Products that got me goin’ crazy right now!

BIOEFFECT Body Intensive Serum

Icelandic skincare brand, BIOEFFECT is definitely a luxury splurge, unless you are fortunate enough to be able to afford to buy the age-defying serum on a regular basis (I wish I could re-purchase immediately, however, I do have to save up to treat myself to the face serum as well as the body serum).

I have been using the Body Intensive serum for around six months, only a few drops are needed and I can indeed share with you that my overall skin tone has most certainly improved

RRP £80 for 75ml.

You can buy BIOEFFECT online here or at Selfridges.

Bourjois Little Round Pot Cream Blush

Bourjois is one of my favourite brands and they can do no wrong in my eyes, the healthy mix serum is one of my favourite bases, the intense eyeshadow pots are ridiculously highly pigmented (better than most designer brands) and now these -petite pots of cream to powder blush! They are amazingly similar to the YSL cream blush pots. They blend in effortlessly, perfect for all skin types and can be worn sheer or intense. I can’t stop wearing No.2, a beautiful coral.

RRP £7.99 Available from Selfridges.

Neal’s Yard Rejuvenating Frankincense Facial Oil

I have been using this facial oil for the past 2 weeks and have to say I am in LOVE with this, I am actually going to by mum a bottle because I think this will be perfect for her skin which is dry and she is desperately after a dewy glow. I was using Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery, but I much prefer this one and will be sticking to it as well. It sinks into skin instantly and doesn’t leave a sticky residue on your pillowcase.

RRP £26.75 Available from Neal’s Yard online or in a store near you.

Dr Lewinn’s Instant Beauty Radiance Booster

I am rather annoyed with myself for not discovering the Dr Lewinn’s range sooner. This product is a brilliant make up base, instantly smoothing and brightening skin, with over 70% Aloe Vera, it makes sense why my skin is instantly soothed upon application of this orange cream/gel. It can also be used as a face mask for an intense moisture boost.

RRP £26 Available from Dr Lewinn’s online.

NARS x Pierre Hardy Limited Edition Blushers

Blushers are my staple make up item, so the moment these bad boys went live online, I placed an order for BOTH! How can I gal be forced to choose between a magnificent warm orange (Rotunde) and a stunning pink grapefruit (Boys Don’t Cry)? I got mine a few weeks ago, so not sure if there are any left.

RRP £30 Available from Space.NK and NARS online.

Philips Sonicare Toothbrush

Nothing like good clean teeth, which is why I invested in this toothbrush, it’s on offer at the moment in Boots, half price! I believe prevention is better than cure, especially with the cost of going to a dentist these days! This gadget even comes with a UV light unit to sterilise the heads (perfect for OCD freaks like me).

Was £200, now £100 from Boots.

My baby boy, King

OK, OK, I know King isn’t a product and I love him the same as my other dogs, always and forever. However, last week, I got some bad news about King, he has a heart muscle disease, common in his breed and big dogs in general. He could drop dead at any moment, literally, on a walk he could collapse. He is on meds now and the vet will monitor him, so I’m grateful to have more time with him, which is why I have been giving him even more love lately, because I don’t know how long I will have with him.

So, just some advice to fellow dog lovers/owners, if you feel like the slightest thing is wrong with your dog, check it out. I know my dogs and the moment I saw King limping, I had him checked out, never expecting to hear it was a disease of his heart, the same thing happened when my other boy had cancer, the vet assured my it was an age lump, I made him send it off to be analysed to be sure….and yep, it was cancer. They can’t tell you if they are not feeling too good, they rely on us to keep an eye on them.

Ps, King is in my blog header, have you ever noticed him? He he.

F A R R A H  T E L L S . . .

Summer lovin’ scent from See by Chloe

Following on from my previous perfume post (which you can read here), I have discovered another gem of a perfume, which is now my Summer scent…..

 

Created by perfumer Michel Almairac, the new See By Chloe perfume is an addictive floral/fruity scent. I must say, I wasn’t blown away by my first spritz, however, I noticed within 10 minutes, how it started to change from citrusy (bergamot) to fruity (apple blossom) and sweet (vanilla, ylang-ylang). The staying power is also pretty damn good with girlfriends and work buddies commenting on my ‘delicious smell’.

