How many times have we read ‘longer, fuller, lusher lashes’ on the packaging of the latest mascara & shamelessly skipped to the tills to buy it, only to find unsurprisingly that it makes absolutely no difference to our lashes?

We have all succumbed to the advertising monster at some point and are slightly ashamed to say we did not learn from our mistakes and got very excited when we heard about Rimmel’s latest offering, the rather epic sounding ‘Lash Accelerator Mascara’.

Lash Accelerator incorporates an exclusive Grow Lash complex which promotes the appearance of long and strong lashes. Consumer testing revealed that the testers lashes instantly appeared up to 80% longer and with continued use (one month) they found that their lashes were fuller, stronger, lusher and up to 117% longer. A whopping 88% of the women also reporting seeing a higher volume of lashes and longer lashes within just one week of usage.

Of course we were itching to get our hands on this product and were all lucky enough to have been given a tube prior to its release date (1st September) and have now been using the product for three weeks. Well as the saying goes, the proof is always in the proverbial pudding, so here is what we found.

Emma: Upon opening the mascara we found the wand to be long and slim in shape and not overloaded with an excess of product, a promising start. As someone with very short, thin and pale eyelashes, I was very apprehensive about how this would work for me. Usually I opt for a double ended mascara with primer then colour to give thickness and length and did not imagine this mascara would create the long, full effect I like. However… upon application I was pleasantly surprised to find my eyelashes were looking a lot longer. After a second coat the length and look was even more intense and though I didn’t measure them can pretty confidently say they looked a good 70-80% longer. After three weeks of using this product every day I am very happy with the results as even without mascara my lashes seem much thicker and longer and seemed to have prolonged my eyelash perm too. Whats more the mascara has shown no signs of drying out and happily lasts all day with no smudging or fall out. Will definitely be purchasing this again when this tube is bone dry!

Emily: Emily also concurs with much of the above, her only improvement would be making the brush a little thinner. Despite this she still loves the product and felt so confident with her new longer lashes that she even ventured out the other day mascara free!

Rimmel Lash Accelerator is available in two shades: Black / Black and Brown and is priced at £8.99

As you may or may not know, the Beauty Resource team recently attended a delightful beauty bloggers event and got to take home some exciting new make-up and fragrances to try out.

Second in line to face scrutiny is the new GUESS fragrance Seductive, which has been described by perfumer Veronique Nyberg as ‘an irresistible scent that exudes temptation, flirtatiously drawing in those around the women who wears it’. Well at the prospect of a spritz of Seductive turning us into a delicious smelling people magnet we literally couldn’t get the cellophane off fast enough.

Post cellophane we first encountered the simple but classic cream box, framed with gold and black and featuring the famous triangle GUESS logo in the centre.

The design of the bottle itself reflected the outer layer of the box, with the heavy glass bottle echoing the triangle shape of the logo and the embossed crocodile print panel reflecting the company’s signature use of animal prints. Attention to detail is even carried through to the base of the bottle, which again features the crocodile print which appears in other areas of the design.

The cherry on top has to be the dainty golden heart charm which delicately hangs from the nape of the bottle neck, ensuring Seductive will be a firm fixture on any woman’s dressing table.

The scent itself is deep but not overpowering with the base notes of Cashmere Wood, Vanilla and Olibanum giving the fragrance depth, warmth and a certain woodiness. The middle notes of Orange Flower, Jasmine and Orris add an exotic and classic touch but it is the top notes of Bergamot, Blackcurrant and Crispy Pear that really set the perfume apart, giving Seductive a modern and zesty edge ensuring it remains deep but not overpowering.

In terms of longevity one spray to the wrist (& rubbed into the other) and another to the neck lasted for around five hours before a respray was required. This is a great versatile scent that can ether be worn lightly to the office or built up for the evening.

Prices start at £25 for the 30ml Eau de Toilette, a very accessible and affordable price for a perfume and a steal considering all the complements we got!

GUESS Seductive will be available from September 2010

From my first ever bottle of CK1 as a teen to the familiar scent of my mums favourite Eternity and onto the rich and woody Euphoria for nights out, Calvin Klein’s fragrance collection has taken me right through my teens and into womanhood. I think, like me, it is safe to assume that the perfume collection of most women ether contains or has contained at least one Calvin Klein offering, but will their new Beauty fragrance make the cut?

As a brand with such a varied fragrance portfolio we weren’t sure what to expect from Calvin Klein Beauty, but were eager to get our hands on what is described as a scent which ‘evokes the ultimate power of femininity, strength and confidence’.

The new campaign is fronted by actress Diana Kruger, who inspired much of Francisco Costa’s Fall 2010 Collection. The metallic colours, feminine silhouettes and clean, lines used in the runway collection are reflected in the classic bottle design, which is a simple glass base topped with a structural chrome lid.

Just looking at the bottle gives you a sense of what awaits inside, a sophisticated and timeless scent. Key notes of the fragrance include Neo Lily, Ambrette Seeds, Jasmine and Cederwood all of which add up to equal a fresh, clean and distinctive aroma, perfect for a deep lingering day time scent or a slightly more subtle option for the evening.

