[purchase/affiliate] It’s unlike me to get enthusiastic about techy stuff, but while Tim was away in China, I was researching what the cool people are buying over there. One thing consistently came up - these new style ear-buds that when it comes to staying in place, are pretty much bullet-proof.

They’re the Huwawei Free Clip ear-bud that don’t rely on resting in the ears but loop over the edge of the ear to the back where there’s a holder - a bit like clip on ear-rings but so lightweight you don’t know they’re there. You can run, jump, dance, yoga or climb in these and they just don’t come off. Tim said in the shop in Shanghai he was shaking his head and they just didn’t move.

In China, they’re about £30 cheaper than they are in the UK but he didn’t buy them there because, as he pointed out, what there was a problem with them? So, he bought them literally the day he got back to the UK and hasn’t looked back.

They’re not exactly cheap at £179 but this design is so, so much better than any other ear-buds - and we all know who I’m talking about here! Both my kids want them now (after being extremely scathing when I insisted Tim went to the Huwawei shop - as was he until he tried them!) and I really think this is the future of ear-buds. We will wonder why we ever bothered with the unreliable, easily lost others. They’re HERE if you have Amazon and HERE if you prefer not to use Amazon.

I’m using AI to give me a skeleton script on which I can build a full body of words - it’s useful because I really have so many, many words and they all feel present, urgent and important but this way, there is a structure already set so I don’t gush everything out at once, but pace myself so everything is there, in order.

It’s hard to know what to put in and leave out - I’ve put the usual and standard part about where she was born and grew up, her schooling and her career as a medical secretary before she met my dad and moved to Scotland. How much she will be missed and already is. I have not said, as suggested, that she was an adoring wife - instead I have said she was a wise and supportive wife. Adoration for my dad, which I’m sure existed at some point, was very long gone. The thing is, my mum has been many things in her lifetime - she’s been hilarious, sulky, kind, unkind, calm, chaotic - as a fully developed human she was changeable, especially in her older years.

She was a creative person always - as a young mum she made sure we had the kind of childhood where we made things and she helped us. Peg dolls, painted stones, glitter pictures - we went mushroom picking, blackberrying, picnics by streams, paddling and pressing wild flowers - all the things that make an idyllic childhood.

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If you have skin that’s on the dry side, the Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Dew Shield SPF30 is satisfactorily moisturising and actually feels quite skin smoothing. It contains niacinamide which is a versatile form of Vitamin B and is often included in skin care to minimise pigmentation. It both does and doesn’t make sense to include this in a sun protection cream because being in the sun is the very thing that causes pigmentation and if the intent to be in the sun is there, even with protection, then it’s like putting an umbrella under a waterfall. Day to day fine, but sunbathing, no.

As you can see, it doesn’t have the super fluidity that some SPFs have now (thinking of my Nivea UV Super Water Gel) but it’s light on the skin which is the main thing, especially when it’s hot and feels reassuringly covering. I met someone the other day who is allergic to niacinamide and it’s the first time I’ve heard of that although I don’t feel surprised by it because I know it can cause redness if you have sensitive skin.

The cute thing about it is that it’s pink and smells of melon - and it’s not horrible! In fact, I think it is a very holiday-ish, happy scent and I like it. I know it’s pink and cute for Gen Z but I’ve seen a lot of SPFs this year and this does at least have a point of difference. At the time of writing, it’s £15.50 (half price) HERE.

The shopping list was incomplete but a pretty good job overall. I wanted some particular magnetic lashes but despite trying, he couldn’t find them anywhere. I’ve ordered some (different brand) from Amazon but to be honest, they look too complicated.

I have no idea how to say the name - Beefy? BehFeh? - but these are dry shampoos and the first of their kind that I’ve seen. The magic is in the nozzle which sprays out at 360 degrees - so imagine a Dyson fan and how the air comes out of the rim around the hole - it’s the same here. The dry spray comes out of the the rim and sprays far more than a single nozzle spray would. I don’t think it will be long before we see this innovation here. I’ve already seen the halo nozzle used on SPF sprays HERE but no dry shampoos so far.