The packaging is pretty too, which one would expect from a Coty Prestige fragrance. The lettering is embossed on the lid, which also has a cute ring on top, very handy for us gals when multi-tasking!

 

50ml RRP £49.00

Available from Selfridges or Escentual.com.

F A R R A H  T E L L S  . . .

Step back in time at the Rose & Co Apothecary

Last weekend, my sisters and I took a road trip to the famous village of Haworth, also known as Bronte Country (home to the  literary greats, the Bronte sisters). I’m also certain I saw a sign in the village that Haworth was the very first fair trade city in the WORLD!

As much as I am a huge fan of the Brontes’ work, my primary purpose for visiting this picturesque village was to finally step foot into the magical world of the Rose & Co Apothecary.

Cobbled streets lined with independent shops welcome thousands of tourists from all over the world on a daily basis. We were in Haworth on a Sunday and were surrounded by Chinese, Spanish as well visitors from other UK cities. As soon as I step foot on the Hight St of Haworth (Main St) I made a bee line straight to the Rose & Co Apothecary, clearly everyone else did too because the shop was jam-packed!

Formerly an old Druggist shop (where Branwell Bronte bough his Opium), the apothecary was everything I had imagined plus more, I felt like Tom in ‘Tom’s Midnight Garden’ upon discovering the Victorian era garden when the clock struck the 13! The walls and floors are lined with mahogany with vintage glass cases full of delicious edible and non-edible treats.

Everything about the store was intriguing, exciting and alluring. I was in awe of all the jars and drawers full of quaint and cool brands, both non-edible and edible such as the Patisserie de Bain range, Paul & Joe cosmetics,  locally produced preserves, condiments, fudge and biscuits.

This ‘bin’ was full of DELISH Milk of Roses bath salts.

Pretty bath fancies.

Preserves in all sorts of scrumptious flavours

One of my HERO products, Zam-Buk ointment.

Don’t be fooled, these are SOAPS! YUMMMMM

Panties in the ladies fitters dept

Retro packaging.

After spending a good hour in Rose & Co, we decided to visit the other stores and bought SO many sweets and fudge from the retro sweet shop across the road from Rose & Co and then headed over to Cobbles and Clay for a tasty home cooked lunch.

It started raining.

Farrah’s…of course you’d find my name on sweets!

I highly recommend a tasty lunch at Cobbles and Clay. Kids come here to create pottery and paint it, totally getting involved in that next time.

After our day in Haworth, Caroline Rose, founder of Rose & Co invited my sisters and I over for tea and to meet her charming little pack of chihuahuas. Caroline is such a girls girl, so warm and welcoming with charisma and she has this aura which exudes happiness and elegance. We all chatted for hours about how Caroline and her mum started the business (in their kitchen), how the bath salts are STILL to this day made at her home, exciting plans for the brand and of course dogs!  The chi’s are just toooooo adorable, they all have their own quirky little ways which was so entertaining to watch.

I absolutely adore the Rose & Co brand and I am so glad I finally got to visit the famous Apothecary, if you love all things pretty, vintage and quirky then you MUST visit the shop. It really does feel like you’ve stepped back in time.

My sisters enjoying tea at Caroline’s.

The Rose & Co Chi’s

Queen Bee of the pack

Totally inappropriate attire! My sisters bullied me throughout the whole day!

F A R R A H  T E L L S . . .

Scents and Sensibility

I have been meaning to share some of my perfume collection for a while now. This post is to help you decide if a ‘scent’ is a ‘sensible’ purchase. This is only my personal opinion, others may not agree with me, however, I must add that I am regularly consulted for fragrance quality advice by friends and family.  I’ll begin by sharing with you that I never wear EDT (Eau de Toilette), I always wear EDP (Eau de Parfum) as it is more concentrated so lasts longer.

I have been a loyal user of Creed for a very long time now, 13 years to be exact, when it was MUCH cheaper. I mainly wear Acqua Fiorentina (pictured above in the middle), Imperial Millesime and Spring Flower. I find with Creed fragrances, I only need one/two sprays and it lasts all day with people commenting on the scent late in the day. Yes, they are expensive at around £180 for a 75ml bottle but I can confirm, the scent lasts ALL day, this bottle will last you a year, maybe longer! Creed gets my vote as a sensible purchase because you’d probably pay the equivalent in value for around 5 bottles of cheaper perfume.