Those who do not like sweet, floral or musky perfumes will really enjoy wearing Beauty and although Calvin Klein have very correctly aimed the fragrance at mature self-assured and confident women in their 40s we believe it also appeals to women who are younger in age (like ourselves).

Unlike Euphoria and Obsession, Beauty is not meant to be seductive and sexy and Calvin Klein seemed to have steered away from their often provocative ad campaigns and have achieved something far more sophisticated with their Diana Kruger. Though… with that said, we certainly wouldn’t be complaining if a spritz of Beauty helped us to seduce our very own Joshua Jackson.

Beauty is available nationwide from the 25th August

Prices start at £34 for the 30ml eau de parfum spray

Last Thursday evening the Beauty Resource team finished work early, donned our heels and lippie and journeyed into le’capital for the Coty bloggers preview. Upon arrival we were greeted by the gorgeous press team who made us feel right at home in the quirky ‘Home Sweet Home’ venue and were very quick to make sure we all had a glass of champagne in hand!

Coty look after some fantastic and prestigious brands, ranging from Calvin Klein, Chloe and Marc Jacobs right through to Rimmel and Sally Hanson. We were lucky enough to be invited along to preview and try out some new upcoming lines and are extremely excited about what we saw (we are predicting some best sellers).

We came away with an incredible goodie bag full with wonderful treats for us to try out and review and here is a sneak peak of reviews which will be coming over the next week or so:

Calvin Klein – Beauty (Nationwide release 25th August) (read review here)
Marc Jacobs – Bang (Available from Harvey Nichols from 1st August & nationwide from 25th August)
Rimmel – Lash Accelerator Mascara (Released 1st September) (read review here)
Guess – Seductive (Released September 2010) (read review here)
Chloe – Love (Available from Harrods from 22nd August and nationwide from 22nd September)
Adidas - New & improved shower gels (Relaunch October 2010)

Have you had a bad experience at the hands of an untrained beauty therapist? A new television pilot is to investigate the dangers of unregulated beauty therapy and invites you to get involved.

As it stands the Beauty Industry is largely unregulated meaning it is not required by law to register with any trade or professional bodies to practice and work within most areas of the industry. Unfortunately this means that almost anybody can purchase products and equipment and set up shop ready to offer services to clients who think they are receiving treatment from a qualified professional.

This can lead disastrous and often distressing results, especially in cases which call for more technical procedures. This is why it is always best for you to be aware if your Beauty Therapist is properly qualified for all of the services they are offering.

In order to help you feel safe and assured that your therapist has received the proper training, professional associations and websites such as ours exist to give you peace of mind. Beauty Therapists can choose to register with these professional associations which check qualifications and insurance of each potential member as well as requiring them to comply with a code of ethics. Beauty Resource carries out thorough checks to ensure that all professionals listed on our directory have receiving appropriate training and hold the appropriate insurance.

If you have had a bad hair or beauty experience and would like to help in making sure it doesn’t happen to others then then Optomen Television are making a non-broadcast pilot which hopes to spread awareness of the dangers of unregulated beauty therapy. To find out how to get involved read on:

HAVE YOU SUFFERED A DISASTROUS HAIR OR BEAUTY TREATMENT?

If you’re still carrying visible evidence of your shoddy treatment, then please e-mail beauty@optomen.com or call 020 3227 5946.

After busting a gut at the gym every other day and spending a fortune on expensive creams we almost had a coronary when we heard Soap & Glory were releasing a firming cream which actually works best when your sitting down. Thats right, it firms your wobbly bits whilst your sitting on them.

Soap & Glory say this cream works best when applied in the morning and recommend that you knead a generous layer of it onto your bottom and thighs, to set-up the Sit Tight Pressocapsular Firm System.

If you are wondering how on earth this cream could possibly work then the answer, quite simply, is through the friction and heat which are generated through the act of sitting. Basically sitting down releases a mechanism which triggers increased movement of the product to the lower body areas, most affected by fatty tissue buildup.

The sit released system is about 27 – 33% caffeine, which is renowned for its lipolytic, firming and draining actions as well as being an infamous component of our much loved cups of tea.

The cream will take around 30-60 seconds to absorb and may cause a slight heating sensation, after which you can then stand up and go about your everyday business such as putting clothes on.

This product has received rave consumer reviews, with some women saying that they would choose Sit Tight any day over luxury and expensive brands which promise the world but don’t deliver. Many have even said they saw effects after the first application and continued to feel a huge difference as they continued use.

At a very reasonable £14 Sit Tight makes specialist firming products available to the masses. You’ll be pleased to know it is also easy to get hold of and is available from Boots and ASOS online.

Imperial Leather’s new fragranced hypoallergenic range for sensitive skin hits just the spot.

For a very long time there has been a big old gaping hole in the beauty market with regards to fragranced products for sensitive skin, leaving many of the more sensitive souls limited to oderless boring fragrance free shower gels and bubble baths.