I was so intrigued by the Cool Clothing Sprays that I made Tim bring me one back. This is a menthol laced, fine spray designed to be sprayed over your clothes and bring you some relief from heat and humidity. I think, to be honest, that these are designed with men’s cotton shirts in mind (another name for them is Cooling Shirt Sprays) and you’ll get a far better effect than if you tried to spray over, say a jumper. There’s a very similar one at Stylevana HERE.

Chando was founded in 2001 and it’s not one of the brands we really hear about in the UK although it takes a huge share of market in China. It’s very fluid and quite matte when on the skin and very much tailored to the specific needs of Asian skin - I will absolutely use it up but it’s not exciting.

Finally, two skinny brush mascaras from a brand called KissMe. The full name of the product is Kiss Me Heroine Make Long & Curl Mascara Advanced Film and is considered to be a very good mascara. I can back that up - I love fine coating my lashes and building them up. This tiny brush keeps all the lashes separated and defined. I’ve got one in brown and one in black (wearing the brown in the picture) and I will probably buy more now that I’ve tried this brand. Stylevana has them HERE for about £7.

I was very keen for him to get some portable fans - they’re just better there! Sure enough, he found this high speed turbo fan (chargeable) at Miniso which we have here but they don’t stock these fans. This is a next level fan - you adjust the speed (and it goes Celine-Dion-hair-in-wind-machine high) via the dial. I can’t find exactly the same one but Amazon has very similar HERE.

[unpaid/sample/affiliate] Wonderskin’s key product is a lip stain which goes on to the lips a very deep or bright shade, and once off, leaves a more modest and pleasant colour on the lips. So, I was a little bit nervous that I’d end up with more than I’d bargained for with their new Cheek Stains.

I was right because you don’t need much at all - three dots is maximum - and it’s best to blend quickly cheek by cheek rather than dotting both and blending one then the other.

Before you scream, these are unblended, straight from the bottle shades, bottom to top: Flutter, Whimsy, Falling, Sundrop, Barely and Toasty - my favourite! The stains will blend out to sheer colours and what Toasty gives is a wash of sun-kissed but not tanned kind of a shade. You can really play your own blush game with these stains - bold if you want or light if you want (one dot!) or somewhere in between.

I have Toasty on the right and Barely on the left and they didn’t budge all day so the implied longevity of a stain seems to hold up. Ignore my lip - I had to plead with our lovely local pharmacist to give me Aciclovir to bring to a halt the cold sore that was developing. It’s worked - and I’m not surprised it was trying to make an appearance because I am quite run down at this point with everything going on. Would I recommend the Wonderskin Wonder Blading All-Day Blush Stain? Certainly, Toasty is now in my favourites pile and I’ll wear it a lot over the summer - it’s best to see both the light and the bold effect which is shown on the Wonderblade website HERE. They’re £20 each.

[unpaid/sample/affiliate] There’s definitely an accidental cigarette theme this week - this pack of Discotheque fragrance samples reminds me of Sobranie Black Russians before the warning labels were enforced. Maybe it’s supposed to - I hope so. Discotheque was founded by Jessie Willner and Hanover Booth from LA and each fragrance represents a moment, a city or nightlife destination - really, there’s a night vibe to all of them as well as an uninhibited create freedom.

Genuinely, if you love a fragrance sample set, you are going to have a lot of fun with this. I’d say that some of the scents are challenging and Discotheque is not a brand chasing the algorithm. I can’t imagine there are many searches for Sweat, Tears, Paradise. It’s actually fresher than you might imagine - floral (lily, mimosa), salty and musky, overseen by absinthe.

Eye Contact is described thus: Leather and gin and glistening skin, crimson nights and black box peepholes, a bath of glowing amber, a key on a chain, a figment of the subconscious in a saffron haze, silhouette reflections in infinite mirrors, eyes that can’t look away. Someone fetch my fan! I truly don’t know what a black box peephole is but I think I know better than to Google it. To me, it’s quite masculine so perhaps we are talking about Heaven night club - there’s a lot of leather and oud going on in this fragrance and it settles beautifully on the skin to a kind of nuzzly effect. I will say that these fragrances have very good last.

