but when that ran out I had this Body Shop blush on emergency back-up. I'm glad I started using it now as it's the ideal colour for adding a slight winter flush to my cheeks.

For my eyes, every day I wear Yves Saint Laurent liquid eyeliner - having tried many different application types, a brush is my favourite - and the 17 shadow trio in Nude. I wear the taupe every day, with the oyster as a highlight and the dark brown as a shade. I still haven't found my ideal mascara so I'm open to suggestions here!

My Illamasqua brow cake is now too dark for me since I went blonde, though the brush application was a revolution for me. I'd heard good things about Sleek's eyebrow palette and I can confirm it is pretty great. I use the powder with a bit of wax for everyday, and the wax for going out, when I know I'll be dancing (and potentially glowing. Or perspiring. Or just out and out sweating). I even prefer the tiny brush to my Illamasqua one - it picks up more product and is much quicker to apply.

The finishing touch for me is Topshop's Inhibition lipstick. Their lipsticks are hit-and-miss for me: the colours are bright and highly pigmented, but they dry my lips and settle into fine lines. This one is great though, lasts for ages and doesn't dry your lips. I think I'll be trying Depth next.

So that's my make-up routine. Simple, and the same every day. Leaves much more time to decide which bonkers outfit to wear!

SMYLIST

How do you feel about having your teeth digitally imaged? I'm filled with equal parts dread - I'm quite happy remaining ignorant about how my teeth really look - and excitement: the technology at the new Smile Stylist at Manchester's House of Fraser means you really can achieve a great grin using computer aided smile design.

HoF's infamous superstylist Matthew excitedly showed me around the brand new space - the practice was finished on Wednesday a whole fifteen minutes before the star-studded opening bash began - and despite there being a whole load of amazing technology in the suite we mainly focused on the aesthetics (well, we are fashion people after all): the bubble piece of art on the wall is actually the air conditioning unit, and somebody clearly pre-empted the Olympic cauldron with the waiting room's wall adornment!

I chatted to practice manager Rachel (whose Prada-esque shoes, below, were actually from Next. Colour me surprised) and relayed my teething problems. I'm lucky enough to have neatly shaped gnashers - the practice uses Invisalign to invisibly straighten teeth - but they have never been white, and as that is not their natural colour I assumed whitening wouldn't work. Turns out my fears were unfounded, as Rachel tells me Zoom! whitens teeth by several shades in an hour, and Enlighten whitens by up to sixteen shades.

I have a consultation booked for next week (eek) so expect to see my sparkling grin splashed all over this blog very soon indeed.