Get Ready With Me To Check My Personal Stash

You know I love a good GRWM. In fact picking out music for them is one of my favourite tasks. For this LA edition my first choice was California Dreamin’ by The Mamas and Papas, but YouTube wouldn’t allow that, then I thought it would be a bit of a giggle to use Phantom Planet’s California because that was practically the theme tune of my youth (and fun fact: the first time I discovered YouTube because I used to use it to stream O.C episodes – shhhhh!), but YouTube declined that too. So we ended up with my third choice, it’s a funny little tune that I once spotted in Gossip Girl and have loved ever since. I picture Lily and I driving down the coast in a convertible car to it. So whilst that ditty plays watch me get ready for a day in L.A. Time to get those sunnies out…

I’ve been trialling a lot of new products recently, and these four have quickly become favourites. It's a bit of a diverse mix of skin, hair and make-up products.

Perricone MD No Lipstick Lipstick

I've been on the hunt for a new, easy everyday lip moisturising product that had a bit of 'natural lip but better' colour (but not too much), felt comfortable and was quick to apply on-the-go - and this ticks all the boxes. Its often difficult to find 'exactly' the right colour of this type of product but this flattering shade works well on my lips -   neither too pink or too brown and it contains a decent amount of low-key pigment (enough to look visible, despite the ‘No Lipstick’ name). It has a healthy, shiny (but not glossy) finish and smells like caramel chocolate.
I also love the texture - it contains emollient moisturisers like jojoba seed oil and mango butter, so feels like melting butter on the lips. It also has SPF 15 (using the mineral sunscreen active zinc oxide), so it's good for keeping pouts protected in the sunshine. And another good thing - the lid screws on, so it doesnt fall off in your handbag!

COSRX Acne Pimple Master Patch

These little patches are made from hydrocolloid, a light, thin material that’s been used as a surgical dressing for years - it can help to treat open wounds by encouraging the skin to heal while simultaneously protecting from additional trauma, blocking out bacteria, pollution and any other potential irritants. There's been a trend in Asia over the past couple of years to use hydrocolloid patches, like these ones by Korean brand CORSX, to treat spots and blemishes. While they don’t use 'traditional' spot healing ingredients like salicylic acid, the idea is that by keeping spots covered they're protected against infection (and any spot squeezers out there). At the same time, the patches can help to reduce redness and inflammation and draw out bacteria and excess oil (which in turn brings down swelling to leave spots flatter). Plus, as they keep skin moist, they encourage skin to heal quickly, with less scarring, dryness or flaking. Many also contain antioxidants (these ones have Songnox 1010), which helps to speed up the healing process.

I first tried these right before my personal appearance in New York. I felt a big PMT bump coming up on my chin so wore a patch on the plane on the way over and for two consequetive nights when and they really helped to stop the spot from coming up. They’re very easy to use, just peel off a sticker (they come in three different sizes) and apply to clean, dry skin (don't use any skincare beforehand). One of the best things is that they’re transparent which makes them really discreet (although you might notice them turn white as they draw out exudate) - I kept one on while I nipped to the shops and it was almost invisible. I've now got some in my makeup bag and my kit for emergency spot-zapping! They're a fairly new trend in the west, I'd love to know if you've tried them and what you thought.

Lancôme Hypnôse Volume-à-porter Mascara

I've had a lot of compliments about my lashes recently - which I can only put down to this mascara. It's my new, everyday favourite because I love the way it separates every single lash. Its a good one if, like me, you like your lashes to look volumised but, at the same time, really individual and not overloaded with product. It pays off quickly so I like using it when I'm in a rush in the morning.  I did the make-up for the ad campaign  - combining it with a black and white liner and it turned out to be one of my all-time favourite Lancôme campaigns (I've filmed a tutorial of the look that you can watch here).

Although it’s not waterproof, it’s very resistant, and I actually find it a little tricky to remove with michellair water - you definitely need to use a bio-phase' oil remover. The only bad news is that it's only launching in certain countries in Europe as well as  Australia, South Africa and Russia - as far as I know it won’t be making its way to the USA, South America or Asia.

Simplicity is Complexity Resolved

One of the questions I’m often asked in interviews is, ‘where do you find inspiration?’ And though the answer is ‘everywhere!’, one person that I reference again and again is the sculptor Constantin Brâncuși. As an art-lover, I’ve spent countless afternoons strolling around galleries and museums, but still remember so vividly visiting the Pompidou Centre in 1995 to see a major retrospective of his work. Although I'd seen photographs of his sculptures before it was only when I saw them in the 'flesh' that I really understood. I remember thinking 'This is it!'  and feeling quite euphoric. It was a real lightbulb moment for me and from then on I became obsessed with his ideas and work.

Brâncuși’s art centres around clean, geographical lines and simple forms (from tall columns to birds and fish) and he created his sculptures using materials with smooth surfaces like marble and bronze. He often produced different versions of the same sculpture, making them increasingly abstract and simplified each time - it’s this very simplistic, elegant style that he’s known for today and that drew me to him. I absolutely adore how Brâncuși can turn simple shapes and basic forms into truly beautiful pieces, and especially love his highly polished brass sculptures - the high shine catches the light to create the most beautiful highlights and reflections which are just stunning, and also very inspiring. It this polish and shine that I have tried to recreate in my own work... only my canvas is skin.

Brâncuși also had lots of great quotes about art and what it meant to him. One of my favourites is ‘simplicity is complexity resolved’ - it’s a saying I live by, and it works so well in makeup.

If you’re a Brâncuși fan you’ll know that he led a fascinating life. He was born in Hobitza, a small village in Romania, and studied at Craiova School of Arts & Crafts and Bucharest School of Fine Arts before walking from Romania to Paris in 1903 (when he was 27) to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. The British film director Peter Greenaway is currently filming a Brâncuși biopic, ‘Walking to Paris’, which focuses on this trek across Europe and how it influenced Brâncuși’s later work - Greenaway says that, as he walked, Brâncuși was ‘constantly building sculptures out of found materials - wood, stone, sand, snow and ice, leaving a trail of abandoned experimental structures across the landscapes of Europe.’ Wouldn't you love to have stumbled across these?!

Though he spent the majority of his working life in Paris, the first show that really launched Brâncuși’s career was the Armory Show in New York in 1913. It was the first large exhibition of modern art in America and his work sat alongside prices by other contemporary artists like Van Gogh, Monet, Matisse, Picasso and Cézanne. One of the sculptures that he included in the show was Mademoiselle Pogany, a portrait of Brâncuși’s friend Margit Pogany, a young Hungarian artist. Though Mademoiselle Pogany is now one of Brâncuși’s most loved sculptures (and one of my favourites), at the show it was ridiculed by some of the press and exhibition visitors - they claimed her features were nonsensical (her nose was likened to a beak and her eyes were said to be bulbous). One journalist described the sculpture as ‘a hard-boiled egg balanced on a cube of sugar.’