I will get to all of them but for the purposes of this post, I’ve tried three and the final one is Heathens, Cowboys and The Santa Ana Winds that opened for me with a whiskey accord and yet, no whiskey in the notes. This is described as ‘naked hips, Freudian slips, loose lips’ with palmarosa, amyris, sweet grass and tea as the top notes. I’m 100% getting the tea and love it with the golden amber bottom notes. I can only tell you this - Cindarella’s in Wakefield did not smell like any of these so clearly I was nightclubbing wrong all through my teens. I genuinely think this is one of the most intriguing sample sets I’ve come across - each one is a statement fragrance and each one changes during wear. Where you begin is not where you end and where you end is up to you. The set is £39 HERE.

for their signature Discovery Set, standout hits include the bestselling Lola at Coat

My husband is coming home today from a two week trip to China with my sister’s husband. We are both very independent and can very easily run a household/work/play without needing a man by our side and for me at least, the time has flown. It hasn’t exactly been a convenient time for them to go - auntie in hospital, dad in care home, boiler breakdown, lost my credit card and so on - and the reason we have had to wait til next week for my mum’s cremation. We didn’t want them to miss the trip they’ve been planning for the better part of a year and she wouldn’t want them to either.

Putting aside legal stuff, arranging for the memorial and so on, the thing I’ve found the most frustrating is that I just never seem to have time to do anything other than work/Dora/food/vet/admin. Somehow I thought that if he was out of the way, I’d have more time but it’s not the case! One dog like Dora needs two adults - in fact I caved on Saturday and left her overnight at the dog minders (who she loves) so I could have a lie-in on Sunday morning after the party I’d been to.

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I’ve got a confession - two types of smoking occurred on Saturday night. I gave up actual smoking years ago but my daughter had a pack of what she calls ‘party cigarettes’ and, as we were actually going to a party, I had one. It was lovely, but I don’t need another until the next party (nothing in the forseeable future). So, while I was smoking a real cigarette, I was also smoking up a storm on my eyes with the Laura Geller Kajal Longwear Eyeliner.

The shades, from bottom to top are: Smoky Plum, Deep Charcoal and Soft Slate. These three immediately made it into my ‘keep’ pile because they’re a) a doddle to use, b) softer in the smoke than black and c) they last well.

This is Soft Slate on the upper lid and Smoky Plum below and on the inner rim.

And this is Smoky Plum on its own. Please don’t notice that one of my nails fell off. Laura Geller seems to be doing an about turn and billing themselves as ‘make up for mature women’ and I really don’t like that - the word ‘mature’ gives me, as they say, the ick. Older women is just fine and while I stick to my stance that any make up is for any one, if you prefer a softer look, or you’ve given up on kohl and want to find a way back that doesn’t feel like too much, I’d recommend these in a heart beat.

There are 12 shades and I’m rushing this out somewhat now that I’ve found the link because it looks like there is 50% off today (8th June 2026), so these will be £11 instead of £22 HERE. I had no idea when I started this post.

I’ve seen this dress described as ‘giving Cos’ and that is about right - there’s a little bit of structure by way of a cross-seam to what otherwise would be something that just flops - Cos loves a bit of structure. I don’t have a second of time for carrot legs or barrel legs but when that expansion is applied to a dress it seems to look elevated and expensive. I’d be adding a ton of long necklaces and jangly bracelets to this and feel rather happy about it. There are multiple colourways - including pistachio, which I’d advise against because when the yellow-green of that fabric reflects back onto your face you’re going to look nauseated. This chocolate version is HERE.

I’ve pulled out the three that I think look most elevated - so my next choice is the mono stripe version HERE. It’s just ready and waiting for a straw hat and sunglasses. If you are below 5ft 8ins (the model’s height), this is going to be a little bit longer on you - at maxi length, it’s just as chic and maybe even more so.

And, here it is in an abstract print - nobody knows why, but this version is £36 HERE because rather than poplin like the stripe and the brown above, it’s in ‘techy fabric’. There are also some curve options but not, as yet, in petite but I do know that ASOS is re-stocking some sold out sizes so perhaps those might come. You never know. I see that Top Shop is doing a very, very similar dress for £45.

