Touche Éclat - the next generation

Posted by spriglet On Saturday 26 May 2012 10:00 0 comments

Image from YSL
Anyone who thinks diamonds are a girl's best friend clearly doesn't have any skincare woes. There are very few women in the world who haven't heard of Touche Éclat, the complexion highlighter from the iconic Yves Saint Laurent; at the height of the hype one was sold every ten seconds.

With 20 years under its belt as the skin saviour for fatigued females, the must-have pen is notorious among makeup artists and beauty lovers alike thanks to its classy yet classic gold styling and easy-to-use click and go packaging.

Bright eyes

Of course, it's what's inside that counts - and beauty fans have long been in love with the instant radiance a sweep of YSL's cult product can give them. Weary eyes? No one can tell. Dark circles? Gone in two ticks. 


The handbag essential is whipped out for a touch-up on the move everywhere I go - from my London commute to the bathrooms of even a back street bar, it's become the go-to product when it comes to glowing skin. There are plenty of copycats too - No.7 do a decent version and Barry M, L'Oreal and others have similar rivals but they just don't quite cut it. 

The next big thing


Good news, then, that the kings and queens of concealer at YSL are celebrating a brand new launch: Le Teint Touche Éclat foundation. Naturally, I can't wait to get my hands on the new phenomenon to test its glow-getting powers, especially as it'll be available in no less than 22 shades so even pale girls like me can give it a go without looking a dodgy shade of beige. 

The hottest product in town will be available exclusively at Selfridges and Brown Thomas from June 28, and then nationwide from July 9. Race you there!

Ten films that should never, ever be remade

Posted by spriglet On Thursday 24 May 2012 22:04 5 comments
I watched the new Footloose movie last week. I sort of enjoyed it. I'm so sorry Kevin. It didn't mean anything, it's just I added it to my LoveFilm list and one thing led to another and it just sort of... happened. 

Anyway. The girl was better (I was never a fan of Ariel in the original) but the lead definitely wasn't a patch on Kevin Bacon for me - his dancing seemed too choreographed in comparison. They did a great job of casting Willard though and the music was almost as good. However, it got me thinking about all the BRILLIANT films that should never be touched - in fact no one should ever even THINK to remake them because they are. Just. Too. Awesome. Here they are, in no particular order...

Clueless

As IF you would remake Clueless! Alicia Silverstone was just too good as spoilt teenager Cher, and we still enjoy it now even though we're no longer in the 90s. If they redid it you just know the teenagers would be 90210-types that make you want to throw things.

The Bodyguard

There have been rumours of this (OK it's been confirmed. I'm in denial). Let it be known that if anyone dares recreate the beauty that is The Bodyguard, I will  definitely, most certainly* commit suicide.

Grease

I mean really. Piss off. You wouldn't remake Disney would you? Well then, leave this immaculately flawless movie well alone. John and Olivia can never be replaced.

Robin Hood Prince of Thieves

I realise this is the second film to include Kevin Costner. Yes, there's a reason for that. He's spine-tinglingly awesome and this film is timeless. Hands off, OK?

Die Hard

Keep making sequels, YES. Dare re-do it? Never. There's only one John McClane.

Dirty Dancing

Imagine the horror. Swayze would turn in his grave (or maybe just mambo erratically) if they even tried. They may as well cast a banana and a pineapple for the leads for all the chemistry anyone would have in comparison to the steamy Swayze and Grey. Or maybe a watermelon...

Crocodile Dundee

They couldn't, could they? Paul Hogan IS Crocodile Dundee. If he's not in it, the whole film is a pointless shambles about some random dude with an accent. Don't be daft, it could never be copied.

Jurassic Park

You can't beat perfection. Enough said.

Titanic

No one will ever do Kate and Leo justice. Ya hear me, Hollywood? NO ONE. They'll never let go, either, so you're better off coming up with your own heartbreaking story.

The Notebook

Even if you're a cold-hearted bloke (emphasis on the bloke), you'll understand how epic The Notebook is and why we all drool over Ryan Gosling in it. And Rachel McAdams. This one must never be toyed with. They'd have a lot of crying romantics on their hands if they tried... not pretty.

What films would you hate to see remade, or what remakes have pleasantly surprised you?

*Probably not, though.



Cybher 2012 - blogging tips and lessons learned

Posted by spriglet On Sunday 13 May 2012 00:01 8 comments
Being a geek really is a bit cool these days. No, really. Did Glee teach you nothing? Other than how not to mime, that is. Anyway, being a stationery-loving, web-savvy, bloggerati type is actually the in-thing in my world, and so some great women decided to throw a special event for other women who blog, to celebrate all things geek and chic - and so, Cybher was born.

As I said in my 'meet and greet' post, my ticket to the all day event was courtesy of the lovely Emma Cossey who won free passes through The High Tea Cast. I have to say, venue-wise this was the best event I've been to - held at 8 Northumberland Avenue, just off Trafalgar Square, it had the right amount of space, great staff and gorgeous decor, and it's easy to get to for Londoners and out of towners alike. Plus the lights were pink in the main corridor we started in. Awesome, no?

