How cute are these new Lancome Juicy Tubes! If you’re off on your summer hols these are perfect to take for a glossy look by the pool, on the beach or out in the evening, and will fit easily into your handbag to travel with. The glossy formula glides on easily with the tube tip applicator and will give your lips a burst of colour.

Available in Fruity Pop (pale pearly pink) or Ablaze (rich pearly cherry) and priced at only £2.99 each, these will make a great addition to your make-up bag. The pearly cherry will look especially stunning with a summer tan and make your lips look irresistible!

Any makeup artist or beauty consultant will tell you good makeup brushes are probably one of the most important things you will have in your makeup kit. Anybody still using those little sponge tip applicators should bin them now.

You could spend a fortune on brushes, there are so may different types all doing different jobs, and they aren’t cheap! Not good ones anyway. If you can save up it’s well worth spending a little extra and getting some good quality ones. These will last longer, the hairs will be real which will pick up the product better than synthetic plastic bristles, and the hairs won’t fall out.

The main brushes you need are: a large blusher/powder brush pic 1 £25.00 (no.129); a blending brush pic 2 £19.50 (no.224), which can be used on the eye for blending colours and also for cover up under the eye or around the nose; a shader brush pic 3 £16.50 (no.242) which you use for putting on the colour to the eyelid; a small angle brush pic 4 £12.00 (no.263) to use as a way to line the eye using eye shadow, and finally; if you use a cream foundation then a foundation brush pic 5 £25.00 (no.190), which will give you a much smoother flawless uncakey finish than a sponge will.

MAC do amazing brushes, they are expensive but well worth the money, they are real fur, but the animals are just shaved they aren’t hurt I’m told, for all you animal lovers (the photos are all MAC brushes). If you can’t stretch that far then I have found Cosmopolitan brushes sold in Boots or Superdrug are really good value and a lot more affordable.

Make sure you clean your brushes and look after them, they will pick up bacteria causing breakouts, you can get a brush cleaner from MAC for £7.50, or shampoo or liquid soap will work just as well.

Are you fed up with your nails? Are you too skint or busy to get them done frequently? Then why not teach yourself to manicure your own nails and always have perfectly pampered fingers and toes. I came across this video in the beauty and style section at Video Jug and it gives a great demonstration on how to achieve the perfect French manicure.

The video shows the french manicure from start to finish including filing, moisturising and the all important varnishing. It’s a great art to learn, I’m definitely going to give it a go!

One thing I’ve learnt working in the beauty industry is it’s so important to cleanse, tone and moisturise. People will tell you constantly, and you will probably read it everywhere, but this is one thing you should stick to, which ever skin type you have. If you have oily skin and don’t remove your makeup properly then you are more likely to suffer from breakouts.

The same thing applies with dry skin but a different outcome; you are much more likely to suffer from wrinkles which let’s face it is a concern for any woman in this day and age.

I have actually tested this theory by not removing my makeup some nights before bed, or on occasion just using wipes. I then went back to my original routine which consisted of removing my makeup with garnier facial wipes, then washing my face with Clinique liquid soap, then using cotton pads to wipe my face with Clinique clarifying lotion, and finishing with a Molton Brown Instant Matte moisturiser, and the results were significant. My breakouts almost completely went and my skin felt so smooth and soft.

I suffer from oily combination skin so it’s very important to have a good routine to keep my complexion looking as clear as possible. And don’t be fooled by thinking you don’t need to moisturise as much if you have oily skin, this isn’t true. If your skin feels it needs moisture it will produce more oil to protect it, so as long as you use the right moisturiser for your skin type your skin will be much better using one.

I'm currently using one called Mad Eyelash Curl, which I have had forever, and it has lasted me so well. After coating them a few times with MaxFactor Masterpiece mascara then using the heated curler, I think they look fab.

You can get the Mad Eyelash Curl from Beautysleuth for £11.99.

A few years ago, I read an article that said as we get older some people get a little lost or stuck in a rut and want advice on how to put their outfits together. Their advice was to think of a celebrity that’s around your age and someone that you admire, then, copy their dress sense, hair style and make-up etc. – their whole look. Lulu was my inspiration. Though a little bit older than I, she looks totally amazing for her 56 years (she looks at least 20 years younger) and I have got some stylish ideas from her over the years!

Yesterday she was on the shopping channel QVC with her new skincare range: ‘Lulu’s Time Bomb’ so I switched on at 8pm to have a look. The products sold out within minutes of Alison Young (the presenter) describing them and to be honest, you just had to look at Lulu sitting there absolutely glowing and radiating beauty to want the products yourself. I couldn’t decide on what to have first but sadly, I couldn’t get anything.

Although Lulu admits to having Botox in the past, she now only uses the new range, which she says has taken 3 years to perfect. She obviously eats well and exercises regularly but then so do I and my skin doesn’t look like hers!! I just couldn’t get over how youthful and toned her skin looked. She certainly does have something to SHOUT about!!

The range consists of Cleansing Cream, Polishing Pads, Day Cream, Eye Cream, Night-cream and a trial survival Pack of consisting of 4 of the products ranging from £12.00 to £30.00.

I have been on the website this morning to place my order and can’t wait for it to arrive!

If you’re in need of some cheekbone shaping then Benefit Cosmetics has created the perfect product for you. The half bronzer, half highlighter is specifically designed to bring back definition in the bone structure that can fade away over the years. Known as Benefit Cosmetics 10, the product will add that little bit of colour back into the right areas so you feel younger and brighter.

The pink shimmer half makes skin appear softer and allows the bronze half to stand out against the cheek bones. The brush is designed at the perfect width in order to create the perfect definition. The make-up comes in a gorgeous tan coloured box illustrated with an abstract body and belt buckle. Benefit Cosmetics 10 is available at Amazon.co.uk for £18.99 or Amazon.com for $26.00.

I am useless at looking after my nails and hardly ever get the time to sit down and give them some proper TLC. One product I rely on quite often is Mavala Cuticle Remover – a quick fix for cuticles. Instead of spending hours popping on moisturiser and neatly pushing back the horrible dead skin, I simply place on the Cuticle Remover and the skin basically wipes away as if like magic!

The product is designed specifically to care for cuticles, it is gentle and helps to soften the skin and remove the overgrown skin creating a perfect circular shape. You can then whip on some nail varnish and all done – a mini manicure in 10 minutes!

Mavala Cuticle Remover is available at Amazon for just £8.70.

Chanel is always being raved about when it comes to foundation. The stars love them, Lady Victoria Hervey couldn’t live without it, and it’s constantly being recommended by OK’s beauty editors.

If your looking for a liquid foundation that gives you a flawless complexion in any light then PRO LUMIÈRE is the product you’re searching for. Soft to the touch and perfectly adjustable when applied, the PRO LUMIÈRE formula is highly concentrated in with high-tech radiance-emitting active ingredients.

Rich in reflecting pigments and emollient elements that leave the complexion looking flawless, it also recreates the “smoothing” performance effect of artificial light. Blended in completely, it offers a semi-matte and luminous translucent result. Less blended, it provides a smoothing effect with perfectly even skin and tighter pores.

You can purchase it from Amazon for $52, and check out Chanel’s website for videos showing you how to apply their foundations.