Beauty Notes Daily

By Jenny Dickinson

In case any of you missed our OTT excitement on Twitter (you did? Follow us at http://twitter.com/ELLEBEAUTYTEAM) we were lucky enough to get tickets for the first UK screening of New Moon last night. Forget Team Edward or Team Jacob, we came away firmly on Team Charlie – yes please, Chief Swan.

Kristen Stewart looks beautiful in the film with the help of some incredible hair extensions (her own hair was cut into a mullet for a different role, as Joan Jett in The Runaways), but it’s the vampires who have spawned a make-up microtrend – Twilight chic.

Brands have captilised on the cult status of the books and films with ranges dedicated to achieving the beautiful and the damned look, such as Nubar’s Twilight Collection nail polishes, £24, pictured here.

I met with Claire from Shu Uemura this morning (heads up: some gorgeous new shades on the way), who told me that she had Rob Pattinson’s make-up artist in-store last week, looking for products to help recreate that sparkling vampire skin on the cast during their publicity tour. What did she pick up? UV Underbase Shimmer and Loose Powder in Pearl. There you go: How to get a Cullen sparkle without becoming a member of the undead.

Shu Uemura www.shuuemura.com

Nubar www.beautyshed.co.uk

 By Amy Lawrenson

Dr Nick Lowe is a cosmetic surgeon and skincare specialist. I met up with him this week to ask his expert advice on dealing with dry winter skin…

- If you get dry, flaky skin your first thought is probably to exfoliate – don’t! The skin’s cuticles usually lie flat and smooth, but when dried out they become slightly detached. Exfoliating will just damage the skin further. Instead you need to moisturise, to encourage the cuticles to lie smooth again.

- Avoid hot baths and showers which can dissolve the skin’s protective oils. Instead make sure the water is lukewarm. You should also try not to use  cleansing products that contain detergents as they will also strip your skin’s natural oils. Dermol 200 Shower Emollient, £5.94 and Dermol 600 Bath Emollient, £13.45 are both good buys.

- Other drying ingredients to avoid are Sodium Lauryl Sulphate and Glycolic. Instead, look out for Humectants, Glycerine and Sodium Hyaluronate, which help attract moisture to the skin.

- I don’t have a body lotion in my range. There are plenty out there that do a great job and are cheaper than I could ever produce. I recommend Vaseline Intensive Care Dry Skin Lotion, £4.10.

- From my range use the Double Duty Hand Cream SPF15, £12.67, The Secret is Out Lifting Cream, £24.42 and the Age Correct Eye Serum, £16.59.

Click here to visit Dr Nick Lowe’s website now…

Everyone loves a freebie, right? And when it comes to free make-up, well that sounds like a little piece of heaven to us. If you want to get your hands on over £20 worth of free Revlon kit (did we mention that it’s FREE?), all you need to do is subscribe to ELLE now, by clicking right here.  

Included in your gift will be three of Revlon’s best-selling products –  ColorStay 12 Hour Eyeshadow Quad in Priceless Metals, Luxurious Color Eyeliner in Black Velvet and Fabulash Mascara in Blackest Black – perfect for creating an on-trend metallic eye. Just make sure you subscribe before 2nd December 2009 to get yours. 

Click here for more information.