Honey, I’m Doing it Fair Trade.

As ethics moves from our kitchen cupboards and into our bathroom cupboards, then so does the baffling question: “What came first – the ethical chicken or the ethical egg?”

Which is why we ask ourselves another question: “Can conscience have a beauty regime?”

Bring questions like that into beauty and we begin to see a range of products that, as well as being packed with natural ingredients – yum, have their foundations built on fair-trade.

Fairtrade Fortnight starts this month and Boots is about to add another product to their Fair-trade arsenal, and this one sounds like it is going to be just as bee-eautiful as the rest.

The launch of Boots’ Runny-Honey Body Butter comes at the time when we’re all more conscious about what goes into the things we buy and where they come from. Stephen Johnson, Boot’s sustainable development manager says: “Our Extracts range uses natural ingredients sourced from around the world. This not only provides us with great products but, by working with the Fair-trade Foundation, we ensure a fair price is paid for the produce.”

It’s great that vanity is dismissing compunction from our beauty regime, with no compromise on performance benefits. “I love the new Honey Body Butter – it smells beautiful and leaves my skin feeling great,” says fashionista, Mica Paris, “I have always been an advocate of helping disadvantaged communities around the world.”

The honey used in the body butter is sourced from farms located in the foothills of the Andes. The Apicoop co-operative, in Chile, farm the honey, which is a by-product from bees pollinating the Ulmo Tree, a plant native to South America. The tree produces a delicate flower, which gives the honey a delicate and sweet flavour – perfect for us to use on our skin as it isn’t overpowering, just delicate and enticing.

Honey is overlooked when it comes to benefits; most people use it as an alternative to sugar, however, it’s up there with the rest of the super-foods: it has antioxidant properties, of course, and contains alpha hydroxy acids, which are used in many anti-aging creams and serums and are believed to smooth fine lines, wrinkles and fight skin damage.

Runny Honey Body Butter will be released later this month. Fair-trade Fortnight is about creating awareness; try and do something each day to be a part of it, even if you just buy a bar of fair-trade chocolate, it still helps. I suggest that you make it a pleasure for yourself each day – use fair-trade beauty products for the fortnight. Find out more about events at http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/get_involved/fairtrade_fortnight/default.aspx

To find out where and what Fair-trade products you can buy and visit  http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/products/retail_products/default.aspx

Christmas must-haves for men. Clothes Show Live style!

 The Clothes Show Live, at the NEC in Birmingham, is not the place to go if fashion runs your life, however, it is the place to be if you just like to get an idea of what to wear and what’s currently on trend.

 The fashion show was more about the performance and entertaining a crowd full of eager Tweens and industry wannabies than it was hard-fashion. In-spite of this, there were a few excellent pieces for guys this Christmas.

 The most exciting items had to be the shoes. Guys normally get a bit of a bad deal when it comes to shoes and trend; they’re either too sporty, too jazzy or just boring. This time though, they were just right.

Military Boots from All Saints, £165.

They may cost a fair bit, but they will last a long time.

 

  

   

 

 

 

 

Dr.Martens (DNs), £70-£150  from Dr.Martens.com.

  How can you say no to such an icon? You may have had a pair as a child, so you can have a pair as an adult. This pair cost £70 on the site. They come in plain colours and in patent too, but you could go for classic black. Dr Martens were a big player at the Clothes show, some of the guys wore pink patent.

 

 

 

 

Circus fashion crept upon us last winter. This Christmas it’s back and it’s on E. There were a lot of sequin and patent pants on the catwalk, but don’t appeal to most guys. Here are some other options, which are a bit less ‘uhoh!’ and a lot more ‘bravo!’ 

Silver Super Skinny Trousers, £50, from Top Man, also available in bronze. Wear them with military boots and a black blazer to tone them down. Wear with the burgundy blazer below and a tweed bow tie as a festive statement.