The other two are recent additions such as, Guerlain La Petite Robe Noir (LPRN) (top right), I LOVE the scent, however it doesn’t last very long and I find the lids are rubbish, this is my second bottle and this lid falls off in my handbag all the time, which is rather annoying. A 50ml bottle will cost you £60, I always pick my LPRN at duty free, so it’s a little cheaper, but overall, it is worth it, so this one gets my vote as a sensible purchase. My 50ml bottles have lasted me 5-6 months.

I am not one to give into the hype of a product, however, SO many people were raving on about the Tom Ford Private Blends Perfumes so I thought I’d test them out for myself. They smell AMAZING, the packaging is stunning and there are so many fragrances to choose from, so I feel I rushed into buying the wrong one for me – Black Violet, which smells musky, sweet, fresh, (I’m into floral/fruity). Although it’s not my usual type of fragrance, Black Violet is a beautiful scent, so I tried it out and was left very disappointed, nobody could smell this on me after a few hours of wearing it. Maybe it was just the wrong scent for me, but I am reluctant to spend £135 again on a TF fragrance, I’d rather put that towards buying a bottle of Creed.

What is your signature scent?

F A R R A H  T E L L S . . .

Some (not so) Secret Hot Spots of Paris

Greetings my daaaahlings!

I am sooooooo exhausted lately, I have been a busy lil bee on travels, working and freelancing. So, I’m happy to be back home, ready to blog and work hard with no more trips planned for a while.

A long time ago, I used to spend a lot of time in Paris but on a social basis and I have been going for the last few years just to pick up skincare and beauty supplies. However, I want to share some of my hot spots of Paris with you. I think I’ll surprise you with my list of beauty spots because you’ll see Sephora isn’t on there, I just prefer the brands available in the US Sephoras over the Sephora on the Champs Elysees.

Beauty Hot Spots

Monoprix, Champs-Élysées

Monoprix have an amazing beauty section,  I didn’t know I was going to write this post, otherwise I would have taken a picture, they have a nice range of mass and niche cosmetic brands, right at the front of the store. I picked up some Rouge Baiser matte lipsticks.

Biologique Recherche, Champs-Élysées

Not far from the famous Guerlain store, Monoprix and Sephora is the most wonderful skincare brand – Biologique Recherche. My mother swears by this brand and I know some fellow bloggers who also highly rate this brand. You can either book in for a super amazing treatment or just browse the retail area and be prepared to max out your credit card.

Biologique Recherche

Pharmacies

You’ll find a pharmacy on every corner of every street, just look for the big green cross – that’s a pharmacy. I have noticed most carry the same brands but some of the bigger pharmacies offer a wider selection within a range as well as different brands. I used to spend a good hour in a pharmacy the first time I walked into one many many years ago.

Separate blog post on this!

Guerlain

If you’re going to the places mentioned above, then you might as well visit the beautiful Guerlain store, I’m a massive fan of the brand and love to pay a visit just for the feeling I get being in there, I’m sure the Spa is next door too.

You can get most of these brands in the UK now but a lot of them are a little cheaper or have product variation in France, such as Nuxe and some of the other french skincare brands.

Now on to…..FOOD!

I HIGHLY recommend Schwartz’s, a kosher deli which is like an American diner. There are a couple in Paris, the one we went to everyday was the one in Le Marais, the Jewish Quarter, it’s hidden away and popular with the locals.

…and like pharmacies, every other street is home to some glorious artisan chocolatier and if you’re a chocolate addict like me then you’ll ‘test’ out the chocolate (purely for quality inspection of course) at every shop you see (ahem, yes I did this and was planning on keeping the wrappers to write a chocolatier review but I got confused about which chocolate was bought from where because I bought SO much).

Anyway, if you’re unsure about where to spend your hard earned cash on some well deserved chocolate for either yourself or for gifts then you MUST visit this little gem hidden away in Pigalle.

A L’Etoile D’or, owned by the eccentric, cute and THE CHOCOLATE QUEEN – Denise Acabo (yep, she deserves this title more than me, because she knows good quality chocolate).

Choosing my sweet treats with a fancy tray.

Denise and I

These bars are the BEST!!!! Seriously, I was like Hotel Chocolat who?