I’ve been a judge for The Industry (a digital media and events platform for fashion and beauty professionals in business and retail that operates as a think-tank, insight portal and first news resource) on the beauty side for three years, since the beauty awards opened. I’ve judged on plenty of awards before now but this is far and away my favourite because it asks more of the judges than their personal opinion. Because The Industry operates for professionals, we need to look not only at the products but also at the campaigns and written submissions and cast a wider eye than just voting for favourite brands.

I’ve currently got three home scents on the go - hate two of them (I understand that fragrance is subjective but do not ask me to spend the best part of £100 on something that smells like a hospital) - and I spent yesterday afternoon putting on and taking off various cosmetic products. I have discovered a skin care product that makes my skin feel softer than anything I have ever used before and yet, it’s smoke and mirrors. It feels great because the ingredients are slanted to sensory perception and not to efficacy. I love it but it can’t get a top vote (and this is why you need experts, not celebrities doing the judging!).

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[unpaid/sample/affiliate] The bareMinerals Luminous Skin Tint Stick certainly will give your skin luminosity - and quite a natural one at that. I made a reel for my Instagram channel using it and it was one of the easiest I’ve ever done because the stick is so balmy and glidey and absolute delivers on glow - and it’s immediately obvious so there just wasn’t really anything for me to explain!

That ‘blob’ I’m pointing to is how the product comes out of the stick and you then blend it in but I’m showing this so you can see how glowy it is from the get-go. I’m very impressed with this product if you like a slightly heavier base than the regular Complexion Rescue. I’ve played around with it a bit since recording the reel and you need very, very little. A stick format encourages you to be too generous than you need to be so go cautiously with little dots and blend from there.

Haha - I’ve dinged it already - a hazard of not wearing my glasses when I’m recording. This is shade 4.5 - Wheat - and the same as I use for Complexion Rescue and there are 20 shades to choose from.

It does need a bit more blending than you think it might so take your time with a soft brush - you can always add more if you need to. I’d say that if you have oily skin, this is not going to be right for you - just texturally, I think oily skins are better with something lighter and more breathable. This is billed as sweat, water, and humidity proof which oily skin that needs to ‘breathe’ can get a bit overwhelmed by. If you are dry, you’ll reap the benefits of Vitamin E and it really does feel moisturising. It’s £33.50 HERE. Oh, and the Dewy Lip Gloss Balm I’m wearing is £25 (which feels like a lot) in shade Strength is HERE.

I have wanted to try Dieux, from Charlotte Palermino and Joyce de Lemos for ages – eventually, I caved and bought the product that kept calling me back – Instant Angel. If you follow Charlotte on any of her channels, you will know that she is constantly challenging the beauty industry on their product claims. She has a huge following so people are very much open to listening to what she has to say and she is very much the outspoken industry expert, treading where others might fear to.

Joyce is the science arm of the brand – as a clinical cosmetic scientist, she’s very well placed to formulate the most effective products. I read an interview with them quite recently in which they cited their cleansing oil as a good example of their ingredient transparency. They don’t use sunflower oil – it’s an industry favourite ingredient as a very cheap way to dilute an oil and increase volume without increasing efficacy – so consumers are surprised at how rich it feels on the skin. Cleansing oils with a sunflower dilution will still cleanse your skin without you ever realizing that its potential is impeded and it won’t do it with the same melt and ease as an cleansing oil in which there are no ‘filler’ oils. It’s well worth visiting the US website HERE to get an idea of how well explained the products are.

Products are developed with efficacy first and foremost. The first time I tried Instant Angel, I’ll be honest, I was underwhelmed. It felt very ordinary. By day three though, I was beginning to understand that while it’s understated and fragrance free, it is going to provide your skin with exactly what it needs to look and feel fully moisturized with the minimum of fuss. By day five, I was wishing all skin care was this easy. It’s lipid rich and barrier replenishing – over time it claims to visibly firm the complexion and that’s all well and good but I like what this loose and light cream is doing right now. When you go to the Dieux website (which is USA shipping only but I’ve found a UK stockiest) the formulation transparency is complete. I’ll just say that amino acids, hexapeptides and my favourite ingredient, Meadowfoam Seed Oil [Meadowestolide], followed by squalane and under-estimated ceramides create a quietly punchy day to day moisturiser that I cannot imagine anyone would be unhappy with.

