Today's mani: baby blue polish from Marc Jacobs and glitter polish from O.P.I

Two posts on MAC in two days time but I simply couldn't help myself - the moment I received the latest press kit regarding the SURF, BABY collection I jumped straight onto creating above collage, copying and pasting away as a blogger does, with the sweet tunes of Jack Johnson (surfer-come-singer / songwriter) in the background. 

I am a water sports fanatic and love everything about the surfers lifestyle - I would know, I was married to one for 5 years   so when browsing through the MAC campaign images I couldn't help but smile ear to ear. Everything from the color bursting palette of shades (teal being my favourite) to the ultra cute packaging are right up my alley.

My MAC goodies to play with.

I seriously have to learn how to surf - in the meantime I am going to walk around looking cool carrying boards. Kinda like a surfer caddie.

New make up to play with from MAC - a gorgeous teal eyeliner (perfect for green eyed me), a plum - ish pink lip gloss and an allround highlighter creme in an opulent golden shade - perfect to accentuate the tan I am sporting after 6 weeks of outdoorsy fun in Dubai. 

Can't wait to sink into the AW 2011 make up trends presentation folder too -  I am likely to lock myself in the bathroom, whip out the crayons and start imitating the looks and adapting them to my face. Make up should be fun but to avoid a Cirque de Soleil effect some looks are better off tested within the safety of your home first!

P.S It took me ages to get comfortable with rocking a full red lip so initially I used to wear it around the house to get used to the dramatic statement it makes. Now it is my all time favourite look and I go though silly amounts of MAC's Russian Red.

Playing around with summer shades of nail polish! New hues and new collections from Sally Hansen, Inglot and nails inc.

Hey my Dubai based Lovelies. Here's a press release I just stumbled upon that I though you might want to take part of.

Every day, all week long, all customers who have made a purchase (no qualifying amount) in the Mall of the Emirates store can put their name in a bowl to enter the weekly draw.  

 Every Thursday at 1pm the draw will take place and the week’s seven lucky winners will be phoned to come and get their prize. Each winner will be given a gift hamper with a minimum worth of AED 500. ''

What do we think, do we likey? 

Having so much fun playing with my MAC Wonder Woman makeup! Can't help but smile ear to ear every time I open my makeup bag and take out a bright red oversized Wonder Woman wand also known as lipgloss! Being a huge fan of reds I instantly fell for the bright red gloss that has a pearl shimmer to it - named 'Wonder Woman', after the rest of the collection. 

The 'Golden Lariat' mineral bronzer / highlighter is another one of my favourites - it combines coral with fine gold shimmer and a soft suntanned bronze. I blend all three shades and loosely sweep it over my cheekbones. You have to give it to MAC - their creativity has no limits and they make great make up fun!

The other day I got treated to a complimentary facial at La Mer (courtesy of Bloomingdales).

Comes without saying - it was divine. I have been a huge fan of La Mer for ages and yes, it is worth all the hype. The amount of research put into that cream is seriously impressive and whenever I have gone through a jar of the moisturizer (I use the lighter gel formula) I get tons of compliments for the glow and clarity of my complexion.  The price tag is a bit on the hefty side though, hence my euphoria when a mini facial with a goodie bag was kindly offered. Thank you Bloomies, best mid week pick-me-up ever.

Häromdagen blev jag erbjuden en gratis ansiktsbehandling från La Mer (via Bloomingdales i Dubai Mall).

Man kan ju inte annat än tycka att det var helt fantastiskt. Jag har alltid varit ett fan av La Mer och jag tycker absolut att produkterna är värda all hype kring dom. Timmarna (åren) av forskning som ligger bakom krämerna är imponerande och varje gång jag själv har använt den (jag föredrar den lättare gele varianten) så har jag fått sjukt mycket beröm för lystern man får. Desvärre är det dock inte en produkt som kan klassas som prisvänlig så ni kan själva förstå hur glad jag blev när jag fick detta erbjudande. Tack Bloomies!

The other day I was invited to a 'secret' event - very few detail were revealed, apart from the fact that it was going to be a launch of a brand new, in the Middle East unheard of make up brand. Tres exciting!

I arrived at the location - the Marina in Festival City where a buggy picked me up. Good thing it did - I wore towering stilettos!

I boarded a yacht, furnished with minimalistic furniture and intriguing messages everywhere.

Aaaah, finally the make up!

98-100% of the ingredients used in each UNE product are derived from natural origin. You won't find any mineral oils, genetically modified organisms, artificial colourings or synthetic fragrances in any of the UNE range. They've even designed the packaging to be eco-friendly and fully recyclable. However, what I found was the strength of the brand was the amazing spectrum of the shades of the products - all developed based on studies of the most common skin / eye / and lip shades. This makes UNE basically full proof in make up application as all the shades are very natural, earthy and subtle. 

Look for yourselves! Such a refreshing approach to eye make up! Finally a gal like me, with an olive tinted fair complexion can find a nice ashy eyebrow pencil!

I had a chat with Sophie Dugué, Director of Brand Marketing of the brand.

Now it's important to remember that just because the brand aims for the natural colour scale, it doesn't mean the as a user you would be limited to demure day time looks only. Look at the haute smokey eye that UNE's make up artist created using the brands powdery eyeshadows. Gorge!

Last but not least, I went home with the best goodie bag ever and I have been playing with it since.

My favourite products from the range are the mineral foundations (and I have tried every single brand of those but the UNE ones give a superior seamless matt finish), the eye pencils (first of all, the array of shades but also the powdery, easy glide on formula), and the lip glosses that just enchance my natural lip shade.

UNE is now available in all Debenhams outlets in the UAE.

Fantastic new tea influenced scents at Jo Malone. I had to go in and have a sniff. The Earl Grey and Cucumber one was divine.