I wanted to share this beautiful shoot with you from Tush magazine. I’m very jealous!

I was at a friends 7th birthday when I first saw Barbarella starring Jane Fonda. Probably not the best choice of movie for a kids party given the see through rubber dresses, Cannibal dolls and soft core 60’s sex scenes! I remember the opening scene which is what the film is most famous for with Jane (Barbarella) stripping off her metallic space suit and helmet and looking incredible and falling in love with her look. I’ll still watch it every now and then when I need a bit of  inspiration.

I love the whole look which is super sexy from the mass of marmalade hair which I need to talk about for a second. “There’s nothing two minute scrunch dry about that do” as my hair dresser friend Zoe Irwin would say! It’s the texture and colour of the hair that is so beautiful, kind of a back combed soft candy floss which still looks glossy, like a Breck girl from the American shampoo adverts.

The makeup is great too, it’s a total 90’s matte browns to contour everything look finished with jet black kitten flick eye liner and technocolour tanned skin. It’s a real beauty icon moment for me and I find myself rocking my take on this look when I shoot beauty.  I think Jane Fonda gets a bit over looked as a beauty icon of the 60’s and 70’s which is a shame as she is so gorgeous, especially in this role. If you haven’t seen it make sure you do asap, you can forget about the story which is a bit odd in that 60’s space age way and get lost in the kitsch fashion.

I came across Fernanda Guedes’ work whilst in Sao paulo. I’m a big fan of illustration and thought this set of images were stunning, I love her makeup idea. I find her illustrations full of energy and humour as well as being really beautiful. Check out her website for more gorgeous images. http://www.fernandaguedes.com.br

Images taken from Fernanda’s site.

I’ve taken quite a few long haul flights recently and thanks to the ash cloud pushing up prices of flights with favorites like BA and Virgin I’ve flown with some new airlines ….. Air India to Toronto anyone?! It’s amazing how the little comforts you pack with you for these trips makes such a difference to your flight. Here’s a few of my most loved flight essentials.

1. Murad soothing lip and skin care. This is a wonder lip conditioner especially for those with really dry lips. It leaves your lips really moisturized and can be used on dry skin too.

2. Optrex Actimist eye spary. I thought this was a little pricey at first £14.99 for eye drops but the spray over eyelids formula which helps replenish the natural moisture levels in your eyes really works.

3. M.A.C Fix + Spray. This hydrating spray is full of vitamins and minerals and helps to freshen up your face when the cabin air gets too much.

4. American Apparel Circular Scarf. This is my most treasured travel item as I like to cocoon myself in it on a long trip. It’s basically a huge circle of stretchy T-shirt material which can be worn as a scarf, top, hood or wrapped around you like a blanket, it also makes a great pillow!

So I’m mid way through a major music pro mo tour at the moment and feeling slightly delirious with jet lag having visited Canada, Italy, Germany, France and now Brazil in the last two weeks. I was particularly excited to see Brazil on the list countries as I had never been to South America before. In my head I’m thinking Brazil home of the ultimate beach body, the new super model and Havaianans! My blog would practically write itself…. the perfect tan (How To) ….. My must have beach beauty products etc etc.

The view from my window in Sao Paulo

Unfortunately Rio was not on the hit list of places to visit so I’m writing this from the 23rd floor of the Hilton in Sao Paulo. At first glance (5.30am car ride from the airport) I’m taken by the seemingly never ending view of high rise apartments and office buildings dotted with the odd palm tree which reminds me how close to the equator I am. The city is Huge over 19 million people live here and it’s the 7th richest city in the world which would explain the abundance of Ferraris. I’m really happy to discover that Sao Paulo is famous for it’s restaurants and nightlife, tonight were going to the Skye bar at Hotel Unique for dinner which is famous for it’s Sushi so maybe instead of the usual beauty talk Brazil might mean food reviews instead!

Now I’m a bit of a sucker for a smokey eye, especially at a show and this season the girls at the Monique Lhullier show in New York did not disapoint. I’m drawn to the Khaki black but not black tones in this look I call it the smokey eye with extras! It works for me as the rock chick classic take on the dark eye felt a little to done for the summer season, in it’s place came the dirtied, dappled darks that wrapped the eyes in a mussed up veil of colour that felt more mesmerizing.

Monique Lhuiller SS10

Here are my tips on getting the look -

1. Start by taking a mid toned flat brown eye shadow and circling the eye using a large blending brush. This eye isn’t about a tight shape and using the brown tone first will give you the blown out edge.

2. You want a real depth of colour on the lid so try an eye Kohl as a base all over the eye. I like M.A.C Smoulder as it has a slightly green tone when blended out.

3. Next take a selection of shadows ranging from black to grey and deep green. Using a tapered blender start to diffuse the colour at the outer corners of the eye and in toward the bridge of the nose. If you shadow starts to go patchy I find that a little loose powder blended over the top will help to fade out the colour.

4. Using a black eye kohl rim the inner water line top and bottom making sure to fill in the inner corners of the eye.

5. Use a smaller shadow brush and bend the green/grey shadows underneath the lower lashes. Don’t be scared to take the colour quite low as it helps to open up the eye and balances the shape.

6. Team this eye with a luxe matte skin. Take time on concealing the under eyes, it’s a heavy look so anything to real and your eyes could look heavy.

I worked with photographer Robin Turner recently, we shot fashion in the Isle of dogs in East London. I picked up some hair tips whilst a a makeup and hair fitting in Paris. Eugene Souleman was texturizing th models hair by back combing then using a hot iron over the top giving the hair this beautiful fuzzed texture. I wanted to keep the models silhouette tight so used this technique then tucked the hair at the nape of the neck.

As well as being a makeup product junkie I’m always on the hunt for the perfect skin care too. I’ve tried lots of different brands over the years and keep coming back to these products.

If I’m working on a tight in beauty shot I try to use Dermalogica daily microfoliant to polish my models skin before I start the makeup. As it’s water activated you do need to be somewhere with plenty of running water to cleanse after applying, not ideal for location shots. After gently massaging in to the skin and rinsing off I find the skin looks super smooth and any pores look refined. Makeup glides over the skin afterwards.

Daily Microfoliant

I discovered the German skin care brand Weleda a few seasons ago at fashion week when I was looking for a moisturizer that was hydrating but gentle. The entire range is based on natural plant extracts and I find the Rose moisturizer works well on all skin types. First of all it’s very soothing on the skin and the aroma is amazing, not perfumed but really fresh. It leaves the skin full of moisture but doesn’t look greasy. I also use Weleda Skin food on very dry skin  as a mask or as a moisture highlight after makeup.

I found this little pot of lip balm whilst on holiday in Spain. I loved it firstly for the kitschy packaging but also found it worked really well on the lips and over the eye lids a sheer gloss. It’s essentially a non perfumed vaseline but isn’t as greasy and models seem to love it.

O.K so I know it’s a cliche to talk about Madonna and fashion but I don’t care! I’ve just been scanning the web in search of inspiration and found these early images. I must admit her early days were my favorite look wise. I’d never seen the first image before, she reminds me of a New wave Audrey Hepburn all major eye brows and doe eyes. I’m always amazed at how fresh some early images can be and how looks are re-worked and made modern. These will definitely be in my reference pile. Wish I knew who shot them though.

I’ve been spending so much time in Germany lately working on a music promo. We spent the day in Koln and had a few hours to explore. Our hotel overlooked the bridge which is covered in padlocks with names engraved on them as a sign of partnership or friendship. You buy a padlock, write your names on it a throw the key in to the River Rhine. I thought it was a lovely thing to do….wonder who thought of it first?

Love Locks on the bridge over the Rhine.