The site I was going to send you to has sold out of all sizes of Instant Angel which is very frustrating – well worth checking in to see if they restock and in the meantime, I have found a UK stockist HERE where the cream is a little more expensive than it should be at £39 for 30ml (instead of around £32) but if you’re keen to try, it’s there. I really do like the unfussiness of Dieux – there’s no pressure, expectations are managed and the formulas are absolutely solid.

[unpaid/sample/affiliate] I was rather excited to receive a box of Press On Nails as part of Nails Inc’s new launch until I realised that press on means glue on. I don’t know why I thought that the two were different, but there we are. Anything glue on - including lashes - I am generally useless at and as I type I can feel the Superglue on the tips of my fingers indicated that I am no better than I was the last time.

However, given the dire state of my nails at the moment, I really didn’t think I could make them any worse and have been noticing more and more when people’s nails look ‘done’. So, I was game for a go. I loved these blush pink ones.

But three fingers in, I decided they were too pointy so quickly took them off before the glue set in favour of a more rounded French manicure set. The thing is, you need to use far more glue than you think you do and nail glue is quite watery so it goes to all sorts of places you don’t want it to. You need to position the nails so that they are flush with cuticle - which will mean pushing your cuticle as you slide the nail on. Be very generous with the glue and make sure it goes all over the nail otherwise you will end up with parts not attached and if those parts are near the top or the bottom, the nail can stick up a little bit.

I don’t mind these at all - and mercifully, I can actually type in them and they haven’t flung off. I notice that on my right hand (applied with my left) they’re not quite as even and I can see air locks where I haven’t put enough glue. I say this so you can avoid it happening by applying plenty of glue.

With the exception of my thumb, which does look a bit stuck on, I think this is a great set - it’s called Classic Kim. £8.99 HERE feels like no money at all for complete nail revamp temporarily. People would have to be very focussed on inspecting your nails to notice they’re stuck on. I applied these in the morning and by afternoon all nails are still present and correct. I wouldn’t do the weeding in them but perhaps a little light pruning.

Sometimes I think I should just call this newsletter ‘What Lauder Did Next’ because they just don’t stop!

ELC 1. ELC is due to pay $210 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit after misleading investors about its reliance on grey-market sales in China. To explain: ELC is accused of not being fully open about ‘daigou’ – the reselling of luxury items designated for duty free at lower than market price. These are unofficial sales that, during Covid times in particular, brands benefitted from, not least because of the drop in travel. It allowed brands to make money and allowed the resellers to make money even though the sales were ‘grey market’. Shareholders saw a nose dive in share price after the Chinese government placed restrictions on daigou, revealing that ELC was more reliant on these grey sales than it had suggested. The promised rebound didn’t happen, leaving shareholders out of pocket.

ELC 2. The company is accepting final bids for Dr Jart+ (which looks likely to return to Korea), Smashbox and Too Faced. The initial combined package sale hasn’t worked – nobody wants all three, so far. Apparently, VCs were prepared to take the make-up brands but not skin care so it looks like the bids will be split.

ELC 3. The company took a minority stake in 111 Skin, founded in 2012 by a Harley Street reconstructive and plastic surgeon, in only April this year but just in time to see their new baby get rapped by the ASA for misleading claims. The brand seems surprised to discover that the claim, ‘Clinically Proven to Lift The Skin by 20%’, actually has to mean that it gives a noticeable and measurable lifting effect of, er, 20%. Otherwise, it’s misleading. So, it doesn’t do the former and it is the latter.

ELC 4. But, it’s the best one. You know how ELC is a master at sleight of hand? When they need to cover up something (usually something that Ronald has done) they put all sorts of stories out to draw attention away from whatever it is. Ronald needs good press and a good press story about Ronald draws attention away from the extended staff cull at ELC towers and the withdrawal of brands – beginning with Bobbi B – from department stores. Ronald has agreed to donate New York’s Neue Galerie and its collection, including a US$135 million Gustav Klimt painting, to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Neue is not without its own controversies – its most famous painting, Portrait of Adele Block-Bauer I, was taken by the Nazis in 1938 and in 2006, restituted to her heir. Ronald Lauder bought it in the same year for $135 million – at the time, a record price for a painting. So, philanthropy or obfuscation?

