(London) My favourite word in the English language is ritual… most likely just because it has my name within it and because of what it defines. A ritual need not be religious and could be a comforting habit that you indulge yourself in now and again or the weekly girly dinner catch-ups you love so much. For such reason and some more, the word ritual attracts me. That is why I wandered into the Rituals store in St. Christopher’s Place just off Oxford Street a couple of weeks ago. Maybe it was fate or just a lucky day because they were giving away bottles of Rituals Yogi Flow shower foam!

With a name like ‘Yogi Flow’, I figured that returning the good karma with a glowing review was quite appropriate. I loved the product and will be returning for more, even though I’ll have to pay for it. Ingredients like sweet almond oil and Indian rose give it a gorgeous fragrance and add to its luxurious silky feel. The foam is thick and feels instantly moisturising which I noticed when testing out the product in store. The cute bottle will look good in your shower caddy and will make your bathroom smell amazing after a hot shower. Rituals Yogi Flow is sold for £6.50 online and in stores.

Disclaimer: This review was based on a free giveaway.

I am a loyal fan of Essie Nail Polishes as you can see here. I picked up a bunch of base and top coats when I was last in New York since they are a lot more expensive in London, my purchases including 2 bottles of Good to Go and one bottle of No Chips Ahead, both of which can be found on the Essie website.

When I searched the web for reviews of Essie’s No Chips Ahead, I found more than half to be negative and I think I know why. Most of the reviewers used this top coat right after applying colour and as the only top coat. In my opinion and experience, the best first top coat, hands down, is Essie’s Good to Go. No Chips Ahead is best when used for after-care of your manicure when you start to notice the polish getting brittle or starting to crack. This topcoat acts like a bandaid, sort of glueing the polish back together. The appearance may still remain cracked or chipped but further cracks and chips will stop immediately.

Here are my best practices for making your manicure last with Essie products:

1. After applying at least two coats of colour over a good base coat, follow with one generous coat of Essie Good to Go.
2. Top up your manicure after 3 days with a fresh coat of Good to Go.
3. 3 days after the last refresher, use a generous coat of Essie No Chips Ahead to mend any damage to your manicure.
4. Repeat step three after 2 days and you can stretch the mani up to 8 days!

 Essie’s No Chips Ahead topcoat – buy it on the Essie Site here.

My manicure on day 6. Looks nearly perfect. Thanks, Essie!

(New York) Leighton Meester loves her bangs and we love her in them. She likes to switch up her bangs and was last sporting this choppy fringed look.  She has grown out her bangs slightly and changed them to this sultry wispy look below seen at the 100th Gossip Girl party last month.

Source: http://www.gossipgirlfashion.net

Madonna joins the list of celebs with a perfume line and it is aptly named Truth or Dare. The fragrance will be released in April 2012.

(London) After being awe-inspired by the Halloween cat make up on this lady working at make up counter at Bloomingdale’s in SoHo, NYC last year, I decided to pay her a compliment this year. Imitation is the highest form of flattery after all, isn’t it?

My inspiration:

My ode to her amazing make up: 

What you need for this look:

- Cat eye contact lenses. I used these bought on Amazon.co.uk which were quite comfortable. Cost: £12.60
- Cat ears and tail costume accessories. Just go with the cheapest ones you can find but better if they are fuzzy. Cost: £4.99
- Lots of gel eyeliner to draw the best cat eye make up with and to draw on your nose and whiskers which can be used to draw on the lips as well. I used Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner. Previously owned. Cost: £7.99
- A handful of cotton buds to correct mistakes with the eyeliner as you go.
- For the costume, just wear high-waisted tight black pants and a sexy black tank. I wore my favourite black riding trousers from American Apparel and halter tank from Bebe. Cost: zero if sourced from your own wardrobe.

(London) London’s own Nails Inc. has just released a magnetic nail polish. You thought shatter polish was cool and fun to play with? Wait till you see this!

What on earth is magnetic nail polish? It is polish loaded with iron particles that gather together when magnetized. You can do it on your own at home as the cap of the polish bottle comes with a built in magnet. There are step by step instructions here: http://www.nailsinc.com/magnetic.

With three shades, named after London landmarks like Trafalgar Square, Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, these magnetic nail polishes are available on the Nails Inc. website here, for £13.

The three shades available are below.

Bangs, fringe, whatever you want to call it, is like a bad romance for me. I outgrow it and keep going back to it over and over. I love it when I spot hot celebs like Kim Kardashian rocking the look and run to my hairdresser and get fringed again. Leighton Meester usually keeps things very classic when it comes to her hair, but these bangs suit her so well!

Leighton Meester was spotted showing off her new bangs in a Marios Schwab dress and Burberry Prorsum shoes at an HTC launch.

I could watch this J’Adore Dior ad over and over and over again! Using digital magic, Dior has brought past icons to life such as Grace Kelly, Marlene Dietrich, Marilyn Monroe and more to accompany Charlize Theron in this ad for the ever popular J’Adore fragrance. Can you identify all the old celebrities in the video?

Hi Readers! Please enter the InStyler giveaway by leaving a comment on The Stylester Facebook Page HERE!

To enter, “Like” The Stylester on Facebook and leave a comment saying you’ve entered. The winner will be randomly chosen, as long as the word InStyler is in it.

More details here.

We have all heard of the InStyler or at the least, seen the infomercials. It is the rotating hot iron styling tool that promises to straighten but maintain volume, add curl and work on any type of hair. It is a big promise to live up to but after getting the chance to try it out, courtesy of InStyler’s PR, I am happy to report that it fulfills at least the first two promises. Inspired by the beachy, wavy look seen at The Cia.Maritima Show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim 2012 and styled by celebrity hairstylist and Brand Partner Dean Banowetz, I followed his the step by step instructions and recreated the look with the InStyler. The results were spot on!

GIVEAWAY!

See the step by step and before-after pictures below but before I get there, I have some great news! InStyler is doing a giveaway for one lucky winner to receive their very own rotating hot iron! To enter, simply “Like” The Stylester on Facebook and leave a comment saying you’ve entered. The winner will be randomly chosen so you can comment more than once, as long as the word InStyler is in it. Entries for the giveaway start today August 23rd and close in three days on Thursday, August 25th. The winner will be contacted on Friday. Please note that this giveaway is restricted to the USA and UK only.

Leave a comment on our Facebook page to enter the InStyler giveaway and check out the sexy beach waves style I created with the InStyler and my review.

Official InStyler Website: http://www.instyler.com

The InStyler

Before styling with the InStyler

During step four of the styling process

After Picture 1

After Picture 2

To get the look:

Styled by: Dean Banowetz for The Instyler

Separate hair into sections starting from the bottom layer at the nape of the neck

Spray sea salt to coat the hair, adding texture and body (I skipped this step)

Back comb at the root for volume and fullness

Twist small sections of hair varying the amount of spins, to create tight and loose piece-y waves

Wrap the twisted strands around the barrel of THE INSTYLER, closing the clamp for 15 seconds to set the curl

Release the strand and once cool, separate by pulling at the end to give the hair a natural wave

Repeat until each section is complete

Flip hair upside-down, and finish by spraying a light mist of sea salt spray while scrunching hair for texture