The Weekend Wrap-Up #8
Cold snap beauty hacks for face and body, The Ordinary's new face oil, makeup newness and leopard print forever.
Welcome to The Weekend Very Wrapped Up edition!
Hope everyone’s well, and that you’re keeping warm and safe on this wet and stormy weekend here in the UK.
A special welcome to those who’ve joined us over the last few days. As always, today’s edition is free for everyone, with beauty and wellness news from the week.
I’m SO glad you’re here, and hope you’ll find plenty to keep you smiling, stress-free and sparkling over the next few weeks.
The duvet coats and UGGS have been out in full force here over the last week.
We were in Oxfordshire on Monday, visiting Blenheim Palace’s Illuminated Light Trail and Neverland in the Palace, transformed in support of Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital—magical! Highly recommend!—prompting an emergency M&S puffer shop the night before. Despite having lived in Oxford for a year after Will and I were married, I always forget how much colder it feels there.
It’s this one, and is essentially a sleeping bag with arms, and a roomy hood. It’s TOASTY. Even better, it withstood the on/off showers on the night and is, I think, great for the price (no affiliate link, just a strong recommend!).
Cold snap beauty
It’s been a good week to put some super-intensive, extra hydrating beauty treats to the test. First up, Soapsmith—a gorgeous, independent, London-based range of natural bath and body products founded by Samantha Jameson. All the products are named for places in the capital that inspired their beautiful scents.
The standout for me is the winter-perfect Body Melt*, which has the most incredible, balm-to-body-oil texture. As a former West End girl, Marble Arch—a blend of vanilla, orange, saffron and pachouli—is my new, post-shower go-to.
The super-concentrated formula contains a blend of mango, shea and cocoa butters, sweet almond and coconut oils and vitamin E, and is perfect for knees, heels and elbows.
For lips, I’ve added Lanolips’ Tinted SPF30 Balm*, a sheer, moisturising formula with a delicate tint—to my daily rotation, adding a layer of the 12 Hour Overnight Lip Mask* at night.
This sweet-smelling, intensive, ointment-like balm contains hyaluronic acid, along with lanolin and ceramides. It goes on thickly, conditioning lips overnight. It’s hard to say, but I think that using this, in combination with the tinted lip balms I’ve got going on rotation, has prevented my already-dry lips from becoming completely parched this week, since the temps have dropped and the central heating has gone on. The real test, though, will be during cold and flu season (when I always end up cracking open the Carmex!).
A great tip from Gucci Westman, which the makeup artist got from Gisele Bundchen: apply a lip balm before rubbing lips gently with a hot towel or washcloth, to exfoliate and smooth the lips. Watch Gucci share this, and two other lip tips, in the reel she posted, below.
The Ordinary drops a new face oil
Rosehip oil is renowned for its nourishing, hydrating and antioxidant skin care benefits (it’s also been shown to help reduce the appearance of scars). This week, The Ordinary added a new 100% Fermented Rose Hip Seed Oil to its line-up.
Standing alongside the brand’s existing 100% Organic Cold Pressed Rose Hip Seed Oil, the new oil is fermented using a yeast called Starmerella bombicola, which The Ordinary claims gives it “enhanced soothing benefits”.
I love rosehip oil for soothing and replenishing midlife skin (it’s a great choice for treating skin to a night time facial massage, with a device like one of these, recently recommended at the MBE).
Conditioning that protects colour
After chatting all things midlife hair colour on Tuesday with celebrity hair colourist Nicola Clarke, I want to follow up with a conditioner discovery that’s made light work of detangling my fragile, highlighted hair.
COLOR WOW’s Color Security Conditioner is incredibly nourishing, and feels almost like a mask than a conditioner—but without the heaviness. It rinses out quickly, and creates a great slip that makes combing hair through afterwards less tricky, and more gentle on fragile hair (yes, please).
Leopard love
Proof that this season’s most popular print has never been out of style.
Makeup newness
With the party season just around the corner, there’s been quite a bit of talk about soft, smudgy kajal eyeliners lately. A few new shades have been added to Victoria Beckham Beauty’s now iconic Satin Kajal line-up (the range includes matte, shimmering and jewel shades).
Jane at wrote a super-informative post on how to work the VB kajals this week (she loves them on the waterline), and Lucia Ferrari devoted a feature in the Telegraph this week to using kajal eyeliners, with a tutorial from makeup artist Wendy Rowe.
Also new in makeup, Jones Road Beauty dropped the Mini Miracle Balm Sets yesterday, as a Black Friday limited edition. You get to choose a bundle of 3, 4, 6 or 8 little pots of brilliance. There’s also discounts on the holiday kits featured in 10 of the best holiday gift sets for midlife beauty at the MBE.
(Also. watch this space for some Bobbi party beauty insider tips, coming soon!)
If you’re in London over the coming weeks, make a beeline for the Chanel Christmas lights on Bond Street.
Check this out!
Midlife style in the wild
Michelle Yeoh shone at the Wicked movie premiere, with glowing makeup by Soo Park and swept back hair, styled by Robert Vetica.
Such a cool and colourful cover of December Harper’s Bazaar, Spain, featuring Camille Miceli, creative director of Pucci.
Talk about dopamine dressing, and winter brights!
Are you thinking about getting gel nails done for the holiday season? Hold that thought!
On Tuesday, for paid subscribers, we’ve got an MBE deep dive into getting the gel look at home, either with or without a UV lamp (and reviewing one of the most buzzed-about, more gentle light-cured DIY kits of the moment). We’ll also cover this season’s hottest holiday gel colours, to suit all budgets—don’t miss it!
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I just purchased a few things from The Ordinary (regulars I use) and wish I had known about the rose hip oil. I love trying new oils as they’re my favorite way to moisturize. This was a fun wrap-up as always! 🩷🩷🩷
Michelle Yeoh looks incredible! So many amazing midlife women looking better than ever!!!