If you like good quality tea in the most wonderful packaging, then you must visit Mariage Freres, also in Le Marais. However, I have recently found out these teas are available in Selfridges in the UK now, but this wonderful, charming shop is SO worth a visit, not only will it be cheaper but you have the full selection of teas on offer in the ‘midnight in paris’ feeling environment, you feel like you have been transported back in time, we spent a good hour in here choosing tea!

I could go on and on about other hot spots and fill this post up with soooo many pictures, but I’ll leave it at that for now.

I hope this post will be useful for you if you are planning a trip to Paris.

Have you been to any of my favourite hot spots? or do you have any hot spots in Paris you’d like to tell me about?

F A R R A H  T E L L S . . . 

Eau de WHAT?

I thought I’d share something with you all, something you may or may not know about perfume, well, only expensive perfumes.

This conversation has came up a few times, and it usually goes like this:

A friend: Mmmmm, you smell good, what are you wearing?

Me: Creed (could be Spring Flower/Aqua Fiorentina/Imperial Millesime).

A friend: Never heard of it but I am SOOOO getting it, where from? How much?

Me: Harvey Nics/Harrods for like £140.

A friend: Whaaaaaaat? Why is it so expensive?

Me: Because it contains an ingredient worth it’s weight in gold.

A friend: Which is….?

Me: Ambergris

A friend: What the HELL is that?

Me: Whale poo

Ok, so sorry for the acting out of a convo but this is what ALWAYS happens and I find that nobody else (in my social circle) knows about this perfume ingredient.

I admit, it is the most unlikeliest of ingredients for a perfume, however, Ambergris has been used by perfumers for centuries, it amplifies a fragrance and fixes the fragrance to the skin. The scent varies in Ambergris from salty, earthy to sweet, like Vanilla.

I don’t know too much about Ambergris, but I do know that it starts to form in the gut of sperm whales and is then ‘ejected’ (well, excreted) into the ocean. Initially, it will smell like dung but when exposed to seawater and air, grows musky.

Where does one find Ambergris you ask, well it’s collected along shorelines, so if you spot it, grab it! I remember reading a story a while ago about a little boy in Dorset who found some and his find was worth £45k! Look out for the wax-like rocks. They vary in colour and size from grey to white. I hear that the whiter Ambergris is sweet, so look out for it and you can send some of your dosh my way for informing you about it.

If there any experts out there who know more, please feel free to comment or email me with more information on Ambergris.

Thanks for reading.

Did you know about Ambergris before? If not, would this affect you buying perfume which uses it as an ingredient?

F A R R A H  T E L L S  . . . 

Bite me Zinfandel!

I picked this lil beauty up from Selfridges’ fancy schmancy beauty workshop area over a month ago – I think (could be longer, can’t remember). BITE Beauty is a Canadian brand, specialising in all-natural lip care…and apparently healthy enough to…EAT!

I was ecstatic to see the BITE display in Selfridges, I saw it in Sephora in LA and kicked myself for not buying anything from the range. I selected a couple of lipsticks and lip conditioners but they were out of stock, so the only item I got to buy was this highly pigmented matte lip pencil in Zinfandel.

I would own every one of these pencils if I could, I am so impressed with how moisturising and long lasting this pencil is, you also have the added benefit of using it to line your lips as well.

A big bugbear for me when it comes to lipsticks in this form is the need for a bl@@dy sharpener, well, the clever folks  at BITE thought about this and made sure you wouldn’t need a sharpener, you just wind the pencil up when it starts to blunt.

Made with a double-dose of premium micronised pigments and super antioxidant resveratrol, (which fights free radicals). Apparently, each lip pencil contains the amount of resveratrol found in five glasses of wine (does this mean you’ll feel tipsy if you eat the whole pencil?).

The colour is a ‘typical me’ colour of a warm orange/red, similar to my old fave, NARS Red Square (but the need to sharpen that pencil wore me out after 6 years of wearing it).

I hope the lip tints and the lipstick colour I wanted are in stock next time I am in Selfridges. This brand has a lot to offer!

RRP £24 from Selfridges (London) or Selfridges online.

Oh, also, I popped into my local Space.NK today to check out the latest NARS satin velvet lip pencils, which are luuuuuuuurvely..but……THEY DON’T COME WITH A SHARPENER!!!

F A R R A H  T E L L S . . .