Six things I like
Here's a meme. This is not an ad feature, I'm not paid for these recommends. I'm just passing them on, as a friend would say. "You must try this," sort of thing.
Lisa Eldridge Rouge Experience shade Lili
Finally, FINALLY, an everyday red! It’s not a femme fatale statement of intent. It’s not a the ball-breaking scarlet of someone who demands R-E-S-P-E-C-T. It’s not an icon that everyone recognises, a zeitgeist, of its time. Finally, after decades, of trial and error, finally I’ve found MY red. This is Lisa’s Rouge Experience Shade Lili, released only a couple of weeks ago, and so destined to sell out within minutes that I ordered it on my phone underneath the table at the Savoy Grill.
Described by Lisa herself as a dirty, spicy, chilli red, it’s for those times when you want a boost but don’t want to be owned by your lipstick. You can just chuck this red on like it were a neutral beige or pink. It gives “I don’t suffer fools gladly but you know that so I’m not making a big deal of it. Take it or leave it.” I love it.
La bonne brosse
It’s a brush but one that lives up to its hype, being the best brush I have ever bought, and one that actively makes me want to brush my hair. It makes a satisfying rasp as it smooths, capturing my hair strands with just the right amount of pull to be effective. I have No2 for thick hair, which it renders sleek. It is, however, fearsome expensive for a brush and I’m not sure how it justifies that price tag. Nonetheless I have now purchased two standard ones and a little one.
Sézane Pippa dress
Originally recommended for me by a friend, I bought the coral version last year and found that it was too small and clung to my ample curves with rather too great a neediness. A year later and I rediscovered it and, because I’ve lost a stone, it fits and looks great. I now have four, including a long one that works well for choir as a summer concert dress.
Ilia Skin Rewind Complexion Stick foundation
I am a yuge fan of stick foundations, favouring their no-nonsense approach when I’m in a hurry, and these days I’m usually in a hurry. I’ve used the Hourglass Vanish stick, like, forever. Though I now look for alternatives to US goods one cannot always be a purist, sadly, and I find that only US-based cosmetics offer the shade range and undertone I need (golden neutral) as well as being vegan or cruelty-free. Ilia was originally a US brand, but this foundation was made in Canada. (I have my own beef with Canada but let’s not go there.) I managed to find the right shade and undertone. 24 Cypress for me, since you ask, though I dozed in the sun yesterday and now probably need a darker shade.
This little dragonfly hairclaw from Tegen
This is so cute. I love the Tegen brand, that enables even a clumsyass like me to put my hair up. Usually my thick layers push out any hair ornaments but that’s probably because I pander to my fantasies of just putting it up with a pencil like those French girls in films. Finally espousing reality, I have realised that I need more than a couple of pins. I use about 6 of Tegen’s micro claws and probably look like a cross between Björk and Helena B-C. Anyway this sparkly little dragonfly provides entertainment for the sopranos behind me in choir.
My dog’s compassion for other animals
Fergus has always been interested in animals for their educational value rather than as prey. He will sit and look at a fox over the road for 5 minutes on his late walk and likes to make friends with horses and cows. Last week he found a bumblebee repeatedly bumping its head up against our kitchen doors and barked for our attention, with an anxious look, first at the bumble bee and then at us until we captured the poor half-dead thing and freed it into the garden. Dogs are angels with paws.