The Perfect Red

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. My sister, the soon to be Mrs B de M, got me a whole goody bag for Christmas and in it was the perfect red nail varnish. Dovima by Nars is postbox red - not only very festive but it matches my favourite red shoes which I shall be wearing for New Year's Eve. It's also a great excuse for post-Christmas laziness. I'm sitting listening to the Archers on my laptop with my toes in separators waiting for them to dry... bliss xx

Wedding Make-up

Slightly annoying that I can't announce some of the wedding progress on here in case Mr J looks at this - which he does sometimes out of loyalty (Hello!) but... well things are progressing. Last week however whilst going crazy with the scanner in John Lewis for our wedding list I decided I was feeling strong enough to go up to a make-up counter and announce that I was getting married. Well, I wasn't that blunt. I wanted to try out the new Laura Mercier tinted moisturiser and one thing led to another, I mentioned the wedding and the next thing I knew I was trying out primers, foundations and bronzers (with the ever vigilant Mumma B overseeing and giving approval on all three which I promptly purchased but more on that in a bit).

I'm going in for a full make-up trial next week with Sophie - the reason I got lured into this was that Sophie who will be doing my make-up looked fantastic. Here foundation was the perfect shade and I'm afraid that quite often you get accosted at make-up counters by rather terrifying orange people. I ended up spending quite a lot of money there (probably encouraged by my afternoon of scanning barcodes which feels like shopping without spending any money!) and I'm assuming I'll spend some more when I go back but these purchases really have worked. I think this will be my first stop for make-up from now on.

I bought the Laura Mercier Hydrating Foundation Primer which you apply after your moisturiser and before your foundation. It's incredibly light (I worry about suffocating my skin after applying foundation, pore minimiser, primer foundation...) and hydrating and you really notice the even application of foundation after using it. The foundation itself was quite a find. I have pale skin with light brown freckles. This means that pale foundations leave me looking washed out with patches where the freckles are hiding and darker foundations make me look at bit fake tan. I've been using lighter foundations with a touch of Benefit's Talk to the Tan but Laura Mercier's Moisturising Foundation in Warm Ivory really does match my skin colour (we did colour tests) and stays on all day! To give me a touch of colour I bought the Pressed Powder in Golden Bronze. I usually use Benefit's Hula in the summer but it really is too brown for winter. I've been applying this after foundation rather than after complete make-up application so that I can mould it in whilst I go. I love it.

I'm really looking forward to my make-over. I'll let you know how it goes. But if your doing your Christmas shopping and you fancy treating yourself speak to the girls at Laura Mercier and I'm sure they can tempt you into a Christmas present just for you. If you want to buy online go to Space NK xx