15 January 2010
Golden Globe Fashion Highlights
28 September 2009
Mariah Steps Back In Time
First up...Butterfly from 1997:
Then her debut single (Vision Of Love) from 1990:
29 August 2009
Cleaning-Up Motoring
I am a big fan of motoring and I love cars, but I also care for the environment and believe we could all take steps to reduce our motoring carbon footprint.
So when you're in the market for a new car, no matter what class of car you're after, it may be worth having a look at that site (relevant mainly for the E.U. market) and considering a make and model that not only fits the bill, but is one of the 'greenest' cars available.
17 August 2009
Ugly Betty Fashion
Take Ugly Betty herself. She's not so ugly, really, in fact I think she's rather cute. However, in the superficial world of a fashion magazine, she sticks out like a sore thumb – but at least she's being true to herself. I like that. She's definitely getting savvier with her clothes choices; as season three progresses, for example, we're seeing leggings and big belts which are de rigeur at the moment. It's all a bit clumsily put together and perhaps the overall effect is a little too bright, but that's half her charm. If you want to recreate the kooky Betty look have a gander at these items I found below...
This bright, multi-floral skirt from Dorothy Perkins is right up Betty's street.
Cinch in your waist with this super quirky elastic Max C London belt available at A.S.O.S.
It's good to see Betty in heels, walk tall with these comfy platforms from Evans.
Amanda is the total opposite of Betty in that her style is sleek and always bang-up-to-date. She's definitely one of the sexiest and most fashion-forward characters in Ugly Betty.
Take these River Island heels, for example. Who else would wear anything so outrageous?
Pair them with this sexy black, crochet, batwing top from Dorothy Perkins...
...and these chocolate brown foil leggings from New Look, and you'll be strutting around in no time.
For the men out there, it is Marc who raises the bar in the fashion stakes. His look is smart, but noticeably less business-like than the other men in the show. I think he looks great.
His trousers are always the smartest item he wears, and these luxurious Black Label trousers from Burton are perfect.
Team it with this eye-catching River Island shirt to make an impact.
Marc loves his cardigans, and this purple cardigan from Topman is a stylish addition.
Season 4 of Ugly Betty will be hitting the screens in the U.S. this Autumn, and I've read that with Betty's promotion comes a new and improved look. She keeps the braces but her outfits are more coordinated than ever before and her hair is smoother. So exciting!
15 August 2009
Cheap - But It'll Cost You
When an Avon brochure appeared at my door seemingly out of nowhere, being the beauty hound that I am, I couldn't resist a sneaky peak; after all, with Reese Witherspoon on the cover there had to something worth looking at. For such a little brochure, it is positively bursting with products, and it's all a bit overwhelming at first glance. However, as you flick through you're slowly lured in with a few stand-out products that make seductive claims like 'look up to 5 years younger in just 14 days' and 'wake up to your dream hair'.
If you can resist such glorious claims, then perhaps the multitude of offers will sway you?
Any 2 for £2
Any 5 for £5
Buy any two for a tenner
Save over 20%
Save up to 50%
Buy a 99p 'Value!' item
Everything half price
Free gift with purchase
Buy 1 get 1 half price
Buy 1 get 1 free
Buy 1 choose 2 free
Buy 1 choose 1 for £1
Get all 5 for £10
...and so on. (Pile 'em high, sell 'em cheap comes to mind!) In times where we're tightening our belts and spending less on luxuries I can see how some people will be drawn in by these too-good-to-be-true offers. However, are they really as good as they seem? Products like a 400 ml bottle of firming body lotion being sold for 99p while still making a profit has to be chock full of incredibly cheap ingredients (often petroleum based with cut-price preservatives) and manufactured at an astonishingly low price.
This inspired me to do a little research using one of my favourite consumer websites: www.goodguide.com. It's still in its early stages, but Good Guide already contains comprehensive ingredient and manufacturing information on a multitude of products, including many from Avon.
One product that caught my eye was Avon's Anew Ultimate Skin Transforming Cream – a Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW) award winner, no less. However, GoodGuide rated this product as 'Terrible' for general health, scoring it zero out of ten. The rating is created by analysing...
'...the safety and toxicity of its ingredients, based on research by the Environmental Working Group. The EWG bases its score on data from more than 50 toxicity and regulatory databases and takes into account the product's potential cancer hazards, development and reproductive hazards, violations, restrictions, warnings, allergy and immunotoxicity concerns, and a range of other concerns such as neurotoxicity and hormone disruption. For sunscreens, this score also incorporates an assessment of how well the product works in blocking UVA and UVB rays.' (Good Guide, 2009)
I went directly to the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and had a look at the ingredients list there (as Avon don't list ingredients on their site or in the brochures). There are seventy seven different ingredients in this one face cream. You can find out more information and the break-down of the ingredients list by following this link: www.cosmeticsdatabase.com. For comparison purposes, Neal's Yard Remedies produce a three times award-winning moisturiser: Frankincense Hydrating Cream, which has only 25 ingredients. That's only 32% of the number of ingredients in Avon's Anew Ultimate cream, and the former is 91% organic to boot.
Do I worry about cheap and potentially toxic ingredients in my cosmetics? Well, yes. Bearing in mind that the skin is our body's biggest organ it should come as no surprise that whatever we put on the outside gets into our blood stream and is absorbed by our body. Even in these credit crunch times I am willing (and actively encourage others) to shun the bargain basement or overly synthetic products on the market and spend a little extra on something of quality.
P.S.
Luckily I remembered to include a list of fabulous natural cosmetics companies in this blog. Have a look in the right hand column!
Reference
Good Guide (2009) Avon Anew Ultimate Skin Transforming Cream, Available from: http://www.goodguide.com/products/127970-avon-anew-ultimate-skin-transforming-cream/details#rating-627652