The good stuff
Without sounding like a total freebie slut, I have to say the goodies at the event really were fantastic and quite the highlight for me (other than the fab people obviously, which I'll share more about below). A leather satchel - we could choose the colour, so naturally I went for neon pink - greeted us all as we registered and I think everyone was suitably impressed; it really was a nice touch considering the audience. Of course, it was filled with stationery which never fails to please me, and then we went through to downstairs for a quick drinks reception where various stalls were set up. 

The ones I took a quick look at were Freya's lingerie (gorgeous, but usual spin of 'you're wearing the wrong size bra' - actually, pretty sure I'm not, but glad they were offering measuring) and Palmer's, the well-known cocoa butter brand who actually have a huge range of products - I had no idea! They gave away a very generous goody bag - again, not bragging, just think it really was brilliant and very much worth a mention (I'll blog the products later).

The geek stuff

You can see a full list of the Cybher schedule here. I found the start quite interesting as I prefer panel-style talks, and they covered the neverending debate of sponsored posts, general thoughts on being a blogger and working with PRs. Of all the talks we attended, I found A Thrifty Mrs most inspiring, as it was useful info, it all made sense but wasn't necessarily stuff I already knew, and it was good to know the journey of her blog and its development. Wow that sounds cheesy, but it's true.

I also enjoyed the Ask a Blogger session at the end of the day with Big Fashionista and co because there were plenty of laughs, and thought that Zoe, of Girl With a One Track Mind fame, was fantastically honest about her terrible experiences of the media - I didn't know the whole back story and having followed her tweets for a long time, now think even more of her for it.

Anyhoo, I've put together a few of the tips and learnings that I took away from the day:

  • Now that Picnik has left us (booo. It's how I used to create Polaroid-stylee images), Picmonkey is an even better replacement. Ok, this tip technically came from Emma, but hey she'll probably be on the Cybher panel in years to come so I think it's allowed. I used it for this post and love it.
  • Not everyone can blog well. I was so pleased to hear this from Aigua lady Jess who pointed out what a lot of bloggers don't like to hear: you need to be able to write, and you need good content. Sure, anyone can set up a blog but quality is important.
  • Even in this day and age, a woman can't be completely open about sex without being called names or losing respect. @GirlOneTrack's talk was really shocking in that sense and showed, I think, that you can never really be anonymous online.
  • Be careful how you word your 'competitions'. A 'competition' requires some kind of skill to enter; a 'prize draw' or 'giveaway' is more likely to be what you're doing, where people just leave a comment etc.
  • You can get fined for not disclosing that a post is sponsored. Plus bloggers might dislike you a bit if you're not open - honesty is the best policy!
  • The general feeling (and mine too) on sponsored posts was that it's each to their own - surely it depends on your blog style. If you only ever write personal posts about your life, I wouldn't expect a random sponsored beauty post - it's fine if you do (we all need to eat, and it's your site!) but to keep your blog's identity or 'brand' intact you might prefer to set up a new one for more generic content. I think it's unfair to condemn those who hope to make money out of blogging - so long as that's not the main reason for doing it (that would be a shame I think, given the community feeling behind blogging) then why not make it a success? I'd love to afford to blog for a living, and I know plenty who do.
  • Point out that a subscription to your blog is 'free' - people associate the word subscription with paying (as for magazines etc).
  • Set Google alerts for the topics you like to write about so you can stay on top of them and be newsworthy - I hadn't thought of doing this but it's so obvious!
  • To be cool, you must have an iPad. I mean really, I stood out like a sore thumb without one.
The got-to-do stuff

I wanted another word that began with G, couldn't think of one, sorry. So, some of the talks went right over my head as I felt like they were a bit too much about common sense rather than inspiration, but others got me thinking. There was a lot of talk about  having a niche, and being an authority on the subject you blog about. That's a problem for me, as you can probably see that I like to write about different things from week to week - I cover health and beauty, film, TV, media, personal life, dating and lifestyle - and I can't choose between them.

I also know that I want to move from Blogger to Wordpress. Everyone agreed that it was better, cleaner and simpler (and far less bug-gy). Once I've worked out where I want the site to go content-wise, I'll be shifting it over - a painful process but hopefully worth it in the end...

Oh, and buy an iPad. Seriously. 

So, big thanks to Cybher for an interesting event - and to Emma for taking me along! Here are a few Twitter names of the people I met/listened to on the day, I highly recommend you follow them: SallyToddPR, JessOSOYOU, GailDoggett, SOTMario, AThriftyMrsUK, BigFashionista, JoanneMallon, Rosalilium_, TheHighTeaCast, PoppyD, GirlOneTrack. Also, follow the #Cybher hashtag for more.

What do you think on the above topics - should I choose a niche? Is doing sponsored posts selling out? Were you there and did you love or hate it?


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