Tag: features

"You can use dry oil on your hair, too – it’ll make it glossy as a mane": Eva Wiseman on dry oils. Photograph: Murdo Macleod for the Observer

Dry oils are not dry. That's your first lesson. They're less wet, heavy and greasy than your usual baby oil, sure, and they leave an almost matte finish on the skin after showering, but they're not dry. See Argan+ Dry Body Oil (14.99, 08450 708090) or This Works Dry Leg Oil (38, harveynichols.com) for evidence. They are liquids. They slosh. Second lesson, as well as your skin, you can use most dry oils on your hair, too – leave it in overnight and it'll make your hair glossy as a mane. Third lesson, it turns your shins into the shiny shins of celebrity pap shots, the kind of shins on the legs of women who appear bred for the beach.

Alternatively

Carita Fluide de Beaut 14 44, carita.co.uk
Declor Relax Intense Dry Oil 43, decleor.co.uk
Etat Pur Nourishing Dry Body Oil 12.20, etatpur.co.uk

Seeing red: go for broke in a violent shade of vermillion. Photograph: Observer

I've been looking for the brightest red varnish. One reminiscent of a honeymoon sunset, or the floor of A&E on New Year's Eve. One that blinds you with its very redness. I want a red with attitude, not a sultry red, or a mysterious red, but a red that stomps before you and screams about glamour. I want one that draws attention away from all the nonsense I'm spouting up there, taking the eye down here to where my hands are fluttering elegantly. Tom Ford's Scarlet Chinois (25, harrods.com) is a red turned up to 11. A single coat will do. Similarly, Revlon's Red Bikini (6.49, boots.com) is so bright you can almost hear it, and Dior's Red Royalty (18, 020 7216 0216) is rich yet eye-catching. You should see how nice my hands look. Man.

Alternatively

Rimmel in Ready Aim Paint! 3.69, rimmellondon.com Barry M Lady in Red 2.99, barrym.com Mavala in London 4.30, johnlewis.com Butter London in Come to Bed Red 12, butterlondon.com Diego Dalla Palma #18 10, tesco.com

Face facts: work in with gusto to make your skin look brighter

If cleanliness is next to godliness, then exfoliation is standing right above them both, beaming. Facial scrubs get you cleaner than you thought possible – used regularly, they make your skin feel amazingly smooth. Rather than the big sugary grains you get in a body scrub, for the face you want a fine speckle that you can work into the annoying bits by your nostrils with gusto. Try Origins Never A Dull Moment scrub (24, origins.co.uk) to make you look a little bit brighter, and Proactiv's new Solution Cleansing Bar on your back (9.99, proactiv.co.uk). It will feel ever so soft.

Alternatively

Sisley Buff and Wash 65, harrods.com
Bior Pore Unclogging Scrub 4.99, sainsburys.co.uk
Ole Henriksen Walnut Complexion Scrub 26, 020 7351 3873
Declor Double Radiance Scrub 23.40, feelunique.com