Well praise the heavens, as Imperial Leather has launched a gorgeous new bath and shower range which they have aptly named SkinKind. After conducting detailed consumer research, the brains at Imperial Leather found that people with sensitive skin highlighted the lack of fragranced products available to them and so the idea of Skinkind was born.

SkinKind aims to give sensitive skin a luxurious treat, developed in conjunction with its own in house fragrance experts, this range is designed to spice up bath time for those who previously had to fret over the ingredients of their products.

Upon finding out a couple of the products were being sent this way, the bath was already running in anticipation! We received the hydrate bath milk with cotton extract and oat milk and refresh, a light hair and body wash with cucumber and aloe vera (which was actually developed for men).

We tried out both products together in a double whammy and were extremely pleased with the results. The bath milk produced a glorious amount of bubbles which lasted a good few chapters of our favourite book/until the water went cold, the smell was also lovely and again lasted the duration of the bath and upon giving myself a rub down left the skin feeling soft and not tight.

We also tried out the cucumber and aloe vera body and hair wash and despite it being aimed at a male audience we sampled it in the name of beauty. The fragrance was extremely refreshing and again the formulation did not strip the skin and instead left it moisturised all day long.

The SkinKind range starts at £1.80 and is available at all good supermarkets.

Have you been abusing your eyelashes with too much mascara, false lashes and a myriad of other eyelash ‘enhancers’? If so we have just the product to get you back to your blinking beautiful self.

Every women dream’s of having long and luscious eyelashes, the kind that could melt hearts with just one flutter, yet very few of us are lucky enough to be living that dream!

In an attempt to enhance what god gave us, many of us shamefully succumb to covering our lashes with coat upon coat of mascara, gluing on falsies or popping out to the salon to have extensions put on.

The beauty market has also recently experienced an upsurge of eyelash growth products, with some small lash enhancers costing in excess of £100. July 2010 saw Boots release the long awaited RapidLash Enhancing Serum, with a waiting list in place even before it’s release RapidLash promised to increase lash length by 50% for the relatively reasonable price of £39.99.

With such a huge array of lash enhancers currently on the radar it would seem that one unassuming product slipped through the net. DHC’s Eyelash Tonic doesn’t promise to give you 100% thicker 100% fuller and 100% longer lashes, but what it does offer is deep conditioning for our maltreated peepers.

The conditioning gel formula works at strengthening and protecting weak lashes against breakage, helping them to look thicker, fuller and longer.

Ingredients are completely natural and botanical, incorporating aloe which softens, ginsing which nourishes and comfrey which soothes and whats more the serum is completely fragrance free, colourant-free and non-comeogenic. All the components of a luxury high end product but for only £7.

The tonic is to be applied as a base before mascara application in the morning and is to be applied again at bedtime. You can pick yours up now from the DHC website.

Out with the new and in with the old!

Now it is all good fun perusing the beauty store shelves and taking a look at all of the advanced and exciting new products, but sometimes when were having a bad skin month we simply crave something tried, tested and reliable.

As usual Mother knows best and it is highly likely that at some point your mother and her mother and her mother before that, would have tried Ponds Cold Cream Cleanser.

Ponds Cold Cream Cleanser is a rich facial cleanser which cleans deep down, removing every scrap of make-up and hidden dirt without drying out the skin.

This product has received rave reviews for years and has even been championed by the likes of Kylie Minogue, who admitted using it everyday following the advice of her…mother.

‘It’s really changed my skin,’ she said. ‘It’s all I really use to look after my skin. It’s such an old classic.

This product has really stood the test of time and even before it was introduced to beauty store shelves, many years ago the Ancient Greeks used a similar formula of emulsion of water and certain fats to look after their skin.

So next time you are strolling up and down the aisles fretting about which cleanser to use, pick up Ponds and give it a whirl, you won’t be disappointed.

Ponds Cold Cream Cleanser is available from Boots and is priced at £3.99

Bring on a heatwave and send in the rainclouds because no amount of sweat, rain or tears is going to shift our makeup after a wee spritz with this little beauty.

All Nighter is Urban Decays answer to the melting makeup face, whether that may be from over exerting yourself in a club, taking a stroll in a tropical rainstorm or just after a very…very… long day, that make up ain’t going anywhere as it will be firmly fixed to your face with this godsend.

The formula comes in a bottle with a spray pump and comes out in a light mist which will cover your face easily in just two pumps. This basically acts as a fixer for all of your immaculately applied makeup and will keep it looking perfect for 16 hours! YES 16 hours…really. This means you could even pop on your makeup before bed have a good nights sleep and wake up ready for work!

It is designed to be weightless so your face isn’t left with any dewy looking residue and has intelligent temperature control which keeps your make-up from melting when it is warm and humid or dehydrating when its cold and windy.

All Nighter is allergy tested, dermatologist tested, vegan, cruelty free and free of oil and parabens. £17 may seem like quite a high price point but for 118ml and as little as two spritz’s enough to get you through the day, a little goes a long way.