ELC 5. The excitement around an ELC purchase of Spanish fashion and beauty conglomerate, Puig, has gone. After making statements, fuelling rumours and generally seeming the green flag was to be waved on this deal, it’s been recently announced that the deal is off. There will be no power merger or sale. It’s been suggested that the Charlotte Tilbury brand was problematic within the deal terms under a change-of-control clause. Charlotte would have been entitled to a payout but the size of the pay out became a bone of contention. Spanish press (Expansion) reports that if ELC had gone ahead with the merger, Charlotte Tilbury would then have the right to force the sale of her shares – leaving ELC with a huge (multi-multi millions) deficit. Nonetheless, ELC is in a shopping mood – they’ll buy something, and soon.

ELC 6. Jesus, do they never sleep? Zara (Inditex) has stepped up and shown its face over the Jo Malone/Jo Loves debacle, denying allegations that ELC Jo Malone’s trademark has been infringed by perfumer and founder of Jo Loves, Jo Malone. Preliminary filings have been made over the use of ‘”A creation by Jo Malone CBE, founder of Jo Loves” on the Zara collab packaging. The Inditex legal team argue, apparently, that ELC lawyers approved this use in 2020.

It’s interesting times at E.l.f. Beauty – they’ve said goodbye to Alisha Keys and her brand, Keys Soulcare and they’ve also said goodbye to their co-founder, Scott-Vincent Borba, who has left the industry behind to become a Catholic priest. Keys now has sole charge of her brand which was incubated by E.l.f. for six years. The E.l.f. bubble had to burst sometime – there is already a forecast for weaker sales and profit for fiscal 2027. Pray for them.

Can you patent a make-up technique? I wonder this because of the recent Patrick Ta vs Ngozi Esther Edeme, aka Painted By Esther, dramas where Patrick Ta is said to have copied a technique made popular by Painted By Esther without giving credit. In fact, some of his words in introducing his products for the technique, known as ‘transition blush’ are exactly the same as used by Painted By Esther in describing the method. Transition blush is a gradient between concealer and brush beginning under the eye and seamlessly morphing to the cheeks. It’s not an easy look to recreated without the right tools (a sponge, for example) but it’s a look that has variously been used by make-up artists over the years – Kevin Aucoin is a good example. However, thanks to social media, Ngozi has made her signature transition look immensely popular. It’s felt that Patrick Ta has made products to specifically recreate the technique without a) including the right products needed, but b) without crediting Painted By Esther without whose work his new products would be mystifying. These days, giving credit is a matter of manners and thoughtfulness because the online beauty world survives on mimicry – it’s how trends begin and go viral – but only creators know where their ideas spring from unless they get flat out caught plagiarising. Patrick Ta’s team actually called Ngozi to book a session and asked to record it. She cancelled it the day before it took place. She’s not asking for her to be credited in creating the technique – because she didn’t, as she readily admits, but she is asking for her influence to be credited. Ta will make the big bucks with a bad taste in his mouth when a Ta x Painted collaboration would have been easy, the right thing to do and honest.

In South Africa, it’s been handbags at dawn between L’Oreal and Beiersdorf owned Eucerin. The latter claimed to be ‘SA’s No.1 Dermatologist Recommended Brand’ and L’Oreal said Non! citing the claim as misleading because it’s based on old research. In defence, Beiersdorf were able to show independent studies in which 152 dermatologists across SA, when, asked for their recommendations for pigmentation, acne and sun care, showed an inclination towards Eucerin compared to other brands. So, au revoir to L’Oreal.

Gosh, it’s been a time. As I write, my sister is with my aunt in A&E in Yorkshire waiting for her to be admitted. I am trying to sort out pet care from afar as well as liaise with animal charities, GP welfare service and social services. Over the past month, my aunt has become more and more confused and unwell. She wasn’t well before my mum died but it’s somehow gone into over-drive. My sister visited her yesterday (and she is at breaking point as it is) and insisted on weighing her - 5.5 stone. She took her to the doctor this morning who sent her straight to hospital.

