Beauty and the Cold

As I am suffering from a stinking cold at the moment (kindly donated by Mr London) I thought it might be timely to write a post on the stuff that I use to make me look halfway decent while I am lurgy-laden. I should disclose that 'beauty' is probably pushing it - I turn an attractive grey/green shade when I am ill, and my husband has taken to walking about with his arms outstretched moaning 'braaaains,' when he sees me in the morning. I settle for looking vaguely human at the moment.

For concealer, I am currently infatuated with rms Beauty un cover up. I have enough self-knowledge not to claim that I'll never try another concealer again, but at the moment it feels that way. This is creamy to apply, and blends to a skin-identical finish without the need for powder. It babies the dry skin around my nose and under eyes, and I feel that it has improved the texture of the skin in both those areas, even before the cold hit me.

I don't see a huge difference when I'm healthy, but when I look like an extra from a Romero film, Nubo Voile is worth putting on. It airbrushes and evens out my skin, giving it a bit of a glow, and when I'm poorly I do appreciate the extra moisture. It's also very easy to apply. If you need more coverage, Suqqu Foundation is a whipped creamy texture that doesn't look mask-like, gives medium to full coverage and feels soothing on raw skin.

For eyes, I'd recommend staying away from powders. I find that creamy products are more soothing, and my favourite eyeshadow at the moment is rms Beauty cream eyeshadow in Magnetic, a cool-toned beige taupe shimmer that makes my eyelids look less haggard. If you need something that will resist creasing, then By Terry Ombre Blackstar in Misty Rock is a good alternative, or try Ellis Faas Creamy eyes or Milky eyes instead. The Creamy eyes is a particularly good choice as it contains caffeine, which helps to de-puff things, and it really doesn't budge even if your eyes are streaming. I tend to forgo mascara, as even sensitive-eye ones tend to run or irritate me with a cold, but I have quite dark lashes. I find if I fill in my brows, my eyes look more defined and finished in any case, and my weapon of choice here is Shu Uemura Hard Brow Pencil in Seal Brown.

For cheeks, again, I try to avoid powders. rms Beauty Lip2Cheek in Rapture gives me the illusion of a healthy flush, and I also like Ellis Faas Blush S302, a peachy pink that feels cooling when applied (lovely on feverish skin. I can never understand how I can run a fever and yet have absolutely no colour in my cheeks at all.)

For lips, I mostly just slather on balm. I've just picked up Dior Balm de Rose, which seems to be keeping chapped lips at bay. My all time top lip balm is Sisley Confort Extreme Nutritive lip balm, which, despite looking like a pretty basic mineral oil/vegetable oil blend seems to perform some kind of magic on my dry lips (and I don't generally like mineral oil at all.) For colour, I either dab on a bit of the rms beauty Lip2Cheek, or use Lipstick Queen Medieval Lip Balm, which adds rosy colour while it conditions.

rms Beauty can be found at www.beingcontent.com
Nubo is available at Harrods.
Suqqu is available at Selfridges London and Birmingham.
By Terry and Lipstick Queen are stocked at SpaceNK.
Ellis Faas is available online at ww.ellisfaas.com, and at Liberty from 01 February.
Shu Uemura is available at Liberty, Selfridges, and from the Shu U shop in Covent Garden.
Dior and Sisley are available at John Lewis and Selfridges, and Dior particularly is available in many department stores.