Tag: observer

Wild thing: unleash your inner animal. Photograph: Observer

This summer, think of your face as a kinetic Pinterest board, one on which to play out all your fancy-dress fantasies. Don't worry – they need go no lower than your chin. Now is the time to stick diamonds on your eyebrows and dance around an Essex field at dawn. Now is the time to paint your cheeks in primary colours and tell the man who sold you overpriced fags you love him. On the Givenchy catwalk, they stuck halved sequins to the models' eyelids and at Chanel they glued pearls down their necks. Everywhere else they painted gold leaf on to hair and eyes and had a bit of a laugh. For a wanton "fairy gone wild" look, experiment with glitter and Vaseline on the cheekbones. If you want to go more sophis, try MAC's Old Gold Pigment (17, maccosmetics.co.uk).

Alternatively

Eye Rock 7, asos.com Violent Lips 10, asos.com Clinique Chubby Stick 16, clinique.co.uk Topshop Crayon 7.50, topshop.com Shu Uemura Eye liner 15.50, shuuemura.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

Best foot forward: time for a pedicure. Photograph: Eamonn Mccabe for the Observer

In the olden days, they'd cut the dry skin off a woman's heel in order to count the rings and work out her age. We've come a long way since then, those days when we had to walk 20 miles to school every morning over ice, glass and blades, and then when we got there we were only allowed in if we wore ear plugs because the lessons were deemed too "incendiary" for female ears. Yeah. But our feet – still they are tough. Butter London has launched a new pedicure collection of products that do disgusting things quite beautifully – like the Rock Off Glycolic Callus Peel (25, butterlondon.com), which dissolves hard skin off your heels, and the Mucky Pups Foot Wipes (13) for when "your dogs are barking". Summer has been promised to us. So start pumicing today.

Alternatively…

Dirty Works Pedicure Set 9.99, sainsburys.com
Cowshed Hand and Foot Treatment 38, cowshedonline.com
Tweezerman Nail Rescue Kit 22, asos.com

Pucker up: luxury lip balms. Photograph: Observer

"More moisture is lost through the lips than through any other part of the face or body," NHS Choices tells me – forgetting, I imagine, those of us that wee. I'm not great with science. But chapped lips are horrid. Horrid. They make you want to lick them, which just makes them dryer. They make you want to pick at the dry skin, which just makes them bleed. It takes serious, steady application of a good lip balm to get them soft again – you'll probably have to try a couple before you find one that you really like. One that doesn't leave your lips sparkly, or white, or tasting of poison. My current favourite is Clinique's Repairwear Intensive Lip Treatment (21, clinique.co.uk), which looks like a lipstick but feels like being rescued.

Alternatively:
Sisley 39.50, 020 7591 6380
Carmex 4.49, boots.com
Suqqu 32, selfridges.com
Crme de la Mer 40, 0870 034 2566

Tangy tub: soak it up with Philosophy's pink grapefruit bubble bath. Photograph: Observer

I have approx two baths a year. Which is not to say I am filthy. It's not to say that, no. I am clean. Clean enough, anyway. But for me, baths only come into their own at times like this; times when the sky is as dark as a mood and the only good place to be is submerged in perfumed water. Bubbles you need: lots of bubbles. And a podcast playing, telling you stories. And a towel on the radiator. For the listening I'd recommend the New Yorker fiction podcast; for the towel I'd recommend one that's been through several washes and has a bit of fight left in it, and for the bubbles I'd recommend Philosophy's Blushing Pink Grapefruit bubble bath (14, boots.com) which is gorgeously unsweet. Now go – bathe.

Alternatively...

Chanel 60, chanel.com Weleda 8.95, weleda.co.uk L'Occitane 19, asos.com Laura Mercier 31, selfridges.com Rituals 9.90, johnlewis.com MOR 40, houseoffraser.co.uk Jo Malone 38, jomalone.com

Fingersmith: try Butter London's old-gold varnish. Photograph: Observer

Nail time! Sometimes it feels like a body isn't quite big enough for all the jewellery you want to hang on it. You've got, what, one neck? Two wrists, an ankle, a couple of fingers that are thin enough for rings? This is the opportunity to turn your nails into jewels. Metallic varnish. The way to wear it now is as matte as possible – use Rimmel Pro Matte Top Coat at the end if you like (4.59, boots.com) – and on long, pointy-ish nails, so they look a bit like serving spoons. I like the old-gold look of Butter London's Full Monty (12.50, butterlondon.com), which has the feel of tarnished wedding rings, and Mavala's Platinum Marble (4.30, boots.com), which is even odder – an old picture frame, found buried in the garden. OK. End of nail time. Back to work.

Alternatively

Illamasqua: Bacterium, 13.50, illamasqua.com
Nars: Diamond Life, 13.50, narscosmetics.co.uk
Deborah Lippmann: Don't Tell Mamma, 14, houseoffraser.co.uk
Topshop: Hyperreal, 6, topshop.com
Orly: Rock Solid, 9.85, orlybeauty.co.uk
Chanel: Peridot, 17.50, 020 7493 3836

Blemish free: Clinique's new BB cream. Photograph: Richard Pierce for the Observer

Not like BB King, or a BB gun. And not like BB as in "babes", or Big Brother, or the boys' brigade. BB stands for "blemish balm". It's new and it's nice. It gained popularity in Korea, where BB creams account for 13% of make-up sales, then came over here last summer, when all the beauty brands quickly began to conjure up their own versions. Basically it's a tinted moisturiser that is meant to improve skin quality, and it also doubles up as a make-up primer. They vary in their coverage, sun protection and the promises they make, but the thing they have in common is that they're lovely on the skin. Whether they actually do any healing is debatable, but they feel so comfortable they're worth a go. MAC's BB cream (21, maccosmetics.co.uk) seems to last longer than most, has a thumping 35SPF and the coverage of a light foundation. If you want to give BB a go but not commit wallet-wise, try Garnier's (8.49, feelunique.com) which fades over a day, but provides a lovely gentle base.