Now, this is an 85 year old lady who has been visited by - and been to see - medics multiple times over the past six months. She has had the GP out and she’s had the paramedics out while simultaneously refusing to let her carers in. She’s been seen as recently as Friday by a GP, and not one of them addressed how madly thin she is. As a family we have been saying that we cannot understand why nobody is noticing how that she is desperately underweight and addressing that as well as addressing her immediate need to have her severe anxiety reduced.

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[unpaid/sample/affiliate] As you’d expect, the Marilyn Monroe x Lisa Eldridge collection is a result of meticulous research. Make up artist, Lisa Eldridge, has a life long passion for vintage cosmetics (she owns many items from famous women of the past, including Marilyn and Audrey Hepburn) and has an artist’s eye for colour along with an academic ability to research for accuracy. With that in mind, this collection runs as close as it’s possible to replicating original shades, capturing more of Marilyn than her Hollywood history.

The two pieces of note that I have here are the Rouge Experience Refillable Lipstick in Amagansett, a place in the Hamptons where Marilyn rented a house as a safe haven. The actress consistently wore this (or close to it) during the 1950’s although she’s better known for her iconic red lipstick (I don’t have it here so I can’t show you). The other piece is the Butterfly Light Elevated Glow Balm Concentrate in Pearly Champagne (there is a warm bronze shade too).

Amagansett is a true carnation pink - it has an exemplary depth to it and one coat is plenty. It has a light sheen that leaves lips looking hydrated and dewy and applies like a dream. If you already have the metal case, the refill in Amagansett is £25. If not, the case and the lipstick is £49. The Elevated Glow Balm, £27, once you take a brush to it has a water-like reflective quality to it. You only need a very little bit to diffuse across cheek bones although it’s very nice on the eye-lids too to wake up your eyes.

I’m so mortified at my garden nails which seem to permanently have soil under them despite copious washing, but here we are. This is how Amagansett looks on me. I’ve also got the glow balm on my cheeks.

If all collaborations were so beautifully thoughtful, it would be wonderful, but I have slight misgivings about including a mascara where really, the only reference to Marilyn is the sleeve over the box and few of us keep our mascaras in their box. It is a very good mascara, that said! Other colours are completely relatable to Marilyn because of their considered shades. You can find the limited edition Marilyn Monroe x Lisa Eldridge collection HERE.

I’ve got a drawerful of white and black tops but I don’t have anything that looks a bit more of a level up from a basic. When my friend Kelly showed the Ischia Vest on her Instagram, I bought it straight away. It’s a collaboration between Hayley Karseras (fashion blogger, aka Lady Of The Manor on Instagram) and Hampshire based store, No.1 George Street, in a touch of irony, is actually at 2 London Road. I don’t know - I’m not asking questions.

It’s a kind of drapey material so it skims rather than hugs and the bottom hem has a nice, flatter curve to it. This top is a great example of how the ordinary can be a bit more than that. I’m currently a bit heavier than usual (12-14) thanks to the past month of LNER train sitting and relentless sandwiches and although the size is one size 8-14, if you’re fuller busted at size 14 I don’t think it will stretch nicely. I’m only just making it work I think. The top is washable at 30 degrees and is £30 HERE. This is a purchase and not affiliate linked - I often use my tracking links to track how many clicks I’m sending through, as I have done here. Now, to the garden centre…

I spotted this Note from writer Kate Dalby (follow here - she’s great) and honestly, it sparked the gruesome memories of family holidays where everything you try to do is far more inconvenient and difficult than if you’d just stayed at home. Holidaying with young children is like extreme sport – dangerous, exhausting and unpredictable and one should probably never do it. But the middle classes do love a fam holiday and can’t resist an August trip to Menorca where the sand is so hot you can fry up some gritty eggs. Kids are slathered in cream, covered from head to foot in UV wear, shoved under an umbrella, red-faced with the weight of every pore covered. I’ve been this family and no money would induce me to do it again.

When I think of it now, our family holidays were endurance tests. From the awkward, wrong side of the road driving to the mystery of a foreign roundabout, the hell starts at car hire and ends when you return the Fiat Uno at the airport. Did we have fun? I think so – some of the time. We ate at the same restaurant five nights out of seven on one holiday because the children wouldn’t eat anything else. We didn’t have those super gourmet kids who could wait until after their bed-time for food and we didn’t have curious kids who would tuck into calamari and piles of aubergine. I can say hand on heart that we ended up at McDonalds more times than I care to mention for many years.