 

 

 

Metallic pants may not appeal to you right now. These Religion Slim Trousers are exclusive to Asos.com, £65. Great because you can wear them all year and aren’t metallic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dandy is making a long awaited come back. In honour of this, blazers and dikkie bows are now essential. Here is a Burgundy Poachers Jacket, £140, from Top Man. This would look dandy with most pant choices, but I would suggest sticking with skinny jeans or trousers to get a sleek silhouette.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not feeling the Poachers Jacket, then how about velvet? The classic-cut of Asos’ tipped velvet jacket is soft, looks great open, and looks even better closed. £70, Asos.com 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Could it really be Christmas without tartan thrown in somewhere? Top Man, £36. This would look great, open, in the summer with a band t-shirt, bleached denim three quarters and military boots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you need to accessorize, shop around for bow ties. Velvet or tweed in a neutral or rich colour will make a subtle but alternative statement. Wear with white shirts, or if you dare to be a little more impactful, find a contrasting print which will add a little more interest to the ensemble.

 Although it was a bit of a theatre, the Clothes Show was inspirational, a great way for the younger or ignorant to see what fashion can be, which is, what you want it to be.

 

  

Hangover Day Pamper Hamper

It is one of the few downfalls of an amazing night out, especially if you drank a little more than you originally intended.

 The Hangover cometh and you’re a lazy, ridiculous mess; unrecognisable by all, including yourself. The only thing that you want to do is hide in your bed and feel incredibly sorry for yourself, between thoughts of: “I’m never doing it again!” and flash backs of the cringingly awful things you did or said during the course of the evening, so terrible, you have to hide under the duvet. 

 You could lay in your bed at the mercy of the night before or you could immerse yourself in a day of pampering, detoxing and general chilling.

 

Step One: Showered with coffee before, no? ‘Perk up’ by Philosophy is a three in one trio, each of the three bottles is a shampoo,shower gel and bubble bath – it’s like giving your hair and body a cup of coffee: £32.00 from QVC.

After the shower, moisturise with ‘Vanilla Dee-Lite’ it will leave your skin smelling and feeling fabulous! £10.50 from Lush

Step Two: It’s essential to cleanse, exfoliate and moisturise your skin daily: if you don’t already have a skincare regime, then Clinique’s 3 Step skincare routine is an excellent way to start. Check-out your nearest counter for advice.

Step Three: Now that you’ve showered and refreshed your skin, use Soap and Glory’s ‘You Wont Believe Your Eyes,’ which will revitalise and freshen your eyes and reduce puffiness:£9.00 from Boots.

Step Four: Go totally spa-chic with Boots’ Essentials ‘Cucumber 3-Minute Clay Mask’ is full of cucumber and, well, clay – sure to give your skin an extra boost and make you feel uber relaxed and fresh: only £1.99 – from Boots.

Step Five: This bit doesn’t involve any products which you apply from a bottle or a tube… You need to get yourself a rediculously over-sized Hoodie - Superdry is a good place to go, they sell a range which starts from £44.99 and are fleece lined, delightful for a day on the sofa.

Next, you need some friends; I wouldn’t suggest having real people over, you might not be ready to socialise, but a session of Friends the programme will do your soul some good: Amazon.co.uk (from £54.99), and that’s for the whole set.

 So, if you’re not feeling any better by now, I don’t know what to suggest,  perhaps eat a bacon sandwich. If you’re nearly cured, then I’ve done my job.

They worked for me, so they might work for you too.

Boots No7 Stay Perfect Eyeliner

This looked so promising, especially being part of the renowned Boots No7 concession, but sadly this eyeliner was not for me.

I tried the turquoise eyeliner, which I found incredibly difficult to use, I felt that the applicator was not the products strong point. However once I’d managed to create some semblance of a line, the product looked really good. The strong blue colour lasted well into the night, and managed to make my grey-blue eyes look bluer than ever.

There then came the inevitable removal of the eyeliner, and I must say that the product is aptly named. Even after scrubbing my face for a good half an hour the offending eyeliner was still there. The situation was remedied the next morning as it became slightly easier to remove after a nights sleep, but thats not such a beneficial idea in a beauty blog. It was a shame really, since the colour was striking, and a bit of a break from my usual black.

Whilst the product looked good on, and managed to stay put a lot longer than a great deal of other eyeliners, the difficulty that is entailed in applicating and removing made the product an overall thumbs down from me. Not even the on trend, turquoise metallic colour won me over in the end, better luck next time Boots!