It’s the first day of our month celebrating the fantastic women of 4th Estate, and what better way to start than with a cover reveal from one of last year’s most successful. Have a look at the luxurious paperback edition of Pretty Honest by Sali Hughes.
Pretty Honest received a fantastic response for it’s initial hardback release: Lauren Laverne said that Sali is ‘Britain’s best beauty writer … This book is equal parts sass, sense, lipstick and laughs.’ Read more…
Red Lipstick is the Little Black Dress of beauty. No item sums up beauty so succinctly – if you had to imagine a make-up item, you would probably picture a red lipstick before foundation or mascara. Red is powerful, strong, smart, bold, sexy, lethally feminine and iconic (try to imagine Marilyn Monroe without her glossy, orangey-red lips – it’s not possible). Read more…
With Christmas right around the corner (you’re going to hear that phrase from us a lot in the next few days), we at 4th Estate are about to do some Supermarket Sweep style shopping for our nearest and dearest. Luckily, we have an extract from this bespoke gift guide from Pretty Honest by Sali Hughes to help us out. We’ve got gift ideas for teenage girls, men of all ages, mum, plus cheap and lovely stocking fillers. Sali has beauty covered, and once again, she’s saved us from buying presents that gather dust in cupboards and under beds. Read more…
THE MORNING AFTER
I hate the term ‘Walk of Shame’ because when I’ve wandered home after a fun night with a man I’ve invariably felt on cloud nine – giddy and satisfied, not shameful and sheepish. Nonetheless, on these occasions I have not looked great. There have been times when, having been invited out for eggs and bacon the following morning, I’ve spent the whole time covering the dry, flaky skin on my chin with my hand, and hastily rubbed off smudged mascara using a fry-up knife as a mirror. An entirely spontaneous shag is hard to plan for (this is why it’s good to end up in your own bathroom), but for a big date that is likely to end well, packing a small survival kit means you can extend to brunch the next morning – or even the following week. Shove it in your bag (another reason why tiny clutches are useless) and you’re sorted.
There are two mantras I live by. The first is my grandmother’s. One day, as a very little girl, I sat on her bed watching her spritz on Yardley English Lavender perfume, powder her face from a gilt Stratton compact and slick on her fuchsia No7 lipstick. Transfixed, I asked her why she wore make-up. Clicking the lipstick shut she said, matter-of-factly, ‘Because when I’ve got my make-up on, I’m always ready. Imagine if I was out and got some lovely invitation that I couldn’t accept because I wasn’t looking and feeling my best? With make-up, I’m always able to go on the adventure.’ I never forgot it and I apply the same theory to most days. The other is one that I remind my friends of whenever they’re feeling ill or blue, and I invariably send them a huge care parcel of beauty products and make-up. I believe that the only thing worse than feeling like crap, is looking like crap too. Often we can’t do anything about the former, but I feel passionately that addressing the latter can only help.
