- The Observer,
- Sunday February 11 2007
Sheer lipsticks
Chantecaille
Sheer in Milky Way, £21, Harrods, 020 7225 5758
Loved this. Perfect nude lip colour, satin feel, colour lasted, just sheer enough.
5 stars
Chanel
Aqualumiere Lipshine in Montego, £14.50, major stores
Very wearable, ultra-sheer pretty pink with slight shimmer.
5 stars
Dior Addict
Ultra-Nude in Undressed Mauve , £15.50, major stores
Slight blue undertone, very flattering and pretty, lasted ages.
4 stars
Nars
Lipstick in Viva Las Vegas, £17, Selfridges, 0870 837 7377
Good metallic nude, makes lips look fuller.
4 stars
Fake eyelashes
Sue Marsh
Eyetec, from £141 (for upper lashes), Daniel Galvin, 020 7486 9661
Try these permanent attachments and you'll never wear mascara again. Last for a month.
5 stars
Eylure
Naturalites Extra Length, £4.99, 020 8573 9907
Helpful information and glue, relatively easy to apply, probably best for parties.
4 stars
Ruby and Millie
Eyelashes, £13, Stockists 08450 708 090
Comes with glue and lash grip. Fairly easy to apply.
4 stars
Mac
False Lashes 4, £7, 020 7534 9222
Once you get the knack, these are great for the edges of lashes. But where are the instructions, tips and glue?
3 stars
Rose products
The Organic Pharmacy
Double Rose Ultra Cream, 50ml, £39.95, 020 7376 9200
Deeply comforting, heavy-feeling cream. Felt like traditional night cream with bells on.
5 stars
Ren
Moroccan Rose Otto Bath Oil, 140ml, £22.50, 0845 225 5600
Divine. Smells like the real thing.
4 stars
Mary Cohr
Gentle Milk Cleanser, 200ml, £17, 0808 100 3102
Smells pretty, feels gentle, good for sensitive skins.
4 stars
Space.NK
Compelling Body Scrub, 400g, £25, www.spacenk.co.uk
So wanted to like this, but found the fragrance a little too sweet and synthetic.
3 stars
Volumising mascaras
YSL
Mascara Volume Effet, 7.5ml, £18, major stores
Loved this. Brush was large so it was easy to apply, and my lashes looked very long. The black was very black, too.
5 stars
Max Factor
Masterpiece Max, 7.2 ml, £9.95, widely available
Colour very dark; elongated the lashes very well, with good separation, but the brush was hard and plastic, which wasn't so nice.
4 stars
Rimmel
Magnif'Eyes, 8ml, £6.99, widely available
The hard fibre brush gave good lash separation and a false lash effect.
4 stars
Lancôme
Exceptional Volume Sculpting, 6.5g, £17.50, Boots nationwide
I didn't like this one. The mascara ended up everywhere, the brush was over-complicated, and it wasn't very volumising.
2 stars
Serum for frizzy hair
Phyto
Phytolisse Ultra Shine Smoothing Serum, 30ml, £17, 020 7620 1771
For fine hair, use this very, very sparingly, but gives brilliant shine and taming.
5 stars
John Frieda
Frizz-Ease Hair Serum Light, 50ml, £5.95, widely available
Frizzies fell on their knees when this original product first came out and it's still up there with the best.
5 stars
Charles Worthington
Results Shine Silkening Serum, 50ml, £5.99, widely available
A very fine line here between a greaseball and a de-frizz. Quite scary.
3 stars
Toni & Guy
Tame-It Serum, 50ml, £7.99, widely available
For this fine-haired, frizzy tester it was too heavy and made my hair dull.
2 stars
Heated rollers
Remington
Protect and Shine Fast Heat Ionic Rollers, £29.99, widely available
Good mix of sizes and enough for long thick hair. Handy clips make it easy to avoid burnt fingers.
5 stars
BaByliss
Thermo-Ceramic Rollers, £30, widely available
Could do with more big rollers, and hair goes in the annoying gaps. But heat fast.
4 stars
Tresemme
Salon Proceramic Rollers, £30, widely available
Contains good mix of big plain ceramic rollers and smaller flock ones, but easier to burn fingers.
3 stars
Nicky Clarke
Frizz Control Compact Rollers, £19.99, widely available
Only six rubbery rollers heat at a time, and take forever to get hot.
1 star
Men's mattifying moisturisers
Clinique For Men
<Oil Control Hydrator, 50ml, £21, widely available
The best multi-tasker: reduces the look of pores, de-shines and controls that waxy look throughout the day.
4 stars
Clarins Men
Shine Free Gel, 50ml, £23, widely available
Good calming ginger and licorice but its salicylic acid content over-stimulated.
2 stars
L'Oréal Mens Expert
Pure & Matte Anti-Regreasing Gel, 50ml, £5.99, widely available
Big claims for long-lasting shine control that didn't deliver.
2 stars
Biotherm Homme
T-Pur Active Anti Shine Moisturiser, 50ml, £20, 0800 037 1020
Cooling and invigorating, but sadly the worst performer. It sealed in what oil was present.
2 stars