While the British middle classes aspire to holidays that are ‘away from the tourist areas’, we can’t do it because we are British. Every other nationality has somehow discovered the affordable little local restaurant where they adore children and serve wholesome food. Their children don’t need their lunchtime naps – they’re quite happy frolicking in the sea from dawn til dusk and don’t get crabby or sunburnt and neither do they get out of hand eating at 10pm – they just somehow morph into Mediterranean kids on the flight over and I do not know how that happens.

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[unpaid/sample/affiliate] There are millions of make-up brushes on the market in any shape or size that you like but I find that I only use four or five with any regularity. The brushes I burn through the fastest are foundation brushes which I invariably use for cream blush and highlighter or bronzer as well - in fact, I just don’t have the personal bandwidth for designating separate brush jobs out to individuals - if one brush can do most things, that’s the brush for me. I’ve had a Smoothing Face brush from bareMinerals in my collection for a long time and I turn to that, or similar styles, every day.

There she is, up top, with the Beautiful Finish Brush on the left and the Full Flawless Face on the right. Smoothing Face has exactly the right amount of rigidity to it to hold and distribute product seamlessly. It feels soft on the skin but the bristles have enough heft to really work your base over your complexion.

The softer and more fluffily airy brush for powders, powder bronzer or powder blush is the Full Flawless Face. It has great pick-up ability for anything loose which means that by the time the brush gets from the pan to your face, there is all of the product on it still that you can then gently stroke it where it needs to be.

The Beautiful Finish Brush (the chunky one) is specifically made to hold powder but to be honest, I don’t need this because I rarely wear powder and if I do, I can use The Flawless Face. I understand the well to create hold but how much powder does anyone need? However, we have to remember that bareMinerals made its name with powder foundations (which are brilliant, and I say that as someone who hates powder) and that’s exactly where a brush like Beautiful Finish would come in handy. If I had to rate in usefulness, it would be Smoothing Face (it will change your base wearing life if you’re a sponge or finger person), which Boots has on offer for £23 HERE instead of £28 and at that price, I just would. The Smoothing Face Brush is £23.80 in the same offer HERE, and the Beautiful Finish Brush is £25.07 HERE.

For washing, which you are going to have to do more regularly if you’re like me and use one brush for almost everything, soap and water is fine, as is Isoclean Brush Cleaner HERE, or even a bit of washing up liquid. These are all synthetic fibre so they’re a bit more robust than real animal hair brushes.

[unpaid/sample/affiliate] I realise that putting this intensely effective cleansing melt to work duties isn’t what it’s intended for, but I have a weird job where taking make-up off happens more for me than for most.

I try to show make-up either on my face or on my arm so that you can get a true feeling for colour and texture. It’s all quite enjoyable until it comes to removing the stuff and depending upon my schedule, I may be photographing and filming several products, one after the other. All well and good until my arms are red raw and my eyes start to hurt - I did it to myself when I decided to apply 10 coats of mascara to somewhat replicate the lab tests that beauty brands need to complete in order to market their products ‘6 x volume’ using technical cameras and micro measurements to evaluate average physical differences (e.g., “+ 20 x added length” or “90% more definition” and so on). I had a nasty eye infection the following day. I’ve just watched a YouTube of someone adding 100 layers of mascara to their lashes and notes are, a) they’re not as massive as you’d expect them to be and b) enjoy the conjunctivitis.

Neal’s Yard Remedies Frankincense Intense Triple Action Melting Cleanser is absolutely blasting through any make-up I use it on - the picture is of a cheek stain from a company known for their intensely pigmented, never-shifting stains and the cleanser made very light work of it. Better still, I didn’t get any of the dry skin or rash that I often get from over-cleansing my inner arm and on my face - oh, it’s a dream. Soft, kind feeling and leaving a layer of moisture my hot skin needs right now. A big recommend if you want every last trace of anything to be 100% gone. I’m sending you to Amazon for this one because it’s £35.20 instead of £44 HERE.

more definition”